Dante Green and his girlfriend Krystina Brown, both undergrads at Xavier University in New Orleans, evacuated to Atlanta just before Hurricane Katrina hit and jumped at the offer to come study at UC Berkeley when the waters rose around their campus. 

Now Xavier has regained power, hauled away debris, and is calling for their students to return. UC Berkeley officials have decided not to extend visiting student status for the group from New Orleans, but some students say they don’t want to return to a ghost city. 

“We don’t know what we’re going back to. Mayor Nagin says the city is inhospitable, and we may have to live on cruise ships,” Green said earlier this week. “There’s 700 people ahead of us on the waiting list for apartments.” 

Katrina scattered 18,000 college students nationwide, and Cal welcomed 77 in the wake of the disaster. Cal officials say these students were welcomed only as “visiting students” and are wary of undermining higher education in New Orleans by depriving schools the tuition base they will need to return to normality. 

Student organizers at Cal have circulated a petition to gather support to allow students the option to continue their studies into the spring.  

Tamara Johnson, a graduate student in the Social Welfare department of Southern University, gratefully arrived at Cal on Sept. 8, her birthday. The Berkeley Social Welfare Department led her to believe that she would have the option to stay for the spring semester based on her performance, she says. 

“This university ought to be ashamed of itself, treating us like refugees,” she said. “They want us to evacuate twice.”  

Johnson, who has eagerly attended classes at Cal and worked in an internship in Oakland’s Summit Adult Day Health Care Center while sleeping on couches since early September, is distraught at the prospect of returning to New Orleans. 

“There’s nothing left of my school,” she said. “I thought Berkeley had given me the best birthday gift ever when I arrived here, but it looks like they’re taking it back.” 

Officials at Southern University, Johnson’s home school in New Orleans, say the school is ready to welcome returning students. 

“We’ve been working 12 hour days to get this campus back in shape,” said Gus Bennet, student affairs spokesperson. “The pre-enrollment turnout has been amazing.” 

Roughly half of the students at Southern University have enrolled to date and the school is busily rebuilding in anticipation of reopening on Jan. 17. Students returning to Southern will be housed in FEMA subsidized travel trailers. 

Berkeley officials say they have been counseling visiting students who want to continue at Cal through the transfer process, but these students would have to wait until fall 2006 to apply. For the spring semester, they could take classes at a local community college or on an extension basis. 

“The university cannot create a new admissions process for a particular group of students,” said Esther Gulli, executive administrative officer for the vice chancellor of student affairs. 

Some Berkeley students say Chancellor Birgeneau is missing a golden opportunity to set an example both by doing the right thing for these students and by increasing minority enrollment at Cal since some of the students were displaced from historically black colleges such as Xavier. 

“This is no time for bureaucratic excuses,” said Yvette Felarca, spokesperson for By Any Means Necessary, the student group responsible for circulating the petition on behalf of the displaced students. “In the worst American humanitarian tragedy ever, this is the time to make exceptions.” 

Some California schools have made exceptions and decided to allow students displaced from New Orleans to stay on into the spring semester. Saint Mary’s College in Moraga and Cal State East Bay have both decided to allow displaced students to finish out the year.  

UC officials say they will not break agreements made with the New Orleans schools to return students once the schools were capable of receiving them. “Our hands are tied. We must follow the rules of the other institutions,” said Gulli. “If these schools don’t get the tuition, they will go under, and the Gulf region needs higher education to recover.” 

Dante Green says he understands that it is in the best interest of his home school to gather its flock, but he doubts that his own best interests will be served by returning. 

“It’s all up in the air,” he said. “How am I supposed to concentrate on getting into med school when I don’t even know if I’ll have a place to live?” 

Plans for a downtown UC Berkeley museum complex moved to the forefront Tuesday when the university issued a call for a project design architect. 

Construction, tentatively slated to begin in May, 2009, would include the demolition of a Berkeley landmark, the UC printing plant at the southwest corner of Center and Oxford Streets. Also headed for the wrecking ball is the adjoining university parking structure at the southwest corner of the Addison Way/Oxford Street intersection. 

In their place would rise a complex that would house the Berkeley Art Museum and the Pacific Film Archive (PFA) as well as an underground parking area. The tentative end date for construction would be the end of November 2011, with the museum opening scheduled for April 2012. 

Total costs for the complex are estimated between $60 million and $80 million, all of which would come from private donors, said Kevin Hufferd, UC Capital Projects senior planner. 

Hufferd said the project will be developed in tandem with the planned hotel and convention center the university is developing with leading hotelier Carpenter & Co. for the western end of the block at the corner of Center Street and Shattuck Ave. 

The museum and PFA project would include 35,000 square feet of gallery space, 11,000 square feet for three theater/lecture hall spaces with seating capacities from 100 to 400, plus space for a film archive library, classrooms, staff offices and additional support space. 

Other features include a bookstore and restaurant, as well as a rooftop capable of hosting public events. 

Dona Spring, the City Councilmember who represents the downtown area, said she greeted the announcement with mixed feelings, saying the museum and film archive complex would be “a great shot in the arm for the downtown and the Berkeley Arts District.” 

But the demolition of the University Press building, she said, would be a great loss. 

“I can’t imagine that destruction of the building where the United Nations Charter was printed would help with their fund-raising,” Spring said. “They should use part of the building at least,” she said.  

John English, author of the proposal that earned the building landmark status when it was adopted by the city Landmarks Preservation Commission in June 2004, said the building was unique because of its role in history—the 1945 printing of the U.N. Charter—as well as its history as a distinguished press. 

“The production area is spacious and well-lighted and could be well adapted to museum space,” English said of the 1939 example of New Deal Moderne architecture. 

“It’s also the university’s first significant building project west of Oxford Street,” he said. 

Neither Spring nor English said they had any reservations about demolition of the parking structure. 

Hufferd said the hotel project is moving ahead, with the last significant remaining issue being finding a new location for the Bank of America branch, which at the northeast corner of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street occupies a key portion of the hotel site. 

“We’ve worked intensively on the issue over the last few months, and it’s really the role of the hotel developer to take the lead in finding a replacement site,” he said. 

The 12-story hotel and associated convention center would be designed in part to house attendees at university conferences and athletic events.  

Hufferd said Carpenter & Co. officials held meetings with Mayor Tom Bates, City Manager Phil Kamlarz and city planning staff in the fall. He added that the mayor had also offered to place the hotel complex on a fast track for development independent of the Downtown Area Plan process mandated in the settlement of a city suit against the university earlier this year. 

“But after hearing more, the developer agreed to continue alongside the Downtown Area Plan process,” Hufferd said. “Of course the developer also hopes the downtown planning process will continue along its current course and timeline,” which calls for a completed plan to be finished within the next 18 months. 

Berkeley Planning Director Dan Marks said he hadn’t heard about the fast-tracking proposal, but said that folding the project into the new Downtown Area Plan process was the appropriate move, in part because the plans call for a taller structure than is now allowed in the city center. 

By incorporating the hotel and the museum complex into the new planning process, city staff and the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee will be able to look at the cumulative impacts of the projects, Marks said. 

While the documents posted this week don’t mention the proposal of the city’s UC Hotel Task to turn Center Street into a pedestrian mall possibly centered on a daylighted Strawberry Creek, “We recognized the strong community interest in making the street a premier pedestrian environment,” Hufferd said. 

“We need to accommodate either a plaza alone or a plaza and creek and let the community decide,” he said. “We can then come up with the plans.” 

Hufferd said the block would contain either one or two underground lots—in the latter case, one each for the hotel/convention center and the PFA and art museum complex. Both could share a common entrance, he said. 

The university official said he wasn’t sure what would happen with the current art museum and PFA buildings. The former is seismically unsafe and the latter was built as a temporary structure pending development of a permanent home, Hufferd said. 

The museum/PFA time schedule allots only four months for the preparation of a project environmental review, which Marks said might be enough because the complex—unlike the hotel project—was included in the EIR for the university Long Range Development Plan for 2020. 

The new downtown plan process was included in a settlement of the city’s suit against the university, sparked by concerns over the more than one million square feet of addition space the university plans to build within city limits, most of it downtown.

An off-campus incident between a student and a UC Berkeley undergraduate advisor that led to explosive allegations of racist and sexist epithets against the student has a local activist organization calling for the firing of the employee and the UC officials conducting a review of the university’s initial response. 

In addition, UC officials are looking into a related allegation that a student’s records were improperly accessed by a UC employee. The incident has raised questions about the limits of the university’s authority over an employee’s outside activities. 

The situation began with a Berkeley bus stop confrontation in late September between UC sophomore Erika Williams, an African-American, and Sherman Boyson, a white undergraduate assistant in the UC Social Welfare Department. The two had a second confrontation in mid-October in the doorway to the apartment building where both Williams and Boyson live, and then a third, a week later while both were riding on a city bus. 

It does not appear that either Williams or Boyson knew at the time of the confrontations that the other was connected to the university. 

Williams alleges that during the course of the three confrontations, Boyson called her a “nigger” and threatened “to kick the shit out of” her, as well as calling her and her Asian-American roommate, Helen Kim, a “bitch.” Williams also alleges that during the confrontation in the doorway to their apartment building, Boyson physically assaulted Kim by bumping into her. 

In an interview with the Daily Californian newspaper, Boyson admitted he called Williams a “nigger,” but said he did so only after she called him a “fat fuck.” The Daily Cal also reported that Boyson sent Williams a letter of apology for using the racist and sexist terms. 

“I never should have used it, even indirectly,” the paper quoted Boyson as saying. “I know on my part I made a mistake and I apologized.” 

Neither Williams nor Boyson could be reached in connection with this article. 

During last month’s meeting of the UC Regents on the Berkeley campus, members of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) marched through the campus to the steps of Haviland Hall to protest Boyson’s actions. BAMN has also been circulated petitions calling for the university to fire Boyson. A BAMN spokesperson said that the petitions will be turned in to Chancellor Robert Birgenau on Monday afternoon. 

Williams has also called for Boyson to be fired. 

In a statement released last month, Birgenau condemned Boyson’s language. 

“I cannot state strongly enough how much this university must deplore strongly and without question the use of racist language of any kind,” Birgenau said. “Use of racist language is so deeply hurtful to individuals and it is also hurtful to our community, violating the values that we share as a university. I share the outrage our students and others feel when such language is used.” 

Birgeanu went on to say, “The university is examining this situation fully and the role that we can play in ensuring that our campus climate is welcoming to all.” 

But in an indication that this examination would not include the confrontations themselves, the chancellor said that “the verbal exchange between one of our students and a staff member appears to have been a personal dispute which occurred off campus.” 

UC Berkeley Public Information Officer Marie Felde confirmed that the university’s examination would not include the three off-campus confrontations. 

Felde said that, following the confrontations, Williams made complaints to the university’s Employment Discrimination Office and UC Title 6/Title 9 coordinator, which handles sexual harassment and racial discrimination claims. 

“Those offices tried to ensure that she got any needed help,” Felde said, adding that “the UC administration is conducting a review to see if these offices had any jurisdictional responsibility to do anything further.” 

Felde also said that the university is looking into a second allegation of “student records improperly accessed.” 

In a letter written last month to UC Dean James Midgley, Williams said that “apparently after finding out from a neighborhood store owner that I am a Cal student and that his harassment had potential professional ramifications, Boyson wrote me an ‘apology’ letter effectively acknowledging his harassment. He somehow learned my name (including its unusual spelling), where I lived, and posted the letter on my apartment door. It deeply disturbs me that he may have abused his access to school databases as an academic advisor to learn this personal information about me. I know of no other way he could have learned that personal information.” 

A spokesperson for BAMN called the university’s decision not to include the initial off-campus confrontations in its review “disgusting.” 

“Clearly anyone who threatens to physically assault women and uses the ‘b’ word and the ‘n’ word is not fit to work with students,” said BAMN Northern California Coordinator Yvette Felarca. “Whether it happened on or off campus has no bearing. If it was a black administrator who assaulted two white students and called them these names, we wouldn’t even be having an investigation. He’d be gone.”  

Felarca said that Chancellor Birgenau “has said that his goal is to increase minority enrollment on the UC campus, if he is sincere, he will rid the campus of administrators who openly attack black and Latino students. We’re asking him to match his words with his deeds.”w

Members of the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) Monday tackled everything from a nuclear accelerator building to UC Berkeley expansion plans. 

First up came comments on the university’s plans for a major expansion project at and around Memorial Stadium. 

Stadium area projects 

Berkeley Planning Director Dan Marks had little good to say to the commission about the university’s environmental review of development plans in the stadium area. 

“It’s extraordinarily weak for an environmental document,” said Marks of the university’s Nov. 14 notice of preparation of an environmental impact report (EIR). “There are no detailed project descriptions, only very broad descriptions.” 

Among other flaws, Marks said that while it appears that the stadium will add significant height above the existing rim, no details are presented, historical preservation elements are weak, and the data presented is “pretty slim.”  

LPC Commissioner Robert Johnson said he was concerned that while the proposal adds hundreds of new parking spaces, no consideration was given to encourage the use of public transportation. 

“It’s stupid to have a parking lot,” said Commissioner Carrie Olson. “You want to encourage students to take public transit. It’s also on top of an earthquake fault.” 

“It could be a very expensive parking lot for that reason,” quipped Marks. 

The site, which encompasses a major new building to house joint programs of the university’s law and business schools, includes two landmarks slated for destruction—the Cheney Houses on College Avenue—of which one is especially notable, said Commissioner Leslie Emmington. 

While settlement of the city’s suit against the university’s Long Range Development Plan precluded a strong city role in most campus development, Marks noted that Memorial Stadium was specifically excluded, giving the city a stronger say. 

Referring to the vague descriptions in the UC Berkeley document, Commission Steven Winkel said “the level of detail is not adequate for preparation of a project EIR.” 

On a unanimous vote, the commission decided to ask the university to review all plans for the project at the time of conceptual design, when changes can still be made, rather that at the level of schematic plans, which are much less likely to result in any significant change. 

A scoping session for preparation of the environmental document was held by the university Thursday evening after the Daily Planet’s deadline.  

Bevatron 

The commission conducted an initial hearing on LA Wood’s proposal to landmark the Bevatron Building at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). 

Lab officials—including Ben Feinberg, the last head of Bevatron operations— and a graduate student argued against declaring the building a landmark, saying that the best monument to the history of the site would be construction of new labs equipped with the latest hardware to conduct more ground-breaking research. 

Completed in 1953, the Bevatron was in operation until Feb. 21, 1993, by which time larger and more powerful particle accelerators had become the source of most new discoveries. 

Wood and other landmarking proponents argued from both the public health and historical perspectives, and Wood called the conical-roofed structure a world landmark. 

Gene Bernardi expressed concern that if the building were demolished then trucks carrying contaminated waste would pose threats to health and traffic as they drove toward Interstate 80, both along the Hearst Avenue-Oxford Way-University Avenue corridor and along Ashby Avenue. 

Chair Jill Korte suggested and commissioners approved continuing the hearing until January to allow time for commissioners to visit the site. 

Unveiling 

Developer Dan Diebel of Urban Housing Group (UHG) presented the latest version of his firm’s plans for developing a square block of housing over ground floor commercial spaces in the block of 700 University Ave. that now houses the old Santa Fe Railroad station, Brennan’s Irish Pub and Celia’s Mexican restaurant. 

Of the three existing structures, only the station—a city landmark—would be spared, though the interior would be remodeled to provide a new home for Brennan’s, a long-time Berkeley institution. 

UHG has hired Emeryville architect Sady S. Hayashida to design the station remodel, the same architect who created the plans for converting the landmark Howard Automotive Building at 2140 Durant Ave. into a Buddhist seminary and study facility. 

Diebel said his firm would present a Draft Environmental Impact Report on the project soon after the start of the new year. 

The main development, designed by architect David Johnson of Christiani Johnson, would consist of two buildings, one on the northern half of the block and the other on the southern half, separated by an internal roadway that would feature street-level shops. 

Each building would be designed around a central courtyard, and the dwellings on the four-floor southern building would feature stoops, much like New York brownstones. 

While commissioners began with generally favorable comments, the five-story northern building came in for some criticism—especially because many commissioners found that it overwhelmed the one-story train station. 

Sara Satterlee, who lives in the nearby landmark Sisterna Tract Historic District, said that while she appreciated the developer heeding neighborhood comments raised in a series of community meetings, “it’s unfortunate to have a development of this size in West Berkeley.” 

Heinz Building 

While it appeared initially that the commission would approve a proposal to replace the corrugated metal rear facade of the H.J. Heinz Building on San Pablo Avenue with stucco, a suggestion by Commissioner Winkel to replace the existing metal with new, thicker metal quickly gained the upper hand. 

The building’s owner and architect were given a month to come up with new options. 

Ordinance revisions 

Commissioners also grilled Calvin Fong, aide to Mayor Tom Bates, over the mayor’s proposed changes to the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. 

The City Council has been presented with two competing version of a revised ordinance, one from landmarks and the other from the Planning Commission. 

Mayor Bates unveiled his own draft recently, which has raised strong concerns among some commissioners.  

By the end of the session, the commission asked to make a formal presentation at an upcoming City Council workshop on the ordinance. Chair Jill Korte and members Carrie Olson and Leslie Emmington will develop the presentation.

The popular and sometimes controversial watch commander of North Oakland’s PSA-2 beat is leaving his post for the department’s central office, leaving regretful North Oakland citizens behind. 

Lt. Lawrence Green’s requested transfer to the Oakland Police Department’s Traffic Division and as one of the department’s SWAT team Tactical Commanders is effective this weekend. His North Oakland position will be taken by Lt. Jim Meeks. 

“I’m really sad to lose Lt. Green,” Vice Mayor and North Oakland Councilmember Jane Brunner said in a telephone interview. “He was the best officer I’ve ever worked with. He’s creative. He’s honest. He tells you what he’ll do and what he can’t do. He’s always on top of things. That being said, he’s been in North Oakland for five years and he wanted a change so that he could receive the training needed to become the leader of a police force. So I support him in his move.” 

That position was echoed by Don Link, chair of the Shattuck Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council, which often coordinated efforts with Green in his capacity as community police liaison in North Oakland. 

“The announcement does not come as a surprise,” Link said in an emailed statement to NCPC members, “but as a conclusion to a wonderful partnership with an innovative and courageous police commander and wonderful human being. It is also reason to celebrate the successes of Lawrence Green’s tenure in North Oakland and the fine work of his commanders and colleagues who performed so well for so long. ... We will all miss Lawrence as our PSA lieutenant, but thank him for his stellar work in North Oakland that reverberated throughout the city.” 

Green did not return calls for this article. 

Green was widely credited with introducing hi-tec innovations into his North Oakland community policing work, establishing first an internet mailing list where residents could discuss police and safety issues and police information could be disseminated, and then later launching a North Oakland police website. 

The website he developed included photos and descriptions of suspects sought by OPD, a link to Megan’s Law sex offender list, listings and maps of recent crimes in the North Oakland area, and email contact forms for local police officials. 

In addition, Green encouraged residents to call in drug activity tips to his office and then posted the information on the website to alert citizens. The postings included addresses and names of alleged perpetrators, along with such comments as “People smoking crack in the yard,” “Sonny’ selling from inside—Burgundy sedan involved,” and “Hiding drugs in back yard of vacant house.” 

Link acknowledged that what he characterized as Green’s “enthusiastic” activities led to some controversy. 

“All of this deliberate 2-way communication between OPD and the community policing public was new at the time and radical, so much so that Lawrence was criticized and called on the carpet by some of the stiffer and more traditional command staff,” Link wrote. “At least one other PSA Lt. and probably several did not agree with his strategy and program and resisted following his lead. [Former] Chief [Richard] Word, however, saw the value of what Lawrence had created and how it advanced the cause of the community policing partnership, and ordered other PSA Lts. to follow suit. The process was uneven, but today every PSA Lt. is attempting to meet the basic standards set up by Lawrence Green.” 

But there were other controversies that other police lieutenants did not follow. 

Last March, Green received criticism when he publicly came to the defense of North Oakland resident Patrick McCullough after McCullough shot and wounded a teenage neighbor after a sidewalk confrontation in front of McCullough’s North Oakland home.  

“The reason that Patrick was assaulted by these suspects is that he stands up to drug dealers in a way that normal citizens do not,” Green told the Daily Planet even before the police investigation into the shooting had been completed. Green also told a CNN reporter that “I know Patrick McCullough. I know those—the thugs involved, and I understand what the dynamics are of that neighborhood. So it’s clear to me, after doing a little investigating, that Patrick McCullough was in the right and acted properly.” 

Green later mobilized NCPC members through the group’s internet discussion group to pressure the Alameda County District Attorney’s office not to prosecute McCullough for the shooting.  

Green’s replacement, James Meeks, most recently served as the head of the Oakland Police Department’s Property Crimes Section, and was the 2002 Community Service Award recipient for the Bay Area Safety Network. 

Of his replacement, Green said, “when plans were made for me to leave a couple of months ago, Captain Vierra asked me to find the best possible replacement for North Oakland—and, I did. Jim is actually the original community policing guy around here. He is a wonderful person/role model and I’m sure you will be very pleased with him.” 

Vice Mayor Brunner said that while she doesn’t know Meeks “very well,” the incoming lieutenant has already assured her that “he will continue the programs started by Lt. Green, including the website. But he has big shoes to fill.” 

e

Forget blue states and red states. At the Berkeley City Council Tuesday, it was green signs versus orange signs. 

Partisans of the orange persuasion were advocates of closing a stretch of Derby Street to make room for a regulation-sized baseball diamond for Berkeley High School, while the green folk wanted Derby left open. 

The crowds were large enough that firefighters were assigned to monitor the doors and keep scores of would-be participants corralled on the first floor of Old City Hall. 

In sheer numbers, fans of closing the street—consisting in large part of Berkeley High School students and parents—predominated. 

The council could take no official stand on the street closure without first seeing an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which Berkeley Unified School District board member Shirley Issel urged to council to fund. 

City Manager Phil Kamlarz outlined the steps necessary before the project could be approved. 

In order to “vacate” (close) Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street, the city would first need the EIR to hold a hearing before the Planning Commission, followed by the presentation of a phased approach to the development of the fields. 

The school district and members of the Berkeley High baseball team want the street closed because that’s the only way the district can build a regulation field. The team now uses the diamond at San Pablo Park. 

Neighbors who want the street kept open said that the district instead should go ahead with developing multi-use fields on the smaller San Pablo Park. Building the new fields would open up San Pablo to more neighborhood events, which appealed to Councilmember Darryl Moore, whose district includes the site. 

Councilmember Dona Spring urged her colleagues to give serious consideration to keeping the street open, but the most members indicated a willingness to consider the closure. 

The key remaining issue is the fate of the farmers’ market held each Tuesday along that same block of Derby Street. 

Linda Graham, program director of the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, said that “any time a market is forced to move off-site, it takes four years to recover—if they do at all.” 

A move would reduce visibility and make handicapped access more difficult, she said. “A long-term guaranteed site is needed, and we are worried” that the school district might not allow the market to remain in operation. 

Mayor Tom Bates, a strong supporter of developing new playing fields, said councilmembers are legally obligated to keep an open mind. The board voted to hold a public workshop in April on the option of closing Derby Street. 

Other business 

The long-running dispute over the development of a two-story three-unit housing complex at 1532 Martin Luther King Jr. Way ended when councilmembers voted to uphold a 5-4 Zoning Adjustments Board approval of the project. 

Neighbors complained that the project would overshadow the neighbor to the north and result in loss of views, but only councilmembers Dona Spring and Linda Maio sided with their cause, with the other seven councilmembers voting approval. 

The council voted unanimously to schedule a public hearing on the proposed transportation fees that would be assessed to new development projects to offset the costs of new traffic the projects would generate. 

The proposal would offer incentives for developers to provide ways for tenants, customers and employees to use public transit, and if a developer could prove that a project would generate no net increase in automobile traffic, no fee would be required. i

The School Board meeting on Wednesday night marked the end of the presidency of Nancy Riddle. The board passed a unanimous resolution honoring Nancy Riddle for her work. Riddle was described as a strong leader who ran meetings smoothly and calmly. 

“I’ve glad that I’ve only had to use the gavel once this year,” Riddle said. “This speaks well of our community.” 

Former Vice President Terry Doran offered to take over as president. The board voted to name Doran president. Directors Shirley Issel and Joaquin Rivera abstained on that vote. Rivera ran for the vice president position with a unanimous vote of approval. And, as is customary, Superintendent Michele Lawrence was granted the secretary/clerk position. 

“We have our work cut out for us,” said Doran. “We’ll do everything that we can.” 

Public comment 

Some members of the community said they were dissatisfied that their children weren’t accepted into the Honors’ Algebra class at their middle school. 

“Why weren’t more honors’ algebra classes available?” said Karen Nielsen. “Why didn’t BUSD track programs? 

