Nicole Sawaya was named executive director of the Pacifica Foundation Sept. 29, began her job part time in November, and plunged in full-time in December, all according to an agreement with her bosses on the foundation board of directors. 

The Pacifica Foundation holds the licenses to five nonprofit progressive radio stations across the country, including Berkeley’s KPFA FM. 

One day in early December, however, Sawaya, the popular KPFA general manager terminated by the national board during the 1999-2001 strife between the local stations and national board, turned in her Pacifica-issued keys, cell phone and laptop and left the national headquarters without a word of explanation to staff or listeners. 

While the KPFA audience learns details of the war in Iraq other media don’t cover and hears reports directly from tormented Pakistan or Kenya, listeners are told few details on air of the turmoil inside KPFA and Pacifica National offices on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way.  

Some questions not covered: What is Sawaya’s status? What are the criticisms of the recent KPFA Local Station Board elections? What’s the story behind the termination of Peter Laufer, briefly a Sunday morning talk- show host?  

Sawaya’s Comings and Goings 

On Dec. 17, the KPFA Evening News announced that Sawaya had resigned, citing as the source the “Lasar Letter,” a blog written by Matthew Lasar, often called Pacifica’s historian.  

However, according to Dave Adelson, chair of the Pacifica National Board, speaking in an interview with the Planet on Wednesday, Sawaya has not tendered her resignation. In fact, she continues “in discussions” with the board, Adelson said. 

Citing personnel issues, Adelson said he was unable to elaborate. He said he would have preferred to speak openly on the question: “We fought this whole fight for transparency,” he said, referring to the struggle against the Pacifica Foundation attempts to take over the network in 1999-2001.  

Sawaya was apologetic when she returned a Planet call for comment on Thursday, saying it was up to the Pacifica board leadership to speak on the record. She did confirm, however, that she is in discussions with the board. “I’m sorry to be so cold about [discussing] it,” she said. 

Lasar’s Dec. 12 post said: 

“LLFCC [Lasar’s Letter on the Federal Communications Commission] is dismayed and embarrassed to report that Nicole Sawaya has resigned, following a very brief tenure as executive director of the Pacifica radio network. 

“What happened? Without going into all the details, Sawaya found the level of internecine dysfunction at Pacifica overwhelming, and fled her job. 

“LLFCC will not conceal its chagrin at this development. The author of this blog had high hopes for Sawaya, but they were obviously too high. Her quick departure reminds us that there are no saviors, no simple solutions to complex problems. And Pacifica radio is always a complex problem.” 

Everyone reached by the Planet for this story said they had great respect for Sawaya.  

Brian Edwards-Tiekert, a staff representative to the Local Station Board, told the Planet Wednesday that her return “raised our expectations and hopes.” He added, however, that her loss is “an emotional blow, not an operational blow,” as KPFA has stabilized with an interim general manager in place for over two years. (Others, however, are calling for a new, permanent general manager.) 

One person who did not want to speak on the record said Sawaya’s weakness is that she wants to please everyone, something not possible at the radio network fractured by ideology and egos. 

Local station board elections 

After the crisis during which the national board attempted to take over KPFA, bylaws were written to promote democracy. Listener-sponsors would elect local boards, which would elect the national board. 

The elections that took place this year were fraught with charges that the process lacked fairness, with People’s Radio supporters contending that station staff worked with the Concerned Listener slate to rig the vote. 

Multiple charges and countercharges can be read on the Internet in the Daily Planet opinion pages, on blogs and on Indymedia.  

Here, the Planet will focus on the allegation made by members of the People’s Radio slate that former programmer Larry Bensky violated election rules by sending e-mails to a large number of listeners in support of Concerned Listener slate candidates and that he used station resources to do so. 

Bensky tells it this way: When he left his Sunday morning show in April, he took along an e-mail list of people who said they’d like to stay in touch. He also retained control of the website www. sundaysalon.org, through which he sends out occasional messages to the large e-mail list.  

“My termination agreement with KPFA stated that after June 1 I would pay for that site myself, which I have been doing. (I have bills, and canceled checks.) The site is maintained by a volunteer who has nothing to do with KPFA. The names on my list were and are people … who voluntarily asked to be put on the list. It is in no way a KPFA list, it's a Sunday Salon list, now my property,” Bensky wrote in an e-mail to the Planet. 

Bensky said he decided to get involved with the 2007 elections and wanted to alert his e-mail list to his support for the Concerned Listener slate. But before doing so, he said he tried to check with JaNay Jenkins, the local elections supervisor, to make sure that was OK, since he was no longer on staff. (He said he recognized that if he were still on staff, that would violate the rules.) 

“I called her and her voice mailbox was full,” Bensky said, adding that he also sent an e-mail query to Jenkins, a copy of which he sent to the Planet on Thursday. 

In a separate interview Jenkins confirmed this, saying she had been behind in her work and unable to keep up with phone calls and e-mails, having been hired late—in September rather than June (she was the third person in the position of elections officer). 

Those who were on a KPFA staff  

e-mail list received an e-mail from the elections supervisor explaining election rules, but Bensky hadn’t been on the air, except for a couple of quick appearances, and so was not on that staff list. 

Soon after he sent out the e-mails in support of the Concerned Listener slate, Bensky was informed by the interim station manager that National Elections Supervisor Casey Peters had banned him from the air for several weeks for violating the rules. 

Neither Peters nor Jenkins contacted Bensky directly. “I never got an e-mail or phone call,” Bensky told the Planet. “They at no time tried to ascertain the facts.” 

People’s Radio responds 

Richard Phelps, KPFA local board member and part of the People’s Radio group, told the Planet on Wednesday that the elections had been run by management in “collusion” with the Concerned Listeners slate. 

Whether Bensky had received the memo on the election rules from management and whether he had been able to contact the elections supervisor about the rules was irrelevant, Phelps said, arguing that Bensky had been with the station during the time the new bylaws were written and had been through several election cycles. He should have understood the rules, Phelps said.  

Moreover, when the national elections supervisor penalized Bensky by banning him from the air, Bensky was allowed on the air by local management, Phelps said. “Management ignored the penalty,” he said. 

Responding for KPFA’s station management—the interim KPFA general manager is on vacation—Interim Program Director Sasha Lilley said that local management has nothing to do with whom radio show hosts invite to be on the air.  

Neither management nor programmers knew about the ban, Lilley said, underscoring there is a clear separation between the station management functions and overseeing the elections.  

Lilley forwarded an e-mail to the Planet written to the interim general manager from National Elections Supervisor Casey Peters on the question: 

“My apologies of issuing this late in writing. On Friday, Nov. 16, I issued a verbal ruling that Larry Bensky will not be allowed on Pacifica airwaves or websites until after my term of office as National Elections Supervisor ends in 2008, for his Fair Campaign Provisions violation and his refusal to cooperate with the remedy. [Turning over his e-mail list to other candidates.] That INCLUDES rebroadcasts of Mr. Bensky's programs…” 

Beyond the various specific election complaints made by People’s Radio and its supporters, the question of management downplaying the elections is key to what is happening at KPFA, said Phelps and Bob English, a defeated People’s Radio candidate who made a formal complaint to the elections supervisors. 

Phelps said that management’s goal, like that of the Republican Party, is suppressing the vote through “benign neglect,” ignoring the elections on the air. 

“Two weeks before the crafts fair [a major KPFA fundraiser], every hour, or every other hour they would be pushing the crafts fair on the air, but two weeks before the ballots went out, I heard very little about the elections,” Phelps said, noting, moreover that during a two-week fund drive there was a blackout on election coverage. 

“They don’t want the listeners involved,” Phelps said. 

When they did promote the elections, by playing one-minute promotional pieces by candidates, they played all 21 of them in a row. “The person at the end couldn’t be heard,” Phelps said. 

Responding, Lilley said that the station promoted the elections by frequently calling on listeners to become subscribers before the deadline so that they could vote in the elections. Further, she said, programmers did live promotions of the elections, which are more effective than prerecorded Public Service Announcements. 

English and 25 others, including board members and listeners, sent National Elections Supervisor Peters a formal letter of complaint on Dec. 5. In a follow-up letter they wrote: “We requested you either delay certification of the KPFA listener election pending complaint investigation and remedies or apply a substantial penalty to the vote tally appropriate to balance the effects of the primary established violations.”  

However, certification has been completed, according to Peters. The only option at present would be for those who say they were disenfranchised to go to court—which is what has happened at the New York Pacifica station, WBAI.  

Peters told the Planet on Thursday that he hopes, because of the many problems with elections at various stations, that the national board will look seriously at election reform. 

Peter Laufer terminated  

The termination of Peter Laufer, the programmer who replaced Bensky, has turned into another KPFA-related uproar. Laufer told the Planet on Wednesday that he was fired “gracelessly and capriciously via telephone while on vacation in New York, two days after I acted as facilitator in Berkeley for a KPFA event with Naomi Wolf and Daniel Ellsberg.” 

Laufer said he has filed a complaint citing discrimination through an attorney with the Equal Employment Occupation Commission.  

“I was fired because I am white,” Laufer told the Planet, arguing that station management wanted a person of color in the slot. 

“I do magnificent work; I’ve won every award that exists,” Laufer said, noting that in his career he’s worked at every level in the broadcast industry—programmer, manager, consultant. 

Laufer said he is currently piloting his Sunday morning program on 960 AM, the Clear Channel station that runs many of the Air America programs. 

Lilley declined to respond, citing confidential personnel issues. 

••• 

Despite the ban imposed on him, Larry Bensky spoke on Thursday evening’s KPFA news, analyzing the results of the Iowa caucus. The news anchor announced that Bensky would be on the Friday Morning Show to do the same.

The coordinator of the tree-sit at Memorial Stadium represented himself in a court battle with UC Berkeley that ended in a hung jury Wednesday afternoon. 

The vote was 11 to 1 in favor of conviction of Eric Eisenberg, who is better known as Ayr to tree-sitters, campus police and media readers and watchers, when jurors announced they were deadlocked just before 5 p.m. 

Whether or not he faces a second trial on the misdemeanor criminal charge—something that will be the subject of a Jan 23 hearing—he still faces trial in a civil courtroom for the same offense. 

A hearing to assign a judge to the civil case is scheduled two days later, also in Oakland. 

The criminal charge carries a six-month jail term, while the civil offense carries a five-day term. 

“It doesn’t really seem fair they can try you for the same offense in two different courts,” Ayr said. 

He was arrested Nov. 19 after clipping a bag of oranges on a line tree-sitters were using to receive supplies from supporters on the ground and charged with violating a court order banning aid to the protesters who have been camped out for more than a year in the branches along the stadium’s western wall. 

The protesters are fighting plans to level a grove of Coastal Live Oaks and other trees to make way for the Student Athlete High Performance Center, a $125 million high-tech gym and office complex. 

The university won a court order in October that declared the tree-sit illegal and bars support of the airborne protesters. 

While he has been representing himself in the criminal case, Ayr said attorney Dennis Cunning-ham is handling his civil prosecution. 

Karen Pickett of the Bay Area Headwaters Forest Coalition, a supporter of the stadium-site protest, attended the two half-day court sessions Dec. 28 and Wednesday. 

“He acted as his own counsel, and when he testified on his own behalf, he questioned himself. It was a little bit comical, but very effective,” she said. 

“Thank heavens one woman decided it shouldn’t be illegal to give food to osomeone,” she said, referring to the jury’s lone holdout. 

Pickett said the protester had been arrested after a private security guard at the grove told him he could attach the oranges to the support line. 

Ayr said he had been scrupulous in following the letter of the law, because he didn’t want to jeopardize his role in supporting the protesters. 

Meanwhile, the protesters will hold their weekly 2 p.m. gathering at the grove, where volunteer grandmothers send up food to the tree-sitters. 

The Daily Planet was unable to reach UC attorney Michael Goldstein late Thursday for an official comment on the case.

Sandra Graber, a psychiatrist with the city of Berkeley, was struck and killed by a car as she was crossing Marin Avenue at Colusa Avenue on Monday at about 9:40 a.m. 

“Sandy had a routine; she used to walk every morning to exercise and center herself,” Council-member Laurie Capitelli, Graber’s neighbor for 30 years, told the Planet. 

Graber, 61, was walking north on Marin in the crosswalk at Colusa Avenue near her home when she was struck by a car driven by a 79-year-old man traveling south on Colusa and turning east onto Marin, according to Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, Berkeley Police Department public information officer.  

“She was a gentle soul,” said Capitelli, adding that she leaves two adult sons and a husband. 

Police have determined that no drugs or alcohol were involved in the collision. Graber was in the crosswalk and the driver is at fault for not yielding to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, according to Kusmiss. The district attorney will determine whether or how to charge the driver. 

This is the second pedestrian fatality on Marin within a year. A previous accident happened June 6 at Marin and Talbot avenues on the Albany section of the avenue. In that accident, police determined that the driver was under the influence of alcohol. He was charged with manslaughter. 

On Dec. 12, another city worker, Erica Madrid, was struck and killed while crossing Solano Ave. at Fresno Ave., just two blocks from the scene of the Monday morning fatality.  

Graber had been walking without identification when she was struck. Berkeley Fire Department paramedics transported her to Highland Hospital, where she later died of her injuries. 

Kusmiss said officers spent a number of hours knocking on doors in the area and attempting to activate the car alarm on the Honda key she carried in order to determine where she lived. It  

wasn’t until that evening that Graber’s husband reported his wife missing and that her identity became known, Kusmiss said. 

