“It’s pretty clear that we as a City Council got out in front of the community. I’m sorry. I think it was a mistake,” said Mayor Tom Bates to a crowd gathered in a church meeting room Saturday morning. 

“But the intent here was to do something to improve South Berkeley,” he said. 

Bates was joined by his council colleague Max Anderson, who champions with the mayor a request for a state grant to plan a housing and retail development for the main parking lot of the Ashby BART station. 

The meeting, held at St. Paul A.M.E. Church at 2024 Ashby Ave., had been called in response to another meeting organized by project critics and held on Jan. 17, the same evening as a City Council meeting. 

The meeting was run by Taj Johns, the mayor’s neighborhood services liaison for the area. 

“This is the beginning to an open process that excludes no one and invites everyone,” said Anderson, who had pulled a resolution in support of the grant which had been scheduled for a vote at the Feb. 7 council meeting pending the outcome of Saturday’s meeting. 

It was the first time the mayor and councilmember had met with the South Berkeley public about the project, which has raised suspicions with many in the community because the grant application had been presented for a council vote only after it had been filed with the state Department of Transportation (Caltrans). 

That suspicion was evident in many of the questions posed Saturday, although project supporters were more in evidence than they had been at the January meeting. 

The grant application called for a project to be built on the lot that incorporated a minimum of 300 units of housing over ground floor retail and commercial space. 

Though the housing is being touted as an opportunity for library workers and other city employees in the city, Bates referred several times to the units as condos, at one point saying that the project would generate “a lot of income” for the city through stores, restaurants, entertainment “and, if condos, transfer taxes.” 

The city controls the air rights above the parking lot, which is owned by BART—an agency which encourages development of housing and retail complexes (so-called “transit villages”) at its stations. 

Though several speakers called for the council to withdraw the grant application, Anderson said that “to delay, postpone or eliminate would be to take away from our responsibility.” 

He said, “If we delay a year or a year-and-a-half, we would end up with real estate and land speculators buying up the property along Adeline Street. That’s already starting.” 

To abandon the planning grant, he said, would leave the public to protest projects on a piecemeal basis as they appeared before the Zoning Adjustments Board.  

That, Anderson said, “would be a huge mistake.” 

Jackie DeBose, a neighborhood political activist who has taken a prominent role in criticizing the city’s handling of the proposal, said “the past process was on the true path of a nightmare, but there is a chance it can be salvaged.” 

The best thing, she said “is to withdraw the application and meet with the community. The good news is that the mayor and the councilmember have committed” to work with a broad-based community coalition. 

Errol Davis, a founding member, general manager and vendor of the Berkeley Flea Market which meets at the Ashby BART parking lot on weekends, said the vendors don’t want to be excluded from the process. 

Rosemary Hyde, a Prince Street resident, said she didn’t see any way that truly affordable housing could be built on the property. 

Bates had said that the project would follow city law, which requires that 20 percent of the units be set aside as affordable. 

Affordable apartments are reserved for those earning 80 percent less of the area median income (AMI), while so-called affordable condos can be purchased by those earning as much as 120 percent of AMI. Those rates are based on the metropolitan area of Alameda and Contra Costa County, a rate that is higher than that for the City of Berkeley—due in part to the city’s large student population. 

Bates said one possible solution would be for the property to be developed by a partnership consisting of both a for-profit and a non-profit developer. 

“I don’t think this is about affordable housing,” said Mary Trew. “These are condos as Mayor Bates said. “I think this is a land grab—taking public resources and putting them in private hands for profit.” 

“As a business owner, I welcome a project with the emphasis on housing,” said Steve Rasmussen, a Berkeley resident and owner of Key Curriculum Press. 

“As an employer, I have problem finding places for young people who work for me to live. I am confident that if the city is involved we will get something people can be proud of, a showcase.” 

Consultant Ed Church, who is developing the proposal for the South Berkeley Neighborhood Development Council, acknowledged that the grant application which the council approved on Dec. 13 contained errors. 

“We thought the site was a lot bigger than it is,” Church said. The figure of a minimum of 300 units was based on the assumption that a developer could build on all of the site’s six acres. But only four acres can be developed, he said. 

Robin Wright, another Prince Street resident, said that error and other concerns had led her to question the project. “How did you make the mistake of reading four acres as six? Come on, do your homework,” she said. 

But Michael Diehl, who lives near the corner of California and Woolsey Streets, said he favors a project on the site. “It may not be a perfect plan, but it talks about housing. I’m speaking for the people who do not have housing.” The question, he said, was how would the project help maintain diversity in one of Berkeley’s most ethnically mixed neighborhoods? 

Victoria Ortiz, who lives on Shattuck Avenue near the corner of Essex Street, remained highly skeptical. ”Why should we, the neighbors, trust that process?” she asked. 

Ortiz pointed to the inability of herself and other neighbors to stop the development of the so-called “Flying Cottage” at 3045 Shattuck Ave. 

“Our own representative on ZAB (the Zoning Adjustments Board) consistently voted against the community,” Ortiz said. “Why should we trust? Withdraw the application and let us build trust,” she said, receiving loud applause in response. 

The project drew strong support from mass transit proponents, including Steve Solnit and Brian Hill. 

“2005 was the hottest year on record,” said Hill, who lives on Emerson Street. “We need transit oriented development so people can go about their business without getting into a car.” 

“To me it’s a world-class site and it should be a world class project,” said David Krasnor, who added that he didn’t want to see the site developed as “a couple of hundred units of low-income stucco housing.”  

Krasnor said he also questioned why the South Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation (SBNDC) had been given the lead role in the project, “given their track record.” 

Church said that the intent had been for the organization to play the role of fiscal intermediary, “but at the City Council, somehow something happened that that made the SBNDC responsible for naming the task force” to direct the project. 

“I’m not sure it’s a good idea,” Church said. “I don’t think the SBNDC should lead. I think the city should.” 

Donna Mickleson, a Fulton Street resident, said she was concerned that the project, combined with the development of the Ed Roberts Center on the eastern Ashby BART parking lot, might interfere with the ability of passengers to use the BART station. 

Bates said that he would post updated information on the project on his web site, and said he and Anderson were willing to meet with small groups of residents in their homes to discuss the project. 

“We really learned that we need to work together,” said Johns at the meeting’s end, promising another community meeting within six weeks.  

One observer reported that a large number of city staff members attended the meeting, frequently applauding comments favorable to the project. ?

The Daily Planet recently spoke with new Pacifica director Greg Guma. See Page 14 for the interview. 

Pacific radio is facing familiar challenges—how to bring in new voices without silencing the old, how to diversify the audience without dumbing down programming and how to keep peace in the often confrontational staff. At the same time Pacifica is facing 21st-century challenges: podcasting, Internet broadcasts, satellite transmission and a steady loss of listeners. 

The Pacifica Foundation is the parent company and license holder for KPFA-FM in Berkeley and four other radio stations around the country. It was founded almost 57 years ago in Berkeley by peace activists and has maintained a progressive political posture since that time. It’s also had a rocky history of internal fighting, and in 1999, the national Pacifica board physically threw out local programmers and briefly succeeded in an attempt to take over KPFA. That action was met by an outpouring of community support. Eventually new bylaws aimed at democratizing the station were put in place and a new executive director, Dan Caughlin, former Pacifica network news director, was named.  

Caughlin left his post last year and Greg Guma, 56, has been hired to take his place. On the job since Jan. 24, Guma says he’s ready for the challenge. And skeptical yet hopeful local board members and staff say they are set to give the new guy a chance. 

“I wish him good luck and a stomach of iron,” quipped KPFA News Co-Director Aileen Alfandary. 

Guma co-founded the Vermont Guardian, worked as a daily news reporter, managed bookstores, edited the Vermont Vanguard Press and the progressive international affairs magazine, Towards Freedom. 

He is the author of books, documentaries and civil liberties dramas. He is visiting each of the Pacifica stations before coming to the national office in Berkeley around Feb. 24. 

After the crisis of 1999-2001 during which the Pacifica national board attempted to take over KPFA, new bylaws were instituted, creating a democratic structure where local boards are elected. They, in turn, elect the national board. 

“No matter who takes the job, it’s difficult,” said Sarv Randhawa who sits on both the local and national boards. It is difficult to deal with people with a wide variety of interests and goals in a structure that is “not corporate, not hierarchical.”  

Mary Berg, who also sits on both local and national boards and has been in several conference calls with Guma, said she is hopeful.  

“I see that he’s a decisive sort of person, organized and into the democratic process. I don’t want someone who is top down,” she said. “It feels like he will be getting input from people.” 

The boards, however, are too large to be manageable, said Brian Edwards-Tiekert, a member of the news staff and local board member. The Pacifica Board has 22 members, four representing each local station and two representing the 87 affiliate stations; the local KPFA board has 26 members.  

Bylaws would have to be changed to refine the structure. Edwards-Tiekert said he hopes the new executive director will review the bylaws. 

On the national level, the board is too expensive. The cost of flying so many people to meetings, feeding them and paying for the conference calls among them is excessive, Edwards-Tiekert said. 

Larry Bensky, KPFA general manager during the mid 1970s, produces a Sunday morning public affairs program and anchors much of the network’s special national programming such as the recent hearings on the National Security Agency surveillance of people in the US. Bensky says the “dysfunctionality” of the national board is evidenced by the fact that the new executive director is not even announced on the Pacifica web page. 

A glance at the website also reveals that the last minutes posted were from an August 2005 meeting. 

Calling the local station board “useless,” Bensky said its members raise no money, do no outreach and spend their meetings engaged in “parliamentary battles, power trips, and wasting time.”  

Furthermore, he said, only about 10 percent of the eligible KPFA listeners bothered to vote for the board at all. “I don’t consider the board to be properly elected,” he said. 

The question of programming is another key issue Guma will face. 

“Pacifica is more like a confederation (of five stations) than a network,” said Max Blanchet, a Local Station Board member. “There is not much national programming. We function as five quasi-autonomous entities.” 

The network comes together for an occasional national meeting and all run Democracy Now! which is independently produced. “We are not realizing our full potential,” Blanchet said. 

Alfandary also underscored the need for the executive director’s support for “helping the network perform in a collaborative way.” 

Larry Bensky expressed concern that Guma has limited experience in radio, underscoring that one of the chief responsibilities of the executive director is to support the programmers. 

Guma, who has a degree in radio and television broadcasting, told the Planet, “I am not an expert in radio, but I have considerable experience on the air as a producer,” he said, calling himself a “multi-media communicator.” 

Bensky blamed a decline in listeners in part on the lack of program support. Bensky said that according to Arbitron ratings, early in 1995, there were on average 200,000 listeners; last summer there were 165,000 and this fall there were 147,000.  

“We will attract the audience if we do programming correctly,” Bensky said. “What the new executive director has to work on is enabling and empowering the people who do the programming.” 

Blanchet, Bensky, Alfandary and others underscored the need to take advantage of new technology. Guma has said that is something he wants to do.  

“We need someone to expand Pacifica, to take local programming onto the satellite network,” Edwards-Tiekert said, adding that podcasting was also needed. 

The new executive director will have a role to play in mitigating tensions on the staff not only at KPFA but at other Pacifica stations, particularly at the New York station, WBAI. 

At KPFA, calming the troubled waters will be on the agenda when a new general manager is hired. Roy Campanella II resigned under pressure last month. A search committee for a new general manager will probably be formed at the local board meeting Saturday. 

The local board approves top candidates and the executive director plays a critical role in making the final selection, according to Edwards-Tiekert. 

“We need an good, smart, politically-committeed and experienced general manager—someone who knows radio,” Alfandary said. 

Without a general manager or an interim manager, “it’s not clear who resolves issues,” Edwards-Tiekert said. “It’s not clear where the buck stops.” 

Still, even without a general manager, staffers and board members pointed to the recent fund drive where the station made just under its $1 million goal. 

“It makes me proud,” Randhawa said. “Our station must be doing something right. I’m amazed at the dedication people have.” 

Long time programmer Kriss Welch weighed in with her support for Guma. “The general verdict in my office … that he seems ‘sane,’” Welsh wrote in an e-mail. “Sane is good. I'll take sane. We sure could use sane … By me, I'll wait and see. Give the poor guy a chance. After all, he actually had the nerve (or the ignorance) to apply for what is surely the most thankless job in the network.” 

El Cerrito High School student Juan Ramos was fatally stabbed and three others received knife wounds when a Berkeley party—mobbed because of an Internet posting—turned deadly Friday night. 

The 18-year-old student, a popular figure on the El Cerrito campus, according to El Cerrito High School Principal Vince Rhea, was fatally stabbed in a confrontation outside a home at 772 Contra Costa Ave. just before 11:30 p.m. 

According to numerous published reports the homeowner is Keith Oppelt. 

The narrow street, bordered by million dollar homes, is generally quiet, according to neighbors. Once in a while you’ll hear doors slamming as someone leaves a party, “but it’s always adults,” said a nearby neighbor who did not want to be identified. 

Another neighbor, Alan Swain, went out Friday night to pick up his daughter from a party at Albany High and was surprised to see the street mobbed with cars. He said he saw “so many kids cruising back and forth.”  

After picking up his daughter, he drove down the street to see where the party was. “There were a large number of kids on the sidewalk,” he said. 

Swain was unable to get back to his house because of the number of young people and cars in the street. That’s when he saw the young man lying in the street. 

“He was rolling around,” he said. The other young people were trying to get a car door open and yelling, “Where are the keys?” 

Swain assumed the youngster was drunk or stoned and sat in his car for about 10 minutes until they got the doors open and got the young man into the car. At that point Swain noticed bloodstains on the sweatshirt of one of the young people helping the victim and realized that he was hurt. He was then able to get to his house and dial 911; police arrived shortly after.  

Partygoers took three of the injured, including the young man who eventually died, to the Albany Police Department, almost two miles from the home. From there, Albany and Berkeley paramedics rushed the three to Highland Hospital, according to Berkeley Police Lt. Daniel Lee. Ramos was pronounced dead at the hospital. 

A fourth victim took himself to Children’s Hospital in Oakland early Saturday morning, Lee said, adding that all of the three wounded are expected to recover. 

The party, where parents were apparently absent, was attended by students from El Cerrito and Albany high schools, as well as crashers who learned of the event on a popular Internet site. 

Lee said reports indicate that between 100 and 150 youths attended the party. 

No arrests have been made in connection with the crime, and Lee said he didn’t know if investigators had identified a suspect. 

School concerns 

“Right now, the information is really sketchy,” said El Cerrito High School Principal Rhea. “We know that two seniors were involved, and one, an 18-year-old, was fatally wounded.” 

One of the two other students who were stabbed is a senior at Albany High School, according to published reports. 

Word of the stabbings stunned students at the El Cerrito campus Monday. 

“We are having a lot of grief and support counseling on campus today,” Rhea said. 

The principal has appealed for students who know anything about Friday night’s events to contact authorities. 

“We have asked them to come forward, and I know that they will in a case of this magnitude. And I am hearing that students are beginning to come forward,” Rhea said. “I believe that we’ll get a pretty clear picture of what happened. 

Albany High School Principal Ron Rosenbaum did not return calls. 

Internet posting 

Rhea said that preliminary indications are that the party was originally intended to be a small gathering, but word of the event was posted on an online site—Myspace.com. 

Lee said he had seen something similar in one of the reports on the crime. 

“It could’ve happened that way,” Rhea said. “We’re still trying to piece it together.” 

Mark Coplan, public information officer for the Berkeley Unified School District said he had also heard that the party had been posted on Myspace.com. The site is popular among young people, especially in the15-to-18-year-old age range, he said. 

In addition to member biographies and weblogs, the site lists events, and users can search for parties and other happening by city, ZIP code and date. 

“Once it’s announced, you can’t tell who will show up. It’s not the 

people who are invited who usually cause the problems, it’s the crashers,” Coplan said. 

Berkeley police urge anyone with information on the case to call 981-5900. 

The battle over Black & White Liquors took a new turn Thursday when the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) voted to reject a proposed settlement imposing new hours and conditions on the store. 

Acting in response to complaints of neighbors who charged that the store was bringing badly behaved drunks into the streets and onto their porches, ZAB had signaled its intent to declare 3027 Adeline St. a public nuisance in December, then pulled in its horns last month when owner Sucha Singh Banger indicated a willingness to compromise. 

On a 5-4 vote Jan. 26, the board voted to allow the owner to negotiate a zoning certificate that would impose conditions on the business but not carry the stigma of a public nuisance declaration. 

But the terms Banger and attorney Rick Warren offered didn’t please the board, which voted unanimously to reject them. 

The key sticking point was setting time limits for Banger to sell off his remaining inventory of fortified beer and wine and single bottles of malt liquor. 

Deputy City Attorney Zac Cowan, who met with Banger, Warren and city inspector Greg Daniel, said that the store had installed a digital camera to monitor activity at the store, and that Berkeley police had approved the installation—one of the terms ZAB had insisted on. 

While Banger had agreed to stop selling liquor in smaller amounts than 200 milliliters—just less than a half-pint—he insisted on being allowed to sell off his remaining stock of smaller bottles until May 12. During the ZAB meeting, he agreed to reduce the time until April 15, which was still too long for the board. 

“I would feel better if everything was sold off by March 21,” said member Chris Tiedemann. 

Member Bob Allen said that he would consider moving to turn back the agreed-on store closing hours from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m., a time neighbors had requested. 

“We would not agree to 10 p.m. We made that clear before,” said Warren. “We voluntarily agreed to 11 p.m. for six months to demonstrate that we are not a problem and then we will apply for midnight every day.”  

In the end, the board voted to reject the proposed settlement and give Banger another month to negotiate something that would satisfy the board. 

More on Adeline 

Everything on ZAB’s agenda carried an Adeline Street address. 

ZAB members also voted unanimously to allow Spud’s Pizza to serve beer and wine with their pies, to permit unamplified live music at the 3290 Adeline St. establishment and to void a provision of the use permit that would have required a dozen parking spaces, allowing five instead. 

The pizza parlor, which the city helped finance with a $90,000 loan from the South Berkeley Revolving Loan Fund, had been unable to open for almost a year because of the parking requirements. 

A change in the city zoning ordinance, which Principal Planner Debbie Sanderson dubbed “the Spuds Memorial Parking Amendment” eased the requirements, and Thursday’s vote brings the establishment in line with the new code section. 

“We have had more support of this application than any other I can remember,” said Sanderson. “My email has melted.” 

The board was happy to approve the changes. 

The board also OKed a new Verizon cell phone repeater at the Phillips Temple CME Church at 3332 Adeline St. 

Neighbors had protested the installation because they said that generators and cooling equipment for repeaters from two other companies at the building caused objectionable noise levels. 

Verizon agreed to built a sound wall and is not installing a generator, a sore point with member David Blake, who said he believes that repeaters should have generators in case power is disrupted by an earthquake—enabling cell phone users to make emergency calls. 

Blake cast the lone dissenting vote, though colleague Carrie Sprague abstained. 

Election 

In their final business of the night, members voted by acclamation to elect Tiedemann as their new chair. A motion to elect Raudell Wilson as vice-chair was continued until the board’s next meeting.›

Three important meetings are slated for this week on documents that will play a central role in shaping the city’s future: the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance, the new Downtown Plan and the Creeks Ordinance. 

Landmarks hearing 

The City Council will hold a public hearing on the controversial Landmarks Preservation Ordinance during a special meeting tonight (Tuesday) at 7 p.m. 

The council conducted a workshop on the ordinance last week, featuring presentations from the Landmarks Preservation and Planning commissions, which have offered rival drafts of a new ordinance that has been requested by Mayor Tom Bates and the council.  

The ordinance is the only thing on the agenda for the meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the second floor City Council Chambers at the Maudelle Shirek Building (Old City Hall), 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

The council is expected to hear more from the Planning Commission about its version of the ordinance, which differs from the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s version by reducing protections for the structure of merit, one of two categories of landmarks recognized in the current ordinance. 

Downtown plan 

The Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC)—charged with drawing up a new plan for Berkeley’s city center as a result of the settlement of a city lawsuit against UC Berkeley’s expansion plans—meets Wednesday night to talk process and goals. 

The issue of landmarks also figures on their agenda in the form of appointments to a subcommittee that will be comprised of DAPAC members and others appointed from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. 

Called the Subcommittee for Process on Historic Assessments, the resulting panel will recommend guidelines for including historical resources in the downtown area that should be included in the planning process. 

Also on the agenda is a segment on developing the committee’s work plan, another on downtown demographics and economics, and a third during which individual members can outline their “three overarching goals for the Downtown Area.” 

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Sitka Spruce Room on the second floor of the city’s Permit Service Center at 2118 Milvia St. 

Creek hearing 

At the same time as DAPAC is meeting, members of the divided Creeks Task Force will conduct a public hearing on their conflicting proposals to craft a new law governing property located on or adjacent to the city’s open and buried waterways. 

Unless the panel submits a new ordinance to the Planning Commission in time for it to act and refer the draft to the City Council by May 1, the existing ordinance governing construction on or near the city’s miles of buried (culverted) creeks will expire. 

The task force, which consists of homeowners and creeks activists, has deadlocked on many key issues, panel chair Helen Burke reported to the Planning Commission last week. 

Wednesday’s meeting will allow members of the public to offer comments. 

The session begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave.™

… 

they have come for my body 

fault lines etched across my back 

my stomach a hollow grave 

to bury everyone else’s blame 

take on everyone else’s shame 

instead of singing my name 

—from “They Came for Me”  

by Uchechi Kalu 

Uchechi Kalu is a Nigerian-born poet who writes about the heavy burden African women bear. She will share her poetry at an event honoring three African women whose work has helped lighten that load. 

The event, “In Honor of the Women of Africa: Stories of Courage, Perseverance and Leadership,” will be held Thursday, 7-8:30 p.m. at the Linen Life Gallery, 1375 Park Ave., Emeryville. 

One woman to be honored is Bongfen Siona Forba from Cameroon. Co-director of Community Education and Development Services, she and the women she works with look for ways to support the women of their community. 

Typically, women and girls in many parts of Africa toil daily, walking long distances to fill buckets with drinking water, then hauling the precious water home to their families. Forba worked with her local organization to get funding from the Global Fund for Women to bring potable water to the community.  

The San Francisco-based Global Fund for Women is sponsoring the event and honoring its grantees. Co-sponsors include the Priority Africa Network, located in Berkeley, and the Women of Africa Resource Center and the Women of Color Resource center, both based in Oakland. 

Wanjiku Macharia, from Kenya, will also be honored. Macharia began her community work with a focus on children, but soon noticed the big cars coming by to pick up some of the young girls she worked with, according to Sande Smith, GFW’s senior communications officer. 

Once Macharia understood the girls were sex workers, “she realized she had to address the conditions that led to sex work,” Smith said. 

The organization Macharia works with, SourceNet2000 Plus Development Agency, offered the girls opportunities to get out of the sex trade, beginning with education.  

Education is key, Macharia said in a statement: “In our culture, if you educate one person, it will help 10 people, because we share what we learn.”  

The third honoree will be Mariam Kamara. Originally from Guinea, Kamara founded the Women of Africa Resource Center, which provides support to African immigrant women living in the Bay Area. 

One reason to honor women, especially African women and women of African descent, is to reverse stereotypes, said Nunu Kidane, spokesperson for the Priority Africa Network. These women “are projected as victims, as poor and as passive,” Kidane said. This event is an opportunity to showcase the capabilities of African women. 

Moreover, Smith said, “We are holding this panel now because we feel it is important to bring attention to both the challenges facing African women, and strategies that they are implementing to address those challenges, and African American history month is a perfect time to do that.” ›

On Jan. 24, print and radio journalist Greg Guma took the reins of Pacifica, a foundation that holds the licenses to five progressive radio stations, including KPFA in Berkeley. 

Guma, 56, co-founded the Vermont Guardian, worked as a daily news reporter, managed bookstores, edited the Vermont Vanguard Press and the progressive international affairs magazine, Towards Freedom. 

He is the author of books, documentaries and civil liberties dramas. On Friday, the Daily Planet spoke to Guma, who was working at the Washington, D.C. station. He is visiting each of the Pacifica stations before coming to the national office in Berkeley around Feb. 24. 

DP: Why did you seek the job of executive director? 

Greg Guma: The Foundation of the Pacifica network is one of the most important progressive institutions in the country. It’s an opportunity that comes to few people to really have an impact on the national dialogue, on a whole wide assortment of issues and to be involved in an institution that has a tremendous history and an important role to play in the years to come.  

DP: And you decided to try for the job despite the tremendous hurdles you knew you would face, especially in dealing with many of the conflict situations. 

Guma: That’s not the basis on which I make decisions. You know many things in life have obstacles. I’ve been involved in a lot of political struggles in my life. I’ve been involved in creating institutions, managing others, political campaigns and civil liberties, anti-nuclear, the peace movement, human rights and justice and so, you know, people have arguments. There are disputes. When the stakes are high, people get excited and I come into this with a clean slate. There have been many disagreements and even a virtual civil war inside Pacifica. But that’s over now and we’re moving on. And I’m very excited and challenged by the opportunity to bring people together to be involved in a process of realignment, reconciliation and the dynamic process of finding new audiences and really making a difference in the years ahead in these critical times. The next two years are going to be tremendously important and it’s centrally important that an organization like Pacifica play a major role in countering the dominant narrative in this country. And I want to be a part of that. 

DP: You talk about finding new audiences and I would guess that that means creating new programming, which means somebody has to give up a slot on the radio. 

Guma: I think there’s a fallacy in that. Yes, one radio station only has 24 hours, but there’s also satellite radio that we’re looking into, there’s Internet channels, there’s iPods. People are going to start to get their information from a lot of different sources. And as a major content producer, Pacifica has an edge here. There’s also a tremendous amount of good programming already being produced by Pacifica stations and the idea is to find out how to project the personalities and the programs to a national audience. 

At some point there’s going to be change, there’s going to be accommodations, that people move on, a new generation comes in. Radio is an evolving medium. ... But what I’m talking about is redeveloping the national programming capacity of the station, doing it from the ground up and using the talent that’s here and bringing in new talent to project the voice of the progressive community to millions more people around the country and beyond. 

DP: Specifically, here in the Berkeley area and at KPFA you are aware of the turmoil that the station remains in even after the (former General Manager) Roy Campanella has left. How do you see resolving some of the local conflicts at the station? 

Guma: Well, some of that’s going to have to wait until I’m actually there. I’ve visited the station once. I was in Berkeley for two days. I am helping them to begin to recruit a permanent new general manager. We’ll appoint an interim general manager, perhaps at the end of February, or beginning of March and I’m hoping that the [local station board] there will fast track the process of finding a permanent general manager within a matter of, hopefully, less than three months. 

Long-term, however, there are issues having to do with internal staff relations and how people treat each other inside the station and what I would describe as somewhat as people adopting almost a tenure-system approach to programming, that is to say that people who come in with the best of intentions as programmers or producers come to believe they own that small piece of real estate within the station. That’s not true and that will change. 

DP: I know you have a lot of experience in print journalism. Tell me about your experience in radio. 

Guma: I have a degree in radio and television broadcasting from Syracuse University. I first appeared on Pacifica Radio in 1978 doing a national feed on the terrorist trial in Burlington. I was co-producer of a radio program in WRUV in Burlington. I’ve been trained by the American Radio Network on the boards. I am not an expert in radio, but I have considerable experience on the air as a producer and I’ve also made documentary films. I am a multi-media communicator who was also a manager and that seems to be what the Pacifica Board wanted. What I don’t know about the technology, I can learn. Fortunately there are a tremendous number of talented people in this network who can help me. 

DP: How are you going to promote democracy within Pacifica. Something that you have written—and I find interesting is that in a democracy the loudest voices seem to win. Democracy is a messy thing. How would you promote democracy given the challenges? 

Guma: Growing democracy is obviously important and so is good management. Good management is if it is done on a consultative basis without trying to impose solutions on people, can enable people to amplify their voices. By winning trust from the board, by getting people who haven’t spoken to each other to begin to talk to one another, by getting them to distinguish matters that really are important policy matters and matters which are personnel matters or management concerns. Having them distinguish between those two things, it will help to free up more time for them to have discussions that they need to have so that the important things we have to do are not displaced by internal debates that tend to be so enervating and discouraging. Also promoting the election process itself. A revolution like the one that has been underway in Pacifica for the past three years will not sustain itself unless it is actively promoted. 

So I think one of the jobs that I have, and it is in my job description, is to promote both the network as an entity but also to promote the institution’s goals and that means getting the stations to put out the word that this is the place where they won’t just be subjected to boring meetings, but that they’ll be involved in the dynamic and exciting process in which progress is made. So what I’m going to try to do, is through this kind of active promotion throughout the stations, get more people into the election process so that the number of votes goes up rather than down in the next cycle. What they do as a result, that’s up to them. I don’t determine the outcome. My concern is the process.  

DP: Are you going to relocate here? 

Guma: I’ll be living in Berkeley or the environs. I love Vermont and I hope to return there some day and I have a house there and three cats and many friends, so I’m not giving up on Vermont but for the next while I’ll be living somewhere near the station. 

DP: What else would you like people to know about yourself? 

Guma: Don’t listen to Internet rumors; don’t listen to third parties who will attempt to distort not only what I say but what other people say. Finally, judge me by what I do, come talk to me, keep your minds open and so will I..

“You’re pushing against an open door!” said a dignitary in the audience. 

All morning on that warm September day last year, about 30 notables described as “statuatory authorities” had listened patiently as nine other Americans and I talked to them about reuse, recycling, and composting on an industrial scale in a purpose-built facility. 

We foreign guests hailed from Washington, DC, Boulder, Colo., San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and Berkeley. Our team included an engineer, an architect, several directors, managers, or administrators of large and stable resource-recovery enterprises. We were experienced people with practical knowledge to share.  

We were in Lowestoft, England—part coastal resort, part fishing port. The collapse of the North Sea fishery a couple of years ago produced widespread unemployment in and around Lowestoft, but agriculture and tourism are still strong. All around Lowestoft to the west is a dairying region known as the Broads, as flat as Holland and crisscrossed by canals that were carved out of the underlying peat. 

Traveling through that countryside one often sees Dutch-style windmills in the distance, and sailboats moving slowly through the fields, hulldown behind the pasture grasses and hedgerows. There is fresh water underfoot, running water nearby, water to drink, to supply the farmers and the tourists; it’s a watery place. 

Landfills that leak produce vast plumes of leachate that spread and contaminate fresh water. Hydrologically, it’s a safe bet there are no good sites for any new landfills in the Broads.  

The statutory authorities we are talking to know that, and they’re worried. The day before, our sponsor Maxine Narburgh had given us this project overview:  

• The American team is asked to design a resource recovery park for Lowestoft that can get to zero waste—no landfilling. It will be called the Zero Waste Centre.  

• Time is short; only 12 years’ worth of permitted landfill space remains in the Waveney region.  

• A 15-acre site suitable for the zero waste park is “in the planning envelope.”  

