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Several new projects, including a major hotel, a changed BART plaza and street closures, are being considered for the Shattuck Avenue/Center Street intersection. Photograph by Richard Brenneman.
Several new projects, including a major hotel, a changed BART plaza and street closures, are being considered for the Shattuck Avenue/Center Street intersection. Photograph by Richard Brenneman.
 

News

Flash: Council Kills Landmark Law Revisions Pending Election

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday July 25, 2006

In an abrupt reversal, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to table the revised Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO) it had passed on first reading July 11. 

An ordinance must be passed on two separate readings before it can become law. 

“We’ll drop it this evening and see what happens with the initiative,” said Mayor Tom Bates, the driving force behind the tabled measure. 

The initiative he cited was drafted by proponents of the city’s current ordinance, and makes minor changes to ensure the LPO complies with state laws governing building permits and landmarks. Berkeley residents will be vote on it Nov. 7. 

“Given the council’s action, we’ll have to rewrite our ballot statements,” said Roger Marquis, one of the initiative’s two principal sponsors. 

The draft statements they had submitted were focused on the now-withdrawn Bates-Capitelli legislation. 

The statements prepared by the city face the same problem, since City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque had drafted them on the presumption that the Bates measure, co-sponsored by Councilmember Laurie Capitelli, would be the law by election time. 

Marquis said initiative backers will have their revised statements ready to submit by Monday or Tuesday at the latest, and the city council has set a meeting for 5 p.m. Tuesday to approve the city attorney’s revisions. 


Flash: Fast Action Douses Blaze in Tilden Park

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday July 25, 2006

Thanks to alert citizens and a prompt response by Berkeley firefighters, a Tilden Park hills fire was extinguished before it could spread Tuesday night. 

Deputy Fire Chief David P. Orth said a Park Hills resident reported a strange flash in the hills at 9:21 p.m., and, using binoculars, firefighters were able to spot a small glow near the ridge top. 

An engine searching the area spotted the scene, which firefighters were able to reach after a third-of-a-mile hike through the brush. 

They found a ground fire spreading slowly beneath a mantle of pines. 

Meanwhile, crews from the California Division of Forestry (CDF), the Moraga-Orinda Fire Department and the Oakland fire departments were responding. 

The fire, which ignited some of the trees, was quickly contained, but CDF crews—including a contingent of prisoners trained in firefighting—remained on the scene along with East Bay Regional Parks District firefighters after the municipal departments left about 1:30 a.m. 

Orth said the blaze, which consumed about an acre, was apparently ignited by a downed power line discovered as crews were battling the blaze.


Flash: Movement Begins to Draft Shirley Dean for Mayor

Judith Scherr
Tuesday July 25, 2006

Shirley Dean’s name popped up late Friday on the City Clerk’s list of candidates who have taken out mayoral papers. 

The news, however, came as a surprise to Dean, who told the Daily Planet Monday evening: “I’m floored. I honestly know nothing about this.” 

The person who does know is Merrilee Mitchell, who took out papers for Dean. 

“In Oakland they drafted (Ron) Dellums and he came back and ran,” Mitchell said. “I think Shirley Dean has good character. I don’t want to live in Batesville.” 

The papers Mitchell took out in Dean’s stead were not formal nomination papers, but “signature-in-lieu” petitions. In order to avoid paying a $150 fee to file nomination papers, a candidate can collect 150 signatures. Signatures must be turned in to the City Clerk’s Office by 5 p.m. on Thursday, according to Acting City Clerk Sherry Kelly. 

Were Dean to run, she would have to sign nomination papers herself. 

The ex-Mayor said she won’t rule out a run. 

“I’ll have to find out more about this. I don’t want to offend anyone,” she said, acknowledging that she had told a would-be supporter that she would consider a run if 600 people signed on, a number she said she plucked out of the air. 

Bates defeated the incumbent Dean four years ago and is now running for a two-year term. Announced challengers include Zelda Bronstein, Zachary Running Wolf, Richard Berkeley and Christian Pecaut. 

The formal nomination period opened July 17 and closes Aug. 11. 

 

Richard Brenneman contributed to this report. 


Downtown Plan Panel Revolts Over UC Project

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday July 25, 2006

The citizens guiding the shape of Berkeley’s new downtown plan staged a second revolt last week—this one focusing on UC Berkeley’s planned hotel complex. 

The impetus came from Planning Commission Chair Helen Burke. 

Overriding the wishes of chair Will Travis and Planning Director Dan Marks, members of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) voted 15-2 to hold a discussion and vote on Aug. 30 to create a subcommittee to focus on the project—potentially the largest new downtown building in decades. 

Meeting last month, DAPAC members had voted 18-0-1 to open up the previously closed meetings of the joint city/university committee advising city planning staff on technical issues of planned university development in the downtown. 

Marks said he objected to last week’s proposal because it would pose new demands on a limited staff already fully committed to other aspects of the plan. 

But when it came time for a vote, the only DAPAC opposition came from Travis, appointed by Mayor Tom Bates, and Dorothy Walker, appointed by Councilmember Betty Olds. 

Travis is executive director of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission and Walker is a former UC Berkeley assistant vice chancellor for property development. 

Burke said a subcommittee was needed in part because the hotel proposal could be the centerpiece of a revitalized downtown and because the city had already undertaken an extensive review of the site. 

When she first offered a motion to form the subcommittee at last Wednesday’s meeting, Travis objected, saying DAPAC couldn’t act because the vote proposal hadn’t been included in the public notice distributed before the meeting. 

The motion was reworded to schedule a discussion and vote at the next meeting, scheduled for Aug. 30. 

Carpenter & Company, the firm the university has picked to develop a hotel and conference center at the northeast corner of the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street, has already begun to calculate the mass of the building, which could reach 12 stories or more. 

Two other major projects have been proposed for the same intersection—a remodel or move of the downtown BART Plaza and the conversion of Center Street between Shattuck and Oxford Street into a pedestrian mall—possibly including a restored Strawberry Creek. 

“Because there are three different projects planned for area, I felt DAPAC needed to weigh in,” said Burke. 

Burke said she contacted eight other DAPAC members before the meeting and found that all were concerned the task force hadn’t looked at specific aspects of the downtown. 

“At the meeting, I found I had tapped into a feeling of frustration with the pace of things. It’s like we’ve been big sponges, absorbing all this information, but we hadn’t started to develop a consensus. The members felt it was time to get going.” 

Before the meeting, Burke said, she received an email from Dan Marks objecting to her idea as “out of sequence. He said, ‘There aren’t enough resources and Matt Taecker already had too much to do.’” 

Taecker is the planner hired specifically to work on the new downtown plan, which was mandated in the settlement of the city’s lawsuit against UC Berkeley and the way it handled its Long Range Development Plan for expansion through 2020. 

Burke said Marks spoke to her again in the hall outside the meeting room in the North Berkeley Senior Center before the meeting. “He said he wouldn’t have the committee micro-manage the staff,” she said. 

Burke said she suggested that the committee work without staff support. 

“That’s fine by me,” said Marks Monday. “We simply do not have the staff resources to support it.” 

Marks said he had raised objections because Taecker “already has his hands more than full” with a landmarks subcommittee and management of the environmental review process. 

“Our feeling is that we should get into specifics” of the hotel project later, he said. 

“In the normal process, you get the vision down first, the goals and alternatives—the big picture stuff. Then you get down to details. Pulling out one area now seems a little out of sequence,” he said. 

Even with studies of the hotel under way, Marks said, “We don’t expect to hear anything from the developer for two or three more months. There’s plenty of time to work with the developer.” 

Travis said he opposed the motion because “my concern is that this will be a diversion. My role is really keeping the process moving along. Getting into the details of Center Street—something all the members are deeply interested in—will take more energy and divert us from our other tasks. 

Travis said that once the subcommittee finishes its assignment, the panel will report back to the rest of DAPAC, “which will have to go over everything again.” 

“That said, the committee made it clear they wanted this.” 

The university has announced plans to add 800,000 square feet of new projects in the expanded downtown area encompassed by the new plan, along with 1,000 new parking spaces. 

Marks said the university has issued assurances that all the development will occur on land the university already owns in the city center, including the old state Public Health Building north of University Avenue.


Objections To OUSD Land Deal Increase

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday July 25, 2006

The growing battle over Oakland’s valuable waterfront property development sharply escalated this week, with the coalition opposing the sale of the OUSD downtown properties moving their target from the powerless OUSD Board of Trustees to the powerful Oakland City Council and opponents of the massive nearby Oak-to-Ninth development filing a lawsuit against the project as well as launching a petition drive for a ballot measure to block its implementation. 

The Coalition of Advocates for Lake Merritt (CALM) and retired Oakland architect Joyce Roy filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court in Oakland last week, asking the court to set aside Oakland City Council’s recent approval of the 3,100 residential unit Oak To Ninth Project “based on deficiencies in the project Environmental Impact Report and related findings.”  

And on Sunday, members of the newly formed Oak-to-Ninth Referendum Committee—including representatives of the League of Women Voters, the Sierra Club, the Coalition of Advocates for Lake Merritt (CALM), and the Green Party—met in downtown Oakland to launch a petition drive to put a referendum on the ballot blocking the Oak-to-Ninth Project.  

Meanwhile, opponents of the OUSD downtown property sale were scrambling on Monday afternoon to put a resolution on the agenda for Tuesday’s City Council meeting, expressing the sentiment that the City Council was not in favor of selling the property unless and until the contract was approved by the OUSD Board of Trustees. 

The resolution was co-sponsored by councilmembers Pat Kernighan and Jean Quan and needed city attorney approval as an emergency measure to be included on the agenda. 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell is currently negotiating a contract with east coast-based developers TerraMark/Urban America for the sale of 8.25 acres of OUSD property adjacent to the Lake Merritt Channel, including the OUSD Paul Robeson Administration Building, two high schools, an elementary school, and two child development centers. O’Connell and TerraMark/UrbanAmerica have until September 13 to reach a deal under the Letter of Intent exclusive negotiating agreement signed by the parties. O’Connell has the legal authority to sell the OUSD property following the 2003 state takeover of the Oakland school district. 

TerraMark/Urban America is proposing building five high-rise luxury condominium towers on the lower Lake Merritt site. While State Superintendent O’Connell can sell the property on his own, the development plans must go through the standard City of Oakland planning process, including approval by the City Council. Among the items subject to Planning Department and council approval would be the design of the high-rise towers, the number of housing units to be allowed (currently proposed for 1,388), and the sale to the developers and blocking off a portion of 2nd Avenue to be used as one of the proposed building sites. 

“We’re hoping that if the developers and the state superintendent know that they will have problems having the development plans approved by City Council, it will either delay or kill the sale completely,” said former Metropolitan Greater Oakland (MGO) Democratic Club President Pam Drake, one of the sale opponents. “We believe that the sale should be either delayed completely until restoration of local control of the Oakland public schools or, at the very least, until the members of the school board sign off on the final terms of the sale.” 

Opposition to the sale has been centered around the Ad Hoc Committee to Restore Local Control/Governance to the Oakland Schools, which includes several board trustees, but the idea for using City Council leverage to help block the OUSD property sale took off last week at a Thursday evening MGO forum on the proposed school properties sale. 

During the forum, councilmember Kernighan, who represents the area on which the OUSD property sits, said, “I’m generally pro-development, but I think this particular proposal is a bad idea.” 

On Monday afternoon, Kerninghan was attempting to get a ruling by Oakland City Attorney John Russo putting a sale moratorium resolution on Tuesday’s council agenda as an emergency item. Because Tuesday is the last meeting before the Oakland City Council’s summer break, it would be the last time councilmembers could officially weigh in on the proposed sale before the Sept. 13 sale deadline. 

Drake said that even if the resolution could not be placed on Tuesday’s agenda, OUSD sale opponents would speak on the issue at the council meeting’s open forum. 

Councilmember Nancy Nadel said by telephone that she would “support such a resolution,” adding that “any development of the [OUSD] property would also have to replace the schools on the site, and the calculations for the cost of replacing those schools have to be included in the price of the land.” That position was echoed by Councilmember Jean Quan, who co-sponsored the proposed council opposition resolution with Kernighan. 

Councilmember Jane Brunner said that while she had not seen the actual TerraMark/Urban America proposal, “If it does not have a guaranteed price for the sale of the property or provisions for the relocation of the schools currently on the property, I don’t believe that it is a good proposal.” 

Brunner said that another sticking point in OUSD’s proposal for the downtown properties is a plan to move the OUSD administrative facilities to the vacated Carter Middle School at 45th and Webster streets in North Oakland. 

Brunner said that OUSD plans to add a 125-space parking facility on the site to accommodate district employees, “but [OUSD trustee] Kerry Hamill and I have already been looking to turn that into open space, with joint use as a practice baseball field for Oakland Tech High School and a neighborhood park.” 

But Brunner was not confident that any proposed City Council opposition would deter the state superintendent from the proposed OUSD sale. 

“I understand that Jack has already made up his mind about this,” Brunner said. “There’s not a lot of love lost between Jack and Oakland.” 

Brunner said she believed O’Connell’s animosity towards Oakland stemmed from a tumultuous 2005 meeting at Oakland Tech in which O’Connell was jeered and booed by a packed audience during the presentation of a multi-year recovery plan for the district. 

The Oakland Tech meeting was the first time O’Connell had appeared in public in Oakland to discuss the Oakland Unified School District situation since the 2003 state takeover of the schools. 

All but one of the seven OUSD trustees have stated outright opposition to the TerraMark/ UrbanAmerica deal as it has been currently presented. 

Trustee Hamill says that while she supports the sale of surplus administrative properties, she believes that the school sites on the downtown property should not be sold. 

The TerraMark/UrbanAmerica deal includes sale of the administrative properties without the sale of the schools, but it is unclear how much money the district would clear from the sale under those circumstances. Because of the state takeover, OUSD trustees do not have a legal voice in the sale of the OUSD properties.


Parking Reversal on Telegraph

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday July 25, 2006

Removing Telegraph Avenue parking last fall to correct substandard bike lanes was a “colossal blunder,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington. 

“It was done without the knowledge of the City Council and the Transportation Commission,” he said. 

Correcting the parking-space error, looking at developer fees for traffic impacts, hearing an appeal from neighbors who object to the demolition of a structure at 2106 Sixth St. are just a few of the 42 items the council will address tonight (Tuesday) before its seven-week recess. 

The council is back in session Sept. 19. 

The Telegraph Avenue correction will be accomplished, with some 22 parking spaces restored—if approved by the City Council tonight—by removing the concrete pedestrian islands in the middle of the street so that the automobile and bike lanes can be reconfigured at the end of a number of blocks between Dwight Way and Ashby Avenue. 

“Apparently someone in the bureaucracy thought [replacing the parking spaces with the narrower motorcycle spaces] was the correct thing to do,” Worthington said. 

If the council approves the Transportation Commission’s recommendation to restore the parking spaces, it will be “a giant victory for common sense,” Worthington said. The error will cost about $65,000 to correct. 

Traffic Engineer Hamid Mostwfi emailed the following response to the Daily Planet: 

“It was not a mistake: (1) The decision to change the configuration was made based on the fact that the previous parking/bike lane was of substandard width (11 feet). We widened that lane to 12 feet, the minimum standard for a shared parking/bike lane. This was done in order to reduce the risk of bicyclists colliding with drivers swinging out their door after parking their vehicle in the parking lane. (2) The reason for removal of some parking spaces: The width of the parking lane could not be widened to 12 feet at some of the intersections along Telegraph due to the concrete partial median. Instead of red-curbing these locations and thus rendering those spaces off-limits to all traffic, it was decided that by allocating those spaces to motorbikes,  

at least some parking use would be made of them.” 

 

Public hearing: transportation services fees 

A public hearing, delayed from two weeks ago, will be held tonight on transportation services fees. The city is proposing to charge developers for the impact of additional automobile trips their projects create. The funds raised would be used to mitigate the impact of the new traffic, especially those facilitating alternatives to automobiles, including new shuttle service. 

 

2104 Sixth Street appeal 

While both the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Zoning Adjustments Board approved the de facto demolition of 2104 Sixth St. during what was supposed to be construction of a first-floor addition, the Friends of the Ocean View-Sisterna Historic District are appealing the decision and have collected signatures from 64 Berkeley residents who support the appeal. 

In a June 13 letter San Francisco attorney Jeff Hoffman argued that a full environmental impact report should be done “that fully analyzes the potential significant adverse impacts” of the demolition. 

The council will hear the appeal tonight. 

 

Other matters 

The council will also address: 

• Workers’ right to form a union at the West Berkeley Bowl and the need for fair labor practices at all Berkeley businesses; 

• Appointment of Claudette Ford, acting Public Works director, to the Permanent position at $165,000 annually, with benefits at about $84,000. She will manage a department with 309 full-time positions and a budget of $80.5 million; 

• A contract for $38,000 with Mildred Howard and Daniel Galvez to create a mural of the life of former Councilmember Maudelle Shirek; 

• Opposition to SB 1056 which would pre-empt local governments from regulating seeds and nursery plants; 

• Opposition to Proposition 85, which would require parental notification for abortions and a 48-hour waiting period; 

• A grand jury report criticizing Berkeley’s issuance of citations at parking meters that may be inoperable. The council will be asked to address the city’s response; 

• A work plan for the development of the Ashby BART station; 

• Placement on the ballot of two citizens’ initiatives, one which would amend the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance and another that would address condominium conversion. 

A Housing Authority Meeting at 6 p.m. precedes the 7 p.m. City Council meeting at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 


Council Looks at UC Student Election

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday July 25, 2006

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak says getting the City Council involved in controversial student elections at UC Berkeley is council business as usual, but others say it is an attack on the independence of student government. 

The resolution, on tonight’s (Tuesday) council agenda, “recognizes the election of the four Student Action executive officers … in a free and fair ASUC [Associated Students of the University of California] Election.” (Student Action is a UC Berkeley political party.)  

The April student elections are in dispute. Student Action apparently swept the races for executive offices. However, the party was accused of chalking the names of candidates close to the polls in violation of ASUC rules and then giving false testimony about it. 

It is up to the ASUC Judicial Council to rule on the question—the council ruled in opposition to Student Action; the party appealed the decision July 18. Attempts by Student Action presidential candidate Oren Gabriel to take his case to the Alameda County Superior Court was kicked back to the Judicial Council by the judge. The Judicial Council is now weighing the appeal. 

“We comment all the time about injustices around the world,” Wozniak said, arguing for the propriety of his resolution. “This is a travesty of justice.” 

Allegations against Student Action constitute a “minor infraction” that went before the Judicial Council, Wozniak said. “It was a valid election run by the League of Women Voters.”  

Councilmember Kriss Worthington, however, characterized the council’s proposed involvement as an “affront to independent student government.” And he characterized the resolution as “a cynical manipulative ploy” to pit students against each other in order to win votes in the November election. (Wozniak is running against Jason Overman, a UC Berkeley student and Rent Stabilization Board member.) 

Lauren Karasek of the SQUELCH! Party, who ran against Gabriel for ASUC president, said of the council resolution: “I’m very concerned about the implications for student autonomy. Berkeley’s always prided itself on its independence.”  

Karasek condemned as further erosion of student autonomy the part of the resolution that asks the council to write to the chancellor saying that Student Action had won fairly. The judicial process is continuing, Karasek said. 

Karasek characterized Student Action as a “major party” on campus and said SQUELCH! is more like a “third party,” which critiques the system through humor. She said the party has condemned Student Action for using student government funds to promote their own activities rather than supporting activities of campus organizations. Election results showed Oren Gabriel with 4,014 votes and Karasek with 1,434. 

An editorial by Van S. Nguyen, in-coming ASUC senator from the CalSERVE party, that appeared in Monday’s Daily Cal, also condemned the resolution:  

“With the wave of a pen, one Berkeley politician has potentially wiped out 40 years of the students’ struggle for the protection of our First Amendment right to freedom of speech and press ... The intervention of the city in ASUC elections would not only be an insult to the more than 30,000 students at UC Berkeley, but also a denial of students’ power over their own government.” 

Student Action, Oren Gabriel and Jason Chu, a Student Action candidate for vice president, did not return e-mailed requests for interviews for this story.


News Analysis: Why So Many Public Opinion Polls?

By Marc Sapir, Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 25, 2006

They are everywhere, trying to grab our attention. And they succeed. Public opinion polls claim to adapt statistical research methods to the measuring of beliefs. Scientific? Perhaps, but polling also operates with hidden goals because it is part of the marketplace. 

In 2003 Retro Poll investigated how this works with a poll comparing knowledge and opinions before the invasion of Iraq. The poll found that the media-promoted government misinformation about Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction conditioned public responses about going to war. Those who believed the hype that Iraq had WMDs and was linked to Al Qaeda terrorism favored war by 2:1, but 75 percent of people who could see through that charade opposed U.S. aggression.  

Polls are like multiple-choice exams where the student is expected through rote-learning to provide a conclusion based upon memorized course information. The course information is the news that the media markets to the public. 

Surprisingly, sometimes even the polling professionals are unaware of their role in this model. Polls usually (and subtly) limit the range of answers and ways of looking at any problem to what has been in the public’s eye through the corporate media inputs. Given a restricted range of information, opinion research promotes “obvious” opinion answers to a problem without the respondents’ awareness that their choices have been limited.  

An ongoing discussion among members of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) reveals how polls may constrict options in any debate or discussion. Back in late 2003 Retro Poll first asked people’s views on impeachment. When the question was posted on the AAPOR List, some argued that impeachment was not a legitimate issue to ask about because no one in Congress or the media was discussing it.  

Other AAPOR members criticized the question as “leading” because we asked people whether or not “misleading the public and Congress on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq” was grounds for impeachment of the President? These polling gurus did not want the factual presentation to go beyond the media parameters at a time when the media was only just beginning to expose the truth. 

So the market-based approach to opinion research leads polling, in general, to reflect the restricted media discourse and to limit the public’s ways of responding—the range of choices. In other words what you see is what you get—in the worst sense when what you see is incomplete. Or “garbage in, garbage out.” 

Parenthetically, Retro Poll was actually surprised that 39+ percent thought misleading Congress and the public on weapons of mass destruction was grounds for impeachment in two separate polls six months apart. If this was true, it shows a very deep strain of anger at the regime’s deception as early as November 2003. 

Yet the public is often puzzled by poll results. People just can’t ignore them,  

especially when they hit topics that are important to us. Reading the polls, some conclude that the public is a herd of passive mindless sheep, uncritical thinkers easily misled by reactionary ideas (call this the “What Happened to Kansas?” camp). Others believe that the polling methods themselves are a fraud (“you can’t tell what millions of people are thinking by asking 568 or 1,000 people”). Both of these views are erroneous.  

To the extent that public views are sheepish it’s often a product of the polling methods which create this mirage by limiting the field of discussion and information. Of course many people do have poorly informed opinions, but polls tend to empower particular strains of misinformation. Think about it. This explains why so much money is today going into polling and why we hear, incessantly, so many poll reports. 

In truth, polls do serve a very specific social function: they tend to disempower legitimate dissent by negating an analytical or fleshed-out discussion or understanding of political realities. They tend to highlight and encourage mindlessness in the poll respondents and inferential “punditry” in the poll audience reading summaries, much as reality TV and product marketing do. 

This process is not driven by “Right-wing” ideology but by behavioral psychology usually used to create audience needs and wants vicariously by linking products to desirable outcomes like youthfulness, sexuality, attractiveness, etc. In polling what is usually suggested is the safety of being part of an implied national consensus, thus supporting an ideology that is implicit rather than explicit.  

Another thing to consider: In general, polls—even in cases when they accurately reflect public opinion and disagree with those in power--have marginal impact upon policy decisions, because there are few costs to policy makers in ignoring the numbers. If consistent public opinion mattered, Congress would not have voted to outlaw abortion many times, the United States would be funding most birth control and HIV treatment worldwide, U.S. troops would no longer be in Iraq, all those displaced by Katrina would have been helped to return to New Orleans and we would all have a national health insurance card in our pockets. 

These are things that people consistently support in polls. But public opinions matter only when they are backed with credible threats to ever more protracted and militant actions. Even then it’s not the numbers that matter but the level of organization and resistance. So polls are less about informing policy makers than they are about putting the public under a magnifying glass and measuring how we respond to stimulae.  

Even though opinion polls are often ignored by policy makers their numbers (and funding) expand faster than the GDP because polls serve to validate the cultural and ideological dominance of the corporate media and solidify the limited scope of alternatives presented in those media. 

In this way, polls tend to moderate popular resistance, as does any virtual reality frame that engages peoples’ attention and emotions. You may feel good when a poll shows people agree with you and cynical when you believe a poll shows people are taken in by propaganda, but in both cases you conclude that you have a better appreciation of something real and in neither case are you impelled to action. Like viewers of reality TV, our relationship is voyeuristic and vicarious, and our participation is emotional and reflexively passive.  

Statistical tests are used by pollsters and media to appear to verify that opinion polls accurately reflect general population opinions. The scientific issue is that truly random samples with fairly small numbers (eg. 1,000) taken from a very large population can reflect the larger population views in a high (greater than 95 percent) proportion of cases. However, because polls are not really random samples the standard error based on the normal distribution is not applicable. Even good scientific work in health care is a human made approximation of randomness, such as choosing every other patient through the door to get a drug or placebo. Yet most polls today can not come close to that standard. Among the problems:  

1. Many people refuse to participate when contacted by random phone calls (sometimes more than 70 percent) and we never know if their views are the same or different from those who do participate. 

2. A growing number of people have only cell-phones and are not reached by standard methods. They are a younger group.  

3. The largest ethnic minorities in the United States (African-Americans and Latinos) consistently participate at lower rates than European Americans.  

4. People who screen their calls and don’t answer the phone may differ in views from others. 

5. Poor people, not to mention the homeless, are less likely to have phones or be reachable. 

That doesn’t mean that any given poll result does not reflect what the larger population would say. It does mean that we can’t say that it reflects public views within a certain range of accuracy. As a result, when you hear on TV that a poll is accurate to plus or minus 3 percent, that’s a misrepresentation of the truth. Election exit polls are one exception because they choose respondents the same way as medical researchers, the responses are factual (eg. who did you vote for?) and a higher proportion agree to participate.  

Still, the more important issue is that “what the general population believes” has actually been fixed before an opinion poll begins by the type of questions, the general context of disinformation, and the outlook of those who summarize and report the data. 

An editorial in the liberal Washington Post July 21, 2006 helps explain why support for Israel, for instance, is stronger in the United States than anywhere in the world. The Post editorialized that a cease fire in Lebanon is problematic because it would give succor to the Hizbollah aggressor, mimicking Israel’s line and totally ignoring Israel’s massive invasion of Gaza—the death and destruction that preceded current events—and that Israel’s attack has destroyed Lebanon’s infrastructure and indiscriminately killed so many civilians. The facts have been distorted to allow for the analysis.  

Unfortunately, “What Happened to Kansas?” is not a “Red State” problem located in the mid-west. The problem is embedded in the market driven approach to public opinion manipulation. Long ago, survey research was founded to ascertain peoples’ (and communities’) needs and aspirations where consensus building can be a positive social function. Today, although survey research still plays that role, the big money is in opinion polling, which--like market research for products--is often fraught with hidden intent, bias and misrepresentations. Let the buyer beware. 

 

Marc Sapir lives in Berkeley, practices medicine part time with Alameda County and directs Retro Poll (www.retropoll.org). Retro Poll seeks volunteers and donations for its upcoming September poll. Marc can be e-mailed at marcsapir@comcast.net.


Kitchen Democracy Donation Draws Scrutiny

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday July 25, 2006

A proposed $3,000 donation on today’s (Tuesday) City Council agenda to Kitchen Democracy from Councilmember Gordon Wozniak’s council office budget has provoked questions on the appropriate use of city funds. 

Formerly, councilmembers could donate to charitable causes from their council budgets without going through a public approval process. (The expenditures have been on the public record, however.) Conforming to AB 1234, a new state law, the council now must put these proposed donations from a councilmember’s personal account to a public vote. 

Kitchen Democracy (www.kitchendemocracy.org) is a nonprofit website that polls Berkeley residents on particular concerns generally within the city of Berkeley. Anyone can sign up to vote on questions generated by the founders of the site, Robert Vogel and Simona Carini. 

Wozniak has been a supporter since the project’s inception in March. 

“[It] gets more people to participate,” he said. “They’re not trying to tell people what to do.” 

The opinions reflected on the website inform his council vote, Wozniak said, adding, “I’d like the city’s Planning Department to use it for land-use projects.”  

While Wozniak said he is informed by others’ opinions, he also uses the website to educate the public on his views. 

In the “experts” section of the site—where the public can read various opinions related to the designated topics—Wozniak has expressed himself to his constituents on four out of eight city issues that Kitchen Democracy has addressed: questions of housing above the Elmwood Hardware store, a city investment of $750,000 in a system to locate stolen cars, turning a traffic diverter into a community garden, and the future use of a District 8 gas station. 

Questioning whether the council should approve taxpayer funds for Kitchen Democracy, Councilmember Kriss Worthington contends that the website caters to a narrow segment of the Berkeley population—largely the southeast hills area. 

The city should not “subsidize something limited to a geographic area, economics or ethnicity,” Worthington said  

Vogel and Carini founded Kitchen Democracy especially for people interested in local politics but who can’t get to city meetings to express themselves. Vogel does not dispute the fact that most people who sign on to his website live in the southeast hills area where he lives. 

“It’s not by design,” he said. “That’s where we know people.” 

Vogel said he’s expanding the geographic content. The first District 2 question will be coming on line soon: people will be asked about speeding in the Addison Street-Acton Street area. 

Noting that some of Berkeley’s lower-income residents, many without Internet access, live in this area, the Planet asked how Vogel might get a true sense of what the neighbors want. 

People can respond by mail, he said, further arguing, “Any public process gets skewed results.” For example, only a limited number of people go to City Hall to address the council, he said. 

When asked whether the website might become a support for Wozniak’s re-election campaign, Vogel said it would not. He would be posting comments from all the candidates. 

One question—about whether the Elmwood Hardware store should be allowed to add three housing units to its building—drew 304 votes. All the other questions on the site have drawn fewer than 100. 

Councilmember Dona Spring said Monday that she was still trying to decide if she would support the contribution. The website serves “a very selective group,” she said. “There is a fine line between what is political and what is the public good.”


Embattled Housing Authority To Review Status Update

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday July 25, 2006

The Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) board meets tonight (Tuesday) for an update on the status of the troubled local housing agency.  

The board, composed of all nine city councilmembers and two residents at large, is slated to hear a report on an assessment, due to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at the end of August, that details the Housing Authority’s management of the federal Section 8 program. 

HUD has called out the authority for managerial deficiencies, including miscalculated rents, incomplete inspections and re-evaluations, and issues with housing quality standards. If the assessment shows BHA failed to correct problems by June 30, the authority could undergo major restructuring—a new governing body, for instance—or possible dissolution. The city manager is in the process of negotiating with HUD over the local agency’s future. 

The Berkeley Housing Authority administers about 1,800 Section 8 vouchers, owns 75 units of public housing and manages other local public housing programs. HUD funds the agency with an estimated $27.4 million a year. 

In response to uncertainties surrounding Berkeley’s Housing Authority, a stable of local advocates have mobilized, urging the protection of public housing and Section 8. (Though Housing Department Director Stephen Barton has underscored that, even if the authority is taken over, existing Section 8 recipients will not lose their vouchers.) 

The meeting takes place at 6 p.m., at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way.  


Piedmont Avenue Closure Planned

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday July 25, 2006

Major repairs and renovations will keep alternating lanes closed on Piedmont Avenue for the next three weeks, said Kenneth Emeziem, supervising civil engineer for Berkeley’s Public Works Department. 

Crews will work Saturdays to finish the work before students return to UC Berkeley, he said. 

The affected stretch of roadway extends between Bancroft and Dwight ways. An earlier plan to extend the work onto the stretch within the campus was tabled until the university completes its massive expansion and construction planned for the Memorial Stadium area. 

The first two-week closure, beginning this past Saturday, will affect the southbound lane, with the north following. 

The last scheduled Saturday workday is Aug. 12, Emeziem said. 

Piedmont is a landmarked roadway, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect whose most famous creation is New York’s Central Park. 


Selawsky Considers Bid for City Auditor

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday July 25, 2006

The race for Berkeley’s city auditor has gone uncontested for eight years. School Board Director John Selawsky wants to change that. 

Selawsky took out signature in-lieu forms for city auditor last Tuesday, though in a phone interview Friday, he said he has not officially decided to run. 

“Partly why I’m doing this is to raise the visibility of this (office),” he said Friday. “And, I have a democratic instinct against someone running unopposed.”  

City Auditor Ann-Marie Hogan, who will seek reelection, has held the position since 1994. 

The city auditor independently oversees the city’s financial and programmatic operations. Candidates are elected to four-year terms; there are no term limits. The position is paid. Hogan earns a base salary of $131,381. 

Selawsky, a writer and editor by profession, was elected to the Berkeley Board of Education in 2000. He sits on the People’s Park Community Advisory Board and co-chairs the Ashby BART Task Force. He also serves on the school district’s audit committee. From 1995 to 2000, he was a member of the Community Environmental Advisory Commission. 

If he runs, Selawsky must file nomination papers with the city clerk’s office by Aug. 11. 