Others came to the meeting to inform the board of the opinion of the East Campus Neighborhood Association on the possible closure of Derby Street to allow the district to build a regulation size baseball field. 

“Please know that you have the full support of the neighborhood in proceeding with the open-street Plan,” said Berkeley resident Susi Marzuola. 

Student performance testing data 

On Wednesday, the board heard about student scores on the Advanced Placement (AP) tests, Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT), and the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), which have a direct impact on the individual student’s future. Three administrators, including Berkeley High School Vice Principal Rory Bled, reported the results to the board. 

The Berkeley Unified School District scored higher than both the county and the state averages in many areas, including on the SAT Verbal, SAT Math, SAT Participation, and SAT Combined Scores. Latin and French had the highest average AP scores, with Latin at 4.44 and French at 4.41. The results also showed that the achievement gap between white students and non-white students is shrinking. 

Many board members said they were concerned that some seniors haven’t yet passed the CAHSEE. 

Riddle asked, “Of the 90 or so seniors that haven’t passed the CAHSEE, how many are on track for meeting their other graduation requirements?” 

Bled replied, “There are 50 seniors who have met all their graduation requirements, except for passing the CAHSEE.” 

“It seems that the trend for high scores in AP Science tests is going down,” observed Vice President Joaquin Rivera.”Do you know why that is?” 

“I can’t comment on why that is,” said Bled, a longtime administrator at Berkeley High School. “We have great science teachers ... You would be welcome to ask them.” 

Board mourns death of longtime employee 

The board observed a moment of silence to honor Dorothy Dorsey, longtime BUSD maintenance department employee, who recently passed away. She provided the BUSD with valuable direction and scheduled all the maintenance work. 

“Her commitment to improving maintenance was impressive,” said Issel.”Her death will be a loss to our community.” 

Funeral services will take place on Saturday morning, Dec. 10, at 10 a.m. at St. Luke MBC, 165 South 7th St., Richmond. 

Student attendance declines as students grow older, the Berkeley School Board learned last week. 

According to a district report on student attendance, which the board heard at the Nov. 16 meeting, Berkeley elementary school attendance fluctuated between 91 percent and 97 percent, but at Berkeley High School, the attendance drop was significant and precipitous. 

From the September high of 96.4 percent, the average student attendance at BHS fell to a low of 85.4 percent in April. The absenteeism at Berkeley High School led to more than $1.5 million in lost revenues because the state of California funds school districts based upon enrollment and attendance. 

The administration recommended no action on the matter at the meeting and asked more information. The board requested a further report on reasons for the drastic reduction in attendance and details by school. 

—

Berkeley police arrested five Berkeley High School students last Friday after a fight between two youths escalated into a large scale fracas. 

“A large number of officers responded to the school” after the first call came in at 3:24 p.m., said Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

The suspects were charged with a variety of offenses including fighting on school property, assault on school property, battery on a police officer, assault on a school employee, and trespassing on school property with intent to disturb the peace. 

—

The Alameda County district attorney’s office Thursday refused to press murder charges against a 42-year-old former Berkeley man accused of killing his parents and sister. 

Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies said Edward Michael Mills was then released from the Berkeley Police Department lockup. 

Mills was the son of Al and Jeannie, who had received death threats after they left the People’s Temple cult of the late Rev. Jim Jones, who later committed suicide in Guyana along with more than 900 of his followers. 

The couple and their daughter Daphene were found murdered in the home at 2731 Woolsey St. on Feb. 26, 1980. 

Edward Mills was present in the house, and though police found evidence of gunshot residue on his arms at the time, the young man said he hadn’t heard the gunshots and had been unaware of the killings. 

Okies said police issued an arrest warrant several weeks ago after developing new physical evidence and gathering new statements from key witnesses. 

While conspiracy theorists attributed the slayings to surviving cultists angered at the Mills’s defection, Okies said that evidence developed by the department indicated the crime was unrelated to the cult. 

This was the third high profile murder arrest the Berkeley police have made in recent months only to release the suspect soon after. In August, the Berkeley police arrested two men in the 1970 murder of a city police officer, but dropped charges against them days later. One of the men had been arrested in 2004 for the same crime, but was then also released.t

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OAKLAND 

Editors, Daily Planet: Becky O’Malley’s gloomy portrait of Oakland is not supported by the facts (“Closer to One-Party Government,” Dec. 6). 

She claims downtown business has declined when, in fact, the number of Oakland-based businesses has inc reased by 22 percent since 1999. Entrepreneurs have opened 13 new galleries, 25 new clubs/bars and 40 café/restaurants in this revitalized area. Thousands of people will soon inhabit this zone, and it will thrive.  

On a larger scale, Oakland has bucked a national urban trend by continuing to attract new jobs. Whole Foods, Lexus, Infiniti, Best Buy, Gatorade, Ask Jeeves, Comcast and Niman Ranch are among the major companies that have recently dropped roots here. The city’s employment rate is up by nearly three percent in the past year alone. This is good news. 

Property values have risen by 51 percent in the past seven years. In that time, the city has increased investment in affordable housing by 42 percent. By the end of next year, the number of afforda ble housing units in Oakland will have increased by 33 percent over the 1998 total. Simultaneously, violent crime rates have dropped; the murder rate declined by 23 percent last year. These are positive trends. 

O’Malley’s negative opinions concerning parks and education are similarly refutable by the facts, but I’ll keep this brief: It has become fashionable for a certain embittered clique of ideologues to deny the successes of Oakland in the Brown years. That’s politics. Under Mayor Brown’s leadership, however, Oakland is moving forward at an unprecedented pace. That’s reality. 

Gil Duran 

Office of the Mayor 

Oakland 

• 

DON’T BELIEVE  

THE HYPE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read with fascination and amazement Zelda Bronstein’s article comparing Wal-Mart to the University of California. Surely she doesn’t believe her own hype. My assumption is that she makes these statements as she hopes to sell more news papers to her local customers.  

UC needs to take dramatic efforts to take costs and inefficiencies out of its business model in support of its core mission to provide high-quality education at a reasonable cost to the state’s citizens. The idea that the university should support Zelda’s preferred local suppliers at very high margins is not the university’s re sponsibility. In addition, did Zelda compare the number of “locals” that Office Max employs compared to her favorite local supplier, or did she compare the benefits provided to Office Max employees? 

Stop worrying about lining the pockets of your local fa vorites, who for years have made a killing on the UC system and its students. 

Stuart Davis 

Senior Vice President  

Enterprise Accounts, Kaiser Permanente 

• 

ECOLOGY CENTER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Ecology Center certainly does some great things. I’m su re they do an adequate job of running the Farmers’ Market. But their illogical opposition to closing the street for the park at Derby has many people disappointed. They make vague, unsubstantiated claims of ruin if they move 100 feet north to a park setti ng. Is the concrete of a basketball court in the new park any different than the concrete of the existing street? Do a couple less parking spots cancel out all of the increased access, visibility and improvements they stand to gain? 

Farmers who have been in Berkeley markets and the Farmers’ Market at the Ferry Building say the Ferry Building is fantastic. That’s an off-street location. It has great signage and is merchandised and laid out well.  

What is the real reason for opposition to removing a stree t and building a park? Is it that insurance will be required if the markets are on Berkeley Unified School District land? I hope that the Ecology Center has not put that cost of doing business over the eight years worth of kids that have missed out on a p ark. An “Ecology” Center should promote parks and greenspace, not streets. The Ecology Center claims the markets are a community resource. If they are not going to support the community, why should we pay a premium for their products to support them? 

Ber keley has already derailed plans to improve Civic Center park. With the Ecology Center’s backing, the vocal minority that opposes closing Derby Street might see all the obvious advantages of building the best park possible when you have the chance. 

Bart S chultz 

• 

DERBY STREET 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a long-time resident of Berkeley, let me suggest that not only should Derby Street remain open but that all the other streets that have been closed off, barricaded, made one way and speed bumped be return ed to their previous states.  

It is apparent that some streets are more precious in this city than others, but as someone who lives on a so-called corridor street I don’t understand why some neighborhoods receive preferential treatment while other street s are forced to take on the re-routed traffic.  

A final opinion regarding street closures and barricades: Unless a driver has all the street barricades in mind at all times, she is often forced to drive circuitous routes to the final destination. This wa stes gas, causes pollution and frustration and adds to the traffic such structures were said to be built to avoid.  

Leave well enough alone and concentrate on matters of greater import, such as the sorry state of the sidewalks, the excessive use of concr ete, and the filth where the City Council apparently wishes the car-less populace to promenade.  

Constance Wiggins  

• 

MISINFORMATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Yet again, School Boardmember John Selawsky misleads readers of the Daily Planet. He states that he has looked over city records and that the cost (for two playing fields) at Harrison Park was well over $1 million rather than the $750,000 I indicated. No, Harrison Park, which includes playing fields, cost well over $1 million because it also included a field house ($350,000) and lights ($250,000) neither of which are part of the Derby project. With a simple phone call to me he could have provided the community with the correct facts, but he didn’t. I just don’t see how this comes under his professed p urpose of these letters to the editor: “I can help illuminate.” How does providing poorly researched and incorrect information do anything but confuse people? And this was the point of my first letter: People expect more from a School Board member than unsubstantiated statements.  

This elected School Board member goes on to refer to me as “cleverly avoiding” other aspects of the project. “Clever” has nothing to do with it. I could write a full page on the incorrect factual statements (BHS can use Gilman, fence heights will be much lower with an open Derby, only boys will be able to use the closed Derby field, the Farmer’s Market will be destroyed, etc.) that have been written about this project, but my experience is that longer editorial letters rarely g et published. I comment on those things that I consider most egregious and given what has transpired in this country over the last few years I am totally done with elected officials who provide false information and try to scare people so that they can pu sh their agenda. I don’t object to people arguing against closing Derby. They just need to provide factually correct information, which is not what has happened here.  

Doug Fielding 

Chairperson Association of Sports Field Users 

• 

CAMPUS BAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There has been quite a bit of discussion about drums allegedly buried on land owned by the Richmond Community and Economic Development Agency, immediately adjacent to the Marina Bay ment. Often there is talk about development of Campus Bay in those same discussions.  

It is true that the DTSC is investigating the area where drums are allegedly buried and they will do their job to protect the Richmond community. It is the DTSC’s responsibility to ensure the property is clean and safe for the Ma rina Bay neighbors, which means it will also be clean and safe for the people at Campus Bay. 

It is not true, as reported by the Berkeley Daily Planet, that a residential development is currently planned for Campus Bay. Cherokee Simeon Ventures, LLC has withdrawn our development application as we continue to work with DTSC. We will not propose any development until the DTSC has deemed the property clean and safe. Also, the Daily Planet incorrectly identified the contractor working for DTSC to investigate the alleged buried drums.  

The necessary steps to make Campus Bay clean and safe for the future are being taken. We are confident the City of Richmond and the DTSC will do the same for the area where drums are allegedly buried. We hope that your newspape r will join in these efforts by offering accurate and unbiased reporting. That’s what it takes to be good neighbors.  

Dwight Stenseth 

Managing Director 

Doug Mosteller 

Engineering Project Manager 

Cherokee Simeon Ventures 

Campus Bay 

• 

GARDENING IN OAKLA ND 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I would not wish to engage in a discussion with James Sayre about the right or wrong of the manner in which his yard was either trashed or neatened, depending upon one’s viewpoint; although as a neighbor who walks past his house at least twice each weekday on my way to work, I had begun to find the manner in which the plants, weeds or otherwise, overhung and protruded into the sidewalk space an obstacle to public passage. (Nonetheless, I rather liked the morning glory vine, I mu st confess.) 

I would point out, however, that Mr. Sayre complains that he did not receive notice of the City of Oakland’s intention regarding his yard because the title to his property is still in his deceased parents’ names. Mr. Sayre also states that h is parents have been dead for two years. 

Mr. Sayre seems to misunderstand the workings of property ownership in Oakland. It is not really that the means of contacting concerned parties should be broadened, as he claims, but rather that, if Mr. Sayre wish es to receive such notices in a timely fashion, he ought to conform to the law and register his property in his own name. He will, of course, incur an increase in his property taxes, but in this he will suffer the same penalty as do the rest of us who obe y the law. 

David Brown 

Oakland 

• 

PUNISHING  

WORKING FAMILIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The House of Representatives passed a devastating budget reconciliation bill that wreaks havoc on millions of working families who need child care. In addition to making deep cuts in health care, child support, and food assistance for the working poor, the bill renews TANF, the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program. To receive assistance, young mothers with young children must now work even longer hours, typical ly in low-wage jobs, increasing their need for child care assistance to ensure their children are in safe and supportive child care settings. 

The House flagrantly ignores the realities of hard-working parents. Current estimates show that by 2010, under t heir plan, 330,000 children from low-income working families (30,000 in California) will lose child care assistance.  

The only good thing you can say about the House cuts is that they haven’t happened yet. The House and Senate still have to work out a fi nal agreement on the budget. They vote this week. A budget bill that punishes working families in this way should be overwhelmingly defeated. Call Washington now! 

Tedi Crawford 

• 

LIQUOR STORES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In reading recent articles on Oakland’s liquor store situation and mainly the histrionics of Oakland itself, there seems to be continual finger-pointing as to the cause of the problems. Just because whites left Oakland and blacks populated it does not mean a “conspiracy” has occurred. The ma in problem boils down to the inability of the black community to police itself and show self-restraint in its activities. If you take public housing for one instance these were nice places generally when they were new. Within several years they became eye sores and hangouts for criminals. The PHA would fix problems and almost immediately they would become run down. 

If the black community would stop waiting for others to fix their problems instead of them taking an active role in the improvement of their c ommunity this problem would be reduced. The Oakland community needs to do something other than complain to every governmental agency you can think of to fix the problem for them and take an active role in doing it for themselves. A lot of the problems wou ld disappear if this were done. Instead it is always somebody ese’s fault and somebody else needs to fix it. It is time to stand up and take personal responsibility for what goes on in your community people, plain and simple. How often do these folks take a pro-active measure to fix the community rather than look to others to do it for them?? 

This is something to really look at before once again complaining to everybody else to fix the problems you have allowed to fester in that community. 

Christopher Fu ller 

• 

UNIVERSITY OF CORRUPTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Last week was a busy week for the University of California to prove its antagonism toward a happy future. How can such a noble institution filled with so many great educators, employees and students, be run so immorally? It is hard to know where to start. Perhaps the most notable evil this week was the Regent vote to raise student fees, yet again, to enhance the bloated bank accounts of UC’s high administrators. Anyone paying attention has already n oted the radical change of UC’s student body from the diverse best of the state to the elite wealthy. 

Or maybe one might want to focus on UC’s callous disregard for the City of Berkeley and its oh so tedious democratic process. UC is like a cancer that eats into our fine city, expecting Berkeley’s taxpayers to subsidize its services and bow to its newest long range deployment plan, refusing even to toss a bone of mitigation for all the new traffic they propose. Why is this not an obvious priority for UC that they encourage public transportation, providing passes for their student and employees? If they put the money for those empty private buses that circle campus into AC transit, we could all breathe better, literally. 

Or maybe one may want to note UC’s new cockemaney plan to tear down their radioactive Bevetron in the Berkeley hills and drive over 2000 truckloads of radioactive dusty debris through our streets to some other sucker community.  

Or what about UC’s plans to destroy Gill Tract (the only remaining agricultural land in Berkeley), affordable student family housing in Albany and their beautiful community garden. Who comes up with these plans? They are certainly going against the outspoken will of the community! 

Or what about the destruction of the poor people’s free clothing exchange box in People’s Park. Is nothing too low for them? 

With such questionable morality, it is really hard to trust UC with this nations nuclear weapons research! 

It doesn’t have to be like this. Just imagine a sta te university dedicated to educating citizens with the valuable knowledge to create a sustainable and just society. Imagine a university run by elected officials accountable to the tax payers of California. We could have research dedicated toward determin ing the safety and efficacy of technologies in the interest of the citizenry rather than the corporations desiring to profit off those technologies. Imagine a grateful campus, supporting its host city, opening its libraries and facilities to the community, paying its fair share for services to the city and to its own dedicated employees. Imagine a university content with its size and power, which put its resources primarily toward providing a quality and affordable education to any qualified adult. Imagine a state school, void of graft and corruption, which we could all be proud to support. 

Cyndi Johnson 

• 

JUDGE ALIOTO 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

People should wonder how would Judge Samuel Alito would rule on the issue of water, if he is confirmed as a U.S. Supreme Court judge. If people are concerned about preserving clean water, they will be disappointed, because Judge Alito, along with his fellow conservative judges, will roll back laws protecting it. The majority of these conservative judges favor the o il, gas, mining, and chemical companies over the preservation of clean water. 

People should understand that clean water is good for the earth. It nourishes the body and mind. If people are concerned about preserving clean water, then they call or write t o several U.S. Senators and ask them to reject the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Billy Trice, Jr. 

Oakland 

• 

IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

State law (Penal Code 596.7)requires (in part) that veterinarians subm it reports of rodeo animal injuries to the State Veterinary Medical Board within 48 hours of any incident. I just received copies of the injury reports for 2005: a grand total of one! Can you believe it? Me neither.  

California hosts some 175 professiona l rodeos annually, plus probably twice that number of amateur events. (Inexcusably, the Mexican-style rodeos called “charreadas” are not covered by current law. This must change.) 

The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) itself estimates that there’s an animal injury, on average, at nearly half the PRCA rodeos. If that’s true (and things are even worse on the amateur circuit), then one would expect close to a hundred injury reports every year. Something’s terribly amiss. 

Current law allows for either an “on site” or an “on call” vet. The “on call” option obviously isn’t working, and animals are suffering accordingly. There should be an “on site” veterinarian at every California rodeo, pro and amateur alike. All rodeos require on-site ambulances and paramedics to care for injured cowboys, and rightly so. Don’t the animals deserve equal consideration? 

Those concerned should write their legislators demanding that current rodeo law be strengthened, and apply to the Mexican rodeos as well. All legi slators may be written c/o The State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814. 

Eric Mills, coordinator 

Action For Animals  

• 

SIERRA CLUB 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have recently been elected to the Sierra Club Bay Chapter’s Executive Committee for a two-year term. T his chapter has 40,000 members in four counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, and San Francisco) and a budget of about one million dollars. 

For the last 20 years I have been obsessed with (that is, strong and constant for) what my then-wife called “’applied urban environmentalism.” Although recycling is everybody’s friend, the amount of garbage in the United States is now more than twice what it was on Earth Day 1970; if we treated our air and water like we treat our solids, we would all be poisoned or asphyxiated. Nobody ever anywhere in this country has calculated what the environmental benefits of total recycling would be; think of all the trees to be saved, mines never dug, etc. if we recycled everything. Unfortunately, policy makers defend landfill ing and incineration like cigarette companies defend indoor air pollution; plastic creators and fabricators are indifferent to the loading of plastic granules in seawater at a rate six times that of phyto-plankton.  

As a non-incumbent I was elected to bring fresh interests to the ExCom; please contact me at arboone3@yahoo.com with your comments and concerns.  

Arthur R. Boone  

• 

LETTERS TO THE GOVERNOR 

Dear Gov. Schwarzenegger: 

Today is the day you will hear arguments on the fate of Stanley Tookie Williams. I feel so strongly against the death penalty that I demonstrated yesterday at San Quentin and, along with seven others, was arrested for blocking the entrance. 

Stanley Tookie Williams is convicted of shooting a young man in the back, and this morning on ABC I saw his grandmother talking about that crime. She thought he deserved the death penalty. Like the people of your native Austria, and the entire European Union, I do not believe in the death penalty no matter how horrific the crime was.  

Stanley Tookie Williams, as a convicted murderer, deserves life in prison without parole.  

As the Old Testament says in Deuteronomy: I have set before thee life and death. Therefore choose life. 

Carolyna Marks 

Dear Gov. Schwarzenegger: 

My name is Mariana, and I dont live in California, I live in Chicago, Illinois. I’m 8 years old, in the third grade. I’m writing to you because I found out that Mr. Stanley Williams will be killed for some bad things he did when he was a young man. I read his books, and I know he used to be a gangbanger and that they say he had some people killed. My uncle was in a gang when he was 19 years old, and he has always told me and my brothers and sisters that it’s the worst mistake for a young person to be in a gang. I have two older brothers, 17 years and 22 years, an older sister 16 years, and two younger sisters, 6 years and 4 years. We all hate gangbanging, and will never be gangbangers, because my uncle explained so many things to us, and because of the hard words in Mr. Williams’ books.  

I am happy that “Tookie” wrote all those books for young people. I don’t want him to die. I want him to keep helping young people to get away from gangs and drugs. I dont want to see any of my friends die because they think it’s cool to be in a gang or take drugs. I dont want to die like many other children who were killed just because a gangbanger was shooting at someone else. I dont want to die like the little 4-year-old boy in Ohio, who was choked to death by his gangbanger cousin.  

I know Tookie can help many kids stay away from gangs and drugs. My uncle helped six children to stay out of gangs and away from drugs, and Tookie’s books backed up my uncle’s words. I believe Tookie has saved many young people’s lives by his actions, more than the lives that were taken when he was a young man. If you think he should die after all the good he has done, then maybe you will send a bad idea to children like me. If a person is a drug addict and the drugs make him stupid enough to kill someone, but then he gets help and never does drugs again, and teaches other people that it’s bad to do drugs, is that person still a stupid drug addict? I hear that power is a kind of drug, and gangbangers get addicted to it, and do stupid things. Tookie can’t bring those people who died back to life, and killing Tookie wont bring them back. The death penalty is a bad thing. It kills, just like gangs and drugs. So if a person does something wrong, and tries real hard to make up for it by helping others realize that it’s wrong, does that mean that he or she is worth nothing anyway? Does the death penalty teach anything? How can someone be punished if they’re dead? I thought God is the one who decides when you live or die. I think if you let him be killed, kids like me lose another teacher, and gangbangers lose another enemy. I know you can’t change the past, but maybe you can change the future. 

Will you please let him live? 

Mariana Arriaga, Age 8 

Chicago, Ill.e

There is a moment in Jeffery Goldberg’s New Yorker profile of Brent Scowcroft, George Bush Senior’s former national security advisor, when the current administration’s combination of arrogance and cluelessness crystallize. Over dinner, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice tells Scowcroft that the “good news” from the Middle East is that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is pulling out of Gaza, the first step toward resolving the issue of a Palestinian state.  

According to Scowcroft, he replied, “That’s terrible news. For Sharon this is not the first move, this is the last move.” 

Rice bristled and, says Scowcroft, “We had a terrible fight on that.” 

It is difficult to find oneself on common ground with a man like Scowcroft, a protégé of serial killer extraordinaire Henry Kissinger. He was part of the team that green-lighted Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor, which, according to the United Nations, killed over 200,000 people. There is a cold whiff of death about the man. 

But he gets Ariel Sharon. 

Maybe it is because, like Sharon, he is an ex-general, and understands the centrality of deception in the business of war. And the key to understanding the Israeli prime minister, says Knesset member Yossi Sarid, is to remember, “Sharon is a deceiver.” 

A close—and chilling—examination of the Gaza Disengagement Plan by Sara Roy in the London Review of Books makes that abundantly clear. “Whatever else it claims to be,” writes Roy, “the Gaza Disengagement plan is, at heart, an instrument of Israel’s continued annexation of West Bank land and the physical integration of that land into Israel.” 

Roy, a Harvard economist, has worked in Gaza since 1985 and is the author of numerous books and studies.  

Almost three decades of occupation have turned Gaza into one of the poorest and most desperate regions in the world. Unemployment is upwards of 70 percent, and somewhere between 65 percent and 75 percent of its residents live under the poverty line. Places like the Jabalya refugee camp have three times the density per square mile of Manhattan.  

Gaza has long been a poor place, but it has become measurably worse in the last five years. According to the World Bank, the poverty rate has more than doubled since 2000. A Harvard study projects that, by 2010, Gaza will need to create 250,000 jobs a year just to keep pace with its population growth.  

The World Food Program found that 42 percent of Gazins are “food insecure,” defined as “lack [ing] access to safe and nutritious food essential for normal growth and development.” An additional 30 percent are “food vulnerable.” Some 13.2 of Gaza’s children suffer from “body wasting,” and one in five have moderate anemia. 

The Disengagement Plan will make all of this worse, because a major goal, according to the plan, is “to reduce the number of Palestinian workers entering Israel to the point it ceases completely.” 

Keep in mind that Israel began integrating Gaza and the West Bank into its economy right after the 1967 war. Both area became pools of low wage, skilled labor for everything from construction to agriculture.  

“Decades of expropriation and deinstitutionalization had long ago robbed Palestine of its potential for development, ensuring that no viable economic (or political) structure could emerge,” says Roy. 

Added to that is the destruction waged by the occupation forces in Gaza and the territories. According to the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, “The Occupied Palestinian Territory has lost at least one fifth of its economic base over the last four years as a consequence of war and occupation.”  

