Local News and Opinion from The Berkeley Daily Planet

News

Chan Calls for Delay Of OUSD Land Sale

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Tuesday August 22, 2006

State Assemblymember Wilma Chan, who co-sponsored legislation that led to the state takeover of the Oakland Unified School District in 2003, says that contract negotiations to sell Oakland Unified School District Lake Merritt-area property that were authorized in that legislation “should be slowed down” until more information can be obtained about the controversial deal. -more-

Father of Army Officer Resisting War Speaks Out

By Judith Scherr

Tuesday August 22, 2006

When Ehren Watada signed up for the army, he thought he was being patriotic. But after talking to veterans returning from Iraq and studying documents that showed Bush had lied about weapons of mass destruction there, the 28-year-old lieutenant became convinced that the patriotic position was to refuse deployment to Iraq. -more-

New Test Scores Show Trouble For Jerry Brown’s Charter Schools

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Tuesday August 22, 2006

Student test scores at Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown’s Oakland School for the Arts (OSA) charter school dropped significantly in two key areas from last year to this, according to a report on the California Standards Test (CST) recently released by the California Department of Education. -more-

Bayer Grant Gets Students Working in Biotechnology

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Tuesday August 22, 2006

Biotech Partners, formerly Berkeley Biotechnology Education, Inc/BBEI, received a surprise $150,000 grant from the Bayer Foundation on Wednesday, which reaffirmed Bayer Corporation’s commitment to the model biotechnology school-to-career program that the company established with the city of Berkeley 13 years ago. -more-

UC Custodians Call for Fair Wages as Term Opens

By Judith Scherr

Tuesday August 22, 2006

UC Berkeley custodians welcomed students moving into southside dormitories with an informational picket line on Sunday, calling on the administration to give them fair wages. -more-

Finance Department Head Resigns, Takes Hayward Post

By Judith Scherr

Tuesday August 22, 2006

Pacific Steel Report on Health Risk from Emissions Past Due

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Tuesday August 22, 2006

Testers Posing as Katrina Survivors Encounter ‘Linguistic Profiling’

Lorinda M. Bullock, New American Media

Tuesday August 22, 2006

A Few Questions for Berkeley High Principal Jim Slemp

By Rio Bauce, Special to the Planet

Tuesday August 22, 2006

Opening Day for Berkeley City College Karen Cotton, left, helps students register for classes at Berkeley City College (formerly Vista College) on Friday afternoon. The official ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the new campus at 2050 Center St. is scheduled for 10 a.m. today (Tuesday). Photograph by Riya Battacharjee

Editorials

Editorial: It’s Time for a Meeting

By Becky O'Malley

Tuesday August 22, 2006

Over the weekend we received the e-mail reprinted [below]. Evidently the signers of the letter have been misinformed by someone for some reason. They say that “we recently requested a meeting with the Daily Planet Executive Editor Becky O’Malley. Ms. O’Malley refused to meet, stating ‘you won’t convince me of your position.’” -more-