Posted Sat., Feb. 9—It may be cold outside, but it’s already spring to the Anna’s hummingbird, and courtship and nesting are well under way. 

Last week two hummers, a male and a female, got into our living room, were trapped inside when a gust of wind blew the front door shut, and became entangled in the curtains. Matt the Cat spotted them (he doesn’t so much hunt things as point), and Ron, who moves faster than I do in these situations, retrieved them and released them on the front porch, apparently none the worse for wear. 

I didn’t refer to this distracted twosome as a pair, because hummingbirds don’t form pairs. Mating is promiscuous, and males don’t involve themselves in the tedious business of nest construction and childcare. 

You may have noticed the dive display of the male Anna’s. As described in the authoritative Birds of North America series: “The male sings 1–2 sets of buzzy notes while hovering 2–4 meters over the object of the display for 1–2 second, then climbs in a wavering fashion nearly vertically for 7–8 seconds to a height of 20–40 meters, plummets in a near-vertical dive for 2 seconds, ending the dive with a loud Dive Noise within 0.5–1 meter of object, finally returning in a continuous circular arc …. to the beginning point over the object…..The object may be a female Anna’s Hummingbird, another hummingbird, another bird species, or occasionally a human; the sight of any perched hummingbird in its core area may initiate a Dive Display.” 

The exact nature of the Dive Noise, or dive chirp, has been much debated among ornithologists. The late Luis Baptista, former curator of birds at the California Academy of Sciences, thought it was vocal, since the frequency of the chirp was similar to that of the hummer’s vocalization. (It was Baptista who established that Anna’s hummingbirds, like more conventional songbirds such as the white-crowned sparrow, have local song dialects.) 

Recent work by UC Berkeley graduate student Christopher Clark and recent graduate Teresa Feo makes a compelling case that the noise is mechanical in origin, created by specialized tail feathers. 

Their investigations involved a high-speed video camera and a wind tunnel. 

Clark and Feo took the camera, with a 500 shot-per-second capability, to the Albany Bulb, where they alternately wired a stuffed female hummingbird to a bush or staked out a live female in a cage. Males responded to both variants. The camera captured a 60-millisecond spreading of the displaying male’s tail feathers at the bottom of the dive, coincident with the chirp.  

Having observed that Anna’s hummingbirds had, as Clark puts it,  

“funny tail feathers with tapered or narrow tips,” the researchers then captured several male hummers and customized their tails—either removing the outer pair of tail feathers or trimming their inner vanes. Modified males still performed dive displays, but failed to produce the dive noise. 

The final piece fell into place at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, where Clark and Feo exposed outer tail feathers to wind speeds equivalent to a male’s dive speed of 50 miles per hour. The chirp was reproduced in the wind tunnel when the inner vane of the feather fluttered at a frequency of 3.3 to 4.7 kiloherz, four octaves above middle C. Tiny linking barbules kept the barbs of the inner vane stiff enough to vibrate like the reed in a clarinet.  

The dive chirp is actually louder than the hummer’s vocalization. Clark and Feo suggest that this may be an evolutionary response to the constraints posed by the small size of the bird’s syrinx, or song box (the avian equivalent of the larynx.) They suspect that close relatives of the Anna’s hummingbird, like the desert-dwelling Costa’s, may produce their chirps in a similar fashion. 

Mechanical sound production in birds is unusual, but not unknown. 

The “winnowing” noise of the Wilson’s snipe is apparently produced by its tail feathers, although no one has worked out the mechanism. Common nighthawks make a rude sound with their wing feathers, and I’m convinced that the bizarre rustling-grating-creaking sounds emitted by a displaying male great-tailed grackle can’t be entirely vocal. The club-winged manakin of Ecuador has specialized wing feathers that operate like a zydeco musician’s rubboard: a scraper feather hitting the ridged vane of another feather. 

It’s good to have the riddle of the dive chirp resolved—and to be reminded that there’s still much to be discovered about even the most familiar of birds.  

If the Berkeley City Council approves an item on Tuesday’s agenda, it will clarify city support for the troops—while continuing to condemn the war—and will rescind the section of the Jan. 29 council item that calls the downtown Marine Recruiting Center “uninvited and unwelcome intruders” that has provoked the ire of conservative bloggers and pundits. 

The council item and proposed revisions have sparked response on the right and the left, with pro-war Move America Forward planning a day-long demonstration Feb. 12 outside the Maudelle Shirek Building (Old City Hall at 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way) and Code Pink calling a 24-hour peace-in at the same place, beginning at 7 p.m. Feb. 11. The Rev. Fred Phelps will bring his virulent anti-gay message to the mix as well, demonstrating against both the Marines and Code Pink. 

Councilmembers Laurie Capitelli and Betty Olds are sponsoring the revised resolution. Capitelli told the Planet that while he opposes the war, he wants it understood that the council action does not imply non-support for the troops. 

“My position is that policy makers send those people into harm’s way,” he said. “I want to get them sent home.” 

In a joint press statement, Capitelli and Olds say: “We failed to make it clear that while we continue to oppose what we consider an unethical and illegal war in Iraq, at the same time we respect and honor all the brave men and women who are serving or have served in the military … We have erred by not adequately differentiating between the war and the warriors.” 

As for telling the Marine recruiters they are not welcome, Capitelli said if the recruiters opt to stay, despite the legal demonstrations outside their office, that’s up to them.  

However, Capitelli and Olds say in the press statement: “The recommendation to inform the Marine Corps recruiting office that they are not welcome in our city, was insulting, hurtful and wrong.”  

“I wish we wouldn’t have Marines anywhere,” Capitelli said. “But they have a legal right to be here.”  

Olds agreed. “They do have a right to come,” she told the Planet, adding that service personnel should not be condemned: “They have to do what they are told to do.” 

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, who, along with Olds, voted against the three-part council item Jan. 29, told the Planet, “Laurie and Betty’s item is a step in the right direction.” 

He said he’d like to see the entire council item rescinded, along with an apology to the Marine Corps. The item has “pretty inflammatory stuff,” he said. “People are letting their opposition to the war interfere with their good judgment.” 

If the Olds-Capitelli council item passes Tuesday, the other two parts of the item will remain intact: asking the city attorney to research whether Berkeley’s anti-discrimination laws apply to the Marine Recruiting Center and supporting “residents and organizations such as Code Pink that may volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office located in the city of Berkeley.”  

Wozniak wrote in an e-mail response to a person who criticized the council for its item critiquing the Marines and granting a weekly afternoon parking space for demonstrators: “I would note that I was the sole councilmember who opposed both anti-Marine resolutions. I apologize for the action of the remainder of the council. As Christ said, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.”  

Councilmember Dona Spring told the Planet that she agreed in part with Capitelli and Olds: “We could have been more diplomatic, politely asking them to leave,” Spring said.  

However, Spring said a clear statement ought to be made: U.S. policy of war “is the antithesis of life and liberty. We need to take a strong stand against this military regime that provokes violence, murder and torture. We need to reflect Berkeley values.” 

On Jan. 29, Capitelli, councilmembers Linda Maio, Max Anderson, Dona Spring, Darryl Moore and Mayor Tom Bates voted for the three-part item. Councilmember Kriss Worthington opposed the section that called the Marines “unwelcome intruders” and supported the other two parts of the item. Councilmembers Olds and Wozniak opposed the full item. 

The House gets involved 

On the national front, Rep. John Campbell, R-California, and five other House Republicans introduced the Semper Fi Act of 2008 Wednesday to rescind about $2 million in federal funds for Berkeley contained in the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill in retaliation for what they said was the city’s “disdain” of the Marines and lack of appreciation “for what they do and have done for this country, our democracy and our freedoms.” 

The act transfers the funds to the Marines. Cosponsors are Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Florida, Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, and Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas. 

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, is introducing similar legislation in the Senate. 

In response, Rep. Barbara Lee, who represents the Berkeley area, said in an e-mail to the Planet: “As for any attempt to punish the people of Berkeley by stripping much needed federal funding, I would simply say I will strongly oppose such an effort.”  

The proposed legislation says “the City Council of Berkeley voted to oust (sic) the Marine Corps Recruiting Station from their downtown office.” It actually directed the city manager to write a letter telling the recruiters that they were unwelcome. 

It further states that the “City Council of Berkeley also voted to give the radical protest group Code Pink a parking space to protest the Marine Corps and urged them to ‘impede, passively or actively’ the work of Marine Corps recruiters.” 

The funds targeted by the proposed legislation include $243,000 for the Chez Panisse Foundation’s organic school lunch program and $975,000 for UC Berkeley’s Matsui Center for Politics and Public Services. 

And Tuesday 

The pro-war group Move America Forward is planning a day in Berkeley aimed at maximizing media coverage, beginning at 5 a.m. 

“If you can, please join us for our ‘picketing’ of the City Council Chambers. We will be out there at 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way beginning at 5 a.m. for the morning news. We will have a presence all throughout the day—the next newscasts are at 12:00 noon, so we’ll want a good size [sic] presence at that time as well,” says the Move America Forward website. 

The group plans to deliver petitions to the council at its 7 p.m. meeting, which say, in part: “We, the undersigned, do register our complete outrage with the city of Berkeley for the recent resolutions that criticized our Marines, as part of an effort to harass the Marine Recruiting Center and chase all vestiges of the United States military outside of the city of Berkeley, California.” 

Not to be outdone, the anti-war group Code Pink is calling for a 24-hour “peace-in,” beginning at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 at the Maudelle Shirek Building and continuing until the start of the City Council meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 12. 

“We want to support our elected officials who have taken a courageous stand,” said Zanne Joi, spokesperson for Code Pink. “We’re protecting our city from outside pro-war forces.” 

Joining the protests will be Rev. Fred Phelps’ group “God Hates Fags.” Responding to an e-mail query asking why they would be protesting, Shirley L Phelps-Roper responded: “We are picketing at Berkeley because you are a cesspool of filth! .... You freaks are going to kick the brutish Marines to the curb because they are not filthy enough for you. It is not enough for them to be raping, murdering, fag infested perverts. You want them to be ONLY fags and ONLY raping/murdering perverts. You want them to violate the lame and wimpy executive order that is called Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and aggressively recruit fags into their numbers.” 

The Berkeley Police Department “is putting together a thoughtful plan so all participants will be able to express themselves lawfully and peacefully,” said Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, police spokesperson.

Berkeley wasn’t exempt Tuesday from election-day glitches due to technical and human error. 

Election officials ran out of Democratic ballots at four different polling places in the city: two polling stations at the Veteran’s Memorial Building on Center Street, the polling station at the Lutheran Church of the Cross on University Avenue, and the YWCA on Bancroft Way near campus. 

“There were 14 precincts countywide that ran out of ballots,” said Guy Ashley, spokesperson for the Alameda County Registrar of Voters. “[Registrar] Dave Macdonald ordered 14 polling places to stay open after consulting with a judge.” 

“A ballot shortfall sent us scrambling,” Ashley said, adding that Macdonald didn’t have to consult a judge to keep the polling place doors ajar.  

California law says “at 8 p.m., anybody in line should be allowed to vote,” he said.  

Most of the polling places kept open while waiting for extra ballots to be delivered were closed by 9 p.m., Ashley said.  

He said he thought a factor in running out of ballots was the large number of people who voted provisionally at polling places where they were not listed as registered to vote. He said he believed that many of them were not registered at all.  

“There were more voters than entitled to vote who showed up,” Ashley surmised. 

These ballots are put aside, signatures verified and votes counted separately. It will be several weeks before all the provisional ballots are tallied. 

Gary Crumback of northeast Berkeley ran into another problem. He was one of the earliest voters at his precinct at the Northbrae Community Church at 941 The Alameda. When the first voter went to slide his paper ballot into the scanner, his ballot jammed the machine.  

“It wouldn’t accept any more,” Crumback told the Daily Planet.  

The scanner still was on the blink when the Planet went by the polling place at about 10:30 a.m. Poll workers said they had called at 7:30 a.m. and were told a technician would come out.  

About 100 people had voted by that time, according to poll worker Ned Dairiki. The ballots were being kept in a locked box, he said. 

Asked about the problem at about 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Ashley downplayed the seriousness of the situation. “There are 810 polling places [in the county],” he said. “Occasionally a piece of machinery doesn’t work.” 

He said he went out to a site earlier in the day at the student union on the UC Berkeley campus that had reported a scanner problem and found the machine was not plugged in.  

Over at San Pablo Park, a Planet reporter overheard a poll worker tell a person who had registered “Decline to State” that she could not give her a Democratic Party ballot. The reporter intervened, assuring the poll worker that the voter had a right to the Democratic ballot. The individual was able to vote. 

“Poll workers are trained to allow crossover for Democrats and American Independents. They have classes three to four weeks before the elections,” Ashley said.

Berkeley’s Public Works Department submitted a revised work plan for dredging the lagoon at the north end of Aquatic Park to the Regional Water Quality Control Board last week. It is scheduled to go before the city council for approval in March. 

Public works dredged the lagoon without a permit and dumped the spoils near a popular bird-watching spot at the south end of the park in November. 

WR Forde—the contractors hired by the city to carry out the dredging—constructed a watertight basin Wednesday to prevent the contaminated spoils from entering the lagoon. 

Local environmentalists said they were upset that the company dumped mulch mixed with dredged mud, plastic sheets and sand bags from the excavated basin along the trail on the south shore of the main lagoon Wednesday morning.  

The mulch—primarily consisting of decomposing wood chips dumped inside the park by public works last year—was placed adjacent to and on top of clean new wood chips that will be used by the Environmental Greening, Restoration, and Education Team’s (EGRET) student volunteers for the city’s habitat improvement project that begins this weekend at the park. 

“Public works is telling us that the spoils are contaminated and have to be taken away to a landfill and then they are piling it on the road,” said Lisa Stephens, a member of the Aquatic Park subcommittee of the Parks and Recreation Commission. “The whole attitude of the Public Works Department towards Aquatic Park should be called into question by the City Council. They don’t repair the roads ... they basically treat it as a dumping ground.” 

Complaints from park users led to Public Works removing the decomposing wood chips from the spot the same afternoon. 

Mark Liolios, who heads EGRET, said he had been concerned about its possible impacts on student groups. Students from UC Berkeley and Oakland’s Head-Royce School will volunteer at the park over the next couple of weekends. 

“The wood chips are very old and according to city staff should only be moved by people wearing suitable respiration gear,” Liolios said. “The spoils are contaminated with lead which are said to be ingestible through breathing when airborne. I was a little unhappy and worried about having school children here.” 

Lorin Jensen, head of engineering at public works, said the mulch should not have been placed on the roadway. 

“I don’t know how it was placed close to the new mulch,” he said. “I went down and made sure the contractors took it back to the contained area.” 

The water board had asked public works to place the spoils in water containment in November. 

“The weather did not permit construction,” Jensen told the Planet. “There is a break in the weather now, and we should be able to complete construction by Friday.” 

Hamid Kondazi, the project manager for the dredging project who neglected to get approval from the Army Corps of Engineers, the BCDC and the water board for the project, was replaced by Danny Akagi, who is in charge of the city’s storm-water drainage. 

Brian Wines, who approves permits for Alameda County at the regional water board, said that he had not had a chance to review the revised plan yet. 

According to Jensen, dredging the north end of the lagoon would clear out the debris around the tidal tubes and clean out the Strawberry Creek storm drain to improve circulation. 

“The sediment in the five tide tubes blocks water from going through the pipes,” he said. “The elevation of the storm water overflow pipe under Addison Street and the force of the storm water isn’t enough to clean out the pipes.” 

Jensen added that Caltrans and the City of Berkeley took turns cleaning the tide tubes. 

“It is not clear who has full responsibility for cleaning it,” he said. “The city is doing it this year.” 

Public works has determined that the dredged spoils will not be re-used inside Aquatic Park. 

“We will probably be taking the spoils to a Class II landfill in Altamont or Vacaville which accepts the lead level found in them,” he said. “It does not meet the stricter requirements the water board has laid down for reusing them in the park.”

Neighbors say they are relieved: There won’t be a 5,000-square-foot restaurant and bar replacing the old Wright’s Garage at the corner of Ashby Avenue, just west of College Avenue. 

The Elmwood Neighborhood Association (ENA) agreed to settle their lawsuit against the city, in which they alleged that the permits granted to developer John Gordon for the project violated the California Environmental Quality Act, and that it would bring excessive noise and traffic to the small commercial area. The ENA, Gordon and the City Council agreed to the settlement. The unanimous council vote came in a closed-door session Monday. 

“Settlements are always a little bit win, win and a little bit lose, lose.” said Harry Pollack, an attorney and member of the Berkeley Planning Commission who acted as spokesperson for Gordon. Nonetheless, Pollack added, “It’s a good settlement.”  

The lawsuit was causing delays in getting the project leased, he said. “Holding up the project is not good for the neighborhood,” he said. The settlement did not concede that any CEQA violation had taken place, however. 

Speaking for the ENA, Judith Epstein underscored that the neighborhood is not anti-development. “We wanted to get rid of the most inappropriate parts of the project,” she stated in an e-mail: “The 5,000-square-foot restaurant, bar, lounge and banquet facility with extended hours would have been disastrous for our community.”  

In March 2007, the city’s zoning board approved the project. The ENA appealed the ruling, which was heard by the City Council in June. The council mustered only four votes, with five needed to support ENA’s request for a public hearing, a critical step before the council may overturn a zoning board decision. (Voting in favor of holding a public hearing at the time were Councilmembers Linda Maio, Kriss Worthington, Dona Spring, and Max Anderson.) 

After losing the appeal, ENA attorney Amber Vierling filed the lawsuit. 

Based on the California Environmental Quality Act, the complaint names the city as defendant and Gordon as an interested party, and says that because the restaurant-bar would bring traffic and noise to the neighborhood, the developer was required to do an environmental impact report. 

The lawsuit also cited Berkeley’s code, saying that the proposed project violates the purpose of the Elmwood commercial district’s quota system, which is “‘to maintain a scale and balance of retail goods and services in the district to compatibly serve the everyday needs of surrounding neighborhoods by: ... preventing development which exceeds the amount and intensity of use that is compatible with adjacent residential neighborhoods; [and] limiting the space occupied by businesses that generate high traffic and/or parking demands….’” 

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, who was advised by the city attorney’s office to recuse himself from council discussions and from the vote on the project because he had publicly supported the project, said he thinks it is a “reasonable” settlement. 

“John can go ahead and develop the rest of the project,” he said.  

The settlement agreement specifies that Gordon agrees to relinquish four permits: a use permit to exceed the district’s full-service restaurant quota; a use permit for extended hours of restaurant operation; a use permit for a sidewalk café; and a use permit to allow alcohol sales and service within a full-service restaurant. 

If Gordon includes a restaurant in the development, he will need to go back to the zoning board and begin the process anew.  

The $40,000 in the plaintiff’s attorney fees and $1,670 in costs will be paid jointly by the city and the developer, Pollack said. 

No leases have been signed for space in the project due to the uncertainty of the lawsuit, Pollack said, noting that up to seven commercial tenants can locate in the development. 

Pollack said Gordon expects leases to be signed within the next two to three months.

The Oakland City Council 2008 election dance card all but filled up this week with the announcement that North Oakland public safety activist Patrick Mc-Cullough is running for the District One seat currently held by Councilmember Jane Brunner.  

McCullough, an African-American and a city of Berkeley employee, is best known for the 2005 incident in front of his 59th Street house, when he shot and slightly wounded an African-American teenager who was part of a group McCullough said had threatened him with a gun. The Alameda County District Attorney’s office declined to bring charges against either McCullough or any of the teenagers. McCullough’s home was the target of several vandalizing attacks after he led a neighborhood campaign to keep drug dealing off his street. 

He said that combating North Oakland’s soaring crime problem would be one of his top concerns, and immediately criticized the incumbent Brunner for what he called her inaction on the problem. 

“Jane Brunner is typical of many white liberals who have an affinity with groups like the Black Panther Party and are not comfortable in doing what is needed about the crime problem,” McCullough said in a telephone interview. “They’re afraid to be called racist.”  

He added that “there has been no improvement in the city that is attributable to her as councilmember. She doesn’t do things until pushed. I will do things on my own initiative. I’m not going to wait until people complain. I don’t know who is benefiting from her inaction, but people are suffering.” 

He said that if elected, he would move toward increasing the number of police in Oakland to between 1,100 and 1,200, significantly higher than the 803 currently-authorized strength. 

“A lot of people are afraid to go outside, afraid to cut their grass, afraid to casually walk around their neighborhood,” McCullough said.  

While Brunner agreed that crime is “the biggest issue” in her North Oakland district, she took issue with McCullough’s contention that she had not been doing anything about it. 

“We have made it our top priority in the last two years,” she said. “I am the one who pushes [Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker] the most in developing public safety strategies. I think [Mr. McCullough] may not have been paying attention recently.” 

Brunner also disputed McCullough’s contention that she was a white liberal who is soft on crime. “I’m proud of being a progressive,” she said. She said that she would talk more about the issues in her district as the campaign developed, adding, “I think I will win. I know I have a lot of support.” 

If Council President Ignacio De La Fuente announces for re-election for his District Five seat, as expected, there will be contested races in all of the Oakland City Council districts whose four-year terms are up this year: One, Three, Five, Seven, and At Large. While candidates have informally announced for all of these races, official candidate filing does not begin until Monday, Feb. 11 and runs through March 7. 

Neither De La Fuente nor At Large Councilmember Henry Chang responded to telephone inquiries about whether they were running for re-election this year. 

Council races are set for June 3, with a November runoff scheduled for multi-candidate races in which no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote.

California Highway Patrol officers joined Richmond Police on patrol this week in a three-month concerted effort to stem the bloodshed that has plagued the city in recent months. 

Even for a city where murder is the third leading cause of death among African American men and where homicide rates average 10 times higher than for Contra Costa County as a whole, the last months of 2007 and the first weeks of the new year have proved particularly bloody. 

“We had 27 homicides in three months, which is a record for our city,” said Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan. “We had 13 in December, which is an all-time record.” In the same month of 2006, the city logged only two homicides. 

The year-end surge brought the city’s yearly homicide rate to 47. 

January brought four more killings, while February has logged only one—though one man clings to life following a pair of shootings that took place minutes before CHP units were set to hit the streets for their second day of patrolling the city, leaving one man clinging to his life in a trauma center. 

Lt. Gagan attributed the immediate causes of the violence to gang feuds, one between groups in North Richmond and the center of the city and the other blamed on infighting on the city’s southside. 

More that 20 CHP officers rolled through Richmond streets Tuesday evening on the first of their 12-hour shifts in the city, said Officer Sam Morgan, CHP spokesperson, and police reported a relatively quiet evening in the troubled city. 

All that was to change at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, when a drive-by shooter in a silver Nissan Altima opened up on a 16-year-old standing near the corner of Potrero and Carlson boulevards. 

The shooter, who was riding in the passenger seat, fired multiple rounds at the youth, who was struck in both hands. 

“He has gang ties, and he has been uncooperative,” said Lt. Gagan. 

Police believe the next shooting, which took place 20 minutes later, was related. 

An SUV pulled up alongside a car stopped at a red light at the intersection of San Pablo and Macdonald avenues and a front-passenger-seat shooter fired multiple bullets into a 23-year-old man as he sat behind the wheel of his Cadillac, waiting for the light to change, said the officer. 

Struck multiple times, the grievously wounded driver stepped on the gas, careening through the intersection and striking a passing car. 

The resulting chaos shut down one of the city’s busiest intersections at the start of rush hour while investigators combed the scene and a helicopter airlifted the victim to treatment. 

The shooting happened ten minutes before CHP officers were scheduled to hit the streets, Lt. Gagan said. 

Police and CHP officers have detailed descriptions of the cars, but the lieutenant said it is unlikely either vehicle is linked directly to the shooters. 

“Typically in these cases they use stolen cars or community cars,” he said. 

A CalGRP on gangs 

The patrol—which exacts no cost from the city—comes at the request of Richmond police through Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s CalGRIP program, short for the California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention Program, first announced last May. 

Paul Seave, a former federal prosecutor, directs the program under the aegis of the state Office of Emergency Services, but reports directly to the governor’s office. 

CHP intervention is only one of the programs Seave is charged with overseeing, though the exact nature of his duties is still a work-in-progress, he said Thursday. 

“I got the job on Sept. 24,” he said. “CalGRIP is really an umbrella term, and it refers to a number of funds and funding grants that are being or will be distributed,” as well as programs overseen by his office. 

“Seven million dollars is set aside for the California Highway Patrol for helping local law enforcement,” he said, funds derived from motor vehicle fees. If the annual allocation isn’t spent, the money reverts to the CHP for other programs. 

Morgan said the CHP has been called into other Bay Area cities, and is currently deployed in Oakland. Other cities which have invited the patrol are San Francisco, Vallejo and East Palo Alto, as well as communities in Southern California, he said. Seave said Salinas has also used CHP patrols. 

CHP officers enter local communities with a three-month commitment, and the community has the option to keep them on the streets for another three months. 

“After that, there is a review process, and then they can submit a request to have us return,” Morgan said. 

The CHP officers patrol through the streets in high-crime neighborhoods like the city’s Iron Triangle, looking for what Morgan called “on-view traffic and criminal violations,” leaving the investigative work to the city’s own detectives. 

“We’ve had a welcome response from both the Richmond Police and elements of the community,” Morgan said. 

McLaughlin said the idea of calling in the Highway Patrol came from Richmond Police Chris Magnus, who informed City Council. “The (council’s) public safety committee had called a special meeting prior to the city council meeting and heard from the police chief there,” she said.  

Partial solution 

Rev. Andrew Shumake Sr., a founder of the Richmond Improvement Association and a prominent advocate for the city’s poor, said that while he welcomes the presence of the CHP because of the recent surge in killings, he fears Richmond’s elected officials are dealing with only half of the problem. 

“If you want these young people to lay something down, you also have to give them something to pick up,” he said. Without jobs to give young unemployed men and women something constructive to do, he said, violence will only resume when the CHP eventually leaves. 

“I am tired of going to these funerals,” he said, adding that he has a service to conduct Friday for a young woman slain in the epidemic of violence. 

Mayor Gayle McLaughlin said long-range solutions will involve “program/service opportunities, outreach/peacekeeping teams, conflict mediation, healing, job training, jobs, educational enhancement.” 

The mayor said “causes for any one homicide or cluster of homicides are varied and unpredictable. It can be the result of feuding street factions from different neighborhoods, domestic violence, or other isolated incidents. 

One new program is charged with tackling the dynamics that lead to factional violence, McLaughlin said. 

“The new Office of Neighborhood Safety’s outreach program will be specifically addressing the issue of inter-neighborhood feuds in an effort to prevent them from escalating to fatal proportions,” she said. 

Seave said prevention and job programs play a major role in CalGRIP’s agenda as well. 

“Whenever you talk to gang members and people who want to get out of gangs or people who work with people in gangs,” the need for jobs “is the first thing you hear, and it’s legitimate.” 

One of the programs under his charge is the $6 million in federal funding under the Workforce and Labor Development Agency for job training and placement. 

The state has put out a call to local agencies for applications. 

Seave said hundreds of millions in state funds are available for programs ranging from enforcement to prevention, for both government and private agencies. 

One program under his office offers $9.5 million for community grants, with $2 million for private agencies and the rest for cities—with $1 million off the top for Los Angeles. 

“I believe Richmond has already applied for funding,” he said. 

Seave said he’s still gathering information on the full range of programs under a wide range of agencies that are designed to address the problems of gangs and gang violence. 

“Call me back in a few months, when I have a better idea” of which ones are working and which ones aren’t, he said.

Berkeley police have arrested the man they believe stalked elderly men and women leaving grocery stores, then beat them before stealing their valuables. 

Jahton Green, a 21-year-old Oakland resident, was arrested after police raided a Berkeley residence where he had been staying, said Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, the department’s spokesperson. 

The youngest of the eight victims police believe Green attacked and robbed was a 57-year-old man, while the rest were over 70. The last, a 93-year-old, was assaulted and robbed as he walked into his condo. 

Several of the victims were attacked after they left two Berkeley grocery stores, the Berkeley Bowl and the North Shattuck Avenue Safeway. 

“The investigating officers believe he bicycled to the stores, then sat around and waited until he saw someone leaving the stores” who fit his victim profile, Sgt. Kusmiss said. 

Green was arrested Jan. 29, a day after what investigators believe was his eighth and most brutal robbery of a Berkeley resident. Five victims were women, three were men. 

The string of robberies began at 4:45 p.m. Nov. 17, when an 82-year-old woman was attacked as she was walking to her residence in the 1700 block of Hearst Avenue. 

Assaulted from the rear and shoved violently to the ground, the woman suffered a broken hip, which required surgery to repair. Her attacker grabbed her purse and fled, said Sgt. Kusmiss. 

“In the attacks, he would strike or punch his victim in the back of the head, knocking them to the ground,” she said. Further blows would follow if needed to subdue the victim. 

More attacks followed, with the next on Dec. 17 in the 2000 block of Hearst Avenue. Two robberies were reported on Dec. 28, one in Live Oak Park on the path between Oxford and Spruce streets and the second in the 1900 block of Oregon Street. 

The next attack, on Jan. 10, had special meaning for City Councilmember Betty Olds. 

A 78-year-old man was returning home from his daily stroll for coffee, conversation and a look at the newspapers at the Peet’s Coffee on Shattuck Avenue in North Berkeley, Olds said. 

“He noticed this guy following him, and he kept telling him, ‘I don’t have anything. Please go away,’” Olds said. But the man followed him to his home in the 1300 block of Arch Street. At his home, the bandit struck, knocking the man down, beating him, then rifling his pockets, leaving him, Kusmiss reported, “in a pool of blood.” 

The septuagenarian victim suffered fractures of the hip and femur, both of which needed surgical repairs, head injuries and permanent hearing loss. 

“I’d have had a heart attack if he attacked me,” said Olds, who is nearing her 88th birthday. “It’s so hard to be observant.” 

The next attack came Jan. 22, when a woman was struck and robbed of her purse near the corner of Hearst Avenue and Bonita Street. The next attack, another assault and purse snatch, took place at Bonita and University Avenue. The victim had turned 84 less than two weeks earlier. 

The final attack came on the 28th, when the robber followed his 93-year-old victim into his condo. 

Sgt. Kusmiss said the robber apparently followed close behind the nonagenarian as he entered the security door into his building, catching the door before it closed. 

She said he trailed the man to the door of his condo, and there shoved the victim into the door as he unlocked it, finally pushing him into the apartment, knocking him to the floor and striking him repeatedly in the head. 

“Then he picked up a suitcase and beat him in the head with it several times,” Sgt. Kusmiss said. The robber rifled the man’s pockets, making off with his wallet, identification and house keys. 

Olds said that Berkeley police had learned the identification of their suspect because a stolen credit card was used to make a purchase that was shipped to the Berkeley residence of a close associate of Green’s. 

“Fortunately for us, they were kind of dumb,” said Olds. 

Kusmiss said that once some of the victims had identified Green in a photographic lineup, investigators obtained warrants to search the apartment of Stewart Tremaine Robinson, 19, at 2009 McGee St. 

Kusmiss said that while Green lived in Berkeley, he spent much of his time at Robinson’s home, and when officers conducted their search they found 49 pieces of evidence directly linked to the crimes, including “four purses and lots of ID and credit cards.” 

Green and Robinson were both arrested. 

After examining the evidence and witness statements, the Alameda County District Attorney’s office charged Green with two counts of second-degree robbery with great bodily injury, grand theft and receiving stolen property. Robinson was charged with fraud for using a stolen credit card to make a purchase. 

“The detectives are very confident Green is responsible for all eight robberies,” Kusmiss said. “But because the victims were struck or strong-armed from behind, some were unable to make identifications.” 

Kusmiss said state law also provides separate sentencing enhancements for victims over age 70 and for victims over 80. 

“These are very significant felonies with mandatory sentences,” she said. 

“It’s so sad that old people have to worry about people like this,” said Olds. “Being one of those poor old things, I know.”

Under the gun to file its contribution statements with the city of Berkeley rather than with Alameda County, Business for Better Government, the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce’s political action committee (PAC), is going out of business. 

Although the state Fair Political Practices Commission advised the city and the Chamber PAC attorneys that the PAC should file its campaign contribution statements with the city, it has not done so. 

It is unclear whether the PAC—even if terminated—will have to file past contribution statements with the city. Deputy City Attorney Kristy van Herick told the Planet on Thursday that the city’s Fair Campaign Practices Commission will decide whether to press the issue. 

Asked if the PAC would file locally, retroactively, Miriam Ng, Chamber PAC chair, told the Planet, “We’ll do whatever is necessary.”  

In 2006, the PAC collected and spent more than $100,000 to defeat Measure J, the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance, to elect Mayor Tom Bates and to attempt to unseat Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Dona Spring. 

But it was difficult for local voters to ascertain the names of those who had contributed to the PAC, since it filed campaign finance disclosure documents with the Alameda County registrar and disclosed only a limited number of contributors to the Berkeley city clerk. 

Berkeley campaign finance law requires the city to post on the internet the names of contributors to local campaigns and the amount contributed, and to publish the information in local newspapers. The Alameda County registrar places campaign finance statements on the internet only if filers use specific software, which is not obligatory.  

In response to a query by van Herick, the state weighed in, in August 2007, advising the city that, because the PAC’s contributions were directed overwhelmingly to Berkeley campaigns, it should file its campaign disclosure documents in Berkeley and not with the county. 

The PAC hired San Francisco-based Sutton Law Firm, which responded Nov. 14 with arguments against filing locally. 

On Nov. 26 Emelyn Rodriguez, counsel in the Legal Division of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, wrote the PAC attorneys saying the Commission would not reconsider its advice: 

“You state that the percentage of money the committee spent in the last five years is but one factor in determining whether a general purpose committee should file as a county or city committee. You stated that the Commission should also take into account the committee’s ‘other activities’ such as: its monitoring of county legislation and politics; its promotion of county voter registration; advising the Chamber on ‘non-reportable member communications regarding issues of importance throughout the county,’ … You also state that the Commission should consider the Berkeley Chamber PAC’s intent to be regularly active in future county elections, even if some of all of the committee’s past activity is in a different jurisdiction.” 

The state FPPC attorney concludes that given the PAC spent $124,500 between 2002 and 2006 on Berkeley campaign expenditures, gave a single $500 campaign contribution to a state candidate and gave no contributions at all to county candidates or issues, that “we reaffirm the conclusion reached in the van Herick letter that the Berkeley Chamber PAC, based on its expenditures, is a city general-purpose committee.” 

On Jan. 8 van Herick wrote the Chamber PAC, asking it to change its filing status by Jan. 31. The letter was followed by a voicemail message. 

The response came to van Herick in a Jan. 28 e-mail from Melissa A Mikesell, an attorney with the Sutton Law Firm, notifying her that the PAC was going out of business.  

“I received your voicemail and wanted to let you know that the Berkeley Chamber PAC decided to terminate the PAC effective 12/31/07. They will be filing their termination Form 460 with the County in the next few days,” the e-mail said. 

Asked whether the Chamber PAC will reinvent itself as another organization, Ng said: “We may do that. We don’t know that yet.”

More than 800 sophomores sat for their California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) at Berkeley High this week. 

State law specifies that all public school students take the exit exam for the first time in 10th grade. If they fail to pass, students have two opportunities in 11th grade and three opportunities in 12th grade.  

Students cannot earn a high school diploma unless they pass the exit exam. 

Last year, 89 percent of Berkeley High School students passed the CAHSEE, which was a rate slightly lower than the state’s overall pass rate of 93 percent, according to P. J. Hallam, the district’s director for the assessment department, and data from the California Department of Education. 

At Berkeley Technology Academy (B-Tech), the results were worse. In 2006-07, 41 percent (19 out of 46 students) of B-Tech students who took the CAHSEE English exam through 10th to 12th grades passed. Only 26 percent (15 out of 57 students) passed the math exam. 

“The numbers are not good,” Hallam told the Planet Wednesday. “The reason why these students went to B-Tech is because they need the support of an alternative school. There clearly needs to be more effort to improve the numbers.” 