• European Union funding is available for business incubator functions and development.  

• Funds are available to build facilities that produce heat for housing and fuel for vehicles.  

• Bottom line: The whole operation should power itself from activities and resources the site will produce, including harvesting energy from the wind and the sun.  

• What are now social services will turn into social enterprises, a new business form combining entrepreneurial zeal with social consciousness.  

After our morning presentations and lunch, we reconvened for discussion and feedback. Outside the windows at the Hotel Victoria, the North Sea lapped gently against Lowestoft’s white beach under the warm autumn sun, with France and the Netherlands just over the horizon. 

Inside, we forgot the scenery and focused on what we knew about costs, the prospects for acquiring sufficient land zoned correctly, where the money would come from, what agencies it would flow through. People got up and walked around, formed little groups, worked on the problems. 

At day’s end our team leader, Rick Anthony from San Diego, asked for a show of hands of those who thought the project was a bad idea. No hands went up. Then he asked who thought it was a good idea. Almost all hands went up.  

Weeks later the Berkeley contingent began working up the zero waste site plan. We started with large concepts, some drawn from site designs we’ve done or worked on in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. 

Principle: design a resource processing facility that mirrors policy priorities and maximizes customer convenience. Put reuse functions ahead of recycling so reusables arrive in better shape. Separate incoming customer traffic from outgoing product transport. Protect processing areas. Specify that operations will buy some materials, let some be dropped off free, charge disposal fees for others. Put wasting last in line, and make it the most expensive disposal option. Recognize and provide for all load types. Make unloading convenient, efficient, and safe. Provide space for lots of specialist niche operations handling different parts of the supply.  

England is more socialist than our country and is a nation of small enterprises. Government wants more and has a well-developed set of organizations to help businesses start up. So smack in the middle of the vast resource recovery park roundabout we created a set of buildings we called The Centre. 

This will house the authority set up to manage the Zero Waste Centre (it will be at the centre of the Centre), recruit its tenant businesses, and collect rents and fees to support itself. There are also offices for other supporting agencies and businesses, a restaurant area, meeting rooms, and classrooms.  

The intent of the entire complex is to replace all landfilling in the Waveney area by treating all discards as resources that can be sold into commerce.  

Using e-mails and occasional faxes, we got the designs reviewed by first our team, and then by the responsible folks in England. By mid-December, we deemed it done.  

This work in Lowestoft is paralleled by Berkeley’s own effort to renovate and expand its resource recovery facilities at Berkeley’s regional discard management center, currently known as the Berkeley transfer station. Berkeley’s council recently passed a zero waste goal, and a planning process designed to achieve 75 percent or better waste reduction has been proceeding for more than a year. This is a large capital improvement project, currently estimated to cost about $30 million, much bigger than anything done before.  

Two charming representatives of project Bright Green East of England will be staying in Berkeley from Wednesday night to Sunday afternoon. They will tour the Berkeley reuse, recycling, and solid waste facilities, including Urban Ore, as well as other facilities around the Bay Area, and will focus especially on Berkeley. Please contact me if you would like more details about this week’s visit by Maxine Narburgh of Suffolk Connect. A reception will be held at Urban Ore, at 900 Murray St., Thursday 1-4 p.m. 

Dan Knapp is the general manager of Urban Ore  

Failed kidnapping 

University of California Police issued a crime alert Monday, two days after they say an unknown man tried to kidnap a 7-year-old girl at University Village Apartments. 

According to the alert, the girl was playing with two other children near the baseball field bear the corner of Tenth and Harrison streets when a man grabbed her and carried her for several feet before she was able to break free and run off. 

The youth wasn’t physically harmed during the aborted kidnapping, said UC Berkeley Police Chief Victoria L. Harrison. 

The suspect is described as a white male in his mid-20s who stands about 6’1” and who has short blond hair and may have a goatee. He was wearing a black short-sleeved T-shirt and blue jeans, and may have a large tattoo on his forearm. 

Anyone with information on the crime should call Detective Jason J. Collum of the UC Berkeley department’s criminal investigation bureau at 642-3184. 

Anyone who sees an individual matching the description of the suspect is asked to call the department’s main number at 642-6760. 

Hot wheels  

When a citizen who lives in the 3000 block of Prince Street called to report a car theft in progress early last Monday, little did officers know that they would get a twofer. 

Officers nabbed the fellow red handed as he was trying to make off with a Toyota, said Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Ed Galvan. 

Further investigation revealed that the suspect, a 28-year-old, had arrived on the scene in a small white Chevrolet pickup that had been stolen in Richmond. 

The fellow was booked on suspicion of committing a laundry list of potential felonies, ranging from auto theft to burglary, and possession of burglary tools to receiving stolen property. 

Bribe probed 

Berkeley Police are probing a possible attempt to bribe a manager at the city’s Building and Safety Department last Wednesday afternoon after the official reported the incident to investigators. 

No further information is available, said Officer Galvan. 

Purse snatched  

A strong-arm bandit relieved a San Leandro woman of her purse and its contents as she walked along the 2000 block of Seventh Street in Berkeley last Thursday afternoon. 

Problem house problem 

The 1610 Oregon St. home that neighbors have repeatedly called a public nuisance was the scene of yet another crime last week—this time, a stabbing. 

Neighbors of the house recently won $70,000 in damages in a Small Claims Court action which featured the testimony of one city police officer who called it “the most notorious drug house in southwest Berkeley.” 

The latest incident occurred about 4:15 p.m. Wednesday when a 17-year-old boy was stabbed in the back of the head by a girlfriend of the same age who is a relative of homeowner Lenora Moore, reports Officer Galvan. 

The boy’s injuries were not life-threatening, and he was treated at a local hospital. 

The girl was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and domestic abuse. 

Armed heist 

A fellow claiming to have a gun robbed the Roxie Food Center at 2250 Dwight Way shortly after 9 p.m. Friday, making off with the store’s cash. 

He can’t have been the world’s brightest stick-up artist because the bald bandit walked into the store wearing only his beard, while his accomplice waited outside, wearing a mask. 

Pellet gun shooting 

A UC Berkeley student was the victim of a drive-by pellet gun attack shortly before midnight Sunday as she sat with a group of friends on benches at the southwest corner of the intersection of Channing Way and Warring Street, reports UC Berkeley Police. 

The shot, which didn’t break the young woman’s skin, was one of several fired from the rear passenger seat of a late model light gray four-door Honda Civic that was last seen speeding northbound on Piedmont Avenue. 

The shooter was one of several occupants in the car, police said.›

In the face of angry neighborhood opposition, Berkeley City Councilmember Max Anderson Tuesday withdrew his motion to have his council colleagues reaffirm support of a state grant to plan development at the Ashby BART station. 

His move doesn’t mean an end to development at the site—where the city controls the “air rights” to build on the main parking lot. 

Instead, Anderson and consultant Ed Church—along with up to three other city councilmembers—will meet with the public Saturday to discuss development at the site before returning to the council on Feb. 21 to raise the issue anew. 

The Saturday meeting will be held from 10 a.m. until noon in St. Paul’s A.M.E. Church, 2024 Ashby Ave. 

“I don’t want to instill fear in people. I want to bring people together,” Anderson said. 

Anderson and Mayor Tom Bates, a strong supporter of development at the site, both acknowledged errors in the way they had handled the project. 

With the backing of both councilmembers, the South Berkeley Neighborhood Development Council and consultant Ed Church had submitted an application for a $120,000 California Department of Transportation grant in October before winning council approval. 

The first that many neighbors learned of the project was in reports about the Dec. 14 council meeting where the council endorsed the grant application. 

That document proposed a project with a minimum of 300 units, a size that sent alarm throughout the surrounding community and galvanized opposition. 

About 70 project critics gathered outside the Maudelle Shirek Building—Old City Hall—before the council meeting while Mayor Bates was delivering his annual State of the City address inside. 

In addition to project area residents and preservationists concerned that the size of the project could jeopardize the character of the surrounding neighborhood, the protest also drew Berkeley Flea Market participants concerned for their livelihoods. 

Flea market fans  

“My main concern is with the vendors, especially those who might be starving if they didn’t have this venue,” said flea market General Manager Errol Davis. 

He said he was skeptical about a proposal to shut down Adeline Street on weekends along the eastern edge of the BART site. 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Davis said. “How would the churches and the other businesses and residents be affected?” 

“How do we stop this building?” asked Salvación Pallera, a San Francisco resident who sells produce at the market. “People love the market.” 

“There are so many people whose survival depends on the incomes they get from the market,” said Aisha Vey, who sells natural body care products and food on weekends. “I’m not making a huge amount of profits, and most of the people who come by aren’t people who can afford to go to Whole Foods.” 

“I’d hate to lose it,” said Aaron Cook, a 26-year-old drummer who has been coming to the flea market “since I was 7 or 8. I live right on the corner.”  

Council comments 

Other critics rose to speak during the public comment session at the start of the 7 p.m. council meeting. 

“It takes a great man and a wise person to admit an error,” said Jackie DuBose, a prominent neighborhood activist. 

DuBose called on Anderson to rescind the grant application “and do not declare our wonderful community a transit village.” 

“It would be a crime for you all to close the Berkeley Flea Market,” said Howard Jones, a vendor at the flea market more than two decades. 

A 63-year South Berkeley resident said she had been shocked and “very disturbed to hear something had been planned and the community hadn’t been heard.” 

Another critic was Charles Gary, an Oakland resident who serves on the boards of three South Berkeley institutions: the flea market, Shotgun Players and Easy Does It, a disability assistance organization that will be housed in the Ed Roberts Center, which is to be built on the BART station’s eastern parking lot. 

Gary said he was disturbed that the flea market had been left out in the cold. 

“Max came with Ed Church in October to discuss the potential for the future of the flea market but never mentioned” the grant application would be going before the council in December, he said.  

“Our community is a sleeping giant awakened by the fact that this proposal was popped on us without discussing it with us in any way,” said Kenoli Oleari, a community organizer. “We say, No thanks. We’ll do it ourselves. We’re tired of being little sister to the city. We’re going to take the lead.” 

Addressing the council, Oleari declared, “The best thing you and Ed Church and Max” could do is “to stand aside and let us take the lead ... withdraw the Caltrans application. We’re not interested in any modifications. We’re not interested in any project in which Ed Church, Max Anderson or the City of Berkeley take the lead.” 

His remarks were greeted with loud applause. 

Anderson’s response 

After the council had disposed of the consent calendar, Mayor Bates gave the floor to Anderson, who made a spirited response. 

“When I campaigned for election last year people asked me if I had a vision,” Anderson said. “I told them my key to South Berkeley was the Adeline corridor and its development and health and a chance to take its place along with the other great avenues of the city.” 

Construction of the Ashby BART station and the demolitions that accompanied it “scarred our community,” he said. “It’s been begging for 30 years for someone to step up and take responsibility by bringing the resources to bear” to do something for the community. 

“I could have done nothing. I could have ignored” the problems in the community, Anderson said. “That’s the safest thing to do in Berkeley.” 

Instead, he said, realizing the lack of resources the city had devoted to the area, “when an opportunity came to get some resources” in the form of the Caltrans grant, “I endorsed it.” 

Singling out critics who charged that gentrification would follow the construction of a major condo or apartment project that offered 80 percent of its units at market rates, Anderson said that “if you don’t do something now, you will see gentrification the likes of which will startle everyone.” 

The councilmember singled out Oleari, declaring, “you don’t start an open and inclusive process by excluding people by name.” 

Instead, he said, “whatever mistakes have been made in the past should fade into the background.” 

Anderson said the meeting wouldn’t be “rigged like the last one was,” referring to the Jan. 17 meeting at the South Berkeley Senior Center organized by project critics. 

Collegial support 

Other councilmembers weighed in, offering Anderson qualified support. 

“When a great proposal came up in December . . . I supported moving forward with it,” said Gordon Wozniak, adding that “everyone regrets” that the proposal hadn’t been offered in a more inclusive manner. 

Betty Olds drew loud applause when she said she had come to the meeting ready to make a motion to withdraw the application and reapply only when neighbors had a chance to become involved. 

“I’ve been involved in politics for 20 years and I know what happens when you don’t involve the neighborhood,” she said, promising to offer a withdrawal motion in two weeks if neighbors were still unhappy. 

“I apologize and I think the City Council owes the community an apology,” said Kriss Worthington, acknowledging “that we have stumbled in this process” by not involving the stakeholders earlier in the process. 

“It’s not worth building anything on the site if it’s going to be yuppie expensive condos,” he said. 

“From this councilperson’s perspective, everyone went in with the best of intentions. We wanted to do the right thing . . . It was clearly inadequate” said Linda Maio. 

“Let’s come together this Saturday and see what we can do together for the city of Berkeley,” she said. 

“I would like to thank Councilmember Anderson for holding this item back,” said Dona Spring. “It was very wise on his part and shows maturity and that he’s listened to his constituents.” 

Spring and her colleagues had hoped to set the Saturday gathering as a council meeting, but City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque said that the venue precluded the idea because it raised church/state issues. The council agreed that at most four members would attend so that there wouldn’t be a quorum.

City councilmembers voted Tuesday to spend the city’s full $1.23 million budget surplus, discussed proposed changes in city landmarks law and watched a tense confrontation between two of their colleagues over the issue of diversity in appointments, in addition to debating the proposed development project at the Ashby BART station. 

While City Manager Phil Kamlarz had proposed spending less than $100,000 on immediate needs, Councilmember Darryl Moore said he wanted to be able to use the $292,643 in storm water system capital improvement funds earmarked in the city manager’s proposal to handle urgently needed repairs in his district. 

Moore said West Berkeley experienced severe flooding problems during December storms that resulted in damage to homes and businesses. 

Moore moved to authorize the spending, and was seconded by Betty Olds. 

When it came to a vote, Kriss Worthington was the lone holdout, arguing that the council should hold funds in reserve. 

Of the remainder, $300,000 will go to street repairs, $200,000 to traffic calming, $144,000 for parks, $42,000 for street and sidewalk cleaning machines, $44,5009 for disaster preparedness, $38,892 for hearing aids for a program for deaf children, $15,000 to fund emergency shelter beds for the homeless, $50,000 for a pedestrian and bike gate for BART, $82,000 to an alternative electric power program and $25,000 for special events.  

Landmarks 

One of the most controversial items on the council’s agenda was the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance, and members heard the first of two presentations on proposed revisions. 

Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) Chair Jill Korte and former Commissioner Carrie Olson presented the case for a revised version drafted by their commission, while another draft has been offered by Planning Commission, which was represented by Vice Chair Helen Burke. 

The revisions were ordered by the council to bring the ordinance into conformity with the state Permit Streamlining Act, which sets limits on the time that cities can take to process building applications. 

But critics have used the revision in an effort to limit the scope of the ordinance, which developers say is used to hamper the construction of new projects. 

In the ensuing discussion, it became clear that the council’s major concern was the structure of merit designation, one of two designations the LPC can bestow on historic structures. 

That category is generally reserved from structures that have undergone modification in the years since construction but which remain as meaningful examples of an era, style or architect. 

In her presentation, Korte stressed that preservation of landmarks was a policy spelled out in detail in the city’s General Plan, and she noted that other cities in California also have tiered designations like the structure of merit. 

Burke said the Planning Commission favors reducing protections on structures of merit. 

“My big problem is the problem of the structure of merit,” said Mayor Tom Bates. “There is just no doubt about it. The language (of the existing ordinance) says it doesn’t rise to the level of being a landmark, but another part gives it the same protections as a landmark. That is the biggest problem we face.” 

The Planning Commission, backed by the mayor, has also called for new process called a Request for Determination that would allow a property owner to learn if a structure might be eligible for landmark status. 

“It’s a great idea,” said the mayor. 

One interesting moment came during a discussion about appeals of landmarking decisions, which can be overturned by the City Council. 

During the council discussion Councilmembers Dona Spring and Kriss Worthington seemed to show the most sympathy for the LPC position. 

“I have been very discouraged when I hear people said that a landmark is a vestige of the past that’s just getting in the way of progress.” said Worthington, who cautioned his colleagues about moving “too far and too fast.” 

“The landmarks commission has gone a long way toward trying to compromise,” said Spring, who offered a strong defense of structures of merit. “They are very important to the flatlands, which have very few examples” of homes by famous architects who designed more expensive residences in the hills. 

Fireworks  

Tuesday night’s tensest moments came during the discussion of rival proposals calling for councilmembers to increase the diversity of their appointments to city boards and commissions. 

Worthington, who sponsored the original resolution, used a survey conducted by UC Berkeley students of appointments by the current council to bolster his contention that a resolution is needed. 

Gordon Wozniak said he wanted to correct “errors and distortions” because “the very important issue of diversity has been clouded by flawed studies” that indicated he had made no African American appointments. 

“The last I checked my representative on the Police Review Commission was an African American,” Wozniak said, adding that he had also appointed five UCB students. 

Wozniak then moved the adoption of compromise motions drafted by Linda Maio. 

Wozniak said that he had interviewed the serving appointees of predecessor Polly Armstrong, and argued that his choice to keep them on was effectively an appointment. 

As the discussion continued, an angry Worthington compared Wozniak to George W. Bush, declaring that when news media count the president’s Latino and African American appointees, they don’t count holdovers from the administration of Bill Clinton and declared that Wozniak had “an abysmal record” 

At the end of the discussion Maio’s motions were unanimously approved and Worthington’s own version passed on a 5-3-1 vote, with the mayor, Wozniak and Olds voting no and Councilmember Laurie Capitelli abstaining.›

In a town where free speech is holy and libraries are sacred, library workers are claiming retaliation from management for speaking out about work-related issues. 

Still, at the same time staff-management tensions are on the rise, the two sides are coming together to explore better ways to perform work at the library. 

Service Employees International Union 535 has filed grievances on behalf of five workers claiming retaliation for protected union activities. 

The union alleges that: 

• Last year, North Branch teen librarian Debbie Carton was given permission by her supervisor to adjust her schedule so that she could attend the Board of Library Trustees (BOLT) meeting where she planned to express concern about a reorganization plan. BOLT is an appointed five-member board that oversees that library. 

When Library Director Jackie Griffin learned Carton was allowed flextime for this activity, Griffin instituted a blanket policy, disallowing flextime for staff to attend BOLT meetings. 

• Last April, library staffer John Mathews was called to a meeting with two supervisors one week after having read a statement written on behalf of 24 circulation employees at a BOLT meeting. The statement alleged unsafe working conditions and an increased workload at the library. 

Because the meeting with his supervisors was out of the ordinary, Mathews called on his shop steward to accompany him to the meeting; administrators, however, denied the steward access. As a consequence, steward Claudia Morrow received a written reprimand for her attempt to assist Mathews. Mathews and Morrow have filed grievances alleging retaliation against protected union activity and denial of a right to union representation. 

• Library aide Avaan Gates-Williams wrote and circulated the circulation employees’ statement and, in the process, looked up the telephone numbers of several library employees in the confidential library database. Around the same time, she spoke on a KPFA radio labor show and before the BOLT regarding safety concerns at the library. 

Gates-Williams’ grievance alleges management claimed that she compromised the confidentiality of her coworkers’ library records, despite having their permission to view the records. She says she was involuntarily transferred as a consequence. 

• Library assistant Joseph Alvarez expressed concern about staff reduction, increased workload and unsafe working conditions at a staff meeting, to which a manager allegedly replied, “If you can’t work as hard as I do, maybe you shouldn’t be at the BPL.” Such statements are explicitly prohibited, according to SEIU 535.  

Citing confidentiality rules, Director Griffin said she could not comment on the allegations. 

“I’m obliged legally not to talk about these things,” she said. She did, however, note that the complaints come from only some among the 212 employees and don’t represent the diverse group as a whole. 

“We’re not a monolith,” she said. 

The tensions can be traced back to the library administration’s push for an expensive monitoring system—radio frequency identification—where tags are embedded in books so that patrons can use a machine to check them out themselves. 

The union’s main concern was the $650,000 price tag, said Anes Lewis-Partridge, SEIU 535 senior field representative. 

“The union believes that cuts at the library were used to pay for the RFID,” Lewis-Partridge said. The staffing cuts have led to an increased workload and safety concerns, she added. 

“The union believes its outspoken members are being retaliated against,” she said. 

On Feb. 3, Lewis-Partridge wrote a letter to the mayor and City Council outlining instances of alleged retaliation. Lewis-Partridge said that because the council, in principle, appoints the Board of Trustees (in practice, the board has appointed new members and the council has approved the board’s choices) that the union believes the council can have some influence over the labor conflict at the library.  

But Trustee Chair Susan Kupfer said she thinks the union’s publicizing the grievances is ill-timed. 

“It’s unfortunate coming now that all the different groups in the library are coming together,” she said.  

Kupfer, who has been a trustee for two and a half years, was referring to a new ad hoc committee, consisting of library staff and management, which met Wednesday for the first time. She lauded the work of the committee, which, at its first session, prioritized ten concrete work-related library issues and began to address the first one. 

Kupfer said it was premature to speak publicly about what the issues are that the committee will address. She noted that the board is active on other levels in trying to reduce tensions at the library. 

“All board members are active in the community talking with community members and different groups in the library,” she said. 

Andrea Seagall, library shop steward, summed up the ultimate goal of the library workers: “It’s really about getting our library back, about providing services to the people of Berkeley.” 

BOX: 

Berkeleyans Organizing for Library Defense will hold an “Informational/Protest Picket” regarding the Radio Frequency Identification Device chips in Berkeley Library materials on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the main library at 2090 Kittredge St. to coincide with the library’s Authors’ Dinner.›

The Transportation Commission’s proposal to charge new developments and businesses a fee to offset the impacts of additional car traffic they cause has raised red flags with Community Economic Development Coordinator Dave Fogarty. 

Fogarty took his concerns to the Planning Commission Wednesday night, warning that the fee could thwart economic growth in the city. 

And while the commission took no action on the fee, they did vote to direct the city staff to present a plan to allow car dealers to relocate along the Eastshore Freeway, singling out sites near the Gilman Street and Ashby Avenue freeway interchanges. 

The commission also voted to set a Feb. 22 session where they and members of the Landmarks Preservation and Transportation commissions can hear a presentation from UC Berkeley officials on plans for massive new developments at and near the school’s Memorial Stadium. 

That session will be at 6 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

They also voted to hold another hearing that same evening—this one just for themselves—to vote on continuing the city’s inclusionary ordinance, a measure a joint city task force is currently working to revise. 

The city had a transportation fee—which is mandated in the general plan—between 1985 and 1997, when it was dropped because of a city attorney’s opinion that the ordinance was in violation of the state Mitigation Fee Act. 

Similar fees are common throughout the state, though the amounts charged vary dramatically. 

While Assistant Public Works Director Peter Hillier had proposed a Transportation Services Fee (TSF) of $4,687 for each new peak-hour car trip generated by a project or business, the Transportation Commission had voted to increase the amount by 25 percent—or $6,084 per trip—on Oct. 20. 

However, the study Fogarty showed the commission Wednesday used Hillier’s original figure in analyzing development impacts. 

Fogarty presented a table showing the impacts of assessments charged at the lower number on six Berkeley projects when added to the costs of other planning and development fees charged to developers. 

For the 176-unit Library Gardens project—which includes 3,000 square feet of retail space—Fogarty estimated that the project would result in 45 new daily car trips, resulting in a TSF assessment of $219,015, added to planning and building fees of $1,296,167 for a total of $1,515,182, or a net increase of 17 percent. 

Fogarty projected a 75 percent increase for the 35-unit condo and retail project at 2700 San Pablo, with a $131,149 TSF added to building and planning fees of $175,144. 

The dramatic difference resulted from the nearby access to multiple transportation modes and services at Library Gardens in downtown Berkeley, which would reduce the need for car trips, he said. 

The largest increase among his examples was for Cafe Trieste at 2500 San Pablo Ave. Because the popular cafe was estimated to account for 10 daily peak hour trips—seven more than the number estimated for the previous retail use—the city would assess a $34,069 TSF on top of the $5,945 in building and planning fees—a 573 percent increase. 

“The methodology is inherently unfair to retail in particular,” Fogarty told the commission. 

The fees would be assessed all new multiple-unit residential projects and new business in buildings as well as changes of business types when tenants change in existing buildings. 

Thus, a restaurant that replaces an existing restaurant wouldn’t be assessed the fee, but a restaurant that replaced a retail store—as in the case of Cafe Trieste—would be charged. 

The fee is heavier for retail uses, especially those that draw a larger number of customers and hire more employees. Developers and business owners can reduce or eliminate the fees by providing mitigations that reduce or eliminate the need for new trips. 

Fogarty said the fees could inhibit new businesses from locating in the city, and thus lead to a reduction in the sales taxes that are the cornerstone of his department’s development plans. 

“Retail sales are leaking into surrounding jurisdictions and we are at risk of generating more trips by our own residents as they shop in surrounding communities if we don’t allow” an ordinance that is friendlier to new tenants, he said. 

City staff presented the commission with a 78-page analysis of how the ordinance might be applied in each of the city’s planning districts—though without an evaluation of how the plan’s policies have actually fulfilled their development goals—which provoked amusement from Commissioner Gene Poschman. 

“If you look at the plans, you want to see what the plans have accomplished in the years they’ve been active, and if nothing has been done, how can we say the Transportation Services Fee will hurt? I’m very dubious. It makes very little sense unless we know what the plans have actually done.” 

Commissioner Helen Burke agreed, adding that she would also like to see how the fees have affected development in other cities. 

David Stoloff said he thought the city ought to considering exempting retail from the fee, and other said they thought more emphasis should be directed toward looking how businesses might not generate new traffic as much as shift it away from another competitor. 

Poschman said he’d wait until further discussion at the next commission meeting, and Chair Harry Pollack advised, “Let’s take it one step at a time.” 

The commission did vote a qualified endorsement of planning staff’s recommendation that car dealers be allowed to relocate near the freeway, a move endorsed by Mayor Tom Bates. 

The commission voted unanimously to direct staff to prepare an analysis of making zoning and plan changes to allow dealers to relocate to a manufacturing zone area near the Gilman Street interchange, and to an area zoned for manufacturing and light industrial uses south of the Ashby Avenue interchange. 

Hearings set 

The Feb. 22 hearing for UC Berkeley’s presentation on the Southeast Campus Integrated Plan will feature a packed meeting room, with as many as 27 commissioners as well as interested members of the public. The program will begin with a brief presentation by the university, followed by questions from the commissioners and, finally, by comments from the public—all scheduled to end by 7:30 p.m. 

The commission also voted to hold a March 8 hearing on a revision of the traffic analysis for the Draft Environmental Impact Report on the proposed new Berkeley Bowl in West Berkeley. The original document failed to looked at the store’s impacts on weekend traffic, which is the subject of the new report. 

Public comments will be limited to the traffic aspects of the report.?

The two-year-long labor dispute at the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center hospitals appears at an end, with both sides announcing a settlement Thursday. 

Union members have scheduled a ratification vote for Tuesday. 

In a statement issued Tuesday to hospital staff, Alta Bates Summit CEO Warren Kirk said the new accord includes a wage increase of four percent, followed by another two percent in May 2007, followed by three percent more in November of that year. 

Those raises are on top of an increase previously awarded in August 2004 and another a year later, Kirk said. 

Union members will also receive another $1,000 apiece on ratification of the new contract, which expires on June 30, 2008.  

The last contract between the 1300 members of SEIU United Healthcare West and the hospitals expired in April 2004. 

The union represents licensed vocational nurses and other employees at the hospitals. 

During the course of the protracted negotiations, union employees staged a walkout and both sides filed unfair practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board. 

The union said the contract matched an agreement signed following a nine-week strike at San Francisco’s California Pacific Medical Center. That facility, like Alta Bates Summit, is part of Sacramento-based Sutter Health, which has hospitals and clinics throughout North California. 

“Patients are the real winners of this tentative agreement,” said union President Sal Roselli. “They will now be served by caregivers who have a real voice in staffing and access to a training and upgrade fund.” 

“Once again, we have demonstrated that when two sides want to reach an agreement, it can be done,” said Kirk. “We were able to negotiate a contract that addressed issues important to the union and the medical center.” 

The new agreement also provides for third party arbitration of staffing disputes. ›

Supporters filled the more than 200 seats in the City Council Chambers Tuesday evening for the annual State of the City address, applauding Mayor Tom Bates as he touted accomplishments over his three years in office and addressed the challenges of the coming year.  

These measures were put in place despite a lack of support on the state and federal level, the mayor said. 

“The state has eliminated nearly all funding for city infrastructure, cut funding for our health department and cut the safety net,” he noted. “Despite these challenges, it is important to acknowledge that we’ve accomplished a lot this past year.” 

Bates lauded his child and youth projects through which young people participate in after-school tutoring and sports. And he said children have gained access on their school sites to a public health nurse and mental health services as a result of endeavors he has supported. 

His efforts, the mayor told the crowd, have resulted in a balanced budget and a more civil City Council. 

Bates praised the agreement through which UC Berkeley development downtown must be planned with the city and through which the city will eventually get $22.3 million in payments over the 15-year period of the plan. 

“We did not solve everything, by any stretch of the imagination,” he said. “But we hope it has turned the corner on a very difficult and complex relationship.” 

He spoke of his efforts to address homelessness, emphasizing the importance of local projects. 

“I believe that what we do in this city will make a difference,” he said, pointing to the development of new housing for low-income people and efforts being made to house foster-care youth after they turn 18. 

He also listed his environment-friendly enterprises, including the city’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the conversion of the city’s vehicle fleet to biodiesel (vegetable oil) fuel and the new playing fields to be built on a little-used parking lot at Golden Gate Fields. 

Over the last year, many infrastructure needs were addressed, Bates said. The city repaired 100,000 square feet of sidewalks and 10 miles of streets, patched 2,300 potholes and repaired 58,000 feet of sewers. “But this is a city with an aging infrastructure and every year our list of needed repairs grows longer,” the mayor said. 

Bates also spoke to the future, noting that his staff was still working on a “sunshine ordinance”—rules that help citizens gain access to government—that would be ready by spring or summer. He also promised to curb a rise in property crime in South Berkeley. 

He pinpointed six specific areas that he would prioritize over the next year: 

• Supporting youth: improving city-school coordination to expand after school and summer programs. 

• Environmental leadership: making Berkeley the first “zero greenhouse gas” city in the country. 

• Ending chronic homelessness: addressing the challenge of homeless youth by linking homeless youth with services they need to gain permanent, supportive housing. Bates said he believes “homelessness is not a problem to be managed but rather a problem to be solved.” 

• Investing in infrastructure: a long-term approach is needed to adequately address the city’s need to protect and rebuild the city’s aging infrastructure. 

• Preparing for disaster: increasing the city’s investment in community outreach and training programs. 

• Sustainable economy: building an economy that focuses on growing the green business sector, neighborhood business districts and cultural arts. 