Evictions for Condo Conversion Targeted

By Judith Scherr
Friday July 21, 2006

Marcia Levenson treasures her Williard neighborhood and the apartment she has rented for two decades in the area. Because she’s living with a chronic disease, Levenson’s only income is disability payments. Her Section 8 voucher allows her to stay in the neighborhood and limits her share of the rent to 30 percent of her income.  

But a hot condominium market has residents in her four-plex abuzz with rumors that the property owner may convert the apartments to condos, turning “our neighborhood community into a cash register,” Levenson said, estimating that each of the units in her four-plex could be sold at $500,000. 

The Berkeley City Council Tuesday amended the city’s Condominium Conversion Ordinance, adding disincentives to ways property owners can convert units to condos by evicting tenants. The vote was 8-0, with Councilmember Betty Olds absent.  

The amendments are aimed at stabilizing tenancies of Section 8 voucher-holders and countering eviction without just cause in order to convert. 

“There’s a whole class of tenants sitting in fear of being converted,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington, referring to Section 8 tenants. Worthington and Councilmember Max Anderson sponsored the ordinance, which was approved by the Rent Stabilization Board in May. 

If the property owner opts out of a government program such as Section 8 and then files within a year to convert the apartments to condos, he or she will have to wait five more years to convert the building under the revised condo law. 

“It’s in the city’s interest to try to protect the most vulnerable tenants,” said Jay Kelekian, executive director of the Rent Stabilization Board, who told the Daily Planet that he’s heard from a number of Section 8 tenants who fear their homes will be converted to condos. 

However, Michael Wilson, president of the Berkeley Property Owners Association, in a phone interview Thursday, called the fear that property owners would evict Section 8 voucher-holders “manufactured.” Property owners get market-rate rents for their Section 8 tenants and have no incentive to evict them to convert, he said.  

He further pointed out that the new amendments are likely to backfire, giving property owners a reason not to rent to people holding Section 8 vouchers. Also added to the ordinance is a requirement to inform tenants in writing at least 60 days prior to filing an application to convert the units. 

The new amendments provide that if a property owner forces out a tenant, without directly evicting the individual—called a constructive eviction—the owner will not be allowed to convert the building for five years. Such evictions include allowing an apartment to deteriorate so badly that there are health and safety code violations or removing the use of space, such as a backyard or a deck. 

“If you push somebody out, that’s not allowed,” Kelekian said. 

Worthington said the amendments are not intended to stop conversions. The current ordinance permits conversion of 100 rental units per year. (A Berkeley Property Owner Association-supported measure on the November ballot would allow conversion of 500 units per year.)  

“We don’t want to stop home ownership opportunities,” Worthington said. “The amendments are a disincentive to speculators to convert.” 

The current Condominium Conversion Ordinance provides protections to most tenants: they have the first option to buy their units and they have a lifetime guarantee of staying in the unit that is converted. In such cases, they rent the unit from the owner, with rent increases tied to hikes in the consumer price index. 

The current ordinance also includes disincentives for property owners to quit the rental business and evict tenants in order to convert the property, and to carry out owner move-in evictions in order to convert.  

Accusing the council of playing politics with the condo conversion law, “rather than solving the city’s housing problems,” Wilson argued that property owners should have been consulted. 

“The City Council has made a decision about condominium conversion without consulting the people who are actually involved,” he said.


News Analysis: Winning OUSD Proposal Failed to Meet Goals

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday July 21, 2006

While two rejected proposals for the Oakland Unified School District administrative properties substantially meet several district “baseline expectations and intentions,” the winning proposal by TerraMark/UrbanAmerica does not, an analysis by the Daily Planet has found. 

Included in the “expectations and intentions” of the district’s 2005 Request For Qualifications (RFQ) not reached by TerraMark/UrbanAmerica were provisions for affordable housing for teachers, construction of a multi-grade school complex to replace the five schools currently on the property site, and provisions for a possible ongoing revenue stream for the district. 

The analysis raises questions as to why TerraMark/Urban America got the winning bid. State Superintendent Jack O’Connell, who is handling the sale negotiations, has not released information on how he made his selection. 

 

District board calls for halt of sale 

Sale of the properties has stirred considerable controversy in Oakland in recent days, with most members of the OUSD Advisory Board of Trustees and a coalition of community organizations calling for a halt to the sale until local control is returned to the district. 

The district’s state-appointed administrator Randolph Ward and the seven members of the OUSD Advisory Board of Trustees signed off on the 2005 RFQ to either sell or lease 8.25 acres of Lake Merritt-area district property, including the Paul Robeson Administration Building, an elementary school, two high schools, and two child development centers. 

At a public hearing on the proposed sale held last week, Ward said, “I remember particularly not wanting to look at” selling the administration building when the RFQ was developed in 2005, but added, “It was something the board wanted to look at.” 

Of the seven board trustees, only Vice President Kerry Hammil said at last week’s hearing that she was still in favor of the proposed sale. She told fellow trustees that “we all approved the RFQ” in 2005. 

“If we want to say every administrative parcel is sacred” and not available for possible sale, she said, “it will be less money in the budget going to the school sites.” 

Three developers submitted proposals: the east coast-based TerraMark/UrbanAmerica team, Gilbane Properties of Palo Alto, and a development team including Oakland-based Strategic Urban Development Associates (SUDA). 

State Superintendent Jack O’Connell is currently negotiating a contract agreement with the TerraMark/Urban America team based on a Letter of Intent signed the first of June by state-appointed OUSD administrator Randolph Ward. Under the legislation that authorized the state takeover of the Oakland in 2003, O’Connell has the legal authority to make the final decision on the sale of the Oakland school properties. 

 

Expectations and intentions 

The district’s 2005 RFQ and Request for Proposals (RFP) included a number of what it called “baseline expectations and intentions by the District” which the RFQ said “all proposals must address.” 

Among these expectations and intentions were “the construction of a new instructional campus of small schools serving students from pre-school through high school” and “provide the district with an on-going revenue stream.” 

In addition, the 2005 RFQ-RFP said that while it was considering moving its administrative facilities to another location off the downtown property, “the District will consider proposals which provide modernized and/or new [administrative] facilities for the District” including a 70,000-square-foot District Headquarters and both adequate parking and provisions for alternate means of transportation for district employees. 

In addition, in a list of “other factors which the District will view favorably,” the RFQ-RFP included “public benefit, such as the provision of affordable housing or jobs for community residents; affordable housing for teachers; and retention and adaptive reuse of historic buildings.” 

The TerraMark/Urban America proposal calls for five 27- to 37-floor high-rise towers dominating the Lake Merritt Channel area, with luxury condominiums on the top and commercial space on the ground floors. The project is called “The Trophy” in honor of Heisman Trophy winners who played for the Oakland Raiders, and includes plans for a possible Heisman Trophy Museum.  

While TerraMark/UrbanAmerica proposes “a broad range of apartment sizes [that] will allow for a rich mixture of buyers from all age groups and socioeconomic backgrounds,” the proposal only refers to “market-rate” housing and does not specifically call for an affordable housing component, or set-aside housing for teachers.  

The TerraMark/UrbanAmerica proposal also makes no specific provision for the building of a new education facility on the property as called for in the district’s RFQ, but instead notes that “ideally, the developer seeks to make use of the entire acreage and pay the District a generous sum of money to find and construct new school/administrative buildings off-site.” 

“In an alternative arrangement,” the TerraMark/Urban America proposal adds, “the developer would set aside a portion of the [property] that the District could use for the construction of new school buildings and administrative space.” 

 

Losing bids 

In contrast, both the SUDA and Gilbane proposals call for the construction of a new multi-grade educational complex on the property as called for in the district’s RFQ to replace La Escuelita Elementary School, Dewy and MetWest High Schools, and two district-run child development centers. Both proposals also include the building of new district administrative facilities on the Lake Merritt-area property site. 

While the Gilbane proposal does not specifically mention an affordable housing component, it does mention affordable housing in its analysis of the Oakland/Emeryville housing market, saying that while the market is down for rental units rather than condominiums, “developers of subsidized affordable housing continue to develop rental units using a combination of conventional and governmental financing sources.” 

The SUDA proposal specifically calls for “both luxury and workforce housing,” and also includes “market-rate and affordable/workforce condominiums [targeted towards teachers].” 

Both the SUDA and Gilbane developments would differ significantly from the 37 to 27 story luxury towers of between 1,000 and 1,388 total residential units called for in the TerraMark/UrbanAmerica project, which also anticipates requesting the city close a portion of 2nd Avenue to be sold to the developers. 

SUDA proposes 725 residential units spread out between six housing structures, the largest two 35 and 24 stories respectively, but the other four low-rise buildings ranging between six and four stories. SUDA also proposes renovating the existing Paul Robeson Administration Building, setting up an urban plaza on the corner of 3rd Avenue and East 11th Street “to double as festival and event space for local residents and students,” “shared facilities, such as a Black Box Theater, a Gymnasium/Multipurpose facility and Community meeting and study rooms.”  

SUDA president Alan Dones says that even though the State Superintendent is currently in final negotiations with TerraMark/UrbanAmerica over the OUSD project, “we are not dropping our proposal. It’s absolutely still on the table. We’re not fighting anybody over it. We just want them to know that we’re still here if they’re interested.” 

SUDA is presently building the Thomas L. Berkley Square development in Oakland’s uptown area adjacent to the proposed Forest City development site. In addition, last year the developer was involved in a controversial proposal to develop the Peralta Community College District Administrative Building and several parcels owned by Laney College. Dones later voluntarily dropped his proposal after significant opposition to the plans developed among Laney College staff members and students, union representatives, and Peralta Board of Trustees members. 

The Gilbane proposal includes 540 residential units of between 20 and 7 stories and instead of closing a street, as TerraMark/UrbanAmerica proposes, would open the presently-closed East 11th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. Gilbane also suggests a possible use of the Laney College athletic fields by the high school students on the Lake Merritt-area site. 

Neither the SUDA nor the Gilbane proposals provide final financial details of the proposed price for the OUSD properties, both organizations stating that the final price would depend upon the structure of the deal, including whether or not the land is purchased outright or a joint district-developer development project is entered into.  

The SUDA proposal specifically provides provisions for the ongoing revenue stream called for in the original district RFQ. 

The original TerraMark/UrbanAmerica originally mentioned such an ongoing revenue stream, but that proposal was dropped in the Letter of Intent later signed with the state superintendent and the state-appointed OUSD administrator. 

TerraMark/UrbanAmerica has proposed paying up to $60 million for the project, but the actual money eventually going to the district could be significantly reduced if various options within the proposal come into play.


Developer Declares Albany Mall Plan Dead

By Richard Brenneman
Friday July 21, 2006

Though an angry Rick Caruso said early Tuesday that he’s pulled the plug on his plans for a $300 million Albany waterfront mall, project foes say they expect him back. 

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me screwing up your waterfront,” Caruso told a political opponent at the end of a volatile Albany City Council meeting that shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday. 

“It was pretty painful in the end,” he said to a supporter. 

Albany City Administrator Beth Pollard emailed councilmembers Tuesday afternoon that Matt Middelbrook, the former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor who has been running the developer’s campaign to win over Albany residents, had called to say “Caruso will not be moving forward with an application.” 

Councilmember Robert Lieber said Wednesday that he doubts Caruso is really withdrawing, and Mayor Alan Maris said he plans to call Caruso and ask him to reapply. 

“I’m hoping for it,” Maris said Wednesday. “I would like to see the opportunity for him to go through the normal application process.” 

Caruso staged a similar, much-publicized walkout two years ago in Glendale before the city council there agreed to his terms for a downtown mall. He had already spent $5 million on the project, according to an account in the Glendale News-Press. Three days later, he announced he’d reconsider given public and City Council support. 

Five months later, he defeated a referendum brought by opponents. 

Caruso and the city broke ground for the $324 million mall last month. 

A Santa Monica lawyer who represented Glendale and Caruso in a lawsuit filed by another mall owner was hired by Albany officials to handle legal work. He appeared at Monday night’s council meeting as an advisor to the council. 

The Albany council also voted unanimously Monday to approve placing an initiative on the November ballot after its proponents—environmentalists and other mall foes—secured the signatures of a fourth of the city’s electorate. 

That measure still faces a legal challenge which could keep it off the ballot (see related article).  

 

Developer demand 

Caruso insisted that the city commit to giving his project a full environmental impact review (EIR) even before it had seen a project application-- that led to Monday night’s showdown. 

His demand would have meant the city couldn’t reject his proposal out of hand, regardless of whether it violated city codes, plans or zoning, until it had gone through the extensive EIR process. 

City staff and fellow councilmembers weren’t ready to pass the resolution introduced by Councilmember Jewel Oakachi, both because they hadn’t had time to study it and because it was drafted by Caruso’s own attorneys. 

In a joint report, Pollard, City Attorney Robert Zweben and Community Development Director Ann Chaney declined to endorse it. 

“I do not recommend passage of a resolution drafted by Mr. Caruso,” said Zweben. 

If the council wanted to endorse the intent of the resolution, he said, staff should prepare their own version. 

When Okawachi moved approval, the attempt died for lack of a second. 

Councilmember Robert Good then moved that the council take no action on the proposal, pending submission of an application that presented Caruso’s plans in detail. Lieber offered a second, but the motion died on an three-two vote. 

Farid Javandel then moved that the staff prepare a resolution “that reassures the applicant that we would accept and process his application like any other.” Joined by Lieber and Good, that resolution carried the day against opposition from Okawachi and the mayor. 

The five-hour meeting ended moments later. 

Both votes had been preceded by long public comment periods, featuring sometimes heated remarks. 

Albany Unified School District board member David Farrell blasted what he called “the takeover initiative ... which threatens to rob the school district of badly needed funds and for the exclusion of the school board” from representation on the task force that will charter a future for the shoreline. 

That panel will consist of one member appointed by each of the city’s five councilmembers and one representative each from four environmental groups: Citizens for the Albany Shoreline, Sustainable Albany, the Sierra Club and Citizens for East Shore Parks. 

Project proponents hailed the mall plans as an economic stimulus for a cash strapped city increasingly forced to rely on bond measures to maintain basic services. Escape from increased property taxes was repeatedly invoked. 

Foes cited the potnetial threat to merchants on Solano and San Pablo avenues and the need to protect an environmentally sensitive waterfront. 

 

The project 

By Tuesday morning, rumors were already flying that had Caruso looking for new sites in Berkeley and Richmond. 

Middlebrook confirmed late Thursday that his firm is talking with officials in other cities, and said the firm is a eager to find another location in the East Bay. 

He declined to identify the specific cities. 

“We’ve had a number of calls in the last couple of days about potential opportunities,” he said. 

Caruso Affiliated Holdings had teamed with track owners Magna Entertainment to propose a $300 million mall on the track’s northwestern parking lot, complete with shops and major retailers—the Nordstrom name was bandied about and talk of apartments overhead. 

Shoreline renovations, a new park and public beach access were assured. 

The plan was paired with another joint effort at Magna’s Santa Anita race track in Southern California. 

Caruso and Magna waged a long detailed campaign to win over voters, holding innumerable “coffees” and other meetings where tax benefits were stressed, often by Caruso himself. 

Aiding the effort has been the public relations firm of Dion Aroner, former state Assembly member and a close political ally of her successor, Loni Hancock, and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, a former holder of the assembly seat and Hancock’s spouse. 

Caruso, a Southern California developer—a well-connected Republican and Bush donor who told another supporter he’d recently met with Karl Rove—has built his father’s rental car fortune into a shopping center empire. 

One mall, The Grove in the Los Angeles Fairfax District, even outdraws its next door neighbor, the famed Farmers Market, once the state’s most popular tourist attraction. 

Caruso builds historically themed open air shopping “experiences,” with broad, scenic expanses and designs architectural critics either love or hate. City governments usually love them for the sales taxes they bring.


UC’s Plans to Remove Trees from People’s Park Raise Concerns

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday July 21, 2006

Users of People’s Park met with UC Berkeley officials on Thursday for a park walk-through and discussion of some upcoming projects. 

The park’s users made it clear to university officials that attempts to cut down trees, clear undergrowth, and trim shrubbery in an effort to clean the university-owned park to curb crime needed to be done with community input. 

They reminded the officials about the 2003 Canopy Agreement, according to which the university agreed to work with the People’s Park Community Advisory Board Members on such matters as retaining any removed trees as chips, logs, and rounds and to educate and discuss with the public prior to removing trees at the park. 

Irene Hegarty, Director of the UC Berkeley Office of Community Relations, said that such discussion and retaining felled trees as chips, logs, and rounds in the park would be given careful consideration.  

Hegarty gave the guided tour along with Kate Bolton, assistant landscape architect, and Phil Cody, a UC Berkeley arborist.  

Hegarty highlighted the importance of keeping the park from becoming a haven for drug dealers, pointing out the dense undergrowth and shrubbery where such activities are thought to take place. A thousand hypodermic needles were found on the park’s premises in the last eight months, she said. 

People’s Park Community Advisory Board members, however, were not entirely convinced that clearing trees was the only way to check the drug problem. Board member Joe Halperin said that a lot of other steps needed to be carried out to control it. 

“It’s important to clean the place up because we don‘t want our kids or our pets to step on hypodermic needles,” he said. “Although at the moment I am not talking about removing a single tree, I think we should go ahead with sophisticated pruning. There is not a whole lot of continued maintenance of the park. We should look at the underbrush and see how we can clean it up. A sustainable ecological approach needs to be taken. Cutting down trees is not the approach to curb drug use.”  

Board member Lydia Gans said that the first step would be to draft a policy and forward it to university officials so that the process could go forward keeping everybody’s best interests in mind. 

During the walk-through along the east end of the park, Hegarty, along with Cody, pointed out several redwood trees which needed to be removed to avoid competition for space and sunlight. There was also talk of removing the acacia trees which were facing problems from co-dominant stem weightage. 

The east end of the park is home to community gardeners and according to Hegarty will be spruced and trimmed for a cleaner look. 

“This is the area where we have the majority of the drug dealing problems,” she said. “In the past shrubbery in this area has been vandalized and uprooted. A vegetation management system and a place to put all the green debris would certainly help.”  

Cody and Bolton both said that the exact proportion of how much vegetation needed to be cleared off from the park would be available after a careful assessment. 

“We are not doing this with the intention of murdering or cutting down any trees,” Bolton said. “Every tree will be given careful consideration.” 

Berkeley naturalist Terri Compost said that the addition-remove ratio should be kept in mind while carrying out the changes. 

“The park has its problems, but it also has beauty,” she said. “We like the patches of wilderness; it’s what makes the place so unique. I am mostly concerned about the fruit trees, the oaks. It’s very important not to have surprises in the park. There is a little story behind every tree and I want anything that gets cut in the park to remain in the park. People smoke dope behind buildings all the time, nobody talks about taking them down.” 

Greg Jalbert, a community gardener, stressed on the importance of making the park better overall. 

“The important question is how can we make the park better not just by cutting but by adding,” he said. “Before you haul off a tree, talk to us about it. As for the drug problem, why not have a needle exchange place set up at the park? We need to get to the source of the problem and solve it.” 

Caitlin Berliner, a UC student representative on the advisory board, stressed the importance of communication when it came to maintaining the park. “If a proper work day is declared then a lot of students would come forward to help clean up the park and even start gardening there. Fundraising is also a big possibility.” she said. 

George Beier, board member, suggested that given the current troubles on Telegraph Avenue with business closures and homeless, remodeling People’s Park would help encourage more pedestrian traffic in the area. 

“If students and neighbors feel comfortable walking through the park, Telegraph Avenue would be a lot better off,” he said. “We need to make more people use the park, make it more accessible.” 

Community Gardeners meet Sundays 1-4 p.m. in the west end of the Community Garden in People’s Park.


Council Hears Project Appeal, In-Lieu Fees, New LPO

By Judith Scherr
Friday July 21, 2006

The Berkeley City Council dealt with three development issues Tuesday: a citizen appeal of housing-retail project at 1201 San Pablo Ave., a proposal to charge developers in-lieu fees rather than requiring inclusionary units and the second reading of the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. 

 

Development appeal 

Some 20 neighbors of a proposed 30,000-square-foot residential-commercial development at San Pablo Avenue and Harrison Street came to the City Council Tuesday evening to appeal the project approval in April by the Zoning Adjustments Board. 

After hearing from neighbors and developers who spoke during the scheduled public comment period, the council decided to set a public hearing on the project for September.  

“The project is too tall to be adjacent to a residential neighborhood; it should be one story lower,” said nearby neighbor Joan Molesky-Poz of the proposed five-story building. 

In order to deny concessions requested by a developer for a project with an affordable component, state law requires the city to find that the concessions were not necessary to make the project financiallly feasible. In this case, the ZAB majority was in favor of the building, and thus did not need to make feasibility findings. The majority thought that the building as proposed was a better building than a larger building that included a density bonus component would be. 

Other neighbors pointed to the problem of mandating only a five-foot separation between the new development and the neighboring residences.  

But project architect Don Mill argued that an appeal needed to be held on the project before the council, and not on what the neighbors want the project to look like. “The appeal needs to be decided on its merits,” he argued. 

Speaking for the Zoning Adjustments Board Commission, Commissioner Dave Blake told the council there was no legal alternative. “It’s the law—we have no choice,” he said. 

 

Condo developers can pay fee, skip inclusionary units 

Allowing condominium developers to pay a fee rather than provide one inclusionary unit for every five units of housing for people whose income is at 80 percent of the area’s median (around $40,000-$60,000 annually for a family of three) was popular with the council, which approved the ordinance unanimously Tuesday. 

Councilmembers agreed this would be a boost for truly affordable housing, because the city would be able to use funds received from developers to leverage more low-income housing money and create more units to serve very low-income people. 

Controversy arose, however, when Mayor Tom Bates called for a review of the fee in several months, after first consulting with the Housing Advisory and the Planning commissions. Bates’ proposal would set lower fees for developers. 

“It is in the spirit of being fair,” Bates said. “The developer should be allowed to (recuperate) costs.” 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who said he preferred higher developer fees, moved to table Bates’ motion, but lost, with only Councilmembers Max Anderson and Dona Spring voting to support his motion. 

Voting for the motion to review developer fees were Bates and Councilmembers Linda Maio, Darryl Moore, Laurie Capitelli, Betty Olds and Gordon Wozniak. 

 

Second reading of the landmarks ordinance draws fire 

Normally, the second reading of an ordinance, a mandatory step in the creation of local laws, passes quietly on unanimous council votes, but in the case of the controversial revision of the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance, opponents turned out to oppose passage of the ordinance on the second reading. 

One question, brought to the council by former Landmarks Preservation Comissioner Patti Dacey, was that the date for implementation of the ordinance when it was passed last week at first reading. In response, the council rescinded last week’s ordinance and passed a new draft at first reading which had the Nov. 1 start date included.  

The second question Dacey raised during the public comment period was whether the new ordinance was consistent with the voter-passed 1982 Neighborhood Commercial Preservation Initiative, provisions of which she said may conflict with the new ordinance. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington responded by asking staff to report back next week on whether the two laws conflict; he also asked staff to report on the degree to which the initiative has been implemented in ordinance form.


Warm Pool Replacement Will Not Make November Ballot

By Judith Scherr
Friday July 21, 2006

Not many disabled people chose to stand up in public and talk about their handicaps. But that’s what Ben Rivers did at the City Council meeting Tuesday. 

Rivers was motivated by a pressing need to explain to city policy makers what the warm pool means to its disabled and elderly users. 

The pool, located at Berkeley High School, is slated for demolition and the One Warm Pool advocacy group has been lobbying the council for a replacement.  

“I have severe Parkinson’s,” said Rivers, trembling visibly and leaning on the arm of a friend. “I’ve tried many different treatments. The only thing that has ever helped is swimming.” 

Rivers said he needs a pool heated to the warm pool’s normal 92-degree heat. “Cold water makes my body freeze up,” he said. “It is very necessary for my life.”  

Although the council had conceptually approved placing a bond measure on the November ballot asking voters to fund a new warm pool, councilmembers agreed that, at this juncture, there are too many uncertainties to do so and voted unanimously to make the pool one of some two-dozen priority council projects.  

Staff will be hired to address this issue, paid for with General Fund money already set aside for the pool. 

The school district owns the site where the city hopes a new pool will be built: former tennis courts east of Milvia Street. The district is performing an environmental review of a number of projects in its South Campus Masterplan, including the demolition of the current pool and construction of a new indoor pool with locker rooms, but there is no firm agreement between the schools and city. Such an agreement cannot be finalized until after the environmental review is completed, likely in December, according to City Manager Phil Kamlarz. 

“We have to get together with the school district. We’ve been doing this dance,” said Mayor Tom Bates, referring to the uncertainties regarding the new pool site, including which agency will own the site and whether the school district will participate in its maintenance.  

These details need to be ironed out before the council can determine what such a project would cost and how to fund it, he said. Bates also noted that because people from neighboring cities use the pool, those cities should participate in its funding. 

If the warm pool is demolished without an alternative, Councilmember Dona Spring promised action by the disabled community: “The bulldozers will be blocked. I don’t think (the school district) wants to deal with the consequences,” she said.


Berkeley Man Wins Honor For Penning Awful Prose

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday July 21, 2006

In describing a tear’s journey from a cheek to the Long Beach Harbor, one Berkeley man sealed his fate as an inductee into the hall of literary infamy.  

Berkeley resident Bill Mac Iver wrote, “A single sparkling tear fell from Little Mary’s cheek onto the sidewalk, then slid into the storm drain, there to join in its course the mighty waters of the Los Angeles River and, eventually, Long Beach Harbor, with its state-of-the-art container-freight processing facilities.”  

The sentence was deemed so offensive it won an award in the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, a writing competition where entrants are challenged to pen bad opening lines to the worst novels imaginable. 

Mac Iver nabbed first place in the “purple prose” category, a catchall for the “writer who’s trying too hard,” said Scott Rice, contest founder and chair of the San Jose State University English and Comparative Literature Department, which sponsors the competition.  

“That was one of my favorites,” Rice said of Mac Iver’s contribution. “It’s so casual and confident, the way it starts out in one way and ends up another way … You have to wonder what’s next. Is it about Little Mary or the state-of-the-art container-freight facilities? It’s absurd in a clever way.” 

Mac Iver’s entry was absurd enough to qualify him for the grand prize, Rice said, an award that ultimately went to Carmichael resident Jim Guigli, a retired mechanical designer for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, for the following:  

“Detective Bart Lasiter was in his office studying the light from his one small window falling on his super burrito when the door swung open to reveal a woman whose body said you’ve had your last burrito for a while, whose face said angels did exist, and whose eyes said she could make you dig your own grave and lick the shovel clean.” 

The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, named for the minor Victorian novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton, who produced the opener: “It was a dark and stormy night…”—a phrase later co-opted and made famous by the cartoon dog Snoopy--started on the San Jose State campus in 1982 with just three entries. That year, Gail Cain of San Francisco, was declared the winner with this line: 

“The camel died quite suddenly on the second day, and Selena fretted sulkily and, buffing her already impeccable nails—not for the first time since the journey began—pondered snidely if this would dissolve into a vignette of minor inconveniences like all the other holidays spent with Basil.” 

The contest has since attracted thousands of submissions each year—Rice no longer keeps exact figures—many from international contestants. 

Sentences are judged in multiple categories, such as children’s literature, detective fiction and adventure, by a panel of 24 “experts,” of whom about half are former winners, Rice said. The grand prize winner is said to receive a pittance; category winners, like Mac Iver, receive 15 minutes of fame, Rice said. If they want it. 

Mac Iver did not return multiple calls for this story. 

The criteria for judging are simple: there are none, Rice said.  

“That’s one of the secrets of the contest,” he said. “We’re not looking for anything.”


PRC Begins Investigating Case of Cop Stealing Drugs

By Judith Scherr
Friday July 21, 2006

The sergeant in charge of Berkeley’s drug evidence room copped a plea earlier this year, admitting he stole drug evidence in his charge. 

But now the Police Review Commission, working through a subcommittee, is asking how a police officer, reportedly a drug abuser, could have been involved with criminal activity over months—perhaps years—without the knowledge or intervention of fellow officers.  

“We are here to look at the investigation and see if there are any shortcomings,” said Commissioner William White, subcommittee chair. 

“We need to find out if the police knew (about the problems) and overlooked it,” said Commissioner Sharon Kidd. 

The subcommittee that also includes Commissioner Sherry Smith, began its work Monday, pledging to come to a conclusion within six months. 

Each committee member will read the 900-page police report, which details an investigation carried out jointly by the Berkeley Police Department and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. 

Members of the public can read the document at the records bureau, at the police department at Center Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way; the document can be purchased for about $84. 

Subcommittee members reported they had just begun to read the report, but Kidd said it already raised red flags. 

“Why didn’t they put (Kent) on administrative leave without pay until he had the physical?” she asked, referring to the findings in the report that indicated Kent put off having a mandatory physical for months.  

The subcommittee also plans to: 

• Speak with an expert in the field of drug abuse, learning in particular about how the department may have missed signs of Kent’s reported heroin and methamphetamine abuse; 

• Work with, to the degree possible, Police Officers’ Standards and Training, a Sacramento-based agency that has evaluated the Berkeley police’s drug evidence procedures and will be reporting to the BPD on its findings in August; 

• Read publications dealing with drug abuse in police departments, particularly the work of Tom Mieczkowski of the University of Florida; 

• Work with the police chief and a liaison with the department who has been close to the investigation; 

• Look at the question of drug-testing police; learning which communities do so and under what circumstances; 

• Interview the police officer and county investigator that conducted the investigation. 

“We need to move on this in the interest of the community,” said Commissioner Kidd. 

The subcommittee will hold a community workshop in October to hear from citizens and experts. The subcommittee will meet again July 31 at 5 p.m. at 1947 Center St., 3rd floor.


UC Berkeley Unions Plan Rally Against Transportation Fee Hikes

By Rio Bauce, Special to the Planet
Friday July 21, 2006

On Wednesday, UC Berkeley unions plan to rally against what they call “drastic changes” in the parking fees for disabled employees, carpool permits, and Bear passes that the university has unilaterally imposed upon their employees. 

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299, the Coalition of University Employees (CUE) Local 3, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 1474, and the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) Local 1 are organizing the protest. 

The unions have set a rally for Wednesday at noon at University Hall (on the Addison Street side). 

Disabled employees previously paid $48 a month for parking permits. As of July 1, the price increased to $86 a month. 

“Essentially, they eliminated an entire category of parking permits for disabled people, “said Jon Rodney, CUE Local 3. ”The university decided that the disabled must pay what everyone else pays, but they also must use their placard or license plate.” 

The three-person carpool, which previously had cost $6, has been eliminated, along with the two-person carpool, which had cost $22. Instead, the university created a generic carpool permit which costs $30, of which you need at least two for a carpool. 

“It’s a rip-off,” said Mariciuz Manzanerez, a university custodian and a member of AFSCME. “I have worked there for seven years. They don’t care about us. We get paid barely anything. It’s impossible to pay for the new car pool permits … If you don’t bring your permit accidentally, you have to buy a new ticket for the day. This is ridiculous. They say they don’t have the money, and that they would respond to us. But they haven’t.” 

However, the university claims that the proposed changes in transportation are beneficial to the community. 

“The flexibility is increased,” said Adan Tejada, manager of Parking Administration at UC Berkeley. “You don’t need a set group of carpoolers. If you can’t find someone to carpool with, you can still buy a daily pass. It may be more expensive than last year, but not drastically.” 

Igor Tregub, member of the city’s Commission on Labor, commented, “Anytime there is a 500 percent increase in carpool costs, any flexibility is obliterated.” 

The other issue is the Bear Pass, which provides employees with unlimited rides on AC Transit. The cost has gone from $20 to $25 this year. 

“These things should be encouraged, not discouraged,” Rodney said, referring to public transportation and car pools. “Look at how successful Spare the Air Days have been. Why would the university do this?” 

Berkeley Councilmember Kriss Worthington is advocating for the university to offer freeEco Passes to employees, allowing free rides on public buses. 

“The obvious policy for the university is to provide free transportation and not making it more expensive to carpool,” Worthington said. “If you’re trying to get people out of their cars and use public transit, you need to provide them with a free Eco pass.” 

The unions sent a joint letter on June 30 to UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and have not received a response from him regarding the fee increases. 

“The chancellor said that he would get back to us,” stated Debra Grabelle, AFSCME Local 3299. “It hits the low-wage workers particularly hard. A lot of them have been in wage fights with the chancellor and the university since November. We hope that they will reverse their decision.” 

The university’s justification for the fee increase involve the previous inconsistency in their programs and the increased costs of providing the program to the students. Tejada defended the university’s decision. 

“All the costs associated with parking needs to be recovered,” he said. “There has been a need of normalization of the rates. The proposed fee increases have been reviewed by the chancellor’s oversight committee. They wanted it to be consistent.” 

 


Suit Served Against Pacific Steel

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday July 21, 2006

Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), an Oakland-based environmental health and justice non-profit, has served Pacific Steel Casting with a federal lawsuit, the organization announced Wednesday. 

The group, alleging that the West Berkeley steel foundry is violating the federal Clean Air Act, filed the lawsuit July 6, but had not met success serving papers, said Adrienne Bloch, senior staff attorney with CBE. 

On Wednesday, Pacific Steel Spokesperson Elisabeth Jewel said the company still had not seen the lawsuit. “We are refraining from comment,” she said. 

In the lawsuit, CBE claims the steel company, comprised of three plants on Second Street, has exceeded emissions limits and failed to comply with reporting requirements. If found to have violated federal law, Pacific Steel may be liable for civil penalties, though exactly how much is unclear, Bloch said. 

