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Rivka Mason works with students in the Malcolm X Elementary School gardens. Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee.
Rivka Mason works with students in the Malcolm X Elementary School gardens. Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee.
 

News

Malcolm X School Gardener Wins National Service Award

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday May 29, 2007

In many ways, Rivka Mason is like any other elementary school gardener who likes to teach students how to grow a green thumb. 

She assigns children at Malcolm X Elementary School to water the flower beds, explains the ABCs of the food chain to them and lets them chase butterflies. 

But Mason, with her passion for community service, also goes a step further. Thirteen years at Malcolm X coupled with efforts to make Berkeley greener recently earned her the 2007 American Institute For Public Service Jefferson Award.  

Initiated by Jackie Onassis, the award acknowledges people who do good work in the community. 

“It all started in 1992, when I volunteered at the LeConte Elementary School garden,” Mason told the Planet Wednesday while explaining the life cycle of a lady bug to enthusiastic fifth graders in the Malcolm X garden. 

“That led to a position at Malcolm X. At first I got $7 per hour from the PTA, but a couple of years later a grant from the California Nutrition Network came in. I was just at the right place at the right time and the funds helped me to start a Garden Based Nutrition Program. 

Mason, who describes herself as a “country girl,” grew up in the hills around Mendocino where she learned skills such as gardening and carpentry during home study. 

“When I came down to the Bay Area in 1985, I looked around and saw all these lawns,” she recalled. “I wanted to see food growing everywhere. I put my carpentry and gardening skills together and raised beds in people’s backyards. Then one day this 4-year-old boy came to me and said he wanted to help. That set off a light bulb and all I wanted to do was to teach young people how to garden.” 

Dressed in a straw hat and overalls, Mason takes her students for a ride around the world everyday. 

“A lot of kids learn for the first time that purple potatoes are from South America and that carrots originated from Afghanistan,” she says, handing out sweet-peas as treats. “They learn about math, culture, arts, writing and geography in the garden. We were cooking fava beans the other day for an entire minute and the kindergartners were told to count till sixty. That itself is a learning experience for them.” 

Over the years Mason has transformed 4,000 square feet of earth into a green patch which boasts a cob green house, a chamomile lawn, a wildflower garden, a sweetpea wall, an octagonal pizza garden, a compost heap, an apple tree and a pumpkin patch. 

The highlight of Mason’s curriculum is the Pumpkin Fundraiser which takes place just before Halloween every year. 

“Local organic farmers donate pumpkins to the school,” she said. “We then hold a pumpkin giveaway sale where kids and parents are charged anything between $3 to $5 for a pumpkin. Some of the kids just give me nickels at times and those who don’t have any money walk away with a free pumpkin.” 

Spring ushers in planting season. Kids get to get their hands dirty from sowing carrots, radishes, beans, strawberries and lettuce. Under Mason’s watchful eyes, they even hold a celebration on Cesar Chavez Day, taking strawberry seedlings home to sell to neighbors. On some days, classes cook up potato salads, apple juice and learn to grind wheat. 

“Right now they are planting corn,” she said. “When the new kids will come back in September and eat the fresh sweet corn, they will get hooked to the garden immediately. It’s important for kids not to lose touch with nature. That said, the award committee might have picked me this time, but there are garden teachers all over who want to start gardens in their schools. So it’s not just Rivka and it’s not just Berkeley. Letting children find out where their food comes from is a huge movement by itself.” 

 


Berkeley Health Report: Disparities Persist

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday May 29, 2007

Health staff and public information officers were upbeat last week when they called out the press to a Tuesday morning briefing in which they emphasized the city’s overall good health. 

“The increase in life expectancy has gone from 73 to 80” over the last 10 years, Health Officer Dr. Linda Rudolph said. 

While Rudolph touched on the health divide between African Americans and whites at the press briefing, she painted a more alarming and more complete picture of the city’s health disparities at the Tuesday evening City Council workshop, where she presented the 190-page Berkeley Health Status Report 2007, authored by Health Department staff. 

“The gap in mortality [between African Americans and whites] has not narrowed in the last 15 years,” Rudolph told the councilmembers, who were thumbing through the booklet, getting their first look at the statistic-laden document. 

The report shows that while Berkeley’s white residents lived an average of 81.7 years in 1997-2000 and 83.1 years in 2001-2004, African Americans’ longevity did not increase during the same period, with blacks living an average of 70.9 years in 1997-2000 and 70.8 years in 2001-2004.  

The study provides no comparative data for Latinos, but shows that the longevity for Asian Americans decreased slightly from 86.3 years in 1997-2000 to 85.3 years to 2001-2004.  

“The income inequality in Berkeley is growing.” Rudolph told the council, noting the recent “increase of wealthy white individuals in the city” and the loss of some 3,000 African Americans in the city during the 1990s.  

“Of all risk factors for health, poverty is the most important,” Rudolph told the council. “In the U.S., race and poverty are inextricably intertwined.”  

In Berkeley, 2,100 children live in poverty, Rudolph said. 

On the positive side, statistics show that today 95 percent of Berkeley women of all races get prenatal care, beginning in the first trimester of pregnancy. In 1995 only about 85 percent of Latino women and 80 percent of African American women got early prenatal care. 

Despite early care, African Americans in Berkeley continue to deliver low-weight babies. “Low birth weight declined in African Americans during the 1990s, but has increased again in recent years. The proportion of low birth weight babies is still twice as high in African Americans compared to other groups,” the report says. 

Although there is better access to prenatal care, about 18 percent of African American women gave birth to low-weight babies in 2005-2006, while the number of low-weight babies among Latinos, whites and Asian Americans in 2005-2006 ranged from 4-to-8 percent.  

Rudolph pointed the council to some of the other health disparities noted in the report: while overall statistics for high blood pressure are lower in Berkeley than in other parts of Alameda county, the rate for African Americans in Berkeley is three times higher than for whites and Asians.  

The rate for hospitalization for diabetes is 10 times higher for African Americans than for whites. The highest number of hospitalizations is in the southwest Berkeley zip codes 94702-94703. 

Similarly, rates of hospitalization for asthma and lung cancer are elevated among African Americans in Berkeley. 

While the problems are clearly stated, the report does not suggest specific solutions. Rudolph said she wants to work with the community and other city departments to name them. 

Councilmember Max Anderson said at the workshop that the council should look more seriously at addressing the health disparity question. 

“It’s a matter of political will,” Anderson said. “We spend an inordinate amount of time focusing on land use; [health issues} are of equal importance—in many cases they are more important. This translates into who lives and who dies in our community.” 

“We’re not going to impact [the disparities] with the medical model,” Rudolph said, pointing to the need for access to nutritious food, clean air, safe housing and employment. 

Richie Smith works with the South Berkeley Community Action Team, a city-sponsored community organization that looks at health and quality-of-life questions in southwest Berkeley. 

In a phone interview Friday, she pointed to the lack of stores carrying fresh fruit and vegetables in southwest Berkeley.  

“If the [liquor store owners] were encouraged to enter into the community, things could dramatically change,” she said. 

There are very few places for youth to go,” Smith said, noting the need for jobs and employment. 

And seniors face problems as well, including the high cost of housing and health care, the lack of transportation, hazardous sidewalks and poor lighting on parts of Alcatraz Avenue, said Smith who also serves on the Commission of Aging.  

“All this has to do with health and well-being,” Smith said, adding that it is hard to get city officials to focus on these questions. “Officials say things to get elected and then they forget,” she said. 

The report points to some actions the city has taken, including the opening of a hypertension clinic at the Over 60s Health Center at Sacramento Street and Alcatraz Avenue.  

The Berkeley High School Health Center is credited with reducing sexually transmitted diseases and teen births, and an oral health program has been instituted in the schools. 

While the report names racism as a factor in health disparities, it does not posit remedies. 

The health disparities “have to be a community concern,” said Councilmember Max Anderson, in a phone interview Friday. Anderson represents much of the city’s low-income and African American community. “The whole city has to take this as seriously as the fire danger in the hills. An injury to the hills is an injury to all. Health disparities in the flatlands is an injury to all.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Bus Rapid Transit Foes Applauded At Meeting

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday May 29, 2007

The only hearts and minds Bus Rapid Transit seemed to have captured during an emotional public meeting in Berkeley Thursday were those it already possessed. 

The only audience applause during the two-hour session came after public speakers slammed the agency’s plans to establish a fast-moving bus service along a highly traveled East Bay corridor. 

Jim Cunradi, AC Transit’s BRT project manager, came to Berkeley to speak to a combined meeting of the city’s Transportation and Planning commissions and the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee. 

Bus Rapid Transit is a less costly alternative to light rail and subway systems, and increasingly popular in cities around the world. 

But the system’s typical reliance on dedicated lanes—meaning the loss of existing car lanes—and its potential to trigger legal thresholds aimed at stimulating high-density development seemed the biggest worries to many of the speakers who turned out to have their say. 

Thursday’s session was a preliminary discussion designed to ready commissioners and citizens to register official comments as the project moved through the environmental review process. 

The agency’s board of directors officially selected the main route in a resolution passed on Aug. 2, 2001, and the plan has been in the works ever since as the agency has worked with the state, county and cities in refining the details. 

As now formulated, the final results are included in the draft environmental impact report, the critical document which must be approved before the project can move forward. 

That document was released on May 4, triggering a 60-day public comment period during which individual and governments may weigh in with comments and critiques that the agency must address in the project’s final environmental impact report (EIR). 

Thursday night’s meeting wasn’t a formal hearing, but speakers had plenty to say, with the commissioners generally supportive, though some cautiously so, while most of the public came armed with edged words. 

Supporters often endorsed the system citing the need to take prompt action to reduce global warming by cutting down on the car exhausts that comprise the largest share of America’s greenhouse gas output.  

One difficulty for both sides was the lack of a definitive plan for the route’s passage through the city. Yes, buses will travel on Telegraph, but will they move in a dedicated lane or lanes, or will they share the road with cars? 

And yes, buses will make a loop down to Shattuck Avenue, but will the travel on Bancroft Avenue be limited to only buses? And what of Shattuck Avenue, where the DAPAC is thrashing out alternatives that include dedicated lanes and the possible closing of the eastern half of the avenue’s split between Center Street and University Avenue? 

The first two public speakers were avid fans of BRT, Leonard Cony and Steve Geller, members, like Transportation Commissioners Rob Wrenn and Wendy Alfsen, of Friends of BRT, and both advocates of dedicated BRT-bus-only lanes. 

The criticism began with the third speaker, Sharon Hudson, who questioned the closing of the northern end of Telegraph Avenue to car traffic and said that “the more people know about it (BRT), the less they like it.” 

Mike Friedrich took up the pro-BRT flame, offering the enthusiastic endorsement of Livable Berkeley, a group that lobbies hard for “smart growth” projects. 

Former AC Transit and BART director Roy Nakadegawa joined win the praise, declaring BRT “one of the most cost-effective ways to encourage more transit use.” 

Mark Lowe, a Hillegass Avenue resident, said he was concerned both because AC Transit had limited its direct contacts with individual households to those living within 300 feet of the proposed route, and because the project could have a “huge impact:” on his neighborhood as frustrated drivers sought other ways to travel in the popular Telegraph Avenue neighborhood. 

Charles Siegel, member of Friends of BRT, lauded the system as a means for more efficient travel through the East Bay, and suggested that legitimate concerns of Telegraph area residents should allow for at least some through traffic on the avenue.  

Doug Buckwald began by twice asking for a show of hands, first of those who wanted to stop global warming and second, of those who took mass transit to the meeting. There were dramatically fewer the second time around, including those of many of the strongest BRT supporters. 

Buckwald noted the opposition of San Leandro’s mayor to dedicated BRT land and asked why bus riders would support the expenditure of still more funds on the unpopular Van Hool buses that AC Transit has been purchasing, and which are depicted in the illustrations the agency provides of the proposed BRT line. 

Other speakers questioned whether BRT would make a significant reduction in greenhouse gases. 

And throughout the public’s portion of the meeting, only opponents were applauded. 

Meanwhile, AC Transit says it already has commitments for $102.5 million of the $310 million to $400 million needed to build the system, as well as strong support from a variety of agencies. 

Berkeley residents will have their chance to weigh in officially when AC Transit holds its local public hearing on June 14 at the North Berkeley Senior center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Events begin with an open house starting at 5:30 p.m. featuring exhibits and the opportunity to speak with officials, followed by the hearing itself at 7 p.m. 

Anyone may speak at the hearing, and the agency is legally obligated to respond in the final version of the EIR.


Oakland Council Delays Look at Contract Discrimination

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday May 29, 2007

A long delayed study of fairness in purchasing and contracts by the City of Oakland has shown that minority- and women-owned firms are being discriminated against by city agencies, but contractors will now have to wait another few months to find out what, if anything, Oakland City Council will do about it. 

With two members—Council President Ignacio De La Fuente and Councilmember Larry Reid—of council’s four-member Community and Economic Development (CEDA) Committee absent for last week’s committee meeting, CEDA put over a report by Oakland-based Mason Tillman Associates which concluded that there is a “statistically significant underutilization” of minority and woman-owned business enterprises by the City of Oakland over the three-year period between the summer of 2002 and the summer of 2005.  

In addition to underutilizing minority- and women-owned businesses, the study found that city contracts in the three year period were concentrated in a small handful of businesses. Of more than $244 million in 25,000 contracts awarded during that time, 60 percent of the contract dollars went to fewer than 2 percent of the vendors and businesses used.  

The study makes no recommendations for action to correct the disparity. Such recommendations will be put forward in Volume II of the study after City Council considers the data presented in the findings in Volume I. 

But with Oakland City Council scheduled to begin a summer recess early next month, the CEDA committee will not begin consideration of the findings until September.  

An article in the Oakland Tribune last week had indicated that De La Fuente wanted to take a closer look at the study to make sure it contained enough data to make it accurate. 

Victor Ochoa, Deputy Chief of Staff for Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, said that the 250 page study is currently being reviewed by the mayor’s office, and would have no further comment. 

Meanwhile, at least one local African-American business owner says that no study was needed to know that the City of Oakland was discriminating against minority- and women-owned businesses in letting out contracts. 

“We didn’t need the study to authenticate what we already know,” Oakland Black Caucus chairman Geoffrey Pete said in a telephone interview. “It’s something that minority businesses live with in Oakland, particularly over the last eight years during the Brown Administration. I believe that the discrimination is wilfull, intentional, and deliberate. It didn’t happen out of thin air.” 

Pete said that African-American business owners were particularly hard-hit during the Brown years, calling the situation “grim and grave.” “The city’s contract compliance office was gutted,” he added. “Local hiring was put off. The disparity study itself was put off for six years, even though it was mandated by the charter.” 

Pete, the owner and operator of Geoffreys Inner Circle nighclub in downtown Oakland and a longtime political activist in the city, is currently one of the plaintiffs in a class action federal lawsuit against the City of Oakland charging race discrimination by the city in contracting, procurement, lending, and grants. The lawsuit is currently in the discovery phase. 

The so-called “Croson” study by Mason Tillman Associates, named for the defendant in a lawsuit against the City of Richmond, is mandated by the Oakland City Charter to be conducted every two years. But the last “fairness in purchasing and contracting disparity” study was done in Oakland in 1996, and no study was done at all during the period of 1999-2006 while Jerry Brown was mayor of Oakland. During that period, there were repeated charges that the City Council and the Brown Administration were discriminating against minority-owned businesses. 

The study matched the contract dollars awarded by the city with the available minority-and women-owned businesses in the area, and restricted the prime contract amounts to under a half a million dollars to make sure that the businesses included in the study had the capacity to perform them. 

The study looked at three areas of city contracts (formal, informal, and subcontracts) across four areas of interest (construction, architecture and engineering, professional services, and goods and other services).  

It found that African-American businesses were the most underutilized in City of Oakland contracts, with disparities found in the areas of construction and professional services in both formal and informal contracts and in the area of construction in subcontracts. But the Mason Tillman study also found that businesses owned by Asian Americans, Latinos, women, and minority women were all underutilized in significant contract areas. 

In her report to City Council accompanying the study, City Administrator Deborah Edgerly listed four possible steps the council could take with regard to the Mason Tillman study. 

Among those possible actions were convening a public hearing on the report and its implications, forwarding the study to “key stakeholders” (mentioning the Black Caucus by name) for their recommendation, using Mayor Ron Dellums’ economic development task forces (which Edgerly called “an excellent source”) to gather community-based ideas and recommendations, or appointing a business working group to gather public feedback. 


University Describes $130 Million Clark Kerr Campus Rehabilitation

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday May 29, 2007

Berkeley Planning Commissioners got their first look last week at the university’s plans for a $130 million retrofit of the Clark Kerr Campus, the 500-acre, 20-building Spanish Colonial Revival complex on the corner of Derby and Warring streets. 

In a second briefing, commissioners learned about the city’s plans for workshops under Measure G, the measure passed by Berkeley voters last December which calls on the city to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. 

 

Clark Kerr Campus 

Originally known as the State Asylum for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind, the site was transferred to UC Berkeley in 1982, two years after the renamed California Schools for the Deaf & Blind moved to Fremont in a deal brokered by then-Assemblymember Tom Bates. 

Though it was claimed at the time that the move was prompted by concerns that the Berkeley site was located on the Hayward Fault, the Fremont site suffers from the same fault. 

Designated for student housing, the complex was renamed after the former UC Berkeley Chancellor and Board of Regents president and opened to students in 1984. 

Beth Piatnitza, the university’s associate director of physical and environmental planning, briefed commissioners on the project, which targets six of the ten structures currently used by the university for student housing. 

Work will begin next year and continue for the next seven years, with the work focused on improved safety, accessibility and infrastructure upgrades. 

The university has already issued a call for submissions from contractors for work on a $13 million infrastructure retrofit, which is scheduled to begin in July 2008. 

Piatnitza said the project will maintain the site’s architectural integrity, a critical factor since the campus is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and Berkeley’s own list of designated landmarks. 

 

Measure G 

Timothy Burroughs, hired by the city to formulate the city’s plan for reducing climate-heating greenhouse gasses, told commissioners he is planning workshops with city policy boards “to help develop a community-wide climate action plan.” 

Measure G, endorsed by 81 percent of Berkeley voters, calls on the city to formulate the plan by the end of the year, and to help guide the process, Burroughs said he is meeting with seven commissions in the upcoming months. 

In addition to the long-term goal, Burroughs said the plan will feature short-term targets as well as “a variety of ways for people to get involved,” including surveys, an on-line forum for discussions, focus groups and other measures. 

“We want to develop a series of strategies, including the top three to five things people can start doing today,” he said. 

Once the strategies are formulated, members of the commissions will then have a chance to review the resulting plan, which he said should be ready by the end of summer or in the early autumn. 

The only skeptical comments of the evening came from commissioner Gene Poschman, who asked, “What if Berkeley does something wonderful but no other government in California does? Then we’ve saved our souls, but had no impact. It’s so difficult to separate the hype” from meaningful action. 

Burroughs said individual citizens can take immediate actions in their own spheres of influence, and that “what happens first in California often happens later in other parts of the country, and the State of California is looking at the cities to figure out what it can do as a state.” 

“It’s an interesting theory,” said Poschman. 

The planning Commission workshop, titled Climate Protection and the Built Environment, will be held during the commission’s regular July 11 meeting.


Youth Connect Serves the Young and the Homeless

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday May 29, 2007

Twenty-one-year-old Sam Thompson hasn’t stopped walking since he was released from prison a few weeks ago. Born to homeless parents in Berkeley, Thompson was recently arrested for peddling drugs and is out on felony probation. 

His feet—covered with cuts, bruises and blisters—finally got to rest for a bit when he visited the city’s third Youth Connect at St. Mark’s Church Parish Hall on May 21 to look for a job. 

They were also treated to some first-rate pampering, courtesy Suitcase Clinic volunteer Sandhya Jacobs. 

“Would you like powder or lotion?” Jacobs asked a delighted Thompson, while she bathed his feet in soapy water and wiped them dry with a towel. “Both,” he said grinning, as Jacobs moisturized his toes with Vaseline. 

Foot washing was just one of the many services offered free-of-charge to homeless youth by the dozens of volunteers who had gathered inside Parish Hall that afternoon. 

Vi Dyas, with the library’s Teen Services Department, helped Thompson sign up for a library card. 

“He can put down St. Marks under residence,” she said. “That way he has a proof of address, which is required to apply for a library card.” 

Across the room, AC Transit was accepting applications for bus passes that would allow homeless youth to ride the city’s buses at a discount. Next to the bus company, Andrew Wicker of the city’s Housing Department, registered visitors and informed them about housing opportunities. 

“It’s really amazing how well these kids are educated about HIV and STDs,” said Sonya Dublin, a volunteer from the city’s Public Health division who was directing students to a testing unit located inside a mobile clinic on Bancroft Avenue. “But many don’t know where to go to get tested. If they test here today, they know their HIV test results within 20 minutes. It takes about two weeks for the STD test results to arrive.” 

An initiative of the mayor’s office, the Youth Emergency Assistance Hostel (YEAH!), the Suitcase Clinic, the Fred Finch Youth Center, the City of Berkeley departments of Housing and Health and Human Services, Youth Connect is aimed at bringing service providers to the teenagers and young adults. 

Although held on a smaller scale this year, the emphasis remained on transition-age youth. About 30 kids came to the fair this year, organizers said. 

“We are not expecting too many kids this year,” said Julie Sinai, senior aide to Mayor Tom Bates. “Last year’s event was connected with [the shelter at] YEAH!, so more than 50 people showed up to take advantage of the services. We hope to do a bigger event in fall.” 

Sinai added that although such projects were common all over the United States, Berkeley was the only city that focused on the 18- to 25-year-old age group. 

“Many of these kids have a trust issue,” she said. “They are anti-authoritarian and have aged out of the foster care system. Getting them to stabilize their life is not an easy thing to do.” 

Mayor Tom Bates, who came to chat with the kids, said the event was a positive way to get kids to put their life together. 

“It’s a small step toward getting our youth off the streets,” he said. 

Dominique Linton, 20, said that she came to YEAH! because she was kicked out of her parents’ house in Fremont nine months ago. 

“I don’t ever want to go back home,” she said walking toward the AC Transit booth, “I am really hoping I get one of the discount passes. Then I will be free to travel wherever I want.” 

In one corner of the hall, Stephanie Finley was telling YEAH! Executive Director Sharon Hawkins Leydon about the horrors of sleeping on the street at night. 

“Stephanie wants a year-round place to stay, which will be designed for her needs and will accept her for who she is,” said Hawkins. “She likes coming to the winter shelter at YEAH! because, apart from a few safety rules, she is welcome there. The youth really respond to that.” 

Like Stephanie, there were other YEAH! regulars who gathered around Leydon Hawkins to talk. 

“Often all these kids need is a sense of community,” she said. “Somewhere they can go to and feel safe. Forty-six percent of youth who come out of the foster care system end up homeless, 50 percent don’t have a high school diploma, and almost everyone is burdened with personal problems.” 

Hawkins said she has a five-year plan to house homeless youth with the help of the mayor, the City Council and the city manager. 

“It will be a one-stop center which will provide 18- to 25-year-olds with housing and other services under one roof in Berkeley,” she said. “It will be a parallel community to college. We want to create a campus. We are in the process of expanding our board of directors and we hope to start a feasibility study by September.”


High-Density Plan Back on Downtown Committee Agenda

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday May 29, 2007

Though Berkeley planning commissioners last week rejected a proposal to designate the city center a state Priority Development Area as a first step to winning bond funds, the topic is back on the table at the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC). 

City Planning and Development Director Dan Marks is scheduled to make a presentation on “potential state funding which requires immediate action to designate downtown as a Priority Development Area.” 

That move, urged by the Association of Bay Area Governments, is a necessary first step if the city is to share in the still undetermined allocation of revenues from bonds passed by California voters last December. 

At the Planning Commission meeting, Marks said a designation on short notice—the deadline for applications is June 29—would likely trigger a backlash. The proposal failed on a 4-3-1 vote, with 5 votes needed for passage. 

At this point, state legislators have yet to determine how or when the bond funds will be awarded, though the bond measure spelled out the priorities of high-density housing near mass transit systems, with an emphasis on providing residences for those with low incomes. 

Marks had told the planners that backlash was likely, given the city’s last effort to attract state funds for a high-density development at the site of the Ashby BART station. 

That proposal triggered community meetings attended by hundreds and angry confrontations between residents and the project’s leading backers, Mayor Tom Bates and City Councilmember Max Anderson. 

The proposal was subsequently tabled, though it remains alive. 

Other items scheduled for Wednesday night’s meeting, DAPAC’s 36th, include: 

• A presentation by Carpenter & Co. Vice President Peter Diana on the status of the high-rise hotel, condo and conference center his company will be building at the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street; 

• A presentation on the effects of economics on building heights by architect and building code expert Ned Fenny; and 

• The committee’s first discussion of possible land use policies to be included in the new plan. 

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. at Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

 

Historic element 

Meanwhile, a joint subcommittee hammering out details of the role historic buildings will play in the new downtown plan decided last week that they need one more meeting to finish their work. 

Representatives of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and DAPAC are hammering out a draft document for consideration of the full DAPAC panel. 

Last Wednesday’s meeting ended with near agreement, but members opted for a final meeting June 13 to iron out their remaining differences. 

Then, on June 20, the full memberships of both bodies are scheduled to meet, with a final DAPAC vote on the plan’s proposed Historic Preservation and Urban Design section expected by meeting’s end. 


BUSD Delays Vote on Solar Panels

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday May 29, 2007

The Berkeley Board of Education delayed a vote Wednesday on a proposal to install solar panels on the roof of Washington Elementary School. 

Proponents of the proposal and staff were asked to return on June 6 with a more comprehensive report on funding and payback figures. 

The delay in approving the proposal stalls the application for $750,000 in funds from the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) and $305,000 in PG&E funds. 

The Berkeley Unified School District estimates the cost of the project to be $1.25 million, which takes into account the cost of putting in photovoltaic panels as well as replacing the current roof at Washington. 

KyotoUSA, a volunteer group which encourages cities to reduce greenhouse emissions, estimated the initial cost to purchase and install a solar system to be $800,000. The district, with KyotoUSA’s help, submitted a request to PG&E on March 21 for partial funding valued at $305,000. The school bond Measure AA would contribute $195,000 toward the cost. 

Tom Kelly, a Berkeley resident and director of KyotoUSA, highlighted Washington’s electricity costs for the current year. 

“Washington consumed approximately 170,560 KwH in energy and paid around $25,505 in electricity costs in 2006,” he said. “At a 5 percent increase in utility rates, the district would spend approximately $330,000 in electricity bills for Washington over a 10-year span.” 

Dubbed as the HELiOS Project (Helios Energy Lights Our Schools), the proposed system would cover 100 percent of the main building’s electricity needs. It also would come with a 25-year warranty.  

School board vice president John Selawsky supported the project. 

“We are leveraging the PG&E money which will go away on June 15,” he said, referring to a deadline by which project proponents would have to show “good faith in moving ahead with the project. I know there have been questions about good governance and spending our funds wisely, but this is important. I really urge board members to consider this.” 

Nancy Radar, a member of the Washington PTA, said that the school PTA members had adopted a resolution on the solar photovoltaic system proposed for Washington School which would help it to become an example of energy efficiency and long-term cost savings. 

“We are very concerned about global warming and want Berkeley Unified to take steps to curb it,” she said. “We want the district to approve the project, but in doing so we want an unbiased, independent on-site audit and assessment of the major opportunities for gas and electric GHG-reducing investments at our school.” 

Members of the Sierra Club also lauded the project. 

Board member Nancy Riddle commented that her main problem with the proposal was that it required additional funds from bond funds which were already oversubscribed. 

“I still struggle with the pay back,” she said. “My biggest concern is, where are we going to get this money? We can set aside a couple of hundred thousand dollars for this, but then we won’t be able to do something else.” 

Board president Joaquin Rivera echoed her thoughts. 

“It’s a great idea,” he said, “but we have a long list of projects we don’t have the money to complete. We need to prioritize all the projects we have left. So I don’t even know where the Solar Project fits on the list.” 

 

Selection of new principals 

The board announced the selection of four new principals and a vice principal for the upcoming school year. 

Don Vu will replace Jason Lustig as principal of Cragmont Elementary School. Lustig will be moving to King Middle School as its principal. 

Maggie Riddle, a Jefferson teacher, will become principal of Jefferson Elementary School. Quiauna Whitfield and LaSonya McCain were named principals of Longfellow Middle School and Pre-Kindergarten, respectively. 

Vernon Walton will be the new vice principal of Berkeley High School. 


Police Offer Reward In Year’s 1st Murder

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday May 29, 2007

Berkeley Police Friday announced a $15,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the killer who claimed the life of Berkeley’s first murder victim of 2007. 

BPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Mary Kusmiss also gave a name to the victim, 19-year-old Augustine Silva of Antioch. 

The young man’s body was discovered about 6:30 a.m. May 6 by an employee arriving for work at Second and Cedar streets. Sgt. Kusmiss said he had been slain by multiple blunt force blows. 

She asked anyone with information on the crime to call BPD’s Homicide Detail at 981-5741, or the department switchboard at 981-5900. 

 


Police Blotter

By Rio Bauce
Tuesday May 29, 2007

Assault 

On May 21 at 11:48 p.m., a man in his 20s grabbed the breast of a woman also in her 20s on the 2400 block of Hearst. The suspect is not in custody. 

 

Burglary 

At 10:24 p.m. on May 21, somebody entered a private residence on the 2400 block of Dana through the back door. The resident was at home and didn’t think that anything was taken. There isn’t any information on the suspect. 

 

Robbery 

Three women robbed a 20-year-old woman of her purse at Russell and Milvia at 8:09 p.m. on May 21. The suspects have not been identified. 

 

Robbery with knife 

At 1:08 p.m. on May 21, a person was leaving the credit union on the 1900 block of University Avenue when a man and woman robbed him with a knife. They took $60. No suspects are in custody. 

 

Stabbing 

A 21-year-old homeless man was arrested early in the morning on May 20 for stabbing another homeless man in his 30s near the corner of Parker and Fulton streets. The injuries sustained did not appear to be very serious, said Berkeley Police Department Public Information Officer Wes Hester. 

 

Armed robbery 

On May 20 at 3 a.m., two men in their 20s robbed another male of his backpack, cell phone, and wallet at the corner of Ridge and Scenic streets. The suspects fled eastbound on Ridge Street in a dark-colored American vehicle. The suspects are not in custody. 

 

Spousal abuse 

At 2 a.m. on May 20, a man called the police to report that his wife was being physically abusive. The couple lives on the 1000 block of Cedar Street. The female suspect was served with a protective order.


Rosa Parks School Tries Going Solar

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday May 25, 2007

Rosa Parks Elementary School went solar for a couple of days earlier this month. 

Students went around classrooms, playgrounds and the school track racing solar cars, designing solar homes and eating s’mores cooked in solar ovens on May 11 and showed off their handiwork to proud parents at the Solar Fair held at the school’s annual carnival the next day. 

The fair was organized to honor a PG&E grant that was awarded to the school last fall to install a solar collector in the yard. 

“Rosa Parks was the only school in the Berkeley Unified School District to get this grant,” said Suzanne Ingley, the school’s enthusiastic science teacher.  

“The collector is a nine-foot-tall pole that holds a large photo-voltaic (PV) solar cell which is going to offset some of the electricity used by non-renewable resources. The neat thing about this is we are hooked in to all the other schools in California which have similar collectors. As a result, we get to track how the sun is affected by different geographies in different parts of the state.” 

After Ingley filled out an application from the PG&E/National Energy Education Development Project (NEED) project, the school received a $5,000 grant for the fair. 

She then started looking at state standards and sorted out projects which would best meet the needs of the students in each grade. 

“Each staff member took on a solar energy project for their class,” she said while conducting a workshop inside the science lab. “It united the whole school in a way that’s never been done before. Today the entire school took part to watch each of the classes present their work. Since we are an Environmental Magnet School, we want to make a statement about going toward using solar energy.” 

As the fourth-graders got their mini solar cars out on the track to race them on Friday, curious first- and second-graders gathered around to talk about circuits, electricity and resources. 

Ten-year-old Tiffany Zhau made her way to the science workshop to glue up a piece of easel wood that had come loose from her model. 

“It’s kind of working right now, but I want to make it better,” she said. “I want to win the race tomorrow, but it all depends on the sun.” 

