The Office of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Monday that it wants to terminate the Point Molate casino project. 

Andrea Lynn Hoch, the governor’s legal affairs secretary, has asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to reject the proposal by a Berkeley developer and the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians to build a $1.5 billion casino resort on the Richmond shoreline. 

“We write to express opposition to this land acquisition,” Hoch wrote to BIA Regional Director Dale Morris and Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin.  

While McLaughlin opposes the casino projects, the majority of her colleagues on the Richmond City Council have endorsed the plan and the developers’ promises of millions in revenues and thousands of new jobs in a city with high rates of unemployment and poverty. 

Before a casino can be built, the BIA has to take the land into trust as a reservation for the Guidivilles, a Northern California tribe which lost its reservation five decades ago.  

The proposed site on Point Molate is a former Navy refueling station deeded to the city under provisions of the federal Base Closure and Realignment Act, which provides for transfer of abandoned bases to local government for the purpose of creating new economic activity. 

The governor’s office charges granting the tribe the right to build a casino would violate state public policy and the “notions of cooperative federalism that lie at the heart of” the federal tribal gaming act and “may also undermine the constitutionality of California’s Indian gaming regime.” 

In closing, Hoch wrote, “Land acquisitions that would allow Indian gaming are contrary to the intent of the voters of the state and the State’s policy.” 

A copy of the letter was also sent to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. 

A Sacramento firm hired by the developers is currently finishing a joint environmental report under the provisions of both state and federal law, one of the final steps made before the BIA decides whether or not to grant the Guidivilles casino rights at the site. 

The project is being promoted by a consortium created by Berkeley developer and former environmental consultant James D. Levine, former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, Napa developer John Salmon and the Rumsey Band of Wintuns, who operate one of California’s richest gambling resorts, the Cache Creek Casino in Yolo County’s Capay Valley.

UC Berkeley professor Oliver E. Williamson was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics Monday along with Indiana University professor Elinor Ostrom for their work in organizational economics. 

Williamson’s award brings the total number of economics Nobels for UC Berkeley to five—with three being awarded in the last nine years—and its overall Nobel tally to 21. 

Williamson is the Edgar F. Kaiser Professor Emeritus of Business, Economics, and Law at Berkeley, and a major contributor in the multi-disciplinary field of transaction cost economics. 

Ostrom is the Arthur F. Bentley professor of political science and professor of public and environmental affairs at Indiana University. She is the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. 

Appearing at a 10 a.m. press conference at the Alumni House on the Berkeley campus Monday, Williamson said he had been woken up by his son who handed him the phone at 3:30 a.m. saying, “I think this is the call.” 

The Economic Sciences Prize Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences cited Williamson “for his analysis of economic governance, especially the boundaries of the firm.” 

The prize committee said Williamson had been awarded the Nobel for “developing a theory in which business firms serve as structures for conflict resolution,” focusing on the problem of regulating transactions that were not covered by detailed contracts or legal rules, arguing that markets and firms should be viewed as alternative governance structures that have different ways of resolving conflicts of interest.  

The Nobel committee cited Indiana University professor Ostrom “for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons.” 

“I am lucky,” said Williamson, to applause from his colleagues.  

Williamson first joined UC Berkeley as an assistant professor in economics in 1963, leaving two years later to teach at the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University. He returned to UC Berkeley in 1988. 

He is credited as a co-founder of “new institutional economics,” a school of thought that emphasizes the importance of both formal institutions and informal institutions, such as social norms, and how they affect transaction costs. 

Williamson describes his work “as a blend of soft social science and abstract economic theory.” His ideas have been used to understand a wide range of organizational and institutional pacts, including the choice and design of contracts, corporate financial structure, antitrust policy and the size and scope of firms. 

Scott E. Masten, a professor of business economics and public policy at the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business, said the “heart of Williamson’s economic organization work emphasizes the limited ability of people to make perfectly informed decisions, and the propensity of at least some individuals to act opportunistically.” 

“I was quite surprised to hear my former student had won the Nobel Peace Prize, but I was not surprised to hear this,” said UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Christopher Edley. “For years he has been an anchor for regulating behavior and dealing with issues of authority and agency,” Edley said. “We could not be more pleased.” 

Edley was joined by the dean of the Haas School of Business Rich Lyons and chair of the Department of Economics Gérard Roland. 

“Berkeley is a multidisciplinary place,” Lyons said, which helped to create an intellectual space for everyone on campus. 

Lyons praised Williamson for his work on formal organization of firms, adding that his work created a “profound influence on young people” that had changed their lives and created an intellectual environment for all of them. 

“Professor Williamson made a major contribution to understand the boundaries of a firm,” said Roland. “Nobody else has made such a contribution to putting institutional economics in the forefront. He has taken transactions between business partners to the forefront.” 

Williamson earned his undergraduate degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master’s in business administration from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in economics from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. 

He has also been awarded 10 honorary doctorates from universities around the world. 

In response to questions from reporters about his thoughts on the current economic meltdown, Williamson underscored the importance of deregulation in both the public and private sectors, including banks. 

“An organization should have a counsel of economic advisors and organizational advisors and there should be interaction between them,” he said, and both sellers and buyers should be mutually respectful of one another. 

Williamson and Ostrom will share $1.4 million and each will receive a gold medal and diploma from the king of Sweden Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, who established the Nobel Prize to honor individuals for their achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, peace and literature in his will in 1896. 

The Swedish central bank created the economics prize in 1969 in honor of Alfred Nobel. 

When asked what he felt about the current budget crisis at UC Berkeley which is threatening research opportunities on campus, Williamson said it was pertinent for “Sacramento to step up in these times of trouble” to save valuable educational resources. 

More than 5,000 students and faculty at the university walked out of class on Sept. 24 to protest budget cuts, fee hikes and furloughs and students are planning a conference to organize against the cuts Oct. 24. 

With a downtown UC Berkeley biofuel lab on the fast track for development, university officials are busily presenting their plans to the community. 

City planning commissioners were slated to get the most detailed look Wednesday night, though a more general version was offered to the public last Thursday. 

The structure will be the university’s first in downtown Berkeley under the campus Long Range Development Plan 2020, which calls for up to 800,000 square feet of new off-campus buildings in the city center. 

A lawsuit of the university’s plans resulted in the new Downtown Area Plan, which has been blocked by a citizen referendum campaign.  

Caleb Dardick, the university’s new community relations director, described the proposed structure Thursday night as “something beautiful that will address climate change issues.” 

The building will occupy the northeast quadrant of the site now occupied by the vacant seven-story building that once housed the local offices of the state Department of Public Health at 2151 Berkeley Way. 

The two-block-long site is also scheduled to house a new UCB community health campus, a project as yet unfunded and with no set date for construction. 

“It’s an exciting project for the campus, because they’re finally letting us build something downtown,” said Vice Provost Catherine Koshland.  

While the university has also announced plans to build a new home for the campus art museum and Pacific Film Archive, no date has been announced for that structure, which depends entirely on private donations, she said.  

Helios West, as the building has been dubbed, will house Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) research on genetically engineering microbes to harvest plant cellulose sugars and transform them into transportation fuels. 

That program has been funded by a $500 million grant from BP, formerly British Petroleum and once known as the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co.  

Other EBI research focusing on photovoltaic and eletrochemical means of energy production will be housed in a second, smaller lab to be built at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s campus in the Berkeley hills. 

The new downtown building will rise to 100 feet, including a 16-foot-tall rooftop parapet to mask the building’s mechanical systems, according to the information packet supplied to the Planning Commission. 

Consisting of five stories and an underground level, the building would be encased in a glass shell, with meeting rooms above the ground floor. 

EBI Assistant Director Susan Jenkins said one of the program’s goals is educational, because “when misinformation starts to be disseminated, it is not good for the activity and not good for the public.” 

Critics of biofuels—or agrofuels as they are sometimes called—have charged that they will compete with food crops in Third World nations and allege that backers have misstated the true energy and environmental costs of the fuels as well. 

Jenkins also said one goal of the research was to provide the nation with energy security, a goal which has also been cited by Pentagon planners, including now-retired Air Force General Charles Wald. 

Campus planner Jennifer McDougall told Thursday’s gathering that the design will include one key request from the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC), the citizen group which prepared the initial version of the downtown plan. 

DAPAC asked the university to include open space and a north–south public pathway in the middle of the site. Tentative plans for the site now include both the pathway connecting with Walnut Street at either end and a green plaza to the south of the new building. 

Sally McGarrahan, the building’s project manager, said the university is not providing any parking for the approximately 240 researchers and support personnel who will work in the building, though Jenkins said many bike to work or have parking available on campus. 

Christine Schaff, communications manager for the campus Department of Facilities Services, said the site will be enclosed by a fence during the first week of November for completion of the removal of hazardous materials from the old building. 

That work will continue into January, with demolition to begin the following month if approved by the UC Board of Regents, with completion set for June. 

Among those in the audience for the Thursday session were City Councilmember Jesse Arreguin, city Economic Development Manager Michael Caplan, downtown planner Matt Taecker, Planning Commissioner James Samuels and Puja K. Sarna from AC Transit. 

For a copy of the university’s report on the project, see http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/uploadedFiles/Planning_and_Development/Level_3_-_Commissions/Commission_for_Planning/PC2009-10-14_Item10_Helios.pdf

Planning commissioners will tackle ferries and West Berkeley zoning Wednesday night, as well as UC Berkeley’s plans for a biofuel lab. 

If all that leads to a headache, they’ll also be taking a Bayer vote—on a proposed motion from commissioner James Novosel to praise the mayor’s office and city staff for the chemical giant’s plant in Berkeley. 

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

For a copy of the agenda and subject material on the items, click here.

A group of UC Berkeley law students will launch a torture accountability initiative next week dedicated to holding the authors of the infamous torture memos accountable, reinstating respect for the prohibition against torture and ending executive abuse of power and impunity. 

Called the Boalt Alliance to Abolish Torture (B.A.A.T.), at their kick-off Oct. 13 the group will host a panel of lawyers and legal academics to discuss the memos crafted by the Bush administration’s legal counsels at the Department of Justice, including Berkeley Law Professor John Yoo. 

Yoo, who spent the previous semester at Chapman University, returned to the UC Berkeley School of Law, formerly Boalt Hall School of Law, this fall to teach Civil Procedures II. He was met with protests from students, alumni and activists on the first day of class. 

Berkeley law school Dean Christopher Edley has defended Yoo’s actions on the basis of academic freedom, saying in a public statement that the university would carefully review the Justice Department’s internal ethics investigation findings regarding the authors of the torture memos upon its release. 

Berkeley Law student and alliance member Megan Schuller said that Tuesday’s presentation is part of Ending Torture Month, a series of events and advocacy efforts scheduled to take place at Boalt Hall through mid-November. 

Stanford Law School senior lecturer Allen Weiner, visiting Berkeley law school associate professor Gowri Ramachandran, Berkeley law school lecturer John Steele and McGeorge School of Law professor John Sims will be discussing topics ranging from international and constitutional law to national security law and professional ethics at a panel titled "Tortured Justice: Why the Torture Memos were Illegal," at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13 at the Booth Auditorium at UC Berkeley's School of Law. The panel will be followed by a 10-minute film, Tortured Law, by Alliance for Justice. 

Melissa Mikesell, senior counsel for Alliance for Justice West, will also take part in the panel, which is being co-sponsored by at least a dozen social justice and student organizations, including the National Lawyers Guild–Boalt Chapter, Women of Color Collective, Boalt Muslim Students Association, South Asian Law Students Association, Law Students for Justice in Palestine and Alliance for Justice. 

Schuller said that the panel had been designed to make students more aware of legal issues around the torture memos so that they are able to take an informed stance on this controversial issue. 

She said that two of the alliance’s main goals are to push for accountability for all of the authors of the torture memos and to urge the university to open up their own inquiry into whether Yoo should retain his tenure at the law school instead of waiting for the Department of Justice to complete its probe. 

The alliance has established a separate committee to underscore the importance of accountability. 

“We hope we will inspire intellectual debate and discussion which as lawyers we are supposed to do,” said Schuller. “We are open to students who think this university is not the right forum for accountability. We think it is the right forum for accountability.” 

Second-year Berkeley Law student and alliance member Gretchen Gordon said students decided to form the group to break the silence surrounding Yoo’s tenure on the Berkeley campus. 

“For a lot of students, before they get to Berkeley John Yoo is the issue,” Gordon said. “People come to the university with some sort of awareness of the issue. But when they get here, it’s the elephant in the room. It’s not discussed. We want to change that.” 

Although some Berkeley Law School students said they supported the alliance’s effort to publicize and address torture and U.S. detention policies, they hoped it would not become an attack on Yoo. 

“I would probably join a coalition against torture, but I would not feel comfortable joining an alliance trying to remove John Yoo from teaching or to question the university’s decision to keep him until he is convicted of a crime,” said Berkeley law student Patrick Bageant. “I hope it’s not Professor Yoo they are after.” 

Schuller defended her group’s position. 

“We don’t see it as an attack on John Yoo,” she said. “We are asking for the investigation because of the violation of international and professional law. Government attorneys should be held to a higher standard. Yoo is open to have his own opinion and views, but it sends out a wrong message to students on campus—that it’s OK to violate the law.” 

Schuller said she wanted to see something along the lines of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a court-like body set up to deal with human rights violations under apartheid, which could restore the legal principles against torture. 

“The issue for students right now is not Professor Yoo, it’s John Yoo, government lawyer, who engaged in professional misconduct and illegal actions that had catastrophic consequences for human beings,” Gordon said. “When Yoo writes an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post, he signs that as a Berkeley law professor and it adds weight to his credence.” 

Schuller said the alliance, which at its fledgling stage has about 25 members, has not registered with the university as an official student group, but will soon. 

Berkeley Law spokesperson Susan Gluss told the Daily Planet that students were allowed to form whatever group they wanted at Boalt. 

“It could be to discuss all sorts of controversial issues—political, international, medical—UC Berkeley is the home of the free speech movement and we are a critical part of it,” she said. “I don’t think any group has ever been denied permission by the university.” 

Gluss said Yoo’s classes were so popular at Berkeley that students had oversubscribed for them this semester. 

“He’s a great teacher,” she said. 

Bageant, who has taken three classes under Yoo, including one in California state government, described him as “one of the best professors on campus." “He’s simply fantastic,” he said. 

Schuller said although she had not enrolled in any of Yoo’s classes, she understood why they were so much in demand. 

“He’s very charismatic—and students want to hear from someone who has a different opinion,” she said. “It’s my personal choice not to register for his class because what he did was ethically and morally wrong. But I believe in due process, and all I want is an investigation. I can’t ask for anything more.” 

Berkeley law school lecturer Stephen Rosenbaum said he was looking forward to Tuesday’s panel. 