Fred Madrano, who heads the city’s Health and Human Services Department, sent an e-mail to his staff Thursday saying: “The more I think of Sandy’s life’s work with Berkeley Mental Health over the past 30 years, the more I am humbled and honored to have served with her.”  

Over the past five years there have been seven collisions, in addition to Monday’s accident, at the intersection of Colusa and Marin. None of the other collisions resulted in fatalities, according to Kusmiss. 

Four of five traffic collisions in Berkeley in 2007 involved pedestrians, according to Kusmiss. On June 25 a pedestrian was struck at Telegraph Ave. and Blake St. and died July 5; it was determined that the driver was under the influence of a prescription medication. On June 3, a pedestrian was killed at Solano Ave. and Fresno Ave., the same intersection at which the Dec. 12 fatal collision occurred. 

Jan. 19, on Eastshore Highway north of Page Street, a driver determined to be under the influence of alcohol struck a parked car and killed the occupant. The driver was charged with manslaughter. 

Three years ago, Marin Ave. was reconfigured, changed from a four-lane street to a two-lane street with a middle left-turn lane. The change caused the removal of raised islands in the middle of the street. 

“Reconfiguration of Marin certainly could constitute a condemning factor in this pedestrian fatality; because previous to the reconfiguration, there were raised islands on the centerline of Marin Ave. at both this pedestrian crossing and the one on the other side of Colusa at this intersection,” said Raymond Chamberlin, a nearby resident who had fought the reconfiguration of the street at the time. 

The reconfiguration was to have slowed traffic, but at the last report, had not done so, according to Councilmember Capitelli, who sent out an e-mail to his constituents calling on them to take personal responsibility when driving. 

Plans to close the parking lot used by one of West Berkeley’s last relatively inexpensive havens for artists and craft workers are galvanizing occupants of the Sawtooth Building. 

“We’re not going to go down quietly,” said John Curl, a tenant in the landmarked factory building at 2547 Eighth St. at the corner of Dwight Way. 

The problem facing occupants and customers of the venerable structure is the move by Bayer Healthcare to close the lot used by many tenants and visitors to the building.  

Bayer representative Trina Ost-rander said the company needs the lot to replace space that will be lost to construction activities resulting from the demolition of a warehouse and its replacement by a new research building that will bring 150 scientists to Berkeley from a site in Richmond. 

Curl said tenants received no formal notice of the impending closure. 

“I learned about it from a phone call from another tenant,” he said.  

A city notice posted shortly before Christmas simply an-nounced that anyone using the lot after Dec. 28 would be ticketed and fined.  

After tenants contacted city officials, City Councilmember Darryl Moore, who represents West Berkeley, talked to Bayer officials, who granted a one-month extension. 

Curl said continued use of the lot is critical to the survival of many of the building’s tenants, especially the dance studios which attract large numbers of clients in the evening hours. 

Closure of the lot means many attendees would have to park blocks away, raising safety concerns he fears could result in the loss of clientele. 

Ostrander said city Transpor-tation Planner Matt Nichols had developed a plan to add eight parking spaces on Carleton Street by restriping spaces from parallel to angle parking. 

But Curl said that’s not enough. 

Meeting set 

Moore will meet with Curl, Nichols and West Berkeley building owner Dennis Cohen on Jan. 16 to discuss alternatives, Curl said. 

“I don’t know what that can accomplish,” he said. “None of the options are acceptable.”  

In addition to the angle parking, Curl said city staff had suggested installing two-hour meters, but meters would be a problem for tenants, who would be forced to leave their businesses to shuffle cars throughout the day. 

While metalsmith Curtis Arima sells his work at galleries and doesn’t depend on walk-ins, except on open-studio days, “the building as a whole will be deeply impacted,” he said. 

With parking already tight because of dance and yoga studios in the building, closing the lot could be a real tragedy for some of the building’s tenants, he said. 

The Kawneer lot lease, initiated when the city signed a 30-year development agreement with the pharmaceutical company in 1991, has been twice extended, and formally ended on Dec. 31. 

It was Nichols who posted the notices that alarmed the building’s tenants. 

“The city posted the signs so late that people got distressed,” said Ostrander. “We were able to extend it a month,” but construction must move forward on the new building at Seventh Street and Dwight Way, she said. 

Curl said that at the time of the last agreement, then-City Manager Weldon Rucker had assured the company the city would seek no further extensions. 

“Someone really dropped the ball about getting the notification out” about the end of the lease, Moore said. “When I heard about it, I was able to get an extension.” 

While Bayer plans to keep the lot for its own parking needs, Moore said he would be asking the company about the use of the lot in the evening to accommodate students who attend classes in the Sawtooth Building. 

The councilmember acknowledged that the eight spaces along Carleton wouldn’t replace those lost when the lot closes, “but the lot doesn’t belong to us, and what more can we do?” 

BID needed? 

With the city looking for ways to increase development in West Berkeley, Moore said, the obvious solution is a business improvement district (BID) that will levy fees on businesses—“but not residents”—to provide new transportation, infrastructure and policing services for the district. 

The call for a BID hasn’t gone without opposition. 

“We really need to sit down and look at the level of services west of San Pablo Avenue,” he said. 

With parking structures costing $40,000 to $50,000 per space, Moore said one solution may be shuttle services so people who work in the area can take BART to and from San Franscisco and ride shuttles to their West Berkeley places of work. 

The Transportation Commission is already looking at a traffic circulation and parking study for the area, he said. 

Though officially named the Kawneer Building, the building’s roofline—designed to catch sunlight to illuminate the factory floor below—provided the structure’s popular name. 

According to the application that led to the building’s recognition as an official city landmark, the plant produced window sashes and metal store fronts from 1913 to 1958 for the Kawneer Manufacturing Co. 

Landmarked in 1986, the building is popular with artists and artisans, who occupy workshops and studios in the subdivided factory floor space in one of the few remaining West Berkeley buildings available at rents they can afford. 

Recent losses to artists of live/work spaces at the Drayage, eviction of the Nexus collective, the closure of the Crucible’s West Berkeley site and the temporary shutdown of the Shipyard for city code violations have heightened their concerns. 

“This is a very important issue for the city, because there’s already been such a loss of artists and arts and crafts that the city really needs to protect those who are left,” Curl said. “We’re a major anchor for the arts and crafts in the city, and if they turn their backs on us, we won’t let it happen without a lot of fallout.”  

Trail closure 

Another concern affecting another group comes with the closure of a popular stretch of bike trail between Folger Avenue and Murray Street in West Berkeley. 

The trail closure marks the site where a Berkeley Fire Department will build an emergency equipment warehouse, adjacent to the site of the Shipyard. 

During last summer’s city shutdown of the Shipyard, where artists occupied studios in converted shipping containers, leaseholder Jim Mason blamed the action on a city goal of removing inconvenient neighbors. 

But Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong said the closure was needed to prevent trash dumping at the site and to allow time for a cleanup before construction of the warehouse can begin. 

The project is expected to take about a year to complete. 

The new warehouse will house the city’s new emergency water supply system that will enable firefighters to pump up water from the bay to fight fires in the event of a major earthquake or other natural disaster, Dong said.  

Several shipping containers from the Shipyard had been located on the property, which was then owned by Union Pacific Railroad Co. 

The city purchased the railroad’s abandoned spur line in June for $3 million. 

One irate cyclist, Will Steele, emailed the Daily Planet that the closure forced bike riders to make a quarter-mile detour either to San Pablo Avenue to the east or Seventh Street to the west to ride into Emeryville. 

Dave Campbell of the Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition and a member of the city’s Transportation Commission said the closure may be discussed at the first ever joint meeting of the bicycle and transportation advisory commissions of Berkeley, Oakland and Emeryville on Feb. 4.

Concerns over the timing of the environmental review of a towering computer lab planned for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) are triggering newly organized opposition. 

The opponents’ aim is to generate last-minute critiques and push for an extension of the review period. 

Julie Dickinson, Janice Thomas, Merilee Mitchell and other Berkeley residents say they are concerned about the Computational Research and Theory (CRT) facility planned for a site adjacent to the lab’s Blackberry Gate in the Berkeley Hills. 

One of their first concerns is the timing of the public comment period on the draft environmental impact report (DEIR) issued by the lab. 

What worries critics of the project is that much of the public comment period occurred over the winter holiday period, when many university students and faculty were out of town, along with many townspeople. 

On campus, final exams ended Dec. 20 and classes don’t begin again until Jan. 15.  

The comment period ends today, Friday. 

While he refused to extend the comment period for the CRT building, LBNL Director Steve Chu did lengthen the comment period on a second lab building. 

Chu agreed to add three weeks to the comment period for the Helios Building, the structure which will house the research labs of the Energy Biosciences Institute, the $500 million research program funded by BP—formerly British Petroleum—to develop genetically modified crops and microbes designed to produce the next generation of transportation fuels. Though the period was originally slated to expire Jan. 11, comment will be accepted through Feb. 1. 

Lab community relations officer Terry Powell said Thursday that the DEIR for the CRT building had been issued on Nov. 9, and with the close of the review period today, the document has been available for comment for 56 days, “so we didn’t see the need of extending the comment period.” 

With the Helios building, she said, the DEIR was issued a week later, and “it had some more complex issues, and the comment period wrapped around the holidays more directly,” so the extension was granted. 

The California Environmental Quality Act, which mandates reviews of major projects for their impacts on the physical, biological and social environments, requires a 45-day review period of DEIRs so that the public and public agencies can comment on a report’s adequacy. Comments must be considered in the final EIR. 

“We want them to extend the comment period for the computer facility,” said Julie Dickinson. “We’re also asking other people to request an extension, and we’ve been contacting people in public agencies, too. 

“It’s going to be a huge facility, and not many people are aware of what it means,” she said. 

The CRT described in the DEIR would rise 160 feet from its base at the Blackberry Gate following a design blasted by James Samuels, the architect who chairs the city’s Planning Commission. 

“The height was unexpected,” said city Planning and Development Director Dan Marks. “It’s quite visible, and almost as tall as the Wells Fargo building. That was quite a shock.” 

“The lab asserts that it will have no impact on the scenic vistas of the hillside, but it’s huge compared to the lab’s other buildings,” said Janice Thomas, who lives on Panoramic Hill. 

But Marks also said that lab officials have told him they are looking at scaling back the height. Marks is preparing the city’s official comments, which he said he’ll be submitting Friday. 

Only the Planning Commission submitted comments of its own, though the document was circulated to other city commissions for their comments, Marks said. 

“It was pretty hard to get comments from the commissions because of the holidays,” he said. 

Most of the critiques of the CRT project focus on that core principle of real estate: Location, location, location. 

In an e-mail to environmentalists, Thomas said specific concerns include: 

• A project site on undeveloped land and near areas with important biological resources, including the Alameda whipsnake, identified as a threatened species by federal and state agencies; 

• The requirement for removal of 72 trees from the project area; 

• Proximity to sensitive scrub, riparian and woodland habitats; 

• Potential harm to a range of raptors and other creatures identified as species of concern. 

“The university’s Richmond Field Station would be a much better location for this building,” said Dickinson. 

The building will house the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, currently located in Oakland, and its massive array of Cray computers dubbed “Franklin” and ranked as one of the world’s 10 most powerful computing systems. 

Plans for the 140,000-square-foot building include cooling towers mandated by the heat generated by the computing array, which runs at 101 trillion operations per second, according to the lab’s Nov. 16 community newsletter.  

Besides research aimed at measuring the parameters of the Big Bang that gave rise to the universe, the computers will also be used in energy research from the Helios Building’s projects. 

“It’s ironic that a computer that will be used to look at the origins of creation will also be the reason for destroying some of its beauty,” said Dickinson.  

The CRT DEIR is posted at www.lbl.gov/community/CRT/, while the Helios report is at www.lbl.gov/Community/Helios/documents/.

For Berkeley firefighters and police, 2008 started with a bang—an explosion that sent pieces of a stolen car flying more than 200 feet. 

Just what caused the blast remains the subject of an ongoing investigation, said Police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss and Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong. 

Fortunately, no one was hurt by the blast, which ripped the driver’s-side door off its hinges. 

The 911 call came at 9:05 p.m., reporting an explosion and a car fully engulfed in flames near the corner of Woolsey and Ellis streets. 

“We received a report of an explosion, and the car was fully involved” when firefighters arrived, Dong said. 

Kusmiss said that the car was rolling down the street when officers arrived, probably because the searing flames had burned out the emergency brake. 

The car had rolled 34 feet from the site of the explosion by the time firefighters were able to arrest its progress by throwing a chock beneath its wheels. 

Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames, which left the vehicle’s interior charred and melted beyond recognition, said the sergeant. 

What triggered the explosion is still the subject of an investigation, but Dong said pieces of the vehicle were blown as far as 300 feet. 

Whether or not an explosive was used remains an open question, “but you can get almost the same reaction from a can of gasoline if it’s sealed up” said the deputy chief. 

Kusmiss said that a chemical sniffer identified the presence of an accelerant, without pinning down the precise chemical. 

The car was a 1995 Pontiac TransAm, and when police officers at the scene ran its license number, they discovered it be-longed to a San Francisco woman who had reported it stolen from West Oakland 12 hours earlier. 