The students soldered the wires from the PV cell and the motor together to build a circuit for the solar car. 

“The fourth-grade curriculum teaches kids to build electric circuits and parallel and series wiring,” said Ingley. “This little lesson show them that they can create electrical energy from the sun and that it is clean.” 

Fourth-grader Andrew Jones said he hoped solar will become the future. “Gasoline is what’s causing a hole in the ozone layer and we want that to stop,” he said. 

Fifth-graders took on the role of architects during the spring semester as they designed passive solar homes for the fair. “You are capturing as much of the sun’s energy as possible by virtue of the design of the house,” said Ingley. “They learned that a house should always be longer on the south side and have a lot of windows. Today, they’re able to tell you during a walk down the neighborhood how each house is designed and which way they are facing. They know what makes a house warmer or cooler and how they need to design it to make it that way.” 

First- and second-graders took part in scientific investigations on plants, while kindergartners—who were too young to carry out experiments—had an artist come in and teach them how to make Van Gogh sunflowers and sun-print paper. 

Out in the garden, third graders Dylan Jones and Hasani Green were trying to rustle up s’mores in their solar ovens. Made from pizza boxes which were cut on the top to make room for plastic covers, the ovens used heat from the sun to cook the food. 

“The aluminum and the black paper under the box doubles the heat,” said Andrew, who was completely taken up with the whole process. “The difficult part was putting it together. But it was a lot of fun. We are going to try to make quesadillas next time. The best part is that we can use as much solar energy as we want for this and the sun will never die out.” 

 


BHS to Give Student Data To Military Recruiters

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday May 25, 2007

Berkeley High School administrators informed students this week about a change in board policy that requires all juniors and seniors who do not want their names and addresses released to the U.S. military for recruitment purposes to sign an “opt-out” form. 

Prior to this, Berkeley High had simply handed over names and addresses of students who had “opted in” or wanted to receive information from recruiters. 

But under threat of losing millions of dollars in federal funds, the Berkeley school board decided earlier this month on the change. 

According to the federal No Child Left Behind act (NCLB), school districts must provide the military with the names and addresses of all juniors and seniors for recruiting purposes unless there is a signed letter from the parents or the student indicating that they are “opting out” and do not want information released. 

Berkeley High was the last high school in the country to acquiesce to this policy.  

Since the inception of this law in 2002, the Berkeley school board had taken the position that the district would not disclose names or addresses of students to any group including PTA, booster groups, colleges and the military, unless they received written permission to do so, that is “opting in.” 

The district’s belief had been that by applying the same restrictions of access to student information to all organizations, it would be able to guard privacy and shield students from unwanted solicitations as well as military recruitment, unless desired. 

School district superintendent Michele Lawrence said she had sent out a letter to the Berkeley High community on May 11 about this change. 

“Over the past few years, when only a handful of students have signed releases, I have been visited by recruiting officers from several branches of the service seeking all student names and indicating our policy was illegal,” her letter stated. “Progressively, my visits from military representatives came from higher ranks. They were all respectful but still insistent. Although we have made attempts, through our legislators, to get this provision of NCLB changed, it is highly political, and that process will take some time.” 

Lawrence said that the school board had held its position all along because of their commitment to protecting students from “some of the obvious ramifications of an open release of information, and especially to the military given our country’s political climate.” 

The situation escalated when the undersecretary of defense called to inform her that BHS was the only school in the nation not to comply with this particular provision. 

“So,” Lawrence’s letter explained, “the earlier threats of losing a few million dollars of federal funds seem closer at hand. Added to this, the federal government passes the responsibility for our compliance to the state; these officials have also called and indicated our position is illegal. So, in order to safeguard your student’s information, we will need to take another approach; one more cumbersome and perhaps not as tightly implemented.” 

Lawrence expressed regret about the change in procedure but said that the district couldn’t risk losing millions in federal funds. 

Eleventh and twelveth graders were handed “opt-out” forms during assembly Monday, which they had to sign if they didn’t want any information from the military. 

“We are currently in the process of alphabetizing these pieces of paper,” said Janet Huseby, a volunteer coordinator and former BHS parent. 

“We will then do a master list of all the juniors and seniors who did not fill out this form,” she said. “We will do our best to deliver a form to those who were absent. Hopefully we will be able to carry out a 100 percent survey. It is important that families pay attention to the new process since we are now being forced to give out information of any student who does not have a signed denial form.” 

Huseby said that in the past only a handful of people had signed the “opt-in” forms.  

“It’s a big change and, no, it’s not,” she said. “I could bet that people who would be willing to hear from the military would be slightly more. Earlier you had to request it. If you didn’t do anything you were opted out. So now, the burden is to say ‘no’ as opposed to saying ‘yes.’” 

Huseby said that although exact figures wouldn’t be available till the end of the week, it was safe to say that 90 percent or more students had opted out. 

Susan Lawrence, whose son, a BHS senior, had opted out on Monday, said that schools should not be used for marketing the military to students. 

“While to a lesser degree than many of the possibilities in the Patriot Act, it is also another version of the disregard for personal privacy that this administration has shown,” she wrote in an email to the Planet Thursday. “I would like BHS to return to an opt-in program.” 

Lawrence pointed out that the military already had access to student information through those who took College Board exams such as the SATs, on which students indicate by checking a box whether or not they want to receive information from the military or not. 

“This opt-out is aimed to reach the socio-edu-economic class who doesn’t as often take those exams and who traditionally fills military ranks,” she said. 

“My understanding is that the military branches can already have presentation days in the College Career Center for interested students such as the various colleges do, so students can choose to hear that information and get more if they want.”  

The military can also access student information when they register for the Selective Services. 

“18-year-old males are required by law to sign up for Selective Service,” said Huseby. “Once they do that, the army has all the personal information it needs to make any recruiting calls it wants. That’s what this whole thing is about—recruiting. Because there is no draft, the army must convince young men and women to join the army. With the unpopularity of the war they have had an increasingly difficult time recruiting soldiers. As a result their recruiting tactics have become more aggressive.” 

Rio Bauce, a junior who chairs the city’s Youth Commission (and who contributes to the Daily Planet as a freelance writer) said he had opted out. 

“Most people I know did,” he said during lunch break Wednesday. “I don’t want to join the military. A lot of the money our country is losing is money that is being put in the military to murder innocent Iraqis.” 

Bauce said he had received a brochure from the military last Tuesday. “I was pretty surprised,” he said. “It promised up to $40,000 in college funds if you signed up for reserves or joined the military. However, I think that changing the policy was the right thing to do since it is important that we abide by the law.” 

However, there were others in the Berkeley Unified community who said they were disappointed by the policy change. 

“We have fought the battle and lost,” Berkeley High principal Jim Slemp said. “It’s our responsibility now to explain the law to our students and make sure they understand their rights.” 

School Board Vice President John Selawsky, who had researched the “opt-in” policy before its implementation in late 2002, said the policy change had been decided in a closed session because it involved possible litigation. 

“A military provision such as this has no place in an education bill such as NCLB,” he said. “Many districts started with the ‘opt-in’ as a policy but changed to ‘opt-out’ when they started getting letters from the federal government saying they were not in compliance with the NCLB. I spoke with organizations such as the ACLU who said that we had a legal argument but that it was weak. I am still researching this from a legal point of view to see if we can challenge this particular provision in the NCLB.”


City Housing Workers Fight Back

By Judith Scherr
Friday May 25, 2007

Skewered in a city attorney’s report for incompetencies such as housing dead people in low-income apartments and obstructing investigations, Berkeley Housing Authority workers fought back at Tuesday’s BHA meeting, where the City Council approved the city manager’s recommendation to eliminate the positions of all BHA workers except the manager.  

Housing authority workers sporting purple union shirts lined up at the public microphone to address the BHA board—the City Council plus two tenants—that oversees the city’s 1,800 low income housing units. 

Saying they were being scapegoated for longstanding managerial problems, workers blasted city manager and city attorney reports that alleged workers had obstructed BHA Manager Tia Ingram’s efforts to investigate problems and had given “extremely poor service to clients.”  

The employees attacked City Manager Phil Kamlarz’ proposal to fix the BHA problems by “cleaning house,” abolishing the 13 permanent and eight temporary housing authority positions at the end of June.  

Under the city manager’s plan, Ingram will stay on, working beginning in June with an outside agency with which BHA will contract for managerial services. 

A divided council approved 5-2-2 the recommendation to end the positions and a companion recommendation to contract out for managerial help during the month of June.  

Tuesday’s meeting was a joint session between the City Council and the Berkeley Housing Authority board. Only the City Council participated in the vote to eliminate positions and contract for staff. 

Calling the wholesale employee cuts “a meat axe” approach, Councilmember Kriss Worthington joined Mayor Tom Bates in voting against cutting the positions and contracting out for services; Councilmembers Max Anderson and Darryl Moore abstained on both measures. 

The 13 permanent BHA workers will receive 30-day layoff notices, be placed in vacant city positions and have the right to reapply for their jobs, the city manager said.  

Worthington blasted the staff reports as “unprofessional” and commented, “It doesn’t tell us what alternatives were considered.” 

Councilmember Max Anderson agreed. “We need to look at real options—we can’t do it at the meeting tonight. I wish this thing had been discussed more openly with the union and with us.” 

Tilda Barnes has worked for the BHA for two and one-half years under three different managers and addressed the BHA Tuesday night. 

“When I saw the [newspaper] articles, I fell apart,” she said. “I take this work seriously.”  

Several other workers stood before the BHA board and talked about computer problems, lack of training and heavy caseloads. They blasted the city manager’s proposal to turn the BHA over to a private agency for a few months—“contracting out” public sector work—while keeping Ingram who has been with BHA for nine months.  

In addition to eliminating staff positions, the council approved a contract with Montreal-based CGI, Inc., known by its initials, for one position to help Ingram develop interim and permanent staffing models. An initial $20,000 contract will run through the month of June. When a new BHA board takes over in July, it can opt to continue the contract.  

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1021 officials told the Planet Wednesday they are seeking legal advice regarding the council action, as they believe it may have violated workers’ contracts. City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque argued at the meeting Tuesday that terminating the positions is legal, given that employees will be offered other jobs. The city has a “no lay-off” policy. 

But SEIU 1021 Field Team Supervisor Andre Spearman told the Planet on Wednesday, “You can’t put it all on the workers.” 

When he addressed the BHA at the Tuesday meeting, Spearman pointed to the landlords said to have 15 apartments rented to deceased persons. “Let’s talk about the dead people,” Spearman said. “HUD [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] guideines obligate landlords to certify the tenants who live there.” HUD pays Berkeley landlords about $25 million each year for Section 8 rents, according to the housing authority web site. 

The Daily Planet has made a Public Records Request, asking for relevant landlord information. 

Berkeley’s housing authority, which oversees some 1,800 units of federally subsidized Section 8 housing and 75 units of public housing, was designated as “troubled” in 2002 by HUD. BHA has been unable to improve to HUD’s satisfaction to get the designation removed. The city is in danger of losing local control of the department, according to city staff. 

Restructuring the governing board is part of the effort to manage BHA more efficiently. In a separate unanimous vote Tuesday, the City Council confirmed the nomination of six members to a new seven-member board appointed by the mayor. The new board will officially begin work July 1, although it will meet with the City Council beginning June 12.  

“We all bear some responsibility,” said Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, of the council role in overseeing the troubled agency.  

Worthington agreed, pointing to the short BHA meetings shoehorned in before the council meeting. “[Meeting] five-to-10 minutes a month is not a reasonable way to supervise the housing authority,” he said. 

Albuquerque sent a report detailing the problems to the HUD Inspector General in Washington D.C. HUD spokesperson Michael Zerega said he received the report, but would not comment at that time and could not comment on whether he would speak to the report in the future.


Planners Reject High-Density Downtown Fund Bid

By Richard Brenneman
Friday May 25, 2007

A bid to designate downtown Berkeley as a priority development area (PDA) targeted for state-funded high-density development failed by a single vote Wednesday night. 

Planning and Development Director Dan Marks presented the Planning Commission with a cautious report, triggered by a crash program sponsored by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), aimed at winning unspecified sums of state bond money for unspecified local programs. 

“I am as confused about it as probably most of you are,” said Marks as he began his presentation. “ABAG is seeking to influence how some of the state bond money will be invested, based on policies that have grown up over the last few years.” 

The bond money would come from a package of infrastructure improvement issues approved by California last November, but Marks cautioned that state legislators have yet to determine how or when the funds will be allocated. 

The most critical of the bond measures is Proposition 1C, which allocates $2.9 billion in bonds to fund low-income housing and development along urban transit systems. 

ABAG’s proposals—still being formulated—would follow the so-called smart growth principles the agency espouses, which focus on increasing housing density in close proximity to urban transit hubs. 

“The goal here is a good one, to place financial incentives behind smart growth, but they have not yet managed to convince the Legislature,” Marks said. 

In the interim, ABAG—a state-mandated regional government agency responsible for divvying up many housing and transport-related funding programs—has initiated an application process, which the city would have to complete by June 29. 

“The cities would designate PDAs where we would want growth to occur, and we would have to apply soon because of the bond deadlines,” Marks said, with the first one coming “very, very soon.” 

One key problem is that “a PDA is not something many people in this city would necessarily endorse,” he said, although some areas of the city have already been designated as areas for growth. 

Marks also said he wished that ABAG had come up with a less politically charged name.  

Citing the neighborhood furor over the proposed construction of a 300-plus unit housing complex over the Ashby BART parking lot, Marks cautioned commissioners that “you will have to balance the risk of making a designation with the risk of potential backlash.” 

While the proposed parking lot project was later downsized and then shelved—at least for the moment—Marks said that the existing downtown plan already meets the requirements for a PDA, so the commission would be able to designate it if they chose. 

Otherwise, the city runs the risk of receiving any of the bond funds. 

“One place I do not recommend, though, makes a lot of sense, and that is Ashby BART because of the significant amount of backlash” likely to ensue, he said. 

Marks added another caution: “I don’t think we can do this justice in the next two, three or four weeks,” he said, noting that in Berkeley, public process was always a central concern when taking potentially controversial actions. 

“I have two possible recommendations,” he said. “The first is to do nothing, but if we do apply, that downtown would be the easiest to do, and certainly one we could try for.” 

But Commission Chair James Samuels indicated that applying made sense, given that “there’s no guarantee there will be a second round” of funding. 

“There’s no guarantee there’ll be a first one,” Marks said. “I hear the legislature is really torn on this.” 

The planning director said he also didn’t know what strings the legislature might attach to the funds. 

Harry Pollack then weighed in with his support for the application, saying “there’s not a lot of reason not to encourage the staff to move forward.” 

Once the recommendation was made to the city council, he said, feedback from other parts of the city could lead to other areas being added. 

But Marks said there wouldn’t be time after the proposal went to the council, “and I doubt that other portions of the city will be breaking down our doors to be designated.” 

At that point Marks added an area himself, telling the commission that “Loni Hancock wants to create San Pablo Avenue as a corridor. She sees it as a tremendous opportunity area.” 

Hancock is the Berkeley Democrat who represents the region in the state Assembly and the spouse of Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates. She’s now running for the State Senate. 

Pollack then proposed adding the avenue, which he said “is as good or better than the downtown” for designation. 

Marks said he wasn’t inclined to initiate the avenue at this point. 

Samuels asked if the commission had to designate specific areas before staff could move forward with the applications. Yes, said Marks, adding that he also planned to take the proposal to the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC), which is currently formulating the basis for a new city center plan. 

While Samuels replied that he didn’t think there’d be any significant objections, Gene Poschman responded, “I think you’re terribly wrong.” 

Praising Marks for writing an equivocal report, Poschman added that he was grateful that Pollack and Samuels were “willing to take the responsibility for anything that happens” afterward, given the earlier backlash to Ashby BART. 

“In Berkeley,” he added, “submission of an application is an action of deep meaning.” 

Poschman and Samuels disagreed on whether DAPAC was yet ready to make recommendations on a critical land-use issue, given that the panel still hasn’t begun their formal discussions or drafting of the proposed plan’s land-use element. 

Poschman also noted that none of the members of DAPAC lived or owned property or businesses downtown, adding that six of the planning commission’s nine members lived in two council district in the Berkeley hills. That number includes Poschman himself. 

He also rejected any notion of designating San Pablo Avenue, and dubbed the whole application procedure “a truncated, highly dubious process” spawned by an ABAG “grab for bond money.” 

With Poschman and Samuels both DAPAC members, a third member of the downtown planning panel was filling in for an absent Helen Burke. 

Steven Weissman said he was also skeptical, especially given the uncertainty over what the legislature might or might not do. 

“I wonder if we are jumping ahead of the process,” he said. 

Though hundreds of neighbors had showed up at meetings over the Ashby BART project, resulting in angry confrontations with area Councilmember Max Anderson—with Mayor Bates one of the two leading proponents of the now-stalled project—it was Larry Gurley, Anderson’s appointee on the commission, who moved to designate downtown a priority development area. 

The vote failed to with the five votes needed for passage, failing with four votes in favor, three opposed and high school student and commissioner Rio Bauce abstaining. 

While George Williams, filling in for an absent David Stoloff, voted with Pollack, Samuels and Gurley in favor the designation, the absence of Susan Wengraf, who normally votes with Samuels, Stoloff and the other proponents, may have played the decisive role. 

Though the proposal failed, Marks is still planned to attend an ABAG workshop today (Friday) which will help local governments with their designation applications.


Council Unravels After Seven Hours of Deliberation

By Judith Scherr
Friday May 25, 2007

The City Council meeting ended in a complete meltdown just before midnight Tuesday with Councilmember Betty Olds walking out of the meeting followed by Councilmembers Max Anderson and Kriss Worthington. 

The exhausted council was in the midst of addressing nine complex elements of the proposal put forward by Mayor Tom Bates as part of an evolving set of laws and services intended to curb the impact of inappropriate street behavior on others. 

“We’re kind of unraveling,” quipped Councilmember Linda Maio, just after three councilmembers walked out with the others voting to adjourn the meeting.  

That left a proposal for a Sunshine Ordinance process—an expansion of city government transparency—unheard by the council. Exclusion of the item mattered little as the city attorney hadn’t had time to prepare the materials. 

Councilmembers had been meeting since 5 p.m., at which time they addressed a 200-page report by the city’s Health Department showing that, while overall life expectancy in Berkeley has grown, a dramatic divide in health between affluent whites living in the hills area and low-income African Americans living in the flats persists. (The Planet will report on the workshop Tuesday.)  

The council addressed Housing Authority problems (see page one) at 6 p.m. and at the regular council meeting designated Berkeley a City of Refuge, remanded the question of antennas on Shattuck Avenue back to the zoning board, and set a public hearing to address the proposed development at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and University Avenue. 

 

Sitting and Lying 

The mayor’s plan to remove people exhibiting inappropriate behaviors from the city’s shopping areas through new laws, such as those against “prolonged sitting,” enforcement of laws already on the books, such as the prohibition of tying dogs to parking meters, and provision of services for the homeless or drug dependent came to the council again on Tuesday in the form of nine proposals expanding on the ideas he’d presented earlier.  

One significant change from the loosely crafted measure Bates is calling the Public Commons for Everyone Initiative signaled a willingness to slow the process down: He’s now advocating a Nov. 20 date at which time the council would be presented with his definitive proposals. Bates also expressed a willingness to meet with the Homeless, Mental Health and Human Welfare commissions, whose members have expressed concern that indigent and unstable people will be criminalized for poverty and mental illness. 

Elizabeth Gil, who is homeless and has been on the Section 8 low-income housing waiting list since 1999, spoke to council of the criminalization of the mentally ill. “Will they die in jail like the ‘naked guy’?” she asked, referring to Andrew Martinez, a mentally ill man who committed suicide in jail. 

Chamber of Commerce Chair Roland Peterson, a strong supporter of the initiative, spoke to the council pointing out that “voters” on the Kitchen Democracy website—an east-hills-oriented URLfunded in part through Councilmember Gordon Wozniak’s office account—were overwhelmingly in support of the initiative, 203 to 18. Many of those few who voted in opposition voted “no” because the measure wasn’t strong enough, Peterson told the council. 

Bates, who emailed some constituents asking them to vote on the Kitchen Democracy site, also pointed to it as an indicator of support, while saying at the same time that it isn’t an absolute measure. 

Councilmember Max Anderson, however, called Kitchen Democracy “selective e-mails from affluent people in Berkeley” and asked how many homeless people have access to computers. 

Commenting on the proposal in the initiative to provide placards indicating the location of restrooms and writing laws to cite people for public urination, Councilmember Laurie Capitelli said: “It seems disingenuous to provide signage to rest rooms that are locked.”  

Capitelli added, “We can’t pass a law that criminalizes urination and defecation if there’s no bathrooms.”  

Part of the initiative the mayor is proposing includes services; mostly, he’s spoken about diversionary programs such as the drug rehabilitation program run by Options Recovery Services.  

Councilmember Linda Maio asked how one would use such services for a mentally ill person who defecates in public. “Where would you direct that person?” she asked. 

Maio also clearly laid out her position on Bates’ proposal to ask law enforcement to cite individuals for “prolonged sitting.”  

“I won’t vote to criminalize sitting on the sidewalk for someone with no place to go,” she said. 

The meeting unraveled once the council tried to address the mayor’s specific proposals, which will likely be back on the council’s June 12 agenda. 

 

City of Refuge 

With some two dozen supporters in attendance, the council unanimously passed both a resolution authored by Mayor Tom Bates and the concept of an ordinance—the city attorney is charged with putting the ordinance into the proper legal format—to make Berkeley a City of Refuge.  

Both the resolution and the ordinance, which will embed the action in the city code, says, “No department, agency, commission, officer or employee of the city of Berkeley shall use any city funds or resources to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law or to gather or disseminate information status of individuals in the city of Berkeley unless such assistance is required by federal or state statute, regulation or court decision.” 

The ordinance will charge a commission with overseeing its implementation. 

“Enact the strongest ordinance possible,” said Sr. Maureen Duignan, executive director of the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, addressing the council. “Be the shelter for the refugees.” 

 

Support for open police complaint  

hearings 

The council unanimously approved a resolution to support SB 1019, State Sen. Gloria Ramirez’ legislation that would allow police oversight agencies to hold hearings in public. “Our democracy is at stake,” Jake Gelender of Copwatch told the council, noting that police are entrusted to carry guns. “This is not the time to step back,” he said. 

 

Fair labor practices at Trader Joe’s 

The council voted unanimously to add the proposed Trader Joe’s at University Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way to the list of Berkeley businesses asked to show a “strong commitment to fair labor practices.”  

“Trader Joe’s is a vehemently anti-collective bargaining company,” David Rush of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 told the council. 

 

The council also: 

• Remanded the question of telecommunications antennas atop 2721 Shattuck Ave. to the zoning board because new information was received on the question. The remand was opposed by Councilmembers Betty Olds and Gordon Wozniak. 

• Set a July 9 public hearing for a neighborhood appeal on the 148-unit housing/Trader Joe’s development proposed for 1885 University Ave. 

 

 

 


PRC Plans Closed-Door Complaint Hearing; Expects Police Union TRO

By Judith Scherr
Friday May 25, 2007

On Wednesday evening, the Police Review Commission (PRC) approved 3-1 new rules that will govern hearings involving complaints against police officers and set June 7 as its first hearing date since September—an action commissioners say is likely to get the city back in court facing off against the Berkeley Police Association. 

Commissioners Sharon Kidd, Bill White and Sherry Smith voted in favor of the measure; Kamau Edwards voted against it; Commissioners Mike Sherman and Jonathan Huang were absent and three commission seats are vacant. 

Public Boards of Inquiry, made up of three members of the Police Review Commission, have for some 30 years conducted hearings in public on allegations of police misconduct in the presence of both officer and complainant.  

But since September and the California Supreme Court Copley Press v. San Diego case, Berkeley’s hearings have been suspended. The court ruled that police discipline is a personnel matter and cannot be made public. In the more recent Berkeley Police Association v. City of Berkeley decision, the Alameda County Superior Court ruled similarly that the Police Review Commission would violate officers’ confidentiality rights by hearing cases in public. 

The Berkeley Police Association “will likely try to move to court to try to get a restraining order” to block the scheduled closed-door complaint hearing, Deputy City Attorney Sara Reynoso told the commission, adding, however, that she thinks the city is on solid ground in its right to hold the hearing.  

“We based the regulations on case law out of San Francisco,” she said. 

“The police officers union is probably ready to sue our socks off,” added Commissioner Sherry Smith. 

Through its attorneys, the BPA has said that regulations for closed-door hearings need to be part of the “meet and confer” contract negotiations.  

The PRC has asked for a more informal process. “[The BPA] strategy is to stall our process and they have succeeded,” PRC officer Victoria Urbi told commissioners at their May 9 meeting, according to meeting minutes. 

The inability to hold public meetings is taking its toll on commissioners. Commissioner Jack Radisch told the Planet Thursday that he resigned from the commission in part because he has gone back to work, but mostly because without open public hearings “what we do is meaningless.” 

The commission is also addressing several other hot-button issues: writing policy to respond to issues raised by the theft of drug evidence by former police Sgt. Carey Kent, the alleged theft of cash and other personal property of arrestees by former police officer Steven Fleming, and high-speed police chases through Berkeley streets. 

The subcommittee looking at creating policy addressing police theft issues, however, has hit a snag. While Police Chief Doug Hambleton, not a member of the BPA, has been willing to meet with the commission and respond to questions, the BPA has refused to allow its members to respond to questions. 

Deputy City Manager Lisa Caronna attended Wednesday evening’s PRC meeting to try to resolve the matter, asking two members of the subcommittee on theft issues—less than a quorum so that the meeting can be held out of public view—to meet with the police chief, city attorney and others to discuss what kinds of questions might be acceptable to the BPA officers. 

Caronna said the problem is that the city attorney fears that questioning the officers on policy issues could spill over to personnel issues and could hurt the city’s appeal of the lawsuit or trigger a new case.  

“Anything that relates to individual officer conduct, even matters that are public information, we can’t talk about,” Caronna told the commission. “Our goal is to try to have a discussion. How do we get to the core issues without crossing the line of confidentiality?” 

Moreover Caronna said the possibility of triggering a new BPA lawsuit has to be weighed with other important activities of the eight-member city attorney office. “We have to be careful about the possibility of taking away from the other work the council has directed us to do,” she said. 

“The idea is not to violate the court order,” Reynoso added. 

Commission Chair Sharon Kidd, a subcommittee member, argued that questioning officers is “not about pointing the finger at anybody.” For example, the subcommittee could call in random officers and, in order to formulate policy, ask the question: “How would you respond to an officer who came to work inebriated?” (Unlike Oakland, Berkeley has no specific policy mandating officers to report fellow officers who do inappropriate or criminal acts.) 

But Caronna responded that the question, “ ‘What would you do if?’ crosses the line” into personnel issues. 

Commissioner Sherry Smith said what the commission needs is its own attorney. “There’s not enough championing” of the commission’s work, she said. 

Commissioners expressed concern about the three vacancies on the commission. Reached by phone Thursday, Councilmember Linda Maio, whose commission seat has been vacant for about a year, said she would appoint someone in the next few weeks. Mayor Tom Bates’ seat has been vacant for about six months and Councilmember Betty Olds’ seat, to which Radisch had been appointed, has been vacant for a week. 

 

 


UC Custodians Win Raises

By Judith Scherr
Friday May 25, 2007

UC Berkeley custodians have won their equity raises, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 announced in a press release Tuesday. 

In part, it took high profile personalities such as actor Danny Glover and presidential hopeful Barack Obama refusing to speak at UC Berkeley and State Sen. John Burton’s mediation to win the wage hikes. 

The settlement includes an immediate initial wage increase of $1.25 per hour for UC Berkeley custodians ,and will be increased an additional $.50 per hour in October.  

“This has been an important struggle for those of us who work very hard every day to make the university work,” said Maricruz Manzanarez, a UC Berkeley custodian, quoted in the AFSCME press statement. “To finally receive public recognition from the university that they must address their system of substandard wages validates the time and effort that we put into this fight.” 

As part of the agreement, UC Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz custodians will get the same wage increases as UC Berkeley and the university will end its practice of outsourcing groundskeepers at UC Irvine.  


Lawsuit Challenges Richmond Casino

By Richard Brenneman
Friday May 25, 2007

A last-minute lawsuit filed this week alleges the Richmond City Council violated state environmental law by signing a $310.4 million contract to provide services for a North Richmond casino. 

The action followed by five weeks a critical state appellate ruling voiding a municipal services agreement in Amador County. 

In that lawsuit, the court held that by approving a service agreement for a project extensively detailed in the agreement, the Plymouth City Council had acted in breach of its obligation to first conduct a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review. 

The court held that the council’s approval of the agreement constituted an approval of the project itself, the same claim made in the Richmond suit. 

In the case of the Sugar Bowl Casino in unincorporated North Richmond, Chair Donald Arnold of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo tribespeople and then-Richmond Mayor Irma Anderson signed the contract Dec. 27. 

The lawsuit filed Monday seeks a writ ordering the city and councilmembers to void the agreement, a judicial ruling declaring the agreement unlawful, and a restraining order and eventual permanent injunction barring further attempts to have the federal government declare the land a reservation or implement the contract pending completion of a review of the proposal under CEQA. 

Challenging the agreement is a coalition consisting of the Parchester Village Neighborhood Council, environmentalist Whitney Dotson, who also serves as president of the neighborhood council, Citizens for East Shore Parks (CESP) and the recently formed SPRAWLDEF (the Sustainability, Parks, Recycling and Wildlife Legal Defense Fund). 

Representing the plaintiffs is Stephan Volker, an Oakland attorney who specializes in cases involving alleged CEQA violations. He said he recommended the action to his clients after the appellate ruling in the Amador County case. 

Named as defendants are the City of Richmond and the Richmond City Council, with the Scotts Valley Band named as a “real party in interest.” 

The lawsuit charges that the city violated CEQA by approving the municipal services agreement without first conducting an environmental review as required by the statute. 

“That’s very interesting,” said Doug Arnold, chair of the Pomo tribal group that has proposed to build the casino with the backing of Noram Richmond LLC, a special-purpose corporation formed by Maitland, Fla., developer Alan H. Ginsburg—a major player in the tribal casino industry. 

Speaking from San Diego, Arnold said he had rumors of “something like this. But I haven’t seen it, and nobody I know has seen it.” 

Arnold said he would have to discuss the action with the tribe’s legal representatives before he could comment further. 

“We’re very confident,” said Volker, citing the April decision by the state Court of Appeals Third District, which struck down a similar agreement on the same grounds cited in Volker’s suit. “The case is right on point,” he said. 

Because the tribe is a federally recognized Native American nation, it can claim immunity from the lawsuit, something Arnold said would be a distinct possibility. 

While Volker’s petition, filed with the Contra Costa County Superior Court, cited the tribe’s ability to declare itself immune, the plaintiffs contend that shouldn’t bar action on the litigation because “the city’s interest duplicates that of the Band, and the Band’s interest will thus be adequately defended by the city.” 

The $200 million-plus, 225,000-square-foot primary structure planned by the tribe would be built on a 29.9 acre parcel in unincorporated North Richmond along the eastern side of Richmond Parkway north of Parr Boulevard. 

The building would include a 79,320-square-foot casino, 24,000-square-foot showroom, a 250-seat venue for lounge acts, a 150-seat sports bar, a 600-seat buffet, plus a 120-seat restaurant and a food court. 

The complex would also feature 3,549 parking spaces, most in a separate five-level, 160,000-square-foot structure. 

The tribe’s plans to develop the gambling spa can’t move forward in any case until the federal Department of the Interior agrees to take the land into trust for the tribe and federal and state officials agree to an application to use the site for gambling. 

Assemblymember Loni Hancock, the Berkeley Democrat who represents the area, said last week that the casino application stands little chance of winning approval. 

The lawsuit charges that “the Band has no ancestral ties to the proposed Casino site,” an assertion Hancock also cited. 

Because the site is in an unincorporated area of Contra Costa County with few emergency services available, the tribe started negotiating with the city in November, 2005 for a service agreement, only to be rebuffed because the city then had an exclusive agreement with the Guidiville Rancheria Pomos who are planning a casino inside city limits at Point Molate. 

The Guidivilles subsequently agreed to a modification, which was approved in March, 2006. Following negotiations with the Scotts Valley Band, a proposed services agreement for the Sugar Bowl was presented to the city council Nov., 14, 2006 and approved a week later. 