“Recent national studies have chastised law schools for offering curriculum that is short on professional skills and values,” he said. “This initiative appears to be a serious effort by Boalt students to examine ethical and policy issues in a conventional format—presentations by scholars and practitioners.”  

The panel “Tortured Justice: Why the Torture Memos were Illegal,” and the screening of Tortured Law, will be held Tuesday, Oct. 13, 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., UC Berkeley School of Law Booth Auditorium.  

Berkeley City College students, faculty and staff spoke out against state budget cuts to public education during a packed meeting inside the college atrium Thursday. 

More than 20 speakers outlined struggles going on at the college and in their own lives during the hour-long event organized by BCC’s Global Studies Club, following which the protesters made plans for the Oct. 24 conference at UC Berkeley. 

The four-campus Peralta College System, which includes Berkeley City College, is facing a $7 million budget deficit because of the state Legislature’s budget compromise with the governor in August. 

At least 400 classes will be cut from the Peralta system and programs like CalWORKS and Extended Opportunity Programs and Services, which cater to socioeconomically and academically disadvantages students, have already been slashed by 50 percent. 

Berkeley City College is facing a $772,000 cut in student services and has already eliminated 20 classes for the fall semester, with more cuts planned for the spring. 

“We are trying to get students to register early, but it’s a reflection of what the cuts have done to community colleges statewide,” said BCC President Betty Inclan. “As we cut classes, we will need fewer part-time faculty. We are very concerned about that. We are basically shutting down segments of education that provide opportunities. Community colleges are underfunded to begin with, but with these cuts the dream of providing education has been compromised. I call it the deferred dream.” 

The college currently has a hiring freeze and furloughs might be in line for part-time instructors whose class hours have been reduced. 

Joe Doyle, co-chair of BCC’s multimedia department, said student services were being cut to the bone. 

“Students are laboring with jobs and families, and they can’t get the services they need,” he said. “There is student aid, but the people who man the offices are being laid off. Students end up waiting in long lines. We need more people in financial aid.” 

Doyle said classified staff were facing furloughs of up to six days. 

Ayell Lemma, who heads the college’s EOPS and CalWORKS program, said a 40 percent cut to BCC’s 400-student EOPS program had resulted in tremendous challenges in terms of providing students with assistance to buy books, transportation to school, child-care support and school supplies. 

Counseling and tutoring services have also been badly hit, he said. 

“We need funding to backfill the cuts,” he said, “to provide the services that will make students educationally successful and self-sufficient.” 

BCC spokesperson and marketing faculty member Shirley Fogarino told the Daily Planet that the state budget cuts had essentially decimated the CalWORKS program. 

“The part which helps students to find jobs no longer exists,” she said. “It’s there on paper, but it doesn’t exist. Students are either dropping out of the program or dropping out of school entirely.” 

Inclan said that when the CSUs and UCs turn away freshmen due to a lack of funding, the students seek out community colleges for admission—a plan she said might also be compromised under the current budget crisis. 

Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan seeking admission to community colleges for re-employment opportunities might have to be turned away for the same reason, she said. 

“We are also being cut, it’s a ripple effect,” Inclan said. “We are trying our best to deliver quality education and yet resources are being eliminated.” 

Marc Lispi, a part-time English teacher at BCC and a member of the Global Studies Club, said the Oct. 24 conference is expected to serve as a forum for an even bigger event on March 11, when hundreds of UC, CSU and community college students and employees are hoping to march to Sacramento to rally against the cuts. 

“Community colleges are like a hub; we are connected to every single level of society,” Lispi said. “If we can organize against this fight, we can make sure it’s not a fight for crumbs. The money exists—the wealth is there. We can force them to take the money from where it exists.” 

Global Studies Program Instructor Joan Berezin said the college is planning a teach-in Saturday, Oct. 10, on campus at which various community colleges would speak out against the cuts. 

“Talk to 10 people you know—that’s how you start a movement,” she said. 

Laney College Student Body President Ju Hong said that immigrants, low-income and international students are dropping out of Laney because they can’t afford school supplies, food or transportation. 

“We are losing education at this moment,” Hong said, making a plea to students to organize against the cuts. 

BCC sociology student Lydia Stevenson, urged her fellow classmates to speak out against the cuts. 

“Raise your voice. Speak out. Words mean everything,” she said. “Demand your right to an education, demand that cuts happen from the top, not the bottom. And until they do, let’s be a pain in their ass. A big, red, irritated thorn.” 

Stevenson, who has been in the community college system for five years, said all doors seem to be closing just when she is ready make the transfer to UC Berkeley. 

Senior citizens, single mothers and high school graduates all made their case one after another about why it was important to keep programs in community colleges alive. 

“Education in California for the last 20 years has been systematically pushed underground,” said Buddy Roark, an English student, to hisses from the audience. “We now live in a state that has the ninth-largest economy in the world and is 49th in public school spending. The problem is a broken, neglectful tax structure that puts business before people—and that if we had to start from scratch we would never choose in the first place.”  

Students are also facing cuts in library hours and databases. 

“I guarantee you the racket that is text books will not be any cheaper next semester,” said Roark.  

A charter school proposed by the Berkeley Unified School District hit a road bump last week when an activist group charged it would lead to segregation. 

The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) rallied outside the district headquarters at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way before a special School Board meeting Wednesday, Sept. 23, arguing that Berkeley’s first charter school would “codify separate and inferior education” for black and Latino students. 

Although the district has hinted at giving serious consideration to an alternative secondary program that would provide students bound for Berkeley public high schools with another option, district officials said it was far too early in the process to tell whether this program would end up being a charter school. 

Called Revolutionary Education and Learning Movement, or REALM, the charter school, as the Daily Planet reported Sept. 3, was the brainchild of Victor Diaz, principal of Berkeley Technology Academy (the district’s only continuation school), and Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action (BOCA), who want to provide students with a project-based, technology-oriented curriculum that would make them ready for the 21st-century job market. 

Diaz and BOCA argue that students often feel stigmatized by attending B-Tech, simply because it is often viewed as a dumping ground for students who were kicked out of Berkeley High for either failing their classes or having a criminal background, leading them to have low morale and little interest in applying for colleges or jobs. 

The majority of B-Tech students are black or Latino and hail from low-income families. 

According to Diaz, a charter school would provide a fresh start for students who feel they don’t belong either at B-Tech or Berkeley High.  

Curriculum would include new topics such as gaming and 3D movies, digital portfolios, virtual spaces, social networking and website design. 

At the Berkeley Board of Education meeting, called specifically to discuss an alternative secondary program, BAMN members said they opposed a charter school. 

“For decades, Berkeley has been a model for integrated public education that works,” said Yvette Felarca, BAMN organizer and a teacher at King Middle School. “And for the last six years, this city has successfully defended itself against legal challenges to its integration plan. But instead of expanding upon our success, this proposed charter school attempts to institutionalize and make a model out of segregated education in Berkeley.” 

BAMN organizer and UC Berkeley School of Education alumnus Ronald Cruz contended that public schools were the only way to provide integrated, equal education.  

“The majority of black and Latino students who would be sent to the REALM charter should be at Berkeley’s public high school and middle schools and have access to these school’s superior resources,” Cruz said. “But instead, REALM would turn toward the private sector to fund educational experiments for making segregated schooling work for black and Latino students. One hundred years ago, black students relied on private philanthropy to provide them with an inferior, limited technical education. Separate education is unequal education. We will not let Berkeley turn back the clock.” 

Felarca said a charter school would offer very little accountability to the district. 

“Charter schools claim one thing and actually do something completely else,” she said. “How are we going to keep track of them? Charters in the end, the whole premise behind them, is deregulated public education. And we saw what deregulation did to our economy. We don’t want that happening here.” 

Tanya Carter, another BAMN member, told the board that minority students don’t need to be separated to receive opportunities. 

Superintendent Bill Huyett told the Planet after the meeting that the group’s fears were not completely unfounded. 

“Berkeley Unified is concerned about integrating schools and racial equity.” Huyett said. “It’s true that charter schools don’t always reflect ethnic distribution. It’s an unresolved issue. The board doesn’t have an answer to that yet, but we need to keep it in the forefront.” 

Huyett said that the district would also have to figure out facilities, finances and governance for the proposed alternative program before finalizing any plans for a charter school. 

“These are tough times—it’s not a simple yes-or-no kind of proposition,” he said. “The board will have many more discussions” before arriving at any kind of a conclusion. 

Under REALM, one of the proposals is to convert B-Tech into a charter, which would enroll students from seventh grade onward. 

Three different models have been proposed, but each would place students at three campuses, including B-Tech, West Campus and the Washington Elementary School annex for the first three or four years, a plan that at least two School Board members said could lead to much confusion and ultimately little success. 

The district’s director of facilities, Lew Jones, said a new facility could be built within three to five years. The district currently has $1.8 million in unallocated funds in its facilities budget, he said. 

Although a charter school may or may not fall within a school district’s jurisdiction, in either case it is entitled to some amount of independence. 

Huyett said that it was not clear whether bond money could be used to fund a charter school. Local parcel tax money cannot be used toward charter schools, he said, making it necessary for charter schools to seek grants from foundations and private donors. 

Start-up costs for an alternative high school are expected to range from $850,000 to $1 million, with the program expected to run a deficit for the first few years before bringing in any kind of revenue. 

Although the district was planning to give middle schoolers a chance to enroll in the new alternative secondary school, at least two middle school principals told the board that only 30 or fewer students would likely be opting for it. 

Board Director Shirley Issel said she was hesitant to move forward with plans for either a charter school or an alternative program without hearing what the citywide 2020 Vision Planning Team would be recommending as a future course of action for closing the achievement gap. 

One of 2020 Vision’s goals is to redesign and restructure the Berkeley public secondary schools.  

School Board Director John Selawsky said that although some community members were pushing to get a new alternative secondary program started by next year, he remained skeptical. 

“It’s a very tight timeline,” he said. “If we are going to have to do it next year, we don’t have a lot of time.”

Berkeley health officials said Tuesday, Oct. 6, that the city is expecting its first shipment of H1N1 vaccines as early as this week. 

The first swine flu nasal spray vaccines were distributed in different states all over the country Tuesday. 

Although priority will given to groups more likely to get sick and have H1N1flu complications that could lead to severe illness and death, the city’s acting health officer, Dr. Janet Berreman, said anyone could get the vaccines through their private healthcare providers. 

Berreman said the city would first be vaccinating pregnant women, people who live with or care for infants younger than six months old, healthcare and emergency medical services personnel, individuals between the ages of 6 months and 24 years, and people age 25 through 64 with chronic health conditions or weak immune systems. 

“As long as their demands are met, we will be opening up the vaccinations to every person,” she said. “We are expecting to get more shipments in the next few weeks. Both seasonal and swine flu vaccines will be available at our clinic on Sixth Street and University Avenue.” 

Berreman said the swine flu nasal spray vaccines were manufactured in the same way as the seasonal flu vaccines. She said that the city’s health division was closely monitoring the swine flu, which was just as widespread in Berkeley as in the rest of the Bay Area. 

Data on the California Department of Public Health website shows Berkeley had a total of seven hospitalizations as of Sept. 26, with one death. California has had a total of 2,510 hospitalizations during the same period, with 188 deaths. 

Berkeley Health and Human Services, which has a $26 million annual budget for 2010, is one of only three cities in California that have their own health jurisdictions. 

The department is currently looking for a new director, following Fred Medrano’s announcement that he will be retiring after 35 years. 

The city’s Public Health Division will also be working with the Berkeley Unified School District to immunize schoolchildren against the swine flu in the second or third week of November, Berreman said. 

She said that the district would be submitting the number of student absences to the city every week, so that health officials could track the course of the swine flu in public schools more efficiently. 

The district’s Assistant Superintendent Neil Smith told the Daily Planet that vaccination camps might be set up in the schools the week of Nov. 16. 

Berreman could not confirm the date but said more information would be made available in the following weeks. 

“We are still working on the specifics; we’ve yet to finalize plans,” she said. “We know that it will be available in all the public schools.” 

On Tuesday the city’s Public Health Division vaccinated as many as 2,274 people for seasonal flu, at no cost, within four hours at the Berkeley Adult School on San Pablo Avenue. 

The city of Berkeley’s public information officer Mary Kay Clunies-Ross, called the clinic procedure “an opportunity to practice a large-scale vaccination operation.” 

“It’s also a really important emergency preparedness exercise,” Clunies-Ross said. “It’s quite an operation, and certainly a timely one. And in this economy, a free flu shot might really help people stay healthy this winter.” 

Hundreds started lining up outside the adult school auditorium even before the gates opened for the flu shots to begin at 3 p.m.  

The clinic’s incident commander, Barbara Gregory, instructed her team—consisting of 60 to 80 Berkeley health department staff and 40 volunteers—to make sure everyone had filled out the pink form that determined whether a person was eligible for the intra-nasal spray mist or the injection vaccines.  

“The spray mist is great for people who are scared of needles,” Berreman said.  

Last year, the city vaccinated 1,300 people against the seasonal flu. 

Sunshine Pritchett, the first person in line to get vaccinated, said she takes advantage of the city’s vaccinations every year. 

“We needed the flu shots,” she said. “We just went and looked on the city’s website, filled out some forms, and here we are.” 

Pritchett said she would be back for the H1N1 shots. “It’s a pandemic—it’s safer to have it,” she said.  

Tori Borgas brought her 6-year-old daughter Terrie, who smiled the entire time UCSF student-nurse volunteer Anita Gossell applied the nasal mist in both of her nostrils with a syringe. 

“It’s an awesome clinic,” Borgas said smiling. “Once the line started moving, it was really fast.” 

Gossell said the mist was painless, and people breathed normally after it was applied. 

Most people praised the health department for creating a separate entrance on Carter Street for seniors and disabled community members. 

“They charged a nominal fee in previous years, but this year it’s free,” said Freida Smith, as she extended her left arm to get a shot. “It’s important, because we shouldn’t be spreading things to one another. I haven’t had the flu since I don’t know when, but I always get my flu shots. This was well organized.” 

Muriel Minnis, 91, leaned on Mary Smith’s arm for support as she walked out of the building after getting vaccinated. 

“I want to be protected,” she said. “I was a public health nurse for many years. I know how important it is.” 

Sorabjit Singh, 30, brought his entire family of seven, including his grandfather, Pritam Singh, 72, and his grandmother Ranjit Kaur, 66. 

Berkeley Adult School ESL teacher Barbara Andrews comforted her 1-year-old daughter, Lina Lorenz, as she burst into tears after getting vaccinated. 

“I come in contact with a lot of people, and I didn’t want to get sick,” she said. “This is the first time my kids have got the flu vaccine. I want them to get the H1N1 vaccine as well, because they are in the high-risk group.” 

Her son, Leo Lorenz, 5, put on a brave face as a volunteer gave him his shot. 