When local voters go to the polls less than a month from now, the media emphasis and advertising blitzes will be focused on the Democratic and Republican presidential nomination races. But while there are no state and local offices up for grabs on Feb. 5 or for the absentee ballot period that has already begun and will run through 8 p.m. on election day, there will be important state and local measures on the ballot. A brief summary of local measures: 

Alameda County Measures A & B:  

Children’s Hospital Bonds 

Voters who have not been following the Children’s Hospital new hospital construction bond issue over the past several months may find themselves utterly confused when they look at the Feb. 5 ballot for Alameda County. Although there are slight differences, both Measures A and B seek to enact a $24 per year parcel tax increase on residential real property (more for non-residential parcels) designed to pay part of the cost towards the construction of a new 250-patient room, $700 million facility, complete with a 12-story tower, between 52nd and 53rd streets near the Oakland hospital’s current location. Both require a two-thirds approval vote for passage.  

State law enacted following the 1994 Northridge Earthquake requires all California hospitals, public and private, to meet stiffer earthquake retrofit guidelines within the next few years. Children’s Hospital has chosen to meet those guidelines not by a simple retrofit, but by a more ambitious complete building construction program. Both measures would accomplish that goal. 

What’s the major difference between the two measures? Measure B is the original hospital-written bond measure that Children’s Hospital has since discarded. Hospital officials are now supporting Measure A, which was worked out in a compromise with the Alameda County Board of Supervisors after a bitter political battle between hospital officials and supervisors that lasted through the summer and fall. Measure B, in fact, appears on the ballot with no ballot argument written in its favor. 

Both sides in the dispute agree that the Children’s original measure (Measure B) was written without consultation with county officials, a serious flaw since, if passed, the measure would add to the county’s bonded indebtedness and require the county to collect the tax without compensation.  

County Supervisors and Children’s Hospital officials eventually worked out a compromise in which the alternate Measure A was put on the ballot, and the hospital agreed not to support the original Measure B. But even after the compromise was reached, Supervisors still expressed reservations, calling the compromise measure “flawed,” and there is some question whether all or even any of the Supervisors will give Measure A their support. 

Measure A is being opposed by a coalition of residents of the hospital neighborhood, who argue that the hospital expansion is unnecessary and will disrupt and even destroy large parts of the neighboring community, and that the planned high-rise building is not necessary to meet the state retrofit mandate. 

The ballot argument in favor of Measure A has been signed by five Children’s Hospital staff doctors, who say that the compromise measure is “a fiscally prudent way to rebuild the hospital” and that under the revised measure, the county’s bonded indebtedness will not be impacted, and the county will not be stuck with the cost of collecting the tax for Children’s. Instead, the new measure passes that cost onto the hospital. 

Although Measure A appears to be a straight-up vote on Alameda County property owners putting up money towards the building of the new Children’s Hospital, there are other complicating factors that voters may have to consider.  

Children’s Hospital has recently considered relocating outside of Oakland, a move that would be considered a serious blow to the city, and there is a possibility that the failure of the passage of Measure A would increase the chances of such a move. On the other hand, intense opposition to the new hospital has surfaced among neighbors of the existing Children’s, and the passage of Measure A would not ensure that the hospital’s plans, as presently projected, would make it intact through the Oakland planning process that would follow. However the vote goes, expect this to be a continuing issue for some time to come. 

City of Oakland 

Measure G—Oakland Unified School District Parcel Tax Extension 

This bond measure is a permanent extension of the $195 per parcel tax approved by Oakland voters in 2004. Low-income homeowners are exempted from the tax. The original parcel tax expires next year. A two-thirds majority is needed for passage. 

If renewed, proceeds from the parcel tax extension, as with the original 2004 measure, can only be legally spent to “attract and retain highly qualified teachers, maintain courses that help students qualify for college, maintain up-to-date textbooks and instructional materials, keep class sizes small, continue after school academic programs, maintain school libraries, and provide programs that enhance student achievement.” An independent citizens oversight committee is authorized by the measure in order to ensure the bond money is spent only on the purposes outlined in the measure. 

The original Measure E that Measure G seeks to renew was approved by close to 75 percent of Oakland voters in March of 2004. 

No ballot argument was submitted opposed to Measure G.  

With the retirement of David P. Orth as Deputy Fire Chief Dec. 16, Gil Dong assumed the high profile slot as deputy chief and department spokesperson. 

Five days later, the new deputy chief found himself looking at two fires which began less than an hour apart and which included a dramatic rescue. 

Covered furnace  

The first call came at 3:13 a.m. on the 21st from a home in the 3000 block of Benvenue Avenue. 

“The crews found a couple on the roof,” Dong said. “They had been trapped because the fire started at the base of the stairs.” 

The firefighters plucked the couple from their perch, then set to work battling the flames, which were quickly extinguished. The cause of the fire, which did an estimated $10,000 in damage, was traced to a common firefighter’s nemesis: belongings piled atop a floor heater. 

“We get people who move out here who aren’t familiar with how floor heaters work, so we get fires like this,” Dong said. 

But what was working right was the smoke detector that alerted the residents to the fire in time to make their escape and call for help. 

“That’s my safety message for the day,” said the new deputy chief. 

Second blaze  

Less than 45 minutes after the first blaze, a call from an alarm company sent engines rolling to an apartment building in the 2800 block of Derby Street, where firefighters discovered a small fire in a studio unit. 

“The other residents were awakened by their smoke detectors,” Dong added. 

That blaze did about $5,000 in damage, he said.

Former Mayor Shirley Dean, City Councilmember Betty Olds and environmentalist Sylvia McLaughlin drew a flood of media attention when they became Berkeley’s oldest tree-sitters Jan. 22. The trio brought 245 years of savvy to a high-profile protest to save the grove of trees UC Berkeley hopes to ax to make way from a $125 million gym complex along Memorial Stadium’s western wall. The project ended the year embroiled in litigation. 

Another protest ended in the arrest of one of the protesters outside the university’s administration building during a protest opposing the $500 million agricultural fuel program funded by the company once known as British Petroleum. 

Wendy Alfsen (left)of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee reacts with dismay to a proposal to erect up to 14 16-story high-rise point towers in the city center. DAPAC wound up its two-year struggle to draw up a plan with a draft that rejected the towers. Sitting beside Alfsen is Mark Rhoades, who left his post as city Planning Manager, triggering a celebration by some of Alfsen’s allies.

Three artists from the Shipyard removed their belongings after a city inspection handed down multiple citations for building, zoning and fire code violations to the assemblage of studios housed in shipping containers at the West Berkeley site. The artists were given additional time to finish their projects for the annual Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert. 

A Berkeley firefighter carries Misti Mina Hassan, 31, from her Shattuck Avenue apartment after a friend called police on Oct. 10 to say Hassan had told her she had murdered her 9-year-old son Amir. Police found the boy’s body in the apartment. Hassan has been charged with murder.

What’s nice about taking a midwinter break is that it provides an opportunity to poll the delegation: to inquire of the citizenry about what’s on their minds. Holiday parties are great for taking informal surveys, discretely of course. The best thing about residents of the urban East Bay is that they rarely agree on much, so when they do, it’s news. 

First, the local returns: nobody, no-where, likes the multi-story condos that are popping up everywhere. Some just don’t like them, period. Others, more judicious, would like to see more affordable housing, but think that market-rate units (translation: cheap construction, expensive price) are sucking up all the available building sites. This is the word on the street in Richmond, El Cerrito and Oakland, as well as in Berkeley, and it’s also true in San Francisco (check out the latest San Francisco Bay Guardian and Beyond Chron on the internet for documentation.)  

There’s a strong undercurrent of muttering among the chattering classes about what they perceive as the skewed relationship between taxes and services on the local level. Those who watch such things are aware that pay for municipal administrators is already high and continues to go up, and yet the level of services received by the taxpayers continues to go down. They see public employees with too much time on their hands getting embroiled in senseless neighbor disputes like so many nannies, and yet complainers note that their authentic crime reports are often shrugged off by the authorities, sometimes with excuses about understaffing.  

Berkeleyans are plenty mad at the University of California, as are residents of El Cerrito and Richmond, who also live near branches of the UC fiefdom. They’ve finally started to notice that the uglier aspects of the no-longer-lovely UC Berkeley campus are metastasizing into their pleasant urban neighborhoods. Some are threatened by the toxic legacy of years of the University of California’s devil-may-care experimentation. And many of these angry citizens are UC alumni, faculty and/or employees embarrassed by Alma Mater’s licentious behavior. Some are even football fans. They all pay taxes to support UC. 

When the talk turns to the world outside Lake Wobegon, the overwhelming consensus is that a Democrat really has to win the next presidential election. Where there’s no perceptible consensus is about which Democrat should win. Analysis splits along purist and pragmatist lines. The purists argue about which candidate is the best person to do the job of president; pragmatists try to figure out which one has the best chance of beating the Republicans.  

We encountered our old friend the pundit at one holiday gathering, and he’s still advancing his thesis that no one, even an intellectually pretentious Berkeleyan, really does a logical analysis of the positions espoused by the various contenders. He says that voter decision-making is more like a quick Gestalt (does anyone still use that word?)—an impression formed by the way the candidates frame their ideas and project their personalities. The package, he seems to be saying, is everything. 

Chats with the fraction of the local body politic who claim to have made up their minds bear this out. The professor who’s made her reputation since the seventies as an ardent and articulate feminist is staunchly behind Hillary Clinton, not to be distracted by the nitty-gritty details of health plans. Union activists are attracted by Edwards’ populist support for the needs of working people, as are those whose ultimate espousal of the Democratic party was preceded by romantic flings with other parties whose populist rhetoric was even more colorful than Edwards’. Obama supporters, at least the older ones, see him as the present embodiment of the future they’d envisioned when they worked for civil rights in the sixties and seventies. The younger Obama fans look on him as “one of us”—the kind of high-achieving guy they’d like to claim as a friend. Kucinich diehards (yes, there are quite a few of those around here) are the purest of the purists, with a high-minded disdain for any pragmatist’s analysis of electability 

None of these true believers has the slightest need for the kind of issues spreadsheet being proffered by everyone from the New York Times to Grandmothers Against the War. It’s clear that they’ve made their choice on the basis of their candidate’s public persona—with their hearts, not their heads. But advocates like these are still a distinct minority among the chattering classes of the urban East Bay.  

The pragmatic majority is ready to embrace all of these candidates. They would love to be able to combine them: to roll them all into one big ball of Democratic clay from which the sure winner could be sculpted by some party Pygmalion. The dream candidate—let’s just fantasize for a while here—would be a feminist like Clinton, transcend race like Obama, speak up for the little guy like Edwards and have the courage of convictions like Kucinich. But since the composite candidate is not on offer, most pragmatists will settle for any one of them (well, maybe not for Kucinich). Everyone we encountered hopes that the Republicans will continue down the path to self-destruction as per the script, so that whatever Democrat emerges as the official candidate can pick up the pieces. 

The last word on the health of the body politic goes to Ariel, artist and long-time activist extraordinaire. She quipped on New Year’s Day that Americans have two patron saints: Santa Claus and Horatio Alger. I offered her the opportunity to riff on this brilliant line in these pages, but when she didn’t immediately accept the offer, I said that I’d steal it instead.  

Here’s what I think it means: most of us seem to hope and believe that government is there to provide anything and everything we might need or want. That includes cheap mortgages, clean air and water, pure food and drugs, adequate health care—all for free, with no burdensome taxes or annoying regulations needed. And at the same time we want to believe that we’ve somehow earned all this by our own efforts: that’s the Horatio Alger part. (For younger readers, he was a guy who wrote books about earnest young men—always men—who became millionaires through hard work, back in the day when a million dollars represented more than a house in a middle-class part of North Berkeley. )  

This is certainly the vision Republicans have tried to sell to the voters. No American has ever consciously voted in favor of pollution, but many have voted against paying for the government oversight necessary to prevent it. Many poor working people have voted against taxes on the rich because they sincerely believe that some day they’ll be rich too and will want to pass their wealth along to their heirs.  

The challenge for whatever Democratic candidate emerges from the fray is to persuade today’s voters that there’s a reasonable way to use government to provide what they actually need. Polls, both official and informal, consistently show that Americans now think that the country needs and deserves an end to the war in Iraq, decent medical services for everyone and attention to the risks of climate change, but that they don’t have a clear vision of how to reach these goals through electoral politics.  

The ideal candidate for the Democrats would be the one whose public persona demonstrated that the way to meet our needs is to tackle them together, not to rely either on cost-free benefits distributed by an omnipotent government like Santa Claus or on individual bootstrapping a la Alger’s heros. 

It’s what used to be called leadership. 

Franklin Roosevelt was able to provide it, but has anyone since? Or can any one of the current crop of hopefuls pull it off? The upcoming round of primaries might tell the story.  