The document was signed by Arnold and then-Mayor Irma Anderson last Dec. 27. 

Gayle McLaughlin, who defeated Anderson to become the city’s new mayor two weeks later, had opposed both casino projects as a city councilmember. 

The agreement provides police, fire and other emergency services, as well as provides funding for either a new fire station within 1.5 miles of the casino or renovation of an existing station, and mandates that the tribe pay a proportionate share or fund outright a series of projects, including: 

• A new northbound lane on Richmond Parkway; 

• New lanes on Parr Boulevard; 

• A new interchange where the roads intersect; 

• Shuttle service from the casino to a proposed Richmond Parkway Transit Center and the Richmond BART station, and 

• A new bike lane along Goodrick Avenue between Parr and the Parkway. 

Payments would be dispersed through the length of the 20-year agreement, adjusted to rise and fall with the Consumer Price Index, and totaling $310 million adjusted to keep pace with the value of the dollar at the time the agreement was signed. 

Richmond City Attorney John Eastman did not return calls seeking comment on the litigation.


Tod Mikuriya, 1933-2007

By Fred Gardner, Special to the Planet
Friday May 25, 2007

Tod Mikuriya, M.D., died Sunday at his home in the Berkeley Hills. He was 73. The cause was complications of cancer. In the final days he’d been in the care of his sisters, Beverly, an M.D. from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and Mary Jane of San Francisco, and his longtime assistant, John Trapp. 

Cancer had been diagnosed originally in his lungs, and as of last March it had been detected in his liver, too. Dennis Peron and Dale Gieringer threw farewell parties for him. He canceled a trip to Hungary where he was to present a paper at the International Cannabinoid Research Society meeting. His office began steering patients to other doctors.  

And then his condition improved. In late May 2006 Mikuriya attended his 50th reunion at Reed College and sang rounds with his old madrigal group. His office geared up again. He wrote the lead section of an article recounting what California doctors had learned in the 10 years since the passage of Proposition 215 (“Medical Marijuana in California, 1996-2006”). 

He met with a publisher about reissuing Marijuana Medical Papers, his 1973 anthology of pre-prohibition medical literature -the new edition to include a CD containing eight more articles that had come to his attention over the years. He had many visits from his 12-year-old daughter, Hero, the apple of his eye; they even went cross-country skiing one weekend.  

As recently as this March Mikuriya played a key role organizing a symposium at which retired colonel James Ketchum discussed the Army’s secret search for a cannabinoid-based incapacitating agent. Mikuriya had begun assembling the contents for a new anthology, Cannabis Clinical Papers, that would include studies by colleagues and three major papers of his own: “Cannabis as a Substitute for Alcohol;” “Cannabis as a First-Line Treatment for Mental Disorders;” and “Cannabis Eases Post-Traumatic Stress.” (The titles alone reflect the relevance of Mikuriya’s concerns. Even his historical studies related to our present time and place. For example: “An 1873 survey by British tax officials in India elicited a range of views on cannabis that seems strikingly contemporary... ‘the general opinion seems to be that the evil effects of ganja have been exaggerated.’”) 

Mikuriya liked to use the slogans “Grandfather it in!” and “Back to the future!” in discussing the legalization of cannabis for medical use. The generations of Americans who discovered cannabis in social settings in the 1960s and the decades that followed had no idea that it had been widely used in this country between the Civil War and the Great Depression, with tinctures manufactured by Eli Lilly, Parke, Davis and other major pharmaceutical companies available by prescription. 

For decades Mikuriya was the only M.D. among the small group of activists and scholars who collected the bottles and labels and sought to unearth and publicize the history that our educational system had erased so systematically. Mikuriya was given to creating polysyllabic phrases that forced one to puzzle over their meaning. For example, America’s cultural preference for the modern he called “temporal chauvinism.” Cannabis clubs, he said, showed the efficacy of “proactive structuralism;” by which he meant, “People can create something and, by doing so, set a precedent.” 

Tod Hiro Mikuriya was born in Eastern Pennsylvania in 1933 to Anna (Schwenk) and Tadafumi Mikuriya. His father was a Japanese Samurai who converted to Christianity, his mother a German immigrant and practicing Baha’i. Tod and his two younger sisters went to Quaker schools. “The Quakers were proprietors of the underground railway,” Tod noted. “The cannabis prohibition has the same dynamics as the bigotry and racism my family and I experienced starting on Dec. 7, 1941, when we were transformed from normal-but-different people into war-criminal surrogates.” 

He graduated from Reed College in 1956, served as a medic in the U.S. Army, and then attended Temple University School of Medicine. It was at Temple that a reference in a pharmacology text to the medical utility of marijuana triggered the interest that would define Mikuriya’s career. After getting his medical degree, Mikuriya served an internship at Southern Pacific General Hospital in San Francisco, specialized in psychiatry at the Oregon State Hospital in Salem, and completed his training at Mendocino State Hospital. 

In 1967 he became director of non-classified marijuana research for the National Institute of Mental Health Center for Narcotics and Drug Abuse. He left the position after several months, he said, “When it became clear they only wanted research into damaging effects, not helpful ones.” 

Mikuriya moved to Berkeley in 1970 and entered private practice. He was active in Amorphia, a West Coast reform group that eventually folded into NORML, and helped organize a 1972 marijuana legalization initiative, working alongside Michael and Michelle Aldrich, Pebbles Trippet, and others who stayed with the struggle through the ensuing decades of cultural and political rollback.  

“Western medicine has forgotten almost all it once knew about the therapeutic properties of marijuana,” Mikuriya lamented to a UCSF medical student interviewing him in 1996. (I had the privilege of sitting in.) “Hemp-based tinctures and preparations were prescribed for myriad purposes—analgesic and hypnotic; appetite stimulant; anti-epileptic and antispasmodic; for the prevention and treatment of the neuralgias, including migraine and tic doloreux; antidepressant and tranquilizer; oxytocic (to induce uterine contractions); topical anesthetic; withdrawal agent for opiate, chloral and alcohol addiction; intraocular hypotensive; childbirth analgesic; hypothermogenic.”  

Cannabis is also an anti-asthmatic and antitussive (cough suppressant), Mikuriya told the med student. It went out of favor with doctors in the early decades of the 20th century “not because it was deemed toxic or dangerous but because alternatives came on the market—injectable opiates and synthetics such as aspirin and barbiturates— that were quicker-acting and offered more consistency in dosage and patient response.”  

When Dennis Peron launched the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club at the start of the ‘90s, Mikuriya saw “a unique research opportunity.” He began interviewing club members in an attempt to confirm or add to descriptions in the pre-prohibition literature. When Prop 215 was being drafted, Mikuriya contributed the all-important phrase in the first sentence that allows doctors to approve marijuana use in treating “any...condition for which marijuana provides relief.” (Eleven other states have since passed laws allowing marijuana use to treat specific conditions. Mikuriya considered them all intellectually dishonest compromises.) 

Mikuriya’s contention that marijuana alleviates an extremely wide range of symptoms was ridiculed by Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey and other federal officials at a press conference in December, 1996. Reform advocates promptly sued the drug czar’s office and obtained a federal injunction confirming the Constitutional right of doctors and patients to discuss marijuana as a treatment option. Nevertheless, for several years following the passage of Prop 215, almost no California M.D.s were willing to risk the wrath of the government by putting in writing a recommendation for cannabis in the treatment of say, depression, or lower back pain. 

People all over the state were calling cannabis clubs to report that their doctors—many of whom had expressed their approval of marijuana previously—would not give them a written “letter of diagnosis” entitling them to join a club. These people would very often be given the name and phone number of Tod Mikuriya. 

Thus Mikuriya became the doctor of last resort for thousands of California patients. He flew or drove with John Trapp to cities and towns around the state to preside at ad hoc clinics. 

“It’s one of the most satisfying experiences for me as a psychiatrist to be able to remove the stigma of criminality from an individual,” he said after testifying for an alcoholic Vietnam vet in 1998. “Not just the self-perceived stigma, but removing the real danger of civil forfeiture and other kinds of state viciousness.”  

Mikuriya was investigated by the California medical board on the basis of complaints from law enforcement officers (none from patients, and no allegations of harm to a patient). At a disciplinary hearing in 2003 all the patients named in the accusation praised and thanked Mikuriya. He was placed on probation by the board, but continued to practice until two weeks ago. Then his decline was rapid.  

He had issued some 9,000 approvals. Mikuriya was the founder of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians, a specialty group whose members have issued more than 160,000 approvals.  

“Tod was the mentor of every doctor working in the field,” says SCC president Philip A. Denney, M.D. “His observation that cannabis alleviates so many seemingly disparate symptoms has been explained by recent research showing that its active ingredients modulate virtually every neurotransmission system in the body.” 

In other words, the finding the drug czar mocked as “a fraud” turned out to be a most significant truth.  

A Quaker service honoring our mutual friend will be held at 4:30 p.m. today (Friday) at the Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St.


Opinion

Editorials

Edtorial: Fractious Council, Late Nights Make Bad Laws

By Becky O’Malley
Tuesday May 29, 2007

Outside my window the scrub jays are engaged in their annual uproar. It might be about sex, it might be about fledglings, it might be about squirrels—who knows, but there’s always a bunch of them, and they’re always raucous. It’s possible even the jays have forgotten by now why they do it, but they do it every spring. 

As I’m watching them, I’m also watching the video clip of last week’s Berkeley City Council discussion of the latest version of proposals from Mayor Tom Bates to remove unsightly persons from the viewshed of potential shoppers: his Public Commons for Some People Initiative (PCFSPI). It makes the jays look civil.  

How many readers of the Planet actually watch or listen to the Berkeley City Council in action? Folks, if you love democracy you’ve got to do it. There’s a bunch of ways to see our current council in action. If you have cable television, Berkeley Community Media broadcasts it live, and then replays the tape several times during the week. It’s live on KPFA’s extra radio channel, KPFB. If you have high-speed Internet access (this is ideal for the two or three hundred well-heeled folks who vote on Kitchen Democracy) you can watch real-time, or check out the video segments, handily labelled so you can skip around, a couple of days later. Or, god forbid, you could even attend the City Council meetings in person. 

Yes, yes, the cliche launched by Otto von Bismarck is that people who love law or sausages shouldn’t watch either being made. But if it’s democracy you love, it’s your civic duty to see what laws are being made in your name, whether you enjoy the experience or not. 

The fracas that ended the last meeting was an all-time low in a series of public embarrassments that have been getting worse every time. Max Anderson put it politely: “We’re not at our best”—right before he put on his coat and walked out, along with Betty Olds, effectively halting the spectacle. Thank goodness. 

And what’s ironic is that it’s all avoidable. The PCFSPI topic is one that’s obviously fraught with controversy, so there’s no possible excuse for putting it at the end of a long and difficult agenda. It was after 11 when the council got to it. 

Several of the councilmembers started out by making intelligent if obvious remarks. Capitelli said you shouldn’t punish public elimination when you don’t have any public toilets open. Maio said you shouldn’t punish people sleeping on the sidewalk who don’t have beds to go to. Betty Olds said that providing such amenities was going to cost a bunch of money, and raising parking fees to do it would drive away even more shoppers. All good points, but they had to struggle to make them. Anderson came out against cruelty. Wozniak contributed a mish-mash of poorly digested statistics from the New York Times, just irrelevant, not harmful.  

But when Worthington and Spring attempted to introduce well-thought-out substantive ideas, the mayor, who was presiding as usual, stomped all over them. He’s a sound-byte kinda guy on his best days, and late at night he’s not very patient. Worthington tried valiantly to make a substitute motion, but was interrupted before he could even finish reading it. “We’re supposed to be out of here in nine minutes,” said Bates. 

Spring tried several times to get recognized, and when she finally was, asked for five minutes to speak because she’d so often been gavelled down when she attempted to talk about the topic. We never! said the mayor indignantly. (Oh sure. There’s a video guy and disability activist who’s threatened to make a video of nothing but instances of Bates interrupting Spring, as a lesson in how disabled people get shut out of conversations.) 

This is no way to make important decisions. Berkeley is becoming a laughingstock in the regional and even national media because of the proposal to use a no-smoking law to solve pressing problems on the streets, and yet no real solutions have been placed on the table in coherent form. Yesterday’s Chronicle had a front-page puff piece in which a Berkeley city staffer riffed on his bright ideas for Draconian laws to end global warming in Berkeley (“Ban Wedgwood stoves!”) which haven’t even been discussed at City Council, much less voted into law. Who’s in charge here, anyhow? 

Is there any way to bring the City Council back into the decision loop? They’re really not bad people, some of them even caring and intelligent human beings, but their hands are increasing tied by the way issues are presented to them. 

Here are a few of the things that are wrong with the picture, not everything but it’s a start: 

1) Too much meaningless paper. A recent council packet was 1,400 pages long (sadly, not 1,400 words as we mistakenly said here). Councilmembers freely admitted that they hadn’t read it. 

2) Meaningful paper delivered at the last amen minute. The important report on the health of Berkeleyans was delivered at 5 p.m. just as the workshop to discuss it started. Councilmembers were thumbing through it, but reading it? No. 

3) Meetings start too late, and therefore are over too late. Ceremonial items often delay the start of the action agenda until 8 or later. In Santa Cruz, non-controversial and ceremonial items are heard in the afternoon, leaving only the important things that the public needs to be able to watch to be heard at night, so the meetings ends at a reasonable hour. None of our councilmembers has a conventional 9-to-5 job, and several are retired, so they could easily adopt this schedule. 

4) Too few meetings. This is the biggy. Under the current mayor and council, vacations (“recesses”) have gotten longer and longer, and council has taken to meeting only every other week. As a result important city business is crammed into fewer and fewer meetings, which thus get longer and longer. Our councilmembers need to curtail their world travel (and reduce their carbon footprint) so that they can just have more meetings. 

It’s tempting to blame the length of recent meetings on the number of public comments allowed, but the city is simply complying, under threat of a lawsuit, with the state law which requires them to be heard. And if the PCFSPI, to take just one controversial example, hadn’t been tossed on to the council agenda from out of right field, but had been introduced and discussed at the relevant commissions in the first place, those whose conscience compels them to weigh in on the topic (and I include myself) wouldn’t have to speak at all these council meetings, and everyone could go home earlier. 

 


Editorial: Remembering Living Veterans on Memorial Day

By Becky O'Malley
Friday May 25, 2007

Drivers leaving the freeway at the Fifth street exit in San Francisco often find their cars besieged by several men carrying signs: middle-aged or older, many though not all African-American, disheveled, some with teeth missing. Frequently they wave signs, hand-lettered on cardboard boxes, saying things like “I’m a veteran who needs help.” Or “Will take any kind of job.” It’s easy to keep the windows rolled up and drive on. 

If you get off BART in downtown Berkeley, it’s a bit harder to avoid the supplicants as you leave the station at street level. They’re not so likely to carry signs, but rely on spoken pleas and eye contact to make their case. Still, most people manage to look elsewhere. 

Meanwhile, the Iraq misadventure continues, seemingly without any end in sight. A valiant effort by congressional Democrats to bring it to an end by withholding funds has fizzled for lack of enough Republican support to override a Bush veto. The 2008 presidential campaign is underway, and concerned Americans are counting the days until Bush can be sent packing. Others who think we can’t wait that long are promoting impeachment.  

Each day that the Iraq war continues, the number of potentially indigent and homeless men (and now women) that we will see on our street corners increases. Consider these statistics from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans:  

• 23 percent of the homeless population are veterans. 

• 33 percent of homeless men are veterans. 

• 47 percent served during the Vietnam era.  

• 67 percent served for three years or longer.  

• 76 percent experience alcohol, drug, or mental health problems. 

And this war promises to produce even more damaged veterans wandering our streets, as many young people return from Iraq with traumatic brain injuries. Because of improvements in body armor, coupled with concussions caused by the increased use of improvised explosive devices, soldiers may escape visible bodily injury and yet have long-lasting or even permanent brain damage. A report from the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) says that in earlier wars such injuries accounted for 14-20 percent of surviving combat casualties, and now the number is even higher. Men and women with injuries like these may appear perfectly normal externally, and yet suffer from all kinds of trauma-related conditions. According to the DVBIC, “Difficulties experienced as a result of a closed-head blast injury include post-concussion complaints such as decreased memory and attention/concentration, headaches, slower thinking, irritability, and/or depression.” Many with these problems will end up on the streets. 

Memorial Day is now celebrated conveniently on the last Monday in May. Californians think of it as the first good beach weekend, a day for barbecues and baseball. But it used to be called Decoration Day, always observed on May 30, a day when people went to cemeteries to clean and decorate the graves of veterans, especially those of the great bloody conflict which northerners called the Civil War and southerners called the War Between the States. A very high percentage of those who were injured in that war didn’t survive, but those who did were honored and cared for by the folks at home. The Veterans’ Administration hospitals in my youth were splendid establishments with verandas for rocking chairs and rolling green lawns, places where veterans who needed help could live out their days in peace.  

But no more. Horrendous conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital are now coming to light. NPR’s Daniel Zwerdling has done a series of pieces on experiences of veterans at Fort Collins, Colorado, reporting that those with mental conditions of the kind associated with traumatic brain injury have had trouble getting proper care. Care for veterans has been going downhill ever since the Vietnam War, when it was possible for well-connected men like George Bush to escape combat, leaving regular guys, many of whom are now today’s homeless veterans, to take the hits.  

Many of us even way back then knew what was happening, but felt powerless to stop it. Every time I hear Danny Zwerdling’s excellent reports (I don’t know him) I’m reminded of his grandfather, Ozias Zwerdling, whom I did meet long ago. In 1970 I was managing a congressional campaign for an under-funded and ultimately unsuccessful anti-Vietnam-war congressional candidate in Ann Arbor, and we rented a storefront campaign headquarters from Ozias. I remember him as a small, white-haired bent old man with a heavy accent—and when he heard what we were up to he immediately cut the rent to almost nothing, because he was strongly opposed to the war. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, they used to say in the Midwest. 

That war was eventually stopped, as this one will probably be, but many more lives were destroyed before the end came. That’s why every day counts, because every day means more of our young people killed or injured in ways that will affect the rest of their lives. Even without a draft, the consequences of the war in Iraq are getting closer to home for many Americans. More and more of us know people who face combat duty.  

One of my friends has a young cousin who enlisted as a teenager after his mother’s death, lured by the usual promises of getting an education. He’s now awaiting being shipped out to Iraq in November, clearly part of the unannounced “Second Surge” which the press is starting to uncover. One of my daughter’s friends from high school, a school teacher in his forties with a family, has been called up in the reserves. Another friend’s nephew is due to be discharged from the Navy’s submarine service any day now, but his family fears he’ll be held over and sent, like many Navy and Air Force personnel lately, to carry a gun in Iraq.  

What can we do? There are many ideas. Some write letters to papers like ours or to papers with more conservative opinion pages. (We get many more of these than we have room to print, and among our readers they’re preaching to the choir anyway.) Others lobby Congress: not only Barbara Lee, who doesn’t need it, but Ellen Tauscher from over the hill, who does. Keeping people like Jerry McNerney in Congress at the next election and adding more of them is essential, but what else? The usual protests, marches, pickets, direct actions—all are worthwhile, none a silver bullet, but we have to keep at it. 

But while we’re working on stopping this war, let’s not forget the victims of earlier wars, many of whom can be encountered on the streets of Berkeley. We owe them a lot more than Berkeley politicians’ latest ploy to get unsightly people out of sight and out of mind: tickets for loitering on the sidewalk or smoking on the street or peeing in the bushes.  

Especially because national veterans’ programs are falling apart, every veteran on our streets (one of every three homeless men) deserves a clean and comfortable place to sleep, enough to eat, and physical and mental health support. When we’ve accomplished that, we can talk about solving whatever “street behavior” problems they’re perceived as causing.  


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Tuesday May 29, 2007

MISSING THE POINT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Noah Grant’s letter to the editor in the May 25 Daily Planet criticizes the current student move-out clean-up campaign co-sponsored by the city and university—and the Planet’s coverage of it—as having “missed a key point: recycling.” I’m afraid it’s Mr. Grant who missed the point, which was clearly stated in the earlier Planet article: “Door hangers were also hung up on the north side and the south side which alerted students about ways to recycle their trash . . . a drop-off recycling center will be set-up on the Clark Kerr campus. Non-profits such as the Alameda County Food Bank and the American Cancer Society will be there to pick up stuff. Computer parts and anything with a plug will be picked up by computer resource centers.”  

In addition, there has been a considerable amount of informal scavenging from the debris boxes, which is fine as long as the scavengers do not leave a mess behind. Finally, when the debris boxes are taken to the city’s transfer station the contents are sorted and recycled to the extent possible. 

There are some individuals who assume they can leave furniture and mattresses on the sidewalks of Berkeley and “someone will take it.” But too often no one does and the items are left to clutter the neighborhood until the city eventually hauls them away. In some cases, the items left curbside are toxic. It is everyone’s responsibility to prevent this kind of environmental pollution.  

Irene Hegarty 

 

• 

DEAD TENANTS DESERVE RESPECT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am shocked and appalled at the snide tone of your May 22 article, “Dead Tenants Get Low-Income Housing.” 

Dead tenants need low-income housing, too! Many of us—city administrators and School Board officials excepted—have lost our jobs. We often suffer severe discrimination. Even your esteemed newspaper is full of negative references to “deadwood,” “deadweight,” and “dead wrong.” 

Avaricious landlords don’t want to rent to dead people. They’d just as soon stick us in a hole in the ground or shuttle us off to Rossmoor. We must stand up for our rights and by this I don’t mean rigor mortis. 

I know you have a certain amount of sympathy for our cause. Many of you staff seem like kindred spirits. 

So please, give us the same objective treatment that you do Patrick Kennedy, Tom Bates and AIPAC. 

Gordon Ghostwriter 

• 

WESTIN HOTEL PROTEST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On May 3, I participated in a demonstration in front of the Westin Hotel in Oakland to protest the firing of undocumented women workers—a very moving demonstration by people of all ages and races. 

At the end, Loni Hancock spoke, as well as one of the fired workers. By that time there was a large group of young people sitting in the street, obviously risking arrest.  

I argued with myself for a few minutes, then decided, in spite of the difference in my age (80-plus), to sit down with them. Not for long—I was lifted to my feet, put to one side, and told that their lawyer was expecting a certain number doing civil disobedience, and I could not be included. Discarded! Oh well, next time! 

Frances Berges 

 

• 

WARM POOL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If BUSD will promise to subsidize swimmers at a new warm pool including new parking costs, additional swim fees about the current $2 per use, and other new costs such as locker room fees, showering fees, etc., and if BUSD will promise in writing not to tear down the gym and old pools until new facilities are ready to use, then and only then might I go along with BUSD plans to demolish the old gym. 

Frankly, I think BUSD fails to recognize the financial plight of most warm pool users; I believe the school board sneers at and dismisses the needs of the warm pool users, mistaking warm pool users for metal and emotionally disabled and the homeless. 

Frankly, I suspect BUSD has no idea how much teachers and students will have to pay to park in a new parking structure built by nobody knows who, and nobody knows what cost per vehicle...but probably more than $10,000 per car space minimum, more likely at least half again more than that. 

Frankly, I believe BUSD directors are hypocrites who have not read any of the engineers’ reports on the condition of the pools and old gym. Reading the charts in ABS Consulting’s report would clarify what is safer than what; the students who continue to use the main gym and its dressing rooms are in more danger than the few students moved to the Y who used to use the pool; See quotes in the May 4 Tribune by BUSD’s PR man, Mark Coplan. Possibly the engineers’ and ABS’s reports are incorrect; they are certainly confusing. ABS relies on calculations made for the SOHA reports seventeen years ago, which reports themselves are error-prone. 

My belief is that new swim fees will be between five and ten dollars per use, minimum, and parking will be between five and $15 per day. I will not be able to park and swim at those rates. 

The district failed to replace screens on new windows at south pool, in their grand wisdom, and now one huge panel has been smashed again. The city paid $6,000 to replace the windows a few months ago. The district is penny-wise and pound-foolish.  

Terry Cochrell 

 

• 

PRISON REFORM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

California needs prison reform now more than ever. With a dangerously overcrowded system that disproportionately incarcerates African-Americans and other minorities we need to shift the focus from building new prisons and place greater emphasis on prevention programs. 

Like many Bay Area cities, Richmond has a higher per capita percentage of residents who are parolees as compared to other cities in California. I have had the opportunity to work with programs that help these men and women get connected to support and I have seen first hand how the lack of state and federal funding for these programs has made it more difficult for parolees to successfully re-enter our communities. A great opportunity for helping these individuals is to create job training programs that will help the formerly incarcerated get into good paying jobs like those offered through union apprenticeship programs. 

California’s 70 percent recidivism rate underscores the need for more re-entry programs that can help those formerly incarcerated get connected to jobs and training programs, literacy programs, and substance abuse programs. As the California Legislature approaches a new fiscal year, greater emphasis must be placed on insuring there are state dollars to support reentry programs for those formerly incarcerated and meaningful rehabilitations programs that will help the incarcerated make successful transitions into society upon release. State efforts should also focus on creating alternative sentencing programs for youth offenders who commit non-violent crimes. These youth should be directed to programs where they will be given the chance to re-pay society for their crimes and have access to rehabilitative programs that can help them get a GED or diploma, counseling, training, mentoring, and support. This investment will help young offenders become constructive members of society rather than putting them on a path towards long-term incarceration. 

It was once stated that it would be cheaper to send a person to Harvard for a year than to house them in prison for a year. With that in mind let’s start focusing on the best ways to reduce incarceration rates, improve education, and eliminate poverty in California. 

Tony Thurmond 

Richmond City Councilmember 

 

• 

NIRVANA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We were marooned for 15 years in the San Joaquin Valley, working five-day weeks and escaping on long weekends to San Francisco. As we drove up the I-5, KPFA would suddenly appear on the radio dial. Nirvana! Music, classical, international, jazz; intelligent discussions; real news: A whole new world not accessible in the Valley. 

When we retired and moved promptly to the Bay Area, KPFA became and continued to be our medium of choice. Thank God, none of the mellifluous voices and “sponsored” programs of NPR. Admittedly, both KQED and KPFA do fundraising, but at least KPFA confines it to four times a year, while sponsors lurk 24-7 on KQED. 

Uneven program quality and bickering are probably inevitable on KPFA, a station whose roots go back only five decades to a tiny anti-war beginning. I’ll continue, gratefully, to contribute as much as I can, listen to the programs I want, and then read a good book. Many thanks to everyone at KPFA. 

Beth Wilson 

Oakland 

 

• 

CAPTAIN SLATER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On behalf of the Slater family, I would like to thank the Daily Planet and writer Daniella Thompson for the fine May 18 article on Captain Slater’s house—my great-grandfather and his home on Shattuck Avenue. 

As a Berkeley native and fourth-generation resident, I am very interested in the city and its history. We are fortunate to have groups such as the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association and the Berkeley Historical Society. But most of all, we are very fortunate to have a fine, locally owned newspaper—a rarity these days and a welcome antidote to the corporate garbage that passes for journalism in the rest of the East Bay. 

Keep up the good work. 

Paul Slater 

• 

YASSIR CHADLY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Although I now live in San Francisco, I spent my youth at the Berkeley public pools, along with Strawberry Canyon and Lake Anza. But it took the encouragement of my mother and the sense of community created by Yassir Chadly to make me a swimmer. In the fall of 2005, while living in Berkeley, I wanted to get into swimming, become a swimmer, and Yassir’s warmth and tips, very presence and attitude helped to take the sting out of the learning curve, making the pool and the water, quite simply, a much nicer place to be. Now back in The City, I get the chance to swim with my mother in the Berkeley public pools once every few months. I relish both the chance to join my mother in her element, in one of her passions, but also the chance to see this man. I know of very few people in this world that give so much to so many with such grace. It is something one recognizes about him in the very first minutes you’re in his presence. 

Thus, I would also ask the city to keep Yassir in place with all his previous benefits. Yassir plays a vital role to countless Berkeley residents and also to at least one beyond its borders. 

Felix Brenner 

 

• 

CALTRANS SIGNS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

One of the stupidest, most idiotic things any bureaucracy ever did was when Caltrans put the signs that give an estimate of the time it will take to reach some place ahead. 

What does that mean for anyone stuck in traffic? Is it the time it would ordinarily take a driver traveling at the speed limit? 

Do those signs appear in the Sign Planning Manual? Did anyone in the whole organization object? Are they a pet project of someone who can’t be challenged? Was federal money involved? Has the federal inspector general’s office approved of them? 

Maybe Caltrans had some money they had to spend or they would lose it. It does happen. 

Why didn’t they spend it on bus stops at every interchange, like there is in Marin? 

Charles Smith 

• 

GRAHAM’S HIT PIECE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Joanna Graham and I have butted heads in these pages before. To be sure, there is no love lost, and I admit that I regard her as a very crude propagandist for the anti-Israel cause. As one example, among many, she has called Kuresh Arianpour’s now infamous Aug. 8, 2006 anti-Semitic screed published in the Daily Planet as an op-ed “eloquent.” Its thesis, readers will remember, was that Jews are racists who thereby caused all of their own miseries throughout history, from their enslavement in Egypt through the Holocaust. O’Malley claims to have published it only as an exercise in free speech, and even she has roundly denounced the piece. Not so Graham. For her it was “eloquent.” Should Mein Kampf or The Protocols of the Elders of Zion be upheld for their eloquence also? But I digress. 

In her latest piece of libel, Graham, with no evidence whatsoever, and no doubt out of a sense of revenge for the times that I have called her to task in these pages, seeks to tie me into Wornick’s place on the Peace and Justice Commission. I am not in any way Wornick’s “mentor,” as Graham claims. I know him, but not well. He certainly did not ask my opinion before sending a video link about Islam to Peace and Justice members, nor did he copy me on his e-mail to O’Malley. And neither he, nor anyone else on the commission, is working the “Gertz plan,” as per Graham’s delusional claims, since no such plan exists. 

Graham deems that anyone who does not vote anti-Israel resolutions on the Peace and Justice Commission must be Gertz’s “nominee.” No sitting or past member of the commission was ever my nominee in any sense of the word. Graham fabricates this lie out of whole cloth. I have expressed my opinion about the Peace and Justice Commission. O’Malley has abetted me in this by publishing my thoughts from time to time. But it is a leap of fantasy to suggest that I run the show. 

Graham accuses me of “fealty to a foreign master” and “serving . . . on behalf of Israeli hegemony in the Middle East.” I am a proud American, not an Israeli spy, and I have long advocated in this publication and elsewhere an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, Gaza (both accomplished, thank goodness), and almost all of the West Bank (soon, I hope). Graham, again on the basis of absolutely no evidence, “presumes” that I am out to stop the Peace and Justice Commission from considering Iraq, Afghanistan, oil policy, nuclear weapons, and more. Utter nonsense. Be my guest, commissioners, debate them all. However, Ms. Graham, I can tell you with certainty that no one on the commission is waiting for this permission slip.  

To digress again, Graham assures readers that Azmi Bishara, an Arab-Israeli member of parliament faces the death penalty for treason (he has been accused of spying for Hizbollah). Ms. Graham, Palestinians routinely conduct summary executions for “treason” (no trial necessary in your precious Palestine). Israel, being a civilized democracy, has a fiercely independent judiciary, and does not have a death penalty. 

But my real beef is not with Graham but with O’Malley, who would deign to publish such libelous hysterics.  

John Gertz 

 

• 

ISRAEL/PALESTINE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

According to McClatchy, in 2006 the Israeli death toll from the conflict hit a six-year low; further, successful suicide bombings nearly came to a halt. On Monday, May 21, that period of relative calm and security (for Jews only, not for Palestinians!) ended when an Israeli woman was killed by a Qassam rocket in Sderot. I have been unable to find out her name or age; nevertheless, I feel a strange and sad connection with her because 24 days earlier, in these pages, I predicted her death. You might say she died in a martyrdom operation, although I doubt she knew she had been chosen or agreed to her own sacrifice. 

Here’s what happened. Israel was being subjected to what it most dreads: a “peace offensive.” The Palestinians were mostly abiding by a self-imposed ceasefire; Hamas and Fatah had formed a unity government; and the Arab League had met and dusted off the Saudi peace plan. 