Natalie Leimkuhler, a co-founder of YEAH!, Youth Emergency Assistance Hostel, was in the audience listening to Bates, who had cited YEAH!’s work in his speech. 

“I think he’s starting to get the message,” she said, noting the efforts her organization had made to gain council support for the project. 

Calling the mayor’s speech “thorough” and “comprehensive,” Councilmember Max Anderson said people need to know about the city’s efforts, particularly in promoting green businesses and creating social safety nets. “It’s easy not to see,” he said. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington was more critical, admonishing the mayor for not prioritizing low-income housing, public safety and traffic calming measures when addressing future plans. 

Worthington, however, applauded the mayor for admitting he was mistaken in not including the community in the planning process for developing the Ashby BART station and promising that the citizens would be included. 

Demonstrators protested outside the Maudelle Shirek Building/Old City Hall during the speech, demanding a role in developing the project.  

Bates will address the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce on the State of the City Feb. 16, 11:30 a.m. at a luncheon at the Doubletree Hotel. Entry is $30 for members, $50 for nonmembers. A question and answer session will follow the speech, emphasizing, according to the chamber website, the possibility that Bates will introduce new tax measures during his re-election campaign.›

Nevada County Sheriff’s investigators are seeking child molestation charges against a Berkeley firefighter already jailed on charges of possession of child pornography in his locker and a city-owned computer. 

Luis Ponce, 47, had been arrested at his Grass Valley home on Jan. 26 on charges stemming from a Berkeley Police kiddie porn investigation. 

“We have evidence that he has molested more than one child in his home” in Nevada County, said Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Smith Thursday afternoon. 

Smith said his office had just presented the Nevada County District Attorney’s office with a request “asking that several (molestation) counts be filed,” as well as bail in excess of $1 million. 

“We also submitted evidence that charges of possession of pornography would be in order,” Smith said. 

Ponce is now being held at the Alameda County Jail in Santa Rita on $1 million bail on 57 charges of possession of child pornography, after a Berkeley Police investigation turned up more than 30,000 images on his computer and in an unlocked city locker. 

His locker also contained dozens of pairs of girls’ underwear, reported Alameda County prosecutor John Creighton.  

Ponce, who is married, cared for foster children in his Nevada County home, said Smith. It was there that the alleged molestations occurred. 

Victims were of both sexes, and none had reached the age of puberty, Smith said, adding that investigators had been able to identify some of the victims. 

None of the identified victims comes from the Berkeley area, he said. 

“This is the first case of its kind we have had,” Smith said. The officer also said that Ponce recorded instances of his molestation. 

Nevada County investigators also seized a computer from Ponce’s home when they acted on a warrant obtained by Berkeley officers. That computer is currently in the custody of Berkeley police. 

Berkeley officers were alerted to the case after another fire department employee discovered evidence of child pornography on a department computer. 

A subsequent investigation led by Detective Angela Hawk was able to link Ponce, a 17-year veteran of the department, to the images. The search and arrest followed.

As it nears its deadline for recommending a new creeks ordinance to the City Council, a citizen task force remains deeply divided, Chair Helen Burke told the Planning Commission Wednesday night. 

Burke, who represents the commission on the task force, said the task force is split between property owners and environmentalist creek protection advocates. 

“People have very strongly held views,” Burke said. 

“Will the task force try to come to a single recommendation?” asked Commissioner David Stoloff. 

“Given the split, it would be very difficult,” said Burke. 

Jordan Harrison, the Planning Department staffer assigned to the commission, and Deputy Planning Director Wendy Cosin presented the commission with four possible alternatives. 

“The good news is that you don’t need to pick any of these four,” said Cosin, noting that the commission has the power to use the variants—plus a fifth that creeks advocates are submitting—to shape their own version. 

One of the thorniest issues the task force faces is regulating the miles of city creeks that flow underground through long-buried culverts. Many property owners weren’t aware of the buried creeks when they brought their homes and businesses, and the task force is faced with a May 1 City Council deadline. If the task force is unable to adopt recommendations by then, the existing ban on building within 30 feet of a buried creek would be dropped. 

Creeks advocates want to disinter as many buried waterways as possible, arguing that public policy should favor restoration of a natural system that plays a major role in cleansing water supplies of pollutants while maintaining natural ecosystems. 

But ecosystems come into conflict with property rights, and the anxieties of owners who fear regulations that would reduce the value of their property and interfere with their rights to enjoy it. 

The task force will hold a hearing next Wednesday to bring the public up to date on the progress of the ordinance proposals. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

A joint hearing of the task force and the Planning Commission will be held at the same time and location on March 22. 

At that point, it’s up to the commission and city staff to prepare a draft ordinance for the council. Notice of the meetings and copies of a city staff report on the ordinance proposals are available at the city’s website, www.ci.berkeley.ca.us. 

The proposed regulations would affect about 1,900 parcels in the city, said Associate Planner Erin Dando. 

“The consensus is that culverts should be treated differently than open creeks,” said Dando, and that any “daylighting” of culverted creeks on private property would be at the volition of the landowner. 

All the proposals would allow owners to rebuild existing homes built within 30 feet of a creek or culvert in the event of disaster—though Planning Commissioner Gene Poschman cautioned that rebuilding should be restricted to the existing structure size, rather than merely limiting it to the same ground floor area, an option he said could lead to McMansions. 

All versions would also allow rebuilding in the event a home had to be rebuilt because of dry rot or other problems, said Cosin. That would resolve a major flaw with the current ordinance. 

One central issue that remains to be determined is the degree of regulatory review required for repair of existing structures or construction of new ones on land that would be affected by the ordinance. 

The possibilities range from: 

• An over-the-counter Administrative Use Permit, which carries a $1,374 fee and requires about three months to process; 

• A Use Permit, which requires a public hearing and approval by the Zoning Adjustments Board ZAB, a minimum fee of $5,165 and at least six months to process, or 

• A zoning variance, which requires a public hearing, costs a minimum of $5,542 and requires at least six months to process and is allowed only if the project is the only way to make development on the property economically feasible. 

Under the current ordinance, no new roofed construction is allowed within 30 feet of the center of a creek or culvert, although additions can be made to a single-floor home providing ZAB concurs and issues specific findings. 

The four alternatives vary in the distances required for new development from a creek or culvert, the degree of permission required, the types of development allowed and the limitations placed on construction of decks and other unroofed structures, driveways and other impermeably surfaced structures.  

“On what basis are we going to make the recommendations to the city council?” asked commission Chair Harry Pollack. “I want to see as much basis for the task force’s recommendations as we can, because we would like to make an informed decision.”

A recently-released chancellor’s report on the Peralta Community College District Office of International Affairs concludes that the controversial office is not spending “lavishly” on foreign meals, accommodations, and travel, giving a sharp rebuke to charges made by Peralta Trustee Marcie Hodge. 

At one point, the report indirectly criticizes Hodge for failing to convert expenditure figures from foreign currency to U.S. dollars, making the expenditures seem vastly larger than they actually were. 

The report, compiled by Vice Chancellor Margaret Haig and scheduled to be submitted to trustees by Chancellor Elihu Harris at the trustees’ next meeting, concludes that “many facts” concerning the International Affairs Office “have been misconstrued and may have caused a negative impact either on the office or the staff involved.” 

The next trustee meeting will be held on Tuesday. 

A spokesperson for the chancellor’s office said that the report contains no recommendations, and is only intended as an information item for trustees, noting, “If there are to be any policy changes, they will come at a future date.” 

The report notes that the International Affairs travel budget has plummeted from a high of $79,000 in 2000-01 to $17,000 in 2004-05. The report also says that the department generated $2.6 million in revenue for the district last year. 

But Trustee Hodge disputes those figures, saying that district officials have still not demonstrated that the students paying “non-resident fees” to the district each year are actually being recruited by the International Affairs Office, one of her original complaints. 

“It would seem that the office could benefit from saying which students they have recruited from where, but that information has not yet been provided,” Hodge said in a telephone interview. “Right now, they’re just throwing around numbers. I’m still not satisfied. A lot of questions remain.” 

The Peralta Office of International Affairs is responsible for recruiting foreign students to the four-college district. Charges of improper foreign travel by faculty and staff through the office led to an Alameda County Grand Jury investigation of the office several years ago, leading indirectly to the firing of former Chancellor Ronald Temple. Harris re-placed Temple in late 2002. 

The Chancellor’s report grew out of a stormy Sept. 13 trustees meeting in which Hodge charged that Jacob Ng, the International Affairs Office Director, “has racked up thousands of dollars traveling around the world and nobody can tell me how many students have been recruited.” 

After complaining that Ng had not shown up at the September meeting as promised, Hodge asked “is there some kind of cover-up or something illegal going on?” 

That led to a virtual shouting match between Hodge and then-Trustee President Bill Riley when Riley tried to caution her against making personal attacks against a district employee. Trustees later voted to censure Hodge in part because of her actions at that September meeting. 

Criticisms of the International Affairs Office were also voiced at the meeting by Trustees Bill Withrow and Cy Gulassa, and Trustee Board President Linda Handy has said that trustee concerns about the department preceded Hodge’s attack. 

“We were already moving forward to make changes,” Handy said in an earlier interview. 

Last October, Hodge sent out a four-page mass mailing criticizing the International Affairs Office to constituents both in her own Area 2 trustee district as well as in the adjoining Oakland City Council 6th District, where she is contemplating a run against incumbent City Councilmember Desley Brooks. 

Last week, Hodge sent out a second brochure to voters in the two districts, showing a photo of a beach in Jamaica and the auditorium at Oakland’s Castlemont High School and asking, “Should the Peralta Community College District be recruiting students here? [in Jamaica] . . . or here [at Castlemont]?” 

In the brochure, Hodge writes, “I wish I could report to you that the lavish travel and wasteful spending in our community college district has come to an end. Unfortunately, it continues. . . . In recent months, college district staff have traveled to Jamaica, Brunei, Beijing, Singapore and Malaysia. We still have no system for verifying whether or not this expensive travel has resulted in the recruitment of one foreign student. I’m appalled at this ongoing waste and lack of accountability.” 

But the chancellor’s report noted that Hodge’s previous charges contained “inaccuracies that need to be addressed.” 

“Publicly distributed flyers quoted hotel and travel expenditures falsely as being in U.S. dollars,” the report said. “The amount on the invoice was actually in Chinese and Malaysian currencies. For instance, what was quoted as $316.20 Ringgit was actually $83 US. Another example was 300 Yuan, which were quoted in dollars, but actually equal $36 US.” 

The Chancellor’s report added that Hodge’s published allegations of six separate “lavish travel and wasteful spending” allegations came to an “alleged total” of $2,426.20, while the actual amount in U.S. dollars was $532. 

In her telephone interview following release of the report, Hodge said that she believes that the district “is beginning to put systems of accountability in place as a result of my criticism and the criticisms of other trustees. Hopefully, Vice Chancellor Haig will follow up this report with program reforms.›

Allegations last quoted in a Berkeley Daily Planet story have now surfaced in an employment termination lawsuit filed against the Peralta Community College District by a former president of Vista College (now Berkeley City College). 

Reporter Matthew Artz, who left the Daily Planet last year, has been subpoenaed to give a deposition concerning a 2004 Daily Planet article he wrote reporting on charges by former Vista President John Garmon that he was ousted from his job by a “black conspiracy.” 

Garmon’s lawsuit charges that the Peralta District violated his civil and employment procedural rights when it failed to rehire him as Vista president, as well as when it turned him down for the job of Peralta District Chancellor. The Chancellor’s job later went to Elihu Harris. 

In addition to the Peralta District itself, Garmon’s lawsuit also names Berkeley City Councilmember Darryl Moore as a defendant. 

In the article, Artz said that that Garmon, who is white, charged in a June, 2004 letter to Peralta Trustees that the five African-American members of the seven-member board and Chancellor Harris, who is also African-American, based their decision not to renew Garmon’s contract “on racial grounds and voted as a black majority for race-based reasons.” 

Artz quoted Berkeley Councilmember Darryl Moore, then a Peralta Trustee, as saying in response, “The vote had nothing to do with John’s race and everything to do with his performance.” Moore criticized Garmon for failure to properly fundraise for Vista’s new downtown Berkeley campus and for failure to build ties to the community for Vista’s 30th anniversary celebration. 

In a 2004 declaration in support of his lawsuit, Garmon said that he was one of four Peralta College presidents given a one-year contract in June, 2003. 

“I am the sole president who did not get a contract renewal,” Garmon declared. “I am the only Caucasian president. The other three presidents are two African-Americans and one Latino.” 

Garmon added that “before my termination from my contract as president . . . I applied for the Chancellor’s position having stated my position that the Peralta Community College District has a pattern of hiring only African-Americans to not only the president of the Board of Directors but to board members as well. At the time I applied for the chancellor’s position, I applied because the selection process seemed inherently unfair. I had noted a pattern of selecting African-American candidates for positions, including the chancellor’s position, without a search . . .” 

The Peralta District has denied the allegations in Garmon’s complaint.›

The developers of a massive housing project that will feature a Trader’s Joe store at 1885 University Ave. will meet with neighbors Monday. 

Hudson McDonald LLC plans a five-story, 55-foot-tall project at the northwest corner of University and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, raising alarms from nearby residential neighbors. 

The site is currently occupied by a strip mall anchored by Kragen Auto Parts. The project plan features 156 apartments over a ground floor Trader Joe’s market. 

Neighbors have told the Zoning Adjustments Board that they are worried that the project will throw nearby homes into to shadow and create chronic traffic and parking problems. 

The meeting will run form 7–8:30 p.m. at the Lutheran Church of the Cross, 1744 University Ave. 

The developers are expected to take the project to the Zoning Adjustments Board for approvals in March. 

PlanBerkeley.org, an organization that focuses on development along the University and San Pablo avenue corridors, has posted project plans, drawings and a history of the project on its website. To view them, click on the “Projects” button and then on the address.

False alarm, good drill 

A fire alarm and a report of smoke and flames billowing from a fourth-floor residence at Harriet Tubman Apartments drew out every piece of firefighting equipment in the city Tuesday night. 

Deputy Fire Chief David P. Orth said that the call came into the department at 6:36 p.m., and because the building is six stories and occupied by senior citizens, the department ordered what is called a “high-rise response.” 

Orth said that an order was issued to evacuate the apartments in the 2870 Adeline St. building because of the age of the tenants, although some were sheltered in place. 

But a search of the building revealed no evidence of fire beyond a lingering smell of burnt food. 

Orth said he suspects a tenant burned dinner, and then was too embarrassed by the response to share the news with firefighters. 

“In the end, it was a good drill,” Orth said. 

At the peak of the action, there were six fire engines and two trucks at the scene, as well as one or two of the city’s three ambulances. 

This Friday and Saturday, the Berkeley High School drama department will be performing Eve Ensler’s play The Vagina Monologues. 

It is about the celebration of female sexuality through its many complexities and mysteries. A production of The Vagina Monologues is put on once a year to celebrate “V-Day,” a day created by Ensler to raise vagina awareness. Groups which perform the play during “V-season” don’t have to pay for the rights. 

The Berkeley High production of The Vagina Monologues is produced solely by students who are interested in drama. Under the direction of senior Amy Wright, the students have a mission: to empower women. 

“We’re trying to stop some bad things that go on today and raise awareness,” remarked Joia Devita, 16, a junior. “There are some terrible things going on like genital mutilation ... and there are battered women. Some members of the cast 

are actively involved in fighting for feminism and rights for lesbians.” 

Over the years, there has been a growing number of interested Berkeley High students wanting to participate in this production. 

“There was an enormous amount of girls,” said Devita. “We’ve been there to help each other and give each other feedback.” 

Devita also did some self-reflection, noting that this experience made her feel more comfortable talking about vaginas. 

“It’s a heavy show for a lot of people,” she said. “It may be a hard subject to talk about. But we had a group bonding session and we all opened up. Everyone was totally cool about it. It was really good to make everyone feel comfortable. I used to be very uncomfortable about this subject. I never wanted to talk about it. So much has been brought to my attention about things that go on around the world.” 

The Vagina Monologues is a seasonal play. For the last four or five years, students have been participating in this play. Money is usually short and they have a couple of sponsors, including Luna Bar. In addition to their sponsors, they also did some fundraising. 

“We had bake sales to raise money,” said Berkeley High sophomore Hannah Michahelles. “We are also going to be doing teach-ins in all the classrooms to spread knowledge about rape, genital mutilation, and respect.” 

In the play Michahelles plays a woman who complains about the various indignities her vagina is put through in life. “In the monologue, I’m basically just pretty pissed,” she said. “It’s one of the funnier monologues.” 

The Vagina Monologues will be performed at the Florence Schwimley Little Theater on the Berkeley High School campus at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students with ID and $10 for general admission. All proceeds will benefit organizations that help stop violence against women. 

Rio Bauce and Jacob Horn are sophomores at Berkeley High School. They 

can be reached at baucer@gmail.com or jnmhorn@comcast.net.

Since the beginning of time, people have been dispersed, by force or mutual consent, far from their homes. Through famine, political unrest, acts of nature and searches for a better life, many miles now separate groups from their ancestral habitations. With the belief that human life began in Africa, this continent is at the heart of the human spirit and the Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD) has opened in San Francisco to give voice to this spirit. 

While society often emphasizes the differences that separate us, MOAD celebrates our connectedness, as people and to the African Diaspora. Through art, culture and technology the museum is a center for the stories and contributions of people of African descent. Using multiple forms of media in exhibits and theater presentations, and contemporary artistic statements, four universal themes are explored: Origins, Movement, Adaptation and Transformation. 

A full sensual experience greeted me on a recent visit. The sound of African drums a welcome complement to the illuminating exhibits and arresting artwork. The museum’s signature statement is viewed in its entirety from outside the striking three-story full glass atrium facing Mission Street. The haunting image of a young girl stares soulfully past floating staircases. Once inside the full beauty and significance of this portrait becomes evident. 

Composed of over two thousand individual images contributed from around the world, the two-story photomosaic, more than any other exhibit, conveys the concept of the universal connectedness of humanity, faces and scenes together creating the face of a young girl from Ghana. For me, this alone would have made my visit worthwhile. 

Not surprisingly, I continued to be impressed and moved touring the permanent exhibits on the second floor. In the Celebration Circle, low ceilinged, carpeted and benched for seating, I watched a multimedia video presentation. The images and voices echoed their mosaic of memories—times filled with song and laughter, being thankful, surrounded by family and friends, sharing food, heralding birth, marriage and death. Personal statements on Celebration and Africa, amid joyful images and music. 

The theme of adornment is arrestingly displayed with three stylized human figures, dressed in a collage of bold patterns and colors. Atop each one video screens morph through an eclectic collection of headshots altering hairstyles, jewelry and body art and how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us contributing to our sense of self. 

Music is part of the human experience, following people around the world. The story of Africa’s influence on music could fill volumes. Here touch screens allow the viewer to move through and listen to selections from traditional, jazz, gospel, blues, and across to the Caribbean and Latin America. So much of this music feels so familiar, ingrained in our souls. 

Last, but no less significant, is the exhibit focusing on the African influence on food and its role in the community. From the simple rice, beans, yams and gumbo, through the addition of greens, coffee and the sharing of food, colorful images and text tell the story. 

Other stories serve as reminders in the Slavery Passage Gallery. Within this small, dimly lit theater, while tinted patterns rotate like a slowly moving kaleidoscope, we travel over three centuries of time. Within a green forest-like setting, I listened to a 103-year old woman relate the day of her wedding, her wedding ring carved from a red button, jumping backwards over a broom to see who would be the “ boss”. Though the day was memorable, her husband could only stay one night, needing to return to his own plantation; this would be the pattern of their lives. When the colors changed to purple and yellow, the voice became that of a young man horrified of his plight and the conditions aboard a slave ship, where some were flogged for attempting to jump overboard, preferring death to slavery. 

Next door the Freedom Theater offers three presentations highlighting the Haitian Revolution, the American Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-Apartheid Movement. On a wall-size screen, video and sound, as well as interactive devices present these historical events and the people who propelled them. 

Witness to the origin of life, on loan from the British Museum, is the exhibit “Made In Africa.” Hard to fathom, man-made objects nearly two million years old from Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge are inspiring. A simple hand axe chipped from quartz with violet amethyst banding resembles a work of art. A good mind-stretching activity is to consider the hands creating these tools as well as their survival through time. 

Artists create work under various trends and schools of art, carrying the baggage of their lives, their identity and their past. “Linkages and Themes” exhibits the work of 39 artists, in paintings, photographs, video and mixed media, forging this link. Isaac Julien’s night shot of a dapper young man on a bench, David Hammons’ African-American flag in colors of green, red and black, iona rozeal brown’s traditional Japanese prints transformed with brown skin and dreadlocks and Hew Locke’s afghan and pink wall sculpture of the Queen Mother are all strong personal and artistic statements. 

Nearby, “Dispersed: African Legacy/New World Reality” showcases three installations expressing current realities in view of the artists’ origins. Mildred Howard’s “Safe House” teases our concept of a loving home with her construction using butter knives, instruments of abuse. Brazilian Marepe uses monks’ vestments atop wood cots interspersed with metal catch basins symbolizing good intentions gone wrong in the Franciscans’ treatment of the Congolese. 

At the museum store artifacts from Africa and museum memorabilia serve as reminders of the African Diaspora. T-shirts, mugs and bookmarks carry MOAD’s iconic portrait in a sepia hue. Rwandan baskets, carved animal napkin rings, beaded jewelry by the Maaai women of Kenya and delicate flowered ceramic bowls from South Africa share space with music CDs, cookbooks, note cards and scarves. 

The Museum of the African Diaspora evokes a true sense of the connectedness of man. The images of the photomosaic, the Celebration voices sharing their stories and the haunting beat of African drums are catalysts for positive thought and serve as reminders of the basics, the elements that provide meaning to our lives. Music, food, personal expression, our histories—elements that all peoples throughout the world share—are elements that create one universal voice. 

The Museum of the African Diaspora is located at 685 Mission St., San Francisco, (at Third Street), two blocks from the Montgomery Street BART station. For more information call (415) 358-7200, or see www.moadsf.org. Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursdays; noon-5p.m. Sundays. Adults, $8; seniors/students, $5; children 12 and under, free. Inaugural exhibits through March 12.  

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The press over the weekend was full of bad news about our security at home. The Associated Press got ahold of a leaked copy of the summary of the Congressional report on what went wrong with Katrina, and it sounds like a doozy. 

“Our investigation revealed that Katrina was a national failure, an abdication of the most solemn obligation to provide for the common welfare,” the summary said, as quoted by the AP.  

“At every level—individual, corporate, philanthropic and governmental—we failed to meet the challenge that was Katrina,” it went on. And that’s just the beginning. This is a Republican Congress, and it can be expected to paper over whatever it can, which doesn’t seem to be much in this case. Unimaginable amounts of money were spent on the new Department of Homeland Security, and the country is even more vulnerable than it used to be to damaging attacks, whether by nature or by external enemies.  

The Department of Health and Human Services also would like us to believe that they’re on the job. Last week the Daily Planet office received a largish corrugated box from them which said on the outside “Terrorism and Other Public Health Emergencies: Facts…Information…Resources.” Inside was a thick book with lavish and expensive color illustrations, plus multiple copies of a large sheet cleverly folded into a very small unit with a glossy cover, titled “Preparing for Terrorism and other Public Health Emergencies: a Wallet Guide for Media.” It opened out to a blank grid, to be filled out by the lucky media person with emergency contact numbers: neighbors, relatives, even veterinarians.  

This is the kind of flashy junk they’ve been spending our tax money on, instead of preparing for real public health emergencies like Katrina or bird flu, or even, God forbid, another real terrorist attack. We media types already have our own phone books, and don’t forget, the phones didn’t work much during Katrina anyhow. 

The news from local fronts doesn’t look any more reassuring. We’ve just gotten a report of what the police were up to in Santa Cruz last fall, and it’s scary.  

That city has for a number of years put on a civic New Year’s Eve “First Night” celebration downtown, with entertainment at various locations and a parade. This year the money wasn’t available, so the event was canceled. A group of artists decided that they would just put on their own parade, no public funds needed, to be called the “Last Night Do It Yourself Parade.” The Santa Cruz mountains are the last bastion of the ‘60s, and the organizers, like many artists, have somewhat rudimentary politics tending toward anarchism, and also like many artists don’t have much cash money. They decided not to seek expensive city permits for their parade.  

As reported in Saturday’s Santa Cruz Sentinel, “Last Night organizers posted their plans on a website that indicated defiance of the city's special event policies. The site stated, ‘We’re just gonna do it...It’s our city...Who’s willing to take the risk of truly living without limits?’ ”  

Not the Santa Cruz police, evidently. They decided that people like this posed a serious threat to security in their city, and they took action. A pair of cops, with the blessing of their superiors, went undercover to protect the public. They dressed up in their version of what the locals wear, joined the Last Night organizing committee, went to meetings, and even took an active part in steering plans in what they thought was the right direction. Whether because of, or in spite of their participation, the event went off without a hitch. 

Of course, when word of the police’s undercover infiltration of the anarchists’ parade leaked out, some wimpy civil libertarians were annoyed. They called for an investigation, and the police department’s internal affairs office did one. Their report, several hundred pages long, came out on Friday: The cops did no wrong. The city manager agreed, according to the Sentinel.  

We weren’t able to get a copy of the report by press time, but one of the organizers (in so far as anarchists have organizers), an artist who goes by the nom de plume of Rico Thunder, has read it, and he sent out a furious e-mail on Monday: 

“Just three examples of why we do not need the police spying on our peaceful group meetings: 

• At one point during their infiltration of Last Night meetings, the Santa Cruz PD gathered information about the planned peaceful Victoria’s Secret protest which they shared with Capitola police. On the date of the protest 20 to 30 officers were waiting for protesters at Capitola Mall. 

• Police gathered information about Art & Revolution’s Anti-Corporate Christmas Caroling [in front of The Gap] on Pacific Avenue without any evidence that the group had any intention of breaking any laws. On the date, police monitored the group’s activities.  

• One person identified as a “main organizer” of the Last Night parade had little involvement and attended no meetings. Yet, now this person has a police dossier on file at the Santa Cruz Police Department. His police profile and entire police history appears in the public record as part of the internal investigation.  

“… Throughout the fracas I’ve viewed the whole thing a bit whimsically. It seemed the SCPD clearly fucked up in monitoring a peaceful group with no evidence of criminal intent. But after reading through the 600 pages of documents, which include photos of many of us, profiles, information from other groups, videotapes, I am truly creeped out and angry.  

“It is not a good feeling to know that when you do something outside of the box in a town known for its unconventionality, that the police actively work to repress and contain you.” 

Now it’s up to the Santa Cruz City Council (some of whom used to be called progressives before the country went mad over security) to set the city staff straight, if they have the courage. Don’t count on them, though, 

And meanwhile, as Homeland Security is a failure, the Department of Health and Human Services runs up big printing bills and Santa Cruz cops play dress-up, real opportunities for real terrorists to do real harm (like chemical plants) continue to go unmonitored, and real disasters like Katrina wreak havoc among our citizens. Rome is burning, and our leaders just go on fiddling around. 

The cliché, surely quoted at some time previously in this space, is that anyone who loves law or sausages should not watch either being made. As someone who loves the law with all its defects, I’ve tried to follow that warning in recent years, but occasionally I can’t avoid seeing what goes on in government. The last month has been particularly bad at the federal level, what with the always excruciatingly embarrassing State of the Union speech, followed by the attorney general’s mealy-mouthed performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. But what’s been going on in Berkeley is even more embarrassing. 

We went down to Old City Hall on Tuesday to do a little color collection, to see the real people behind the lively controversy over the Bates-Church-Anderson plan for building something big in South Berkeley. They didn’t disappoint: old ladies in great hats and flea market vendors in Afro-centric robes playing on the same team as aging anarcho-hippies, neighborhood watchdogs and serious policy wonks. One brave young white male stood out front with a sign for the other team, a neatly lettered equation saying approximately “Berkeley NIMBYs = Urban Sprawl = Oil Use = War.” Take that, unruly mob! 

We engaged him in dialogue, and he allowed as how he grew up in Davis and now lives in a family home in the Claremont district, but nevertheless feels well qualified to tell the folks who live near the BART station how much density they should be willing to tolerate in their neighborhood. An annoyed neighbor pointed out to him that the term NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) was coined by people protesting the Love Canal toxicity in their own neighborhood, but it didn’t faze him—he probably wasn’t even born then.  

Inside the building another self-confident white guy, an old one this time, was delivering the State of the City address. We missed it, figuring we could catch it on the streaming video on the web, but it doesn’t seem to be posted there. What is posted is his Power Point slides, the omnipresent medium now contributing to the Dumbing Down of Practically Everything. From these one can learn that the mayor stands four-square in favor of kids and hopes to be able to greenwash as much as he possibly can—not exactly breaking news. His accomplishments are detailed a la David Letterman as a reverse-numbered top 10 list—perhaps he or his speechwriter is not aware that Letterman uses that format to mock what is being listed. 

Next up was the City Council meeting. The chambers were full, so our access was barred by police officers and the fire chief (is that the highest and best use of her time?) The city did supply a TV monitor in the foyer, so we could watch the proceedings from comfortable chairs, with captions which helped us understand the mumblers on the council. It was a perfect opportunity for the smartmouths in the group to make audible wisecracks in response to what they thought were dumb statements from the podium, and they didn’t lack for material.  

The spectacle of councilmembers, led off by Max Anderson, falling all over themselves to back-pedal from their disastrous decision to do a post-facto endorsement of the BART site building project planning grant was hilarious. Anderson actually said the words—I’m sure I heard him—“the future lies ahead.”  

Their solution for this fiasco? They’re holding a “community” meeting this very Saturday (just four days notice) from 10-12 a.m. (prime business hours for the Ashby Flea Market vendors) in a church. But because it’s a church, the city attorney, whose grasp of constitutional law is tenuous at best, ruled that it can’t be a noticed special City Council meeting, because that would violate the principle of separation of church and state. And under her equally tenuous interpretation of the Brown Act, that meant that only four councilmembers may be present at any one time. Someone suggested that they could swap in and out. Two words for that: Serial Meeting—look it up. Meanwhile, the city-owned South Berkeley Senior Center will sit vacant two blocks west. And you think the Keystone Cops aren’t running Berkeley? 

Watching that exchange was so demoralizing we went out for dinner after that, figuring we could catch the rest of the evening on video if we wanted to. Later in the week I watched the council discuss their ongoing attempt to gut the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance, a topic in which I have a personal interest, since I worked for four years with fellow Landmarks Preservation Commission members on an intelligent revision which is now in danger of being scrapped. Mayor Bates’ rambling 10-minute mangling of the technical architectural term “integrity” was mind-numbing, reminiscent of some of Dubya’s discussions of “nucular WMDs.” 