AUTO BURGLARIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

My neighborhood on the South Berkeley/ North Oakland border has seen a huge number of auto burglaries and break-ins in recent weeks. Your paper also reported the escalation in thefts of catalytic converters from automobiles. I want to offer an effective strategy to help prevent such auto burglaries during times when an owner’s car is parked sufficiently close to their home or place of business for this method to work. There is a product called the REPORTER available from Radio Shack (I am not affiliated with Radio Shack or this product) which functions as a wireless motion detector that operates both day and night. It can be placed inside a car, or in a trunk, or in a way that would detect motion if someone crawled under the car to remove a catalytic converter. When it senses motion it causes a receiver that you have in your house/business to either issue loud beeps, or, if you choose to plug something into it, it can turn on an item such as a loud TV or radio to wake you. Thus the car owner can be alerted if anyone either breaks into or crawls under his/her car. This product has many other uses. It can be placed in a garage to detect break-ins there: it can be set up to guard perimeters of your property to detect trespassers: one receiver works for up to four transmitters so you can monitor four different locations. Cost is $60-200. Other wireless motion detectors could function similarly, although as far as I know only this product works during the day as well. The more everyone does to safeguard their property, the more whole neighborhoods will benefit, since confrontations or lack of success in their “business” will dissuade thieves. Then too, I wanted to comment that a huge increase in catalytic converter theft could be considerably ameliorated if scrap metal buyers, aware of the problem and willing to be part of the solution, simply began to refuse to buy catalytic converters.  

Deborah Cloudwalker 

Oakland  

• 

KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing to ask your readers to help prevent the sickening atrocities to animals for which Kentucky Fried Chicken is responsible. If you know about the way these animals live and die, you know it’s wrong. They are bred and drugged to grow so fast that many become crippled under their own weight. They live in sheds so crowded they barely have room to spread their wings. They are de-beaked without painkillers in order to stop the neurotic cannibalizing behaviors that such overcrowded conditions engender. They are brutally slaughtered and many are scalded while they are still conscious. These practices are horribly cruel and make a mockery of life. 

You have the power to make a change. There are many other food choices you can make that are healthy, humane, and even convenient. Please boycott Kentucky Fried Chicken. 

Isabella La Rocca 

• 

OPTIONS RECOVERY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As the new year approaches and I’m among those thinking about all sorts of hopes and dreams we’d love to have fulfilled in the future—many grandiose (like peace on Earth, social justice, and husbanding Earth in such a way as to ensure the well-being of all of its creatures). However, my most immediate hope and dream for 2008 is that Berkeley’s recycling program be radically altered. 

By now, probably everyone has heard that noise pollution and insufficient sleep are serious problems in our society. Berkeley’s recycling program has been a huge contributor to both of them, and is in fact a public nuisance that should be stopped. 

From its inception, the recycling program created a cottage industry of nocturnal nomads roaming the town, clanking shopping carts in tow during the wee hours, leaving streets and sidewalks strewn with litter and broken glass in their wake. From what I’ve seen over the years, nothing that the recycling trucks pick up has any value unless it is indeed sent somewhere other than to the dump. 

The rattling of shopping carts is a minor disturbance compared to the town’s recycling behemoths that roar around my neighborhood—often as early as 6:15 a.m.—three or four times a week. Apart from the noise made by virtue of their construction and the speed at which they are driven, it seems the drivers are trained to drive in reverse in most circumstances. As a result, we are treated to a pre-dawn symphony of trucks’ engines and clanking, augmented by the noise-maker that warns everyone within a couple of miles not to go sleepwalking behind one of them. (Just how many lives have been saved by those noise-makers versus how much they have added to the stress level of city living is a question for another day.) 

Yes, I’m cranky from suffering the un-necessary noise pollusion and lack of sleep caused by the recycling program. It’s im-possible to contact anyone there. Maybe someone with influence will read this letter? 

Nicola Bourne 

• 

PARKING AND BRT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If the commentary by Sharon Hudson represents the core of opposition to BRT, then there is only one issue—parking. 

If one is convinced that any parking loss will be detrimental to business activity and residential convenience, then the question is whether the benefits of the BRT will reasonably balance the detriments. 

The benefits of BRT, not at all considered in the Hudson commentary, are based on a reduction in the number of cars on our roads, which means less congestion, less air pollution and a net reduction in GHG emissions. 

Does the exclusive focus on parking mean that there is no value to any of these BRT benefits? Perhaps these benefits are illusory—they will not happen as a result of deploying the BRT? 

We have three nearby deployments of something close to BRT—in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Eugene. All of these appear to have dealt with the parking issue without destroying local business. Have these BRT deployments reduced local car traffic? That’s the question we should be asking, not endlessly worrying about preserving parking spaces. 

Steve Geller 

• 

ANIMAL INJURIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have in hand copies of the 2007 rodeo animal injury reports submitted to the State Veterinary Medical Board, as required by law (Penal Code 596.7). 

Are you ready? A grand total of only two! NO reports were submitted in 2006, and only one in 2005. Not possible. 

Rodeo injuries are commonplace. What with some 250 rodeos held annually in California, there should be at least several dozen such reports every year. It’s clear that the “on call” veterinarian option allowed by current law isn’t working. Vets are not being summoned, and injured animals are suffering needlessly. 

There’s an easy fix: State law should be amended so as to require an on-site veterinarian at every rodeo and charreada (Mexican-style rodeo)—“on call” not allowed. Rodeos already require on-site paramedics and ambulances to care for injured cowboys, and rightly so. Surely the animals deserve equal consideration. 

There’s good precedent. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) requires on-site vets at all their rodeos, as do Alameda and Contra Costa counties, the Hayward Rowell Ranch, the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles, the Solano County Fair, and the California State Fair. So do all horse shows and thoroughbred race tracks. It’s common sense. 

Ask your state reps to introduce and/or support the needed humane amendment. All legislators may be written c/o The State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814. 

Eric Mills, coordinator 

ACTION FOR ANIMALS 

Oakland  

• 

CALIFORNIA CAUCUS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Why all the media coverage, frantic in-tensity and TV news truck gridlock over presidential primary caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada? Supposedly because they are early, thus bellwethers. 

But it could be that the caucus system is open and hard to control by political pros and thus represents a democracy that frightens the powers into attention. Selma Vincent’s friend in Las Vegas, Phyllis Needham, recently attended a “Mock Caucus” of near 70 supporters of Obama. “We all met in this big house. The host had a large spread of hors d’oeuvres, and since we were all for Obama, we decided to vote for our preference in the hor d’oeuvres. I picked the meatballs. It turned out that meatballs and jalapeno poppers grabbed the most votes. Those who voted for an hor d’oeuvre that didn’t get the minimum 15 percent were made to go line up by the wall and we came and campaigned at them to change to meatballs or poppers. Meatballs won 35-34.” The caucus was not winner take all, so, Phyllis informs, the 20 mock delegates were distributed 10 to meatballs, 10 to poppers. 

How about bringing the caucus system to California. If not now, then after the revolution. 

Ted Vincent 

• 

WEAR WHITE AT NIGHT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If pedestrians in Berkeley expect to live through the dark, cold wet weather of winter, they will wear WHITE AT NIGHT. It seems as if people believe that if they exist they must be seen even if it’s pouring rain and all their clothes look black—not true. Add many other factors such as speed, inattention and blinding glare and it’s a wonder any pedestrian (or bicyclist for that matter) makes it home. Dumb luck. 

Jean Lieber 

take all, so, Phyllis informs, the 20 mock delegates were distributed 10 to meatballs, 10 to poppers. 

How about bringing the caucus system to California. If not now, then after the revolution. 

Ted Vincent 

• 

• 

CELL PHONE TOWERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

People who don’t like liberals or progressives often say that as soon as they get power and start to smell money, they are no better than the Republicans. That certainly seems to be the case in regard to the proposed battery of cell phone towers to be erected on the old Bekins building in South Berkeley. 

It is well known that the radiation from towers like these might be the cause of increased cancer rates among people living in close proximity. Yet the developers and the cell phone corporations have said, “We want!” and our beloved mayor and City Council have replied, “You shall have!” 

Every citizen of Berkeley should be gravely concerned about this latest cave-in to developer and corporate interests, because if the towers are allowed to go up in South Berkeley, there will be absolutely nothing to discourage the same companies form putting additional ones up in neighborhoods throughout the city (including affluent neighborhoods). 

We should be marching on City Hall. We should be demanding, at the next City Council meeting, that the City just once have the guts to say no to the big money, and start thinking of the health of Berkeley citizens. 

Peter Schorer 

• 

FOXY MAYOR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Berkeley’s internationally famous again! Fox TV recently celebrated Santa Mayor Bates and Berkeley as the city that’s most ruthlessly cracking down on the appearance and manners of the holiday season’s most helpless and ill—the homeless. The Scrooges of the entire world now know the secret that Berkeley has been trying desperately to hide. It is no longer the famous cultural and political tourist magnet, tolerant and “How Berkeley Can You Get” eccentric. Those people, including some of our most honored teachers and well-known artists, civil rights and free speech activists are being systematically kicked out of the city they made famous. 

How? They can’t afford the rents and as most of them get older or disabled they’re forced onto Section 8 housing. There a nasty fall awaits them. If they’re in one bedrooms or studios Mayor Bates, City Manager Phil Kamlarz and new Housing Director Reynalda Mary will jack up their rents as much as $100 per month. This may be happening in order to give those Berkeley residents’ housing vouchers to Berkeley’s developers. They then use HUD vouchers as a legal loophole excuse to build more and more empty “skyscrapers,” It’s certainly what’s happened to Berkeley’s Housing Fund, which could have saved many people from homelessnes. Fox News’ (admittedly sometimes shaky) statistics alarmingly claim that while Berkeley is only 7 percent of Alameda County, it contains 40 percent of its homeless. And it’s rapidly rising as our developer-rubber-stamp, sadly corrupt officials continue breaking city, state,federal and HUD fair housing and discrimination laws.With one hand they punish the homeless, while the hand hidden behind their backs floods our streets with a holocaust of new homelessness. 

And we Berkeleyites who are left for now in homes? Are we flooding those officials with e-mails, protests and easy discrimination lawsuits? Or like good Americans are we only following orders? Who’s next?  

Philip Ardsley Smith  

Berkeley Citizens for Fair Housing Endorsed by Berkeley Grey Panthers 

• 

TWO MEN FROM HOPE 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

The two men from Hope, Arkansas, both men of faith, couldn’t be more different. 

GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has flipflopped into the mold of an anti-immigration extremist, is a non-believer in evolution and is a religious conservative who puts George Bush to shame. Bill Clinton was inclusive, cooperational, and non-adversarial as president. 

Will Huckabee as a Republican president strive for deficit reduction, health care insurance for all Americans and work for a more bipartisan approach to government as Clinton did in office? 

Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee can’t hold a candle to former President Bill Clinton and it is still hard to figure out whether Huckabee is running to be pastor or president of the United States. 

Ron Lowe  

Grass Valley  

• 

APPRECIATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It would appear that our previously responsive mayor and City Council have rescinded their basic responsibilities to the citizens by capitulation to the Powers That Be, in this case the telecommunications industry. 

In 1996 the Federal Communications Commission stipulated that the erection of transmission antennas for cell phones, laptops, and all the other wired and wireless gadgets could not be opposed by an municipality for health reasons. They were to be placed in commercial areas where people were working for only part of the day. Why? Did they know something then that we are just beginning to learn about now? 

For several years now these antennas have been going up on Shattuck Avenue commercial buildings, many of which are only a short distance from residences. The recently approved antennas for the UC Storage building on Shattuck and Ward is the latest example. The French Hotel on Shattuck/Vine and possibly the commercial building that houses Prudential real estate on Rose/Shattuck. 

With the consistent exception of Council member Max Anderson who is prepared to actively protest this ruling, the mayor and council say they are sympathetic with the concerns of those who oppose the antennas, but legally powerless to oppose the practice. 

IF we had any responsible leadership in this town, we might hear them invoke their basic responsibility to act in the best interests of our citizens by making every effort to protect our health and safety. There are some tools—the Precautionary Principle—where threats of serious or irreversible damage to people exist the lack of full scientific certainty relating to cause and effect shall not be viewed as sufficient reason to postpone measures to protect human health. 

And there are a number of scientific studies now emerging, mostly from the Sweden and Finland, that present evidence of rising rates of childhood leukemia, brain cancer, breast cancer, depression and other ailments. A recent report from Israel indicates that compared with the total population there are four times as many cancer cases among people who live near a cell phone transmitter station for three to seven years. (For much more information google “electromagnetic field emissions.”) 

Does this all sound familiar?—think cigarettes, asbestos, mercury, excessive antibiotics, etc. Since government seems to have formed a coalition with corporations, all we can do is protest and take care of ourselves the best we can. A sorry state of affairs as we enter 2008. 

Joan Levinson 

• 

DREAM OF SOLIDARITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Primary elections are coming soon. I would like to see initiatives from any party which can bring about peace and security, better health care and better education for all, and most importantly, better relations with all nations on the planet. I would like to see happiness on the faces of today’s youth and not traces of discrimination due to race or economic status. We need solidarity; the despair of the least among us matter to the rest of us. I would not like to say where my vote will go but I want to share my dream of a direction for our country. 

Romila Khanna 

Albany 

• 

CLEAN WATER CRISIS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Several recent reports on TV and in papers indicate that the supply of clean water in many countries is severely hampered by the many problems arising from the expanding uncontrolled dumping of organic wastes. I pointed out in a Nov. 30 commentary in the Planet that we could be getting some energy and reducing the carbon dioxide overload on the globe by using pyrolysis on our organic wastes. By using pyrolysis on wastes, we could cut water pollution greatly as germs and toxics would be destroyed. Further, we would stop the reemitting of carbon dioxide by forming inert carbon: that will be taking advantage of nature’s own carbon dioxide trapping system, which we foolishly disregard by composting, a process speeds biodegradation of plant materials and recycles that gas back onto the globe. Present handling of organic wastes in the developed countries costs megabucks both in maintaining dumps to prevent seepage and in running composting operations. Pyrolysis of thewastes would make some money from the energy as well as recover costs from not maintaining dumps to prevent seepage. 