Hallam, hired by Berkeley Unified in August, put together a student assessment data report for the school board in January. 

The majority of Berkeley High students passed the math and English exams in 10th grade, something that district officials said they expected this year as well. 

“In fact the pass rate for our high school 10th graders in English and math was slightly higher for the county and higher than the state over the last two years,” Hallam said. “It means we are covering the basics for the most part.” 

Multiethnic, white and Asian students continued to have higher pass rates in English than Latino (72 percent) and African American (61 percent) students for the last two years. 

“There may be some high school students who recently moved to California from a different country,” Hallam said. “As a result they are still learning English.” 

White students (at 93 percent) outpaced multi-ethnic (81 percent) and Asian (86 percent) students in CAHSEE math, while Latinos and African Americans passed at 67 percent and 58 percent respectively. 

“The district needs to work on African American students to improve their basic math skills,” Hallam said. “There needs to be remediation for them at the high school level.” 

Last year, 87 percent of Berkeley High seniors graduated, and topping the list were Asians and whites (92 percent), followed by Latinos (88 percent), multiethnic (84 percent) and blacks (80 percent). 

Students and can list their background as multi-ethnic if they claim two or more ethnicities.

The Bay Area music community and the world lost an important voice and a respected, beloved teacher on Sunday, when composer Jorge Liderman died in an apparent suicide when he was struck by a BART train at the El Cerrito Plaza station. He had recently taken a leave of absence from the music department at UC Berkeley in order to treat his depression. The news of his death came as a grievous shock to the wide circle of people who knew him and called him a friend. 

David Milnes, a colleague at UC Berkeley, was preparing to premiere one of the composer’s latest pieces, Furthermore … (2006), with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, when the news came. At the SFCMP concert on Monday, Milnes spoke briefly to the audience, referring to the group’s Contemporary Insights event the day before in San Francisco: “Imagine our shock at a salon [Sunday] afternoon, where we were to share the piece with others, and we got the terrible news instead. Last week at rehearsals he was upbeat. There was not a hint of melancholy. We had no hints of what was to come. It’s a terrible artistic loss. His output is now closed, but his music will live on.” 

Liderman was an exceptionally sensitive and careful musician, and his compositions were marked, like his personality, with a generosity of spirit and humility. There was no technical display of learning or excess complexity. He composed intuitively, by ear, without espousing a particular style or school. 

Liderman’s death comes at a time when a raft of new recordings (seven in the past three years and a new one about to be released on Bridge records), a 50th birthday concert through Cal Performances, a 2003 Guggenheim grant, and numerous new commissions were beginning to broaden his base of popularity to match the imagination and accessibility of his music. (You can listen to samples at his website, www.jorgeliderman.com.) For a composer who had decried the “ghetto of composers writing music for other composers,” it would have been a time to be savored. 

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Liderman studied music in Israel; Mark Kopitman was his teacher at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. Meeting composer Shulamit Ran in Tel Aviv, he subsequently studied with her and Ralph Shapey at the University of Chicago, before being hired by UC Berkeley in 1989. He was internationally recognized, to a degree, and his music received performances from the London Sinfonietta, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Arditti Quartet, and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, among others, and at festivals like Darmstadt (Germany), Foro Internacional (Mexico), and Nuova Consonanza (Italy). His opera, Antigona furiosa (1991), was performed at the 1992 Munich Biennale. And he had numerous prominent performances in the Bay Area during the 20 years of his residency. 

It can be difficult to define originality or “voice” in a creative personality when it doesn’t reside in overt acts of revolution, or in polemical, theoretical pronouncements. Liderman in particular wasn’t given to those modes of expression. His music is not minimalist-influenced, or eclectically postmodern. It isn’t easy to pigeonhole, but it is compelling. It bursts with vitality, the music flowing out in an irresistible stream. 

If you listen to Waking Dances, the first piece he wrote for guitarist David Tanenbaum (and recorded by him on Bridge Records), you’ll note the incredibly simple materials he begins with. A scale fragment, a three-note ostinato, a few scattered pitches transmogrify into extraordinary structures through the composer’s fantasy. As Ran, his teacher and friend, put it simply, the sources of inspiration were almost “primeval,” but were developed by “a sophisticated mind that allowed the elements to flourish into something unique and elaborate.” The mind, what she calls “rigor,” contributes as much to the music’s surging quality as the rhythmic bounce and drive. 

Of course there are always influences on a composer, and if you search long enough, you’ll find them. Liderman can count a number of teachers and famous musicians who contributed to his sense of style, including Kopitman, Ran, Hans Werner Henze, György Ligeti, and, behind them all, Stravinsky. But again, you won’t pick those personalities out easily. 

Tanenbaum relates that, when he was rehearsing Swirling Streams, commissioned by the guitarist and scored for the unusual combination of guitar, string trio and bass clarinet, “We just coincidentally found out that Henze had written a piece for guitar, bassoon, and string trio, and so we did them on the same program.” But the connection pretty much ends there. Among other things, “Jorge’s has much more rhythmic vitality and pulse than Henze’s does,” he says. Tanenbaum points to Ligeti as the influence on Liderman’s individual sense of rhythm. 

And yet, as Ran reminded me, “The rich tapestry that was his life, being raised in Argentina, and then growing up in Israel, and then coming to this country and then the West Coast, and growing new roots—I think all of those, in various ways, were reflected in his music, but not in a thoughtless, eclectic way. The music reflected the life that he led.” You look to life influences to explain the texts he chose to set, for example in the Aires de Sefarad (2001), or the oratoriolike Song of Songs (2004), or the Shir ha Sharim (1986), based on the Book of Solomon, all works that reflected his interest in Jewish culture. 

A Generous Spirit, Always Searching 

It took a residency on the West Coast, however, to provide him with an outlet to investigate the guitar, that iconic instrument of Latin America. “He came to me — it was about 10 years ago,” says Tanenbaum. “He knew my work and presented himself as really blocked with the guitar. He knew it and had always wanted to write for it, but he couldn’t get there. And he said, ‘I want you to help me get over the hump.’ So we worked quite a bit—of the four major pieces we ended up doing together, the one we went back and forth on the most was the first one [Waking Dances]. It was more of a struggle for him [than the others].” 

The fluidity of the completed work betrays none of that struggle, naturally, but the story points to an aspect of Liderman’s view of music. He enjoyed taking artistic risks and thought it was a necessary part of creativity. Ran notes that he rarely looked back. “Sometimes, when I would mention his opera, which is a piece I just love, he would say to me, ‘Oh that’s an old piece, already.’ He was always looking for new ways of thinking about music, always working things out in his mind. He had the powerful stamp of his own personality, but at the same time, he was always searching, always open for more.” 

As a colleague and friend, Liderman was one of the more generous people you could hope to meet. He was humble, deflecting conversation away from his own music to that of other composers. His graduate students benefited from being treated as equals from the beginning, and also from his incredibly detailed and thoughtful recommendations. 

Robert Cole, a friend and director of Cal Performances, says, “He was helpful in practical ways, making things easy that would otherwise be very difficult to do.” Cole points to Cal Performances’ Edge Festival in 2005, when instead of featuring his own compositions, Liderman suggested that the performances focus on his former students. “We brought some Berkeley graduates back, but it was only possible because Jorge made it happen.” 

Bonnie Wade, the chairperson of the UC Berkeley music department, knew him as a quiet and humble man, dedicated to teaching. “At both the graduate and the undergraduate level, he was somebody who had the door open, literally. He would be in the department for many hours, with the door open for students who wanted to come [talk] on a one-to-one basis.” 

Personal memories of Liderman paint the opposite picture from a man struggling with depression. Ran recalls her first meeting with the young man in Tel Aviv: “He came to see me at our apartment and I still remember he warmed my heart immediately. There was something so engaging and bright and open about him, and we had a wonderful conversation.” 

As a former Ph.D. student in the department, I recall him ambling through the halls of UC Berkeley, saying hello to his students in an amiable, totally unpatronizing way. He made real contact with them. He bicycled everywhere, and Tanenbaum recalls conversations held while riding. “He would be so involved in conversation—he’d be in the middle of the street and turning his head backward to say something to me, like old Mr. Magoo or something, and I was worried that something would happen to him, but it never did.” 

Wade relates that “he loved to cook. He gave parties that always collected the most interesting, unconnected people from the various parts of his life.” The department observed a moment of silence on Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. for the composer. 

Liderman is survived by his wife, Mimi, of El Cerrito, and his mother, Sarah, and sister, Claudia, both of Buenos Aires. Plans for a memorial service have not yet been announced. 

Michael Zwiebach holds a Ph.D. in music history from UC Berkeley. This article first appeared on the San Francisco Classical Voice web site (sfcv.org).

Progressives disappointed over Barack Obama’s California numbers can be cheered by three critical facts. First, Obama did much better than was projected only a month ago, and California’s delegate selection process minimized Clinton’s popular vote margin. Second, the defeat of Prop. 93 promises to usher in a new era of progressive leadership in Sacramento, with the possibility that a “dream team” of Karen Bass as Assembly Speaker and Darrell Steinberg as Senate pro tem could be installed this session. Third, Prop. 93’s defeat set up contested Democratic primary contests across the state, which will greatly increase voter turnout in June for the campaign to defeat Prop 98, the measure that would abolish rent control.  

The California Republican Party put ideology over pragmatic politics in spending heavily to defeat Prop. 93, enabling the state’s progressives to come out of the Feb. 5 election stronger than before.  

Despite pre-election polls showing Prop. 93 losing badly, the initiative trailed by only a few points with nearly two-thirds of the vote counted. But the margin held, meaning that California Democrats will finally be able to remove the compromised legislative leadership team of Perata/Nunez that has proven such a gift to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

New Progressive Leadership 

Legislators could be deciding as soon as this week whether to replace these lame-duck leaders now rather than at the end of the year. This is something of a tradition in the Legislature, as it gives new leadership an extra year in power. 

African-American Assembly member Karen Bass from Los Angeles is the leading candidate to replace Nunez as Speaker. Bass has strong support from labor unions and other key Democratic constituencies, and would represent a night and day difference from the wheeling-dealing Nunez. 

One is hard-pressed to recall the last time California had a solidly progressive Assembly speaker who could rally the public behind a clear agenda. Jess Unruh and Willie Brown backed some progressive causes, but both became symbols of backroom deals and big-money special interests that ultimately did not advance the progressive cause. 

At a time when progressives must rally the state to opposed the Governor’s draconian budget plans, Bass’ election as speaker would be ideal. 

Sacramento State Senator Darrell Steinberg has been a staunch affordable housing advocate and, like Bass, would represent a sharp departure from current Senate leader, Don Perata. Steinberg’s public image is as clean as Perata’s is tarnished, and he and Bass could build support among the state’s residents to force the Governor and a handful of Republicans to support the tax increases on the wealthy necessary to stabilize the budget. 

Californians feel disconnected from state government. A major reason is a culture of backroom legislative dealing that ignores the need to organize grassroots support for progressive policies. A legislative leadership team that went out to the cities and towns across the state to sell a progressive agenda would help put the Governor on the defensive as labor unions successfully did in 2005. 

A Boost for No on 98 

Prop. 93’s defeat means heavily contested primaries across California, and increased voter turnout against the anti-rent control Prop 98. Consider the impact in the East Bay alone. 

Had Prop. 93 passed, there would be no contested legislative races in June in Berkeley or Oakland. Now, there will be fierce fights for the Assembly seat to be vacated by Loni Hancock, and the Senate seat finally being vacated by Don Perata. 

While initiative campaigns can boost turnout, voters are more motivated by candidates. 

In the State Senate race, both the Hancock and Wilma Chan campaigns will be sending out slate cards that include No on 98, and their GOTV efforts---including absentee voter campaigns—will increase turnout against the landlord-backed initiative. 

Two of the East Bay Assembly candidates---Kriss Worthington and Nancy Skinner---are also strongly pro-tenant and their voter outreach will help the No on 98 campaign. So rather than have thousands of voters potentially ignoring the projected low-turnout June election, these contested legislative races gives them greater reason to vote. 

This East Bay dynamic of increased No on 98 voter turnout will be replicated in Los Angeles and other rent-control jurisdictions that include contested primaries. And Prop 98’s presence on the ballot means that tenant issues will be more important in distinguishing between candidates than ever before, which could ensure a more pro-tenant legislature in 2009. 

How fortunate that California Republicans were willing to advance the progressive cause by prioritizing term limits over their practical political agenda. 

Randy Shaw is the editor of BeyondChron.org. 

Posted Thurs., Feb. 7—Neighbors say they are relieved: there won’t be a 5,000-square-foot restaurant and bar replacing the old Wright’s Garage at the corner of Ashby and College avenues. 

The Elmwood Neighborhood Association (ENA) agreed to settle their lawsuit against the city, in which they alleged that the permits granted to developer John Gordon for the project violated the California Environmental Quality Act, and that it would bring excessive noise and traffic to the small commercial area. It was settled out of court, with Gordon’s agreement and the City Council’s unanimous approval, in a closed-door session on Monday. 

“Settlements are always a little bit win, win and a little bit lose, lose.”  

said Harry Pollack, an attorney and member of the Berkeley Planning Commission who acted as spokesperson for Gordon. Nonetheless, Pollack added, “It’s a good settlement.”  

The lawsuit was causing delays in getting the project leased, he said. “Holding up the project is not good for the neighborhood,” he said. The settlement did not concede that any CEQA violation had taken place, however. 

Speaking for the ENA, Judith Epstein underscored that the neighborhood is not anti-development. “We wanted to get rid of the most inappropriate parts of the project,” she told the Planet, stating further in an e-mail: “The 5,000-square-foot restaurant, bar, lounge, and banquet facility with extended hours would have been disastrous for our community.”  

In March 2007, the city’s zoning board approved the project. The ENA appealed the ruling, which was heard by the City Council in June. The council mustered only four votes, with five needed to support ENA’s request for a public hearing, a critical step before the council may overturn a zoning board decision. (Voting in favor of holding a public hearing at the time were Councilmembers Linda Maio, Kriss Worthington, Dona Spring, and Max Anderson.) 

After losing the appeal, ENA attorney Amber Vierling filed the lawsuit on behalf of the neighborhood association. 

Based on the California Environmental Quality Act, the complaint names the city as defendant and Gordon as an interested party, and says that because the restaurant-bar would bring traffic and noise to the neighborhood, the developer was required to do an Environmental Impact Report. 

The lawsuit also cited Berkeley’s municipal code, saying that the proposed project violates the purpose of the Elmwood commercial district’s quota system, which is “’To maintain a scale and balance of retail goods and services in the district to compatibly serve the everyday needs of surrounding neighborhoods by: Providing locations for retail goods and service establishments to serve surrounding neighborhoods; preventing development which exceeds the amount and intensity of use that is compatible with adjacent residential neighborhoods; [and] limiting the space occupied by businesses that generate high traffic and/or parking demands….’” 

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, who was advised by the city attorney’ s office to recuse himself from council discussions and from the vote on the project because he had publicly supported the project, told the Planet he thinks it is a “reasonable” settlement. 

“John can go ahead and develop the rest of the project,” he said.  

The settlement agreement specifies that Gordon agrees to relinquish four permits:  

• a use permit to exceed the district’s full-service restaurant quota 

• a use permit for extended hours of restaurant operation; 

• a use permit for a sidewalk café;  

• a use permit to allow alcohol sales and service within a full-service restaurant. 

If Gordon wishes to include a restaurant in the development, he will need to go back to the zoning board and begin the process anew.  

The $40,000 in the plaintiff’s attorney’s fees and $1,670 in costs will be paid jointly by the city and the developer, Pollack said. 

To date, no leases have been signed for space in the project due to the uncertainty that the lawsuit created, Pollack said, noting that up to seven commercial tenants can locate in the development. 

Pollack said Gordon expects leases to be signed within the next two-to-three months. “The project moves on,” Pollack said. 

Posted Tue., Feb. 5—If the Berkeley City Council approves an item on the Feb. 12 council agenda, it will clarify city support for the troops—while continuing to condemn the war—and will rescind the part of the Jan. 29 council item that called the downtown Marine Recruiting Station “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” 

Councilmember Laurie Capitelli is sponsoring the Feb. 12 revision, along with Councilmember Betty Olds.  

Capitelli told the Planet that while he opposes the war, he wants to be clear that the council action does not imply non-support for the troops. 

“My position is that policy makers send those people into harms way,” he said “I want to get them sent home.” 

“We failed to make it clear that while we continue to oppose what we consider an unethical and illegal war in Iraq, at the same time we respect and honor all the brave men and women who are serving or have served in the military,” Capitelli and Olds say in a joint press statement that also states: “We have erred by not adequately differentiating between the war and the warriors.” 

As for telling the marine recruiters they are not welcome, Capitelli said if the recruiters opt to stay, despite the legal demonstrations outside their office, that’s up to them.  

However, Capitelli and Olds say in the press statement: “…the recommendation to inform the Marine Corps recruiting office that they are not welcome in our city, was insulting, hurtful and wrong.”  

“I wish we wouldn’t have Marines anywhere,” Capitelli said. “But they have a legal right to be here.”  

Old agreed. “They do have a right to come,” she said, adding that service personnel should not be condemned: “They have to do what they are told to do.” 

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, who, along with Olds, voted against the entire council item Jan. 29, told the Planet, “Laurie and Betty’s item is a step in the right direction.” 

He said he’d like to see the entire council item rescinded, along with an apology to the Marine Corps. The item has “pretty inflammatory stuff,” he said. “People are letting their opposition to the war interfere with their good judgment.” 

If the Olds-Capitelli council item passes the other two parts of the item will remain intact: asking the city attorney to research whether Berkeley’s anti-discrimination laws apply to the Marine Recruiting Center and supporting “residents and organizations such as Code Pink that may volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office located in the city of Berkeley.”  

Councilmember Dona Spring told the Planet that she agreed, in part with Capitelli and Olds: “We could have been more diplomatic, politely asking them to leave,” Spring said. However, Spring said a clear statement needs to be made: U.S. policy “is the antithesis of life and liberty. We need to take a strong stand against this military regime that provokes violence, murder and torture. We need to reflect Berkeley values.” 

On Jan. 29, Capitelli, Councilmembers Linda Maio, Max Anderson, Dona Spring, Darryl Moore and Mayor Tom Bates voted for the three-part item. Councilmember Kriss Worthington opposed the section that called the Marines “unwelcome intruders” and supported the other two parts of the item. 

In a countdown to today’s Super Tuesday vote, Sen. Edward Kennedy was cheered Friday by thousands of Barack Obama supporters, who had queued up for blocks along Telegraph Avenue and crowded into the pews and aisles of Beebe Memorial Cathedral in Oakland to hear Kennedy speak on behalf of the Democratic presidential candidate. 

Introduced by Rep. Barbara Lee, Kennedy opened the rally, saying: “One year from today, we will be here without George Bush!” 

That was just one of the dozen or more times Kennedy sent the 2,000 or so Obama supporters leaping to their feet, waving Obama signs and chanting “Obama ’08.” 

Calling this “perhaps the most important election of my lifetime,” Edwards called on the crowd to get out the vote to elect “someone who will get us back to the march of progress—someone who is going to inspire this country.”  

Congress is paralyzed over wiretapping and other issues, he said, contending Obama’s leadership would get Congress to address critical needs. 

“We have a lot of challenges to be ready for when we get rid of George Bush, and Barack Obama is going to be ready for them. Are you going to be ready for them?” he asked. 

“We’re going to do what we can to end the war, to stop the explosion of dropouts of children in our schools,” he said, calling for “new leadership around the world.” 

Speaking before Kennedy, Rep. Barbara Lee lauded Obama’s priorities: “ending the occupation in Iraq; universal healthcare; ending poverty,” HIV-Aids civil rights and more, Lee said. 

“There is only one senator in this race who was opposing this war from the start and that is Senator Obama,” Lee said, with a subtle jab at Clinton who has come out more recently against the war. “He is the candidate that is the real agent for change in this race …. I’m inspired about his ability to inspire young people to activists.” 

Lee had skipped the noon rally on the UC Berkeley campus where she was also scheduled to speak for Obama. Instead, Christopher Edley, Jr., dean of Boalt Law School, who had been Obama’s law professor at Harvard, rallied the 250 students that gathered there to listen to the speakers and hip hop artists. 

Clinton intern Kate Lewis was at a table supporting Hillary Clinton nearby the campus rally. “There’s really no one issue that divides Clinton and Obama completely and totally,” Lewis told the Planet. “It comes down to who can make the change happen, who can clean up after the Bush administration. I believe Hillary Clinton has shown she can make that change happen.” 

While Obama surrogates spoke all over California, Hillary Clinton came herself to speak in San Jose and San Francisco on Friday.  

According to Bay City News, Clinton addressed a crowd of about 2,300 people at the Orpheum Theater on Market Street, with her supporters cheering wildly when Clinton called the role of U.S. president “the hardest job in the world ... even harder following [President George] Bush and [Vice President Dick] Cheney.” 

Clinton stressed her experience: “I can make those tough decisions. I can lead from that very first day.” 

If she’s elected U.S. soldiers in Iraq would return home immediately, and their needs, “both visible and invisible,” would be met, Clinton said. 

Sen. Edward Kennedy rallies Barack Obama supporters at the Beebe Memorial Cathedral in Oakland on Friday. Photograph by Judith Scherr.

The World Can’t Wait ratcheted up the protests at the downtown Berkeley Marine Recruiting Center Friday, when three demonstrators dressed in orange jump suits to symbolize the garb worn by prisoners at Guantanamo Bay chained themselves to the recruiting center doors at 64 Shattuck Square.  

Despite assurances by Lt. David Reece that police would be stationed across the street only to keep the demonstrators safe, a large group of police—“a wall of cops in riot formation,” according to Stephanie Tang of the World Can’t Wait—cut the chains and arrested the three demonstrators at around 2:30 p.m.  

“They said they had a request from the Marine Corps to move us,” Tang told the Planet on Monday.  

Lt. Andrew Greenwood confirmed that “they were arrested at the request of a person at the Marine Recruiting Center.”  

The trio was cited with infractions on charges of interfering with or obstructing a business operator. Two were cited and released and a third, with an outstanding traffic warrant, was held for a couple of hours and released, Tang said. 

“They were arrested without incident,” Greenwood told the Planet Monday. 

By 9:30 a.m., Mary Ann, Alex and Lou, all who declined to give their last names, had been chained to the door of the Marine Recruiting office for about two hours. 

Describing their protest as “civil resistance,” Mary Ann told the Planet the recruiting center “represents the immoral acts of this president—the Iraq war, wire tapping, torture, and ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] raids.”  

Two Berkeley police officers came by the gathering that had drawn about 15 people by 9:30 a.m. and told the group that they would station a police officer across the street for the demonstrators’ protection. Lt. David Reece said the city supports the demonstrators, but he wanted assurance that there would be no vandalism at the office. 

That was the last exchange with police before the arrests, Tang said. 

Meanwhile, Fox news, the right wing blogosphere and conservative U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, have been having a field day responding to the city’s support for the protests.  

“This is a slap in the face to all brave service men and women and their families,” DeMint wrote on his congressional website. “The First Amendment gives the city of Berkeley the right to be idiotic, but from now on, they should do it with their own money.” 

DeMint says that he’ll be introducing legislation to cut Berkeley off from federal funds and reroute the money to the Marine Corps. 

At its meeting last week, the council passed two different resolutions. One (approved 8-1) allows demonstrators a weekly four-hour parking spot for six months in front of the Marine recruiting office where they can demonstrate. (Councilmember Gordon Wozniak voted in opposition.) 

A second, tri-part resolution supports the protesters’ acting to “impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office,” and asks city staff to investigate enforcing Berkeley laws “prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation with respect to military recruiting offices in Berkeley.” The military prohibits open homosexuals from joining its ranks. (This passed 7-2, with Wozniak and Councilmember Betty Olds in opposition.) 

The resolution also advised the Marines that their recruiting office “is not welcome in our city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” (This part of the resolution passed 6-3 with Councilmembers Kriss Worthington, Wozniak and Olds in opposition.) 

Virulent responses to the resolution included a letter sent to the City Council by Scott McDaniel of Marietta, Ga., that said: “Regarding the Marine recruiting station in Berkeley … let me tell you, you sniveling pieces of shit, I could just vomit. Preferably in your filthy little Socialist mouths.” 

In an attempt to counter the strident voices, Mayor Tom Bates, a retired Army captain, sent out a press release Friday, saying: “Let me be absolutely clear that this is not about the men and women who are serving our country in our armed forces … However, this community strongly opposes the war in Iraq and the foreign policy of the current administration.” 

The statement goes on to say that the protesters have been exercising their free speech rights. “Pro-war protesters have also attended to exercise their free speech rights,” he wrote. 

The statement continued: “On Jan. 28, the Berkeley City Council took action to waive the permit fee for anti-war protestors one afternoon a week. Any group, whether pro- or anti-war, can obtain such a permit.  

“In addition, the City Council indicated its desire for the Marine recruiting station, as a visible symbol of the war, to be relocated … I hope that our country will end the war in Iraq soon and bring our troops home safely.” 

Pro-war group Move America Forward, calling the city’s actions “treasonous,” is planning to present a petition to the council Feb. 12, supporting Berkeley’s Marine Recruiting Center. The World Can’t Wait is calling for a large anti-war demonstration at the recruiting center on Feb. 15.

Five members of the People’s Park Community Advisory Board resigned last week after falling out with UC Berkeley officials over the university’s reluctance to sponsor an open competition to choose a new design as part of ongoing efforts to remodel the park. 

At a Dec. 3 meeting, advisory board member and architect Sam Davis had suggested the idea of a competition based on the People’s Park Assessment and Planning Study prepared by San Francisco-based consultants MKThink. 

While advisory board members Joe Halperin, George Beier, Kristine Dixon and John Selawsky agreed with Davis that a competition would enhance plans to redevelop the park, others on the board resisted the move, calling it premature. 

The university was scheduled to formally announce its decision about the competition at a board meeting Monday (Feb. 4), after the Daily Planet’s deadline. UC officials informed Davis and Halperin during a private meeting on Jan. 23 that they were against the idea of an open competition. 

“It was clear to us they were not going to proceed with any design, and even more clear that they were not going to proceed with any kind of improvements,” Davis told the Planet Friday. “They told us that they didn’t want to do a competition as the campus might have some use for the land. They said that they would have to do a needs-based assessment first.” 

Davis and Halperin informed Beier, Dixon and Selawsky about the university’s intentions. 

“We decided to only tell the board members who had voted in favor of the competition,” Davis said.  

Then the group of five drafted their resignation letter and sent it to university officials on Jan. 27. 

Halperin and Beier did not return phone calls from the Planet for comment. Selawsky refused to comment on his resignation. 

Irene Hegarty, director of community relations at UC Berkeley, said that Davis’ decision to inform only five of the eleven board members had not violated the Brown Act since the advisory board was not subject to its regulations. 

“You could say it violated the spirit of the Brown Act,” she said. 

Hegarty added that the university had decided to inform Davis and Halperin of their decision prior to a formal board meeting since they were the principal proponents of the competition. 

“I am a little surprised by their resignation,” she said. “Some of them have been particularly engaging and I am sorry to lose them. But it’s their individual decision. They want a sweeping dramatic change overnight which was not possible.” 

Board member Gianna Ranuzzi said she had been surprised to see the resignation letter. 

“I find the letter inappropriate,” she said. “The arguments for not holding a competition have not been presented formally to the board ... But I agree with the university that it’s premature to have a contest for the design of the park. It’s important to work on the social issues first.” 

Ranuzzi said she agreed with Davis’ other suggestion—that of a university-appointed task force—which would provide social services to at-risk individuals frequenting the park. 

The letter blames the university for neglecting its obligations toward the park’s homeless population and for its inability to reduce crime and drug dealing in and around the park. 

Davis, Halperin, Beier, Dixon and Selawsky also refuted the university’s arguments against holding a competition in their resignation letter. 

“When the campus retained MKThink, their charge was to seek input from all the stake holders,” the letter said. “If the UC administration chose not to participate, or did not provide compelling information, it is testament to their lack of interest in real change and that they do not see any urgency for change ...The park has been in existence for 40 years. Why should we have any confidence that they will suddenly have an epiphany of how they want to use the land?” 

Hegarty, who was present at the private meeting, said that the university did not want to encourage the idea of a design competition at this point. 

“We did not think it was appropriate,” she told the Planet. “It has some concepts that haven’t been broadly discussed. Sam was very eager to move forward and wanted the university to aggressively pursue this but leaping to a strategy is not a good idea right now ... We are in a very tight budget year. The university cannot promise to implement what might come out of a competition.” 

According to Hegarty, another reason for rejecting the idea of a competition was the uncertainty about what kind of design the university wanted to see at the park. 

“Before getting into the design, we need to clarify the needs,” she said. 

“Design is a form of research and discovery that need not necessarily yield the definitive final result,” Davis said. 

Park Advisory Board meeting 

A People’s Park Community Advisory Board meeting was scheduled for Monday at the Trinity Methodist Church, 2362 Bancroft Way. 

Emily Marthinsen, UC Berkeley vice chancellor, was scheduled to present a plan to move forward with the People’s Park Assessment and Planning Study. The university was also planning to respond to the board’s Dec. 3 recommendation concerning the design competition and creation of a homeless services task force. 

Hegarty will introduce three new board members: UC Berkeley student Matthew Singh, park neighbor Cary Karacas and park regular Sang Ly, who will take the place of former board members Mike Bishop, Dana Merryday and Caitlin Berliner.

Richmond’s Design Review Board (DRB) voted to approve Chevron’s plans to upgrade its refinery, but before the vote was taken Thursday night, few folks had anything nice to say about the world’s seventh largest corporation. 

The DRB’s approval was hedged with a set of lengthy conditions after members accused the firm of arrogance and indifference to the community. 

“You got greedy,” said Ted J. Smith, the board’s oldest member. “All you’ve done is take out of this community and screw us every time you get the chance.” 

Smith, an African American, chided the company because, he said, none of the Chevron representatives at the meeting “looks like me.” 

Chevron Vice President of Marketing Curt Anderson, a former manager of the Richmond refinery, kept his composure, as did the other members of the oil company’s contingent who appeared before the board. 

“We are very pleased and excited about the project and the benefits that will come from it,” Anderson said. 

But board members and the overwhelming majority who rose to make public comment voiced skepticism and criticism of the oil company, which the next morning would announce record profits of $18.7 billion. 

The DRB meeting was marked by tensions between the board and city staff, with two attorneys and Richard Mitchell, the city’s director of building and development. 

While board members said they were entitled to consider issues of public safety, the repeated advice from staff was to focus solely on design issues. 

Citing a charge to the board by Mayor Gayle McLaughlin to consider public health and safety issues in their deliberations, board member Donald L. Woodrow repeatedly raised his concerns that Chevron hadn’t provided adequate information about seismic hazards. 

Woodrow insisted the company provide extensive mapping of the soils down to bedrock at the refinery site and reports on how soils and the plant would be affected by the impacts of a major earthquake on the Hayward Fault. 

“It will be earthquake-safe,” promised Dean O’Hair, the oil company’s Richmond external affairs director. He said all construction would meet current building and seismic codes. 

Woodrow was less than reassured, and the proposed condition remained when it came time for a vote.  

Chair Bob Avellar said he wanted approval contingent on the company’s grant of access to complete the last unfinished stretch of the Bay Trail in the city. 

During the public comment period earlier in the meeting, Bruce Beyaert, an ardent supporter of the trail and chair of the Trails for Richmond Action Committee, said negotiations with the company had stalled for two years, only to be rekindled as refinery project approval deadlines approached. 

Woodrow said the company should provide the access, co-fund the design costs and pay for operating costs, all of which were included in his motion for approval 

Member Diane Bloom added the proviso that the trail-siting decision would come back to the board for approval. 

Avellar added conditions for approving geodesic domes the company planned to install on new storage tanks included in the project, and called for an increase in the number of trees planted to screen both the tanks and the periphery of the refinery. 

When she suggested the board ask the company to plant trees in other cities and outside Contra Costa County wherever winds carried particulates from the refinery, Smith shook his head, saying “I won’t vote for trees outside Richmond. I’m not looking out for anybody else.” 

Woodward then said the company should also re-examine options for using the site to generate solar and wind power to offset some of the company’s energy needs. 

Comments heated 

Most of the public comments earlier in the meeting were critical of the oil company. While most focused on concerns about pollution, one speaker raised a key financial issue. 

“I’m concerned about the very nice-looking hokum we’ve received,” said Contra Costa County Assessor Gus S. Kramer, speaking from the audience. 

He blasted the company’s expensive color mailing which promised “millions in new revenues for the City of Richmond” from the project. 

He countered the corporate claim by citing the company’s own appeals to have the refinery’s property taxes slashed by two thirds for the prior three tax years. 

“I don’t want you to think that Richmond is going to get this windfall of services,” Kramer said. 

He got no response from company officials. 

Chevron’s appeal to the county’s Assessment Appeals Board was filed in December and seeks tax reductions for 2004-2006 that would result in a rebate of $60 million. 

Against an assessed value of $2.5 billion in 2004, the oil company seeks a reduction to $600 million, with comparable figures of $2.6 billion and $940 million for 2005 and $2.7 billion and $1.4 billion for 2006. 

Chevron’s only supporters were from the business and labor communities, while many nearby residents raised fears of toxic contamination and complaints of strong odors from the plant. 

Henry Clark of the West County Toxics Coalition charged Chevron with perpetrating environmental racism, which he defined as the practice of siting dangerous plants near poor communities of color. 

Anyone who voted in favor of the company would also be guilty, he said. 

Chevron officials said the replacement of two “reformers” designed to raise fuel octane content, along with the refinery’s power plant and its hydrogen production facility and power plant, won’t increase pollution from the facility.  

The changes, they said, will replace outmoded and inefficient facilities with modern, less polluting equipment. 

Chevron VP Anderson said the result will produce no increase in greenhouse gases, and that significant emissions of volatile organic compounds cited in the project’s draft environmental impact report had been “reduced to insignificance.” 

Company officials said concerns raised by audience and board members that the refinery might be used to process Canadian tar sands were unfounded, since the plant could only process lighter forms of crude oil. 

Sherry Padgett, one of the leaders in the drive to clean up polluted sites in southeast Richmond, said she was concerned because she hadn’t heard estimates of how much additional toxic waste might be stockpiled or buried in the community, and said the documentation before the board didn’t address multiple breaches of a contaminated pond near the shoreline. 

Asked about her concerns by Smith moments later, Chevron’s O’Hair dismissed them as “not part of this project” and “not part of Chevron property.” 

Board member Bloom said she was distressed at having to vote on a complex project less than a week after receiving a massive amount of documentation. She said she had perused one massive volume only to discover shortly before the meetings that there were two more volumes on a computer disk affixed to the back of the volume. 

One major concern repeatedly raised by board members was the vagueness of Chevron’s plans and their lack of detail. While some members at first indicated a desire to spend more time looking through the documentation and even floated the idea of outright rejection, they accepted the staff recommendation to add conditions—something they couldn’t do if they voted against the project. 

The design board is slated for abolition, as the result of a contentious City Council vote. 

The next step in the project is a public meeting called by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which will be held starting at 6 p.m. Feb. 13 meeting at the RRC Social Hall, 3230 MacDonald Ave. 

Within city government, the proposal now goes to the Planning Commission, with a likely appeal to the City Council regardless of which way the commissioners come down. 

The first of the 184 trees slated for removal within two weeks on the Gill Tract at Buchanan Street and San Pablo Avenue was felled on Friday. 

The Albany City Council had threatened to get a restraining order if UC Berkeley refused to step back from its plan to cut down the trees. 

But the council is backing off for now. 

According to Albany Mayor Robert Lieber, the city got professional advice from arborists affirming that 184 trees are in fact diseased with pitch canker and must be removed for public safety reasons—if they fell, they would fall beyond the Gill Tract fence into public space. 