“They put it up my nose,” he said, pointing at his nose. “It tickled a little bit, but it was hardly nothing.” 

For more information or help finding immunizations, medical providers, and health insurance, including MediCal, call the City of Berkeley Public Health Division at 981-5300 and ask for the nurse of the day. 

About 200 students gathered in Lower Sproul Plaza Sept. 30 to discuss the upcoming Oct. 24 mobilizing conference at UC Berkeley, potentially the next big event planned in protest of the university’s budget cuts, furloughs and fee hikes. 

Various student groups that took part in the Sept. 24 faculty and student walkout in the 10-campus UC system organized Wednesday’s general assembly in front of Eshelman Hall for students to brainstorm ideas for future protests or other forms of action. 

A group of UC Berkeley students moderating the meeting described it as “an open forum for all groups to come together,” calling the walkout the “first time faculty, staff and students had come together in a show of solidarity.” 

Later that night, students met to form three committees—the general assembly committee, an Oct. 24 committee and a peace committee which would ensure that all future protests were non-violent. 

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and Executive Vice-Chancellor and Provost George W. Breslauer sent an e-mail to faculty, staff, students and members of the campus community thanking them for the “orderly, peaceful and effective way in which the Sept. 24 budget protest actions were held on and around campus.” 

The letter acknowledged that, although a large number of people took part in the day’s actions, there was minimal disruption to university operations and classes. 

“Berkeley is proud of being the home of the Free Speech Movement and yesterday’s protests exemplified the best of our tradition of effective civil action,” the letter said. “Your actions have sent a clear and important message to our legislators and to the California public that the State’s disinvestment in public higher education must stop. We hope that we can build on these actions together to continue to inform the public and the State legislature that cuts to the University of California undermine our state’s future and that it is in the interests of all of the people of our great State of California to reinvest 

in public higher education.” 

UC Berkeley is facing a 20 percent cut—about $637 million—in its budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year as part of the budget agreement between the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The university’s current budget is $2.6 billion. 

Birgeneau announced Thursday that UC Berkeley had hired Bain & Co. to help identify ways the campus could increase efficiency and cut costs. 

Representatives from CalSERVE, the Solidarity Alliance, the Associated Students of the University of California, AFSCME and other Bay Area colleges and organizations spoke at the meeting, promising support for the conference. 

Although many proposals were tossed around—ranging from benefit concerts to statewide strikes to rallying outside California Hall in an attempt to shut it down—most students stressed it was important to focus on the conference. 

Ten minutes into the meeting, students from the Oct. 24 committee handed out invitations to the conference. The slip of paper said that all “UC, CSU, CC and K-12 students, workers, and teachers” were invited to the all-day conference, which would seek to “democratically decide on a state-wide action plan capable of winning this struggle,” a struggle that would define the future of public education. 

“Why is this important?” asked Eric Blanc, a student at City College of San Francisco who is a member of the Oct. 24 committee. “Because we have a huge opportunity, a historic moment to win this statewide struggle.” 

Organizers are trying to get the word out by various means, including Facebook, and through campus student groups throughout California. 

Blanc announced to cheers from the audience that the San Francisco Labor Council had endorsed the conference. 

Students also revealed the movement’s two main goals—to defend public education, and to reform the structure of the UC system—and six demands, including no student fee increases; no layoffs or furloughs; no paycuts to workers earning less than $40,000 a year; full disclosure of the budget; the halt of efforts to privatize California public education; and the election of UC regents by students, faculty and staff. 

“[Sept.] 24 was beautiful,” said Maricruz Manzanarez, representing the UC custodians, union Local 3299. “It never happened before at UC Berkeley. We hope the numbers increase by the day. It’s time for Birgeneau to come out of the bushes and talk to us and make the right decision.” 

Union members handed out petitions that asked the university to stop laying off custodial staff and furloughs. 

A member of the University Professional and Technical Employees Union, who did not want to use her name for fear of retribution, said her union had been without a contract for 15 months because of the budget cuts. 

Students also emphasized the need for a coordinating committee that would play an important role in any imminent protests. 

Another general assembly of the university community was scheduled for Wednesday evening (after the Daily Planet went to press), the fourth in a series that began with a Sept. 16 session to collect issues to be raised during the following week’s rally and teach-in. 

Berkeley City College students will be holding a meeting from 12:15 p.m. to 1:20 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, at Berkeley City College to speak out against the state budget cuts and launch an organizers’ meeting for the Oct. 24 conference at UC Berkeley. 

AC Transit—which recently risked delay or even major overhaul of its long-planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in order to hold off major bu-line and service cuts—is now poised to consider revamping another major district policy directive: its controversial “partnership” with Belgian bus manufacturer Van Hool. 

A resolution by AC Transit Board- 

member Elsa Ortiz which would prioritize the purchase goods manufactured in America unanimously passed the board’s three-member Finance and Audit Committee last week and is scheduled for deliberation by the full board at its Wednesday, Oct. 14, meeting. 

While AC Transit operates buses manufactured by several bus companies—including Gillig Corporation of Hayward, NewFlyer Corporation of Canada (with operations in Minnesota), and North American Bus Industries (NABI) of Hungary (with operations in Alabama)—it has put special emphasis on the purchase of Van Hools in recent years. In a tally of 630 buses in the AC Transit fleet, released by the district a year ago, 44.3 percent (279 buses) were manufactured by Van Hool, with NABI second at 31.7 percent. AC Transit has signed a major contract with Van Hool to produce 40-foot buses for the district, and, the Van Hool 60-foot articulated (two-part) buses have been projected as the backbone of the BRT fleet, whenever that is put into operation. 

It was AC Transit General Manager Rick Fernandez who unofficially labeled the bus-purchasing relationship between AC Transit and Van Hool a “partnership.” 

But Ortiz, who represents the city of Alameda and portions of Oakland and San Leandro on the AC Transit board and is not a member of the finance committee, says that the resolution is not aimed at Van Hool. Instead, she says that she wants to affect what she called the “huge unemployment rate” among local, state, and American workers. She said that while this is a general problem in the area, the change in AC Transit purchase policy is especially important following Toyota Corporation’s decision to close its New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Fremont. 

One possible beneficiary of the proposed new policy would be Hayward-based Gillig, which one AC Transit source says is the “only truly American bus manufacturing company,” with both company headquarters and all of its manufacturing plants located within the United States. Gillig currently supplies only a small percentage of AC Transit’s bus fleet. 

“When manufacturing products are purchased from a domestic producer, the economy is stimulated,” Ortiz said by telephone this week. She noted that “there have been a lot of concerns raised about the Van Hools throughout the years. Some of those concerns have been valid and some have been exaggerated.” But as to the effect of her buy-America resolution on the district’s partnership with Van Hool, Ortiz answered, “I don’t know. Let’s make our best effort to get American-made products to stimulate the economy. And Van Hool will just have to compete.” 

The buy-American resolution had the support in the finance committee of veteran board member Greg Harper of Emeryville and at-large director Joel Young, who was elected last November to take the seat of outgoing board member Rebecca Kaplan. While committee chair Jeff Davis voted for the resolution, he reportedly did so with “reservations.” 

One board member who had serious reservations about the Buy–American resolution was At-Large Board Member Chris Peeples, who said by telephone that the resolution raises “a number of concerns.” 

One of the concerns, Peeples said, is that the resolution “opens us up to purchasing from non-union bus manufacturers.” 

Peeples said that while Van Hool and Hayward’s Gillig—whose buses currently make up only 5.8 percent of the AC Transit fleet—are union shops, Hungary-based NABI has its parts manufactured in Alabama, “a right-to-work state.” (So-called right-to-work laws are designed to limit the ability of unions to organize and represent workers.) 

Peeples, who has been one of Van Hool’s strongest boosters on the AC Transit board, also said that Ortiz’ resolution “doesn’t recognize in the least how well we’ve been treated by Van Hool.” Peeples said that, in particular, Van Hool has “done literally everything we’ve asked them” in the creation of new-style buses or modifying existing ones to meet AC Transit’s needs. “We haven’t got that same cooperation from Gillig,” he added. “They don’t have the depth in engineering that Van Hool has to redesign buses. No American bus-manufacturing company has that.” 

Board Member Joel Young said by phone this week that he expects the resolution to be approved when it goes before the full board. 

“I support Elsa Ortiz on her efforts to allocate more of our contracting dollars to American firms,” he said. “It’s in line with our desire to try to do more business locally. I agree with Ortiz that this is an appropriate move in line with the current economic downturn in our country.” 

Young said that, if passed, the buy-American resolution will “definitely cause a shift in our relationship” with Van Hool, of which the new board member said, “in the public eye, it hasn’t been very positive for us.” Young added that “from a competitive standpoint, I think that exclusive contracts in general areas [such as AC Transit has developed with Van Hool] are not good for our bidding process. It’s in our best interests to allow competitive bidding from multiple players as a way to keep our costs under control and to make sure we’re getting the best output from our current contractors.” 

Berkeley public elementary schools are bursting at the seams and there is no quick fix for the problem.  

Enrollment in the 9,000-plus Berkeley Unified School District is expected to grow by 464 students over the next 10 years, and district officials are scrambling to find short-term as well as more permanent solutions to address the space crunch.  

In May, the Berkeley Board of Education gave the district the green light to review classroom capacities and attendance zones to address overcrowded K-5 facilities.  

Although the district’s student assignment plan has had minor adjustments and the number of schools has changed since the board approved the three elementary school zones—north, central and south—in 1994, their geographic boundaries have remained the same.   

After a quick briefing on the issue in August, district Director of Facilities Lew Jones bought some recommendations back to the board at its regular meeting Sept. 24.  

Jones said the district had hired Davis Demographics & Planning, Inc. (DDP), to help with the planning of future shifts in student population.   

This is the first time the district has hired an outside entity to study its enrollment numbers, Jones said.  

DDP factored current and historical student data with demographic data and planned residential development to calculate a 10-year student population projection.  

Data reported to the state by Berkeley Unified shows the district had 9,370 students in 2000-2001, which declined to 8,843 students by the 2003-2004 school year. The DDP study shows that over the next five years BUSD’s enrollment stabilized at around the 9,000-student mark with a low of 8,904 in 2004-2005 and a high of 9,088 in 2006-2007. In 2008-2009—the last year the DDP study took into account—it was 8,988.  

The DDP report predicts that most of the growth projected to take place over the next decade will be in the elementary grades, growing from 3,686 to 4,033 students—an increase of 347 students.  

In the middle schools, the numbers will rise from 1,799 to 1,894, an increase of 95 students.  

At the high schools, student population is expected to fluctuate over the same period, at first declining and then rebounding to current levels as larger classes in the lower grades graduate over the years.  

The DDP report attributes the projected growth—especially in K–5—to a jump in kindergarten enrollment over the past two years. Data reported to the state show that the 650 students enrolled in kindergarten in 2007-2008 were the highest since the 1999-2000 school year.   

Last year’s kindergarten enrollment—694—is the largest the district had reported since 1993-1994.  

Although most districts show a direct correlation between area births and kindergarten enrollment five years later, the report says that it is not the case for Berkeley Unified.  

Kindergarten enrollment increased even as the number of babies born between  2001 and 2002 (the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school years) declined.  

Jones said in a report to the board that a variety of factors might affect student population, including a fluctuating housing market and the number of students attending private schools.  

However, the “interplay between private and public schools is more complex than other districts,” he said.  

Zone models  

Jones pointed out that under the current zone model, the central and northwest zones would exceed their present capacities.  

As a result the district explored the following options to modify the K–5 attendance boundaries:  

• The current attendance zones.  

• A shift in boundaries so that Berkeley Arts Magnet is in the northwest zone and Malcolm X is in the central zone.  

Capacity  

The district is exploring the following options to increase capacity:  

• Adding a new school at West Campus.  

• Adding a new wing to Jefferson.  

• Replacing Washington annex portables with a large building.  

• Adding portables to Jefferson.  

• Adding portables to Washington annex.  

• Adding portables to Berkeley Arts Magnet.  

Jones said that district officials did not believe it was necessary or financially feasible to add a new elementary school-based on the current population projections.  

While exploring zone modifications, the district considered several factors, including minimizing disruption, busing costs and capital expenses and giving more importance to parental choice and overall flexibility.  

The district’s preferred model would keep the existing zone lines intact but convert Berkeley Arts Magnet into a school straddling both the northwest and the central zones. It would also turn Malcolm X into a school shared between the central and southeast zones.  

The district is also considering two other models—the current model and one that shifts Malcolm X to the central zone and Arts Magnet to the northwest zone.  

If the district sticks to the current model, it would have to add five to six portables to the Jefferson campus and either use the Washington annex portables for the elementary program or add three to four portables at Berkeley Arts Magnet.  

In case the district decided to shift Malcolm X to the central zone and Arts Magnet to the northwest zone and reconfigure the boundary lines, either Washington annex would be used for elementary school or three to four portables would be added to Jefferson or Arts Magnet. The portables at Washington are currently being used for Berkeley High classes.  

Community members will be able to comment about the zone changes at three public meetings over the next couple of weeks.  

• Malcolm X Auditorium, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8.  

• Jefferson Auditorium, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13.  

Public comments can be sent to the Board of Education at boardofed@berkeley.k12.ca.us or BUSD Board of Education, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley, CA 94704. 

Documents on zone changes are available at www.berkeley.k12.ca.us.

A notorious crossing near South Berkeley’s Malcolm X Elementary School will finally get its due. 

A recent $900,000 CalTrans Safe Routes to School grant to the city of Berkeley for traffic improvements at four Berkeley public elementary schools will ensure that two flashing beacons are installed at Ashby Avenue at Ellis Street to alert drivers and pedestrians. The intersection has been the site of numerous accidents and traffic hazards.  

The grant is part of a $37 million statewide funding package that the city applied for earlier this year. 

Four “No U-Turn” signs will also be installed at Ellis Street.  

The Ashby and Ellis corner has been a source of concern for many community members and parents at Malcolm X for years, who wanted to see city officials do something to enhance traffic flow and improve safety on Ellis and Ashby.  

Visitors at the South Berkeley Senior Center have also complained consistently that the intersection is dangerous, especially for seniors and members of the disabled community, 

Disability rights activist Fred Lupke was killed in 2003 when his wheelchair was struck by a car on Ashby Avenue near the Ellis Street crossing. 

The most recent accident at the crossing involved a Malcolm X kindergartner, who was struck by a truck in January when she darted into the crosswalk on her way to school. The 6-year-old, who was walking to school with her brother, suffered a broken skull and clavicle. 

A slew of pedestrian accidents involving Berkeley public school students last spring led to the district launching a traffic safety campaign along with Alameda County’s Safe Routes to School over the summer. 