One footnote, for the record. Councilmember Worthington asked if it were true, as rumored, that a California Public Records Act request for copies of all communications that the mayor and councilmembers had engaged in regarding this ordinance had been made and perhaps denied. The city manager gave some sort of evasive response to the effect that the request had been complied with. Well, actually, no, that’s not true.  

It was the Daily Planet that made the request. We got to see just a very few documents. The letter which came back to us over the manager’s signature (perhaps he didn’t see it) said: “Please be advised that the city is withholding from disclosure communications between the mayor and his staff and all communications to the mayor from citizens as such documents reflect the mayor’s deliberative process and are exempt from disclosure under Government Code 6255.” This is the old “executive privilege” dodge, first perfected under Richard Nixon and recently invoked by Vice President Cheney to avoid revealing his collaboration with the energy industry in the Energy Task Force meetings.  

We forwarded the letter to public interest groups in the freedom of information field, and they’ve told us that they think no such exemption now exists or should exist in California law. One of them has put in its own CPRA request to the City of Berkeley for the same information to test the waters. We’ll see what happens. More on this later. 

B

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.



UNREASONABLE RESTRICTIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

As a homeowner affected by the Creeks Ordinance, I’m not sure that I like being represented as “a small but vocal sector of the Berkeley population.” You might as well say “we only want to evict a few of the tenants, what are they complaining about?” 

These unreasonable restrictions on remodeling are unacceptable, and would have prevented our purchase of the house. Unfortunately, we did not know that the northwest corner of our backyard contained a culvert when we bought our West Berkeley house, so now we have been negatively affected by the restrictions and are unable to make room for my mother-in-law; nor can we sell the house at market value, because it would be illegal to not disclose the restrictions now that we know about them. Furthermore, if the culvert ever does collapse, under the current statute the property owner is on the hook for potentially more money than the house is worth. Our own chunk of culvert would cost an estimated $16,000 to fix ($7,000 per yard, plus repairing the fences and landscaping after construction). 

If the intention of this law is to gradually displace residents from the nearly 2,000 affected properties so that creeks can be daylighted, it’s certainly structured well. I for one certainly hope that if such a plan were to be seriously considered, it could be openly debated in a democratic forum. We’re willing to accept reasonable limitations on what we can do with the house for the greater good, but the current 30-foot setback ruling on enclosed culverts is problematic. A much more serious issue is the repair of culvert failures, which is practically guaranteed to force residents out of the city.  

Jack Coates 

• 

STAND UP FOR THE CREEKS ORDINANCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a caring citizen of Berkeley I urge the City Council to stand up for the health of our creeks, a very special resource which we are blessed to have in Berkeley. We need stronger protections for creek corridors instead of weakening the protections we have now. Please do not give in to the wishes of the developers. Business is not more important than environmental health. I thought that most on the City Council understood this, but it appears we must revisit it again. Here are some of the protections that need to be kept in place or implemented. 

1. No new construction closer than 30 feet to a creek. 

2. No paving right up to the banks of a creek. 

3. Culverted creeks should be kept in the ordinance. 

4. Protect real opportunities for daylighting creeks. 

5. Unroofed structures should also be built at least 30 feet away from the creeks. 

I ask the City Council to please do the right thing as you take a relook at these issues. The creeks and watersheds are part of the Commons and it is your job as public servants to protect the Commons. 

Meaveen O’Connor 

• 

ALARMED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing to let you know that I am very alarmed by the proposed revisions of the Berkeley Creek Ordinance. If a small number of creekside property owners believe that they have the right to do what they wish with their tracts, then they must be ignorant or defiant of the negative consequences they could wield over an entire region. If the Planning Commission, the Creeks Task Force, and the City Council are not ignorant to the effects that such ordinance revisions could cause, what is the incentive for being defiant of them? I don’t feel that I need to list the ecological, economic and practical reasons for continuing to protect and even contribute to the health of our local creeks. Many an expert testimony has been provided for you, and common sense dictates that a creek is a conduit affecting all of the living things in its watershed.  

I can’t help but think of my 2-year-old son here. He’s a great guy, but there are times when he’s got a pretty vehement sense of “mine.” He’s learning the difference between his rights and his righteousness. I hope that the City of Berkeley can appreciate that distinction, as well. 

Kate Thompson 

• 

THE LORIN DISTRICT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Berkeley is rightly proud to be one of California’s oldest cities, at the same time it is one of California’s densest cities. Berkeley’s General Plan, adopted in 2002, endorses the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance to protect charming neighborhoods that contribute greatly to the character of our city. 

In a recent letter, Mayor Bates and City Councilmember Anderson described our historic Lorin District as being one of the most interesting, beautiful and historic neighborhoods. Indeed, our Ashby station and Lorin District hold buildings with a rich sense of history and character. Just passing by, the sight of the interesting architecture makes one want to stop and explore. It’s the type of architecture that one associates with creativity and interesting shops, treasures and good food. It is not the architecture of a bland strip mall or sterilized retail that offers little of interest or of substance. 

At a time when many large housing developments are being planned, in construction, or recently built, do we need to further hasten handing over our past and future to the developers? We can not just remanufacture our historic treasures at a later date. Our historic resources are a testament to the ingenuity, diversity, work ethic and dreams of both native born and immigrants to Northern California from many backgrounds and countries.  

Let’s protect our valuable historic resources. Protect the LPO. 

Robin Wright 

Amnuay Amuaydejkorn  

• 

PUBLIC LIBRARY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding Judith Scherr’s Feb. 10 article “Public Library Workers Claim Retaliation for Speaking Out”: 

When Berkeley Public Library Director Jackie Griffin “note[d] that the complaints come from only some among the 212 employees and don’t represent the diverse group as a whole,” did she mean that retaliation against library staff is acceptable if it is against “only some among the 212 employees”? 

Bullying should never be tolerated. An administration that seeks to prevent staff members from attending library board meetings, retaliates against them if they speak out, and otherwise intends to curtail their freedom of speech, should be stopped immediately. 

The list of abuses in the article, and other actions over the past several years, including throwing thousands of our library books into garbage cans and dumpsters, and wasting close to a million of our tax dollars on RFID, a seriously flawed system that was not needed or wanted, indicate that our library system is out of control. 

If the Berkeley Board of Library Trustees (BOLT) does not take responsibility for overseeing library policies, what is their function? What recourse do we, the citizens and taxpayers, to whom these libraries belong, have? How much longer are we to tolerate the ungoverned actions of a library administration that has no interest in honoring the standards of our community?  

Shirley Stuart 

• 

LIBRARY FOLLIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Reading the latest follies of our Berkeley Public Library with the allegations of retaliation against outspoken employees, I am struck by two things. First, when the library director says the alleged retaliations only involved some few of her diverse 212 employees, does she mean by that only the outspoken employees were retaliated against, or that there are many other unhappy employees not retaliated against, or that there are many other allegations of misconduct which do not involve retaliation? Second, wouldn’t it have been simpler for all involved if long ago the director had simply come forward and admitted that the RFID system does not work as planned. In our post-Watergate world, isn’t it better to play the innocent and cast blame on Checkpoint’s slick sales force than to attempt a career-destroying cover-up? 

Sylvia Maderos-Vasquez 

• 

CIVIL LIBERTIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bernie Sanders is still fighting for our civil liberties, as are John Conyers and some of the investigators into the NSA warrantless wiretapping surveillance hoopla. I feel glad about the continuing struggle to protect our civil liberties in Washington; never give up, Mr. Sanders and Mr. Conyers! 

I am chastened to read in last Friday’s Daily Planet that at least one of the Berkeley Library Board of Trustees (BOLT) thinks that people are “just coming together” on the issues of RFID and workplace safety/worker’s rights/fair labor practices at the library. She couldn’t be more wrong, unless she is referring to a very small group of people. Who could those people be, I wonder? 

It is worrisome that a city board overseeing a public trust with a more than 13 million dollar budget could be so out of touch with the true sentiments and goals of workers and library users. It still doesn’t seem like the Board of Library Trustees has a clue how most of us feel. Why is that? 

Super Berkeleyans for Library Defense (SuperBOLD), the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, SEIU, EPIC, and many others have been speaking to these local and very real issues for over a year now at board meetings, at protests, and at City Hall during the public comment period, since we don’t seem to be able to get a public hearing on the issue. It seems as though they still can’t hear us. 

That sucking sound you hear is the vacuum created by city and library board lack of attention to and protection of our civil right to read what we want, watch what we want, and listen to what we want without the deterrent of potential surveillance. You also hear the draining of library budget dollars away from the true resources (materials and truly talented trained librarians) into a layer of management and technology potentially enabling the NSA to look easily in your back pocket, your purse, or your living room with even more ease than ever before. 

But perhaps only we, outside of the small group, can hear this sucking sound. Wake up, BOLT! How loud do we need to be? 

What price, privacy? Who decides what defines a terrorist? These are the questions we need to be discussing at a local level, before the vacuum engulfs us all. 

Lynda Winslow 

• 

A FEW CORRECTIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On Feb. 11 the East Bay Daily News gave a substantially inaccurate account of a meeting I attended sponsored by Berkeleyans for a Livable University Environment (BLUE). Let me offer some corrections.  

Firstly, I (and some others present) did not support or endorse Zelda Bronstein as a mayoral candidate. There were some people present who seem to have decided in advance to so, but their numbers were thin, let’s say five or fewer. Ms. Bronstein may develop into a viable candidate, but for me the issue remains open. Secondly, I (and some others present) did not actively discourage Berkeley leader Dean Metzger from running. To the contrary, I think his candidacy should seriously be considered. Thirdly, I have been a member of BLUE for quite a while and therefore could not have been “invited” to attend. However, I will say here that I am now seriously reconsidering my support for and membership in this group since several of its leaders have, in my experience, not operated in a democratic manner. 

I have lived in Berkeley for 37 years and have been active in Berkeley politics for about eight years. I have developed an informed opinion about the most important issues. The city’s settlement with UC and the planned further expansion of UC is really unpalatable, but it is not the only issue. The issues important to me, and to thousands of other longtime Berkeley homeowners and residents, also include: restoring Berkeley as a slow-growth town with a good quality of life, limiting or eliminating subsidies and permits to developers of high-density residential projects, curtailing excessive local taxes and fees, economic development toward a strong retail and taxpaying base, high-quality schools that will entice Berkeley children and families, repair and restoration of our decaying physical infrastructure, increased attention to our high crime rate and increased funding for law enforcement, and municipal fiscal soundness and sustainability. 

Unless and until there is a mayoral candidate who openly supports a substantial part of my “platform” I will refrain, and I will advise anyone who will listen to me to refrain, from supporting or endorsing anyone for mayor. I will also add that I was not unimpressed with the city manager budget report of Feb. 7 and with Mayor Bates’ State of the City address. At this point, what I am hearing from that quarter is not without promise, and I will be following City actions as closely as ever to see how this surprising scenario evolves. 

Barbara Gilbert  

• 

RACIST CARTOONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For some time the Daily Planet has been publishing cartoons portraying Moslems as violent fanatics. For example, in the Feb. 3 issue, three thuggish figures dressed in black and brandishing weapons are labeled “Hamas” “Iraq” and “Iran.” These cartoons are not much different from cartoons depicting lazy blacks, avaricious Jews, ignorant Chinese, and so on. 

The Danish publishers of a cartoon on the same theme claimed that they were exercising freedom of the press. But there are limitations to freedom, and cartoons like these are unacceptable to decent people. That is because they have been used to justify and to incite discrimination, lynching, pogroms and wars. 

With these cartoons you are asking the rest of us to accept the repression and violence that is taking place against our Moslem brothers and sisters. I, for one, do not accept it and I object to the publication of this racist material. 

Whose interests do you think are being served when we are divided against each other by prejudice? 

Helen Finkelstein 

• 

DANISH REPRINTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Will the Daily Planet please consider printing the 12 cartoons submitted to the Danish newspaper which has been the subject of such controversy over the past few weeks? I’m listening to a brave newspaper editor in Cheyenne, Wyo. who is the first U.S. newspaper editor I’ve heard of who has printed any of the cartoons. Why is our free press censoring these images which are so central to the situation? Since it is a legitimate news story I think our community would be enriched by the discussion of a free press, religious intolerance, racist intolerance, and more. 

Jesse Townley 

• 

TRAFFIC CALMING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Two hundred thousand dollars for traffic calming! There is no traffic on the streets where they put the traffic circles. There is no traffic to calm for $200,000! 

Myrna Sokolinsky 

• 

FREE SPEECH SATURDAYS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Defend our liberties! What should we do in the community about the repression in Berkeley and the United States? Come to the first Free Speech Saturdays, at 2 p.m. Feb. 18, at Telegraph and Haste in Berkeley. Rallies will also be held on March 11 and April 8. 

Who is doing this? The ad-hoc committee to organize the 2006 People’s Park anniversary is holding these rallies. We have a sound permit and everyone will get to speak. Also everyone is invited to the to the planning of anniversary events happening between April 23 -30. The meeting are at Café Med (upstairs), on the first and third Sunday’s at noon. 

Michael Delacour 

• 

FAST FOOD TAX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am wondering how Oakland city administrators think that fast food restaurants and stores should pay extra taxes to keep the city streets clean. Why should they pay extra taxes? Do the restaurant owners throw wrappers, packages, plastic spoons and bottles on the streets? I don’t think it is right to punish and tax those who prepare and sell products to the customers. The public lacks the civil sense to keep their surroundings clean. There are bins and garbage cans almost everywhere to throw such trash and keep the city clean. Why don’t they catch the people who destroy the city’s beauty? I find graffiti and litter all over the place, especially in the streets of Oakland, Berkeley, and also Albany. The city officials should not transfer the civic responsibilities to others. It is high time that the people learn to keep their cities clean. 

Romila Khanna 

Albany 

• 

A FEW NUMBERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I had to laugh at a bit of information regarding the apparently upscale Read Brother’s Building at Fourth and Addison. The lavish finishes for a 3,000-square-foot penthouse were described and then it was stated that “Construction cost is expected to exceed $300 square feet.” I wonder if the taxpayers of Berkeley are aware that the Hills Firestation, which is providing over 3,000 square feet of living space for the full-time three-person crew, is costing over $1,000 per square foot (6,800 square feet total at $7,250,000 was, I believe, the last publicly stated total cost).  

According to the president of a company that specializes in fire station construction the going rate for very nice new stations is $350 square feet, which includes land acquisition. Perhaps someone might want to look into this very upscale city project. 

Andrea Cukor 

• 

SHOOTING DETAILS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding the recent article on the shooting at Acton and Ward streets: 

“Officers later found shell casings from both 9-millimeter and .223-caliber bullets outside the house. The latter rounds, which are used in assault rifles like the AR15, are designed to fragment on impact, Galvan said.” 

I know that that this information came from the police, but it is incorrect.  

First of all, the AR-15 is not an assault rifle. Assault rifles are by history, design, and definition, full-auto firearms like the military M-16. The semi-auto only AR-15 does not fire full-auto. There is a similar term, assault weapon, which is often used to describe semi-autos like the AR-15, but it is really a pretty meaningless term.  

Second, the .223 round itself is not designed to fragment. There are specific bullets that one can buy for the .223, or any other caliber for that matter, which are designed to fragment, others are designed to expand but stay together, and yet others are designed to not expand or fragment at all. The bullets used by the military do tend to fragment at above specific velocities, but this is unintentional and usually occurs because of a cannelure around the bullet. The purpose of the cannelure is to provide a crimping surface so that the bullets will not move inside the cartridge case during handling. Such movement could be very dangerous.  

Finally, there are a lot of different rifles which fire the .223 round including bolt action rifles, break action rifles, pump action rifles, lever action rifles, as well as semi-auto rifles.  

John Bloodgood, 

Former military and civilian arms  

instructor 

• 

CRITICAL MASS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On Friday night, I was driving home after a long work week and looking forward to a relaxing weekend. As I approached the Marin Circle I noticed a line of cars ahead of me and vehicles backed up in every direction approaching the circle. Normally I am a strong advocate of free speech and in fact enjoy seeing protests/vigils, etc. held at the circle. This time however, the cause of the traffic jam made me frustrated and angry. Circling around the fountain were bicyclists, four or five abreast, most without lights or helmets (at 7 p.m.), preventing vehicles from entering the circle. A-ha, I thought to myself, this must be a Critical Mass ride. I myself often ride my bike to work and enjoy recreational riding in my time off. I am a huge advocate of cycling and cyclists. I am not however an advocate of idiots.  

What are these people thinking? What are they hoping to achieve with these rides? Not only are they breaking laws designed to protect them (riding without a light when it’s dark, not following the same rules as motor vehicles), but their actions lead to anger and ire in the “driving community” and are achieving nothing in terms of policy change. Please, if you are a member of the cycling community, think about your actions. Not everyone behind a wheel of an automobile is “out to get you.” Read the laws and regulations of operating a bicycle on city streets. You are to act like a motor vehicle. Stop at stop signs, stop at red lights, yield to pedestrians in cross walks! Thankfully, I’m finally home, despite this unpleasant and unnecessary delay to my commute. I will continue to “see bikes” as the bumper sticker says, and am hoping that more cyclists will start to “see cars” and we can finally “share the road” in peace.  

Ilana Peterson 

• 

FOOLS ON BIKES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

First it was parking your car in the middle of the street to jaw with friends. Now it’s riding your bike at night with no lights. Dark clothes on dark streets at night. The dumber and more selfish the idea, it seems, the hipper it is.  

The excuse of many is that their slip-on, $20 headlights have been stolen. I went through a couple of those myself until I bought a perfectly bright $10 version and superglued it in the slot. I push the lamp face down whenever I lock my bike and no one seems to notice it. It’s been there two years.  

That said, there is still no valid reason for riding without lights or even one light in front or back. I urge the police to enforce the law requiring vehicle head- and taillights and parents and schools to do the same before we see cars driving at night without lights. Wouldn’t that be fun? 

Bud Hazelkorn 

• 

RELIGION AND HYPOCRISY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you, Becky O’Malley, for opening the door a little, on this country’s widespread hypocrisy concerning religion (“They’re Everywhere, the Stupids,” editorial, Feb. 7). Just one example, which goes far beyond “silly,” is our ridicule of other cultures and religions, while we allow anti-democratic exclusionary religious prayers to begin every congressional session! 

It goes far beyond silly that these lawmakers unquestioningly allow this discrimination against many of us by regularly pledging their faith in God and Jesus- in our “halls of justice”! 

It goes far beyond silly when they pretend to honor the teachings of “the prince of peace” while authorizing an unjust war. 

We may not teach such violence as the cutting off of body parts, but we are, just as unthinkingly, and even cruelly, cutting off respect for individual beliefs. 

Gerta Farber 

• 

SILLY? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In response to Becky O’Malley’s editorial on the silliness of religious belief, I have to tell you that what is much more silly is to believe that there is no mystery, that this material world we see around us is all there is. That would be the biggest joke ever, to think that this more or less nonsensical montage of matter and experience might be self-sufficient and the end-all of being. No, Becky, think thrice before you make such a silly statement as you have made in your most recent editorial. One thing to think about is the limited character of our modes of human experience. All evolutionary creatures have limitations and there is every reason to believe that as such we are severely limited in our ability to perceive the ultimate reality of what appears to us as the world around us. The aspiration beyond our limited human existence is the very noblest of human attributes. It is what truly makes us human. 

Peter J. Mutnick 

• 

THEIR WORLD AND MINE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The world governed by the Bush administration grows daily more distant from the one I inhabit.  

Looking abroad they see democracy marching, freedom spreading, terrorism waning, insurgency expiring, coalition expanding. Closer to home they incarcerate enemy combatants and question suspects up to the threshold of mortality, they unleash unlimited unconstitutional executive powers, they help the poor by cutting tax on the wealthy.  

Vice President Cheney sees in Afghanistan the beginning of freedom and in Iraq the last throes of the insurgency.   

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld defends us against enemies at our doorstep, evidently extending across an ocean and a sea.  

Attorney General Gonzales dismantles all barriers to extra-judicial eavesdropping in order to make his fellow citizens feel safer.  

State Secretary Rice answers allegations of torture by emphasizing the amoral savagery of its victims. 

I see a different world. I see the president praise “Brownie,” an inept rescuer of a major city then accept his resignation, promise to rebuild and then delay funds. 

I see democracy marching, yes—forward in Bolivia, Venezuela, Iran, Palestine and backward in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and alas here. In Afghanistan I see the Taliban resurrected and in Iraq I see young soldiers and civilians in the tens of thousands killed and maimed.   

The world is as it is, of course, but theirs is full of fear, fluff and fantasy while mine is all too depressingly bloody and dysfunctional. 

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo  

• 

A FEW THOUGHTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was so happy to meet with Ruth Bird, through her letter in the paper last week. Just wanted to agree in writing to stop the killing—of precious life. Stop the killing and start (once again) to simply care for one another. No need to have the rich and the poor, Mr. Bush et al. No need to poison one another. The only need—and oh so necessary—is for some light to be shed within the vacant, conniving minds of those who rule us right now. Let’s face it...they do. Have for some time.  

We all deserve what any social order could provide, if it wasn’t distracted from the needs of living by the orders of the uncaring. There is enough wealth for all. There is the mighty sun. It is simple enough to pay attention—to do no harm; to reach out to all of life as it reaches out to us. 

Iris Crider 

• 

ONE WOMAN’S STORY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On Jan. 21 I was violently attacked by a female that I have not had contact with for five years. When I called the Berkeley police, they told me that they currently had her pulled over in her vehicle for an unrelated charge and if I wanted to press any charges I would have to meet them at the location in North Berkeley that she had been pulled over at. I drove back to Berkeley and brought two witnesses of the attack with me; one witness is someone that I had never met before that night. The police told me that my attacker claimed I was in possession of a firearm and that I had punched her in the face earlier that night (although she had no evidence of this) and threatened to shoot her. This girl was clearly on drugs that night, has mental problems, and the police didn’t seem to care about that. The police also didn’t care to document the fact that my eye was swollen shut, or any statements from my two witnesses. I asked them if they needed pictures or statements, and they said no. Thanks to the Berkeley police report, my case is not going to court and this girl is trying to contact my family members. I am really excited to have read in the Berkeley Daily Planet that the department is seeking new officers, because maybe unlike the officers who handled my case, they will pay attention to detail and learn how to take a proper report. 

Nancy Harrison 

• 

BROKEBACK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

P.M. Price’s reaction to seeing the film Brokeback Mountain was interesting to me as a white person (and someone who has not seen the film). Price wondered whether the white cowboy characters in Brokeback would have cared about the oppression of black people or known about the civil rights movement taking place in 1963. I would like to point out that there was more commonality between gay and African American oppression in 1963 than Price may be aware. An openly gay man or lesbian in 1963 could be imprisoned or lose their job because “gay sex” (or even same sex dancing) was illegal everywhere, including California. The story of Bayard Rustin as told in the film Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin is an especially interesting lens for looking at both issues, since the U.S. government tried to discredit Martin Luther King, Jr. for having a gay advisor in Rustin. Read more about him on the website rustin.org. 

Janine Baer 

El Cerrito 

• 

DO YOUR PART 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

My God, Bush decides to help these nefarious spy types spy on Quaker peace groups and also vegans? Who does he think he is—king? Good Lord! I respectfully suggest that Sen. Harry Reid and others in power now work to find a special prosecutor to help hold President Bush and the other nefarious ones (people like Condi Rice, Gonzales, Rumsfeld, etc.) accountable for spying on innocent Americans who are not terrorists and don’t know any personally!  

What is happening to this country? Pray, meditate, use your intuition, and keep after Congress and others in power. Work, to build a better, more peaceful country. Help get us out of Iraq ASAP, take back Congress in 2006, and above all, learn to live a life of peace and love and generosity, yourself!  

I, in the meantime, am working on forgiving America for falling for this entire ruse in the first place. “WMD in Iraq”... horseybleep! Unless they’re discussing the WMD that we have since put there.  

Please don’t become another grieving mother or friend! Let’s take back America. Let’s make world peace. What you do affects all of life, all people. And for God’s sake, cut down on use of fuel and gas, and find a more sustainable lifestyle. We can’t go on using cell phones and technology ad nauseam. We’re endangering ourselves and the earth. Pray for all of us. Pray for America. Pray for yourself, your friends and family, your sweetheart if you are lucky enough to have an intimate partner(s). Pray, as if it all depended on God or Goddess or Jesus or Buddha or whomever. Then work, as if it all depended on you.  

It is not too much trouble to be kind, gentle, to smile at a stranger, write to your mother, hug your friends, follow your dreams, and keep on saving stuff like college scholarships, jobs in America (oh please not Wal-Mart wage slavery). 

I’ve elaborated long enough. I’m glad to be doing my part. If I can’t do a lot, I’ll do a little. Doing a little is better than doing nothing, for Heaven’s sake. I love all of you, all of America, and all of the world. I just don’t have a close personal relationship with everybody alive, only my good friends, family, and any future lovers, pets, or children.  

Linda Smith 

• 

STATE OF THE UNION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The State of the Union could be looking a lot cooler. I find it quite deceiving that President selectively used information in order to make his energy policy look beneficial for the American people. Firstly, Bush’s foreign policy is driven by a desire to secure oil resources from “unstable parts of the world”; so, it is absurd to make a claim about weaning the United States off of oil when we have been at war for three years in a region rich with oil reserves. While we only import about 10 percent of our oil from the Middle East, George Bush made the claim that we will replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. Hooray George! You successfully fooled Americans into believing we get most of our oil from the Middle East, when in actuality most of it comes from Canada and Mexico. If Bush really wanted to replace our imports from the Middle East, then he should push the Energy for Our Future Act, which would raise fuel efficiency standards to 40 mpg in the next 10 years and in turn save as much oil as we currently import from the Middle East. Congress needs to work together on this new piece of legislation if they hope to actually have an energy policy in place that will begin to dramatically cut our contribution to global warming and move us in a progressive direction. 

Josh Sbicca 

Campaign Director  

Environmental Action 



I don’t blame Jim Doten (Commentary, Daily Planet, Jan. 24) for being upset about having to pay $541,000 in withdrawal liability to cover his employees pensions. No one likes unexpected bills, not even millionaires. 

The fact that he’s upset, however, shouldn’t give him a free pass to make numerous misstatements of fact in an effort to win sympathy from the public. 

First, Mr. Doten claims that the strike is all about the pension plan and that the new owners of Berkeley Honda made “sound business decisions in their hiring of staff.” If their hiring decisions were sound, then it doesn’t say much for judgment because the nine Doten employees who were let go by the new owners had a cumulative 137 years of service working for him. Most were given one 20-minute interview before being kicked to the curb. As far as we can tell, none of the Berkeley Honda new hires have ever worked in a Honda dealership before. While the pension plan is an important issue, the main reason the employees struck was because of the cavalier way that the new management treated their co-workers. 

In his article, Doten refers to the “union and its pension plan.” It has been illegal since 1947 for a union to solely manage or run a pension plan. Automotive Industries (the plan in question) is governed by a 10-member board of trustees, five picked by the participant unions and five picked by employers. The employer association which Mr. Doten belonged to for 30 years has a seat on the board and the president of that group sits as the co-chair of the pension fund. All board decisions require a majority from both sides of the table. Every increase and decrease in benefit levels in the last decade have passed with the unanimous support of the five employer trustees. 

Mr. Doten may be unhappy with the board’s decisions, but he can’t complain about lack of representation. He really can’t complain about lack of information either. All trustees have their addresses and phone numbers published and are readily available to discuss the fund’s status with any employer or participant who chooses to call. 

Mr. Doten clearly did not choose to educate himself about the plan because he got some of the facts wrong and this leads him to an erroneous conclusion. The crux of his argument is that foolish and imprudent trustees jacked up the benefits by 20 percent in 2001 when the stock market had already peaked and most people could see we were heading into a recession, thus leading to the pension plan’s unfunded liability. That’s a great story, but not even close to the truth. The last increase in benefits was actually passed in June 1998 (with an effective date of Jan. 1, 1999). It increased benefits by a whopping .1 percent, from 4.9 percent per month to 5 percent per month of service. It was the last of four increases that took place between 1992 and 1999 that collectively added up to about 20 percent. Why did that happen? I’m glad you asked.  

Between 1992 and 1998, the pension fund’s assets grew by $944 million, an average of 15.45 percent per year. The trustees had to increase benefits for two reasons. One, the purpose of the plan is not to rat hole money, it is to provide benefits for the participants. When a pension fund grows to a certain level, the Trustees have both a legal and a moral obligation to spend that growth on the people in the plan. Two, the IRS will eliminate the tax exempt status of a plan and impose an exise tax on employers in that plan if it accumulates a certain level of assets without paying improved benefits. This sensible regulation was designed to prevent employers from using pension plan contributions as a tax dodge. 

One wonders how Mr. Doten would have felt in 1998 if the trustees had not made plan improvements and the IRS had levied hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties and fines against him. I also don’t recall hearing any complaints about the $100,000 per year tax deduction that the plan afforded him year after year. I can certainly understand why people feel it is unfair that a withdrawing employer gets assessed a large penalty even after they have paid their monthly bill. If you believe there is a villain in this little melodrama, you need to look to Congress. In 1980 it passed a law that required pension funds to assess withdrawing employers if there was a deficit in the pension plan. It did so to prevent a “run on the bank” mentality when pensions had a few bad years. 

Congress did so because it was concerned that a mass exodus of employers from a fund during a down investment cycle could lead to pension plans collapsing. If that happens, either the taxpayers have to pick up the pieces (United Airlines is a good example) or thousands of seniors would be left destitute. 

Because of this law, multi-employer pension plans almost never go under. The most recent report from the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) demonstrates this point. Approximately thirty million Americans are covered by single-employer pension plans. Because the steel and airline industries have been allowed to dump their plans on the PBGC, the single-employer insurance account has a deficit of $23 billion, and it could triple in the next few years. 

Multi-employer plans (such as automotive industries) cover about 10 million people. The PBGC deficit for these plans is $240 million, or 1 percent of the single employer deficit. The only reason our pension plan is running a deficit is two years (2001-2002) where the fund actually lost money. The worst year was a loss of 6.68 percent, which coincided with a steady increase in retirements. During the last decade, which includes three of the best and four of the worst years we have experienced, the pension plan grew by an average of 9.3 percent per year. 

Mr. Doten also claims that the very concerned new owners of Berkeley Honda are putting the same amount of money into a 401k that he put into his employees pension. He’s really selling himself short. Doten Honda contributed $465.97 every month for journey-level and $232.99 for non-journeyperson classifications to the pension fund. Every union employee got a pension contribution. 

On the other hand, Berkeley Honda is giving four employees $166 per month cash, which they can spend or put in a 401k as they wish. They have also stated that at some unspecified time in the future they will put $3,600 into the 401k for those four individuals. The other 30 employees of Berkeley Honda get nothing.  

The final word on Mr. Doten’s credibility (and math skills) should be this: He claims that the pension fund deficit of $141 million “was equal to the gross domestic product of Argentina.” A quick Google search shows Argentina’s GDP to be $91 billion, or 650 times as much. 