And they got advice form a wildlife biologist who said he found no Cooper’s Hawk nests, something that had also concerned the council.  

In fact, the expert encouraged the university to cut the trees down quickly before the birds arrive locally and begin nesting. 

While Lieber said he agreed at this point with the Phase I tree removal, this isn’t the end of Albany’s concerns with respect to the Gill Tract. There is a laboratory in the grove that is set for demolition. “We want it tested,” Lieber said. The concern is that tritium and carbon 14 from the laboratory would contaminate the area. 

Edward Denton, vice chancellor in charge of facilities services, wrote the council in a Jan. 30 memo, saying the “the presence of tritium and carbon 14 … are naturally occurring in the area.”  

Nevertheless, the university is planning to test for both substances before demolition. Test results will be shared with the public, Shaft said. 

Also, there’s a Phase II removal of 133 pines slated for a date yet to be scheduled, trees that Lieber says are “not necessary to remove.” 

UC spokesperson Sarah Yang said, however, that the pines slated for removal in the second phase are also diseased and hazardous. They are less a threat because “if they fall, they hopefully will fall within the fenced area,” she said.  

But they still could injure UC employees working within the property, she said, asserting that these trees will be cut down eventually. 

In the Jan. 30 memo, Denton said the university would give the city two months advance notice of plans to cut down the remaining pines.  

There are other trees on the property that would not be felled. The university plans to plant wildflowers and grasses in the area where trees are being removed. 

Albany councilmembers have said they believe the activity on the Gill Tract is related to a new shopping center the university would like to have built nearby at Monroe Street and San Pablo Avenue, south of the Gill Tract area. Albany councilmembers have numerous concerns about the commercial development and will perform an Environmental Impact Report on the project.  

The university says following its 2004 Albany Village Master Plan, the Gill Tract is to be left as open space or made into a recreation area.  

Trees were cut down Friday at Albany’s Gill Tract on San Pablo Avenue. Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee.

Bill Huyett, Berkeley’s new superintendent of schools, began his first day in the district with the most tedious of tasks: moving in. 

According to other district employees, Huyett—who was superintendent of the Lodi Unified School District before taking over from Berkeley Unified School District superintendent Michele Lawrence Monday—had a steady flow of managers and other district staff dropping into his office all morning even in the midst of all the unpacking. 

“He took a moment to stick his head into the conference room where negotiations with BCCE—one of the district’s five unions—were taking place,” said district public information officer Mark Coplan. “He also had a chance to meet a few of the parents and community members as they passed through the building on business.” 

Huyett did not return calls from the Planet. 

“He’s extremely busy,” Amber Spencer, assistant to the superintendent, told the Planet Monday afternoon. “I think it is going very well because I have heard laughter coming from his office all day.” 

In an earlier interview with the paper, Huyett had vowed to fight Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to slash K-12 funding by $400 million this year and $4.4 billion in 2008-09. 

“But I won’t let that take away time from other things, such as visiting the students in their classrooms,” he said. 

Huyett also faces major challenges: closing the student achievement gap, the controversy over relocating the warm water pool from the Berkeley High School Old Gym and increasing classroom space for high school students. 

Although the Lodi Unified School District is three times the size of Berkeley, it is predominantly rural. The district was created in 1967 when voters approved a measure to merge 18 elementary districts and a union high school district serving the cities of Stockton and Lodi. 

Michele Lawrence, who retired Friday as Berkeley’s superintendent, spent a good part of her last week at the annual Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Superintendent’s Conference in Monterey.  

In the tradition of all retiring superintendents, she was recognized for her service to California public schools at the conference.  

ACSA also named Lawrence Superintendent of the Year for Region VI, which represents 1,300 school administrators in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. 

Berkeley’s Housing Advisory Commission (HAC) meets Thursday night to weigh in on three critical housing issues now before the Planning Commission. 

At issue are proposed density bonus and inclusionary housing ordinances which govern low-income housing and the city’s condominium conversion ordinance. 

The inclusionary and density bonus ordinances deal with requirements for low-income housing in new multi-unit projects and the additional size granted to developers in return for building new low-income housing. 

The condo conversion ordinance spells out requirements for transforming former rental housing into ownership units. 

Former HAC chair Jesse Arreguin said members are taking up the density bonus and inclusionary issues a year after making their recommendations. 

The controversial topics were first raised for reconsideration by the Zoning Adjustments Board, which created a subcommittee to consider the laws and policies that allow developers to exceed height and building mass regulations in exchange for providing lower-cost housing. 

At the City Council’s direction, the panel was expanded to include members from HAC and the Planning Commission. 

Planning commissioners have discussed the recommendations, but not in depth. 

Arreguin said he hopes that the Planning Commission will take up the measures soon. 

ZAB members initially raised the issue after confronting several building projects deemed out of scale with their sites. But city staff said the state density bonus law and city inclusionary policies mandated approval of the larger projects. 

The board then decided to create a subcommittee to understand the policies and how they related to their decisions in approving use permits for developments. 

The expanded building sizes are justified under city policy as a means of making developers responsible for the costs of applying below-market-rate housing. 

One factor leading to creation of the committee was the declaration by city planning staff that developers of the yet-to-be-built Berkeley Arpeggio (former Seagate Building) on Center Street would be eligible for 14 stories because of the costs of building inclusionary units in their condo project. 

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Neighbors of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center are once again on the war path, this time over an e-mail which they said tipped off hospital employees about an annual traffic monitoring survey held last week. 

Alta Bates—which is required under a city zoning permit to do a parking and traffic survey every January—exceeded neighborhood parking regulations for the previous three years. 

The city’s Zoning Adjustments Board is re-examining the use permit, which was required since the hospital exceeded parking limitations for the third year. The board is scheduled to review the survey results in April. 

In her e-mail, Debbie Pitts-Cameron, the hospital’s manager of public affairs, informed the hospital’s Ashby campus staff that transportation consultants Fehr and Peers would be conducting an annual traffic monitoring survey over a two-week period. 

“Fehr and Peers’ staff members will be stationed at the front door, ED [Emergency Department] door and other locations throughout the medical center and surrounding neighborhood during these few weeks,” the e-mail stated. “They will be conducting surveys of patients and visitors. Please be sure your badge is visible so that you will not be asked to take the survey. You should have received an employee survey at home.” 

Neighbors complained that the message alerted employees about the monitoring survey, subtly reminding them not to park in the neighborhood during that period. 

“Whether the e-mail was deliberate or not, it put employees on notice and consequently they parked elsewhere,” said Peter Shelton, a neighbor. “In fact several neighbors, including myself, noticed a marked decrease in employee parking in the Bateman area for the last ten or fifteen days. Most of the usual suspects, the employees we recognize and whose cars we are familiar with, have been missing. I am sure they will return next week, like they did last year.” 

Last January, neighbors denounced what they said was an effort by the hospital to influence the results of the parking and traffic survey by reducing the number of employees parking in the neighborhood on the days of the survey.  

The hospital spent $70,000 to conduct another survey. 

City officials told the Planet that both surveys had yielded similar results. 

According to Pitts-Cameron, the message was a repetition of what has been sent out to employees since the hospital began its monitoring efforts in 1997. 

“It is important to notify employees as to why they are being stopped to be surveyed,” she said in an e-mail to some neighbors and city officials. “Each year I get calls from many employees, patients and visitors who feel harassed by this process. This is not new and if it skews the results this year, then it has skewed the results every year since we began the process ten years ago.” 

She added that the decrease in the number of cars parked in the neighborhood could mean that valet parking—one of the measures introduced to address the parking violations—was working. 

“If neighbors choose not to trust the process or the medical center then so be it,” the e-mail said. “We will not redo the study as this is exactly what I send out every year!” 

Bill Cain, another neighbor, called Pitts-Cameron’s response arrogant and unacceptable. 

“There should be punitive measures taken this time against Alta Bates for messing with the results,” he said. “The fact that the hospital has exceeded numbers repeatedly in prior years should be enough for substantial, neighborhood-agreeable modifications in their parking program.” 

Both Cain and Shelton stressed the need for repeating the parking survey at a later time, and without prior knowledge of the employees. 

“It is a violation of trust, fair play and common sense,” said Shelton, adding that the neighborhood would vigorously challenge the results. 

Wendy Cosin, the city’s deputy planning director, said that the e-mail had informed hospital employees about the traffic monitoring survey and not the parking survey. 

“I don’t know if that will skew the results,” she said. 

Cosin said she was talking to the Berkeley Police Department about enforcing the two-hour parking limitation on hospital employees who park in the neighborhood. 

According to residents, hospital staff go to great lengths every day to move their cars every two hours to avoid tickets. 

“I have seen guys wearing scrubs covered with blood come out from the hospital just to move their car from the front of my house,” Shelton said. “Some of them even rub off the chalk marks that parking enforcement officers put on the tires of cars illegally parked in the neighborhood. The city simply needs to figure out a way to enforce the two-hour limit.”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposals to fix a projected $14 billion state budget deficit could cost Alameda County as much as a half a million dollars in borrowing costs alone and millions of dollars more in federal matching money, according to a veteran county supervisor. 

Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson spoke in a telephone interview this week as county officials moved through a series of state and local meetings to respond to the economic downturn and the state and local budget crises.  

In addition to proposing 10 percent across the board budget cuts in his 2008-09 budget, Schwarzenegger has declared a fiscal emergency in the state and has called on the legislature to meet in special session to meet the crisis.  

The governor has also proposed a one- to five-month delay of state payments to local jurisdictions in order to balance the state budget, a tactic that would hold up $55 million in payments to Alameda County alone in the areas of health, social services, and public works. 

“The delays would be for services which have already been provided,” Carson said. “We have to come up with the money to pay for those services while we would be waiting for the state payments to be received.” 

Carson said that even if the $55 million state payments were eventually paid, the estimated $500,000 needed to be spent on borrowing fees to bonding and financial institutions would not, and would have to be absorbed by the already-stretched county budget. 

Carson said he personally raised these issues with Schwarzenegger during a meeting with the governor last week. 

“The governor probably thought that local governments had a cushion in their general funds to absorb the delays, but I told him that it doesn’t exist for Alameda County,” Carson said.  

The supervisor said that since the early 1990s, when the state began withholding local payments in order to balance its own budget, Alameda County has lost an estimated $3 billion in operating revenue owed to it by the state.  

“We haven’t recovered from those losses,” Carson said. “There’s no rainy day fund. We’re not flush with cash.” 

Carson said the county is already suffering from a backlog in social service cases, longer waits for medical services, and deferments to road improvements in unincorporated areas that would be exacerbated by the state fund withholding.  

Close to half of Alameda County’s $2.3 billion annual budget comes from federal, state, and local financing. Of that, 28 percent goes to public assistance, 22 percent to health care, and 23 percent to public protection. 

Advocates of single payer health insurance in California are saying that the collapse of the Nuñez-Perata-Schwarzenegger health care bill is a good thing and are moving forward with reviving their own single-payer legislation. 

“We were opposed to the Nuñez bill,” Vote Health representative Kay Eisenhower said by telephone this week. “We considered it a step backwards.” 

Vote Health is an Alameda County-based health care activist organization. 

Eisenhower said statewide single-payer health care advocates will be holding a two-day conference in Los Angeles later this month to talk about ways to put State Senator Sheila Kuehl’s (D-Santa Monica-Los Angeles) SB 840 single-payer health care bill back on track. “SB 840’s not dead,” she said. “It’s only on ice.” 

Two years ago, it seemed dead. After SB 840 passed the state legislature in 2006, Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed it. 

Kuehl revived her single payer bill a year later, and the bill passed the Senate on a 23-15 vote and the Assembly Health Committee on a 12-5 vote last summer, but it stalled in the Assembly Appropriations Committee as attention in the Assembly turned to a compromise bill being put together by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez. 

The bill’s summary says it “would establish the California Universal Healthcare System (CUHS) under which all California residents would be eligible for specified health care benefits. The CUHS would, on a single-payer basis, negotiate for or set fees for health care services provided through the system, and pay claims for those services.” 

The year 2007 began with promises from many legislative sources to expand health care coverage in California, with State Senate President Don Perata (D-Oakland), Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles), Gov. Schwarzenegger, and State Senate Republicans all putting up individual bills or proposals. Eventually, Perata and Nuñez consolidated their two bills into one, ABX1 1, which won Schwarzenegger’s backing. 

In contrast to Kuehl’s single-payer system, which would set up a state agency through which all insurance premiums and claims payments would be funneled, ABX1 1 would have required that all California residents “enroll in and maintain at least minimum creditable health care coverage … for themselves and their dependents,” but would continue to allow independent insurance companies to manage the actual coverage itself. 

ABX1 1 passed the Assembly 46-31 late last year, but after the economic downturn led to proposed steep cuts in the state budget, Perata withdrew his support, and the Senate Health Committee, which Kuehl chairs, voted 1-7 to hold the bill in committee, refusing to send it to the full Senate. 

Despite Perata’s abrupt about-face and ABX1 1’s defeat in committee, Schwarzenegger said he was not giving up on health care reform in California, telling the Sacramento Bee late last month that “just because the Senate has missed this golden opportunity to pass our health care reform doesn’t mean that we should walk away from reforming our broken health care system.” 

Eisenhower said among the biggest objections to ABX1 1 were the bill’s consumer mandates. 

In a statement entitled “Pledge to Continue Work for True Healthcare Reform” posted on her website shortly after the Senate Health Committee vote, Kuehl wrote: “As Senators [Leland] Yee [D-San Francisco] and [Elaine] Alquist [D-San Jose] indicated in their statements, explaining why they could not now vote for this bill, the bill as it is currently written does nothing to protect working class and middle class people from being burdened, to the point of breaking, by the individual mandate that requires each Californian to buy health insurance without adequate protection against unaffordable premiums and escalating out-of-pocket expenses. Furthermore, as Senator [Darrell] Steinberg [D-Sacramento] reminded us, we must conclude, especially after seeing the report from the legislative analyst, that this bill’s proposed revenues and expenses do not balance out and will leave the state exposed to increasing deficit costs as well.” 

And the California Nurses Association (CNA) put up a fact sheet on its website which read that the Nuñez bill “had serious failings on access, quality, and cost that were especially dangerous for working people,” among them that “employers would have had strong incentives to drop or sharply reduce union-negotiated benefits,” the bill “forced individuals to purchase insurance policies without knowing the real cost or what coverage they would have received,” and the bill provided “no restrictions on increases in premiums, co-pays, or deductibles.” 

The single-payer health care campaign in California is being coordinated through the One Care Now Organization (www.onecarenow.org), a coalition of California unions and health care advocate groups. 

Sorting out the controversy over the Marine recruiting station will be a long and tedious job, but bear with us, please. 

First, free speech.  

There’s the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee: “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Subsequently that language has been interpreted to cover government in general, right down to the Berkeley City Council, and similar guarantees have been added to state constitutions, including California’s. Courts have held that it’s OK to set rules regarding the time, place and manner that the right of free speech can be exercised, but the content of speech can’t be regulated.  

Technically, the Berkeley City Council hasn’t done anything to violate these First Amendment guarantees as regards the federal government, the Marine Corps or the individuals who are representing them in the office they’ve rented in downtown Berkeley. The Marines are still there, they’re still saying whatever they please. But what about those who disagree with them? 

Those who piously invoke the tradition of Berkeley’s Free Speech movement on behalf of the Marines have a point, sort of. We’d like to ask the Berkeley City Council and its critics to repeat after us, one more time: “The best remedy for speech you disagree with is more speech.”  

Or, in the more eloquent words of Justice Brandeis: “If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.” (Whitney v. California 271 U.S. 357 [1927]) 

Simply stated, even if you think the Marine recruiters are wrong, dead wrong, they should be allowed to speak, but you should be able to speak up to correct them. And it’s quite appropriate for any government agency, even the Berkeley City Council, to make sure that there is a suitable time, place and manner for dissenters to petition the U.S. government as represented here in Berkeley by the Marine recruiters. 

The paper formerly known as SF’s Major Metropolitan Daily (hereafter the ex-MMD) indulged in a self-righteous editorial on the topic on Wednesday: “While playing up arguments of free speech and organized protest, the council has loaded the deck with insulting language that denigrates the military and embarrasses the anti-war cause. The motion approved by the council includes a number of remarkable statements: ‘The United States has a history of launching illegal, immoral and unprovoked wars of aggression’ and ‘The military recruiters are sales people known to lie to and seduce minors.’ ” 

Well, those two statements might or might not be prudent, but they’re certainly true. Examples for the first one: the Spanish-American War, the Vietnam War, and yes, increasingly obviously, the war in Iraq.  

And I myself can testify to the second one, since I personally snatched a young man, the grandson of a dead friend, away from a dishonest U.S. Army recruiter who’d set up shop in Eastmont Mall. The recruiter clearly lied, consistently and boldly, to the boy, his mother and to me about the “contract” he claimed the kid had signed, and only backed down when I caught him at it, said I was an attorney and threatened legal action.  

If anyone, including the editorial writer, needs more information about what happens to Marine recruits, they should check out the long investigative article by Kathy Dobie in the Feb. 18 issue of The Nation: “Denial in the Corps: A stressed-out Marine Corps sends its troops on repeated tours in Iraq—and then tosses them out when they come back traumatized.” Or they should listen to the many pieces on National Public Radio by Danny Zwerdling and Ari Schapiro about how badly this country treats veterans. Recruiters don’t usually tell their targets about what will happen to them after they serve.  

So let’s not have any pious platitudes about not denigrating the military recruiters. Members of the armed forces are often courageous and self-sacrificing in battle, true, but recruiters often lie. And the Berkeley City Council doesn’t need to be embarrassed about telling it like it is.  

But back to free speech: the idea of zoning the recruiting office out to the edge of town, proposed but not adopted by the council, is a bad one. It does violate basic concepts of free speech, if not the letter of constitutional law. The recruiter who went after my young friend was almost able to get away with it because his office was in a place where kids hang out but adults seldom go. Right in the middle of downtown Berkeley is the ideal place for recruiters to exercise their free speech rights, because that’s where there are people around to keep an eye on what they’re saying. It’s the ideal place for those who criticize military propaganda to set up shop to deliver some counter-speech when needed. 

Some councilmembers are furiously backpedaling at this point, away from what does seem to be a public relations disaster. From a PR perspective, the episode is this week’s candidate for the Planet’s “What Were They Thinking” award. Betty Olds and Laurie Capitelli have attached their names to what’s known in the trade as a repealer: “what we really should have said is...”. Olds, Gordon Wozniak and Kriss Worthington took exquisite care not to vote for the—shall we say—ungracious language in the first place, not that most of the press noticed.  

No one else on the council seems to have been paying attention in Sunday School when the maxim “hate the sin, love the sinner” was discussed. There’s no doubt that each and every councilmember believes that the current war in Iraq is a major mistake, but also that all of them without exception want only the best for those stuck with fighting there. It just didn’t come across that way in the media. This is partly the media’s fault, of course, since the ex-MMD and its would-be rivals are always eager to construct the boilerplate Berzerkely story from any raw material, so much easier than accurate reporting of who said what.  

(The ex-MMD in its confused editorial even got one of the councilmembers’ names wrong in print, though corrected on the Internet. Betty Olds was mistaken for Sharon Olds, no relation, an excellent poet who happens to come from the Berkeley area. We might need more poets on the council, but Sharon Olds moved away years ago.)  

But Wozniak, who voted no on everything, doesn’t seem to get the free speech idea. He said in a letter to his District 8 constituents: “I opposed the second [resolution] because, I felt that the Council favored the antiwar group by giving it a free parking space and sound permit to facilitate their protesting directly in front of the Marine recruiting center. Code Pink has the right to protest, but not directly in front of the Marine center, where visitors can be intimidated.” 

No, no, no. If it’s going to work, free speech needs a level playing field. If the federal government rents an expensive downtown office for its recruiting effort, the least the local government can do is make sure that those who want to petition the feds to stop recruiting for an unjust war have equal time right out there in front. 

But that doesn’t necessarily mean free parking for Code Pink, a gesture which has been widely misinterpreted and caricatured. A much better solution would be to set up some kind of Hyde-Park-like Speakers’ Corner where all opinions can be heard, very close to the office which is being protested. It’s possible that the special parking space was intended to supply this need, but it shouldn’t be reserved for a single organization whose tactics might be too dramatic even for some who agree with them. Just allowing a card-table on the sidewalk to be staffed on a rotating basis during business hours by members of Berkeley’s many indigenous anti-war organizations would do the job without feeding the negative publicity apparatus which is ever eager to jump on Berkeley. 

—Becky O’Malley

Thanks to my advanced age, it’s very rare that I have to talk to or even see another human before 8 a.m. anymore (except of course my husband.) Which is how I like it. I’m awake early, but definitely not conversational. So I was very surprised to find myself at Peet’s on Domingo at about 7 on Monday morning, fully clothed and relatively alert. I was even wearing Norine’s scarf, a flamboyantly-flowered number which I inherited from my flamboyantly-redhaired friend Norine Smith, who never hesitated to leap into any political controversy whenever she felt that God was on her side, which was pretty much always. I wear it when I feel the spirit moving me to take action, which sadly is not too often these days. 

The action in question, which started, thank goodness, at 7:30 after coffee, was sign-waving on the corner of Ashby and Claremont. The signs were Obama signs (I think Norine would have approved, though you were never sure), but unless you’re reading this on Tuesday morning and you haven’t voted, that shouldn’t make much difference.  

As far as I can remember, the last time I was out on the street with a sign was in 2003, right before the Bushies and their Democratic dupes launched the invasion of Iraq. Fat lot of good that enormous protest did. I also went to Washington, in freezing sleet, to protest Dubya’s first inauguration, an even more pointless exercise.  

This was a very different scene. My fellow wavers seemed to be earnestly attractive suburban ladies in the main, not from the immediate neighborhood. There were a couple of old folks like us, too. One of them, a man wearing a baseball cap, asked if he should get his American flag out of the car. I could see a couple of double takes, flag-waving having been out of style for at least 40 years now, but no one wanted to say no. “The flag attracts a lot of attention,” he said, and he’s right. Myself, I’ve always lobbied for taking back the flag from the rabid right, but it takes some nerve to actually do it.  

As per local custom, many passing cars honked and many drivers waved. Continuing my ongoing personal poll, I noticed the remarkable diversity of the enthusiasts: every single driver of serious work trucks (half of them Latino), SUV drivers from through-the-tunnel, women driving to work alone, multi-racial and two-or-more-gender car pools headed for UC, twenty-somethings talking on cell phones with one hand while waving with the other (we stepped back from the curb until they passed.) 

One older woman in a Volvo station wagon rolled down her window and shouted “Hillary, Hillary, Hillary...we need a woman in the White House.” That was a congenial exchange too, all parties smiling as they disagreed. It’s just possible that Norine, a dedicated feminist, would have stuck with Senator Clinton. 

In the end, in this election, it’s not going to matter much whom you supported in the primary. Kucinich and Edwards did heroic duty trying to remind the Democratic party of its historic ideals, and succeeded in that task beyond anyone’s wildest expectations as recently as two years ago. At this point, it’s not if we should get national health insurance or withdraw from Iraq, but simply when, a huge change in public opinion, and attibutable in part to those two campaigns.  

The time has come now for chronic fence-sitters to jump down and into the fray. Last weekend a friend hemmed and hawed, saying he might have to vote for Mike Gravel in Tuesday’s primary. Another one said he’d be tempted to vote for Edwards even though he’d withdrawn from the race. Come on, you guys, get with the program.  

A whole generation, one a half-step younger than mine, has made a career of holding back on commitment. Many of them have even been afraid to get married, even to people they’ve been living with for 10 or 20 years. And look where it’s gotten us. 

There was a mid-’60s refrain: “Did you ever have to finally decide?” which mirrored the ambivalence shared by many in that era toward engagement. Like Kucinich and Edwards now, Gene McCarthy and Bobby Kennedy by 1967 summoned the courage to question the unquestionable, though the president they challenged was like them a Democrat. Even though the immediate result was the election of Richard Nixon, the ultimate result was the end of the Vietnam War, even if a Republican had to do it.  

This time, regardless of who the eventual Democratic nominee is, everyone is going to have to fall to and make it happen in November. Whatever you might think about the inadequacies of the Democratic Party (and I’m with you on that), there’s not a candidate in the race who would be as bad as Bush, or even as McCain or (god forbid) Romney. That being the case, you’d be well advised to practice decision-making today (Tuesday) by choosing one of the two front-runners and casting your vote even in the primary.  

One more time, in case you didn’t get the memo. Unless you’re registered in another party, you can vote in the Democratic primary. Just go boldly into your polling place and ask for the Democratic ballot.  

Of course, if you’re still registered in the Green or Peace and Freedom parties, you’re out of the game for this round. Berkeley has more than its share of the slow-to-get-it folks whom life has passed by, people who are still living in the same rent-controlled apartment they moved into in college 30 years ago. Many of them will be tempted to self-righteously opt out of the political process one more time in November, to vote for grouchy old Ralph Nader if he decides to take one more ego trip on our watch.  

Give it up, folks. No matter what party you honor with your registration, you can vote for an actual candidate in November. Take a deep breath, hold your nose, and leap into the water. Your kids are doing it, and you can too. 

My old radical friend Michael Rossman, whom I’ve known since long before he was a leader of the Free Speech Movement, sent me this e-mail: 

“My son Jaime has asked me to forward this to you, which I do with glad pride, remembrance and hope:  

Dear Friends and Family; 

For the first time in my life, I am planning on voting for a Democratic candidate for President, Barack Obama. Choosing to do so marks somewhat of a departure from my political allegiance, since Obama’s voting record is less than ideal and his policies are sometimes less than progressive. But Obama offers something far more important to his potential success as our chief executive: a vision of governance based on hope and idealism, and a growing movement of traditionally marginalized people gaining inspiration from his leadership. 

Policies are not made by individuals. They are made by movements, and movements are made by inspired people. The real question we should each be asking during elections is this: Who will inspire me to pursue my own vision of the future? 

Aside from the catastrophic failures in vision, planning and practice which have dominated our government during my life, government has failed to inspire. The rampant myopia and crony-ism has hurt us most by coercing us into inaction, leaving access to government solely to those motivated by profit or revenge. It saddens me to say that Obama has not proven he would exclude these voices (as Edwards and Kucinich would claim to), but I have faith in this; he will listen to our voices as well. 

So in closing, I leave it to you to learn more about Obama’s policies, just as I will be doing now that I’ve joined his campaign. But I also ask you to think about the world you want to see, to imagine the next five, ten, twenty years of American politics, and to ask yourself whether that vision can start with Obama being elected. If that idea excites you, the time to act is now. In ... days, this race will be over, at least as far as most of us are concerned. If you decide to vote for Obama, here’s all I’m asking you to do; tell two people you wouldn’t normally have told. 

Much love,  

Jaime 

For California, it’s almost over now. If Jaime’s candidate doesn’t make it here, he still has a chance in other states. But I hope (and suspect) that whether it’s Clinton or Obama in November, young people like Jaime, who comes from a distinguished line of questioners and dissenters, will continue on the path of being active participants, not just spectators, in the political process. And whether he gets the nomination or not, Barack Obama should get a large share of the credit for that. 

Super: Excellent, outstanding, great,  

terrific… 

Superfluos: Unnecessary, more than what is needed, redundant, inessential… 

OK, we have just been exposed to two superfluous super days within two days of one another. The Super Bowl was an enormously expensive waste of time, which solved nothing and proved nothing in a lasting way. Millions of people were guilted into pretending that the outcome of the game meant something while watching advertisements, which cost more that most cities’ annual budgets. Football players from all over the country, claiming some fealty to a couple of general areas of the country, are playing for two teams ostensibly from New England and New York, so that overweight men with painted, distorted faces could pay exorbitant amounts to sit in the stands like Neo-Romans with distorted faces shouting “Number One” pointing their fingers up instead of their thumbs down. These so-called fans wear jerseys of their favorite player, who wouldn’t give them the time of day if they were to meet on the street, and cheer on “their” team. These beer addled sycophants do this as if they had something to do with the false glory and fleeting success of these gross business playthings owned by a very few privileged white men. Remember, “Give them Circuses and Bread”? Wait until next year, all the other misled camp followers chant, as the circuses and bread are being prepared for next season. 

The other superfluous exhibition was Super Tuesday. This embarrassing display of wealth in place of intelligence brought us millions of dollars spent on each candidate’s profiling and hours of TV coverage tracking the meaningless statistics ending up with a virtual tie and no real decision. In keeping with the wasteful spending on the Stupid Bowl, each candidate is also spent more than many cities’ budgets to end up right where they were before Super Tuesday. All the grim-faced, pseudo-serious, talking heads couldn’t inject any excitement, interest or new information in the plodding, child-like wrangling which passes for Democratic or Republican campaigning. While schools are continuously under funded, Bush squanders billions on an undeclared, un-winnable war and all the sitting senator candidates ignore this glaring failure of government. Instead, the top three candidates trade pity-pat punches about their spouses, gender and race in hopes of winning the 50 percent of the consistently ignorant voter pool who do make the effort to be part of Super Tuesday. At the end of Tuesday night nothing was settled nationally except for the terminally head-in-ass Republicans and their McCain daisy chain. In California, a measure to finally fund community colleges as they should be was defeated, while three measures to allow more Indian gambling passed, providing revenue for four of the 120 tribes in California.  

At the end of these two super days, the American public has demonstrated our ignorance, fear of change and inability to comprehend the problems at hand. All of our politicians have failed us. They hoped that we wouldn’t notice because of the hype surrounding the circus of the Super Bowl. Bush’s solution to the awful economic conditions he has created is to borrow money and give it to the citizens in hopes that they won’t notice that this is a bad loan, which will have to be paid off by my generation’s children. This is also just another “circuses and bread” trick to divert attention from the wars in which this mental midget has involved us. It worked too, as the economy became the number one topic for the pundits to scream at us all last week. 

This is a nation, which proclaims that democracy should be pressed on the world, yet we are presenting a very weak example. We even ran out of ballots! Yes, we haven’t killed anyone at the polling places as in some countries, but this display of weak-willed representatives, myopic ignorant president and lazy, gullible voters is appalling. True, our system is still way ahead of what ever is in second place; see the political flavor of the week in Italy and the arcane British system. The last eight years has been so destructive to America’s status in the world that impeachment is too good for the barbaric criminals who are sill in the White House. The fact that anyone is voting for any Republican is dangerous, short sighted and insulting. 

By the way, there was a Super Bowl in each of the last 30-plus years; I’m sure that you feel the economic boost, the respect of worldwide sports enthusiasts and respect for producing such a meaningful pageant. The only advantage to come of this worthless sports event is that there were less traffic accidents due to the almost empty streets. 

My suggestion is to have both the Super Bowl and Super Tuesday on the same day and you only get to watch the game if you can prove that you have voted (voting booths at the stadium and cable black out for those who haven’t cast their ballots). This would mean millions more voters for those who think that Americans are lazy as voters (a 30 percent-40 percent turnout is considered good). Of course, tying the two events together will mean that we will have quarterbacks and running backs (ring leaders in the circus) for our government and be eating hot dogs (bread) for the rest of our lives. 

Thomas L Turman is a Berkeley resident.

My recently published book on presidential primaries started as an independent study project out of the political science department at San Francisco State University in 2003. My advisor on the project, Professor Rich DeLeon, was (and is) an advocate for ranked balloting. “This suggestion is perhaps a bit too far over the horizon of political reality, but I’d like to see a rider attached to your proposed reform requiring all primary victors to win a majority of the vote, either by runoff if necessary or, optimally by some kind of ranked-ballot method, which would also yield terrific in-depth info about a candidate’s strengths in terms of second-place votes received, third-place votes, etc.” 

I didn’t immediately see an application for ranked voting in presidential primaries. “If a candidate wins a plurality of 27 percent, shouldn’t he or she get what’s coming... 27 percent of the delegates? Instant runoff voting does not apply to presidential primaries, because there nothing to instantly run off, no office to immediately be filled; rather it is a competition for state delegates to a national convention. The functional equivalent of a runoff, if necessary, occurs at the national level at the national party convention through successive balloting. If delegates are awarded on a proportional basis, this is functionally equivalent to proportional representation.” 

Experience is another teacher. On Jan. 30, 2008, I marked my ballot for California’s Feb. 5 presidential primary and mailed it. There were eight candidates listed for the Democratic nomination, but most of them had already dropped out of the race. That was bad in itself, of course, but it had been easy to predict that the real choices would have dwindled to two or three by Super Tuesday. My proposed reform of the presidential primary system is meant to redress that problem, allow more candidates to stay in the race longer, and give more voters more choices. I considered the remaining field of candidates and chose John Edwards. 

About an hour later, I learned the Edwards had dropped out of the race, leaving only Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. 

Although it has so many other things going for it, that’s a down side of voting by mail, but it doesn’t have to be that way. At that point I saw that if I have been able to rank several choices for president, my vote wouldn’t have been wasted. Since my first choice was out of the race, my ballot could have defaulted to my second choice, and if that candidate also dropped out before the election, my ballot could have defaulted to my third choice. It would be a bit more work, but I could vote my conscience and be quite confident that my vote would count. 

Another application of ranked voting came to light in a recent conversation with Steve Chessin, president of Californians for Electoral Reform: suppose a presidential candidate’s percentage of the vote is below the threshold required to be awarded delegates to the national convention? That candidate’s supporters are disenfranchised. For example, if John Edwards had stayed in the race, but he had failed to capture 15 percent of the vote, according to the California Democratic Party’s rules, he wouldn’t have been awarded any delegates. 

That’s democracy? 

On the other hand, if voters could rank candidates, their votes would never be wasted. If the first choice didn’t reach the fifteen-percent threshold, a voter’s ballot could be counted toward the second choice, and so on, until the ballot counted toward the awarding of delegates to some candidate. The threshold requirement makes sense to the party, which is interested in determining the presidential nominee with a minimum of internecine strife. But what about those voters whose candidates—and there might be several such candidates in a race—don’t meet the threshold? Ranked voting offers a mechanism that should satisfy the interests of the party and the voters. 

The California Democratic Party platform states that the party will “encourage, where feasible, instant run-off elections.” This should be taken to include ranked voting in its own primary elections. Job One is election integrity: ensuring that every vote is counted as marked. As we work toward that goal, we should also be thinking about the next step—election fidelity—to ensure that every vote counts toward some non-zero outcome. 

Thomas Gangale is the author of From the Primaries to the Polls: How to Repair America’s Broken Presidential Nomination Process, published by Praeger. 

In 2000 Berkeley voters approved a $116.5 million bond to finance the continuation of the schools rebuilding program which had commenced in the early 1990s. Of the projects for which this bond was intended, adding classrooms at Berkeley High was the most urgent and the most expensive. After the election, Superintendent “Great Builder” Jack McLaughlin left the district. The new superintendent’s attention was aimed at budget issues judged more urgent than the commencement of new building projects. While the new superintendent was so consumed, things shifted. The perception of overcrowding at the high school was erased by a significant drop in the high school’s population and by the completion of the new building. Everyone agreed that the high school needed time to adjust to the great changes in its campus. The public lost interest in the overcrowding issue. The district, in turn, launched a master planning exercise—the latest of countless since the 1930s—to decide exactly how to resolve the south of Bancroft portion of the campus. Subsequent construction at the high school was hitched to a slow but accountable decision process. 

Fast-forward to the present. The dollars originally allocated to the BHS classrooms have been preserved. But the world and the campus have changed. Construction inflation has reduced the potency of the dollars. The Berkeley High master plan has proposed a succession of projects to resolve the southern half of the campus. The execution of the master plan is currently on hold due to preservationists’ concerns regarding the fate of the “old gym” building and by community concern about the fate of the warm pool. The “old gym” occupies the only location where the new classrooms could be built. The “old gym,” comparable in age and in construction quality to King Junior High, would be prodigiously expensive to modernize, as was King Junior High. The renewal of concern about the inventory of classrooms at Berkeley High is very recent relative to the tectonic movement of the school building program. 

The funds preserved since 2000 for added classrooms will not be sufficient to realize the entire Berkeley High master plan. But this school district is rich in citizen creativity. 