The most shocking case was the death, in February, of 5-year-old LeConte Elementary School student Zachary Michael Cruz, who was hit by a welder’s truck while crossing the intersection of Derby and Warring streets on his way to an after-school program at the Clark Kerr Campus. 

Although police did not arrest the driver of the truck for the accident, Zachary’s parents, Frank and Jody Cruz, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court in August against the Berkeley Unified School District, the University of California regents; truck driver John William Martin Sr., and his employer, Ferguson Welding Service in Hayward; school-bus driver Zakiya Green and after-school program employee Zayda Arevalo. 

Cruz’s lawyer Andrew Schwartz told the Daily Planet that Berkeley police concluded their investigation without making a recommendation for criminal prosecution. He said that the case had been forwarded to the district attorney’s office. 

“Whether or not the DA’s office files any charges, we are still going ahead with the lawsuit,” Schwartz said. “It’s not an issue of criminal conduct, it’s an issue of negligent conduct. The reason why the family has filed a lawsuit is because, up to this point, no one has been willing to come forward to accept responsibility for the death of Zachary. The truck driver is not willing to accept responsibility, UC Berkeley is not willing to accept responsibility and the Berkeley Unified School District is not willing to accept responsibility. They all seem to think that the responsibility lies elsewhere.” 

Schwartz said the university’s legal response was to deny the allegations and allege that the fault lies with the other defendants. 

Berkeley Unified School District spokesperson Mark Coplan said he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit, but added that the incident, along with a few others, paved the way for heightened traffic-safety awareness in the Berkeley public schools. 

Safe Routes to Schools Director Nora Cody said such lawsuits are not common. Cody said that the traffic-safety campaign has led to increased awareness about road safety among students, with more people walking or taking the school bus every day. 

Cody said that 10 percent of students in Rosa Parks and Thousand Oaks Elementary Schools have stopped driving to school and are instead walking and riding school buses. 

Besides Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Thousand Oaks and Berkeley Arts Magnet have also received the CalTrans grant, and improvements at all four sites include installing new signage, bulb-outs and “No U-turn” signs. 

The short-term improvements will occur before December, and the more permanent improvements will take place over the course of the next two years. 

Safe Routes to School Education Coordinator Susan Silber said that, as a result of the safety campaign with Berkeley Unified, all 11 elementary schools will be taking part in International Walk to School Day Thursday for the first time. 

Berkeley’s Walk and Roll to School Day is part of a larger Walk and Roll to School Safety Campaign, a collaboration between Safe Routes to Schools, the city of Berkeley and the Berkeley Unified School District.  

Silber said that accidents had gone down drastically after the new safety campaign had been launched. 

“But we are not attributing all of it to us; it’s probably a coincidence,” she said. “However, Berkeley Unified is taking traffic safety very seriously now.” 

Silber said that, although many parents had wanted more crossing guards at intersections near elementary schools, the Berkeley City Council had not increased the number because of a budget crunch. 

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau will pay a consulting firm $3 million to tell the university how to save money. 

Bain & Co., a Boston-based consulting firm whose alumni include former GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and current California GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, will conduct a study similar to those commissioned by the University of North Carolina (UNC), Cornell University and the city of Atlanta. 

Business clients range from Yahoo.com to Getty Images. 

The study comprises a key element of a campaign Birgeneau has dubbed “Operational Excellence.” 

“I will be leading this effort together with Vice Chancellor Frank Yeary,” Birgeneau said in announcing the program to the campus. “We will be conducting a comprehensive study of our costs—what we spend on our various operational and administrative activities—and developing concrete options that improve operations while reducing our costs.” 

Fortune magazine ranks Bain & Co. at the 296th place on its list of the nation’s largest privately held companies, and chair Orit Gadiesh has repeatedly appeared on the magazine’s lists of the country’s most powerful women. 

A former Israeli Army military intelligence specialist who worked in the office of the vice chief of staff, she has a degree in psychology from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and went on to graduate with highest honors from the Harvard MBA program. 

She succeeded Mitt Romney as chair, and gave $2,300 to her predecessor’s presidential campaign in early 2007, contributing an equal amount to John McCain. 

Under her 22-year tenure, Bain has risen to become one of the nation’s leading management consulting firms,and has expanded its reach globally, most recently with a new office in Dubai. 

Jack Trout, an associate with the Blake Project, a consultant group that specializes in creating marketing brands, said Bain & Co. consultants “are so secretive they don’t carry business cards. And it has been reported that when discussing clients on airplanes, they use code words instead of names.” http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2009/09/management-consulting-help-or-hazard.html 

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin praised the company’s role in helping that city develop “a comprehensive turnaround plan...it included 29 specific strategies for reinventing city government.”  

The decision to hire the consultant drew mixed reviews from the activists who helped organize the Sept. 23–24 campus teach-in and rally. 

Lyn Hejinian, the poet and English professor who chairs the Solidarity Alliance, which coordinated the September events, said she is concerned about any study that uses efficiency as an overarching standard to judge a public institution. 

“It seems to me that the outcome is highly predictable, given the end results of their other consultancy projects,” she said. 

But Richard Walker, a geography professor and member of the staff of UCB’s Institute for Urban and Regional Development, said the study has a potential for a positive effect on the campus, not least because it would demonstrate “that our administration is willing to do a study that could lead to cuts in administrative fat.”  

Both faculty members said the university could make strong improvements in its purchasing system, which restricts buys to a fixed list of suppliers. 

Hejinian said one department had found furniture for a new office at one-third the price from the approved supplier, but had been forced to pay the much higher price. 

Both also agreed that travel arrangements could often be made more cheaply if individuals and departments were allowed to choose their own supplier, a complaint made by other faculty as well. 

Walker’s endorsement of the survey was also qualified by what he sees as a need for greater involvement by faculty and staff in the conduct of the review. 

“They’ve put a couple more faces on the steering committee, and they have promised to interview any and all faculty, including Charlie Schwartz,” he said. “We proposed a number of other faculty who should go along with them, but getting the administration to actually put them on has been” less successful.  

Schwartz, an emeritus physics professor, has been conducting his own detailed study of university finances since his retirement in 1993.  

Hejinian said that while an examination of fiscal issues and the university’s management of finances is clearly needed, “I don’t think a business model of efficiency is what the university needs, because the university is not so much about efficiency as about creativity and prolonged discussions,” realities outside the traditional parameters of the corporate model of the efficient business institution. 

Walker, an activist with the SAVE faculty alliance, said that two other central issues with the study will be transparency—how much actually gets reported back to the university community—and the role of shared governance, in which critical decisions about the university are made in consultation with the Academic Senate. 

But for Tanya Smith, president of Local 1 of the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) at UCB, the decision to hire Bain & Co. is simply “outrageous. It’s absurd. Bain is supposed to be for corporations.” 

Her union, which is working without a contract, is now in bargaining with the university, “but we’re making no progress at all. I think we’re actually slipping backwards at the bargaining table, and the administration came to the table today with new marching orders we’re still learning about.” 

With furloughs for faculty already in place, Smith said she wondered when professors would be able to find time to work on the survey.  

Ongoing action 

Campus activists are continuing the efforts to organize and mobilize the university community. 

Another general assembly of the university community was scheduled for Wednesday evening, the fourth in a series that began with a Sept. 16 session to collect issues to be raised during the following week’s rally and teach-in. 

A 24-hour “study-in” will begin at 4 p.m. Friday in the Anthropology Library in Kroeber Hall. The entrance is across from Cafe Strada. Besides affording an oportunity for studying for finals, the event will include a discussion on “Confronting issues of privilege and inequality within our struggle.” 

The major event to arise out of the Sept. 24 assembly was a call for a statewide conference on public education, which has now been scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Oct. 24 in the Pauley Ballroom and run through 5 p.m. 

The meeting will examine the needs of all public education in the state, from pre-school through postgraduate, in the light of California’s budget crisis, with the goal of adopting a plan of action to mobilize public support for the state’s schools.

UC Berkeley wants bidders for its first major downtown construction project in the city center, the Helios Energy Research Facility, with the contract to be awarded Oct. 15. 

The 112,800-square-foot building will be built on part of the site now occupied by the old state Department of Public Health building, just across Oxford Street from the main university campus. 

Estimated cost of the high-tech lab building is $85 million. 

The building will house both public and corporate research labs, with much of the work funded by the controversial $500 million grant from BP, formerly known as British Petroleum. 

The project will occupy the northeast corner of the long block between Oxford Street and Shattuck Avenue between Berkeley Way and Hearst Avenue. 

While the existing and privately owned Berkeleyan apartments will remain on the site’s southeast corner, the remainder of the existing buildings are scheduled for demolition.  

The largest portion of the extended block is slated for the future development of the university’s Community Health Campus, which originally had been projected to occupy the whole site now occupied by the former state office building. 

Construction at the site will be the first major development under the university’s plans to build a total of 850,000 square feet of new off-campus construction in downtown Berkeley. 

That extensive building program sparked the lawsuit that resulted in the much-revised Downtown Area Plan, which is currently on hold after opponents gathered enough signatures to force a referendum on the version finally adopted by the Berkeley City Council. 

University officials will discuss their plans for the Helios building, as well as research to be conducted there, during a public information session today (Thursday, Oct. 8) during a 90-minute session that begins at 7 p.m. 

The session will be held in Pat Brown’s Grille in the Genetics and Plant Biology building, located on campus just east of the intersection of Oxford Street and Berkeley Way. 

UCB spokesperson Dan Mogulof said the school “expects to submit the design of” the building to the Board of Regents in January. “If they approve and give the go-ahead for construction, demolition of the existing structure at 2151 Berkeley Way is planned to begin in early February 2010. 

“Completion of demolition and site clearance is anticipated in June 2010. The university will fund and manage the demolition; the bid process to hire a contractor is scheduled to begin the week of Oct. 12, with construction of the new building to begin once demolition is finished.” 

Mogulof said bidding for the contract for removal of hazardous materials (mostly asbestos and lead) from the structure currently on the site will begin this week. 

“The actual demolition and construction work is being bid separately. The estimated cost of hazardous materials removal is $3.5 million, and that work is expected to begin in early November. The estimate for demolition, which we anticipate starting in early Feb. 2010, is $3 million.” 

If all goes as planned, the building should be ready for occupancy by the end of 2012, he said. 

The university will also brief Berkeley planning commissioners on the project during their Oct. 14 meeting.  

The downtown lab is one of two facilities planned for the Helios project, with a second, smaller lab set for construction at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for research on photovoltaics and electrochemical solar energy storage systems.  

Planning for that project won’t begin until a specific site has been picked, Mogulof said.

The Berkeley City Council returns Tuesday night to its most controversial subject of the year—the Downtown Area Plan—but the planned agenda item itself is unlikely to generate controversy. 

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 13, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Old Berkeley City Hall building on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

On the consent calendar agenda—where no debate is planned—is council “acknowledgment” of the ruling by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters that the recent Berkeley citizen petition drive to invalidate the council’s passage of the Downtown Area Plan “contains the requisite number of valid signatures.” 

There do not appear to be any plans by the council to challenge the registrar’s ruling. The petitioners needed 5,558 valid signatures to throw out the Downtown Area Plan, and Mayor Tom Bates—who led the council fight to pass the plan and led opposition to the referendum—publicly conceded that its opponents had enough valid signatures shortly after the petition drive ended, telling the Daily Planet that “apparently enough” signatures had been collected after an estimated 9,200 were turned in to the registrar’s office. 

The council now has two options regarding an overall economic development plan for its downtown area. It can pass a new plan with substantial differences from the original Downtown Area Plan, crafting enough changes to forestall another successful petition drive. Or it can send the issue to Berkeley voters in June of next year, giving them an up or down vote on the council-passed plan. If voters approve the Downtown Area Plan in that election, the plan will go into effect. If voters don’t approve the plan, the council can work to approve a new plan or it can opt—for the time being, at least—to continue to develop Berkeley’s downtown under the city’s General Plan and zoning ordinances, without a specific Downtown Area Plan to guide the process. 

Mayor Bates has already indicated that he will first attempt to make enough modifications to pass a new plan that is more acceptable to at least some of the original plan’s critics. 

A spokesperson for the Registrar of Voters office said that the office used state law procedures to do a random sampling review of 500 of the 9,200 signatures. The registrar made the certification ruling after it was determined that there were enough valid signatures in the sample that it was likely a full review would yield the required 5,558, and the City of Berkeley was notified of that ruling by mail on Sept. 21. 

The council will step into a perennially contentious issue on Tuesday night when it plans to deliberate about what directions to give the city manager’s office for the development of a Wireless Telecommunications Master Plan. Once it is developed by staff and passed by the council, the plan will set city policy on the placement of cellphone antenna towers throughout Berkeley, an issue that almost always draws spirited citizen complaint when the council is asked by cellphone companies to approve new locations or expanded towers on existing facilities. Cities throughout the country are restricted by federal law on the criteria they can use for regulating cellphone towers. Health concerns—the issue around which most of the citizen complaints are raised—are one of the matters that are off-limits for cities to consider. 

Also on Tuesday, the council will be asked to agree to Councilmember Kriss Worthington’s resolution to ask AC Transit and the Metropolitan Transit Commission to move forward with a proposed $80 million swap out of AC Transit’s Bus Rapid Transit funds so that the money can be used to prevent the bus district’s proposed January bus-line and service cuts. If the swap-out is approved by MTC and AC Transit, it could set back the start of BRT construction by a year, or even force a complete overhaul of the ambitious, three-city project. Worthington has been a BRT supporter, but he says that the proposed line cuts pose such a threat to public transit in Berkeley and the East Bay that BRT should be temporarily set back in order to hold those cuts off. 

Worthington has already gathered an array of East Bay political officeholders to support the proposed BRT fund swap, including Berkeley City Councilmembers Darryl Moore, Linda Maio, and Gordon Wozniak, Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, and Oakland City Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan (a former AC Transit boardmember) and Larry Reid. 

Tuesday’s meeting will be preceded by a 5 p.m. staff-led budget update, which will give economic data in the city compiled since the passage of the city budget last June but will also focus on actions taken by the California Legislature that are having an effect on Berkeley’s budget. 

The Oakland City Council voted early Wednesday morning to support BART’s plan to build a $522 million rail connector between the Coliseum station and Oakland International Airport, provided that certain conditions are met. 

City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan had introduced a resolution opposing the 3.2-mile connector, but, at a lengthy hearing that ended at 1 a.m., the council rejected her motion and instead voted 5–0 to approve a substitute motion by Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente to endorse the controversial project. 

Kaplan and Nancy Nadel abstained, and Desley Brooks was absent. 

The project has already been approved by BART directors, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and other agencies, so the City Council’s vote was largely symbolic. 

Project opponents, who include many public transit advocates who favor bus service over rail service, say BART could save hundreds of millions of dollars by using a rapid bus service instead. They estimated that such a service would only cost between $45 million and $60 million. 