If the people of Berkeley really want green action, they should call on their officials to get a pyrolysis program set up. I can supply more details if the Nov. 30 Commentary is not enough.  

Dr. James Singmaster 

Environmental Toxicologist, Ret.  

Fremont 

• 

POLAR ENERGIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

“Liberal” and “conservative” are two polar energies that are always present in the public arena, as they provide checks and balances for each other. Liberals, or progressives, archetypically push for changing what is outworn and no longer needed in a society, while conservatives archetypically preserve what is best in society. 

Until we recognize and appreciate the contribution of each of these basic energies, we will remain in polarized positions and won’t draw out the best of each other to creat a higher synthesis. 

Liberals and conservatives keep arguing about the same things when the country wants to move on. We are encouraging either/or politics based on idelogical preconceptions rather than politics based on ideas that broadly unite us. 

Ron Lowe  

Grass Valley 

• 

CAMPUS WORKERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As Richard Brenneman highlights events and issues at UC Berkeley in 2007 (BDP v.9, #77) he omits out some good stuff concerning workers on campus. Local 3299 of AFSCME chalked up important achievements this past year, we won a pay equity struggle to bring the lowest paid food services and custodial pay up from poverty wages a dollar or so and established protection of workplace language rights and restitution of faulty pension calculations for employees at the International House.  

Numerous commencement speakers honored our request to stay away from graduation when informed of the equity dispute, and some Democrat candidates for president refused to come on campus. We would like to thank them for their solidarity. 

In other news, UAW-represented academic student employees won wage and contract improvements while the coalition of UC labor unions—including UPTE Professional and Technical Employees, CUE clericals, UC-AFT lecturers and librarians, UAW Academic student employees, AFSCME service workers and patient care employees and CNA—successfully blocked pension-withholding increases for all 10 campuses, took up the struggle of toxic pollution at the Richmond field station and are working across boundaries to help the unions that are currently in or soon entering in to contract negotiations. 

Hank Chapot, Oakland 

UCB central campus gardener

AC Transit’s misnamed bus “rapid” transit proposal would not be very rapid. And it would not “replace” the many parking spaces it would remove, as Charles Siegel’s Dec. 14 and 21 letters mistakenly claimed. 

Rather, in exchange for destroying 945 to 1,299 parking spaces along its whole proposed route, the bus agency offers a remarkable “mitigation:” to destroy yet another 187 to 318 spaces! 

General parking spaces on Telegraph would become yellow-curb delivery zones, meaning that most people couldn’t use them. And free parking spaces on residential side streets would become metered, meaning that most people wouldn’t want to. That’s some “mitigation” for neighborhoods already threatened with increased traffic diversion from this boondoggle. 

This all comes straight from AC Transit’s recent draft environmental impact report (EIR). You can download that in a convenient (although very large) single-file format at: http:// Busduse.org/Brt-deir.pdf 

If you’ve ever defended your neighborhood against a big, berserk development project—the kind that Mr. Siegel keeps trying to plop into someone else’s backyard—you know what it’s like to read the project EIR. You tumble rapidly through the looking glass into a mix of Kafka and Orwell. 

Projects disguised as “green” or “sustainable” turn out to actually harm the environment. Impacts portrayed as “slight” are actually substantial. And, as in this case, the claimed “mitigations” are really further impacts. 

Oh, and, parking “replacement” is anything but. AC Transit’s EIR pays lip service to the phrase (on page 3-123), but immediately redefines “replacement” to mean: AC Transit might toss a little money into parking structures already built, or into those already planned by other agencies. 

So, what AC Transit is really proposing is a purchase of naming rights. When Monster Cable paid to rename Candlestick Park “Monster Park,” no one claimed they’d built a new stadium. And if you believe that AC Transit’s retroactive donations add up to “parking replacement,” I’ve got a nice orange bridge to sell you. 

Three pages later, the EIR flatly dismisses the very idea of fully replacing the 1,132 to 1,617 parking spaces that BRT would destroy. (Combining 945 to 1,299 spaces lost for unneeded bus lanes, plus 187 to 318 for “mitigations.”) Then it sums up just how few spaces the bus line is offering to rename. 

It would subsidize “zero to 20” spaces (either existing or already planned) in downtown Berkeley parking garages; and “zero to 101” spaces (existing or already planned) in Southside garages; and “zero to five” spaces in North Oakland. Merry Christmas. 

It gets worse. Even the “new” parking currently planned in Berkeley will only partly replace spaces already lost to other projects before AC Transit proposed BRT. 

Ask Telegraph and downtown merchants why our city’s core commercial districts are decaying, and they regularly cite these ongoing losses of parking. Their defecting customers agree. Also, for struggling storefront merchants, no amount of parking in remote garages would replace the business they’d lose when parking disappears out front. 

AC Transit’s BRT folly targets the district of one of Berkeley’s “greenest” City Councilmembers, the bicycling Kriss Worthington. And Worthington has forcefully rejected it. He wants to redirect its wasteful public subsidy (of up to $400 million) toward smarter transit incentives that might actually benefit our favorite planet. 

Charles Siegel and his ally Rob Wrenn constitute two-fifths of the prolific “Friends of BRT”—meaning they’re about two-fifths of Berkeley’s constituency for this big, berserk waste of scarce transit funds. If they again use these pages to make easily disprovable misstatements about AC Transit’s filings, you can safely disregard anything else they say about BRT. 

Among past misstatements: that BRT on Telegraph would significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions (the EIR never studied them), or energy consumption (where the EIR explicitly predicts only “negligible” changes), or conventional air pollution (where the EIR shows equally negligible results). 

Any claims about real environmental benefits from BRT are theoretical extrapolations from other cities, where routes were reasonably planned to substitute for missing subway lines. But AC Transit’s entire route would run an absurd one to six blocks beside BART. BART would remain faster, greener, cheaper to ride, more popular, and cheaper to expand. 

AC Transit is simply proposing to run big, dirty, and largely empty diesel buses through a giant loophole in federal and regional transit subsidies. Stunningly, the agency’s own EIR consultants concluded that on this nutty route, “buses are not as energy efficient as autos”! (Page 4-151.) 

Reclaim the $400 million that AC Transit’s Grinchlike accountants are seeking to nab, and we could buy a truly beneficial gift for our favorite planet. 

Michael Katz is a Berkeley activist and occasional journalist.

Sharon Hudson’s 12/28 commentary (“AC Transit Will Not Replace Parking Loss”) is exceedingly unhelpful in shedding any light on our proposed Bus Rapid Transit project. She’s complaining prematurely: the concerns she raises will be much more definitively addressed as the ongoing environmental review process moves to its conclusion in 2008. 

She quotes extensively from the 2006 draft environmental impact report from 2006 (DEIR) as presumptively conclusive evidence that AC Transit will not replace any parking lost as a result of BRT implementation without taking it from the neighborhoods. Ms. Hudson—who publicly proclaims her expertise on the environmental review process—surely knows better. Responses received on the DEIR have certainly raised the salience of the parking issue, and AC Transit is preparing a much more thorough discussion of potential mitigations for any lost parking and other potential “adverse impacts” that the final EIR will describe in detail. It’s the final EIR (FEIR) that matters. Raising concerns about issues in the DEIR as if they were unchangeable commitments set in concrete is disingenuous and seriously misleading. 

Such issues as Ms. Hudson raises are not yet formally addressed by AC Transit because the next phase of the environmental review process is still incomplete, awaiting action by the City of Berkeley. That required action is the selection of the “preferred local alternative” (PLA) for the project, which will serve as the central organizing scenario for the FEIR. In this phase, the forthcoming commission and city council process will define the best “what-if” case we can make for BRT: If we were to build BRT in Berkeley, what’s the best net-positive plan we can define? That best-case may not prove good enough to actually build; but the decision on whether to go ahead follows the delivery of the FEIR and does not anticipate it.  

It’s important to make this distinction again for absolute clarity: the selection of a preferred local alternative is not a vote to approve the eventual project. The PLA will only help AC Transit write the complete FEIR—dealing with all concerns and objections raised to date—so that the City Council can have the most complete information available. The final Council decision will be based on the FEIR, not on the less fully analyzed preferred local alternative by itself. And that final EIR isn’t now expected before the latter part of 2008. 

If Ms. Hudson really wants to know what AC Transit is currently thinking about some of these issues—instead of clinging to the obsolescent DEIR as if it’s holy scripture—all she needs to do is give Jim Cunradi a call. While Cunradi can’t anticipate or announce any decisions that haven’t yet been made, at several public meetings I’ve attended, Mr. Cunradi has certainly been forthcoming about the process AC Transit has been following and about the nature of the major issues that are still unresolved. It’s certainly unfair to blame AC Transit for any lack of current information—until the City makes its PLA choice, AC Transit does not know what the central scenario in the FEIR will be that it has to analyze. For that reason it can certainly not yet make any promises about what the actual completed project would or would not do.  

Public debates about BRT may be helpful in the future, but only when we know exactly what BRT project we’re looking at, when we know what the potential negative impacts of that actual project would likely be, and when we know what potential mitigations for any negative impacts we could adopt. Until then, there’s simply no point in debating about speculations. That can only inflame people’s worst fears (or feed their unrealistic hopes). 

Let’s put aside the premature posturing about what we assume the worst will be, and join others in making a helpful contribution about what BRT could be. Choices about the PLA will be important: routes through south campus and downtown, the extent to which dedicated lanes are desirable on some or all of these segments, station locations and configurations, and the like. We now have a chance to work together to craft our best case for going ahead—so we can later decide, in the full light of all information we can bring to bear, whether or not we really want BRT to happen. 

Sadly, we are entering the New Year, carrying the burden of yet another pedestrian fatality in the Thousand Oaks neighborhood. On Monday, December 31, during the late morning, a pedestrian walking northbound on Colusa, crossing Marin, was hit and fatally injured by a vehicle going southbound on Colusa and turning left onto Marin. All parties were obeying the traffic signal. The driver contends the sun, shining directly into her eyes, prevented her from seeing the pedestrian as she completed her turn. My condolences go to the family who shouldn’t have had to face this unexpected and senseless loss. My sympathy goes out the driver who will have to bear this burden the rest of her life.  

After three years in the District 5 Council office, I can truthfully say that the number one constituent complaint is about traffic: too much, too fast, too careless. The outcry has been especially strong this holiday season. Many neighborhood residents feel under siege and appeal to the City for some relief in the form of speed bumps, crosswalks, stop signs, traffic circles—anything to force drivers to SLOW DOWN and PAY ATTENTION. BE RESPONSIBLE for residents playing near or walking across the street.  

I actually don’t think the answer is always a tangible change to the streetscape. What we do need to change right now is the culture of driving in Berkeley: to be able to expect that all of us will slow down, pay attention and be responsible. Whether we do it through a public relations program or targeted enforcement, we each need to take individual responsibility to drive safely.  

I challenge each and every one of us who live and drive in Berkeley to consider the pedestrian you approach as if they were the loved one of someone you know. Care about them. They are, most likely, your neighbor.  

So as we sift through and prioritize our New Year’s resolutions in this first week of 2008, may I suggest the following for all of us who walk and/or drive a car: 

1. Never drive faster than the posted speed limit. 

2. When you see a pedestrian in or approaching a crosswalk, stop for them. Take a deep breath and relax. 

3. If the sun is in your eyes and you cannot see, pull over for a few moments, stop, or take a different route. 

4. If you are insistent about using a phone while driving, use a hands-free device.  

5. If a car in front of you stops at a crosswalk, STOP! Do not try to pass them. 

6. Prioritize pedestrian safety above parking when considering a traffic control or traffic safety feature for your neighborhood. 

7. Do not park illegally ever, even if you hear yourself say, “It’s only for a minute or two.” 

8. Be especially attentive and careful around schools during drop-off times. 

9. Always use a crosswalk or appropriate corner when crossing a street. 

10. Teach your children to be alert to traffic, to obey pedestrian and traffic laws. 

Of course, many of these resolutions are already state law. That may be as good as any a place to start. 

I haven’t written a column for a long while because I’ve been adjusting to this widowhood thing. Over the past 15 months I’ve spent time renewing old friendships that were lost after Ralph’s accident, fixing up my house, looking for and finding a job. It took some weeks for the people who lived with me and helped with Ralph’s care to relocate. Since then several folks have moved in and out, and moved in again. 

Soon after Ralph died, my friend Jernae came to stay with me. I’ve known Jernae since she was seven. Now she’s seventeen and trying to find her place in the world. It isn’t easy. She’s switched schools half a dozen times, moved back with her grandmother, and couch surfed at friends’ apartments. As I write this column she’s sitting on the living room sofa, bags semi-packed, deciding whether to come or go. 

A lovely couple from Japan, Sagiri and Hideyuki, and their four-month-old baby, Laia, stayed with me for a month. Hideyuki has a one-year appointment at Stanford, and Sagiri, an aerospace engineer, is completing a post doctorate in integrative biology at Cal. When they moved out, my sister-in-law Yuka and my niece Kanna and nephew Bryce moved in. Nothing cures a house of loneliness like energetic three- and five-year-olds.  