When Rice told Scowcroft that the Gaza disengagement was the first step in the creation of a Palestinian state, she was either being disingenuous or hadn’t bothered to read the Plan. “It is clear that in the West Bank,” the document reads, “there are areas which will be part of the state of Israel, including major Israeli population centers, cities, towns and villages, security areas and other places of special interest to Israel.” 

That plan is already well underway. The “security” wall has already isolated 242,000 Palestinians (10 percent of the population) in a closed military zone between Israel’s border and the western side of the wall. Another 12 percent are separated from their lands by settlements or settlement roads. When the 425-mile wall is completed, Palestinians will have access to 54 percent of the West Bank. 

Within the wall, the network of settler roads and tunnels that give freedom of passage to 400,000 settlers, effectively imprison three million Palestinians.  

According to former Knesset member and Gush Shalom leader Uri Avnery, “Sharon does not make a secret of his real intentions: to annex to Israel 58 percent of the West Bank.” Avnery adds that since no Palestinian leader would be a partner to such a “solution,” Sharon plans to unilaterally implement all this, “backed by force, without any dialogue with the Palestinians.” 

The roadblocks, land seizures, and daily humiliations Palestinians go through are all part of a design. Its aim is to make life so unbearable for the Palestinians that they will leave, in what Sharon’s former tourism minister, Benny Elon, calls a “voluntary transfer.”  

“Transfer isn’t necessarily a dramatic moment, with buses and trucks loaded with people,” human rights activist Gadi Algazi told the daily Ha’aretz, but a continuing “strangulation under closures and sieges that prevent people from getting to work or school, receiving medical services, and from allowing the passages of water trucks and ambulances, which send the Palestinians back to the age of the donkey and the cart.”  

Israelis pay a heavy price for the settlements as well. According to Peace Now, the occupation costs $1.4 billion a year. “The settlements,” says Amir Peretz, the new leader of the Labor Party, “have emptied out the budgets of education and welfare of the social periphery and increased the social gap in Israel.” 

Since 1988, child poverty in Israel has increased 50 percent, according to the government’s National Insurance Institute. One third of Israeli children live below the poverty line, and Israel has the dubious distinction of having the second largest gap between rich and poor in the developed world (the U.S. is number one). It also has the highest poverty rate among 65 year olds in the Western world. 

Henry Siegman, former executive head of the American Jewish Congress, points out that the Israelis have a partner if they want one. According to a recent survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey, the majority of Palestinians want a ceasefire, the militias disarmed, and they place “improving their lives” over “ending the occupation.” 

Yet for the most part, the gates to Gaza remain locked. The Israeli government is planning to add 6,500 homes to West Bank settlements, and while it did move 8,500 settlers out of Gaza, it also built accommodations for 30,000 more in the West Bank. The roads and the wall devour Palestinian lands, and targeted assassinations and raids continue. All of this, argues Siegman, invites a terrible retribution. 

“Measures that collectively punish the Palestinian public and undermine efforts to revive Gaza, if not reversed, will lead Palestinians to the conclusion that their optimism was misplaced,” he writes. “If that should happen, no one should be surprised if the intifada returns with unprecedented fury.”

Abraham Lincoln being my favorite U.S. president, I often follow his advice on unconstructive criticism: “If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business.” But two types of criticisms get my immediate attention. One is if someone accuses me of a factual error—my opinions are my opinions, but they ought to be based on the correct facts. The second is if I get called out of my name, which I do not appreciate. 

(For the uninitiated, “called out of your name” is an African-American/Southern saying meaning someone using a derogatory term to identify you, rather than the name you actually carry.) 

Recently a reader, someone identifying himself as Ryan Tate, managed to do both—accuse me of factual error and call me out of my name—in a short amount of words, so he has my attention. 

In response to the Dec. 2 column “The Problem Behind Oakland’s Liquor Store Problem,” Mr. Tate writes the Daily Planet editors in an e-mail: “Could you please forward the following [newspaper article link] to J. Douglas Allen-Taylor. It details how the City of Oakland’s Neighborhood Law Corps has shut down five liquor stores in the past two years. … His statement about ‘benign neglect’ is willfully ignorant and totally inexcusable. If his goal is to attack Jerry Brown, I’m sure there are plenty of true facts he can dig up to do so—there is no need to make up lies.” 

The link referred to a Dec. 1 Jim Herron Zamora San Francisco Chronicle article “Oakland—Handling Liquor Stores Already On The Agenda.” 

I am going to give Mr. Tate the presumption of laziness rather than deliberate misrepresentation, presuming that he simply failed to either completely read or fully comprehend what he was reading in either the Jim Herron Zamora article or my column. 

First, the facts. 

In his Chronicle article, Mr. Zamora wrote, “In the mid-1990s, Oakland adopted a series of ordinances allowing the city to place restrictive conditions on liquor stores and bars... That effort became reality when the Oakland city attorney started the Neighborhood Law Corps in 2002, which placed individual attorneys out in different parts of the city to deal with community complaints. … The law corps published a guide, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” which rates the city’s liquor stores.” Mr. Zamora went on to say that “the city, working with religious leaders, also prodded dozens of liquor store owners to sign a pledge” to take certain actions to mitigate the negative effects of liquor sales in their communities. 

Tell me when you get to the part in the article that outlines Mr. Brown’s role in helping to solve the problem. In fact, nowhere does the Zamora article even mention Jerry Brown. 

In my “Liquor Store Problem” column, I accused Mr. Brown of “benign neglect” over Oakland’s liquor store problem, pretty much ignoring it over the years he has been mayor, but jumping into the mix with a newspaper quotation now that it has become a hot law enforcement issue in the city (and Mr. Brown is running for the top law enforcement position in the state). In the same column, however, I also mentioned City Attorney John Russo’s work with regulating Oakland’s liquor stores, quoted (favorably) from the Neighborhood Law Corps “The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly” report that was talked about in the Zamora Chronicle article which Mr. Tate asked me to read, and added that “thanks to the actions of a coalition of community activists and receptive public officials, there is a moratorium on new liquor licenses in Alameda County.” 

The column, then, appears to me to be fair, giving credit to those Oakland officials who have been working on Oakland’s problem liquor store problem, and chastising Mr. Brown for not. If Mr. Tate—or Mr. Brown, or anyone from Mr. Brown’s office, or anyone else—has some information that Mr. Brown has actually been working on solving the liquor store problem, then please pass it along. As I’ve said, I haven’t seen any evidence of it. 

But what disturbs me is not so much Mr. Tate’s misstating of the facts to make his point, but his decision to call me a liar in the process. This sort of name-calling-from-afar is starting to develop into a bit of a trend. A couple of weeks ago, the Daily Planet published a letter from reader Page McKane, who began by saying, “To J. Douglas Allen-Taylor: You would actually be funny, if only you weren’t so stupid” (concerning a recent column on redistricting). 

As Ned on the corner used to say, “No, folks, you don’t know me well enough to call me that.” 

We are traveling through a bottom land in American political “dialogue” where shouting and name-calling has replaced research and debate as the tools of choice. 

Although I never realized his value during the days when he was the pre-eminent political moderator in the country, I now long for the return of the type of political discussion that used to be carried out by conservative intellectual activist William F. Buckley. Mr. Buckley gave his opponents all the time they needed to make their points—uninterrupted—and then he would slowly and methodically dice their arguments up, smiling that wicked grin all the while, never resorting to personal attack. Convinced that he was the smartest person on his television show set, as well as convinced his positions were correct, putting in the hard work needed to fully research the issue (including what his opponents actually said in total, rather than just skimming over the surface), Mr. Buckley believed that in a fair, civil debate he would always win. 

Today, that sort of civil discourse has long dissolved in that sort of snarling, snapping, mean-spirited personal attacks that we see so often on such outlets as the various Fox News shows, where the person who “wins” the debate is the one who can outshout his opponent. It is a world dominated by people like Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and Anne Coulter. (Shouted down at a University of Connecticut speech this week, Coulter decided to engage in a question-and-answer session instead, saying that “I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am.” “Stupid” seems to be one of the put-down word of choice, these days, among people who you disagree with.) This is a world where too many people tend to read the first paragraph of a column or paper or statement—decide that they are against it—and are already deep into their “scathing” replies before they have taken the time to come to the end of the original entry. This is a world where the Jerry Springer show has become the model for our political dialogue, where the mob mentality rules. It is not the kind of world I want to live in. It is not the kind of political debates I want to have. 

And so, a long time ago, I decided that in these columns, even though I disagreed with someone, I would not call them out of their names. In these columns, I have often criticized the mayor of Oakland, the state Senate president pro tem, the California governor, and the president of the United States, and criticized them sharply. But as far as I can remember (and let me know if I’ve done otherwise), I’ve never called these individuals anything but Mr. Brown, Mr. Perata, Mr. Schwarzenegger, or Mr. Bush. No derogatory nicknames. No snickering disrespect. Given names or titles, one or the other—nothing more. After that, of course, you are free to wail away at their views or their actions, to the best of your beliefs, and to your heart’s content. 

I ask only the same thing, in return. d

A review of the art exhibit, “Justice Matters”, sponsored by the Middle East Children’s Alliance was recently published in the Berkeley Daily Planet (Friday Dec. 2). The writer, Peter Selz, a man with a stellar reputation as an art historian, is an expert in German expressionism as well as many other areas. Unfortunately, in this case, he has stumbled into another world, one that depends not on truth but on propaganda, a world in which art is being misused to serve as a tool to spread hatred and justify violence.  

The show is sponsored by the leaders of the anti-Israel cabal in Berkeley, headed by the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA). This is an organization that purports to help children in the Middle East, but has done nothing to condemn the indiscriminate murder of Jewish children, has defended terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, and spends most of its budget on “educational activities” designed to advocate for one side in a tragic conflict. (Despite its name, it spends less that 60 percent of its revenues on humanitarian purposes.) 

Dr. Selz makes the cardinal error of assuming positions that are conventional wisdom among the anti-Israel crowd, but do not withstand examination and a search for actual evidence. These positions include “transgressions of justice” by Israel against Palestinians, and the existence of “brutal acts committed by the occupying power,” To paraphrase the Nazi propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” The Arab propaganda machine has learned this lesson well.  

Of course, justice matters. But the use of the word justice in this context reminds me of the claim of Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland, ''When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”  

So who defines justice? And who has engaged in the transgression of justice? The Israelis who have built a security barrier with the sole aim of reducing the murder of innocents? Or the Palestinian authority that has done nothing to curb the homicide bombings arising from territory under its control? 

Is it just that we have been talking of the “plight of the Palestinians” for over a half century, when during this entire time wealthy Arab sheikdoms found that it served their purposes to keep the Palestinians in their unfortunate circumstances? When every other refugee group has long since been successfully resettled? Was it just for the Palestinians to be kept as refugees while Jordan occupied the West Bank and Egypt occupied Gaza? Where were the calls for justice then? 

And what brand of justice was served when Yassir Arafat, idol of so many, kept his people in poverty and ignorance by diverting millions to his own bank account. What justice was served when he paid salaries to killers, rather than using his millions to provide housing, education, or health care for his own people? 

And if it is the Israeli occupation that is unjust, why is it that the Arabs launched three wars (1948, 1956, 1967) before the occupation began? And how many remember that there would be no occupation if the Arab states had not tried to destroy Israel?  

Was it justice when a million Jews were forcibly expelled from Egypt, Libya, Iraq, and other Arab countries? Are they not entitled to a right of return, or compensation for the billions in property taken from them? 

Where are the art shows for the Jews who have been murdered in recent years, not only in Israel, but all over the world, precisely because they were Jews? 

The second shibboleth raised by Dr. Selz is the so-called “brutal acts committed by Israel.” What could be more brutal that the murder of children by suicide bombers? Or the brutal lynching of Israelis who accidentally wandered into Ramallah? Or the hatred of homosexuals encouraged by Arab governments? Or the honor killings of unfortunate Arab women by Arab men? Or the summary executions of suspected collaborators in the area occupied by the Palestinian Authority?  

And what exactly are the alleged “brutal crimes of the Israelis?” The invented Jenin massacre, long ago proven to be a myth invented by Palestinian propagandists along with so many other myths, but still believed by so many? The bulldozing of homes used to conceal tunnels used for the smuggling of weapons?  

The commonest “brutal crime” according to the MECA crowd, as shown in one of the exhibitions at the show, has been the building of the so-called “Apartheid Wall,” (Never mind that 95 percent of the security barrier is a fence, not a wall) Why is the fact that the barrier is designed for the sole purpose of saving lives never mentioned? Or the fact that of the hundreds of security fences all over the world, only the security fence in Israel, has been labeled an apartheid wall? And why is it called an apartheid wall when one million Palestinians live in, vote in, and enjoy all the rights and freedoms of Israeli citizens, while not one Jew will be permitted to live in the projected Palestinian state? Which side practices apartheid? 

The art show at the Berkeley Art Center is designed to justify violence. The display is about propaganda, not art. The images shown remind me of the cartoons promulgated by Nazi Germany, designed for the purpose of demonizing Jews and preparing the German people for the massive killings that would soon follow.  

What we need are shows that are committed to both moral righteousness and intellectual truth. We need shows devoted to the concept of living together in harmony, that glorify life rather than death, and that demonstrate the value of loving, not killing, our fellow humans.  

Lawrence W. White is a Berkeley resident, a physician and a bioethicist.  

A small but vocal minority twists logic into a pretzel in its clamor for the death of Tookie Williams on Dec. 12. In contrast, the opposition to the execution stands upon a hierarchy of values and logic that digs deep into the positive side of America and repudiates the murderous side of our history. At the abolitionist base are folks, many of them religious, who believe that taking life, except in self-defense, is egregiously abhorrent. Because this view underpins the declared moral principles of civilization, when a cop kills someone who turns out to not have a weapon, the police plea is often that the officer thought the suspect was armed. That becomes the only acceptable public justification.  

Beyond religious values opposing the death penalty, stand those who believe that killing by the State can only create or worsen a culture of violence, for the act of execution suggests that murder in circumstances other than self-defense can have a clear and useful social purpose. Which godlike figures get to determine those approved circumstances? Of course, it’s the politicians whom the public largely despises and mistrusts. Go figure. Included among death penalty opponents are people who recognize, as Michael Moore pointed out in Bowling for Columbine, that the murder rate in the U.S. is 10-200 times that in the many nations that have outlawed the death penalty. What? Executions preventing murder? The facts don’t jibe.  

Up in the third tier of the opposition stand folks like Democratic Governor Warner of Virginia and former Republican Governor Ryan of Illinois who looked at the statistics and got sick realizing their role. For every 6.5 people executed in the U.S. in the past 30+ years one person on death row has been proven to be innocent of the murder for which he/she was convicted and sentenced to die. That’s scary and means that we are probably executing innocent people and will surely execute many more if we speed up executions. Supporters of the death penalty seem to be incapable of imaging themselves sitting, convicted, on death row, having not committed a crime. But it’s the fact. Our criminal justice system is far more fallible than its defenders are willing to own up to.  

Currently at the pinnacle of this pyramid is the Tookie Williams story. Williams claims he is innocent, and will eventually prove it. Ironically, that appears to be why some people want him killed. Death proponents say that people should be executed who show no remorse and don’t apologize. That is exactly what was done in the Salem Witch Trials. Confess and we’ll let you live. Obviously the rationale here is retribution and intimidation by the State. The early Greeks recognized that they couldn’t advance civilized society unless they tore down retributive justice and had the outcome of trials be based upon the general interests of society rather than the feelings of victims, their loved ones, or anyone else.  

In order to twist the retributive justice theme into some logical framework one writer argued that Tookie has been faking his transformation. Try to write a book and see what kind of effort that takes. It isn’t hard for me to appreciate the social value of a man who has published 9 books read by thousands of young people, hundreds of whom, as a result, then shunned gangs and violence. The movement to end the gang violence throughout California owes much to Tookie Williams. Folks who would negate that fact and not want him to be around to continue to help us reduce violence among youth pretend that the world divides easily into us—the God-fearing saved—and them—the condemned, like Tookie. But that thinking, often based upon puritanical teachings, doesn’t fit with their Bible either. In the origin myth God could have killed Satan, but whomever wrote the story knew that without having Satan around to define evil there would be no way to contrast what is righteous. Satan was cast down to Hell and Earth (In the current storyline San Quentin is a good stand in for Hell).  

Without Tookie, the gang war-lord responsible for much violence and conflict, there is no Tookie whose reconciliation theme proves to youth that we are all capable of being positive socially useful beings. It doesn’t really matter if Tookie Williams has been “reformed” in some abstract world of the self-righteous. His work stands for itself, and for all of us. Arnold: Killing Stan Williams would be, like invading Iraq, another act of collective self destruction for our nation and culture. Collectively we get what we work for, so we’d better save this man’s life if we intend to end gang violence.  

Marc Sapir is an East Bay physician, writer and co-convenor of the April, 2005 UC Berkeley Teach-In on Torture.  

The Christmas Revels celebrates the Winter Solstice—and its 20th anniversary—with songs, dances and stories of medieval England for 10 weekend matinee and evening shows, Dec. 9-18, at Oakland’s Scottish Rite Theater by Lake Merritt. 

With Ensemble Alcatr az as special musical guests, and its own tradition of audience and cast joining together in singing “The Sussex Mummer’s Carol” and dancing in the aisles to “The Lord of the Dance,” The Christmas Revels turns traditional rituals and folk drama into a com munity event for the Bay Area to welcome the Yuletide.  

Harkening back to the festivities at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire in the 15th and 16th centuries, The Revels will bring to the fore the musical group that combines the talents of players featured in pa st years, Ensemble Alcatraz, with soprano Susan Rode Morris, medieval harper Cheryl Ann Fulton, recorder and psaltery player Kit Higginson, Shira Kammen on vielle and rebec and percussionist Peter Maund. 

This presentation of The Christmas Revels also hon ors the memory of Dr. Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer (1947-2005), longtime artistic director and founder of Revels in the Bay Area, credited with having made the show an annual event for the region. 

Mayer once said, “We need those wild and holy expressions of wh o we are which lift us out of isolation and into contact with each other. We need moments that inject the ordinary with awe and engage our capacities for the extraordinary. Celebration does that. And Revels does that.” 

Succeeding Dr. Mayer as artistic director is longtime Revels stage director David Parr, professor of theater at San Francisco City College, who has also directed at West Bay Opera and other Bay Area theaters. 

With ornate costumes (designed by Callie Floor), constant outpourings of period music and song, elaborate courtly processionals and more rustic folk frolics performed by a cast of both children and adults, The Christmas Revels plays on many moods and tones of the holidays, from solemn ritual to raucous burlesque, involving each perfo rmer and every spectator in a group celebration, a theatrical performance witnessed and added to by all present. 

The 1,300-seat Scottish Rite Theater itself adds immeasurably to the atmosphere of revival. Built in 1923, with coliseum seating like tiers f rom which the audience looks down on the stage, the theater binds together the spectators with all the different elements of the performance in a space where the acoustics are almost tangible.  

The set by Peter Crompton will replicate the banquet hall of Haddon Hall, a baronial manor founded in 1170 and added onto until the Tudor period. 

“That banqueting hall hosted events for centuries,” Parr said. “It’s kind of a metaphor for Revels itself, a locus where people come to celebrate. And the first Bay Are a Revels, in 1986, was set at Haddon Hall. We feature some of the music from that first show, too. There’ll be our familiar acts: sword and Morris dancers, the Mummers Play of St. George and the Dragon, with quite an amazing dragon, and an additional piec e, making it a two-dragon Revels: ‘The Laidly Worm of Spindlestone Hewgh.’ Ensemble Alcatraz will perform their own repertoire and serve as house band.” 

With the milestone of a 20th anniversary and the passing of their founder, the company continues to l ook toward the future as the company celebrates its tradition. 

“She was our inspiration for so many years,” Parr said of Mayer. “In a sense every show was dedicated to her.” 

The company has performed spring and fall programs at Julia Morgan Theatre to celebrate May Day and All Hallows-All Saints. And a summer solstice party for The Revels chorus may become a community event with a parade and a Maypole, Parr said. 

The Christmas Revels began 35 years ago in Cambridge, Mass., when Jack Langstaff, who had staged earlier events in New York, founded the series of annual performances, which he said were meant to recreate the Christmas of his youth, when people came together to sing the old songs. 

“Revels is about a time and a place,” said Parr. “This year—an d in our first year—it’s the late middle ages at Haddon Hall. Other years, it’s been medieval Galicia or Elizabethan London. Revels is about the big cycles of life people have always celebrated. So many count on us and we’ll be there for them.” 

The Chris tmas Revels will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9; at 1 and 5 p.m. Dec. 10 and Dec. 11; 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16; and at 1 and 5 p.m. Dec. 17and Dec. 18. $19-$42. Scottish Rite Theater, 1547 Lakeside Dr., Oakland. For more information, see www.calrevels.org or call (415) 773-1181. 

Photo by Sheppard Ferguson: Father Christmas of The Christmas Revels, playing ten shows at Oakland’s Scottish Rite Temple this season.  

s

FRIDAY, DEC. 9 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Marius” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through Dec. 18. Tickets are $28-$45. 843-4822.  

Berkeley Rep “Brundibár” A musical fable staged by Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendak at the Roda Theater through Dec. 28. Tickets are $15-$64. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Noises Off” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through Dec. 10. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Impact Theatre “Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake)” Thurs. through Sun. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean Theater, 1834 Euclid Ave., through Dec. 10. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468.  

Masquers Playhouse “Dear World” Jerry Herman’s musical, Fri. and Sat at 8 p.m. through Dec. 17 at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets are $15. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Shotgun Players “Cabaret” Thurs. - Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Through Jan. 15. 841-6500.  

EXHIBITIONS 

ACCI Gallery Holiday Exhibition Reception at 7 p.m. at 1652 Shattuck Ave. 843-2527. www.accigallery.com 

Juana Alicia & Phoebe Ackley Prints, sculpture, tiles and jewelry. Reception for the artists at 5:30 p.m. at 2016 Ninth St. juanaalicia.com 

Luthier’s An exhibtion of tradition guitar and ukulele making at the Addison Street Windows Gallery, 2018 Addison St., through Jan. 15. 981-7533. 

FILM 

The Battles of Sam Peckinpah “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia” at 7 p.m. and “The Killer Elite” at 9 p.m. at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz discusses “Blood on the Border: A Memoir of the Contra War” at 7 p.m. at the AK Press Warehouse, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. 208-1700. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“The Nutcracker” by Berkeley Ballet Theater at 7 p.m. at The Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $20. 843-4689. www.berkeleyballet.org 

John Schott’s “Dream Kitchen” at 8 p.m. in the Reading Room of the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. 981-6233. 

Voci Women’s Vocal Ensemble “Voices in Peace V” at 8 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church. Tickets are $15-$20. 531-8714. 

Handel’s “Messiah” sing-along with the Young Musician’s Program at 7:30 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Benefit for YMP. Tickets are $15. 642-9988. 

The Christmas Revels at 7:30 p.m., Sat. and Sun. at 1 and 5 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Theater, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$42. 415-773-1181. www.calrevels.org 

Leah diTullio, clarinet, Rachel Turner-Houk, ‘cello, and Abraham Fabella, piano, at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $12. 848-1228.  

HELLA, hip hop, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Susan Muscarella-Mike Zilber Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Aphrodesia, Wisdom at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $5-$8. 548-1159.  

Marcus Shelby Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Nameless & Faceless Bay Area Arts Collective with Inspector Double Negative & The Equal Positives, James Eksel, Lowkee and others at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. 

Ray Bonneville, roots and country blues, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Peppino D’Agostino & Stef Burns at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. 

Kasey Knudson & Eric Volger, contemporary jazz, at 8 p.m. at Ristorante Raphael, 2132 Center St. 644-9500. 

The Dunes, North African fusion, at 9 p.m. at Lucre Lounge, 2086 Allston Way. 

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

Split Lip, Joe Rut Cover Hour at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

Plan 9, Monster Squad, Ashtray at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra at 8 and 10 p.m. through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $18-$28. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Times 4 at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SATURDAY, DEC. 10 

CHILDREN 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Diana Shmiana “Winter Wonderama” at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Especially for ages 3-6. Cost is $4 adults, $3 children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

FILM 

Taisho Chic on Screen “Mr. Thank You” at 5:20 p.m., “The Dancing Girl of Izu” at 7 p.m. and “Osaka Elegy” at 9:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

EXHIBITIONS 

Alvarado Artists Group with works by local painters, photographers, and ceramists at 2649 Russell St., Sat and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 290-9221. 

THEATER 

“Feu la Mère de Madame,” by Georges Feydeau, Sat. and Sun. at 8:30 p.m. at the Alliance Française of Berkeley, 2004 Woolsey St. Tickets are $5, for reservations call 548-7481. 