The ball was in Israel’s court. But Israel doesn’t want peace. It wants to keep the occupied territories. However, Israel can never publicly admit this. It can’t afford to look obstructionist. Therefore, the other side must always be the problem. 

What Israel badly needed was Palestinian violence causing Israeli civilian deaths. 

So Israel embarked on a methodical campaign of assassination until, finally, Hamas called off its ceasefire. It was at that point I made my prediction, which came true so shortly thereafter.  

Announcing further military operations, Foreign (and potential Prime) Minister Tzipi Livni said, “Israel will defend its citizens.” What she meant was, “It’s working! Everyone is stupid—except us Jews.” Have you heard about the Arab Peace Initiative lately? No, and you won’t. As Dov Weisglass—Ariel Sharon’s Karl Rove—famously remarked on a previous, similar occasion, it is now “in formaldehyde.” 

Joanna Graham 

 

• 

PUBLIC LIBRARY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Congratulations to the Daily Planet for looking into the considerable costs of RFID at Berkeley Public Library, and for uncovering the fact that the cost of RFID tags has increased 84 percent for the media/donut tags (from $1.15 to $2.12 each), and increased 28 percent for the regular tags (from 60 cents to 77 cents each)—just since September, 2005, and despite predictions to the contrary. 

Of course, the price increases are even more dramatic when compared with the much lower cost of the previously installed bar code technology. 

In the last several years, the most important assets of the library were cut—staff, book budgets, and open hours—even as privacy-threatening RFID was installed at a cost the union has estimated at more than $2 million. It is an unfortunate record of misplaced priorities.  

For the record, my comments about the failure of price cuts for RFID tags to actually occur were not directed at any individual’s comments, but at the general concept. As I mentioned to the article’s author, RFID tags made by one vendor cannot routinely be read by the equipment of another vendor. Thus, each vendor, including Berkeley Public Library’s vendor, Checkpoint, obtains a kind of “lock” on its customers. When customers do not have the ability to get tags from other vendors, they are not in a good position to resist their vendor’s price increases.  

This lack of “interoperability” unfortunately makes the library vulnerable to rising costs in all aspects of its RFID operation, and vulnerable to increasing drains on the money that staff and public alike want for both staff and materials that support the core functions of the library. We hope you continue to review questions about RFID, including a recent $108,000 RFID allocation that library staff said could better be used for staffing, and the concerns raised by a March, 2007 report from the union that suggests additional problems and costs may be attributable to RFID from an increase in worker injuries since RFID was installed.  

Peter Warfield 

Executive Director,  

Library Users Association 

 

• 

Y-SCHOLARS PROGRAM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Hello, My name is Abdur Shemsu and I am a senior at Berkeley High School. I have been a part of the Y-Scholars program since ninth grade. 

It has always been my goal to attend college, but since I will be the first in my family to pursue a university education, neither my family not I knew how to get there. I knew Y-Scholars would help and I was eager to get started. I participated in Academic Support Group meetings where a UC Berkeley Coordinator taught us about college requirements job applications, and scholarships. I attended tutoring to receive help on my homework and exams, SAT prep courses that improved my score by over 200 points, and college panels where I spoke to college students and gained an understanding of college life and its process. I took advantage of many other services provided through Y-Scholars and because of all their guidance and support, I was well equipped to enter my senior year. 

The first semester of my senior year, like for all seniors, was tough. Not only was I taking a rigorous course load that included honors and AP classes, I was also applying to colleges, scholarships and financial aid. Since my parents knew nothing about the process, I was left to handle this load on my own. Thankfully, Y-Scholars was there to help me. Since I was a senior, I didn’t have to attend Academic Support Group or tutoring. Instead, I was given my own personal college advisor who helped me throughout the whole process. We researched colleges together, wrote, edited and revised personal statements, applied to scholarships, and filled out the FAFSA. My coordinator also wrote numerous letters of recommendation for scholarships and academic programs, looked over my school assignments to make sure I wasn’t falling behind in school and kept me motivated throughout all of this even when things were looking down. 

Y-Scholars really helped me get through my senior year, and because of them, I have been accepted into UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Clara University, and all the Cal States I applied to! I am very proud of my accomplishments and it is because of Y-Scholars that I have to overcome my family hardships and my financial circumstances. Thank you Y-Scholars, and thank you for helping me raise money for a program that has made a difference in my life. 

Thank you for caring, and thank you for making a difference. 

Abdur Shemsu 

 

• 

GLOBAL WARMING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Global warming it the most serious issue facing this country today. For example, there are a lot of cars and trucks on the freeways here in the Bay Area, which result in heavy traffic. With both cars and trucks stuck there for hours, the smoke that comes out of them goes into the air. It seems that some people cannot survive even a day without a car. 

However, there are two groups that use the bus as their only transportation. They are seniors and the disabled. The majority of them are helping to combat global warming here in both Alameda and Contra Costa counties, by not either owning or driving a car. So it is a travesty that the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District still has a bus pass costing $20 a month for both these groups of people. I urge AC Transit to have some balance by lowering the price of the bus pass for both seniors and the disabled. 

Billy Trice, Jr. 

Oakland 

 

• 

GREAT SUMMER FUN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Want something fun to do with your kids this summer while also getting out in the sun and fresh air? How about volunteering at your local animal shelter walking dogs? These dogs would love the exercise and you just might get some licks and kisses. 

Vanessa Gaglione 

• 

UNRELIABLE DEMOCRATS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On May 22, the Democratic leadership led by San Francisco’s Nancy Pelosi cut a deal with the Bush regime to continue funding the Bush wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These wars are illegal under international law and immoral under any decent standard. Funding them is complicity in war crimes even under the guise of “supporting the troops” which was one of the Democratic excuses for this deal. 

Why should anyone opposed to an unjust war wish to fund the troops to prosecute such a war. Would it have been OK for Germans to support the German troops in their prosecution of Hitler’s war as long as they personally opposed Hitler and the war? You can not support the troops and not also support the war in which they are fighting. We should support troops like Lt. Watada who have refused to fight in Iraq. But those fighting Bush’s war deserve no support in that war. 

In announcing the dastardly deal, Pelosi stated, “It is a new direction in Iraq that the American people called for. The president is finally conceding he has to be accountable.” Senator Harry Reid also claimed victory, “I don’t think there’s any way you can stretch what we’ve done in this supplemental as a defeat. Look how far we’ve come.” 

I am looking at the “new direction” and at “how far we’ve come” and we are on the same old road to destruction. The war in Afghanistan is now in its seventh year and the Iraq war is in its fifth year. Hundreds of thousands have needlessly died in these imperialist wars. Blood is on the hands of anyone who enables Bush to continue his crimes against humanity. 

Half-a-trillion dollars have been spent to defend and expand the U.S. global empire through these two wars and if the Bush regime is not stopped, we will soon face a third war in Iran. The Democrats can cut-off funding for the wars and impeach Bush, but both ideas are “off the table” according to their leaders. 

We can not rely on the Democrats to halt the fascist program of the Bush regime. Only concerted mass action can do so. Bush must be impeached. Funding must be stopped for crimes committed in our names. To find out how you can help, see worldcantwait.org. 

Kenneth J. Theisen 

Oakland 

 

• 

FUNDAMENTALISM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For those still in the dark about Bush and his administration, its agenda and motives: Fundamentalists, unchecked, can destroy not only the World Trade Center but any country in the world, if given the chance. It was fundamentalists that flew airplanes into our buildings and it was another kind of fundamentalism that responded by attacking and occupying Iraq. From President Bush’s first use of the word “crusade” a fundamentalist mindset has been driving American policies, just as a comparable fundamentalism drives the attacks of our enemies. 

Fundamentalism is alive and well in our country’s borders, at home in the offices of the White House and the Pentagon (remember Lt. General William Boykin’s comments) as much as in the hills of Afghanistan and desert of Iraq. The Bush administration and Republicans will only become more extreme as time goes on, if they retain power. 

Ron Lowe 

Grass Valley 

 

• 

AROUND THE CORNER AND  

UP YOUR BLOCK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When it comes down to “other peoples’ money,” communities in Berkeley may inevitably find themselves involved in a prospective Utility Underground Program. This account of such an involvement focuses on the imperative to total procedural disclosure ... caveat, caveat ... usually included as an essential “gratuity” in any project of this magnitude and scope. 

Lack of specific consent datum and procedural guidelines as officially established in letter and intent subordinate this entire process to a mere formality. Going through the motions with wink-wink, quid pro quo politics also relegate the city of Berkeley, once esteemed as a city of intellectual enlightenment, to one of self-serving entitlement. 

If a proposed utility underground is more corporately expedient in promotion, as in this instance, than it is collectively engaged, acquisition of the end purpose becomes the integral component, by choice and presumptive design, in a very flawed process. As refers to this case in point ... the portentous assertion, “We’re going to do it anyway!” ... or the one-time great deal sell “Others paid $50,000 (or was it $35,000, or maybe $25,000) for the same thing!” ... and the ultimate ruse “You aren’t going to have any electricity!” These “hard sell” verbal vindictives appear subjectively conclusive as to their end, and objectively obscured as to their means of accomplishment. 

Also related specifically to hands-on access of the original disclosure guideline is the amorphously manipulated (or now lowered) 60 percent initial petition of consent by consensus, which dovetails the final 2/3 voter approval count of ballots cast (received). As regards the hands-on promotion of this underground, pursuant to the initial petition, schematic datum of the properties involved with calculated duns ... or the “done-deal,” complete with financial-aid options, for the less fortunate, are dispersed with alacrity. 

Embedded in the residual of this pervasive attrition is the “just hatched” neoclass of expendables, e.g. the elderly, new nesters, and no throw away doughers, who ultimately assume by pecuniary design, worst case scenarios ... property tax liens and/or incontrovertible debt. Recourse, as reasonable intervention and review of the process is “a day at divorce court.” Pile up a white collar laundry of bombastic diatribe, purposeful equivocations, pin-the-tail politics and the voice of counter-intuitivism, “How could I treat my neighbors so?” Some empowered advocates embrace city hall, while others are on a “Tahitian vacation.” 

As a cosmetic “eye-tuck” to upgrade the beauty of the surround and enhance panoramic ambiance, or if that’s too dilettante, maybe up the safety quotient for we few ... another emergent neoclass, Berkeley’s oligarchical plutocracy, as averred, “Did what they want to do and any way they can.” 

Why not an aboveboard underground? Is the answer obvious, or is it “just because we could?” without the intrigue, “all” may have had their own way anyway; maybe not ... honestly, we’ll never know! 

Margaret E. Castillo 


Commentary: Common Sense — in Berkeley?

By Sharon Hudson
Tuesday May 29, 2007

How can people live together best? Is it by owning things and working individually, or by sharing things and working together? The 20th century preferred owning, but the 21st century will have to do more sharing—even in a nation blessed with an abundance of space, resources, and wealth.  

Recently, the California Studies Association hosted a conference called the “Crisis of the California Commons.” The conference gave me an interesting perspective on Berkeley’s land use struggles. 

Broadly, “the commons” is any space or resource that is shared, or used in common, by a defined user group (usually the public, or commoners). The traditional commons includes tangible public spaces like parks, roads, and waterways, accompanied, increasingly, by the means to use those spaces (disabled access, bathrooms, etc.). The commons also includes some provisions of nature: the air we breathe, the water we (or our crops or livestock) drink, greenspace, some energy sources, and perhaps species and genomes. It includes semi-tangible resources, such as the visual commons (views) and the auditory commons (“earspace”), and certain cultural commons embodied in physical form, such as historic buildings. And finally there are the intangible cultural commons: the information or knowledge commons, the legal commons, the moral commons—the entire shared and used database of ideas accumulated over human history.  

History reveals a continuous tug-of-war between the expansion and the “enclosure” of the commons. Humankind started out with more in common and less in private, but over time the feudal aristocracy managed to enclose, constrain, or privatize ever more spaces; later, materialism and capitalism continued to commodify resources. These days, more privatization is the agenda of the right, and more “commonism” has been the agenda of the left. Major expansions of the commons have included the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the French Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution, the New Deal, and the Environmental Protection Act. In contrast, perhaps because taking things away from the majority is difficult, enclosures of the commons are rarely so cataclysmic. They are usually quiet, even covert, and incremental (like the privatization of the university or the penal system), and/or very slow (like the conquest of the New World). Hitler’s Enabling Act, the Reagan Revolution, and the Patriot Act are remarkable exceptions. 

The public uses the commons, but often the public does not own or control them. They may be privately owned (like media), or public-private partnerships (like private museums, telecommunications, some transit). Politically speaking, the commons are anything a given group of people thinks they are and can successfully claim and defend. Thus the commons are as much psychological as physical, and once the public has appropriated the “space,” it may be politically impossible for the “owner” to retrieve it. This is why the university wants to keep the Memorial Stadium Oak Grove from following People’s Park into the public’s affections. Conversely, private property is that which a given group can successfully keep for themselves, out of the commons. Some may insist that property ownership is the “natural state” and that the commons is the encroacher, but the point is to constructively balance the private and the shared. 

Finally, a successful commons must have several critical features. First, it is a negotiated resource or space; it is not a free-for-all space in which users can do anything they want. Second, it is not a space that is available “by right” to those outside the defined user group. Without these rules, the powerful, greedy, needy, or uncivil will inevitably monopolize, abuse, or use up the commons. So ignoring these two vital conditions destroys the commons. Third, the commons is not a serene, utopian place where “we can all just get along”; it is often a contentious space and one that is renegotiated as needed. Finally, the commons is a space that requires constant protection and, in crowded conditions or under high demand, it requires considerable proactive caretaking. 

 

Privatization permits 

Society has negotiated rules limiting private property rights impacts, both upon other private property and upon the commons (greenspace, parking, views, etc.). Zoning ordinances embody these rules. Use permits (and state density bonus concessions) create exceptions to these rules; they effectively turn bits and pieces of the commons over to private citizens (developers). For example, if the prescribed building height is 30 feet, and a developer gets permission to build to 40 feet, he has taken for his own use 10 feet of the commons, intended to provide others with light and views, to limit overcrowding, etc. Therefore, use permits constitute incremental privatizations of the commons. So do violations of our area plans, although the largest recent privatizations in Berkeley have come from the state density bonus law. The planning staff’s eagerness to expand zoning exceptions and bonus concessions, and to “renegotiate” area plans, are all perceived by us simple commoners as a violation of the public trust, because staff is irrevocably privatizing the commons, rather than protecting them—and us.  

The rationale for reducing the commons is that the privatizations are offset by some public benefit, such as more housing. But Berkeleyans are increasingly skeptical: Is the “benefit” really public, or private? And is increased population really a benefit? Additionally, to assess the tradeoff properly, we must recognize both the increased value of the commons and the expanding umbrella of the commons, under increasingly dense living conditions. For example, Berkeley’s back yards are not merely private property but also part of our common livability, our common wealth.  

When part of the commons is given away through a use permit, often conditions are placed on the use permit in order to reduce the damage to others. For example, a developer may be permitted to provide less-than-prescribed parking, but only under the condition that he provide valet parking to maximize his spaces. But usually within months the conditions are forgotten, causing unintended further encroachments on the commons. Generally the violations continue for years, because there is no functional system by which the City of Berkeley takes care of the commons. So eventually some citizen has to notice, investigate, and file a complaint. Then the city usually either ignores the complaint or “legalizes” the encroachment. This is another betrayal of the city’s obligation to protect the commons.  

 

The unruly commons 

Permissiveness is deadly to the commons. For example, let’s say one resident of a rooming house, Booming Bob, likes to play his music very loud. Studious Susan’s right to quiet in her own room should be honored because Bob’s actions cannot violate Susan’s equal right to enjoy her room. But what if Bob’s music goes into the living room, the common space?  

Some (negotiated) rules protect users of the common space from Bob’s music, but who enforces them? Does each wannabe user of the common space have to ask Bob to turn down his music? Or what if nobody is in the common space? Or what if only Amiable Amy, who doesn’t mind Bob’s music, is in the commons? Then can Bob play his music loudly? Common sense says, “Yes: no harm, no foul,” but “commons sense” says, “No.”  

Let’s say that Susan wants to use the common room. Although theoretically protected by the rules, she has to ask Bob to turn down his music. So she has to alienate Bob just to assert her standing right to the commons. Or worse, when Shy Sheldon wants to use the commons, he doesn’t confront Bob, but retreats to his room and loses his access to the commons entirely. Bob’s encroachment on the commons has placed undue burdens of labor, ostracism, and risk of retaliation on Susan and disenfranchised Sheldon. Therefore, commons rules (e.g., laws) almost always apply even when nobody else is there, so the commons is always ready for appropriate use by anyone. Individuals should not have to either renegotiate or personally enforce their legitimate rights every time they want to use the commons.  

Before long, Susan and Sheldon move out and Dancin’ Donna and Ravin’ Randy move in. Eventually the neighbors of the rooming house also move away. Thus a single uncivil individual, Bob, helped by tolerant Amy and silent Sheldon, eventually destroys a neighborhood. In Berkeley, uncivil behavior has destroyed numerous commons, including most of Southside. 

Some crimes must be reported by witnesses or victims, but whenever possible, designated authorities should protect the commons proactively, without waiting for complaints. Relying on complaints is unethical and ineffective. If Susan reports the problem to the house manager and he doesn’t want to act, he will marginalize Susan—“complainer,” “troublemaker,” NIMBY. This is a standard bureaucratic response, especially in Berkeley. But the rest of us should thank the Susans and the much-maligned NIMBYs and “complainers” among us, because in the absence of municipal stewardship, they are the only ones protecting the commons. 

Our laws are the rules of the urban commons, and it is the job of the city staff (not Susan) to enforce them. Every time the city fails to enforce, it diminishes Berkeley’s commons. Recently, neighborhood groups had to sue a drug house (in south Berkeley) and a rooming house (in Willard), because the city allowed these house residents to destroy the neighborhood commons. In economic terms, allowing private user groups to steal neighborhood security and civility—its livability—is another form of privatization. In social terms, it’s slummification. 

 

Honey, I Shrunk the Commons! 

When people acquire new rights, it expands the commons. Every right requires and produces a corresponding system, or space, in which everyone can exercise that right. That system (which includes philosophical, legal, and physical components) becomes part of a people’s shared cultural resource—their commons. And once a group has enjoyed a new space for a while, they are loathe to give it up.  

In 1973, the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO) gave the public two new rights: (1) the right (through our representatives) to save individual, privately owned historic resources based on certain values; and more profoundly, (2) the right to decide those values for ourselves—to define our own identity and historical commons. This right is supported by public initiation of, and participation in, the landmarking process, which contributes to the community’s cultural self-discovery.  

Last year, the mayor and some developers attempted to create a loophole in the LPO, through which developers could more easily remove historic buildings from the commons. More insidiously, private consultants hired by developers would do more of our historical evaluations, thus encouraging the privatization of how Berkeleyans define our history. But the developers’ “definition” of us almost always reflects their commons-reducing agenda. Outraged supporters of the cultural commons temporarily blocked the mayor’s loophole through referendum. 

Outrage was also the response the year before when the mayor and City Council secretly capitulated to the university’s long-range development plan. The university is by far the greatest commons abuser in Berkeley, with parking, traffic, noise, litter, and indirect crime impacts, and freeloading on city infrastructure. But instead of taking this rare opportunity to reclaim some of its commons, the council gratuitously gave the university a free pass to massively increase its encroachment, betraying the municipal commons (and taxpayers) utterly. 

Progressivism normally advocates expanding the commons, not privatizing them. A truly progressive vision, which created the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance and the LPO, is grounded in community and mutual respect. This is well suited to interconnected life in a small, dense city, and anticipates the urban needs of the 21st century.  

But our political “leaders” are elsewhere. The mayor undermines the LPO and negotiates development deals behind closed doors. The council cedes our town to the university. The Zoning Adjustments Board gives away use permits like candy. The city staff fails to protect our livability. These represent an incremental but massive giveaway of the commons. If this is “Progressive,” the party has definitely pooped. 

Neighborhood activists understand that any civilized urban future must be one with more in common. I urge City Hall to stop wagging the tail of the 20th century. Instead, please help us prepare for a livable future by honoring our commons.


Commentary: Regional Emergency Radio

By Janet Lockhart
Tuesday May 29, 2007

In event of an emergency or disaster, direct and timely communication among first responders (police, fire and service providers) is the key to successfully responding to and mitigating the impacts to our communities. In the East Bay, we experienced the Loma Prieta earthquake (1989) and the Oakland Hills Firestorm (1991) where communications was identified as a weakness in the response. We also saw the total breakdown that occurred when communications systems failed agencies responding to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The Alameda Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo), representing cities, special districts and the county, supports coordinated radio communication interoperability and urges affected jurisdictions/agencies in both Alameda and Contra Costa counties to complete and implement a common radio network and communications system. 

Alameda LAFCo is a state-mandated local agency that oversees boundary changes to cities and special districts, the formation of new agencies including incorporation of new cities, and the consolidation of existing agencies. As required by state law, Alameda LAFCo recently concluded a Municipal Service Review (MSR) to ensure efficient public service structures, logical boundaries and protection of open spaces and agricultural lands. We learned that in emergencies/disasters, public safety and health personnel were not able to communicate directly with one another—making a difficult situation even worse. This is not acceptable. Finding a solution was a recommendation of the MSR and is a high priority for Alameda LAFCo. 

We further learned that both Contra Costa and Alameda counties and cities have been working together over three years as part of the federally sponsored Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) to establish priorities for homeland security funding and to evaluate different alternatives. Public safety officials from Contra Costa and Alameda counties have developed a joint powers agreement for the East Bay Regional Communications System (EBRCS), which consists of a board of directors with broad representation from both counties that will oversee the financial, technical, and operations of a two-county communications system. The EBRCS has been widely presented throughout the two counties with broad support from many cities and special districts.  

No one seems to question the need or the value for a coordinated emergency communications system. Each entity is performing its due diligence on this matter—cost, governance, accountability, etc. Many of the entities are ready to proceed to the next step and join the EBRCS.  

As an agency that encourages increased efficiencies of public service providers, Alameda LAFCo applauds the establishment of a two-county emergency communications system and urges timely implementation by all affected agencies—before an emergency or disaster occurs. 

 

Janet Lockhart is chair of LAFCo. 


Commentary: A Solution to the Federal Budget Impass

By Young Chau
Tuesday May 29, 2007

After four successful years of turning a quick, solid victory in the Iraq war from “Mission Accomplished” to “We’re winning” to “We’re not winning” to “Give it a chance to succeed,” President Bush vetoed the war funding bill because it comes with a withdrawal timeline. He continues to insist on his right as the Commander in Chief to direct duty-bound American soldiers into the Middle East’s Killing Fields without a troop withdrawal deadline, benchmark, or any type of Congressional oversight that would restrain his executive power.  

Given that he and the Republican members of Congress confidently think this is the way forward for the good of the nation and American troops on the ground in Iraq, the Democratic members of Congress should oblige by repassing the war spending bill without a provision for troop withdrawal deadline or benchmark. In place of a restraint condition, the Democratic lawmakers should pass the war-funding bill with the following law or constitutional amendment: 

Elected officials who support sending soldiers to war or be stationed in battlefront must each send one of their family members between the age of 18 and 49 to the battlefront as well until the war ends. 

Time has come for the President and his supporters to encourage their children to join the 140,000 plus Americans to fight the war they persist on worth sustaining. If the war is worth fighting, then it must be worth fighting with the children of those with the power to take the nation to war as well.  

American voters want a change of direction on Iraq, and they made this clear in last November’s election when they gave the Democrats both houses of Congress. They want the U.S. to start disengaging from Iraq and bring our troops home. It is not that the anti-war activists want President Bush or Iraq to fail. The reality is sectarian violence in that country, driven by century-old tribal feuds and religious hatred, is beyond U.S. control. It is not worth sacrificing any more American lives than the 3,300 we have already loss.  

The question of whether it is worth it is not referring to the cause, but to “who is willing to die for that cause,” as Dr. Charles Moskos, world’s renowned military sociologist and professor emeritus at Northwestern University, wrote in an article on “what ails the all-volunteer force” in the summer 2001 edition of Parameters, the U.S. Army’s Senior Professional Journal: 

“Only when the privileged classes perform military service does the country define the cause as worth young people’s blood. Only when such youth are on the firing line do war losses become more acceptable…Citizens accept hardships only when their leadership is viewed as self-sacrificing.” 

The proposed constitutional amendment will put to rest the question: is it worth it? If the war is worth continue fighting for, as President Bush and his Republican guards insist it is, then surely they would agree that it is worth fighting with their children. What better way to back their conviction then for the Republican political leaders to encourage their patriotic children to serve the nation for the cause that they profoundly believe in?  

It is important to note that the amendment proposed above is not a draft, but an alignment of the interests of those with the power to take the nation to war, with the interests of those who have to sacrifice for the war. By passing the amendment, President Bush and Congress confirm to the one million Americans who bore all the brunt of the war in the last 4 years, that their sacrifice is genuinely worth it. And America’s true brave hearts and their love ones will no longer be alone in feeling the pain, the loss, the nightmare, the destruction of war—even as we march down the road to perdition.  

With ten of thousands of American soldiers heading to Iraq for the third and fourth times—with a deployment now being 15 months instead of 12—it is clear that America does not have enough troops. The country needs additional heroes and brave hearts, and can use a few privileged, well-educated, and politically connected men and women to protect American interest in Iraq. This proud Union cannot have more fitting soldiers protect its freedom and nurture the young democracy in Iraq than the children of its dedicated political leaders.  

Undoubtedly the children of our political leaders do not necessary have all the skills and experience the Iraq War required, but as the former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld once said, “we go to war with what we have, not what we need.”  

 


Commentary: Prop. 83: A Fatally Flawed Law

By Tim Ronson
Tuesday May 29, 2007

I don’t write to newspapers—ever. I can’t remain silent any longer, however. I’m compelled to protest against the implementation of a well-intentioned but poorly though tout law, Prop 83. Let me first say that I have absolutely no sympathy for the class of sex offender that I believe this law was aimed at, the very disturbed molesters of young children. Those who rape, torture and damage these innocent, trusting children and are eventually “cured” and released should never be trusted again ever.  

I’m concerned about the draconian aspects of 83. As I understand it, all people convicted as a sexual offender are subject to the same restrictions upon release. These include: wearing a GPS locator for life, severe restrictions upon where they may live and work, prohibitions against visiting any residence where children may be present (including their own), possibly having to report where they are working on a Megan’s List, and having the curfew of a middle school student (9-10 p.m.).  

These are fit and justified for the extremely disturbed individuals I just mentioned, but not all sexual offenders fall into that category. There is a class of sexual offender who in a weak or vulnerable moment stepped over the line and got involved with a 16- or 17-year-old. They know it was wrong. They would never do it again. It is an error in judgment that cost them their career, their friends, years in jail and in many cases their families. Under the present law their chance to once again become a contributing member of society is very small. It is virtually impossible to find an affordable place to live that is at least 1/2 mile from schools or parks or any other place children are likely to congregate. There are offenders in Florida who have been forced into living under a highway overpass as a last resort. What employer would want it known that he has chosen to give such a person a place to work? Finally, there is the matter of the GPS bracelet FOR LIFE. It is a modern scarlet letter, almost a reincarnation of the armbands worn by the Jews under Hitler. This kind of punishment is not justified for the mistake for which this class of sexual offender has been found guilty. They are not likely to repeat the kind of mistake for which they have already paid a very stiff price. What is likely to happen is that they will be backed into such a corner economically and socially that they will become a drain on society or a threat to it. In such a case we will either be supporting them on welfare or in prison. We will need even more taxes to pay for even more prisons. Maybe that’s what the governor has in mind. Why don’t we just buy an island for all of our sexual offenders? We could call it Devils Island. Oh wait, I think that’s been done.  

If the people really want to implement a law such as this one, the only just way to do it is with a tiered sexual offender structure. This scale of punishment should be applied to the most severe of these cases. Multiple “mistakes” of the kind I mentioned should also be subjected a higher degree of monitoring. People who have truly chosen poorly in a weak and vulnerable moment need to be given the chance to re-establish themselves in society.  

In my professional life I am an engineer. We are trained to see the world as it really is. We live in the realm of facts, analysis and logic. As it stands Prop 83 is not addressing the facts. It is not logical. Most of all it is not justice. It can work if we rewrite it. It will be tragic if we don’t.  

 

Tim Ronson is a Sunnyvale resident.


Letters to the Editor

Friday May 25, 2007

LAWN FURNITURE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I just read your piece about how the city of Berkeley has put out for several dumpsters for students to put their furniture as they move out. While this has its advantages for the reasons you’ve mentioned, you missed out on a key point: recycling. This program blindly trashes all furniture with the threat of getting fined for leaving something on the sidewalk; however, with students moving out, there are other students moving in, and many of these students rely on free, previously-used furniture to decorate their new apartment or house. I, myself, have used these “services” for all three years I have been a student here. While the program instituted by the city of Berkeley eliminates littering and alleviates the headaches of the cranky Berkeley elderly, the fact that it completely prevents recycling may, in fact, make it more wasteful than not having the program in the first place. I am writing this because I feel this is a key point that you should address on this topic—not only that, but it is a key point that should be made aware to the Berkeley City Council, because I feel they are responding to the complaints of Berkeley residents without consideration of the students. 

Noah Grant 

 

• 

GIVE ’EM JOBS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What’s the best way to keep teenagers off the streets, away from drugs and on the road towards success? Give them jobs. Although filing papers for hours or picking up dog excrement may not exactly epitomize success for many of us, this is precisely what the city of Berkeley believes. Several city council members are lobbying for over $400,000 to pay for youth jobs. This comes partially from Mayor Bates’ campaign promise to “create a city that supports…young people” and partially from the fact that Berkeley could employ only 120 of 350 teens looking for summer work last year. More kids in the office (or day camp or McDonald’s), less on the street.  

As a Berkeley teenager, I must agree with them. Obviously, you can’t make drugs or underage drinking any more illegal than they already are, and there are only so many suspensions you can give one loser kid, but helping them reach a position where they must learn responsibility and maturity or face a pay cut, is much more successful. A job inherently teaches lessons a professor, policeperson, or counselor never could. The city council would be doing itself a favor by passing these measures, keeping kids busy and developing the economy of Berkeley. Hell, who else are you going to get to pick up dog crap? 

Emma Floyd 

Oakland 

• 

TREAT THEM WITH RESPECT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was impressed by the article in March in the Daily Planet on the City Council’s new policy on the state of the homeless and loitering. I agree with the initiative to get them into employment, but I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to penalize them for loitering.  

Some would say that the homeless need to be penalized for causing businesses to lose money, making the street less attractive, etc. However it isn’t a good idea to penalize all homeless for this reason unless they are harassing someone. In reality, at this point the homeless really have no other options than to be out on the street. In 2006 Berkeley cut funding for the homeless because of the amount of local churches responding to the crisis. If the homeless are penalized for their condition it will only make matters worse. It must also be taken into consideration that realistically it will be extremely difficult to enforce any policy against loitering because of the many homeless in Berkeley, especially in the downtown area. (It is not likely that many of those in law enforcement would take the time to respond to that kind of call).  

In my opinion, the city should continue their positive efforts such as the ones that will be provided in the City Council’s initiative. Getting the homeless into employment (and hopefully, housing eventually) will make the citizens happier because it will ultimately prove to them that their tax dollars are being spent on things that are of concern to them. Obviously it will be beneficial for the homeless.  

Finally, we should treat the homeless with respect. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, right? 

Kimberlee Cox  

Richmond 

 

• 

A BERKELEY TAX REBELLION? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The recent letters published in the Planet objecting to Berkeley’s high taxes are most interesting, I find, because they don’t necessarily come from conservative writers. My impression is that a good number of progressives in our city share the view that their taxes are being wasted by city officials. Many Berkeleyans are realizing that City Hall, under the influence of wealthy real estate entrepreneurs and developers, has been promoting development projects in our neighborhoods that are detrimental to residents’ quality of life and safety. 

The consequence of this new awareness on the part of citizens across the political spectrum may be the defeat of all future Berkeley ballot proposals to raise taxes. There is a tax rebellion of sorts going on in our city. Almost all of us recognize that taxation can serve the common good. Berkeley has historically used its tax dollars to support some worthwhile causes, and I personally have supported these expenditures for decades. Aware that our lives are bound up with the lives of others far and near, many of us continue to support involvement of our city in the affairs of the state, nation, and planet. Berkeley should, for instance, join with other city governments to change federal priorities, shifting funding away from the military economy to address dire civilian needs. Our tax dollars at the federal level should be used to beat the proverbial swords into plowshares. 