Enough said.  

Don Crosatto is the area director for Local Lodge 1546 of the Machinists Union and a Trustee of the Automotive Industries Pension Plan.  

The Creeks Task Force (CTF), charged by the City Council to recommend revisions to the Creeks Ordinance, will hold its first Public Hearing on Feb. 15 at the North Berkeley Senior Center. At that Hearing, the CTF, of which I am a member, will be presenting a series of preliminary recommendations for public review and comment. These recommendations consist of four proposals (Options A-D) which can be seen on the city’s website at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/planning/land use/creeks. 

Unfortunately, a fifth proposal authored by Carole Schemmerling, Josh Bradt, and me, that builds on and strengthens the current ordinance, was submitted too late to be included in the materials that will be discussed at this hearing. For that reason, copies of our proposal will be distributed at the hearing for consideration by the public and the CTF. 

Entitled “Option E” (below), we believe that our recommendations resolve many of the major conflicts that have arisen from the original ordinance and its subsequent interpretations. Option E lays out a sensible plan for creating a safe and healthy system of creeks that will reduce damage to property and streams, improve riparian habitats, and alleviate the flooding that occurs in many parts of the city. Option E looks forward to a city that supports a healthy natural environment that is an asset to the entire community while providing property owners with assurances that their use of their property will not be unreasonably restricted. 

Option E  

Roofed structures on open creeks 

1. No roofed structures may be built within 30 feet of the creek’s centerline without a variance. 

2. For properties with existing roofed structures at 30 feet and beyond from the creek’s center line—no extension of roofed structure into the 30-foot setback without a variance.  

3. Repairs and upgrades to existing roofed structures that extend into the 30-foot setback are allowed, including installation of solar panels, geothermal heating, and solar hot water equipment, subject to the criteria required for an administrative use permit. 

4. Rebuilding of a roofed structure in its original footprint after it has been destroyed is allowed, subject to the city’s zoning and building regulations. Owner must show that no other option to conform to the Creeks Ordinance is reasonable. Plans for construction within the setback must include engineering reports that recommend the least harmful impact to the existing site, the creek, and owners of upstream and downstream properties. City may require mitigations to creek (removal of barriers, riprap, native vegetation planting, use of permeable materials, on-site rainwater sequestration, etc.) to offset impacts caused by construction within the setback. 

Decks, patios, and other un-roofed structures on open creeks 

1. No unroofed structure may be built within 20 feet of the creek’s centerline. Exceptions may be granted for pedestrian bridges, pathways, open fences and will be granted through discretionary review or administrative use permit. 

2. Existing unroofed structures that must be replaced due to damage or age must conform to the 20-foot setback requirement, except as described in item number one. 

Culverts 

1. All creek culverts (including those in the historic creek channel and those that have been relocated) should be covered in the Creeks Ordinance. Setbacks for culverts will be determined by a formula that anticipates that access will be required to remove, repair, and/or replace the culvert at some future date. 

2. Creek culverts that could be permanently removed to restore a creek channel should be identified by the City of Berkeley. Setbacks on these culverts may be greater than those culverts that are so close to existing structures that they are not likely to be removed. 

Additional recommendations 

• City of Berkeley will provide incentives and services for property-owners to create and/or improve riparian habitat areas within the 20-foot setback. These incentives will include, as appropriate: the reduction or waiving of permit fees and property taxes, and exemptions from certain other zoning requirements. City services to assist property-owners in implementing these environmental improvements will include: small grants, free materials describing best management practices, and on-site consultation.  

• Regardless of a future legal determination of responsibility for maintenance and repair of the city’s culverts, the city shall begin now to determine how to assess a fee that will establish a fund for the purpose of creek and culvert improvements. 

• The City of Berkeley would be able to address the complex watershed issues the city and its residents face, if we were to immediately fund the City Council-approved Watershed Coordinator position. The watershed coordinator will be responsible for establishing a watershed management plan, best management practices, incentive packages for creek side property owners, recommended riparian vegetation plans, and recommendations for daylighting culverts.  

Please come to the public hearing to hear about the CTF recommendations and to provide us with your valuable ideas about how we can fashion a sensible ordinance that reflects the values of the entire community. 

Thomas Kelly was a Green Party  

candidate for City Council in 2000. 

On Feb. 21, the Berkeley City Council will hold a workshop on its policy concerning the conversion of rental units into condominiums. The council has for many years prohibited most conversions, but has recently opened the door to a minor extent because a San Francisco lawsuit cut the legs from under the council’s parallel prohibition of tenants-in-common sales. As a result, interest has been awakened in a topic long considered closed. 

For several decades City of Berkeley housing policy has been based on the proposition that rental housing is in short supply and should be preserved in order to protect the city’s ethnic and cultural diversity. For a quarter century, therefore, we have had rent and eviction controls, prohibitions on tenants-in-common ownership and condominium conversion, funding for the construction of “permanently affordable rental housing,” and inclusionary zoning requirements on new construction, all designed to achieve the underlying diversity objective. 

But times have changed. First, the Costa-Hawkins Act changed Berkeley’s rent control rules from the restrictive form that began in 1979 to the “vacancy decontrol” form that now prevails throughout the state. Beginning in 1999, rents go to market on turnover. As of 2006, roughly a quarter of Berkeley’s rental units are still occupied by pre-1996 tenants paying below market rents, but the majority of Berkeley’s rental units are at market now and can no longer be considered “affordable housing” in any meaningful sense. 

Second, the appellate decision in the case known as “Tom v. City and County of San Francisco” spelled the end of Berkeley’s prohibition on tenants-in-common (TIC) ownership. It is now recognized that Berkeley rental properties can be freely converted to tenants-in-common ownership, as they could be before the TIC prohibition was enacted in 1992. 

Third, the dot-com crash in 2001 led to the exodus of thousands of young professionals from the Bay Area, reducing the demand for rental housing. Rental housing is no longer in short supply. Indeed, the vacancy rate is higher than it has been since the 1960s or early 1970s. There are thousands of vacant rental units in Berkeley today. And rents have been falling, not rising, for the last three or four years. The rental market is soft, not tight, as it had been, prior to these developments, since the late 1970s. 

Meanwhile, the Bay Area has experienced a sharp rise in prices of for-sale housing. Whereas middle-income individuals and families could afford to buy a home in Berkeley in the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, middle-income individuals and families are hard-pressed to find a home in Berkeley that they can afford today. Condominiums are a logical second choice for middle-income residents who want to live in Berkeley but can’t afford Berkeley’s home prices. Yet, because of the long-standing prohibition, condominiums are in short supply. Current rules cap the conversion of rental units at 100 units per year, a number that falls far short of the demand for affordable for-sale housing. 

It is time for a paradigm shift. We need a new vision to match new circumstances. What is needed today is workforce housing for university employees, policemen, teachers, city government employees, and other middle-income residents. These individuals and families typically want to own their own homes. Wisely, these families don’t plan to remain in rental housing for more than a brief transition period. Understanding well the financial advantages of homeownership, they know that remaining in rental housing prevents the accumulation of equity that, for most Americans, is a crucial component of financial security in retirement. 

What makes sense in this market is to allow condominium conversions so that the underutilized stock of rental housing can be turned into for-sale housing needed by middle-income residents. There would be no loss to renters—they are already housed, and already protected by rent and eviction controls. There would be significant benefits to middle-income residents, on the other hand, because a greater supply of condominiums will tend to reduce the over-high prices for condominiums and other for-sale housing, allowing these residents to stay in Berkeley. Otherwise, Berkeley’s middle-income working folks will be forced by the high price of homes to seek housing elsewhere and to commute to their jobs in Berkeley, further increasing traffic congestion and parking difficulties. 

The 100-unit limit to conversions is overly restrictive. A higher limit will not lead to net loss of rental housing because hundreds of rental units—many of them “affordable”—have been constructed in high-rise buildings in the downtown area in recent years. It would be wise to allow 200 to 500 units to convert to condominiums per year, so that the current imbalance (oversupply of rental units/undersupply of for-sale housing) can be corrected. The best policy would be to remove all restrictions and let citizens determine the number of rental and for-sale units in Berkeley. An alternative would be to set a vacancy rate floor. If the vacancy rate is above 5 percent, conversions might be unrestricted. If the vacancy rate is below 5 percent they might be limited. 

As to diversity, there is no evidence that the city’s housing policies have achieved their goals. A study using census data from 1970, 1980, and 1990 (St. John & Associates, 1993), showed that, even with restrictive rent control and condominium conversion prohibitions, Berkeley was gentrifying faster than any surrounding community. The study showed that lower income residents, single-parent families, working-class persons, households receiving public assistance, and even university students were systematically barred from living in Berkeley during the time of restrictive rent controls, whereas these categories of households were welcomed into all surrounding communities. 

A more recent study by San Jose State University economists Benjamin Powell and Edward Stringham showed that “inclusionary zoning” programs don’t work either (“The Economics of Inclusionary Zoning: How Effective Are Price Controls?” 2004). Communities with inclusionary housing programs added fewer affordable housing units than communities without such programs. The study also showed that these programs make market-rate housing more expensive, and that the decrease in market rate housing construction caused by the programs exceeds by many times the construction of affordable units under the programs.  

Taken as a whole, the programs are counterproductive. Space prevents an explanation here of the reasons for the failure of these programs. Suffice it to say that like King Canute, who failed to stop the incoming tide, the city cannot stop steps people take to further their personal financial security.  

Meanwhile, the benefits that flow from allowing conversions are significant: 

• A 1.5% transfer tax on the sales price of condominium units sold. 

• A substantial increase in the assessed value of the property, of which a part goes to the city through increased property taxes. 

• The affordable housing fee that would help fund truly affordable housing for low-income residents. 

These new revenues—which could sum to several million dollars a year—could be used to fund the many important services in the city which are currently under funded. 

Michael St. John is an economist specializing in rental housing and condominiums and a member of Berkeley’s Housing Advisory Commission. His comments reflect his personal views, not the views of the HAC.  

ô

I turned on the TV and there was a black boxer fighting a white boxer. I had the sound turned down and was blasting a Jimi Hendrix record while I was watching the fight. I had never seen or heard of either fighter before and didn’t know a thing about them. 

I found myself enthusiastically rooting for the black boxer to win. The only thing that distinguished one fighter from the other was the color of his skin. 

I realized this was proof. There could be no more doubt that I too was a racist. Will counseling or therapy help? Am I a bigot or just prejudiced?  

I thought back on my past and what led me to this fork in the road. 

When I was born, in 1949, my mother, father, older brother, two uncles and their wives all lived in a three-bedroom house in West Philadelphia with my grandmother and grandfather. My father worked at the shipyard, and six months after I was born he was able to buy a house only a few miles away from my grandmother. We were the third black family on an all white street of 70 row houses. For the first five years of my life I played primarily with white kids. By the time I was ten there was only one white kid left. His name was Francis. 

Francis was Italian. He was neither big nor strong and one of the slowest runners on the block. The slowest was a black kid named Billy who always got caught while the rest of us got away; eventually Billy did a lot of time in jail. In a role reversal Francis was the only kid on the block without a dad. He lived with his mother and his grandfather, and in spite of the white-flight and block busting around us they never moved away. He attended an all boys Catholic high school, never had a cool nickname or wore a weird hat. Francis loved to play stick ball and dance. While most of us were listening to Smokey Robinson and the Temptations, Francis was into Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Maybe that’s why he had no rhythm! People in the neighborhood might mess with him because he was wrong, but we never let anyone mess with him because he was white. He was one of us!  

We went to the movies every Saturday (it was only a nickel), and when we role played Cowboys and Indians afterwards most of us wanted to be the Indians. I must admit it was partially due to their skin pigment, but mostly because the Indians wore hipper and much more functional clothes. How are you going to sneak up on someone wearing pointed toe high heeled boots and a big white cowboy hat? Francis always wanted to be the cowboy. He was usually out numbered 10 to one, and the cowboys routinely lost on our block, but that’s who he identified with! Francis was the first kid on our street to enlist into the military (most of us were drafted). Francis was also the first friend I knew that died in Vietnam. He’s on The Wall. His last name is Daniels.  

I realize now that Hollywood, and TV in its infancy, had a major impact on who my friends and I rooted for and our color consciousness. My favorite western movies were always about Custer’s Last Stand and the Civil War. Although not that great in history class I knew that no matter how Hollywood would try to change the story and make a sympathetic ending, Custer and Johnny Reb would get their just desserts. Hollywood also put out a movie called Logan’s Run that was about the future, but had no people of color in it. Whose future was that? It surely wasn’t mine. Don’t get me started on the movie Zulu: a heroic tale of 120 British soldiers against 5,000 Zulus. Why don’t they make a movie about the preceding battle where the Zulus defeated 1,200 British troops or Toussaint L’Ouverture in Haiti? Tarzan used to be my favorite character. But as the years progressed many of his antics became disturbing as well!  

On TV there was Rochester and Amos and Andy. And wow, how my mother would swoon when Nat King Cole sang his songs. Anytime a Negro would appear on TV we would break through on the telephone party-line and call all our friends and relatives. 

Sports were a whole different story. Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Wilt Chamberlain (who lived on the same street as me in Philadelphia), Bill Russell, and Joe Louis were heroes during the game, but zeroes when it came time to buy a home. The American Dream was not for them, and the American public was only colorblind when they were on the field. Once the game is over it was Jim Crow all over again! But I digress. 

As I sat there rooting while the black and white boxers competed I realized that too much has happened, there’s too much history, and even with therapy I will probably never be colorblind. Maybe my kids will—who are part African, American Indian, Hispanic, Irish and Asian. But the images and experiences of the past are still strong, and stay with me today.  

To be honest I don’t see anything wrong with cheering for people that look like you, speak like you, and share the same ancestry or culture. We should appreciate each others’ uniqueness and not be threatened by our own loyalties. Being colorblind may be an unrealistic mountain to climb, a bridge too far that doesn’t really matter. For most of us living in the Bay Area we should applaud our attempts at diversity and our desire to make it a reality. That’s why we live here, and we shouldn’t beat ourselves up! Sometimes when you try to achieve the impossible–like a colorblind society, there’s nothing possible to achieve!  

Meanwhile there was a break in the fight. The two boxers went to their corners where they were splashed with water and attended to by their trainers. I turned up the sound. The white fighter’s handlers said, “Champ he can’t hit you, he can’t touch you. You’re winning every round.” The fighter responded through swollen lips and a half closed eye in a Brooklyn accent, “Well somebody better watch that referee!” The TV camera switched over to the black fighter’s corner where they were talking in a language that was neither English nor Spanish. My allegiance immediately switched to the white fighter, and all my anxieties vanished. I may not be colorblind, but I’m an all-American sports fan! 

Winston Burton is a Berkeley resident.›

www.jfdefreitas.com

ASK A UNION MECHANIC 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The striking Berkeley Honda mechanics are launching a new program: “Ask a Union Mechanic.” 

This will begin Saturday, Feb. 11, from 1-3 p.m., and then continue every Thursday from 4:30-6 p.m. until the strike is settled. We will offer advice to anyone who wants to talk with us about their automobile mechanical problems, no matter what make car you own. This is an opportunity not only for us to help you, but also for you to meet and get acquainted with us, and to learn first hand about our concerns and problems. 

Repairing and servicing automobiles does more than just provide us with a living wage. We very much enjoy applying our professional skills to diagnosing mechanical problems and to repairing them to the satisfaction of our customers.  

You are also invited to participate with us at our Thursday rallies as well.  

We look forward to seeing you. 

Nat Courtney 

Gold Level Mechanic  

• 

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Keith Winnard (Jan. 31) just won’t get it. Public financing of elections is not designed to only cut down the cost of elections; but primarily to make politicians beholden to the commonweal rather than to large contributors. 

If he really wants public money to go to teach high school students to become voters, let him follow the example of Maine, which got universal health care for it’s citizens soon after it adopted public financing of elections. 

We ignore the effect of big money on elections at our continuing peril. 

Mal Burnstein 

• 

FATALISM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I try to read every issue of the Daily Planet, and I have never seen anyone claim “...that global warming will be prevented by mass transit ...”. How can this be an “Urban Legend” (Editorial, Jan. 27) if no one espouses it? The use of strawman arguments seriously detracts from Becky O’Malley’s claim that the planners and smart building enthusiasts have got it wrong. Her trivialization of global warming is very disturbing, as global warming may be the most serious problem humanity has faced. Yes, some of us believe that we should be doing all we can to limit global warming—and that includes high density building which is pedestrian, bicycle and mass transit friendly. Ms. O’Malley offers us fatalism instead. She implies that demand for housing in Tracy and Fairfield is effectively infinite, and won’t be impacted by anything we do here. She is, in effect, a proponent of ugly sprawl (PUS). I suggest that the acronym is appropriate in portraying how such beliefs will affect our environment.  

Robert Clear  

• 

DERBY FIELD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I enjoyed the article by J. Douglas Allen-Taylor about San Pablo Park. What will the people of Berkeley say about Derby Park 70 years from now? Which multi-use field will eventually be built? We can look at San Pablo Park and see the benefits of building the best park possible to serve the most students and community members. What if San Pablo Park had built a “practice field,” as the vocal minority wants at Derby? I don’t think anybody would remember the great practices they had there. 

Alumni, parents and supporters of Berkeley High track and field have raised money and installed a fantastic records board at the Track on campus. The students have been inspired, by seeing the rich athletic history of the Track team. They actually raised all the money to design and build the new signs. In fact, the fundraising picked up steam as the word got out and they raised more than enough money. We feel that kind of support is out there for the closed-Derby design of the park, if given the chance. 

We can inspire more kids by building the biggest and best park possible at Derby and MLK. A limited multi-use field on school district land that ignores the needs of students is a wasted opportunity. You don’t get many chances to build a new park. Let’s not settle for an inferior design just to save some money now. From the history of San Pablo Park, we can see the long-term benefits of investing in the best park possible for everyone. 

It should be simple: Close the under-used street for one block so the school district can build a park on their land that serves the most students and the most sports. Let the City Council know that the majority of Berkeley wants to close Derby for the best park possible. 

Bart Schultz 

• 

FEEBLE EDITORIAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Daily Planet’s uncharacteristically feeble editorial comments on the whole Mohammed cartoon fracas brings to mind all the intellectual firepower of a Berenstein Bears five and under morality play. But let’s humor the premise that “stupidity” and “intolerance” are in fact equally distributed on all continents and among all ethnic groups and religions. Why not test out this mawkish premise empirically with a fairly simple social science experiment?  

Let’s gather three sets of cartoon caricatures extremely offensive to: 1) Nordic people and Christianity; 2) Jews and Israel; 3) Arabs and Islam. Let’s blow these caricatures into enormous posters and send them off with the Planet’s intrepid editor on an overseas fact-finding mission. 

The first stop on this adventure will be Copenhagen, Denmark. She’ll start by making a big scene in the city center with her most offensive Hagar the Horrible posters. After a few hours of these embarrassing antics, she’ll brush off the butter cookie crumbs that have been hurled at her and report back to us on her experience. 

Next she’ll jet off to Tel Aviv with her Holocaust mocking cartoon posters and plant herself in the center of Ben Gurion square. Here she’ll likely enrage a bevy of hysterical octogenarian Holocaust survivors who will let loose a torrent of verbal abuse on her. This reaction will doubtless be interpreted to prove that every group is equally prone to “overreacting” to offensive images. 

Last, in ever sense of the term, she will cross over that hateful apartheid wall into Gaza City with her offensive Mohammed caricatures to prove her point that “stupids” abound everywhere. In the unlikely event that an angry lynch mob surrounds her person, she can sententiously shout out her Christian cliché, “Let him among you who is without sin cast the first stone,” which would doubtless immediately diffuse the mob’s rage. 

However, on further reflection, perhaps this whole experiment is conceived of backwards? Perhaps we should begin our quest to show that tolerance and intolerance are equally distributed the world over in Gaza City. After all, we read regularly how the Planet only gets by on a shoestring budget, so why not construct this important free-speech experiment in the most cost-effective manner possible and plan to donate the remaining frequent-flier miles to a good charitable cause like Amnesty International which champions freedom of expression worldwide? Let’s start a fundraising campaign now to speed up this vital mission! 

Edna Spector 

• 

EMERYVILLIZATION? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Zelda, you are on record complaining about buildings in Berkeley that are too high, too cheap and now too ritzy. Based on your complaints you would have opposed Julia Morgan’s Berkeley City Club, the Campanile and for that matter all of the successful buildings ever built, that are today centers of our civic identity. 

The less we build, the more expensive existing housing becomes. The less intensively we utilize our nooks and crannies (this means height in Berkeley) the more pressure we place on open space, artisanal space and small business. Most endeavors of civic life takes place in these spaces. Build too little for our real needs and you stifle potential civic interaction in all its forms. 

You fear Emeryvillization? By “Emeryvillization” do you mean it’s diversity of race and class that it now houses (and Berkeley does not)? Or do you mean Pixar and it’s creations and creators—which would have been a wonderful tenant in our West Berkeley—where now nothing can be built. Or do you mean the slew of other services now offered in Emeryville that Berkeley citizens drive to every day because we lost them to Emeryville? What will you say when Emeryville trumps Berkeley with a light rail system or Hydrogen bus fleet that it’s innovation density will ultimately justify? 

How the cumulative effects of growth in Berkeley will positively effect our quality of life takes not whining but positive and constructive ideas. I suggest you consider how cities survive and how they flourish. It has become difficult to create anything. Calling developers greedy misses the point. We need good developers more than they need us. We need to attract good developers with a strong sound vision. This vision should start in your column. Nay saying is easy. Constructive ideas, not so easy. 

Peter Levitt 

Member of LivableBerkeley 

PS: When the mayor Bates proposes future development for the hole in the ground that is now Ashby BART station he should be commended, not called secretive and underhanded. He never suggested excluding the neighborhood from the future design. However the neighborhood is a far too myopic a place to start the planning and big idea process. If the neighborhood woke up one day to a Rockridge BART scenario they might be pretty happy. Stores, offices, schools, libraries, residences all up around their station, but with a South Berkeley feel. (And this would include a weekend flea market too!) The neighborhood, encouraged by this newspaper, has immediately taken the narrow path of gloom and doom! What is your vision for Ashby and North Berkeley parking lots? I am interested to know if you have one. 

• 

RENT BOARD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I wish to share my sincere gratitude for help I received from Nick Traylor at the Berkeley Rent Board over the last couple months. I want tenants, especially, to know that there may be help for your problem too if you go to the Rent Board.  

I have lived in the same shared house in Berkeley over 13 years. In November my beloved housemate who lived here 26 years passed away unexpectedly. The landlord who had always been attentive to repairs and appeared to be a nice person suddenly suggested that he received such low rent he would like to raise it to half way between “market value” and rent control rate.  

I was still in grief at the loss of my long time housemate (who was the lease-holder). Thanksgiving and Christmas were on the horizon. I walked woodenly to the Rent Board and asked for guidance. 

I learned that since I moved in before 1996, I was completely covered by the rent law, and the agreement the landlord suggested would violate my rights as a tenant and compromise the law. 

Although I had signed no papers with the landlord since I paid my rent to my long-time housemate, I had proofs of my residence here since 1992—witnesses and shared house phone bills with calls to relatives and friends and a canceled check from 1995. After numerous visits to the Rent Board and several meetings with the landlord, he and I agreed to meet at the Rent Board so we could both get the basic advice on whether I qualified as an “original tenant” because I was in the house before 1996.  

We found an amicable resolution with the help of Nick Traylor and his co-worker, Mathew. It is kind of a miracle that the rent law was written to protect low-income people like me. But, without people like Nick Traylor who is there at the Rent Board to help tenants figure it out and find out what their rights are, it would just be a theory. Because of Nick I am able to continue to afford to live in Berkeley. I get to stay in the house I have come to call home for the last 13 years (even though my housemate is no longer here). It has been a hard transition to lose my day-to-day friend in the house. But, without Nick’s help, I was in danger of being “edged out of town” in the wake of my housemate’s death. Nick’s spirit and his confidence that tenants are people too and his clarity in knowing the law was a ray of sunshine in a dark and stormy time. Thanks, Nick.  

Nancy Delaney 

• 

ALBANY SCHOOLS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding your article, “Residents, Environmentalists Debate Albany Mall,” as an Albany resident and member of the Sierra Club, I obviously support and enjoy parks and open space. However, after a careful reading of the newly unveiled CESP/CAS initiative (the “Citizens’ Planning Initiative to Protect Albany’s Shoreline”), there seems to be a major problem for Albany schools. 

The Albany Unified School District receives approximately $500,000 annually in parcel-tax assessments from Golden Gate Fields race track. In the new CESP/CAS initiative, “Planning shall assume that a large portion of the Albany Waterfront District will be dedicated or acquired for public park, open space, and environmental restoration purposes.” The remaining portion available for development will be “located as close to the Interstate 80 freeway as possible” and not within 600 feet of the shoreline. Looking at a map, I estimate this remainder at about 50 percent of the existing property. 

The developer of this small remainder—located right next to a roaring, polluted freeway—will then be obliged to build a “green, sustainable” development that somehow will generate $1.2 million in revenue annually for the city, to replace that lost from the race track. That’s unlikely, to say the least. But there’s worse to come: the developer will only pay parcel tax to the school district based on the square footage they own. That means the schools will lose about 50 percent of the current $500,000. That is, Albany schools will lose $250,000 per year, every year, if this initiative passes. 

Albany residents need to study this initiative very carefully. Our city and our schools are depending on it. 

Trevor Grayling 

Albany 

• 

WIRETAPPING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

During the recent hearing on warrantless surveillance, I almost enjoyed listening to the realization dawning on even Republican senators that they are now as irrelevant to the executive branch as was the Roman Senate after Julius Caesar. Well they might worry for their own prerogatives—as well as for their necks if they get out of line—but they castrated themselves by confirming Ashcroft, Rice, Gonzales, Negroponte, Roberts, Alito, and so many others despite those nominees’ evasions and lies and the refusal of the administration to turn over requested documentation. Now, in the all-purpose name of national security, no citizen any longer has the safety formerly guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.  

Like most of the press, the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board still cannot bring itself to say impeachment. The enabling mass media will soon lose what remains of the First Amendment as the Caesar from Texas further consolidates the power he has been permitted to take.  

Gray Brechin  

• 

CARTOON CONTROVERSY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I remember “A cat may look at a king!” and wonder why the faith fantasies of Muslims should determine the subjects of cartoons. 

I surf the Internet and find gross caricatures of Jews on Islamic sites, yet non-Islamic cartoonists may not lampoon the hypocrisies and contradictions in just one of the multitude of religions? 

I think Islam feels very superior to other religions, a dangerous attitude. Faith cannot be the basis of human understanding and cooperation. People need mutual beliefs to agree on, not fantasies. Religion needs to be put into the closet, and be acknowledged as no more than a comfort blanket for the weak-minded. 

Please publish a cartoon to that effect. Thanks. 

Ormond Otvos 

Richmond 

• 

WILLIS-STARBUCK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

This paper’s coverage of the Willis-Starbuck shooting has constantly whitewashed the two most important facts. That Ms. Willis-Starbuck precipitated her own demise, and that her death was no accident. As the father of a Berkeley High School student I am saddened that more is not being said about the culpability of Ms. Willis-Starbuck and her friends. To understand this tragedy and attempt to prevent future misfortune it is essential that the core facts not be glossed over.  

Like a Greek tragic hero, Ms. Willis-Starbuck was destroyed by a fatal flaw in her character. All her promise and Ivy League education notwithstanding, Ms. Willis-Starbuck could not walk away from some disrespectful football players. The gangster imperative—that no act of perceived disrespect goes unanswered—proved too compelling. Bowing to this imperative Ms. Willis-Starbuck orchestrated her own death when she solicited her friend to avenge her honor with deadly force. In addition to being a tragic error this solicitation was likely a criminal act. If Mr. Hollis’ bullet had killed one of the football players instead of Ms. Willis-Starbuck she would now be standing trial alongside her accomplices.  

Moreover, the misguided friends of Mr. Hollis and Ms. Willis-Starbuck need to learn the difference between an accident and an intentional act. The tragic shooting of Ms. Willis-Starbuck was no accident. At Ms. Willis-Starbuck’s behest Mr. Hollis transported a firearm from Oakland to Berkeley. Intentionally aimed the firearm toward the people his friend was arguing with and proceeded to discharge the firearm. This is a textbook intentional act. That Mr. Hollis did not intend to shoot his friend is of absolutely no relevance. Mr. Hollis intentionally brought a firearm to a dispute and intentionally and without justification discharged the weapon with, at the very least, reckless disregard for human life. This is all that is required for a murder conviction. The district attorney does not need to prove that Mr. Hollis intended to kill any specific person.  

It’s very sad that the lives of three young people have been destroyed by their adherence to a gangster code. However, the situation is not improved by trying to downplay the culpability of the actors. 

Francis McGowan 

Stockton 

• 

A DEVELOPER’S PERSPECTIVE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The development of housing and related commercial and community facilities on the Ashby BART parking lot strikes many people as something that is long overdue. There is a dire shortage of sites for new housing—for all income groups—that this city sorely needs. And, South Berkeley needs such a shot in the arm to breathe more life into the Adeline and Ashby shopping areas; the parking lot is a barrier that artificially separates them. It is a dead space that is unpleasant to look at and forbidding at night  

I think few would argue that the parking lot has charm or is worthy of preservation! Presumably, those who have decided to oppose any development don’t fear development per se, but fear the possible nature of what might get built.  

It was a visionary city leadership that negotiated for the air rights over the parking lot some 40 years ago. It gave our community the ability to make something good happen—to use the rights as a community building and strengthening resource. What Councilmember Max Anderson has proposed is to involve the community in a planning process to determine the best use of this resource. I would urge the entire community join in the process as visionaries who want to participate in the development of this property as a major step toward a better future for South Berkeley. 

Ali R. Kashani

After last Tuesday’s meeting, I can tell that most of you City Council members would like to pull some irons out of this Caltrans proposal fire. I’m sure that your motives are good: wanting something good to develop on the Adeline strip in South Berkeley. You all seem very sorry that Max didn’t do better outreach in bringing this proposal to the community. 

I’d like to ask you take a few minutes to think about this a little more deeply. 

The issue here is not just that this was approached in the wrong way. It is much deeper; if you are conscientious about using your voice and your vote to accomplish something meaningful for South Berkeley, there are some substantive things about the Caltrans proposal and its history that you might want to considered. 

As an incentive to take a deeper look, you might reflect on the morass the City has gotten itself into with the Masons’ project just across the street from the BART station, a project that has turned into a blighted vacant lot with a black hole of debt that no one so far has figured how to remedy. A project that has the city in trouble with HUD. A project the community warned the city about. The 2004 feasibility study on the BART site is an omen that this outcome for Ed’s project may not be far fetched. 