“Dick ‘N Dubya Show: A Republican Cabaret” Sat. and Sun. at 7 p.m. at The Marsh Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way, through Dec. 18. Tickets are $10-$22. 800-838-3006.  

Moshe Cohen and Unique Derique “Cirque Do Somethin’” Sat. and Sun. at 1 p.m. at the Marsh, 2120 Allston Way. Tickets are $10-$15. 800-838-3006. www.themarsh.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry of Witness and the Witness of Poetry featuring Tim Nuveen, Kirk Lumpkin, Robert Roden, David Madgalene, Christopher J. Luna, Marianne Robinson, Julia Vinograd, and others at 8 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2350 San Pablo Ave. Free. 

Romance Writers of America with Penelope Williamson at 8:30 a.m. at the Marriot Courtyard Emeryville. Cost is $25-$30. 332-5384. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“The Nutcracker” by Berkeley Ballet Theater at 2 and 7 p.m. at The Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $20. 843-4689. www.berkeleyballet.org 

Kairos Youth Choir “Candlelight and Starglow,” a winter solstice concert for the entire family at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Cost is $8-$10. 704-4479. 

Handel’s “Messiah” Latin style with Juantia Ulloa and the Picante Ensemble with the Oakland East Bay Symphony at 8 p.m. at the Paramount Theater, Oakland. 444-0801. 

Sacred & Profane “Motetus: Choral Gems of the Holiday Season” at 8 p.m. at St. Ambrose Church, 1145 Gilman St. Tickets are $12-$18. 524-3611. www.sacredprofane.org 

“To Drive the Cold Winter Away” Renaissance works by Bella Musica Chorus at 8 p.m. at St. Mary Magdalen Church, 2005 Berryman St. Tickets are $10-$15. www.bellamusica.org 

Kensington Symphony Holday Concert at 8 p.m. at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 545 Ashbury Ave., El Cerrito. Suggested donation $10-$15, children free. 524-9912. 

Voci Women’s Vocal Ensemble “Voices in Peace V” at 3 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Tickets are $15-$20. 531-8714. 

Pacific Boychoir “Ceremony of Carols” by Britten, 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Oakland. Ticket information at 452-4722. 

“Musical Night in Africa: Sharing Our Humanity” with The West African Highlife Band and Baba Ken Okulolo & The Nigerian Brothers at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Terrain “Winter Dances: Breaking New Ground” at 8 p.m. at Western Sky Studio, 2525 Eighth St. at Swight. Tickets are $12-$15. 848-4878. 

Nick Gravenites & Barry Melton at 8 p.m. at Round- 

trees, 2618 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10. Benefit for Berkeley Liberation Radio. berkeleyliberationradio@yahoo.com 

Eric Swinderman Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Sheldon Brown at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Fiesta Boricua, Puerto Rican music and dance at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org  

Northwest Shines Darkly at 6 p.m. at Mama Buzz Cafe, 2318 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $3. 289-2272. 

Michael Gill & Kim Hart, contemporary jazz, at 8 p.m. at Ristorante Raphael, 2132 Center St. 644-9500. 

Tom Rush at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $24.50-$25.50. 548-1761.  

Dave Stein and John Howland at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

The Unravellers, The Bittersweets at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

Killing the Dream, Pressure Point, Allegiance at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

Monkey Knife Fight at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, DEC. 11 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Rebirth: New Photographs from Armenia, Georgia and the former Yugoslavia” by Vaughn Hovanessian. Reception with the artist at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2nd floor, 2090 Kittredge St.  

“Taisho Chic: Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia and Deco” guided tour at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-0808. 

FILM 

Taisho Chic on Screen “Sisters of the Gion” at 5 p.m. and “What Did the Lady Forget” at 6:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“One” A film on interconnectedness, with filmmaker Ward Powers, at 4:45 and 7:15 p.m. at Landmark’s 1&2, 2128 Center St. Tickets are $9.25. 464-5980. 

“39 Pounds of Love” The story of Ami Ankilewitz who suffers from muscular dystrophy, with Israeli filmaker at 2:30 and 5 p.m. at Landmark’s 1&2, 2128 Center St. Tickets are $9.25. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Richard Schwartz discusses his new book, “Earthquake Exodus: Berkeley Responds to the San Francisco Refugees” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Ave. 483-0698. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“The Nutcracker” by Berkeley Ballet Theater at 2 p.m. at The Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $20. 843-4689.  

Chamber Music Concert with Peter Wyrick and Amy Hiraga, at 4 p.m. at Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $12, free for children. 559-6910. www.crowden.org 

Margaret Kvamme, organist, in a program of works by all female composers, at 6 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way at Ellsworth. Donations accepted. 845-0888.  

Pacific Boychoir “Ceremony of Carols” by Britten, 4 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church, Oakland. 452-4722. 

Holy Names Orchestra in a program of Brahms and Rimsky-Korsakoff at 3 p.m. at Regents’ Theater, Holy Names University, 3500 Mountain Blvd. Tickets are $5-$15. 436-1330. 

Terrain “Winter Dances: Breaking New Ground” at 8 p.m. at Western Sky Studio, 2525 Eighth St. at Dwight. Tickets are $12-$15. 848-4878. 

Adam Blankman CD release party at 4 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Za’atar, music of the Jews of Arab and Muslim lands, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568.  

Phil Berkowitz & Louis’ Blues at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

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

The Snow Cat at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Gift Horse at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. 

Holiday Beat Bash at 4 p.m. at the Eddie Brown Center for the Arts, 2560 Ninth St. All ages welcome. Cost is $10. 548-5348. 

MONDAY, DEC. 12 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Express with Doug Howerton at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Clarinet Thing with Beth Custer, Ralph Carney, Ben Goldberg, Sheldon Brown and Harvey Wainapel at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Hallifax & Jeffrey at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Natsasha Miller, with guest Steve Erquiaga, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200.  

TUESDAY, DEC. 13 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“From Chaucer to Pynchon in 90 Minutes” By students in the English Dept of Vista Community College at 6 p.m. in Room 120, Vista Annex Bldg, 2075 Allston Way. 306-0206. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Holiday Music with the First Presbyterian Church’s High School Choir at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

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

Christmas Jug Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Debra Poyres & Friends at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Charlie Hunter Trio, featuring John Ellis & Derrek Phillips at 8 and 10 p.m. through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$22. 238-9200.  

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

Brian Kane, solo jazz guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 14 

FILM 

The Battles of Sam Peckinpah “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Jesse Goldhammer talks about “The Headless Republic: Sacrificial Violence in Modern French Thought” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

Café Poetry hosted by Kira Allen at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568.  

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  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit with Lenny Ott, trumpet and Ron McKean, organ, at noon at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Berkeley High School Jazz Combos at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

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

La Peña Workshop Recitals with the Afro Cuban Youth Ensemble, The Lab Live Hip Hop Ensemble and the La Peña Latin Jazz Ensemble at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$7. 849-2568.  

Bernard Anderson & The Old School Band at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Candela at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Home at Last at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

THURSDAY, DEC. 15 

FILM 

Marcel Pagnol’s Provence “Letters from My Windmill” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Justice Matters: Artists Consider Palestine” A exhibition of works by fourteen Palestinian and American artists. “An Evening with Judy Gussman and Joy Hilden” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park. 644-6893.  

Artists’ Annual Exhibition New work in a variety of media. Reception at 6 p.m. at Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

“Taisho Chic: Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia and Deco” guided tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-0808. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

E.L Doctorow introduces his new novel “The March” at 6:15 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $40, $50 per couple and includes the book. Tickets from the Nov. 17 event will be honored. 845-7852.  

Margaretta K. Mitchell and Zack Rogow introduce “The Face of Poetry,” on the Lunch Poems Series, at 7 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Davka at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Magnes Music Salon with Stu Brotman and Josh Horowitz on Jewish Klezmer music at 6:30 p.m. at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $6-$8. 549-6950, ext. 333. 

Jim Grantham Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Friendship First, Midline Errors at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Eye of the Storm Benefit for Racial Justice from Oakland to New Orleans at 6 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Donation $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

Dhol Patrol at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Bhangra dance lesson at 9 p.m. Cost is $8. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

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FRIDAY, DEC. 9 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Deunis Auers on “The Baltics, The EU and Russia” 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. 

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz discusses “Blood on the Border: A Memoir of the Contra War” at 7 p.m. at the AK Press Warehouse, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. 208-1700. 

Scott Ritter “How We Got Into Iraq and How to Get Out” interviewed by Larry Bensky with Daniel Ellsberg, at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. Suggested donation $10. www.ustourofduty.org 

Activism Series on Homelessness with Kurt Kuhwald of the Faithful Fools Ministry and Sharon Hawkins-Leyden of YEAH at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. Donations accepted. 528-5403. 

Tree Lighting, Santa and Community Caroling at 6 p.m. at Peralta Park, 1561 Solano Ave. Sponsored by the Solano Avenue Assn. 527-5358. 

The Living Room Gallery Holiday Trunk Sale, showcasing local artists and craftsmen from the Bay Area at 8p.m. at 3230 Adeline St. 601-5774. 

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

“Fertile Darkness, Winter Lights” A musical gathering for women with Betsy Rose and Jennifer Berezan at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, small assembly room, 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $15-$20. 525-7082. 

Three Beats for Nothing sings early music for fun and practice at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 655-8863. 

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, DEC. 10 

Telegraph Avenue Holiday Street Fair between Dwight and Bancroft, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sat. and Sun. 

Berkeley Artisans Holiday Open Studios Sat. and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For a map of locations see www.berkeleyartisans.com 

“Playing With Fire” Berkeley Potters Guild Holiday Sale from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat. and Sun. at 731 Jones St. at Fourth St. www.berkeleypotters.com 

“Think Outside the Box” Alternative Gift Fair with ways to donate to local and national organizations from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave.  

Berkeley Farmers’ Market Holiday Crafts Fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Center St. at MLK Jr. Way. 548-3333. 

Winter Festival Celebrate the diverse winter traditions of Bay Area families from noon to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Celebration in Honor of Maudelle Shirek at 4 p.m. at St. Paul AME Church, 2024 Ashby Ave. Sponsored by the City of Berkeley. 981-7130. 

1000 Women for Peace Celebration of 14 Bay Area Women Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and booksigning of commemorative volume “1000 Women for Peace” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St., at 27th.  

Special Gifts for Friends and Animals for ages 6-8, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Zoo. Cost is $40-$50. For reservations call 632-9525, ext. 205. 

KPFA Crafts and Music Fair from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Concorse Exhibition Center, 8th and Brannan St., S.F. Cost is $5-$8. 848-6767, ext. 611. 

Debate the new Harry Potter Film, for teens at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. at Ashby. 981-6133. 

Vegetarian Cooking Class for the Holidays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Wheelchair accessible. Cost is $45. 531-COOK. www.compassionatecooks.com 

Creating Festive Succulant Wreaths at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

Growing Edible Mushrooms Learn how to grow mushrooms in wood logs. Please bring a cordless drill, drill bits and beeswax if you have them. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Eco-House, 1305 Hopkins St. Cost is $15, no one turned away. 547-8715. 

Holiday Wreath Making from 10 a.m. to noon at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $25-$30. Greenery provided but bring your own pruners. Registration required. 643-2755. 

“Ethical and Halachic (Jewish Law) Challenges of Stem Cell Research” with Dr. John Loike at 12:15 p.m. at Beth Jacob Congregation, 3778 Park Blvd., Oakland. 482-1147. 

Small Press Open House with author readings and live music from noon to 4 p.m. on at Small Press Distribution, 1342 Seventh St. 524-1668.  

California Writers Club meets to discuss “The Poetry Industry” at 10 a.m at Barnes and Noble, Jack London Square. 420-8775.  

“Building with Alternative Materials: Cob and Strawbale” A workshop from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 812 Page St. Cost is $75. 525-7610. 

Protest Rally at Berkeley Honda Shattuck and Parker every Thurs. at 4:30 to 6 p.m. and Sat. from 1 to 2 p.m. until the labor dispute is settled.  

“Know Your Rights” A free, hands-on workshop from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at CopWatch, 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

Flu and Pneumonia Shots from noon to 4 p.m. at Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, 1744 Solano Ave. Cost is $25 and $35. 527-8929. 

Open House at Bright Star Montessori Pre-School from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at 720 Jackson St., Albany. 558-2080. 

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.  

Spirit Walking Aqua Chi (TM) A gentle water exercise class at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley High Warm Pool. Cost is $3.50 per session. 526-0312. 

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, DEC. 11 

Holiday Crafts from Reused and Recycled Materials from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Benefits the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. www.no-burn.org 

KPFA Crafts and Music Fair from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Concorse Exhibition Center, 8th and Brannan St., S.F. Cost is $5-$8. 848-6767, ext. 611. 

Chanukah Party with latkes, music, and make-your-own crafts from noon to 4 p.m. at Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

Art Book Sale from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Thinking of Becoming a Doula?” with Treesa Mclean, doula educator, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Change Makers, 6536 Telegraph Ave. 728-8513. 

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 

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on Tibetan meditation and yoga from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, DEC. 12 

Sing-A-Long from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. 524-9122.  

Beginning Bridge Lessons at 11:10 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Cost is $1. 524-9122. 

“Lynn Harney and his Work with New Tribes in South America” at noon at the Berkeley Men’s Business Fellowship, at Café Giovanni, 2420 Shattuck Ave. 223-3837. 

Critical Viewing An ongoing group to examine the art/craft(iness) of short films and television productions and its effects on our daily lives, at 1 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Free. 848-0237.  

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

TUESDAY, DEC. 13 

Shellmound and Sacred Sites a report back on the recent peace walk at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 25430 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220. 

“Fish Ears and Whale Songs: How Marine Mammals Sense Their Surroundings” with Michael Stocker of SeaFlow at 6:30 p.m. at the Oakland Zoo. Cost is $12-$20. 632-9525.  

Snowshoeing Basics, a slide presentation by snowshoe guide Cathy Anderson-Meyers at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“China and the Media” with Orville Schell and Xiao Qiang at 7:30 p.m. at College Prep School, Buttner Auditorium, 6100 Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $5-$10. 339-7726. www.college-prep.org/livetalk 

“The Frankenfood Myth” Politics and Protests of the Biotech Revolution with Henry Miller at 7 p.m. at The Independent Institute, 100 Swan Way, Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. 632-1366. 

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. 

Free Handbuilding Ceramics Class 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Also, Mon. noon to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Materials and firing charges not included. 525-5497. 

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 

Introduction to Buddhist Meditation at 7 p.m. at the Dzalandhara Buddhist Center in Berkeley. Cost is $7-$10. Call for directions. 559-8183.  

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

“Ask the Social Worker” free consultations for older adults and their families from 10 a.m. to noon at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. To schedule an appointment call 558-7800, ext. 716. 

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 14 

Your Pet’s Health The Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Community Lecture Series hosts Drs. Amos Deinard and Barbara Hodges talking about similarities and differences in diagnosing pets’ medical conditions from Eastern and Western medical perspectives at 7 p.m. at Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society, 2700 Ninth St. Donation of $10 requested. For reservations call 845-7735 ext. 22. 

Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College Open House at 6 p.m. at 2550 Shattuck Ave. Tours of classrooms and clinics and information for prospective students. To RSVP call 666-8248, ext. 106.  

East Bay Genealogical Society meets at 10 a.m. in the Library Conference Room of the Family History Center, 4766 Lincoln Ave., Oakland. Cookie Exchange follows. 635-6692. 

Poetry Writing Workshop with Alison Seevak at 7 p.m. at Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 16. 

“Legends of Mother Mary” with Rev. Alyce Soden at 7 p.m. at Changemakers, 6536 Telegraph Ave. 655-2405. 

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. 

Trivia Cafe at 7 p.m. at Ristorante Raphael, 2132 Center St. Cost is $3. 644-9500. 

Prose Writer’s Workshop An ongoing group made up of friendly writers who are serious about our craft. All levels welcome. At 7 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. georgeporter@earthlink.net 

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. 

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 

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, DEC. 15 

Save the Endangered Species Act Slide show and discussion at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Ending Violence Against Sex Workers Memorial and community discussion at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. www.swop-usa.org 

Smplicity Forum: Food and Cooking for Simple Living with Adesina Stewart at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 549-3509. 

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, DEC. 16 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Phillip Elwood “All About Jazz - Part 2.” 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.  

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. 

Celebrate Humanistic Shabbat and (early) Chanukah with Kol Hadash at 7 p.m. at Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Potluck dinner. For food assignment email info@kolhadash.org  

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 

ONGOING 

Warm Coat Drive Donate a coat for distribution in the community, at Bay St., Emeryville. Sponsored by the Girl Scouts. www.onewarmcoat.org 

Magnes Museum Docent Training begins Jan. 8. Open to all who are interested in Jewish art and history. For information contact Faith Powell at 549-6950, ext. 333. 

Albany Berkeley Girls Softball League is looking for girls in grades 1-9 to play softball. Season runs March 4-June 3. To register, email registrar@abgsl.org or call 869-4277. Early Bird registration ends Dec. 31. Registration closes Feb. 1. Scholarships available. www.abgsl.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Creeks Task Force meets Mon. Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Erin Dando, 981-7410. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/planning/landuse/Creeks/default.html 

City Council meets Tues., Dec. 13, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Dec. 14, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Don Brown, 981-6346. TDD: 981-6345. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/disability 

Disaster Council meets Wed., Dec. 14, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. William Greulich, 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Dec. 14, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed., Dec. 14, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Library, West Branch, 1125 University Ave. Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/library 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Dec. 14, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Dec. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Waterfront Commission meets Wed., Dec. 14, at 7 p.m., at 201 University Ave. Cliff Marchetti, 981-6740. www.ci.berkeley 

.ca.us/commissions/waterfront 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/designreview  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Prasanna Rasaih, 981-6950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/faircampaign 

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., Dec. 15, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/transportation 

Although I have a pretty strong stomach, there is nothing that will sour it as quickly as a beautiful old home that’s had all its wooden windows replaced with those awful aluminum jobs. This is called getting ferclampeted, which, in Yiddish, means “to find oil on your land and find yourself living in upscale digs you ought never to have occupied.” 

I know I’m not the only one that feels this way. In fact, The City of Oakland produced a book in 1987 called Rehab Right: How to Realize the Full Value of Your Old House, which among many other things talks about the inappropriate use of aluminum windows in our older homes. In his book A Pattern Language, Berkeley professor Christopher Alexander (et al) talks about this sort of thing as being “bad fit,” his term for the Clampet family phenomenon. 

These old homes we live in are truly historical and artistic treasures. Many are nearing 100 years old (not particularly old by East Coast standards but old and wonderful when compared with the boxes full of ticky tacky that are rapidly encroaching from all directions). A drive through some of the poorer parts of neighboring Oakland will often find me teary-eyed, as I imagine the original state of these thousands of grand, proud manors that are rotting away for lack of paint and roofing, to say nothing of the long-overdue upgrades of power, heat and plumbing. 

But I’m not here to talk about the whole urban decay issue, just one small, simple matter that we all see every day and can do something about (if we have a reasonable sum of money and perhaps some sweat to offer). Old Craftsman homes should not look out upon their world through aluminum, steel or plastic windows. Period. No soft mitigating niceties. These houses, simple as most of them were, have a contiguous, thoughtful presentation. They deserve far better than to have such a major design element deracinated by age, salesmanship or misguided aesthetic and replaced by the cheapest choice available. Aluminum windows, for example, are not only a major misfit when placed in a Victorian, Classic or Craftsman home, they also conduct heat out of your house faster than a typical wooden window. The simple reason is that aluminum is a great conductor, even plastic is a better choice in this regard. These windows also tend to seal poorly, whether the crank casement type or the “fingernail-on-chalkboard” sliding type. Then there’s the heat sink of choice, the jalousie window. For those of not familiar with the term. these are a louvered type where many small panes of glass are fitted into a mechanism that turns them all outward at the same time. They may provide for good outflow but they also invariably leak air like mad, and also provide exceptional ease for the breaking and entering crowd. Steel casements can be fitting in the right house (generally 1940s-1960s), but almost none of these are in the classifications I want to talk about today. Like steel, I can see vinyl on some more modern houses, mostly from the ‘40s onward, but again, they can ruin the look of that 1925 Craftsman bungalow you’re living in and they may also, I suspect, hurt the cash value. 

Every once in a while I get to inspect a house that has been upgraded with real care for the appearance and feel of each changed feature (windows being one of the most visible of these). Not only is it thrilling to walk through such a home for the visual treat, but I also know for certain that these homes will demand more money when they go on the auction block. Sometimes this appreciation is far more than neighborhood or size can account for. We are all lucky to live in an area where aesthetics are not shunned nor apologized for, and the value of our homes is partly a reflection of this. So, if nothing else, I hope that a market approach will convince you that you’d be better off making an investment in a good looking, appropriate window. 

A window, including its component mullions (those dividers between the glass panes) plays a melody along with the trims, overhanging rafters and wall cladding, which all achieve appeal through a deliberate selection process. It’s the old “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” truism. Cutting out one section and substituting something with a very different look and feel is like letting a banjo loose in the string section. 

So here’s one solution and a shameless plug for a product I’m very fond of. Marvin, a mid-priced window manufacturer, makes a really nice product called a Tilt Pac. This product is available with bare wood on the inside and outside which can be painted or stained to match the frame, sill and surroundings of your old window sashes (the sashes are the parts of a double-hung window that slide up and down). They come with double glazing, which will keep your house warmer and reduce sound to an amazing degree. The Tilt-Pac sash replacement kit does not require the entire window to be replaced, and in my experience most windows that are in trouble do not require their frame or sill to be replaced. Likewise, the double glazing (insulated glass) does not require trashing all the old window components. 

The Tilt-Pac has a vinyl side panel that is not noticeable except under close inspection, and it helps greatly in decreasing the air leaks so common in old wooden windows. Lastly, these windows are relatively easy to install, and you nascent wood-butchers and wannabe contractors may find this a manageable project to take on, especially if you have a pro help with the first one.  

Remember that even the humblest of our old houses are historic treasures, and deserves your attention. So consider saying adios to your aluminum windows so your neighbors and friends won’t have to be ferclampeted either, Jed. 

Dear Matt: 

Help! My house has a flat “built-up” silver roof which was replaced 14 years ago. I now have multiple leaks: one in the kitchen which comes through the ceiling and a few in the bedroom addition which show up as puddles on the floor in at least three places around the room. I didn’t discover the bedroom leaks until recently when I pulled up the wall to wall carpet because it was soaked in one corner. I think these leaks have been going on for awhile so I’m sure I have damage to more than just the roof. But back to the roof—I’ve had various roofers come to look and give me estimates and now I’m more confused than ever. Firms that I’ve read about as being good have said on the one hand, “Most of the roof looks good, we can patch it for $650 and it will most likely take care of the problem,” to “This roof is not worth fixing,” and the recommendation to replace it with a single-ply IB roof to the tune of $16,000. Most of the roof does look good but there are multiple cracks around the perimeter and the areas around the downspouts look particularly funky and have been patched a few times already by friends. One person suggested a netting around the perimeter lip that was sealed with roofing gunk. That would cost $1,500. Any suggestions? 

Mary Baker 

Dear Mary: 

Sounds like you need a new roof. Sadly most built-up roofs fail in the first 15 years and require replacement or additional layers. I do not favor adding layers to such a roof as it is already quite heavy. The sure sign that you’re ready for a new roof is the fact that you have leaks in a number of places. Were you to have just one leak, I might suggest a repair but you’re no longer fighting the good fight and it’s time to raise the white flag. The idea of you getting an IB CPA (Co-polymer Alloy) roof at the price you’ve stated is exciting but might be overkill. A modified bitumen roof is also quite a good choice for very low slope situations and can last much longer than the built-up you have now. Since IB roofs are only installed by certified installers, you might not hear about alternate choices from that particular roofer (if they’re fully engaged in the IB business). Since I don’t know the size of your roof or other critical issues, it’s hard to gauge whether the IB price was competitive but modified bitument will probably be less and quite viable. 

Best of luck, 

Matt Cantor 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor, in care of East Bay Home & Real Estate, at realestate@berkeleydailyplanet.com.u

If you have a child on your gift list this year, and he or she looks susceptible, it’s time to pass on that benign garden bug. It doesn’t need to be missionary work to infect the kids around you (and you don’t get a toaster); just let them play in the mud with the right tools like the rest of us.  

Many “kid” tools are insulting to the kids and the work: puny and unsatisfying in the hand, easily broken, and, worst of al, ineffective. What could be more discouraging than chipping away at a stubborn patch of dirt with the equivalent of a plastic teaspoon? Fortunately, some decent tools for junior are showing up. Even so, tools designated for children might be as unnecessary as they are easily outgrown. 