We perceive that our local taxes are being misused too. When residents’ and merchants’ tax dollars are placed in the pockets of special interests, resulting in wasteful, developer-driven, neighborhood-detrimental policies, and when protest against those policies goes unheeded by City Hall, then it’s not surprising that citizens become unwilling to pay additional taxes. 

Raymond Barglow 

Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club 

Berkeley 

 

• 

TAXING SITUATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I concur with Gus Lee’s letter of May 18, “A Taxing Situation.” Berkeley homeowners can’t keep paying increasing taxes to fund huge salaries and benefits for non-emergency staff. 

I recently heard that our City Council voted to give Planning Manager Mark Rhoades a 10 percent salary increase. Would that be the same Mark Rhoades who, according to a letter published in this newspaper in 2003, falsified a document to help Patrick Kennedy secure a few of his millions of dollars in ABAG loans? Those particular millions were used to build the Touriel Building at 2004 University Avenue, one of the ugliest of the Kennedy creations. The letter, entitled “Doyle House” and dated May 6, 2003, can be found in the archives of this publication. 

Ten percent is a hell of a salary increase for someone who seems to be using our tax dollars to work directly for developers, rather than for us. Why would the City Council select this employee for financial favoritism? 

Ed Johnston 

 

• 

GREENING BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your paper does a wonderful job of presenting the current news to our city; in the May 22 edition we were able to read about the mayor’s program to “cut local greenhouse emissions.” Our mayor’s initiatives to “green” Berkeley create a phantasm of the imaginary—Berkeley is Oz, a wonderful place where everyone puts the environment first and it goes without saying, people’s health as well. Unfortunately this is not true.  

Pacific Steel Casting has been polluting Berkeley for over 25 years. Haven’t you smelled it? And let me remind you can smell this polluter up in the hills, on Allston Way, on a lovely Saturday morning as you purchase your organic vegetables, and at the local restaurants that provide down home cooking on San Pablo, and Gilman, and even at REI, another venerable Berkeley institution that makes us feel good about our environment and our values in the world. The smell is there. Yet, worse, much worse, are the hidden pollutants that have been documented and are continuing to be documented (for more information, please go to the West Berkeley Alliance website, as well as the city’s Community Environmental Advisory Commission’s website).  

The good news is the CEAC (Community Environmental Advisory Commission). These dedicated people know that we are not living in an imaginary, ideologically constructed green environment. Pacific Steel Casting is dangerous for our local citizens. Go to any local citizen’s group meeting and hear the citizens speak; yet we, the citizens, are asked to get more data and get more data. 

Most horrific of all is that PSC gets a free ride. (Oh, OK, not entirely free, they do have slapped hands, and fines to pay, but hey, what’s that compared to being given free reign by the mayor and City Council of a green city!). The City Council voted in March based on CEAC recommendations to help clean up PSC. Now, the mayor says that the city won’t act on the CEAC recommendations until PS’s Health Risk Assessment (HRA) is completed. It was due in April and now the state agency, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, is allowing PSC until July to get the report in! What is going on here?! 

PSC constantly and consistently misses its deadlines and gets slapped, gets fined and goes on polluting our neighborhood. Hey, if you missed a deadline at work as many times as PSC has missed its report deadlines, you would be out on the street. 

We, the citizens of Berkeley, demand that the CEAC’s recommendations get funded now! We cannot wait again. I, for one, do not look forward to another summer of staying in doors.  

Meryl Siegal 

 

• 

TELEGRAPH GOODIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Some of the good stuff on and near Telegraph Avenue: 

Peoples’ Park now has beautiful flower and vegetable gardens, lovingly tended. Because it’s sheltered from the winds off the bay, many plants bloom earlier and better than they would have in other locations. 

It’s also a great birding spot. Many bushes have been selected because they are favorites of hummingbirds. Anna’s Hummingbirds live there year round. I’ve seen many warblers, chickadees, plain titmice with their cute little crests, house finches, goldfinches, the ubiquitous rock dove, and more. 

The fourth annual Berkeley World Music Weekend takes place June 2 and 3, noon to 9 p.m., various locations, free! Schedule of great music is at www.berkeleyworldmusic.org and www.telegraphlive.com. 

Caveat: Loading zones directly on Tele are sometimes enforced on Sunday. You can contact the city if, like me, you think this is pointless and silly, or a great idea. 

Enjoy the art, music, interesting people, flowers, birds, shops, coffee, food! 

Ruth Bird 

 

• 

STEVE BARTON MUST GO! 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Does the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, the police and the merchants on Telegraph Avenue think the Berkeley City Council is on their side regarding reduction of homelessness and begging? In what may be the worst tenant eviction scandal in Berkeley’s history, the city is preparing to put 750 households consisting of possibly 1,000 or more elderly, disabled (including veterans) Berkeley citizens on the street this year. This is done by secretly giving the funds HUD provides for poor Section 8 folk to developers instead. In Berkeley Housing meetings, which are now called “special” meetings and are held at 5 or 6 p.m. before City Council meetings, most of the City Council has been giving away Berkeley citizens’ homes to the highest bidder.  

The developers promise “affordable” housing, but the joke is that in Berkeley the definition of affordable is: You must make $60,000 a year. Debra Ward, Assistant Manager of Berkeley’s Section 8 Housing promises a 2007 $60 a month rent increase for disabled, veterans and elderly living in one bedroom units, and a $50 a month raise for those living in studios. Other members of the housing authority sadly back her up, as they must follow the incompetence of Berkeley Housing Director Steve Barton and City Manager Phil Kamlarz as they pant after developers’ money. While this is against state and city law, most of the City Council continues to give only minimal funds and lip service to the homeless cause. So that people will not see which hand is taking away citizens’ homes, the City Council is setting up a shell “housing” group that includes at least two tenant rubber stampers. In practice, the City Council majority is the direct cause of the coming tidal wave of Berkeley homelessness by failing to use HUD or Housing Fund monies for the purpose they were intended.  

Steven Yee 

Berkeley Citizens for Fair Housing  

 

• 

HOUSING AUTHORITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Many thanks to the Berkeley Daily Planet for running the recent commentary I wrote about the Berkeley Housing Authority! I can only hope that all the attention they are getting lately, will finally put enough pressure on the city to produce the results needed to get that agency back on track. It was not my intention to see anyone get fired, although I called for Steve Barton’s resignation a while back. There’s no way that he cannot know what’s been happening in that agency. My opinion... 

Lynda Carson 

 

• 

PORT PROTEST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Anti-war protesters marched into the Port of Oakland on Saturday, May 19 and picketed a war profiteer, Stevedoring Services of America (SSA). “The war is for profit—Longshore workers can stop it,” read our signs and banners. We asked the longshoremen to honor our picket line, and they did. One ship sat unloaded at the dock, and two more ships waited in the harbor. Cargo did not move that day. Themes and issues of the action were: Stop the shipping of war material; bring the troops home now, and give them the healthcare they need; Port money for schools and social services. It was at this very same SSA Terminal that protesters and longshoremen were attacked by police four years ago, on April 7, 2003, when 59 people were injured. Fortunately, this time all went well, and the war profiteer was successfully shut down for two shifts. This does not happen often—not every year, not every decade. Possibly not even during the war in Vietnam. It was more than just another major news story; it was an historical event. Several TV and radio stations reported it, but most of the print media somehow missed it. 

Daniel Borgström 

Oakland 

 

• 

ARNOLD IS GREEN? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Green with cash, that is. Dirty oil money is behind the Terminator’s slick efforts to terminate high-speed rail. Chevron has greased his palms with large reelection contributions. Chevron spent millions to defeat the 2006 ballot proposition on clean alternative energy. Throw in another $2 million in other campaign contributions from other oil companies. The governor’s office has become like a cash register at a gas station—money comes in from the oil companies and out of the pump comes policies against clean air and energy independence. 

Schwarzenegger is a gasoholic. The cure will require throwing out the office cash register, selling the six Humvees, and getting new friends. The road to recovery is lined with rail. High-speed rail. California’s first, state-wide, public transit system will unclog freeways, halve travel time from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and help clean the air. 

Arnold’s first step is to recognize he has an oil abuse problem. Next, become a Friend of Al’s (as in Al Gore). Join the Sacramento chapter of Gasoholics Anonymous. Wash the dirty oil money by supporting high-speed rail. Don’t be in denial about the last best hope for California public transit. 

Paul Page 

San Francisco 

 

• 

MEASURE A 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It pains me to witness the vitriol that is rapidly becoming the agenda on both sides of the pro and con arguments relating to the issue of Measure A. It is dividing the citizenry in a very unhealthy way.  

It needs to be clearly understood that all of us who favor retaining Measure A act solely for the current preservation of our Treasured Island. That is our only agenda. We are not paid or subsidized nor influenced by any outside pressure. 

In my view, the proponents of striking down or revising this Alameda City Charter Amendment are misguided and, in many cases, influenced by the corporate culture and real estate factions involved in that attempt. I have never bought the ‘affordable housing’ ploy and never will. I view that to be obviously phony. The future of Alameda is at stake.  

I implore the Planning Board, City Council and city staff take some serious unbiased time to thoroughly investigate who/what precisely is behind the anti-A movement. I find their documentaries lacking in forthright disclosures, We need some honesty in that respect. 

One example—I am suspect of HOMES. My logical side prompts me to ask, who/what is dollar-backing them and certain other anti-Measure A antagonists? Furthermore I have witnessed backing of the Sierra Club siding w/the Anti Measure A discussion. That, to me is a mind boggler! Is not that organization pledged to preserving what’s left of the Bay Area? 

We need clarification and honest disclosure as to backing of the these factions that appear to be adamantly determined to either strike down or revise/alter Measure A. Alameda Point is being used by those entities to covertly strike down Measure A for that particular area. Lookout! It won’t stop there.  

Margie Joyce 

Alameda 

 

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GLOBAL CHILD SURVIVAL ACT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The U.S. Commitment to Global Child Survival Act was introduced in the House and Senate. This bill promotes the use of effective, affordable preventative measures such as immunization, antibiotics, clean drinking water and vitamin supplements, which would save the lives of those almost 30,000 children under age 5 die who die each day from preventable, treatable diseases, such as diarrhea, pneumonia and measles. 

In addition, our leaders introduced the Education for All Act, which would expand access to education by training teachers, building infrastructure, promoting life skills training as well as supporting initiatives that reach the most disadvantaged populations, like the almost 77 million children worldwide who lack access to basic education up to the sixth grade. Some children, in our own county, go un- or under-educated. 

Every child deserves to live. Every child deserves an education. Every member of Congress should hear from us on these issues. I hope that all of us will visit ONE.org to learn more about why these bills are important, and then write or call our representatives and encourage them to support these important bills. 

Rev. Gregory Schaefer 

 

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NO LOGICAL THREAD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Poor Mr. Tratner hopelessly perplexes himself trying to find a logical thread in Becky O’Malley’s May 18 editorial (“Rude, Crude and in Your Face”) which concludes with a seemingly incongruous reference to Israel. Put simply, the state of Israel and the so-called Zionist lobby in the United States, what Pat Buchanan, David Duke and Joanna Graham regularly denounce as its “Amen corner,” are to the Berkeley Daily Planet what the destruction of ancient Carthage once was to Cato the Censor in his speeches before the Roman senate. All his speeches ended on the same tiresome, redundant theme, no matter what the nominal topic at hand. But perhaps the most cogent comparison of all is that Israel represents to Becky O’Malley what Chief Inspector Clouseau did to former Chief Inspector Dreyfuss? Does anyone recall one of the Clouseau films which ends with Dreyfuss sequestered in a white padded cell in a straightjacket, eye furiously twitching, lying on his back with a crayon perched between his bare toes painstakingly scrawling on the padded wall the name “Clouseau”? For her sake, with her dotage clearly approaching, I hope a similar fate does not await Ms. O’Malley! Perhaps it’s not too late to get help? Modern psychopharmacology offers many miracles (and not every local psychiatrist is a “Zionist”!). Please check with your insurance carrier (who might well be a “Zionist”) to see if you qualify for a negotiated rate. 

Edna Spector 

 


Letters: Save Yassir Chadly’s Job!

Friday May 25, 2007

EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES OF BERKELEY DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m writing to make you aware of a situation that is happening in Berkeley and perhaps should be the subject of investigative reporting. 

Yassir Chadly, head lifeguard for the Berkeley city pools, has worked for the City of Berkeley for 17 years and now that he has reached the age of 53 his hours are being reduced and he will lose his health benefits and his retirement benefits. It would be interesting to know if this is how the City of Berkeley treats its long term aging employees. 

Yassir is well liked by all the people who use the pools—seniors, master swimmers, lap swimmers, children, etc. It would be terrible to lose this well loved employee but worse to find out the City of Berkeley has the policy of trying to get rid of its older employees. 

Alice Scheelar 

 

• 

VALUED EMPLOYEE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Yassir Chadly has been a valued employee of the City of Berkeley for 17 years. As a head lifeguard at the city’s pools, he manages a great deal of responsibility, as well as welcoming the people who come to swim. It is Yassir who transforms lap swimming into community. He greets us, knows us by name, and finds us a place to swim when the pool is busy. He cares about us. He creates community. The lap swimmers love him. The senior aerobics class loves him. Come watch and hear the seniors laugh for an hour as Yassir leads them in water aerobics with his inimitable sense of humor and Middle Eastern music. The kids love him too.  

The decision to remove him from his position, turn him into a temporary worker, and remove his health benefits is a travesty. This is a mature man with a family. He does an excellent job. This is not a college student who is heading to a more highly paid future. Who made this disastrous decision? What were they thinking? 

Building a warm community of healthy people is what Yassir does. Making Berkeley a better, happier place to live is what Yassir does. Yassir should be reinstated in the position he has had, with full benefits. The mayor and councilmembers can show Berkeley’s citizens that Berkeley does care about our health and happiness and community spirit, and about its highly valued employees, especially Yassir Chadly. 

Sally Nelson 

 

• 

SAVING CHADLY’S JOB 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

My wife and I have swam in Berkeley public pools for 19 years. We have just heard about the city’s firing of Yassir Chadly, a beloved life-guard at the city’s public pools. Yassir has greeted us for most of these years each early morning we arrive bleary-eyed to swim. It is through his ministrations—greetings, wisdom through advice, matching of swimmers in lanes, introducing folks to each other—that swimming at a city pool is transformed into an experience of community building. 

This soul of a man is an asset to the city; dare I say a living treasure to all he whose lives he touches each day at the pool. 

I managed large public sector R&D projects for 25 years. People (not ideas, technologies whatever per se) are the core to the success of any such enterprise. Pay for the right person, encourage and build around their skills, and the swimmers will come. Thus, Mr. Chadly’s incredible influence on the city’s swim programs. 

Mayor Bates and Councilmembers, reverse this travesty of a decision to fire Yassir Chadly. 

Peter Seidman and Bonnie Benard 

 

• 

SERVES GENEROUSLY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The City of Berkeley swimming pools need lifeguard Yassir Chadly, who has for the past 17 years cheerfully, determinedly, and faithfully held together a chaotically administered public aquatics program. Cutting his position in order to save the cost of health benefits is wrong.  

Yassir’s humor, warm greetings, and knack for knowing who will be good lane partners are just the tip of the iceberg. His respect and sociability toward each individual, child or adult, who enters, permeates the swim experience. His work to make the pools centers of health and harmony ripples out to the entire community. 

Yassir serves the public generously, creatively, and responsibly. If city budget managers were more like Yassir, we wouldn’t have to write letters like this. 

Gael Alcock 

 

• 

COMMUNITY-BUILDING  

CHARACTER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I write to support Yassir Chadly, an employee of City of Berkeley Aquatics Department for the past 17 years. Apparently, on June 15, his position will be reduced from half-time with medical benefits to hourly without medical benefits.  

Yassir’s welcoming community-building character as well as his pool safety knowledge and gentile management of lap swimmers, master’s swimmers, children, and us folks over 55 cannot be replaced. His senior aerobics classes promote health through stamina, cardio, bone and strength building exercises; relaxation; and a joyful sense of community to those who participate. 

I feel that it makes more sense to promote him than demote him. However at least continuing his medical benefits would be a kinder, gentler way to go. 

Mary B. Moorhead, MS, LMFT 

Elder Care Consultant 

 

• 

KEEP CHADLY ON STAFF 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have patronized Berkeley pools since 1984, which has enabled me to observe the job performance of many lifeguards. Currently, Yassir is the only lifeguard who knows the ins and outs of all pools, performs optimally, has relationships with all swimmers, understands and cares about our needs, and goes the extra mile for consumers. While other staff are content to do the minimum, Yassir is conscientious, takes initiative on thing like cleanliness and efficiency, sets an example for younger lifeguards, and motivates them to maintain the pools and their surrounds. He’s the only lifeguard who, on his own initiative, takes out a screen and cleans the pool. 

Today I swam at Willard for the first time this year, having been turned away daily due to operational problems, which still exist. When I arrived, I pointed out to the lifeguard a homeless person sleeping bag at the entrance, who was still there when I left. The lifeguard tried to dissuade me from swimming, stating that the pool was dirty. Yassir would have cleaned it; this lifeguard didn’t. Yassir would have had the sleeping person removed, aware that many swimmers don’t use Willard because they don’t want to walk over bodies on their way in. Yassir is the go-to guy for problems. He doesn’t pass the buck and is committed to customer service. His pleasant demeanor and sense of humor provide a high quality environment for both pool users and staff. He has managed our pools in the past, will manage King Pool’s summer program without medical benefits (outrageous!), and already acts in a supervisorial role day to day, supervising staff who respect and admire him. He is very intelligent, learns quickly, and can easily be trained to perform tasks required of the supervisor position. 

This decision cannot stand or Berkeley will lose the Aquatics program’s most valuable asset. I have run my own business for 40 years, and Yassir Chadly would be for me the ideal employee. He brings honor to the City of Berkeley, and it’s a shame that, rather than being appreciated, he is being forced out. That will be a great loss for all of us. 

Marcy McGaugh 

 


Commentary: The Housing Scandal: A Perfect Storm

By David M. Wilson
Friday May 25, 2007

In separate reports, City Manager Phil Kamlarz and City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque have found gross incompetence, if not fraud, in the Berkeley Housing Authority. BHA manages a budget of $25,000,000 per year. This is supposed to provide subsidized housing for nearly 1900 needy families. The truth, as reported in the Daily Planet on May 22, is that in too many cases the money goes to ineligible persons, and even to people who are long dead. Finding “egregious violations” of federal rules, and active employee resistance to reform, Kamlarz and Albuquerque ask the mayor and City Council to replace themselves as directors of BHA with a set of Mayoral appointees, and to terminate the employment of 13 full time staffers. Strangely (given the alleged misconduct), the fired employees are to be offered equal or better positions elsewhere in the city bureaucracy. The city will kick in another $947,000 to help BHA to “transition” to something different (what exactly is not described). 

At 6 p.m. on May 22, I went to the raucous council meeting that was called to deal with the reports (everyone knows that if Berkeley can’t fix BHA, the feds will). What came out was typical for Berkeley: lots of finger-pointing, and no assumption of responsibility by the likely culprits, who include just about everyone in sight. For example: 

The mayor and council have been the directors of BHA since the beginning. They hire the city manager (Kamlarz) and appoint the housing director (Steve Barton). These two in turn recommend the BHA manager, and supervise his/her performance. While each of the councilmembers said a ritual mea culpa, most of them didn’t really mean it. They said they were “surprised” at the reports, even though they have gotten many similar reports ever since 2002. They criticized the May 22 Planet article as “one-sided,” even though the article is taken almost word for word from the official reports and from interviews with Kamlarz, Barton and other principles. And in the end the council majority promised equal or better jobs (or a full year’s severance pay) to the accused employees regardless of fault. 

The employees, who dominated public comment, complained (with some justification) they were being scapegoated. But many of them were hostile and in-everybody’s-face, and none conceded the slightest possibility of being wrong. If this is how some city workers behave in front of the TV cameras, you can only imagine how they act with their clients, the citizens of Berkeley. And if it is true that the city’s SEIU contracts guarantee continuing jobs for persons found after investigation to be incompetent, we have a far bigger problem than these 13 BHA employees. 

Management seems to get off scot-free. By putting his name on the indictment against the employees, Kamlarz obscures the fact that he himself should be one of the accused. As for Barton, the Planet notes the absence of his name on the latest reports, and quotes him as having been “unaware” of some of the BHA problems. This is strange indeed since Barton himself has been enmeshed in the BHA/HUD fight from the beginning, and on Jan. 17 of last year told the City Council, in writing, of instances of “fraudulent reporting” at BHA. 

Barton does not have the excuse of Kamlarz and the council, i.e. that they are too busy with other matters to pay much attention to BHA. He is not protected by SEIU, and should be fired. As housing director for the city, Barton is responsible not only for BHA’s Section 8 program, but also for the now bankrupt affordable housing trust fund. He is the author of the condominium conversion ordinance which he said would bring the city $4 million a year in added trust funds. Now, nearly two years later, not a single dollar has come in. He continues to resist any reevaluation of Berkeley’s rent control program, which costs $3 million per year but which no longer helps those most in need of help. 

The whole thing reminds us of the Bush administration, which continually blames lowerlings for the gross mistakes of political appointees, and which rewards the people on top with even better jobs than before. Paul Wolfowitz screws up in Iraq. Is he held accountable? No, he’s sent to the World Bank. 

That’s no way to run a country. It’s no way to run Berkeley. 

 

David M. Wilson is a Berkeley resident and landlord.


Commentary: Why We Don’t Impeach the President or Stop the War

By Bill Hamilton
Friday May 25, 2007

There have been many articles on this subject lately. To generalize, it comes down to two very broad reasons. The first is based on the desire for the Democrats to just let the bastard stew in the mess that he created and in the process take the Republicans down with him. The Dems are dreaming of winning back the presidency without having to work very hard. This is probably correct. It insulates the Dems from having to make a courageous stand on principle, an especially odious enterprise for the other corporate dominated party, but, it also makes them culpable for this endless war. This will be the Republican’s defense come next elections: You were with us on this war until it got hard. They have a point. 

The other broad category is the public psychological angle. “The unpleasant truth is that Bush did what a lot of Americans wanted him to. And when it became clear after the fact that Bush had lied about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, it made no sense for those Americans to turn on him. Truth was never their major concern anyway—revenge was.” By this account Bush is merely expressing the public’s base desire to seek revenge and to kick ass. Superficially this is correct, although, the president could have used his bully pulpit to guide the public’s anger and blood lust towards a more constructive end. He did not. In fact, he amplified those public sentiments and pointed them, like a loaded gun, towards a rational and vulnerable target for controlling oil, a very valuable and indispensable commodity for our oil based economy.  

The president, I maintain, is just the kind of John Wayne most “good Americans” hate most of the time but are thankful for when it comes to defending our lifestyle based on cheap oil. Anyone with an ounce of sense knows we are not in Iraq to dispense democracy or to fight the bad guys. We are there to defend our way of life, again, based on cheap oil. It’s not pop psychology. It’s not political machinations. It’s not fighting the evil doers. It’s the oil. We all know this and it corrupts our politics when we don’t admit it. It corrupts our ethics and our will to fight to end this catastrophic war and the presidency that actually had the John Wayne courage to go after this valuable commodity with lies and fake rationales. But, he kind of goofed up in the process. 

Now we are upset because he made a mess of it. He didn’t listen to his generals that said he needed three times the troops to get the job done. He didn’t listen to his CIA about planning for the post invasion period. He used terror not only to inflame the public but to get information from prisoners. He did these things and he decided to jettison important parts of the constitution to get what we want, cheap oil. Neo Conservatives have a way of keeping their eye on the prize and not getting all tangled up in decorum and niceties. Shoot first, ask questions later. We don’t like to see ourselves in this unflattering light. It undermines our self image as a nation. The uncomfortable truth is that we are complicit because of our addiction to oil. 

The question comes down to: Are we as a people willing to forgo our oil based lifestyles in exchange for a sustainable and rational domestic and foreign policy? When the answer is yes we will then be willing to end this war and impeach this president.  

 

Bill Hamilton is a Berkeley resident.


Commentary: People Injured in Pit Bull Attack

By Sally Tarver
Friday May 25, 2007

Residents of the 2400 block of Seventh Street in Berkeley, be warned. A couple of weeks ago my sister’s little poodle, Floy, got her throat ripped out by a neighbor’s pit bull. A young man was walking past our home with this vicious dog on a leash with no muzzle, while Floy was happily romping in her yard. Being a friendly sort, the poodle ran over to greet this dog, and with no warning the pit bull seized her by the throat. There was a terrible struggle, in which my sister’s hand was somewhat mangled. The young man had no idea what to do, so he just kept beating his fist on the dog’s head until it finally relaxed its jaws enough to pull Floy loose. But, oh it was so awful! Her little jaw was crushed and her throat literally tore out. My God, it could have been the little girl who lives across the street! Why didn’t this animal have a muzzle on?! 

The neighbors who saw the attack wanted to call the police, but did not at my sister’s request. My sister still will not report this attack. She at first thought the pit bull was a beloved family pet and feels that the attack was her fault, since (although in her own yard) she didn’t have Floy on a leash. She also did not want to cause a financial hardship to the owner of the dog. However, it turns out that the dog is not a pet. The woman is fostering these pit bulls for a local animal shelter. She cannot possibly know anything about the animals she takes in, except that they were probably abused, or they wouldn’t have wound up in a shelter.  

The woman agreed to pay only a portion of the vet bill, although I don’t understand why she does not feel responsible for the entire bill. My sister is disabled, on a fixed income, with no savings, and her credit rating wrecked by the ex-husband (as am I, so I can’t help much). We must carefully budget our money, and are often forced to skip meals towards the end of the month. This pitt bull attack cost us every penny we had budgeted for the month. We still owe the vet money and have no groceries. Floy now requires a special kind of food (what with having her jaw and throat ripped off), which we cannot afford. Right now we can only feed Floy some bread soaked in milk, because the special food is so expensive. Fortunately, a kind neighbor has offered to purchase a case and bring it over this evening.  

I think that the animal shelters should require their foster volunteers to take some sort of training course teaching them what to do in case of an attack. I also think that this woman needs to walk these dogs herself, and not leave the task to her son or anyone else (unless they too have been trained what to do in such an emergency). The dogs should be muzzled at all times, in case they accidentally get out of the yard. They should absolutely not foster these dogs to people in neighborhoods with children. And, of course, I would also like an apology for all the pain, sorrow, and hardship this highly irresponsible woman has caused.  

 

Sally Tarver is a West Berkeley resident.


Commentary: A Modest Proposal Regarding the Ohlone Dog Park

By Beverly Slapin
Friday May 25, 2007

Despite the many complaints we have heard about its being “stupid,” we commend the City of Berkeley for erecting the 10-foot high self-locking gates at each entrance of the Ohlone Dog Park to prevent unauthorized persons and/or animals from entering the park during the hours in which it is closed. We have several suggestions for further improvements. 

We suggest that the gates be electrified and that its height be extended to cover the perimeter of the park. We further suggest that the entire fence be topped with razor wire to keep out unauthorized persons and/or animals who might be tempted to jump the fence. We suggest that the electrification and razor wire be augmented with klieg lights and a sensitive alarm system to further deter unauthorized persons and/or animals from entering the dog park during the hours in which it is closed. We suggest that the klieg lights and alarm system be mounted on a guard tower, located in the vicinity of the house on the northwest corner of the park. 

We suggest as a further deterrence that there be a moat installed around the inside perimeter of the park, and that this moat be stocked with crocodiles and/or piranhas. We suggest that the crocodiles and/or piranhas be fed with unauthorized animals, such as squirrels and birds, that inhabit the park and/or those annoying little yappy dogs that their owners seem to find endearing. We suggest that warning signs in Braille, at distances two feet apart, be placed in front of the moat. We suggest, as a manifestation of our patriotism in these troubled times (and to demonstrate that Berkeley is not out of touch with the rest of the nation), that American flags be posted on the fence, every two feet or so. We further suggest that the opening of the park each day at 6 a.m. (or 9 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays) be signaled with a rousing call to reveille over a loudspeaker and that “Taps” be played every night at 10 p.m., when the park is officially closed. 

We suggest that only residents of a one-mile area adjacent the Ohlone Dog Park be permitted to exercise their dogs at the dog park. Persons found inside or attempting to enter the dog park who cannot—or will not—produce valid photo identification and a PG&E bill will be considered “illegal aliens” and will be removed from the dog park and have their dogs seized. We suggest that temporary non-resident visitors to the Ohlone Dog Park who reside in the City of Berkeley but not in the one-mile area adjacent to the Ohlone Dog Park be issued green temporary visitor cards and present such cards in lieu of photo identification and a PG&E bill. The aforementioned “green cards” will be issued by the City of Berkeley for a nominal fee and will expire after six months’ use. Residents of areas outside of Berkeley will not be permitted access to the Ohlone Dog Park. 

We suggest that rules and regulations about use and misuse of the Ohlone Dog Park be clearly delineated and posted around the inside perimeter of the dog park, between the moat and the “playing field.” We suggest that these rules and regulations be printed in Braille and in any and all languages that people residing in or visiting the Berkeley-East Bay area might read, write or speak. And Esperanto as well. We suggest that announcement of the Ohlone Dog Park rules and regulations be broadcast, intermittently and at random intervals, over the loudspeaker. 

We suggest that a designated grid be assigned for urination and defection, perhaps around the perimeter of the house at the northwest corner of the park. We further suggest that designated sanitation cans in which “doggy-poo” bags are deposited be placed in this area so that the smell will encourage dogs to “go” only in this designated area. We applaud the large signage warning against “continuous barking” and suggest that the signs be expanded to include growling, showing teeth, jumping on tables, misplaced urination and defecation, inappropriate genital-sniffing and non-consensual humping. 

We suggest that various violations forms, housed in Lucite containers with Braille labels, be posted around the perimeter of the Ohlone Dog Park, so that park visitors can quickly access them as necessary and document any and all violations, such as barking, growling, showing of teeth, jumping on tables, urination and/or defecation outside of the designated area, inappropriate genital sniffing and non-consensual humping. 

When a dog is observed to have committed a violation, such as barking, growling, showing of teeth, jumping on tables, urination and/or defecation outside of the designated area, inappropriate genital-sniffing and non-consensual humping, we suggest that excuses such as “he’s never done that before” or “he never does that at home” not be accepted. In addition, we suggest that owners who admonish their dogs to “play nice” and/or “share” be immediately cited, as will owners who constantly talk to their dogs. 

We suggest that violations boxes, with instructions about what constitute violations and what the penalties are, be attached to each tree. We suggest that a City of Berkeley staff person collect completed violations forms and turn them in to the Berkeley Police Department daily, perhaps right before or after he feeds the crocodiles and/or piranhas with the aforementioned little yappy dogs. 

We suggest that the Berkeley Police Department immediately investigate the case of each dog alleged to have committed a violation of Ohlone Dog Park rules and regulations. We suggest that each offending dog be immediately removed and returned to the country of their breed origin, or, if their breed cannot be determined, euthanized on the premises. (Our research indicates that there has never been a habeas corpus challenge in the courts as to the Constitutional rights of companion animals. However, the City of Berkeley might deem it appropriate to employ legal counsel to research this matter further. But time is of the essence, so they say, and we suggest that these improvements be instituted with the due diligence and efficiency that the City of Berkeley demonstrated in erecting the gates.) 

We believe that the aforementioned improvements to the Ohlone Dog Park will bring increased peace and security to the dog park neighborhood, as well as increase the property value of the neighborhood homes. We therefore believe that the people whose homes border the Ohlone Dog Park would be happy to pay all expenses incurred from these improvements. 

 

Beverly Slapin writes on behalf of the Ohlone Dog Park Association and eight Ohlone Dog Park Commission members who wish to remain anonymous. 


Commentary: Aloha Rachel Rupert

By Winston Burton
Friday May 25, 2007

Some people make things happen. Some people watch things happen. Some people say, “What happened?!” 