I really seemed to be getting my life back together when a new set of problems arose. On Sept. 13 I learned that Children’s Hospital is planning to build a 12-story tower and helicopter landing pad at the end of my street.  

I’m not against children and I’m not against the hospital expanding. They do good things and I’m happy to have them in my neighborhood. But I don’t want a 180-foot building looming over my house or a helicopter crashing onto my roof. I’ve had to do a lot of digging around to find out how I can protect my home and my neighborhood.  

What I’ve learned in a nutshell is this: Children’s Hospital has two measures on the Feb. 5 ballot to collect a parcel tax from the residents of Alameda County. It’s a private hospital. It will take sorely needed funds away from public entities such as schools, libraries and Highland Hospital. It has bought some but not all of the homes on the south side of 53rd Street, and also one to the north, my side of the block. I met with Mary Dean, CHO’s Senior Vice President of External Affairs, and inquired about a rumor that Children’s could take our homes by way of eminent domain. Specifically I asked, “Does CHO believe it possesses the right to exercise eminent domain without the Oakland City Council?” 

She answered, “I believe we do.” 

I can tell you right now that there aren’t many words that can frighten a homeowner more than eminent domain. Fire, earthquake, acts of God? Yes, those are scary, but what can you do? But a private corporation seizing a taxpayer’s home? Yikes!  

In the past few weeks I’ve talked with neighbors, city council supervisors, and representatives from Mayor Dellums’ office. I’ve contacted the Sierra Club, the League of Women Voters, the Alameda PTAs, and the Chamber of Commerce. I’ve held neighborhood meetings in my home and invited administrators from Children’s Hospital and City Hall to come and talk with us.  

I’ve gone down to the Alameda County Courthouse and filed arguments against measures A and B, and a rebuttal against Measure A. I’ve spent over $100 of my own hard-earned cash on photocopying fliers to distribute throughout the neighborhood. But that’s no match for the one million-plus Mary told me Children’s will spend on politicking for Measure A. 

After Ralph died I didn’t think I had much to write about, but now I find that I do. My house turned 100 years old this year. Ralph and I bought it together in 1992. He spent the last 12 years of his life downstairs in the living room. Since then I’ve filled our home with family and friends. I know he’d want me to fight for it, and so I will.  

The following are Dispatches’ annual “I Don’t Believe I Am Actually Reading This” Awards. 

Psychic Insight Award goes to U.S. Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, former commander of the Second Marine Division in Iraq. Members of Kilo Company in his division went on a rampage Nov. 19, 2006 and killed 24 Iraqi civilians. Huck said he never looked into the massacre because it was not uncommon for civilians to be killed during a combat operation. 

“In my mind’s eye I saw insurgent fire, I saw Kilo Company fire,” said Huck during a military hearing this past May, explaining that he could see how “neutrals in those circumstances could be killed.”  

The general did not explain exactly how the eye in his mind works. 

An Honorable Mention in this category went to the pilots of U.S. aircraft and helicopters for their Nov. 16 attack on a group of Iraqis in the town of Taji north of Baghdad. The Iraqis were members of a Sunni militia that had just captured five members of al-Qaeda. According to a military spokesperson, the U.S. pilots detected “hostile intent” from the group—a neat trick considering they were several hundred feet up in the air—and opened fire, killing 50 Sunni militia members and their five prisoners. 

The Long Sorrow* Award goes to officials of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq who took members of the Iraqi government and military to visit Northern Ireland in order to demonstrate how building walls between the Catholic and Protestant communities greatly reduced the damage caused by sectarian violence. With Ireland as a template, the Iraqis can now look forward to more than four centuries of inter-communal warfare.  

*The Irish call their 800-plus-year struggle against the English “the long sorrow.”  

Great Moments in Objectivity Award goes to Jim Albaugh, chief of defense operations for the Boeing Corporation. Speaking during an air show in Paris this past June, Albaugh urged that U.S. military spending be kept at record levels in order to deal with terrorists and the threat of China. 

“The question is, what happens when we come out of Iraq and Afghanistan and the supplementals [additional payments used to fund the war] start to dry up?” he asked. 

Boeing is worried about cuts in the $200 billion Future Combat System—lots of high-tech whiz bangs, including robot tanks, helicopters, and planes—in which the company has a major stake. Boeing also may lose $400 million if congressional Democrats block the building of a third anti-ballistic missile site in Europe. 

Lest one think that Albaugh’s view of the world and the need for enhanced military spending is self-serving, the Boeing official said that he was “pretty objective” about the whole thing. 

The Entrepreneurship Award to Charlene Corley, owner of C&D Distributors in Lexington, S.C., for her creative approach to spending taxpayer’s money. C&D Distributors charged the U.S. Army $998,798 for two 19-cent washers. The firm has collected $20.5 million over a six-year period.  

Great Moments in Irony Award to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Meeting with reporters at the U.S. Ambassador’s house in Moscow, she accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of undermining the country’s courts, media and legislative bodies.  

“In any country, if you don’t have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development,” she said. 

The same day that Rice was chiding Putin for amassing too much executive power, a coalition of liberals from the American Freedom Campaign and conservatives from the American Freedom Agenda asked presidential candidates to sign a pledge to roll back the enormous power President Bush has amassed. 

The pledge reads: “We are Americans, and in our America we do not torture, we do not imprison people without charge or legal remedy, we do not tap people’s phones and e-mails without court order, and above all, we do not give any president unchecked power. I pledge to fight to protect and defend the Constitution from attack by any president.” 

Ron Paul was the only Republican candidate who signed the pledge. Five of the eight Democrats also signed. Hillary Clinton, Joseph Biden and John Edwards did not, but issued statements denouncing torture, wiretapping without warrants, and imprisonment without judicial review.  

Rice’s statement in Moscow brings to mind Lily Tomlin’s remark about the Bush Administration: “No matter how cynical you get, you just can’t keep up with these people.”  

Bunker Hill Award goes to Canadian Lt. Col. Jamie Robertson who denounced the Taliban in Afghanistan this past July for refusing “to fight fair,” relying on roadside bombs and suicide attacks instead of “directly confronting Canadian troops in combat. 

“After failing to achieve any success…in conventional warfare, the insurgents have resorted to IED [improvised explosive devices] and other terrorist tactics,” said Robertson, deputy director of public affairs operations for the Canadian armed forces. 

Which is kind of the idea behind guerilla warfare, something the Canadian military apparently hasn’t worked out yet. 

Back in 1776, Major General William Howe, who led the British assault at Bunker Hill, expressed similar complaints about the “rabble in arms,” which inflicted over 1,000 casualties on his men. The colonials, on the other hand, thought it was an excellent idea for the British to wear bright red uniforms and stand in long, straight lines out in the open while the rebels got to shoot at them from behind barricades. 

The Grinch Award goes to Ronald R. Aument, deputy undersecretary for Veterans Affairs, who opposed giving full veteran benefits to Filipinos who fought with the U.S. Army during the WW II.  

Aument said such benefits would cost $4 billion over the next decade (the Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost will be only $1 billion), but the major reason the Bush Administration opposes the benefits is that it would allow Filipino veterans living in the Philippines to have a higher standard of living than most other Filipinos. 

“VA benefits paid to beneficiaries living in the United States, such as U.S. veterans, do not enable those beneficiaries to live higher than the general U.S. population,” Aument told the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. “We do not support the bill because it would disproportionately favor Filipino veterans over U.S. veterans.” 

More than 200,000 Filipinos were drafted into the U.S. Army in 1941. Some were captured and imprisoned, while others led a successful guerrilla war against the Japa-nese. The Filipinos were promised full veterans benefits, but the promise was arbitrarily canceled in 1946. 

Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho), the leading Republican on the Committee, said he too was concerned about paying the benefits. “The same benefit paid to veterans in the Philippines would provide income that is almost four times the average household income in that country,” he said. 

The average household income in the Philippines is $4,133, compared to $48,201 in the U.S. The benefits for low-income Filipinos over 65 would be just under $11,000 a year. There are about 20,000 Filipino vets still living, most in their 80s and 90s. 

Merry Christmas from the Bush administration. 

The Totally Whacko Award to U.S. Lt. Col. Edward M. Bush III, spokesperson for the Joint Task Force at Guantanamo Bay, who accused London lawyer Clive Stafford Smith of smuggling “contraband” to prisoners the Bush Administration is holding in the Cuban facility.  

“Contraband items are taken seriously, said Bush III, “They may be used in such a way to conduct harm or self-harm for which the Joint Task Force is liable.” 

The “contraband”? Underpants and Speedo swimsuits. 

Smith denies the charge, saying his job “involves legal briefs, not the other sort.” The lawyer also said he was “baffled” by the Speedo charge. He said his client “is hardly in a position to go swimming, since the only available water is the toilet in his cell.”

The issue of religion and candidates’ faith has been raised in the presidential race. Not for the first time, in such races. Almost certainly, not for the last. It raises the question whose answer is assumed but which is rarely tackled head-on by progressives: should there be a religious test for American presidential candidates? 

As if we don’t already have one, or could stop such a test, if we chose. 

Such a test does not appear, nor should it, in the qualification section for president at Article II Section 2 of the Constitution, which reads, simply, that “No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.” 

But as Martin Sheen, as presidential chief of staff, remarked in the movie “An American President,” the American people have a habit of deciding for ourselves what or what not we think is an important issue, and over the years we have determined that in some form or another, religion and faith are things to be considered in making our decision as to whom we wish to elect as president. 

In fact, unlike in the case of a jury, civil or criminal, which is given legal guidelines on which to make their decision, American law, Constitutional or otherwise, is silent on what criteria a voter is to use when entering the voting booth. Constitutionally, therefore, the voters may use any yardstick, measure, or test we desire, serious or silly. We are not bound by law from considering race, gender, religion, intellect, familiarity, facial expression, facial hair, height and humor, the ability to make or grasp a point or sing a song or play a musical instrument, or any other criteria we want in deciding for whom to cast our presidential ballot. Legally speaking, all of these and more are permissible to be used in making our decision. 

But to say something is legal is not to conclude that it is proper. And so the question remains, should we apply a religious test to presidential candidates? 

Those who are against such a test almost always raise the point that had there been such criteria used by American voters a hundred and fifty years ago, it would have probably excluded the man who was arguably both our best and most spiritual president: Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln was not a religious man, if we apply that term in the modern application, by which one proclaims membership in one of the multitude of religious sects. He never joined any particular church, though he attended various services, and if he considered himself a Baptist or Methodist or Presbyterian or other—the major American denominations of the day—he kept that fact to himself. And yet his speeches, writings, pronouncements, and remarks during his Presidency all reflect someone who thought deeply about spiritual matters, and was guided by them in a way that demonstrated such reflection. Told once that God was certainly on the Union’s side during the Civil War, a common assertion in those times that is reflected in ours, Mr. Lincoln responded that he was more concerned that we be on God’s side. That is a plainness and a thoughtfulness that would get distorted and utterly lost in the twists and turns and sound(back)byting of modern electronic politics. 

But faith and spirit and religion are an important part of an individual’s makeup, how they view the world and move through it, and I wish we had a more adult way of approaching it and discussing it in the context of the present presidential campaign. 

Much has been made of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith during this year’s Republican primary season, as it was of Senator Joseph Lieberman’s Jewish faith when he ran as the Democratic Vice presidential nominee four years ago, as it was of then-Senator John Kennedy’s Catholic faith when he ran for president in 1960. But the discussions all appeared to be a mile wide with no depth to them, the country’s Protestant majority approaching views different from theirs as if they were an oddity, as if someone showed up wearing orange at an all-red ball. The onus was on the “outsider”—the Mormon, the Jew, the Catholic—to show that they were actually no different from “us,” and, having shown, more or less, they are accepted into the fold, and we move on, ticking them off like cattle-call checkmarks on the side of a barn. A Jew can run for president. A Mormon can run for president. A Catholic can run for president, and actually win. But how much have we accomplished, and how much have we learned in the process? Little about Catholicism, Judaism, or Mormonism, I suspect. Or anything else.  

But there are differences—some of them subtle, some of them profound—between Mormonism, for example, and the various Protestant Christian denominations that are in the majority—or, at least, the plurality—of American religious belief that get lost in such a process. What we are left with is a sort of taken-for-granted commentary on the 24 hour cable news stations that Mr. Romney is still going to have trouble amongst some of the fundamentalists. But the exact nature of that trouble is only explained in 30 second clips at a time, at a rush, as if we had neither time nor patience for any more. 

I wish that the 2007-08 presidential election had been used as a time to actually hold a national discussion of Mormonism, just as I wish the 2004 election could have been used for such a discussion of Judaism, and the 1960 election a discussion of Catholicism. Not as criticism, but in the purest collegiate learning tradition in the same way, for example, that the national experience of the miniseries “Roots” sparked a national discussion of African-American history and the intertwinings of race in American history. I think that, as a nation, we would have been the better for it. There are few opportunities for such national dialogues, and these ones have passed, and, having passed, we are of the belief that they are no longer necessary. 

But since faith is such an important component of the human makeup, I think its inclusion in the presidential campaign is too critical to be left up to the candidates and their handlers themselves. Otherwise, such a “discussion” will be downgraded and relegated to endless wink-and-nod events such as the infamous Mike Huckabee commercial that the former Arkansas Governor’s handlers proclaim, all our senses roaring to the contrary, was only the studio lights catching the edge of the bookshelf just so, perhaps it was a miracle of God, but it was never actually intended to be a cross.  