The School Board, the Facilities Department and the Citizen’s Construction Advisory Committee (CCAC) have faithfully minded all this since the 1990s. The budgets, the projects and the priorities are reviewed every month. School construction has been a lower priority for the current (outgoing) administration than for the prior. But it has been a lower priority in the public’s consciousness as well. For those interested in how the figures currently stand, we’ll post (by the time this letter appears) some recent figures on the hand-made web page of the CCAC at www.busduse.org/ccac. 

Bruce Wicinas is chair of the Citizens’ Construction Advisory Committee of Berkeley Unified School District.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Letters regarding the City Council’s ruling on the Marine Recruitment Center are on Page Fifteen. 

HOORAY FOR  

ANDRONICO’S 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing to commend Andronico’s CEO Bill Andronico for his leadership and courage in dropping tobacco sales from his eight Bay Area markets on Feb. 4 despite the potential loss of revenue stemming from this decision. Personally, I am planning to increase my patronage of Andronico’s and encourage others to do likewise. I hope other grocery stores will follow Andronico’s lead, telling the tobacco industry “no thanks” to offering shelf space for their addictive and dangerous product. For smokers who might object, I encourage them to get help to quit from the American Cancer Society at 1.800.ACS.2345. Andronico’s philosophy of healthy and organic foods, sustainable products, and environmentalism is clearly inconsistent with a sales of a cancer-causing product. I applaud them for recognizing this and taking action. 

Janna Katz 

American Cancer Society 

• 

GOODBYE SHRUB PARTY! 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As the time draws closer, I’m readying myself to say, loudly and proudly, “The nation and the world are well rid of you wielding your autocratic power!” to George Bush. I wonder if other Berkeley citizens feel, as I do, the desire to celebrate that occasion. Whoever wins the presidency this November, it sure won’t be Shrub. Although one of my paranoid friends thinks something could be made to happen that would put Cheney in the presidency before election time, I’m too much of a Pollyanna to go there—but we’ll see. 

The event I have in mind would be one of those uniquely “Berkeley things” that as well as a cathartic “Thank God, he’s gone!” event. I’m going to be making contacts with those I know who have the kind of activist experience that I lack, but wonder if Daily Planet readers might have some suggestions as to how to pull such a thing off. 

Thanks for listening! 

Nicola Bourne 

• 

MEASURES A AND B 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have long read most of Susan Parker’s columns and her most recent ones are the best and most passionate. I don’t live in Oakland but I believe that people have a right to stay in there home when big business comes to knock down their house. Children’s Hospital maybe important but so is living in a place where you can see the neighborhood and not be blocked by the views of a 10-story hospital building, with a helipad. 

I wasn’t sure how I was going to vote on Measures A and B, but Susan Parker made me realize that the Children’s Hospital reach for more money with the use of children was low-down and dirty. At least, Susan Parker and her 50 neighbors are doing things the right way. Grassroots and all.  

Anita Fiessi 

• 

REYCLING PROBLEMS  

IN BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There are two kinds of recycling pickup in Berkeley. People living in houses have small blue bins. The Ecology Center picks them up. The Ecology Center also leaves recycling directions at each house. 

Recycling for apartments is different. Three big bins are put near each apartment house. These are marked “mixed paper” “cardboard” and “bottles and cans.” No directions are given to people who live in the apartments. These bins are often not sorted correctly, and if they are not sorted correctly, they are not emptied. I have a peculiar habit of resorting apartment bins near where I live. 

Because of the recycling mess, I think that the city of Berkeley should mail or deliver directions to each apartment dweller. Something like this: Bins should be sorted carefully. “Mixed paper” includes thin cardboard. “Cardboard” includes brown paper bags. Cans and bottles should be in the third bin. 

Julia Craig 

• 

PRESIDENTIAL NAME GAME 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I recently heard someone dismiss Barack Obama’s presidential bid with the comment: “The American people have never elected anyone whose name ended in a vowel.” I decided to look into this. 

It turns out America has already elected four vowel-afflicted presidents: James Monroe, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce and Calvin Coolidge. It is also a matter of record that the names of five presidents end in an “r,” four with “t,” and three with “s” or “er.” 

The big surprise is that eight (18.6 percent) of our presidents had names that ended in “son.” And, if you count William Jefferson Clinton, that’s nine (20.1 percent). So, if you name ends in “son,” son, you’ve got a one-in-five chance of beating the competition in the race to the Oval Office. (Yeah, I know: “Tell that to Jessie Jackson.”) 

But here’s the real surprise. If you’re name ends with an “n,” history tells us that you’re a virtual shoo-in. Seventeen of the USA’s elected presidents had names ending in “n.” That’s a whopping 39.5 percent. So, if your name ends in an n, you’ve got better than one-chance-in-three of sweeping the polls. 

Perhaps that explains why Guliani, Kucinich, Edwards, Gravel, Huckabee, and Romney won’t be going to Washington. (If Joe Biden had studied the link between last-letters and first-finishers, he might have stayed in the race.) 

So, if history is any guide, after Super Tuesday, the nominees for November will be McCain and Clinton. 

Of course, there is always the off-chance that Barack Obama can rise above the Curse of the Vowel. Even in the Presidential Name Game, nothing is for certain. (Just ask Fred Thompson.) 

Gar Smith 

• 

OUTRAGED BY RANK-AND-FILE BLACK LEADERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have lived in this country for 26 years, and I am now a citizen. I consider the United States to be my new home. I have always had opinions about America: some good and some not so good. But now that I can vote, I feel a lot more impassioned about my opinions, and about what goes in this country than ever before. I have heard for years how young black Americans have low self-esteem issues because there aren’t too many (but a handful of) black figureheads, heroes, or statesmen to look up to compared to their white counterparts. Of course, there are black athletes that are filling that role. But more often than not they don’t make good role models, because of their lavish lifestyle which is incongruent with the plight of a young African American who is trying to make a name for himself/herself in environment where the cards are stacked against them. These young African Americans are pretty much taught a Eurocentric, white-dominated history (some rightly warranted, especially if you consider the history of the industrial age, science, and geographical conquests). 

I took note of Obama when he spoke at the Democratic convention. I thought he spoke eloquently, and gave a very inspirational speech. So when he decided to run for the presidency I took a long, hard look at him, comparing him to the other candidates ad nauseum. After much deliberation, I decided that he indeed was the best person for the job; we do indeed need some infusion of fresh blood into our extremely anemic Washington politics. I never for once took the color of Obama’s skin into consideration because he basically transcended that (I am Indian). He struck me as more of a statesman, and a leader than a politician: albeit everyone is a little guilty of being a politician to some extent when running for an office. His message is inclusive, encompassing, insightful, and quite fresh. His idea for change in direction for this country is compelling. His speeches are impassioned, moving, and lofty: very reminiscent of John F. Kennedy or even Dr. King to some degree.  

So here is a very promising, young, vibrant, black person, full of potential and leadership qualities that anyone can be proud of, regardless of race. And yes, with a fairy tale background that is only possible in America. I am loathe to see the status quo black politicians like Charles Rangel, Maxine Waters, Ron Dellums et al, sitting and clapping unabashedly in the front row of a Hillary rally or the billionaire Bob Johnson making distastefully disparaging remarks about Obama, or Charles Rangel defending Bill Clinton’s extremely belittling (not to mention very unbecoming of an ex-president) remark about Obama. I am now beginning to wonder if the self-esteem issue is only plaguing young black Americans!  

Rizwan Rahmani 

Oakland 

• 

HELIOS FACILITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Helios Energy Research Facility / Energy Biosciences Institute (Helios/EBI) to be housed at LBNL must not be approved. EBI is financed by a $500 million British Petroleum grant the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires effects of a project to be considered that are not only direct, but indirect or secondary, or which may occur later in time, but are still reasonably foreseeable. Some of these effects are environmental and global and involve moral concerns, such as human and civil rights as noted below.  

The UC Regents should not approve this project because: 

1) It violates academic freedom. Corporations fund research to produce goods to sell for profit. Their involvement in research can undermine scientific inquiry for the public good. Hiding the research inside LBNL fence further distances the research from public view. 

2) Biofuels main focus of the BP grant, presumably an alternative to oil may take more energy to make than they produce. 

3) Occupying third-world countries for cropland for biofuel development would substitute for occupation for their oil. U.S. biofuel needs require six times the current amount of cropland in the United States. Solar and wind do not require occupation and war. 

4) Biofuel research involves genetically modified organisms to develop transgenic grasses, trees, corn, soybeans, and bacteria for highly industrialized monoculture. These practices result in deforestation, soil depletion, displacement of people, loss of local knowledge and self-reliance, as well as the demise of biodiversity. 

5) Researchers in the Helios building will collaborate with nanoscience researchers at the Molecular Foundry built without an EIR/EIS. Effects of nanotechnology are not fully known. This violates the Precautionary Principle. 

6) Coal and oil are not abandoned. There will be research on how to use microorganisms to “enhance recovery of petroleum from underground reserves” and the use of microbes for processing coal into fuel etc. 

Gene Bernardi 

• 

RESPONSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We are responding to Sharon Bauer’s Jan. 29 letter. Though we don’t argue Ms. Bauer’s right to her opinion, it is important to note that most of what she asserts in her letter is just that. As a primary example, her minimizing the impacts on Berkeley Unified School District, and all districts in California, because of “nickels and dimes” is an insult to the real budgetary and fiscal impacts currently being proposed by the governor. If enacted in whole, the proposals coming from the governor’s office this budget cycle would result in over $3 million in lost or reduced revenues to the Berkeley Unified School District. Only a multi-millionaire could characterize that figure as “nickels and dimes.” 

Further, Ms. Bauer’s assertion that California teachers are among “the highest paid of the populated states” demands a response. Her assertion is true, but context is everything. A quick glance at CNN.Money and its survey of zip code housing costs indicates that the most expensive housing markets in the nation are almost all within California, and only Hawaii, Greenwich Connecticut, and Manhattan New York rival the housing costs of dozens of towns and cities within California. Furthermore, the cost of living here in the Bay Area, in the Los Angeles area, and the San Diego area are some of the highest in the country. 

Money is not the solution to all the problems and issues that face California school districts. But lack of adequate funding is certainly one of the obstacles every school board, every superintendent, and every teacher in California has to deal with on a daily basis. We urge all who read this to remind their state representatives of the importance of sufficient school funding, even in times of fiscal shortfalls. We are only shortchanging our own futures by anything less. 

Cathy Campbell 

President, Berkeley Federation  

of Teachers 

John Selawsky 

President, Berkeley School Board 

• 

ELECTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you to everyone in Berkeley and other communities who stayed out at the polls late into the evening to make sure their voices were heard! As unacceptable as it is to experience a shortage of ballots during an election, I ask that the people of Berkeley, the state of California and the nation to continue insisting upon the use of paper ballots. They may take more time to count, but they are vastly more accurate and secure than electronic voting systems. 

I’d like to remind the community that electronic voting machines, specifically Diebold machines (now Premier Election Services), were ordered out of Berkeley for very concrete reasons. Diebold was actually sued by Berkeley residents over its unacceptable behavior involving a recount for Measure R. Not only was it found by the court that the removable memory from the machines was improperly handled, but the fixed memory within the machines was deemed unrecoverable, therefore making an accurate recount impossible. 

Now if you were watching the “up-to-the-minute” news coverage on KRON 4, like I was, the reporting staff seemed visibly annoyed that Berkeley and other East Bay communities were relying heavily upon paper ballots. This annoyance seemed to triggered by the amount of time it takes to count paper ballots, therefore stifling their “up-to-the-minute” announcement of the results. Several times they hinted that electronic voting machines would have sped up the process and eliminated the prolonged waits and extended hours at polling stations. I ask you, fellow citizens, do not be suckered by this line. 

Voting machines may facilitate rapid reporting of results, but is this really desirable? Do we want people rushing through election results at breakneck speed in order to facilitate media sources? Or do we want an accurate, traceable election record that stands up to scrutiny? Yes, it was unacceptable that polling stations were running out of paper ballots, but this can easily be solved by supplying a greater quantity of ballots to each polling station in advance. Don’t let vested interests trick you into sacrificing election security for election convenience. Choosing leaders and laws is serious business, and voting should not be approached with a “drive-thru” mentality. 

Roger LaChance 

• 

THE LOSS OF ROSS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I’d lament, actually grieve, over the closing of the Ross Store on Shattuck Avenue. A Saks Fifth Avenue/ Bloomingdale’s it definitely was not. But it was THERE, darn it—the only department store in downtown Berkeley! I never went downtown that I didn’t pop into Ross, if only for a new bra, wallet or sauce pan. I can’t say that this was ever a particularly thrilling experience. There were no attractive young women spraying an expensive perfume in my direction, nor were there cosmetic counters with tall stools where one could sit and be transformed into a ravishing beauty by gorgeous young women (or men) lavishly applying Estee Lauder or Dior make-up. That was a blessing in disguise, as I always falls hook, line and sinker for cosmetics that never seem to make a noticeable improvement in my appearance. 

I must admit there were many things about the store I definitely did not like, such as the security guard who would eye me with suspicion when noticing my large tote bag. I could feel his eyes follow me as I made my way through the store. And I was always dismayed at the number of garments strewn about the floor in the clothing department. Being somewhat of a neatness freak, I’d make it my business to pick up these items, dust them off, put them on hangers and place them on the racks where they belonged. Quite often I’d find famous name designer clothes, but, alas, they were always a size 4 or 6, never a 14! Upstairs in the housewares department I’d lose all control and pick up wine goblets, cutlery, casseroles, tablecloths, etc., etc.—things for which I had no need. But with a senior discount on Tuesdays, how could I resist? 

Oh, yes, with all of its faults I miss Ross horribly. Having a deep-seated, almost pathological dislike for shopping malls, what are my options now? Travel to Emeryville or El Cerrito for their Ross, or take BART to the San Francisco Nordstrom’s and Bloomingales? Is Berkeley such a hick town that it can’t support at least one department store? Are we slowly but surely becoming a ghost town where only McDonald’s will survive? 

Dorothy Snodgrass 

• 

GRIM REAPER IN BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Speaking on The United Nations Mission in Haiti, Chilean Juan Gabriel Valdés, who headed that bloody Mission between 2004 and 2006, told listeners at UC Berkeley on Feb. 5 that “lack of a government in Haiti” made it impossible for the UN to bring peace 

or accomplish its goal of national reconstruction. The president had “left Haiti” on Feb. 29, 2004, he explained, in the midst of a “civil war” between the country’s elites and the country’s poor. Today, there are serious problems in the country caused by NGOs skimming money from funds that should be used for development. 

The real problem in Haiti, he declared, is one of “perception"—people just not seeing eye to eye on what needs to be done. 

WHAT? As is well known, President Aristide did not “leave” office; he was kidnapped at gunpoint by U.S. military and forced out of the country. Far from civil war, the country was actually united under a president that Haitians had twice elected by landslides. And everyone, everywhere, recognizes that international monetary policy, including gargantuan debt service, 

is the force that makes development in Haiti nearly impossible. 

After totally distorting the situation in Haiti, Valdés went on to express his disagreement with his friend, a Haitian businessman, who contends that the only way peace can be achieved in the country is through dictatorship and terror. There are “ethical problems” with that point of view, Valdés acknowledged. What he failed to mention is that the UN troops under his leadership completely disregarded those ethical problems and instituted a reign of terror which is still in progress at this time. 

Ignoring the poster-size photographs brought to the room by a member of the audience, of Haitian children shot through the head by UN troops, Valdés did not deny that the well-documented massacres of July 6, 2005 and Dec. 22, 2006 (captured on film, with eyewitness descriptions of UN troops firing on unarmed civilians) had taken place; he only denied that the UN had anything to do with the killings. Terrorism in Haiti, he claimed, is not the work of the UN [or the elites served by the UN, or the political thugs who carried out the coup against the elected government of President Aristide], but rather the violent groups of people who live in shantytowns. When two members of the audience confronted him with the fact that on the basis of his role as head of the UN mission, a Haitian people’s tribunal had convicted him of 

crimes against humanity, Valdés claimed to be unaware of the proceedings. 

It does not speak well for the university, that it brings to campus a convicted criminal billed as a diplomat, without disclosing the unconscionable record of his tenure as head of the UN Mission in Haiti. It’s like bringing in the Grim Reaper, showing him with a Princeton diploma in his hands instead of his bloody scythe. 

Adrianne Aron 

Haiti Action Committee 

• 

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST  

CELL PHONE ANTENNAS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The battle continues against increasing radio frequency radiation in South Berkeley. On Monday, Feb. 4, the Berkeley Neighborhood Antenna-Free Union (BNAFU) filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court to stop installation of 11 more cell phone antennas at 2721 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley. It is clear that we no longer have local control over this technology. Today (Friday) BNAFU is holding a demonstration at City Hall, 2180 Milvia St. The demonstration will take place between 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. 

Our neighborhood believes that people, including many children in our neighborhood, have the right not to be used as guinea pigs exposed 24/7 to microwave frequency radiation, particularly when cell phone service in South Berkeley is excellent. 

This coming Tuesday evening, Feb. 12, a cell antenna moratorium will be on the City Council Agenda. 

Contact BNAFU at jllib2@aol.com or 849-4014. 

Michael Barglow 

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Planet is only printing letters from locals regarding the ruling on the Marine Recruitment Center. Signed letters from non-locals and letters addressed to third parties will be published on our website. Unsigned letters will not be published. 

Dear Mayor Tom Bates, 

I realize that I’m probably wasting my time in that there will be no response to this e-mail, but as the right of free speech works both ways, I feel compelled to express my opinion on the despicable actions that you’ve attemted to performed in the name of some “Whack Job” organization that you seem to have decided to sponsor, and I ask the question if your organization actually condones their behavior. 

I am referring specifically to your recent sponsorship of Code Pink and their treasonist efforts to remove the Marine Recruitment center in your alien city. Do you people actually not realize how moronic you appear, to the rest of this great country when you propose and attempt to denigrate and legislate treasonist proclomations against our brave men and women fighting to defend freedom and liberty. 

How stupid of you to associated your city council with an organization so intellectually challenged that they can’t even spell the word “Assasination” correctly while illegally scrawling it over the word Selection on the window front of the Marine Officer Selection Office. (I won’t belabor the point, but I do find it amusing that whenever these “Whack Jobs” get their moment in the spotlight, they alway manage to demonstrate their illiteracy. How hard is it to spell check the word “assassination?") 

The dictionary definition of the word “assassination” is as follows: Assassination is the murder of a political figure or another important individual. An added distinction between assassination and other forms of killing is that an assassin usually has an ideological or political motivation. 

Marines kill, they do not assassinate. And the fact that they have killed our nation’s enemies over the years is the reason why your organization exists, which I’m sure you don’t like to acknowledge or think about. The supreme strength, and irony, of our way of government is that the people who join the Marines are essentially putting their lives on the line to protect your right to despise your protectors. Whether or not this particular war helps defend that freedom is beside the point; your protest is against the Marine Corps as an organization, one that has been in business for longer than the country has been founded. Somewhere along that timeline, your freedoms were in jeopardy, and the Marines were there as part of the effort to keep that from happening.  

Your actions to thwart the opening of recruiting offices leads me to question exactly what your motives and goals are.  

Obviously, your organization is against the war in Iraq. Are you also saying that you want to abolish the military altogether? Are you implying that either there will never be another need for a military force, or that even if there is, our country will be at fault and the aggressor, and this is your attempt to stop that from happening? As I said, I know none of you will take the time to respond, but on the off chance you do, I would very much like to know the answer to that question. 

Just what good is your short-sighted attempt to stop people from entering the military to fight in this war going to do our country in the event that we truly need to be defended? Are you really so naive to believe that if we were to unilaterally disarm ourselves, abolish our military and force them to hold bake sales to supply themselves with arms and munitions, that this is a good thing? That we wouldn’t instantly be attacked by other nations who want to see our downfall? Or are you suggesting that we deserve to be cast down and conquered? 

The fact that you are working towards legislation that would bar recruiters from the city of Berkeley can really only be interepreted in a couple of ways. 

1) You are trying to set an example that you hope other communities will follow to stop recruiters from their mission of keeping our military up to strength, thereby crippling its ability to conduct any type of operations, or 

2) You believe that for whatever reason, the young men and women of your community are too good for the military. If some other community wants to sacrifice their sons and daughters, fine, but OUR children are much too precious. The fact that this demonstrates the very elitism that you profess to hate so much in individuals like George W. Bush seems to be lost on you. I would be very interested to know the results if there were a study to determine whether or not the gene that recognizes hypocrisy is missing from your members’ DNA.  

Again, this email is designed to both register protest, and better understand exactly what your goal is in your absurd attempts to block recruiting for the military in your community. Please explain to me how this helps our country. 

I look forward to any reply you care to make, no matter how civil or uncivil it may be. 

David Hill 

Westminster, Colorado 

Know this Berkeley, the city sleeps protected by the blanket of FREEDOM supplied by the US Marines. CodePink undermines this warmth and FREEDOM. We expect you to apologize to the Marines. 

Kevin Bester 

Madison, Wisconsin  

I would like to thank Council members Kriss Worthington, Betty Olds, and Gordon Wozniak for your no votes on the Berkeley City Council’s latest resolution regarding the presence of the U. S. Marine Recruiting Station. My commentary is addressed to the six members who voted for the resolution opposing the presence of the United States Marine Corp Recruiting Station. 

As a former Californian, I am reminded why I left the land of Fruits and Nuts every time I read or hear about the shameful, ungrateful, and just plain stupid utterances of those who do not understand or appreciate the price that must be paid for the freedoms that we enjoy in the United States. Those of us who have paid that price understand its cost and respect those who stand between our freedoms and those who would take it from us. It is fortunate for those like yourselves without the Honor and Integrity of those who serve their Nation, that they never fail to serve you. 

I served in Vietnam and I hate war and all that it does to those of us who survive; fellow veterans and families of those who died. It is sad that this is the price that must be paid for freedom. It is sadder still that there are those who don’t understand, refuse to appreciate or fail to respect the cost paid by our service people and their families so that we remain free. 

Ron Barger 

East Wenatchee, Washington 

You are aware of the actions of the Berkeley City Council and their attempts to remove a US Marine recruiting office in your city. I am not a little unhappy with their position, even hostility to our wonderful men in uniform. They promote hostility to all most Americans hold dear when the vote to provide Code Pink parking space directly in front of the recruiter’s offices. They have gone too far! 

RG Metzger 

Dallas, Texas 

A city and some of its citizens do not agree with the policies or actions of the Federal government and decide to take what they believe to be a moral, courageous stand to protest those policies. In this case, it is Berkeley and the Iraq War. Forty some years ago it was numerous towns and individual citizens who felt that they also knew better than the Federal government. The citizens then stood in school house doors to prevent the carrying out of Federal orders to desegregate. Is this any different? Not in my mind. We live in a democracy. Whether the Berkeley city council likes it or not, President Bush is the elected head of our government. Since January 2007, he has been funded by a Democratically controlled Congress. The means to change policy is in their hands. I would have a lot more respect for the World Can’t Wait group and the Berkeley city council if they staged their protest in Senator Feinste in’s office (she voted for the war), Senator Clinton’s campaign offices (she voted for the war), or any number of congressmen who voted for it and continue to support it. But no, better not upset the powerful when you can pick on young Americans instead. 

To block the path of young people who want to serve is not moral or courageous. To prevent soldiers or Marines from carrying out their assigned tasks is not moral or courageous. The Marine Corps did not start this war nor does it vote to maintain it. I challenge the World Can’t Wait to confront those who did rather than acting out their rage on the backs of those who are already carrying the weight of this war.  

BTW, I’m a former Marine. I think this war is idiotic, and have voted Democratic in all but 1 election including all the time I was in the Corps. Groups like those making a scene in Berkeley at our military mens’ expense are why a large segment of the American voting public does not trust the Democratic party with the Presidency. 

Semper Fidelis, 

Michael Greene 

Alexandria, Virgina 

As Stalinism continues its inevitable retreat into the trash bins of history, adherents struggle to hold on to its last outposts in North Korea, Berkeley, and Turkmenistan. 

These extremists have decided what is right for you and are willing to force you to comply. Individuals have no right to think, speak, or act for themselves. 

From comrade Bates stealing newspapers that don’t agree with him, to leftist stormtroopers preventing Benjamin Netanyahu from speaking in Berkeley, to the current thugs preventing individuals from visiting the Marine recruiting station, Berkeley has become the American capital of the anti-free speech movement. 

Mark Johnson 

What a bunch of hypocrits. Only after the “crap hit the fan” are thewe wimps now concerned. I hope many businesses join Mr. Dennard in the boycott of the City of Berkeley. I would also hope that the Council does not speak for the Majority of the Citizens of the City. If so the City is in Deep trouble. 

Jim Brown 

Retired U. S. Air Force 

Did you know you have to be a college graduate to sign up to be a Marine at the Berkeley Marine Recruiting Center? A high school student or even a college undergraduate cannot get recruited there. This recruiting of the college graduate is to train them as future officers. One must remember that the college graduate has a degree, a driver’s license, voting rights, can get married and can even legally drink, so I am sure he is quite capable of choosing a future career without the demonstrators Code Pink blocking his way. I am sure that these people are attempting to do good, but I feel their energy and time could be better serve by tutoring in the schools. And the Berkeley City Council should take a more liberal rather than a fascist view by supporting free speech in its home town. 

Martha Jones 

From the southern part of our great land, I read with great dismay that the City Council of Berkeley passed a resolution, in essence, to drive the Marines from the city. I had to read, and re-read the articles/links/headlines to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me. Wow, what a story, and what an indictment on a pack of buffoons who are becoming the laughing stock of America. I am speaking, of course, of the Berkeley City Council. From a city which boasts of its high intellect, I’m seeing nothing but pea brains. How could anyone possible elect these fools, and, after this, allow them to remain in office! Sadly, they have done irreparable harm by placing a shroud of shame upon that community for years to come. I might have expected this from some misguided, naïve college students just starting to learn the ways of the world, but never from adults who were elected officials! God help the fools of the world, of which Berkeley has more than its share.  

Semper Fi, 

C. M. Collins, III 

Those of you who voted to, essentially, make the United States Marine Corps recruiting office “persona non grata” in Berkeley have perhaps delivered one of the lowest blows to our brave men and women EVER in the history of this country. While I am not in favor of this war in Iraq, our future ability to cope with an increasingly tumultuous world climate, will have our country in need of many more brave young men and women in the future. The call that many of our young people feel to defend our country is a wonderful thing. When I served in Vietnam, I was ready to die for my comrades and they for me...an emotion I suspect none of you have ever experienced or have the courage to experience. 

Do not confuse our military with the broken foreign policy of the current administration. There will be a time I believe, and it will be very soon, that we will need that military more than ever. My wife, a graduate of Berkeley HS is even more repulsed by your actions than I. And how do you think the surviving parents, wives, husbands and children are coping with your callous and short sighted action? I suspect some of them may even be constituents of yours. 

May God save us from the likes of the six of you who voted for the resolution in question. 

Milt Rogers 

Boulder, Colorado 

Dear Mayor Bates, 

In that you and your city have chosen to gravely insult the brave men and women, who have indeed bought you that right with their blood, I am informing you that my company will no longer do business with any of our current suppliers located in the Berkeley, California metro area. 

In that my company is in international resort real estate development, and do business with and am associated with, developers and investors worldwide, I am informing all of my contacts, associates and patrons that we will no longer do any business of any sort with anyone living in the Berkeley area. In that we/MDG Resorts are currently building a state of the art mega-yacht marina, all of the suppliers of Marina equipment, all owners of Yachts , all suppliers of Yacht materials & supplies, all yacht brokers and all tangential yacht business purveyors will likewise be informed that we will not do any business whatsoever with anyone from the Berkeley area. 

Likewise all suppliers of building materials, both interior and exterior, currently associated with any of our several resort developments (Brisamar 300+ villas and 200+ condos: Porto Hussong, www.portohussong.com 500+ condos, 180 slip mega-yacht marina) both of which I might add have international recognition by virtue of glowing reports in Robb Report, Wall Street Journal, Yacht World, Forbes. I will likewise inform all of our investors, most of whom are very wealthy yacht owners, casino owners, high net worth international businessmen, of our decision to essentially boycott all products and providers located in, or associated with in any way whatsoever, Berkeley, Ca. 

Trust me when I say that having been in the real estate development business for over 35 years, our list of contacts and associates is long and very, very impressive. We, and I personally, are going to recommend that they ALL along with us boycott your city, its purveyors, suppliers, and businesses and CHARITIES of every kind. 

You have every right to choose to take the obnoxious anti-military stance you have taken, and as stated, that right was bought for you with the blood of better men than you. 

I too have every right to do all that I can to insure that your city suffers consequences arising from that obnoxious, sickening stance. 

Cordially, 

Brian G Dennard 

Principal Director 

Meridian Development Group, LLC 

In my humble opinion, the Berkley City Council, through it’s recent resolutions, is guilty not only violating civil rights laws but also of treason in its attitude towards the Marine Recruiting Center located there. 

Freedom of Speech is guaranteed in the US Constitution. Yet, I am willing to bet that organizations other than Code Pink do not receive the same courtesies. Are organizations that back the war receiving parking privileges in front of city hall to protest this city’s anti-war and anti-military resolution? Are pro-life organizations going to get parking spaces in front of abortion clinics and Planned Parenthood? Doubt it! 

As for the arguments for the resolutions, the woman who said, “It is not favoritism,” is sadly mistaken. Pacifists have no more rights than pro-military, pro-life, pro-choice or the Ku Klux Klan for that matter. Freedom of Speech is for everyone despite the fact that you may not agree with them. 

Then there was the gentleman who called the recruiters, “criminal liars.” I believe he is right in that if they are lying they are committing a criminal act under the Military Code of Conduct as well as civil law. However, that is for the courts to decide not someone who makes rash statements and fails to back them up with facts. 

Then there is the woman who felt like a hypocrite because she arranged for a psychiatrist to lie about her son’s mental condition to keep him out of the military during Vietnam. I would suggest that if she feels so guilty about it she turn herself, her son and the psychiatrist in to the authorities. Although I am sure the statute of limitations is probably up. Instead find a Vietnam vet, or a conscience objector who still did his duty, or someone who went to prison rather than lie and tell them your story. They will probably be very sympathetic. 

As for the Marines not having, “had the sense not to come here,” I would point out that it is very apparent that not everyone agrees with that statement. If there were not people in the area interested in joining the Marines, the center would close. Then too if there aren’t people going into the center then why is it necessary to provide Code Pink with special parking. If it is not a busy place, there should be plenty of parking available. 

In encouraging the protest of Code Pink at the Recruiting Center the City Council is interfering with military recruitment, thus aiding the enemy. The recruitment centers and those who man them have no say in policy. Washington D.C. makes the decisions as to where and when we fight, not downtown Berkley. Therefore, in protesting at the Center, Code Pink is making the statement that they are ant-military as well as anti-war. Moreover, the city makes the same statement when it offers special courtesies to Code Pink. 

As I said in my opinion this constitutes treason! 

Rodger L. Solomon 

Gillette, Wyoming 

PRIMARILY PRIMAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

This morning I opened the sports page of my local newspaper and was momentarily bewildered by stories about the usual basketball and football games, reports, and scores. I realized that I was expecting to see the latest results and stories regarding the presidential primaries...right there on the sports page! Although there was no mention of the primaries on the sports page (at least not yet), my expectation to see it written up in the sports section is indicative of how perverted presidential electoral politics has become. 

Instead of a composition of viewpoints and serious problem solving energies, we are left with an American Idol-like mentality juxtaposed by a battle of wit, rhetoric and interpersonal one-upmanship. What should be a platform for an assortment of perspectives and candidates has turned into a two-horse race for the democrats, and is quickly being whittled down to the same farce for the Republicans... and we’re barely out of the month of January! Meanwhile, no other ‘ratings-challenged’ candidate or party even gets a mention. 

Is this what why we fought in World War II, Vietnam, and now in Iraq? Perhaps the media is as much to blame for this facade of democracy as any party or persons. Driven by myopic and avaricious concerns for ratings, they have created a popular culture incapable of the patience required to see further than the interim images of bogus blowhards projecting their hyper-happy countenance in defiance of the grave threats that confront us all. 

What we need, instead of this posturing and posing, is for congress to declare a general state of emergency and reconstruct the electoral process as well as the office of the president. Any declared candidate should back up his or her ambition for high office with a commitment, win or lose, to serve on a team of consultants to the candidate that is elected “president.” This way we will be more likely to have a process representative of the constituent perspectives and energies that should ideally contribute to the critical decisions a person with as much power as president of the United States has invested in his or her office. 

Such a reconstruction of the process will assure that those who believe themselves worthy of presidential office are in pursuit such position out of a bona fide will to be part of an assiduous strategic and tactical problem solving process, contributing to something beyond their lust for power. If candidates are serious about “change” then they should start by recognizing and reforming the degrading nature of the circus-like spectacle that they, the viewers, and the media perpetrate....a spectacle in which we all are embroiled...a pageant of pomposity and pretense that, in the final analysis, will serve none of us. 

Marc Winokur 

• 

OVERREACTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In the commentary “Council, Police must enforce traffic laws,” Steve Douglas says “Most importantly, we need have the City Council direct the Police Department to enforce the existing laws...by having no tolerance for “failure to yield,” rolling stops, and other careless driving.” Taken literally, this is an insane statement. No, the City Council shouldn’t tell the police how to do their job. Rolling stops through empty intersections are not the issue. They do not deserve a sting operation (as he calls for). What does that even mean? Is there a conspiracy among drivers to constantly roll through stop signs? I really do not understand reactions like this one. If we were really concerned about deaths around us, we should be distraught about Oakland’s murder rate. Pedestrian accidents are awful, but don’t overreact. 

Damian Bickett 

• 

STUPID EDITORIAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Except for Ron Paul none of the “presidential” candidates are worth anything. Becky’s backing Obama for racist reasons solely because he’s half-black and the Clintons aren’t “left” enough for her and the ever diminishing numbers of true believers of the New Deal era. Oh, and anyone who denounces the vastly out of proportion percentage of black crime is a “cultural racist,” unlike the black bloc vote for Obama in South Carolina. 

Well, this is not a prejudice but a postjudice for many of us who have experienced the ongoing war against Whitey and other “progressive” causes. We have made our judgments after the facts, not before as in prejudge or “prejudice.” Cognitively speaking, Obama is running on empty as is Hillary, McCain, et al. As was JFK in 1960 with his notorious lies about a nonexistent “missile gap.” 

The good news is that the people in “your circle” are not typical. Most of them probably voted for the Gus Hall-Angela Davis ticket. Come November, you will be pulling the lever for Hillary along with the rest of the sorry ass left libs around here (I might too if the alternative is the McCainiac.) 

Becky, your stupid editorials are going to start reinforcing stereotypes about Berkeley and females. 

Michael Hardesty 

Oakland 

• 

REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Once again, the news reported that Exxon has “earned” record-breaking profits. Once again, its profits are higher than ever before, just as the profits last year, and the years before that broke those previous records. People are losing their homes and having to decide between food and fuel, while the richest of the rich are getting richer.  

Our senators and House representatives can reverse this malicious distribution of wealth—this ongoing theft—that is ripping our society apart. They can end the tax breaks for oil companies and the very, very rich. They can enact laws against oil and gas price-gouging. They can stop money being siphoned to off-shore hiding places like Dubai.  

Our prosperous democracy is being broken up into a third-world oil plutocracy so long as Congress fails to act.  

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont 

• 

THIRD PARTY OPTIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I had to miss reading the four editions of the Daily Planet preceding this Tuesday’s election. I caught up on them yesterday. 

I was disappointed that none of the articles nor letters addressed the option of voting third party. All bought into the theory of one has to try to decide which democrat would be best. The mainstream media hype of choosing between Hillary or Obama. Does no one see the building of a third party as a viable possibility? Voting Green or Peace and Freedom is certainly a possibility I wish I had seen one writer raise. 