 

A ball rolls down a hill because it has no sides or angles and offers no resistance. People on the other hand have many sides and often have to choose sides. It makes us vulnerable! We can be hurt by words and comments as well as by sticks and stones. To me, this past year has been somewhat controversial for the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. Some have accused the Chamber of being mean spirited, divisive and even of engaging in questionable political activity. Perhaps they’ve made questionable decisions and bet on dead horses, but I don’t think that any of this has lead to Rachel Rupert’s decision to step down as executive director of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. Rachel has never been afraid or ashamed of expressing her opinions and names will never hurt her. As one of her staff recently said, “She can get down and dirty if she has to.” I’ve often heard that what’s good for business is good for Berkeley. And I always counter that what’s good for people (including the poor) is good for business and Berkeley as well. One is not exclusive of the other! Here I want to express what Rachel has done that was good for people in general, and me personally. 

When I first started working for BOSS (homeless service provider) I had already successfully run employment and training programs for low income people in Philadelphia Penn., Davenport Iowa, Hayward and Oakland. When I started programs in Berkeley I was somewhat surprised at no matter the good I thought I was doing someone would object. If I found the solution to world hunger and clean air—someone else would say, that’s a bad idea and it could lead to overpopulation! When I started programs in Berkeley, at the end of 1988, I was trying to help homeless people find jobs and become self-sufficient, but unfortunately the businesses, merchants, homeless people and the community at large were on opposite sides, and rarely in agreement.  

Rachel invited me to come to the table (chamber meetings) and present the opinions, needs and issues of poor and homeless people who were trying to become self-sufficient. We often talked, and though on many things we didn’t agree and were often on the opposite sides of the table, I could tell that she was not immune and had personal knowledge of poverty and people in crisis. Regardless of the topic and our many disagreements, we always treated each other with respect. (Look out Rodney King, maybe we can all get along!) She provided a forum where I could represent the issue of the poor to some of the wealthiest and most powerful business owners and landlords in Berkeley as an equal. Eventually she invited me to join the Board of Directors. Some people questioned—and still question—my decision to join the board. They talked about me like a dog! But like Slick Willie Sutton responded when asked why he robbed banks, “That’s where the money is,” and to me the chamber provided access to where the jobs were.  

At one chamber meeting the subject of the Berkeley City Council’s decision to look into who had connection to slavery in America and did business in Berkeley led to several board members commenting that they thought it was amusing and a waste of time. As the great grandson of slaves, I was offended. Not only was Rachel not a part of those who thought this topic humorous, she didn’t come to me later (like some folks did when no one was looking) and apologize, which irritated me even more. Actually she told me, “Winston speak your piece, handle your business.” 

Rachel and I also talked about starting a program that could serve the needs of the homeless, businesses and residents as well. She pointed out the streets were dirty in downtown, even though the city was doing it’s best to keep them clean, and the large amount of graffiti and tagging that was prevalent in the community at the time. She encouraged me to approach the merchants and the city to provide a service that would not only keep the streets clean, but would also remove or prevent graffiti and get homeless people employed. To this day over 400 people have benefited from the programs she helped me develop in 1992—the Clean City Program. Most of the participants are now housed and the program continues to this day. (They wear blue vests.) 

She was a supporter of the MASC (Multi-Agency Support Center), which has provided drop-in services to over a 100 low income people a day (many of them chronically homeless) in downtown Berkeley, when it wasn’t politically correct. Rachel has hired BOSS participants, and is a regular Spiral Gardens patron, a nursery in South Berkeley (Sacramento and Oregon streets) which promotes healthy food and eating, and she regularly donates food and clothing to help seniors and poor people. In addition, as director of the chamber, she gave me many opportunities (at no or reduced cost) to present BOSS’s programs at business showcases held annually, which led to donations and volunteer support. 

I don’t know who the next executive director of the chamber will be, but I hope that like Rachel, they will also invite community based organizations to the table and extend their hand when no one is looking.  

Rachel has sides and will never smoothly roll down the hill. But who wants to—you’ll probably end up in the bay! She has quietly, behind the scenes, helped poor and low-income people reach self-sufficiency. For me, she helped make things happen! 

Aloha! 

 

Winston Burton is an advocate for the homeless and a member of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce Board.


Columns

Wild Neighbors: Getting to Know Your Local Butterflies

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday May 29, 2007

I don’t usually devote this space to book reviews, but I’m making an exception for the latest in UC Press’s California Natural History Guides series: Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions, by Arthur M. Shapiro and Timothy D. Manolis. I know there are a bunch of good butterfly guidebooks out there already: Jeffrey Glassberg’s Butterflies through Binoculars: The West, Jim Brock and Kenn Kaufman’s Butterflies of North America, Paul Opler’s Field Guide to Western Butterflies. Well, make shelf room for the new one. 

Shapiro, who teaches at UC Davis (and is notorious for offering a pitcher of beer to whoever brings in the year’s first butterfly, a prize he tends to collect himself), is responsible for the text. Manolis, author and illustrator of the UC Press dragonfly guide, did the 31 color plates, showing all the variations by sex and season. There’s a hefty introduction to butterfly biology, a section on gardening for butterflies with a plant list, a glossary, a useful bibliography. My only real beef with the book is the absence of range maps. 

Every species gets a detailed account, covering life cycle, larval host plants, distribution, and separation from similar species. That last is especially helpful with the skippers, a confusing complex of small brown jobs that are the Empidonax flycatchers of the butterfly world. You’ll learn nifty words like diapause (a dormant period), multivoltine (having multiple adult emergences in a year), and sphragis (look it up; I’m not about to discuss the sex life of the clodius parnassian in a family publication.) 

Shapiro’s enthusiasm for his subjects is contagious; he makes even the potentially dry stuff like taxonomy and nomenclature engaging. I’ve seen friends open this book at random and laugh out loud. He pulls together a lot of material from the technical literature, much of it new to me. 

For one, there’s the recent study of two lookalike butterflies, the California sister and the Lorquin’s admiral. Really alike: both are dark brown with a broad white diagonal sash across the upper wing surfaces and a bold orange tip to the forewings. I’ve seen speculation for years that the sister was unpalatable to predators, mainly birds, and the admiral mimicked its coloration—a case of Batesian mimicry, named after Darwin’s contemporary Henry Walter Bates, who studied the phenomenon in the Amazon rain forest.  

This made a certain amount of sense: larval sisters eat oak foliage, likely to render them tannic in taste, while larval admirals consume willow leaves. And several of the admiral’s relatives—including the viceroy, which resembles the unpalatable monarch—are known mimics.  

But hard data was lacking. And there was always the possibility that both butterflies tasted bad, and the orange-and-white patterns were mutually reinforcing advertising (a case of Muellerian mimicry.) About six years ago, according to Shapiro, someone asked the birds what they thought. A tasting panel of jays devoured admirals but rejected sisters.  

The Bay Area turns out to be prime territory for butterfly studies.  

We’re at a geographical crossroads, with northern/alpine species like the clodius parnassian in Marin County and semitropical types like the handsome Sonora blue in the South Bay. We have superspecialists: the Lange’s metalmark, which feeds only on naked-stem buckwheat growing in a remnant dune field near Antioch, and other butterflies restricted to serpentine vegetation. We have natives that have shifted hosts, like the anise (or as some purists call it, yampah) swallowtail. We have newcomers like the gulf fritillary, a southeastern butterfly that followed the passionvines west. 

Unfortunately, not all native butterflies have been so adaptable. Manolis illustrates the xerces blue, a former resident of San Francisco’s coastal dunes, although it’s about 66 years too late to see a live one. The Strohbeen’s parnassian of Santa Cruz County hasn’t been observed since Eisenhower was in office. The San Bruno elfin is barely hanging in there. 

Surprises are still possible, though. This, as Shapiro points out, is an area where citizen scientists can make real contributions to the state of knowledge. Patches of serpentine and other specialized habitats remain unexplored: no one has done a butterfly census of Ring Mountain near Tiburon, known for its endemic plants. Life cycle details are undocumented for some species. Shapiro says he has never seen a golden hairstreak visiting a flower, courting, or mating.  

And nets aren’t always necessary. Some butterflies can be cooperative photograph subjects (although others, like the Sara orangetip and its sulphur relatives, never seem to sit still.) Several optics manufacturers offer close-focusing binoculars for butterfly watching.  

I have to admit that butterflies have grown on me over the years; I’ve even reached the point where they can distract me from birds. 

Take Shapiro and Manolis along on your next hike on Mount Diablo and see for yourself.  

I just hope UC Press has somebody working on the moths. 

 

 

Joe Eaton’s “Wild Neighbors” column appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet, alternating with Ron Sullivan’s “Green Neighbors” column on East Bay trees. 

 

Photograph by Ron Sullivan 

A buckeye, one of the most easily recognizable Bay Area butterflies.


Column: Dispatches from the Edge: Deja Vu in Afghanistan; Paraguay Political Challenge

By Conn Hallinan
Friday May 25, 2007

Deja vu all over again? The longer the United States and NATO stay in Afghanistan, the more the place is looking like Vietnam:  

• Body counts. Remember when the United States used to claim things like “250 Vietcong” killed during a firefight, most of whom turned out to be civilians? On April 27 the United States said “more than 130 Taliban” were killed after Special Forces called in air strikes during a two-day battle in western Afghanistan. Except local residents said there were no Taliban in the village and that the dead included many women and children. With U.S. and NATO forces relying more and more on air power, large numbers of civilian casualties are inevitable. 

• Drugs. With the help of the CIA, the U.S.-supported regime in South Vietnam and Laos shipped opium from Laos to Thailand, making the Vietnam War ground zero in the heroin epidemic that gripped Europe and the United States in the late ’60s and early ’70s. For details see “The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia,” and Frontline’s “Guns, Drugs and the CIA.” Well, 2006 was a banner year for opium production in Afghanistan and, according to an investigation by the Financial Times, Afghan government claims that it had eradicated 21,000 hectares of poppies in Kandahar and Helmand provinces “bore little resemblance to reality.” Afghanistan produces 92 percent of the world’s opium.  

• Meaningless battles. Remember the “critical” battles at Khe Sanh and “Hamburger Hill,” where hundreds of Americans and thousands of Vietnamese died? Six weeks after the battles ended, the Vietnamese reclaimed them, and the “critical” clashes disappeared into esoteric military history. The United States has been battling to pacify the Tora Bora region of Eastern Afghanistan, the supposed hiding place of Osama bin Laden. The Russians tried to tame Tora Bora as well, and recently Gen. Victor Yermakov (Ret.), who commanded the Soviet’s 40th Army, commented that he “was very impressed by the Americans. Gaining control of Tora Bora is a great accomplishment. I should know. I did it three times. Unfortunately, the second I turned my back on the place, I needed to conquer it again. It is the same now. It will never change.”  

The rising toll of civilian deaths and the friction created by the on-going occupation led the upper house of the Afghan parliament to demand that the government open ceasefire talks with the Taliban. According to the Independent, the Karazi government has already reached an informal agreement with the insurgent leader and former U.S. ally, Gulbuddin Hikmatayar, that has kept Kabul free from suicide bombers for the past several months.  

Meanwhile, a number of NATO members are having second thoughts about the Afghan adventure. A recent Der Spiegel poll indicates that 57 percent of Germans want to withdraw from Afghanistan. 

Opposition is also on the rise in Canada, where the Conservative government recently beat back a resolution to withdraw troops by 150-134. Canada has suffered more than 50 deaths in Afghanistan—a larger percentage than any other NATO country—and polls indicate increasing unrest among voters. 

Most of the Canadians have been killed by roadside bombs. “It costs a couple of hundred dollars for a bomb,” says Sunil Ram, a professor at the American Military University in West Virginia, “but they can knock out a $3 million or $4 million vehicle, and kill troops that cost millions of dollars to train.” 

Which brings to mind a line about Afghanistan from Kipling’s “Arithmetic of the Frontier:” 

A scrimmage in a border station— 

A canter down some dark defile— 

Two thousand pounds of education 

Drops to a ten-rupee jezail*— 

(*A cheap rifle) 

It’s time to leave. 

 

• • • 

 

Up and comer to watch is Monsignor Fernando Lugo Mendez, a former priest and current frontrunner in the presidential race in Paraguay. Lugo, who is strongly influenced by liberation theology, is trying to dislodge the Colorado Party, which has held power since 1947. The Colorado Party was the backbone of Alfredo Stroesser’s brutal and corrupt dictatorship from 1954 to 1989. 

Lugo’s politics are populist—he calls himself “the bishop of the poor” and says he is “inspired by some elements of socialism.” There is a lot to work with in Paraguay. It has the singular distinction of having the most unequal distribution of land in Latin America. Some One percent of the population owns 77 percent of the land.  

It also plays host to U.S. Army Special Forces, and President George W. Bush recently purchased an enormous ranch close to a military base used by the United States. 

According to Jorge Lara Castro, a political scientist at the Catholic University of Asuncion, the Colorado Party is widely discredited, because it is divided “between those who rule with “unbridled corruption” and those who “administer corrupt practices in a more rational and sustainable way.” 

Lugo’s detractors call him the “Red Bishop” and claim he will align himself with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia.  

Benjamin Dangl, editor of Upsidedownworld.com, who has traveled widely in the area, says “for Paraguay, Lugo is a revolutionary.” Dangl says Lugo could “significantly” change the culture of repression and corruption, but that “he is not Evo Morales or Chavez. He isn’t likely to do too many radical things economically. Perhaps he will be more like Tabare Vasquez of Uruguay.” He says radicals are more “hopeful” than they are “satisfied” with his candidacy. 

Nonetheless, Dangl says, Lugo “is shaking up the establishment big time in a place where the same party has ruled for a long time. So it is big.” 

But taking the presidency will be an uphill battle, because the Colorado Party has joined forces with the Vatican in an effort to torpedo Lugo’s candidacy. Even though Lugo resigned from the priesthood, the Vatican refuses to accept his resignation. That allows the Colorado Party to say he can’t run because the Paraguyan constitution bars ministers of any religion from holding office.  

 

• • • 

 

The little weapons systems that couldn’t. The U.S. Marine Corps will deploy the V-22 Osprey troop carrier in Iraq, despite the aircraft’s troubled record. The ungainly looking craft, a helicopter-airplane hybrid, is designed to carry 24 troops and 20,000 pounds of cargo. However, it has a distressing habit of crashing and killing large numbers of Marines.  

While the Osprey is a disaster in waiting, the eight-wheeled, armored Stryker troop carrier is a current calamity. The vehicles, which carry 11 soldiers and two crew, have been falling to roadside bombs like wheat before the sickle.  

In March, the Second Infantry Division arrived in Baqouba, figuring the 19-ton behemoths, armed with a heavy machine gun and a 105mm cannon, would scare off the insurgents. Instead the Strykers were pounded with machine gun fire, grenades and roadside bombs. Within a few days, the Division had lost five of them.  

So why are weapon systems that don’t work being sent into war? Because Boeing and Bell made $20 billion off of the V-22, and General Dynamics raked in $11 billion on the Stryker. And now the Army and the Marines are pushing for a new Mine Resist and Ambush Protected (MRAPS) armored vehicle. The Pentagon ordered almost 8,000 of them at a cost of $8.4 billion from the International Truck and Engine and an Israeli armor maker. Plans are to order thousands more. 

War may be Hell, but for some, Hell is very profitable.


Garden Variety: Try Not to Poison Your Neighbor’s Baby Food

By Ron Sullivan
Friday May 25, 2007

It’s bug time! The plants in the garden are just starting to thrive and get real leaves; the flowers are midway in their annual sequential display; what was mud is starting to look like future meals.  

But the bugs. They’re here, and they outnumber us. They have diabolical designs on our tomatoes and greens and bouquets, ands some of them are out for blood—and infectious besides. Quick, Henry, the Flit!  

(Ten points if you recognize that; five more if you can name the author.) 

Resist the temptation to bomb the yard, please. Resisting will be better for the rest of the world, and in the long run—not very long either—it will make things easier for you. 

First, it’s a good thing to know your pests. Some of the nastier-looking things on your plants might be your allies. Ladybeetles, in their voracious young stages, look like little black gator things with curved claws up front. Those “claws” can’t pinch you or me, but the youngsters are even better against aphids than their parents.  

Spittlebugs are icky, but not very threatening. They generally have only one generation of kids per year, and that’s what’s making bubbles on plant stems now. If you spray them off with plain water, they’ll land elsewhere sans protective foam and die or get eaten. 

Other plant-eaters abound, of course, but nearly all of them are on someone else’s menu. If you load the pests with esoteric toxins, you’ll not only starve your allies, but poison them—and their children. 

The flush of animal life at this time of year follows closely on the plants’ growth and bloom. Within that animal expansion, predators lay eggs or give birth, hatch or awaken, in time to make the best of their prey’s plenitude.  

Those predators include, for example, birds that eat mostly seeds the rest of the year: finches, sparrows; also nectar specialists like hummingbirds. Everybody feeds their kids bugs; it’s a high-protein diet for fast growth and development. If you want birds, don’t poison the babyfood.  

And of course if you want butterflies, you’re going to have to let the caterpillars chew on the foliage! 

Meanwhile, everything flows downhill and downstream, where the leftover nasties can do in our neighbors. Even the stuff that’s been marketed to replace organophosphates is dangerous; for example, pyrethroids, chemically modeled on natural pyrethrins, can kill aquatic critters, starting with the little amphipods, “scuds,” at the base of the average creek’s foodweb, and are toxic in solution to fish as big as salmon.  

Natural pyrethrins are potent allergens, by the way, so use it with caution if at all. “Natural” does not equal “nontoxic.” 

An alliance called “Our Water Our World” distributes handy wallet folders with the names of some less toxic ingredients to match with what’s on the shelves when you shop. Its website at www.ourwaterourworld.org has references and details and at least one hilarious swarm of similes. Download and print the card from that, or look for it by cash registers in nurseries.  

 

 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in the Planet’s East Bay Home & Real Estate section. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Planet.


About the House: How to Handle a Condo at Forty

By Matt Cantor
Friday May 25, 2007

Woody Allen says “When you're forty, half of you belongs to the past—and when you’re seventy, nearly all of you.” 

We’re all getting older. There’s no nice way to put it. There are benefits to aging, but with time, things and people wear out. It was hard not to think of this today as I looked a condo that was, you might say, “of a certain age.” There was nothing substantially decrepit about the place but there were what we Berkeleyans like to call “issues.” I have issues too. 

The reason this seems noteworthy, at least to my geeky mind, is that I see many of the same set of issues repeatedly, so I’d like to offer some sort of list of the things one might find when looking at a condo of, say 45 years. Now that would be 1962 (was that actually 45 years ago?) 

The things I might note from a condo of this vintage fall roughly into two categories; things that are wearing out (or worn out) and things that we’ve learned from (and improved). 

Let’s start with the latter. One of the things that had just begun to change in 1962 (but not widely or quickly enough to reach every way station) was the use of safety glass. The place I saw today had a sliding glass door in three segments that stretched 11 feet across the boundary with a balcony. 

Should an unwary and marginally clad inhabitant stride blithely through the clean class door, assuming it to be open, they might slice open an artery and terminate their rental agreement on earth. This was so common prior to 1961 that the building codes, followed eventually by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, began mandating the use of safety glass in glass doors. Shower doors have also taken a huge toll and even today, over 300,000 a year suffer some sort of injury involving non-safety glass. 

If shower doors have not been replaced, I’ll often see original (and dangerous) glass doors in a condo of this age (and, of course, other housing types as well). By the way, don’t be too quick to dismiss this danger. Only about 300 people a year die from electrocution. That is 1/1000 of the number of people harmed (sometimes killed) by non-safety glass. 

If you’re buying a place of this era, look for the “bug” or fused emblem in the corner of the glass and if you don’t see it, replace the glass. This should also apply to glass that’s near the floor (say, 18”) or next to a door. 

Another thing that has changed, and was common in this time period, is the practice of placing electrical panels in closets. We get more fires and also put electricians and service personnel more at risk when breaker or fuse panels are installed in closets. When they’re worn out, which is certainly the case with a 45 year old breaker panel, they should be relocated to a space that’s got good clearance, say 30” wide and 3’ in front. This is roughly what modern codes call for. 

Again, this is less likely to result in fire (sparks and flames can actually shoot out of a panel and set clothing and storable ablaze!) and also provides for a safe “ejector-seat” distance in front of a panel. It may sound shocking (I didn’t really mean to say that) but when working on a panel, you might actually be thrown from the panel by contact with hot wires but if that same person is bunched up in a closet trying to work on the same panel, it is harder to detach and you can get “locked-on” and expire in this inauspicious manner. They’ll have to lie about how you died. 

Breaker panels that are this old are no longer reliable. Period. I don’t care what anyone tells you. A breaker is an electro-mechanical device on which your life and property rest. That’s a big job and not suitable for something that is both seriously worn and also of primitive make. See, breakers have not been around all that long. A breaker that is 45 years old is essentially a prototype. They came into common use in the 1950’s (though they had been invented in Germany in the late 1930’s, so by 1962 we were still figuring out a lot about how to make these work properly. So, it’s probably best to replace any panels that are this old. I use 40 years as my standard although there is, sadly, no industry standard for the replacement age of circuit breakers (shouldn’t there be?) 

By the way, I always seek an opportunity to mention our most notorious of electrical devices, the Federal Pacific Stab-Loc Load Center and it’s wonderful trip-proof breakers. Depending on which of the many documents and opinions you can find on the web, these are either wholly unreliable or just largely unreliable. In either case, I wouldn’t keep one in my house or apartment building for a nanosecond longer than absolutely necessary. 

This begs a further question (actually two) for condo owners. The first is, what about the other 11 panels in the building? And the other is “How many people can you kill with your bad panel?” The latter question actually applies to all manner of fire hazards. When we live clustered in condos or apartment buildings, it is far more important to minimize possible causes of fire since so many more people are depending upon it. This is one of the reasons that fire codes are so much more stringent for multi-family dwelling. You’re more apt to see fire sprinklers (saw them today), fire hoses (yep, saw them too), and hard-wired smoke or detectors (nope, didn’t see ‘em). 

The former question regarding your 45-year-old Federal Pacific panel should really be a question for the home owner’s association and I genuinely urge those of you who own condos to take charge of your HOA and steer the ship to safe shores by replacing all the old panels in the building, not just the one in your unit, for what good is your good deed if it is overwhelmed by the inertia of the many. 

One thing I’d like to add that isn’t exactly chronologically authentic to this article is the issue of aluminum wiring. Houses and especially apartment buildings between 65 and 73 years old (mostly but not exactly) often have aluminum small-branch wiring and, while I’ll save the long spiel, this should always be identified and referred to an electrician familiar with the problem. Aluminum small-branch wiring is really, seriously dangerous. 

The last item I saw at my condo today was a very worn-out furnace. Here’s my old furnace rap: It’s getting a little tired but I’ll take it out for a spin just so you can see just how droll I get. 

An old furnace is like a Model T Ford. Now, you may own a Model T and it might be in good working order and all but taking it out on the freeway is a bit crazy. A modern car has air-bags, anti-lock brakes, side walls that crumple and a plethora of safety features that came about as a result of years of advances. 

Your 45-year-old furnace (or your 80-year-old furnace) is like the Model T. Yes, it may still be running and it might even be free from obvious signs of leakage of flue gases into the air supply but there are all those other issues (including efficiency) that make the new furnace well worth the money. 

My other favorite saw is that you wouldn’t keep riding on brakes that hadn’t been serviced in 10 years. Brakes need servicing because your life depends on them. Circuit breakers, furnaces, water heaters and all mechanical devices are like this. New ones keep getting safer (as a rule) and old ones keep getting … older.  

Condos have many advances. They’re greener, because we live in clusters with less surface area per square foot of living area (meaning less energy required to heat or cool) and less construction cost per person. They’re also less of a gamble to own because we share the cost of a roof or a paint job. It’s very socialistic. You also don’t have to concern yourself with gardening if it’s not your thing. On the whole, there are very good reasons to go condo. Just remember that you’re clustered, for better and for worse. Sound issues and smell issues often arise in condos and fire safety is amplified.  

Aging has benefits and old buildings certainly win on charm and often on space and flow but as someone said “aging isn’t for sissies” and this surely applies as well to our homes as it does to our selves. 

 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor at mgcantor@pacbell.net.


Quake Tip of the Week

By Larry Guillot
Friday May 25, 2007

Bad Advice From PG&E? 

 

It’s no secret: PG&E doesn’t like automatic gas shut-off valves. I’m sure they don’t want your house to go up in flames, but many PG&E employees are advising people not to have valves installed because they claim the values activate at the slightest shake (they even say a garbage truck going down the street will set them off). This is not true! 

Many years ago, the first automatic gas shut-off valves were calibrated too low, and would activate at around a 3.6 quake. So PG&E had a lot of nuisance calls from folks wanting their pilots re-lit after mild quakes.  

The people at PG&E are not stupid—they undoubtedly know that the current valves are set to activate at around 5.2, which is very serious shaking. We invite them to do the right thing and start encouraging people to make their homes safer with automatic gas shut-off valves. 

Wishing you a safe home and peace of mind. 

 

 

Larry Guillot is the owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing, and gas shut-off valve installation service. Contact him at 510-558-3299 or visit QuakePrepare.com to receive semi-monthly quake safety reports. Quake Tip appears weekly in Home & Garden. 


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Tuesday May 29, 2007

TUESDAY, MAY 29 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Painting to Live: Art from Okinawa’s Nishimui Artist Society, 1948-1950” opens at the IEAS Gallery, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Floor. 642-2809. 

Pinocchio Florentine Art Show Art created by Roberto Ciabani through May 31 at Cafe Expresso Roma, 1549 Hopkins St. 526-8736. 

FILM 

BALLE Film Festival “Manufactured Landscapes” on China’s industrial revolution at 6 p.m. and “The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil” at 8:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $10-$15. www.livingeconomies.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tell on on Tuesdays Storytelling with Margery Kreitman, Zoe Sheli Sameth, Dana Chernack and Jeff Byers at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Cost is $8-$12 sliding scale. www.juiamorgan.org 

Paul Hawken discusses “Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw it Coming” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley. Suggested donation $5-$10. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Motordude Zydeco at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Randy Craig Trio at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

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

WEDNESDAY, MAY 30 

FILM 

BALLE Film Festival “Everything’s Cool” on addressing global warming at 6 p.m. and “A Drop of Life” on clean drinking water at 8:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $10-$15. www.livingeconomies.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Paul Duchscherer, author of many books on Arts & Crafts homes, on “Beyond the Bungalow” at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $20. 848-4288. 

David Corbett reads from his new novel “Blood of Paradise” set in present-day El Salvador, at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Sherman Alexie reads from his new novel “Flight” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley. 559-9500. 

Jewish Writers in the Bay Area with Gina Rose-Halpern at 7:30 p.m. at the JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $10-$20. 465-3935. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Trombonga with Jeffrey Carter, Marcus Bell, Pat Mullan and Curtiss Mays at 12:15 at Berkeley Arts Festival, 2323 Shattuck Ave. www.berkeleyartsfestival.org 

Del Sol String Quartet “Umbilical Chords: Women Composers & the Creative Process” Compositions by Kui Dong, Linda Catlin Smith, Teresa Carreño, Sally Beamish, Ruth Crawford, Mark Fish at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $7-$20. 415-374-0074.  

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

Kusun Ensemble at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. Ghanian dance workshop at 7:30 p.m. for $8. 525-5054.  

Orquestra Candela at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Alexis Harte at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Klez-x and Davka at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

THURSDAY, MAY 31 

THEATER 

Berkeley High School “Schoolgirl Figure” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Benefits the Eating Disorders Program at the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University. Tickets are $6-$12. 236-1620. ShiftTheatre@aol.com 

FILM 

8th Annual Berkeley High School Film Festival with music videos, animation, documentary and experimental works from students at Berkeley High School at 7 p.m. at the Florence Schwimley Little Theater, Allston between Milvia and MLK. Tickets are $5-$10. 

“Long Train Running: The Story of the Oakland Blues” A documentary presented by Oaklandish at 9 p.m. at the Parkway Speakeasy Theater, 1834 Park Blvd. Oakland. Cost is $6. 962-5044. www.oaklandish.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michele Simon describes “Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Arnie Passman reads from “Scherzofrenia” at 8 p.m. at The Book Zoo, 6395 Telegraph Ave, near Alcatraz, Oakland. 654-BOOK. 

J. Ruth Gendler reads from “Notes on the Need for Beauty: An Intimate Look at an Essential Quality” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500.  

“Kosher Hollywood: Jews, Food, and Film” with Alisa Braun at 6:30 p.m. at the Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Tickets are $6-$8. 549-6950.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School Jazz Band Fundraiser Concert at 7:30 p.m. at 1781 Rose St. Free, but donations benefit the MLK Jazz Band program. 

Pat Nevins and Ragged Glory, Victor Barnes at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $8. All ages show. 525-5054.  

Congolese Dance and Drum Conference A weekend of Central African culture, music, and dance Thurs.-Sat. at Laney College, 900 Fallon Sr. Dance Studio D-100, and Sun. at MCC, 1428 Alice St., Studio A, Oakland. Cost is $15-$20 per workshop. 368-2475. www. 

youmustdance.blogspot.com 

In the Steel of the Night: Joe Goldmark and the Seducers at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761.  

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

The Wiggle Wagons, Uncle Monk, Lariats of Fire at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082 . 

The Dilettantes, The Mania, The Countless Others at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100.  

Selector: DJ Riddm at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 1 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “The Last Five Years” Fri and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 1409 High St., Alameda, through June 10. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley High School “Schoolgirl Figure” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Benefits the Eating Disorders Program at the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University. Tickets are $6-$12. 236-1620. ShiftTheatre@aol.com 

Berkeley Rep “Oliver Twist” at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. through June 24. Tickets are $45-$61. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org  

California Shakespeare Theater “Richard III” at the Bruns Ampitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda, through June 24. Tickets are $15-$60. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

“Dust Storm” the story of the artist Chiura Obata at the Topaz relocation camp in Utah during WWII, at 7 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak at 10th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$10. 238-2200. 

“Laughter with Paul Mooney and the Mooney Twins” Fri.-Sat. at 8 and 10 p.m., Sun. at 8 p.m. at Black Rep, 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $25-$50. 652-2120. 

Shotgun Players “The Cryptogram” Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through June 17. Tickets are $17-$25. For reservations call 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Travelling Jewish Theater “Death of a Salesman” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave., through June 10. Tickets are $15-$44. 1-800-838-3006. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Yosemite Night” Exhibition tour of “Yosemite: Art of an American Icon” at 6 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak at 10th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tom Odegard and John Rowe read their poetry at 7 p.m. at Nefeli Caffe, 1854 Hearst Ave.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Arts Encounters” featuring Faye Carol, John Handy, Kenny Washington with Khalil Shaheed, Richard Howell, Danny Armstrong, Glen Pearson, Ron Belcher, Deszon Claiborne and Babatunde Lea at 8 and 10 p.m. at the Kaiser Center Auditorium, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland. Benefit for the Oakland School for the Arts. Tickets are $25. 478-8896. www.bennubirdbookings.com  

Presidio Ensemble, modernist-classical quintet, at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Ticketsa re $10-$15. www.hillsideclub.org  

Very Be Careful, vallenato dance music, at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568.  

Tanaora Brasil at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ.  

Jolly Gibsons, Headshear, 3-P-O, Mo’Fone and more at 5:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$20. 525-5054.  

Norton Buffalo & Friends at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Star Ledbetter and Lisa Alice at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Godstomper, Magrudergrind, I Object, Noisear at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

Sweet Crude Bill at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Interseed, Burned Beyond Recognition at 7:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Machina Sol at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Spiral Arms, Greenhouse Effect, Dolerada at 9 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $8. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

Lalah Hathaway at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $22-$26. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, JUNE 2 

CHILDREN  

Hanna Banana Children’s folk music at 11 a.m. at Studio Grow, 1235 10th St. 526-9888. 

THEATER 

“Scatter My Red Underwear” Workshop performance by Milta Ortiz on vulnerabilities and struggles of four contemporary women of color at 8 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourd Arts Center, 1428 Alice St. Cos tis $7-$15. www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/4096 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Black/White & Color” Painters and photographer explore color and its absence. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Esteban Sabar Gallery, 480 23rd St., Oakland. 444-7411. www.estebansabar.com 

“The Edge: Where California Culture, Critters and Environment Collide” opens at Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak at 10th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. 