CBE is seeking up to $100,000 for mitigation projects to benefit the community, the lawsuit says. 

The case has been assigned to magistrate judge Bernard Zimmerman, Bloch said. A hearing may be scheduled as early as two months from now, she said. 

“The function of the lawsuit is to bring Pacific Steel into compliance and I’m hoping the lawsuit will succeed in that,” said Janice Schroeder, a member of both CBE and the West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs, a neighborhood watchdog group. “I want Pacific Steel to be a good neighbor and to clean up so not they only don’t have odors, but we don’t have toxics in the community.” 

Though the lawsuit represents the interests of community organizations like the West Berkeley Alliance and Berkeley Citizen, they are not named as plaintiffs in the case, as Berkeley Citizen representative L A Wood previously told the Daily Planet.  

Residents surrounding the plants have complained about odor and health problems for more than two decades. 

In December, Pacific Steel and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) reached a settlement agreement, which required the steel company to pay $17,500 in fines and install a $2 million odor-abatement system. BAAQMD recently penalized the company further for odor complaints, permit violations and installing equipment without the authority to do so. 

The air district is also very concerned Pacific Steel has not completed a health risk assessment, initially due in June, said Jack Colbourn, BAAQMD director of outreach and incentive, earlier this month. 

A separate small claims lawsuit against Pacific Steel, under the direction of the nonprofit organization Neighborhood Solutions, is also in progress. Residents are eligible to sue for up to $7,500 in damages.  

District 1 City Councilmember Linda Maio, who has been critical of the small claims suit because it could counteract clean-up efforts already underway, is amenable to the CBE action. 

“I’m not a technical person, so I can’t say what the grounds (of the lawsuit) are, but I think the more pressure we can put on Pacific Steel Casting (the better),” she said. “We really need them to clean up their emissions. … It’s just one more pressure point.” 

 


HUD Renews Redwood Garden Senior Housing Subsidy

By Rio Bauce, Special to the Planet
Friday July 21, 2006

Denise Fore, maintenance director of Redwood Gardens, a senior housing complex near Clark Kerr Campus that is home to around 200 senior citizens, said this week that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will renew their subsidies for the Redwood Gardens complex. 

The HUD subsidy was given to Redwood Gardens twenty years ago and is set to expire on Nov. 17. 

When told of Fore’s response, Redwood Gardens resident Charlie Betcher, who had feared an end to the subsidies that allow the residents to live at the complex, said, “I’m delighted, just delighted.” 

Some residents at the complex are skeptical as to whether the housing will actually be renewed and are not celebrating yet. 

“It’s unclear to me,” said longtime resident Eleanor Walden. “We were told by Denise that everything was fine. Then I heard at a Sunday meeting that it is still in jeopardy. I’m a little at loss for words.” 

However, Fore said she was certain that Redwood Gardens will be receiving their subsidy renewal. 

“HUD has already renewed the contracts [for Redwood Gardens],” she said. “It’s just what they do. When a building is developed, HUD typically gives them a 20-year contract. All buildings have been renewed … especially the senior housing.”


Phantom Paintball Attacks Continue for Second Month

By Richard Brenneman
Friday July 21, 2006

Berkeley’s phantom paintballer is at it again, and police are asking for the public’s help in nailing the serial splatterer. 

The count to date includes 13 people, one car and one dog. 

The pigment-blasting baddie embarked on his spree on June 13, reports Berkeley police spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss. 

The first report came just before 8 p.m. that evening from a woman who said she’d been hit while walking along the 1300 block of University Avenue. 

Within minutes another attack was reported from the 1900 block of Ward Street, where a victim standing on the sidewalk was struck. 

The next call came minutes later from a motorist whose car was struck near the corner of Solano Avenue and Tulare Street. 

The next report came a minute after midnight on June 16, this time from a 30-year-old woman who was hit as she walked along Shattuck Avenue near the Carleton Street intersection. 

At 1 p.m., the attacker was back, hitting a pedestrian strolling on Shattuck Avenue near Blake Street. Less than two hours later, a woman called to say she had just been splatted behind the ear as she walked near the Radio Shack store in the 1600 block of University Avenue. 

On June 21 a woman was struck near the border of San Pablo and Cedar Streets, though she didn’t call in a report until the 30th, the day this paper published its first account of the mysterious assaults. 

On July 10, at Shattuck Avenue and Stuart Street a Berkeley woman, 56, was riding her bike at 7:45 p.m. when shot. No suspect was identified.  

The next day at 2:25 p.m., a woman was hit as she drove her car along the 1600 block of University Avenue, 

At 4:45 p.m. another projectile was fired at a driver, this time a father driving his eight-year-old son on errands. 

The father told police he was driving northbound on Shattuck near Channing Way when something whizzed by the father and stuck his son on the left cheek, leaving a red two-inch welt. 

At 4:25 p.m. on July 12, the paintball shooter was back again, hitting a 48-year-old Oakland man who was walking south on Shattuck near Russell Street. 

The man told officer he felt a “tremendous sting” on the front of the throat, then touched his neck to find his fingers tipped with pink paint. 

Four days later it was a dog’s turn to be splattered as the critter’s 25-year-old mistress walked her pooch along Martin Luther King Jr. Way near Cedar Street at 8 p.m. 

A minute later, officers were called to the 2000 block of Ashby, where a commuter had been blasted on a walk to the BART station. 

Sgt. Kusmiss said two more attacks were reported just minutes apart on Thursday. 

In the first assault, a man was hit at 12:25 p.m. as he walked along Shattuck near Kittredge Street. Five minutes later, a woman was hit near Shattuck and Parker. Both were struck in the chest by white paintballs.  

“We’re hoping the community will help us catch whoever’s doing this,” said Sgt. Kusmiss. 

While the paintballs could put out an eye—the reasons recreational paintballers wear goggles—the officer said an attack on a motorist could lead to a panic reaction and a major accident. 

She asked anyone with any information to possible suspects or vehicles involved in the attack to call BPD’s non-emergency number, 981-5900—though anyone seeing an attack as it happens should call 911.


Stolen Car Chase Ends in Hills With Possibly Another Stolen Car

By Richard Brenneman
Friday July 21, 2006

A Richmond police pursuit ended near the Claremont Hotel Tuesday night but not before a helicopter search and prowling patrol cars alarmed nearby residents. 

Berkeley police spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said Berkeley officers were alerted at 6:35 p.m. by the Richmond department, who said their cars were chasing a suspected stolen car into the city. 

The driver was reported armed with a semi-automatic pistol. 

Berkeley cars joined in, but the officers lost sight of the car—a 2006 Chrysler 300—near the intersection of Claremont and Ashby avenues. 

It was Berkeley officers who finally spotted the car, parked in front of a home in the 2800 block of Elmwood Avenue. 

The pilot of a California Highway Patrol helicopter who regularly monitors the Berkeley, Richmond and Oakland police bands joined in the pursuit. 

The suspect managed to evade the search, but he did leave behind a dozen power tools in the trunk of the stolen car, Sgt. Kusmiss said. 

Though readers told the Daily Planet that the bandit had stolen another car, the officer said she was unable to confirm that account. 

But a resident of nearby Pine Street said her 1993 Saab was the likely getaway car. 

The woman, who spoke on condition that her name not be used, was first alerted to unusual goings-on by the sirens and the sound of the helicopter. 

“I noticed a policeman on the corner and asked my son to find out what was going on,” she said. 

Leaving the door ajar, the young man went to check—and the woman believes it was then that the theft went down. 

“The keys were on a table by the door and you could see them through the window,” she said. 

The theft itself was finally discovered about 9:15 p.m. 

“I hope I get it back,” she said. “I don’t think it’s the kind of car he’ll want to ride around in.”


Harrison Announces Intention To Run For School Board Seat

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday July 21, 2006

Norma Harrison, a communist and active member of the Peace and Freedom Party, has announced a bid for school board.  

Harrison, 71, is seeking one of three open seats on the five-member Berkeley Board of Education this November. A self-employed realtor and former public school teacher, Harrison has lived in Berkeley since 1979. She has never run for public office. 

“I’m not talking about funding, racial integration, smaller class sizes—I’m not talking about the usual issues,” she said in a phone interview Tuesday. “I’m talking about creating a venue to go toward talking about the kind of living we like. There’s no place for that conversation these days.”  

If elected, Harrison would work to “gradually eliminate school as we know it,” she said. She did not offer specific plans.  

Harrison grew up in Chicago, and attended Roosevelt University, where she obtained a teaching degree in 1963. She taught in the Chicago public schools for five years and on a kibbutz in Israel for one year. She has worked as a substitute teacher in the Bay Area, and held other odd jobs while raising two children.  

Her daughter attended King Middle School and Berkeley High School in the 1980s, but did not graduate. Harrison’s son, who attended public school in Chicago, also dropped out of school. 

Harrison’s husband, Jack Harrison, a member of the Rent Stabilization Board, is running for California Attorney General; Harrison serves as his campaign manager. 

Harrison has not yet submitted official nomination papers. She is in the process of collecting 150 signatures, which absolves her of the need to pay Berkeley’s $150 candidacy filing fee.  

She has not sought any endorsements. 

Harrison is up against incumbent school board directors Nancy Riddle and Shirley Issel, and challenger Karen Hemphill, who lost a bid for the board in 2004. After two terms of service, board President Terry Doran does not plan to run again for his seat. 

The Berkeley Federation of Teachers, the union representing 700 teachers and other certificated employees, has endorsed Hemphill.


Berkeley Housing Authority Names New Acting Manager

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday July 21, 2006

The embattled Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) has a new acting manager, Housing Department Director Stephen Barton announced Thursday. 

Tia Ingram, former Berkeley Housing Authority manager and current employee for the Housing Authority of the County of Alameda, accepted the job, a six-month appointment effective July 31. BHA Acting Manager Beverli Marshall, who was on loan from the Berkeley Public Library where she was finance manager, returns to her regular position. 

Ingram has worked as the eligibility services manager for the Alameda County Housing Authority for five years. Prior to that, she was the executive director of the Richmond Housing Authority. 

In the city of Berkeley, she has worked for both the Housing Authority and the Berkeley Community Development Department. She was previously Berkeley Housing Authority manager for about a year and a half, Barton said. 

She reenters the position as the agency struggles to correct a laundry list of administrative deficiencies, or risk dissolution or other consequences . Ingram is the agency’s fourth manager in four years. 

“We’re extremely happy someone with this experience and background is willing to make this commitment to a housing authority that is as troubled as the Berkeley Housing Authority,” Barton said Wednesday. 

Ingram will earn an annual salary of $101,000. She could not be reached to comment by press time. 


Mall Foes Face Legal Battle with Initiative

By Richard Brenneman
Friday July 21, 2006

While foes of the upscale mall planned for the Albany shoreline have apparently won one battle before the City Council, there’s another struggle in the courts. 

Backers and foes of a proposed November ballot initiative that would halt shoreline development pending the outcome of a new planning process laid out the battle lines in an Oakland courtroom Wednesday morning. 

That measure would ban new development within 600 feet of the shoreline and create a new task force to plan the waterfront’s future.  

The question before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Winifred Y. Smith is whether technical errors made by backers before circulating their petitions are enough to pull their initiative off the ballot. 

Whatever the judge decides, the county registrar of voters wants an answer by Aug. 14, deadline day for laying out the ballot and accompanying mailings. 

Pacific Racing Association, the operators of Golden Gate Fields, filed suit against Albany City Clerk Jacqueline Buchholz to stop a vote on the initiative, contending that backers filed to meet the basic legal requirements of posting and publishing public notice before they began their signature drive. 

The environmentalists who sponsored the measure say they followed the law’s spirit, if not the letter. 

Initiative backers collected signatures from that 3,200 registered voters, more than a fourth of the city’s electorate, on a petition for the Albany Shoreline Protection Initiative. 

Before they can circulate petitions, the California Elections Code requires initiative sponsors to publish notice of the drive in a paper published in the same county and certified by county courts as suitable for the purpose—hence the term “adjudicated publication.” 

The statutes also call for posting the same notice in three public places. 

Initiative backers didn’t comply with the posting requirement, but contend that significant coverage of the drive in local media fulfilled the intent of the law—a point strongly disputed by the track, which contends that news stories are significantly different from the specific form and content of the neutral notices required by law. 

And while initiative backers did publish a notice in the West County Times—the same paper the city uses to publish its own legal notices—therein lies another rub. 

The West CountyTimes is part of the the Walnut Creek-based Contra Costa Times. Albany, however, is an Alameda County city. 

City Attorney Robert Zweben said the city is allowed to avoid that provision of the code because it is a charter city, and a provision of the charter specifically allows for just that. 

He said the city also posts the notice in three public places including the library and city hall. What works for the city doesn’t necessarily apply to citizens, said the lawyer. 

Two Albany mayors were one hand for the hearing—current incumbent Allan Maris, a strong proponent of the mall, and environmentalist former mayor Robert Cheasty, an initiative advocate. 

“It gets down to compliance,” said the judge, and the question of whether initiative supporters fulfilled the intent of the law. 

Stuart Flashman, attorney for the environmentalists, argued that under the letter of the law, initiative backers could have printed their announcement in the Tri-Valley Herald or the Alameda Journal, adjudicated papers in the county—but ones without a readership in Albany. 

“The proponents are required to publish and post in the manner the legislature determined they should occur,” said Marguerite Leoni, a lawyer for the track. 

Proponents conceded that the notice hadn’t been posted, but said it wasn’t necessary because people looked to the non-adjudicated Times for notices. 

While prevision court decisions have allowed for some leeway in applying the statute, the question Judge Young must decide is whether the unique deviations in the case are enough to disqualify the measure.


Fire Department Log

By Richard Brenneman
Friday July 21, 2006

Porch arson 

An early report and prompt action by police left firefighters with nothing but smoke when they answered a call to 2442 Acton St. early Tuesday. 

Police arrived first when the fire—a suspected arson—was reported at 4:18 a.m. 

“They had it out by the time we arrived,” said Deputy Fire Chief David P. Orth. 

The incident is still under investigation by BFD’s arson experts.


Opinion

Editorials

Mysterious Telephone Poll Targets New Landmarks Law

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday July 25, 2006

Someone is polling Berkeley residents by phone, targeting issues revolving around competing landmark ordinances and the upcoming mayoral election. 

The ordinances in question are Mayor Tom Bates’ recently passed revision of the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO) and a counterproposal opponents have placed on the November ballot, said Sharon Hudson, one of those called. 

This reporter was also called Sunday evening but declined to participate. 

In both cases, the pollsters began by asking for the recipients by name. 

“About 70 percent of the questions were about the LPO and the rest were about development and politicians,” Hudson said. 

The November ballot initiative was launched after the mayor unveiled the first version of his revision of the LPO, presenting a proposal that won immediate endorsements from the development community and their advocates. 

While Bates relented on one of his most controversial provisions—the effective elimination of the structure of merit, the city’s most controversial landmark category—the version passed by the council includes another equally volatile provision creating the request for determination, or RFD. 

The RFD would allow a property owner to force a finding on whether the site in question merited a landmark designation and would confer a two-year immunity from landmarking if the Landmarks Preservation Commission or citizens failed to initiate the landmark process. 

“There were no questions about the RFD, which struck me as a little unusual,” said Hudson. “It seemed to me they were trying to characterize the LPO as negatively as possible.” 

Austene Hall agreed that the questions seemed designed to find arguments that might be effective in campaigning against the LPO initiative. 

“It seemed to me that it was a push poll,” said Hall, referring to a poll that is designed to influence call recipients rather than simply gather opinions. 

While Hall herself wasn’t called, her son was the recipient of repeated calls until pollsters were finally able to reach him. Calls also went to children of Lesley Emmington and Sally Sachs. 

All three parents are members of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association and supporters of the initiative. 

Pollsters also asked about how favorably—or not—their subjects viewed Mayor Bates and Zelda Bronstein, the former Planning Commission chair who is opposing him in the November election. Questioners asked for favorable/unfavorable ratings of Councilmembers Darryl Moore and Linda Maio, as well as former Mayor Shirley Dean and Daily Planet Executive Editor Becky O’Malley. 

Dean has emerged as a significant critic of the mayor’s ordinance, and O’Malley has repeatedly criticized the measure in this paper’s editorial page. 

One of those who hasn’t been called is Mayor Tom Bates. 

“I heard there is a poll going on, but I don’t know anything about it,” Bates said. “All I know is what I read in the Planet.” 

Because of some of the questions being asked, the mayor said he assumed the effort was being funded from West Berkeley. 

Some of those questions included ratings of the new Berkeley Bowl approved for Heinz Avenue and Ninth Street near the intersection of San Pablo and Ashby Avenues. 

Another question targeted the structure of merit bestowed on a “West Berkeley restaurant” that pollsters said had stalled a profitable development—an apparent reference to the designation of the Celia’s Mexican Restaurant building at 2040 Fourth St., the site of a proposed five-story mixed use and condo project. 

That designation was later overturned by the City Council. 

Another question pitted architectural preservation and high property taxes against new economic development in West Berkeley coupled with lower taxes, said the call recipients. 

One name mentioned as a possible sponsor was Don Yost of Norheim and Yost, a West Berkeley real estate brokerage, investment and development firm. Told that this paper had heard he was sponsoring the poll, Yost promised to call back but hadn’t by the paper’s deadline. 

Pollsters identified themselves as employees of Communications Center Incorporated, a 19-year-old polling firm with calling centers in Washington, D.C., Spokane, Wash., and Lakeland Fl. Caller ID identified the calls as coming from the Spokane area code 

Judy Goodrich, operations director for the center, acknowledged they were conducting the poll, but said she couldn’t say who was behind it because she doesn’t know. 

“We are a third party collector which completes surveys other companies write. They don’t provide that information (sponsorship) because they don’t want to bias the outcome,” she said. 


Editorial: Ignoring The Geneva Conventions

By Becky O’Malley
Friday July 21, 2006

It seems simplistic, but let’s just go over it one more time. Until the time of the First World War, it was an accepted shared belief, at least among the “civilized” (European-influenced) countries that deliberately killing non-combatants (“civilians”) was an immoral way to conduct a war, even a “just” war. This is a topic that necessarily requires quotation marks, since even supposedly shared beliefs are questioned by some.  

The Geneva Conventions began in the middle of the 19th century, just about the time the industrial revolution’s modern technology was providing the means for weapons which could kill many people at once. 

World War I saw the widespread entry into the calculus of weapons of mass destruction, including airplanes, heavy explosives, powerful guns and poison gas. These made killing of a certain number of non-combatants hard to avoid, so a rationale was developed among certain “civilized people” to justify these deaths. During the Spanish Civil War, planes bombed civilians on a wide scale for the first time. Bombing of populated areas without regard for the safety of non-combatants became accepted practice for both sides in World War II. In 1949, the Fourth Geneva Convention attempted to set some boundaries for the practice. 

The Society of Professional Journalists provides a handy guide for understanding the complexities of the Geneva Conventions. Its summary of the International Rules about Civilians derived from both the fourth Geneva Convention and the two Additional Protocols includes these points: 

• “Civilians are not to be subject to attack. This includes direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks against areas in which civilians are present.” 

• “There is to be no destruction of property unless justified by military necessity.” 

It’s clear that the now-common technique of suicide bombers setting off heavy explosives in the midst of civilian crowds violates both the rules laid down by the Geneva Conventions and accepted moral beliefs of earlier centuries. This has not deterred many small groups of extremists, such as the IRA, the Zionist Stern gang, or contemporary Muslim-oriented terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Some supporters of the causes espoused by such bombers claim that terrorism of this type is the last resort of the powerless who have no armies at their disposal, but to most “civilized” people the immorality of deliberately killing non-combatants is obvious.  

In this context, it comes as no surprise that few voices in the international community have been raised to defend the current campaign of the state of Israel in Lebanon. Some say that it’s even worse than terrorism, which is generally the act of a deranged individual or a member of a small undemocratic faction. It’s true that eight Israeli soldiers were killed and two more taken prisoner by a terrorist group which has been tolerated in southern Lebanon by a weak central government, but is that justification for “indiscriminate attacks on areas where civilians are present” resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths? Or for widespread destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure with no clear military objective? Most of the world is saying no. 

Israel is a democratically governed modern national state, as is the United States. In theory, that might seem to make the citizens of Israel responsible for the actions of its government, though as citizens of the United States we know that nothing’s that simple, as we contemplate the Iraq mess. Many citizens of both countries now condemn recent acts of their leaders but are powerless to stop them. But world opinion would quickly condemn any country possessed of weapons of mass destruction which targeted apartment buildings and bridges and highways and water tanks in the U.S. or Israel because it disapproved of the actions of either government.  

The rules of war as laid down in the successive Geneva Conventions are really an attempt to preserve the use of force as an instrument of national policy where absolutely necessary. When countries like the United States and Israel openly defy such rules they become outlaws, losing allies who might otherwise have supported their goals in an orderly military action. A well-targeted ground campaign aimed at seeking out the actual terrorist combatants operating out of Lebanon might have garnered a measure of support, but deliberate Israeli government attacks on areas in Lebanon where civilians are known to be present are destroying any claims the state of Israel might have to the legitimacy of its pursuit of the Hezbollah terrorists. The fact that Hezbollah is continuing its terrorist activities by firing rockets at Israeli citizens doesn’t change anything. Both parties to this conflict are in the wrong—neither can claim the moral high ground.  


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Tuesday July 25, 2006

BUSD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

David Baggins, in his July 18 letter, cites BUSD’s many Oakland students as one reason for the achievement gap. Much as it would be to my advantage to agree, I must respectfully disagree. Mr. Baggins is relying on out-dated, anecdotal, and inaccurate information in his assertion that Berkeley’s students “are substantially from Oakland.” In the last few years we have tightened procedures for non-Berkeley admission to Berkeley schools, demand at least two current proof-of-residence (utility bill, checking account, drivers license), and the public should know that there are legal, legitimate reasons for non-Berkeley students attending Berkeley schools (such as the state care-giver law).  

I am open to suggestions on how to improve our procedures, but short of spending scarce resources and sending already burdened staff out on “residence checks” that most likely would have limited effect, we have done everything legally possible to ensure that Berkeley schools nurture and instruct Berkeley students and those legally permitted to attend our schools. 

John Selawsky 

Director,  

Berkeley School Board 

 

• 

CARUSO 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Mr. Caruso has made it appear that he is withdrawing his application for a mall on the Albany shoreline. With two other cities, Glendale and Thousand Oaks, he made similar gestures to obtain reversals of the cities’ positions. The Albany City Council has supported a citizens’ planning process for the shoreline and opposed the Caruso-driven request for special approval of his proposal. The planning for the waterfront should not be developer-driven. This will be a legacy for generations to come and should be planned for thoughtfully by Albany’s citizens. 

Joanne Wile 

Albany 

• 

SUSAN PARKER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I want to thank Susan Parker for her column on caring for Ralph. She opened my eyes to a world that was previously unknown to me. As someone who has never had the experience of being disabled or the responsibility of caring for a disabled person, I had not thought much about what that would be like. 

I have heard that disabled people often feel they are invisible—people don’t make eye contact with them, necessary special arrangements at public places aren’t made, accessibility to events isn’t available to them, they are forgotten in our society.  

Suzie has done a lot to destroy that invisibility in her columns for the Planet. After reading about Ralph and her life with him, I can never again look at someone in a wheelchair without considering the courage and determination and preparation that put him or her in a place where we can have a shared experience. 

Yes, Suzie, you go girl. You deserve a lot of credit. Ralph is damned lucky to have you in his life. 

Ruby Long 

 

• 

BRAVE AND POIGNANT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

To Susan Parker: I find what you wrote to be a very brave, poignant account. I am inclined to believe that rather than abate the criticisms you’ve been facing as a result of your comment, you will probably see an escalation and another misaimed retort in an inevitable banter of what you should and shouldn’t say.  

So I wanted to share my opinion that your current piece gave most of us readers and unreserved, living, breathing day in the life of someone who is married to someone in a wheelchair. They way in which it was written—a droning laundry list that embodied the daily routine you have been undertaking, which culminates into a bold, erupted statement that serves as a vent for your frustrations—mirrored your emotions brilliantly and truly illuminated what you are experiencing to oblivious and interested readers like myself.  

Thank you for sharing a part of your mind and making your column human, in spite of the inevitable comments from people who always feel like they need to have the last word. 

Ashwin Sodhi 

 

• 

WARM POOL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

From one Bay Area working parent to all others: You must support the Berkeley Warm Pool. You care about the elderly and disabled, but you have your own set of problems and retirement is decades away. If it seems unfair to pay for something you don’t plan to use, please consider this: 

Suppose you put down this paper and set off on a walk with your child. Suddenly, it hurts to turn your head. You have joined the world’s chronic pain patients in the search for relief. In the weeks, months, and years that follow, you look the same to your boss, your coworkers, family and friends. But some days you struggle to complete simple tasks your 72 year old father can do with ease, not to mention parenting and all you’re other responsibilities. The drain on your time, finances, and quality of life is enormous. 

You start warm water pool therapy with low expectations. But one afternoon you realize you are feeling no pain: hope at last. However, the pools are in expensive private therapy centers open only during working hours, as if all pain patients were retired or on worker’s comp. Even with sick time and insurance, could you afford to miss six or more hours of work per week? What would it mean to have a warm pool on evenings and weekends, where for a few dollars you could even bring your child? 

I know the answers, because all of this happened to me in my 30s. If you don’t plan to use the warm pool, please remember—neither did I. 

Kim Fogel 

Richmond 

 

• 

OAKLAND VIOLENCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am baffled, that in his July 21 column, “Doing ‘Something’ About Violence in Oakland,” J. Douglas Allen-Taylor has not used his valuable platform any better than those whose motives he questions. He rightly speaks of the neglect to “understand the nature and cause” of the problem before seeking a cure, and he asks about the causes of this “bloody violence that is threatening to crush the East Bay.” I agree that “money and votes” are two obvious causes of this stagnation to proper action.  

However, he neglects to inform about at least one major cause of both of those blocks to healing: the billions of dollars that continue to be squandered in our draconian “drug war.” Has he forgotten the true reasons for ignoring this “wasted” money—that the legal-drug-sellers, the illegal-drug sellers, and probably the most powerful stalemate to change, the departments of law-enforcement and punishment, would all be losers if this “war” ended. When we add to this mix, those legislators who fear losing votes, I expect that lack of vital social services, such as treatment and education, will persist. 

There is a great irony, that those who are denied such services will continue to be desperate, and will continue to provide jobs for those who punish them. 

Gerta Farber 

 

• 

THE ARTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I found Robin Henderson’s commentary in the Berkeley Daily Planet’s recent issue “Keeping the Arts in the Public Eye Proves Challenging Every Year” very accurate but omitting an important factor. I worked several years ago at the Berkeley Arts Center serving as a volunteer with Robin, who is the executive director. I found the shows quite elitist and extremely “avant garde.” The center is partially funded by the City of Berkeley but in reality, Berkeley artists have little or no access to the center. At the time of my volunteering the center was governed by a board of directors who did not allow me to attend one of their meetings, even though I was also serving on the Berkeley Arts Commission and the Design Review Committee. If the Berkeley Arts Center truly wants to serve the Berkeley community, it should open their doors to Berkeley artists, allow them to have solo or group shows without a lot of restrictions. This would create a lot of good will , encourage Berkeley artists to show their work in their own city and bring money to the center with sales which these shows would generate. In other words, this would truly keep the arts in the public eye in our own city. 

Andree Leenaers Smith 

 

• 

THE MR. CHARLES HOTEL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When I first heard that the new hotel planned for Center Street, in Downtown Berkeley, may be named The Berkeley Charles I was pleasantly surprised. I’m not sure if any other Berkeley buildings, parks or monuments are named after African-Americans, but it would be the first I was aware of. Imagine my surprise when I learned the name was a reference to the Charles Hotel in Boston, and not our internationally known, local celebrity, Mr. Charles, The Waving Man! Boston? The only place in the United States where I have experience more prejudice and bigotry than Boston was the Deep South, but that’s another story. 

We can still save the day, and make the developers from the East Coast and local Berkeley folks happy by naming the hotel the Mr. Charles. What better name for a place that will attract visitors from around the world than to be associated with a man who spent so many years greeting everyone just to make them smile. How many of you would occasionally change your route so you and your kids could wave in the morning? I know some kids that started out in a car seat waving, and eventually were driving on their own, smiling back at Mr. Charles as he said, “Have a nice day.” Hopefully we can locate his famous gloves and put them in a glass case in the lobby! What do you think? 

Winston Burton 

 

• 

ASHBY INTERSECTIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It seems to me that the traffic congestion in the area of Ashby and San Pablo could at least be reduced if there were left-turn-only arrows in all four directions. 

Of course this would probably take City Council’s saying something officially to the state Legislature because Ashby is a state route and traffic on state routes can’t be interfered with without action on the Legislature’s party. That was done not so long ago to the benefit of the Claremont ... surely it could be done to the benefit of the rest of Berkeley. 

And while city and state are on the subject, it would be a good idea to make all the left turns from Ashby signal-controlled: the turns at College, Telegraph, Shattuck and, to a lesser extent, Sacramento, are all messy, and frustrated drivers do stupid, aggravating things (blocking traffic by pulling into the middle of the intersection, starting turns after the light has turned red). 

Joann Lee 

 

• 

NURSES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks for insightful editorial by Becky O’Malley on the pending National Labor Relations Board, “Kentucky River” decision. As an RN at Highland Hospital (otherwise known as the Alameda County Medical Center), I have nearly 30 years of experience as a staff nurse and it’s true that nurses are frequently key to the decisions regarding patient care. I’ve acted as charge nurse, supervised LVNs and CNAs, and precepted countless staff nurses on the floor, yet never in my life have I ever been considered “management.” All these duties are routine for any staff nurse. We do not hire or fire. We do not formally evaluate our co-workers. We don’t do shift scheduling. We don’t attend “management” meetings. We have very little input in the many changes that effect our working conditions and job descriptions. At ACMC we are represented by SEIU, Local 616. The union management should be criticized for not joining with CNA to protest the NLRB decision. My co-workers had no idea that there was a rally held in downtown Oakland last week to protest this union busting attempt. Many nurses at ACMC, feel left out of any co-ordinated effort to uphold the union and draw public attention to this issue. Did Arnold’s sneaky little trip to Washington last week have anything to do with the “Kentucky River” cases? Could this possibly be retaliation against those so-called “special interest” groups that defeated Arnold’s special election? Consider nurses to be the canary in the coal mine for the rights of all organized working people. 

Merielle Olson 

 

• 

PROPORTIONAL DAMAGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

With a population of approximately 3 million people, Lebanon is about one one-hundredth the size of the United States. Therefore, if the United States were being attacked and suffering the same level of devastation as that country, we would currently have 30,000 dead, 140,000 wounded and 50 million displaced. 

George Goth 

 

• 

ROOT CAUSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The root cause of the strife in the Middle East is the continuing occupation of Palestine by Israel. Or am I missing something?  

J. B. Neilands 

 


Commentary: From Tehran: Lebanon Bombing Prelude to Iran Action

By Homayon
Tuesday July 25, 2006

Two weeks ago marked the beginning of a new round of Israeli-Palestinian violence due to which a neighboring country, Lebanon, soon became the victim of this confrontation. 

For years now, the Israelis, the Palestinians and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, have played the game of abduct and swap. A routine tactic, to swap prisoners. Just weeks ago in fact they exchanged a few hundred Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli businessman without a drop of bloodshed. This time however, when the Hamas militia took three Israeli soldiers hostage, they were confronted with a severe military attack on Gaza as well as the abduction of some of the Palestinian Hamas cabinet members. As if that was not a swift enough reaction by Israel, Hezbollah a few days later took two Israeli soldiers hostage and spoke of prisoner exchange to Israel. To the entire world’s amazement, Israel almost immediately started bombing Lebanon’s airport and formed a naval blockade at its waters. Since then violence has escalated on both sides to include the Hezbollah rockets into Israel two days after Israel began the systematic bombing of Lebanese infrastructure, pounding its capitol Beirut and other cities. 

In light of these countries past routine tactics of prisoner swap, the question has become: why such a devastating and more importantly disproportionate response by Israel?  

To search for an answer, it is important to go beyond the recent abductions and remember that in the past year and in particular the past several months, the United States has been putting more and more pressure on Iran (through its European allies) to abandon its nuclear energy program claiming that the Islamic regime has hopes of developing nuclear weapons. Just a few months ago Seymour Hersh claimed in an article that the U.S. is preparing a military plan to attack Iran using nuclear weapons. This news (sounding like an intentional leak by the administration) combined with other violent comments by U.S. officials (such as Cheney’s warning Iran of monumental destructions) was perceived to be a strong verbal warning of how far the United States is willing to go. Military actions taken by the United States usually precede by strong verbal warnings. This ignored by the Iranian government and the unfavorable response by the Russians and the Chinese the United States followed by engaging in a diplomatic move. It accepted the Iranian’s gesture for a dialogue and included itself in the European talks with Iran providing them with a so called incentive package while asking for a quick response. The Iranian administration—controlled by its juvenile supreme leader—in turn refused a quick answer and instead set its own date of Aug. 22 as the reply date.  

Almost coinciding with the G8 Summit held in Russia, and instigated amazingly by Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel set its own stage to send a loud and clear message to the Iranian Mullahs. This is followed by the comments made by the World Jewish Counsel on July 17 that the whole world must unite to cripple Iran from obtaining nuclear energy and to force them to become world players.  