The conditions proposed by De La Fuente and endorsed by the City Council are that local workers be hired for constructing the rail connector, that an intermediate stop be built on Hegenberger Road and that an evaluation of the connector’s fare rates be set to ensure that working people can afford to ride it. 

Current plans call for a one-way ride on the connector to cost $6. 

City Council President Jane Brunner said the conditions “are very important to me” because without them the connector mainly will benefit out-of-towners who go to the airport instead of Oakland residents. 

The conditions authored by De La Fuente are similar to those suggested by Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums in a letter he issued to the council Tuesday afternoon in support of the project. 

Dellums said he favors the connector because it “presents immediate economic opportunities for Oakland residents in dire need of jobs.” 

“As Oakland’s mayor in a time when the city is facing unemployment rates of 17 percent, I cannot in good conscience turn away this prospect for our residents,” Dellums said.

Certain U.S. populations are historically undercounted by the census. The 2000 Census data show that in Los Angeles County alone, African American and Latino populations were undercounted by a margin of 2.85 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively. This may not seem like a lot, but when you consider that a UCLA Center for Regional Policy Studies analysis alleges undercounts cost more than $26,000 per 1,000 people not counted, it adds up. 

This means that the $300 billion in federal funding allocated every year does not reach the areas and communities it needs to reach. 

But why are these demographics underrepresented, census after census? 

The Census Bureau and the many advocacy organizations agree on some reasons. 

According to Evan Bacalao, deputy director of civic engagement at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), one of the primary reasons for this undercount is limited English proficiency. The Census Bureau acknowledges that this is a problem as well. 

But what about actual members of these often poorer and ethnically diverse communities? What do they seem to think is the main barrier to achieving a strong count? 

According to Sean Shavers, 18, of Oakland, the issue is not so much one of language but of fear or misinformation. “Door-to-door workers won’t go to dangerous areas [for follow-up counts] without the cops,” Shavers muses. Essentially, “houses are skipped.” 

That, or people in these areas simply think “senses” when they hear “census,” says Omar Turcios, 24, of San Francisco. “For some people, the ‘census’ is about smell and taste.” 

Angelo Falcón, president of the National Institute for Latino Policy, agrees that this fear of government is the main cause behind the lack of census participation. And even though census workers are bound to secrecy by their oath of nondisclosure, “with the Patriot Act and terrorism,” Falcón says, “there are no guarantees.” 

Clearly there is a difference of opinion on census matters between government agencies, advocacy groups, and the populations they are trying to reach. Unfortunately, with a belief in different problems comes a belief in different solutions. 

NALEO is trying to solve the problem of underrepresentation through its Ya Es Hora (It’s Time) campaign. Originally targeted to encourage Latinos to apply for citizenship and register to vote, the campaign has been extended to include promotion of the 2010 Census. 

Ya Es Hora, according to Bacalao, is a “nationally coordinated effort developed to promote community assistance and provide information on the census.” The campaign focuses especially on sending information about the census through trusted channels, such as local TV and radio stations. 

The Census Bureau is launching bilingual census forms for the 2010 count, as well as literature in a multitude of languages. 

Unfortunately, factors beyond even the reach of local media and bilingual distribution can lead to a lack of census participation. Even if the census’s message is advertised through television and radio, the form itself still arrives in the mail. And, according to Shavers, if the mail “doesn’t have anything to do with welfare,” it’s not worth checking. 

Rosalinda Anguiano, a Mexican-American mother of two living in Redwood City, says Latino citizens might be more inclined to participate in the census after hearing about it through popular media such as telenovelas (Spanish-language soap operas). But if you’re undocumented, she says, it doesn’t matter how or where the census takers show up. Even though they are forbidden from sharing information with other government offices, she says the fear among undocumented residents is too great. 

But what benefits do underrepresented communities stand to gain by participating in the census? 

The Census Bureau and groups such as NALEO seem to assume that the distribution of the $300 billion is obvious. It is a way, says Bacalao, to “assess the need for hospitals, new schools or community programs.” 

Turcios is not so sure. Even if participating in the census means more money coming to his community, he says, “People don’t see the money. No one informs people how census money is being spent.” 

Bacalao acknowledges that “it is challenging to see directly the impact of census counts.” 

The problem is that the government, advocacy groups, and individuals in these communities understand the allocation of census money on completely different terms. In fact, Turcios and Shavers explain, the people in these underrepresented communities don’t simply misunderstand the government; they fear the government. Or worse – they resent it. 

“The census is federal. Immigration is federal. You know the information is going somewhere. My uncle isn’t about to tell the government if he has 10 people living in his house,” says Turcios. 

Clearly, there needs to be a more concerted effort, beyond the scope of programs such as Ya Es Hora, and the multilingual literature distributed by the Census Bureau, to reach out to these communities. Just how to do this remains a question. 

Falcón suggests that the Census Bureau’s method of promoting the census through warm, friendly PBS-style messages may not be the right way to approach these communities. Instead, Falcón and the National Institute for Latino Policy came up with their own campaign, independent of the Census Bureau and its message. Their campaign’s catchphrase, roughly translated into English, means “Don’t let them take you for a fool,” referring to those who do not want Latino communities to be counted as part of the U.S. population. This sort of “counter programming,” as Falcón calls it, approaches the community separately from the government. “It’s an important tool,” he says, “for reintroducing the Latino community to the community.” 

How do members of these undercounted communities feel they would be best motivated to participate? 

Shavers offered a start. “Maybe an incentive for filling out the form” would help, he said, “even $3 would be fine.” 

Spending $3,000 instead of losing $26,000? Sounds like a deal.

The California Highway Patrol Wednesday renamed a stretch of Interstate Highway 880 in Oakland after an officer who was killed on an on-ramp in 2006 while investigating a crash. 

Northbound I-880 between 66th Avenue and High Street was designated the Officer Brent W. Clearman Memorial Freeway, CHP spokesperson Officer Sam Morgan, said.  

On the night of Aug. 5, 2006, Clearman was hit by a car on the 66th Avenue on-ramp while responding to a crash. He died the next day. 

Clearman was 33 when he died. He had joined the CHP in 2004 after spending 12 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served in Iraq and was trained as a sniper. 

A sign was unveiled on the highway, and Clearman was remembered by speakers at an event at the Elihu Harris State Building. 

The new highway designation “underscores the risk that officers face every day when they’re out there performing their duties,” Morgan said.

Brazen banditry 

A midday Sunday holdup cost a 20-year-old UC Berkeley student the loss of an ATM cash withdrawal Sept. 20, according to UC Berkeley police. 

The victim was cycling on the south side of the Valley Life Sciences building when he was accosted by a burly and heavily tattooed man who demanded money. 

According to a UCPD crime bulletin, the victim, “feeling threatened,” took the man to an ATM near Bechtel Terrace, withdrew cash, and handed it over to the man, who then fled. 

The student wasn’t injured during the encounter, police report, though he waited three days before reporting the crime. 

Frat invasion 

Entering through an unlocked door, a pair of robbers, one carrying a pistol and his companion brandishing a knife, robbed two fraternity brothers inside their residence in the 2700 block of Channing Way Sept. 30. 

Victims called 911, and campus and city police started a manhunt that began within moments of the 3:30 a.m. hold-up. 

Minutes later, a Berkeley police office spotted a suspicious male and detained him. Once the victims made a positive ID, he was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery. 

Police identified the man as Michael VanWidenfeldt, 24. His alleged partner in crime remains at large, campus police report. 

iJacked 

A 19-year-old UC Berkeley student lost her iPod to a strong-arm robber who accosted her in the university’s Ellsworth Parking Structure near the intersection of Ellsworth and Haste streets Sept. 30. 

The young woman had been walking along Ellsworth, listening to music on her MP3 player, when she spotted a trio of suspicious males loitering near the intersection, according to the campus crime bulletin. 

When she headed into the parking structure, one of the men pursued her, snatching her iPod and injuring her slightly in the process, police reported. 

Fortunately for the victim, a pair of Good Samaritans witnessed the crime and set out in pursuit of the thief, managing to retrieve the music player. 

Purse snatchers 

Two women robbed a UC Berkeley student of her purse as she walked along the 2200 block of Bancroft Way Monday evening, Oct. 5, according to campus police. 

The pedestrian was approached about 6:22 p.m., when one of the women shoved her and grabbed the purse. The pair fled on foot and were gone by the time campus and city police arrived. 

Shots fired 

Gunshots erupted along the 1500 block of Oregon Street Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 6, though no one was injured, according to Berkeley Police Officer Andrew J. Frankel. 

Between five and seven rounds were fired moments before 2:30 p.m. by at least one of a pair of gunmen who were on foot. They jumped in a nearby car and were gone before officers arrived. 

“No one was hit,” said Officer Frankel, and there were no reports of the shots striking nearby homes. 

Frankel said the case is currently the focus of an active investigation. 

—Richard Brenneman 

Downtown stabbing 

Berkeley police have arrested a man in connection with two stabbings that took place in downtown Berkeley Wednesday, Sept. 30. 

Berkeley Police Department spokesperson, Officer Andrew Frankel, said Berkeley police officers responded to a stabbing on the 2000 block of Milvia Street just after 4 p.m. The officers found a man and a woman who had been stabbed by another man, a family member, who had fled the scene. 

Frankel said the suspect was stopped a few blocks away in his car and taken into custody by Berkeley police officers without further incident. 

The victims were transported to Highland Hospital in Oakland where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. 

Frankel declined to name the victims and the suspect or give any other details about the incident. 

—Riya Bhattacharjee 

John Yoo is back teaching at the University of California Berkeley Law School this semester and there doesn’t seem to be much anyone can do about it. A few UC faculty members have pronounced that they consider this to be disgraceful, and some of the more colorful citizen protest groups have trained their sights on Yoo’s public appearances and even hounded him at home, but the Law School itself seems to be paralyzed. One would think that being an obviously incompetent or dishonest practitioner of the legal trade would be enough to disqualify him from teaching impressionable students, but law school honchos, including the Dean, seem to prefer raising bogus issues of academic freedom.  

Despite a few academic pretentions, law schools are really trade schools at heart. The large percentage of graduates will go on to practice the legal trade, and it’s important for the good of the profession and of the society which legal tradespersons are supposed to serve that they are taught by people who can serve as good role models. The same rules should apply for all professions, and usually do. If a med school professor, for example, had a string of egregious losses in malpractice suits for injuring patients in her private practice, her colleagues might think twice before keeping her on to instruct residents in surgery.  

The shoddy way John Yoo worked his trade when he was employed in the Bush administration has now been documented many times over. One of his most persistent and effective critics has been Georgetown University law professor David Cole, who appeared on a Berkeley Law School panel with Yoo last year. In the Oct. 8 New York Review of Books, Cole examines in detail the performance of the lawyers in the federal Office of Legal Counsel, Yoo among them, who wrote a series of memos which were nothing but apologias for torture policies already in use.  

He makes a clear differentiation between the duties of lawyers in private practice and those who have the job of advising government, quoting Jack Goldsmith, one of the heads of the OLC under President Bush: “OLC is, and views itself as, the frontline institution responsible for ensuring that the executive branch charged with executing the law is itself bound by law.” 

Cole adds that “Private lawyers are sometimes considered ‘hired guns,’ whose obligation is to interpret the law as far as possible to do their client’s bidding. We rely on the adversarial system and public airing of arguments and evidence to reach a just result. Lawyers in the Office of Legal Counsel, by contrast, work in a setting that affords no adversarial presentation or public scrutiny. In that position, the lawyer’s obligation is to provide objective advice as an ‘honest broker,’ not to act as an advocate or a hired gun.” 

He contends that when Yoo worked for the OLC he failed to carry out that important obligation. That’s the reason Yoo should not be teaching today: not because of his beliefs, but because his professional actions in the outside world failed to measure up to the highest standard of practice, or even to a minimum acceptable standard. 

Several law school faculty members, in private and off the record, have told me that they think Yoo should be fired because of his dismal performance as a lawyer, but they’ve been reluctant to join the public outcry. The majority of faculty still act like members of an old boys’ club, even though there are a few gals in the mix now—they don’t want to rat on a colleague no matter how richly he deserves it.  

Students, not yet members of the club, especially the ever-lively National Lawyers Guild student group, have not been so shy, however, and are hatching various schemes to expose Yoo. One proposal is to hold a seminar on the proper role of the government lawyer, which would be timely and educational.  

Maybe Professor Cole could be persuaded to come back, one more time, to explain to the sluggish faculty how poorly Yoo performed as a lawyer. One more quote from his latest article: “At its best, law is about seeking justice, regulating state power, respecting human dignity, and protecting the vulnerable. Law at its worst treats legal doctrine as infinitely manipulable, capable of being twisted cynically in whatever direction serves the client’s desires.” 

Which leads us, perhaps surprisingly, to a short discussion of how the city of Berkeley seems to be going about choosing a “new”city attorney. For the record, at the onset, let us state very clearly that there’s no comparison between the heinous John Yoo and the pedestrian incumbent of the Berkeley City Attorney’s office. But what government lawyers are supposed to do is a thread that runs through both situations. 

In the perhaps 25 or 30 years that I’ve been paying attention to local government, we seem to have had only two city attorneys, first Manuela Albuquerque and now Zach Cowan. Since Albuquerque resigned, Cowan, her right-hand man, has been Acting City Attorney. Those who tried to apply for the job after she left were told that it wasn’t open as long as an “acting” person was in place. 

Eventually in the fullness of time a search procedure was announced and some sort of a search was carried out. There’s no public information available about which candidates were considered, and especially about how diverse the applicant pool was, but the word on the street now is that Cowan, a middle-aged white guy, has a lock on the job regardless of who else applied. On Monday the City Council met in closed session so that the City Manager, who under the charter is responsible for hiring the City Attorney, could reveal his pick.  

Since no vote was taken, their reaction to his choice hasn’t been disclosed. But it’s a lead pipe cinch that the lock-step council majority, an ideology-free principle-agnostic group, will go for extending the Albuquerque-Cowan dynasty, because both attorneys have perfected the technique of telling the electeds whatever they want to hear, constitution be damned. Law at its worst, in other words.  

Just a couple of illustrative bad examples: ordinances derived from Measures N & O, which purported to restrict the free speech right of panhandlers to ask for money, tossed out in federal court, and the ordinance which would have unconstitutionally limited distribution of newspapers on the street. There are many more. 

Next week the council is scheduled to rubber-stamp the manager’s decision, and it would be amazing if they didn’t comply. The usual suspects will make pro-forma protests at council, but it won’t affect anything. 

Here’s a better idea: Oakland and San Francisco elect their city attorneys, and both seem to have gotten good, independent people that way. It would take an initiative to add this to Berkeley’s city charter, but it might be the only way to raise the standard of public lawyering in our city. Citizens have gotten pretty darn good at ballot measures. It’s a hard way to run a city, but with a city council whose interests seem to be limited to greenwashing everything in sight and endorsing the United Nations, it might be the way to go.  