Many youngsters do just fine with regular tools; Felco, for example, makes a pruning shear sized for smallish hands. Tools for use on houseplants or bonsai are a good size for small folk’s projects, but get solid stuff, not skinny, fragile plastic. For really young kids, you can pad the handles if necessary with bright tape, foam, pencil grips, or even the adaptive grips made for elderly or arthritic hands.  

Consider D-handled spades or lady (aka flower) shovels as a concession to size, and teach a child to use her weight on a spade or fork in order to lift efficiently. Notice which of your tools your child picks up most often and hangs onto longest. A small, lightweight watering can—pick one up and test it for balance as well as weight—or a rake made for small spaces might help; seed-dispensing gadgets are good for small, inexperienced hands. 

Amusing plants are good: squiggly Hankow willow; big, silly California Channel Island coreopsis; seeds for scarlet runner bean, yard-long bean; bush impatiens with its explosive seedpods. Radish and scallion seeds provide quick gratification; catnip amuses more than the cat; sunflowers and pumpkins and cherry tomatoes are classics. Skip the foxglove, oleander, and hellebore, if the child or the child’s friends or the child’s friends’ tag-along little brother might mistake the patch for a salad bar. 

If you have a garden and the child lives near you, a plot of one’s own is a handsome present. The trick is to give the ground to the child and then stand back. No orders; advice only when asked. You may have a buffalo wallow as a unique garden feature for a few years, or an action-figure slaughterfest. Be sure this is a space you can give freely, maybe one you won’t actually have to look at: the back forty behind the laurel hedge, or that bit by the garage she likes to dig in already. Nothing toxic, like the shade-tree mechanic’s former dump. Marking the space with stakes and red ribbon and a sign makes it look like a gift, and those conscious of property and propriety (as small kids are, however the rest of us might feel) might want to draw up a deed for the new owner. The recipient of your gift might surprise you and grow big fat squash next spring.  

Ron Sullivan is a professional gardener and arborist.

Sucha Singh Banger had a hard summer, and life isn’t getting any easier for him. 

Back in June, one of the employees at his liquor store at 3027 Adeline St., Black & White Liquor, bought alcohol from an undercover cop who had informed the store clerk that the liquor was stolen. The violation resulted in a 20-day suspension of Banger’s liquor license.  

Only a month later, an arson-related fire ripped through the back wall of the retail space and upstairs apartments. When firefighters arrived at the number of semi-automatic weapons, M-80 firecrackers, and dozens of marijuana plants in the second-floor apartment, rented out by one of Banger’s tenants.  

Now, residents of the surrounding Ashby district of South Berkeley have been stepping up the complaints against the liquor store, saying the place attracts drunken malfeasance and drug dealing. Consequently, the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) is beginning nuisance proceedings, which could result in the permanent suspension of Banger’s liquor license.  

“While the owner [Sucha Banger] has always been friendly enough, he seems unable and/or unwilling to control the behavior of his patrons,” wrote neighbor Dawn Rubin in a written complaint filed recently with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC).  

Rubin and the 24 other nearby residents who have filed complaints to the department report loitering by intoxicated persons near the property, loud noise late at night, and urination, defecation and littering by the store’s patrons.  

Some residents say they even avoid walking to the Ashby BART station a block away from Black & White out of fear for their safety.  

But Banger said he tries to control the behavior around the store by telling his patrons they can’t loiter.  

“I’m calling the police because they are not leaving,” said Banger, arguing that there are indigents all over Berkeley, not just in front of his store. “What do they want me to do?” 

According to the ZAB report, 44 police calls were made for service at Black & White Liquor between Jan. 1 and July 31 of this year. Most were for public disturbances. A few were for medical aid and reports of a gun.  

Banger said the reason why there were so many calls to police during the seven-month period is because he made them. But Gregory Daniel, the code enforcement supervisor with the Zoning Adjustments Board, says most of the calls were made very late at night, when Banger had already returned to his Antioch home.  

“It doesn’t matter who made the calls,” Daniel adds. “What matters is how many resources are being used ... We should not allow the community to be at risk.” 

But Banger, who’s been working at Black & White since 1986, and has owned the store since 1989, says crime has gone down around the store in the last two decades.  

“I’ve cleaned up this neighborhood,” he said. “Back in 1986, there would be 10 or 15 guys hanging out on the corner.” 

Residents stepped up the complaints against Banger’s business this fall because they said problems disappeared when Black & White was closed for renovation after the summer’s fire. 

For the 85 days while the store was boarded up and blackened on the corner of Emerson and Adeline streets, neighbors said they hoped another type of business would replace it. But that hope turned into disappointment when residents learned that Banger was reapplying for a liquor license after the ABC enforced a mandatory suspension during the store’s renovation.  

“I thought Black & White was leaving and we were going to get a different kind of store,” says Mina Caulfield, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1981. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s always been a problem.”  

Caulfield says a café, a bookstore or another antique store would serve the neighborhood better than another liquor store. She says she and her husband Tom hardly patronize the minimarket.  

Meanwhile, Banger says the suspension of his liquor license until Dec. 5 resulted in a decrease of 98 percent of overall sales at Black & White. 

“Who’s going to come to buy candy and cigarettes?” he asked, adding that he will fight to keep his liquor license. Banger shows some signs of trying to clean up the store’s image. “Welcome Back—Grand Reopening” posters are plastered all over the front windows, along with the ABC’s notices of suspension and Banger’s own “No Trespassing” sign. The corner store sports a new black and white paint job, and is now closing at or before 8 p.m.  

Some community members have come out in support of Banger, including the local mail carrier Martin Vargas. He has passed out handwritten petitions and flyers calling on the city and the neighborhood to support minority-owned businesses.  

But for many residents, the summer’s incidents have, at best, permanently raised the bar of scrutiny about Banger’s businesses.  

“The community hasn’t gotten any answers,” said Les Shipnuk about the activities at 3027 Adeline St. “In the absence of answers, the mind can run riot.” 

A public hearing to determine whether the property at 3027 Adeline St. should be declared a public nuisance will be part of this week’s ZAB meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8 at Old City Hall. Banger and supporters are holding their own meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 6:45 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church at 2024 Ashby Ave.  

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“Let’s all visit Berkeley for the first time,” Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) Chair Will Travis declared Saturday before a group set off on a downtown walking tour.  

Committee members, joined by city and UC Berkeley staff and members of t he public, took a two-and-a-half-hour tour of the district that will be the subject of a new central city plan. 

The plan is mandated by the settlement agreement of the city’s suit against UC Berkeley over the university’s Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) for 2020. 

Before setting out, tour participants gathered in the Aurora Theater for introductory remarks from Travis and Matt Taecker, the planner hired specifically for the plan. 

Taecker asked committee members to think about “what makes a great and exceptional downtown,” including public spaces, the impact of buildings on their surroundings, the streets themselves, sidewalks, passages and plaza spaces. 

UC Capital Projects senior planner Kevin Hufferd said that Shattuck Avenue is “ripe for change” because of the number of single-story buildings that will become desirable to developers in an economic upswing. 

According to the LRDP, the university plans include adding approximately one million square feet of floor space downtown, both in acquisition of existing buildings and in new development. Just how to accommodate that massive expansion is part of all DAPAC discussions. 

Oxford and Center streets  

Members spent part of Saturday focused on two key points where town and gown meet—Oxford/Fulton Str eet and Center Street. 

The university and downtown meet along Oxford/Fulton, which Taecker described as “a kind of seam.” 

Dorothy Walker, former assistant vice chancellor for property development at the university and one of City Councilmember Betty Old’s appointees to DAPAC, argued for undergrounding the street along the university frontage, “although I’m not sure we can afford it,” she said. 

The one-block stretch of Center Street between Oxford Street and Shattuck Avenue was the focus of considerable attention because the university owns most of the block on the north side of the street, where it plans to build a museum complex and is working with a private developer to create a hotel and conference center. 

Several speakers asked the committee to co nsider proposals to close the street to through traffic and “daylight” Strawberry Creek—which now flows in a concrete culvert beneath the pavement—to create a public plaza. 

“It’s the best opportunity the city has to develop pedestrian space,” said Rob Wr enn, a committee member and transportation commissioner. Wrenn also reminded committee members that development of the transportation hub on Shattuck Avenue south of Center Street is a major priority—particularly in light of pending AC Transit plans to ad d Bus Rapid Transit service.  

Downtown’s center? 

After the walks, Taecker asked participants to define the downtown’s center. Several participants identified the “BART drum,” the circular elevator structure at the southwest corner of the Shattuck/Center intersection. 

Travis offered alternatives, pointing out that “it depends on who you are, what you’re doing and what time of day it is.” 

Realtor and developer John Gordon proposed Shattuck Avenue from University Avenue to the Berkeley Public Library. Fo r people who want to lease business space, “everyone wants to be along Shattuck,” he said. 

For Sally Sachs, the center was the Berkeley Public Library itself. 

“Today it was the Farmers’ Market,” said one member, whose sentiment was acknowledged by other s who were hungry from just having completed a long walk. 

“There is no central focus now,” said John McBride, who posited that, with proper handling, the two-block triangle created by the split of the north- and south-bound lanes of Shattuck could fit th e bill. 

Residential areas 

Taecker also asked about the future of residential areas within the downtown plan boundaries. 

Steve Wollmer of Planberkeley.org pointed to Berkeley Way west and north of downtown, where the creation of larger developments in a single-family residential area had led to the creation of Berkeley’s Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance. 

“And how can anyone say Allston Way is not a residential area?” he asked. The Gaia Building, downtown’s largest new building in years, is an apartm ent building with leased commercial space in the ground and mezzanine floors. 

Wollmer also characterized housing development in the planning areas as consisting of three types: high-rises, ticky-tacky and Craftsman-1900s scale. 

Jesse Arreguin, a city ho using commission and Rent Board member who also sits on DAPAC, said one challenge will be the creation of new housing development along Milvia Street while still preserving the residential character of the neighborhood. 

Dorothy Walker asked if preserving small-scale residences would continue to be appropriate in a downtown that is developing greater density. 

“I disagree,” said McBride. “We must be very careful about tearing down existing buildings.” 

Wrenn cautioned that the older downtown buildings off ered lower rents than the newer high-density projects. “The newer ones are much more expensive,” he said, nothing that over time, Berkeley rents have risen by three-and-a-half times the Consumer Price Index. 

Former City Council member Mim Hawley said tha t perhaps the time had come for reconsidering limiting new construction height to three- and four-story buildings and look at taller buildings. 

Landmarks, parking, etc. 

After the walking tour, several participants expressed a new appreciation for Berkeley’s landmarked buildings—which were featured in a map distributed to all participants. Members of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association were present in force to argue for preservation of the numerous city landmarks in the downtown area. 

While several participants said they felt downtown lacked sufficient parking, Wrenn noted that parking spaces are abundant, particularly in structures, and that the only real parking crush comes between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on weekdays, when the available parking often drops to about 200 slots. 

“The Transportation Commission is trying to reduce demand by encouraging commuters to get out of their cars,” he said. 

Several members said they thought many of Berkeley’s sidewalks were often too crowded and too narrow. 

“Our streets are filthy,” said Planning Commissioner and DAPAC member Susan Wengraf. “I am appalled at the amount of litter. It make walking not all that pleasant.” 

“It’s disgraceful the way people are trashing the streets,” added Amy Cottle. 

Because t ime was limited, members didn’t get to see all of the planning area, and several suggested additional walking tours, one during a typical weekday and another a night, and Taecker agreed. Another tour will also be conducted for people with mobility difficulties, he said. 

Photograph by Richard Brenneman 

Members of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee stopped for a discussion during their two-and-a-half hour walking tour to survey the area for which they’ll help devise a new plan in light of UC Berkeley’s expansion plans.›

The long-running saga of the Drayage is nearing an end with the sale of the West Berkeley building to the development firm Hudson McDonald expected to clear some time next month. 

The furor over the sheet-metal-clad building at Addison and Third streets began after owner Lawrence White agreed to sell to developer Ali Kashani early this year. 

Kashani pulled out, reportedly after discovering that the building was illegally occupied by live/work tenants, and soon after that, a spot city inspection of the property recorded more than 200 building and fire code violations. 

The property was considered a fire hazard because of the countless internal modifications—including wiring and installation of gas appliances—carried out without inspections or permits, which the tenants resisted. 

White was forced to pay for a standing watch by Berkeley firefighters until they were withdrawn after someone from the building fired a pellet gun in their direction. 

He then hired a private security company to stand watch. 

All the while, city fines were accumulating at the pace of $2,500 a day until the last of the tenants had relocated by November, clearing the way for White to sell the property. 

While the total dollar amount of fines leveled by the city and the Fire Department had topped the $450,000 mark, after ongoing negotiations with White, City Manager Phil Kamlarz reach a settlement figure of $45,000. 

“The goal was to get them to move on the safety issues,” the city manager said. 

Deputy Fire Chief David P. Orth, who had been serving as city fire marshal at the time of the inspections, said there were legal issues that clouded the picture. 

“A dispute could have cost both sides, and the intent was not about getting a bunch of money for the city but in getting a resolution,” Orth said. “The owner’s attorney was going to argue for anything he could.” 

Among the issues was the question of whether or not city paperwork had been legally served. 

“There were all kinds of questions,” Kamlarz said, “including the potential costs of long-term litigation.” 

“Everybody had some fault here, including myself,” Orth said. “The owner missed several appeal deadlines, too, and we were threatening to put a lien on the property.”  

“It’s to everyone’s advantage to have it resolved. The city got their problem taken care of, the tenants weren’t thrown out, and my interest was to correct a huge fire hazard.” 

Kamlarz agreed. “We settled on a fine of $250 a day because that recovered our actual costs.” 

Orth said he and the city had encouraged White earlier on to offer larger incentives to motivate tenants to relocate. 

In the end, Orth said, “He put up over $100,000 in cash payments to get people to leave.” 

After Kashani had pulled out of his original deal and while tenants were still in the building, the Northern California Land Trust also negotiated to buy the building, hoping to keep it as live/work space. 

That, too, fell through. 

Evan McDonald, one of the two principals of Hudson McDonald, declined to comment on the project. 

“We also tend not to comment on our projects until the use permit has been issued,” he said. 

While developer Ali Kashani had earlier made an offer on the building and then pulled out, White said he had declined to consider him. 

Hudson McDonald LLC, formerly associated with developer Patrick Kennedy and his Panoramic Interests developments, has been working on developing projects of its own. 

Their largest proposal is The Grove, a five-story apartments over commercial project at the site of the Kragen Auto Parts store and mini-mall at the corner of University Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

The project is currently pending before the Zoning Adjustments Board.

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.

Army National Guard Specialist Katherine Jashinski announced her opposition to war and refused deployment to Iraq last month at Fort Benning, Ga. 

She became the first women conscientious objector of the Iraq war to make a public statement against militarism. At her press conference, organized by Iraqi Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace, Jashinski described her “slow transformation into adulthood.” 

“At age 19, I enlisted in the guard. Like many teenagers who leave their home for the first time, I went through a period of growth and soul searching,” she said. “I started to reevaluate everything that I had been taught about war as a child. Because I believe so strongly in non-violence, I cannot perform any role in the military... Now I have come to the point where I am forced to choose between my obligation to the Army and my deepest moral values. I will not compromise my beliefs for any reason.” 

Jashinski applied for conscientious objector status in 2004. After 18 months of stalling, the Army denied her claim and ordered her to weapons training in preparation for deployment to the Mideast. 

Father Roy Bourgeois, founder of the School for the Americas Watch; Aidan Delgado, from Iraqi Veterans Against the War; J.E. McNeil with the Center for Conscience and War; Oakland’s Aimee Allison, Gulf War resister, all spoke at the press conference on Jashinski’s behalf. 

I talked with Allison, a military counselor with PeaceOut.com, after the event, and she explained the special significance of Jashinski’s public act of courage. 

“I am the only woman counselor out of 20, and I routinely get calls and e-mails from women who are stationed in Afghanistan and Germany,” she said. “I know many women who are afraid to speak publicly because they do not want to be harassed. They don’t want their families to suffer ... Some women take drugs. Some get pregnant to buy time. Some just go AWOL. Only a few are able to get through the arduous legal process.” 

Jashinski’s courageous action could make a difference, Allison said. 

“I talk to so many women who think there is nothing they can do because they have not seen other women act,” Allison said. “All of us who support war resisters know that the woman’s voice in the military is really decisive. The administration cannot fight the Iraqi war without women. Women are 20 percent of the military. They may be in support roles predominately. But in an urban war, there is no rear. Women are in the same combat positions as men. Women are attached to fighting units. The women are not just victims; they are perpetrators.” 

Allison raised questions about the issues of feminism within an institution of organized violence, an institution that subjugates other nations and commits atrocities. What is the meaning of feminism in such a context? 

“We are part of the first generation that was born and raised on feminist ideology. How can we deal with the question of equality within the armed forces without first asking: what is our goal? What is the goal of the military? If equality is nothing more than becoming the same as men, then what we are doing is stripping away our own identity as women. It all leads to Abu Ghraib,” Allison suggested. 

“We need a conversation about women and war, about where women want to be,” she said, noting that conversation won’t happen until there are war resisters. 

Now Jashinski has taken her stand. “She is showing remarkable courage,” Allison said. 

The Berkeley public scoping meeting on plans for new construction in and around Memorial Stadium will be held Thursday, and not Tuesday as reported in the Dec. 2 issue. 

Meeting hours will be from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Booth Auditorium of Boalt Hall, near the northwest corner of Bancroft Way and Piedmont Avenue.

Controversial Derby Street Field Also on Agenda 

The proposed baseball diamond that would force the closure of a block of Derby Street and a bid to rename Old City Hall are two of the items facing Berkeley’s City Council tonight. 

Denied a post office named in her honor, former Berkeley City Councilmember Maudelle Shirek may gain Old City Hall in its stead, if Max Anderson and Darryl Moore have their way. 

The two councilmembers have placed a resolution on tonight’s council agenda calling for the structure to be renamed in her honor. 

East Bay Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee had been trying for two years to get Congress to rename the city’s main post office after Shirek, a 94-year-old veteran of the Civil Rights Movement who served on the Berkeley City Council for two decades. 

When the measure came up for a vote in the House of Representatives on Sept. 27, the measure was shot down in a party line vote spearheaded by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. 

One Derby Street resolution comes from the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission, which urges the city endorse the Berkeley Unified School District’s plan to close Derby between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street so a multi-purpose athletic field—including a regulation baseball diamond—can be built. 

The alternative resolution from City Manager Phil Kamlarz that, among other things, supports the project in concept, advises BUSD that the council can’t act on the street closure until the district concludes a project environmental review, and encourages the district to explore options other than street closure. 

Other items on the agenda include: 

• A vote on an appeal from a Zoning Adjustments Board decision to grant a permit to demolish a single-family home at 1532 Martin Luther King Jr. Way and replace it with a three-unit project. 

• Discussion of the proposed new transportation services fee that would assess developers for costs of mitigating the impacts of new traffic generated by new construction. Kamlarz also recommends a Feb. 21 hearing on the measure. 

• A resolution from the Community Environmental Advisory Commission asking Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to provide more information on planned nanotechnology projects at the lab’s Molecular Foundry. 

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way.?

PARIS—Karim Baïla unlocks the door of his silver VW Beetle and we cram in. We pull out of chic central Paris, headed for the low-income suburbs and public housing districts where thousands of cars had burned since the youth uprising began two weeks earlier. Karim is something of an anomaly. Born to illiterate Algerian parents, he is now one of few French Algerian reporters who make regular appearances on national TV.  

“They use us to cover these crises,” he says, referring to minority reporters in France. “But when the story is over, they forget about us.”  

When we first meet him, Karim, 35, has been reporting on the fires in the Parisian suburbs, or banlieues, for 14 days straight. He’s been covering it for French TV and has spent every night cruising the streets in his car with a video camera leant to him by the network. They didn’t send him with a cameraman because, he says, none would go.  

“They only had black and Arab reporters in the guerre de banlieues,” says Karim, a slight but handsome figure with brown skin and a regal nose.  

Karim has agreed to take us on a tour of the Parisian suburbs to meet some of the youth he has been reporting on.  

As he tears around highway exits, a reporter calls from Baghdad and Karim yells into his cell phone. Karim has reported from Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran for France’s top television networks, but always as a freelancer despite his efforts to be hired on full time.  

It’s not just the name and the skin color that give him entrée into the Parisian banlieues, where few white French journalists would venture. Karim himself grew up in the suburbs of Marseilles, the rough port town. His parents were in the first wave of immigration from France’s African colonies after World War II. They came in 1948, after Karim’s uncles died in the first line of infantry sent out to fight for France. His dad became a barber and his mom worked in a restaurant to support their six kids.  

He learned from his sisters, excelled in school, worked his way out of the ghetto and went on to university where he studied journalism. Fifteen years later, he’s a veteran reporter who has covered Baghdad and the Taliban.  

Dusk deadens the towering buildings of the public housing block we roll up to. He shakes his head as we pass some burned out trashcans with rotting garbage. Before we can ask any questions, Karim is standing in front of the building, punching random doorbells.  

Finally a woman’s voice, “Yes?”  

“It’s me, Yosef,” he winks at us.  

“Yosef who?” comes the reply.  

“Me, Yosef!” Karim yells back.  

Finally someone else entering lets us in. Karim points to the scorched bottom floor of the building. We ask if there are burned cars littering the neighborhoods, but he says the state cleans everything up within a day or two. It’s not the specter of a riot we had expected.  

We pile back into the car and are surrounded by Elton John belting a Disney soundtrack while Karim croons along.  

In spite of his personal music choice, Karim understands the importance of rap in the life of young banlieue dwellers. He wants us to meet Dopey, a 23-year-old French-born, Senegalese preschool night guard that he befriended while reporting on the fires. He calls Dopey on his cell to warn him we’re on our way, and asks if he’s written any new raps.  

We pull up to the school and Dopey lets us in. A wide smile spreads as he shakes Karim’s hand. He leads us into the neon-lit office with educational posters framing his seat at the principal’s desk. He jumps at the chance to perform one of his raps for the camera.  

For those who never been to their home land, I wrote a song 

We all gotta be proud of where we come from 

Never deny your roots your culture, your customs 

You don’t even eat the foods from where your mother come  

You should never lose the ability to speak your mother tongue 

Karim has been outside standing guard and misses the rap, but he already knows the story. He has himself fielded suggestions that he change his name to further his career.  

A few minutes later Karim sticks his head back in the room. “Pack up, quick,” he hisses. “The supervisor is coming.”  

The supervisor appears looking much like a petite and pissed-off Ben Kingsley. There are threats of calling the police and a lot of screaming at Karim, who it seems lied about getting permission to film at the school. We’re ushered off the property with a firm handshake.  

We were afraid we had compromised Dopey’s job. But the riots were over and he had been working graveyard shift for two weeks straight, guarding the school from local youth who might have been tempted to toss a Molotov cocktail. It was a temporary job for him during the crisis.  

The mood is quieter as we get onto the periphérique, the highway encircling Paris. Karim’s croonings have died down to political musings.  

He feels proud of the way he reported on the fires; he got some of the footage the networks wanted, but afterward he spent his time talking to people in the neighborhoods, young and old alike. Now he worries that the abundance of sensational coverage may cause more problems than before.  

“After the burning of 8,000 cars, I think the discrimination is going to be even worse,” he says. “But I’m a journalist, not a militant. And I don’t want to become militant in order to fight discrimination.”  

When I spoke to Karim a week later, he sounded low.  

“After the fires, I really reflected,” Karim says. “There is a real problem in France, but we don’t talk about it, we hide it.”  

Like Dopey, Karim’s usefulness has disappeared with the protests. He hasn’t gotten any calls for freelance work since the fires died.  

Brahmani Houston works for New California Media, an association of over 700 print, broadcast and online ethnic media organizations founded in 1996 by Pacific News Service and members of ethnic media.  

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To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit  

www.jfdefreitas.com To search for previous cartoons by date of publication, click on the Daily Planet Archive.

OAKLANDS LAND AND SOULS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

“Oak to Ninth,” the biggest Oakland housing development proposal in over five decades, is expected to bring new, well-heeled professionals into Oakland. But Oakland cannot afford to ignore the potential negative effects of such a large redevelopment effort on the ability of current residents to stay in their homes. Skyrocketing property values could drive a larger wedge between the rich and the poor.  

Oakland must assist its neighborhoods and small businesses to thrive and grow, but in a way that empowers the people that are already there and doesn’t push them out of Oakland’s new prosperity. Gentrification is an old, tired story that we need not repeat.  

Heather Leitzke 

• 

LANDMARKS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There was one inaccuracy in last Friday’s story on the mayor’s proposal on landmarks ordinance revisions: He has departed from the Planning Commission’s recommendation on the structure of merit designation. Instead of eliminating it, the mayor has proposed retaining the category and its current protections, but restricting its future application only to buildings in established historic districts. In other locales, Mr. Bates has proposed studying the idea of “residential conservation districts” (so far undefined) which might help preserve neighborhood character outside of the more formal landmark process. 