In the big picture therefore, the devastating barbaric Israeli bombing of Lebanon is an ultimatum to the Iranian government. The verbal, direct and indirect warnings of the United States and Israel have not been effective with the Iranian regime, thus a preview of what will be happening to them is staged! 

One can not be certain to determine if the Bush administration was a party to this military plan, but it is difficult to imagine that such a large scale and brutal attack on Lebanon would have not been discussed with the neo-cons ahead of time. Even if that were true, only a day after Israel’s engagement in an all out war against Lebanon George Bush gave the Jewish state his blessings by stating that “Israel has the right to defend itself.” Secretary Rice’s comments on July 18 in Egypt is perhaps most interesting and self-reveling. When asked if she will go to the region for a possible mediation, she replied: “The time has not come yet!” Twelve hours later the Israeli ground troops rolled into Lebanon. 

The inhumane and barbaric bombings of Lebanon by the Israeli war machine will go on for days to come as so claimed by Tel-Aviv. When this devastation comes to a halt, as an immediate achievement Israel will have broken the Hezbollah’s back as they announced they would. But more significantly Israel and the United States will have put the ball in Iran’s court effectively.  

If the Iranian supreme leader accepts to suspend its nuclear energy program, the United States has achieved its goal through the proxy of Israel and without engaging itself in another military front in the Middle East. Israel will also be rid of the thought of the fundamentalist Iranians going nuclear. In addition it will have occupied parts of Gaza—again—and parts of southern Lebanon again. 

If the answer from the Iranian supreme leader however, will not be favorable, then the bombing of Lebanon is very likely to be a prelude to the bombing of Iran in months to come. 

 

Homayon is the pseudonym of a correspondent writing from Teheran. 


Commentary: Library Director Should Not Act As Trustee Board Secretary

By Shirley Stuart
Tuesday July 25, 2006

Berkeley relies on the Board of Library Trustees (BOLT) to safeguard its library system, and we, the citizens and taxpayers of Berkeley, along with the people who staff our libraries, should have some influence on their decisions. 

The dual appointment of library director as BOLT secretary is a clear conflict of interest. There is a misconception in the community that duties of the BOLT secretary are similar to those of a business or club secretary, but the BOLT secretary has a much more powerful position than that—potentially a role more powerful than any member of the board. Such an exercise of power may explain why it took BOLT so long to understand that it must remove Jackie Griffin as library director. Serving also as board secretary, it was in fact Griffin who set board agendas, decided what materials and information would be presented to BOLT, received and screened all mail and e-mail addressed to BOLT, and in general, maneuvered BOLT’s direction. 

If BOLT was not aware of her mismanagement, perhaps it was because she distorted the effects of what she was doing. Otherwise, how could BOLT not have seen that the library was out of control, that tax dollars were being squandered, that workers who spoke out were being retaliated against? 

Didn’t BOLT know that after half a million dollars was borrowed from the City Council budget to spend on RFID (a system BOLT approved for misrepresented reasons), RFID costs then soared to more than a million dollars? Books were trashed to reduce costs of RFID installation; library  

hours had been drastically cut; new administrative positions were being created while staffing at all levels was depleted; books went unshelved because shelvers were no longer available to do the work. The director seems to have presented BOLT a rubber stamp to just approve anything she chose to do. 

Mismanagement was brought to BOLT’s attention repeatedly at board meetings, in public commentary and by testimony from staff (who were rewarded with punishment for daring to describe what was happening in the library); by demonstrations; and in meetings called to resolve conflicts. You ignored all criticism. For five years, the effects of Griffin’s incompetence went unchecked, and we will be paying the costs of her actions for a very long time. 

Apparently, it required pressure from the City Council to force BOLT to listen to the union and the public, and ultimately to remove Griffin as director. The question now is what are they doing to rectify the situation? 

It is BOLT’s responsibility to learn for themselves how the library operates, what its mission is, how library staff is being treated, and where money should and should not be spent. Otherwise, what is the purpose of having a board? 

It is vital that BOLT does not allow this to happen again. They could begin by appointing their own secretary for BOLT and taking responsibility for controlling the actions of the director. 

 

Shirley Stuart is a Berkeley resident.


Commentary: Declaration of Human Rights Should Be Law

By Jacqueline Sokolinsky
Tuesday July 25, 2006

What exactly is the United States’ position in national and international laws of peace and human rights?  

The framers of the Constitution famously left such questions out altogether, and this oversight was corrected by the appended Bill of Rights. Article 7 of the Bill of Rights says no one shall be “deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law.” But “due process of law” is nowhere defined. 

Interestingly, Article 13 of the Bill of Rights says that no one shall be subjected to “slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime.” Ratified in 1865, the loophole was never repealed, so this article allows slavery and involuntary servitude of convicted criminals. 

No where in the Bill of Rights are any principles or ethical guidelines established concerning the circumstances under which the United States may declare and wage war. 

At present, the Congress is up in arms because the Supreme Court’s recent decision to hold the president’s administration to the Geneva Conventions. Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said, “I don’t think we’re going to pass something that’s going to have our military servicemen subject to some kind of international rules.” 

So what do the Geneva Conventions say? The third establishes standards for the treatment of prisoners of war (“internees”). The fourth establishes standards for the treatment of inhabitants of occupied territories. Article 3 of both documents prohibit torture and a wide range of abuses, from “outrages upon personal dignity” to “murder,” while permitting executions by “regularly constituted courts.” The fourth convention is a bizarre document. For example, safety zones may be established for “children under 15, expectant mothers and mothers of children under 7” but not for men and women generally unless “wounded, sick and aged.” In contrast to the United Nation’s 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions permit death sentences. (The texts are on-line at www.globalissuesgroup.com.) 

Unlike the fatally ambiguous Bill of Rights, which makes no human rights provisions in its concept of “due process of law,” and the hawkish Geneva Conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a beautifully lucid document. In Article 3 it asserts, without conditions, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” In Article 4: “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.” In Article 5: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” 

Thus, it prohibits capital punishment. Although the 18th-century Bill of Rights permits capital punishment, the subsequently ratified Universal Declaration of Human Rights should have eliminated it. In Article 8 of the Bill of Rights it prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments.” In the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5, it states, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” 

Whether or not the current U.S. government considers itself and its military bound by “some kind of international rules”—the international community ought, in my opinion, to hold it to the international laws of peace, human rights and justice as framed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal (1950).  

The Nuremberg Principles define war crimes. One principle Americans should be familiar with is Principle II, wherein “The fact that internal law does not impose a penalty for an act which constitutes a crime under international law does not relieve the person who committed the act from responsibility under international law.” 

Thus American torturers, though free from punishment in the Supreme Court decision—which merely ruled that torture is not permissible—should be tried by an international court. Should George W. Bush be tried for such crimes against peace defined in the Nuremberg Principles as planning and waging a war of aggression and spearheading a policy of torture and military tribunals? The Nuremberg Principles (number III) states clearly, “The fact that a person who committed an act which constitutes a crime under international law acted as Head of State or responsible Government official does not relieve him from responsibility under international law.” Should U.S. military personnel be tried for “murder” and “ill-treatment” of “civilian population or in occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war”? Principle IV states: “The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him.” 

It is my opinion that the United States should be bound by international law and subject to international tribunals. If it is not—and at present it is not—there is no way to preserve the United States from the path of military domination of the globe and totalitarianism here and abroad. 

 

Jacqueline Sokolinsky is a Berkeley  

resident. 

 


Letters to the Editor

Friday July 21, 2006

RADKIDS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read Suzanne La Barre’s article “Parents Press BUSD and City to Curb Teen Violence” and realized that many residents don’t know about the Berkeley Police Activities League’s violence prevention program, radKids, a national program that uses a hands-on approach to teach children, up to age 12, how to deal with bullying, physical abduction, sexual and physical abuse, home fires, Internet predators and much more. If you would like more information about radKids you can go their website at radKids.org. If you would like to sign up for the Berkeley Police Activities League’s free class, contact Fele Uperesa at 845-7193. 

Alan Pagle 

 

• 

PLAIN ENGLISH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Will somebody explain to me in plain English: 

• How come the City of Berkeley has to fence us in with vast tonnages of steel and concrete, obliterating the sky everywhere we look? 

• How come we haven’t had a vote on any of it? You know, having a copy of the proposition to take to the polls? 

• Where does it say the mayor got the right to do a city makeover? Was it through a secret form of eminent domain—or just plain and simple George Bush anarchy? 

• What’s the sense in building more tenant units when the signs say “Vacancy”? 

• How does a densely populated city evacuate after a catastrophe? 

• How do we stop desecrators? 

Will somebody tell me in plain English: 

• What do we do now? 

Dorothy V. Benson 

 

• 

TELEGRAPH WOES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Gap leaves, American Apparel arrives. Cody’s leaves, Peet’s arrives. 

That’s a matter of capital. 

First UC came for the Communists. 

Then UC and the merchants came for the beatniks. 

The UC, the merchants and the neighbors came for the hippies. 

Now they come for the punks and anarchists as their property values soar sky high. 

That’s a matter of class. 

Charles Gary 

Oakland 

 

• 

HOTEL BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The letter suggesting the hotel be named for men like Maybeck or Muir means well, but hotels are named for deserving citizens. To call it the Berkeley Charles makes sense only to the developer and his Charles Hotel in Boston. The best name—simple, yet dignified—is the Hotel Berkeley. 

Peter Selz 

 

• 

LIBRARY NEWS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Though I do appreciate having a local paper covering Berkeley news, I feel that Judith Scherr’s stories about the Berkeley Public Library read more like op-ed pieces than unbiased news reports—even when printed right on your front page. 

Ms. Scherr seems to work from the assumption that it is a given that the library administration is inept and has enacted counterproductive policies and changes. This certainly has not been my experience. I find the library to be one of Berkeley’s greatest assets—the collection carefully maintained, the staff helpful, the special programs creative, and the integration of technology into the library very effective. The RFID book inserts have been a wonderful addition, allowing much quicker automated checkout. 

I hope the library administration is given the chance to continue with similar improvements! I’m looking forward to spending my retirement in one of those comfortable chairs on the Berkeley Main Library’s second floor. 

Loren Linnard 

 

• 

SOFAS, SOFAS,  

EVERYWHERE SOFAS! 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Have you found yourself of late casting a critical eye around your apartment? “This living room could sure stand sprucing up,” you mutter glumly, staring at a 20-year-old sofa that has definitely seen better days. Well, friends, heed my words, there’s no better time than now for replacing that offending sofa. 

As happens every summer when students take leave of the university, the streets of Berkeley are suddenly awash with sofas! Said students obviously have never heard of Goodwill, the Salvation Army and St. Vincent DePaul Thrifts Shops. Or maybe it’s jut that it’s a lot easier to haul old sofas, beat up armchairs and computers out onto the sidewalk. South Campus is undeniably the prime neighborhood for abandoned furniture. Walk along Dana, Fulton or Dwight Way and you may just spot a sofa to your liking, though admittedly many of these rejects suggest they’ve been through a hurricane of Katrina proportions—broken springs, cigarette burns, ketchup stains, etc., etc.  

Glancing out my window at the corner of Dana and Parker streets on any given morning, I’m sure to see a whole new display of rejects gracing the sidewalk, most of which can best be describe as “yucky.” But just the other day, walking along Haste Street, I spotted a sofa that was an absolute gem—infinitely more attractive than my own. This was a large, four-cushion sofa with immaculate, tasteful upholstery and generously sized pillows. Since traffic wasn’t too heavy along Haste that morning, I sat down on the sofa, sinking comfortably into the cushions. “Hey, not bad!” I said to myself, visualizing how it would look in my living room. 

But then, reality set in. Could I actually settle for an abandoned sofa left on the sidewalk? Where was my pride, my self-respect? More important, how would I get the darned thing home? I wouldn’t dare call friends, who would be absolutely aghast, pointing out the germs sure to be lurking in those deep, comfy cushions. Furthermore, how did I know the sofa would still be there if I rushed home to look up movers? Dare I ask a passerby to sit on the sofa while I went in search of a telephone? That seems highly unlikely. 

In any event, the practical logistics involved in getting the sofa back to my apartment suddenly seemed insurmountable. Sighing heavily and with a last longing glance at this abandoned treasure, I headed for home. Later that afternoon, out of curiosity, I walked back to Haste Street. Of course, the sofa—my sofa—was gone. Alas, it wasn’t to be. A golden opportunity missed. Oh, but I take comfort in the knowledge that just as sure as day follows night, there’ll be many, many sofas lining the streets of Berkeley all summer! 

Dorothy Snodgrass 

 

• 

OFFICE DEPOT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It’s certainly appropriate to think that the City of Berkeley should locally source its business suppliers wherever legally possible and financially feasible. But it’s also appropriate not to unfairly demonize suppliers who follow the city’s rules to win a competitive bid. Office Depot is certainly a large business entity headquartered in Florida; but incorrectly calling it a “conglomerate” conveys an acquisitive appetite that only our town’s admittedly large population of conspiracy theorists could confidently find. Even in Berkeley, simply being a national corporation is not yet proof of globally evil intentions. 

Alan Tobey 

 

• 

BUSH IMPEACHMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Elliot Cohen excoriates me and indulges in nasty name-calling ( “deplorable and reactionary”) while agreeing with the point of my recent commentary that putting the Bush impeachment on the Berkeley ballot is “a cynical ploy to win votes” and definitely not geared to focus attention on important local issues. 

I happen to really like referenda as an expression of pure democracy. And, while I am a fiscal conservative, I do not per se object to the $10K per item cost of simple Council-promulgated referenda. Ten thousand dollars is chump change in our $300 million annual city budget and spending even $100,000 on 10 well-chosen referenda to educate and gauge public opinion on key local issues could be money well and wisely spent. So I did not object to the impeach Bush referendum because it cost the taxpayers $10,000 despite what Elliot claimed!  

I would not necessarily object to the Bush measure if local voters also had a chance to directly vote on an array of key local issues, such as the UC settlement, the Oxford/Brower project, garbage and sewer fee increases, more Downtown parking, and many of the other important local issues of the day, some of which I listed in my commentary. What is chosen to be put before the voters (and what is not chosen!) is of utmost importance. Those who set the agenda (even for referenda) substantially direct (manipulate?) the debate, and, while the Bush presidency is certainly important, I believe that the Berkeley polity needs to direct its limited energy and attention to major Berkeley issues. 

Barbara Gilbert 

 

• 

MEL’S DINER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I thank David Mayeri and Laura Billings for their correction regarding the original use of the interesting building at 2747 San Pablo Ave. For the record, my error had its origin in the City of Berkeley’s West Berkeley Plan, which states, “The unusual round building occupied by Berkeley Equipment Rental (2747 San Pablo Ave., near Grayson) was built in 1952 as a Mel’s Drive In.” 

A follow-up correspondence I initiated with Michael Myerson, who organized the ad hoc committee’s demonstrations at several Mel’s Drive-In locations in 1963, revealed that the Berkeley demonstration took place at Mel’s on the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Channing Way. The Shattuck Avenue Mel’s was converted into a stereo store in the 1970s. The much-altered building is still there, adjacent to La Note, and houses the Futon Shop. As for 2747 San Pablo Ave., I can add that the car dealership based there was called Bay Bridge Motors. It was apparently operated by C. Roy Warren. 

I applaud Mr. Mayeri for planning a LEED-certified building. His efforts would be even more laudable were he to seek a way to incorporate the round façade of the existing building into his new development. Even though the building was never a Mel’s Drive-In, it is a very good example of mid-century roadside architecture, of which precious little remains in Berkeley. It would be a great shame to lose it.  

Daniella Thompson 

 

• 

MIDDLE EAST VIOLENCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thousands of Americans fleeing Israeli bombs. It’s incredible to hear the doubletalk coming from American politicians speaking out against terrorism! With thousands of Americans fleeing for their lives to escape the terror of Israeli bombs dropping overhead, it’s time for U.S. politicians to wake up and pull the plug on any further economic or military support to the Israeli War Machine! 

Down with all politicians supporting Israel, and the brutal bombing attacks that have been placing American lives at risk! In addition to this current madness going on, the White House had the nerve to promote a policy to charge Americans for assistance to escape the Israeli bombing campaign! 

Are they insane! 

What a world!!! 

Lynda Carson 

Oakland 

• 

MENTAL HEALTH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I attended the July 12 PRC meeting where the Mental Health Commission initiative on “5150” (psychiatric intervention) was presented. “Danger” was not at issue here, it was unnecessary use of force. Unlike San Francisco or Oakland, Berkeley routinely sends police to psychiatric hold situations—danger or not. The reason—a standing policy of contempt for the community; this reflects what is a general dialogue “disconnect” and the MHC is to be commended for challenging the Mental Health administration. One staff member at B.M.H. initiated the outreach to the PRC. Altogether five members of Mental Health staff—on their own time—were there in support of the initiative, while the Director Harvey Tureck pretended shamelessly to be supportive himself. Two members of the MHC, plus myself (a former chair) spoke and provided context. This initiative was a no-brainer, as it saves police resources; the PRC expressed only procedural worries. The PRC agreed 7-0 to co-sponsor with the MHC a public hearing Sept. 7 on Berkeley’s “5150” policy. The tightly walled off “mental health control space” is showing cracks. 

Andrew Phelps 

 

• 

INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In the aftermath of the Berkeley City Council’s disappointing—even shocking—July 11 vote to kill a Clean Money election campaign reform ballot measure, it is now critical that Berkeley citizens defend and implement a second city election reform issue: instant runoff voting (also called “ranked choice” voting). 

I commend and congratulate City Councilmembers Spring, Worthington, Anderson and Moore for their support of the Clean Money ballot measure issue, modeled on Arizona’s and Maine’s successful, vote-approved Clean Money election reform laws. 

In 2004, Berkeley voters passed an instant runoff voting (IRV) ballot measure by an overwhelming landslide—72 percent. 2004’s Measure I mandated IRV for future City Council and mayoral candidate elections. 

Recently, the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board’s elected commissioners unanimously approved a letter sent to all councilmembers. The letter urges the council to move expeditiously to implement IRV in advance of the November election. 

If necessary, the Rent Board commissioners urge the City Council to conduct the Nov. 7 election by hand counting IRV ballots if the County of Alameda is unable to deliver an IRV ballot system for the city. 

The will and overwhelming mandate of Berkeley’s voters—as represented by 2004’s Measure I—must be respected and implemented by the City Council before Nov. 7. 

Chris Kavanagh 

 

• 

ANOTHER DIATRIBE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was dismayed to see Susan Parker use my objection to the term “confined to a wheelchair” as an excuse for yet another diatribe on the unappetizing ordeal of caring for her husband Ralph. My point about a wheelchair being not the source of the problem but one of the tools used to deal with it evidently went right over her head.  

In a physical sense, Brian, Ruthanne and I have a lot less freedom than she does; I can’t imagine why she thinks we need a lecture on how tough disability can be on everyone involved. 

Just for the record, I don’t want to see her use euphemisms, but after years of writing about everything else, I wish she’d use a column to explain why she stays with Ralph, and how he copes with being the focal point of her bitterness. 

Ann Sieck 

 

• 

“CONFINED” 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding Susan Parker’s latest column about her husband being “confined to a wheelchair”: In words that Mrs. Scott would use, “You go, Suzy, tell it like it is.” 

Laurie Marquez 

 

• 

PEOPLE’S PARK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I recently received a copy of a proposal for re-designing People’s Park which apparently passed unanimously through the University of California’s new park advisory committee. 

I appreciate that the chancellor’s appointees may be well-intended. But it doesn’t matter how benign one might consider the proposal or the participants; this group is hand-selected by the chancellor, and therefore not representative in the least.  

If the participants believe they would be selected in a community-wide ballot by Berkeley citizens to govern or advise the park, then that’s fine, as long as there is an honest effort made to have a community-wide ballot. Until that time they should, if they must stay on this committee, keep smiling as they continually remind themselves that as a chancellor-selected group that they are not entitled or qualified to make decisions about the park. 

The last chancellor-selected group took years to formulate a plan for the park with highly-paid consultants, years of public meetings, well-intended participants, and still ended up with a plan so inappropriate it cost the public millions of dollars for the University of California to construct and then ultimately remove its elements. The students, merchants, and residents suffered the brunt of this bad planning, and are arguably still in recovery. 

I see it as our job to object to this undemocratic, unrepresentative group, in the nicest way, of course.  

Carol Denney 

 

• 

ELMWOOD POST OFFICE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Daily Planet article regarding the possibility of the lease running out for the Post Office branch at College Avenue and Webster Street alarms me greatly. I second the sentiments and logic of Mr. Schwendinger. I live across the street and fear the location of a commercial outlet in its place. The aspect of a 24/7 type outlet and its audience would be most disruptive to this residential street and this part of the neighborhood. Perhaps more important to the neighbors and citizens in this part of town would be the loss of the post office facility. One doesn’t have to stand long outside the facility to see the frequency of use and convenience of a local mail service Mail pick-up and package and postal services are well used. It would be less than a pleasant trek to downtown Berkeley for our everyday mail and postal needs. It would be a disruption to our lives. 

The comments of Councilmember Wozniak are totally erroneous. There is no graffiti on the building. The facility is well kept. He has obviously not visited the site. What is his agenda? 

I, for one, am willing to collect signatures, at the post office, to petition the city, the owners and USPS to push for a continued lease. I would like for a group to coalesce to give some citizen movement to this cause. 

Wattie Taylor 

 

 

• 

ALBANY WATERFRONT MALL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I write to you as a parent and as a former teacher of 12 years experience. I was dismayed at Monday night’s Albany City Council meeting to hear Albany teachers, parents and even a School Board member speaking of the “dire financial consequences” of rejecting the possible Waterfront Mall and the “huge fiscal benefit” to our schools if it is accepted. This is one of those rumors that has been repeated enough times to become Albany’s very own urban myth. It simply isn’t true and details about how taxes relate to school funding are openly available from city sources. 

However, I do not blame these parties for taking the position they do—parents, teachers and the School Board members care deeply about the future for this city’s young people but unfortunately have been misled. Teachers are experts in nurturing critical thinking skills so they themselves should be able to see beyond the spin. 

We live in the vast homogeneous urban sprawl of the Bay Area and choose Albany because it feels like a “real” town. We worry that our children grow up in a vast homogenized culture and want them to have experiences that are varied, healthy, educational and connect with the “real" world. I don’t think that another retail development offers this. I don’t think that I could feel much pride in telling my son or a class of young people that I helped a developer create a shopping plaza. I have faith that Educationalists have more vision than most and I urge them to use that vision to help make Albany’s waterfront into something that offers generations of our children something “real.” That would be something we can all take pride in. 

Martin Webb 

 

• 

CARUSO DROPS OUT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The announcement that the Albany Shoreline mall proposed by an L.A. developer is dead is welcome news—if it is true. This would not be the first time this developer has used such a ploy. He similarly “withdrew” proposals in Glendale and Thousand Oaks but “conceded” to come back when his demands were met. In Albany, the issue is not, as the San Francisco Chronicle states, getting his project “heard” by the City Council. The issue is the preferential treatment asked for by the developer through his resolution of an advance guarantee of a completed environmental impact report (EIR). Wisely the council voted to give equal treatment that would be given to any applicant. Why should the city guarantee this developer an EIR before a plan is submitted? Perhaps because it would help him bypass the City Council and take his proposal directly to the voters, allowing him to spend millions, as he did in Glendale, to influence the election. I hope Albany is not fooled by these undemocratic manipulations. 

Most Albany citizens do not want a mall on our Waterfront. They want open space and a continuation of the Eastshore State Park, with thoughtful commercial development determined by a community needs assessment and planning process for the waterfront should Golden Gate Fields close. They want a plan that is first and foremost good for our community and future generations that enhances our quality of life, not a mall that brings L.A. to the East Bay. 

Marge Atkinson 

Co-Chair, Citizens for the Albany Shoreline 

 

• 

DELIGHTED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was astonished and delighted to hear that the powerful Southern California developer has withdrawn from Albany in search of greener pastures. I’m glad he finally realized that his proposed development was a poor fit and was threatening to tear our community apart. Now we can embark on a community planning process that allows everyone’s opinion to be heard. Only by incorporating the visions of many can we create a comprehensive, congenial plan for this hidden treasure by the bay.  

Anne Richardson 

Albany 

 

• 

CARUSO’S PLAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The news that the L.A. mall developer will not submit an application to build a lifestyle center shopping mall on the Albany waterfront seems at first to be a surprising development. After more than a year of wooing Albany citizens with visions of an upscale shopping experience and streams of tax revenue filling the public coffers, the mall developer appeared frustrated by the City Council decision to process his application in the same manner it deals with all developer proposals. A resolution written by Caruso lawyers, which would have given his proposal special treatment, failed to pass. All of the council members asked Mr. Caruso to submit his plan, but this apparently was not good enough. Is this the end of the “lifestyle center”? Twice, in Southern California, city councils failed to give Caruso concessions he wanted and there was a similar “I’m out of here” reaction. His “heartbroken” supporters responded with outrage and councils capitulated to his demands. I think (hope) that Albany citizens are more sophisticated about this kind of manipulation than the shopping lifestyle lovers of Southern Cal, but only time will tell. If this is the end of the mall, I say so long Mr. Caruso, and thanks for all the coffee. While your proposal for Albany generated a lot of neighbor vs. neighbor animosity, it has also helped to trigger a discussion in this town about what it is that Albany wants and needs along its shoreline. It is my hope that we might finally begin a city, not developer generated, planning process for our waterfront. 

Peter Maass 

Albany 

 

• 

MOVING FORWARD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am pleased to see that developer Rick Caruso has abandoned his plans to build a large mall on the Albany Shoreline. The mall would have brought traffic jams and urbanization to our beautiful shoreline, precluded efforts to preserve more open space, and ended the small town ambiance of Albany. Now we can move forward with a planning process that focuses on what’s best for our city, not a reactive process that focuses on the developer’s proposed plans. 

Steve Granholm  

Albany 

 

• 

CLEAN MONEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Letter writer Keith Winnard (Letters, July 18) describes the Proposition 89 “Clean Money” initiative as “one of the most wasteful means of reducing the improper impact on politics there is” This is not the experience of states such as Maine and Arizona which have adopted Clean Money laws where “clean” candidates have put a stop to pork barrel politics through the simple fact that they owe allegiance to voters, not donors In California, public funding of elections could have prevented the prison guard union from reaping a reward of $500 million in public funds by donating $5 million at a time California’s education and health budgets were being drastically cut. The cost per voter—the price of a latte and a bun—would be the best investment in good government possible and assure that valuable tax money was spent on the public good, rather than private and special interest profit. 

Tom Miller 

Advisory Board Member 

TakebackCa.org 

 

• 

BUSH GAFFE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Well, at least Bush didn’t throw up on Merkel as his father did on the Japanese prime minister. 

Nancy Ward 

 

• 

COUNTY SUPERVISORS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was quite amused by Allen C. Michaan’s commentary claiming that the Alameda County Supervisors embraced election fraud by making a decision to enter into a contract for a new voting system. Perhaps we can all be thankful that “commentary” and “fact” are quite different beasts, since it would appear that Mr. Michaan has some sort of ax to grind, and since he appears quite ignorant in dealing with technology related issues.  

Here are the accusations that I find most entertaining: 

• That Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors displayed ignorance and failed to be responsive to the county’s voters. 

• That the “secret” software codes provided by Sequoia cannot be trusted to deliver honest vote counts. 

• That such systems are ultimately vulnerable to hacking. 

Mr. Michaan apparently fails to understand some very basic facts. Those facts include the following: (1) that finding 50 poor souls who are willing to hype the fear of technology does not provide any evidence that the County Board was not responding to its constituents; (2) that the “secret” software codes are quite advanced and typically provide significant protection against fraud; and (3) that such systems have not yet been demonstrated to have been hacked. I find it interesting that Mr. Michaan’s alarmist diatribe focused on the emotional fears of some voters, and called for us to move back to the stone age of vote counting. He also appears unaware that optical scan systems are used today in a number of Canadian provinces with a fairly high degree of success.  

If Alameda County were to return to the days of hand-counting, would results be more accurate? More honest? I think not. In so far as I am aware, human beings are fully capable of failing to properly count and are fully capable of being corrupted, and thus could themselves be prone to “failing to deliver honest results.” How long does Mr. Michaan propose that we all wait for election returns to be reported? How much money does he suggest we spend to staff and train all of these “highly qualified vote counters”? Interestingly, he fails to address such points.  

The Alameda Board of Supervisors appropriately voted to adopt a new system that meets California standards and that meets a number of strict federal standards and tests. To suggest that each Board member must have great expertise prior to voting for a contract in a specific technology area begs the following question.... “Must each Board member have a great depth of knowledge and expertise in tax systems or judicial systems or property record systems or law enforcement systems before deciding how to react to contract recommendations brought before them?” If so, I wonder how many in any given County might truly qualify to represent taxpayers.  

I’ll be interested to see what Allen Michaan suggests next. Perhaps we should do away with electronic banking, with ATM’s, with credit cards, because...heavens, there are risks! While we’re at it, perhaps we should do away with electronic media...especially if accuracy is paramount!  

Douglas P. Allen 

 

• 

BUSD’S DISEASE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have read the follies of Berkeley Unified School District with interest over these last few months, since I wrote to you last about a bungling “fence job” this same public school district perpetrated some time ago. 

I find this district in serious trouble, when the sitting administration sees fit to hire and pay tremendous salaries to two assistant superintendants—a Mr. Neil Smith and a Ms. Lisa Udell at an astonishing $134,931 annual (see the Daily Planet’s April 4 and June 30 editions, respectively)—is anyone worth this amount of money in a 9-to-5, 10-month position who does not actually perform their duties in the classroom teaching children? I don’t think so—do you?  

I see in these same issues of the Daily Planet (April 4, April 7, June 30) articles that these paraprofessionals in this same BUSD are to be dismissed for reasons that lie in federal laws perpetrated by this same sitting president, G.W. Bush—and this same BUSD have deemed punitive actions towards these hard-working people. I see these hard-working teachers enter and exit the Hopkins Street Pre-School daily, and as tired as they appear, they always have a smile on their faces—and so do the children there—do they receive $134,931 salaries too? I do not think so.  

Again, I see another example of what is really wrong with BUSD—and like the S.S. Poseidon and many a ship I saw founder during Vietnam, a ship too top heavy sinks like a rock—this public school district is top heavy with administrators who do not know how to manage public money (see poor management of Maintenance Department discussions in Daily Planet, “fence-job” (listed above), etc., and punitive actions towards its paraprofessionals, etc.), who retain a vast majority of salaried personnel at the top, while they dismiss personnel at the classroom level. Is this any way to run a school district —to teach our children what they need to know—by mismanagement, by firing those who work with children while those who do not receive a raise, by a maintenance department who performs below standards. (I see maintenance crews at Hopkins Pre-School once a-month—how much can those little nippers damage, break or bust in their school—unless what is repaired is not repaired properly?) This BUSD needs to be placed under a microscope and examined for disease—I see an entire system broken here, and I am concerned about it. Are you? 

Karl Jensen 

 

• 

IN PRAISE OF BARBARA LEE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I want to commend Rep. Barbara Lee for her excellent leadership in Congress. Rep. Lee is a member of an elite group of Representatives who work for animal protection in our nation’s capitol. As a co-sponsor of the Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act (FASPA) Rep. Lee is on the cutting edge of a push towards more humane farms. FASPA, if passed, would compel the Federal Government to purchase meat from farms that treat animals with respect and compassion. The Federal procurement process has a long history as a trendsetter. In fact the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act began as procurement measure in 1958 before being passed as a widespread measure impacting all slaughter houses in 1978. FASPA could have the same effect, setting a standard for more humane farms across the country. With organizations like the Humane Society of the United States and elected officials like Rep. Lee working together for animals I have faith we will soon see a higher standard for farm animal welfare.  

Christine Morrissey 

Director, East Bay Animal Advocates 

Oakland 

 

• 

UNEMBEDDED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bad news from Baghdad  

After watching The War Tapes at the local cinema, I decided to become an embedded reporter in Iraq. I wrote to the U.S. military’s CentCom (Central Command) in Baghdad, saying that I was a reporter for OpEd News, had realized how unpopular the “War on Iraq” was in America—two out of three Americans are now against it—and was offering to embed so that I could bring the American people positive stories about the war so that we taxpayers might be reassured that our tax dollars are being spent wisely over there. 

CentCom e-mailed me back. “We’d be happy to have you, Jane. All you need to embed is to fill out the enclosed application, get some Kevlar body armor and buy a plane ticket to Iraq.” I was in! I was going to Iraq! I was embedding! 

Or not. 

CentCom apparently checked OpEd News out and discovered it was a progressive news service. “You can’t come over here after all,” they wrote me. “We do not embed bloggers.” Oh. So if you are against the “war” then you are not considered to be an official news service? You are only a blogger? “You need to represent a newspaper, news service or legitimate media outlet.”  

No problem. 

First, the editor of OpEd News explained carefully to CentCom that yes, OpEd News was a genuine news service. Second, Becky O’Malley, the editor of the heroic Berkeley Daily Planet, wrote a letter saying that I would be representing the Berkeley Daily Planet, a genuine newspaper. So. What more did I need (besides air fare and Kevlar)? Baghdad here I come! 

Not so fast. CentCom e-mailed me back. “You are not going to be embedded.” End of discussion. 