Ruthanne Shpiner 

• 

IRAQ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In his last State of the Union Address, President Bush lauded the achievements of the Iraq troop surge. As I remember, however, the surge was supposed to improve security so that Iraq could find a political solution for its internal conflicts. In urging support for a surge, the president argued: “Victory in Iraq will bring something new in the Arab world—a functioning democracy that polices its territory, upholds the rule of law, respects fundamental human liberties and answers to its people.” That’s not today’s Iraq. Iraq is no closer to a functioning government or to a reconciliation among its various religious groups as when the surge began. In fact, a September 2007 BBC, ABC News, and NHK poll of 2,000 Iraqis found that about 70 percent believed that the surge “hampered conditions for political dialogue, reconstruction and economic development.” 

How will we know when it is time to pull our troops out? A recent analysis shows that President Bush and top administration officials have issued 935 false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks. I for one am extremely skeptical about anything this administration says about the war’s progress. How long should we wait? 2015? 2020? Forever? Meanwhile, the costs of the war mount. As of Feb. 2, there have been 3,944 U.S. military deaths and 39,298 wounded in the Iraq war; depending on the count methodology, there have been from 80,000 to 655,000 Iraqi “excess deaths” due to the war; and two million displaced Iraqis inside the country and another 2.2 million have sought shelter in neighboring countries.  

The dollar cost of the war exceeds $491 billion and could eventually reach $2 trillion. The trade-off is less money for health care, affordable housing, new elementary schools, college scholarships, homes with renewable electricity, Head Start places for children, and elementary school teachers. 

Clearly, there will be no troop withdrawal during this presidency. Let’s make sure each of the Democratic presidential candidates solemnly pledge to pull our troops out in 2009. 

Ralph E. Stone 

San Francisco 

• 

THE CANDIDATES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I find your recent editorial cartoons intemperate. Hillary-haters align themselves with the conservative right, whether knowingly or not.  

Obama supporters might want to check out a story published in the Feb. 3 New York Times article entitled “Nuclear Leaks and Response Tested Obama in Senate.” 

Both candidates exemplify politics as usual. Take your pick. I did not vote for either of them. 

Jenifer Steele 

• 

A DEMOCRATIC SCANDAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Richard Brenneman has given us a very good look at some of the many instances of skullduggery that followed from the deregulation of savings banks and savings and loan associations in 1980, and he rightly predicts that there is even more of the same in store for us in the sub-prime loan debacle. He is in good company. A few prescient economists, especially Robert Kuttner and Hyman Minsky, also predicted the inevitable consequences of elimination of federal controls over the financial industry.. 

But, your headline “Bush Sub-prime Collapse Echoes Regan Disaster” gets it all wrong. It should read “Clinton Sub-prime Collapse Echoes Carter Disaster.” The savings and loan disaster was a result of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act, signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980. The sub-prime disaster is a result of the repeal of the Glasss-Steagall Act by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, signed by President Bill Clinton in 1999, and of Clinton’s disastrous reappointment of arch-deregulator Alan Greenspan as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board in 1997. 

The only relatively bright spot in this dreary history was the re-regulation of savings institutions by the Financial Institutions Recovery and Enforcement Act, signed by the first President Bush in 1989. 

There is a lesson in all this. Democratic administrations have been just as much in the service of Wall Street as Republican administrations and should not be given a free pass when their turkeys come home to roost. 

John G. McGarrahan 

• 

SAME OLD SAME OLD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As Dean Jones, that great icon of Disney and Americanism, used to say: “Lord love a duck!” I’m not sure why, but the fact that Kucinich didn’t get anywhere brings that unforgettable saying to my mind. Don’t ask why. I just held my head in shame and despair as the poor guy was trashed, and ignored by the corporate media and his running mates. Everything Dennis said I agreed with, with passion! It made me want to weep. And now, were going to get Hillary, or Obama. Same old same old. “Lord love a duck!”  

Robert Blau 

• 

BUS RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Go look at a map. You will see that BART and the Telegraph-East14th BRT route is only a couple blocks away for almost the entire distance. If AC Transit and Bart were one agency, they would coordinate their services, making both more effective, rather than duplicate and compete for the same north-south customers. 

Any longer distance commuter would normally favor BART for more comfort, speed, and schedule reliability, making AC Transit’s argument of saving time relatively moot. For short distances, the wait time is the major factor, not the saved travel time. 

If AC Transit had the commuter’s best interest at heart, they would provide lots of local east-west routes as feeders to Bart and develop combined trip vouchers rather than compete in the north-south direction. 

Probably the major reason that AC Transit is proposing such an expensive $350 million BRT project is because of the potential “free-to-them” funds available for the project. The federal government may kick in 75 million dollars, and the increased bridge toll may add 65 million dollars. This is in addition to the sales tax and gasoline tax they get. 

Also read the excellent East Bay Express articles on the AC Transit and the van Hool buses at www.eastbayexpress.com. 

Osman Vincent 

• 

IDEALIST.ORG 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I just read Susan Parker’s column: “If You Mean It, Don’t Exploit Children” and am concerned with the accuracy of the reference to Idealist.org. The intro sentence reads: 

“A friend asks me to check out the website www.idealist.org. I click on their URL and up pops a paid plea from Children’s Hospital Oakland, (CHO). It asks for help distributing 50,000 “Vote Yes on Measure A” yard signs. That’s one helluva lot of soon-to-be-thrown-away plastic signs.” 

If Susan can re-create her experience for me, I would appreciate it. Idealist.org does not accept any advertising—paid or unpaid—on our website. We never use pop-ups and are very careful about harassing our visitors in such a way. In addition, I just visited the Children’s Hospital Oakland page on Idealist and there is no pop-up (I didn’t expect there to be, but I wanted to double check). There is no reference at all to the campaign mentioned in the editorial. If Susan did experience a pop up by visiting Idealist.org, I would very much like to know about it so that we can investigate further. 

Here is the link to the page on Idealist: www.idealist.org/en/org/84316-213. 

I would appreciate having this inaccurate reference to Idealist.org removed from the editorial. Thank you for your help in this matter. 

Lorene Straka 

Chief of Staff 

Idealist.org 

OUT OF CONTROL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The recent action on the part of the City Council to “ban” the marine recruiting center should be a strong wake up call to all Berkeley residents that the City Council is out of control and it is time to elect new leaders. As a longtime and now former resident (over 20 years), I have watched with increasing disdain as the elected officials in this town destroy piece by piece the once proud legacy of free speech and expression. That the city government would take a stand in suppression of the free speech rights of the marines is unfathomable. Just as protesters have every right to voice their disapproval of military actions overseas, the marines have a right to their free speech in this town as well. To have a governmental body take sides suppressing the free speech of another is an embarrassment, and is just one in an increasing number of actions by the City Council that is quickly leading this city to being the most repressive and closed-minded enclave in our country. The City Council has again taught us and our children that free speech is only our right when we agree with the City Council, otherwise we are uninvited and unwelcome. 

Matt Krebs 

• 

NOT A QUESTION OF  

FREE SPEECH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A lot of noise is being made about the attempts of Berkeley citizens to shut down the Marines Recruiting Station on Shattuck Avenue, only a few blocks from the local high school, the newly opened community college and the University of California. 

Part of the disinformation campaign against the citizens includes the allegation that the home of the Free Speech Movement should somehow protect the “right” of the recruiters to sell their product to the young people of the community. 

I was a part of the class of 1965 of the University of California at Berkeley. The Free Speech Movement is something I saw close up and was in support of. I remember well what happened. 

In the fall of 1964, many of the students at Berkeley were returning from a summer spend registering black voters in the south. Proposition 14 was on the November ballot, which would have erased laws on the books prohibiting racial discrimination in housing and would have forbidden the writing of new laws against such discrimination. The powers that be correctly realized that Berkeley students could be expected to spend the fall registering black voters in Oakland. This would have significantly changed the power structure in Oakland. Someone contacted the highest ranking member of the UC administration on campus in the early days of the semester, Dean of Women Katherine Towle, an ex-Marine. She issued the edict that students would not be permitted to set up tables on issues of political importance on the University campus. 

Students were almost universally shocked and outraged. We managed to organize for voter registration anyway, working out of local student organizations such as the Wesley Foundation and Stiles Hall. Nevertheless, students who wanted to organize politically on campus were being denied their rights as citizens. They joined together across political lines to ask the University to retract the ban. The steering committee included everyone from the Young Socialist Alliance to Youth for Goldwater. Many meetings with the University were held, but the higher levels of administration stood behind Dean Towle’s action. (President Clark Kerr in a much later article in the Alumni Association paper stated he regretted not having overturned the ban.) 

To return to the present, I want to say that the Free Speech Movement was clearly focussed on the right of political expression of the students as citizens. To invoke the FSM as a support for the Marines Recruiting Station is to twist history. It is documented that recruiters lie to young people about the supposed benefits of joining the military. Recruiters falsely claim that the recruit will not be sent into combat. 

The FSM was about the right to political expression, not the right of anyone to engage in false advertising to lure young people into an institution in which they will be forced to kill or be killed and from which they will returned wounded in body and in mind and spirit.  

I will also point out that when we won the right to free speech and political action, the next big action on the University campus was the Vietnam teach in where we sat in the thousands in Edward Field and learn from I.F. Stone the true history of Vietnam, the French colony whose liberation the United States had opposed and was trying to reverse, where we organized ourselves in the beginning phases of the anti-war movement. 

Carolyn Smith Scarr 

• 

APPALLED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We are appalled and dismayed by the 8-1 vote of the City Council last Tuesday telling Marine recruiters they are not welcome in Berkeley and if they stay, “they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” It’s inconceivable to us that the Berkeley City Council would provide anti-abortion activists a designated parking space in front of an abortion clinic and a free sound permit as granted to the Code Pink protesters. (Unfortunately, it is conceivable to us that the City Council would find a way of limiting the anti-abortion speech if it were as loud and aggressive as the Code Pink protesters, as is their right, are reported to be.) Would the members of the City Council do away with the Marines and other branches of the military? The world is a rough place. As much as we abhor the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq, we are profoundly grateful to the men and women who serve in the military. We thank Gordon Wozniak for his calm and rational consideration of this matter. We can only hope that the Council will revisit this matter with the level of mature deliberation it deserves. 

Brad Smith 

Dianne Woods 

• 

UNWELCOME? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a Berkeley citizen, I’m disappointed by the recent City Council vote condemning the Marine Recruiting Station as an “uninvited and unwelcome intruder.” When did American citizens who are willing to lay down their lives for the rights of the rest of us become uninvited and unwelcome? 

I am against the war, but I support the men and women who choose to serve our country. 

I’m appalled that Code Pink is choosing to use the same misguided, gruesome, and intimidating tactics used by far right anti-abortion protesters. 

I encourage the Berkeley City Council to reconsider their support for this resolution. 

Carolyn Murphy 

• 

SADDENED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was saddened by María Ryan’s letter complaining that the Berkeley City Council is giving Code Pink a parking space. She writes, “their message is already getting out” and that shoppers need those spaces. She states that they are guilty of loitering, creating a nuisance and parking violations. She does not say if she has an opinion about the morality of the war Bush has taken our country into. So I don’t know if she is bothered by the crime of preemptive aerial bombing of civilian populated cities in Iraq. Or the pictures of the hooded torture victims from Abu Ghraib. Or the fact that we are approaching four thousand U.S. deaths and countless wounded, including many head injuries. Or that our cities and schools are rapidly going broke as we waste all our money on weapons of death and destruction.  

The fact that our soldiers are volunteers makes us as citizens no less responsible for their safety, especially as these soldiers were lied to about the reasons for this war. We need to demand they be brought home safely now, and anything we can do to protect our youth from being recruited into this madness should be done. May I suggest for anyone feeling apathetic about our troops that you rent the Vietnam era film “Coming Home”. 

Personally I am grateful that members of Code Pink continue to have the courage and the selflessness to put themselves out there week after week. And I’m in favor of the City Council doing anything they can to support them. I would suggest any American citizen who knows this is an illegal and immoral war should be joining them in finding ways to hinder it and bring it to an end. As Edmond Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” 

Neil Doherty 

• 

WOZNIAK GOT IT RIGHT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Except for what was reported in the Daily Planet, I do not know what was or wasn’t said in last week’s City Council meeting, regarding the dedication of a parking space on Shattuck Avenue to those protesting the presence of the Marine Recruiting Center. Gordon Wozniak appears to be the one person who got it right—this is showing favoritism. The council is taking sides in a free speech issue when it should be upholding a larger principal—the right of free speech itself. It certainly is disgraceful that, in the home of the Free Speech Movement, the Council took favored position over the other. It is also disgraceful that the only voice articulating this disgrace in Judith Scherr’s article is that of Melanie Morgan of Move America Forward. 

But the most disgraceful thing of all is that the City Council in the home of the Free Speech Movement did not stand up as one and unanimously declare to protect the rights both of the demonstrators and recruiters. Instead, a large majority favored one side over another, based on a partisan point of view rather than on a larger principal that sanctions our freedom to have partisan points of view. Here in Berkeley you can say whatever you want and get the Council’s support, as long as it suits the prevailing political wind. (Our illustrious mayor is excused, since his stance on free speech was made clear early one morning seven years ago when he was caught stealing hundreds of copies of the election day Daily Californian—oh, I forgot, fatigue had clouded his judgment.) But what else should we expect from City Council members who are politicians first and foremost, and who, as a Massachusetts sage once observed of certain people, would rather that you love them than love the truth. 

A. Chavkin 

• 

MILITARY RECRUITING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Teens are vulnerable to the great pressure that military recruiters have to sign them up. They are told—almost always incorrectly—that they will not be sent to a war zone and that they can get education and training for whatever skill and position they want. Then they sign a contract that turns out to be worthless. Once they get to boot camp, they are told that all agreements are void and that, in fact, the military now owns them outright—lock, stock and barrel. And, yes they can do whatever they want with you. 

Certainly, those who defend the recruiter’s location near schools, etc. (for that appears to be the main issue in Berkeley), should be respected. But I can’t help noticing that they live inside a mythology that has little to do with reality. This mythology states that America is a constant force for good in the world, that we are out there “defending democracy.”...and that military service is a reasonable and good “career” option even in times of open, and probably endless, war. All myths. 

I am not a member of Code Pink, nor am I personally inclined to engage in sidewalk protests. But the Code Pink members strike me as caring, and very wide-eyed and grounded in the genuine reality that these young people will face. I can’t help but admire them for speaking out and for trying to show some light on the issue. 

Kerry McDaniel 

• 

FREE SPEECH? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

No matter what you think about the military, the war in Iraq or the Marines in Berkeley, the ongoing saga of protests by Code Pink and other groups against the recruiting office has gotten just a bit out of hand. With the mayor and the City Council getting involved it’s actually going way over the top. The council’s 6-3 vote to ask the Marines to leave is again a hypocritical move against their legal right to stay in Berkeley. The council has taken sides, poured fuel on the fires of a vocal minority and again, drawn more public attention to those who want to find any reason to punish Berkeley. Unfortunately the majority of the council tends to think more along ideological lines than practical ones. This, as a result, ends up taking up valuable council time on issues that actually have little local impact (unlike the coming city budget deficit). 

National media including conservative talk radio pun dents who love to bash Berkeley have helped polarize the silliness of this whole thing. Again, make Berkeley look like the soul bastion of radical thinking and one-sided opinion. Having lived here just about my whole dang life I would say Berkeley, is a great mixture of opinions and yes there are a very vocal minority who continually think they can push their opinion down everyone’s throat. You know, like the Moral Majority once tried to do nationally. 

Since the 1960s when the Free Speech Movement took center stage on the Berkeley campus this city has been the supposed bastion of free speech. Doesn’t that mean things that are totally legal and involve self-selection (like joining the Marines) have the right to exist? You can not like it, you can hate, you can protest it—that’s all part of free speech, but to ban them from doing this or to force them out is well, fanatical, one-sided and against free speech. 

The irony of this whole thing is the Marines have continually said that they support the right of the protesters to protest them. And, that their job is to actually protect the rights of all Americans, including Code Pink protesting them, according the U.S. Constitution. 

And, lets top this off with the fact that many of the protesters are not from Berkeley but use Berkeley and the Marine Recruiting office as a publicly visible way of making their cause known nationally. 

So, the ultimate result is the Marines are getting tons of free publicity and are probably having record recruitment efforts, Code Pink is getting lots of press, while Berkeley is being laughed at (again) nationally and becoming the whipping boy of the far right as some federal legislators who hate us look for any reason to cut funds or punish Berkeley. 

In a town with enough brain power and PhD’s to probably solve global warming we’ve again gotten wrapped up in a linear non-thinking response to a non-issue for ideological reasons that solves nothing but gives Berkeley it’s noted reputation for extremist radicalism. 

Steven Donaldson 

• 

THE CORPORATE EMPIRE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In the statement by the pro-war Move America Forward in the Daily Planet, the City Council is roundly blasted for an alleged attempt to “silence the same military men and women who serve this country and give their lives to protect the free speech of all Americans....” 

But protecting “free speech” is not the reason why the troops are in Iraq. It’s to serve the bloody expansion of the American corporate empire to control the oil resources of the Middle East. Well-intentioned but ill-informed young people are bamboozled into joining the military on the basis of saving our liberties and an uncritical “my country right or wrong” nationalism. 

Enlistment would hardly sound attractive to potential recruits if they were told they would be sent to die for the profit greed of Big Oil. 

I’m a nearly 82-year-old World War II Navy vet who also believes in free speech. I refuse to be silenced for my condemnation of this militaristic folly which portends a war without end for the sake of empire. 

Harry Siitonen 

More Letters Regarding the Council’s Ruling on the Marine Recruitment Station 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Below are signed letters from non-locals and letters addressed to third parties regarding the Berkeley City Council’s ruling on the Marine Recruitment Station. These letters do not appear in the Planet’s print edition; only letters written by locals will be published in the print edition. Unsigned letters will not be published on the web or in the print edition. 

Residents of Berkeley, I suppose your city council members and Code Pink like to think of themselves as law abiding, freedom loving citizens, but their actions speak for themselves. 

You should be ashamed of your city council for many reasons, one they are favoring common vandals and law breakers over law abiding “Heroes” who are willing to die for them so they can do what they are doing, and two they are letting their personal emotions and disagreements cloud their judgment of decency and fair play, and third, they use the youth of Berkeley as a pawn in their hatred by claiming to be protecting their health and welfare when in fact they are taking away their freedom of choice. 

I would also like to ask. Would your city council kick out of your city any manufactures that have DOD contracts and provide hundreds of jobs over their disagreement over the war and would they kick out the likes of Camp Pendleton and other bases that provide jobs and economic benefit to your city and state? 

Lastly, will you expect the military to come to your aid and protect your person and your property when the “big one” hits or when you need defending?  

Rest assured no matter what you think of the Marines they will come when you call them. They are honorable men not like most of your city council and Code Pink. 

You don’t have to agree with the war but you should at least respect the men and women who are willing to fight them for you. 

Michael Smith 

Bartlesville, Oklahoma  

With news of such distasteful treatment of our people in uniform from you jerks I can only suppose that your city is populated by cowards. Surely this will not go unnoticed by the terrorists. If someday you receive a visit from them, do not call on me.  

Ken Camp 

San Antonio, Texas 

I am enclosing a web sight, because it is to long for you to print! It is very important and eye-opening: www.Youtube.com/watch?V=VuBo4E772Xo. 

We in Montana would like to know what you are thinking! What if your city was under attack! Could you protect your children and yourselves? How many of you have family and friends in Iraq and surrounding countries? The people in Montana love our Country and want to protect it. We are a NATION UNDER GOD and GOD BLESS AMERICA and our TROOPS!!!! 

Sherry Noel 

Hardin, Montana  

It’s the hippie mentality of Berkeley denizens which is an outrage and an embarrassment to Americans. It’s because of our soldiers since the Revolutionary War who have kept our country free to enjoy the freedoms we have such as freedom of speech. But to abuse those freedoms and to be so arrogant as to think our military is not needed or wanted is indeed an obvious lack of knowledge of what it takes to protect a nation. Freedom is dear, but it comes at a high price. Without our military to protect us your pink ladies and city council, and all those who think as they do should be the first to start speaking Arabic and to endure the public stoning and beheadings of those who show their faces or speak out. When Berkeley becomes the first Islamic city in America I for one will not feel pity for them. 

These people have forgotten, or perhaps never learned what our ancestors sacrificed for us, their heirs. These people need to move to Iraq, Iran, Syria or some other Muslim country. They are not welcome in my America. 

God Bless the U. S. A. and God bless all of our military, and may Berkeley be damned. 

An American and proud of it, 

Stephanie Duncan 

Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 

Dear Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, 

While I’m sure your intentions were just and honorable, I write to discuss my opposition to the anti-United States Marine position taken by you and the City Council. I have lived in Berkeley for 31 years, and never in that time have I been ashamed of my city. Today I am.  

I have never been a Marine, never served in the armed forces, was opposed to the Vietnam War, probably would have left the country if drafted, and am deeply opposed to President Bush, all that he stands for, and the Iraq war he has mired us in. 

Nonetheless, I do NOT carry my opposition to the war and the president to the various services lawfully fulfilling their duty to defend this country and all that it stands for.  

I strongly believe that in taking on the Marine Corps directly, you have taken a step too far, and actually given “ammunition” to our mutual political enemies, the extreme right and neo-cons who have gotten us into this terrible mess. We can oppose the wrong policies of the present administration without seeming to reject and oppose the various services such as the Marine Corps, in doing that we fulfill the extreme charges of those who would say that Berkeley and the Peace Movement are opposed to the TROOPS. 

BY SEEMING TO ATTACK NOT JUST THE POLICY BUT THE US MARINE CORPS, BERKELEY PROVIDES THE RIGHT WITH JUST ANOTHER EXCUSE TO IGNORE WHAT WE BELIEVE TO BE MOST IMPORTANT, opposition to an unjust war…don’t you understand this? 

Perhaps you and the Council believe we already live in a world that can simply do away with a military for self-defense. You and the council may hope to live in that world some day, in that hope I would join you, in the belief that we NOW inhabit that world, well, good luck my friends… 

To summarize, I believe that the actions taken against the Marine Corps by the City of Berkeley are unjust, wrong-headed, bad policy, and bad politics. It is not wise to give your enemies weapons with which to destroy (or at least marginalize) you. The City of Berkeley has done just that…for which I am saddened and ashamed. 

Sincerely, 

Michael Steinberg 

Instructor of History 

Dear Senator De Mint (R-SC), 

We support your efforts to cut funding to the City of berkeley-HOWEVER LETS BE CLEAR, no “gay agenda” exists on the issue of our men and women in the military, and the recent actions of The City of “Bizerkly.” This city has a well documented history of being out of touch with mainstream society. It has consistently pushed the limits of the law and in some cases violates the law when ever it thinks it can get away with it. 

While, we feel that members of the gay community should be permitted to serve in the armed forces-that is/was not the motivation for the actions of Berkeley’s City Government. This action was pushed forward by those traitors call “Code Pink” and “Move On.org”! The fact is this city has a long standing history of being a renegade city that dates clear back to the 1960’s-70 and the Vietnam War. Nothing has changed since the 1960’s in this city and the violent riots on the Campus of US Berkeley. 

Back in the mid 1960’s, this city tried to legalize pot, until the Alameda County Sheriff came in a nearly took over their police department. The City of Berkeley gave in and fell into line with mainstream society-this is what needs t be done now with respects to our US Marines-cut off the funding and get their undivided attention! This city and all the “crazies” that live there were some of the very first in California to violate Federal Drug laws in its support of marijuana after the State of California decided to legalized personal possession of marijuana 1992. Now they have stores that sell marijuana (an illegal drug under federal law) right over the counter! So, why you are at it cut off all the funding to their police department as well! 

In Berkeley they want free speech, but if you are a conservative living in this city they want you out, and are intolerant of your different views. We clearly agree that any federal funds that are being sent to this city should be stopped at once! We clearly support the efforts of U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., when is says “the City of Berkeley, Calif., no longer deserves federal money.” The city of Berkeley needs to be brought in to line with the rest of the USA. So, the more funding that can be cut off from them the better! It sends a clear message to others who may want to follow them down this slippery slope-like the City of West Hollywood here in Southern California. 

While we maybe gay, we also believe that the actions of “Code Pink” are nothing more than “Treason” and “Anti-American”. 

John and Robert 

Los Angeles 

Cc: City of Berkely 

Fox news 

Commander in Chief-G. Bush 

Mayor, 

I write to offer my condolences to you and the City Council for your loss of common sense, common decency, and your complete and utter loss of patriotism. You can wax poetic all you want about how this is not about the brave troops but rather the displeasure for the War in Iraq, but your words only add insult to injury for those of us who have served this great country and have also been blessed to be part of the Marine brotherhood. You are old enough to remember the sting inflicted on the Vietnam veterans by many of their fellow Americans who also opposed that war and took it out on the very men and women who did their sworn duty to carry out the mission...... no matter how contentious that war may have been. You obviously have not learned from that blemish in our nation’s history, to even be a part of this shameful action. Shame on you, shame on the City Council and be assured that if any harm was to fall to any of you as a result of hostile action, the very Marin es that you are trying so desperately to remove would be the first to defend you. I hope you all lay your heads on your pillows nightly and mull that thought over. We live in a very dangerous world and I thank God daily that our youth still will step to the plate and choose to stand between the enemy and us. I suspect that my email is just one of thousands that have arrived in your mailbox and if the sheer numbers don’t convince you how out of step your views are, then I don’t know what will. 

As it has happened many, many times on our nation’s history, the irony is that no matter how distasteful your actions and words may be, every Marine will stand and die for your right to your opinion. However, that doesn’t make you right. 

I ask my fellow Marines to also email you and carry out their right of free speech as well. 

A proud Marine 

Bruce Carter 

Charlotte, North Carolina 

Mayor Bates, 

I am not a political activist, unless one considers my love of America or the fact I served as a United States Marine for thirty years as “activism.” While I absolutely support and applaud the First Amendment to the Constitution , I am distressed by your City’s stance against the United States Marine Corps and against our military recruitment efforts. Your position makes it very difficult to take pride in being a Californian.  

In fact, I am dismayed...and ashamed. Your actions go beyond the pale...well beyond. Frankly, you should be embarrassed. I am.  

It appears you have forgotten the horrors of 9/11...and the lessons we learned...or should have learned...you demean the patriotism of those Americans who choose to serve our Country. 

It is evident your City, which prides itself as a beacon of tolerance and understanding, is only tolerant and understanding of its own views. Shame on you, Mr. Mayor, and Shame on your City Council and Shame on Berkeley.  

May God Bless the United States, and all of those who defend it. 

Semper Fi, 

Tom Spencer 

Colonel, USMC (retired) 

El Cajon, California 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am extremely curious if the Mayor’s opinion that he represents the will of the people of Berkeley is, in fact, accurate. I can’t believe that the majority of any city would support this resolution regarding the Marine Recruiting office. If so, then I am saddened even more than before, when I figured this action was taken by a few who THINK they represent the many. 

Bruce Carter 

Charlotte, North Carolina 

I understand that you have listened to complains from all across the country about your City Councils opinions about the Marine Recruiting Center but as a retired Army Captain, you should understand how this is perceived by our men and women serving in the armed forces. You, as a mayor, in the country they are trying to fight for and protect, are just as much the enemy as the terrorist across the water. You say this is not about the men and women serving this country, but as a women who serves this country, I am appalled with the remarks, statements and decisions of your city. 

I am sure in the history of your city there have been men and women who have given their life for their country. And I am sure there are little boys who still play soldier and one day want to become one. Your city is closing them off from that opportunity. My father always told me, you have the ability to become whatever you want. Luckly for me, after September 11, Columbus, Ohio recruiting stations made this possible for me. I am honored to put on that uniform. I was honored to take that vow for my country, president, and the United States Air Force. Right now you are only thinking of the majority in your city and forgetting about that little boy or girl who only wants to serve their country and be loyal to their flag. 

I lost a boyfriend in the War in Iraq in 2005. He IS a UNITED STATES MARINE. The night we packed his sack to head off for deployment, he looked at me and said, “I do not know what I am doing. I do not know if I even support what is going on.” A few weeks later during one of our phone conversations he said, “I see it, I know why I am here now.” These MARINES, are the reason we in the United States are still free. 

Your community might oppose the war and they might not support the foreign policy of the administration in office but are you willing to close off the future for your children. I find it hard to believe that there is not one person in that city that believes in the war, the president, and the UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES. I find it hard to believe that a Mayor, who is looked up to by so many, who has served his country and his flag, does not understand how what his city is doing is wrong. My suggestion is to think about EVERYONE in your city. Think of how you would feel if your child was over fighting in Iraq and your Mayor what supporting the opposing to the Marine Recruiting Station. How would you feel? If you were my mayor, and my son was overseas fighting, I would not respect you! That is what makes this country great. That we can feel and say whatever we want. So they do not support the war. Then don’t go to the recruiting center. Are they bothering the residents in your community? Does their uniform offend them? If it does, maybe they should think about why they are allowed to have opinions. Or why they are allowed to be so disrespectful to the men and women who fight for their freedom. It is because those men and women for decades have sacrificed their lives for your resident’s freedoms. WAKE UP, if it was not for the United States Marine Corp, we would of lost World War II! We would have not freedom or rights. And your liberal residents would not be able to complain about how horrible it is to have a Marine Corp Station in their city. 

I have been to 20 Marine’s funeral because of the war. Do you think that is easy for someone who is 22 years old to face? No, but I understand that these men and women love their country, they are will to fight for their country so that your liberal residents can have a voice. Maybe they should think about that! Maybe they should open their minds to see that the Marines have a right to be there just like they have the right to not like them there. But trying to force them out, what does that say about you and your people. My grandfather, a World War II Vet, was outraged after hearing about your city. He even said before we finish Iraq, maybe we should just finish off California. Look at the picture you are sending the Veterans in your country. Do you really want to be THAT city? That city that no one respects? Well congratulations, you got it

For 95 years, Children’s Hospital has cared for the children and families of this community. From day one, in 1912, our mission has been to serve any child, no matter the family’s ability to pay. We have never wavered from that mission. Over the years we have cared for hundreds of thousands of children. 

Children’s Hospital is faced with the greatest challenge of its history. We must build a new hospital by 2013 to meet the state’s earthquake safety mandate or face losing our license. We are located one mile from the Hayward fault. 

We also must rebuild to keep pace with a growing population in our region and the healthcare needs of children. There is an epidemic of chronic pediatric illnesses—asthma, diabetes, obesity, cancer—that is taxing the resources of our 61 services, 31 subspecialties and our facility. We’ve run out of room and lease a 20-bed unit at nearby Alta Bates Summit Medical Center to meet the needs of Alameda County’s kids. 

To help finance the rebuilding project, estimated to cost $700 million, Children’s is asking Alameda County voters to support Measure A, a $2-a-month parcel tax. 

Children’s is a not-for-profit hospital created for a public good. Sixty-seven percent of our patients receive their healthcare coverage through MediCal and other government programs such as Healthy Families, programs that pay far less than private insurers. Do these less-privileged kids deserve the same care as kids with private insurance? We believe they do. 

Sixty-six percent of Children’s patients come from Alameda County. Measure A will provide about 40 percent ($300 million) of the building’s cost. 

Children’s Hospital fills a vital role as the only pediatric hospital in Alameda county. We have the county’s only Level 1 pediatric trauma center. Fifty-three-thousand kids passed through our Emergency Room last year. In 2007, we had more than 10,000 inpatient stays and more than 220,000 outpatient visits. 

In placing our measure on the ballot, we followed the constitutional process and asked county voters to sign our petitions. More than 61,000 did, in about half the time we anticipated it would take. When the Board of Supervisors voiced concerns about some of the details of the measure, we agreed to modify the language and they voted unanimously to put Measure A on the ballot. 

Neighbors are concerned about rebuilding the hospital in their neighborhood. Children’s has a 95-year history in this location. We were founded on this very spot in 1912. Beyond the hospital we have infrastructure, a modern outpatient center, a parking garage, a utility plant, and a world-renowned research center already here. It’s simply a matter of efficiency of resources for us to stay in our present location. We did look elsewhere, but it would have been far more expensive to move our current services and build a new hospital. 

Children’s Hospital belongs to us all. To build a new hospital will take a partnership between the public and private sectors. Our foundation is doing its share by raising funds from private donors and foundations. With these resources, plus Measure A and the continued support of our community, we will keep world-class pediatric healthcare accessible and available to all kids in our county for many decades to come.  

Please vote yes on Measure A. 

Frank Tiedemann is president and CEO of Children’s Hospital and Research Center, Oakland.

I’m a resident of North Oakland, and Ms. Roy’s comments in the Daily Planet regarding the expansion of Children’s Hospital are profoundly disturbing to me—not least since I’m also the sister of a little girl who died in childhood of a rare form of cancer that strikes only children (Wilmes’ tumor). Today, thankfully, almost all forms of children’s cancer are treatable. If my sister, Cathy, had been born just a few years later, chances are she’d be alive today. 

So when Ms. Roy talks about “children with cancer,” she’s talking about my family’s experience. Yet, despite having had to watch my sister endure seven surgeries and numerous bouts of radiation and chemotherapy, I still think the plan Children’s Hospital is offering is a bad one. Ms. Roy’s argument amounts to a guilt-trip. She righteously declares that because Children’s Hospital cares for very sick children, those of us who live nearby should just shut up and let the administrative decision-makers at the hospital have their way.  

Yet it’s quite possible to want the best for the sick children at the hospital and want the best for the neighborhood. The problem is that CHO has failed to formulate a plan that takes both needs into account. They imply that the importance of the work they do overrides the needs of the people who live around their hospital. That amounts to bullying—it’s bullying cloaked by moral righteousness, but it’s still bullying. 

That’s simply unacceptable. It is possible to take care of the sick children and take care of the neighborhood. CHO simply needs to think more creatively about how they can re-build their infrastructure without harming the neighborhood in which they do business. (And yes, health care in America is a business, a very big business—even for those corporations that have tax-exempt nonprofit status. The nonprofit hospital that treated my sister sent us bills for years after she had died.) 

Those of us who live here have a right to preserve the qualities that make this a walkable, livable neighborhood. We have moral reasons for our concern, too: the importance of local cultural heritage, wanting our city to remain human-scaled, feeling concerned about how the “ecosystem” of the neighborhood may be harmed. As it happens, I’ve worked in numerous urban hospitals, including Maimonides in Brooklyn and Memorial Sloan-Kettering in Manhattan. It is quite clear to anyone who takes a careful look at the neighborhoods around those hospitals that large institutional structures do harm to surrounding neighborhods. Large scale structures destroy the walk-ability and bike-ability of the neighborhood—surely an important quality to preserve in an age when children’s diabetes rates are skyrocketing from too little walking! 

Let’s not fall into the trap of having the administrators at CHO guilt-trip us into accepting what’s easiest for them. I would wager that the tower plan appeals to their financial officers and decision-makers because it’s the cheapest, easiest way to add beds. But the fact is that Oakland taxpayers already pay HUGE property taxes, yet the city is still struggling to provide adequate schools, police force, etc. There are many pressing needs competing for our dollars. We need to think through decisions carefully, not let the financial decision-makers at CHO run roughshod over our lives and homes. 

It amounts to this: CHO needs to listen to the people who live here. They need to be good neighbors and make the effort to create a plan that respects the lives of those around them. If I put up a 15-foot fence that destroyed my neighbors’ apple tree by blocking the light to her garden, I would be in violation of her rights. I would have done harm to her. So to the bullying voices at Children’s Hospital, I quote the founding principle of the Hippocratic oath: “First, do no harm!” Children’s Hospital Oakland needs to form a “treatment plan” for the problems they are having that does not harm others. It’s that simple.  

Elizabeth O’Hanlon Maier is a North Oakland resident. 