Here’s the story: 

Ed Church has been working on his plan for the Ashby BART for many years and has never brought his ideas to the community. Over this period he has obtained funding for his work on this project and brought in consultants to do various studies. None of this funding was used to find out what the community wanted, to engage the community in any kind of dialog. His contacts in the community have been limited to a very select group of people. I was one of those people, in a meeting that occurred years ago. I was asked not to share what I would hear at this meeting with anyone else in the community. He supposedly wanted to get ideas from me for including the community, though when I offered some ideas, he seemed more interested in how to manage negative reactions than how to lead an inclusive process. His actions since then have born out my impression. 

If you will notice, the very first role for the community in Ed’s plan is to offer advice on hiring a developer. This is to be done according to some very rigid parameters defining aspects of the project already laid out in the proposal and not up for community consideration. Once a contract with a developer is signed, there will be additional contractual commitments to consider that will further limit community choices. After all of this, the public planning process starts. What is wrong here is that Ed’s desired outcomes are driving the community rather than the community driving the outcomes. The community will have very little to say about what is done at the Ashby BART station. By the time all of this comes together, the community will be lucky if it gets to choose the color of the bricks on the front of the building. 

Is this a man we can trust with absolute control over a meaningful and inclusive community participation process? 

In a continuation of this pattern of excluding the community, Ed and Max got together on this project some time last year, submitted the proposal last October and never brought it to the community until it appeared on the consent calendar in December. Max may have been sincere in looking for a way to engage the community in planning. If he was, he got a pig in a poke. 

Emblematic, too, of what we might expect from Max regarding community participation is the example Max is giving us as to what he thinks full and open public participation is. We don’t have to guess. He is showing us in his approach to bringing the public voice into the City Council decision. 

His approach is a meeting announced with four days notice, which will be two hours long, at a time when the flea market folks, a prime constituency, are normally active at their trades and other community members, most of whom will not have heard about the meeting, are starting a weekend with their families or friends. This meeting is supposed to provide a meaningful profile of what the community wants the City Council to do. 

Max’s reiteration that his meeting will be, “Open, open, open,” fails to consider how very far “not locking the door on a brief meeting” is from actively bringing everyone to the table in a considered and meaningful way. This is the process issue staring us in the face. What Max is proposing is bad process, embarrassingly so. Should we naively expect anything better if he and Ed are allowed to drive the BART process. This assumption slights us all. 

And, in the immediate case, it puts the community in a awkward position. Should we do his outreach work for him? Should we participate in a bankrupt meeting, knowing that the result could easily misrepresent the community’s perspective and lead to a bad choice on your part? Should we rally “our” forces? We don’t want a political fight, we want good community dialog. What would you do? 

There are process tools in use in cities and communities around the world that are being used successfully to bring complex and diverse groups of people together to find common ground and act effectively together. It is, perhaps, Max and Ed’s lack of knowledge and experience with these approaches that is at the root of their failure to engage the community. Our community will bring these successful process tools to our service when we take the leadership in forging our future. 

These and other facts should raise serious questions about the qualifications of these two men to lead a process that is supposed to give the community a meaningful voice. It should raise a flag to the fact that the issue is much deeper than how effectively the proposal was presented to the community. 

When do we acknowledge that the actions we are seeing on these men’s part is emblematic of their unwillingness or inability to support meaningful public participation and remove them from any leadership roles? In some ways, I think we are lucky that they didn’t do a better job of short range outreach, because then maybe there wouldn’t be any public opposition and we would be sliding right into their plan. 

On the other hand, if the main thing you care about is getting this development built, regardless of the community, come hell or high water, then maybe it is too bad that Max didn’t do a better job of selling his proposal to the community. Maybe you can rescue it and see Ed’s project built through Max and Ed’s non-participative participatory model . . . unless you end up in the same hole the Masons’ project did. 

And then, on another hand, you are now seeing a group of people step forward and offer to lead a truly inclusive and participative community wide planning process, for their own community. Guess what, this is a chance to get behind some real community capacity building, something that may cause South Berkeley to really awaken to its potential and become a self-sufficient and vital community! What about this? It might even result in an exciting development at the BART station that is better than what Ed has dreamed up, something that will be the crown jewel to South Berkeley, something that will provide a permanent home for the flea market, an engine to drive an active business center and a housing model that will serve to sustain and grow the current community without losing it to gentrification. We’re pretty creative here in South Berkeley. 

Which ring are you going to throw your hat into? I know where mine is. 

Kenoli Oleari is a member of the Neighborhood Assemblies Network.

I spent over four hours working on this week’s column, but I wasn’t satisfied with the results. When this happens, I send it to friends whose opinions I respect. 

I have several acquaintances who are willing to read through rough drafts and give me advice. Some of them are writers, some avid readers. Two of them are good with grammar, sentence structure, when to use a dash instead of a comma, who instead of whom, that instead of which. 

One of them gets my sense of humor. Another is a communist with political opinions on everything. I have a friend who works at home and is available on short notice. Sometimes this is the most important quality one needs from another when seeking advice. 

I send works in progress requiring a second opinion to specific people depending on their expertise. I never send a column about neighborhood issues to my Idaho writing partner Karen because her concerns center around snow, mountain lions, and frozen pipes. But if I’m in doubt about where to place a comma, she’s the one to ask. I don’t send anything humorous to my communist friend because, well, he’s a communist. 

I have to be cautious when sending essays to the friend who works at home because she tends to like everything I write. 

The column I needed help with was about recent activities occurring in my house and how California politics affected those activities. In the essay I mentioned Arnold Schwarzenegger. Because the mere whisper of his name smacks of controversy, I sent the piece to my communist acquaintance for evaluation. I also e-mailed it to my friend who is always available, in case the communist wasn’t. 

This, of course, was a big mistake. 

They both got back to me. The always-available friend said she liked the column and could find nothing wrong with it. Several hours later the communist weighed in and said the opposite. “You complain about everyone around you, make yourself look like a clueless do-gooder, and don’t really say anything. Start over.” 

I re-read the column. It was true there were some complaints in the story, but they were other people’s complaints about Arnold, not mine. I re-looked at my do-gooder status. I had written about a young houseguest who needed help with her homework and a lift to school. I edited her out of the story, but by doing so I was left with only Arnold and me. The column no longer made sense. I put the homework back in and made myself appear less helpful, but it’s difficult to write about one’s self in a negative light. 

I started over. Maybe I could write on a subject nobody else had ever written about, but that was unrealistic. Maybe I could discuss something newsworthy in an uncommon way, but none of my views on current issues is very unique. Perhaps I could just repeat what other people had already said. 

I made a list of hot topics and my relationship with each: 

Brokeback Mountain: liked it 

A Million Little Pieces: couldn’t get through it. 

Jessica Simpson: don’t know who she is. 

Israel and the Gaza Strip: haven’t been there and don’t want to go. 

Danish cartoons: haven’t seen them. 

Marin Avenue: once rode my bicycle from the bottom to the top but couldn’t do it now without risking heart failure and possible death. 

Ashby BART station: 

• Went to the last community meeting but no one from the neighborhood was there; perhaps the Ed Roberts Campus is no longer an issue. 

• Haven’t been to the flea market since my neighbor Mrs. Scott died; don’t need incense, lavender soap, used furniture or CDs. 

Sideshows: saw one and thought I might be killed; never want to see another as long as I live. 

Iraq: too depressing. 

George Bush: ditto. 

I re-looked at the old column. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all, but now, thank God, I’ve run out of space. 

This is not an owl column per se, but it was inspired by a recent conversation with an owl person: Maggie Rufo of the Hungry Owl Project, who brought a barn owl named Wookie to a Keep Barn Owls in Berkeley event. We were talking about barn owl diets, and Rufo mentioned finding a lot of Jerusalem cricket remains in the nests she monitors.  

“I didn’t know what they were at first,” she said. “They looked like extraterrestrials.” 

That’s not an uncommon reaction to encountering a Jerusalem cricket, alive and intact or not. Both the California Academy of Sciences and the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum say they get more inquiries about these insects than about any other invertebrate species, mostly along the lines of “What in God’s name is this?” and “Will it bite?” 

The accompanying photograph conveys the unsettling appearance of these good-sized grasshopper relatives. To me they are uncannily like the plastic cootie bugs of the ‘50s (not the more recent cootie incarnation). The Navajo call them wo see ts inii, which I have seen variously translated as “old bald-headed man” or “bone-neck beetle,” and some Spanish-speakers call them niñas de la tierra, “children of the earth.” They’re also known, without foundation, as “potato bugs.” 

Their nearest relatives appear to be the extraordinary wetas of New Zealand, the namesake for that special-effects outfit that was involved in the Lord of the Rings movies. Wetas, up to 6 inches long with a record weight of 2.5 ounces, fill the ecological niche of the small mammals that never reached the islands. 

As it happens, Jerusalem crickets don’t bite, and although they chew on roots, they are not particularly important garden or agricultural pests. Their social behavior has interesting complexities, and David Weissman at the Academy has found that they’re a paragon of California’s biodiversity. 

(I have never seen a satisfactory explanation of the name, by the way. They don’t come from Jerusalem: they’re North American natives. And they’re not the same as the Mormon crickets that devoured the Utah settlers’ crops, which are altogether more conventional grasshopper types). 

Jerusalem crickets don’t swarm like locusts or Mormon crickets; they lead solitary subterranean lives. It takes some doing for males and females to get together. Other grasshoppers and crickets use modified wing and leg structures to produce courtship calls. But those kinds of stridulations wouldn’t carry far through soil. Instead, a Jerusalem cricket of either sex signals potential mates by slamming its abdomen against the bottom of its burrow. 

It used to be assumed that there were only seven species of Jerusalem cricket in California. However, in analyzing their drumrolls, Weissman has detected at least 50 distinct patterns. Although these different drummers may appear identical, he suspects each pattern may represent a separate species; the new ones are still in the process of being scientifically described. Like birdsong, the drumming provides a way for females to locate males of the appropriate species (and apparently vice versa). 

Why so many species is a matter of conjecture. Some groups of plants and animals seem prone to bursts of speciation: California also has high diversity in manzanitas, chipmunks, and slender salamanders. Among animals, populations of creatures with small home ranges and limited mobility—and Jerusalem crickets fit that profile—may become isolated from each other and follow divergent genetic and adaptive pathways. Drumrolls, songs, or other forms of courtship communication then act as reinforcers of the new species boundaries, preventing the sharing of genes among formerly close relatives.  

When Jerusalem crickets pair off, the ensuing courtship is highly strenuous. And as in their distant mantid relatives, it often ends with the female dining on the male—a last gift of protein to nourish the eggs that he’s hopefully fertilized.  

Even individuals who escape this Liebestod are likely to end up being eaten by something else. When they emerge from underground, the insects are conspicuous, slow, and defenseless. It’s not just the barn owls: gray foxes are particularly fond of Jerusalem crickets, and low-flying pallid bats, skunks, lizards, snakes, and toads also take their toll.  

If they turn up in your yard, don’t panic. They’re not only an important link in the food chain: they may actually be doing you a favor by eating detritus and aerating the soil.  

›

In December, the New York Times revealed that the Bush administration has been eavesdropping on our phone calls, by means of National Security Agency computer systems, without a court order. Although the exact nature of the surveillance is highly classified, it appears that the White House has gone on a massive “fishing trip”—one that invades the privacy of thousands of ordinary Americans. This article considers the pragmatics of Administration eavesdropping—why we should care about it. 

Bear in mind that the scope of this fishing expedition is enormous. Because the National Security Agency surveillance is highly automated, there are hundreds of thousands of Americans being monitored—an average of 500 additional each day since 9/11. In comparison, in 2004 the Federal Intelligence Surveillance ACT court granted 1758 warrants all year. 

Note that there is a specific law, FISA, to deal with domestic surveillance. The Bush administration has ignored this. Most legal experts feel that their action is illegal. 

Americans are a pragmatic people. For many, the ultimate criterion will not be “is it legal?” but simply, “does it work?” Has the Bush eavesdropping protected us? If it has, why should we care about how the White House goes about spying on terrorist suspects? Because of this pragmatic line of reasoning, Americans are divided on the subject of eavesdropping. 

The latest Gallup Poll, conducted Jan. 20-22, finds half of Americans (51 percent) believe the Bush administration was wrong in wiretapping terrorist-linked telephone conversations without first obtaining a court order, while 46 percent say it was right. However, these poll results are fragile, highly dependent upon the exact wording of the question. The results shift if respondents are asked if its OK to eavesdrop on “average Americans” versus “suspected terrorists.”  

The average American may reason, “So what? If I have done nothing wrong, then I have nothing to be afraid of.” 

Unfortunately, there is a lot to be afraid of. American history teaches us that there are three distinct reasons why we should be wary of illegal Federal actions such as warrantless domestic eavesdropping. The first is that they inevitably become political. The second reason is that we have learned from bitter experience that if the administration gets away with this, they will try something even worse. The final reason is that unauthorized surveillance is not a sign of strength, but rather of incompetence. 

The history of illegal eavesdropping in the United States indicates that it is abusive and something to fear. There is not a brick wall between well-reasoned security operations and sleazy political back stabbing. The history of surveillance operations such as COINTELPRO indicates that for every baddie the feds tracked, the Ku Klux Klan, they monitored a goodie, Martin Luther King, Jr. Opponents of the regime in power got monitored and, in many cases, harassed. 

Do we really trust the Bush administration to exercise good judgment in eavesdropping on our digital correspondence? Be serious. This is the same administration that has spied on Quaker meetings and sent IRS agents to hassle ministers who preached against the war. This is the same administration that routinely lies about key matters of national policy such as the presence of WMDs in Iraq. If they eavesdrop on our communications, they will inevitably use this information for political purposes. They imperil the foundations of freedom. 

The second reason we should protest this is because of the expansion of presidential power. This may seem like a theoretical concern, but it’s not. The founders had the wisdom to provide for separation of powers in the constitution. In the matter of domestic surveillance, Congress indisputably has the authority to set the rules, and has done so—the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act. This law clearly describes the process that must be followed when eavesdropping on Americans; the courts protect our Fourth Amendment rights, which ensures that there is “probable cause” for the surveillance. The president has simply blown off Congress and the federal courts. 

This is not the only instance where President Bush has sought to expand presidential powers considerably beyond those envisioned by the framers of the Constitution. He took us to war by misleading Congress, and the American people, about the danger posed by Iraq. The administration’s hunger for power is insatiable. This threatens our democracy. 

Finally, there is no evidence that the NSA program of warrantless surveillance has “helped prevent terrorist attacks,” as the president claimed in his State of the Union address. The only example Bush cites was the arrest of a crazy who planned to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge by a blowtorch attack. There is abundant evidence that the NSA program is yet another example of administration incompetence. Many observers have suggested that the funds spent on the NSA system would be better spent recruiting more agents and training them in Urdu and the other languages spoken by Al Qaeda operators. 

When we look at the history of the Bush administration, there is no large project they’ve done well—except get reelected. They screwed up the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq. They failed to respond to Hurricane Katrina. George Bush and his cronies have not led, they have bungled. 

Americans are right to be concerned about the threat of terrorism. But the answer is not a vast, clandestine surveillance operation that threatens the privacy of every American. The answer lies in competence, in a well-thought-out program of homeland security. 

Sadly, competence is not something that we can expect from this administration, which continues to be more interested in increasing its own power than it is in protecting America. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer and activist. He can be reached at  

bobburnett@comcast.net. 

As expected—or feared, depending on your point of view—Pennsylvania Congressmember John Murtha is rapidly becoming one of the Democratic Party’s de facto spokespersons on defense policy. That may be a good thing for centrist Democrats who don’t want to get beat by our Republican friends with the “soft on defense” stick in another election. But where does it leave progressives? 

Mr. Murtha, you may remember, was the Congressmember who introduced a resolution last November calling for immediate U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, labeling the war “a flawed policy wrapped in illusion” and declaring that “the U.S. can not accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It is time to bring them home.”  

Coming from a decorated Marine combat veteran of the Korea and Vietnam era and a representative who has consistently supported the military, those words jolted the Bush administration, and vaulted the respected—but obscure—Congressmember into national leadership. 

It’s not far-fetched to see him moving over from the House Appropriations Committee to a leading role—maybe the leading role—on the House Armed Services Committee should the Democrats retake control of Congress or wielding considerable influence on defense matters should a Democrat win the White House in 2008. 

And so, on the off chance that his proposals may one day end up being policy, we ought to look beyond Mr. Murtha’s call for immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq—which won him well-deserved standing ovations on the left—and see just where he wants to redeploy those troops, and what he wants to do with them when they get there. 

In a letter written earlier this month to President Bush, Mr. Murtha called for a “strategy for victory against global terrorism,” suggesting that in conjunction with a troop withdrawal from Iraq, the president should consider “stationing a mobile force outside of the country.” Where such a “mobile force” would be stationed, and what would be its purpose, is left unclear. But in a letter written to Congressional colleagues last November explaining his troop withdrawal proposal Mr. Murtha gave some hints, stating that the military front of the War on Terror [his capital letters] “should be focused on where the leadership and main strength of Al Qaeda and related organizations exist. To me [Mr. Murtha continues], that is clearly in the area of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia…” 

Does that mean rather than invasion-and-occupation scenarios, we would be launching cross-border military raids from bases in, say, Turkey, into Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia or, in the alternative, continuing the Bush policy of launching missiles in villages whenever we suspect an Al Qaeda presence? I don’t know, partly because I could not find anything more specific in Mr. Murtha’s proposals. 

In any event, in the “second and perhaps most important ‘front’ in the War on Terror” as he describes it, Mr. Murtha advocates a “long-term battle for the hearts and minds of the Muslim world. … It is a battle we should be able to win resoundingly because we share so many values with common Muslims and stand for the principles of freedom and equality.” Aside from the disturbing echo of Lyndon Johnson’s “winning the hearts and minds” policy in Vietnam (remember how hard we had to fight against that one), this proposal also remains vague. To which values does Mr. Murtha refer, and how would he suggest go about demonstrating to our Muslim friends that we share them? The devil is in the details. 

But at least the Pennsylvania Congressmember is suggesting a strategy. 

While progressives—myself included—have taken great delight in pointing out the fumbles of the Bush administration during the so-called “war on terror” from Tikrit to Internet wiretapping, we have been mostly silent on what we, ourselves, would do in defense of this country if we had national power in our own hands. 

This has mostly to do with the natural breeding grounds for progressive thought in America, which is most definitely not in the average defense think tank. Most progressives cut their eye teeth on environmental activism or women’s or minority rights issues, and can talk for days on how we would improve the education system. Progressive knowledge on military matters, however, leans heavily toward the question of how to keep Marine recruiters off campus. 

This leads to a couple of results, both of them bad. 

First, it strengthens the hands of those in this country—the Rumsfelds and the Cheneys and the Wolfowitzs—who were all too eager to unleash the dogs of war in the sands of Iraq, if only to demonstrate that America can’t be kicked around any more, and to wash what they believe is the stench of the Vietnam withdrawal from the national body. 

Second, because defense-challenged progressives are such an integral part of the Democratic Party, progressive failure to craft and articulate a defense policy of our own creates an opening for our Republican friends to say that Democrats can’t be trusted on defense and national security issues. This causes centrist Democrats to scramble around to prove that they are not soft on defense—the Kerrys and the Hillary Clintons come immediately to mind—thus strengthening the hand of those in this country who are eager … well, just refer back to bad result No. 1. 

What’s the solution to this dilemma for progressives? 

First and foremost, while the political battle to end the war in Iraq is still going on, progressives need to answer the question: how would we defend the country if we were in charge? Specifics are in order. What would we do, for example, to prevent another terrorist attack on American soil along the line of, say, the 9/11 attacks? 

What would our response be if such an attack took place, and we could identify the base location of the attackers? Would we launch an invasion of the suspected country, as the Bush administration did in Afghanistan? What would we do if faced with the impending nuclearization of a country such as Iran? What would we do about nuclear weapons already existing in countries around the world? North Korea? China? Pakistan? Israel? France and England? The United States? Ask everyone to throw them in the ocean? Or let everyone keep them in place in the old mutually-assured deterrence scheme? 

And the larger question: what is the best balance between America’s economic and military policy in order to keep us relatively prosperous and relatively safe? Can we do that while bringing the rest of the world up with us? Is that the best defense policy and, if so, how do we suggest it would be managed in the real world, while keeping at bay those people who are still pissed with us about how we managed the world in the old days? 

We often hear it said, these days, that U.S. military forces are being stretched thin by the war in Iraq. Mr. Murtha uses the term “overstretched” in a column which included his recent letter to President Bush. But when Mr. Murtha uses such a term, he has specific numbers in mind, which is why people listen to him when he gives opinions. 

How many divisions the country must keep on hand in order to fight a two-front war, for example. How long would it take to redeploy troops stationed in the European theater to an African or Asian or Middle Eastern battleground, and how many carriers would it take to redeploy them. How long should the average soldier/sailor’s term be in combat conditions before they are cycled out for rest and refitting. How long should they stay out before being sent back in to battle. How many times should they go into battle. Before you can even enter that discussion, you have to start with simpler questions. How many carriers are in a battle group? How many soldiers are in a division? A company? A squad? I don’t have any idea. And I suspect, neither do most of my progressive friends. 

Until more of us do, progressives are going to be mostly on the sidelines during the coming debates over United States defense policy, forcing the issue, certainly, but never being able to define it. The real redeployment needed here is for progressives to get into the study of national defense. And quickly.?

Thornhill Nursery is a bit out of the way, not so much in distance from Berkeley, but tucked away on Thornhill Drive in the Oakland Hills. It’s most easily accessible from the freeway, if you don’t mind a little daring on- and off-ramp dodge’em game. Take the Thornhill Drive exit, drive on past the entrance to the Foothill business district and through a tiny patch of school and mini-mall on Thornhill. Keep it slow—you ought to anyway; the sidewalks are narrow and foot traffic can be a tad chaotic and full of rompity schoolkids. The nursery’s not hard to see once you get to its block, and the parking area, though small, is handy on the right. 

Thornhill employees told me the place specializes in Japanese maples. I guess so; it’s set off from the surrounding woodsy lots by a hedge of sheared Japanese maple. Since I made a buck or two back in the day by taking sheared and poodle-balled maples out of that form and turning them back into something that looked like a tree, I was a bit ambivalent about that. But there are certainly a lot of tree-shaped trees in the area, and the maples looked healthy enough, at least so far as I could see in winter. 

There are a couple of other radically pruned trees—a threadleaf “cypress” type in front of the shop building, and a pine behind it—in rather a different style, and integrated into the place’s architecture. Both are kept way open, even a bit bare, showing mostly trunk and major branches; both are at startling angles; both clearly have frequent attention to keep the foliage under control and healthy-looking. And both times I’ve asked who was responsible for them, I’ve heard very general answers: most recently, “Oh, that’s the grounds crew…” Either there’s a singularly talented mow-and-blow crew running around being underpaid, or someone else set that tree’s shape and showed them how to maintain it. 

When I first saw the place a decade ago, I made much of those trees and of the cement ’gator loafing so fetchingly in the flume of creek that runs through the lot. I didn’t see him this time, until a second look—maybe 15 feet from his original spot under the footbridge, where all several-hundred pounds of him were shoved by the New Year’s rainstorm. He looks undaunted after his impressive little trip. 

There are lots of Japanese maple varieties for sale, and ornaments that match that ’gator for interest. The setting makes the place relaxing for a stroll—birders, take your binocs!—and on visits over the years I’ve found staffers friendly and helpful but not intrusive. Plants are healthy and in good variety, too. There’s always something, plant or gadget or objet d’ whimsy, that makes me stop and point. And don’t miss the hood ornament on the roof. I wonder if the business bought someone a Jaguar or it’s where the Jag money went instead ... Either way, I like it.  

Thornhill Nursery 

6250 Thornhill Drive 

Oakland 

(510)339-1331 

Open daily 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

It has often occurred to me how primitive our houses are for a people who can look to the edges of the universe and plumb the living paths of bozons and muons. They’re not exactly mud huts but they are so simple that you’d think we were still fighting wars with guns and killing each other with bombs. Oh wait. Sorry. Anyway, if you look at the way in which our houses are built, you might think that we’d missed the U-boat altogether. 

First, they’re built from plant matter, literally somebody’s dinner. Things that grow out of the ground that seem hard enough to make a floor out of. We puncture them with little rods of metal, holding them together in a manner that’s not unlike sewing a sack together. 

Then we put more of these vegetable planks down to make floors and ceilings and cover them over with something we wove from the hair of a sheep. 

Windows are actually pretty advanced but they’re still an igneous rock remelted into a flat sheet. Roofs are made from tar, dug out of the ground or boiled down from oil left behind by some compressed rain forest and we finish the insides with sheets of soft rock called gypsum carved out of a hillside.  

I’ll stop, but the point is that there isn’t that much technology in all of this beyond those methods developed to make it cheaper for large companies to get it to you and put it together at a low price. There are lots of ways to do these things better but they haven’t figured out how to get you to pay enough for them. 

Heating is a great example of how we have started with technologies that are as simple as we could get away with and advanced toward safer and more efficient systems. Houses were first heated with wood fireplaces that reflected little of the heat inward and required huge amounts of raw material to burn. 

Mining of coal produced a more efficient system but puts workers at risk and also produces large amounts of carbon monoxide that kill the end user (so to speak). We still have coal burners in many of our early 20th century houses and occasionally I pick up coal from a crawlspace or basement where it remains from the last shipment in nineteen twenty-something. It’s very fun to find and be reminded of how recently these changes arrived. 

Gas became widely available just after the turn of the 20th century and we started blowing things up right away for lack of an ability to smell the stuff. Then gas companies began to add an acrid and pungent smell to the gas so that we’d know when it was on and things got a lot safer. For lack of this one notion, I suspect they’d have given up on gas. Gas heaters at this time were no more sophisticated than your cooktop burners and if you left them on, once again, they could blow you up. Then came the pilot which used up lots of extra gas by being on all the time but is well worth it if you don’t have anything better. 

Eventually the pilot safety device arrived. This made sure that gas wasn’t released into a burner unless a pilot was lit. This was a very big advance and we’re still using them today in very much the same form, although electronic ignitions are slowly taking over. 

The thing in all these advancements that was largely ignored for the last 80 years or so was efficiency. Gas was pretty cheap for a long time and the overall cost to the economy was manageable. Also, we weren’t chopping wood and everyone was pretty happy. Recently we’ve begun to realize that burning anything is pretty bad for the planet and is likely altering the climate and transparency of our atmosphere to carcinogenic radiation. 

Also, the population of this planet is becoming a pretty serious problem and there are great doubts about our ability to sustain ourselves while burning up the fuel sources that we can chop down or pump out of the ground. It’s time to take a much more serious assessment of our methods and our needs. Although I’m not happy to pay the utility bill as it soars into the ozone (sorry), I am happy that this has created a tangible impetus for people to make real changes in how they buy and use heat. 

As an inspector who meets new homeowners daily, it has always been something of a struggle to induce the buyer (who’s going into hock over their eyeballs) that a new more efficient heating system is in their best interest (and that of the home planet) but with utility prices skyrocketing this year, it’s been much easier. I’ve actually seen many of these folks decide then and there to dump the old water heater for an on-demand type or agree to toss the mid-efficiency furnace for a new high-efficiency condensing type in the first weeks of ownership. 

So I think it’s time to up the ante a bit by telling you about the latest and greatest thing I’ve seen in home heating. For the last few years I’ve been hearing about combined water heating and house heating systems but it’s been mostly talk. Somewhere a rich guy was having a team of technicians assemble a very expensive system from rarely seen components. This wasn’t practical for me to talk about since there were few examples to point to and very high initial costs.  

Recently, two technologies have taken off to the point where each have become a practical discussion point: the on-demand water heater, which I’m now seeing taking an actual market share and the hydronic (or hot water) heating system, which is far less common but still growing in popularity. 

Now we have the Baxi Luna. This is what I’ve been waiting for and the first time I saw one, which was just months ago, I almost flipped. Part of my reaction was that it was as though someone just skipped three stages and went right to the 22nd century model. 

This single unit employs so many of the latest concepts that it’s a bit dizzying. First, it’s very small and looks much like the more common on-demand water heater. It’s about the size of a suitcase and hangs on a wall in the upright direction. Inside is an on-demand water heater that only heats water when and as you need it but it also heats water in a closed loop that can run under your floor or through radiators in your house to provide very mild and extremely efficient heat. 

Warm floor heating is widely considered the best way to heat, in part, because it lacks the drying effect of forced air combined with the noise and blowing about of dust. 

If you’ve just bought a house with a problem water heater and furnace please consider this amazing option. If you’re living in a house that needs both or if your heating bill is making you consider asking your children to move out, take a look at a Baxi Luna. It’s penny-wise and planet-perceptive. 

›

TUESDAY, FEB. 14 

FILM 

Alternative Visions: Films by Peter Tscherkassky at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Love Fest 06 hosted by Aya de León, featuring members of Kreatibo, Mike Molina, Alicia Raqule and others at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wild Catahoulas, Cajun, Zydeco, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Ellen Hoffman with Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. 841-JAZZ.  

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

Khali Hustle, 20 Boyz, BTA Boyz at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10. 848-0886.  

Kitty Margolis “Heart and Soul” at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $12-$8. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

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

Jessica Neighbor & The Hood at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 15 

EXHIBITIONS 

African American Inventors and Scientists at the Junior Center of Art and Science, 558 Bellvue Ave., Lakeside Park, Oakland, through April 8. 839-5777. www.juniorcenter.org 

“Illuminated Garden” Pinhole sun prints by Susannah Hays at North Berkeley Frame and Gallery, 1744 Shattuck Ave., through March 4. 549-0428. 

Print Exchange between the California College of Arts and University of Osaka. Reception at 5:30 p.m. at CCA, 5212 Broadway. 594-3636. 

FILM 

Film 50 “All Quiet on the Western Front” at 3 p.m. and Weird America “Born in a Barn” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ayelet Waldman reads from “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Café Poetry hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Linda Blachman introduces “Another Morning: Voices of Truth and Hope from Mothers with Cancer” at 7 p.m. at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 5741 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

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

Groundation, Bob Marley Tribute at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Orquestra Universal at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

J-Soul at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

John Benet, With All Sincerity, Name at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

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

Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, FEB. 16 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “Twelfth Night” at 8 p.m., at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave., also Fri. and Sat. Tickets are $12, seniors and students $10 on Thurs. 649-5999.  

The Sun & Moon Ensemble, “Luna” a multi-media performance, Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. through Feb. 26, at Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Avenue at MLK Jr. Way. Tickets are $10-$15. 415-621-7978. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“A Retrospective in Black & White and Color” works by photographer Susan Sai-Wah Louie at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., through March 16. 981-6100. 

“Black Reparations Now” Works by African American Artists on Land, Freedom and Democracy. Reception at 6 p.m. at the Asian Resource Gallery, 310 Eighth St. at Harrison, Oakland. 287-5353. 