OK. Here are the facts. I applied. I was judged a liberal. I was turned down. No positive stories from Iraq coming from me. No freedom of speech for me. No democracy in Iraq for me. And no “Operation Iraqi Freedom” for me either. “Operation Iraqi Freedom” is only for the American journalists who support the “war.” “Operation Iraqi Freedom” is only for “good” Americans. 

Helen Thomas need not apply. 

So much for freedom of speech for the two-thirds of America that does not suppor the "war." So much for finding out what is really going on over there. Is there nothing in Iraq left that is positive enough for me to report about? Over there, has everything become like the days just before they evacuated Saigon? Are the helicopters standing at ready on the rooftop of the American embassy? I want to know. America wants to know. America has the right to know. 

Help me out here. 

If you are a newsservice, please let CentCom Iraq—mnfi.mediaembed@iraq.centcom.mil—know that you want me to embed on your behalf as well as for OpEd News and the Berkeley Daily Planet. And please send me a plane ticket and some Kevlar! 

And if you are a blogger, guess what? What you say doesn't count. 

Jane Stillwater


Commentary: One Nation Indy-Visible

By Raymond A. Chamberlin
Friday July 21, 2006

Forget the fireworks, the chase is on again—turn on your TV to find out the latest casualties of your monthly police high-speed chase. Although never having been personally impacted by this very American institution, I have long considered it the grossest, most damning hallmark of this nation. 

A May 27 chase that killed two persons in Oakland was well reviewed in perspective by J. Douglas Allen-Taylor in the June 2 Daily Planet, setting out good questions concerning the Oakland Police Department’s descriptions of factors involved in it, such as its questionable tie-in to marihuana, DUI and a street sideshow, rather than to a more probable complaint of merely loud music. Allen-Taylor framed these deaths in a pattern that included an earlier such death-dealing in Oakland in February 2002. 

Then, in response, we get Daniel Jiménez’ disgusting stereotypically American letter to the Planet. Forget whether loud music, sideshows, marihuana or DUI had anything to do with these but-for-the-police deaths; the difference in life or death resulted from the presumed functioning of fully-intact, but joy-of-the-chase-absorbed police brains versus those of crazed or drug-diminished fugitives’ brains. Only the exceptionally liberal would discount the culpability of the fugitive and take the extreme of pitying the him for not having been raised right or not having been put into a drug program—but certainly even most middle-of-the-road, intelligent persons would comprehend that it was the police officers who had the call of life or death of innocents in their hands and brains in these chases, where no greater concern called for immediate capture of this local renegade. Jiménez’ social “predication,” that the higher value is universal coerced citizen compliance with police orders, is simply an outlook of a police state unconcerned as to the life or death of its bystanding innocent citizens. When dead, one doesn’t have much “redress in the courts,” a phrase Jiménez used, and I hardly think anyone would’ve sanctioned Mr. Jiménez’ speeding off from the fix-it ticket he mentioned having gotten, given an irregularity in the charging cop’s procedure. His argument is flagrantly silly. I really wonder, if this guy had a close, adored relative killed in one of these chases, whether he would so simply put the blame only on “the one who runs.” 

So now what do we have? A baby killed by a high-speed chase by Alameda County sheriffs’ deputies in Hayward. The Sacramento Bee reported three years ago that the California average is 250 innocent bystanders injured, 16 killed, every year. So the deputies justify the chase as “never having reached high speeds”, having “stayed mostly between 50 and 60 mph” on city streets—but admits that “four red lights” and “four stop signs” were run. . .certainly not just by the fugitive. The death occurred at one of these intersections. The sheriff’s people are now cleared, the fugitive having been charged with, not just vehicular manslaughter, but murder. Another all-American solution to its problems. 

The basic statute legalizing this primitive rite permitted to peace officers in California is Vehicle Code Section 17004.7, which extends to them complete immunity from prosecution or financial burden, for even very crazy or sloppy behavior, under the most absurd skeletal criteria imposed on their respective jurisdictions that one can imagine. Newspapers are afraid to even reference it. Read it online at www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html. Many times, legislators have tried timidly to change the vapid wording of this code section to no avail, and none of them will risk the political damage of a full, functional rewording of it. The peace officer’s union, an impenetrable mafia in this state, outdoes the NRA in its hold on this open-season-on-innocents-supporting law. Unions’ traditional roles are the support of the incomes and working conditions of their members. This one supports a self-destructive behavior of its members—in the interest simply of the pursuit of the excitement of the chase. To invoke this law in a given case, the usual claim is that the fugitive tried to strike the police or their vehicle with his car. In the Oakland case of Mable (sic) Daniel, who was splattered against a gas pump in 2000, I found out from an attorney in a following civil case, that two witnesses thoroughly denied such vehicular challenge initiated that case, as claimed by the pursuers, but the witnesses were in this country illegally and would not dare to testify. 

Let’s hit this from another tack: Two days before the above-mentioned “murder,” in the dark of night, my old Acura was stolen from my driveway in the Berkeley hills. The grapevine says that old Acuras are used in illegal street races and sideshows. Did my car go to the sideshow-fearing Oakland? The Berkeley Police Department’s website lists 49 auto thefts within a one-mile radius of my home during the first half of this year. This site doesn’t tell how many of these vehicles were retrieved in what condition, but it does list exactly zero arrests resulting from these thefts. The Oakland Police Department’s website—for that city’s council District 4, an area about twice as large but with less population density than the truncated circular Berkeley area around my home—lists 498 auto thefts, says nothing about retrieval and isn’t about to publish figures showing essentially no resultant arrests. California, of course, leads the nation in auto thefts, with 252, 604 occurring in 2004, according to the federal Bureau of Justice—over two and a half times that of the next contender, Texas. 

Now, if Oakland is so worried about sideshow usage of such stolen cars, shouldn’t it get onto this problem and maybe convince Berkeley to do the same? Or will these police departments, besides never locating my car, stick a charge on me for not having installed a LoJack or CyntrX satellite locating system in my old compact 1989 car? Or will one of them, or some other jurisdiction, actually find my car. . .and chase it till it kills more innocent people? 

Yes, it would’ve been nice to have had a satellite-employing locating transceiver in my car. . .for my own use, not the cops’. But let’s see how that works with usual installations of such. Let us tool down to the Southland, where police high-speed chases on TV serve as bullfights for Anglos. The other night, on Inside Edition, an ex-owner of a fancy SUV with a slew of expensive extras on it, including two satellite locating devices, was shown sitting in pain, watching the cops chase his luxury vehicle—because both he and they were immediately warned by the equipment the moment the car was stolen. The dumb cops chose to chase the thing at once, rather than wait till it got located at a chop shop or whatever. Do peace officers down there get cuts from the TV entertainment people? Well, people getting killed turned out not to be in the script in this case; but the SUV nudged another vehicle badly and ran over a curb at high speed before being trapped by the police. So what was the end accomplishment of all this fancy locating gear? The car was totaled and the guy bought another one. The cops were no doubt fulfilled and –just this one time—life was not affected in La-La Land. My pocketbook is nowhere near so fat and happy as this SUV owner’s. 

But, back to curtailing auto theft: Could not police departments afford to purchase a number of popular old automobiles to use as decoys, installing hidden transmitting GPS units in them? They’d have to either switch such cars with each other quite often and/or repaint the vehicles to prevent their recognition—and perhaps they’d have to cover the cars’ transmitting signals with a steady signal from their station on the same frequency, in order to prevent a car’s signal from being noticed by a car thief with an appropriate receiver—the intermodulation of such two signals, however, remaining readable by the police as to the car’s location, while exhibiting enough complexity as to prevent a thief from being able to procure equipment that would let him be aware that a locating signal was being transmitted from their prey. If old Acuras connect to sideshows, Oakland for one city, should be hot to use them as decoys to bust up illegal procurement of such implements used dangerously in these shows. Let their cops who love to chase, and who may have trained in local street sideshows themselves, try out their speed on the track in Indianapolis. 

How come Americans can find so many high-tech ways to kill off people around the globe but can’t use a reasonable amount of not-exceedingly-complex equipment on the home front to keep people there alive and mobile? 

 

Raymond A. Chamberlin is Berkeley  

resident.  


Commentary: Keeping the Arts In the Public Eye Proves Challenging Every Year

By Robbin Henderson
Friday July 21, 2006

It has been a challenging year for the Berkeley Art Center. In fact, the past few years have increasingly tested our ingenuity and resilience. While we offered professionally mounted exhibitions, undertook lots of adjunct programming, presented opportunities to attend performances of music, spoken word, films and theater performances, our funding decreased. Rising costs accompanied this decline. We have been told that the oil “crisis,” brewing since the 1970s, is the reason postage, maintenance and printing costs increased. Insurance rates skyrocketed; both Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina are blamed for the rise. We watched our communications costs soar, as we increased our use of the Internet to mitigate rising postal rates. Our small staff is dedicated and offers the BAC many volunteer hours without a cost-of-living raise. 

Fifteen years ago, private foundations and the California Arts Council regularly supported our programs. Today, the California Arts Council, whose budget was slashed from $18 million to $1 million by Gov. Schwarzenegger, offers no grants to arts institutions. Private foundations have changed their funding priorities. These days they devote their declining resources to agencies that provide, as they say, “direct, measurable services to at-risk populations,” putting us in competition with youth programs, homeless shelters, food banks and battered women. Increasing our membership fees, and cutting down on the number of printed materials we produce, were attempts to mitigate the drop in income. In 1977 The Berkeley Art Center was a city agency with four full-time staff and an operating budget of over $90,000. In today’s dollars that equals nearly $300,000. Last year the BAC received $49,000 on its contract with the City of Berkeley. In early May the BAC Board of Directors struggled with these realities and came to the conclusion that if we couldn’t convince the Berkeley City Council to raise our contract by $20,000 we might have to close our doors. We thank the Berkeley Daily Planet for letting readers know of this state of affairs. 

Our precarious situation is not unique, and it may represent increased alienation from direct experience of art. As more people wear earphones, talk on cell phones in public, acquire bigger, high-definition screens for their TV’s or personal computers, the consumption of art becomes a solitary experience, instead of a participatory one. Every week we hear of another arts agency closing its doors or in danger of closing. California Poets in the Schools lost its administrators and offices, the Oakland Ballet is no more, Theater Bay Area is struggling, and other non-profit galleries in the Bay Area are teetering. I don’t believe that the problem is lack of money. The problem is warped priorities. At the national level we are prosecuting an enormously costly war—$250 million per day to kill, maim and starve civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan—at the expense quality of life funding for health, education and the arts in the United States.  

California, badly hurt by Enron’s corrupt manipulation of our energy supply, scapegoats immigrants and cuts expenditures to education, meanwhile spending $4.2 billion over the past 15 years to construct new prisons. Since 1980, 23 new prisons have been constructed in our state, but only one new university, making California number one in prison spending but 41st in the nation in spending for education. 

But Berkeley is different! Our city government has shown an uncommon commitment to the arts. Income projections for next year in the City of Berkeley are good, so we asked the city to step up to the plate and increase our funding. A favorable decision was made on June 27. We are truly fortunate to have a city government whose priorities include more than lip service in support of the arts. On behalf of the Berkeley Art Center Board of Directors, staff and patrons, we are grateful to the mayor, the City Council and all our supporters for helping us survive.  

 

Robbin Henderson is the executive director of the Berkeley Art Center.


Columns

Column: The Public Eye: Take Me To Our Leader

By Bob Burnett
Tuesday July 25, 2006

It’s a famous cartoon setup: Aliens descend from a space ship, walk up to a human, and demand, “Take me to your leader.” If aliens actually did land in Washington D.C., they’d probably be taken to meet George Bush. After all, he’s the nominally elected president of the United States. Ah, but is he our leader? 

No. Most of us believe that President Bush has failed as a leader. That’s the crux of the problem facing the United States as we gaze into the eye of the Middle East maelstrom: There’s civil war in Iraq; Israel is rampaging in Gaza and Lebanon; Iran grows more belligerent by the hour and seems determined to have nuclear weapons; India and Pakistan are at each other’s throats; and George Bush cannot be counted upon to guide us through this tempest 

Management theory teaches there are two types of leaders: one is a person who occupies a position of authority and the other is a someone who people go to for counsel because of his or her wise decision making. This theory argues that people want to respect their elected officials; that we gain or lose confidence in our leaders based upon two traits: trust and communication. As president, George Bush occupies a position of authority, but he has lost favor with Americans because he has proven to be an unwise decision-maker, untrustworthy public servant, and unreliable communicator. 

Crises cause confidence in our leaders to rise or fall. George Bush has faced four crises during his presidency: The first was 9/11. Bush started out well but then made a series of bad decisions: He failed to unite the nation in common cause, to learn from the mistakes made before 9/11, and to destroy Al Qaeda. The second crisis was Iraq. Whatever we may think of Bush’s stated reason for the invasion, he might have saved the situation with a carefully conceived plan for the occupation, but he didn’t. The third crisis was Hurricane Katrina. Bush failed because he first refused to act beforehand and then had no comprehensive plan for recovery. 

Now America finds itself in the fourth crisis of the Bush administration: For a variety of reasons, some centuries old, but many the result of bad decisions by this White House, the Middle East is spiraling out of control. Once again, the key requirement is leadership. Only America can restrain Israel. Only the United States can prevent Iraq from total collapse. Only American can initiate meaningful dialogue with Syria and Iran. And only the United States can mediate the confrontation between India and Pakistan. 

But based on his past performance, we cannot expect George Bush to provide the leadership that these critical times require. He has proven incapable of the bold steps that these crises demand. As the Middle East deteriorates, Bush will remain a passive observer; our Nero content to fiddle while Rome burns. 

Given the extremity of this crisis, and the dreadful track record of the president, it’s important to ask who else can provide this leadership? Certainly no one else in the administration. It’s useless to pin our hopes on the likes of Don Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice. The Republican “leadership” on Capitol Hill seems similarly impaired; a number of terms are used to describe Bill Frist and Dennis Hastert, but “respected leader” isn’t one of them.  

That leaves the Democrats. At the moment, there are five front runners for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination: Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards, Evan Bayh, and Mark Warner. None of them stands out as someone able to provide the leadership needed in the Middle East. 

However, there is a Democrat who has demonstrated the inspirational leadership the United States needs. A person who occupied high office and became familiar with the complex problems that are, once again, flaring up in the Middle East. An individual who suffered through misfortune and learned from it, whose hubris has long ago been swept away. A senior statesman has who shown extraordinary leadership in two critical areas: Bush’s abuse of presidential power and global climate change. This leader is Al Gore. 

We can all understand Gore’s reluctance to again run for public office. None of us can forget the painful 2000 election—the stolen votes in Florida and other states, and the Supreme Court decision that threw the victory to George Bush. None of us can imagine how painful this must have been for Al Gore, how difficult it was for him to forget a campaign where he was maligned by an American press corps that was having an unsavory love affair with Bush. 

These are perilous times, where America, and the world, teeters on the brink of disaster. In his famous “ask not” phrase, John Kennedy argued that there are occasions when Americans must sweep aside personal considerations and do what is best for our country. This is one of those moments. Al Gore can provide the leadership that the United States needs. He must take control of the Democratic Party and become the voice of sanity that America desperately needs to hear.  

 

Bob Burnett can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net. 


Column: Thank You for the Opportunity

By Susan Parker
Tuesday July 25, 2006

I’m not a spokesperson for anyone, but myself. I once thought I might have some insights to share with and about the disabled community but this has turned out not to be true. When an organization that represents this community was looking for local authors to speak at a fundraising event, I imagined I was the perfect candidate. 

Instead, a woman who wrote a book about California bungalows was selected. The following year I was passed over for a Marin County housewife who is married to a world-renowned rock star. She wrote a memoir about who she slept with during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Obviously, she’s a lot more interesting than me.  

I assumed I might be a good person to represent my North Oakland hood in print, but several neighbors have told me my columns make our block seem dangerous. “It’s a nice place,” they say. “Try to make it sound that way.” I agree with them. I love where I live despite car thefts, drug busts, and a recent graffiti plague. Houses here regularly sell for over half a million dollars.  

Surely, I must be a voice for the often silent, overworked, underpaid, and sometimes ignored caregiving community. But given the nature of this occupation, it doesn’t leave a lot of time for extracurricular activities such as reading or contacting others. I have met a few women who are caregivers for their disabled husbands. What I have found, (and this is backed up by statistics), is that there is a high rate of divorce among couples in which one member has acquired a catastrophic disability.  

Sometimes I write about my relationship with the people who live in our house and help with my husband’s care. I record the activities of a little girl from Hunters Point, now a teenager, who stays with us every summer. These columns haven’t always been well received.  

I even got a complaint letter after publishing an article about my dog.  

Nonetheless, I write because I think I’ve got something to say that may be of interest to someone, somewhere, in some way. Mostly, I try to explain the physical and emotional terrain Ralph and I navigate daily so that readers can better understand our situation and the lifestyle of those in similar circumstances. Despite the Bay Area being a tolerant, progressive place, I have witnessed behavior that has left me perplexed and disappointed.  

For example, we’ve arrived at nearby movie theaters and found the disabled seats occupied by people who are not disabled. When we’ve asked them to move, we’ve sometimes encountered indignation, including the common complaint, “You should’ve gotten here earlier.” My lame response is, “We would’ve if we could’ve.”  

Once, while in Trader Joe’s, a woman ran a shopping cart over Ralph’s feet and kept going.  

Four years ago Ralph and I went to dinner with a young woman who is a high-level quadriplegic. I sat between them, and alternated giving each bites of sandwiches and sips of drinks. She told me she had interviewed a man we knew for an attendant position.  

“It won’t work,” she said.  

“Why not?” I asked. “He’s helped us for years, and he’s very good.”  

“I don’t think he’d be comfortable inserting or removing a tampon,” she said.  

I had to put her sandwich down and catch my breath. I’d been married to a C-4 quadriplegic for over eight years and it had never occurred to me that this was the kind of help she, and others like her, needed.  

This is why I write. It’s not always easy or fun, but it’s experiences like this, and the people I have met since my husband’s accident, that inspire me. Before Ralph became paralyzed I had a nice life. But we can’t go back. I’m grateful for what we have, and for the opportunity to share it with you.


Mockingbird Jazz: The Evolutionary Roots of Bird Song

By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 25, 2006

I just finished a book called Why Men Won’t Ask for Directions, which despite the title is not another pop-psychology tract about gender differences. The author, Richard Francis, is an evolutionary neurobiologist, and the book is a rousing polemic against the sociobiologists and their intellectual heirs, the evolutionary psychologists: scientists who believe that just about every aspect of human behavior is an adaptation to something or other. 

Francis, on the other hand, is in the tradition of the late Stephen Jay Gould, who argued that some traits—physical and behavioral—are just byproducts of the evolutionary process, things that happened to be linked to other things that were targets of natural selection. Gould thought the bodies of all organisms were marked by “senseless signs of history”—like the “thumb” of the giant panda, jury-rigged from a wristbone. 

Francis does wind up with a discussion of alleged male-female differences in spatial orientation and related brain structure. But before he gets there, he introduces other creatures whose behavior or anatomy challenges the everything-is-adaptive model: sex-changing clownfish, parthenogenic whiptail lizards, Berkeley’s own spotted hyenas. 

(Yes, there’s a research colony of these very odd beasts in Strawberry Canyon. That’s a story in itself.) Along the way to humanity, he poses an interesting question: why does the mockingbird mock? 

On the face of it, the vocal performance of mockingbirds (there are several species, in the West Indies, South America, and the Galapagos Islands; ours is the northern mockingbird, Mimus polyglottus, the “many-tongued mimic”) looks like a straightforward case of Darwinian sexual selection. That’s the process in which the evolution of a trait, usually in male animals, is driven by some mixture of male competition and female choice. The classic example is the tail of the peacock: it’s not at all functional—it may, in fact, reduce its owner’s chances of evading predators—but the hens like it. 

Bird song has long been considered the audio equivalent of the peacock’s tail. Males sing to attract mates, and females somehow evaluate the quality of a prospective mate (good genes? low parasite loads?) by characteristics of the song. One characteristic supposedly selected by female choice is repertoire size. 

Was it Mae West who said: “I like a man with a big….vocabulary?” In birds like the marsh wren, there does seem to be a correlation between the number of song types in a male’s repertoire and his reproductive success. 

Marsh wrens are polygynous, though, like peacocks. Mockingbirds are monogamous. Why would a male mockingbird need his huge assortment of phrases, many borrowed from other birds, nonavian animals, and mechanical objects? (One tropical mockingbird is said to have learned the Brazilian national anthem.) 

Isn’t he a bit overdesigned? 

But, says Francis, what if the mockingbird’s repertoire is an evolutionary accident, one of Gould’s “senseless signs?” He explains that a typical songbird—a white-crowned sparrow, say—goes through three distinct phases in its song development. First, the bird produces a wide assortment of random sounds. Donald Kroodsma, a birdsong scholar, calls this “babbling”, analogous to what happens in human infants. Francis calls it the John Cage stage. 

Then comes “plastic song”: there’s some structure, but the song is still continuous and has an improvised quality. This is Francis’ Keith Jarrett stage. Finally, distinct songs crystallize out of the sonic mix: a single song type for the white-crowned sparrow, over 200 for the marsh wren. The bird sings that song, or songs—the “final song”—over and over for the rest of his life. In Francis’ typology, he has reached the Philip Glass stage. 

The songs of adult mockingbirds—and their near kin, catbirds and thrashers, and somewhat more distant relatives, starlings and mynahs—have all the hallmarks of plastic song. A few years back Rebecca Irwin, now at the University of Tennessee at Martin, studied bird song in terms of ontogeny (development) and phylogeny (evolutionary relationships). She suggested that the mockingbird’s song might not be an end product of sexual selection, but a quirk of the song-development process. If their ancestors were songbirds that went through all three stages, mockers may stop at Keith Jarrett.  

In support of that possibility, Irwin noted that other songbirds incorporate the notes of other species into their plastic songs. But these elements don’t survive into the final song. Mimicry may be part of the normal songbird learning process: although a certain amount is hardwired, birds need to be exposed to a model—a “song tutor,” either a father or a holder of neighboring territory—to get it exactly right. Mockingbirds, unlike white-crowned sparrows, are lifelong learners. Instead of settling on a final song they just keep noodling away, adding some new elements and dropping old ones. 

Those of you who were around in the ‘50s will no doubt remember Mad Magazine’s fascination with axolotls. In real life, the axolotl is a Mexican salamander that reaches sexual maturity while retaining its larval shape, including feathery red gills. Its relatives, though, grow up to be normal gill-less air-breathing salamanders. What happens to the axolotl is called paedomorphosis—and Irwin suggests that mockingbird song may be a paedomorphic behavior. 

Francis’s point in bringing up Irwin’s 1988 paper—which no one else seems to have followed up on—is that we can’t construct what Gould called evolutionary just-so stories for every trait. Evolution is about chance and necessity, and sometimes chance prevails. We are all, men and mockingbirds alike, the victims—and the beneficiaries—of a series of accidents.


Column: Dispatches from the Edge: Poverty, Aid and Africa: A Devil’s Brew

By Conn Hallinan
Friday July 21, 2006

Once or so a year, the topic of poverty climbs on the agenda for the developed world. This past weekend it barely surfaced at the meeting of the Group of Eight in St. Petersburg, where energy policy (and the Middle East) held center stage. Poverty was a theme at last year’s G8 meeting, and it will likely come up again next year when the United States, Canada, Japan, Britain, Russia, Germany, France, and Italy sit down in Berlin to divvy up the global economy. 

The venues shift, the faces at the table change, but the hard facts about hunger and privation are not much different than they were a decade ago. In some cases they’ve gotten worse.  

• Over 90 percent of urban populations have no access to safe drinking water and, by next year, more than half of the world will live in cities. The slums of Mumbai have more people than the entire country of Norway. 

• One third of the world’s population—2.3 billion people—have no access to toilets or latrines, a major reason for the 13 million annual deaths ascribed to water-borne diseases. 

• Almost 47 percent of children in Bangladesh and India are malnourished. Life expectancy in most of Africa is less than 50 years, and in those countries ravaged by AIDS, less than 40 years.  

Hunger and malnutrition are worse in sub-Saharan Africa than they were a decade ago. 

Back in 2000 the United Nations established a Millennium Development Goal to halve global poverty by 2015. The G8’s enormous wealth, along with its dominance in world trade, was to play the key role in this worldwide assault on poverty and disease.  

But six years into this war on poverty the goals are mired in a devil’s brew of self-serving economic policies, lethargic bureaucracy, and outright disingenuousness. Only South America and the Caribbean are even approaching the Millennium targets.  

Meeting last year in Gleneagles, Scotland, the G8 pledged to prioritize Africa for debt relief, accelerated aid, and increased trade. A year later, most of those initiatives are bogged down in a battle over free trade, as well as by a persistent inertia in delivering on those promises. The only part of the program running on schedule is debt relief, which looks good on paper but translates into very little on the ground. 

Most of the G8 increase in aid—from $80 billion in 2004, to $106.5 billion in 2005—was in debt write offs. Very little of that money went toward upgrading water systems, improving disease control, or increasing food consumption. 

Removing debt reduction from the aid packages, German aid fell 8 percent, and France and Britain’s dipped 2 percent. And while U.S. foreign aid jumped 16 percent, if you subtract Iraq and Afghanistan, it declined 4 percent.  

Debt relief is important and allows countries to divert interest payments toward upgrading their infrastructures, but it is also a cheap way for developed countries to fulfill their aid obligations. 

One of the major roadblocks to improving the lives of billions of people is the refusal of the United States to consider opening its agricultural markets, even as it insists that underdeveloped countries open theirs. This is particularly important in Africa, where 50 percent of a country’s GNP may be in agriculture. 

U.S. crops like corn, soy, cotton, and wheat are heavily subsidized by the federal government, so that U.S. wheat sells for 46 percent below production cost, with corn at 20 percent below cost. If Brazil or South Korea were to try to do the same thing with steel, they would be accused of “dumping” on the international market. 

The G8 members of the European Union (EU) argue that if underdeveloped countries remove their tariffs, those countries will be overwhelmed with cheap U.S. produce, which will drive them out of business, encourage uneven regional development, and do very little to aid the poor.  

Mexico and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a case in point. Mexican fruit and vegetable exports increased 50 percent under NAFTA, enriching big landowners in the country’s north. But small farmers in the south are being swamped by U.S.-subsidized corn. Some two million farmers have left the land, and 18 million subsist on less than two dollars a day, accelerating rural poverty, and helping to fuel the growth of immigration 

Mexican wheat production has fallen 50 percent, and U.S. imports now account for 99 percent of Mexico’s soybeans, 80 percent of its rice, 30 percent of its chicken, beef and pork, and 33 percent of its beans. When Mexican cattle growers switched from using sorghum to corn because the latter was cheaper, the shift put the former industry out of business.  

While the United States demands the removal of foreign barriers, it maintains tariffs on sugar and cotton, two crops that are, coincidentally, central to the key electoral battleground states of Florida and Texas. 

According to the Financial Times, “new research suggests that the very poorest of the least developed countries (LDCs) could make big gains in exports and growth if the United States followed the EU and opened its markets to LDC.” 

Free trade has been a disaster for most of the developing world. In Latin America, where until recently the free trade “Washington Consensus” held sway, growth from 1987 to 2002 averaged 1.5 percent. To even put a dent in poverty, Latin America requires a growth rate of at least 4 percent or more. 

The EU is also part of the problem. While it has been critical of U.S. intransigence on tariffs, the EU has kept out a number of LDC exports over health issues, and it subsidizes its farmers as well. In all, the developed world hands out nearly $1 billion in farm subsidies each day.  

Food aid policy in the U.S, for which the total 2005 budget was $1.6 billion, is largely dictated by an “iron triangle” of agribusiness, shipping magnates, and charity foundations. Studies demonstrate that the most efficient way to deliver aid is to purchase food locally rather than buy and ship it from the donor country. 

But the United States insists that food aid must come from the United States, be shipped on U.S. carriers and distributed by agencies like CARE and Catholic Relief Services. As a result, 60 cents out of every aid dollar goes for middlemen in transport, storage and distribution.  

Four companies and their subsidiaries, led by agri-giants Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill, sell more than half the food used by the Agency for International Development. Five big shipping companies dominate the transport side of the equation. And relief agencies, like CARE and Catholic Relief Services, generate half their budgets by selling some of the aid food.  

Oxfam has long lobbied for putting cash directly into the hands of local farmers rather than handing it out to agricultural and transport corporations, but most U.S. aid groups support the current system. CARE, however, recently broke ranks and endorsed the Oxfam initiative. 

The recent G8 meeting largely tabled the issue for this year, but the problem is not going to go away. Poverty is an affliction of the underdeveloped world, but the solutions to it lie in altering the policies of the developed world.


Column: Undercurrents: Doing ‘Something’ About Violence in Oakland

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday July 21, 2006

Forgive me, y’all, but I am always a little skeptical when a politician announces that one of their public policy initiatives has nothing to do with politics but, then, you’ve got to find the timing of this one is a little curious, as well. 

We have known since late winter that we are in the midst of an enormous upswing in East Bay murders this year, and just over the mid-year mark the ghastly toll has now reached 73 in Oakland and 19 in the much-smaller Richmond. Now we learn, according to a Jim Herron Zamora article in the San Francisco Chronicle this week, State Sen. Don Perata has “wanted for months to do something about Oakland’s spiraling number of street killings.” 

What kept Mr. Perata from doing whatever the “something” that he wanted to do was not revealed by the Chronicle article, but Mr. Zamora tells us that the “something” is now being done, as Mr. Perata announced that on Wednesday of this week he was “host[ing] a private meeting … of 40 public officials and community leaders in which he hopes to produce a to-do list for the state to help combat recent violence in Richmond and Oakland.” 

Why is the timing so curious? Well, the Perata “Combat The Violence” meeting comes on the same day that Oakland activists and education leaders had planned to travel to Sacramento in hopes to meet with Mr. Perata (as well as local Assemblymembers Wilma Chan and Loni Hancock) concerning the issue of return to local control of the Oakland public schools.  

It was Mr. Perata’s SB39 legislation that authorized the state seizure of OUSD in 2003, and local leaders were hoping that he could use his considerable powers as State Senate President to push through new legislation saying that Oakland had been punished enough for its financial transgressions. In fact, some of the local activists might be arguing that while the chaos resulting from the state takeover did not cause the recent upswing in Oakland violence, it certainly didn’t help, so that one important step Mr. Perata might take to combat Oakland’s violence would be to help speed local control to the Oakland schools, ending the instability in one of the city’s most important institutions. 

Of course, you could also argue that Mr. Perata convened the anti-violence meeting on Wednesday as a way for him to deflect attention from the Oakland school struggle, and Mr. Perata’s role in the state takeover, or his possible role in the sale of the administration building lands. But that would be cynical, my friends, and it’s way too hot this week to be cynical. 

Meanwhile, if you wanted to learn how serious Mr. Perata might or might not be about advancing an anti-violence agenda in Oakland, the Jim Zamora Chronicle article did note that two prominent invitees were not on Mr. Perata’s list for the meeting: outgoing Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and incoming Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums. The article explains this curious lapse in a quote by Mr. Perata that “Jerry is gone soon and he’s running for a higher office—I didn’t want this to be seen by anyone as a political event. I’m not gaining anything politically from this. I want it totally work focused. As for Ron, he doesn’t start the job for six months, I want to move on things right now. I look forward to working with him next year.” 

Odd reasoning, don’t you think? While Mr. Brown may be “gone soon,” he is still responsible for the running of Oakland—for which we are still forwarding him regular paychecks, last I heard—and the “higher office” the Mayor is running for is Attorney General of the State of California based, in large part, on his success or lack of success in addressing the issues of crime in violence in Oakland. And while Mr. Dellums does not take office until January, he is already deep at work on the transition. Why, then, would Mr. Perata want to keep the once and future Oakland mayors out of a “Combat The Violence” meeting, the subject of which these two powerful men have such influence over? If you were being cynical, you could argue that with Mr. Brown and Mr. Dellums in the room, Mr. Perata would only get a third of the publicity and the attention, at the most, but that would imply that the major purpose behind the “Combat The Violence” meeting would be to get Mr. Perata attention and publicity, rather than combating any actual violence, and as I said, it’s way too hot to be cynical this week. 

Anyways, meanwhile, perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not (quién sabe?), a week before the Perata “Combat The Violence” meeting, two Oakland City Councilmembers often identified as allies of Mr. Perata—Larry Reid and Jane Brunner—held a City Hall forum on Oakland Youth in the Criminal Justice System, which the Councilmembers said would “focus on preventing youth criminal activity in Oakland neighborhoods.” 

A look at the titles of the panel members might give you a clue as to where this focus concentrated. Dominated by law enforcement officials, it included the Alameda County Probation Chief, the Alameda County Senior Deputy District Attorney for Juvenile Offenders, The Alameda County Presiding Youth Judge, the Oakland Chief of Police, and, in the lonely role as the only non-law enforcement person, the City of Oakland Director of Human Services. The rest of the public—including youth advocates and the youth themselves—was relegated to trooping up to the microphone, one person at a time, to give their one minute of testimony on this important subject. (Try saying more than your name, address, and telephone number in a minute’s time and see how difficult and useless this exercise in public testimony actually is.) 

If that didn’t provide enough of a hint, the official forum e-mail invitation was more explicit: “Do you wonder why young people are involved in criminal activity?” it asked. “Does it seem to you that when young people are picked up for illegal activity, they are back on the streets within hours? Are young people treated less seriously by the police and the criminal justice system? Please join Councilmembers Jane Brunner and Larry Reid to address these questions.” 