As a mother of a teenager, I am proud that Berkeley High School was the last high school in the nation to cave in to federal pressure and give students’ contact info to the military. Though the elected school board had voted to opt out, the school had to comply eventually to preserve federal funding. Parents may opt out, as I did, but signing up for college info opted us back in, so we are receiving deceptively seductive, glossy brochures that don’t mention that enlistees are trained to harden their hearts and kill, possibly torture, and may be killed. 

I know of a case in which 17- and 18-year-old potential recruits were raped by Marine recruiters. In another case, two young fathers signed up for one year only under the “Try One” program, only to be “stop lossed.” They learned too late about the “back door draft.” The military can keep them against their will, enslaved until the year 2035. There have been many other cases of deceptive recruitment, young people who were promised that they would not be sent overseas or into combat, signing up without reading the fine print, and returning from Iraq in coffins. It is not easy, but it is never too late to declare conscientious objector status and the GI Rights Hotline will help: (800) 394-9544. 

Women in Berkeley are carrying on this city’s proud tradition of peace advocacy and standing firm to distance our young ones from deceptive recruiting that could entice them to sign away their rights and their lives. The initiative to regulate military recruiting will help shield our young ones from a culture that glorifies violence. Violent influences should be prohibited at least near places where children pass, such as schools and parks. We have taught our children, “Don’t hit. Use your words. Work it out. Be honest. Be fair.” Real patriotism means taking responsibility and volunteering to help transform our culture into a democratic and well-informed one where more people stand up for dialogue and peace and caring. Petitions for the initiative may be signed in the Code Pink office at 1248 Solano Avenue and at events in the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall at 1924 Cedar St. 

This is not about weakening the military. We need to solve conflicts intelligently instead of escalating violence. How about strengthening our nation’s moral standing and reputation by taking care of our vets and by abiding by our own laws and our own Constitution! When our soldiers follow orders to torture, disregarding the Geneva Conventions, the supreme law of our land, they only ensure that U.S. prisoners of war will be tortured, they obtain only false or highly unreliable info, and they injure their own psyches, often permanently since help for vets is woefully inadequate. There are 195,000 homeless vets! 

I would not mind dying in effective defense of democracy here. I intend no disrespect to courageous, well-intentioned young Americans who want to defend their country, but I particularly grieve those brave souls who enlist “to protect our freedom” but end up killing and being killed, instead, to protect Haliburton, Bechtel, Lockheed Martin, Blackwater, the oil industry etc. Bring democracy to Iraq? Ha! What we have here in the U.S. is no longer democracy, but an auction, a corporatocracy. 

Yes, we still have the right to protest, and thank goodness we are exercising that right. I especially appreciate CodePINKers and other volunteers who protest for peace in front of the Marine Recruiters Station at 64 Shattuck Square day after day, and seniors who protest at Acton and University Ave every third Friday afternoon. We call on all caring people to join us in defending the core values we share such as negotiation instead of violence, objective and accurate reporting, respect for differences, responsibility as members of families and communities to protect our young ones, and security including economic security with access to education, health care and other necessities for human dignity. 

The military industrial propaganda machine is oiled by billions of our tax dollars. Imagine a future when all the taxes that are spent on military recruiting are spent instead on education and health care. Hold that vision. We are out funded, but because we have the numbers, because we are passionate and creative, and because we work for what is just, we will prevail! 

PhoeBe Anne Sorgen is a voice teacher, singer, CodePINK activist and a Berkeley Peace and Justice Commissioner.

I ran into a good friend of mine on Shattuck Avenue on election day, a longtime Berkeley progressive, hurrying to buy some Chinese food so he could get back home and watch the returns on television. He said that John Edwards had been his first choice, but after Edwards dropped out, he had agonized over who to vote for. He liked Barack Obama’s energy and promise of change, he said, but said that Hillary Clinton is closest to his positions on the two issues he cared for the most, nuclear power and universal health care. He said that even on his way to the polls, he was still agonizing over who to choose. 

I went away chuckling, feeling that for progressives, the Democratic presidential primaries has come to be something like the story of the man who has had to scuffle to find meal money all year, and suddenly finds himself invited to a cousin’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Discovered grumbling in his chair, he confesses that he has found himself in distress because he cannot decide on the pumpkin, sweet potato, or mince pie for dessert. 

Enjoy the moment, guy. If only all the world’s days were made up of such choices. 

This is not to minimize the policy differences between the remaining major Democratic primary contenders, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. There are differences, and for those of our friends around the nation—Ohio and Pennsylvania and thereabouts—whose primaries have not yet occurred, or for those who may be delegates to the Democratic National Convention, they may yet play a role in the process of who the Democrats choose. But I doubt it. 

Instead of policy, the choices between Ms. Clinton and Mr. Obama swirl more around identity, and, more particularly, gender and racial identity. For the first time, ever in the history of the nation, the nominee of a major political party will be either a woman or an African-American. For progressives who for years have fought for the elevation and equality of both groups, the question is which one should take precedence. 

If it were merely a question of which one is preferable to open the presidential door for this year, woman or African-American, I would choose African-American, but only on the very narrow grounds that I believe Ms. Clinton’s candidacy is going to automatically open the way for other women presidential candidacies, while the jury is still out on whether Mr. Obama’s will immediately do the same for African-Americans. 

Past non-whitemale presidential candidacies in recent memory—Shirley Chisolm, Jesse Jackson’s two runs, Geraldine Ferraro for Vice President—were all saddled by the “exotic tag.” Ms. Chisolm and Mr. Jackson were always and ever the Black candidates, Ms. Ferraro was always the woman candidate, with other political issues taking a back seat with supporters and detractors alike. But at times during the 2008 Democratic primaries, a remarkable event has occurred: Ms. Clinton and Mr. Obama were able, each, to step away from gender or race, to be judged independently only as candidates. Clearly that is happening more among the hip-hop generation than among those of us in the older crowd, and it has not always happened, but it has happened, a historical river crossed. 

Regardless of what happens at the convention or in the general election, the effect of Ms. Clinton’s candidacy is that forever after this year, national women politicians in this country will be judged for their presidential possibilities, in the same way national male politicians are. That will begin immediately as soon as the November elections are over. 

I am not as certain that Mr. Obama’s candidacy will lead to such an immediate door-opening for African-Americans. 

Mr. Obama has a background that is distinctly different from most African-Americans, not so much because he is biracial, but because his father was Kenyan, rather than American. In addition, despite the fact that he was raised by the white side of his family, he appears to have slipped easily and unpretentiously into African-American culture as an adult. This is a more difficult task than would be imagined for those who are not African-American. The dual result is that Barack Obama is almost universally accepted by African-Americans as an African-American, while at the same time—and this is difficult to explain, so bear with me—not projecting such an African-Americannness that he scares off the whitefolks in the far reaches of the exurbs and small towns in Utah. 

Part of it, I believe, is the weight—the personal and racial memory—carried by African-Americans from the slave trade, through slavery, through the hundred years of terror between the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil Rights and Votings Rights Acts. Many in the hip hop generation believe that history is no longer applicable—many of them believe that they have transformed the meaning of the word “nigger” (or “nigga”), and race itself has no meaning at all. I don’t know if that is true, and what will happen when the generations of those of us born before Selma and Montgomery are no longer here. But we are still here, and, to paraphrase Gibran, we are arrows that can only travel as far as the strength and position of the bow which shot us. 

For that reason, I believe that without Mr. Obama’s unique background, it is going to be difficult for future African-American presidential contenders to repeat that feat. Mr. Obama’s race will make the way for future African-American candidacies easier, but it will not make them automatic. And so, it is not so much a case of whose “turn” it is—as the argument so often happens in America when it comes to opening the door for those many to whom it has long been closed—but more so that for women politicians, the “turns” will probably come in steadily increasing cycles, such as we see in countries from England to Israel to Pakistan, while for African-Americans, it may be another long drought before the next drink of cool water. 

But in a twist on Einstein’s theory of why solid matter can’t ever reach the speed of light, the reasons African-Americans originally thought it important to have an African-American President may be dissipating the closer that such a presidency comes to reality. 

I grew up in a generation that focused on African-American “firsts,” a term you sometimes still hear, but which is only a pale—no pun intended—echo of its original powerful meaning. 

In my parents’ time, African-Americans were actively and affirmatively excluded from many levels of American social and political life. The completeness of that exclusion is difficult—if not impossible—to understand for those of us born following those days. My parents also lived through the days when the Oakland Fire Department—Oakland, California, not Oakland, Georgia—were hired to fight fires from the segregated, West Oakland Engine 22 station, but thought not intelligent enough to serve as officers. 

I was born the year after Jackie Robinson was hired by the Brooklyn Dodger organization and broke the baseball color line, and so I missed entirely the turmoil and excitement that surrounded that event. By the time I began paying attention to baseball, Jackie Robinson was aging and about to retire, and African-American players were both the norm and among the recognized stars—Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente (not actually an African-American, true, but included in the pantheon), Frank Robinson. In my time, it was the coaching ranks of all major league sports, and the quarterback position in football, where African-Americans met the closed doors. It is difficult to figure how—with African-American coaches permeating all levels of major sports, and African-American quarterbacks running too many college and NFL teams to count—that it was once argued, openly and without apparent shame, that African-Americans were too dense and excitable to fill those positions. I grew up in a time when African-Americans were so scarce on national television that Jet Magazine—the national African-American news magazine of the ‘50s and 60’s—were able to print a weekly, one page schedule of Black appearances so that we could all tune in. 

I have lived, in my time, through a number of African-American political “firsts.” The first African-American member of Oakland City Council. The first African-American Oakland mayor. During my years in South Carolina, I witnessed the first African-Americans in the South Carolina state assembly since they were run out—through assassination, violence, and fraud—a hundred years before following Reconstruction. 

But all of these “firsts” were accompanied by what used to be called the “Black agenda,” an outgrowth of the civil rights and Black Power and Black Nationalist movements, and movements further gone, which detailed a direction that the African-American community should take, goals to be accomplished, thresholds to be reached. In those early days of modern Black politics, African-American politicians could only be elected from majority Black districts, and to be elected, they had to have a history in the movement and, at least on paper, a commitment to that “Black agenda.” 

But time and victories have dissipated that agenda, so that the term is rarely, if ever, used in recent years. In addition, African-American politicians have jumped the color line and slowly begun to win victories in districts that are not majority African-American. To do so, they have had to maintain the delicate balancing act of maintaining their political base among African-American voters, but in such a way that they are not identified as a “Black candidate” who scares off the necessary non-Blacks. The smaller the African-American voting percentage becomes in the district being pursued, the further the African-American candidate and office-holder must wander from a strictly Black agenda, until a Black agenda ceases to exist. 

That is what we are seeing in the candidacy of Mr. Obama. He identifies himself as an African-American, and many of his political traditions have their roots in the African-American community. If he were to win, he would promote many policies that would be favorable to that community. But distinctly more favorable than those that would be promoted by Ms. Clinton? That, I believe, would be a difficult argument to make. 

In the end, progressives, African-American, and women who identify with the Democratic Party are left with an embarrassment of riches—two credible, serious candidates who we don’t have to grind our teeth to vote for. Hell, you could throw in John Edwards, put their names in a hat, close your eyes, guarantee that the one you picked would be the President come next year, and most progressive, African-American, and women Democrats would be tickled to death at the prospect. 

Something to remember, even as we support and pull for the candidate of our choice, in the meantime. 

For seven decades spanning the period from the 1880s to the 1950s, San Francisco was an important hub in the American knitting industry. It became so thanks to one Swiss immigrant: John Jacob Pfister (1844–1921). 

Although the knitting machine was invented as early as 1589, knitting remained a cottage craft for more than 250 years. Not until the mid-19th century, when the circular knitting machine was introduced, did machine-knitted undergarments become common. 

In 1864, William Cotton of Leicestershire developed a full-fashioned machine, capable of producing garments that fit the body’s shape. This innovation helped turn commercial knitting into a full-fledged industry in Europe. 

Four years after Cotton’s invention, the 25-year-old John Jacob Pfister, who had worked as a traveling salesman in his native Switzerland, left for the New World. He is said to have been one of the passengers who made the trip to San Francisco on the first transcontinental train. 

In 1877, Pfister obtained three hand-operated knitting machines and began manufacturing knitwear on a small scale with the help of two assistants. The impetus may have come from Pfister’s elder brother, who had remained in Switzerland and become a knitwear manufacturer. 

Who were the two assistants? Pfister’s biography in Greater Oakland, 1911: A Volume Dealing with the Big Metropolis on the Shores of San Francisco Bay (Pacific Publishing Co.) doesn’t reveal their names. However, a decade following this modest beginning, the J.J. Pfister Knitting Company, now incorporated, was operating a factory at 410 Polk Street, on the corner of McAllister and cater-cornered from the construction site of San Francisco’s city hall, begun in 1872 but not completed until 1899. 

In 1889, J.J. Pfister Knitting Co. was listed in the San Francisco directory as manufacturers of crochet and knitted goods, bathing suits, tights, underwear, sporting uniforms, and importers of bolting cloth. By then, Pfister was employing two men who within a decade would utilize their acquired know-how to found their own knitting company—one that would rival Pfister’s and eventually eclipse it. They were John O. Gantner, corporate secretary, and George A. Mattern, mill superintendent (see “Knitwear Magnate Looked to Europe for Building Inspiration” in the Jan. 25, 2008 issue). 

As the Victorian era waned, Americans of both sexes were engaging in more athletic pursuits than ever before, propelling consumer demand for swimsuits, jerseys, golf vests, sweaters, and leggings. Pfister opened a retail store at 60 Geary Street in downtown San Francisco, where he sold both off-the-shelf and knit-to-order apparel and underwear. 

Athletic uniforms being an important component of the catalog, Pfister was active in the affairs of the YMCA, even attending the organization’s state conventions. His employee G.A. Mattern learned and copied from the master. 

On June 13, 1905, the San Francisco Call reported that property owners and lease holders of the blocks bounded by Geary, Stockton, Post, and Kearny Streets had met “to discuss ways and means of beautifying Union Square Avenue [today’s Maiden Lane] and turning the alley into an attractive place for retail shoppers.” Newton J. Tharp, a prominent San Francisco architect (he would become the City Architect in 1907) presented a sketch of a covered arcade proposed for the two blocks between Kearny and Stockton Streets. 

“On each side of the street were walks seven feet wide. Every thirty feet was a pillar, made of iron and supporting a glass roof,” reported the Call. The retail merchants in attendance “seemed very enthusiastic over the possibility of the artistic improvement. Most of them had seen the shopping streets of Paris, Berlin, Milan and other European cities, where the covered shopping avenues have been in vogue for many years.” 

A second meeting was convened on June 19 to poll all interested parties, of whom J.J. Pfister was one. A committee was formed and success seemed assured when the City Engineer announced that obstructions on the streets ran contrary to the city charter and the building ordinance and therefore could not be legally accomplished. The merchants vowed to continue, but the momentum appeared to have fizzled. 

And then the earthquake struck, followed by fire. Pfister family lore, passed down through John Jacob’s daughter-in-law, tells that on the first day of the fire, the Polk Street factory burned down; on the second day, the Geary Street shop went up in flames; and on the third day, the house at 2208 Jones St. was decimated. 

The business was insured by the Pennsylvania Insurance Company, the home by German-American (now Great American Life Insurance), and both refused to cover the loss, since the fire was caused by earthquake. 

Two San Francisco friends are said to have helped Pfister start from scratch. Were they Gantner and Mattern, whose own facilities were not harmed? Perhaps, but not likely. 

A week after the earthquake, Pfister had opened a temporary office at 1006 McAllister St., and on June 26, the Berkeley Reporter announced that the J.J. Pfister Knitting Company had bought a tract of land in West Berkeley, along Parker Street from Seventh to Tenth, and would construct there a factory employing between 150 and 200 hands. 

The land was purchased from the Carleton family, which owned a 100-acre farm on San Pablo Road. 

“Five factories are now working on machines to stock this new knitting mill, which is expected to be in full working order some time during September,” informed the Reporter. “In order to accommodate its employees, the company will build a number of cottages, and rent them at a nominal figure.” 

The Reporter also made it known that in addition to its factory hands, the Pfister Company employed “many outside hands to do finishing and crocheting and will thus give a number of Berkeley people an opportunity to increase their income by working in their own homes.” It was rumored that the town would “meet the company by completing the macadamizing of Seventh Street to and through the company’s land and also macadamizing Parker Street to the West Berkeley railroad line.” 

By July 11, the Reporter divulged that architect William H. Wharff had prepared plans for the new factory, which would contain 27,000 square feet, measure 150 by 60 feet, and accommodate 100 employees. The previous year, Wharff had designed the Masonic Temple on the corner of Shattuck Ave. and Bancroft Way. 

Opened in November 1906, the Pfister factory was originally clad in brown shingles. The Oakland Tribune took stock of it on Dec. 8 of that year: 

The building is two stories in height and is well lighted by fifteen windows on each side of the building. The basement is being used for storing a large stock of yarns; the first floor has the knitting machines; the second floor contains the machines used for finishing off garments. D. Halliday erected the factory building, and also a handsome residence for J.J. Pfister, the proprietor of the factory, which is located east of the factory building. The factory is employing twenty-five persons this week, but in the near future the number of employees will be increased to 100. 

At latest there are thirty-two machines of the latest and most improved type in use on the first floor, and eighteen on the second floor. Fifteen new machines will be obtained in the near future, and will materially increase the capacity of the plant. 

The Pfister family—John Jacob, Bertha, and John Jacob Jr.—settled in a modest shingled cottage—also designed by Wharff—across the street from the factory, at 2601 8th Street. The company’s San Francisco office and sales rooms returned to Polk and McAllister, and a new store was opened in 1908 at 739 Market St., opposite Grant Avenue. 

In 1907, the frugal Pfister hit upon an ingenious way to promote his business without shelling out for display ads. His brief, three-line ads began appearing in the San Francisco Call’s editorial columns, the only such ads to occupy this type of space. 

Business was sufficiently good, but the Pfisters lived modestly and their names were never mentioned in the society pages. John Jr. was not a coddled son. In 1907, at the age of 20, he took out an ad in the Call in which he described himself as experienced in farming and wanting a position as teamster on a large farm. Evidently he found such a position, because in 1909 he took out another ad, this time describing himself as an experienced teamster with good knowledge of farming who could take entire charge of a small place. A year later, he was superintendent in the knitting mill. 

From trade publications of the era one gathers that the Pfister company had a capitalization of $80,000 in 1913 and $120,000 in 1916, at which time they operated 72 knitting machines. But the company wasn’t strong enough to withstand the post-WWI recession of 1920–21. John Jacob Pfister died on April 21, 1921. Although his daughter-in-law claimed that he was ruined financially and died of a broken heart, Pfister left his wife and son an estate of $48,000, consisting of a house and lot in Berkeley and 640 acres in Placer county. 

The Emporium bought the Pfister inventory and on December 22, 1924, advertised “Stock purchase of the well known J.J. Pfister Knitting Co. of San Francisco and Berkeley, who are retiring after forty years of successful business. On sale Tuesday at nine—at regular wholesale prices: Sweaters for men, boys, women, children, infants. Not only sweaters but other wanted knitted wearing apparel of high quality just in time for your last-minute Christmas shopping. Every garment high grade and dependable in every way. Truly a lucky purchase!” 

In 1923, the Pfisters moved their house to 1233 Derby Street, where they continued to live for the rest of their days. John Jacob Jr. went to work as a clerk in another knitting company. The Pfister factory was taken over in 1929 by the Bomberger Seed Company, which stuccoed the exterior. The building was designated a City of Berkeley Landmark in November 1986. 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA).

I’m listening to the mow-n-blow couple working their way through the neighborhood. I’m about bored with things that roar and go bang, especially in the garden, especially at midday because, surprise, I work right here at home. To judge by the time they’ve spent on the token lawn in front of the apartment next door, the various gas-powered gadgets don’t save much time and they must make the work as hard with their weight as the average push mower, weed whip/scythe, or rake would with just repetitive motion. Don’t get me started on what errant weedwhackers do to tree trunks; I ranted sufficiently last week to keep my diastole high. 

Some garden sounds are perfectly pleasant. It’s possible, for example, to overdo it with windchimes, but on their own they’re good. One set, please, and in a soothing rather than ebullient pitch because ebullient becomes excruciating in short order. Want to make it art? Hang them in a spot where the wind doesn’t usually reach. They become a rare treat and also a source of information: Listen! The wind’s shifted. The weather’s about to change. 

Water’s another common source of garden music, and lately you can shop for every choral range from falsetto to seafloor bass. It’s easy enough to make your own fountain out of an interesting stone or a pot or other artifact. Remember how folks used to make lamps out of old bottles, spools, oilcans, small pets who sat still too long? I guess they still do, actually.  

Now, with a low-power recirculating pond pump and a length of plastic tubing, you can follow that same inclination, only toward fountains. Forget the Mannequin (or Manneken) Pis—please!—and the standard drooling lion or spitting fish. Pipe a stream through a broken hula-hoop or a copper spiral from that still you never got finished. Bounce it down a ladder of old serving spoons. Pour it from a jug into a bowl. Run it over an umbrella or plumb a bowling ball.  

Natural fountains are easy enough, if that’s more your style. A pile of stones and a basin with plants to soften the rim: instant waterfall. It’s a good idea to cement or putty your stack of rocks together, but try them out in a few different poses first; then run your tubing up the back. If you’re daring and fickle you can just balance them unglued and leave the option of rearranging them on a whim. You might find the local raccoon or possum doing the rearranging for you some night, though. 

Moving water does attract wildlife, including the musical kind. It doesn’t take much to do that: just a drip into a shallow bowl will bring in birds you didn’t know you had in the neighborhood, and it can happen overnight. You get bird music—they’re starting already, as the hummingbirds are nesting and the robins singing in rehearsal before they migrate—and if you have a dead tree handy you might even get woodpeckers to play the drums.  

One of the most common features in our early 20th century housing stock is that imperishable ruffian of the heating world, the floor furnace. 

It continues to amaze me how many of these persist in operating as the main source of heat for houses since they do not heat spaces uniformly and pose a greater risk for fire, burns and exhaust leaks than many other types of heater. The answer to this conundrum is, of course, that since they don’t just up-and-die, people keep on using them. 

Natural gas floor furnaces are radiant heaters that heat the spaces that they are in and provide no ducting to heat adjacent spaces. This means that they will tend to bake their immediate environs when they are being used to heat whole houses. Floor furnaces actually heat by convection more than by radiation, which means that they are creating a plume of heat that drives air up to the ceiling above them, down the walls and across the floor back into the unit.  

Since this process pushes air, it also pushes dust, dander and animal hair into the unit where it comes to rest near the bottom. In other words, floor furnaces are central vacuum systems and this is why they are always filled with dust. This material is of course, flammable and adds a lovely allergenic aroma to the air which those of you privy to this experience will recognize immediately.  

Excessive built-up of dust and dander also becomes a fire hazard and should be maintained with the narrow wand of a vacuum cleaner. Many older floor furnaces have a metal cowling or heat shield that can be easily removed for cleaning. Be sure and put it back properly when this job is complete. Some later models have a heat sensor attached to the shield and should only be removed by a professional. You’ll readily see a wire attached to the shield if you try to remove it. 

Floor furnaces get quite hot when being used and small children, especially toddlers are at risk around these floor mounted ovens. Remember that infants do not have well developed heat sensors or reactions and will be burned before they have become aware. 

Flammables should be kept clear of these units and this includes rugs, newspapers, books and drapes. It’s improper to have these devices installed where a door swings across the grill, since even these can catch fire after hours of prolonged heating. 

A feature that’s important to look for with any radiant heater is the presence of a thermostat in the area heated by the device. If the thermostat is located beyond a doorway, the door may be shut when the unit is in use allowing the heater to reach much higher temperatures than those mandated by the thermostat. If this is true for you, have your heating contractor move the thermostat. If you have a unit that turns on and off with a metal floor key, consider having a thermostat installed since without one, the unit can be left on and reach very high temperatures, greatly increasing the likelihood of fire. 

Like all gas heating appliances, floor furnaces generate exhaust gas. This gas is toxic and can contain significant amount of carbon monoxide, a deadly, odorless gas. So it’s really important that these gases be moved outside the dwelling without leakage. I find that lots of these old floor furnaces leak at least a little bit and some leak a lot. One way that leaks occur is through a hole intentionally installed in all of these units right on top. These view holes come with covers and most have a mica or similar clear window in the top. These are often damaged or left open or lost entirely allowing flue glasses to literally pour into the dwelling. Under the best of circumstances this puts lots of steam into the house and under the worst of circumstances this may be deadly. There are also seam leaks on many of these.  

Last in this litany of complaints is the surprising fact that this kind of heating is more likely to create an electrical fire in an older home. This is due to the frequent use of electric heaters in homes that lack an adequate gas heat source. Many of the same homes that have floor furnaces have inadequate or unsafe wiring and the addition of an electric heater (often left on for hours at night) adds the duress that sets off a fire. 

The best response to these many concerns is to spend the money and upgrade. Forced air is the most common replacement but take some time to look at the alternatives before you spend your money. If you do go with forced air, consider using the old floor furnace housing (box) as your “cold-air return” (or intake). It will eliminate the need to repair the floor and generally works quite well. The filter for your “FAU” (forced air unit), can be placed in the gutted box of the floor furnace making it easy to service.  

Although I’ve never seen statistics on this, I wouldn’t be surprised if an FAU used less energy to heat the house than a floor furnace since all rooms are kept at roughly the same temperature with an FAU. The living room or hall is often baking hot when a floor furnace is trying to keep the back bedroom warm enough and this surely used a great deal of excess energy.  

If you are going to keep that floor furnace a while longer consider adding attic insulation to help hold and distribute heat that wants to go right up into space. Also be sure and have it looked at regularly by an expert. 

Despite the charm of our elderly housing stock and my love of restoration, this is one feature that I’d like to see us all part with. 

Today, “Super Tuesday,” millions of Americans will select either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for president. Both carry historic liberal values and are capable of doing an excellent job as president. The question voters will have to decide is not who can do the job “on day one”—they both can—but rather who would be the best fit for these tumultuous times. 

Each candidate has strong points. Sen. Clinton is smart, experienced, and has the advantage of having been part of the 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns of her husband, Bill Clinton. Although some pundits describe her as a centrist, in comparison to the likely Republican presidential candidates she is a progressive. Ms. Clinton has retained contact with many of the people who served her husband for eight years; there is no doubt that if she were to be elected President, she would hit the ground running on Jan. 20, 2009. 

Sen. Obama is the surprise candidate. Five years ago, few Americans would have predicted that an African American with the unlikely name of Barack Hussein Obama would be a contender for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Although he has only been a member of Congress since January 2005, Mr. Obama has a compelling personal history: the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, he has worked as a community organizer as well as a civil-rights attorney. He has surrounded himself with experienced advisers—Sens. Durbin, Kennedy, Kerry, and Leahy, among others—and would probably have no difficulty making the transition to the 44th presidency. 

Although the details of their proposed policies differ, both Clinton and Obama offer a stark contrast to the Republican position. Iraq? Clinton and Obama want a plan for withdrawal; Republicans want to stay until we “win.” Healthcare? Clinton and Obama favor a national plan that serves the most needy; Republicans want to deal with the problem by “tax incentives.” Recession? Clinton and Obama favor tax credits to help average Americans and programs to create jobs; Republican want tax cuts that favor corporations and the rich. On issue after issue, the differences between Clinton and Obama are barely perceptible, while they and their possible Republican adversaries are miles apart. 

The important difference is how the two candidates conceive of the presidency. During the Jan. 15 Democratic presidential debate in Nevada, Sen. Clinton said, “I do think that being president is the chief executive officer… you have to be able to manage and run the bureaucracy.” Sen. Obama disagreed: “Being president is not making sure that schedules are being run properly or the paperwork is being shuffled effectively. It involves having a vision for where the country needs to go. It involves having the capacity to bring together the best people and being able to spark the kind of debate about how we’re going to solve [problems]; and then being able to mobilize and inspire the American people to get behind that agenda for change.” 

Ms. Clinton countered that George W. Bush also promised to be a “uniter,” implying Mr. Obama was naïve. He pointed to his record as a community organizer and a politician, where he had proven effective bringing people together to form a broad consensus. Many pundits argue Hillary Clinton is less capable of doing this, as she is seen as divisive. 

Sen. Clinton espouses what might be termed the “executive” view of the presidency: the role of the president is to formulate programs and get them through Congress. Sen. Obama supports the “leadership” view: the role of the President is to inspire the American people and create the conditions for change. Both models have proven successful in recent American history: LBJ was an executive who got major programs through Congress, for example the Civil Rights Act. Ronald Reagan was a conservative leader who created the conditions for change—many of them negative. 

Hillary Clinton is an unusually strong politician who happens to be a woman. Barack Obama is an inspirational leader who happens to be black. When you listen to their speeches, one difference is the use of pronouns: Clinton emphasizes “I,” as in “I will do this.” Obama emphasizes “we,” as in “we can change America.” 

Deciding which candidate will be better for America depends on how one conceives of the job of the next president. If you see it as passing lots of legislation, ramming reversals of Bush policies through an obdurate Congress, Sen. Clinton may be the best candidate. If you see the job of the 44th president as creating the conditions for fundamental change, as I do, then Sen. Obama prevails. I can imagine him convincing Americans to simplify their lives and quit using fossil fuel; it is difficult to see Ms. Clinton doing this. 

The next president will have to inspire Americans to make sacrifices and work for the common good. I think Barack Obama is best prepared to do this. We should elect the person who will be the best fit for these times. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net.

(Posted on Feb. 5, at 11:45 a.m.)—On several occasions since the war began in 2003, the Berkeley City Council has publicly and passionately stated its opposition to the war in Iraq. On January 29, 2008, the Berkeley City Council approved a series of recommendations intended to impede the recruiting activities of the downtown Berkeley Marine Corps office, which for many people in Berkeley has become a symbol of that war. 

Specifically, the recommendation to inform the Marine Corps recruiting office that they are not welcome in our city, was insulting, hurtful and wrong. We failed to make it clear that while we continue to oppose what we consider an unethical and illegal war in Iraq, at the same time we respect and honor all the brave men and women who are serving, or have served, in the military.  

In our passionate opposition to this war, and in our horror and frustration over the thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands Iraqis who have died in it, we have erred by not adequately differentiating between the war and the warriors. It is understandable that the unnecessarily inflammatory language included in the Council_s action offended and insulted many Marines and their families. We apologize to all those in the military and their families, who took personal offense. This was not our intention. 

In a completely separate action, the Berkeley City Council granted fee waivers for permits to an organization actively protesting the Marine Corps office. To grant a privilege to one group while actively seeking to eliminate the legal presence of another is discriminatory and contrary to our long-standing support of free speech. In retrospect, the City Council should have considered the impact such an action would have on the rights of free speech and expression for all citizens. These rights must be paramount and must be preserved and protected for all of us. 

If Berkeley is truly to remain the home of free speech, then our priority should be to preserve it for all citizens, so that personal and governmental decisions can be made through informed debate. 

Berkeley Councilmember Betty Olds, District 6 

Berkeley Councilmember Laurie Capitelli, District 5 

Most of the public and literary appreciation for bare trees seems to come from wintry places like New England, but bonsai artists and fans and the landscape pruners who think along similar lines make a big deal of the “winter silhouette.” It’s one of the most refined criteria for judging a deciduous tree. 

One reason for that is that a deciduous tree in winter is naked indeed, and any mistakes you’ve made in shaping it will stick right out. In bonsai, the small scale makes errors even more obvious: it’s not so much miniaturization as abstraction, representing a wild tree in as few artistic strokes as possible, so any single part gets more attention.  

Once the leaves fall from landscape trees, it doesn’t take an expert to see what horrors have been wreaked upon them. There’s a row of poplars I have to look at every time I’m in the Union Bank parking lot; they’re up against a building on Channing and face west. In leaf, they look like so many toothbrushes; maybe some people think that’s an OK look. Naked, they’re just pitiful: nice straight trunks and then little awkward twigs sticking out in graceless desperate clusters.  

Maybe some people think that looks OK. There are those who go for pollarded trees, and some among them might be a bit uncritical of un-treelike forms for perfectly innocent trees. I find it hard to imagine, though.  

I’m a bit more tolerant of pollarding than I used to be—as long as it’s done right. Originally, pollarding was utilitarian, a way of harvesting firewood without killing the trees. Mulberries and sycamores will tolerate it well; it’s a classic urban way of treating London planetrees, a sycamore hybrid we often see in cities. If you try pollarding other species it’s riskier.  

Pollarding doesn’t mean just sawing pieces off at random. You have to start when the tree’s relatively young and take care to cut back to the same place on each scaffold limb every year. It gets easier to spot the place after a couple of years, as the tree forms big knobs at the cut places. You leave the knobs, taking off just the straight skinny branches that grew since the last pollarding.  

You also have to do it yearly, because those skinny branches are attached weakly, not to the central part of the tree. If they stay on the tree and get bigger, they just might fall off and bonk you on the head and it would serve you right.  

The trees still look funny to me, but I’m so old that low-rise pants look funny to me too: quaint. I wore them the last time they came around, in the ‘70s, and I remember how odd those old photos looked 15 years later. It’s just a matter of fashion, pollarding, until somebody blows it and then it’s tree abuse. (I suppose when somebody blows it with the pants it’s a gesture of solidarity with plumbers or somesuch.) Or maybe I’ve become more apathetic as I’ve noticed that both mulberries (the ‘Fruitless’ male clones planted as street trees) and planetrees are allergenic as well as ubiquitous. I’m Irish/Welsh; I bear grudges.  

One more positive reason for looking hard at a tree in winter is the revelation of the private lives of summers past. We see abandoned nests of squirrels and birds; there are field guides detailed enough to tell what species reared its young in each of them, in the shelter of last year’s leaves. Woodpecker holes and sapsucker drillmarks show up and winter residents become visible. The tree tells you what it and its tenants have been up to.  

The basic attraction of the winter silhouette is its sheer unlikely beauty. It’s so difficult to imitate the tree’s natural ramification, or just not to screw it up, because it’s not at all random. It obeys rules that are complex, mathematical, exigent, and organic, and while we sometimes know enough to approximate their effect, we rarely know enough to follow them precisely.  

Every cell in those twigs grows to reach toward light, to support a leaf that will catch as much light as possible, while responding to every other cell in the tree, pushing and dancing and proposing hypotheses, turning to bask in the sun and later lignifying, supporting its successors in the same quest.  

The tree makes its silent approximations every second of its growth, refining its formulae, adding to its suncatching surface, crystallizing to make its space while filling it, fracturing the sky into precise geometries. If we’re to do it justice, we must sit and learn, listen awhile, humbly shut up and hear what it has in mind.  

Photograph by Ron Sullivan. 

The delicate geometry of deciduous trees in winter at the MLK Jr. Shoreline from Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland.

Temescal Labs, the innovative Oakland theater company (nee Ten Red Hen) that notably staged both The 99-Cent Miss Saigon and Clown Bible at Willard Metalshop Theater, is performing Clean, a work-in-progress about Silicon Valley and toxicity, which includes the story of Hans Reiser, on a double bill with Brittney Brown Ceres’ Bodily File, 8 p.m. tonight (Friday) and Saturday at CounterPulse, 1310 Mission St. near Ninth Street in San Francisco. 

“CounterPulse chooses two artists per season for residency,” said Maya Gurantz, Temescal Labs’ founder and dynamic artistic director. “It’s a very supportive process. Remarkable to work with my company in this professional space—especially to be able to work on developing all these ideas, these dark stories, without having to worry about a final product.” 

The two major stories are those of Fernando Jimenez Gonzalez, an 18-year-old worker at a P.C. Board company in Silicon Valley, who drowned in a vat of sulphuric acid last September (and whose family, after months of an OSHA investigation, has just been compensated: $3,800), and Hans Reiser, now on trial in Oakland, accused of doing away with his wife.  

“The Reiser story is about the more invisible costs of the industry,” Gurantz noted. “He’s on the intellectual end of production, whereas Gonzalez was in manufacturing, at the opposite end.” 