You also failed to report on perhaps the most interesting new idea in the proposal: The establishment of a “historic preservation officer,” to act as staff support to the Landmarks Preservation Commission and to be an advocate for preservation throughout the city bureaucracy. 

These and other helpful new ideas may finally help the city resolve a process of needed revisions that is now in its sixth year. Mayor Bates is to be commended for trying to provide new ways to look at some of our long-running deadlocks in these areas. 

Alan Tobey 

• 

NANOWASTE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have read a couple articles in Berkeley Daily Planet about people raising nanotechnology safety issues concerning UC Berkeley’s proposed nano lab. C-60 Buckeyballs have to be pretty inert; more inert than the graphite in every pencil. Are people being alarmist over nanotechnology? Machine Design Magazine has a relatively readable feature article this month titled “Nanowaste: the Next Big Threat?” at machinedesign.com. The article seems to be relatively balanced, and yes, there are real health concerns over even Buckeyballs. 

Osman Vincent 

• 

DOWNTOWN PLAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Rob Wrenn’s article, “Planning for Downtown Berkeley’s Future,” suggests that the current plan for downtown Berkeley, implemented in 1990, is out of date. Wrenn doesn’t mention anything wrong with the current plan, and he proposes that a new plan should contain many similar components of the older plan. Instead of trying to come up with a new plan based on the premise that the current downtown plan is out of date, the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee should examine why the objectives of the current plan haven’t been met for 15 years. The goals of the new plan are the same as the unmet goals of the plan already in place. How does changing the name of the plan lead to accomplishment? Why a new plan? Instead, the task force should implement the current plan’s objectives.  

Wrenn writes that the current downtown plan calls for an increase in low-income housing, yet he states that little if any of the housing built downtown in the last 15 years is considered low-income. Instead of stating the obvious, that low-income housing should be included in the new plan, how about examining why the housing that was created didn’t follow the current guidelines? Why is it that none of the new housing in the downtown area is affordable? 

The current plan includes an increase in public transportation systems, as well as discounts for people who work in the downtown area and commute via public transit. Yet, AC Transit is in a constant state of downsizing, and as Wrenn points out, a discount on transit for downtown employees has only been offered to city employees. Why? It is unfair that only city workers receive financial incentives for dealing with the hassles of commuting and working in downtown Berkeley. It’s ridiculous that in 15 years the city hasn’t been able to offer the discounted travel pass, the Eco Pass, to more than just its own employees.  

As a resident of Berkeley for 27 years, I can understand how Wrenn would believe that “the economy is in better shape.” I’ve watched downtown slowly creep up and down Shattuck Avenue, now spreading between Dwight Way and Hearst and further, but I disagree that vacancy rates are lower. The city must make a good chunk of change selling developers permits for contracts x, y, and z, plus taxes, because they’ve sold out downtown to big developers with no retailers to move in. Large empty buildings lie all over downtown (the northeast corner of Dwight and Shattuck, for example) with nothing to offer in their windows, other than “for lease” signs. I suggest that the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee look into the motives behind planning for a super-sized downtown Berkeley. Why? How does it benefit the citizens of Berkeley? A simple solution to the over crowding of the downtown area would be to stop increasing development. 

Selina Satterlee 

• 

OAKS THEATER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Oaks Theater on Solano Avenue is a living part of Berkeley’s history, and a group of neighbors has decided to do what we can to help it prosper. We’re afraid that if we don’t pay attention, the theater’s struggle to survive will fail, and we’ll lose the focus of our neighborhood and our local shopping area. Typically, it’s only after a theater or major business fails that neighbors realize what a treasure it has been. We’re acting now to keep the theater alive and well.  

The Oaks was built in 1925 by the Reid Brothers, famous architects who also built the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, and the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. The theater was built in the Spanish Colonial style, and still retains several of the original features, like the arched windows on the second floor and the colorful sconces and other decorative elements inside the theater. The original façade was Spanish Colonial, and much more elaborate than the current façade and marquee, which were remodeled later into the current art deco style. The theater originally cost $200,000, with another $25,000 for a grand organ.  

The theater was built for Max Blumenfeld, who in the 1920s and ‘30s had a little Northern California empire of 60 theaters. Besides the big screen, the Oaks had a stage for live performances and showed vaudeville acts along with movies. The Blumenfeld theater group also ran the Cerrito Theater, which is undergoing major renovation now by the City of El Cerrito to resurrect it as a functioning theater. 

Our neighborhood group has two goals: First, we’re researching the history of the Oaks in an effort to document its 80-year history in our community. We’d really like to talk to anyone with memories of the Oaks back to the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s or even earlier. Do you remember going to the theater then as a child? Were you an usher, patrolling the theater with a flashlight? Did you sell tickets, originally 30 cents for adults, 40 cents for the loge chairs? If you can contribute any memories, please call me at 526-0831. We hope to get landmark status for the theater at both the local and national level. 

Second, we’re putting together an informal group with the working title “Friends of the Oaks Theater,” and are collaborating with the theater manager to increase interest in the theater and boost attendance. He’s looking for input from the community into what we’d like to see at the Oaks and what is needed to make the theater thrive once again. We’re planning to have the first meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14. If you’d like to attend, call me at 526-0831 or e-mail me at crmsutton46@yahoo.com. 

Connie Sutton 

• 

2700 SAN PABLO 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a neighbor of 2700 San Pablo Ave., I would like to summarize the flawed approval process for this project. With tremendous neighborhood opposition, in 2001 Patrick Kennedy received a use permit for a rental project with 20 percent affordable units. In 2004 he sold the property and the use permit to a developer who wanted to build a condominium project. 

The buyer, Curtis & Partners, had its original architect draw up plans for a 35-unit project, 48-50 feet tall, with a flowing window design on the ground floor along San Pablo Avenue. Even though it was a different project with a different building use, it was approved by the city’s planning staff and the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) in late 2004 and the City Council in early 2005. Since when have planners considered condominiums affordable housing? 

In September 2005, Curtis & Partners submitted a new set of plans, by a new architect, to the Design Review Commission (DRC) for final approval. Their plans changed not only the height of the building, but the architectural intent. The attractive window design was completely changed, with concrete shear walls added. Is this a soft-story building, right in the middle of a seismic liquefaction hazard zone? The design changes also raised the height of the project to 52 feet, 3 inches—above the zoned commercial height limit of 50 feet, without ZAB oversight or approval. 

Planning staff did not note these changes. Alert neighbors revealed the changes to the DRC in October 2005. 

There is a pattern of planning staff generously facilitating big development plans with no regard for our area plans, the zoning code, or the general plan. We have learned that a project in final approval at DRC can be remanded back to ZAB only by the zoning officer—Mark Rhoades. 

I recently met with Rhoades to discuss 2700 San Pablo Ave. In a bold “let them eat cake” moment, he said “I hear ya. There’s a three-story building going in near me.” But three stories is the limit that every neighborhood in town wants! Does anyone think there’s a chance that a five-story building—the size promoted by the Planning Department everywhere else—would be built next to Rhoades’ house? 

Mark Rhoades has far too much power over people who don’t have the good fortune to live near his backyard. Berkeley’s planning process is not only  

unfair, but illegal and reprehensible. 

Julie Dickinson 

• 

MARIN AVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Michelle Gavinda shows her utter ignorance of how the decision to narrow Marin Avenue was made when she writes “the bicycle fanatics got their way and punished the rest of us poor slobs.” 

Albany decided to narrow Marin before Berkeley did. Albany is known as a city of prosperous suburbanites—not as a city of bicycle fanatics—and its motive was to slow traffic to make Marin Avenue safer for its residents.  

It should be clear that Marin was narrowed because of where the city lines are drawn. Albany is downstream, and its residents suffered from the fast traffic on Marin, so they wanted to narrow the street. Berkeley is upstream, and its residents are annoyed by a few minutes of extra driving time—but Berkeley residents don’t vote in Albany.  

Once Albany made this decision, Berkeley had very little choice but to follow. Only a few blocks of Marin are in Berkeley. If these blocks remained four lanes, there would have been a very dangerous merge from four lanes down to two at the Albany border. There also would have been little or no effect on traffic congestion: The intersections where Gavinda complains about backups are in Albany, not in Berkeley.  

This sort of re-striping was publicized by Dan Burden, head of the group Walkable Communities, who calls it a “road diet.” Burden makes it very clear that the bicycle lanes are primarily a mechanism for narrowing the roadway and slowing traffic, and the benefit to bicyclists is incidental. Gavinda herself says that she has just seen two bicyclists on the street in the last four weeks, so this plan obviously did not have a significant benefit to bicyclists; as a bicyclist myself, I never have any reason to ride on Marin.  

Unfortunately, a few Berkeley neighborhood group leaders decided to stir up opposition to this re-striping by running a hate campaign against bicyclists. One of them wrote an opinion piece in the Daily Planet calling it a “plan to bicyclize Marin Avenue.” I suppose it is hard for neighborhood groups to stir up hatred against Albany suburbanites who want to live on a safer street. It is much easier to mobilize residents by stirring up hatred against bicyclists—who had little or nothing to do with this plan, but who are such a small group of people that it is easy to use us as scapegoats.  

When Gavinda adds to the hate speech by writing “the bicycle fanatics got their way and punished the rest of us poor slobs,” she should consider that bicyclists are very vulnerable when they ride in traffic. In a moment of road rage, someone could remember her letter and decide that he is going to get back at one of those bicyclists who are “punishing” him. Hate campaigns sometimes do lead to violence and death.  

Charles Siegel  

U

Nasty swing 

An argument between two men took a very nasty turn Monday, Nov. 28, when one of them picked up a golf club and swung it at his 43-year-old co-disputant. The victim’s injuries were not life-threatening. 

The incident happened about 7:40 a.m. in the 1500 block of Cedar Street, said Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

Art heist 

After Berkeley police officers discovered a stolen pickup in the 3400 block of Adeline Street about 5:20 p.m. that afternoon, they traced the crime to a nearby yard, where they found parts of the same vehicle. 

After further investigation, officers searched the home of the 32-year-old suspect, where they turned up 71 black and white as well as color photographic prints which had been stolen along with another truck in San Rafael on Nov. 4. 

The photographs belonged to San Francisco photographer Chris Honeysett, and were part of the more than 300 prints stolen when his truck was taken. 

The suspect was booked on charges of receiving stolen property, possession of narcotics paraphernalia and probation violation. 

Stanford rage 

A 50-year-old man armed with a knife stormed into Stanford Liquors at 3400 Adeline St. shortly before 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 28 and threatened to break bottles and harm the store clerk, said Officer Okies. 

Officers spotted the suspect in his car, and when he resisted arrest, he compounded his previous violations of statutes against brandishing a deadly weapon and making terrorist threats. 

Dangerous spat 

A Berkeley man violated a court order Tuesday morning, Nov. 29, and approached his former companion, a 25-old-woman who lives at the corner of Dohr and Oregon Streets. He then attempted to hit her with his car and fled before officers arrived. 

When apprehended he faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon, brandishing a deadly weapon and violation of a restraining order. 

Stabbing 

Later that evening, just before 8:30, a 61-year-old man called Berkeley police to report that he had just been cut with a knife. 

Officer Okies said the man was taken to the Alta Bates Summit Emergency Room, where he was treated for injuries that were not life-threatening. 

Police are seeking the assailant, whom his victim identified. 

Drive-by rat pack 

A witness called police at 1:17 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, to report that four men in a four-door two-tone vehicle had just leaped from the car, assaulted a young man and robbed him of his backpack in the 2200 block of Shattuck Avenue. 

Carjacking 

Two folks who were stopped at a turnout along Grizzly Peak Road in the pre-dawn hours Frida, Dec. 2 suddenly found themselves the target of three robbers who demanded their valuables. 

They fled in two cars, one of them belonging to the hapless couple, which was recovered soon thereafter and not all that far away. 

The victim got something, too—the license plate of the other car, which they passed on to police. ›

Lately we’ve been hearing from City Hall that when the council settled the city’s lawsuit against the university last May, it got UC to agree to buy more goods and services from Berkeley businesses. 

If only it were so. What the university administration actually promised was to “develop and implement within a reasonable time a local-purchasing program for prioritizing the purchase of goods and services in Berkeley”—and here’s the catch—“to the extent permissible under existing law and UC practices” (settlement agreement, Sections V.B. and D). In fact, recent changes in the university’s procurement practices and policies mean that Berkeley vendors will be selling fewer goods and services to the campus.  

The new reality began to dawn on one long-time independent Berkeley businessman and UC supplier this fall. In September, Gary Shows, the owner of the Alko office supply store in downtown Berkeley, sent UCB Associate Vice Chancellor Ron Coley a letter wondering why the campus’s Strategic Sourcing Program had “been actively encouraging and in some cases insisting that UCB Departments (our customers) buy supplies from OfficeMax instead of us” [emphasis in original]. Alko had been provisioning UCB for almost a century. But in the new program, the store’s “services apparently were not even considered. In my 35 years with ALKO,” Shows wrote, “I have never seen a single vendor so singularly supported the way [OfficeMax] is. I cannot believe that this policy reflects the will of the Regents of the University of California.”  

But it does. Writing back in October, Coley told Shows that the contract with OfficeMax was established in January 2005, that it applies to all 10 campuses, and that it’s managed through the UC Office of the President (OOP) in downtown Oakland. The associate vice chancellor laid out the contract’s basic rationale: “As the amount of state funding continues to shrink from year to year, and in light of our obligation to state taxpayers to provide necessary resources to the campus at the lowest reasonable cost, the Regents of the University of California have initiated a strategic sourcing program that leverages the purchasing power of the entire system.” The contract with OfficeMax is “only one of many such … agreements.”  

At the same time, Coley added, UC Berkeley still “recognizes its responsibilities to small, local vendors. ... Once our campus has achieved the level of business with OfficeMax described in the current agreement,” UC will try to figure out “how best to engage” the services of local vendors, including Alko.  

The April 2004 request for proposal (RFP) that yielded the five-year OfficeMax contract is available from the OOP. The RFP says that a “cross-functional UC system-wide commodity team has been formed to develop and implement a world-class procurement program for office products at UC in accordance with the University Strategic Sourcing Initiative objectives.” The document stipulates that to qualify as a bidder, a supplier must have annual sales of at least $5 million and be able to deliver rush orders system-wide within four hours at no additional cost. According to one Berkeley office supplier, these two requirements can be met by only four companies: OfficeMax (which recently merged with Boise Cascade), Office Depot, Contract Express and Home Depot. All four are headquartered outside of California.  

As for small business, the RFP states only that “the university will continue purchasing office products through its current Small Business Program.” It doesn’t say how such procurement will be facilitated or what “level of business” will go to small vendors.  

Associate Vice Chancellor Coley told me that 40-50 percent of the Berkeley campus’ office supply business “goes to OfficeMax, and the rest to other vendors.” Purchasing agents for individual departments order directly from OfficeMax, which has built a special website just for UC with special, fixed pricing. UCB staff monitor those prices to “make sure that OfficeMax is honest.” In some cases, Coley said, the university is saving 25 percent by buying office supplies from this preferred provider. He also spoke of the increased efficiency achieved by dispensing with UCB’s warehouse and shifting responsibility for storage and delivery onto OfficeMax.  

(The associate vice chancellor suggested that the savings from strategic sourcing could be used to lower student fees. The sentiment was noble but ill-timed: A few days earlier, the Regents had raised student fees 8 to 15 percent.)  

Coley listed other goods that are or soon will be strategically sourced by the university: travel services, furniture, lab equipment, recreational equipment and appliances. Of these, he said, only office supplies and travel services are purchased by UCB in large amounts.  

Seven years ago, Berkeley Travel Company owner May Ling took a group of independent Berkeley travel agents to a meeting with Cal administrators to protest the funneling of campus travel business to a big out-of-town provider. Their appeal was futile. Today, Ling says, half of her clients are affiliated with UC but don’t book through the university because campus rules have made it so difficult to get reimbursed for reservations made by independent agents.  

The university claims that bypassing independents saves money. But Ling’s husband, Bob Barde, deputy director of UC Berkeley’s Institute of Business and Economic Research and a former part-owner of a travel agency, says that the university has no way of measuring the success of the travel company it’s currently using. For one thing, UC compares the ticket price it gets with the full price, which, in Barde’s words, “even your dead grandmother could beat.” For another, the university “[doesn’t] realize that getting the lowest price is different from getting the best price,” especially with travel, which, he observes, “isn’t so much a commodity as a service … What they don’t measure is what a good agent could have gotten them.”  

But how about products like office supplies, where the merchandise if not the service is pretty much the same, no matter who’s selling it? Shouldn’t the university seek the best deal for the citizens of California and go for the lowest bid?  

The problem is that, to paraphrase the title of the new film about Wal-Mart, at some point low prices have high costs. The Wal-Mart analogy was broached to me by Associate Vice Chancellor Coley. “The biggest proponents of [strategic sourcing],” he noted, “are large retail organizations—the ones that come to mind are Wal-Mart and Target.” (Later in our conversation, when I directly compared the university to Wal-Mart, Coley strenuously objected to the comparison.)  

Critics most often attack Wal-Mart as a cutthroat retailer that hurts its employees and local competitors. But Wal-Mart is also a buyer whose vast purchasing power and take-no-prisoners tactics have damaged many entities—manufacturers, farmers, processors and wholesalers—who provide (or once provided) it with goods. Wal-Mart-style strategic sourcing drives small and medium-sized independent vendors to the wall, if not out of business altogether.  

Next to Wal-Mart, the University of California looks like a midget. Wal-Mart’s annual revenues top $280 billion; the office supply RFP pegs the UC system’s operating revenues at $11.5 billion. But in the context of the local and regional economies with UC campuses, the university is an economic giant.  

The RFP says that in fiscal year 2002, the university spent an estimated $25 million on the RFP-listed office supplies alone. When the Regents chose OfficeMax as UC’s preferred provider of office supplies, they not only put the squeeze on independent vendors; they also sent millions of taxpayer dollars outside out-of-state. That means lost profits, lost employment and lost opportunities for California businesses.  

Unlike Wal-Mart, UC is a public institution with obligations to this state’s citizens. Besides cost-effectiveness, those obligations ought to include a commitment to economic democracy and a broadly prosperous California. Lip service aside, do they?  

›

“Brown?” asked our friend Darren. “Why brown?” 

“It’s not brown,” I answered. “It’s green.” 

He was silent for a moment, but I could tell he didn’t believe me. 

“Green,” he said. “Mmmmmmmm.” 

I looked at the wall in my dining room that I had just painted Behr 350F-7 Wild Mushroom Green. I squinted my eyes. Unfortunately, it did look a little brown. Actually, it looked very brown. Mud brown. 

“Wait until it dries,” I said with as much optimism as I could muster. “I’m sure it will look green tomorrow in the morning light.” 

“Early morning light,” said Darren. “You better get up really, really early.” 

We stood together and stared at the wall. 

“What about the ceiling?” he asked, tilting his head and nodding upward. 

“I’m going to paint it a creamy white,” I said. 

“But you should have done it first and painted your way down. It’s the golden rule of painting. Always start from the top and work toward the floor.” 

“Too late now.” 

“Yes,” he agreed. “I believe you’re correct on that particular point.” 

Our former roommate Hans came in the back door. 

“Uh oh,” he said as soon as he stepped into the dining room and saw the wall. He shook his head. “Way too dark. Why’d you do that?” 

“It will lighten up,” I said. “I’m sure of it.” 

He let out a low whistle and exchanged glances with Darren. 

“What color do you think it is?” I asked. 

“Brown,” he said. “Dark brown.” Then he looked up at the ceiling. “What?” he shouted. “You didn’t paint the ceiling first? Oh boy.” 

The three of us were peering skyward when our housemate Andrea stomped downstairs. 

“What’s going on?” she asked. 

“We’re discussing the new paint.” I pointed at the wall. “What color do you think it is?” 

“You know I can’t see nothin’ without my glasses,” she answered. 

“Take a guess,” I said. 

She stepped forward until her nose almost touched the wet paint, then walked backward until she was inside the kitchen doorway. 

“Green,” she said. “It’s dark green.” 

“Do you think it’s too dark?” I asked. 

She was silent for a moment. We looked at her, anticipating a response. “I’m thinkin’,” she said. 

We waited while she thought. 

“It’s gonna be all right,” was her final answer. “You just gotta let it dry and then give it another coat or two. And when you hang all the pictures back up you’ll cover most of it, so yeah, it’ll be just fine.” She paused. 

“But...” 

“But what?” I asked 

She pointed at the ceiling. 

“Don’t tell me,” I said. 

“You shoulda painted that first,” she advised, ignoring me. 

“Let’s not change the subject,” I said. “We were discussing the color. I’m glad you can see it’s green. Darren and Hans thought it was brown.” 

“You know all men are color-blind. Don’t pay attention to anything any man says.” 

I stepped away from Hans and Darren and moved closer to Andrea, my ally. 

Willie came in the front door. “What’s happening?” he asked. But before we could answer him he got a view of the newly painted wall. “Oh lord,” he said through his teeth. 

“Do you like it?” I asked. 

We waited as he scrutinized my handiwork. “We’ll get used to it,” he said. 

Then he looked at me. He could see the concern on my face. “Don’t worry, Suzy,” he said. “It’ll be OK.” He glanced up at the ceiling but was smart enough not to mention the obvious. I stepped away from Andrea and moved closer to Willie. 

“He’s color-blind,” hissed Andrea. 

I ignored her.?

There are two options on how to construct the playing fields at East Campus. One option is to build an open-street field, which has been crafted by community meetings with the WLC architects. This plan includes a multi-purpose field, basketball courts, and most importantly, an open street. This field benefits sports teams at Berkeley High School like the lacrosse team, the field hockey team, the rugby team, the soccer team, and could be used by the baseball teams for infield and batting practice. 

The other plan is a closed-street plan, which has been developed and promoted by baseball field advocates. The fundamental difference between this plan and the open-street plan is that this plan includes a regulation-sized baseball field and compromises the full multi-purpose field and the basketball courts. This plan also closes the 1900 block of Derby, which the Farmers’ Market has occupied every Tuesday for nearly 20 years. 

Let’s forget about the neighborhood concerns for a moment. Let’s forget for a moment that the field is too expensive (somewhere in the ballpark of $4 million). Let’s forget that the Fire Department at Derby and Shattuck will be inconvenienced if it has to respond to a 911 call. Let’s even forget about the needs of Berkeley Alternative High (that they want basketball courts and gardening programs for their students). Let’s talk about the things people really care about. 

Firstly, this backing of the closed-street field is primarily by adult supporters of the Berkeley High School (BHS) varsity baseball team. There has been no concern for any of the other teams, like the lacrosse team, the field hockey team, and the soccer team. Some of the planners have only had a concern for a baseball diamond for the BHS varsity baseball team. Not only have they not taken account of the other sports’ teams at BHS, they also have zero concern for the low-income residents that live in public housing on Ward Street or the students that attend Berkeley Alternative High. 

The young kids at public housing have been in need of playing space for a while. The City of Berkeley has ignored that request up until now. We now have a real solution on the table—the open-Derby Street Plan. Currently, kids at public housing play kickball, football, Frisbee, and even soccer in the middle of the street. This is a “cry” for open playing space. My biggest goal has been and will continue to be to help to allow them to use the space in their own “backyard” for playing these sports that they treasure, rather than re-routing traffic onto the very street they plan on. 

Another reason that the closed-street plan is flawed is that it doesn’t genuinely respect the Farmers’ Market. On numerous occasions, I have been told by the closed-street supporters that, “The closed-street plan provides more space per square foot than the one on Derby. So, actually, this plan is much better for the Farmers’ Market.” Well, I’m sad to say that if this were true, then the Farmers’ Market would undoubtedly support this. However, the people who say this seem to have little to no respect for the Farmers’ Market. 

The Farmers’ Market has been in our neighborhood even before I moved here in June 1993. I was just 3 years old. I would come over to the Farmers’ Market and shop with my father. And even now, as a 15-year-old, I still go shopping at the Farmers’ Market. Though now I can do it by myself. My point is that the Farmers’ Market is a haven for kids in our neighborhood. Low-income kids in our neighborhood volunteer at the Farmers’ Market to learn more about healthy food and nutrition. It really is an entity in our neighborhood that helps many of us survive. 

I have been to Farmers’ Markets all over the Bay Area—in San Francisco, in Oakland, in Point Reyes, in San Rafael, and many others. I have to say that Berkeley must be the biggest, most exciting, most diverse market that I have ever seen—by far. We can’t lose it. A closed-Derby Street plan would have many negative impacts on the Berkeley Farmers’ Market and the lives of our neighborhood children. 