There is nothing wrong with asking these questions, and the two Councilmembers are certainly free to hold forums on anything that addresses issues that are within the scope of their duties and are of concern either to themselves or their constituents. 

The problem is that it presupposes a criminal justice solution to the problem of Oakland’s youth violence, while logic would suggest that understanding of the nature and cause of a problem ought to precede locking-in on the cure. 

And yet, somehow, despite the fact that Oakland has been suffering under a depressingly consistent rate of murders for the past several years, we have yet to sit down as a city and a community during this period to hold a comprehensive, rational, adult discussion as to why. 

While there are those who might say there have been many—some would even say “too many”—public debates in recent years over cures to Oakland’s violence, these debates have actually centered around the political campaigns surrounding the various anti-violence ballot measure campaigns on the ballot since 2002. If history has taught us anything, it is that truth, understanding, and rationality are generally the first casualties when people are fighting over votes or money. 

These efforts may be a nice start, but they are not nearly enough. 

Oakland is a city with enormous resources to focus on civic problems, if we wish to take advantage of them. Among other things, we have two community colleges of the Peralta system (Laney and Merritt) as well as the nearby University of California at Berkeley to lend their research and analytical expertise. We have a community of energetic, intelligent youth who have often expressed interest in working on solving some of the city’s difficulties, if we would only trust them a little, listen to them, and bring them into the mix. We have a long and honorable history of civic activism and involvement, with people still living in the city who are veterans of various neighborhood, citywide, national, and international projects from Seventh Street to Soweto. We are a city full of writers, teachers, thinkers, artists, artisans, and activists who would be willing to volunteer time and energy and services, if only asked. You could certainly add Richmond citizens to that discussion, since the problems in these two cities—and the solutions to those problems—may prove to be remarkably similar. 

The questions to confront? What is the cause of the bloody violence that is threatening to crush the East Bay and its residents to our knees, how can we mitigate its effects, and how can we bring it to an end? 

And we wouldn’t even have to wait until the new Oakland mayoral administration is in place to go on with that discussion. 


Calatrava’s Sundial Bridge Puts Redding on the Map

By Dorothy Bryant, Special to the Planet
Friday July 21, 2006

 

On Dec. 15, 2005 the New York Review of Books ran a long article on Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava, written by architecture critic Martin Filler in the great tradition of NYR sneers. 

Almost no put-down was omitted: “overelaborate designs,” “obfuscate,” “theatrical aesthetic,” “a naivete similar to Disneyland.” There are references to a crafty “game plan” that involved hiring “a New York public relations firm,” which got Calatrava the commission to design the new Transportation Hub for the World Trade Center at Ground Zero. 

More dismissive adjectives include “kitsch,” “shallow symbolism,” and “underlying sentimentality,” which explains why (sniff) his “appeal to a popular audience makes perfect sense.” Some of Calatrava’s bridges and buildings are listed, like the Milwaukee Art Museum, as evidence of his “avian obsession” as well as his use of moving parts that sometimes malfunction. 

However, spread across the page above the article, as if mocking Filler’s judgment, is a breathtaking (to this ignorant member of the “popular audience”) aerial photograph of Calatrava’s pedestrian bridge, spanning the Sacramento River in Redding. 

Redding? Did I read that caption right? Redding? 

Bob and I are 70-plus Northern California natives, who have seen all the changes: orchards and rolling hills buried by freeways, housing tracts and shopping malls. Bummer. But we don’t romanticize what the freeways replaced—highways with occasional two or three-block stretches of a ramshackle “main street” of an undistinguished and indistinguishable “town” you had to drive through on your way to the natural beauties of the coast or the mountains. 

In between, the great agricultural valleys lay—in hellish heat or in bone-chilling-blinding winter tule fog. The bread basket of the world combined the virtual slave labor of Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath with the wasteland of his story “Chrysanthemums,” a portrait of a woman’s parched soul withering like her dying flowers. The current and spreading infection of shopping malls and housing tracts (where the more fortunate residents huddle throughout the summer, prisoners of their air conditioners) seemed consistent with the historic nature of the valley.  

But now, according to this condescending NYR article, there is, for better or for worse, something to see there. So in May (my cut-off point for entering that three-digit Fahrenheit hell) we drove four hours into the valley to Redding. 

If you go on the net, you’ll learn that the 700-foot walking bridge was conceived in 1995, largely financed and developed by the McConnell Foundation (which a friend called the brainchild of rich retirees who own property in Redding), that it cost $23 million, and involved various land swaps and buy-outs to create a 300-acre park preserve on the shores at either end of the bridge. 

Then there were complicated negotiations for federally mandated preservation of salmon spawning grounds—no pilings could be driven into the river bed. These preparations ate up half the costs before ground was broken in 1999. The bridge was completed in 2004. 

A Calatrava trademark is the soaring white wing (or sail?) at one end covered with a million broken pieces of Spanish tile, from which steel cables radiate like harp strings down to the bridge (whether decorative or structural or both, I don’t know). In the case of the Redding Bridge, the shadow cast by the wing actually indicates the time of day, hence the title Sundial Bridge.  

From the parking lot we could see the gleaming white wing piercing the sky; we used it as a guide post as we walked wide, wheel-chair accessible paths toward the bridge (other paths go off to hiking trails). The botanical gardens on either shore were not open to guided tours when we got there but we were able to wander around and see plantings and plans for developing the parkland preserve. 

We walked the short bridge span on a tread made of thick glass. (We didn’t stay to see it at night when powerful lights under the glass light up the whole span.) People walked, bicycled, pushed baby strollers, stopped to look down at the water or across at the forested land, or up at the hills and mountains beyond. Nothing to do on this bridge but hug your lover and look over the side and watch the water stream by, or chase your kids, or, perhaps meet your neighbor and talk? I wondered if, in this state where everyone is always on the move in a car, this short bridge—where we were all moving but slower—had, by design or by accident, become a new kind of town square. 

On July 7, the New York Times travel section Escapes devoted a page to “Redding, California,” verifying that the bridge had made the formerly “just another Podunk” town a tourist destination. It maps the town and surroundings, lists restaurants (pricey but definitely not serving the Velveeta-soaked chops typical of the old valley truck stops) that have appeared, and names some reasonably priced and comfortable hotels like the one we stayed in before driving on to Lassen Volcanic Park and the Lake Shasta Caverns.  

I confess that I take a certain old-Californian proprietary pride in the Redding Bridge. I don’t see its sharp, gleaming lines as a “Disneyland” violation of nature but as a contrasting, humanly-crafted homage to that landscape. We could do—and have done—worse. All my life I have longed for architecture that at least aspired to being worthy of the natural beauty of California. (How many times can you walk across the Golden Gate Bridge?)  

I’m told that the idea of the Redding Bridge inspired the green-tinted foot-bridge arching over the freeway just south of University Avenue. All right! What’s next?  

Oh, and I don’t have to tell you to save your trip to Redding for late September or early October. Japanese tourists show up even in Death Valley in August (no kidding!), but we know better.


Choosing Not to Play the Updating Game

By Jane Powell
Friday July 21, 2006

 

We have all watched Antiques Roadshow, thus we have learned that an antique which still has the original finish, parts, and such, in good condition, is far more valuable than a piece which has been refinished, modified to hold a television, or has modern replacement hardware. 

Yet few people seem to be able to apply this principal to antique houses. Instead, urged on by advertising, shelter magazines, television, architects, contractors, and decorators, most people happily rip out the historic features of their antique house in order to replace them, often at considerable cost, with whatever the latest decorating trend happens to be, all in the cause of being fashionable, or modern, or “expressing oneself.” 

Even energy-efficiency is used as an excuse these days, mostly to rip out perfectly good wooden windows made from old-growth timber and replace them with double-glazed windows made of second growth timber, or worse, vinyl, neither of which will last as long as the original windows have already lasted. So great, now your house is “up-dated,” but it’s still not “brand-new.”  

Instead, as though you’d attached a plastic handle to a Ming vase to make it “modern,” you have not achieved the Philippe Starck-designed modernity you wanted, you have merely destroyed an antique. Worse, how “modern” do you think your current “state-of-the-art” kitchen is going to look in 20 years? 

You might want to ask someone with a “state-of-the-art” kitchen from the 1970s—I’m sure the avocado green appliances and the fake brick vinyl floor were absolutely the latest thing back then—the equivalent of today’s concrete countertops and stainless steel. 

When I was looking for my first house, back in the late 1980s, I came to dread the phrase “updated kitchen,” because that always meant “we ripped out the original vertical grain fir cabinets and replaced them with the cheapest thing we could find” (at that time it was usually particle board cabinets with almond Formica and oak trim). 

Now I am not saying there aren’t some things in an old house that could use updating. Replacing the 30 amp electrical service that only has four circuits might be a good idea. Doing a seismic retrofit would probably be wise. Roof coverings don’t last forever either, and possibly a new furnace may be in order. It’s conceivable the hardwood floors might need to be refinished. 

All of these things (and more) can be done without destroying the historic integrity of the house. Nor do you have to give up functional aspects of 21st century life- it is entirely possible to have a dishwasher, an energy-efficient refrigerator, the Internet, and a place to charge your iPod, without the cognitive dissonance of having rooms from different centuries. 

Nor am I saying you can’t express yourself. But you don’t have to express yourself on the fabric of the house. No one is stopping you from having whatever furniture, art, rugs, sheets, towels, china, silverware, etc. your heart desires. If you love iridescent granite, you can have it as a tabletop or a desk- you don’t have to cover the fireplace with it. 

I do want to scream every time I see or hear the statement, usually uttered by designers, “We wanted to combine the old with the new” or “vintage with contemporary”—they have many ways of putting it, and many ways of doing it. What that gets you, friends, is a mimosa- a drink which ruins perfectly good orange juice and perfectly good champagne! And in a house, what it gets you mostly is a house which is neither here nor there, fish nor fowl.  

And since “green” is now the thing to be, truly, there is nothing greener than leaving your house as it is- maintaining it and caring for it so its life and the embodied energy it represents can continue. Remodeling uses up new resources, even if those resources are green, and usually involves sending a lot of debris to the landfill, much of it irreplaceable old-growth timber. (And before you argue you’re going to recycle a lot of it, think about this—even the lath in lath-and-plaster is old-growth timber, and no one reuses lath, not even me, and I’m pretty obsessive.) 

Let your house be what it is. Fix things that are damaged, upgrade the functional aspects carefully, and try not to do anything a subsequent owner might curse you for, as you may be cursing something done by an owner before you. Resist the siren song of “modernization.” An old house with “original charm intact” is almost always worth more than one which is “updated.” 

 

Jane Powell (janepowell@sbcglobal.net) is the author of six books about bungalows, including the just-released Bungalow Details: Interior.


Imagining a Berkeley Under Water

By Matt Cantor
Friday July 21, 2006

Matt, We need to reinforce the cripple walls in our 1906 one-story house. But we live in the Berkeley flats and we are worried about potential flooding. We are not that far above sea level and we don’t think that global warming is a fairy tale. 

We don’t want to have to tear out all of this plywood bracing with crowbars after it gets wet. We would prefer to screw on the wood panels so that they are more easily removable. Backer On brand screws for wonderboard installation are nice and thick and coated against moisture which is nice, but I think the longest they make are 1 5/8". Are there any screws which are rated for this use? Or is there a system that uses metal somehow? 

Alan Bretz 

 

 

Dear Alan, 

What a fascinating letter. I’m not quite sure where to begin. Since you’ve presented a number of eye-opening items, I’d like to see if I can take them, more or less, one at a time.  

This marks the first letter I’ve received which has specifically asked me to address the needs of a house that may soon be under water due to global warming. Strangely, this is something I’ve actually discussed with some of my clients in the last few years as I’m also one who considers this a very plausible concern. 

Nonetheless, if you’re in Berkeley, it’s not very likely that you’re going to be subject to these issues as the elevation in most of the city is well above 20’ and that’s the projected rise if a number of fairly serious events occur over the next 10-20 years. Therefore, unless you’re in the estuary or the very lowest parts of Berkeley/Albany, I wouldn’t devote too much energy to how this will affect your seismic bracing. 

If you’re actually down very close to sea level, you may want to think about what you’re going to do with your property if water starts lapping at your foundation. If this actually occurs, there are a lot of consequences that you might want to take into account including how your sewer is going to perform when it’s flooded. Your electrical panel might pose something of a threat if you have to stand in water to reset a breaker. 

You might be faced with some fairly serious settlement if your house is sitting in water and the effects of an earthquake on a house that’s sitting in mud are likely to be quite a bit worse than one that’s sitting on dry land. 

Alameda is another matter entirely since much of that fair city is less than 20’ above sea-level, meaning that Alameda might become the Venice of the Bay if the south pole loses a large amount of ice which is hanging on by Al Gore’s fingernails.  

Now, there might be an upside to all this water if you look at it the right way. The ferry from S.F could drop you off at Spenger’s. You could stay at home and fish. The Cal Water Polo Team will be able to stage exhibition games in your basement. 

But this is probably a very serious concern and were it to actualize. I’d say that your house will no longer be your house. It will be devalued to a degree where it will probably not be a house for anyone anymore. For the time being, I’d eat more chocolate and watch funnier movies. Oh, and reduce your carbon emissions. 

As for planning shear-wall sheathing around rising sea-level, I just wouldn’t go there. I’d say that earthquakes are a more tangible eventuality and that you should plan for them without any serious thought toward removal. 

If sea-level actually rises to where you live, your whole house is going to be so seriously affected that removal of the shear-wall sheathing probably isn’t going to make it into the day planner for next Tuesday. So just go ahead and do your shear-wall sheathing, bolting and other hardware connections so that you can survive an earthquake. 

By the way, if you are actually quite close to the bay, you might just be in a liquefaction zone. It’s a good idea to find out because the shaking forces are much greater in these places and it’s good to plan for this. Houses are more likely to experience serious damage when they’re in liquefaction zones because the earth moves more in these places and also because the earth can rapidly subside. 

Now, for the last part of your question; shear-wall sheathing, which is typically assembled using plywood panels and nailed to the framing of the house with a large number of nails is best installed without the use of any sort of screw. 

There is apparently one screw which has very recently come on the market and that can be used for shear-walling but, as a rule, screws are a very poor choice because they tend to be quite brittle, while nails have great ductility and can bend many times before they break. The screws you are describing for use on concrete tile-backer board are not going to pass muster. They might be moisture resistant but they don’t have the shear value that’s called for.  

Therefore, I would suggest that you abandon your plan for temporary or removable shear-walling. I see too much shear-walling that is so poorly done that I’m worried it won’t do the job when the great moment arrives. So any attempt to short-change the process by making the work removable is just not on the table for me. 

In short, here are my suggestions: Retrofit your house, hire the Dutch to put sea doors just outside the Golden Gate, don’t ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build levees (or anything) in the Berkeley Marina, stop watching An Inconvenient Truth (once for you was quite enough—but get all your friends to see it) and start collecting two of every animal. When you’re ready, call me, I’ve got cats, raccoons, squirrels, skunks and at least two deer. 

Stay in touch, 

Matt 


Think Twice Before You Reach for the Bug Spray

By Ron Sullivan
Friday July 21, 2006

It’s midsummer, more or less, and the other inhabitants of the garden are showing up in numbers. Aphids and whiteflies and thrips, oh my! The first flush in spring gave rise to another generation or two, multiplying all the way, and most of the birds have about finished raising their first and maybe second broods for the year, so fewer insects are being turned into babyfood.  

But it’s not time to panic and start throwing insecticides around. Some of our most charming predators are emerging into visibility, and killing everything that nibbles on the plants will kill them, too. 

Now, if you have an infestation and you grab the spray and start shooting indiscriminately, you’ll kill off most—only most —of what’s bugging you, plus anything else that’s in range, including the things that are eating the pests. 

That’s elementary. You’ll also be killing the decorative insects like butterflies, by way of collateral damage. I’m including “safe” sprays, too—the average insecticide is not particular, even if it’s safer for the likes of us mammals. 

The catch is that, like predators on any scale, the useful insectivorous critters don’t multiply as fast or as prolifically as the vegetarian pests that are chewing or sucking the vigor out of the garden. 

At worst, the bugkillers will have become concentrated as each predatory bird or arthropod or even mammal eats many individual insects. By the time they’ve recovered from poisoning or just from short rations, the herbivores have had two or three litters and those litters have littered.  

Anyone at the base of the food web (to mash a metaphor) is likely to be a determined breeder. Some aphids, for a pertinent example, breed asexually over the summer and don’t bother with complications like mating until they’re ready to shut down their whole enterprise for the winter. 

That’s right, folks, little girl-aphid clones are what’s overrunning your beans and posies. Everything Lucas does in Star Wars got thought up and done already by that original trickster, Nature. (If you really want to scare yourself and gross yourself out too, read Carl Zimmer’s excellent Parasite Rex.) 

With such a big prey base, the ladybugs and mantids and spiders will breed more prolifically too. It takes a little time, but insect and arachnid generations are a whole lot faster than ours. 

If you’re willing to accept some holes and puckers in your leaves now, you’ll spare yourself lots of work later and you’ll spare your garden’s friendly inhabitants too. It helps a lot to persuade your neighbors likewise; their frequently-sprayed yards can be reservoirs of pests.  

There’s one set of exceptions to the indiscriminate-killer insecticide: Bacillus thuringensis (“Bt”) sprays or pellets. These contain a subspecies of microorganism that’s bred specifically for the life form it’s aimed at—caterpillars (but remember, that’s any caterpillar) or mosquitoes. 

They kill the pest in its infancy, so it doesn’t survive to bite or breed. I like the stuff for small watergardens—tubs, pots—better than the “mosquitofish” the county hands out for free, which are becoming pests themselves. More on that problem next week. 

 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in East Bay Home & Real Estate. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet.


Quake Tip of the Week

By Larry Guillot
Friday July 21, 2006

Are You Inside or Out? 

 

When the Big One hits, if you’re inside, stay indoors until the shaking stops and you’re sure it’s safe to exit. 

More injuries happen when people move during the shaking of an earthquake. After the shaking has stopped, if you go outside, move quickly away from the building to prevent injury from falling debris.  

If you are outdoors, find a clear spot away from buildings, trees, streetlights, and power lines. Drop to the ground and stay there until the shaking stops. Injuries can occur from falling trees, street-lights and power lines, or building debris. 

 

 

Larry Guillot is owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing, and kit supply service in the east bay.  

558-3299, www.quakeprepare.com. 

 

 

 


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Tuesday July 25, 2006

TUESDAY, JULY 25 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Paul Robeson: The Tallest Tree in Our Forest” Tues.-Sat., noon to 5:30 p.m. at The African-American Museum, 659 14th St., Oakland. Exhibition runs to Aug. 26. 637-0199. 

FILM 

Screenagers: Documents from the Teenage Years “Our Song” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

The Story Quilters with tandem storytellers Cynthia Restivo and B.Z. Smith at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, at 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Shelly Jackson reads from her novel of conjoined twins “Half Life” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Charles Burack will discuss D. H. Lawrence’s “Language of Sacred Experience: The Transfiguration of the Reader” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Creole Belles with Andrew Carriere at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

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

Jazz Jam with Michael Coleman Trio at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Free, bring your instrument. 451-8100.  

Randy Craig Trio at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Los Mocosos at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazz- 

school at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26 

FILM 

Donde acaban los caminos at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $6. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

International Working Class Film & Video Festival at 7 p.m. at Fellowship of Humanity Hall, 370 27th St. near Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $5. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Starling Lawrence introduces “The Lightning Keeper” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Ave. www.mrsdalloways.com 

“Writing Teachers Write” student/teacher readings at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

David Skibbens will read from his tarot mystery “High Priestess” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Barry Barkan on “The Way of the Champion: A Live Oak Learner’s Journal” at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley-Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $10-$20 sliding scale, benefits The Aquarian Minyan. 465-3935. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Roy Zimmerman in “Faulty Intelligence” An evening of satirical songs, Wed. and Thurs. at 8 p.m. at The Marsh Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way. 800-838-3006. www.themarsh.org  

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

Jules Broussard, west coast swing, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Emote Jargin, Wordsmith, Aral at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886.  

Deep Hello at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Matt Heulitt at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100.  

Orquestra America, salsa, at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Edgardo & Candela, salsa dance celebration at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, JULY 27 

FILM 

Beyond Bollywood “Throne of Death” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India” Guided tour at 12:15 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. 

Kristin Luker on “When Sex Goes to School” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Ave. www.mrsdalloways.com 

Ry Beville, translator, discusses Japanese poet Nakahara Chûya at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Chris Ballard describes “The Butterfly Hunter: Adventures of People Who Found Their True Calling Way Off the Beaten Path” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Justine Shapiro, filmmaker, will discuss her film “Promises” and her Globe Trekker television series, at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Noon Concert with Patricio Angulo Latin Trio at the Downtown Berkeley BART station. Free. www.downtownberkeley.org 

Bill Tapia, ‘ukulele jazz improvisation, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761.  

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

Earthquake Weather, Leopold and his Fiction at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

Los Pinguos at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. 

Pheeze Phee, Poach Stevens, Usual Suspects at 10 p.m. at The Ivy Room, 858 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $7. 524-9220. www.ivyroom.com 

Kenny Burrell, 75th Birthday celebration at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $26-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Selector: Subnautic at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

FRIDAY, JULY 28 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “Night of the Iguana” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. at Berryman, through Aug. 12. Tickets are $12. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Aurora Theatre “Permanent Collection” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through July 30. Tickets are $28-$45. 843-4822. www.auroratheatere.org 

California Shakespeare Theater “Restoration Comedy” at the Bruns Amphitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda. Tues.-Thurs., 7:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m. through July 30. Tickets are $15 and up. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Central Works “The Inspector General” a new comedy, Thurs., Fri., and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through July 30. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Footloose” the musical based on the 1984 film at 8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., and Sun. at 2 p.m. at Contra Costa Civic Theater, 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through August 5. Tickets are $12-$20. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Encore Theatre Comapny and Shotgun Players “The Typographer’s Dream” at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Sept. 3. Tickets are $15-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Impact Theatre “House of Lucky” Written and performed by Frank Wortham, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through Aug. 26. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. 

Stage Door Conservatory Children’s Musical Theatre “Gypsy” at 7:30 p.m., Sat. and Sun. at 5 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$20, children and seniors $10. www.juliamorgan.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Event Horizon” Installation and sculpture exploring the industry of the human conciousness. Opening reception at 5 p.m. at Transmissions Gallery , 1177 San Pablo Ave. 558-4084. www.transmissions-gallery.com 

FILM 

Janet Gaynor: A Centennial Celebration “State Fair” at 7 p.m. and “Adorable” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

John Dean on “Conservatives Without Conscience” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way at Dana. 559-9500. 

Multicultural Institute’s Youth Writing Festival Reading at 6:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Celebrate Peruvian Independence Day with Lalo Izquirdo & Marina Lavalle at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Kodály Summer Institute Choir performs Fauré Requiem, at 7:30 p.m. at McLean Chapel, Holy Names University, 3500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. Admission is free. 

Summer Youth Program Concert at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. 845-5373.  

Kenny Washington & his Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums with Ms. Carmen Getit at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054.  

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

Bluegrass Intentions at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Ben Stolorow, jazz piano, at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Dave Lionelli and Jamie Jenkins singer-songwriters, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Shimshai, part of the Kirtan devotional music series, at 8 p.m. at Studio Rasa, 933 Parker St. Cost is $15-$18. 843-2787. 

Fuzzy Cousins, Brian Kenney Fresno, Death By Stork at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

Proudflesh 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. 

The I Grade Showcase, reggae, at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $15. 548-1159.  

Sol Spectrum at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Paige, Alexis Harte Band at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $10. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

Kenny Burrell, 75th Birthday celebration at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $26-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, JULY 29 

EXHIBITIONS 

Takahiko Hayashi “Paintings and Color Etchings” Reception with the artist at 6 p.m. at The Schurman-Scriptum Gallery, 1659 San Pablo Ave. Exhibition runs to Aug. 31. Gallery hours are Wed.-Sat., noon to 6 p.m. and Sun. noon to 5 p.m. 524-0623. 

“New Visions: Introductions” Artist talk at 1 p.m. at Pro Arts, 550 Second St., Oakland. 763-4361. 

THEATER 

Everyday Theatre “Dreaming in a Firestorm” by Tim Barsky at 8 p.m. at 2232 MLK, Oakland. Tickets are $12-$20. 644-2204. www.everdaytheatre.org 

Shotgun Players “Ragnarok: The Doom of the Gods” Sat. and Sun. at 4 p.m. at John Hinkle Park, through Sept. 10. Free, with pass the hat donation after the show. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Stage Door Conservatory Children’s Musical Theatre “Gypsy” at 5 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$20, children and seniors $10. www.juliamorgan.org 

FILM 

Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum “The Lighthouse by the Sea” at 7:30 p.m. at 37417 Niles Blvd., Fremont. Cost $5. 494-1411. www.nilesfilmmuseum.org 

“The Nth Commandment” with Judith Rosenberg on piano, at 6:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Fandango, Searching for the White Monkey” at 11:30 a.m. at the Oakland Museum, 1000 Oak St. Encentro music and dance performances at 1 and 2:30 p.m. Cost is $5-$10.  

Jewish Film Festival From noon to 10 p.m. at the Roda Theater, through Aug. 5. For complete listings of films see www.sfjff.org. Tickets are $10 and up. 925-275-9490. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Sandra M. Gilbert and Phyllis Stowell read from their books on death and grief at 3 p.m. in the 3rd floor Community Meeting Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6107. 

“Preserving America’s World War II Home Front: Richmond” A tour with The Northern California Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Cost is $30-$40. For details call 233-6151. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Joe Vasconcellos at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $20-$25. 849-2568.  

Walter Savage Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island.Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Hamsa Lila, workd groove at 10 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Drum circle at 9 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Dezarie, Ikahba, Luna Angel at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $17-$20. 548-1159.  

Paul Sprawl & Jonathan Best, avant blues and boogie woogie at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 644-2204. 

Evelie Posch and Steve Taylor, singer-songwriters, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Regina Pontillo at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

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

The Red Elvises, The Kehoe Nation at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10-$15. 848-0886.  

Hamir Atwal Trio and guests at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373.  

Rhonda Benin Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Brightblack Morning Light, Daniel Higgs, Mariee Sioux at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Acts of Sedition, Parallax, Shortchanged at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JULY 30 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Bay Area Landscapes from Trillium Press” opens at Oakland City Center, 500 12th St., Oakland. 238-6836.  

FILM 

Janet Gaynor: A Centennial Celebration “Servants’ Entrance” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Jonathan Keats in conversation with Vitaly Koma on conceptual art, collaborative process and Jewish culture at 2 p.m. at the Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $10-$12. 549-6450.  

Poetry Flash with Terry Hauptman & Sharon Doubiago at 3 p.m. at Diesel, 5433 College Ave. 653-9965. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Midsummer Mozart Festival Program 2, at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way at Dana. Tickets are $30-$60. 415-627-9145. www.midsummermozart.org 

Bay Area Classical Harmonies perform Greek and Russian vocal music, at 8 p.m. at the Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Cost is $15, children under 16 $2. 526-9146. 

Oakland Lyric Opera’s “Italian Holiday” at 2 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Donation $18-$20, includes post performance reception. Reservations requested. 836-6772.  

Dimensions Dance Theater Rites of Passage Youth Dance Festival at 3 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alcie St., Oakland. Tickets are $13-$16. 465-3363.  

San Francisco Renaissance Voices at 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Alameda, 2001 Santa Clara at Chestnut, Alameda. Suggested donation $10-$15, children under 13 free. 522-1477. 

Gearóid Ó Hallmhuráin & Barbara Magone at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Bandworks at 2:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Brazilian Soul at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Americana Unplugged: Squirrelly String Band at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715. 

Joe Vasconcellos at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $20-$25. 849-2568.  

Soltré at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

MONDAY, JULY 31 

CHILDREN 

Puppet Art Theater “Little Red Riding Hood” at 7 p.m. at the Temescal Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 5205 Telegraph Ave. 597-5049. 

Opera Piccola “Hansel & Gretel” at 7 p.m. at the Piedmont Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 1160 41st St. 597-5011. 

Rafa Cano, Spanish sing-along for children, at 10:30 a.m. at PriPri Cafe, 1309 Solano Ave., Albany. Free. 528-7002. 

Puppet Art Theater “Tommy’s Pirate Adventure” at 3 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 6833 International Blvd. 615-5728. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Revisions” Jonathon Keats: The First Intergalactic Art Exposition opens at the Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St., and runs to Jan. 14. 549-6450.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Mal Warwick describes “Values-Driven Business” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St.  

Poetry Express open mic theme night on “fantasy” at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Blue Monday Jam at 7:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100.  

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

 

 

 

 

 


Books: Max Brand: The Agatha Christie of the B Western

By Phil McArdle, Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 25, 2006

Max Brand was the pseudonym of Frederick Faust, a pulp writer who had ambitions as a serious poet. Or as he preferred, a serious poet whose day job was spinning cowboy yarns.  

Born in 1892, Faust grew up in Modesto, where he was orphaned at 13 and trapped in grinding poverty. Some of the work he did as he eked out a living on farms and cattle ranches was so hard it damaged his heart. He changed schools frequently. School yard fights left scars on his face and a chip on his shoulder. Faust showed genuine literary talent at Modesto High School and, in 1911, when his teachers offered to help him enroll at the University of California, he accepted instantly. He had an overwhelming desire to put ranch life as far behind him as possible.  

 

Berkeley  

Faust was happy in Berkeley. Responding to campus life with zest, he contributed a flood of poems, stories and articles to The Occident, The Pelican, and the Daily Californian. He met Dorothy Schillig, his future wife, and he made many friends (including one on whom he later based his famous character, Dr. Kildare.) Professor Leonard Bacon, himself a poet, recognized Faust as a promising writer. Bacon’s seminar on mythology and epic poetry had a profound effect on Faust, permanently influencing his poetry and fiction, and they became lifelong friends.  

But campus authorities eventually noticed the riotous side of Faust’s life—his heavy drinking, public brawling, and casual violations of university rules. Despite pleas from Bacon and others, he was expelled in his senior year. It was a devastating blow. But he made his way to New York City and took the first steps toward establishing himself as a writer.  

For Faust, 1917 was truly a miraculous year. His professional literary career commenced with the sale of a poem to the Century Magazine. Dealing with the death of his father, it opened powerfully:  

 

They drew the blinds down, and the house was old  

With shadows, and so cold — 

Filled up with shuddery silence like held breath;  

And when I asked, they told  

Me only that the quietness was death.  

 

His fiction appeared regularly in such magazines as the All-Story Weekly and Argosy. His long association with Hollywood began when one of his stories was filmed. He decided to write poetry under his own name and use pseudonyms for everything else. A western story he wrote as Max Brand was well received and he soon found himself specializing in that genre. He was very well paid, and he was able to marry his Berkeley sweetheart.  

During his career he published three volumes of poetry—The Village Street, Dionysius in Hades, and The Thunderer. These had mixed reviews and small sales. His real success was in the field of commercial fiction, where he produced 125 novels—most of them westerns—and hundreds of short stories. At least 60 movies were based on his work. He is said to have published between 25 and 30 million words. This amazing productivity made him a wealthy man.  

 

Destry Rides Again  

Faust wrote Destry Rides Again in 1930 at his villa in Italy—a long way from Modesto. Leonard Bacon and Aldous Huxley and their families lived nearby. Bacon’s daughter Martha wrote an affectionate description of Faust in those days:  

“He is a huge man, over six foot three; he is in his late thirties and the look of his youth has left him, the hair is thinning on his massive head. His cold blue eyes are at war with the heated modeling of the jaw and lips. He is Michelangelo’s man, the shoulders big, the limbs well cut, the hands heavy with stub fingers ... He lives like a medieval prince in his Florentine villa.”  

But, she added, he keeps a killing schedule, writing poetry in the mornings and popular fiction in the afternoons, “in clean serviceable prose that whips a story from the gate to the finish line without a pause and that adds up to a count of twelve novels a year.”  

Destry Rides Again is a pulp western, a genre that relied on melodramatic plots set against a western background. Realistic local color made these stories distinctively regional, and gave them a certain authenticity. Its characters spoke in the dialects of the Southwest. They were often stereotypes, reflecting the attitudes and beliefs of the region, including the casual racial prejudices of the time.  

Faust wrote fiction, including Destry, in a trance-like state of reverie. This technique allowed him to draw on his experience and his emotions over and over again, without using them up; it was not a technique for healing self-analysis or therapy. As Grace Flandrau put it, fiction poured out of him “like automatic writing, the material of a dream.” She speculated that it drew on “some disassociated fragment of youthful personality.”  

We are introduced to Harrison Destry as a man who takes pride in being the chief brawler of the dusty little town of Wham:  

 

...he had fought in the vacant lots; and many a house and store was built over some scenes of his grandeur. For the one star in the crown of Harry Destry, the one jewel in his purse, the one song in his story, was that he fought; and when he battled, he was never conquered.  

 

We soon see that author and character both feel like outsiders. The story unfolds like a daydream in which details shift and change unpredictably at the dreamer’s will. Some changes are simple rearrangements that keep the hero’s actions legal. Others are due to carelessness; as when “The Last Chance Saloon” becomes “Donovan’s saloon” a few pages after it is first mentioned. Expertise is acquired without effort; we are told Destry eschews pistols, only to learn that he’s a dead shot. Major dramatic events erupt without warning.  