The staging of Clean includes a 15x15-foot piece of fake turf in the middle of the CounterPulse space, and a tissue dancer, playing Gonzalez, performing his fatal tumble over and over. 

“There’s lots of movement for the Hans Reiser character, too,” said Gurantz, “and lots of found text. This has been a real exploration, deeply researched. I went over 10 years’ back issues of the San Jose Mercury and read the relevant books, and everybody joined in—actors, designers ... we had field trips to the Intel Museum. And I don’t know that we’re anywhere near finished. The ideas involved are too big to find answers to in three months.” 

Meanwhile, Gurantz is looking toward the future. “I’ll be directing for Shotgun in their Fall slot, then we’re trying to take Clown Bible [in which Biblical stories are performed as musical comedy by clowns] to New York. And figuring out what the next project is, though we’re not finished with this one at all! And we’d like to take something to Europe the summer after this one—a Commedia-type clown piece.” 

And why the name change from Ten Red Hen? “That’s the name of my blog!” said Gurantz. “It was chosen in a moment of haste to give the company a name when The 99-Cent Miss Saigon was opening. The blog will keep that name. But I think Temescal Labs is less confusing, communicates more what we do. And we’re permanent Oakland residents now. Besides, I like what ‘Temescal’ means—it’s the Ohlone word for sweat lodge.” 

Sometime in the early 1960s, Jan Faulkner, an undergraduate at Lincoln University in Missouri, saw some paper ephemera featuring black stereotypes and began a collection that has since been exhibited in museums, featured in monographs and the subject of a film documentary produced by Marlon Riggs in 1986.  

The collection is usually known by the name Ethnic Notions. More recently, Faulkner had hoped to sell the whole collection to a museum, but with no success. Where is the Smithsonian when you need them? 

Now, this whole remarkable assemblage is going to be broken up and offered for sale to collectors. If you saw the show at the Berkeley Art Center in 1982, you only saw a fraction of the whole collection. For this first scheduled sale all of the objects from the collection, not just the couple of hundred in the museum exhibition, will be shown and offered for sale. Paper ephemera items will be featured at a later sale. 

The observant flâneur in the contemporary supermarket will occasionally catch a glimpse of some brand survivors from as far back as the 1890s, fugitive images of Uncle Ben, Aunt Jemima, and Rastus, the chef on the Cream of Wheat box, still being used to sell products today. Few are aware that these taken-for-granted icons are only the tip of an enormous black iceberg of African-American stereotypes used to sell everything from pancakes, syrup, fried chicken, candy, coffee, yams, toothpaste, and laundry detergent to golf tees, tobacco, clothing, liquor, toys, novelties and greeting cards. 

Among the most famous advertising characters of the past were the Gold Dust twins, Goldie and Dustie, two “pickaninnies” who touted cleaning products for Lever Brothers. My own tiny collection includes a tube of Darkie toothpaste, made in Taiwan, showing a very black man with very white teeth. Even ofay Mrs. Butterworth comes in a synechdochal brown, Mrs. Butterworth-shaped bottle. 

Strangely, in America, blacks are both loved and hated, trusted and feared, taboo and desirable, divine and demonic. As far as merchandising, they have been used to sell products for at least two centuries. And this selling of products spills over into the images of blacks in literature, music, radio, film and television. All black performers know that their individual performances can be subsumed either by themselves or their audience into any number of stereotypes. Film scholar Donald Bogle explicates some of these types in his pioneering Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies and Bucks. Where Europe has Harlequin, Scaramouche, Columbine, Pierrot and Punch, America has Jim Crow, Uncle Remus, Amos and Andy and Sambo. 

Faulkner’s assembling of these enigmatic objects, each of which speaks with an eloquence that transcends the need for explanation or commentary, is a remarkable achievement by a unique individual who had a personal insight into race in America. The films Ghost World and Bamboozled hint at some of this vision, but it is even rawer and more immediate here. It is sad to think that Ms. Faulkner’s conception will be fragmented, but if you have never seen it, you will not want to miss this final showing of Ethnic Notions.

FRIDAY, FEB. 8 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “Barefoot in the Park” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. at Berryman, through Feb. 16. Tickets are $10-$12. 649-5999.  

Altarena Playhouse “Wait Until Dark” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through Feb. 16. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553.  

Aurora Theatre “Satellites” at 8 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. through March 2. Tickets are $40-$42. 843-4822.  

Berkeley Rep “”Wishful Drinking” with Carrie Fisher, at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St., through March 30. Tickets are $33-$69. 647-2949. 

Black Repertory Group Theatre “A Raisin In The Sun” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $5-$25. 652-2120.  

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “The Cocoanuts” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., some Sun. matinees at 2 p.m., at 951 Pomona Ave., at Moeser, El Cerrito, through March 2. Tickets are $15-$24. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

foolsFURY Theater “Monster in the Dark” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. and Sun. at 5 p.m., through Feb. 17, at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $12-$30. 800-838-3006.  

Masquers Playhouse “Angel Street” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. through Feb. 23 at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets are $18. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

“Still I Stand” written and performed by Marissa Saunders. Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Longfellow School Theater, 1500 Derby St. Tickets are $15-$20.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Real or Surreal” Art by Mari Kearney. Reception at 7:30 p.m. at Cafe Diem, 2224 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. 

FILM 

Jean-Pierre Léaud “The Mother and the Whore” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

“The Invisible Forest” A film by Antero Alli at 8 p.m. at 21 Grand, 416 25th St., Oakland. Tickets $8-$12. www.21grand.org  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Charles Wollenberg reads from “Berkeley: A City in History” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s. 704-8222. 

Carol Gilligan talks about her new book “Kyra” at 6:30 p.m. at Bette’s Oceanview Diner on Fourth St. 559-9500.  

Grace Grafton and Cherese Wyneken, poets, at 7 p.m. at Nefeli Caffe, 1854 Euclid Ave. 841-6374. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Anatolian Folk Music at noon at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. 

Triskela, celtic harp trio,at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlington Community Church, 53 Arlington Ave. Tickets are $5-$15. 526-9146. 

History and Harmony Black History Concert Series at 7:30 p.m. at Allen Temple Baptist Church, 8501 International Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$10. 544-8924. 

Catalina Claroat 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568.  

Pamela Rose & Danny Caron Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ.  

Slammin, Crosspulse at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054.  

Justin Hellman at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373.  

Amy Meyers at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

SF Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival with The Freight Hoppers, Crooked Jades at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Bosssa Five-O, jazz, at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

David Silverberg, Christina Kowalchuk at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Scott Amendola, Matthais Bossi and Devin Ray Hoff at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082.  

Jimmie Reign, Rozi Crane, R&B, at 9 p.m. at Maxwell’s Lounge, 341 13th St., Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. 839-6169. 

A.P.P.L.E., Resistant Culture, Armistice, at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Kevin Beadles at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

The Jelly Roll Souls at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Eliane Elias, sings and plays Bill Evans, at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, FEB. 9 

CHILDREN  

Children’s Book Marathon in Celebration of Black History Month from 1 to 4 p.m. at the African American Museum & Library, 659 14th St., Oakland. Free, but reservations strongly encouraged. 637-0200. 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Gary Lapow at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568.  

Music and Puppets with Jen Miriam at 11 a.m. at Studio Grow, 1235 Tenth St. Cost is $7. 526-9888. 

“The Wizard of Ahhhhs” Magic show with Blake Maxam Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellvue Ave., Oakland.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Art of Living Black” and “Emory Douglas: The Art of Political Protest” Opening reception with Emory Douglas in person at 3 p.m. at Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. 620-6772. 

National Institute of Art & Disabilities “NIAD Faculty & Artists” A 25th Anniversary Celebration. Opening reception at 2 p.m. at 551 23rd St., Richmond. 620-0290.  

“Tilden Odyssey” Textured paintings, collages, and monotypes by Sheila Sondick on display at the Tilden Nature Center, through Feb. 28. 525-2233 

“Double Vision: Artist Partners” Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, 25 Grand Ave., upper level, Oakland. www.chandracerrito.com 

“Yea We Said It, And No We’re Not Sorry” works by Malik and Milton Bowens for Black History Month. Opening reception at 5:30 p.m. at Joyce Gordon Gallery, 406 14th St., Oakland. 465-8928. 

FILM 

African Film Festival “Clouds Over Conakry” at 8:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Gillian Conoley and Jane Miller at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Moiseyev Dance Company at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$48. 642-9988.  

Community Women’s Orchestra at 4 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1331 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. Suggested donation $10, children free. 463-0313.  

Philharmonia Baroque Beetoven’s “Emperor” piano concerto with Robert Levin, at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $30-$72. 415-392-4400.  

“Love Songs & Chocolate” at 7 :30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. Suggested donation $15, includes a variety of desserts. 525-0302. 

Powell St. John at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 1809b Fourth Street. 525-2129. 

Gateswingers Jazz Band, for dancing or just listening, at 8 p.m. at Central Perk, 10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 558-7375. 

Ed Reed & his Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

Yarie Toure, Djekouria Fanta Conde at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Guinean dance workshop at 9 p.m. Cost is $15. 525-5054. 

Kurt Maire, Jesse Rubin at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Junius Courtney Band with a staged reading of “The Billy Strayhorn Session” at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Kally Price Old Time Music at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. 

Ray Obiedo & Mambo Caribe, Latin jazz, at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Mikie Prasand Band at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub. 647-1790.  

Beatbeat Whisper, Or, the Whale, Emily Jane White, indie folk country, at 9 p.m. at Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082.  

Terrence Brewer Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Izzy Osbourne, Everything Must Go at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7-$10. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, FEB. 10 

CHILDREN 

Oliver Chin reads from “The Year of the Rat” at 2 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

Matt Faulkner introduces “The Taste of Colored Water” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Homage to the Motherland” Oil paintings by Hongyun Suriwong. Reception at 4 p.m. at Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. 524-9283. 

FILM 

Human Rights Film Festival “Strange Culture” at 5:30 p.m., “City of Photographers” at 7:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Celebration of Music” with the Music School at Piedmont Piano Company to benefit Christopher Rodriguez who was shot while taking a piano lesson, from 2 to 7 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave. Tickets are $25. 547-8188. www.piedmontpiano.com 

Jen Baker, solo trombone, at 4 p.m. at 2213 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Live Oak Concert Jazz Duo with Laura Klein, piano, Ted Wolff, vibraphone, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., near Eunice. TIckets are $10-$12. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and Piedmont Choir in a family friendly concert at noon at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Free. 415-248-1640.  

Moiseyev Dance Company at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$48. 642-9988.  

Organ Recital with John Karl Hirten at 6 p.m. at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. 845-0888.  

Philharmonia Baroque Beetoven’s “Emperor” piano concerto with Robert Levin, at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $30-$72. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org 

Aleph Null Sextet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Magic Carpet, world fusion, at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Debbie Poryes Trio at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373.  

Ledward Kaapana & Mike Kaawa at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

La Plebe, Carnal Knowledge, Zomo at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, FEB. 11 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Charles Wollenberg describes “Berkeley: A City in History” at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Dowmtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Aurora Theatre “Kings Play Chess on Fine Green Satin” reading followed by discussion at 7:30 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. Free. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

David Roche describes “The Church of 80% Sincerity” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Poetry Express with FrancEye from Los Angeles at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

Poetry Reading with Lynn Knight at 6:30 p.m.,at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Arts Festival Jerry Kuderna Monday Lunch Piano Concert from noon to 1 p.m. at 2213 Shattuck Ave. Free. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Luciano Chessa “Nodi d'amore” at 8 p.m. at 2213 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $5-$10. 665-9496. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Dazzling Divas Opera at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100.  

Parlor Tango at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

West Coast Songwriters Competition at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $5. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Dave Eshelman’s Jazz Garden Big Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $15. 238-9200.  

TUESDAY, FEB. 12 

FILM 

Experimental Documentaries “Here Is Always Somewhere Else” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Garrison Keillor at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$62. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Peggy Orenstein reads from “Waiting for Daisy: A Tale of Two Continents, Three Religions, FIve Fertiltiy Doctors, An Oscar, An Atomic Bomb, A romantic Night, and One Woman’s Quest to Become a Mother” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

‘Round Midnight Marathon at Berkeley Arts Festival with John Schott in an eight-hour tribute to Thelonious Monk from 2 to 10 p.m. at 2213 Shattuck Ave. 665-9496.  

“Sweet Soul Music: Rare Soul Music Performance Clips from the 1960s and Early 1970s” with Rickie Unterberger at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. 

Jeffrey Broussard and the Creole Cowboys at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

Solo Bach Night with Lara St. John, Sam Bass, Dave Grossman, and others at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Kaspar/Sherman Jazz Quartet at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Sierra Leone’s Refugee Allstars at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $14-$20. 238-9200.  

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia” A twenty-five year survey of works opens at the Berkeley Art Museum, and runs through May 18. 642-0808.  

FILM 

History of Cinema “Battleship Potemkin” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

African Film Festival “Young Rebels: New Visions from Africa” at 6:30 p.m. and “Life on Earth” at 8:10 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Russell Banks reads from “The Reserve” a suspense novel set at the begining of WWII, at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

Daniel Alarcorn reads from “Lost City Radio” at 7:30 p.m. at Moe's Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

“Cancer in Other Words” prose, poetry, at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit Celebrating Black History Month with music by J. Roalnd Braithwaite, Bongai Ndodana and Fela Sowande at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with students from the Young Musicians Program at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Rebecca Griffin & her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Tamsen Donner Blues Band at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. West Coast swing dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $7. 525-5054. 

Mysterioso at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Jenna Mammina and guests at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, FEB. 14 

FILM 

A Theater Near You: “Let’s Get Lost” at 6:30 p.m. and Jean-Pierre Léaud “Masculine-Feminie” at 8:50 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Charles Wollenberg introduces “Berkeley: A City in History” at 6 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

“California Tile: The Golden Era 1910-1940” with Riley Doty tile expert and collector at 7:30 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Sponsored by Oakland Heritage Alliance. Cost is $8-$10. 763-9218.  

Lonny Shavelson and Fred Setterberg discuss “Trading Traditions: California’s New Cultures” at 1 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak, Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2002. 

Nancy Polikoff describes “Beyond(Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families Under the Law” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

African American Cultural Celebration with African drumming, the music of Thelonious Monk and vocalist Melanie DeMore at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison S., Oakland. Free. 285-9628. 

Nina Ananiashvili and The State Ballet of Georgia at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$90. 642-9988.  

Maeve Donnelly with Tony McManus at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Karina Denike & her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ.  

Melvin Seals & JGB, R&B, rock, funk, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $17-$20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Flamenco, Candlelight and Roses dinner shows Thurs.-Sat. at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $75-$115.  

Bekah Barnett & Joni Davis at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Antioquia, Locura, Night Train at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. 

Valentine’s Celebration with Aya de Leon at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$14. 849-2568.  

Diablo’s Dust at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Cedar Walton Sextet at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $16-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

For seven decades spanning the period from the 1880s to the 1950s, San Francisco was an important hub in the American knitting industry. It became so thanks to one Swiss immigrant: John Jacob Pfister (1844–1921). 

Although the knitting machine was invented as early as 1589, knitting remained a cottage craft for more than 250 years. Not until the mid-19th century, when the circular knitting machine was introduced, did machine-knitted undergarments become common. 

In 1864, William Cotton of Leicestershire developed a full-fashioned machine, capable of producing garments that fit the body’s shape. This innovation helped turn commercial knitting into a full-fledged industry in Europe. 

Four years after Cotton’s invention, the 25-year-old John Jacob Pfister, who had worked as a traveling salesman in his native Switzerland, left for the New World. He is said to have been one of the passengers who made the trip to San Francisco on the first transcontinental train. 

In 1877, Pfister obtained three hand-operated knitting machines and began manufacturing knitwear on a small scale with the help of two assistants. The impetus may have come from Pfister’s elder brother, who had remained in Switzerland and become a knitwear manufacturer. 

Who were the two assistants? Pfister’s biography in Greater Oakland, 1911: A Volume Dealing with the Big Metropolis on the Shores of San Francisco Bay (Pacific Publishing Co.) doesn’t reveal their names. However, a decade following this modest beginning, the J.J. Pfister Knitting Company, now incorporated, was operating a factory at 410 Polk Street, on the corner of McAllister and cater-cornered from the construction site of San Francisco’s city hall, begun in 1872 but not completed until 1899. 

In 1889, J.J. Pfister Knitting Co. was listed in the San Francisco directory as manufacturers of crochet and knitted goods, bathing suits, tights, underwear, sporting uniforms, and importers of bolting cloth. By then, Pfister was employing two men who within a decade would utilize their acquired know-how to found their own knitting company—one that would rival Pfister’s and eventually eclipse it. They were John O. Gantner, corporate secretary, and George A. Mattern, mill superintendent (see “Knitwear Magnate Looked to Europe for Building Inspiration” in the Jan. 25, 2008 issue). 

As the Victorian era waned, Americans of both sexes were engaging in more athletic pursuits than ever before, propelling consumer demand for swimsuits, jerseys, golf vests, sweaters, and leggings. Pfister opened a retail store at 60 Geary Street in downtown San Francisco, where he sold both off-the-shelf and knit-to-order apparel and underwear. 

Athletic uniforms being an important component of the catalog, Pfister was active in the affairs of the YMCA, even attending the organization’s state conventions. His employee G.A. Mattern learned and copied from the master. 

On June 13, 1905, the San Francisco Call reported that property owners and lease holders of the blocks bounded by Geary, Stockton, Post, and Kearny Streets had met “to discuss ways and means of beautifying Union Square Avenue [today’s Maiden Lane] and turning the alley into an attractive place for retail shoppers.” Newton J. Tharp, a prominent San Francisco architect (he would become the City Architect in 1907) presented a sketch of a covered arcade proposed for the two blocks between Kearny and Stockton Streets. 

“On each side of the street were walks seven feet wide. Every thirty feet was a pillar, made of iron and supporting a glass roof,” reported the Call. The retail merchants in attendance “seemed very enthusiastic over the possibility of the artistic improvement. Most of them had seen the shopping streets of Paris, Berlin, Milan and other European cities, where the covered shopping avenues have been in vogue for many years.” 

A second meeting was convened on June 19 to poll all interested parties, of whom J.J. Pfister was one. A committee was formed and success seemed assured when the City Engineer announced that obstructions on the streets ran contrary to the city charter and the building ordinance and therefore could not be legally accomplished. The merchants vowed to continue, but the momentum appeared to have fizzled. 

And then the earthquake struck, followed by fire. Pfister family lore, passed down through John Jacob’s daughter-in-law, tells that on the first day of the fire, the Polk Street factory burned down; on the second day, the Geary Street shop went up in flames; and on the third day, the house at 2208 Jones St. was decimated. 

The business was insured by the Pennsylvania Insurance Company, the home by German-American (now Great American Life Insurance), and both refused to cover the loss, since the fire was caused by earthquake. 

Two San Francisco friends are said to have helped Pfister start from scratch. Were they Gantner and Mattern, whose own facilities were not harmed? Perhaps, but not likely. 

A week after the earthquake, Pfister had opened a temporary office at 1006 McAllister St., and on June 26, the Berkeley Reporter announced that the J.J. Pfister Knitting Company had bought a tract of land in West Berkeley, along Parker Street from Seventh to Tenth, and would construct there a factory employing between 150 and 200 hands. 

The land was purchased from the Carleton family, which owned a 100-acre farm on San Pablo Road. 

“Five factories are now working on machines to stock this new knitting mill, which is expected to be in full working order some time during September,” informed the Reporter. “In order to accommodate its employees, the company will build a number of cottages, and rent them at a nominal figure.” 

The Reporter also made it known that in addition to its factory hands, the Pfister Company employed “many outside hands to do finishing and crocheting and will thus give a number of Berkeley people an opportunity to increase their income by working in their own homes.” It was rumored that the town would “meet the company by completing the macadamizing of Seventh Street to and through the company’s land and also macadamizing Parker Street to the West Berkeley railroad line.” 

By July 11, the Reporter divulged that architect William H. Wharff had prepared plans for the new factory, which would contain 27,000 square feet, measure 150 by 60 feet, and accommodate 100 employees. The previous year, Wharff had designed the Masonic Temple on the corner of Shattuck Ave. and Bancroft Way. 

Opened in November 1906, the Pfister factory was originally clad in brown shingles. The Oakland Tribune took stock of it on Dec. 8 of that year: 

The building is two stories in height and is well lighted by fifteen windows on each side of the building. The basement is being used for storing a large stock of yarns; the first floor has the knitting machines; the second floor contains the machines used for finishing off garments. D. Halliday erected the factory building, and also a handsome residence for J.J. Pfister, the proprietor of the factory, which is located east of the factory building. The factory is employing twenty-five persons this week, but in the near future the number of employees will be increased to 100. 

At latest there are thirty-two machines of the latest and most improved type in use on the first floor, and eighteen on the second floor. Fifteen new machines will be obtained in the near future, and will materially increase the capacity of the plant. 

The Pfister family—John Jacob, Bertha, and John Jacob Jr.—settled in a modest shingled cottage—also designed by Wharff—across the street from the factory, at 2601 8th Street. The company’s San Francisco office and sales rooms returned to Polk and McAllister, and a new store was opened in 1908 at 739 Market St., opposite Grant Avenue. 

In 1907, the frugal Pfister hit upon an ingenious way to promote his business without shelling out for display ads. His brief, three-line ads began appearing in the San Francisco Call’s editorial columns, the only such ads to occupy this type of space. 

Business was sufficiently good, but the Pfisters lived modestly and their names were never mentioned in the society pages. John Jr. was not a coddled son. In 1907, at the age of 20, he took out an ad in the Call in which he described himself as experienced in farming and wanting a position as teamster on a large farm. Evidently he found such a position, because in 1909 he took out another ad, this time describing himself as an experienced teamster with good knowledge of farming who could take entire charge of a small place. A year later, he was superintendent in the knitting mill. 

From trade publications of the era one gathers that the Pfister company had a capitalization of $80,000 in 1913 and $120,000 in 1916, at which time they operated 72 knitting machines. But the company wasn’t strong enough to withstand the post-WWI recession of 1920–21. John Jacob Pfister died on April 21, 1921. Although his daughter-in-law claimed that he was ruined financially and died of a broken heart, Pfister left his wife and son an estate of $48,000, consisting of a house and lot in Berkeley and 640 acres in Placer county. 

The Emporium bought the Pfister inventory and on December 22, 1924, advertised “Stock purchase of the well known J.J. Pfister Knitting Co. of San Francisco and Berkeley, who are retiring after forty years of successful business. On sale Tuesday at nine—at regular wholesale prices: Sweaters for men, boys, women, children, infants. Not only sweaters but other wanted knitted wearing apparel of high quality just in time for your last-minute Christmas shopping. Every garment high grade and dependable in every way. Truly a lucky purchase!” 

In 1923, the Pfisters moved their house to 1233 Derby Street, where they continued to live for the rest of their days. John Jacob Jr. went to work as a clerk in another knitting company. The Pfister factory was taken over in 1929 by the Bomberger Seed Company, which stuccoed the exterior. The building was designated a City of Berkeley Landmark in November 1986. 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA).

I’m listening to the mow-n-blow couple working their way through the neighborhood. I’m about bored with things that roar and go bang, especially in the garden, especially at midday because, surprise, I work right here at home. To judge by the time they’ve spent on the token lawn in front of the apartment next door, the various gas-powered gadgets don’t save much time and they must make the work as hard with their weight as the average push mower, weed whip/scythe, or rake would with just repetitive motion. Don’t get me started on what errant weedwhackers do to tree trunks; I ranted sufficiently last week to keep my diastole high. 

Some garden sounds are perfectly pleasant. It’s possible, for example, to overdo it with windchimes, but on their own they’re good. One set, please, and in a soothing rather than ebullient pitch because ebullient becomes excruciating in short order. Want to make it art? Hang them in a spot where the wind doesn’t usually reach. They become a rare treat and also a source of information: Listen! The wind’s shifted. The weather’s about to change. 

Water’s another common source of garden music, and lately you can shop for every choral range from falsetto to seafloor bass. It’s easy enough to make your own fountain out of an interesting stone or a pot or other artifact. Remember how folks used to make lamps out of old bottles, spools, oilcans, small pets who sat still too long? I guess they still do, actually.  

Now, with a low-power recirculating pond pump and a length of plastic tubing, you can follow that same inclination, only toward fountains. Forget the Mannequin (or Manneken) Pis—please!—and the standard drooling lion or spitting fish. Pipe a stream through a broken hula-hoop or a copper spiral from that still you never got finished. Bounce it down a ladder of old serving spoons. Pour it from a jug into a bowl. Run it over an umbrella or plumb a bowling ball.  

Natural fountains are easy enough, if that’s more your style. A pile of stones and a basin with plants to soften the rim: instant waterfall. It’s a good idea to cement or putty your stack of rocks together, but try them out in a few different poses first; then run your tubing up the back. If you’re daring and fickle you can just balance them unglued and leave the option of rearranging them on a whim. You might find the local raccoon or possum doing the rearranging for you some night, though. 

Moving water does attract wildlife, including the musical kind. It doesn’t take much to do that: just a drip into a shallow bowl will bring in birds you didn’t know you had in the neighborhood, and it can happen overnight. You get bird music—they’re starting already, as the hummingbirds are nesting and the robins singing in rehearsal before they migrate—and if you have a dead tree handy you might even get woodpeckers to play the drums.  

One of the most common features in our early 20th century housing stock is that imperishable ruffian of the heating world, the floor furnace. 

It continues to amaze me how many of these persist in operating as the main source of heat for houses since they do not heat spaces uniformly and pose a greater risk for fire, burns and exhaust leaks than many other types of heater. The answer to this conundrum is, of course, that since they don’t just up-and-die, people keep on using them. 

Natural gas floor furnaces are radiant heaters that heat the spaces that they are in and provide no ducting to heat adjacent spaces. This means that they will tend to bake their immediate environs when they are being used to heat whole houses. Floor furnaces actually heat by convection more than by radiation, which means that they are creating a plume of heat that drives air up to the ceiling above them, down the walls and across the floor back into the unit.  

Since this process pushes air, it also pushes dust, dander and animal hair into the unit where it comes to rest near the bottom. In other words, floor furnaces are central vacuum systems and this is why they are always filled with dust. This material is of course, flammable and adds a lovely allergenic aroma to the air which those of you privy to this experience will recognize immediately.  

Excessive built-up of dust and dander also becomes a fire hazard and should be maintained with the narrow wand of a vacuum cleaner. Many older floor furnaces have a metal cowling or heat shield that can be easily removed for cleaning. Be sure and put it back properly when this job is complete. Some later models have a heat sensor attached to the shield and should only be removed by a professional. You’ll readily see a wire attached to the shield if you try to remove it. 

Floor furnaces get quite hot when being used and small children, especially toddlers are at risk around these floor mounted ovens. Remember that infants do not have well developed heat sensors or reactions and will be burned before they have become aware. 

Flammables should be kept clear of these units and this includes rugs, newspapers, books and drapes. It’s improper to have these devices installed where a door swings across the grill, since even these can catch fire after hours of prolonged heating. 

A feature that’s important to look for with any radiant heater is the presence of a thermostat in the area heated by the device. If the thermostat is located beyond a doorway, the door may be shut when the unit is in use allowing the heater to reach much higher temperatures than those mandated by the thermostat. If this is true for you, have your heating contractor move the thermostat. If you have a unit that turns on and off with a metal floor key, consider having a thermostat installed since without one, the unit can be left on and reach very high temperatures, greatly increasing the likelihood of fire. 

Like all gas heating appliances, floor furnaces generate exhaust gas. This gas is toxic and can contain significant amount of carbon monoxide, a deadly, odorless gas. So it’s really important that these gases be moved outside the dwelling without leakage. I find that lots of these old floor furnaces leak at least a little bit and some leak a lot. One way that leaks occur is through a hole intentionally installed in all of these units right on top. These view holes come with covers and most have a mica or similar clear window in the top. These are often damaged or left open or lost entirely allowing flue glasses to literally pour into the dwelling. Under the best of circumstances this puts lots of steam into the house and under the worst of circumstances this may be deadly. There are also seam leaks on many of these.  

Last in this litany of complaints is the surprising fact that this kind of heating is more likely to create an electrical fire in an older home. This is due to the frequent use of electric heaters in homes that lack an adequate gas heat source. Many of the same homes that have floor furnaces have inadequate or unsafe wiring and the addition of an electric heater (often left on for hours at night) adds the duress that sets off a fire. 

The best response to these many concerns is to spend the money and upgrade. Forced air is the most common replacement but take some time to look at the alternatives before you spend your money. If you do go with forced air, consider using the old floor furnace housing (box) as your “cold-air return” (or intake). It will eliminate the need to repair the floor and generally works quite well. The filter for your “FAU” (forced air unit), can be placed in the gutted box of the floor furnace making it easy to service.  

Although I’ve never seen statistics on this, I wouldn’t be surprised if an FAU used less energy to heat the house than a floor furnace since all rooms are kept at roughly the same temperature with an FAU. The living room or hall is often baking hot when a floor furnace is trying to keep the back bedroom warm enough and this surely used a great deal of excess energy.  

If you are going to keep that floor furnace a while longer consider adding attic insulation to help hold and distribute heat that wants to go right up into space. Also be sure and have it looked at regularly by an expert. 

Despite the charm of our elderly housing stock and my love of restoration, this is one feature that I’d like to see us all part with. 

FRIDAY, FEB. 8 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Jennifer Watts, State Water Resources Control Board, on “Environmental Impacts of Fish Farming.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

Textile Society of America Luncheon with selections from the Hillside Club’s costume collection at 12:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $15, reservations required. 316-3528, president@hillsideclub.org 

Womansong Circle An evening of participatory singing for women at 7:15 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, Small Assembly Room, 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $15-$20.no one turned away for lack of funds. betsy@betsyrosemusic.org 

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. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

SATURDAY, FEB. 9 

Pondering Ponds Listen to a tale about ponds, then explore this dynamic habitat filled with a variety of life, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Waterfalls of Berkeley Join Berkeley Path Wanderers and Greenbelt Alliance for a 5-mile walk with a 500 ft. elevation gain to vist two waterfalls and climb a volcanic rock. Meet at 10 a.m. at Liaison Cafe, NE corner of Shattuck and Hearst. Bring lunch and liquids, wear stur/dy shoes and dress in layers. www.berkeleypaths.org 

Dawin Day A celebration of the contributions of Charles Darwin with a short course on global climate change and evolution, diversification from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Museum of Palentology. For information and to register see www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/about/shortcourses/shortcourse08.php 

Bookmaking with Recycled Materials Learn how to make a book using coptic binding and creatively recycled materials from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $10-$15. Reservations required. 548-2220, ext. 233, erc@ecologycenter.org 

Children’s Book Marathon in Celebration of Black History Month from 1 to 4 p.m. at the African American Museum & Library, 659 14th St., Oakland. Free, but reservations strongly encouraged. 637-0200. 

NAACP meets at 1 p.m. at 2108 Russell St. All are welcome. 845-7416.  

“Evolution is in Action All Around Us” A discussion of the book “The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism” at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

“A Celebration of Diversity” with art and games, and a community potluck, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Peralta Historical Park, 2465 34th Ave., Oakland. Free. 532-9142. www.peraltshacienda.org 

The Great War Society meets to discuss “Killers of the Sea” and “The Log of U-35” by Andrew Melomet at 10:30 a.m. in the West Berkeley Library, 1125 University Ave. 527-7118. 

“The New Eugenics: Stem Cell Research and Cloning, What the Public Doesn't Know” sponsored by the Alameda Public Affairs Forum, at 7 p.m. at the Alameda Free Library, Conference Room A, 1550 Oak St. at Lincoln, Alameda. 814-9592.  

Healthy Gardens Learn how to minimize or eliminate the use of toxic chemicals in the garden, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave., off 7th St. 644-2351. 

“Lead-Safety for Remodeling, Repair and Painting of Older Homes” HUD & EPA approved class from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, 2000 Embarcadero, #300, Oakland. 567-8280. www.aclppp.org 

Mindful Drumming: The Secret Power of Rhythm and Sound at 5:30 p.m. at Attitudinal Healing Connection, 3278 West St., Oakland. Cost is $20. 652-5530. 

Kids Go Green Activities centered on ecology and climate change from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Chabot Space and Science Center, 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $9-$13. 336-7373.  

Preschool Storytime, for ages 3-5, at 11 a.m. at Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Adopt a Bunny Learn about habitat, feeding, playtime and grooming of rabbits at 1 p.m. at RabbitEars, 303 Arlington Ave. at Amherst, Kensington. 525-6155. 

Teen Knitting Circle at 3 p.m. in the 4th flr Story Room, Central Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Bring your own knitting needles in size 8, sample yarns provided. 981-6107. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Oakland Artisans Marketplace Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jack London Square. 238-4948. 

SUNDAY, FEB. 10 

Green Sunday: “Courage in Life and Politics: The Dona Spring Story” with a film about Dona Spring, the longest serving Green Party elected official in the United States, and Berkeley City Council member for 15 years, at 5 p.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Library 6501 Telegraph Ave. at 65th in North Oakland. www.acgreens.org 

Lunar New Year Celebration and Parade starting at 1 p.m. at the top of Solano Ave. at 1 p.m. and ending with performances at the Main Stage at Cornell School, Solano and Cornell, ALbany at 2 p.m. 527-5358. www.SolanoStroll.org 

Golden Gate Audubon Society Field Trip “Tilden Regional Park” with Della Dash. Meet at 9 a.m. at the parking lot at north end of Central Park Drive near the Little Farm for a 4 mile hike to look at wintering birds. 843-2222. 

Darwin Day: “The History of Life on Earth” A talk by David Seaborg, evolutionary biologist, at 1 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donations accepted. www.Humanist Hall.org 

“Latin America’s New Political and Economic Independence: Implications for a Multi-Polar World” with Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Washington D.C., at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St. Suggested donation $10-$20. 415-924-3227. 

Sushi Basics Learn the natural and cultural history of this cuisine as you prepare and taste seven basic types of sushi. From 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $25-$39. Parent participation required for children 8-12 years. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS 

Kensington Farmers’ Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 303 Arlington Ave. at Amherst, Kensington. 525-6155. 

Fullpower Workshop Learn simple effective skills to keep yourself safe from 6:30 to 10 p.m. in Berkeley Cost is $105, no one turned away. To register and for location call 831-426-4407 ext. 1. safety@kidpower.org 

Mantras of Henry Marshall, led by Marcia Emery, PhD. at 2 p.m. at Peralta Community Garden, Hopkins and Peralta. If by chance it rains, we will postpone until the following month. 526-5510. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

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

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

Sew Your Own Open Studio Come learn to use our industrial and domestic machines, or work on your own projects, from 5 to 9 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Cost is $3 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Tibetan Buddhism with Robin Caton on “Keeping an Open Heart” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000 www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, FEB. 11 

“Berkeley: A City in History” with author Charles Wollenberg at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Dowmtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

“Genomic Advances to Improve Biomass for Biofuels” with Dan Rokhsar, U.S. Department of Energy, Joint Genome Institute, UC Berkeley at 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. Free. Presented by Berkeley Lab Friends of Science. 486-7292. www.lbl.gov/friendsofscience 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

Dragonboating Year round classes at the Berkeley Marina, Dock M. Meets Mon, Wed., Thurs. at 6 p.m. Sat. at 10:30 a.m. For details see www.dragonmax.org 

TUESDAY, FEB. 12 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit Wildcat Canyon Regional Park. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

“Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial” Documentary screening in celebration of Darwin Day at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

“Is the U.S. Provoking an Arms Race in Space?” A talk by Mike Moore, author of “Twilight War: The Folly of U.S. Space Dominance” at 6:30 p.m. at The Independent Institute, 100 Swan Way, Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. RSVP to 632-1366. 

The California Colloquium on Water A Look at the Sonoma County North American Climate Initiative with Randy Poole, General Manager/Chief Engineer, Sonoma County Water Agency at 5:30 p.m. at 250 Goldman School of Public Policy, 2607 Hearst Ave. at LeRoy. 642-2666. 

