Columnists

Birds in Berkeley: The Changing Campus Habitat

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday November 20, 2007

My previous column about the birds Joseph Grinnell observed on the UC Berkeley campus drew a response from Allison Shultz, a recent graduate who is now the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology’s Centennial Coordinator (more about that below.) Shultz said that for her senior thesis, she replicated surveys done on campus by Margaret Wythe between 1913 and 1927, and by Charles Sibley and Thomas Rodgers in 1938-39. Her results reveal significant changes among those data points. “I saw that the number of species didn’t change much over the years—it actually went up a little—but the community composition changed,” she explains. -more-


Column: Undercurrents: For Commercial Development in Oakland, Look Beyond Downtown

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday November 16, 2007

Development battle opponents are often depicted as pro-development on one side, anti-development on the other, but that’s almost always a mischaracterization. Just as it would be virtually impossible for someone to be in favor of all development, regardless of what that development happens to be, you never run into someone who is against any and all development. The questions for both sides always is: what type of development are we talking about? Where will it be located? And, probably most important, what portions of the community will it benefit? -more-


East Bay Then and Now: A Tale of Two Mystery Houses and One Politician

By Daniella Thompson
Friday November 16, 2007

Mystery is the reverse side of history. Berkeley, a city chock-full of historic houses, naturally has its share of mysteries—interesting structures about whose origin little or nothing is known. -more-


Garden Variety: A Rare Case of Virtue’s Being Fun: Annie’s Annuals

By Ron Sullivan
Friday November 16, 2007

Annie’s Annuals sent me a promo e-mail a week or two back. Not spam; I’ve put my name on Annie’s mail list because I want to know when the Annies do interesting stuff. -more-


About the House: The Brick Chimneys in Our Houses

By Matt Cantor
Friday November 16, 2007

Dash it all! It seems to take so blasted long to get clothed for the office these days, what with button-hooking the boots, those darned gaiters, buttoning those trousers all the way up and then there’s all the layers. My tailoring bill has become absolutely astronomical and my dresser takes a good 45-minutes ironing my shirt, cravat and those endless four-fold handkerchiefs. Perhaps one day, a man will be able to wear only three layers when flagging his Hansom cab to the office, but for now we must plod through, chin high and suffer silently. -more-


Quake Tip of the Week

By Larry Guillot
Friday November 16, 2007

Tectonic Time Bomb -more-