Now if someone could only come up with a similarly simple way of dealing with John Yoo, a much worse problem…. 

UC BERKELEY Administration Pay 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am a recent graduate of the University of California. I have been following the recent protests and budget crisis. This morning I received the chancellor’s e-mail about reducing existing costs at Berkeley though the Operational Excellence (OE) program (berkeley.edu/oe). 

While I understand that everyone needs to make sacrifices, including temporary reductions, I thought, should not the chancellor and other top ranking salary administrators also take temporary reductions? 

I looked at ucpay.globl.org to see what UCB employees make. Last year there were seven administrators that made more than $445,000 per year. For perspective, President Obama is paid $400,000 a year—and what a job he has! 

As a show of support to the university and public education, these top making administrators and employees should reduce their own pay “temporarily.” Leading by example would make everyone feel that this is a unified effort to make it through the budget crisis. Otherwise, I see wealthy administrators and employees slashing the salaries of those that really need it, those that make less than $40,000 a year. 

Roland Saekow 

• 

UC Corporate Takeover 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’ve been a clerical worker at UC Berkeley for 25 years, and I’m encouraged to see the Daily Planet finally begin to report in detail on UC’s corporate takeover.  

Please, Planet, follow up on Cal’s Bain & Company alliance. It’s going to get dirty fast, and we sure don’t get the inside story from the university. There was information in your in-depth piece in the Oct. 1-7 issue that I haven’t seen anywhere else. 

Make no mistake, this is the coup de grace, happening now. The protests of Sept. 24 were very important, and continuing actions are equally important, but in spite of increased awareness in the community, complacency persists. 

UCB workers are losing their jobs every day. Simultaneously, the structure of the university is being pared down to bare bones at an incredible rate, and public education in California is dying.  

Your readers would be shocked to know all that’s happening, and how fast.  

Please shock them. It’s our only hope. 

Bronwen Rowlands 

Albany 

• 

Football Game Days 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Today, Sat. Oct. 3, is a football game day, unfortunately for me. I lived on Panoramic Hill as far back as 1947 when football games were a homespun affair. But now, because of the selling of games to television and modern methods to make a lot of noise, I am being forced from my home. Long before the game started, the noise sounded like a freeway immediately next to my house. Then shortly after the game began a large airplane flew exceedingly low over my neighborhood. 

If you stand outside the stadium you hear very little. But if you go up on a hill, you hear very loud noise. 

I have no understanding why UC has to make so very much noise. Years ago, Councilmember Fred Weekes told me that the noise level inside the stadium was much too loud. That was in the late 1980s. Now it is much louder. Noise has adverse health impacts, but apparently the university does not understand that.  

I am fully aware that UC does not have to follow City of Berkeley laws. I am also aware that the state office that deals with noise complaints has been closed for a very long time. 

But this is a nuisance. No one should be driven from their home. And that is what is happening to me.  

Ann Reid Slaby 

• 

Biofuels Downtown 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I just heard BP is going to set up its biofuels research in 75 percent of the new facilities that will go where the nine-story State Health Building is now located. Just another advance warning from the ecological point of view: it’s a take over of the university and a disaster for the planet.  

Some people seem to think anything called biofuels has the gloss of beneficence, but even burning waste cellulose is a theft from the soils, as well as more carbon in the atmosphere. That’s the least of it as the ongoing destruction of Indonesia and Malaysia’s forests progresses rapidly for biofuels. Biologically based “road fuels” comes at the cost of the last of biodiversity in forests and so-called waste lands, which are the grass and shrub lands of the world, which, like forests, are the remnant repositories of the earth’s biodiversity. Very bad business!  

Sorry to see that seems to be happening—another chapter in the take over of education by corporations for narrow profits, painted green.  

Richard Register 

President, Ecocity Builders  

• 

Bear’s Lair Vendors 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There is another aspect to the Bear’s Lair vendor story: The three current tenant businesses are considered to be ugly, unappealing, disgusting, informal, and embarrassing eyesores by the Store Operations Board. It was an issue when I graduated from Cal in 1980, and I assume it still is. One business is little more than a card table with a heat lamp and cash register. Another is just an ugly steam table that looks much like the old meal line at Unit 3 with an ugly, homemade-looking sign on the back wall. The third is little more than a pastry case, a soda refrigerator, and another card table for the coffee stuff. They tried to force out these vendors then, and are still trying to do so. 

The Store Operations Board wants fluorescent plastic, ginza flash, and bright, colorful, lighted signage with an impressive corporate logo and miles and miles of shiny stainless steel. They want something they can be proud of and brag about to their counterparts at other UC campuses and big wigs from the regents. They want modern, high tech, expensive, impressive, and state of the art food service facilities. Having available to students little more than a tiny, $7.99 roasted turkey breast sandwich ($1.75 more if you want cheese) on Tuscan ciabatta bread and a $5 cup of flavored coffee is a small price to pay. 

If they want to really support minorities, now is the time for the Store Operations Board to put their money where their mouth is. The vendors are minority success stories. They feed hungry, poor students who need something filling but only have $1 or $2 in their pocket. 

Jerry Hashimoto 

• 

BRT on Telegraph 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Telegraph Avenue attracts visitors from all over the world. They come because of its history, unique shops, handcrafts, coffee, and the variety of foods. They would not come to see a bus turnaround, or a fast vehicle whizzing by. Telegraph should be declared a historical district. 

I am one of the craftspeople. We count passengers on the humungus hinged Van Hool—made in Belgium, not Hayward—busses. Numbers go from three to eleven. It would be cheaper to pay for individual taxis. People have said that they’re fuller below Dwight. Maybe that could be the turning point. 

Who profits from this project? 

Why the hurry? Perhaps someone from our fine meditation centers could teach passengers to savor the few extra minutes their journey takes. 

Ruth Bird 

• 

CITY COMMONS CLUB 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I greatly appreciated the letter from Dorothy Snodgrass pertaining to my recent lunchtime talk at the City Commons Club. It was a great pleasure to speak to such an interested and enthusiastic group. 

I did want to make just a few minor corrections in regards to items mentioned by Ms. Snodgrass. 

The Stein salon in Paris was at 27 rue de Fleurus. Also it was Gertrude’s oldest brother Michael who brought the first Matisse painting to the United States in the first decade of the 20th century. I don’t know, however, if he was the first person to purchase a Matisse work. 

Lastly, the Stein family collection exhibition will be in late 2010 to early 2011 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art with additional showings in NYC and Paris. In the spring of 2011 there will also be an exhibition called “Seeing Gertrude Stein” at SF’s Contemporary Jewish Museum. That exhibit will then move to Washington, D.C.’s National Portrait Gallery. 

Again thank you to the CCC for the invitation and to Ms. Snodgrass for her gracious comments. 

Hans R. Gallas 

• 

BHS Small Schools 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing to correct an error in Riya Bhattacharjee’s otherwise accurate Oct. 1 article, “State, PG&E Pick Berkeley High for Green Energy Program.” Ms. Bhattacharjee writes that the new small school that is scheduled to open next fall will be, “Berkeley High’s seventh small school.” This is inaccurate; it will be the fifth. Currently BHS students enroll in either a small school—Communication Arts and Sciences (CAS), Community Partnerships Academy (CPA), Arts and Humanities Academy (AHA) or School for Social Justice and Ecology (SSJE)—or one of two large programs, Academic Choice (AC), or Berkeley International High School (BIHS). 

As we move into the time of year that eighth grade families are considering their options for next year, it is especially important that they understand their choices. There are significant differences between small schools and large programs and size is perhaps foremost among them. AC and BIHS both serve more than 1,000 students while each of the small schools serve 240. Even the Berkeley High website is confusing; it refers to all six options as “small learning communities,” or SLC’s. In an effort to clarify the range of choices offered to incoming families, it would be helpful if we reserve the word, “small” for the schools within Berkeley High that truly are.  

If you’d like to learn more about small schools at Berkeley High (including the ways in which our small student populations help us serve students), please feel free to contact me or any one of the Lead Teachers of the small schools at Berkeley High. E-mail addresses are: Phil Halpern, CAS, philiphalpern@mac.com; Ray Cagan, AHA, cagan@berkeley.k12.ca.us; Kate Trimmlet and Andy Peck, SSJE, ktrimlett@berkeley.k12.ca.us, andrew_ 

peck@berkeley.k12.ca.us; Annie Johnston, CPA, ajohnston@berkeley.k12.ca.us 

Phil Halpern 

• 

BHS Math Program 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I think the small-school concept at Berkley High School is admirable and can offer substantial benefits to students. However, the recent decision to rescind previously available options in mathematics instruction for small school students calls for reconsideration.  

If a student is assigned to one of the small schools at BHS, they are also assigned to a single option for the continued study of mathematics, regardless of individual interest, abilities or aspirations. Thus, my freshman daughter, who desires to study and learn Geometry, is placed in the only option available, IMP (Interactive Math Program).  

My wife and I believe that the IMP program is not an appropriate course of instruction for our daughter needs, as it doesn’t offer a complete instruction in common mathematical techniques and falls short of logically interrelating core mathematical concepts. Our specific concerns are: IMP does not emphasize the language of mathematics. (symbols, vocabulary, structure); IMP does not offer sufficient examples of the use and techniques of mathematics in problem solving; IMP does not encourage practicing technical aspects or assigning repetitive exercises as needed to reinforce and to imprint the language; and IMP fails to allow that the language of mathematics has any merits onto itself as a worthwhile discipline. 

But, whether you are a proponent of or in opposition to one approach over the other, I believe the one common interest and goal we likely share is to obtain the best educational opportunities possible for our children.  

BHS, and the School Board, are entrusted and duty bound to provide these opportunities, within available means, for each and every student. However, we fail to understand why they would permanently seal certain doors of opportunity to a significant number of students, based solely on small school affiliation. A student’s aptitudes, interests or aspirations are not considered. 

Students, freshmen in particular, should be encouraged to explore options, interest and test their abilities while in high school to better find their path in life. Most freshmen don’t have a whole life plan about what interest they may pursue in the future or what job opportunities they may hope for down the line. However, as currently implemented, the small schools rigidly deny a reasonable and available educational opportunity to a select group of students.  

IMP should not be a mandatory course of study for or the only available option for every individual student within the small schools.  

We implore the BHS administration and Berkeley School District to reinstate additional academic course options, specifically math, to students within AHA, and the other small schools. Students currently assigned to IMP should be allowed the option to pursue an alternate course in mathematical study without delay. A rigid and inflexible system that limits available educational options may risk diminishing a students’ future interest and opportunities in education and life. 

Charles Bryant, Catharine Trowbridge 

BHS Parents 

• 

Building Heights 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In my Oct. 1 letter, NIMBY, I praised Gerry Tierney’s commentary. 24 article on the issue of building heights in Berkeley. In the letter immediately following mine, Mr. Tierney is challenged by Arthur Fonseca for his statement that “the residents of Manhattan have the lowest carbon footprint of anyone living in North America.” Mr. Fonseca scoffs at this by offering the absurd example of “a campesino living in the mountains of southern Mexico”—absurd and specious because this entire debate is about living in cities. Dismissing that, however, let’s look at the logic behind Mr. Tierney’s perhaps counter-intuitive statement: 

Consider a hundred people living in a Manhattan high-rise with well-engineered central heating and cooling. Now let’s put them in Allentown PA, a city of Berkeley’s population but a climate similar to NYC. They live in older buildings of two to six stories, with a far greater ratio of surface area to floor space than the high-rise, heated by steam radiators and space heaters and cooled by energy-sucking window-mounted air conditioners. Guess which hundred have the lower carbon footprint. Add to this the fact that few of those in Manhattan own cars, depending entirely on a tightly integrated transit system, while most of those in Allentown, as in Berkeley, still need cars to get to work and school. I hope this may offer Mr. Fonseca and others a glimmer of understanding. 

Jerry Landis 

• 

Berkeley Health Center 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Berkeley City Council may pass a resolution to help the non-profit clinic to renew their county funded medical insurance program contract. It may say, “Resolved that the City Council communicates to our County Supervisor to use his office to renew the CMSP (County Medical Services program) contract for the Berkeley Health Center for Men and Women.”  

This center located in 2908 Ellsworth has been serving the low-income people of Berkeley with distinction. For the last one year, Dr. Donald Golden has been heading it who has re-invigorated its service. He is a professor at two schools: UCSF medical school training its medical residents and the Samuel Meritt College training its physical assistant interns. He has taken a 25 percent pay cut in order to return to Berkeley, where he was born, and serve the people here.  

Recently, the center’s CMSP contract has been denied under the pretext that there were some program violations. However, all that was under the past administration. Since a year ago Dr. Golden had started to head it, the center has been scrupulously following all the rules. Why should the indigent citizens of Berkeley suffer for the mistakes that a past administration did?  

Irshad Alam 

• 

Portrait of a Crime Wave 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We white people get respect and help when we need it from police officers, and we commend them. But what can one think, I ask you, of the alleged attitude and behavior of those reported about by Carol Denney in “Portrait of a Crime Wave”? It would be good to have a follow-up for the whole story. 

Carmel Hara 

• 

Music at Brower Center 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Cheers to public discourse! This letter is in response to Tree Fitzpatrick’s letter to the editors of the Berkeley Daily Planet, on Oct. 1 and titled “Brower Center Noise.”  

Ms. Fitzpatrick attended an informational meeting we recently held for nearby residents to visit with the owners and management of Gather Restaurant, formerly called Terrain, slated to open in the coming months in the David Brower Center. After meeting with us, she sent an email that expressed the same concerns she shared in her letter to the editor. Clearly, we did not do a good enough job of explaining our plans for live music. Below is a verbatim copy of the letter we sent in response:  

Thank you for taking the time to visit with us at our Public Information Meeting on Tuesday to share your thoughts. It is important to us to know our neighbors and we appreciate you making the effort to introduce yourself. We completely understand how important your home is to you and agree that it should be a comfortable place for you to live. You have stated your concerns clearly, and as a result, we can do our best to address them. 

We would like to address your stated concern that we plan to “blare live, albeit acoustic, music into my home nine hours a day.” We agree that nine hours of live music a day would be overwhelming and we hope you will be relieved to know that our plans are much simpler. 

Our foremost goal is to create a place for community to gather, to offer healthy food that supports our local farmers and the local economy, and to help make Berkeley an even more wonderful City than it already is. Our plan to provide live music is intended only to enhance this experience and to provide opportunities for local artists to share their music at limited times 

To clarify our intentions, we plan to offer live music only at select times on select days during the week. For example, here is a sample music schedule: Monday, 12-2 p.m, Tuesday, 5-7 p.m., Wednesday, 12-2 p.m., Thursday, 5-7 p.m., Friday, 12-2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m., Saturday, 7-9 p.m., Sunday, 12-2 p.m. 