Reception to Celebrate the Completion of the “City Center Triptych” by artist Anthony Holdsworth at 5:30 p.m. at 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland. 

Changming Meng “Ink Paintings” Reception for the artist at 5:30 p.m. at IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th floor. http://ieas.berkeley.edu/events/ 

FILM 

Mikio Naruse “Her Lonely Lane” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Works by Bill A. Dallas and Amana Brembry Johnson Artists’ talk at 6:30 p.m. at the Craft & Cultural Arts Gallery, State of California Office Building, 1515 Clay St., Oakland. Music at 5 p.m. Runs through March 3. 622-8190. 

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

John Hope Franklin reads from “Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin” at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

James Dalessandro, author of “1906” the story of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire at 7 p.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. 526-7512. 

Word Beat Reading Series with The Poet Formerly Known as Mark States and Tom Odegaard at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Rev. Billy C. Wirtz at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Lloyd Gregory Trio featuring Tranishia Gholston at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Sheila Alix and the Dan Damon Trio, acoustic jazz standards at 7:30 p.m. at the Pub at Baltic Square, 135 Park Place, Point Richmond. 237-4782. 

Avenues XPO, a showcase of Oakland youth artists, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$8. Benefits The Avenues Project. 849-2568.  

Lalo and Jack West at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Jazz Mafia Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

FRIDAY, FEB. 17 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “Twelfth Night” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $12. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Aurora Theatre “The Master Builder” Wed. through Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through March 5. Tickets are $38. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Rep “9 Parts of Desire” about women in war-torn Iraq, at 8 p.m. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., through March 5. Tickets are $30-$59. 647-2949.  

Black Repertory Group “The Piano Lesson” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at 3201 Adeline St., through Feb. 25. Tickets are $7-$15. 

Contra Costa Civic Theater, “One Flew Over the Cockoo’s Nest” Fri. and Sat at 8 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave. at Moeser Lane, El Cerrito, through Feb. 25. 524-9132.  

Impact Theatre, “Hamlet” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through March 18. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468.  

The Marsh Berkeley “Strange Travel Suggestions” monologue by Jeff Greenwald, Thurs. and Fri. at 7 p.m. through March 3, at 2118 Allston Way. Tickets are $15-$22. 800-838-3006.  

Masquers Playhouse "Over the River and Through the Woods" Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. through Feb. 25 at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets are $15. 232-4031.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Love Letters” New works by Susie Lundy. Reception at 6 p.m. at Deep Roots Teahouse, 1418 34th Ave., Oakland. 436-0121. 

FILM 

African Film Festival “Dolé” at 7 p.m. and “Niiwan” at 8:50 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Deborah Tannen introduces “You’re Wearing That? Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Joseph Massey and Graham Foust, poets, at 8 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Xylem Folkestra Project, Balkan music at 8 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St., at Castro. Balkan dance lesson at 7 p.m. Tickets are $16, $12 for children under 12. www.kailaflexer.com 

Orquesta La Moderna Tradición at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Perú Negro, Afro-Peruvian music on traditional instruments at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$40. 642-9988.  

Amy Likar, flute, Liisa Ruoho, flute, Miles Graber, piano at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont at Ashby. Cost is $12. 848-1228.  

Mobius Donut CD Release at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

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

Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Frankie Manning at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Junius Courtney Big Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Eddie Pasternack Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Arnoldo Garcia and Linh Nguyen at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Born/Dead, Direct Control, Strung Up, Greivous 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. 

Lauren and Judge Murphy with Lansdale Station at 9 p.m. at Roundtree's Rythym & Blues Museum, 2618 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10. 663-0440. 

Vinyl, Get Down at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$7. 548-1159.  

Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, FEB. 18 

CHILDREN  

“Junie Jones and A Little Monkey Business” theater for ages 5 and up, at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $13-$18. 925-798-1300. 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Uncle Eye & The Strange Change Machine, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Art of Seeing: Nature Revealed Through Illustration” opens at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Susan Jenkins, Tim Mooney, H. C. Hannah, abstract art. Reception for the artists at 7 p.m. at Fourth Street Studio, 1717D Fourth St. Exhibit runs to March 4. 527-0600. www.fourthstreetstudio.com 

“Beneath the Scratches” Paintings by Kazuyo Leue. Reception at 2 p.m. at Z Cafe, 2735 Broadway, Oakland. Exhibition runs to March 15. 663-2905. 

Zuni Fetish Carvers, Lena Boone and Evalena Boone, Sat. and Sun. at Gathering Tribes Gallery, 1573 Solano Ave. 528-9038. 

FILM 

Mikio Naruse “Yearning” at 7 p.m. and “Scattered Clouds” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“The Art of Living Black” Artist talk at 2 p.m. at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave. at 25th St. 620-6772. www.therichmondartcenter.org 

Michael Lerner introduces “The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Trinity Chamber Concerts presents John Partridge on piano and organ at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St., bet. Durant & Bancroft. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. http:// 

trinitychamberconcerts.com 

Ensemble Galatea “Curiose Invenzioni” Italian music at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$25. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

Golden Gate Youth Jam, in celebration of Black History Month at 2 p.m. at the Golden Gate Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 5606 San Pablo Ave. Free. 597-5023. 

West Coast Blues Hall of Fame Awards Show at 7 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Drive. Tickets are $20-$25, children 12 and under free. 836-2227. www.bayareabluessociety.net 

Noche Flamenca at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $ 24-$48. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Stephen Varney and Naomi Sanchez “Pas de Duo” featuring works of Brahms, Poulenc, Rzewski and Tchaikovsky at 7 p.m. at Regents’ Theater, Holy Names University, 3500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$15. 436-1330. 

Robin Gregory and her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Zydeco Flames at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Mas Con Menos, Afro-Cuban folksloric music and dance at 8 p.m.at La Peña. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Ken Mahru and Propel at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Bill Tapia, Hawaiian ‘ukele maestro, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

A Band Called Pain, Black Sun, Black Snake Moan at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Matt Small’s Chamber Ensemble at 8 p.m. at the Jazz 

school. Cost is $12. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Snake Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

The Urban Monks at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7-$10. 558-0881. 

Falsano Baiano, alternative Latin, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Amber Asylum, Graves at Sea, Laudanum 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. 

SUNDAY, FEB. 19 

FILM 

The Troubles We’ve Seen: A History of Journalism in Wartime at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Bootstrap Productions Poets Andrew Schelling, Derek Fenner and David Michalski at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Poetry Flash with Laynie Brown and Brian Teare at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

“Let the People Speak” The International Women’s Writing Guild celebrates Black History Month with Bay Area poets and writers at 3 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Island Literary Series, jazz and poetry with Kathryn Takara, Ukali Johnson, Chandra Garsson, Karla Brundage and Wanda Sapir, at 3 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $3. 841-JAZZ. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra “Valentines for a Cello” with Matt Haimovitz, at 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Free. 415-248-1640. www.sfchamberorchestra.org 

Volti, chamber singers, featuring the premiere of “Sound Explanations” by Eric Lindsay at 4 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $8-$20. 415-771-3352. www.voltisf.org 

Jonathan Biss, pianist, at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $42. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Noche Flamenca at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $ 24-$48. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Mas Con Menos, Afro-Cuban folkloric music and dance at 8 p.m.at La Peña. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

Echo Beach at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Allison Miller Trio at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373.  

Bobby Hall and Friends Annual Gospel Concert at 5 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 201 Martina, at W. Richmond Ave., Point Richmond. 236-0527. www.point 

richmond.com/methodist 

Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$8.50. 548-1761.  

MONDAY, FEB. 20 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Derek Fenner and Ryan Gallagher, poets, at 8 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Poetry Express with Paradise at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tom Russell with Andrew Hardin at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jeremy Pelt Group at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 



If, in Marx’s famous phrase, Hegel saw the history of the world as though seeing a man walking on his head, TheatreFIRST has put that history flat on its back—or whatever position a couple might assume—in Loveplay. 

Often hilarious, the rapidly changing play features 10 scenes, with a cast of six taking on 32 roles. But this thumbnail sketch, sometimes satiric, of erotic mores through the ages isn’t just a sexy romp. 

As director Robin Stanton notes, “In [playwright] Moira Buffini’s detailed construction, each lifetime’s lessons leave a resonance that is applied to the next. ... Perhaps Buffini would like us to consider that we cannot escape accountability to ourselves and each other. The quality of love can only be defined by the consciousness of the lovers.” 

That consciousness first dawns onstage with a centurion chasing—and haggling with—a British lass, whom he finds a tough customer, and pursues the arc of its theme into the present, with a previously unacquainted foursome coupling up in unexpected ways at a dating service. 

The one stable element is location, the same “patch of land” in England on which the lovers meet, as passion is born, flourishes or misfires, and dies, over and over, in curious combinations that at times would put a sex manual to shame.  

The dialogue is pointed and witty, the situations unusual for this popular stage topic, and the cast game for their various encounters. Rowan Brooks, Noah James Butler, Lizzie Calogero, Holli Hornlien, Dana Jepsen and Kendra Oberhauser quickly grasp and relinquish their several characters in this kaleidoscopic ensemble piece, showing many fine emotional moments along the way, weaving these often contrasting moods into a whole, and achieving a kind of unity of intention that can’t be easily pinned down to a simple statement of what’s been seen or what it means. 

There are strong confrontations: three men and a woman who have met for sex in the ruins of a pagan temple during “The Dark Age,” each of the men expressing a fear of being watched; the nun washing the corpse of her “special friend” in a Gothic abbey, the abbess discovering how special that friendship has been; Renaissance actors in the ruins of that same abbey, speaking rhyme in the moonlight from a play that unravels as autobiographical, about a love both unaccustomedly real and yet a conceit; an empirical investigator of the human form in the Enlightenment, seeing and touching, and spurning, her first naked man, an illiterate laborer; a Victorian decadent painter who wishes to paint his old school chum the vicar as “Lucifer—but before The Fall!” These are the fascinating tableaux that TheatreFIRST sets into motion, in serious play. 

The troupe has been Oakland-based since its founding in 1994, and is only now mounting its first full run in its new and ideal location just off Broadway in the Old Oakland section of downtown. It is an unusually well put together storefront playhouse, with fine acoustics and sightlines, and the flexibilty for an ambitious range of stagings of practically any type of work. BART is right there, as well as parking, and the convivial and culinary delights of Old Oakland and Chinatown. 

Clive Chafer, TheatreFIRST’s founder and artistic director, is appealing to Oakland for further assistance to help subsidize the commercial rental rates in exchange for a much-needed community performing arts venue that would also be TheatreFIRST’s home. It’s been a longtime disappointment that Oakland has no professional resident company of TheatreFIRST’s high caliber, much less a viable performing space downtown, at a time when the Bay Area has an unprecedented number of theater companies and projects. 

It’s a noble cause, which could prove as important for Oakland and TheatreFIRST as the Ashby Stage has for Berkeley and the Shotgun Players. One immediate way to support it is to go enjoy a fun, sophisticated, thoughtful show that plays like a nonstop revue of love, and plan to go again in late April when World Music opens, a drama about the Rwanda genocide and the hesitations of “the civilized world” to respond.  

TheatreFIRST has tackled epic-sized themes with grace, good humor and theatrical professionality. It’s time this brilliant exponent of our local theater culture gains a stage of its own, especially one that would anchor an important urban center that, for live theater, has been too long adrift. 

TheatreFIRST presents Loveplay, February 9–March 5, Thursday–Saturday  

8 p.m., Sunday 3p.m. at Old Oakland Theatre, 461 Ninth St. For more information, call 436-5085 or see www.theatrefirst.com›

It’s not a criticism to remark that the most remarkable thing about the Actors Ensemble’s current production of Shakespeare’s grand old comedy Twelfth Night might well be the fact that there wasn’t a messed-up line in the entire evening. 

Look, we all know that Shakespeare’s language and style—even in such a preposterous bubble as this little play—aren’t exactly current usage.  

So, naturally, Shakespeare must be a tougher assignment than are more modern roles, if only for actors just to get their words down right. Like, for example, in Harvey, that classic American comedy famous for Jimmy Stewart’s portrayal of the guy with the six-foot-tall rabbit on his hands. It may seem a touch strange to marvel that all the actors in Twelfth Night know all their lines, but it turns out that what we have in this production is no small example of the theater tradition: “The show must go on.”  

Three weeks into a six-week preparation period before Harvey was due to open, the Actors Ensemble had the rights to present that play pulled out from under them. (The owners got a better offer when a Los Angeles touring company decided to take it to New York.) In clear theatrical tradition, it was suddenly up to director (and board member) Stan Spenger to save the show.  

Spenger, whose life in the theater  

hasn’t ceased since his first acting class when he was 8 years old, apparently never considered canceling the production. For reasons that make sense when he discusses them, Spenger replaced Harvey with Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Possibly the “burned child” syndrome had something to do with it; he wasn’t about to have another play pulled out from under him because somebody else had more rights to it than his company did.  

It probably helped a lot that it’s the shortest of Shakespeare’s plays, probably the only one you may ever see where the cast can brag that it’s presented “without cutting a single syllable.” 

But the deciding factor in choosing a Shakespearian play in such stressful circumstances may well have been that Spenger knows the play extremely well; he’d worked in three full productions as well as two staged readings. His intimate knowledge obviously benefited the ultimate production. 

Actors Ensemble is presenting the play at the Live Oak Theater. In addition to the quick switch of plays for the company, one of the actors had to leave during the last week of rehearsals, leaving Spenger to take on a substantial part in addition to a smaller one that he was already filling.  

He’s not alone in playing more than one role. Many of the actors play multiple roles—and often so effectively that it isn’t at all clear that we aren’t seeing somebody totally new—that counting the actual actors themselves becomes a bewildering task. It looks like a cast of approximately 13, but I wouldn’t put any money on it. It’s complicated even further by the fact that the roles the actors play also involve some important portrayals of characters who are in disguise, sometimes as someone of the opposite sex. 

One particularly distinguished performance is that of Norman Macleod, who does a  memorable performance as Sir Toby Belch, one of Shakespeare’s great comic roles. Macleod’s British accent is genuine, and his portrayal of Sir Toby is a delight.  

Actors Ensemble presents Twelfth Night at 8 p.m. through Saturday at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. $12. For more information, call 649-5999 or see www.aeofberkeley.org.

This is not an owl column per se, but it was inspired by a recent conversation with an owl person: Maggie Rufo of the Hungry Owl Project, who brought a barn owl named Wookie to a Keep Barn Owls in Berkeley event. We were talking about barn owl diets, and Rufo mentioned finding a lot of Jerusalem cricket remains in the nests she monitors.  

“I didn’t know what they were at first,” she said. “They looked like extraterrestrials.” 

That’s not an uncommon reaction to encountering a Jerusalem cricket, alive and intact or not. Both the California Academy of Sciences and the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum say they get more inquiries about these insects than about any other invertebrate species, mostly along the lines of “What in God’s name is this?” and “Will it bite?” 

The accompanying photograph conveys the unsettling appearance of these good-sized grasshopper relatives. To me they are uncannily like the plastic cootie bugs of the ‘50s (not the more recent cootie incarnation). The Navajo call them wo see ts inii, which I have seen variously translated as “old bald-headed man” or “bone-neck beetle,” and some Spanish-speakers call them niñas de la tierra, “children of the earth.” They’re also known, without foundation, as “potato bugs.” 

Their nearest relatives appear to be the extraordinary wetas of New Zealand, the namesake for that special-effects outfit that was involved in the Lord of the Rings movies. Wetas, up to 6 inches long with a record weight of 2.5 ounces, fill the ecological niche of the small mammals that never reached the islands. 

As it happens, Jerusalem crickets don’t bite, and although they chew on roots, they are not particularly important garden or agricultural pests. Their social behavior has interesting complexities, and David Weissman at the Academy has found that they’re a paragon of California’s biodiversity. 

(I have never seen a satisfactory explanation of the name, by the way. They don’t come from Jerusalem: they’re North American natives. And they’re not the same as the Mormon crickets that devoured the Utah settlers’ crops, which are altogether more conventional grasshopper types). 

Jerusalem crickets don’t swarm like locusts or Mormon crickets; they lead solitary subterranean lives. It takes some doing for males and females to get together. Other grasshoppers and crickets use modified wing and leg structures to produce courtship calls. But those kinds of stridulations wouldn’t carry far through soil. Instead, a Jerusalem cricket of either sex signals potential mates by slamming its abdomen against the bottom of its burrow. 

It used to be assumed that there were only seven species of Jerusalem cricket in California. However, in analyzing their drumrolls, Weissman has detected at least 50 distinct patterns. Although these different drummers may appear identical, he suspects each pattern may represent a separate species; the new ones are still in the process of being scientifically described. Like birdsong, the drumming provides a way for females to locate males of the appropriate species (and apparently vice versa). 

Why so many species is a matter of conjecture. Some groups of plants and animals seem prone to bursts of speciation: California also has high diversity in manzanitas, chipmunks, and slender salamanders. Among animals, populations of creatures with small home ranges and limited mobility—and Jerusalem crickets fit that profile—may become isolated from each other and follow divergent genetic and adaptive pathways. Drumrolls, songs, or other forms of courtship communication then act as reinforcers of the new species boundaries, preventing the sharing of genes among formerly close relatives.  

When Jerusalem crickets pair off, the ensuing courtship is highly strenuous. And as in their distant mantid relatives, it often ends with the female dining on the male—a last gift of protein to nourish the eggs that he’s hopefully fertilized.  

Even individuals who escape this Liebestod are likely to end up being eaten by something else. When they emerge from underground, the insects are conspicuous, slow, and defenseless. It’s not just the barn owls: gray foxes are particularly fond of Jerusalem crickets, and low-flying pallid bats, skunks, lizards, snakes, and toads also take their toll.  

If they turn up in your yard, don’t panic. They’re not only an important link in the food chain: they may actually be doing you a favor by eating detritus and aerating the soil.  

›

TUESDAY, FEB. 14 

Birdwalk on the MLK Shoreline from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. to see the ducks: Scaup, Goldeneye and Bufflehead. Beginnners welcome, binoculars available for loan. 525-2233. 

“Take Me Instead” Grandmothers Against the War will try to enlist to repl ace young people in military in Iraq as act of love on Valentine’s Day at noon at the Army Recruiting Station, 2116 Broadway at 21st St., Oakland. 526-5075. 

Public Hearing on the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-690 0. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Valentine’s Day Celebration with community participation in poetry, song, dance and prayer at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St. midtown Oakland. www.HumanistHall.net  

“Black Beauties: The History of Oakland’s Mis s Bronze Pageant” with author Maxine Leeds Craig at 10:30 a.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St. 238-2200.  

Health Education Presentation by Dr. Robert Cooper of the West Oakland Health Council at 7 p.m. at the El Cerrito City Council Chamb ers, 7007 Moeser Lane. Sponsored by the NAACP El Cerrito Branch. 233-5460. 

Travel Photography in Venice and Tuscany with Don Lyon at 7 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 654-1548.  

“Doing Business in China: Panasonic’s Growth St rategy” with former Matsushita Executive Vice-President Yukio Shohtoku,at 4:30 p.m. at the IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Floor. 642-2809. 

Valentine’s Day Crafts and Stories for Children at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 52 4-3 043. 

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. 

Family Story Time at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Branch Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Fre e, a ll ages welcome. 524-3043. 

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

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Communit y Church, 941 The Alameda. 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 

Sleep Soundly Seminar at 6:30 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 15 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventur e program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll search for our amphibian friends, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Tilden Explorers An a fter-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds, who may be accompanied by an adult. We will search for newts, slender salamanders, ensatinas and more, from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 6 36-1684. 

Creeks Task Force Public Hearing at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Erin Dando, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/planning/landuse/Creeks/default.html 

“New Era, New Politics Walking Tour” at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum, 659 1 4th St., at Jefferson, Oakland. A two-hour guided tour of the points of interest in African American history in Oakland. 238-3234. 

“Exploring the Place, Meaning and Purpose of the Black Studies Movement” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Merritt College, B uilding A, Room 129. 12500 Campus Drive, Oakland. 434-3935. 

Disaster Preparedness and Wilderness Safety with Michael St. John of Marin County Search and Rescue at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Water The Matrix of Life” What to drink for he alth an d eco-living at 7 p.m. at Teleosis Institute, 1521B 5th St. Cost is $5-$10. Registration required. 558-7285. www.teleosis.org  

“Celcius 9/11: Full Spectrum Dominance and the War of Terror” a film by Jeremy Wright at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St. F ree, but $5 donations accepted. www.HumanistHall.net 

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

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

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Com munity Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

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

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 

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, FEB. 16 

Berkeley Fire Dep artment Versus Berkeley Police Third Annual Charity Basketball Game at 7:30 p.m. in the Berkeley High Donahue Gym on Milvia at Kittredge. Tickets are $5, $2 for BHS students. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Public Safety Building, 1st floor, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

“Realizing Our Power” Visions for Youth Organizing A panel discussion on building a movement that will fight for young people and win, at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St. Oakland. Sponsored by The Action Caucus and the East Bay Young Democrats. www.actioncaucus.org/ 

events/realizingourpower 

“Seabirds: Their Travels and the Impact of Plastics at Sea” with Carol Keiper, director of Oikonos-Ecosystem Knowledge, at 12:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 23 8-2200.  

“Rough Cut: Return to Kirkuk” a KQED-Frontline screening of the documentary at 7:30 p.m. in the Great Hall, International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Cost is $5. 642-9460. 

“Preparing for the End of Cheap Oil” A panel discussion by the Post Carbon I nstitute at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Requested donation of $5-20 sliding scale. No one turned away for lack of funds. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

“Beyond Deep Throat: the Press, Confidential Sources and Your Right to Know” with Seth Rosenfield, SF Chronicle and Erica Craven, media lawyer, at 7 p.m. at Pegasus Books, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Simplicity Forum “Sufism and Simplicity” Two practicing Sufis telling their story about finding this path at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, Claremon t Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave.  

MGO Democratic Club will discuss the Oakland Teachers’ Contract and the Clean Money Bill at 7 p.m. at Piedmont Gardens, 110 41st St. 834-9198. www.mgoclub.org 

“The Education of Shelby Knox” The documentary of a youn g girl’s t ransformation from conservative Southern Baptist to feminist at 7 p.m. at College Prep School, Buttner Auditorium, 6100 Broadway at Brookside, Oakland. Free.339-7726. 

African American Cultural Celebration at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Churc h, 2501 Har rison St., corner of Harrison and 27th. Presented by St. Paul’s Episcopal School. Free and open to the public.  

The Golden Gate Audubon Society Ravinder N. M. Sehgal will speak on “The Infectious Diseases of Birds” at 7:30 p.m. at Northbrae C ommunity Chu rch, 941 The Alameda. www.goldengateaudubon.org  

“Japan and China: Toward a Better Understanding” with Akira Chiba from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 2:30 p.m. in the IEAS Confe rence Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Floor. http://i eas.berkeley.edu/ 

events/ 

“Life and Legacy of Theos Bernard” early pioneer of Indo-Tibetan religious studies with Paul Hackett, visiting scholar, at 5 p.m. at 370 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus.  

Ask a Union Mecha nic from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Parker & Shattuck, u ntil the Berkeley Honda strike is settled. They will offer advice on all makes of car. 

“New Hormonal Treatments in Breast Cancer” with Dr. Tom Lee, medical oncologist at 6:15 p.m. at Alta Bates Summit, Merrit Pavilion, 350 Hawthorne St., Oakland. Free, bu t registration required. 869-8833. 

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, FEB. 17 

City Commons Club Noon Lunch eon with Daniel McFadden on “Consumers and Par t D.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925.  

“WELLSTONE!” A documentary sponsored by the Conscientious Projector Film Series at 7 p.m. a t Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Donation of $5 suggested. 528-5403.  

Circle Dancing Simple folkdancing in a circle, no partners; no experience needed, at 8 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut at University Ave. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

American Red Cross B lood Drive from 1 to 7 p.m. at Gelateria Naia, 2106 Shattuck Ave. To schedule and appointment call 1-800-GIVELIFE. www.BeADonor.com 

Berkeley Chess School classes for students in grades 1-8 from 5 to 7 p.m. at 1581 LeRoy Ave., room 17. 843-0150. 

Berkeley C hess Club meets Fridays at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 548-6310. 

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

SATURDAY, FEB. 18 

Mini-Farmers in Tilden A farm exploration program, from 10 to 11 a.m. for ages 4-6 years, accompanied by an adult. We will explore the Little Farm, care for animals, do crafts and farm chores. Wear boots and dress to get dirty! Fee is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Wildflower Restoration Join us for a morning o f planting to restore rare grassland habitats, from 9 a.m. at noon. Watershed Project, 1327 S 46th St. Bldg. #155, Richmond. 665-3689. www.thewatershedproject.org 

Sushi Basics Learn the natural and cultural history of sushi. We will prepare seven basic ty pes. Parent participation required for children 8-10 years old. From 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Fee is $35, $30 for seniors and $25 for children age 8-12. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Black History Month Celebration from 2 to 6 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St., with entertainment, community dialog and soul food. 981-5218. 

West Coast Blues Hall of Fame Awards Show at 7 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Drive. Tickets a re $20-$25, children 12 and under free. 836-2227. www.bayareabluessociety.net 

“Follow the Drinking Gourd” film and other activities in celebration of Black History Month from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Chabot Space and Science Center. www.chabotspace.org 

Alt ernatives to Water Needy Lawns & Landscapes at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Landscape Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations meets at 9:15 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Sproul Conference Room, 1st Floor, 272 7 College Ave. www.berkel eycna.com 

“Inherit the Wind” John Russo, Oakland City Attorney and and Matt Gonzales, former SF Supervisor, discuss creationism v. evolution theory, at 8 p.m. at the Parkway Theater, Oakland. Youth particularly encouraged to atte nd.  

Friends of the Albany Library Book Sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. All paperbacks and hardback books including library discards will be sold for 50 cents each, magazines are 25 cents each or 5 for $1. For more inform ation, or to volunteer for the sale, call the Albany Library at 526-3720, ext. 5. 

California Writers Club meets to discuss screenwriting with James Dalessandro at 10 a.m. at Barnes and Noble, Jack London Square. 272-0120. 

“The War at Home: The Corporate O ffensive from Reagan to Bu sh” with author and economist Jack Rasmus at 7 p.m. at Home of Truth Center, 1300 Grand Street, Alameda. Sponsored by the Alameda Public Affairs Forum. www.alamedaforum.org 

Preschool Storytime for 3-5 year olds at 11 a.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17.  

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. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Abbe Blum on “Freedom to Change” from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. Cost is $80, registration required. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

SUNDAY, FEB. 19 

Reptiles at Tilden Touch a snake and meet a turtle at 10:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Native and Non-Native Trees of Tilden Park. Meet at 1 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Center, Ti lden Park. 525-2233. 

“Meat Market: Animals, Ethics, and Money” with vegetarian and animal rights activist Erik Marcus at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Ave. 486-0698. 

Musical Masterpieces: Making Art, Making Music, in celebration of Black History Month from noon to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St. 238-2200.  

Spartacist Black History Month Educational on Class Struggle and the Road to Black Freedom at noon and The Fight to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal at 3 p.m. at the YWCA Tea Room, 1515 Webster St., Oak land. Free. 839-0851. 

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

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

Reawakening the Chakras with Suzanne Grace at 2 p.m. at Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St.Cost is $10-$25 donation. 528-8844.  

Tibetan Buddhism with Mary Gomes and Erika Rosenberg on “Mind ful Parenting” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

MONDAY, FEB. 20 

Monday Night Movies “Lolita” at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Cost is $5.  

World Affair s Discussion Group for senior s at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center. Cost is $2.50.  

McGee Avenue Toastmasters meets at 7:30 p.m. at McGee Ave Baptist Church, 1640 Stuart St. 501-7005. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on curren t issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

ONGOING 

“Sprout Hope” Half-Pint Library Book Drive to benefit the library at Children’s Hospital, Oakland, is looking to register schools i n the book drive. To register s ee www.halfpricebooks.com 

Free Tax Help—United Way’s Earn it! Keep It! Save It! program provides free filing assistance to households that earned less than $38,000 in 2005. To find a free tax site near you, call 800-358-883 2 or visit www.EarnitKeepitSavei t.org 

Albany Library Free Drop-in Homework Help for students in third through fifth grades, Mon. - Thurs. from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Emphasis is placed on math and writing skills. No registration is required. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

C ITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets t o hold a Public Hearing on the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance Tues., Feb. 14, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Berkeley Unified School Board meets Wed., Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Q ueen Graham 644-6147 or Mark Coplan 644-6320. 

Creeks Task Force meets Wed., Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Erin Dando, 981-7410. www.ci. 

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

Citize ns Humane Commission meets Wed., Fe b. 15, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/humane 

Downtown Area Plan Advisory Commission meets Wed. Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. in the Sitka Spruce Conference Room, 2nd Floor, 2118 Milvia St. 981-7487. 

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed. Feb. 15, at 5 p.m. at South Berkeley Senior Center., Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/library 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Feb. 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berke ley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/designreview  

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 16, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/transportation 

ae

FRIDAY, FEB. 10 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “Twelfth Night” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave., through Feb. 18. Tickets are $12. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Aurora Theatre “The Master Builder” Wed. through Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through March 5. Tickets are $38. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Rep “9 Parts of Desire” about women in war-torn Iraq, at 8 p.m. at the Trust Stage, 2025 Addison St., through March 5. Tickets are $30-$59. 647-2949.  

Black Repertory Group “The Piano Lesson” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at 3201 Adeline St., through Feb. 25. Tickets are $7-$15. 

Contra Costa Civic Theater, “One Flew Over the Cockoo’s Nest” Fri. and Sat at 8 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave. at Moeser Lane, El Cerrito, through Feb. 25. 524-9132.  

Impact Theatre, “Hamlet” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through March 18. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468.  

The Marsh Berkeley “Strange Travel Suggestions” monologue by Jeff Greenwald, Thurs. and Fri. at 7 p.m. through March 3, at 2118 Allston Way. Tickets are $15-$22. 800-838-3006.  

Masquers Playhouse "Over the River and Through the Woods" Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. through Feb. 25 at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets are $15. 232-4031.  

Ragged Wing Ensemble “Splinters ... and Other F-Words” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, through Feb. 11. Tickets are $12-$25 sliding scale. 800-838-3006.  

“Walkin’ Talkin’ Bill Hawkins ... In Search of My Father” performed by W. Allen Taylor at 7 p.m. at the Marsh-Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way, through March 19. Tickets are $15-$22. 800-838-3006. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Buddhist Relics Opening reception at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley Shambala Center, 2288 Fulton St. through Sun. Donations welcome. 755-1136. 

“The Bancroft at 100 Symposium” Fri. and Sat. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808.  

“Charles Criner: A Colorful History” in honor of Black History Month at the LunchStop CAfe, Joseph p. Bort MetroCenter, 101 Eighth St., Oakland. 817-5773. 