East Bay Open Studios Sat. and Sun. at various studios around the East Bay. For maps see www.proartsgallery.org 

FILM 

Superfest International Disability Film Festival from noon to 5 p.m. and Sun. from 2 to 7 p.m. at Gaia Arts Center, 2120 Allston Way. Tickets are $5-$20 at the door. 845-5576. www.culturedisabilitytalent.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

James Wagner and Suzanne Stein, poets, at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Bay Area Poets Coalition holds an open reading from 3 to 5 p.m. at Strawberry Creek Lodge, 1320 Addison St. Park on the street, not in Lodge parking lot. 527-9905.  

Alan Bern introduces “Waterwalking” poetry at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St.  

Emerson Spartz and Ben Schoen on “What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley World Music Festival Sat. and Sun. from noon to 9 p.m. throughout the Telegraph Ave. district between Bancroft Way and Parker St. 647-3506. 

Gamelan Sekar Jaya at 3 p.m. in the gardens of the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St. at 10th., Oakland. Concert included with museum admission $5-$8. 238-2200.  

Moment’s Notice Improvised music, dance and theater at Western Sky Studio, 2525 8th St. Tickets are $8-$10. 847-1119. 

The Mixers at 9 p.m. at the Baltic Pub, 135 Park Place, Pt. Richmond. Cost is $5. 237-4782. 

Cave Painters at noon at Cafe Zeste, 1250 Addison St. at Bonar, in the Strawberry Creek Park complex. 704-9378. 

La Trova es Mujer with Leticia Servin and Meli Rivera at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $22-$24. 849-2568.  

Quejerema! at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ.  

Tom Rigney, cajun/zydeco at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Jon Roniger and Sentimental Heroine at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Margie Adam at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Laurie Antonioli Group at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Ric Didia & Aireene Espiritu at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Rimshot at 9 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $8. 451-8100.  

The Underworld Opera Co. Circus and Variety Show at 9 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $8. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Mitch Marcus Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Resilience, Tried & True, Trouble Maker at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 3 

THEATER 

“Dust Storm” the story of the artist Chiura Obata at the Topaz relocation camp in Utah during WWII, at 7 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak at 10th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$10. 238-2200. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Reception for Wang Gangfeng, photographer from Shanghai, at 3 p.m. at Alta Galleria, 2980 College Avenue #4. 421-1255. www.AltaGalleria.com 

FILM 

Superfest International Disability Film Festival from 2 to 7 p.m. at Gaia Arts Center, 2120 Allston Way. Tickets are $5-$20 at the door. 845-5576. www.culturedisabilitytalent.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

A Conversation with Peter Selz on Anslem Kiefer’s painting “Die Sieben Himmelspalaste” with Carl Worth at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Muesum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

Wednesday Writers of Oakland “Something That Metters” at 3 p.m. in the Peralta Pavilion of Alta Bates Summit, Second flr Living Room, 450 30th St., Oakland. Donation $10. RSVP to 869-8735. 

“Wars Within and Across Our Borders” Poetry and music at 6:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Open mic follows. Donations of $1-$10. 439-8777. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley World Music Festival from noon to 9 p.m. throughout the Telegraph Ave. district between Bancroft Way and Parker St. 647-3506. 

WomenSing and San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus at 4 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $10-$25. 925-974-9169 www.womensing.org 

Pacific Boychoir Academy Springtime Serenade at 3 p.m. at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, 400 Alcatraz, Oakland. Free. 652-4722. 

Dennis Edwards, pianist, performs music of Gershwin, Miles Davis, and more at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $12-$15. 644-6893. 

Twang Cafe with Val Esway and El Mirage, The Blushin' Roulettes at 7:30 at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $10.  

Missy Raines & the New Hip at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Aleph Null at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Ken Berman Trio at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Don Neely’s Royal Society Jazz Orchestra at 5 and 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $8. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Philips Marine Duo at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Skinlab, The Face of Aggression, Ankla at 8 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146.  

MONDAY, JUNE 4 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Photographs of China and Mongolia” by Berkeley photographer Caroline Johnson, opens at The LightRoom, 2263 Fifth St., Oakland. 649-8111.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Waterwalking” Poetry/dance collaboration with Alan Bern and Lucinda Weaver at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Blue Monday Jam at 9 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100.  

Valerie Bach, world music, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100.  

Bill Charlap at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. 

 

 

 


Arts and Entertainment Around the East Bay

Tuesday May 29, 2007

WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL 

 

Telegraph Avenue blossoms in late spring for the Berkeley World Music Festival on afternoons and evenings this weekend, from Bancroft down to The Village and in People’s Park Saturday, June 2, with music from all over for listening and dancing—and it’s all free. Founder and organizer Gianna Ranuzzi emphasizes that the festival supports both local musicians and international multiethnic consciousness—most of the players, singers and dancers live right here, in the Bay Area. But the scope of the cultures they represent is truly staggering, from Mamadu and Vanessa playing and singing the Mali Blues, to Pusaka Sunda Javanese Gamelan Dejung; Julia Tsitsi dancing Zimbabwe style to Brass Menazeri’s Balkan band; Tito y Su Son de Cuba’s salsa to Mahal’s Filipino fusion; Mo Alileche’s Berber diaspora music and song to the Cajun All-Stars ... and fusion like a traditional Moroccan group with djeridu wizard Stephen Kent of KPFA and the Druid Sisters’ Tea Party (”Celtic Gypsy Tribal Grooves”)—continous music outdoors and in cafes, for two days. See www.berkeleyworldmusic.org.


‘Belefagor’ Opera at San Francisco’s Thick House

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Tuesday May 29, 2007

Belefagor, aka “The Devil Takes a Wife,” Machiavelli’s only novella, about an unfortunate devil who returns to earth and is “suffocated by the sheer social force to conform and consume,” adapted to opera by Lisa Scola Prosek; and an aria from Peter Josheff and Jaime Robles’ work-in-progress based on Dante’s Divine Comedy, will be presented this weekend at the Thick House Theater, 1695 18th St. on San Francisco’s Potrero Hill.  

Belefagor will be conducted by Martha Stoddard, artistic director of the Oakland Civic Opera, with stage direction by Jim Cave, who draws on the physical theatrics of Commedia dell’Arte, featuring a “soft set” by filmmaker Jacob Calouseque, of interactive real-time video composed of original footage shot on location and in studio in Prague: “a ‘soft’ environment” in both large scale and close detail, integrated into the depth of the stage. 

The title role of Belefagor will be sung by tenor Aurelio Viscarra, and will also feature baritone Clifton Romig, sopranos Maria Mikheyenko and Eliza O’Malley, and mezzo-soprano Gar Wai Lee, accompanied by Katrin Wreede (violin), Rachel Condry (bass clarinet) and Alexis Alrich (piano). 

The aria from Francesca’s Complaint, in which the female protagonist from the Paolo and Francesca story from Canto V (“The Whirlwind of Lovers”) of Dante’s Inferno tells Dante and Virgil of their tragic love and murder, will be sung by Eliza O’Malley, for whom it was composed, accompanied on piano by Alexis Alrich. 

The operatization of Belefagor came about when Lisa Scola Prosek noticed that the satiric tale, by the famed (and often defamed) political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli “seemed the same as Alberto Moravia’s novel, The Conformist [adapted by Bertolucci for the film of the same name]. In The Conformist, the hero, marrying into a bourgeois family, is oppressed by their need for ostentation, to show off their wealth to others. I was teaching in Marin, and could see the same thing in our society: certain cars to have; certain things, like playing tennis, for children to do ... the social pressure is enormous. And that’s what destroyed Belfagor in Macchiavelli’s Renaissance novella.” 

Prosek discussed Machiavelli’s great influence on Commedia and later forms of low humor: “The Barber of Seville is really the same as Macchiavelli’s play, La Mandragola [The Mandrake].” Her opera is “overall, classic” in form, a kind of “Minimalist Bel Canto. It has arias, an ingenue, a basso buffo, a passionate tenor, both a shrill and a pretty soprano ... vocally, it covers the entire menu of classical opera. And from the overture on, the bass clarinet is the voice of Belfagor.” 

“Everybody wants to deconstruct forms now, but it’s difficult to deconstruct what you don’t know,” she continued, “like deconstructing the human body if you don’t know anatomy. Formal opera isn’t done much now. People want it to be like a musical—and sung in English. I’m bilingual, and the story’s Italian, andthe music cries out for the language. It just can’t be “Baby, baby!’” It’s sung in Italian with supertitles.” 

Francesca’s Complaint is the “first unit” of a “work very much in progress,” a collaboration between composer and clarinetist Peter Josheff and poet Jaime Robles, based on an extension of Dante’s 33 lines in Canto V of the Inferno, when Francesca “approaches Dante and Virgil, telling her story to justify herself as an innocent who doesn’t belong in Hell,” according to Robles. 

(In Dante’s poem, he encounters Paolo and Francesca, who have been killed by her husband, his brother, for their adultery. Francesca tells of how reading together a poem of courtly love sparked love between them.) 

“Eliza will sing the aria that’s from about halfway through the libretto, and is the part closest to Dante,” said Robles. “It’s a rewriting of what’s in those 33 lines. She takes the same stance, yet more contemporary: Words are deceivers, words and stories deceive both listener and speaker. It’s addressed to the audience as well. Francesca denies her own responsibility.” 

In the libretto, that aria is followed by a trio between Dante, the Latin poet Virgil (his guide through Hell) and a figure Robles invented, called Love, with “Dante examining the medieval troubadour stance towards love, Virgil a more classical, pragmatic sense—and the Love figure a more existential take.” From there, the piece changes. 

“Dante kicks it all off, and then the libretto moves into another area altogether,” said Robles. “Dante and Virgil meet Francesca’s husband, Paolo’s brother, buried in ice in the Ninth Circle of Hell, which isn’t treated in the Inferno; it’s talking about war, about families and betrayal, the battle between siblings as the cause of war. I drew from the war journals, some from recent wars, for it.” 

“It’s a chamber opera,” commented Josheff, “All in Jaime’s own words, freely interpreted from Dante, but trying to capture all the emotions in the aftermath of a violent life. Paolo’s brother used him as a surrogate to woo Francesca, a bait and switch game. So Francesca sees herself just as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why is she in Hell? The music tries to capture that poignant sense, of her consciously suffering her fate, trying to work it out in her mind. The opera is for a chamber orchestra, and I’ve been writing in installments as piano pieces. This will be the first time we’ll see Eliza sing from memory and act out Francesca on stage to music. We’ll be able to glimpse what it will all be like, down the road. Exciting for us!” 

 

BELEFAGOR 

8 pm. Friday and Saturday, and 7 p.m. Sunday at the Thick House Theater, 1695 18th St. on San Francisco’s Potrero Hill. $15. (415) 401-8081. www.thickhouse.org.


Books: A Deserter’s Tale of War

By Ying Lee, Special to the Planet
Tuesday May 29, 2007

Joshua Key had enlisted in the Army and boot camp was in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. His trainers told him that “Muslims were responsible for the September 11, 200l, attacks and that the people of Afghanistan were “pieces of shit that all deserved to die.” At different training camps he learned to take orders or be punished, and he learned to beat up fellow soldiers his superiors had decided to discipline. 

This is a thin book, only 231 pages of fairly large type so it should have been read quickly, but it took me days where avoidance was easier to manage than the will power to continue reading. We know from reading about war that it is “brutal.” While in my teens and reading All Quiet on the Western Front or A Farewell to Arms, there was such delicacy in writing about the awfulness of war—it was hinted at and the pain of the soldiers and officers was encapsulated in the term: “battle fatigue.” We non-combatants were protected from knowing what soldiers in battle did, and when the soldiers returned after combat, there was sympathy from those near and dear, and although we could always try to imagine actual harm, we did not know the details. It was assumed that the memories marked the soldier for life and that he would not, could not, talk about them. The Naked and the Dead was more descriptive about invasion and war, but there was nothing about occupying a country. 

Vietnam, television crews and unimbedded photographers and reporters gave us pictures of napalm dropped on civilians, villages being razed by fire with householders still in them—we had stories of suspected Vietcong being dropped from helicopters and the horrors of war became more difficult to avoid. Post-war traumatic stress disorder was beginning to be described. 

Now we have the details, a book, a deserter’s story as told to a Canadian journalist and writer. It is a simple story told simply: of how our soldiers in Iraq (and Afghanistan I would suppose) are trained, what they do as an occupying army, and how war affects them. 

War is not unfamiliar to me. I was a child in Shanghai and Hong Kong in the 1930’s and 40’s who grew up with experience of the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and then the attack on Hong Kong (simultaneous with the attack on Pearl Harbor, Malaysia and the Philippines) and the constant stories of what the Japanese troops did to Chinese civilians: wanton execution of the males and rape, brutalization and execution of the females. At the end of World War II, I learned about the unspeakable cruelty of the Germans (Nazis as I learned later to describe the malefactors of the European wars). 

And I had a contrasting picture of a country with my knowledge of America. I grew up knowing that American values—the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson, the Protestant missionaries who introduced me to clam digging and New England clam chowder and toasted marshmallow in Hong Kong—that American values would not allow rape and brutalization of an occupied people and that American soldiers were under control. 

After all, we all believed that one reason why the Chinese Communist Party was able to succeed in pushing out the corrupt Nationalists, who the U.S. supported, was because the communist soldiers did not rape, did not plunder but helped the farmer plant and harvest and provided medical care.  

Now I have been an American for over 62 years and although I no longer have romances about U.S. history I am nevertheless left breathless by this book. 

Along with the U.S. Constitution, the Nuremberg Principles, and our dutiful paying of federal taxes, all of us should be familiar with this short story. No wonder the war in Iraq is a disastrous failure—no number of troops, no amount of money and rhetoric could possibly make a dent in the way that we are occupying the country and dehumanizing our soldiers and ourselves. 

We are thousands of miles away but the truth is here for us to know about. 

Please read this and let’s do something. 

 

Take a playground 

Fill it full of kids, 

Drop on some napalm 

And barbecue some ribs. 

 

Who can take a shopping mall 

And fill it full of people? 

The sapper daddy can, 

‘Cause he takes a lot of pains 

And makes the hurt go good. 

 

Who can take all the people in the mall 

And chop ‘em up with Uzis? 

The sapper daddy can,  

“Cause he takes a lot of pains 

And makes the hurt go good. 

 

 

THE DESERTER’S TALE 

By Joshua Key, as told to Lawrence Hill 

Atlantic Monthly Press, NY, 2007


Wild Neighbors: Getting to Know Your Local Butterflies

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday May 29, 2007

I don’t usually devote this space to book reviews, but I’m making an exception for the latest in UC Press’s California Natural History Guides series: Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions, by Arthur M. Shapiro and Timothy D. Manolis. I know there are a bunch of good butterfly guidebooks out there already: Jeffrey Glassberg’s Butterflies through Binoculars: The West, Jim Brock and Kenn Kaufman’s Butterflies of North America, Paul Opler’s Field Guide to Western Butterflies. Well, make shelf room for the new one. 

Shapiro, who teaches at UC Davis (and is notorious for offering a pitcher of beer to whoever brings in the year’s first butterfly, a prize he tends to collect himself), is responsible for the text. Manolis, author and illustrator of the UC Press dragonfly guide, did the 31 color plates, showing all the variations by sex and season. There’s a hefty introduction to butterfly biology, a section on gardening for butterflies with a plant list, a glossary, a useful bibliography. My only real beef with the book is the absence of range maps. 

Every species gets a detailed account, covering life cycle, larval host plants, distribution, and separation from similar species. That last is especially helpful with the skippers, a confusing complex of small brown jobs that are the Empidonax flycatchers of the butterfly world. You’ll learn nifty words like diapause (a dormant period), multivoltine (having multiple adult emergences in a year), and sphragis (look it up; I’m not about to discuss the sex life of the clodius parnassian in a family publication.) 

Shapiro’s enthusiasm for his subjects is contagious; he makes even the potentially dry stuff like taxonomy and nomenclature engaging. I’ve seen friends open this book at random and laugh out loud. He pulls together a lot of material from the technical literature, much of it new to me. 

For one, there’s the recent study of two lookalike butterflies, the California sister and the Lorquin’s admiral. Really alike: both are dark brown with a broad white diagonal sash across the upper wing surfaces and a bold orange tip to the forewings. I’ve seen speculation for years that the sister was unpalatable to predators, mainly birds, and the admiral mimicked its coloration—a case of Batesian mimicry, named after Darwin’s contemporary Henry Walter Bates, who studied the phenomenon in the Amazon rain forest.  

This made a certain amount of sense: larval sisters eat oak foliage, likely to render them tannic in taste, while larval admirals consume willow leaves. And several of the admiral’s relatives—including the viceroy, which resembles the unpalatable monarch—are known mimics.  

But hard data was lacking. And there was always the possibility that both butterflies tasted bad, and the orange-and-white patterns were mutually reinforcing advertising (a case of Muellerian mimicry.) About six years ago, according to Shapiro, someone asked the birds what they thought. A tasting panel of jays devoured admirals but rejected sisters.  

The Bay Area turns out to be prime territory for butterfly studies.  

We’re at a geographical crossroads, with northern/alpine species like the clodius parnassian in Marin County and semitropical types like the handsome Sonora blue in the South Bay. We have superspecialists: the Lange’s metalmark, which feeds only on naked-stem buckwheat growing in a remnant dune field near Antioch, and other butterflies restricted to serpentine vegetation. We have natives that have shifted hosts, like the anise (or as some purists call it, yampah) swallowtail. We have newcomers like the gulf fritillary, a southeastern butterfly that followed the passionvines west. 

Unfortunately, not all native butterflies have been so adaptable. Manolis illustrates the xerces blue, a former resident of San Francisco’s coastal dunes, although it’s about 66 years too late to see a live one. The Strohbeen’s parnassian of Santa Cruz County hasn’t been observed since Eisenhower was in office. The San Bruno elfin is barely hanging in there. 

Surprises are still possible, though. This, as Shapiro points out, is an area where citizen scientists can make real contributions to the state of knowledge. Patches of serpentine and other specialized habitats remain unexplored: no one has done a butterfly census of Ring Mountain near Tiburon, known for its endemic plants. Life cycle details are undocumented for some species. Shapiro says he has never seen a golden hairstreak visiting a flower, courting, or mating.  

And nets aren’t always necessary. Some butterflies can be cooperative photograph subjects (although others, like the Sara orangetip and its sulphur relatives, never seem to sit still.) Several optics manufacturers offer close-focusing binoculars for butterfly watching.  

I have to admit that butterflies have grown on me over the years; I’ve even reached the point where they can distract me from birds. 

Take Shapiro and Manolis along on your next hike on Mount Diablo and see for yourself.  

I just hope UC Press has somebody working on the moths. 

 

 

Joe Eaton’s “Wild Neighbors” column appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet, alternating with Ron Sullivan’s “Green Neighbors” column on East Bay trees. 

 

Photograph by Ron Sullivan 

A buckeye, one of the most easily recognizable Bay Area butterflies.


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday May 29, 2007

TUESDAY, MAY 29 

Community Meeting on the City of Berkeley Budget at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Hearst and MLK, Jr. Way. The budget may be downloaded from www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/budget 981-7008. 

Strawberry Tasting at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market from 2 to 7 p.m. at Derby St. at MLK,Jr. Way. 548-3333. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will explore ponds from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m.. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

Return of the Over-the-Hills Gang Hikers 55 years and older who are interested in nature study, history, fitness, and fun are invited to join us on a series of monthly excursions exploring our Regional Parks. Meet at 10 a.m. at Miller Knox. For information call 525-2233.  

Best Swimming Holes in Northern California at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Solo Sierrans Hike at Lake Chabot Reservoir Meet at 6:30 p.m. at the boat house. Optional dinner follows. For information call Delores 351-6247. 

Live Oak Codornices Neighborhood Assn meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Live Oak Park, Arts & Crafts Rm. We will discuss the proposed North Shattuck Plaza. 

Meditation and Social Action Circle at 7 p.m. at Unitraian Universalist Fellowship Hall, Cedar and Bonita. 540-1975. 

“Am I Ready to be a Parent?” A workshop for prosepctive LGBT parents at 6:30 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave., Oakland. 415-865-5533. www.ourfamily.org 

Berkeley PC Users Group meets at 7 p.m. at 1145 Walnut St. near corner of Eunice St. MelDancing@aol.com 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

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

WEDNESDAY, MAY 30 

“Beyond the Bungalow” with Paul Duchscherer, author of many books on Arts & Crafts homes, at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $20. 848-4288. 

Environmental and Political Action Films “Everything’s Cool,” “A Drop of Life” and “The Forest for the Trees” at 6 and 8:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Cost is $10 per screening or $15 for the night. 415-255-1108. www.livingeconomies.org/events/conference07/filmfest/ 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will explore ponds from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m.. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

National Senior Health & Fitness Day with information booths, health and fitness experts, and presentations from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Salem Lutheran Home, 2361 East 29th St., Oakland. 534-3637.  

New to DVD Screening and Discussion at 7 p.m. at JCCEB, 1414 Walnut St. Discussion follows. 848-0237. 

Bayswater Book Club meets to discuss “The Manchurian Candidate” by Richard Condon at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble Coffe Shop, El Cerrito Plaza. 433-2911. 

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. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, MAY 31 

North Shattuck Community Meeting on Safeway Development Plans at 6:30 p.m. at the JCC.  

Congolese Music and Dance Workshops Thurs.-Sun. at Laney College. Cost per workshop is $8-$20. For information call 368-2475. www.youmustdance.blogspot.com 

“Long Train Running: The Story of the Oakland Blues” A documentary, presented by Oaklandish at 9 p.m. at the Parkway Speakeasy Theater, 1834 Park Boulevard, Oakland. Cost is $6. 962-5044.  

Lifeskills 411 Graduation Gala Dinner, with music, dinner, student speeches, at 7:30 p.m. at the Emeryville Hilton, 1800 Powell St. Tickets are $65-$75. 741-2045. www.lifeskills411.org  

Family Storytime for children ages 3-7 at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, North Branch, 1170 The Alameda. 981-6107. 

Baby and Toddler Storytime at 10:30 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 1 

Plaque Dedication for denise brown at 7 p.m. at LeConte School, 2241 Russell St. To donate food, please call 841-2110. 684-7273. 

Golden Gate Audubon Society Field Trip to Jewel Lake in Tilden Park. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the parking lot at the north end of Central Park Dr. 843-2222. 

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 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Prof. George Bisharat on “Maximizing Rights: The One-State Solution to the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

Movies that Matter “Roxanne” at 6:30 p.m. at Neumayer Residence, 565 Bellevue St. at Perkins, Oakland. 451-3009. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

SATURDAY, JUNE 2 

Berkeley History Center Walking Tour “The Maybeck Estates” led by Paul Grunland with Bob Shaner, at 10 a.m. Cost is $8-$10. For information on meeting place and to register call 848-0181. 

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. 

Strawberry Family Fun Fest with entertainment and activities for children from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Center St. at MLK. 548-3333.  

Sushi Basics Learn the natural and culltural history of sushi as you learn to prepare it from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Parent participation required for children ages 8 to 10. Cost is $25-$39. Registration required. 636-1684. 

“Restore Wetlands in Oakland” with Save The Bay and the East Bay Regional Park District on a wetland restoration project near the Oakland Airport. From 9 a.m. to noon at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland. RSVP to 452-9261 ext. 109. bayevents@savesfbay.org 

Longfellow Middle School Annual Health Fair with student performances, activities, health information, food, fun for the whole family, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1500 Derby St. Free. 883-5258, ext. 2. 

Spring Faire at Washington Elementary School with face painting, boat races, book exchange, soul food and performances from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, enter on McKinley. 486-1742. 

“Planning and Caring for Aging Loved Ones” with workshops and resources from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Malcolm X Elementary School, 1731 Prince St. Sponsored by Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. For information or to register call 272-6695. www.acgov.org/board/district5/event.htm. 

Eco-Oakland Volunteer Opportunuity Help elementary school students with mapping and habitat restoration at Lion Creek, neat Merritt College. For information call 635-5533.  

“Mentors for Backyard Garden Program” Volunteers needed to help low-income residents of West Oakland build and maintain vegetable gardens, provide ongoing support, seedlings, seeds and compost. Information meeting from 10 a.m. to noon at West Oakland Woods Farm, 537 Lewis St., corner of Peralta and 7th, Oakland. SPonsored by City Slicker Farms. 763-4241. 

“Build an Earth Oven” Learn how to build your own oven from clay, sand, straw, and bricks. From 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Grandma Mary’s Organic Farm, 100 Behrens St., El Cerrito. Cost is $150. To register call 527-9271. www.kleiwerks.org 

Twins by the Bay Annual Garage Sale Families with twins, triplets, and more, sell gently used baby gear, clothes, car seats, strollers, and more from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1707 Gouldin Rd., Montclair. 593-5911. www.homestead.com/twinsbythebay 

Future Leaders Institute Legacy Awards at 4 p.m. at The Unitarian Church, 685 14th St., Oakland. www.thefutureleadersinstitute.org 

Citizenship Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Fruitvale Village, located directly across from the Fruitvale BART station at the 3300 block of East 12th St,, between Fruitvale Ave. and 35th Ave., Oakland. 535-6900. svelazquez@unitycouncil.org 

“Crossing the Line” Chris Brown speaks of his experience as a Christian Peacemaker in Occupied Palestine at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. 499-0537. 

“Exploring Class... “ A two day-workshop examining the impact of class on our lives, and breaking down barriers between people from different socio-economic classes. Workshop held in Oakland. Register online at www.classism.org 

“Take a New Step and Meet Your Neighbors” Community fair with programs and service providers, basketball tournament, music and drama to reduce risk factors and combat violence in West Oakland. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1143 10th St., Oakland. 677-6364. 

Free Electronic Wate Drop Off Sat. and Sun. from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the El Cerrito Department of Motor Vehicles, 6400 Manila Ave. E-waste accepted: computer monitors, computers/computer components, televisions, VCR & DVD players, toner cartridges, printers, fax machines, copiers, telephone equipment, cell phones, MP3 players. NO appliances, batteries, microwaves, paints, pesticides, etc. Please take these items to the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Facility at 101 Pittsburg Ave. in Richmond. For HHW facility information, call 1-888-412-9277. The HHW facility will be open June 2. For E-waste Event questions call 1-888-832-9839 

Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign Benefit to rebuild the next home in Northern Gaza with Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom from Jerusalem and Husam El Nounou from Gaza at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Church, Cedar and Bonita. Sponsored by Progressive Democrats of the East Bay, Ecumenical Peace Institute, Rebuilding Alliance, American Friends Service Committee, and the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church. Donation $10-25 sliding scale, no one turned away. 524- 4244. 

AnewAmerica Social Responsibility Summit with workshops on Immigration Reform, Healthcare for Immigrants, Advocacy for Small Business and Food Justice from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. atSt. Elizabeth Church, the Franciscan Hall, 1500 34th Ave. & International Blvd, Oakland. 532-5240.  

Children’s Fairyland Personalities in costume at noon, followed by music with John Weaver at 1:30 a.m. pupet show at 2 p.m. at 699 Bellvue Ave., Oakland. 452-2259. 

Origami for All Ages from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

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.  

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. 

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, JUNE 3 

Greening Albany Learn about community actions to reverse global warming, with speakers and information on goods and services, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Albany Middle School, 1259 Brighton Ave. 219-7211. 

“Climate Change: Technology and Policy” with Karen Street at 1 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Meeting, 2151 Vine. 653-2803. 

Yosemite Family Explorations with Ranger Ben telling stories about the park’s black bears, and other activities, at 1 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak at 10th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. 

Free Hands-on Bicycle Clinic Learn how to keep your bike in excellent working condition through safety inspections, from 10 to 11 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Toddlers and Friends For 2-3 year olds to explore the meadows, ponds and trails in Tilden. Meet at 10:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Summer Ponds Look for tadpoles, newt larvae, dragonfly nymphs and more from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Free Sailboat Rides from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club, Berkeley Marina. Wear warm, waterproof clothing and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. www.cal-sailing.org 

Berkeley City Club Wine Festival from 6 to 9 p.m. at 2315 Durant Ave.Tickets are $40. 848-7800. 

Community Singalong with jazz pianist Ellen Hoffman from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Lake Merritt Hotel, 1800 Madison, Oakland, near 19th St. BART. Cost is $5-$15. 534-2750. 

Holistic Pet Consultation from 1 to 4 p.m. at RabbitEARS, 303 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Free, but appointment required. 525-6155. 

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 

Social Action Forum with Mary Dewey-Wagner on Ethical treatment for Animals at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Univresalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Mary Gomes on “Everyday Compassion” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, JUNE 4 

“But What Can We Do About Global Warming?” A talk by author Ernest Callenbach at a brown-bag lunch at 12:30 p.m. at 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Explore Upper Codornices Creek on a challenging walk with Friends of Five Creeks Meet at 6:30 p.m. at the main entrance to the Berkeley Rose Garden, west side of Euclid Ave. south of Eunice St. This walk gains 500 feet elevation and includes hill staircases and narrow, uneven trails. Wear sturdy shoes; bring water, flashlight and walking sticks. 848-9358.  

“Renewable Energy from Synthetic Biology” with Jay Keasling of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, at 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Repertory Theater 2025 Addison St. 486-5183. 

Drop in Knitting Class at the Albany Library Work on your own project or make pet blankets and children’s hats to be donated to charity organizations. Yarn and needles provided for donated items. At at 3:30 p.m. at 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon. June 4, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Peace and Justice Commission meets Mon., June 4, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5510.  

 

 


Arts Calendar

Friday May 25, 2007

FRIDAY, MAY 25 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “The Last Five Years” Fri and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 1409 High St., Alameda, through June 10. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley Rep “Oliver Twist” at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. through June 24. Tickets are $45-$61. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org  

Impact Theatre “Measure for Measure” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through May 26.Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. 

Just Theater, “I Have Loved Strangers” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., to May 26. Tickets are $12-$25. 421-1458. www.justtheater.org 

Shotgun Players “The Cryptogram” Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through June 17. Tickets are $17-$25. For reservations call 841-6500.  

“The Striders Club” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourd Arts Center, 1421 Alice St., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$11. 450-0891. 

Subterranean Shakespeare “Macbeth” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., near Rose in Live Oak Park, to May 26. Tickets are $12-$17. 276-3871. 

TheatreFIRST “Serjeant Musgrave’s Dance” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at Old Oakland Theatre, 481 Ninth St., Oakland. Tickets are $18-$25. 436-5085. www.theatrefirst.com 

Travelling Jewish Theater “Death of a Salesman” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave., through June 10. Tickets are $15-$44. 1-800-838-3006. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Milvia Street 2007 Readings and art showing from Berkeley City College’s art and literary journal at 7 p.m. in the 3rd flr Community Meeting Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6107. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jerry Kuderna Piano “From Bach to Babbitt” at 1 p.m. at 2323 Shattuck Ave. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

“Dance Elixir” with Leyya Tawil and Zari Le’on Fri. and Sat. at 8:30 p.m. at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St., Oaklakland. Tickets are $20. 435-6413. 

Jerry Kuderna, piano and Nora L. Martin, vocalist perform Hanns Eisler’s cycle of 18 songs on Poems by Bertolt Brecht at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley Arts Festival, 2323 Shattuck Ave. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Sangita Sharma “Bajra Yogini Charya Dance and Nepali Folk Dance” at 7:15 p.m at Mount Everest Restaurant, 2011 Shattuck Ave.  

Nicolas Bearde and His Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Brother Resistance, Chalkdust, and the D Platinum Crew at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $TBA 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Dave Matthews Blues Band at 8 p.m. at The Warehouse Bar, 4th & Webster, Oakland. 451-3161. 

Katie Garibaldi and Jeremy Rourke at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Spotlight Stealerz at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Flowtilla, Judea Eden Band at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Social Unrest, Hellbillys, Static Thought,at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

Cheeky at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Saoco, Rico Pabon, Santero at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7. 548-1159.  

Mingus Amungus at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Filthy Thieving Bastards, Druglords of the Avenues, The Sore Thumbs at 9 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $10. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

SATURDAY, MAY 26 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Amazing Blooms” Floral art by Leslie Winoku. Artist reception and tea at 3 p.m. at Expressions Gallery, 2035 Ashby Ave. Exhibit runs to June 1. 644-4930. 