“Love at First Sight: America’s Love Affair with the Rose” A documentary about people who grow roses for sale and competition at 6 p.m. at UC Botanical Garden. Registration required. 643-2755, ext. 03. Cost is $9-$12. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

“First Ever Yo-yo Hike of the Continental Divide Trail: Mexico to Canada and Back” with Francis Tapon at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

Teen Playreaders meets to read and discuss Hamlet and related plays at 4:30 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

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. 

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

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.  

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 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, FEB. 13 

Berkeley Public Library Master Plan for Branch Libraries will be discussed at the Board of Library Trustees meeting at 7 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6107. 

Celebrate Darwin Day with a talk by David Seaborg on “Principle of Evolution Today” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley City College Auditorium, 2050 Center St. www.defendscience.org 

East Bay Science Cafe “Celebrating Darwin” on Darwin’s 199th Birthday with Kevin Padian, UC Museum of Palentology at 7 p.m. at Au Coquelet Cafe, 2000 University Ave. http://bnhm.berkeley.edu 

“A Farewell to Israel: The Coming Break-Up of American Zionism” with Dr. Norman Finkelstein at 7 p.m. at King Middle School, 1781 Rose St. Benefit for Middle East Children’s Alliance. Cost is $15. 548-0542. ww.mecaforpeace.org 

“Compassion in Exile” A film about the 14th Dalai Lama at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.Humanist Hall.org 

“Encounter Point” A documentary featuring a Palestinian, Israeli, North and South American team from Just Vision profiling everyday leaders from all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who have suffered catastrophic losses and choose to seek common ground instead of revenge, at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Beth El, 1301 Oxford St.  

The Inaugural Neil Gotanda Lecture in Asian American Jurisprudence with Prof. Neil Gotanda on his work on Critical Race Theory and Asian American Jurisprudence at 4 p.m. in the Goldberg Room, UC Berkeley School of Law, Bancroft at Piedmont. 415-290-0688. lisa_chin@berkeley.edu 

“The Concept of Race: Science or Social Construct?” with Dr. Martinez Hewlett, Prof. Emeritus of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Univ. of Arizona, at 9 a.m. at the Chapel of the Cross, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, 2770 Marin Ave. Free. 559-2731. 

Writer Coach Connection Volunteers needed to help Berkeley students improve their writing and critical thinking skills from noon to 3 p.m. or from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. To register call 524-2319. www.writercoachconnection.org  

Cycling Lecture with Jacquie Phelan, womens cycling advocate at 7 p.m. and Ted Kirkbride at 8:30 p.m. at Velo Sport Bicycles, 1615 University Ave., enter at 1989 California. RSVP to 849-0437. 

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

After-School Program Homework help, drama and music 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. 

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. 

Morning Meditation Every Mon., Wed., and Fri. at 7:45 a.m. at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way at 6th. 486-8700. 

THURSDAY, FEB. 14 

Shoreline Nature Exploration for the Deaf or Hearing Impaired from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Eastshore State Park, Berkeley Meadow. For information call 525-2233. 

African American Cultural Celebration with African drumming, the music of Thelonious Monk and vocalist Melanie DeMore at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison S., Oakland. The celebration is free of charge and the public is invited. Sponsored by St. Paul's Episcopal School. 285-9628. 

“Love of Humanity” Valetine’s Day Tea with Dr. Dacher Keltner on the biological and social origins of love at 3 p.m. at International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. Cost is $10. RSVP to 642-4128. http://ihouse.berkeley.edu 

“Forbidden Landscapes: Negotiating Sacred Space at Tateyama” with Prof. Caroline Hirasawa, Dept. of History, Univ. of British Columbia, at 5 p.m. at Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant Ave. 809-1444. events@shin-ibs.edu 

Teen Book Club meets to discuss love stories at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Mon., Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 981-5470. 

City Council meets Tues., Feb. 12, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Feb. 13, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6346. TDD: 981-6345.  

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Feb. 13, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5426.  

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed., Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. at the Main Library, 2090 Kittredge St.. 981-6195.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Feb. 13, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484.  

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Feb. 13 , at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950.  

Waterfront Commission meets Wed., Feb. 13, at 7 p.m., at 201 University Ave. 981-6740.  

ONGOING 

E-Waste Recycling St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County accepts electronic waste including computers, dvd players, cell phones, fax machines and many other ewaste products for disposal free of charge at many of its locations throughout Alameda County. Free bulk pick-up available. 638-7600. www.svdp-alameda.org 

Help a Newt Cross the Road Every year newts migrate across Hillside Drive to reach their breeding pools in Castro Creek. Volunteers prevent many of these creatures from being crushed by cars. We need volunteers every evening during January and February in El Sobrante. The newts are most active on rainy nights. annabelle11_3@yahoo.com 

Free Tax Help If your 2007 household income was less than $42,000, you are eligible for free tax preparation from United Way's Earn it! Keep It! Save It! Sites are open now through April 15 in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. To find a site near you, call 800-358-8832.  

Donate the Excess Fruit from Your Fruit Trees I’ll gladly pick and deliver your fruit to community programs that feed school kids, the elderly, and the hungry. The fruit trees should be located in Berkeley and organic (no pesticides). This is a free volunteer/ 

grassroots thing so join in!! To scehdule and appointment call or email 812-3369. northberkeleyharvest@gmail.com

TUESDAY, FEB. 5 

CHILDREN 

Chinese New Year Program with Elaine Chui at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Eye Gotcha Covered” multi-media exhibit by Milton Bowens. Opening reception at 4 p.m. at The June Steingart Gallery of Art, Laney Tower Lobby. 464-3161. 

FILM 

Experimental Documentaries “F is for Phony” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

“Iron Ladies of Liberia” A documentary on a new generation of leaders in Africa at 6:30 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St. Panel discussion follows. Free. 238-2022.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

H.D. Moe, Garrett Lambrav, Blake More at 7:30 p.m. at Moe's Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

James Martel reads from “Subverting the Leviathan: Reading Thomas Hobbes as a Radical Democrat” at 6 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Celebration with the Lloyd Family Players, Joyfull Noise Brass Band and The California Honeydrops at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054.  

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

SF Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival with Huckleberry Flint and Mighty Crows at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50-$16.50. 548-1761.  

Barbara Linn and John Schott at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Larry Coryell with Bombay Jazz at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$20. 238-9200.  

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6 

FILM 

History of Cinema “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” at 3 p.m. and Jazz at the Movies “Paris Blues” at 6:30 p.m., “All Night Long” at 8:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Dahr Jamail discusses his book “Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq” at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

Ying Chang Compestine talks about “Revolution is not a Dinner Party” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit Celebrating Black History Month at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Wednesday Noon Concert “Baroque and New Music for Viola” at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

Hugh Masekela’s Chissa All-Stars at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $28-$52. 642-9988.  

Calvin Keys Birthday Party at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Whiskey Brothers at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473.  

Fourth Legacy, Armenian, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

The Wayside State at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Beckett’s Musical Forum, hosted by GG Tenaka, at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Steve James with Eric & Suzy Thompson at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Quartet San Francisco at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $14. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, FEB. 7 

FILM 

African Film Festival “Two By Sembene” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Free First Thursday. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lunch Poems with Arthur Sze at 12:10 p.m. at the Morrison Library, inside the Doe Library, UC Campus. 642-0137. 

Lester Brown, Earth Policy Institute president, at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are 45-$13. 415-255-7296, ext. 253. 

“The Exquisite Art of Brazilian Guitar” with Jesse “Chuy” Varela at 5 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall Lobby Mezzanine, UC Campus. Free. 642-9988. 

Richard Thompson Ford discusses “The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

Bill Joyce and Ella Lawrence read from “The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom & Wanderings” at 7 p.m. at Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Ave. 486-0698. 

Beth Lisick introduces “Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Twelve Self-Help Programs, One Whirlwind Year of Improvement” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Bridge Crawl, Don’t Lokok Back, Settledown, rock at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $TBA. 525-5054.  

Brazilian Guitar Festival with Sergio, Badi & Odair Assad at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$46. 642-9988.  

SF Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival with Carolina Chocolate Drops at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Denny Berthiaume Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Alexis Harte Band, Kate Isenberg & Cindi Harvell at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

The Famous, Emily Herring, The Hooroders, alt twang and rock at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082  

Fred O’Dell and the Broken Arrows at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Eliane Elias, sings and plays Bill Evans, at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$20. 238-9200.  

FRIDAY, FEB. 8 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “Barefoot in the Park” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. at Berryman, through Feb. 16. Tickets are $10-$12. 649-5999.  

Altarena Playhouse “Wait Until Dark” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through Feb. 16. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553.  

Aurora Theatre “Satellites” at 8 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. through March 2. Tickets are $40-$42. 843-4822.  

Berkeley Rep “”Wishful Drinking” with Carrie Fisher, at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St., through March 30. Tickets are $33-$69. 647-2949. 

Black Repertory Group Theatre “A Raisin In The Sun” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $5-$25. 652-2120.  

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “The Cocoanuts” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., some Sun. matinees at 2 p.m., at 951 Pomona Ave., at Moeser, El Cerrito, through March 2. Tickets are $15-$24. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

foolsFURY Theater “Monster in the Dark” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. and Sun. at 5 p.m., through Feb. 17, at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $12-$30. 800-838-3006.  

Masquers Playhouse “Angel Street” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. through Feb. 23 at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets are $18. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Real or Surreal” Art by Mari Kearney. Reception at 7:30 p.m. at Cafe Diem, 2224 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. 

FILM 

Jean-Pierre Léaud “The Mother and the Whore” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

“The Invisible Forest” A film by Antero Alli at 8 p.m. at 21 Grand, 416 25th St., Oakland. TIckets $8-$12. www.21grand.org  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Charles Wollenberg reads from “Berkeley: A City in History” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Carol Gilligan talks about her new book “Kyra” at 6:30 p.m. at Bette’s Oceanview Diner on Fourth St. 559-9500.  

Last Word Reading Series with featuring poets Grace Grafton and Cherese Wyneken at 7 p.m. at Nefeli Caffe, 1854 Euclid Ave. 841-6374. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Anatolian Folk Music at noon at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. 

Triskela, celtic harp trio,at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlington Community Church, 53 Arlington Ave. Tickets are $5-$15. 526-9146. 

History and Harmony Black History Concert Series with Khalil Shaheed and 2nd Line New Orleans Jazz Band, James Tinsley at 7:30 p.m. at Allen Temple Baptist Church, 8501 Internationl Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$10. 544-8924. 

Catalina Claro, pianist from Chile, at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Pamela Rose & Danny Caron Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ.  

Slammin, Crosspulse at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054.  

Justin Hellman at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373.  

Amy Meyers at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

SF Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival with The Freight Hoppers, Crooked Jades at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Bosssa Five-O, jazz, at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

David Silverberg, Christina Kowalchuk at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Scott Amendola, Matthais Bossi and Devin Ray Hoff at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082.  

Jimmie Reign, Rozi Crane, R&B, at 9 p.m. at Maxwell’s Lounge, 341 13th St., Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. 839-6169. 

A.P.P.L.E., Resistant Culture, Armistice, at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Kevin Beadles at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

The Jelly Roll Souls at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Eliane Elias, sings and plays Bill Evans, at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, FEB. 9 

CHILDREN  

Children’s Book Marathon in Celebration of Black History Month from 1 to 4 p.m. at the African American Museum & Library, 659 14th St., Oakland. Free, but reservations strongly encouraged. 637-0200. 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Gary Lapow at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568.  

Music and Puppets with Jen Miriam at 11 a.m. at Studio Grow, 1235 Tenth St. Cost is $7. 526-9888. 

“The Wizard of Ahhhhs” Magic show with Blake Maxam Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellvue Ave., Oakland.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Art of Living Black” and “Emory Douglas: The Art of Political Protest” Opening reception with Emory Douglas in person at 3 p.m. at Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. 620-6772. 

National Institute of Art & Disabilities “NIAD Faculty & Artists” A 25th Anniversary Celebration. Opening reception at 2 p.m. at 551 23rd St., Richmond. 620-0290.  

“Tilden Odyssey” Textured paintings, collages, and monotypes by Sheila Sondick on display at the Tilden Nature Center, through Feb. 28. 525-2233 

“Double Vision: Artist Partners” Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, 25 Grand Ave., upper level, Oakland. Exhibition runs to March 15. www.chandracerrito.com 

“Yea We Said It, And No We’re Not Sorry” works by Malik and Milton Bowens for Black History Month. Opening reception at 5:30 p.m. at Joyce Gordon Gallery, 406 14th St., Oakland. Exhibit runs to Feb. 29. 465-8928. 

FILM 

African Film Festival “Clouds Over Conakry” at 8:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Gillian Conoley and Jane Miller at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Moiseyev Dance Company at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$48. 642-9988.  

Community Women’s Orchestra at 4 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1331 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. Suggested donation $10, children free. 463-0313.  

Philharmonia Baroque Beetoven’s “Emperor” piano concerto with Robert Levin, at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $30-$72. 415-392-4400.  

“Love Songs & Chocolate” at 7 :30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. Suggested donation $15, includes a variety of desserts. 525-0302. 

Powell St. John at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 1809b Fourth Street. 525-2129. 

Gateswingers Jazz Band, for dancing or just listening, at 8 p.m. at Central Perk, 10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 558-7375. 

Ed Reed & his Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

Yarie Toure, Djekouria Fanta Conde at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Guinean dance workshop at 9 p.m. Cost is $15. 525-5054. 

Kurt Maire, Jesse Rubin at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Junius Courtney Band with a staged reading of “The Billy Strayhorn Session” at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Kally Price Old Time Music at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. 

Ray Obiedo & Mambo Caribe, Latin jazz, at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Mikie Prasand Band at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub. 647-1790.  

Beatbeat Whisper, Or, the Whale, Emily Jane White, indie folk country, at 9 p.m. at Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082.  

Terrence Brewer Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Izzy Osbourne, Everything Must Go at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7-$10. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, FEB. 10 

CHILDREN 

Oliver Chin reads from “The Year of the Rat” at 2 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

Matt Faulkner introduces “The Taste of Colored Water” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Homage to the Motherland” Oil paintings by Hongyun Suriwong. Opening reception at 4 p.m. at Albany Community Center Foyer 1249 Marin Ave. Albany. 524-9283. 

FILM 

Human Rights Film Festival “Strange Culture” at 5:30 p.m., “City of Photographers” at 7:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Celebration of Music” with the Music School at Piedmont Piano Company to benefit Christopher Rodriguez who was shot while taking a piano lesson, from 2 to 7 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave. Tickets are $25. 547-8188. www.piedmontpiano.com 

Jen Baker, solo trombone, at 4 p.m. at 2213 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Live Oak Concert Jazz Duo with Laura Klein, piano, Ted Wolff, vibraphone, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., near Eunice. TIckets are $10-$12. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and Piedmont Choir in a family friendly concert at noon at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Free. 415-248-1640.  

Moiseyev Dance Company at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$48. 642-9988.  

Organ Recital with John Karl Hirten at 6 p.m. at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. 845-0888.  

Philharmonia Baroque Beetoven’s “Emperor” piano concerto with Robert Levin, at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $30-$72. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org 

Aleph Null Sextet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Magic Carpet, world fusion, at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Debbie Poryes Trio at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373.  

Ledward Kaapana & Mike Kaawa at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

La Plebe, Carnal Knowledge, Zomo at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, FEB. 11 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Charles Wollenberg describes “Berkeley: A City in History” at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Dowmtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Aurora Theatre “Kings Play Chess on Fine Green Satin” reading followed by discussion at 7:30 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. Free. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

David Roche describes “The Church of 80% Sincerity” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Poetry Express with FrancEye from Los Angeles at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

Poetry Reading with Lynn Knight at 6:30 p.m.,at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Arts Festival Jerry Kuderna Monday Lunch Piano Concert from noon to 1 p.m. at 2213 Shattuck Ave. Free. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Luciano Chessa “Nodi d'amore” at 8 p.m. at 2213 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $5-$10. 665-9496. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Dazzling Divas Opera at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100.  

Parlor Tango at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

West Coast Songwriters Competition at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $5. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Dave Eshelman’s Jazz Garden Big Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $15. 238-9200.  

In gathering darkness from a storm—or in a dark prisoner’s cell—a disparate group of characters find themselves confronting fears over safety, security, their own behavior—primal fears. What’s in the darkness? A monster? Am I becoming a monster?  

As foolsFURY’s premiere of Monster in the Dark goes on, the individual characters telling stories to themselves or others (or just consoling themselves about their fears) begin to meet as their stories overlap and interpenetrate against the dark backdrop of impending disaster—a deluge which official channels continue to downplay, as torrential rains fall and waters rise.  

The personae are various, eccentric, and all a little bit humorous: an Ancient Mariner type, clinging to the rigging of a ladder on the edge of the stage; a bonneted proselytizer for faith and salvation, waiting for an ark; a prisoner in a tower, who writes his way through the wall; a spinsterish schoolteacher who departs from the approved tales in her storybook and finds herself meeting the prisoner in the darkness of a spooky story. 

Weaving these vignettes together is the talented cast assembled by foolsFURY, the decade-and-a-half-old San Francisco-based physical theater troupe, which performed a workshop version of the origins of Monster in the Dark at Ashby Stage three years ago, as part of Shotgun Lab. It’s called a spectacle on the program. Ben Yalom, foolsFURY’s founder and artistic director, has guided his performers through Doug Dorst’s tale of snowballing disaster—and stories—a little like acrobats in an arena (the audience is on two sides of the playing area), who not only take on sometimes shifting identities, but become an ensemble of, say, waves and victims borne away in pas-de-deux.  

The six onstage seem, at times, like many more: Beth Wilmurt, Blythe Foster, Deborah Eliezer, Jessica Kitchens, Peter Rucco and Ryan Tasker (Eliezer is the only member of foolsFURY’s standing company). Adroit at shifting identities—and identities that shift—these half-dozen grip the audience with both soliloquies and dialogue, with monologues delivered by one to another listening as well as by pure theatrics, kinetic stage artistry—all action.  

Doug Dorst has worked with foolsFURY before, as dramaturge for three other productions. The long, painstaking process to make Monster in the Dark (which runs over two hours) is sometimes almost palpable in the interstices between the vignettes, as they merge and become a full-fledged, multi-character story. Dorst is a novelist and creative writing instructor. There are moments in the second act that seem closer to narrative—especially with a 1984-ish backdrop like Monster in the Dark’s The Structure, with its ever-present Umbrella Men keeping the peace. There’s something of a switch to a different pace, a different density, once the frame of the whole story becomes more apparent.  

But the flurries of action and dialogue provide much pure theater-in-the-round, and the spectacle ends on two striking images—a kind of ark, or ship of fools (appropriately enough), and a solitary, if buoyant, expression of hope amid the sea of waves.  

Interestingly enough, Ben Yalom related that during the Shotgun Lab process, audience members seemed to split on generational lines over their comprehension of vignettes, whether framed or not by a comprehensive story. In the unfolding—or is it folding?—of this tale, the more mysterious fragments of voice and action, gesture and tableaux seem at first more theatrically suggestive than when the ensemble gets on more equal footing—albeit in a cataclysm.  

Yalom also said foolsFURY, in residence the past few years at SF’s Traveling Jewish Theatre, where they hold their Fury Factory festivals of experimental troupes from around the country, intends to perform in Berkeley more in the future. This is good news for spectators who value—or who’d like to discover—such accomplished seekers of spectacle, of the art of presenting a living, mobile image composed for all the senses, as foolsFURY is. 

MONSTER IN THE DARK 

8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday through Feb. 17 at the Ashby Stage, 2901 Ashby Ave. $12-$30. (800) 838-3006.

Charles Wollenberg, history professor at Berkeley City College, will speak about his new book, Berkeley: A City in History, Friday at Mrs. Dalloway’s Books, 2904 College Ave., at 7:30 p.m., and on Monday at Pegasus Books, 2349 Shattuck Ave., at 7:30 p.m. He will also discuss the book at University Press Books on Bancroft Way on Feb. 14, at 5:30 p.m., at the San Francisco Public Library on March 5, at 6 p.m., and at the Berkeley Public Library on March 31, at 7 p.m.  

In the book’s preface Wollenberg writes, “I have tried to present an impressionistic survey of the city’s history, giving residents a sense of how their hometown developed and how their individual experiences and those of their families, neighborhoods and communities fit into a larger historical framework. For nonresidents, the book describes the history of a city that, given its modest size, has had a remarkable influence on the state, the nation, and even the world.” 

Most of the public and literary appreciation for bare trees seems to come from wintry places like New England, but bonsai artists and fans and the landscape pruners who think along similar lines make a big deal of the “winter silhouette.” It’s one of the most refined criteria for judging a deciduous tree. 

One reason for that is that a deciduous tree in winter is naked indeed, and any mistakes you’ve made in shaping it will stick right out. In bonsai, the small scale makes errors even more obvious: it’s not so much miniaturization as abstraction, representing a wild tree in as few artistic strokes as possible, so any single part gets more attention.  

Once the leaves fall from landscape trees, it doesn’t take an expert to see what horrors have been wreaked upon them. There’s a row of poplars I have to look at every time I’m in the Union Bank parking lot; they’re up against a building on Channing and face west. In leaf, they look like so many toothbrushes; maybe some people think that’s an OK look. Naked, they’re just pitiful: nice straight trunks and then little awkward twigs sticking out in graceless desperate clusters.  

Maybe some people think that looks OK. There are those who go for pollarded trees, and some among them might be a bit uncritical of un-treelike forms for perfectly innocent trees. I find it hard to imagine, though.  

I’m a bit more tolerant of pollarding than I used to be—as long as it’s done right. Originally, pollarding was utilitarian, a way of harvesting firewood without killing the trees. Mulberries and sycamores will tolerate it well; it’s a classic urban way of treating London planetrees, a sycamore hybrid we often see in cities. If you try pollarding other species it’s riskier.  

Pollarding doesn’t mean just sawing pieces off at random. You have to start when the tree’s relatively young and take care to cut back to the same place on each scaffold limb every year. It gets easier to spot the place after a couple of years, as the tree forms big knobs at the cut places. You leave the knobs, taking off just the straight skinny branches that grew since the last pollarding.  

You also have to do it yearly, because those skinny branches are attached weakly, not to the central part of the tree. If they stay on the tree and get bigger, they just might fall off and bonk you on the head and it would serve you right.  

The trees still look funny to me, but I’m so old that low-rise pants look funny to me too: quaint. I wore them the last time they came around, in the ‘70s, and I remember how odd those old photos looked 15 years later. It’s just a matter of fashion, pollarding, until somebody blows it and then it’s tree abuse. (I suppose when somebody blows it with the pants it’s a gesture of solidarity with plumbers or somesuch.) Or maybe I’ve become more apathetic as I’ve noticed that both mulberries (the ‘Fruitless’ male clones planted as street trees) and planetrees are allergenic as well as ubiquitous. I’m Irish/Welsh; I bear grudges.  

One more positive reason for looking hard at a tree in winter is the revelation of the private lives of summers past. We see abandoned nests of squirrels and birds; there are field guides detailed enough to tell what species reared its young in each of them, in the shelter of last year’s leaves. Woodpecker holes and sapsucker drillmarks show up and winter residents become visible. The tree tells you what it and its tenants have been up to.  

The basic attraction of the winter silhouette is its sheer unlikely beauty. It’s so difficult to imitate the tree’s natural ramification, or just not to screw it up, because it’s not at all random. It obeys rules that are complex, mathematical, exigent, and organic, and while we sometimes know enough to approximate their effect, we rarely know enough to follow them precisely.  

Every cell in those twigs grows to reach toward light, to support a leaf that will catch as much light as possible, while responding to every other cell in the tree, pushing and dancing and proposing hypotheses, turning to bask in the sun and later lignifying, supporting its successors in the same quest.  

The tree makes its silent approximations every second of its growth, refining its formulae, adding to its suncatching surface, crystallizing to make its space while filling it, fracturing the sky into precise geometries. If we’re to do it justice, we must sit and learn, listen awhile, humbly shut up and hear what it has in mind.  

Photograph by Ron Sullivan. 

The delicate geometry of deciduous trees in winter at the MLK Jr. Shoreline from Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland.

TUESDAY, FEB. 5 

Remember to VOTE Today  

If you experience, see or hear about voting problems, please call the toll-free, nonpartisan Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.  

Absentee Ballots 

If you have not sent your Absentee Ballot in by mail yet please do not mail it in now. Your ballot can be dropped off an any polling place. Find the polling place nearest to you at SmartVoter.org 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit the the EBMUD Velle Vista Staging Area. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

“Iron Ladies of Liberia” A documentary on a new generation of leaders in Africa at 6:30 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St. Panel discussion follows. Free. 238-2022.  

“The U.N. Mission in Haiti” with Juan Gabriel Valdés, Chile’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2000-03) at 4 p.m. in Room 554, Barrows Hall, UC Campus. 642-2088. 

Teen Playreaders meets to read and discuss Hamlet and related plays at 4:30 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

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

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 welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6 

Tilden Mini-Rangers Hiking, conservation and nature-based activities for ages 8-12. Dress to ramble and get dirty. From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland in Celebration of Black History Month “New Era/New Politics” highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. and the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq” with author and journalist Dahr Jamail at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

“Security in the Americas” with Juan Gabriel Valdés, Chile’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2000-03) at 6 p.m. in the Home Room, International House, Piedmont and Bancroft Aves. Free. 642-2088. 

“Peace is Every Step” a documentary on the life and work of Tich Nhat Hanh at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.Humanist Hall.org 

“Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail” with Ken and Marcia Powers at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Preachers Peasants, and Soldiers” Pure Land Teachings in medieval Japanese society at 7 p.m. at Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant at Fulton. 809-4160. 

Writer Coach Connection Volunteers needed to help Berkeley students improve their writing and critical thinking skills from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. To register call 524-2319. www.writercoachconnection.org  

Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 10 a.m. to noon at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Registration required. 594-5165. 

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

“Omega-3’s & Optimal Health” at 4 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

“Weight Loss 101” at 7:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

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. atthe Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. www.geocities.com/ 

vigil4peace/vigil 

Morning Meditation Every Mon., Wed., and Fri. at 7:45 a.m. at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way at 6th. 486-8700. 

THURSDAY, FEB. 7 

“Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization” with Lester Brown, Earth Policy Institute President, at 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $5-$13, available at independent bookstores. 415-255-7296, ext.253. 

The “War on Terror” and Human Rights with Major General (Ret.) Antonio M. Taguba at 7 p.m. at International House, Chevron Auditorium, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. Free admission, registration requested. http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=150262 

“No Easy Victories: African Liberation and American Activists 1950-2000” A gathering of veteran activists of the anti-apartheid movement in the Bay Area at 6 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 238-8080, ext. 309. 

Seniors Exploring Albany Hill Walkers age 50+ explore Cerrito Creek and Albany Hill from 9 aa.m. to 11 a.m. Meet at Peet’s Coffee, San Pablo and Carlson, El Cerrito (AC Transit 72). The pace will be moderate, but the walk gains almost 300 feet elevation. Wear shoes with good traction; bring walking sticks if you use them. Registration required. 848-9358. 524-9122. 

African-American Heritage Celebration Assembly at 1:15 p.m., soul food pot luck dinner at 6 p.m. at Cragmont Elementary School, 830 Regal Rd 

The Café Literario, book discussion group in Spanish, meets to discuss “El Túnel” by Ernesto Sábato at 7 p.m. at the West Branch Library, 1125 University Ave. 981-6270 or 981-6140.  

Teen Book Club meets to discuss books taht became movies at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

“Eight Twenty Eight” Lavi Ben Gal’s documentary of life on a kibbutz at 7:30 p.m. at JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. tickets are $10-$12. 848-0237. 

“Elderhostel: Learn, Travel, Enjoy” Learn about the benfits of Elderhostel travel, a program for older adults at 1:30 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720. 

Demystifying Organic Wines at 1 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Stroke and Osteoporosis Screening from 9 a.m. on at La Quinta Inn, 920 University Aven. Cost is $159. Appointments required. 1-888-754-1464. 

Quit Smoking Class for LGBT Smokers Three sessions from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Pacific Center for Human Growth, 2712 Telegraph Ave. Free, but registstion required. 981-5330. 

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

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters Club meets at 6:45 p.m. at Spud’s Pizza, Adeline and Alcatraz. namaste@ 

avatar.freetoasthost.info  

FRIDAY, FEB. 8 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Jennifer Watts, State Water Resources Control Board, on “Environmental Impacts of Fish Farming.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

Textile Society of America Luncheon with selections from the Hillside Club’s costume collection at 12:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $15, reservations required. 316-3528, president@hillsideclub.org 

Womansong Circle An evening of participatory singing for women at 7:15 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, Small Assembly Room, 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $15-$20.no one turned away for lack of funds. betsy@betsyrosemusic.org 

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. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

SATURDAY, FEB. 9 

Pondering Ponds Listen to a tale about ponds, then explore this dynamic habitat filled with a variety of life, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Waterfalls of Berkeley Join Berkeley Path Wanderers and Greenbelt Alliance for a 5-mile walk with a 500 ft. elevation gain to vist two waterfalls and climb a volcanic rock. Meet at 10 a.m. at Liaison Cafe, NE corner of Shattuck and Hearst. Bring lunch and liquids, wear stur/dy shoes and dress in layers. www.berkeleypaths.org 

Dawin Day A celebration of the contributions of Charles Darwin with a short course on global climate change and evolution, diversification from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Museum of Palentology. For information and to register see www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/about/shortcourses/shortcourse08.php 

Bookmaking with Recycled Materials Learn how to make a book using coptic binding and creatively recycled materials from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $10-$15. Reservations required. 548-2220, ext. 233, erc@ecologycenter.org 

Children’s Book Marathon in Celebration of Black History Month from 1 to 4 p.m. at the African American Museum & Library, 659 14th St., Oakland. Free, but reservations strongly encouraged. 637-0200. 

NAACP meets at 1 p.m. at 2108 Russell St. All are welcome. 845-7416.  

“Evolution is in Action All Around Us” A discussion of the book “The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism” at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

“A Celebration of Diversity” with art and games, and a community potluck, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Peralta Historical Park, 2465 34th Ave., Oakland. Free. 532-9142. www.peraltshacienda.org 

The Great War Society meets to discuss “Killers of the Sea” and “The Log of U-35” by Andrew Melomet at 10:30 a.m. in the West Berkeley Library, 1125 University Ave. 527-7118. 

“The New Eugenics: Stem Cell Research and Cloning, What the Public Doesn't Know” sponsored by the Alameda Public Affairs Forum, at 7 p.m. at the Alameda Free Library, Conference Room A, 1550 Oak St. at Lincoln, Alameda. 814-9592.  

Healthy Gardens Learn how to minimize or eliminate the use of toxic chemicals in the garden, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave., off 7th St. 644-2351. 

“Lead-Safety for Remodeling, Repair and Painting of Older Homes” HUD & EPA approved class from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, 2000 Embarcadero, #300, Oakland. 567-8280. www.aclppp.org 

Mindful Drumming: The Secret Power of Rhythm and Sound at 5:30 p.m. at Attitudinal Healing Connection, 3278 West St., Oakland. Cost is $20. 652-5530. 

Kids Go Green Activities centered on ecology and climate change from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Chabot Space and Science Center, 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $9-$13. 336-7373.  

Preschool Storytime, for ages 3-5, at 11 a.m. at Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Adopt a Bunny Learn about habitat, feeding, playtime and grooming of rabbits at 1 p.m. at RabbitEars, 303 Arlington Ave. at Amherst, Kensington. 525-6155. 

Teen Knitting Circle at 3 p.m. in the 4th flr Story Room, Central Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Bring your own knitting needles in size 8, sample yarns provided. 981-6107. 

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. www.nativeplants.org 

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

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Oakland Artisans Marketplace Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jack London Square. 238-4948. 

SUNDAY, FEB. 10 

Green Sunday: “Courage in Life and Politics: The Dona Spring Story” with a film about Dona Spring, the longest serving Green Party elected official in the United States, and Berkeley City Council member for 15 years, at 5 p.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Library 6501 Telegraph Ave. at 65th in North Oakland. www.acgreens.org 

Lunar New Year Celebration and Parade starting at 1 p.m. at the top of Solano Ave. at 1 p.m. and ending with performances at the Main Stage at Cornell School, Solano and Cornell, ALbany at 2 p.m. 527-5358. www.SolanoStroll.org 

Golden Gate Audubon Society Field Trip “Tilden Regional Park” with Della Dash. Meet at 9 a.m. at the parking lot at north end of Central Park Drive near the Little Farm for a 4 mile hike to look at wintering birds. 843-2222. 

Darwin Day: “The History of Life on Earth” A talk by David Seaborg, evolutionary biologist, at 1 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donations accepted. www.Humanist Hall.org 

“Latin America’s New Political and Economic Independence: Implications for a Multi-Polar World” with Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Washington D.C., at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St. Suggested donation $10-$20. 415-924-3227. 

Sushi Basics Learn the natural and cultural history of this cuisine as you prepare and taste seven basic types of sushi. From 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $25-$39. Parent participation required for children 8-12 years. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS 

Kensington Farmers’ Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 303 Arlington Ave. at Amherst, Kensington. 525-6155. 

Fullpower Workshop Learn simple effective skills to keep yourself safe from 6:30 to 10 p.m. in Berkeley Cost is $105, no one turned away. To register and for location call 831-426-4407 ext. 1. safety@kidpower.org 

Mantras of Henry Marshall, led by Marcia Emery, PhD. at 2 p.m. at Peralta Community Garden, Hopkins and Peralta. If by chance it rains, we will postpone until the following month. 526-5510. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

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

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

Sew Your Own Open Studio Come learn to use our industrial and domestic machines, or work on your own projects, from 5 to 9 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Cost is $3 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Tibetan Buddhism with Robin Caton on “Keeping an Open Heart” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000 www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, FEB. 11 

“Berkeley: A City in History” with author Charles Wollenberg at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Dowmtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

“Genomic Advances to Improve Biomass for Biofuels” with Jerry Tuskan, Joint Genome Institute, Co-Lead on Laboratory Science Program at 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. Free. Presented by Berkeley Lab Friends of Science. 486-7292. www.lbl.gov/friendsofscience 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

Dragonboating Year round classes at the Berkeley Marina, Dock M. Meets Mon, Wed., Thurs. at 6 p.m. Sat. at 10:30 a.m. For details see www.dragonmax.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Community Environmental Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 7, at 7 p.m., at 2118 Milvia St. Nabil Al-Hadithy, 981-7461.  

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

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 7, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7419.  

Public Works Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 7, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6406.  

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 7, at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7520.  

ONGOING 

E-Waste Recycling St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County accepts electronic waste including computers, dvd players, cell phones, fax machines and many other ewaste products for disposal free of charge at many of its locations throughout Alameda County. Free bulk pick-up available. 638-7600. www.svdp-alameda.org 

Help a Newt Cross the Road Every year newts migrate across Hillside Drive to reach their breeding pools in Castro Creek. Volunteers prevent many of these creatures from being crushed by cars. We need volunteers every evening during January and February in El Sobrante. The newts are most active on rainy nights. annabelle11_3@yahoo.com 

Free Tax Help If your 2007 household income was less than $42,000, you are eligible for free tax preparation from United Way's Earn it! Keep It! Save It! Sites are open now through April 15 in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. To find a site near you, call 800-358-8832. www.EarnItKeepItSaveIt.org 

Donate the Excess Fruit from Your Fruit Trees I’ll gladly pick and deliver your fruit to community programs that feed school kids, the elderly, and the hungry. The fruit trees should be located in Berkeley and organic (no pesticides). This is a free volunteer/ 

grassroots thing so join in!! To scehdule and appointment call or email 812-3369. northberkeleyharvest@gmail.com

In the Jan. 29 issue, the article “Feds Say Teece Must Pay $12 Million for Tax Dodges” had an incomplete last sentence. The full sentence was: “Recipients of [David] Teece contributions include President George W. Bush, state Senator Don Perata, former Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean and Berkeley Councilmember Gordon Wozniak.”