Solarized Photographs by Len Blau at the Giorgi Ggallery, 2911 Claremont Ave., through Feb. 28. 848-1228. 

Katsunori Hamanishi, mezzotints. Reception at 6 p.m. at Schurman-Scriptum Gallery, 1659 San Pablo Ave. Exhibit runs to March 31. 524-0623. 

Ruth Block, abstract and figurative artist and scavenger sculptor Gaelyn Lakin works on exhibit at the Community Art Gallery, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, 2450 Ashby Ave., through March 18.  

FILM 

African Film Festival “The Hero” at 7 p.m. and “New Voices from Africa” at 9:15 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Leslie M. Freudenheim describes “Building with Nature: Inspiration for the Arts & Crafts Home” at 7:30 p.m. at First Church of Christ, Scientist, 2619 Dwight Way. Tickets are $15. Sponsored by the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association. 841-2242. 

Chitra Nanerjee Divakaruni reads from “The Mistress of Spices” set in Oakland in the 1980’s at 7 p.m. at The Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200.  

Istvan Rev on his new book “Retroactive Justice: Prehistory of Post-Communism” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

“Celebrating the Arts” Speakers of Color Series with comedian and writer Brian Copeland and artist Arnold White at 7 p.m. at Head-Royce School Pavilion, 4315 Lincoln Ave. 531-1300, ext. 2245. 

George McGovern talks about “Social Security and the Golden Age: An Essay on the New American Demographic” at 12:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Lois-Ann Yamanaka reads from her new novel “Behold the Many” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul, Irish fiddler, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20-$32. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

Fetish, Intrepid Improv, The Bullheads at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

John Santos Quartet at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373.  

Vladimir Vukanovich, Peruvian guitarist, at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568.  

Kenny Washington & His Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Nanette McGuinness, soprano, Raeeka Shehabi-Yaghmani, mezzo-soprano, Kathryn Cathcart, piano at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont at Ashby. Cost is $12. 848-1228.  

Albino, Afro-beat, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $32.50-$33.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Larry Vuckovich’s “La Orquesta El Vuco” at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

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

Friday Night Hayride with Kemo Sabe, Bob Harp and Toshio Hirano at 9:30 p.m. at the Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave, Oakland. Cost is $5. www.storkcluboakland.com  

All Bets Off, Lifelong Tragedy, Dispute at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

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

Flowtilla at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Steve Tyrell at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $14-$26. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, FEB. 11 

CHILDREN 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Fran Avni & Bonnie Lockhart at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568.  

“Junie Jones and A Little Monkey Business” theater for ages 5 and up, at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $13-$18. 925-798-1300. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Bancroft Library Centennial with their collection of rare and historic documents. Reception at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, UC Campus. 643-4715. 

Andrew Red Hourse Alvarez Jewelry, Sat. and Sun. at Gathering Tribes Gallery, 1573 Solano Ave. 528-9038. 

“Three Teachers” highlights the works of three California painters, David Fleming, Barbara Lawrence and Dave McGuire, at the Stone Gallery, 600 50th Ave., Oakland. 536-5600. 

THEATER 

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

FILM 

Mikio Naruse “Anzukko” at 7 p.m. and “When a Woman Ascends the Stairs” at 9:10 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Howard Thurman: A Gracious Spirit” with Arleigh Prelow, documentary filmmaker, at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. 

“The Art of Living Black” Artist talk and slide lecture with Ala Ebtekar and Almudena Ortiz at 2 p.m. at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave. at 25th St. 620-6772.  

Julian Barnes reads from his new novel “Arthur & George” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

“The Bancroft at 100” Curator’s talk with Anthony Bliss at noon in Gallery 4, Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Chick Corea & Touchstone at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $30-$52. 642-9988.  

“Improvisation” with Myra Melford, Mark Sresser, Bob Ostertag and David Wessel at 8 p.m. in Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22. 642-9988. 

Alexander Tsygankov “The Paganini of Domra” at 7:30 p.m. at New Spirit Community Church, 1798 Scenic Ave. Tickets are $10-$20. 704-7729. 

Caminos Flamencos at 8 p.m. at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave., through Feb. 14. Tickets are $50-$95, includes dinner. 287-8700.  

RebbeSoul World Beat and Jewish roots at 7 p.m. at Kehilla Community Synagogue, 1300 Grand Ave. at Fairview, Piedmont. Tickets are $25-$60. 547-2424 ext. 214.  

Kirtan, devotional chanting with Jaya Lakshmi at 7 p.m. at Studio Rasa, 933 Parker St. Tickets are $15-$18. 843-2787.  

Maria Marquez & Trio with John Santos at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Patrick Ball “O’Carolan’s Farewell to Music” at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Fuga, dance/concert at 9 p.m. at at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$7. 849-2568. www.lapena.org  

Prefixo de Verao, Brazilian pre-carnival celebration at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

City Limit, The Wearies, Last Clear Chance at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Caroline Chung’s “Superbacana Trio” at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Mario Desio & Friends at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Ilene Adar and Dana Shellmire at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Future Adults, Leopard Life, Teli Savalas at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $3. 525-9926. 

Mitch Marcus Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, FEB. 12 

CHILDREN  

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

EXHIBITIONS 

“If Not Now, When?” 150 Years of California Jewish Activism opens at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St., and runs through May 14. 549-6950. 

Craig Baxter, screenprints and etchings. Reception at 2 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

FILM 

Mikio Naruse “The Approach of Autumn” at 4:30 p.m. and “Daughters, Wives, and a Mother” at 6:10 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Andrew Lam reads from “Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora” at 1 p.m. at Eastwind Books of Berkeley, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

David Kipen considers “The Schreiber Theory: A Radical Rewrite of American Film History” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Poetry Flash with Eileen R. Tabios and Catherine Daly at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

“Reality and Representation” in conjunction with Larry Abramson’s installation “Searching for the Ideal City” at 2 p.m. at Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $10-$12. Reservations recommended. fpowell@magnes.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jean-Michel Fonteneau and Roy Bogas at 4 p.m. at Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Cost is $12, free for children.  

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra “2Bs or Not 2Bs” at 4 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Free. 415-248-1640.  

Organ Recital by Lynn Trapp at 6:10 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Donations accepted. 845-0888.  

Community Women’s Orchestra, “On With The Dance” at 4 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 5201 Park Blvd., Piedmont. Suggested donation $10, children free. 463-0313.  

Les Violons du Roy and Magdalena Kozená, mezzo-soprano, at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$56, available from 642-9988.  

Carlos Oliveira & Brazilian Origins featuring Harvey Wainapel at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Julian Waterfall Pollack Trio at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

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

Tangria at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

MONDAY, FEB. 13 

THEATER 

Subterranean Shakespeare “Titus Andronicus” Staged reading at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship, Fireside Room, 1924 Cedar St. Donation $5. 276-3871. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tuskegee Airman, Samuel Broadnax introduces his new book “Blue Skies, Black Wings” at 7:30 p.m. in the Home Room, International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Cost is $5. 642-9460. 

Bharati Mukherjee and Meredith Maran introduce “Why I’m Still Married: Women Write Their Hearts Out on Love, Loss, Sex and Who Does the Dishes” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

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

Maggie Morley and colleagues, poetry, followed by open mic, at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Valentine’s Day Voices with University Chorus and University Choral Ensembles at 8 p.m. in Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $3-$10. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Caminos Flamencos at 6 and 9 p.m. at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $50-$95, includes dinner. 287-8700. www.cafedelapaz.net 

George Brooks’ Indian Jazz Combo at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $16. Benefit for the Oakland Library. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, FEB. 14 

FILM 

Alternative Visions: Films by Peter Tscherkassky at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Love Fest 06 hosted by Aya de León, featuring members of Kreatibo, Mike Molina, Alicia Raqule and others at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wild Catahoulas, Cajun, Zydeco, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Ellen Hoffman with Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Cheryl Wheeler at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $24.50-$25.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Khali Hustle, 20 Boyz, BTA Boyz at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Kitty Margolis “Heart and Soul” at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $12-$8. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

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

Jessica Neighbor & The Hood at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 15 

EXHIBITIONS 

African American Inventors and Scientists at the Junior Center of Art and Science, 558 Bellvue Ave., Lakeside Park, Oakland, through April 8. 839-5777. www.juniorcenter.org 

“Illuminated Garden” Pinhole sun prints by Susannah Hays at North Berkeley Frame and Gallery, 1744 Shattuck Ave., through March 4. 549-0428. 

Print Exchange between the California College of Arts and University of Osaka. Reception at 5:30 p.m. at CCA, 5212 Broadway. 594-3636. 

FILM 

Film 50 “All Quiet on the Western Front” at 3 p.m. and Weird America “Born in a Barn” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ayelet Waldman reads from “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Café Poetry hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Linda Blachman introduces “Another Morning: Voices of Truth and Hope from Mothers with Cancer” at 7 p.m. at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 5741 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

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

Groundation, Bab Marley Tribute at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Orquestra Universal at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

J-Soul at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

John Benet, With All Sincerity, Name at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

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

Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200.  

Nick is a dot-commer pushing 30, an Italo-American from New Jersey, but really pretty white bread. He is the good grandson, however; long after his parents and sister have fled the immigrant family hearth he leaves the city every week to spend Sunday dinn er with all four grandparents. 

“My sister says that the great thing about America is that you can move 2,000 miles from your family and still be in the country,” Nick says, and asks “How did I come from these people?”  

So the dilemma of the third generation is presented with the spectacle of the first, aging yet stubbornly holding to their ideal. Nick’s grandfather Frank (played by Wayne Johnson) puts it in perspective: not just to support a family, but to have the capability to hold it together. 

This is the root of the dilemma of cluelessness and misplaced sympathies that makes Joe DiPietro’s comedy, Over the River and Through the Woods—now running at The Masquers Playhouse in Point Richmond—tick, but like a heart murmur. 

Announcing to his stifling f orebears that he’s been offered a promotion if he will move to Seattle, Nick (Dillon Siedentopf) sets off a chain reaction that blows up the next Sunday at dinner, when Nana Emma (Dory Ehrlich) invites Caitlin O’Hare (Heather Morrison), daughter of her ca nasta partner, in hopes Nick will find something “to hold him here.” 

Caitlin is an immediate hit with the family, even making it through her announcement she is a vegetarian. When she says that none of her grandparents is living, she’s assured “you have us now.” A convivial young woman, she enjoys the big family meal and the big characters the family proves to be. 

Even Nick’s impressed with her. But he’s thrown into a frenzy of apologizing to Caitlin, admonishing his grandparents. Caitlin refuses his r equest for a date however and finally he faints from a “panic attack.” 

It’s while he’s recovering on the couch, during the days that follow, that Nick begins to really see his grandparents—even when “getting excited” over the way they play Trivial Pursui ts. 

Grandfather Frank remembers the father who put him on the boat to America, alone at age 14: “I always thought my father was a bastard who never would give me anything,” he says, “turns out he gave me everything he had.” 

And grandfather Nunzio suppre sses telling him about his cancer when he realizes Nick passionately wants to go, to make his own way. The “black and white movie world” of the past he sees his grandparents in begins to show its true colors and its savvy: “You’re too serious, Nicky,” his grandmother tells him. “When we were your age, we were always laughing.” 

There’s a lot of knowing laughter in the audience at The Masquers. Over the River and Through the Woods is a natural for community theater, and fits every ethnicity that’s simmered in the melting pot. 

It’s played many times around the Bay. The last time I saw it, a Brazilian woman directed it in Marin; this time, director Renee Echavez is of Portuguese-German-Filipino background, from Hawaii, and brings her own experience of an ex tended family to the play, as everyone seems to do. 

She wisely has it playing fast but with a sense of dynamics that allows for the tenderer feelings to settle in by the end. Grandparents Frank and Aida (Marian Simpson) talk in stagey Italian accents, no t as extreme as Chico Marx, and balanced out by the All-American twangs of Nunzio (David Lee) and Emma. The play is a little too much like sit-coms, with Nick narrating and each grandparent speaking to the audience at one point or another, like TV talking heads. 

Caitlin, who is in some ways, the most interesting role, and the one played with the most range in the three productions I’ve seen, doesn’t speak to the audience, but tells Nick about her late grandmother, her own therapy and her “desperation.” 

The play is a little too synthetic, but the situation and content are real enough and the gags can be pretty funny. And, again, everybody brings something of themselves to it. Which is what community theater is all about. The Masquers know that in spades, as they celebrate their 51st season, “proud of the title ‘amateur,’ which translated from the French means ‘for the love of.’”› 

Over the River and Through the Woods plays at 8pm Fridays and Saturdays and at 2: 30pm Sundays through Feb. 25 at the Masquers Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, $15. For More Information, Call 232-4031 or see www.masquers.org2

Thornhill Nursery is a bit out of the way, not so much in distance from Berkeley, but tucked away on Thornhill Drive in the Oakland Hills. It’s most easily accessible from the freeway, if you don’t mind a little daring on- and off-ramp dodge’em game. Take the Thornhill Drive exit, drive on past the entrance to the Foothill business district and through a tiny patch of school and mini-mall on Thornhill. Keep it slow—you ought to anyway; the sidewalks are narrow and foot traffic can be a tad chaotic and full of rompity schoolkids. The nursery’s not hard to see once you get to its block, and the parking area, though small, is handy on the right. 

Thornhill employees told me the place specializes in Japanese maples. I guess so; it’s set off from the surrounding woodsy lots by a hedge of sheared Japanese maple. Since I made a buck or two back in the day by taking sheared and poodle-balled maples out of that form and turning them back into something that looked like a tree, I was a bit ambivalent about that. But there are certainly a lot of tree-shaped trees in the area, and the maples looked healthy enough, at least so far as I could see in winter. 

There are a couple of other radically pruned trees—a threadleaf “cypress” type in front of the shop building, and a pine behind it—in rather a different style, and integrated into the place’s architecture. Both are kept way open, even a bit bare, showing mostly trunk and major branches; both are at startling angles; both clearly have frequent attention to keep the foliage under control and healthy-looking. And both times I’ve asked who was responsible for them, I’ve heard very general answers: most recently, “Oh, that’s the grounds crew…” Either there’s a singularly talented mow-and-blow crew running around being underpaid, or someone else set that tree’s shape and showed them how to maintain it. 

When I first saw the place a decade ago, I made much of those trees and of the cement ’gator loafing so fetchingly in the flume of creek that runs through the lot. I didn’t see him this time, until a second look—maybe 15 feet from his original spot under the footbridge, where all several-hundred pounds of him were shoved by the New Year’s rainstorm. He looks undaunted after his impressive little trip. 

There are lots of Japanese maple varieties for sale, and ornaments that match that ’gator for interest. The setting makes the place relaxing for a stroll—birders, take your binocs!—and on visits over the years I’ve found staffers friendly and helpful but not intrusive. Plants are healthy and in good variety, too. There’s always something, plant or gadget or objet d’ whimsy, that makes me stop and point. And don’t miss the hood ornament on the roof. I wonder if the business bought someone a Jaguar or it’s where the Jag money went instead ... Either way, I like it.  

Thornhill Nursery 

6250 Thornhill Drive 

Oakland 

(510)339-1331 

Open daily 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

It has often occurred to me how primitive our houses are for a people who can look to the edges of the universe and plumb the living paths of bozons and muons. They’re not exactly mud huts but they are so simple that you’d think we were still fighting wars with guns and killing each other with bombs. Oh wait. Sorry. Anyway, if you look at the way in which our houses are built, you might think that we’d missed the U-boat altogether. 

First, they’re built from plant matter, literally somebody’s dinner. Things that grow out of the ground that seem hard enough to make a floor out of. We puncture them with little rods of metal, holding them together in a manner that’s not unlike sewing a sack together. 

Then we put more of these vegetable planks down to make floors and ceilings and cover them over with something we wove from the hair of a sheep. 

Windows are actually pretty advanced but they’re still an igneous rock remelted into a flat sheet. Roofs are made from tar, dug out of the ground or boiled down from oil left behind by some compressed rain forest and we finish the insides with sheets of soft rock called gypsum carved out of a hillside.  

I’ll stop, but the point is that there isn’t that much technology in all of this beyond those methods developed to make it cheaper for large companies to get it to you and put it together at a low price. There are lots of ways to do these things better but they haven’t figured out how to get you to pay enough for them. 

Heating is a great example of how we have started with technologies that are as simple as we could get away with and advanced toward safer and more efficient systems. Houses were first heated with wood fireplaces that reflected little of the heat inward and required huge amounts of raw material to burn. 

Mining of coal produced a more efficient system but puts workers at risk and also produces large amounts of carbon monoxide that kill the end user (so to speak). We still have coal burners in many of our early 20th century houses and occasionally I pick up coal from a crawlspace or basement where it remains from the last shipment in nineteen twenty-something. It’s very fun to find and be reminded of how recently these changes arrived. 

Gas became widely available just after the turn of the 20th century and we started blowing things up right away for lack of an ability to smell the stuff. Then gas companies began to add an acrid and pungent smell to the gas so that we’d know when it was on and things got a lot safer. For lack of this one notion, I suspect they’d have given up on gas. Gas heaters at this time were no more sophisticated than your cooktop burners and if you left them on, once again, they could blow you up. Then came the pilot which used up lots of extra gas by being on all the time but is well worth it if you don’t have anything better. 

Eventually the pilot safety device arrived. This made sure that gas wasn’t released into a burner unless a pilot was lit. This was a very big advance and we’re still using them today in very much the same form, although electronic ignitions are slowly taking over. 

The thing in all these advancements that was largely ignored for the last 80 years or so was efficiency. Gas was pretty cheap for a long time and the overall cost to the economy was manageable. Also, we weren’t chopping wood and everyone was pretty happy. Recently we’ve begun to realize that burning anything is pretty bad for the planet and is likely altering the climate and transparency of our atmosphere to carcinogenic radiation. 

Also, the population of this planet is becoming a pretty serious problem and there are great doubts about our ability to sustain ourselves while burning up the fuel sources that we can chop down or pump out of the ground. It’s time to take a much more serious assessment of our methods and our needs. Although I’m not happy to pay the utility bill as it soars into the ozone (sorry), I am happy that this has created a tangible impetus for people to make real changes in how they buy and use heat. 

As an inspector who meets new homeowners daily, it has always been something of a struggle to induce the buyer (who’s going into hock over their eyeballs) that a new more efficient heating system is in their best interest (and that of the home planet) but with utility prices skyrocketing this year, it’s been much easier. I’ve actually seen many of these folks decide then and there to dump the old water heater for an on-demand type or agree to toss the mid-efficiency furnace for a new high-efficiency condensing type in the first weeks of ownership. 

So I think it’s time to up the ante a bit by telling you about the latest and greatest thing I’ve seen in home heating. For the last few years I’ve been hearing about combined water heating and house heating systems but it’s been mostly talk. Somewhere a rich guy was having a team of technicians assemble a very expensive system from rarely seen components. This wasn’t practical for me to talk about since there were few examples to point to and very high initial costs.  

Recently, two technologies have taken off to the point where each have become a practical discussion point: the on-demand water heater, which I’m now seeing taking an actual market share and the hydronic (or hot water) heating system, which is far less common but still growing in popularity. 

Now we have the Baxi Luna. This is what I’ve been waiting for and the first time I saw one, which was just months ago, I almost flipped. Part of my reaction was that it was as though someone just skipped three stages and went right to the 22nd century model. 

This single unit employs so many of the latest concepts that it’s a bit dizzying. First, it’s very small and looks much like the more common on-demand water heater. It’s about the size of a suitcase and hangs on a wall in the upright direction. Inside is an on-demand water heater that only heats water when and as you need it but it also heats water in a closed loop that can run under your floor or through radiators in your house to provide very mild and extremely efficient heat. 

Warm floor heating is widely considered the best way to heat, in part, because it lacks the drying effect of forced air combined with the noise and blowing about of dust. 

If you’ve just bought a house with a problem water heater and furnace please consider this amazing option. If you’re living in a house that needs both or if your heating bill is making you consider asking your children to move out, take a look at a Baxi Luna. It’s penny-wise and planet-perceptive. 

›

FRIDAY, FEB. 10 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Michael Perleman, international financier. 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.  

Memorial Service for Jean Siri at 11 a.m. at the Miller-Knox Shoreline, Dornan Drive, Pt. Richmond. For infromation call the East Bay Regional Parks District at 544-2206. 

“Building with Nature: Inspiration for the Arts & Crafts Home” with Leslie M. Freudenheim at 7:30 p.m. at First Church of Christ, Scientist, 2619 Dwight Way at Bowditch. Tickets are $15. Sponsored by the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association. 841-2242. 

“Whooping Cranes: Recovering from the Brink of Extinction” with Dr. George Archibald, Co-founder of the International Crane Foundation, at 7:30 p.m. at San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum, corner of 9th Ave/Lincoln Way, San Francisco. Sponsored by The Golden Gate Audubon Society, Berkeley. 843-2222. www.goldengateaudubon.org  

“From the Panthers to the Zapatistas,” a talk with Ashanti Alston at 7:30 p.m. at Eastside Cultural Center, 2587 International Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $5-$10. Sponsored by Chiapas Support Committee. 654-9587. 

Womansong Circle An evening of participatory singing for women at 6:45 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. DOnation $10-$20. 525-7082. 

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

Berkeley Chess School classes for students in grades 1-8 from 5 to 7 p.m. at 1581 LeRoy Ave., room 17. 843-0150. 

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. 

SATURDAY, FEB. 11 

Toddler Nature Walk for 2-3 year olds. We’ll look for our salamander friends from 2 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Kid’s Garden Club for ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

16th and Wood Train Station and Black History Month Celebration with tributes to the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Pullman Porters, at 5 p.m. at Jubilee West, 1485 Eighth St., West Oakland. Co-Sponsored by Just Cause 763-5877. 

Presentation on the Ashby BART Development Proposal with Councilmember Max Anderson at 10 a.m. at St. Paul’s AME Church, Ashby at Adeline. 981-7130. 

Energy Efficiency Workshop for your home, from 9 to 11 a.m. at Truitt and White Conference Room, 1817 Second St. Free, but registration required. 649-2674. 

Ask a Union Mechanic from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Parker & Shattuck. They will offer advice on all makes of car. 

War Tax Resistance Workshop from 2 to 4 p.m. at 3122 Shattuck Ave. Sponsored by Northern California War Tax Resistance. 843-9877. www.nowartax.org 

Open Conference on the Electoral Crisis on the failures of the “two party system” at 2 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. MrPlutocrat@aol.com 

East Bay Impeach Bush Group meets at 5 p.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 527-9584. 

“Women in Ancient Arabia” a visual presentation by Max Dashu, at 7:30 p.m. at Change Makers, 6536 Telegraph Ave., near Alcatraz, Oakland. Cost is $10-$20 sliding scale, no one turned away. 415-561-7752. 

Solo Sierrans Sunset Walk at the Emeryville Marina Meet at 3:30 p.m. on the west side of Chevy’s Restaurant. Rain cancels. 234-8949. 

The Rotary Club of Albany Second Annual Celebration, “Service Above Self” at 7:30 p.m. at Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave., Albany. Tickets are $20. 558-1534. 

Lead-Safe Painting & Remodeling Free class to learn about lead safe renovations for your older home at 10 a.m. at the Eastmont Branch Library 7200 Bancroft Ave #211, Oakland. Presented by Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. 567-8280. www.ACLPPP.org 

Bridging the Gap Conference with hip hop historian, and community activist Davey D and Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the UC Campus. Free and open to all ages. Benefit for the Graduate Minority Students’ Project. 642-2876, ext. 4. www.struggle4reparations.com 

Sistaz N Motion, helping women start their own business, meets at 12:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. at Crescent Park Multi-Cultural Family Resource Center, 5004 Hartnett Ave., Richmond. Cost is $10 for non-members. Please RSVP to sistaznmotion@hotmail.com 

Make a Valentine Workshop with Adria McCuaig from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. Free for all ages. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Love Mission to Mars A simulated space mission to share with your Valentine at 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. at Chabot Space and Science Center. Also on Sun. at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Tickets are $60 per couple. 336-7373. 

The Great War Society meets to discuss “General George C. Marshall, Organizer of Victory” at 10:30 a.m. at 640 Arlington Ave. 527-7118. 

“Let’s Talk About It: Jewish Literature - Identity and Imagination” Discussion led by Led by Dr. Naomi Seidman, at 2 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Registration is recommended. 524-3043. 

Small Business Seminar on Market Analysis at 9 a.m. at Vista College, 2075 Allston Way. Cost is $26. To register see www.peralta.cc.ca.us 

“Self Image/God Image” Writing workshop for believers and doubters with Beth Glick-Rieman from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Donation $40. Bring a bag lunch. To register, call 524-2858. 

“Scars of War/Wounds of Peace” with Shlomo Ben-Ami, fromer Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley-Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5. 839-2900, ext. 253. 

Preschool Storytime for 3-5 year olds at 11 a.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

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. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Jack van der Meulen on Opening the Heart Yoga from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. Cost is $80, registration required. 843-6812.  

SUNDAY, FEB. 12 

Reptile Rendevous Meet the resident reptiles of the Tilden Nature Center from 11 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Waste Not, Want Not A recycling adventure for 8-12 year olds from 1 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Green Sunday: Why Three Alameda County Greens are running for state-wide office at 5 p.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. at 65th in North Oakland. 

Mending Bee and Repair-a-thon Bring your latest repair project, share skills and materials, and watch a slideshow by local artists of their recent small and largescale repair projects. From 4 to 7 p.m. at Rock Paper Scissors Gallery, 2278 Telegraph Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 238-9171. www.rpscollective.com 

Love, Kisses, Wills, Trusts Get your legal affairs in order. Open forum discussion and private consultations from 9 a.m. to noon at Chapel of the Chimes, 449 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Free. 228-3207. 

Celebrate Black History Month with interactive storytelling and jazz from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Habitot, 2065 Kittredge St. Nubia at 1 p.m., Derique the Clown at 3 p.m. Free. 647-1111.  

Family Film Sunday Series “101 Dalmations” at 11 a.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $5.  

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 

Jewish Holiday of the Trees and support Rabbis for Human Rights at 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley/Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $10. RSVP to 415-789-7685.  

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

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on the Buddhist writings of Longchenpa at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, FEB. 13 

Neighborhood Meeting on Kragen Auto Site and the proposal for a Traders Joe’s at 7 p.m. at Lutheran Church of the Cross, 1744 University Ave., between MLK and Grant. www.planberkeley.org 

Sweatshop Workers Speak Phannara Duangdej from Thailand, Branice Linugu Musavi from Kenya and Siti Malika from Indonesia, speak of their experiences working in the global garment industry at 6 p.m. at FSM Café at Moffitt Library, UC Campus. 760-519-7725. 

Tuskegee Airman, Samuel Broadnax introduces his new book “Blue Skies, Black Wings” at 7:30 p.m. in the Home Room, International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Cost is $5. 642-9460. 

“The Global Class War” with author Jeff Faux, founding president of the Economic Policy Institute, and a critic of pro-business free-trade, at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Ave. 486-0698. 

Valentine Making Workshop from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Tues. from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Art Studio at Habitot, 2065 Kittredge St. Cost is $5 for adults, $6 for children. 647-1111. www.habitot.org 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping the public schools, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

Free Business Loan and Business Plan Writing Boot Camp Mon. and Fri. from 9 a.m. to noon at 519 17th St., 2nd Floor, Ste. 200, Oakland, through March 31. 395-6003. 

World Affairs Discussion Group for seniors at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center. Cost is $2.50.  

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

Introduction to Meditation at 6:45 p.m. at Bay Zen Center, 315 Alcatraz near College Ave. Suggested donation $10. Advance registration required. 596-3087. www.bayzen.org 

Spice Up Your Love Life A workshop with Dot Claire at 7 p.m. at Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St. Cost is $27. 925-287-9594.  

TUESDAY, FEB. 14 

Birdwalk on the MLK Shoreline from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. to see the ducks: Scaup, Goldeneye and Bufflehead. Beginnners welcome, binoculars available for loan. 525-2233. 

“Take Me Instead” Grandmothers Against the War will try to enlist to replace young people in military in Iraq as act of love on Valentine’s Day at noon at the Army Recruiting Station, 2116 Broadway at 21st St., Oakland. 526-5075. 

Public Hearing on the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Valentine’s Day Celebration with community participation in poetry, song, dance and prayer at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St. midtown Oakland. www.HumanistHall.net  

“Black Beauties: The History of Oakland’s Miss Bronze Pageant” with author Maxine Leeds Craig at 10:30 a.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Health Education Presentation by Dr. Robert Cooper of the West Oakland Health Council at 7 p.m. at the El Cerrito City Council Chambers, 7007 Moeser Lane. Sponsored by the NAACP El Cerrito Branch. 233-5460. 

Travel Photography in Venice and Tuscany with Don Lyon at 7 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 654-1548.  

“Doing Business in China: Panasonic’s Growth Strategy” with former Matsushita Executive Vice-President Yukio Shohtoku,at 4:30 p.m. at the IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Floor. 642-2809. 

Valentine’s Day Crafts and Stories for Children at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

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. 

Family Story Time at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Branch Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Free, all ages welcome. 524-3043. 

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. 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 

Sleep Soundly Seminar at 6:30 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 15 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll search for our amphibian friends, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds, who may be accompanied by an adult. We will search for newts, slender salamanders, ensatinas and more, from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

Creeks Task Force Public Hearing at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Erin Dando, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/planning/landuse/Creeks/default.html 

“New Era, New Politics Walking Tour” at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum, 659 14th St., at Jefferson, Oakland. A two-hour guided tour of the points of interest in African American history in Oakland. 238-3234. 

“Exploring the Place, Meaning and Purpose of the Black Studies Movement” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Merritt College, Building A, Room 129. 12500 Campus Drive, Oakland. 434-3935. 

Disaster Preparedness and Wilderness Safety with Michael St. John of Marin County Search and Rescue at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Water The Matrix of Life” What to drink for health and eco-living at 7 p.m. at Teleosis Institute, 1521B 5th St. Cost is $5-$10. Registration required. 558-7285. www.teleosis.org  

“Celcius 9/11: Full Spectrum Dominance and the War of Terror” a film by Jeremy Wright at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St. Free, but $5 donations accepted. www.HumanistHall.net 

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

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

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

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

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 

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

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

vigil4peace/vigil 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets to hold a Public Hearing on the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance Tues., Feb. 14, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Berkeley Unified School Board meets Wed., Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Queen Graham 644-6147 or Mark Coplan 644-6320. 

Creeks Task Force meets Wed., Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Erin Dando, 981-7410. www.ci. 

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

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Feb. 15, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/humane 

Downtown Area Plan Advisory Commission meets Wed. Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. in the Sitka Spruce Conference Room, 2nd Floor, 2118 Milvia St. 981-7487. 

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed. Feb. 15, at 5 p.m. at South Berkeley Senior Center., Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/library 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Feb. 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/designreview  

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 16, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/transportation