FILM 

Berkeley Arts Festival “Noisy People” a documentary on the artists and musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area’s improvisational music community, at 8 p.m. at 2323 Shattuck Ave. Costi si $5-$10. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com  

Lost Film Fest with shorts from The Yes Men, TV Sheriff, Guerrilla News Network at 8 p.m. at AK Press, 674-A 23rd St., Oakland. Suggested donation $5-$10. 208-1700. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Sitka Trio Medieval and Baroque music for recorder, vielle, ‘cello, harp and voice, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. www.trinitychamberconcerts.com 

Jesus Diaz & su QBA at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Ray Obiedo Group at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Baba Ken and the Afro-Groove Connexion at 7 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Mystic, Conscious Daughters, Pam the Funkstress at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10-$15. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Nate Lopez and Olivia Voss at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

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

Caroline Chung Jazz Trio at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $5. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Skinlab, WillHaven, Ankla at 6:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146.  

Culann’s Hounds, The Mor Rigan’s Wake at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Tracorum, roots music, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Animosity, As Blood Runs Black, The Faceless, at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, MAY 27 

FILM 

“The Kreutzer Sonata” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Cynthia Sailors, Jeff Clark and Alfonso Alvarez read at 7 p.m. at 21 Grand, 416 25th St. at Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $4.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Love” a two act musical for soprano and baritone at 7:30 p.m. at The Berkeley Arts Festival, 2323 Shattuck Ave., between Durant and Bancroft. Tickets are $10 at the door. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

“Low-down Hoedown” with Cosio, Hardy Harr, The Parish at 1 p.m. at The Living Room Gallery, 3230 Adeline St. Barbeque facilities available. livingroomgallery@gmail.com 

Brazilian Soul! at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $9. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Trick Kernan Combo at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Americana Unplugged: Tom Huebner at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Vernon Bush Group, soul, gospel, jazz, at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

MONDAY, MAY 28 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Stan Apps and Ara Shirinyan read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Blue Monday Jam at 9 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100. 

TUESDAY, MAY 29 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Painting to Live: Art from Okinawa’s Nishimui Artist Society, 1948-1950” opens at the IEAS Gallery, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Floor. 642-2809. 

FILM 

BALLE Film Festival “Manufactured Landscapes” on China’s industrial revolution at 6 p.m. and “The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil” at 8:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $10-$15. www.livingeconomies.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tell on on Tuesdays Storytelling with Margery Kreitman, Zoe Sheli Sameth, Dana Chernack and Jeff Byers at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Cost is $8-$12 sliding scale. www.juiamorgan.org 

Paul Hawken discusses “Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw it Coming” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley. Suggested donation $5-$10. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Motordude Zydeco at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Randy Craig Trio at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 30 

FILM 

BALLE Film Festival “Everything’s Cool” on addressing global warming at 6 p.m. and “A Drop of Life” on clean drinking water at 8:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $10-$15. www.livingeconomies.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Paul Duchscherer, author of many books on Arts & Crafts homes, on “Beyond the Bungalow” at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $20. 848-4288. 

David Corbett reads from his new novel “Blood of Paradise” set in present-day El Salvador, at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Sherman Alexie reads from his new novel “Flight” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley. 559-9500. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Trombonga with Jeffrey Carter, Marcus Bell, Pat Mullan and Curtiss Mays at 12:15 at Berkeley Arts Festival, 2323 Shattuck Ave. www.berkeleyartsfestival.org 

Del Sol String Quartet “Umbilical Chords: Women Composers & the Creative Process” Compositions by Kui Dong, Linda Catlin Smith, Teresa Carreño, Sally Beamish, Ruth Crawford, Mark Fish at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $7-$20. 415-374-0074. www.delsolquartet.com  

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

Kusun Ensemble at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. Ghanian dance workshop at 7:30 p.m. for $8. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Orquestra Candela at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Alexis Harte at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Klez-x and Davka at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

THURSDAY, MAY 31 

THEATER 

Berkeley High School “Schoolgirl Figure” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Benefits the Eating Disorders Program at the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University.Tickets are $6-$12. 236-1620. ShiftTheatre@aol.com 

FILM 

8th Annual Berkeley High School Film Festival with music videos, animation, documentary and experimental works from students at Berkeley High School at 7 p.m. at the Florence Schwimley Little Theater, Allston between Milvia and MLK. Tickets are $5-$10. 

“Long Train Running: The Story of the Oakland Blues” A documentary, presented by Oaklandish at 9 p.m. at the Parkway Speakeasy Theater, 1834 Park Blvd. Oakland. Cost is $6. 962-5044. www.oaklandish.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michele Simon describes “Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Arnie Passman reads from “Scherzofrenia” at 8 p.m. at The Book Zoo, 6395 Telegraph Ave, near Alcatraz, Oakland. 654-BOOK. 

J. Ruth Gendler reads from “Notes on the Need for Beauty: An Intimate Look at an Essential Quality” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500.  

“Kosher Hollywood: Jews, Food, and Film” with Alisa Braun at 6:30 p.m. at the Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Tickets are $6-$8. 549-6950.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Pat Nevins and Ragged Glory, Victor Barnes at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $8. All ages show. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Congolese Dance and Drum Conference A weekend of Central African culture, music, and dance Thurs.-Sat. at Laney College, 900 Fallon Sr. Dance Studio D-100, and Sun. at MCC, 1428 Alice St., Studio A, Oakland. Cost is $15-$20 per workshop. 368-2475. www. 

youmustdance.blogspot.com 

In the Steel of the Night: Joe Goldmark and the Seducers at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

The Wiggle Wagons, Uncle Monk, Lariats of Fire at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

The Dilettantes, The Mania, The Countless Others at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

Selector: DJ Riddm at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

 

 


Arts and Entertainment Around the East Bay

Friday May 25, 2007

BERKELEY ARTS FESTIVAL PRESENTS ‘LOVE’ 

 

‘Love’ is a two-act musical for soprano and baritone. This is a mostly sung “boomer” tale of love, sex, drugs, families, careers, divorce, loneliness and middle age. Book, music and lyrics by Richard Jennings, additional lyrics by Ted Newman. Music director and pianist, Rona Siddiqui; directorial consultant, Ellen Sebastian Chang. Featuring Eula Janeen Wyatt and Gregory Marks. Sunday, 7:30 p.m., $10, Fidelity Bank Building 2323 Shattuck Ave. For more information, 665-9493 or www.berkeley artsfestival.com 

 

BRECHT / EISLER ANTI-WAR SONG CYCLE 

 

The dynamic duo, Jerry Kuderna (piano) and Nora Lennox Martin (vocals), will preside over a program of Hanns Eisler’s cycle of 18 songs on poems by Bertolt Brecht at 8 p.m. today (Friday). $10. Fidelity Bank Building, 2323 Shattuck Ave. 665-9496. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com  

 

‘NOISY PEOPLE’ MUSIC FILM DOCUMENTARY 

A fun and noise-filled documentary on the artists and musicians of the Bay Area’s improvisational music community at 8.p.m. Saturday. $5-$10. 2323 Shattuck Ave. www.berkeleyarts festival.com 

 

MAMMOTH GARAGE SALE AT PT. RICHMOND  

The annual extravaganza, which benefits the Masquers Playhouse, features more than 100 locations in Richmond’s most charming historic neighborhood. Maps, coffee and donuts are available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m, in front of the theater at 105 Park Place in Point Richmond, across from the town square.


Moving Pictures: PFA Presents ‘Shohei Imamura’s Japan’

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday May 25, 2007

Think of Japanese cinema and one of two things probably comes to mind: either the robust, action-filled, western-influenced samurai movies of Akira Kurosawa, or the more refined, restrained and elegant films of directors such as Yasujiro Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, or Mikio Naruse.  

Shohei Imamura, one of the primary filmmakers of Japan’s New Wave, falls into neither category. His work focuses instead on the dregs of modern Japanese society. Pacific Film Archive is hosting a retrospective of the iconoclastic director’s work through June 30. 

The New Wave refers to the generation of filmmakers that rose up through that country’s studio system in the years following World War II. Unlike the directors of the French New Wave—outsiders who began as critics and then set out to re-define their nation’s film culture—the directors of Japan’s New Wave were trained, cultivated and encouraged by the industry they would later challenge.  

Imamura began his career as an assistant to Ozu and quickly came to the conclusion that, though Ozu was undoubtedly a great director, his restrained style was not for Imamura. When he finally got his hands on his own crew and camera, he veered in the opposite direction, renouncing the refinement and formal beauty of Ozu’s work and opting instead for a cinema of cruelty, perversion and dark humor.  

Imamura thought of himself first as an anthropologist. His goal was to document the world as he saw it, not to shape, explain or judge it. And in fact, after making such classics as Pigs and Battleships (1961) and The Pornographers (1966), the director turned to documentary filmmaking in the 1970s. 

As he explains in an interview included in the Criterion Collection’s new DVD edition of Vengeance is Mine, Imamura became somewhat disenchanted with actors while making The Profound Desire of the Gods in 1968 and afterwards sought other means of expression. For the next decade, he made nothing but documentaries, until returning to narrative, commercial filmmaking in 1979 with Vengeance is Mine, in which he fashioned a sort of reality-fiction hybrid. 

The film, showing Tuesday, May 29, is based on the exploits of a real-life killer who roamed Japan for a few months in 1963. Ken Ogata plays the role of Iwao Enokizu with a steely impulsiveness, the very personification of id. He seeks only the immediate satisfaction of his desires, regardless of the human cost.  

Imamura makes no effort to explain this man’s actions; he presents them as a simple fact of Japanese life in the post-war era. We learn much of Enokizu’s youth, his upbringing and his relationships, and though these details certainly help us get to know the character, there is still no clear motive given for his crimes. As critic Michael Atkinson puts it in the DVD’s liner notes, “Vengeance Is Mine … wastes no breath on compassion, no calories on decorousness, and no time on explanations.” Atkinson places Imamura among what he calls the “Sardonic Objectivists,” directors such as Fritz Lang, Luis Buñuel and Douglas Sirk, who tried to shed light on humanity’s dark side. Imamura, Atkinson says, was “a Japanese Samuel Fuller, fascinated with working-class ruin and primal impulse.” 

In the opening scenes of Vengeance is Mine, Imamura gives us the impression that the worst is over. The killer has been arrested and is being transported to prison. But soon we are subjected to flashbacks of Enokizu’s first two killings, graphic scenes which contain none of the usual screeching violins or tawdry effects of many a serial killer film, but are instead shot at arm’s length and with no adornment. Imamura sought no attention for his camerawork or framing; he wanted his technique to remain invisible. Thus, in simple documentary terms, we see murder not as a melodramatic plot point but as an almost mundane occurrence: grisly, clumsy and primitive.  

There are no pure innocents in Imamura’s films. The killer's wife is somewhat deranged and manipulative herself. This is one of the themes that runs through much of Imamura’s work: women clawing their way through the morass of Japanese society, resorting to the baser instincts in the struggle to survive. These are not the long-suffering women of quiet dignity as found in classical Japanese cinema—“Those women don’t exist,” Imamura once said—they are bold, lusty, self-interested and at times desperate, using whatever means available to survive in a society that is structured to subdue and degrade them.  

The result is a body of work unique in Japanese cinema, one that seeks not to organize and understand the world, but to simply document it without explanation or condemnation. 

 

 

SHOHEI IMAMURA’S JAPAN 

Through June 30 at Pacific Film Archive. 2575 Bancroft Way. 642-1124. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu. 

 

VENGEANCE IS MINE (1979) 

Starring Ken Ogata, Mayumi Ogawa, Mitsuko Baisho, Frankie Sakai, Kazuo Kitamura, Chocho Miyako, Nijiko Kiyokawa, Rentaro Mikuni. Directed by Shohei Imamura.  

140 minutes. Playing at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Available on DVD from the Criterion Collection. $29.95. www.criterion.com.


The Theater: Shotgun Players Stage Mamet’s ‘Cryptogram’

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday May 25, 2007

The night fears and mania of a boy are juxtaposed with two adults’ uncomfortable discoveries of ambiguity, betrayal, abandonment and the unreliability of memory in the brilliant, tortuously overlapping dialogue that powers David Mamet’s semi-autobiographical Cryptogram at the Ashby Stage in a Shotgun Players production. 

Mamet, who made much of his stellar reputation in the ‘70s and ‘80s with hard-edged stage speech and characters representing the lonely, brutal dissociations of American public and private life (something that could be associated with the theatrical tradition of Strindberg), here shows a deceptively quieter, more domestic perspective. Like The Old Neighborhood, directed by Joy Carlin at Aurora awhile back, it’s more Chekhovian, exploring the spaces in between what’s said and thought and done. Not very much seems to get done onstage, though the background of life in all its little details becomes the foreground of this kind of play, seemingly predicated on autobiography and can open up into (for want of a better term) the spiritual, even the cosmic, as experienced in everyday language and routine, or its disruption. 

A bachelor family friend talks genially, sometimes in games and riddles, sometimes in shared references, with his friends’ son, who can’t sleep—at first waiting for his father who will take him to “the lake,” and later, after his never-glimpsed father has left the family, of his fears and near-visionary experiences, which he describes to the adults, emerging repeatedly from his bedroom. 

Del, the genderlessly-named old friend, as played a bit floridly by Kevin Clarke, refers to himself at one point as a silly old queen, and it’s his ambiguous friendship with Donny (also ambiguously named, though not played ambiguously by Zehra Berkman) and her absent husband, the boy’s father (an otherwise unambiguous Robert), that’s the dramatic fulcrum on which the matter of the play is hammered out by dialogue, tempered with the silence between lines, between thought and speech.  

In the meantime, there’s much looking at photos, trying to discern what’s what even in the documents that should jog memory, one disagreeing with the other, and interrupting them midstream, filling in what that other remembers differently, or at all.  

Like Beckett’s plays, or an older kind of theater, the very objects onstage, handled and discussed by the cast—a book, a camping knife—take on a mysterious, almost fateful quality, changing in meaning as their apparent insignificance is colored by an almost Proustian sense, touchstones to the past, or even another dimension of whatever experience is in question. 

A play like this is hard to act, hard to stage, and Shotgun approaches it with their can-do signature, their hallmark. Patrick Dooley, Shotgun’s founder, had the task of keeping his actors on the strict tether of the text (which, as an actor friend once said of Pinter, “It’s like chamber music, a string quartet, you play it right from the page in ensemble; there is no other subtext,”) while paradoxically giving them their own head. Post-show talkbacks heard the cast and director discussing all the ways they tried framing and delivering this virtuoso piece. They threw themselves into this wringer of verbal exchange, and Gideon Lazarus, as young John, deserves special mention for his handling of the boy’s end of it, more than a child’s portion. 

With exchanges that, in a more emotional moment, run like: “Am I to be accused of this? What do you mean?” “...That’s my point,” sympathies have to be on the side of the actor. There’s a little bit too much of accenting on the beat, though, which emphasizes jangles and “hot spots” in a play where what comes out of the quieter, offbeat moments and what’s unsaid constitute much of the point. 

One character talks about how we “live as if there’s no end to it, and suddenly ...” A good deal of what’s suggested in this small masterpiece is about the limits of mortality and what seems to continue, beyond our immediate apprehension, in spite of it--or in anticipation of it. Less confrontational than some of Mamet’s more famous work, this is a play that audiences need to confront and absorb. 

 

 

Cryptogram at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. 

Thurs.-Sun. 8 p.m. 

through June 17 

Tickets $17-$25 

841-6500


Garden Variety: Try Not to Poison Your Neighbor’s Baby Food

By Ron Sullivan
Friday May 25, 2007

It’s bug time! The plants in the garden are just starting to thrive and get real leaves; the flowers are midway in their annual sequential display; what was mud is starting to look like future meals.  

But the bugs. They’re here, and they outnumber us. They have diabolical designs on our tomatoes and greens and bouquets, ands some of them are out for blood—and infectious besides. Quick, Henry, the Flit!  

(Ten points if you recognize that; five more if you can name the author.) 

Resist the temptation to bomb the yard, please. Resisting will be better for the rest of the world, and in the long run—not very long either—it will make things easier for you. 

First, it’s a good thing to know your pests. Some of the nastier-looking things on your plants might be your allies. Ladybeetles, in their voracious young stages, look like little black gator things with curved claws up front. Those “claws” can’t pinch you or me, but the youngsters are even better against aphids than their parents.  

Spittlebugs are icky, but not very threatening. They generally have only one generation of kids per year, and that’s what’s making bubbles on plant stems now. If you spray them off with plain water, they’ll land elsewhere sans protective foam and die or get eaten. 

Other plant-eaters abound, of course, but nearly all of them are on someone else’s menu. If you load the pests with esoteric toxins, you’ll not only starve your allies, but poison them—and their children. 

The flush of animal life at this time of year follows closely on the plants’ growth and bloom. Within that animal expansion, predators lay eggs or give birth, hatch or awaken, in time to make the best of their prey’s plenitude.  

Those predators include, for example, birds that eat mostly seeds the rest of the year: finches, sparrows; also nectar specialists like hummingbirds. Everybody feeds their kids bugs; it’s a high-protein diet for fast growth and development. If you want birds, don’t poison the babyfood.  

And of course if you want butterflies, you’re going to have to let the caterpillars chew on the foliage! 

Meanwhile, everything flows downhill and downstream, where the leftover nasties can do in our neighbors. Even the stuff that’s been marketed to replace organophosphates is dangerous; for example, pyrethroids, chemically modeled on natural pyrethrins, can kill aquatic critters, starting with the little amphipods, “scuds,” at the base of the average creek’s foodweb, and are toxic in solution to fish as big as salmon.  

Natural pyrethrins are potent allergens, by the way, so use it with caution if at all. “Natural” does not equal “nontoxic.” 

An alliance called “Our Water Our World” distributes handy wallet folders with the names of some less toxic ingredients to match with what’s on the shelves when you shop. Its website at www.ourwaterourworld.org has references and details and at least one hilarious swarm of similes. Download and print the card from that, or look for it by cash registers in nurseries.  

 

 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in the Planet’s East Bay Home & Real Estate section. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Planet.


About the House: How to Handle a Condo at Forty

By Matt Cantor
Friday May 25, 2007

Woody Allen says “When you're forty, half of you belongs to the past—and when you’re seventy, nearly all of you.” 

We’re all getting older. There’s no nice way to put it. There are benefits to aging, but with time, things and people wear out. It was hard not to think of this today as I looked a condo that was, you might say, “of a certain age.” There was nothing substantially decrepit about the place but there were what we Berkeleyans like to call “issues.” I have issues too. 

The reason this seems noteworthy, at least to my geeky mind, is that I see many of the same set of issues repeatedly, so I’d like to offer some sort of list of the things one might find when looking at a condo of, say 45 years. Now that would be 1962 (was that actually 45 years ago?) 

The things I might note from a condo of this vintage fall roughly into two categories; things that are wearing out (or worn out) and things that we’ve learned from (and improved). 

Let’s start with the latter. One of the things that had just begun to change in 1962 (but not widely or quickly enough to reach every way station) was the use of safety glass. The place I saw today had a sliding glass door in three segments that stretched 11 feet across the boundary with a balcony. 

Should an unwary and marginally clad inhabitant stride blithely through the clean class door, assuming it to be open, they might slice open an artery and terminate their rental agreement on earth. This was so common prior to 1961 that the building codes, followed eventually by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, began mandating the use of safety glass in glass doors. Shower doors have also taken a huge toll and even today, over 300,000 a year suffer some sort of injury involving non-safety glass. 

If shower doors have not been replaced, I’ll often see original (and dangerous) glass doors in a condo of this age (and, of course, other housing types as well). By the way, don’t be too quick to dismiss this danger. Only about 300 people a year die from electrocution. That is 1/1000 of the number of people harmed (sometimes killed) by non-safety glass. 

If you’re buying a place of this era, look for the “bug” or fused emblem in the corner of the glass and if you don’t see it, replace the glass. This should also apply to glass that’s near the floor (say, 18”) or next to a door. 

Another thing that has changed, and was common in this time period, is the practice of placing electrical panels in closets. We get more fires and also put electricians and service personnel more at risk when breaker or fuse panels are installed in closets. When they’re worn out, which is certainly the case with a 45 year old breaker panel, they should be relocated to a space that’s got good clearance, say 30” wide and 3’ in front. This is roughly what modern codes call for. 

Again, this is less likely to result in fire (sparks and flames can actually shoot out of a panel and set clothing and storable ablaze!) and also provides for a safe “ejector-seat” distance in front of a panel. It may sound shocking (I didn’t really mean to say that) but when working on a panel, you might actually be thrown from the panel by contact with hot wires but if that same person is bunched up in a closet trying to work on the same panel, it is harder to detach and you can get “locked-on” and expire in this inauspicious manner. They’ll have to lie about how you died. 

Breaker panels that are this old are no longer reliable. Period. I don’t care what anyone tells you. A breaker is an electro-mechanical device on which your life and property rest. That’s a big job and not suitable for something that is both seriously worn and also of primitive make. See, breakers have not been around all that long. A breaker that is 45 years old is essentially a prototype. They came into common use in the 1950’s (though they had been invented in Germany in the late 1930’s, so by 1962 we were still figuring out a lot about how to make these work properly. So, it’s probably best to replace any panels that are this old. I use 40 years as my standard although there is, sadly, no industry standard for the replacement age of circuit breakers (shouldn’t there be?) 

By the way, I always seek an opportunity to mention our most notorious of electrical devices, the Federal Pacific Stab-Loc Load Center and it’s wonderful trip-proof breakers. Depending on which of the many documents and opinions you can find on the web, these are either wholly unreliable or just largely unreliable. In either case, I wouldn’t keep one in my house or apartment building for a nanosecond longer than absolutely necessary. 

This begs a further question (actually two) for condo owners. The first is, what about the other 11 panels in the building? And the other is “How many people can you kill with your bad panel?” The latter question actually applies to all manner of fire hazards. When we live clustered in condos or apartment buildings, it is far more important to minimize possible causes of fire since so many more people are depending upon it. This is one of the reasons that fire codes are so much more stringent for multi-family dwelling. You’re more apt to see fire sprinklers (saw them today), fire hoses (yep, saw them too), and hard-wired smoke or detectors (nope, didn’t see ‘em). 

The former question regarding your 45-year-old Federal Pacific panel should really be a question for the home owner’s association and I genuinely urge those of you who own condos to take charge of your HOA and steer the ship to safe shores by replacing all the old panels in the building, not just the one in your unit, for what good is your good deed if it is overwhelmed by the inertia of the many. 

One thing I’d like to add that isn’t exactly chronologically authentic to this article is the issue of aluminum wiring. Houses and especially apartment buildings between 65 and 73 years old (mostly but not exactly) often have aluminum small-branch wiring and, while I’ll save the long spiel, this should always be identified and referred to an electrician familiar with the problem. Aluminum small-branch wiring is really, seriously dangerous. 

The last item I saw at my condo today was a very worn-out furnace. Here’s my old furnace rap: It’s getting a little tired but I’ll take it out for a spin just so you can see just how droll I get. 

An old furnace is like a Model T Ford. Now, you may own a Model T and it might be in good working order and all but taking it out on the freeway is a bit crazy. A modern car has air-bags, anti-lock brakes, side walls that crumple and a plethora of safety features that came about as a result of years of advances. 

Your 45-year-old furnace (or your 80-year-old furnace) is like the Model T. Yes, it may still be running and it might even be free from obvious signs of leakage of flue gases into the air supply but there are all those other issues (including efficiency) that make the new furnace well worth the money. 

My other favorite saw is that you wouldn’t keep riding on brakes that hadn’t been serviced in 10 years. Brakes need servicing because your life depends on them. Circuit breakers, furnaces, water heaters and all mechanical devices are like this. New ones keep getting safer (as a rule) and old ones keep getting … older.  

Condos have many advances. They’re greener, because we live in clusters with less surface area per square foot of living area (meaning less energy required to heat or cool) and less construction cost per person. They’re also less of a gamble to own because we share the cost of a roof or a paint job. It’s very socialistic. You also don’t have to concern yourself with gardening if it’s not your thing. On the whole, there are very good reasons to go condo. Just remember that you’re clustered, for better and for worse. Sound issues and smell issues often arise in condos and fire safety is amplified.  

Aging has benefits and old buildings certainly win on charm and often on space and flow but as someone said “aging isn’t for sissies” and this surely applies as well to our homes as it does to our selves. 

 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor at mgcantor@pacbell.net.


Quake Tip of the Week

By Larry Guillot
Friday May 25, 2007

Bad Advice From PG&E? 

 

It’s no secret: PG&E doesn’t like automatic gas shut-off valves. I’m sure they don’t want your house to go up in flames, but many PG&E employees are advising people not to have valves installed because they claim the values activate at the slightest shake (they even say a garbage truck going down the street will set them off). This is not true! 

Many years ago, the first automatic gas shut-off valves were calibrated too low, and would activate at around a 3.6 quake. So PG&E had a lot of nuisance calls from folks wanting their pilots re-lit after mild quakes.  

The people at PG&E are not stupid—they undoubtedly know that the current valves are set to activate at around 5.2, which is very serious shaking. We invite them to do the right thing and start encouraging people to make their homes safer with automatic gas shut-off valves. 

Wishing you a safe home and peace of mind. 

 

 

Larry Guillot is the owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing, and gas shut-off valve installation service. Contact him at 510-558-3299 or visit QuakePrepare.com to receive semi-monthly quake safety reports. Quake Tip appears weekly in Home & Garden. 


Berkeley This Week

Friday May 25, 2007

FRIDAY, MAY 25 

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 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll explore pond life, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Free Compost for Berkeley Residents Self-serve from 11:45 to 2:45 p.m. at the Berkeley Marina Maintenance Yard, 201 University Ave, next to Adventure Playground. 644-6566. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Andy Stern on “Journalism” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

“Dam Nation: Dispatches From the Water Underground” with Cleo Woelfle-Erskine, Laura Allen and July Oskar Cole on river restoration worldwide at 7:30 p.m. at AK Press, 674 23rd St., Oakland. 208-1700. www.akpress.org 

0 to 100 Watts in 4 Days: Build an FM Broadcast Transmitter A workshop sponsored by Free Radio Berkeley to teach you how to build a 40 watt FM broadcast transmitter and related items from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Free Radio Berkeley Workshop, 2311 Adeline, Unit P, Oakland. Cost is $200-$250 sliding scale. 625-0314. www.freeradio.org 

Solo Sierrans Briones Sunset Hike Meet at 6 p.m. in the first parking lot, near kiosk inside Briones Regional Park. Bring warm, layered clothing, flashlight, and optional snack to share. 601-1211. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction. Potluck supper at 7 p.m., dancing at 8 p.m. at Hillside Community Church, 1422 Navellier St., El Cerrito. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

Kol Hadash Shabbat at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Please bring finger food to share and non-perishable food for the needy. 428-1492. 

SATURDAY, MAY 26 

Walking Tour of Historic Oakland Churches and Temples Meet at 10 a.m. at the front of the First Presbyterian Church at 2619 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Mini-Farmers in Tilden A farm exploration program, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. for ages 4-6 years, accompanied by an adult. We will explore the Little Farm, care for animals, do crafts and farm chores. Wear boots and dress to get dirty! Fee is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Reptile Rap Meet our resident snake and turtle friends in an interactive talk for the whole family at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Long Lived Blooming Perennials and Shrubs” with Gail Yelland, landscape designer, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Lost Film Fest with shorts from The Yes Men, TV Sheriff, Guerrilla News Network at 8 p.m. at AK Press, 674-A 23rd St., Oakland. Suggested donation $5-$10. 208-1700.  

International Institute for the Bengal Basin Raja Ram Mohan Day Community meditation to preserve watersheds and wildlife and to further human rights at 5 p.m. at 1700 Dwight Way. Donations welcome. 841-3253. 

Berkeley Hillside Club Fundraiser for Building Maintenance at 6 p.m. at 2286 Cedar Street at Arch. Cost is $35. www.hillsideclub.org 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

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.  

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 

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, MAY 27 

Children’s Garden Fun at People’s Park Join naturalist Terri Compost from 1 to 3 p.m. as we plant sunflowers and an heirloom bean garden, play games and go on a bug safari. Especially for children in grades K-5, but all welcome. Meet at the community garden at the west end of the park. 658-9178. 

Wild About Watersheds A 4.5 mile hike from Tilden Nature Area to Wildcat Canyon to explore the watershed. Meet at 1 p.m. For information call 525-2233.  

Silent Spring? Celebrate the 100th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s birth as we listen to bird songs in Tilden Park. From 9:30 to 11 a.m. 525-2233. 

Berkeley City Club Tour of the “Little Castle” designed by Julia Morgan at 1:15, 2:15 and 3:15 p.m. at 2315 Durant Ave. 883-9710. 

“Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West” A documentary at 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Sponsored by Stand with Us. info@sfvoiceforisrael.org 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732.  

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712.  

Tibetan Buddhism with Mark Henderson on “The Life of Shakyamuni Buddha” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

MONDAY, MAY 28  

Tilden Open House With farm songs at 11 a.m., meet a snake at noon, and games at 1 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Masquers Playhouse Annual Garage Sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 201 Martina St . corner W. Richmond Ave. Pt. Richmond. 236-0527. 

Junktique II Garage Sale to benefit Masquers from from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at United Methodist Church, 201 Martina St. Pt. Richmond. Pancake Breakfast from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and chili lunch from noon to 3 p.m. 236-0527. 

Read Aloud Theater A free Berkeley Adult School class at 9 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. 981-5190.  

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, MAY 29 

Community Meeting on the City of Berkeley Budget at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Hearst and MLK, Jr. Way. The budget may be downloaded from www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/budget 981-7008. 

Strawberry Tasting at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market from 2 to 7 p.m. at Derby St. at MLK,Jr. Way. 548-3333. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will explore ponds from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m.. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

Return of the Over-the-Hills Gang Hikers 55 years and older who are interested in nature study, history, fitness, and fun are invited to join us on a series of monthly excursions exploring our Regional Parks. Meet at 10 a.m. at Miller Knox. For information call 525-2233.  

Best Swimming Holes in Northern California at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Solo Sierrans Hike at Lake Chabot Reservoir Meet at 6:30 p.m. at the boat house. Optional dinner follows. For information call Delores 351-6247. 

Live Oak Codornices Neighborhood Assn meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Live Oak Park, Arts & Crafts Rm. We will discuss the proposed North Shattuck Plaza. 

“Am I Ready to be a Parent?” A workshop for prosepctive LGBT parents at 6:30 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave., Oakland. 415-865-5533. www.ourfamily.org 

Berkeley PC Users Group meets at 7 p.m. at 1145 Walnut St. near corner of Eunice St. MelDancing@aol.com 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

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

WEDNESDAY, MAY 30 

“Beyond the Bungalow” with Paul Duchscherer, author of many books on Arts & Crafts homes, at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $20. 848-4288. 

Environmental and Political Action Films “Everything’s Cool,” “A Drop of Life” and “The Forest for the Trees” at 6 and 8:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Cost is $10 per screening or $15 for the night. 415-255-1108. www.livingeconomies.org/events/conference07/filmfest/ 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will explore ponds from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m.. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

National Senior Health & Fitness Day with information booths, health and fitness experts, and presentations from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Salem Lutheran Home, 2361 East 29th St., Oakland. 534-3637.  

New to DVD Screening and Discussion at 7 p.m. at JCCEB, 1414 Walnut St. Discussion follows. 848-0237. 

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. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, MAY 31 

North Shattuck Community Meeting on Safeway Development Plans at 6:30 p.m. at the JCC.  

Congolese Music and Dance Workshops Thurs.-Sun. at Laney College. Cost per workshop is $8-$20. For information call 368-2475. www.youmustdance.blogspot.com 

“Long Train Running: The Story of the Oakland Blues” A documentary, presented by Oaklandish at 9 p.m. at the Parkway Speakeasy Theater, 1834 Park Boulevard, Oakland. Cost is $6. 962-5044.  

Lifeskills 411 Graduation Gala Dinner, with music, dinner, student speeches, at 7:30 p.m. at the Emeryville Hilton, 1800 Powell St. Tickets are $65-$75. 741-2045. www.lifeskills411.org  

Family Storytime for children ages 3-7 at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, North Branch, 1170 The Alameda. 981-6107. 

Baby and Toddler Storytime at 10:30 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.


Correction

Friday May 25, 2007

Due to an edited error, in the May 22 story “Chronicle Newsroom Slashed, East Bay Express Goes Indie” the new ownership of the East Bay Express was incorrectly reported. 

According to editor Steve Buel, two groups of investors, each holding a 50 percent interest, are the new owners, with one group of three headed by new President Hal Brody and the second group of five investors headed by Buel.