It is too late for the 2008 primary season, which is upon us at the gallop, but in the fall general election campaign, and all the other campaigns to follow, I would hope that if faith and religion are so serious to us and our decisions in choosing a president, we should ourselves impose upon the candidates a serious way of discussing the issue. 

Somewhere along the endless line of presidential debates, we ought to have one in which faith and religion, alone, are discussed. Let it be in roundtable rather than podium form, to promote the impression that this is explanatory and exploratory, rather than confrontational. Intersperse the candidates with representatives of the major American faiths—not just the Christian faiths but all the Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Islam as well—and not just the Abrahamic faiths but representatives of the elder religions that preceded them and are followed and practiced by large numbers of our fellow citizens, wicca and ifá, for example, as well as Buddhist, Hindus, and any of the other major American-practiced faiths I may have left out through my own ignorance. 

Let the discussion be about how candidates define their own faith, and how they use their particular faith to operate in the secular world and inform their political decisions. Let the various religious experts and followers interspersed pose various questions and ask how candidates might approach different situations that challenge their faith and ethics. If any candidate wants to get by with declaring that America is a Christian nation founded on Christian principles, let them do so, but let them do so sitting next to one of our Jewish bretheren rather than in the friendly midst of a Pentacostal or Baptist congregation, so they might also be made to explain how and why such an assertion leaves so many Americans on the outs. Some candidates would skip such an exercise, of course, and there is certainly danger of sparking open religious warfare among those who do attend and take the matter honestly and seriously. But we are already at religious war, both in America and outside our borders. And I think that all of us, candidates and country alike, would benefit from a more public airing. 

Should there be a religious or spiritual test of American presidential candidates? It’s already happening. The only issue that remains is who is to do the testing. And how.

Today I am spending most of the daylight hours looking for a parking space. In the latter days of December, people in Berkeley are still trying to be polite, but I can see that it is becoming forced. Their necks tighten as they mentally calculate the size of each space versus the size of their SUV. They troll slowly, but I can’t pass them because a) I can’t predict their next move, and b) I can’t ignore even a slight possibility that they might pull a gun on me as I pull into a parking space that they believe to be rightly theirs. 

I go into Sur La Table on 4th Street to buy a six-cup Bundt pan and return the cookie press I bought in a pathetic surge of Christmas spirit last week. Sur La Table has thousands of everything. Gleaming, specialized kitchen equipment for the aggressive home chef is piled to the rafters in a market-square atmosphere with boutique prices—everything except six-cup Bundt pans: three-cup molds in many designs, eight-cup Turk’s Head molds (I’m not sure I know enough people to eat that large a cake), but no six-cup molds. 

Karen Carpenter is belting out Silent Night in her synthesizer vibrato. If I had a gun, I would use it to shoot out the sound system. The cashiers look as sweetly brittle as the packages of ribbon candy before them on the counter—this music has been candying their brains for several hours. 

Grasping my too-small but very pretty Bundt pan and purple sanding sugar (they are out of red and green), I get into the long checkout line. Grinding my teeth, shifting from foot to foot, I notice I am now singing along with Karen, “sleeeep in hea-ven-ly pea-ea-ea-zz” under my breath. There is a big white ceramic bowl of potpourri on the counter next to the ribbon candy, $6.50 to fill a small cloth bag with dried orange slices, bay leaf and cinnamon sticks coated with a perfume that doesn’t smell like any of those things, but somehow says Christmas. Hands shaking like a junkie, I spill pieces of leaves and bark all over the counter as I struggle to aim the large scoop into the small bag. 

The woman behind me, eyes filled with concern, asks if she can help hold the bag while I scoop the dry bits into it like a starving child. Then she sniffs the mix and grabs the scoop almost before I have a chance to put it down. She starts shoveling as she shouts across the room “all you can get into the bag for only six dollars and fifty cents!” Three other women migrate to the bowl of sticks and leaves. 

A bit high from inhaling the sugary smells, I get to my car just as the meter clicks to –0:00. I sit quietly behind the wheel for a moment doing Waterfall Breath, the breathing technique I learned in yoga class to calm myself and become grounded in the moment. Immediately, cars slow down as they see a human shape inside my parked Toyota. They circle like hungry sharks trying to position for my exit. 

As I pull away from the curb, I breathe slowly, trying to stay in the moment. But The Moment, it turns out, contains only the plans for all the other moments of my quickly waning day: Meet my husband who is taking off work to buy a Christmas tree at 3 p.m.—allow 42 minutes not including parking. (Note to self: Remember last year’s tree bought in haste that only looked straight compared to the other trees on the lot, but trunk turned out to be corkscrew-shaped, which was starkly revealed when most of the needles fell off by December 23rd.) Allow 25 minutes for the Safeway where I will buy the necessities I ran out of three days ago. This store will be an oasis of sanity with its humble selections: milk, toilet paper, cat food, huge jars of pickles. The cashiers will be relaxed and friendly, wanting nothing more from me than my Safeway Club Card. 

I must not be getting sufficient protein or fiber or meditating enough, because Christmas has become an uncomfortable, tiring trial. I still start looking forward to it in November though, in a conditioned response from childhood when it was purely about sitting on the fat man’s lap and asking for things. Today, the fat man is my husband and there is no lap. And I am responsible for making the days merry and bright. 

But it will all be over (very over) on Dec. 26. In the meantime, I think I will splurge on buying that adorable Chicken-with-a-Hat ornament I saw at Stained Glass Garden earlier. I am sure that soon there will be a parking space, and when the colored lights in the trees twinkle on, it will offer a lovely moment. I am determined to ground myself in that moment as the sun sets over 4th Street in Berkeley.

I have preferred over the years to confine my writing to subjects outside of my actual day-to-day vocation, but sometimes a discussion of my work helps a bit to illustrate a point. It’s not very glamorous but I spend a lot of my life in crawlspaces. The cats look at me funny, wondering what I’m doing in their bathroom. People often say, as I suit up to get sub-domestic, “Well, here’s where you earn your money!” It’s really not true, but the comment reveals how unpleasant the average person perceives this to be.  

Sadly, this pedestrian and reasonably safe activity gives rise to more understanding about houses, their life cycles and their maladies than virtually any other single procedure. No effort is made to hide any system in the construction of crawlspaces. Over time, some tasks (e.g., seismic retrofitting) result in hiding certain features, but mostly it’s Open Architecture as the I.T. folks say and one feature that is rarely hidden and so revelatory is the ground itself. 

It may seem silly or obvious to say it, but looking at the dirt below your house can be tremendously revealing and I learn so much of real concern from a simple examination of the soil in a crawlspace that it’s one of the only items that I consider absolutely requisite in the examination of a home. 

So what’s the dirt on dirt? What can we learn from looking at soil? There are at least two major areas of study that can be plumbed from a simple visual examination of the soil under your house and for this reason, it’s well worth your time and the drudge to pull on a coverall and take a crawl. 

First, look for signs of moisture. One sign that may not be obvious but is of great value is the softness of the top layer of soil. Under houses that have remained dry for many years, the soil, even clay, will tend to be broken up and powdery. Over time a range of forces including animal activity will tend to break up the soil into a powdery texture if dry conditions have prevailed. 

If the soil is all hard and caked, this shows that, at some point, and perhaps recently, the soil has been damp or wet. In houses that flood seasonally, the ground may be dry to the touch but will tend to have formed into a mud cake. This will often be cracked like a desert soil (called laterization) if there is sufficient clay content.  

Here in Berkeley, where we live on a clay bed, the soil will commonly be seen in this state when it has been seasonally wetted. If you take a screwdriver and dig down a few inches, you can often see that the soil is slightly damp. Pinch the soil and see if it sticks together. This helps determine if it’s damp. Dry clay will crumble apart. Think about the time of year. If this is August, you may expect things to be really dry and if you discover that things are damp, you may be able to discern the presence of a subterranean source of water.  

Don’t forget to consider plumbing leaks and excessive watering, although these will not have a uniform or homogenous effect. They’ll form a pattern that coincides with the activity or source. A leak around a sewer pipe that might be invisible can produce localized soil conditions such as these but will not do so a few yards away. When the entire crawlspace shows a similar condition, that ain’t no leak. 

All properties are in some sort of drainage plain and the condition of soil relates to those conditions so it’s worthwhile to think about the slope of the ground, the proximity to nearby creeks and the local geography while looking at the soil. 

Look at the color of the soil. Dry soils are lighter in color, as a rule and dark areas may be damp areas. A low-lying portion of the crawlspace that is also darker in color may be a place that is currently damp or at least damper than the rest.  

Both concrete and soil will exhibit an effect called efflorescence in which evaporative salts such as bromide or chloride are driven to the surface along with water as it escapes to the surface seeking equilibrium. The depots are usually white and on soil can leave small white dotted peaks on the surface. Sometimes the whitish depots are more widespread but this is less common. In any event, this is a sure sign of significant moisture in the crawlspace. 

Many houses will display this effect on the surface of concrete in the crawlspace. As water travels through the foundation, it will pull this salts to the surface leaving a fluffy crystalline formation much like sea foam on the surface of the concrete. This can be easily brushed away and is not harmful in and of itself but tells of water flow through these hard but porous structures. Over time, this can weaken concrete but in the overall scheme of things, it’s not significant. What is significant is that water facilitates soil migration and soil migration cracks, rotates and maligns foundations, SO, dry soils below your house are a darned good idea.  

If the soil appears to be puffy and soft on the surface, you may be looking at a very high clay content and possibly a clay with a high expansion potential. 

Clay soils push houses up when they get wet and then drop them back down as they dry. Keeping this kind of soil dry can be the difference between a house that is being slowly misshapen and one that stays in a nice rectilinear shape (assuming it started out that way). 

Also, as we’ve discussed on many other occasions, damp below the house can and does create damp inside the house (even when imperceptible) and this grows tiny forests of fungi (including mold) that can affect our health. Keeping low humidity levels is extremely important and damp crawlspaces are primary culprits in cases of mold. 

Looking at soil may relate to science but you don’t have to be a scientist to do it. I’ve found that taking the time to touch and look and ponder in the monastery of mice can teach quite a lot. That and the use of a really bright flashlight. By the way, don’t use one of those million candlepower torches. They’ll just blind you. A high quality flashlight of 25,000-50,000 candlepower is perfect. An automotive trouble-light works pretty well too but you may want a 100 watt bulb. Be sure to compare the appearance of soil across the entire tire crawlspace so that you can discern patterns of dampness.  

If you choose to explore your crawlspace, the only safety warning I’ll offer is a strong admonition to wear a respirator. Not a dust mask but a real respirator, like painters wear. 

Now, this is a fairly broad look at a complex science but I firmly believe that some simple triage can be incredibly informative and of enormous financial benefit. Just don’t expect your results to make the scientific journals. They may tell you that it’s good garage science but it won’t qualify as “ground-breaking” (Sorry, couldn’t help myself). 

FRIDAY, JAN. 4 

THEATER 

Encore Theatre Company & Shotgun Players “The Shaker Chair” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m., at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Jan. 27. Tickets are $20-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Big Bang: New Work at Mercury 20” Artist’s reception at 6 p.m. at Mercury 20 Gallery, 25 Grand Ave. at Broadway, Oakland. 701-4620. 

MUSIC AND DANCE  

Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble of San Francisco at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Danny Caron Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Sukhawat Ali Khan with Sacheko Kanenobu at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Bluegrass Buffet with the Earl Brothers, The Whoreshoes, Five Dollar Suit at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50-$16.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mere Ours, Marianne Barlow at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Skribble Violent Insight, Beyond Oblivion at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Tamara Engle, folk, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Trainwreck Riders, Tinktures, Di Di Mao 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. 

Valeria Troutt at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7-$15. 548-1159.  

Times 4 at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Ledisi at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, thruogh Sun.. Cost is $22-$26. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, JAN. 5 

CHILDREN  

“Marina’s Capoeira Countdown” with author Oscar Wolters-Duran, followed by an art activity, at 1 p.m. at The Museum of Children’s Art, 538 9th St., Oakland. 465-8770. 

Fratello Marionettes “Peter and the Wolf” at 10:30 a.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. For ages 3-8. 981-6223. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Justin Chin and Cynthia Cruz at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

Bay Area Poets Coalition Open Reading from 3 to 5 p.m. at at Strawberry Creek Lodge, 1320 Addison St. Park on the street, not in Lodge parking lot. Free. 527-9905. poetalk@aol.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mario Lavista Quinteto Latino at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. www.trinitychamberconcerts.com  

Alex Pfeifer-Rosenblum at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Macy Blackman & The Mighty Fines at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $15. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Lakay featuring Mystic Man, King Wawa and Alexa Weber Morales Band, Haitian and Afro-Brazilian at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Kompa dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $15-$12. 525-5054. 