But Destry is not simply an autobiographical fragment. He is also Edmond Dantes, the protagonist of Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. Like Dumas’ novel, Destry Rides Again is a story of revenge. Dantes and Destry are innocent men who punish those who wronged them.  

Destry and Chester Bent are rivals for the hand of Charlotte Dangerfield, the daughter of the richest man in Wham. But Bent frames Destry for robbery. Not knowing this, Destry vows to avenge himself on the jury.  

After his release from prison, Destry rides back to Wham and methodically disposes of two members of the jury in a gunfight at the Last Chance Saloon, killing one and maiming the other. He chases another out of town and ruins one more by stealing a compromising letter and giving it to a newspaper. Others are done in just as quickly.  

But halfway through the story, Faust tired of retelling The Count of Monte Cristo. The daydream floats off in another direction, and the surviving jurors are never mentioned again. Now he begins to tell of Destry’s moral rejuvenation, setting the stage for the climax in which Bent almost kills Destry. As Destry tells Charlotte afterward, he’s going to swear off violence for the rest of his life:  

 

“I’ve met my master,” said he. “I’ve met my peer. He beat me to the draw; he beat me with guns and he beat me hand to hand. I killed him with luck and not with skill. I’ve throwed the gun away, Charlie. I’m an old man, and finished and done for. A Chinaman could laugh in my face, now, and I’d take it!”  

 

In the happy ending that completes the story, Destry marries Charlotte. Destry and Faust have triumphed over the wrongs they suffered.  

 

Destry as a Film  

Faust sold Destry to Universal Studios in 1932, where it was adapted as a B-western for Tom Mix. In 1939 it was filmed again, becoming a wonderful film classic starring Marlene Deitrich and Jimmy Stewart.  

In this second version, the screenwriters—Gertrude Purcell, Felix Jackson and Henry Meyers—dumped almost everything in the novel except the title, the hero’s unarmed arrival in Wham, and his rejection of violence. Melodrama gave way to vibrant comedy with a distinctly New Deal atmosphere, a story of civic responsibility and renewal. Wham became Bottleneck, an obstacle to progress: a town where a splendidly crooked mayor governed from a table in the saloon. Stewart played Thomas Jefferson Destry, and Deitrich played Frenchy—a sexy “saloon girl of the old west” with a robust sense of humor. She sang “See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have,” and Stewart gave a startling preview of his performance as Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey.  

A decade after writing Destry Faust described his fiction as “an escape from reality. There was perhaps too much reading and too much actual pain in my childhood. It made me build daydreams, bubbles into which I could escape and find a bright and blue and golden world all for me. I denied pain. So in my stories men may start bad but they must wind up good. Woman are angels and men are heroes.”  

With the approach of World War II he felt a need to write fiction as honestly as he had written poetry. He began a serious novel but set it aside to work as a war correspondent. Accompanying troops into battle near Santa Maria Infante in his beloved Italy, he was killed in action.


Mockingbird Jazz: The Evolutionary Roots of Bird Song

By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 25, 2006

I just finished a book called Why Men Won’t Ask for Directions, which despite the title is not another pop-psychology tract about gender differences. The author, Richard Francis, is an evolutionary neurobiologist, and the book is a rousing polemic against the sociobiologists and their intellectual heirs, the evolutionary psychologists: scientists who believe that just about every aspect of human behavior is an adaptation to something or other. 

Francis, on the other hand, is in the tradition of the late Stephen Jay Gould, who argued that some traits—physical and behavioral—are just byproducts of the evolutionary process, things that happened to be linked to other things that were targets of natural selection. Gould thought the bodies of all organisms were marked by “senseless signs of history”—like the “thumb” of the giant panda, jury-rigged from a wristbone. 

Francis does wind up with a discussion of alleged male-female differences in spatial orientation and related brain structure. But before he gets there, he introduces other creatures whose behavior or anatomy challenges the everything-is-adaptive model: sex-changing clownfish, parthenogenic whiptail lizards, Berkeley’s own spotted hyenas. 

(Yes, there’s a research colony of these very odd beasts in Strawberry Canyon. That’s a story in itself.) Along the way to humanity, he poses an interesting question: why does the mockingbird mock? 

On the face of it, the vocal performance of mockingbirds (there are several species, in the West Indies, South America, and the Galapagos Islands; ours is the northern mockingbird, Mimus polyglottus, the “many-tongued mimic”) looks like a straightforward case of Darwinian sexual selection. That’s the process in which the evolution of a trait, usually in male animals, is driven by some mixture of male competition and female choice. The classic example is the tail of the peacock: it’s not at all functional—it may, in fact, reduce its owner’s chances of evading predators—but the hens like it. 

Bird song has long been considered the audio equivalent of the peacock’s tail. Males sing to attract mates, and females somehow evaluate the quality of a prospective mate (good genes? low parasite loads?) by characteristics of the song. One characteristic supposedly selected by female choice is repertoire size. 

Was it Mae West who said: “I like a man with a big….vocabulary?” In birds like the marsh wren, there does seem to be a correlation between the number of song types in a male’s repertoire and his reproductive success. 

Marsh wrens are polygynous, though, like peacocks. Mockingbirds are monogamous. Why would a male mockingbird need his huge assortment of phrases, many borrowed from other birds, nonavian animals, and mechanical objects? (One tropical mockingbird is said to have learned the Brazilian national anthem.) 

Isn’t he a bit overdesigned? 

But, says Francis, what if the mockingbird’s repertoire is an evolutionary accident, one of Gould’s “senseless signs?” He explains that a typical songbird—a white-crowned sparrow, say—goes through three distinct phases in its song development. First, the bird produces a wide assortment of random sounds. Donald Kroodsma, a birdsong scholar, calls this “babbling”, analogous to what happens in human infants. Francis calls it the John Cage stage. 

Then comes “plastic song”: there’s some structure, but the song is still continuous and has an improvised quality. This is Francis’ Keith Jarrett stage. Finally, distinct songs crystallize out of the sonic mix: a single song type for the white-crowned sparrow, over 200 for the marsh wren. The bird sings that song, or songs—the “final song”—over and over for the rest of his life. In Francis’ typology, he has reached the Philip Glass stage. 

The songs of adult mockingbirds—and their near kin, catbirds and thrashers, and somewhat more distant relatives, starlings and mynahs—have all the hallmarks of plastic song. A few years back Rebecca Irwin, now at the University of Tennessee at Martin, studied bird song in terms of ontogeny (development) and phylogeny (evolutionary relationships). She suggested that the mockingbird’s song might not be an end product of sexual selection, but a quirk of the song-development process. If their ancestors were songbirds that went through all three stages, mockers may stop at Keith Jarrett.  

In support of that possibility, Irwin noted that other songbirds incorporate the notes of other species into their plastic songs. But these elements don’t survive into the final song. Mimicry may be part of the normal songbird learning process: although a certain amount is hardwired, birds need to be exposed to a model—a “song tutor,” either a father or a holder of neighboring territory—to get it exactly right. Mockingbirds, unlike white-crowned sparrows, are lifelong learners. Instead of settling on a final song they just keep noodling away, adding some new elements and dropping old ones. 

Those of you who were around in the ‘50s will no doubt remember Mad Magazine’s fascination with axolotls. In real life, the axolotl is a Mexican salamander that reaches sexual maturity while retaining its larval shape, including feathery red gills. Its relatives, though, grow up to be normal gill-less air-breathing salamanders. What happens to the axolotl is called paedomorphosis—and Irwin suggests that mockingbird song may be a paedomorphic behavior. 

Francis’s point in bringing up Irwin’s 1988 paper—which no one else seems to have followed up on—is that we can’t construct what Gould called evolutionary just-so stories for every trait. Evolution is about chance and necessity, and sometimes chance prevails. We are all, men and mockingbirds alike, the victims—and the beneficiaries—of a series of accidents.


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday July 25, 2006

TUESDAY, JULY 25 

Tuesdays for the Birds Enjoy the early morning birding at Arrowhead Marsh, Martin Luther King Shoreline. Bring water, sunscreen, binoculars and a snack. Call for meeting location or to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Peach Tastings from 2 to 7 p.m at the Tuesday Berkeley Farmer’s Market, Derby St., at MLK, Jr. Way. 548-3333. 

Cycle Touring: Tips for Paring Down Your Load at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Rally to Save the Berkeley Housing Authority at 5:45 p.m. at Old City Hall, 2134 MLK, 843-6591. 

Berkeley PC Users Group meets at 7 p.m.at 1145 Walnut St. near the corner of Eunice.  

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Leapfrog, 6401 Hollis St., Emeryville. To make an appointment call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE.  

Raging Grannies of the East Bay invites new folks to join us from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Berkeley Gray Panthers office, 1403 Addison St. 548-9696. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26 

Four Short Films on Housing, Jobs and Unions at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donations $5. 

“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” A documentary about the failed coup against President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. Sponsored by the Berkeley Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

Walking Tour of Oakland Chinatown Meet at 10 a.m. at the courtyard fountain in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza at 388 Ninth St. For reservations call 238-3234. ww.oaklandnet.com/ 

walkingtours 

Bayswater Book Club meets to discuss “Godless” by Ann Coulter at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, El Cerrito. Also organizing meeting to become a Democratic Central Committee Chartered Club. 433-2911. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction 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. 548-9840. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. 848-1704.  

Sleep Seminar at 7 p.m. at 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland. Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

Breema Clinic Open House from 6 to 8 p.m. at 6201 Florio St., Oakland. 428-1234.  

THURSDAY, JULY 27 

Berkeley Mayoral Candidate Debate with Tom Bates and Zelda Bronstein at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 290 27th between Broadway and Telegraph. Candidates for Peralta Board of Trustees will also be debating. Sponsored by the Wellston Democratic Club, open to the public. 

Cee Cee Weeks Day Tree Planting and Potluck from noon to 3 p.m. at Ohlone Park on Hearst Avenue by the McGee Play area. Join us to plant a tree in honor and memory of Cee Cee Weeks, the Disability and Indian Rights activist and share a potluck lunch. 482-8284. 

“Introduction to Community Organizing” Learn how grassroots community power wins campaigns, at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. RSVP to 848-0800 ext. 307. 

Teen Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Club will discuss “The Blue Girl” at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6133. 

Healthy Sun Practices with Dr. Lani Simpson at 7 p.m. at Teleosis Institute, Upstairs Unit B, 1521B 5th St. 558-7285. 

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, JULY 28 

Impeachment Banner Fridays at 6:45 to 8 a.m. on the Berkeley Pedestrian bridge between Seabreeze Market and the Berkeley Aquatic Park, ongoing on Fridays until impeachment is realized. www. Impeachbush-cheney.com 

“Flowers and People: Auspicious Encounters” Ikebana with Scott Job at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Shambala Center, 2288 Fulton St. Cost is $15. Ikebana workshop on Sat. for $45 or $175 for series of workshops. Pre-registration encouraged. banner@pogodesign.com 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Kaiser Permanente, Dining Conference Room, 1950 Franklin St., Oakland. To make an appointment call 652-6188.  

Berkeley Folk Dancers Community Classes and Teacher Workshop, ages 8 and up, Fridays through Aug. 18 at 7:45 p.m. at Live Oak Park, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10-$15 for five classes, $5 drop-in.  

Bookburning Comedy Showcase featuring Brent Weinbach, Moshe Kasher, Kevin Camia, & Ali Wong at 7 p.m. at the AK Press Warehouse, 674-A 23rd. St., Oakland. Cost is $8. 208-1700. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 548-6310. 

Kol Hadash Humanistic Shabbat at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Please bring finger dessert to share, and non-perishable food for the needy. Free and open to all.  

SATURDAY, JULY 29 

Tilden’s Treasures An easy nature walk for the entire family to discover some of the park’s residents, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. 525-2233. 

Multicultural Storytelling Tent opens at Habitot Children’s Museum, 2065 Kittredge St., with programs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 647-1111.  

“Preserving America’s World War II Home Front: Richmond” A tour sponsored by The Northern California Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Cost is $30-$40. For details call 233-6151. david_blackburn@nps.gov.  

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around the restored 1870s business district. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of G.B. Ratto’s at 827 Washington St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Oakland Heritage Walking Tour of Temescal from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Meet in front of Genova Delicatessen, 5905 Telegraph Ave. Cost is $5-$15. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

“Spirit of Moncada” A day-long commemoration of the Cuban Revolution from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Casa Cuba Resource Center, 6501 Telegraph Ave., near Alcatraz Ave., Oakland. Book sale at 10 a.m. BBQ at 1 p.m. with music, salsa dance lessons, readings and more. Music by Annie and theVets and Folk This, a poetry reading by Jack Hirschman, from 6 to 9 p.m. Donation $5-$15, no one turned away. 658-3984. casacuba@california.com 

“Come Spot, Come” Teach your dog to come when called, no matter what the distraction, from noon to 1 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2128 Cedar St. Cost is $35. Registration required. 849-9323. 

“Earth Medicine” on using the healing power of nature at 11 a.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Spiritwalking: Aqua Chi(TM) at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley High Warm Pool. Cost is $5.50, $3.50 seniors & disabled. Bring your own towels. 526-0312. 

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

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

SUNDAY, JULY 30 

Two Lakes in a Day Explore the natural wonders of two of Tilden’s lakes on this 4 mile hike. Bring water and a snack to share. Meet at 9 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center. 525-2233. 

Oakland Heritage Walking Tour of Glenview from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $5-$15. Call for meeting place. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Annual Classic Taste of Italy Live auction and dinner from 4 p.m. on at St. Mary Magdalen Church, 2005 Berryman St. Tickets are $15, $8 for children under 12. Sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Berkeley. 644-1969. 

“Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity” Planetarium show at 4 p.m. at Chabot Space and Science Center. Tickets are $9-$13. 336-7373. 

Parenting Class on Child Behavior at 10 a.m. to noon at Studio Grow, 1235 10th St. Childcare provided if you call ahead. Sliding scale $10-$30 donation, no one turned away for lack of funds. 415-312-1830. www.awakeparent.com 

Summer Sunday Forum: The Tenderloin in San Francisco with Ben Ames at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

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 

Tibetan Buddhism with Hugh Joswick and Santosh Philip on “Knowing Mind, East and West” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, JULY 31 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people 60+ years old at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Cost is $3. 524-9122. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

Stress Less Seminar at 7 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland. Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

Bible School Day Camp from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through Aug. 4, at Church on the Corner, 1319 Solano Ave., Albany. Free, but registration required. 526-6632. 

ONGOING 

Energy Saving Program for Residents CYES is running its 7th annual summer program, providing direct-installation of CFLs, retractable clotheslines, showerheads, and more. Services available in Berkeley, Oakland, Richmond. Free. 665-1501. 

Child Care Food Program is available without charge to all children enrolled in the BUSD Early Childhood Education progam, based on income eligibility guidelines. Please call for details 644-6358. 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., July 25, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900.  

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., July 26, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., July 26, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 981-5502.  

Energy Commission meets Wed., July 26, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5434.  

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., July 26, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5213.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., July 26, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484.  

Police Review Commission meets Wed., July 26 , at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., July 27, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. 

School Board meets Wed. June 28 at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. 644-6320. 


Arts Calendar

Friday July 21, 2006

FRIDAY, JULY 21 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “Night of the Iguana” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. at Berryman, through Aug. 12. Tickets are $12. 649-5999.  

Ambitious Theatre Company “As You Like It” Fri.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, Alameda. Tickets are $8-$15. 800-838-3006.  

Aurora Theatre “Permanent Collection” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through July 30. Tickets are $28-$45. 843-4822. 

Berkeley Rep “Ennio” A comedy written and performed by Ennio Marchetto, at 2015 Addison St. Tickets are $20-$45. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

California Shakespeare Theater “Restoration Comedy” at the Bruns Amphitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda. Tues.-Thurs., 7:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m. through July 30. Tickets are $15 and up. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Central Works “The Inspector General” a new comedy, Thurs., Fri., and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through July 30. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Footloose” the musical based on the 1984 film at 8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., and Sun. at 2 p.m. at Contra Costa Civic Theater, 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through August 5. Tickets are $12-$20. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Impact Theatre “House of Lucky” Written and performed by Frank Wortham, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through Aug. 26. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. 

Masquers Playhouse “The Fantasticks” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through July 22. Tickets are $18. 232-4031.  

COMEDY 

Bay Area Comedy Festival with Free Hooch Comedy Troupe at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Cost is $15. 595-5597. 

FILM 

Nicaraguan Film Festival at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568.  

Friends of African Film “State of Denial” A film on living in South Africa with HIV, at 7:30 p.m. at 464 Van Buren at Euclid, Oakland. www.friendsofafricanfilm.com 

Janet Gaynor: A Centennial Celebration “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans’” at 7 p.m. and “7th Heaven” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “The Girl of the Golden West” at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $15-$40, available from 925-798-1300. 

Alameda Civic Light Opera “Jesus Christ Superstar” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Kofman Auditorium, 2200 Central Ave., Alameda. Tickets are $27-$31. 864-2256.  

Steve Oda and Anubrata Chatterjee North Indian music at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $10-$15. 845-1350. 

Bullet in Your Head, Re Ignition at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10. 848-0886. 

Kathy Walkup & her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

The Chant Down Band, roots, dub and dancehall reggae, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054.  

Pam & Jeri Show at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Golden Bough, Celtic-American, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. 

Loosewig: the Ben Fajen Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

The Ross Hammond Trio and Regina Pontillo, jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe. 595-5344.  

Jerry Hannon, The Jitters, Dao Strom at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

Capitalist Casualties, Skarp, Voetsek at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

Boca do Rio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Her Grace the Dutchess Tom Jonesing at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph. Cost is $10. 451-8100.  

Bobby Hutcherson, Miguel Zenon, Renee Rosnes, and Rufus Reid at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s. Cost is $16-$26. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, JULY 22 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Man’s Best Friend” Opening reception for the artists at 3 p.m. at Montclair Gallery, 1986 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. Your well-socialized canine friend is welcome to attend. 339-4286. 

THEATER 

Everyday Theatre “Dreaming in a Firestorm” by Tim Barsky at 8 p.m. at 2232 MLK, Oakland. Tickets are $12-$20. 644-2204. www.everdaytheatre.org 

Shotgun Players “Ragnarok: The Doom of the Gods” Sat. and Sun. at noon at John Hinkle Park. Free, with pass the hat donation after the show. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Women’s Will “Twelfth Night” at 1 p.m. at Mosswood Park, Oakland. Free. 420-0813.  

COMEDY 

Bay Area Comedy Festival with Kasper Hauser and Ali Wong at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Cost is $15. 595-5597. 

FILM 

Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum “The Train Wrecker,” “Big Moments from Little Pictures” at 7:30 p.m. at 37417 Niles Blvd., Fremont. Cost $5. 494-1411.  

Janet Gaynor: A Centennial Celebration “Sweet Angel” at 6:30 p.m. and “Lucky Star” at 8:50 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rhythm & Muse with Juan Sequeira & Maria Chavez at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. 

Storytelling Swap, hosted by Kathy Dana, at 7:30 p.m. at the Frank Bette Center, 1601 Paru, Alameda. Free, donations accepted. 523-6957. 

Poems About Alameda, open reading hosted by Mary Rudge, Poet Laureate of Alameda at 2 p.m. at Aroma Restaurant, 2337 Blanding Ave., Alameda. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Starlight Circle Players at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Donation $5-$20. 841-4824. 

Manuel Suarez and Manny y Mano de Orula at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$15. 849-2568.  

Full on Flyhead, The Animal Underground at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $10. 451-8100.  

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Stuart Rosh and John Craigie, singer song-writers, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

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

Sir Juette, Nasty Breeze at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Danny Lubin-Laden & Brama Sukarma at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Cost is $10. 845-5373.  

Caroline Chung Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Gaucho at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473.  

October Allied, The Jimmys, The 500’s at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. All ages show. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

CJ Boyd Sexxxtet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Eskapo, Deathtoll, Worhorse at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JULY 23 

EXHIBITIONS 

Berkeley Art Center Annual National Juried Exhibition Opening reception and awards at 2 p.m. at 1275 Walnut St. Exhibition runs to Aug. 26. 644-6893.  

THEATER 

Women’s Will “Twelfth Night” at 1 p.m. at Dimond Park, Oakland. Free. 420-0813.  

FILM 

Janet Gaynor: A Centennial Celebration “Tess of the Storm Country” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India” Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. 

UC Extension Student Reading at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “The Girl of the Golden West” at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $15-$40, available from 925-798-1300.  

Midsummer Mozart Festival Program 1, at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way at Dana. Tickets are $30-$60. 415-627-9145.  

“Pins and Needles” a concert version of the 1937 musical, with Laborfest and Opera Non Troppo at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568.  

“In Celebration of Swimming” with Agua String Quartet and others at 7 p.m. at Live Oak Park Community Center, 1301 Shattuck St, near Eunice. Donation $10, benefits city pool passes for homeless youth. 548-9050. 

Starlight Circle Players at 4 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Donation $5-$20. 841-4824. 

Sourdough Slim at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Tango Number 9 at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Americana Unplugged: Dark Hollow Band at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715. 

Wailing Junk Symphony for the Most High, Brazilian-West African Gospel Junk-Jazz at 4 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12, $8 for teens and musicians with proof of instrument. 525-5054.  

MONDAY, JULY 24 

CHILDREN 

Yolanda Rhodes, multicultural tales with music and movement at 7 p.m. at the Temescal Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 5205 Telegraph Ave. 597-5049. 

Rafa Cano, Spanish sing-along for children, at 10:30 a.m. at PriPri Cafe, 1309 Solano Ave., Albany. Free. 528-7002. 

THEATER 

Everyday Theatre “Dreaming in a Firestorm” by Tim Barsky at 8 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway at 2nd St. Tickets are $12-$20. 644-2204.  

EXHIBITIONS 

 

“Black and White Editorial Portraits” by Phyllis Christopher. Artist reception at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, Central Catalog Lobby, 2090 Kittredge St. Exhibition runs through Aug. 27. 981-6241. 

“Creation Ground,” paintings by Diane Williams and Chuck Potter, sculpture by Ari Lyckberg. Reception at 3 p.m. at the Community Art Gallery, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, 2450 Ashby Ave. 204-1667.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michael Spiro introduces his new book “The Conga Drummer’s Guidebook” at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10. Demonstration at 4 p.m. 849-2568.  

Scott Nadelson reads from his collection of stories “The Cantor’s Daughter” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

Richard Hooper on “The Crucifixion of Mary Magdalene – The Historical Tradition of the First Apostle, and the Ancient Church’s Campaign to Suppress It” at 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-3635. 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Blue Monday Jam at 7:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100.  

Musica ha Disconnesso, acoustic Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Bill Bell and the Jazz Connection at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s. Cost is $10. 238-9200.  

TUESDAY, JULY 25 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Paul Robeson: The Tallest Tree in Our Forest” Tues.-Sat., noon to 5:30 p.m. at The African-American Museum, 659 14th St., Oakland. Exhibition runs to Aug. 26. 637-0199. 

FILM 

Screenagers: Documents from the Teenage Years “Our Song” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

The Story Quilters with tandem storytellers Cynthia Restivo and B.Z. Smith at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, at 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Shelly Jackson reads from her novel of conjoined twins “Half Life” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Charles Burack will discuss D. H. Lawrence’s Language of Sacred experience: The Transfiguration of the Reader at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Creole Belles with Andrew Carriere at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

Jazz Jam with Michael Coleman Trio at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Free, bring your instrument. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

Randy Craig Trio at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Los Mocosos at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazz- 

school at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26 

FILM 

Donde acaban los caminos at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $6. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

International Working Class Film & Video Festival at 7 p.m. at Fellowship of Humanity Hall, 370 27th St. near Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $5. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Starling Lawrence introduces “The Lightning Keeper” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Ave. www.mrsdalloways.com 

“Writing Teachers Write” student/teacher readings at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

David Skibbens will read from his tarot mystery “High Priestess” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Roy Zimmerman in “Faulty Intelligence” An evening of satirical songs, Wed. and Thurs. at 8 p.m. at The Marsh Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way. 800-838-3006. www.themarsh.org  

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

Jules Broussard, west coast swing, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Emote Jargin, Wordsmith, Aral at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Deep Hello at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Matt Heulitt at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

Orquestra America, salsa, 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.  

Edgardo & Candela, salsa dance celebration at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, JULY 27 

FILM 

Beyond Bollywood “Throne of Death” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India” Guided tour at 12:15 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. 

Kristin Luker on “When Sex Goes to School” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Ave. www.mrsdalloways.com 

Ry Beville, translator, discusses Japanese poet Nakahara Chûya at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Chris Ballard describes “The Butterfly Hunter: Adventures of People Who Found Their True Calling Way Off the Beaten Path” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Justine Shapiro, filmmaker, will discuss her film “Promises” and her Globe Trekker television series, at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Noon Concert with Patricio Angulo Latin Trio at the Downtown Berkeley BART station. Free. www.downtownberkeley.org 

Bill Tapia, ‘ukulele jazz improvisation, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

Earthquake Weather, Leopold and his Fiction at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Los Pinguos at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Pheeze Phee, Poach Stevens, Usual Suspects at 10 p.m. at The Ivy Room, 858 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $7. 524-9220. www.ivyroom.com 

Kenny Burrell, 75th Birthday celebration at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $26-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Selector: Subnautic at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

 

 


Moving Pictures: Tributes to Gaynor, Borzage at PFA

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday July 21, 2006

Two retrospectives starting today (Friday) at Pacific Film Archive will illuminate the work of actress Janet Gaynor and director Frank Borzage, both sterling talents in their day but unjustly overlooked in ours.  

Janet Gaynor worked as an usherette at San Francisco’s Castro Theater soon after it opened in 1922 before heading to Hollywood to work as an extra. Within a few years she not only found her way into starring roles but established herself as one of the industry’s top talents, appearing in some of the era’s best movies and along the way earning herself the Best Actress Oscar at the first Academy Awards in 1929. 

“Janet Gaynor: A Centennial Celebration,” running through Aug. 13, is actually a touring exhibition put together by the Louis B. Mayer Foundation and the UCLA Film and Television Archive. It features her first supporting roles and the three starring performances that earned her the Academy Award, as well as a selection of her sound-era work, including 1937’s A Star is Born. 

Gaynor’s signature role was something of a waif, a wide-eyed innocent, fragile but with great moral strength. In a sense, she was like the second coming of “America’s Sweetheart,” Mary Pickford, both of whom were beloved by audiences for their down-to-earth style and pixie-like charm. Gaynor managed to take seemingly limited roles and imbue them with an expressiveness that demonstrated virtue and nobility as well as a delicate vulnerability.  

Her most celebrated role is in Sunrise, the first American film by German director F.W. Murnau. Murnau had made a name for himself as one of Germany’s top directors with films as disparate as the horror masterpiece Nosferatu, the Expressionist classic The Last Laugh, and a cinematic retelling of Faust. In America, his varied interests would lead him to further expand his repertoire, directing “women’s pictures” and even documentaries. It is precisely this wide-ranging virtuosity that has caused him to be overlooked by history, as there are few consistent threads running throughout his career to cement his identity in the public consciousness.  

With Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, Murnau brought Germanic technique and a palpable European sensibility to American commercial filmmaking. The film is celebrated for its roaming camerawork, its evocative set design, its emotional range and fable-like qualities. It is considered one of the finest films of the silent era, and Gaynor’s performance is one its greatest virtues. 

The movie concerns a young country couple whose happy home is threatened when the husband is tempted by a footloose city flapper. Murnau sets up dichotomies that are almost allegorical: between city and country, love and lust, virtue and temptation. It is melodrama raised to the level of poetry, a fable of love, devotion and redemption. 

Some of the performances may seem a bit dramatic to modern eyes, but that is part of the scheme: We’re not simply looking at a couple, we are looking at “two humans,” at archetypes, at people who serve more as symbols that as characters.  

Gaynor’s performance, however, is subtle and at times profound. Her graceful, demure character undergoes dramatic changes, from loving and devoted to wounded and disillusioned, to frightened, endangered and mistrustful to redemptive, forgiving and strong. Her supple face and soulful eyes somehow manage to convey a range of thoughts and emotions that pages of dialogue could only suggest.  

Gaynor easily made the transition to talkies, her voice matching the public perception of her character, and her career remained steady through the mid-’30s, a span that included a series of 12 films with co-star Charles Farrell, including Street Angel (1928), Lucky Star (1929), Delicious (1931), and a remake of Pickford’s Tess of the Storm Country (1932). 

 

Tonight’s screening of Gaynor’s first pairing with Farrell, Seventh Heaven, marks an overlap with another PFA series looking back at the career of director Frank Borzage. 

Borzage captured, perhaps better than any other director, the euphoria of romance. His films may at times seem too sentimental, but they are remarkably effective, using the simplest of themes, strategically repeated, to make the heart skip a beat. With a skillful blend of light humor and sincere emotions, Borzage’s films manage to be quite stirring.  

PFA will present “Frank Borzage’s Philosophy of Desire,” a selection of films spanning both the silent and sound eras, through Aug. 23. 

The strengths of Borzage’s work are readily evident in Seventh Heaven: His street scenes are evocative; his interiors are convincing, self-contained worlds unto themselves; his simple themes are threaded throughout each scene; and his actors know their characters well and hit all the right notes. Some of the film’s most notable moments are the shots of the couple walking up the stairs, a scene that is hardly subtle (seven flights to heaven) but certainly charming as the waif timidly follows her benefactor; the humble abode itself, small but warm and inviting, a cozy ramshackle studio beneath the stars, the rent for which would keep a Berkeley landlord in the chips for years to come; and the joy that lights up Gaynor’s face when Farrell finally allows her to stay. Borzage is a master of tone, never losing his grip on the atmospheric and emotional details. 

The film may be a bit long, considering its slight and somewhat predictable plot line, but it punches through its mundane source material with strong moments of poignancy and drama. Its fault lies with the fact that Borzage is not content to simply leave those moments alone. Genuine moments that would best be played simply and unfettered are instead restated, emphasized so emphatically that too often the moment is robbed of its emotional power.  

If you intend to see the film and don’t want its conclusion revealed, read no further, for many of Borzage’s virtues and vices are perfectly embodied in the film’s final scenes, and they cannot be discussed without giving too much away. 

One of the loveliest but flawed moments in Seventh Heaven provides a perfect example of all that is right and wrong with Borzage’s technique. After Charles Farrell makes his way through the throngs of celebrants in the streets and climbs the seven flights of stairs, he bursts through the door and calls out the name of his beloved. She stands just a few feet away, across the room, and we see his hands reach for her. At that point, Borzage cuts to a shot from behind Gaynor, and we look over her shoulder as she runs to embrace Farrell. In an example of masterful direction, we see that as Gaynor runs to him, Farrell’s eyes do not follow but stay fixed just above the camera, and the realization dawns on us that he has lost his sight. This is superb filmmaking, with details revealed artfully through blocking, direction and editing. 

They can’t leave it there, however. The characters then take a few seconds to restate the obvious, drumming it into us with redundant intertitles when a simple reaction closeup of Gaynor’s beautifully expressive face could have done the job much more effectively.  

But these are minor quibbles. Borzage worked in a time when such displays of emotion were more acceptable and when subtlety was not often rewarded in commercial moviemaking. His characters were wholesome and pure, with their hearts on their sleeves, overcoming tragedy by the transformative power of love.  

The coming of World War II would puncture a hole in that world view, as a new sense of irony and detachment would brand Frank Borzage’s work as nostalgic, sentimental and out of date. And, as with Janet Gaynor, the simplicity and directness of his work would lead to decades of neglect and a lack of appreciation.  

 

JANET GAYnOR: A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

July 21-Aug. 13. 

 

FRANK BORZAGE’s philosophy 

of desire 

July 21-Aug. 23. 

 

2575 Pacific Film Archive, Bancroft Ave. Visit www.bampfa.edu for a complete schedule of screening or see the Planet's Arts Calendar for daily showtimes..


Moving Pictures: When Soccer Almost Conquered America

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday July 21, 2006

If you’re a soccer fan still looking for a way to get the poisonous image of Zinedine Zidane’s head-butt out of your mind, the solution may have arrived in the form of a new documentary. Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos tells the story of soccer’s arrival in the United States in the late 1970s, when media mogul Steve Ross set out to make the “the beautiful game” a national phenomenon. 

The film opens today at the Lumiere Theater in San Francisco. It’s as yet unclear whether it will come to the East Bay, so the Lumiere engagement may be the only chance to see it before it goes to DVD. 

In the mid 1970s, Ross and a few partners created the North American Soccer League. At the time, soccer was a virtually unknown sport in America, and there wasn’t a single player of professional caliber in the country. 

They knew they’d need a successful franchise in New York in order to get the league off the ground, and to make that franchise successful they would need to attract a marquee name.  

As fate would have it, the greatest player to ever play the game, the Brazillian legend Pelé—winner of a record three World Cup championships—had just announced his retirement from Santos, the Brazillian league team where he had spent his entire career. After tense negotiations, they managed to lure Pelé to the New York Cosmos, telling him that if he chose to play for a European team all he could win was another championship, whereas if he played for the Cosmos he could win an entire country.  

Pelé took the offer and began a second career, which continues to this day, as the game’s greatest ambassador, using his charm, charisma and unparalleled skills to spread the gospel of football.  

What ensued was a circus of soccer, media relations and mayhem that consumed the city of New York and took the world of American sports by storm for several years. The documentary features interviews will the major players in this drama (with the notable exception of Pelé himself), and while some—the less talented American players, at least—are humble and good-natured and still thrilled to have been a part of history and to have shared the field with the great Pelé, it would seem that several others have managed to transfer their competitive energies from the playing field to the pages of history as each tries to put his own particular stamp on the story of the Cosmos.  