One of our primary goals at Gather is to be mindful at all times. We read your note carefully and particularly noticed your comment, “I can’t imagine how a group of business people could be so insensitive to the real needs of the real humans living nearby.” This is a powerful statement that we truly take to heart and it helps us to understand the depth of your concerns. We are committed to being a business that puts people first. Towards that goal, please know that our door is always open to you, and to all of our neighbors living nearby. We appreciate your proactive communication and welcome your thoughts at all times. 

Ari Derfel, CEO 

and the Gather Restaurant Team 

• 

Afghanistan 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We’ve done our duty, vented our spleen, had our politically correct catharsis, it’s high time we turned back and looked at our history in Vietnam and the Russian’s history in Afghanistan. We need to exit now—with a red ribbon on the tail between our legs. 

Mitch Vanbourg 

• 

Insurance Racket 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What’s wrong with this picture? You attend a wedding, and when the preacher says “you may kiss” someone steps in and kisses both partners. Then he wants to go on the honeymoon! The interloper at the wedding is the Insurance Racket, and he looks a lot like Senator Max Baucus. The married couple is you and your doctor. Majorities of doctors and patients in recent polls want a government option, or single payer, and the U.S. Senate wants to keep the insurance interloper. The insurance racket supports this, and has bought the Senate with a paltry amount of campaign and lobbyist cash. So the public must look to the Fourth Estate, battered as it might be, for editorials exposing this scam and supporting what the people want, a public option for health care. 

Tom Price 

• 

Fix Health Care 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

My younger brother died from cancer at 40. His job as a poorly paid electrician in a struggling small business in Fort Worth, Texas, did not provide health care. Early on, he knew he was sick, but his lack of resources stopped him from seeking costly help, and his pride stopped him from exploring other options like free clinics. By the time he did seek care, it was too late. Among other expensive intervention in a noble effort to save his life, he had an $80,000 operation on his skull, leaving him with a scar from ear to ear. Until his dying day, the hospital tortured him with bills. With early intervention, no doubt costing much less, he may still be alive today living his dream of starting his own business of house renovation. Instead, I have this bitter memory of a failed health system that can’t provide for us all. I often hear heartening stories of people who have beaten the scourge of cancer. Early intervention is a common theme in these tales. Who chose to leave my brother out? Please help President Obama and Congress fix this. 

Russell Kilday-Hicks 

• 

DEAD PEASANT INSURANCE  

POLICIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I learned about a new low in corporate greed from Michael Moore’s latest documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story, which, by the way, I highly recommend. It is called “dead peasant” insurance. Companies take out secret insurance policies on their employees and name themselves as beneficiaries. And we are not talking about key employees since losing their expertise, knowledge and contacts of top managers can be financially devastating for companies. Rather, companies also write policies for rank-and-file employees. When the employee dies, the company, not his or her family, gets the insurance money.  

In Moore’s movie, Wal-Mart took out a secret policy on a cake decorator, and when she died, Wal-Mart received $80,000, but her family received nothing but medical bills and funeral costs. I cannot take out an insurance policy on my neighbor’s life with me as the beneficiary because I have no insurable interest in his life. That would be an invitation for me, if I was that kind of guy, to bump him off.  

Insurance is largely regulated by the individual states and, in the 1980s, many states permitted these type of insurance policies. Congress over the years has tried to crack down on the practice, but the insurance industry so far has managed to derail reforms. Hundreds of companiesCincluding Dow Chemical, Procter & Gamble, Wal-Mart, Walt Disney and Winn-Dixie—have purchased this insurance on more than 6 million rank-and-file workers. Companies pay $8 billion in premiums each year for such coverage. The policies make up more than 20 percent of the all the life insurance sold each year and companies expect to reap more than $9 billion in tax breaks from these policies over the next five years. The policies are treated as whole life policies. Therefore, companies can borrow against the policies. And the death benefits are tax-free. No one knows how many corporate-owned policies are issued on executives versus rank-and-file workers. Wal-Mart alone had taken out about 350,000 such policies between 1993 and 1996. Nestle USA had policies on 18,000 workers in 2002. Enron had $500 million in policies on workers.  

Congress should ban the practice for rank-and-file employees or at the very minimum require companies to obtain employees’ permission for the policies. 

Ralph E. Stone 

• 

STILL IN AFGHANISTAN? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Are we there to win? Everyone wants to win but no one knows what it means to win. Thus, it is possible that we have already won (or lost) and don’t know it. 

Are we there to succeed? Of course we are. The problem is that over the years our goal has shifted so much that what counts for success today is not what counted for success yesterday and success tomorrow may be different still. 

Are we there to strengthen our security? If so, then concern for security has burst the bounds of reason; you have to stretch imagination into the realm of fantasy to see in such a distant and desolate land a serious threat to our well-being.  

Finally, are we there to defeat the terrorists? Terrorists are, so to say, in the eyes of the beholder; one man’s (woman’s) terrorist is another man’s hero. Defeating terrorists is like a video game, a challenge with no standing in the real world.  

We can capture and kill them, but terrorists, like the poor, will always be with us. It’s not because they are so numerous, smart or determined, nor that they hide their identity and move freely among us. The real problem is that no one can ever be sure a given terrorist act will be the last.  

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

• 

NFL Football 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Football 

Now that the NFL has reluctantly acknowleged the obvious truth that their sport causes players head injuries leading to quantifiable brain damage, how many decades will it be before we acknowlege that watching poeple injure and maim themselves causes brain injury to the fans?  

Sam Greyson

There are no easy answers to the budget problems facing our cities and counties. There are strong disagreements about which services to reduce, which programs to eliminate and which fees to increase. Even the search for the elusive “unnecessary administrative costs” is contentious. Raising taxes, cutting services, and cutting administrative oversight can all result in unintended consequences and increased risk.  

One thing we should all agree in is improving the efficiency of our public services. The hard part is making the decision to invest in the improvements. What should be tackled, and by whom? How much will it cost? There is a lively debate going on at the University of California right now about UC’s decision to address efficiency by hiring Bain & Company for $3 million dollars in the hopes of finding savings of “tens of millions.” 

Many people feel that the public sector is particularly “efficiency-challenged” because of the lack of a profit motive—though some corporate workers, and customers,will tell you that the fictional world of Dilbert is more realistic than you’d like to think,and not very efficient. 

In some of our past audits, we have found that city operations have improved over the years and/or that Berkeley performs better than other cities; nevertheless, we have always found significant improvements to be made. In our June 9 2009 “Workers’ Compensation Costs Can Be Reduced” report, we found a sharp improvement in number of claims filed and costs, especially as compared to other cities. Over the five previous years, Berkeley’s incident rate fell by more than 50 percent, while the average rate for comparable cities studied decreased less than 17 percent. It took a significant investment of resources, and the whole-hearted cooperation of labor and management to make these improvements in employee safety. But we found in this audit that the city could definitely make still more improvements. 

Whether we compare Berkeley to the University, the private sector, or to other cities, we know that a rigorous analysis of performance will generally result in identification of improvements that can be made cost-effectively if there is a determination to continuously improve. 

Berkeley’s City Auditor’s office is working hard to increase efficiency in city service delivery, as part of our basic mission: to be a catalyst for improving city government. On Tues., Oct. 13, we bring to the City Council two reports with recommendations for improved efficiency: “Investing in Long Term Cost Savings: Workers’ Compensation and Wellness” and “Audit: Utilization of Public Works Sewer Staff Can Be Improved.” 

Our long terms savings suggestions, presented as part of the Council’s 5 p.m. budget work session, include investments to: improve tools and training, especially software, performance measures, and written procedures; further reduce workplace injuries; and evaluate the establishment of an employee wellness program. 

Our report on Public Works staffing efficiencies, on the 7 p.m. consent calendar, includes 35 recommendations for improvement, aimed at reducing costs, improving worker safety, and protecting public and private property from damage. We developed the objectives for this report with the assistance of Public Works staff, and the department is in full agreement. They report having made significant progress in implementing our recommendations. 

To make these improvements, the city will need to make exactly the kinds of investments discussed in our 5 p.m. presentation: investments in tools, training, and software, and improvements in performance measures and written procedures.  

To read these reports and others please visit www.cityofberkeley.info/auditor  

Contact me with your ideas for future performance audits, requests for information, and to continue to weigh in on the merits of establishing a whistleblower hot line for city employees.  

Ann-Marie Hogan is the City Auditor for the City of Berkeley.

I wish to comment about the People’s Park book which just came out. For the most part the book is fine, but there’s a huge deficiency. Has anybody noticed that the book jumps from 1979 to 1991 with very little commentary. It is almost as if the 1980s never existed. In actuality the 1980s was the most critical decade in the People’s Park history. The decade started with Ronald Reagan, one of the worst enemies of the park, in the White House. People’s Park was under siege. By the end of the decade, Sheriff Plummer was advising the university that it would no longer get support from the Sheriff’s Department for every incident that the university drummed up. 

Let us review some of the events that took place in the forgotten 1980s. There were anti-nukes rallies which started in People’s Park with marches up to the Echeverry reactor, sited at the present site of Soda Hall. That reactor nno longer exists, in no small part due to the demonstrations from People’s Park. Bob Sparks lead those demonstrations. The struggle for free speech and concerts in the park began in 1980 when the UC cops pulled the plug on one such concert, and culminated in a lawsuit against the university in 1986. Anne de Leon, Osha Neumann and David Axelrod were co-counsels for the park. The Park won in court on virtually all the issues raised as well as costs including lawyers fees. Some of that money went to the Catholic workers, who in turn proceeded to build the People’s Café. The People’s Park Council had a policy of developing alliances with other political groups. Among the groups, which People Park aligned itself were virtually all of the progressive political forces in the City of Berkeley. For example, David Axelrod, salty, served on the city’s parks commission. There was much cross-fertilization with the anti-nuke and the anti-apartheid forces. 

People’s Park’s finest hour was its participation in the anti-apartheid demonstrations at Biko Plaza. On April 16, 1985, the 16th anniversary concert coincided with the beginning of the anti-apartheid demonstration. An ad hoc march from the park’s concert to Biko Plaza was organized. Historically there was a demonstration against apartheid very similar to the one in 1985 back in 1977. The university put that demonstration down by arresting all of the participants. While organizing continued through the summer and fall, it was to no avail. The difference between 1985 and 1977 was the resilience of the camp-in. One lasted two days and the other in 1985 lasted 36 days. The most resilient population at Pico Plaza were the Park denizens. There were times at the sit-in where Park denizens with only people there. Why is this important? Why it was at the park’s finest hour? Because People’s Park played on the world stage to good effect. Within six years of those demonstrations the apartheid regime collapsed. Within a month of the demonstration, most of the major political entities in the state of California were divesting from South Africa and the companies invested therein. Truth be told there’s enough material from the 1980s to do a book. Something like People Park The Critical Decade—1980-90. 

On the whole the book is pretty good book; what it covers recovers adequately. I discussed the issue of the 80s with the editor Terry Compost and discovered that the slingshot collective made the editorial decisions as to content. I think it obvious why the 80s were excluded. Slingshot came into existence in 1988 and then there was a change in the leadership after that. Bottom line is that the people who are making the decisions are completely ignorant of the history of the 80s in the park. Wish I had been at that editorial board meeting that could set them straight—guess it’s too late for that. 

David Blackman was convener of the Op unit People’s Park Council 1980-90, People Park representative to the board of community services united.

People whose mission is to justify every Israeli crime have no choice but to rely on lies. Such is the case with Faith Meltzer’s claim, (Oct. 1 letter) that ninety-five percent of the 1,417 Palestinians butchered by Israel in three weeks of attacks on Gaza were males. Research by B’Tselem, Israel’s highly respected human rights organization, documented the killing of 320 minors and 109 women. B’Tselem also documented that in the first day of the attack Israel murdered 248 Palestinian police officers, most were killed in aerial bombings of 60 police stations. Police officers are mostly males and are considered civilians ; targeting them is a war crime. Israel also destroyed 45 mosques and in some mosques, the bombing took place during prayer services when the mosques were full with male worshipers, another war crime.  

The report by Judge Richard Goldstone, the chair of the UN commission investigating the War on Gaza, documented the wholesale destruction of civilian infrastructure including 2400 homes, the bulldozing of agricultural fields, the bombing of water wells, the bombing of sewage works that caused a huge spill over a large area, all these are war crimes under International law. 

Ms. Meltzer’s justification of the murder of Palestinian children is another sickening lie. I am as bewildered as Judge Richard Goldstone, described as a Zionist moderate, when he said “I found it difficult to understand how Jews wouldn’t respond in protecting the human rights of others.”  

That the Israeli army was determined to cause maximum death and destruction is obvious. Equally clear is that some Israeli religious authorities encouraged the soldiers to spare no one. Former Sephardi chief rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu wrote “According to Jewish war ethics, an entire city holds collective responsibility for the immoral behavior of individuals. In Gaza, the entire populace is responsible.” Rabbi Elijah quoted from Psalms. “I will pursue my enemies and apprehend them and I will not desist until I have eradicated them.”  Following the rabbi’s twisted logic, another deranged person could conclude that the entire Jewish Israeli population is fair game and should be held responsible for the decades of crimes by the Israel government, soldiers and settlers.  

We now know that Israel’s chief military chaplain, Rabbi Avichai Rontzki, distributed a booklet to soldiers fighting in Gaza containing similar rabbinical edicts forbidding showing any mercy.  We also know several soldiers boasted about their cruel exploits. Many “soldiers” celebrated by ordering specially designed T-shirts and baseball caps with dead Palestinian babies, mothers weeping on their children’s graves, a gun aimed at a child and bombed-out mosques. An especially heinous sharpshooter’s T-shirt from the Givati Brigade’s Shaked battalion shows a pregnant Palestinian woman with a bull’s-eye superimposed on her belly, with the slogan, “1 shot, 2 kills.” A T-shirt for infantry snipers bears the inscription “Better use Durex” next to a picture of a dead Palestinian baby, with his weeping mother and a teddy bear beside him. The Lavi battalion produced a shirt featuring a drawing of a soldier next to a young Palestinian woman with bruises, with the slogan, “Bet you got raped!” Many of the images on the soldiers designed t-shirts underscore their actions during the Gaza attacks including shooting a bullet into the victim’s head from close range, harming religious sites, and targeting females and children. 

I hope that people like Meltzer realize that Israel’s crimes must be exposed and condemned lest they completely destroy not only Palestinians but also Jewish souls. 

Hassan Fouda is a Kensington resident.

