Columnists

When the Bush administration recently unveiled its new African military command—AFRICOM— Deputy Assistant Sec. of Defense Teresa Whalen said that the initiative was aimed at “promoting security, to build African capacity to build their own environments and not be subject to the instability that has toppled governments and caused so much pain on the continent.” -more-

“There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house,” Lewis Carroll writes in Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, “and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea in it; a Dormouse was sitting between them… The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it. … Alice … sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table. … ‘I want a clean cup,’ interrupted the Hatter [after they had eaten for a while]: ‘let’s all move one place on.’ He moved on as he spoke, and the Dormouse followed him: the March Hare moved into the Dormouse’s place, and Alice rather unwillingly took the place of the March Hare. The Hatter was the only one who got any advantage from the change; and Alice was a good deal worse off than before, as the March Hare had just upset the milk-jug into his plate.” -more-

On February 23, 1924, the weekly newspaper The Courier announced that the rapidly expanding American Bank, headquartered at 16th Street and San Pablo Avenue in Oakland, had purchased the College National Bank of Berkeley. American Bank was headed by Phillip E. Bowles, a University of California alumnus and regent from 1911 to 1922. Bowles Hall, UC’s first student residence hall, would be endowed by his widow in his name. -more-

Having had the unhappy occasion to take an airline flight recently, I got to feast my jaded eyes on something called “Skymall.” This is a catalogue one finds stuffed along with the airline’s house magazine and a leftover napkin into the pocket of the seat ahead, pressing on one’s sore knees even if one is, as I am, built like a fireplug. -more-

I recently visited Tokyo. What a wonderful experience in so many ways. Too many to touch on in a single article, but one thing that did strike me again and again was the use of and respect for space. Japanese people tend to live in much smaller spaces than we take for granted and they endeavor to use each space as efficiently and richly as possible. It alters the aesthetic. Also, there’s no shame in packing things in to these tight spaces. On the contrary, I think that the Japanese view a waste of space or living in unnecessarily large quarters as egregious misconduct. -more-

“We need a music teacher,” said the woman on the telephone in charge of hiring substitute teachers. “You know anything about music?” -more-

If you’re walking down University Avenue, or driving up the freeway to the Richmond Bridge, or taking a car or bike jaunt up around Clear Lake, you’ll have noticed that the redbuds are blooming. We’ve borrowed specimens of this gorgeous scarf that the Central Valley wears around its eastern and western foothills. Good idea, for landscape and ornament in the cities and for the most difficult spots along roads. -more-