Opinion

Editorials

No Conflict: Opposing Military, Supporting Free Speech

By Becky O’Malley
Friday December 07, 2007

“The issue of support for the presence of a USMC Officer Selection Office in Berkeley pits Berkeley’s traditional anti-war stance against its historic commitment to free speech and assembly. -more-


Editorial: Whose Commons Is It, Anyway?

By Becky O’Malley
Tuesday December 04, 2007

Out and about in Berkeley over the weekend, we had a chance to observe numerous examples of the truism that it’s not what you do, it’s who you are that counts. We walked up Ashby to Peet’s on Domingo, one of the oldest locations for Berkeley’s pride and joy, the original leading edge of the gourmet coffee revolution. In the many years we’ve been walking to Peet’s, the shops in the small commercial enclave on that corner have had a lot of turnover. Since we’ve been in the business of selling newspaper advertising, we’ve learned that there are many more people in Berkeley who’d like to run small businesses than there are people who know how to do it. -more-


Public Comment

Letters to

Friday December 07, 2007

CURSE OF THE GROVE -more-


Public Education is Alive and Well

By Cathy Campbell and Cynthia Allman
Friday December 07, 2007

Our experience in public education couldn’t be more different than the cynical and gloomy picture painted by Jonathan Stephens in his recent editorial. (The State of Education, Nov. 23.) As longtime Berkeley teachers (Malcolm X and Willard), as parents of students who have nearly completed their education in Berkeley public schools and as leaders of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, we have a good perspective from which to view public education in our community. -more-


Open Letter to Stand Up for Berkeley

Friday December 07, 2007

We received a letter from Stand Up for Berkeley requesting donations to support litigation against the university’s plans for Memorial Stadium and the Student-Athlete High Performance Center. As longtime Berkeley residents, we are equally concerned about maintaining our quality of life. But we do not believe these projects will adversely affect our neighborhoods and feel it is time to move on. -more-


Response to Open Letter to Stand Up for Berkeley

By JANICE THOMAS
Friday December 07, 2007

Accusations have been flung far and wide against project opponents. Innuendo, bordering on slander, has substituted for argument and debate which references the legal documents under review. A partial project description summarized in response to the most recent vitriol can be referenced in this newspaper in the prepared table and throughout the text of this commentary. Meanwhile, reflections on this state of affairs are offered as follows: -more-


Letters to the Editor

Tuesday December 04, 2007

AC TRANSIT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT -more-


Commentary: Options Recovery and the Public Commons

By Dan McMullan
Tuesday December 04, 2007

I like Judith Scherr. She puts in long hours trying to get the story right and it’s not too easy in a town that has become as shady as our Berkeley has become of late. So I will forgive her if she has failed to see what the true purpose behind what is known to us as Options Recovery Services. When I went public a few months ago with my opposition to the mayor and City Council giving Options $200,000 at a time when food and housing to the poor was being cut by precisely the same amount, Judith asked me a good question. “How successful does a program have to be before you would support it?” It was busy and loud in the council chambers that night and I didn’t get to answer her. -more-


Commentary: Brain Drain: The Quiet Killer

By Lucy Anderson
Tuesday December 04, 2007

It is devastatingly ironic that the world’s poorest countries are, to some degree, subsidizing the healthcare of the wealthiest nations. For years, rich nations encouraged African countries to invest in infrastructure (education, hospitals, medicine); much aid was given to strengthen these very systems. Although it was unintentional, the donations proved to be quite self-serving. As wealthy countries give aid to struggling nations to improve healthcare outcomes with one hand, they siphon off graduates of medical schools with the other. The developed world benefits from the skills and knowledge of newly arrived doctors and nurses while the countries that produced these professionals suffer from staffing shortages. -more-


Commentary: UC Berkeley vs. the Local Community

By Redwood Mary
Tuesday December 04, 2007

EDITOR’S NOTE: This commentary was submitted to the San Francisco Chronicle but was not published. -more-