Sotaque Baiano, Brazilian, at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Kate Isenberg, Golden Loom at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Caren Armstrong at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Julian Pollack Three-O “Sea of Stories” at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

7th Direction, Crooked Roads, Ten Ton Chicken at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

Matt Moorish & Trinket Lover at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Dangers, Graforlock, Wait in Vain, Owne Hart 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, JAN. 6 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Tree Spirit” Landscape paintings by Betsy Kendall, black-and-white and painted photographs by Gerry Keenan, and organic materials sculptures by David Turner, on display at the Community Art Gallery, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, 2450 Ashby Ave. through Feb. 28. 204-1667.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Tribute to Max Roach” with young musicians performing in two groups led by drummer Kamau Seitu and by Bay Area keyboardist Rudi Mwongozi, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St., Oakland. Tickets are $15-$20. 836-4949 www.blackmusiciansforum.org 

Trio Mopmu & Brass Menagerie at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Pete Madsen at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Don Neely’s Royal Society Jazz Orchestra featuring Carla Norman at 5 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $20. 525-5054.  

Kaz George Quintet at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373.  

Adrian Legg at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

MONDAY, JAN. 7 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Photographs of Life in Kabul, Afghanistan” by Mojhgan (Mo) Mohtashimi opens at The LightRoom, 2263 Fifth St. 649-8111. 

NIAD Faculty and Artists 25th Anniversary Show opens at the National Institute of Art & Disabilities, 551 23rd St., Richmond. 620-0290. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Actors Reading Writers “Moments of Clarity” stories by W. Somerset Maugham and Alice Munro at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 932-0214. 

Edie Meidav will read from her novel “Crawl Space” as part of the Jewish Writers in the Bay Area Series at 7 p.m. at JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. 655-8530. 

Poetry Express with Michael Hardy at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Le Jazz Hot at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $6-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

TUESDAY, JAN. 8 

FILM 

“Banished” by Marco Williams, chronicles the history of three towns that forcefully banished African-American families at 6:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St., Oakland. www.pbs.org/independentlens/banished 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Freight and Salvage Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $4.50-$5.50. 548-1761.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Andrew Carriere & the Cajun Zydeco All Stars at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Singers’ Open Mic with Kelly Park at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Matt Moorish, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

The Ambrose Akinmusire Group in an Oaktown Jazz Workshops Benefit Concert at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $25. 238-9200.  

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 9 

EXHIBITIONS 

East Bay Women Artists “Begin the Beguine” Group show opens at Royal Ground Gallery, 2058 Mountain Blvd, Oakland. 841-0441. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

The Coast of Utopia Reading of the trilogy by Tom Stoppard “Voyage” at 7 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Other reading on Jan. 16 and Jan. 23. Tickets for all three are $150. 841-6500, ext. 303. 

Dana Frank describes “Local Girl Makes History: Exploring Northern California’s Kitsch Monuments” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ravi Abcarian Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ.  

Bass Culture Revue at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Orquestra Sensual at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

John Richardson Band at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

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

Andy Bey at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$18. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, JAN. 10 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Art and History of Early California” A curator’s tour with Inez Brooks-Myers at 1:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum, 10th and Oak St 238-2022.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Susan Dinkelspiel Cerny will discuss her book “An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area” at 7:30 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $8-$10. 763-9218. 

Zaid Shakir introduces his collection of essays “Scattered Pictures: Reflections of an American Muslim” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

Susan Debroah (Sam) King reads from “One Breasted Woman” poetry collection at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Donations accepted. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Red Hot Chachkas at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Klezmer dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $13-$15. 525-5054.  

Sourdough Slim at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Peter Anastos & Iter at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ.  

Laura Klein & Ted Wolff, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Kapakahi, The Angry Philosophers at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082  

Roy Hargrove Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $14-$24. 238-9200. 

I have preferred over the years to confine my writing to subjects outside of my actual day-to-day vocation, but sometimes a discussion of my work helps a bit to illustrate a point. It’s not very glamorous but I spend a lot of my life in crawlspaces. The cats look at me funny, wondering what I’m doing in their bathroom. People often say, as I suit up to get sub-domestic, “Well, here’s where you earn your money!” It’s really not true, but the comment reveals how unpleasant the average person perceives this to be.  

Sadly, this pedestrian and reasonably safe activity gives rise to more understanding about houses, their life cycles and their maladies than virtually any other single procedure. No effort is made to hide any system in the construction of crawlspaces. Over time, some tasks (e.g., seismic retrofitting) result in hiding certain features, but mostly it’s Open Architecture as the I.T. folks say and one feature that is rarely hidden and so revelatory is the ground itself. 

It may seem silly or obvious to say it, but looking at the dirt below your house can be tremendously revealing and I learn so much of real concern from a simple examination of the soil in a crawlspace that it’s one of the only items that I consider absolutely requisite in the examination of a home. 

So what’s the dirt on dirt? What can we learn from looking at soil? There are at least two major areas of study that can be plumbed from a simple visual examination of the soil under your house and for this reason, it’s well worth your time and the drudge to pull on a coverall and take a crawl. 

First, look for signs of moisture. One sign that may not be obvious but is of great value is the softness of the top layer of soil. Under houses that have remained dry for many years, the soil, even clay, will tend to be broken up and powdery. Over time a range of forces including animal activity will tend to break up the soil into a powdery texture if dry conditions have prevailed. 

If the soil is all hard and caked, this shows that, at some point, and perhaps recently, the soil has been damp or wet. In houses that flood seasonally, the ground may be dry to the touch but will tend to have formed into a mud cake. This will often be cracked like a desert soil (called laterization) if there is sufficient clay content.  

Here in Berkeley, where we live on a clay bed, the soil will commonly be seen in this state when it has been seasonally wetted. If you take a screwdriver and dig down a few inches, you can often see that the soil is slightly damp. Pinch the soil and see if it sticks together. This helps determine if it’s damp. Dry clay will crumble apart. Think about the time of year. If this is August, you may expect things to be really dry and if you discover that things are damp, you may be able to discern the presence of a subterranean source of water.  

Don’t forget to consider plumbing leaks and excessive watering, although these will not have a uniform or homogenous effect. They’ll form a pattern that coincides with the activity or source. A leak around a sewer pipe that might be invisible can produce localized soil conditions such as these but will not do so a few yards away. When the entire crawlspace shows a similar condition, that ain’t no leak. 

All properties are in some sort of drainage plain and the condition of soil relates to those conditions so it’s worthwhile to think about the slope of the ground, the proximity to nearby creeks and the local geography while looking at the soil. 

Look at the color of the soil. Dry soils are lighter in color, as a rule and dark areas may be damp areas. A low-lying portion of the crawlspace that is also darker in color may be a place that is currently damp or at least damper than the rest.  

Both concrete and soil will exhibit an effect called efflorescence in which evaporative salts such as bromide or chloride are driven to the surface along with water as it escapes to the surface seeking equilibrium. The depots are usually white and on soil can leave small white dotted peaks on the surface. Sometimes the whitish depots are more widespread but this is less common. In any event, this is a sure sign of significant moisture in the crawlspace. 

Many houses will display this effect on the surface of concrete in the crawlspace. As water travels through the foundation, it will pull this salts to the surface leaving a fluffy crystalline formation much like sea foam on the surface of the concrete. This can be easily brushed away and is not harmful in and of itself but tells of water flow through these hard but porous structures. Over time, this can weaken concrete but in the overall scheme of things, it’s not significant. What is significant is that water facilitates soil migration and soil migration cracks, rotates and maligns foundations, SO, dry soils below your house are a darned good idea.  

If the soil appears to be puffy and soft on the surface, you may be looking at a very high clay content and possibly a clay with a high expansion potential. 

Clay soils push houses up when they get wet and then drop them back down as they dry. Keeping this kind of soil dry can be the difference between a house that is being slowly misshapen and one that stays in a nice rectilinear shape (assuming it started out that way). 

Also, as we’ve discussed on many other occasions, damp below the house can and does create damp inside the house (even when imperceptible) and this grows tiny forests of fungi (including mold) that can affect our health. Keeping low humidity levels is extremely important and damp crawlspaces are primary culprits in cases of mold. 

Looking at soil may relate to science but you don’t have to be a scientist to do it. I’ve found that taking the time to touch and look and ponder in the monastery of mice can teach quite a lot. That and the use of a really bright flashlight. By the way, don’t use one of those million candlepower torches. They’ll just blind you. A high quality flashlight of 25,000-50,000 candlepower is perfect. An automotive trouble-light works pretty well too but you may want a 100 watt bulb. Be sure to compare the appearance of soil across the entire tire crawlspace so that you can discern patterns of dampness.  

If you choose to explore your crawlspace, the only safety warning I’ll offer is a strong admonition to wear a respirator. Not a dust mask but a real respirator, like painters wear. 

Now, this is a fairly broad look at a complex science but I firmly believe that some simple triage can be incredibly informative and of enormous financial benefit. Just don’t expect your results to make the scientific journals. They may tell you that it’s good garage science but it won’t qualify as “ground-breaking” (Sorry, couldn’t help myself). 

FRIDAY, JAN. 4 

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 

Circle Dancing in Berkeley Simple folk dancing in a circle, each dance taught before we do it. No experience or partners needed. From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut, at University. Donation $5. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

SATURDAY, JAN. 5 

New Year Waterfront Walk Join Berkeley Path Wanderers and Friends of Five Creeks on an easy, level walk exploring waterfront history, effects of the recent oil spill, and possibilities and plans for the future. Meet at 10 a.m. at Shorebird Nature Center, 160 University Ave., south side of University west of Adventure Playground; AC Transit 9. Dress in layers. 848-9358. www.berkeleypaths.org 

Explore Bird Songs with Steve Beck from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. Cost is $8-$10. 642-5132. 

Benefit for Revolution Newspaper’s Expansion with Larry Everest and Luciente Zamora from 2 to 5 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. Donation $10-$25. 848-1196.  

“Dafur: The Crisis and The Tragedy” A discussion of the work by Fathi M. El Fadl of the Communitst Party of Sudan at 10 a.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Libary, 6501 Telegraph Ave. 595-7417. 

Frame Your Masterpiece Workshop, Sat. and Sun. from 1 to 4 p.m. at Museum of Children’s Art, 528 9th St., Oakland. 465-8770. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10 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.  

SUNDAY, JAN. 6 

Berkeley Rep’s Family Series, a monthly theater workshop for the entire family at 11 a.m. at Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, Nevo Education Center, 2071 Addison St. 647-2973. 

“Birth is a Miracle” A documentary, followed by discussion, at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732.  

Old Time Radio East Bay Collectors and listeners gather to enjoy shows together at 5 p.m. at a private home in Berkeley. For more information email DavidinBerkeley at Yahoo.com 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

MONDAY, JAN. 7  

Crisis Intervention Training Task Force Meeting at 3:30 p.m. at 1947 Center St. 3rd Floor, Deodar Cedar Room. Sponsored by the Mental Health Commission. 981-5217. 

Contra Costa Chorale rehearsal at 7:15 p.m. at Hillside Community Church, 1422 Navallier St., El Cerrito. New singers welcome. 527-2026. www.ccchorale.org 

TUESDAY, JAN. 8 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Baby-friendly Book Club meets to discuss “Gilead” by Marilynne Robinson at 10 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. Toys and board books are available for the babies. 524-3043. 

“Banished” A documentary by Marco Williams on the history of three towns that forcefully banished African-American families at 6:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St., Oakland. www.pbs.org/ 

independentlens/banished 

The Adoptee’s Challenge A 6-week Albany Adult School class open to everyone who is interested in adoption. Tuesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Cost is $30 for the entire six weeks. www.albanyadultschool.org 

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. 

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.  

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Street Level Cycles Community Bike Program Come use our tools as well as receive help with performing repairs free of charge. Youth classes available. Tues., Thurs., and Sat. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 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, JAN. 9 

Pacific Steel Health Risk Community Meeting at 6 p.m. at the West Berkeley Senior Center, 1900 6th St. westberkeleyalliance.org 

Civilian War Victim Series “Beyond Borders” A film about the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and discussion with Dr. Brian Gluss at 1 p.m. at Emeryville Senior Center, 4321 Salem, Emeryville. 596-3730. 

Poetry Writing Workshop with Alison Seevak at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, Edith Stone Room, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720. 

“Avalanche Safety” A lecture with Dick Penniman at 6 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $20. 527-4140. 

Teen Chess Club from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6133. 

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, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley BART Station. www.geocities.com/ 

vigil4peace/vigil 

After-School Program Homework help for children ages 8 to 18, every Wed. from 4 to 7:15 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Cost is $5 per week. 845-6830. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, JAN. 10 

Berkeley Bay Docent Training Thurs. and Fri. from 9 a.m. to noon Bay Interpretive Training (Bay IT) offers fun hands-on activities train volunteer docents who can commit to 14 hours per month to learning and helping naturalists lead environmental-education programs for school-age children at Shorebird Nature Center, 160 University Ave. 981-6720. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/marina/marinaexp/volunteer.html  

Happy Hibernators Learn about the animals that hibernate during the winter to escape the cold at 10:30 a.m. at the Oakland Zoo, 9777 Golf Links Rd. Cost is $7.50-$10. Registration required. 632-9525. www.oaklandzoo.org 

“Art and History of Early California” A curator’s tour with Inez Brooks-Myers at 1:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St., Oakland. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

East Bay Mac. Users Group meets to discuss iLife’08 at 7 p.m. at Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound Street, Emeryville. http://ebmug.org 

Babies & Toddlers Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon., Jan. 7, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Jan. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6346. TDD: 981-6345.  

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Jan. 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. 

Waterfront Commission meets Wed., Jan. 9, at 7 p.m., at 201 University Ave. 981-6740.  

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Jan. 10, at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400.