If the Farmers’ Market were moved to the parking lot on busy Martin Luther King Jr. Way, it would pose threats to the market. How would people be able to find parking for the market? What about the disabled? The current market provides space for parking. While I and others (including the Ecology Center) encourage the use of bus, BART, biking, and walking, in reality, not everyone will do that. It is important to have parking available for a business to thrive. Secondly, the “MLK Jr. Way Farmers’ Market in a parking lot” look is very unattractive. The market would be in a locked-fence area on a busy, crowded street. Also, it may cause problems for the disabled, bikers, and people with babies in strollers (in terms of accessibility), if it is not in the open area on Derby Street. The Farmers’ Market has existed for nearly 20 years in our neighborhood. Farmers have told me from experience that when a market moves many times it takes years to recover, if it ever does. That really saddens me. It saddens me that some people do not care about this community entity that is so important to so many Berkeley residents. 

Please show your support for low-income kids in the community and for the Farmers’ Market. Please write Mayor Bates and all your councilmembers and ask them to keep Derby Street open. 

›

I’m a parent of two children who Berkeley public school students. My youngest is a freshman at Berkeley High. I’ve supported a “field of dreams” at Derby Street from the beginning, 15 years ago, and have been involved with hundreds of like-minded families raising their children in Berkeley. A recent comment by Councilmember Linda Maio struck me as she responded to e-mails on this issue. She stated:  

“We’re committed to kids; we’re committed to livable neighborhoods. It’s our job to balance these two in this case.” 

I am in total agreement with Councilmember Maio. “Balance” is the key word here, and in all things that matter. The primary reason for field users supporting this project is that by moving Berkeley High baseball out of San Pablo Park, it will allow the city to run a neighborhood after-school program for low-income kids who live around the park. The Recreation Department supports this because they know how badly this is needed. It is a priority for the city to figure out how to serve these kid s near San Pablo Park who have no one to drive them anywhere for recreation. Everyone benefits from this care and attention. By closing Derby and moving Berkeley High baseball out of San Pablo Park, the city can annually provide 4,000 hours of after-schoo l, supervised recreation for these kids. Statistically, crime is higher in low-income neighborhoods where there is no supervised recreation.  

Let’s talk about balance.  

Twenty thousand-plus—that’s the number of hours of outdoor recreation that would hav e been provided to “at risk” children had the council supported them the last time this issue was raised. 

Twenty—that’s the number of houses that would have a direct view of Derby. Now I know for a fact from attending previous years’ council meetings that not all Derby Street homeowners oppose closing the street.  

No way, however, do these numbers reflect balance! 

San Pablo Park is a community that really needs a neighborhood park. Many low-income families simply can’t afford sports programs that cost $200 to $300 per child per season to play. Yet their kids are no different in their aspirations than those raised in other neighborhoods—their needs should be met. too.  

We now have an opportunity to allow them to have a park that works for them. Why sho uldn’t the needs of significantly more residents who live around San Pablo Park not be taken into consideration when talking about livable neighborhoods? Will the City Council and the school district bow to the lobby of fewer than 20 homes on Derby Street who are supported by the political clout of the Ecology Center and ignore these kids and this need?  

Again, out of balance.  

Marzuola and Waller cry foul about the huge fence and “36,000 square feet of concrete and asphalt” running the length of MLK—th is hyperbole is simply a scare tactic. With the exception of the backstop area, which is a block away from any residence, there will be no difference in fence heights between an open-and closed-Derby plan. An athletic field, which is what BUSD is buildin g whether Derby is open or closed, is not a neighborhood park.  

And the now oft-heard phrase, “Send BHS to Gilman.” The fact is that the baseball diamond at Gilman is a replacement for a diamond that was going to be built by the City of Albany on the Alb any Plateau, for the Albany Little League. And the Albany Little League, which serves almost as many Berkeley kids as Albany kids, has already made it clear that they want to use Gilman at the same time that BHS would need to use the field. Their baseball program conflicts with Berkeley High’s season, and their community of players has grown over the years because Berkeley cannot field its own Little League team for obvious reasons. Let’s set the record straight: Albany will only allow Gilman Field to be used on the weekends. Those dedicated to playing baseball at the high school level need a field nearby, certainly not three miles away at Gilman, so they won’t miss classes during fifth and sixth periods as has happened in years past. They’ve seen their g rades drop because of the long trek just to make home games at San Pablo Park—they miss two class periods, hauling their heavy backpacks filled with schoolbooks and their heavy baseball equipment—especially heavy I’m told, if you’re the catcher—and walk 3 0 minutes for a home game. Another example: girls’ field hockey. When there’s not enough field space for practice at Berkeley High, some of these intrepid players who can drive squeeze 11 teammates into a car with their equipment and backpacks and drive t o San Pablo Park to practice. By the way, BUSD cut $25,000 from BHS athletics this school year, much of it involving transportation ($400, and more, for one round-trip away game; a full season is 16-games, half of them away).  

And those who fear that the Farmer’s Market will disappear even though that’s the one thing everyone agrees on—keeping it in the neighborhood because it is such an integral part of Tuesday evening shopping. Using hyperbole and outright lies to scare people into opposing the Derby S treet field is not right. No one in Berkeley who wants a baseball field at Derby is against the Tuesday Farmer’s Market, and it has existed in the plans for a Derby Street field from the beginning, 15 years ago. 

It’s important for this city’s future that we find ways to bridge the difference between the haves and have-nots. These children have only one chance at being kids, Berkeley has only one high school, farmers’ markets will always be an integral part of our city, and San Pablo Park needs a viable r ecreation program. Providing options are what we as adults should be good at. After 15 years, it’s now time to step up to the plate and give it our best shot.  

Jahlee Arakaki is a former boardmember of the Albany-Berkeley Girls’ Softball League (1991-94), the Albany Little League (2002-03), and the Berkeley High School Athletic Fund (1999-2002).›

I would like to clear up some misinformation I have read recently in the Daily Planet regarding the possibility of Derby Street closing and its effect on the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Market. While it is true that the current proposed site for the Farmers’ Market in a closed-Derby Street scenario contains more square footage than currently occupied, the market’s needs are more complex than the physical space of asphalt given to us.  

The Ecology Center, which has operated the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Market for over 20 years on Derby Street, prefers that the street stays open. This is because the small farmers who sell in our markets consistently state that any market they have been a part of that has moved from an on-street location to an off-street location took several years to recover, if it ever did at all. Any market requiring a road closure will be more visible to passing traffic than an off-street market will, regardless of the number of square feet given to the market.  

In order for the Farmers’ Market to continue to serve the community and thrive, we have several needs that must be met. There must be ample parking for customers, including four spots for handicapped parking. In a closed-Derby Street plan, we lose that street parking, and no additional parking has been proposed for the Farmers’ Market. Loss of customer parking is the number one concern of our farmers and vendors. While we encourage alternate transportation, the fact is that people who are grocery shopping usually drive, and people who can’t find a parking space usually go somewhere else.  

Accessibility and visibility are also vital needs. The current open street provides us with the open-space feel of a true community gathering place, with many places to enter the market. Our site in a closed-Derby Street plan, however, doubles as a basketball court, which would require fencing and would enclose the market. Access into the market, as well as visibility, would be greatly reduced.  

We require lighting for operation during the winter months. We currently use street lighting on Derby Street. We must have access to high and low lighting in order to continue as a year-round, rain-or-shine market. Also, law requires that our vendors have access to restrooms with running water. As of now, there is no restroom planned for the site.  

The Berkeley Farmers’ Market must receive a reasonable long-term guarantee of operation. We are concerned that operating on school district property, as opposed to the city property we currently operate on, will result in the market being evicted sometime in the future. We are primarily a civic community resource, and prefer that our landlord remain the City of Berkeley in order to ensure the market’s long-term security.  

We are concerned that any transition period between an open-Derby Street and a closed-Derby Street may harm the market’s business. If we miss even a single week, customers are likely to shop someplace else. Most members of the public do not realize what a delicate business the Farmers’ Market really is. Most of the small, local farmers and food vendors that you support by shopping there truly rely on the market for their livelihood. If they do not meet their financial needs at the Derby Street Farmers’ Market for even a few weeks, they will be forced to sell at another of the Bay Area’s many farmers’ markets. Many farmers’ markets have ended in this manner.  

The Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Markets supports many local food security organizations, local restaurants, and the Berkeley Unified School District’s salad bar program. It is a positive community resource that sets an example to other communities. If you wish to support the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Market, please write to both City Council and the Berkeley School Board and let them know. Please tell local officials why the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Market is so important to you, and urge them to meet our needs, whether Derby Street stays open or closes, so that the market continues to thrive long into the future.  

Linda Graham is the program manager for the Berkeley Farmers’ Markets.

To Daily Planet letter-writer Michaela Bowens: I’m sorry that someone has filled your head with lies about the Ecology Center position on playing fields for kids. We have always supported the development of a multi-use field at Derby Street. We find it appalling this site sat empty for so many years while it could have been used by both girls’ and boys’ soccer, rugby, field hockey, and lacrosse teams. We have participated at deep levels of planning and engagement to those ends. We believe that physical education and team sports in particular are critical components, along with nutritional education and access to fresh fruits and vegetables, in addressing Berkeley’s unacceptable health disparities and the national obesity crisis. We have done much in this arena to work with BUSD both in and out of the classroom. We are concerned that any changes at Derby Street fully accommodate the needs of the thousands of shoppers, dozens of vendors, food justice organizations, and restaurants that depend on the South Berkeley Farmers’ Market as a thriving community resource. As for your comments about us sending kids to war or jail, please keep the dialogue respectful, not irrational. In the future, before you go passing judgment and publishing misinformed opinion about the Ecology Center, please check your facts. 

Martin Bourque 

Ecology Center Executive Director

Whether saddled with a case of the holiday blues or just tired of the usual Nutcracker-Christmas Carol-Child’s Christmas in Wales go-round and seeking something more offbeat for seasonal family entertainment, there’s a remedy: Send in the clowns. 

Or at least go see the two splendid ones performing matinees now at The Marsh in the Gaia Building in downtown Berkeley. 

Local wonder Unique Derique has joined forces with Moshe Cohen (Mr. Yoo Who) to stage Cirque Do Somethin’, a two-ring circus that really does have something for everybody. 

But what particularly makes it seasonal is the special way both clowns work with the younger members of the audience. “Christmas Is For Kids” has become one of the biggest cliches of a cliche-ridden holiday season. Derique and Cohen really make it that way, and give the flip side of that old, common coin new meaning: The best way to spend the holidays is to see it through a child’s eyes. 

Whether extracting a kid from the audience as a laughing subject for a film shoot of a campy fashion catwalk strut, or reacting to the sound of laughter of his friends watching their buddy cavort onstage, or wading into that same crowd to high-five a sheaf of young hands with triple-jointed slaps and rubber fingers, these two ticklers of funny bones fan up giggles into a pandemic of laughter, and soon the whole theater’s the same age, carefree and enjoying the barely controlled silliness together. 

There are quieter moments among the hysterical ones. In particular, Mr. Yoo Who does an eloquent flamenco show, beginning with arabesques strummed out on a ukulele slipped from a violin case, proceeding through shooing off flamboyant Derique in a tutu trying to steal a turn. Then, with rose firmly in teeth, the maestro’s sensitive hands trace the air in distraction as his feet lift him up into eloquent statuesque poses too exquisitely funny to break out laughing at. It’s the particular type of stage poetry that only the best of pantomimes can fall back on, the kind of timeless thing the silent film comedians performed on celluloid. 

There’s little dialogue—in fact, practically none. A few funny sounds, some nonsense talk we somehow catch onto, and asides to the audience in low-key, clipped cartoon voices, otherwise, just the obtuse taped coaching instructions to Unique Derique’s wake-up “Climb to the Top” yoga exercises that has him dressing out of a briefcase and twisting himself into a very successful pretzel. 

The two clowns have very different styles, and one of the pleasures of the afternoon is to watch how they patch it all together, beginning with a soft-shoe as they pile out of the sagging pink canvas of a tired, stylized pink circus tent panel, in moves that never clash, just bounce off each other.  

There’s plenty of acrobatics and a lot of juggling, from Cohen’s floating colored plastic bags, like fantastic capas, in his flamenco number, to the culminating chase: Unique Derique on a towering unicycle pursued by a helmeted Mr. Yoo Who riding low on a truncated two-wheeler, as they frantically toss spinning clubs to each other, back and forth. 

Their musical inventions, together and apart, are marvelous. Derique is famous for teaching and performing the Hambone body-slapping rhythms originally developed by slaves forbidden instruments to play, and Cohen can syncopate his spare frame right alongside the lightning-palmed master. 

Side by side, these two characters are an unlikely pair. Derique is both sleek and flashy with outsized glasses while Mr. Yoo Who resembles the late Prof. Irwin Corey with twin wispy sidelocks swinging in counterpoint with the tails of his tuxedo. Both command the stage and bring everybody on to it with them by coming down and joining the audience. 

Whether acting out as klutzes, leaping up like super heroes, playing the beloved entertainer blowing kisses to the crowd or striking a classic pose with mock dignity, these two entertainers go on with the show, a show that becomes pure play—and so satisfies and refreshes everybody who sees it, invited to play along too. 

Moshe Cohen and Unique Derique perform Cirque Do Somethin’ at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way. Tickets: $10-$15. For more information, call (800) 838-3006, or see www.themarsh.org.›

TUESDAY, DEC. 6 

FILM 

Alternative Visions Three short films by Jonas Mekas at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Yiyun Li on her debut collection of short stories about modern life in China and the United States “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” at 7 p.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave. 526-7512. 

Paul Krasser reads from his new book “One Hand Jerking: Reports from an Investigative Satirist” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Courtableu at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Teada with Cathie Ryan at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

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

Ellen Hoffman Trio and singer’s open mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra at 8 and 10 p.m. through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $18-$28. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Philips Marine Duo at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 7 

FILM 

The Battles of Sam Peckinpah “The Getaway” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

“No Man’s Land” A film program celebrating the United Nations 60th Anniversary, at 7 p.m. at 60 Evans Hall, UC Campus. 540-8017.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Justice Matters: Artists Consider Palestine” A exhibition of works by fourteen Palestinian and American artists. Artists panel discussion at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park. 644-6893.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

The Face of Poetry with photographer Margaretta K. Mitchell and poet Zach Rogow at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

M. Steven Shackley on “Obsidian: Geology and Archeology in the North American Southwest” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean, harpsichord, at noon at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Central Asian Tales: Sabjilar, Choduraa Tumat & Sarymai. Lecture demonstration at 7 p.m., performance at 8:15 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. 

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

Calvin Keys Trio Invitational Jam at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. 841-JAZZ.  

Orquestra Universal, salsa, at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Whiskey Brothers bluegrass, at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473.  

THURSDAY, DEC. 8 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Taisho Chic” guided tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-0808. 

“Oncology: Photographs from Children’s Hospital” Black and white photographs by Diane Malek. Reception at 6 p.m. at Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St. 644-1400.  

Greenlining Institute’s Fall Art Review Reception at 6 p.m. at 1918 University Ave., 655-3538.  

FILM 

Marcel Pagnol’s Provence “The Well-Digger’s Daughter” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

“The Soul of Justice: Thelton Henderson’s American Journey” A screening of the documentary and discussion with filmaker Abby Ginsberg at noon at the Laney College Forum, 9th and Fallon St. 464-3161. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poets for Peace with C.B. Follet, Ilya Kaminsky, Jeffrey Levine and others at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Yiyun Lee reads from her new book of short stories “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Ceramic Artist Mary Law will show slides and discuss her work at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside CLub, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $8. 843-8724. 

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Anna Pavord reads from her new work, “The Naming of Names” at 7 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Word Beat Reading Series with Avotcja and Pablo Rosales at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jazz Night with the MLK Middle School Jazz Band and “The Potentials” at 7:30 p.m. in the MLK, Jr. Middle School Auditorium. Donations accepted. Fundraiser for the Jazz Band. 

Berkeley Saxophone Quartet at noon at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6233. 

Cris Williamson, Teresa Trull & Barbara Higbie at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $22.50-$23.50. 548-1761.  

Mad & Eddie Duran featuring Raul Ramirez at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is. $5. 841-JAZZ. 

Home at Last, The Flux at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. 

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

Gini Wilson, solo jazz piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

FRIDAY, DEC. 9 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Marius” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through Dec. 18. Tickets are $28-$45. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Rep “Brundibár” A musical fable staged by Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendak at the Roda Theater through Dec. 28. Tickets are $15-$64. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Noises Off” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through Dec. 10. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Impact Theatre “Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake)” Thurs. through Sun. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean Theater, 1834 Euclid Ave., through Dec. 10. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. www.impacttheatre.com 

Masquers Playhouse “Dear World” Jerry Herman’s musical, Fri. and Sat at 8 p.m. through Dec. 17 at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets are $15. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Shotgun Players “Cabaret” Thurs. - Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Through Jan. 15. 841-6500.  

EXHIBITIONS 

ACCI Gallery Holiday Exhibition Reception at 7 p.m. at 1652 Shattuck Ave. 843-2527. www.accigallery.com 

Juana Alicia & Phoebe Ackley Prints, sculpture, tiles and jewelry. Reception for the artists at 5:30 p.m. at 2016 Ninth St. juanaalicia.com 

FILM 

The Battles of Sam Peckinpah “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia” at 7 p.m. and “The Killer Elite” at 9 p.m. at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz discusses “Blood on the Border: A Memoir of the Contra War” at 7 p.m. at the AK Press Warehouse, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. 208-1700. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“The Nutcracker” by Berkeley Ballet Theater at 7 p.m. at The Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $20. 843-4689. www.berkeleyballet.org 

John Schott’s “Dream Kitchen” at 8 p.m. in the Reading Room of the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. 981-6233. 

Voci Women’s Vocal Ensemble “Voices in Peace V” at 8 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church. Tickets are $15-$20. 531-8714. 

Handel’s “Messiah” and sing-along with the Young Musician’s Program at 7:30 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Benefit for YMP. Tickets are $15. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

The Christmas Revels at 7:30 p.m., Sat. and Sun. at 1 and 5 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Theater, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$42. 415-773-1181. www.calrevels.org 

Leah diTullio, clarinet, Rachel Turner-Houk, ‘cello, and Abraham Fabella, piano, at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $12. 848-1228. www.giorgigallery.com 

HELLA, hip hop, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

Aphrodesia, Wisdom at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $5-$8. 548-1159.  

Marcus Shelby Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Nameless & Facelss Bay Area Arts Collective with Inspector Double Negative & The Equal Positives, James Eksel, Lowkee and others at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ray Bonneville, roots and country blues, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Peppino D’Agostino & Stef Burns at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Kasey Knudson & Eric Volger, contemporary jazz, at 8 p.m. at Ristorante Raphael, 2132 Center St. 644-9500. 

The Dunes, North African fusion, at 9 p.m. at Lucre Lounge, 2086 Allston Way. 

Mariospeedwagon at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Split Lip, Joe Rut Cover Hour at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Plan 9, Monster Squad, Ashtray at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra at 8 and 10 p.m. through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $18-$28. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, DEC. 10 

CHILDREN 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Diana Shmiana “Winter Wonderama” at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Especially for ages 3-6. Cost is $4 adults, $3 children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

FILM 

Taisho Chic on Screen “Mr. Thank You” at 5:20 p.m., “The Dancing Girl of Izu” at 7 p.m. and “Osaka Elogy” at 9:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

EXHIBITIONS 

Alvarado Artists Group with works by local painters, photographers, and ceramists at 2649 Russell St., Sat and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 290-9221. 

THEATER 

“Feu la Mère de Madame,” by Georges Feydeau, Sat. and Sun. at 8:30 p.m. at the Alliance Française of Berkeley, 2004 Woolsey St. Tickets are $5, for reservations call 548-7481. 

“Dick ‘N Dubya Show: A Republican Cabaret” Sat. and Sun. at 7 p.m. at The Marsh Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way, through Dec. 18. Tickets are $10-$22. 800-838-3006. www.themarsh.org 

Moshe Cohen and Unique Derique “Cirque Do Somethin’” Sat. and Sun. at 1 p.m. at the Marsh, 2120 Allston Way. Tickets are $10-$15. 800-838-3006. www.themarsh.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poets for Peace with C.B. Follet, Ilya Kaminsky, Jeffrey Levine, Elline Lipkin, and others at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Poetry of Witness and the Witness of Poetry featuring Tim Nuveen, Kirk Lumpkin, Robert Roden, David Madgalene, Christopher J. Luna, Marianne Robinson, Julia Vinograd, and others at 8 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2350 San Pablo Ave. Free. 

Romance Writers of America with Penelope Williamson at 8:30 a.m. at the Marriot Courtyard Emeryville. Cost is $25-$30. 332-5384. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“The Nutcracker” by Berkeley Ballet Theater at 2 and 7 p.m. at The Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $20. 843-4689. www.berkeleyballet.org 

Kairos Youth Choir “Candlelight and Starglow,” a winter solstice concert for the entire family at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Cost is $8-$10. 704-4479. 

Handel’s “Messiah” Latin style with Juantia Ulloa and the Picante Ensemble with the Oakland East Bay Symphony at 8 p.m. at the Paramount Theater, Oakland. 444-0801. 

Sacred & Profane “Motetus: Choral Gems of the Holiday Season” at 8 p.m. at St. Ambrose Church, 1145 Gilman St. Tickets are $12-$18. 524-3611. www.sacredprofane.org 

“To Drive the Cold Winter Away” Renaissance works by Bella Musica Chorus at 8 p.m. at St. Mary Magdalen Church, 2005 Berryman St. Tickets are $10-$15. www.bellamusica.org 

Kensington Symphony Holday Concert at 8 p.m. at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 545 Ashbury Ave., El Cerrito. Suggested donation $10-$15, children free. 524-9912. 

Voci Women’s Vocal Ensemble “Voices in Peace V” at 3 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Tickets are $15-$20. 531-8714. 

Pacific Boychoir “Ceremony of Carols” by Britten, 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Oakland. Ticket information at 452-4722. 

“Musical Night in Africa: Sharing Our Humanity” with The West African Highlife Band and Baba Ken Okulolo & The Nigerian Brothers at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Terrain “Winter Dances: Breaking New Ground” at 8 p.m. at Western Sky Studio, 2525 Eighth St. at Swight. Tickets are $12-$15. 848-4878. 

Nick Gravenites & Barry Melton at 8 p.m. at Round- 

trees, 2618 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10. Benefit for Berkeley Liberation Radio. berkeleyliberationradio@yahoo.com 

Eric Swinderman Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Sheldon Brown at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Fiesta Boricua, Puerto Rican music and dance at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org  

Northwest Shines Darkly at 6 p.m. at Mama Buzz Cafe, 2318 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $3. 289-2272. 

Michael Gill & Kim Hart, contemporary jazz, at 8 p.m. at Ristorante Raphael, 2132 Center St. 644-9500. 

Tom Rush at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $24.50-$25.50. 548-1761.  

Dave Stein and John Howland at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

The Unravellers, The Bittersweets at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Killing the Dream, Pressure Point, Allegiance at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, DEC. 11 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Rebirth: New Photographs from Armenia, Georgia and the former Yugoslavia” by Vaughn Hovanessian. Reception with the artist at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2nd floor, 2090 Kittredge St.  

“Taisho Chic: Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia and Deco” guided tour at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-0808. 

FILM 

Taisho Chic on Screen “Sisters of the Gion” at 5 p.m. and “What Did the Lady Forget” at 6:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“One” A film on interconnectedness, with filmmaker Ward Powers, late afternoon, early evening at Landmark’s 1&2, 2128 Center St. Tickets are $9.25. 464-5980. www.LandmarkTheatres.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“The Nutcracker” by Berkeley Ballet Theater at 2 p.m. at The Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $20. 843-4689. www.berkeleyballet.org 

Chamber Music Concert with Peter Wyrick and Amy Hiraga, at 4 p.m. at Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $12, free for children. 559-6910. www.crowden.org 

Margaret Kvamme, organist, in a program of works by all female composers, at 6 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way at Ellsworth. Donations accepted. 845-0888.  

Pacific Boychoir “Ceremony of Carols” by Britten, 4 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church, Oakland. Ticket information at 452-4722. 

Terrain “Winter Dances: Breaking New Ground” at 8 p.m. at Western Sky Studio, 2525 Eighth St. at Swight. Tickets are $12-$15. 848-4878. 

Za’atar, music of the Jews of Arab and Muslim lands, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Phil Berkowitz & Louis’ Blues at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

The Snow Cat at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Gift Horse at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Holiday Beat Bash at 4 p.m. at the Eddie Brown Center for the Arts, 2560 Ninth St. All ages welcome. Cost is $10. 548-5348. 

MONDAY, DEC. 12 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Express with Doug Howerton at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Clarinet Thing with Beth Custer, Ralph Carney, Ben Goldberg, Sheldon Brown and Harvey Wainapel at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $$19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Hallifax & Jeffrey at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Natsasha Miller, with guest Steve Erquiaga, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

?