This is not a calm, dignified documentary of talking heads respectfully and calmly stating the facts; these are men with axes to grind, and it makes for compelling viewing.  

The story that emerges is one of great drama, great humor, and great potential gone unmet. For the Cosmos, and the North American Soccer League along with it, eventually imploded. The last straw was Ross’ unsuccessful bid to bring the 1986 World Cup to America. When FIFA, soccer’s governing body, instead awarded the tournament to Mexico, NASL and Cosmos executives felt it was a death knell for the game in America, a missed opportunity for FIFA to open up the game’s only remaining unconquered market.  

In the wake of FIFA’s decision, the NASL folded and the tremendous inroads made by Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia and the rest of the New York Cosmos vanished in the dust.  

Just a few years later the United States would qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years, making a respectable showing at the 1990 tournament in Italy. And in 1994, the World Cup finally made it to America, paving the way for the founding of a new league, Major League Soccer. But the momentum had been lost; soccer is still touted in America more for its potential rather than its achievements. It’s an ongoing battle, a struggle to instill within a largely indifferent public the excitement and drama that swelled to a crescendo for a brief, glorious moment in the summer of 1977. 

 

 

Once in a Lifetime:  

The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos 

Directed by Paul Crowder and John Dower. Featuring Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia, Henry Kissinger, Mia Hamm. Narrated by Matt Dillon. 

Starts today at the Lumiere Theater, 1572 California St. at Polk Street, San Francisco.  

(415) 267-4893.


The Theater: ‘Human Paper Doll’ a Real Cut-Up at the Berkeley Rep

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday July 21, 2006

The metamorphoses of Madonna, or Elton John changing fashions and overburdening specs ... Judy Garland as Dorothy, belting out “Over The Rainbow” while absent-mindedly petting a pinwheel-headed Toto ... and just how does a paraplegic Venus De Milo line-dance to Zorba The Greek ? 

Ennio Marchetti doesn’t pose any questions—and he’s running too fast onstage even to pose, most of the time—in his eponymous one-man extravaganza of lip-sync and quick-change, Ennio, at Berkeley Rep’s Roda Stage. 

Like riffling through a dealer’s pack, all face-cards, Ennio materializes 50 figures out of pop culture’s photo-ops with breakneck speed, each accoutered in front-panelled regalia, each as thin as a playing card. In record time, he’s staged a sideshow anthology of an all-star Vegas gala, a witty resumé of music video-bites, and left his audience gasping for the breath to keep laughing. 

Ennio’s rubberfaced silliness keeps them laughing through a nonstop 90-minute show, here on a limited run, ending this Sunday. A Venetian who went from espresso mechanic to Carnival costumer, he debuted his two-dimensional tour-de-force at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, playing Morrissey’s Meltdown Fest and scoring a command performance for the Queen of England—as well as the moniker, “the human paper-doll.” 

Ennio’s costumes and masks are billed as origami but are different in texture (and technique) from the Japanese original. Folded, painted paper, they’re more like sandwich boards or mobile stand-up cut-outs—paper-dolls indeed. And Ennio himself is the animator, sprinting and hoofing it through a spectrum of changes as he litters the breadth and depth of the Roda with his spent fashion plate costumery, while he continually morphs into yet another icon or diva.  

The sound system never stops, either, pumping out high-powered heads of the hits of the past half century. The audience becomes clap-happy with recognition as Ennio tears through the pages of Variety, morphing from Frankenstein to Frank (Sinatra) to daughter Nancy, whose boots are made for walkin’ pretty much like the stiff-legged strut of Boris Karloff, though garnished with Big Hair. 

An Indian dancer goes Nashville, then Motown ... Diana Ross is somehow reincarnated as Shiva in a shower of testifying paper arms ... Cleopatra charms her asp with an alto sax. 

And there are one-man duets: Ella folding up from Louis Armstrong’s shoulders in a kind of leapfrog cover that brings Louis to his knees—or Dolly Parton laboring uphill to her “Tennessee Mountain Home” astride her mule—or a pop-up trio, as the tuneful heads of the missing two Three Tenors spring out from the girth of Pavarotti’s gargantuan lapels. 

But Ennio’s at his best with the Divas, whether pop, country or opera, or from the silver screen, as a highlight proves to be his entrance in a big, sleeveless suit. Turning down the sound on his Walkman, pulling an invisible cord for “lights out,” he’s suddenly under the covers, unfolding from his suit like a wash-and-wear Murphy bed, which then morphs into Marilyn’s famous dress (and breasts) from The Seven-Year Itch, as Ennio lip-synchs “I Want to Be Loved by You,” momentarily exiting in a shower of paper valentines, then back in the spotlight as Mona Lisa in a rocking, revolving frame, grimacing in lieu of the famous smile to “She’s Got It.” 

It’s fast, funny, and paper-thin, though unstoppable, even when the record skips, the CD becoming an echo-chamber. There are a few flashes of silly-putty sculptural expression reminiscent of Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca sending up the pretty faces of the entertainment world.  

But Ennio’s created a small niche all of his own with professional cleverness. If nothing else, he’s created one of the few drag acts for family consumption. 

 

Ennio 

Through Sunday at the Berkeley Rep, 2015 Addison St. $20-$45. For more information, call 647-2949 or see www.berkeleyrep.org. 

 

Photograph Courtesy of Berkeley Repertory Theatre 

Ennio Marchetto creates 50 characters such as Marilyn Monroe, using only paper and music.


Calatrava’s Sundial Bridge Puts Redding on the Map

By Dorothy Bryant, Special to the Planet
Friday July 21, 2006

 

On Dec. 15, 2005 the New York Review of Books ran a long article on Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava, written by architecture critic Martin Filler in the great tradition of NYR sneers. 

Almost no put-down was omitted: “overelaborate designs,” “obfuscate,” “theatrical aesthetic,” “a naivete similar to Disneyland.” There are references to a crafty “game plan” that involved hiring “a New York public relations firm,” which got Calatrava the commission to design the new Transportation Hub for the World Trade Center at Ground Zero. 

More dismissive adjectives include “kitsch,” “shallow symbolism,” and “underlying sentimentality,” which explains why (sniff) his “appeal to a popular audience makes perfect sense.” Some of Calatrava’s bridges and buildings are listed, like the Milwaukee Art Museum, as evidence of his “avian obsession” as well as his use of moving parts that sometimes malfunction. 

However, spread across the page above the article, as if mocking Filler’s judgment, is a breathtaking (to this ignorant member of the “popular audience”) aerial photograph of Calatrava’s pedestrian bridge, spanning the Sacramento River in Redding. 

Redding? Did I read that caption right? Redding? 

Bob and I are 70-plus Northern California natives, who have seen all the changes: orchards and rolling hills buried by freeways, housing tracts and shopping malls. Bummer. But we don’t romanticize what the freeways replaced—highways with occasional two or three-block stretches of a ramshackle “main street” of an undistinguished and indistinguishable “town” you had to drive through on your way to the natural beauties of the coast or the mountains. 

In between, the great agricultural valleys lay—in hellish heat or in bone-chilling-blinding winter tule fog. The bread basket of the world combined the virtual slave labor of Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath with the wasteland of his story “Chrysanthemums,” a portrait of a woman’s parched soul withering like her dying flowers. The current and spreading infection of shopping malls and housing tracts (where the more fortunate residents huddle throughout the summer, prisoners of their air conditioners) seemed consistent with the historic nature of the valley.  

But now, according to this condescending NYR article, there is, for better or for worse, something to see there. So in May (my cut-off point for entering that three-digit Fahrenheit hell) we drove four hours into the valley to Redding. 

If you go on the net, you’ll learn that the 700-foot walking bridge was conceived in 1995, largely financed and developed by the McConnell Foundation (which a friend called the brainchild of rich retirees who own property in Redding), that it cost $23 million, and involved various land swaps and buy-outs to create a 300-acre park preserve on the shores at either end of the bridge. 

Then there were complicated negotiations for federally mandated preservation of salmon spawning grounds—no pilings could be driven into the river bed. These preparations ate up half the costs before ground was broken in 1999. The bridge was completed in 2004. 

A Calatrava trademark is the soaring white wing (or sail?) at one end covered with a million broken pieces of Spanish tile, from which steel cables radiate like harp strings down to the bridge (whether decorative or structural or both, I don’t know). In the case of the Redding Bridge, the shadow cast by the wing actually indicates the time of day, hence the title Sundial Bridge.  

From the parking lot we could see the gleaming white wing piercing the sky; we used it as a guide post as we walked wide, wheel-chair accessible paths toward the bridge (other paths go off to hiking trails). The botanical gardens on either shore were not open to guided tours when we got there but we were able to wander around and see plantings and plans for developing the parkland preserve. 

We walked the short bridge span on a tread made of thick glass. (We didn’t stay to see it at night when powerful lights under the glass light up the whole span.) People walked, bicycled, pushed baby strollers, stopped to look down at the water or across at the forested land, or up at the hills and mountains beyond. Nothing to do on this bridge but hug your lover and look over the side and watch the water stream by, or chase your kids, or, perhaps meet your neighbor and talk? I wondered if, in this state where everyone is always on the move in a car, this short bridge—where we were all moving but slower—had, by design or by accident, become a new kind of town square. 

On July 7, the New York Times travel section Escapes devoted a page to “Redding, California,” verifying that the bridge had made the formerly “just another Podunk” town a tourist destination. It maps the town and surroundings, lists restaurants (pricey but definitely not serving the Velveeta-soaked chops typical of the old valley truck stops) that have appeared, and names some reasonably priced and comfortable hotels like the one we stayed in before driving on to Lassen Volcanic Park and the Lake Shasta Caverns.  

I confess that I take a certain old-Californian proprietary pride in the Redding Bridge. I don’t see its sharp, gleaming lines as a “Disneyland” violation of nature but as a contrasting, humanly-crafted homage to that landscape. We could do—and have done—worse. All my life I have longed for architecture that at least aspired to being worthy of the natural beauty of California. (How many times can you walk across the Golden Gate Bridge?)  

I’m told that the idea of the Redding Bridge inspired the green-tinted foot-bridge arching over the freeway just south of University Avenue. All right! What’s next?  

Oh, and I don’t have to tell you to save your trip to Redding for late September or early October. Japanese tourists show up even in Death Valley in August (no kidding!), but we know better.


Choosing Not to Play the Updating Game

By Jane Powell
Friday July 21, 2006

 

We have all watched Antiques Roadshow, thus we have learned that an antique which still has the original finish, parts, and such, in good condition, is far more valuable than a piece which has been refinished, modified to hold a television, or has modern replacement hardware. 

Yet few people seem to be able to apply this principal to antique houses. Instead, urged on by advertising, shelter magazines, television, architects, contractors, and decorators, most people happily rip out the historic features of their antique house in order to replace them, often at considerable cost, with whatever the latest decorating trend happens to be, all in the cause of being fashionable, or modern, or “expressing oneself.” 

Even energy-efficiency is used as an excuse these days, mostly to rip out perfectly good wooden windows made from old-growth timber and replace them with double-glazed windows made of second growth timber, or worse, vinyl, neither of which will last as long as the original windows have already lasted. So great, now your house is “up-dated,” but it’s still not “brand-new.”  

Instead, as though you’d attached a plastic handle to a Ming vase to make it “modern,” you have not achieved the Philippe Starck-designed modernity you wanted, you have merely destroyed an antique. Worse, how “modern” do you think your current “state-of-the-art” kitchen is going to look in 20 years? 

You might want to ask someone with a “state-of-the-art” kitchen from the 1970s—I’m sure the avocado green appliances and the fake brick vinyl floor were absolutely the latest thing back then—the equivalent of today’s concrete countertops and stainless steel. 

When I was looking for my first house, back in the late 1980s, I came to dread the phrase “updated kitchen,” because that always meant “we ripped out the original vertical grain fir cabinets and replaced them with the cheapest thing we could find” (at that time it was usually particle board cabinets with almond Formica and oak trim). 

Now I am not saying there aren’t some things in an old house that could use updating. Replacing the 30 amp electrical service that only has four circuits might be a good idea. Doing a seismic retrofit would probably be wise. Roof coverings don’t last forever either, and possibly a new furnace may be in order. It’s conceivable the hardwood floors might need to be refinished. 

All of these things (and more) can be done without destroying the historic integrity of the house. Nor do you have to give up functional aspects of 21st century life- it is entirely possible to have a dishwasher, an energy-efficient refrigerator, the Internet, and a place to charge your iPod, without the cognitive dissonance of having rooms from different centuries. 

Nor am I saying you can’t express yourself. But you don’t have to express yourself on the fabric of the house. No one is stopping you from having whatever furniture, art, rugs, sheets, towels, china, silverware, etc. your heart desires. If you love iridescent granite, you can have it as a tabletop or a desk- you don’t have to cover the fireplace with it. 

I do want to scream every time I see or hear the statement, usually uttered by designers, “We wanted to combine the old with the new” or “vintage with contemporary”—they have many ways of putting it, and many ways of doing it. What that gets you, friends, is a mimosa- a drink which ruins perfectly good orange juice and perfectly good champagne! And in a house, what it gets you mostly is a house which is neither here nor there, fish nor fowl.  

And since “green” is now the thing to be, truly, there is nothing greener than leaving your house as it is- maintaining it and caring for it so its life and the embodied energy it represents can continue. Remodeling uses up new resources, even if those resources are green, and usually involves sending a lot of debris to the landfill, much of it irreplaceable old-growth timber. (And before you argue you’re going to recycle a lot of it, think about this—even the lath in lath-and-plaster is old-growth timber, and no one reuses lath, not even me, and I’m pretty obsessive.) 

Let your house be what it is. Fix things that are damaged, upgrade the functional aspects carefully, and try not to do anything a subsequent owner might curse you for, as you may be cursing something done by an owner before you. Resist the siren song of “modernization.” An old house with “original charm intact” is almost always worth more than one which is “updated.” 

 

Jane Powell (janepowell@sbcglobal.net) is the author of six books about bungalows, including the just-released Bungalow Details: Interior.


Imagining a Berkeley Under Water

By Matt Cantor
Friday July 21, 2006

Matt, We need to reinforce the cripple walls in our 1906 one-story house. But we live in the Berkeley flats and we are worried about potential flooding. We are not that far above sea level and we don’t think that global warming is a fairy tale. 

We don’t want to have to tear out all of this plywood bracing with crowbars after it gets wet. We would prefer to screw on the wood panels so that they are more easily removable. Backer On brand screws for wonderboard installation are nice and thick and coated against moisture which is nice, but I think the longest they make are 1 5/8". Are there any screws which are rated for this use? Or is there a system that uses metal somehow? 

Alan Bretz 

 

 

Dear Alan, 

What a fascinating letter. I’m not quite sure where to begin. Since you’ve presented a number of eye-opening items, I’d like to see if I can take them, more or less, one at a time.  

This marks the first letter I’ve received which has specifically asked me to address the needs of a house that may soon be under water due to global warming. Strangely, this is something I’ve actually discussed with some of my clients in the last few years as I’m also one who considers this a very plausible concern. 

Nonetheless, if you’re in Berkeley, it’s not very likely that you’re going to be subject to these issues as the elevation in most of the city is well above 20’ and that’s the projected rise if a number of fairly serious events occur over the next 10-20 years. Therefore, unless you’re in the estuary or the very lowest parts of Berkeley/Albany, I wouldn’t devote too much energy to how this will affect your seismic bracing. 

If you’re actually down very close to sea level, you may want to think about what you’re going to do with your property if water starts lapping at your foundation. If this actually occurs, there are a lot of consequences that you might want to take into account including how your sewer is going to perform when it’s flooded. Your electrical panel might pose something of a threat if you have to stand in water to reset a breaker. 

You might be faced with some fairly serious settlement if your house is sitting in water and the effects of an earthquake on a house that’s sitting in mud are likely to be quite a bit worse than one that’s sitting on dry land. 

Alameda is another matter entirely since much of that fair city is less than 20’ above sea-level, meaning that Alameda might become the Venice of the Bay if the south pole loses a large amount of ice which is hanging on by Al Gore’s fingernails.  

Now, there might be an upside to all this water if you look at it the right way. The ferry from S.F could drop you off at Spenger’s. You could stay at home and fish. The Cal Water Polo Team will be able to stage exhibition games in your basement. 

But this is probably a very serious concern and were it to actualize. I’d say that your house will no longer be your house. It will be devalued to a degree where it will probably not be a house for anyone anymore. For the time being, I’d eat more chocolate and watch funnier movies. Oh, and reduce your carbon emissions. 

As for planning shear-wall sheathing around rising sea-level, I just wouldn’t go there. I’d say that earthquakes are a more tangible eventuality and that you should plan for them without any serious thought toward removal. 

If sea-level actually rises to where you live, your whole house is going to be so seriously affected that removal of the shear-wall sheathing probably isn’t going to make it into the day planner for next Tuesday. So just go ahead and do your shear-wall sheathing, bolting and other hardware connections so that you can survive an earthquake. 

By the way, if you are actually quite close to the bay, you might just be in a liquefaction zone. It’s a good idea to find out because the shaking forces are much greater in these places and it’s good to plan for this. Houses are more likely to experience serious damage when they’re in liquefaction zones because the earth moves more in these places and also because the earth can rapidly subside. 

Now, for the last part of your question; shear-wall sheathing, which is typically assembled using plywood panels and nailed to the framing of the house with a large number of nails is best installed without the use of any sort of screw. 

There is apparently one screw which has very recently come on the market and that can be used for shear-walling but, as a rule, screws are a very poor choice because they tend to be quite brittle, while nails have great ductility and can bend many times before they break. The screws you are describing for use on concrete tile-backer board are not going to pass muster. They might be moisture resistant but they don’t have the shear value that’s called for.  

Therefore, I would suggest that you abandon your plan for temporary or removable shear-walling. I see too much shear-walling that is so poorly done that I’m worried it won’t do the job when the great moment arrives. So any attempt to short-change the process by making the work removable is just not on the table for me. 

In short, here are my suggestions: Retrofit your house, hire the Dutch to put sea doors just outside the Golden Gate, don’t ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build levees (or anything) in the Berkeley Marina, stop watching An Inconvenient Truth (once for you was quite enough—but get all your friends to see it) and start collecting two of every animal. When you’re ready, call me, I’ve got cats, raccoons, squirrels, skunks and at least two deer. 

Stay in touch, 

Matt 


Think Twice Before You Reach for the Bug Spray

By Ron Sullivan
Friday July 21, 2006

It’s midsummer, more or less, and the other inhabitants of the garden are showing up in numbers. Aphids and whiteflies and thrips, oh my! The first flush in spring gave rise to another generation or two, multiplying all the way, and most of the birds have about finished raising their first and maybe second broods for the year, so fewer insects are being turned into babyfood.  

But it’s not time to panic and start throwing insecticides around. Some of our most charming predators are emerging into visibility, and killing everything that nibbles on the plants will kill them, too. 

Now, if you have an infestation and you grab the spray and start shooting indiscriminately, you’ll kill off most—only most —of what’s bugging you, plus anything else that’s in range, including the things that are eating the pests. 

That’s elementary. You’ll also be killing the decorative insects like butterflies, by way of collateral damage. I’m including “safe” sprays, too—the average insecticide is not particular, even if it’s safer for the likes of us mammals. 

The catch is that, like predators on any scale, the useful insectivorous critters don’t multiply as fast or as prolifically as the vegetarian pests that are chewing or sucking the vigor out of the garden. 

At worst, the bugkillers will have become concentrated as each predatory bird or arthropod or even mammal eats many individual insects. By the time they’ve recovered from poisoning or just from short rations, the herbivores have had two or three litters and those litters have littered.  

Anyone at the base of the food web (to mash a metaphor) is likely to be a determined breeder. Some aphids, for a pertinent example, breed asexually over the summer and don’t bother with complications like mating until they’re ready to shut down their whole enterprise for the winter. 

That’s right, folks, little girl-aphid clones are what’s overrunning your beans and posies. Everything Lucas does in Star Wars got thought up and done already by that original trickster, Nature. (If you really want to scare yourself and gross yourself out too, read Carl Zimmer’s excellent Parasite Rex.) 

With such a big prey base, the ladybugs and mantids and spiders will breed more prolifically too. It takes a little time, but insect and arachnid generations are a whole lot faster than ours. 

If you’re willing to accept some holes and puckers in your leaves now, you’ll spare yourself lots of work later and you’ll spare your garden’s friendly inhabitants too. It helps a lot to persuade your neighbors likewise; their frequently-sprayed yards can be reservoirs of pests.  

There’s one set of exceptions to the indiscriminate-killer insecticide: Bacillus thuringensis (“Bt”) sprays or pellets. These contain a subspecies of microorganism that’s bred specifically for the life form it’s aimed at—caterpillars (but remember, that’s any caterpillar) or mosquitoes. 

They kill the pest in its infancy, so it doesn’t survive to bite or breed. I like the stuff for small watergardens—tubs, pots—better than the “mosquitofish” the county hands out for free, which are becoming pests themselves. More on that problem next week. 

 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in East Bay Home & Real Estate. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet.


Quake Tip of the Week

By Larry Guillot
Friday July 21, 2006

Are You Inside or Out? 

 

When the Big One hits, if you’re inside, stay indoors until the shaking stops and you’re sure it’s safe to exit. 

More injuries happen when people move during the shaking of an earthquake. After the shaking has stopped, if you go outside, move quickly away from the building to prevent injury from falling debris.  

If you are outdoors, find a clear spot away from buildings, trees, streetlights, and power lines. Drop to the ground and stay there until the shaking stops. Injuries can occur from falling trees, street-lights and power lines, or building debris. 

 

 

Larry Guillot is owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing, and kit supply service in the east bay.  

558-3299, www.quakeprepare.com. 

 

 

 


Berkeley This Week

Friday July 21, 2006

FRIDAY, JULY 21 

Impeachment Banner Fridays at 6:45 to 8 a.m. on the Berkeley Pedestrian bridge between Seabreeze Market and the Berkeley Aquatic Park, ongoing on Fridays until impeachment is realized. www. Impeachbush-cheney.com 

Sydney B. Mitchell Iris Society Annual Bearded Iris Rhizome Auction at 7:30 p.m. at 666 Bellevue Ave., Lakeside Park, Oakland. 277-4200. 

“Venezuela Rising” A documentary at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists’ Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Donation$10. 528-5403. 

“State of Denial” A film on living in South Africa with HIV, at 7:30 p.m. at 464 Van Buren at Euclid, Oakland. Sponsored by Friends of African Film. www.friendsofafricanfilm.com 

Berkeley Folk Dancers Community Classes and Teacher Workshop, ages 8 and up, Fridays through Aug. 18 at 7:45 p.m. at Live Oak Park, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10-$15 for five classes, $5 drop-in.  

Stagebridge Story Workshop with local storytellers from 10 a.m. to noon at Arts First Oakland Center, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Bring a bag lunch. Cost is $10. 444-4755.  

Women in Black Vigil noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 845-1143. 

SATURDAY, JULY 22 

Sassafras Shotgun Players Annual Silent Auction Fundraiser at 6 p.m. at The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $40 and include dinner. 841-6500. 

Sydney B. Mitchell Iris Society Bearded Iris Rhizome Sale From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Rockridge Mall, Broadway at Pleasant Valley Rd., Oakland. Free growing instruction and advice from the experts. 277-4200. 

Butterfly Bonanza Work Party Join us to create a new pathway in the butterfly garden at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park, from 10 a.m. to noon. Dress for sun and dirt. 525-2233. 

Peach Tastings and Cooking Demonstrations from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m at the Saturday Berkeley Farmer’s Market, Center St., at MLK, Jr. Way. 548-3333. 

Wonders of Watersheds Learn about the waterways in our community from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Striding into the Sunset An evening hike in Miller Knox from 7 to 9 p.m. on a 2.5 mile loop over varied terrain to see great views. Bring a snack to share. Call for meeting place 525-2233. 

Canoe and Kayak Race for the Treasure beginning at 8 a.m. at Jack London Aquatic Square, Oakland. Registration is $32-$40 for adults, $15 for teens. For registration forms please visit www.calkayak.com/events.cfm#998 or call 893-7833.  

60th Anniversary of the 1946 Oakland General Strike Commemoration at 6 p.m. at the Oakland YMCA, 1515 Webster St., at 15th St., with Evelyn and Val Schaaf and Earl Watkins, who participated in the strike; Gifford Hartman’s multi media presentation and a documentary. 415-751-1572. 

Oakland Heritage Walking Tour of the Waterfront Warehouse District from 10 a.m. to noon. Meet at the intersection of 3rd and Franklin Sts. Cost is $5-$15. 763-9218.  

Walking Tour of Old Oakland Uptown to the Lake to discover Art Deco landmarks. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of the Paramount Theater at 2025 Broadway. For reservations call 238-3234. 

Greenway Getaway A moderate hike along the Ohlone Greenway in El Cerrito, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Greenbelt Alliance. Reservations required. 415-255-3233. www.greenbelt.org 

“Lift Off” Emeryville Picnic Celebrating Schools & Community at noon at Emery Secondary School Athletic Field, 4727 San Pablo Ave. www.emeryusd.k12.ca.us 

El Cerrito Historical Society Annual Potluck Picnic at Huber Park at noon. All welcome to attend. Please bring a main course, salad, or dessert. 526-7507, 525-1730. 

37th Anniversary of the Flight of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission on the USS Hornet. Family activities and ship tours will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors will have the opportunity to participate in mission briefings, see airplanes lifted to the flight deck, and sit in a fighter jet cockpit. Pier 3, 707 W. Hornet Avenue, Alameda. Cost is $6-$14. www.uss-hornet.org 

“The United States and Iran: Nuclear Proliferation, Terrorism, and Regime Change” with Prof. Stephen Zunes, USF, at 7 p.m. at Home of Truth Center, 1300 Grand St., Alameda. Sponsored by the Alameda Public Affairs Forum. Donations accepted. www.alamedaforum.org 

“The Code and the Challenge of Learning to Read It” a multimedia presentation on the reading crisis in our country from 9 a.m. to noon at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon, Oakland. To register call 685-0186. www.childrenofthecode.org/oakland 

Berkeley Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple Summer Bazaar, Sat. from 4 to 8 p.m. and Sun. from noon to 6 p.m. at 1524 Oregon St. at Sacramento. Japanese food, children’s games and homemade crafts. 843-6933. 

Support Shattuck Cinema Workers as they rally for a fair contract at 2 p.m. in front of Shattuck Cinemas. www.iww.org 

Oakland Zoomobile Meet some wild animals at 2 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Berkeley History Center Walking Tour: “Explore the New Berkeley City College Building” is postponed to August. 848-0181. www.cityofberkeley.info/histsoc 

Vegetarian Cooking Class: Burgers and Backyard Bites from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Cost is $45 plus $5 food/materials fee. Registration required. 531-COOK.  

Produce Stand at Spiral Gardens Food Security Project from 1 to 6 p.m. at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon St. 

Writing for Personal (R)evolution a workshop with Aimee Suzara at 10 a.m. at Epic Arts Studios, 1923 Ashby Ave. For ages 17 and up. Cost is $25-$50 sliding scale. 520-2486. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, JULY 23 

Bay to Barkers Dog Walk and Festival from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Park at the Berkeley Marina. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and costs $25 in advance or $30 on day of event. Benefits the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society. 845-7735, ext. 13. www.berkeleyhumane.org 

Ridgeline Ramble on Sobrante Ridge A 3.5 mile hike up and down through oak and bay woodland, chaparral and grassland habitats, from 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the Coach Drive Staging Area. 525-2233. 

Brooks Island Voyage Paddle the rising tide across the Richmond Harbor Channel to Brooks Island from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For experienced boaters who can provide their own canoe or kayak and safety gear. For ages 14 and up with parent participation. Cost is $20-$22. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Help Restore Cerrito Creek from 10 a.m. to noon. Wear shoes with good traction, long pants and sleeves. Meet at Creekside Park, south end of Santa Clara St., El Cerrito, just north of Albany Hill. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

Oakland General Strike Walk Meet at 2 p.m. at the fountain at Latham Square, where Broadway & Telegraph converge. The walk will revisit the sites that sparked the “Work Holiday” that shut the East Bay down. Co-sponsored by Laney College Labor Studies and the Flying Picket Historical Society. 464-3210. 

Oakland Heritage Walking Tour of Rockridge Arts and Crafts from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Meet at the pillars on the corner of Broadway and Rockridge Blvd. Cost is $5-$15. 763-9218.  

Progressive Democrats of the East Bay Potluck BBQ from noon to 4 p.m. at Codornices Park, Euclid Ave. at Eunice St., across from the Berkeley Rose Garden. We’ll bring the drinks and charcoal. Please bring something for the grill or something to share. 636-4149. 

“Diamonds are for Africa Forever!” a documentary about the local poverty in Sierra Leone at 2 p.m. at Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd., Oakland. 625-1106.www.apscuhuru.org 

New Farmers’ Market in Kensington, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. behind ACE Hardware at 303 Arlington Ave. 528-4346. 

Writers’ Workshop on “Yoga and the Art of Making Your Words Come Alive” with Gail Sher at 5 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

Free Hands-on Bicycle Clinic Learn how to repair flats from 10 to 11 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Free Sailboat Rides from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club in the Berkeley Marina. Bring change of clothes, windbreaker, sneakers. For ages 5 and up. cal-sailing.org  

“Local Medicinal Herbs and Your Health” Workshop with local herbalist Joshua Muscat, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Berkeley Eco-House, 1305 Hopkins St. Bring small pots and hand shovels. Cost is $15 sliding scale. 547-8715. 

Summer Sunday Forum: Peaceable Kingdom a video on animals at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Berkeley City Club free tour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 2315 Durant Ave. Donations welcome. 848-7800 or 883-9710. 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712.  

Tibetan Buddhism “Opening to the Dharma: What We are Learning” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

MONDAY, JULY 24 

“Conflict Resolution: Parents and Teens” with Susan Frankel, MFT and Jan McClain at 2:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

“For Teens: No Pressure!” with Joan Hitlin, MFA at 7 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Stress Less Seminar at 7 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland. Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people 60+ years old at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Cost is $3. 524-9122.  

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, JULY 25 

Tuesdays for the Birds Enjoy the early morning birding at Arrowhead Marsh, Martin Luther King Shoreline. Bring water, sunscreen, binoculars and a snack. Call for meeting location or to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Peach Tastings from 2 to 7 p.m at the Tuesday Berkeley Farmer’s Market, Derby St., at MLK, Jr. Way. 548-3333. 

Cycle Touring: Tips for Paring Down Your Load at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Berkeley PC Users Group meets at 7 p.m.at 1145 Walnut St. near the corner of Eunice.  

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Leapfrog, 6401 Hollis St., Emeryville. To make an appointment call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE.  

Raging Grannies of the East Bay invites new folks to join us from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. to sing, help plan our next gig, or write outrageously political lyrics to old familiar tunes, at Berkeley Gray Panthers office, 1403 Addison St., in Andronico’s mall. 548-9696. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave.845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26 

Four Short Films on Housing, Jobs and Unions at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donations of $5 accepted. 

“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” A documentary about the failed coup against President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. Sponsored by the Berkeley Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

Walking Tour of Oakland Chinatown Meet at 10 a.m. at the courtyard fountain in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza at 388 Ninth St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Bayswater Book Club meets to discuss “Godless” by Ann Coulter at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, El Cerrito. Also organizing meeting to become a Democratic Central Committee Chartered Club. 433-2911. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction 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. 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.  

Sleep Seminar at 7 p.m. at 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland. Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

Breema Clinic Open House from 6 to 8 p.m. at 6201 Florio St., Oakland. 428-1234.  

THURSDAY, JULY 27 

Cee Cee Weeks Day Tree Planting and Potluck from noon to 3 p.m. at Ohlone Park on Hearst Avenue by the McGee Play area. Join us to Plant a Tree in Honor and Memory of Cee Cee Weeks the Disability and Indian Rights activist and share a potluck lunch. 482-8284. 

“Introduction to Community Organizing” Learn how grassroots community power wins campaigns, at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. RSVP to 848-0800 ext. 307. 

Teen Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Club will discuss “The Blue Girl” at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6133. 

Healthy Sun Practices with Dr. Lani Simpson at 7 p.m. at Teleosis Institute, Upstairs Unit B, 1521B 5th St. 558-7285. 

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.  

ONGOING 

Energy Saving Program for Residents CYES is running its 7th annual summer program, providing direct-installation of CFLs, retractable clotheslines, showerheads, and more. Services available in Berkeley, Oakland, Richmond. Free. 665-1501. 

Child Care Food Program is available without charge to all children enrolled in The Berkeley Unified School District, Early Childhood Education progam, based on income eligibility guidelines. Please call for details 644-6358. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Mon., July 24, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5158.  

Zero Waste Commission Mon., July 24, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. 981-6368.  

City Council meets Tues., July 25, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900.  

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., July 26, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., July 26, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 981-5502.  

Energy Commission meets Wed., July 26, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5434.  

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., July 26, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5213.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., July 26, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484.  

Police Review Commission meets Wed., July 26 , at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. 


Correction

Friday July 21, 2006

The Berkeley Alcohol Policy Advocacy Coalition was misidentified in Tuesday’s Daily Planet. While nonprofit organizations participate in the coalition, BAPAC itself is not a nonprofit organization, as stated in the article.