Anyone else remember the Firesign Theater’s record “Everything You Know is Wrong”? You get that feeling if you follow science at all closely. One day the earth is solid and stable; the next, the continents are whizzing around the mantle like bumper cars. You learn that the dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, and then it turns out you just had one for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s what the historian of science Thomas Kuhn called the paradigm shift, and it just keeps happening. 

Case in point: A couple of years back I wrote a magazine article about the Bay Area in the Miocene Epoch, 10 million years ago, based on fossil discoveries at the Blackhawk Ranch site in Contra Costa County. One of the major themes of the piece was the rise of the grasslands as the global climate became cooler and drier, and how this drove the evolution of herbivorous mammals. Unspecialized leaf-browsers died out, and lineages that evolved teeth capable of processing the tiny bits of silica in the grass blades—horses, for one—throve. That was the conventional wisdom at the time, laid down by botanists like the late G. Ledyard Stebbins. Everybody believed grasses were a Miocene innovation. 

But no. As recently reported, a botanist named Caroline Stromberg at the Swedish Natural History Museum has found the telltale silica crystals—phytoliths—in coprolites dated around 70 million years old. Coprolites are fossilized dung: dinosaur dung in this instance, from enormous sauropods that inhabited India about the time it was docking with Asia. The fact that Stromberg identified five types of phytoliths suggests that grasses had had plenty of time to diversify before this slice of time.  

So the whole scenario about the Miocene triumph of the grasses has to be rethought. And then there’s the business of the lizard venom. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve explained that although a lot of snakes are venomous, most lizards are not, the only exceptions being the oddball Gila monster and beaded lizard. This happened with some regularity when I lived in Georgia, where there was an ingrained folk belief that skinks—small lizards with, at some point in their life cycle, bright blue tails—were deadly poisonous.  

It appears now that although I was right about the skinks, I was wrong about many of the rest of the lizards. We owe this knowledge to University of Melbourne biologist Bryan Fry, who studies the evolution of snake venom. Snakes, of course, are just highly specialized lizards, having shared a relatively recent common ancestor with the Komodo dragon and other members of the monitor family. And venom glands are a widely shared, although not universal, trait among snakes. The sophistication of the apparatus varies, from the hypodermics of the cobras and vipers to the rear-fanged snakes in which venom flows from modified salivary glands down channels in the back teeth. A whole bunch of species, like the little ring-necked snakes that show up in our flower beds, are mildly venomous. Not to the point of being dangerous to us, fortunately—a ringneck would have to chew on your finger for a long time before the stuff had any effect—but potent enough to immobilize the snakes’ prey so they can get it down. 

The exceptions to the venom trend are mostly constrictors like the boas and pythons, who squeeze the life out of their victims. Because of anatomical features like vestigial hindlegs, they’re considered to be primitive among snakes. So it made sense to see venom and its delivery system as characteristics that more progressive snakes evolved. 

Except that Fry took the trouble to look at lizards, sampling their mouth secretions and analyzing them for the venom genes previously identified in snakes—not just Gila monsters, but all kinds of lizards: skinks, geckos, iguanas. “We isolated some rattlesnake toxins from the bearded dragons and started getting really excited,” he told the New York Times’ Carl Zimmer. I’ll bet they did. As it happens, I know a bearded dragon reasonably well; I’ve let her sit on my shoulder, even given her a bath. Her species is one of the East Bay Vivarium’s recommended starter lizards. And all the time she was venomous, like the common ancestor of all snakes and a good many lizards. 

The geckos and skinks are clean, Fry says. But the “venom clade” includes the iguanians (of which chameleons are a subset), the anguids (legless and alligator lizards), and the monitors. The venom produced by the Australian lace monitor causes a sudden relaxation of the aorta. The damage done by the bite of the Komodo dragon now seems attributable to venom, not, as once believed, the septic conditions in its mouth. I haven’t seen a complete list of Fry’s subjects, but it’s reasonable to assume that our own ubiquitous western fence lizard would now have to be considered venomous, as would the northern and southern alligator lizards.  

No need to panic, though; as with ring-necked snakes, we’re talking about small doses of what to us would be very mild poison. But it may be enough to slow down a fence lizard’s insect prey. Fry’s research raises all kinds of questions: have vegetarian species like the green iguana and its Galapagos relatives lost the ability to manufacture venom? Then there are the potential medical applications. Fry says the molecules in lizard venom are smaller than those in snake venom, thus less likely to trigger an immune system reaction. “I’ll reckon we’ll be able to get something useful our of them,” he says. 

So there goes another paradigm. And that’s fine; that’s the way science is supposed to work, what distinguishes science from theology. Any scientific theory is potentially falsifiable. Someone once asked JBS Haldane what he would consider as clenching disproof of evolution. “Fossil rabbits in the Precambrian”, he replied. Fair enough; if those 600 million-year-old rabbits ever turn up, science will have some explaining to do. But no rabbit, fossil or otherwise, is ever going to convince the acolytes of faith-based pseudoscience that their belief in intelligent design is misplaced.  

›

TUESDAY, DEC. 6 

“Snowcamping 101” Learn the basics of safe and enjoyable ski or snowshoe travel at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Nourishing Holidays” How to survive the stress at 7 p.m. at Teleosis Institute, 1521B Fifth St. Cost is $5-$10. RSVP to 558-7285. www.teleosis.org 

“How to be Your Own Sleep Consultant” for parents of babies at 7 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave., Oakland. To register call 658-7353. 

Berkeley Salon Discussion Group meets to discuss “Films in Our Culture” from 7 to 9 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 527-1022. 

Holiday Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at the MLK Student Union, UC Campus. To schedule an appointment see www.BeADonor.com 

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. In case of questionable weather, call around 8 a.m. 215-7672. 

Free Handbuilding Ceramics Class 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Also, Mon. noon to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Materials and firing charges not included. 525-5497. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991.  

Introduction to Buddhist Meditation at 7 p.m. at the Dzalandhara Buddhist Center in Berkeley. Cost is $7-$10. Call for directions. 559-8183.  

“Ask the Social Worker” free consultations for older adults and their families from 10 a.m. to noon at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. To schedule an appointment call 558-7800, ext. 716. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 7 

“No Man’s Land” A film program celebrating the United Nations 60th Anniversary, at 7 p.m. at 60 Evans Hall, UC Campus. 540-8017.  

New Heroes Social Entrepreneurship Forum Learn how social entrepreneurs are using business techniques to challenge poverty and injustice at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Free. 622-0202. 849-2568.  

Help “Save The Bay” Plant Natives We will transplant native marsh seedlings and do maintenance at our nursery to prepare for winter planting projects. Gloves, tools and snacks provided. From 1 to 3 p.m. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland. 452-9261, ext. 109.  

Holiday Wreath Making from 7 to 9 p.m. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $25-$30. Greenery provided but bring your own pruners. Registration required. 643-2755. 

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. 562-9431.  

“Living with Ones and Twos” Information for parents at 7 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave., Oakland. To register call 658-7353. 

American Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 10 a.m. to noon at its Claremont Ave. office in Oakland. 594-5165.  

Survival Guide for Working with Bad Bosses with Gini Graham Scott at 5:30 p.m. at the Linen Life Park Avenue Gallery, 1375 Park Ave., Emeryville. RSVP to 339-1625. 

Bookmark Nonfiction Reading Group meets to discuss James Baldwin’s “The Price of the Ticket” at 6:30 p.m. at 721 Washington St., Oakland. 336-0902. 

Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College Open House at 6 p.m. at 2550 Shattuck Ave. Tours of classrooms and clinics and information for prospective students. To RSVP call 666-8248, ext. 106.  

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes. 548-9840. 

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

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. 

Prose Writer’s Workshop An ongoing group made up of friendly writers who are serious about our craft. All levels welcome. At 7 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237.  

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley BART station. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, DEC. 8 

“The Soul of Justice: Thelton Henderson’s American Journey” A screening of the documentary and discussion with filmaker Abby Ginsberg at noon at the Laney College Forum, 9th and Fallon St. 464-3161. 

Scoping Session on the University’s Development Plans for the Southeast Campus at 7 p.m. at Booth Auditorium, Boalt Hall, UC Campus. Neighbors and community members encouraged to attend. 642-7720. www.cp.berkeley.edu 

“Make Your Own Journal” A workshop for teens at 4 p.m. at South Branch Library, 1901 Russell St. Supplies are free. To reserve a place call 981-6147. 

Holiday Wreath Making from 7 to 9 p.m. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $25-$30. Greenery provided but bring your own pruners. Registration required. 643-2755. 

Berkeley Palma Soriano Sister City Benefit “Art, Dance and Vision of Cuba” at 7 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $10-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

East Bay Mac User Group meets to discuss the iPod and iTunes at 6 p.m. at Free Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shelmound, Emeryville. http://ebmug.org 

Healthy Eating During the Holidays with Ed Bauman at 5:30 p.m. at Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, 1744 Solano Ave. 527-8929. 

Easy Does It Disability Assistance Board of Directors Meeting, open to the public, at 6:30 p.m. at Seventh Day Adventist Church, 2236 Parker St. 845-5513. www.easyland.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. 

FRIDAY, DEC. 9 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Deunis Auers on “The Baltics, The EU and Russia” 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. 

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz discusses “Blood on the Border: A Memoir of the Contra War” at 7 p.m. at the AK Press Warehouse, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. 208-1700. 

Scott Ritter “How We Got Into Iraq and How to Get Out” interviewed by Larry Bensky with Daniel Ellsberg, at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian UIniversalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. Suggested donation $10. www.ustourofduty.org 

Activism Series on Homelessness with Kurt Kuhwald of the Faithful Fools Ministry and Sharon Hawkins-Leyden of YEAH at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. Donations accepted. 528-5403. 

The Living Room Gallery Holiday Trunk Sale, showcasing local artists and craftsmen from the Bay Area at 8p.m. at 3230 Adeline St. 601-5774. 

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

“Fertile Darkness, Winter Lights” A musical gathering for women with Betsy Rose and Jennifer Berezan at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, small assembly room, 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $15-$20. 525-7082. 

Three Beats for Nothing sings early music for fun and practice at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 655-8863. 

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, DEC. 10 

Telegraph Avenue Holiday Street Fair between Dwight and Bancroft, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sat. and Sun. 

Berkeley Artisans Holiday Open Studios Sat. and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For a map of locations see www.berkeleyartisans.com 

“Playing With Fire” Berkeley Potters Guild Holiday Sale from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat. and Sun. at 731 Jones St. at Fourth St. www.berkeleypotters.com 

“Think Outside the Box” Alternative Gift Fair with ways to donate to local and national organizations from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave.  

Berkeley Farmers’ Market Holiday Crafts Fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Center St. at MLK Jr. Way. 548-3333. 

Winter Festival Celebrate the diverse winter traditions of Bay Area families from noon to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Celebration in Honor of Maudelle Shirek at 4 p.m. at St. Paul AME Church, 2024 Ashby Ave. Sponsored by the City of Berkeley. 981-7130. 

1000 Women for Peace Celebration of 14 Bay Area Women Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and booksigning of commemorative volume “1000 Women for Peace” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St., at 27th.  

Special Gifts for Friends and Animals for ages 6-8, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Zoo. Cost is $40-$50. For reservations call 632-9525, ext. 205. 

KPFA Crafts and Music Fair from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Concorse Exhibition Center, 8th and Brannan St., S.F. Cost is $5-$8. 848-6767, ext. 611. 

Debate the new Harry Potter Film, for teens at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. at Ashby. 981-6133. 

Vegetarian Cooking Class for the Holidays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Wheelchair accessible. Cost is $45. 531-COOK. www.compassionatecooks.com 

Creating Festive Succulant Wreaths at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

Growing Edible Mushrooms Learn how to growm mushcrooms in wood logs. Please bring a cordless drill, drill bits and beeswax if you have them. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Eco-House, 1305 Hopkins St. Cost is $15, no one turned away. 547-8715. 

Holiday Wreath Making from 10 a.m. to noon at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $25-$30. Greenery provided but bring your own pruners. Registration required. 643-2755. 

“Ethical and Halachic (Jewish Law) Challenges of Stem Cell Research” with Dr. John Loike at 12:15 p.m. at Beth Jacob Congregation, 3778 Park Blvd., Oakland. 482-1147. 

Small Press Open House with author readings and live music from noon to 4 p.m. on at Small Press Distribution, 1342 Seventh St. 524-1668.  

California Writers Club meets to discuss “The Poetry Industry” at 10 a.m at Barnes and Noble, Jack London Square. 420-8775.  

“Building with Alternative Materials: Cob and Strawbale” A workshop from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 812 Page St. Cost is $75. 525-7610. 

Protest Rally at Berkeley Honda Shattuck and Parker every Thurs. at 4:30 to 6 p.m. and Sat. from 1 to 2 p.m. until the labor dispute is settled.  

“Know Your Rights” A free, hands-on workshop from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at CopWatch, 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

Flu and Pneumonia Shots from noon to 4 p.m. at Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, 1744 Solano Ave. Cost is $25 and $35. 527-8929. 

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.  

Spirit Walking Aqua Chi (TM) A gentle water exercise class at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley High Warm Pool. Cost is $3.50 per session. 526-0312. 

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, DEC. 11 

Holiday Crafts from Reused and Recycled Materials from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Benefits the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. www.no-burn.org 

KPFA Crafts and Music Fair from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Concorse Exhibition Center, 8th and Brannan St., S.F. Cost is $5-$8. 848-6767, ext. 611. 

Chanukah Party with latkes, music, and make-your-own crafts from noon to 4 p.m. at Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

Art Book Sale from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Thinking of Becoming a Doula?” with Treesa Mclean, doula educator, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Change Makers, 6536 Telegraph Ave. 728-8513. 

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 

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on Tibetan meditation and yoga from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, DEC. 12 

Sing-A-Long from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. 524-9122.  

Beginning Bridge Lessons at 11:10 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Cost is $1. 524-9122. 

“Lynn Harney and his Work with New Tribes in South America” at noon at the Berkeley Men’s Business Fellowship, at Café Giovanni, 2420 Shattuck Ave. 223-3837. 

Critical Viewing An ongoing group to examine the art/craft(iness) of short films and television productions and its effects on our daily lives, at 1 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Free. 848-0237.  

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

TUESDAY, DEC. 13 

Shellmound and Sacred Sites a report back on the recent peace walk at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 25430 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220. 

“Fish Ears and Whale Songs: How Marine Mammals Sense Their Surroundings” with Michael Stocker of SeaFlow at 6:30 p.m. at the Oakland Zoo. Cost is $12-$20. 632-9525.  

Snowshoeing Basics, a slide presentation by snowshoe guide Cathy Anderson-Meyers at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“China and the Media” with Orville Schell and Xiao Qiang at 7:30 p.m. at College Prep School, Buttner Auditorium, 6100 Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $5-$10. 339-7726. www.college-prep.org/livetalk 

“The Frankenfood Myth” Politics and Protests of the Biotech Revolution with Henry Miller at 7 p.m. at The Independent Institute, 100 Swan Way, Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. 632-1366. 

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. 

Free Handbuilding Ceramics Class 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Also, Mon. noon to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Materials and firing charges not included. 525-5497. 

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 

Introduction to Buddhist Meditation at 7 p.m. at the Dzalandhara Buddhist Center in Berkeley. Cost is $7-$10. Call for directions. 559-8183. www.kadampas.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. 

“Ask the Social Worker” free consultations for older adults and their families from 10 a.m. to noon at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. To schedule an appointment call 558-7800, ext. 716. 

ONGOING 

Warm Coat Drive Donate a coat for distribution in the community, at Bay St., Emeryville. Sponsored by the Girl Scouts. www.onewarmcoat.org 

Magnes Museum Docent Training begins Jan. 8. Open to all who are interested in Jewish art and history. For information contact Faith Powell at 549-6950, ext. 333. 

Albany Berkeley Girls Softball League is looking for girls in grades 1-9 to play softball. Season runs March 4-June 3. To register, email registrar@abgsl.org or call 869-4277. Early Bird registration ends Dec. 31. Registration closes Feb. 1. Scholarships available. www.abgsl.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., Dec. 6, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

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

ca.us/commissions/women 

Energy Commission meets Wed., Dec. 7, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m. at 997 Cedar St. David Orth, 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/firesafety 

Community Health Commission meets Thurs., Dec. 8, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Kristin Tehrani, 981-5356. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/health 

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

On Monday it will have been three years since the O’Malley family paid a few thousand dollars for the name and distribution boxes of the original version of the Berkeley Daily Planet. A few old Macs and some horrendous metal desks were thrown in gratis. 

Since then, we’ve won a number of prizes and gotten considerable satisfaction from keeping East Bay residents informed about news that affects their lives. We take full credit for the striking improvement in Berkeley coverage on the part of the metropoli tan dailies—we’ve finally shamed them out of doing only “Berzerkley” stories. By almost any measure, the editorial content of our paper is a critical success. 

We’ve also spent considerably more money than our original investment just keeping the paper af loat. Conventional wisdom in the business is that it takes five years for a new publication to break even, and by that standard we’re on target. But it is still puzzling to us why a number of long-established Berkeley businesses refuse to advertise in the Planet.  

A very few of them have told our advertising sales representatives that they’re offended by our habit of giving exposure to both popular and unpopular points of view on controversial topics, especially questions concerning Israel and Palestine. There’s not much we can do about that, since we firmly believe that there’s no point in supporting a paper that censors information that advertisers might object to. But for the vast majority of potential advertisers who don’t have political objections t o our open-door policy it seems that Daily Planet advertising is a good opportunity. 

What does the Planet offer advertisers? 

It is the best way to reach readers from all over the world who think of the Berkeley area as an exciting destination for shopping, dining and entertainment. We have many readers who learn about Berkeley from reading the Planet on the Internet, and eventually show up here as tourists. And Bay Area businesses which want unique insider access to the East Bay’s fertile consumer base, in both flatlands and hill areas, advertise in the Planet. They appreciate the excellent demographic profile of Berkeley and the surrounding areas.  

Here’s why the Planet is unique: 

It’s the East Bay’s only locally published and independently owned newspaper. It serves not only Berkeley itself but the cities around it, including Albany, El Cerrito, Alameda, Richmond, Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont. Many of our readers live, work or go to school in Berkeley, but the paper is distributed as far north as Point Richmond, and as far south as Oakland’s neighborhoods near Mills College. 

According to an official City of Berkeley survey, the Daily Planet has the highest readership percentage among Berkeley voters of any East Bay paper, and it is also a “mus t-read” for anyone who needs to know what’s going on in surrounding cities. Our own surveys strongly confirm this positioning.  

Because the paper offers in-depth political coverage and feature articles about the cities we serve, with comprehensive calend ars of civic and cultural events, readers keep the twice-weekly issues longer and read them more carefully than the “lite” dailies or entertainment weeklies. Our new East Bay Home and Real Estate section offers valuable service articles plus comprehensive listings. It is widely read both by would-be buyers and by homeowners, many of whom will eventually become for-sale listings.  

Increasingly, businesses from outside Berkeley are starting to appreciate our ability to attract sophisticated readers. Montcl air Village, a charming retail enclave in the Oakland Hills only minutes from Berkeley on Highway 13, has been a strong supporter of both our real estate section and our holiday shopping guide, for example.  

We’ve always said that “greater Berkeley” is a n attitude, a state of mind, and that greater Berkeley customers are to be found in all sorts of unexpected places. But perhaps this has something to do with the relative complacency exhibited by businesses located in Berkeley itself: “We don’t need to ad vertise, because our location says it all.” This might have been true in the past, but we note with sadness that sales tax revenue from downtown Berkeley seems to be taking a nosedive, according to a speaker at a Downtown Berkeley Association seminar rece ntly attended by our publisher. He quotes her as saying that the new apartments sprouting up downtown don’t always produce customers for every kind of store. They’re mainly bringing in young males looking to buy pizza, like her own son, she said. It’s possible that businesses looking for a different kind of customer would benefit from advertising in the Planet.  

Internet buying is often blamed for local business’s lost sales. That’s partly true, but the other side of the coin is that Berkeley businesses like Peet’s and Cody’s which are growing into chains and establishing Internet presence should be aware that our website gets thousands of hits every day, many from cities where they’d like to be attracting customers. 

Since the 1920s the news media have been supported by commercial advertisers, and there’s not much likelihood that this will change in the near future. No major papers are anywhere close to being supported by newsstand or subscription revenues, partly because the cost of collection exceeds the return. We’ve talked about trying some sort of MoveOn-like click-through web subscription, but most web-based publications still don’t break even. 

We continue to regard our advertisers as our principal partners in this enterprise, and we appreciate their support and participation. We believe that when their businesses succeed because the Daily Planet helps them find customers, we’ll succeed too.  

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So Gov. Schwarzenegger has hired Susan Kennedy, formerly a top aide to Gray Davis as cabinet secretary and deputy chief of staff, to be his own chief of staff. And in a little noticed corollary move, his wife and political confidant Maria Shriver has hired Daniel Zingale, another Davis deputy, to be her chief of staff. Sacramento is a pretty cozy place, isn’t it? Why are we not surprised? Well, for one thing, Justin DeFreitas did a prize-winning cartoon for this page, way back when, around the time of the recall election, which depicted Davis morphing into Schwarzenegger in the space of eight panels. We should just re-run that one reversed. As they say in France, plus ça change, plus la même chose: the more things change, the more they remain the same. 

Since Davis left office, Kennedy has distinguished herself on the Public Utilities Commission by being a staunch supporter of what used to be called “the interests”—Big Energy in all its manifestations—against the little consumer. Big business is still calling the shots in California, as it has with a few periodic reprieves since the days when Upton Sinclair was defeated in his campaign for governor by a smear campaign well-orchestrated by the same kinds of business interests who now back the Davis-Schwarzenegger regime. Stopping Sinclair created the same kind of coalition between conservative Democrats and Republicans. 

Money is now the game in politics at every level, and everything else is just window-dressing. The Republican Party nationally and in California has mastered the art of making all kinds of special interest voters think that “we’re on your side” while picking their pockets. 

This time, even some conservative Republicans feel like they’ve been shafted by the Kennedy choice. Kennedy is firmly right-wing on economic questions (she boasts of having voted for all four of Schwarzenegger’s dreadful anti-labor initiatives) but she has the reputation of being more liberal on social issues. Personally, she’s an out lesbian in a committed relationship—she married her partner in Hawaii, under that state’s pioneering marriage law, similar to the one Schwarzenegger vetoed. She’s also been a staunch supporter of abortion rights. There could be no clearer proof that the greedy bi-partisan class of political activists cares not a whit about the so-called “wedge” issues that they’ve used to sucker fringe supporters when they needed their votes.  

And we need to look no further than Oakland to hear another version of the same old song, this time sung by nominal Democrats. Jerry Brown made much of his outsider sympathies when he decided to use the mayor’s job as a base for his future political fantasies. “We the people” indeed: Oakland has had a government by, of, and for real estate speculators since he first took office there. Parks, schools, downtown retail—you name it, it’s gotten worse in Oakland since Jerry came to town. Having sold off as much of Oakland as he can, Brown is now moving on to see what he can extract from the state attorney general’s job.  

Berkeley voters, too, thought that a change of factions in their mayor’s office might mean a change to that city’s planning department’s habit of making sure that speculators extract every dime of profit from every building site, but guess again. The cartoon of Shirley Dean morphing into Tom Bates would be harder to draw than Davis-into-Schwarzenegger, but it would be just as valid. We’ve had a continuation of the big-ugly-box-boom for people who can pay top dollar for rent, yet we’ve gotten almost no more housing for Berkeley’s low-income families. The rental boxes have started morphing into condos: a bad investment for individual buyers, but it lets builders off the hook as the rental market saturates and maintenance of their tacky structures starts to be needed.  

Two more prongs of Bates/Dean’s pro-speculator strategy are moving forward now: gutting Berkeley’s historic resource preservation law to create more building sites in the beleaguered flatlands (a process which started in the Dean era), and turning more of central Berkeley over to the University of California to become a satellite office park for affiliated research businesses (q.v. Dean’s memorandum of understanding with UC). And the rich get richer once more. Professor Teece has already banked his profits from investing in Patrick Kennedy’s Berkeley building projects. 

Only at the federal level do we see a small shift away from the trend toward one-party government for the benefit of the investor class. Some of the Democrats who were the loudest supporters of the President’s disastrous charge into Iraq are having a few second thoughts, too little too late, but better than nothing. We might hope that the courage lately re-captured by a few individuals like Congressman Murtha could be extended to other issues. There was a time when Democrats called themselves the party of the people, and perhaps some of them would still like that role. We’ll know there’s been a real conversion experience when all of the important Democrats in Congress come out four-square against the equally disastrous economic policies of the Bush regime: pro-wealthy tax cuts like the repeal of the estate tax, and spending cuts which attempt to balance the budget on the backs of the poor.  

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