For those who take pleasure in dismissing energetic local, social critiques as rants, raves or diatribes, they need not read any further. But for the rest of us, it’s about time to admit there’s a whole lot of stupid going on these days, and it is not confined to areas outside of Berkeley, California. Take the gourmet ghetto, North Berkeley’s venerated depository of designer food, and garrulous café bloviators with whom I have been happily participating with for many years (being one myself). Don’t get it wrong, I love hangin’ with the homeys over by the strip, and perusing the endless parade of beautifully tapered young women, self-important cell phone calls, the panhandlers, the cartwheelers, and the carnival of economic disparity that underwrites the whole scene. 

Yet, crossing the street between Cedar and Vine on Shattuck, you’d best have your A-Game ready to flag down the self (and often) cell-absorbed motorists who obliviously cruise, miles above the speed limit, by the crosswalk between the French Hotel and the Post Office. Best advice here is to stare down each and every a-hole on wheels as if you were about to call your lawyer when you see them barreling toward you. Better still, wave your arms in a spastic demonstration of hysteria before the vehicle gets within 30 yards indicating that you are a threat to society, and possibly armed as well. Usually that will stop the bastards in their tracks, and if you’re lucky, you’ll get a sheepish, pseudo-guilt ridden “my bad” smile from the driver who you just might have saved from several years of community service, or worse. 

Granted, at least half the drivers are courteous enough not to turn you into split-pea puree. But look out for the other twenty-five percent who are intent on ignoring your right to cross the street in peace, or the remaining twenty-five percent who just want to play chicken with a helpless pedestrian. 

For all the talk about Berkeley leading the way, whatever that means, there seems to be more concern with the occasional cigarette smoke wafting about a casual conversation than the more imminent threats of outright vehicular arrogance that go on right in front of everyone’s eyes. Nor is there a dearth of SUV’s darting past the intelligentsia, often on their way, single-occupant style, for the daily fix of designer drinks at the local dispensary, pummeling the already particulate heavy air. Haven’t seen any demonstrations lately taking on these offenses to our health and well being, yet god forbid you should light up a smoke in the midst of such environmental chastity! 

But the king of complacent stupidity, the summum bonum of commercial conceit has to be the mobile billboards merrily rolling along Telegraph and Shattuck these days, creating a truly dangerous distraction for drivers as well as pedestrians. Just to figure what these moped-powered, panoptic panels are trying to say will take enough time to get your steering wheel well into the trunk of the car in front of you, whose driver is, in all likelihood also gawking sideways at the ill-placed ads. As it happens, I, in my own distracted folly, ascertained that the billboard moving to my right was all about the wonders of some alcoholic product, and last I checked, beer was still booze. But by then I was a mere twenty feet away from a head-on—or shall we say head-off—collision with the poor jerk in front of me who also stopped to gape at the roving come-on. 

The billboards apparently co-sponsored by scootermedia.com, and the lager beer company—which I was, ironically, unable to decipher—did not seem to faze anyone when I brought it to their attention, including the Berkeley Police Department who basically blew the whole thing off as it was some concocted point of dissent by an over the hill 60s radical. Nobody impeded my freedom of speech in the city that proudly claims its genesis, but as I gadflied on about the aforementioned infractions to common sense and safety I could tell I was becoming a blight to the common complacency in the community that made its reputation struggling against the status quo. 

One might that add that the indifferent reaction to this incident is emblematic of a new narcissism embedded in a self-absorbed, epicurean revolution—the only real revolution that has gone beyond mere blabber, and earned the right to be so-named in Berkeley. I suppose that’s no small accomplishment. Hey, Chez Panisse is in the heart of the gourmet ghetto where one’s monthly utility bill can get you a meal that is as fresh and pure as San Francisco Bay, two-hundred years ago. 

But whatever your pleasure, don’t you dare blow smoke in a public, commercial zone! You might disrupt the chit and chat of a movement that in forty years has given way to instant gratification, on-demand media frenzies, twitter-tweeters, and pricey cuisine, but barely moving beyond its own rhetoric of tangible, social-political and environmental transformation. 

Marc Winokur is a Berkeley resident.

I want to cut through the endless series of charges and countercharges that have dominated KPFA’s Local Station Board campaign, and focus on the real, substantive difference that distinguishes Concerned Listeners (CL) from the other slate running for the Board. That difference is rooted in how the two sides view KPFA’s role. CL’s opponents argue that KPFA should be a “community radio station” as opposed to something they call a “top-down, corporate model,” which is what they claim CL stands for. The CL slate is made up of left activists who have spent the better part of their lives working for progressive causes. Why would we choose a “corporate model” over a “community model”? These two labels are completely misleading and are used to package a real, honest difference in a morally charged and disingenuous way.  

The members of CL also want KPFA to be a community radio station. The difference lies in how we define the community to which we think the station should belong. We want KPFA to be a station that serves the broad progressive community. We want it to be able to reach beyond the Left.  

Frankly, we are worried about the state of the left in America. This country just went through a critical election. In spite of a positive outcome and the election of America’s first African-American president, the forces that came together to defeat the right are deeply divided and are unable to reach agreement on the reforms that this country so desparately needs. The right, on the other hand, is beginning to regroup, based largely on the power of their vast ideological attack apparatus talk-radio, Christian media outlets, Fox TV, a far-flung system of think tanks and limitless funds for advertising and informationals. While we progressives lack the media muscle to effectively shape events, the conservatives possess the means to create enough confusion, disorientation and fear to stymie almost every step forward the country seems ready to take.  

We need media outlets that can compete with those of the right; that can reach large numbers of people and that can keep the pressure on. This is the context in which we think about KPFA. We need a very smart, very competent radio station. We on the CL slate come from that stream of the left that believes in coalition politics. We have seen that all gains, whether for civil rights, stopping wars, or for winning reforms like Medicare, were only made when progressives reached out and found common ground with other Americans. These others didn’t agree with us on every issue, but they were deeply concerned about specific problems that were affecting them. It was from their ranks that new people came to the left. We don’t want KPFA to be a radio station where the left just talks to itself. We want KPFA to be a station that can address issues in a way that people outside the left find compelling and enlightening. KPFA has a tough task. It must continue as a voice of the left, while at the same time, finding ways to make that voice resonate with those who are not yet entirely with us, but who are moving in our direction.  

We are not going to get a truly effective radio station, that is, one that can compete with the right and attract new listeners, without the collaboration of an entire radio community. We need professional management with real radio know-how; we need a core of paid, professional staff as well as an active volunteer staff and support base; and lastly, we need a Board that represents and can draw on the resources of a broad cross-section of the progressive community. All of these are vital. Without paid staff that can devote their energies to their work, we would not have Democracy Now or the Morning Show or any of the high quality programming we have heard recently on KPFA.  

The term “community model” as used by our opponents on the Board, is frankly, very misleading. What community, or communities,are they talking about? They propose what is essentially an all-volunteer KPFA no professional management and no paid staff. Who would run the station? They believe the board and the volunteers should manage and operate the station. I know these people. I have sat on the board with them for two years. They don’t represent any broad community—labor, minority, peace, political or other. They represent a particular, and in my opinion, narrow slice of the left. I am very positive about the people who volunteer their energies to work at KPFA. They play a very important and helpful role in running the station. But they are not deeply involved in the communities they say they want KPFA to represent. More importantly, radio is a demanding profession, and people who have other day-jobs lack the necessary expertise the tools needed to make the station function so that it can attract a broader audience. I fear that this “all volunteer, community model” would result in programming that would only appeal to those who were producing it. The station would deteriorate into a plaything for the in-group that has the time to serve as volunteers. It is important for us to lay out the substantive differences that divide us. There is no reason why these shouldn’t be debated in an open and honest way within the KPFA community. However, the truth is that we on the board are not capable of having such a discussion. Currently, the atmosphere on the board is colored by a negative, angry, blame-game that polarizes and precludes any real discussion about substance. Yet events have arrived at the point where we have to make some critical decisions about how to deal with a growing set of difficult problems. To be able to carry on the discussions required to make those decisions, we have to change the atmosphere on the Board. We need good ideas and mutual respect. We don’t need anyone who wants to bring more anger to this Board. 

Matthew Hallinan is a member of Concerned Listeners. www.concernedlisteners.org.

The KPFA board elections are in full swing and the ballots are due October 15. I was struck by couple of developments. 

First, in their endorsement of the Concerned Listener slate the Alameda Labor Council endorsement states: “[the Concerned Listeners are] ...also strong supporters of KPFA’s professional staff, who are members of CWA Local 9415—unfortunately, other elements of KPFA’s board have attacked the station’s unionized staff, and called for replacing them with volunteers.” Second, an email from long time Morning Show host Philip Maldari said: “The following request from the CWA 9415 paid union staff at KPFA is to all of the board candidates. The union staffs at KPFA are facing layoffs because of growing deficits... We would like you to pledge that, if elected, you will fulfill your fundraising duties, and refrain from actions that undermine that goal.” 

I am not aware of any board member who has called for replacing unionized staff with volunteers. It is of course totally understandable that the paid staff will be concerned about fundraising as it is their livelihood. 

The platform/statement of the Concerned Listeners says: “As for raising money: all of us are political organizers, many of us with 40 or more years of experience. We know how to organize and fundraise.” So one can understand why the paid staff will be supportive of the Concerned Listeners. But exactly who are the Concerned Listeners? 

The first thing I noticed is that there is a heavy Wellstone Democrats Renewal Club stamp. Current member Matt Hallinan is co-founder of the WDRC, and three of their candidates hold leadership positions in the WDRC: Pamela Drake, Local Political Coordinator; Jack Kurzweil, Administrative Coordinator; and Donald Goldmacher, Voting Rights Task Force. Problem is that WDRC is a Democratic Party enterprise. I make this point since the 1999 takeover was carried out by active members of the Democratic Party. Mary Francis Berry, then Pacifica chair, was a political appointee of President Clinton; Roberta Brooks, then Pacifica secretary, became legislative aide to both Ron Dellums and Barbara Lee. 

I do not mean to suggest that anyone on the Concerned Listeners are the same as those Democrats, but some of them still move in the same circles for political support and fundraising. One cannot help noting this in light of their platform claim to be able to “organize and fundraise.” Conn Hallinan, who is Matt Hallinan’s brother and current LSB chair, was part of the ‘host committee’ for a fundraiser for Congressional candidate Jerry McNerny in 2006 with aforementioned Roberta Brooks. 

Many Pacifica listeners are registered Democrats, but they are aware of the venality of the Democratic Party leadership. Most know that when Tony Coelho began the practice of taking money from corporate lobbyists the Democratic Party became corporate vassals not unlike the Republicans, which is the reason many of them joined to fight their hijacking attempt of 1999.  

I have been on the board for three years now and I am baffled by the secrecy and lack of transparency. Why are the management and the Concerned Listener Board members so intent on keeping the operation of the station hidden from our stake holders, the listener subscribers? Why are there no town hall meetings, why did they reduce the number of meetings by half, why do they never post the minutes of the meetings, why did the management disband the Program Council and derecognize the Unpaid Staff Organization? Most glaring of all, why did they schedule a fund raiser right in middle of the board election and preempt election coverage? Why are they marginalizing each segment of the KPFA community? 

Brian Edwards–Tiekert, in support of Concerned Listen slate says: “There’s a group on KPFA’s board—they run under a different banner every year—that is hostile to the station’s professional staff, enamored of conspiracy theories, doctrinaire in their approach to public affairs, and sectarian in their approach to internal politics—they’d rather attack KPFA than improve it.” 

Well, I am running against the CL majority and I am none of the things Brian says. I appreciate all the staff, both paid and unpaid and their commitment in the low paying field of community radio. And I also totally understand the paid staff concerns for their jobs; I also appreciate their understandable misgivings about the possibly intrusive/disruptive involvement of the “Listener Board” as expressed in their open letter to the LSB in 2004. No one denies that democracy is a messy endeavor and that disagreement can be tiring, but we know too well what lies in at the end of the impulse to silence others. 

Progressives bemoan corporate control of our two mainstream political parties for reasons that we do not need to restate here. But we cannot permit our independent, corporate free KPFA to become a puppet manipulated by a corporate party—no matter how well intentioned the individual members of the immediate group may be. We need to keep KPFA truly independent and free of corporate money influence—no matter how remote. That is why I am running against the Concerned Listeners and with Independents for Community Radio. 

We need to bring community back into Community Radio. An inclusive open station is going to be healthier and stronger in the long run. We need to reconnect and build trust among ourselves as listeners, with the listener subscribers. We should remember that emactment of peaceful conflict is a founding purpose of Pacifica; we must learn to bring forth and articulate what underlies our antagonisms in order to resolve them in a way that will benefit all of us. 

The candidates that are endorsed by the Independents for Community Radio are (in alphabetical order): Banafsheh Akhlaghi, Shara Esbenshade, Sasha Futran, Ann Hallatt, Adam Hudson, Lara Kiswani, Rahman Jamaal McCreadie, Henry Norr, Andrea Prichett, Evelyn Sanchez, and Akio Tanaka.  

Akio Tanaka is unning as a part of Independents for Community Radio.

The current attack on KPFA, WBAI, and Pacifica by revolutionary fascists in NYC, where they originated, and by their members who came to Berkeley in the 1960s, originally to recruit young college students at UC Berkeley, and after the Civil Rights Movement ended they were less involved in recruiting students, and they turned their attention to KPFA in Berkeley and to WBAI in New York City, as desirable targets to promote their global violent anti-democratic revolution. Over the decades that followed they had minor successes at influencing or invading these stations. Some of their members became active inside the stations as volunteers, or even as employees, and one was even successful at becoming the KPFA General Manager for a short while. However, although they attempted to do some damage to KPFA and WBAI for many years since the 1960s, they did little damage to the stations until 2003.  

Both KPFA and WBAI remained uncorrupted progressive stations until a court order, after the 1999 attack, that all KPFA-Pacifica stations should have Local Station Boards to create a more democratic relationship between the stations and the listeners. The Judge who made this order was well intentioned, but she didn’t realize how the new station Boards could be used to harm WBAI and KPFA. Many welcomed the idea of a closer, more democratic, relationship between listeners and the station. However, the Berkeley fascists saw these new LSBs as their opportunity to gain control over KPFA, WBAI, and the Pacifica network. All these fascists had to do to get elected to the new LSBs in Berkeley and New York was to lie to the listener-voters about who they were and what their intentions were. 

During the first LSB election in 2003, the original fascist organization in New York was larger, over 9,000 members, and was better organized and was instantly more able to dominate and control the WBAI Board, and they turned the WBAI station over to a group of violent thugs who managed WBAI with fear, threats and violence.  

In Berkeley, with their smaller less organized fascist membership they had less success to harm KPFA. But although the KPFA board had a minority of democracy-hating fascist Board members, this smaller group of haters on the Berkeley LSB were not able to harm the station, but were able to successfully cripple this board and prevent the pro-democracy majority from functioning democratically for the first three years. The KPFA board meetings were reduced to hate-speech, fear, threats, intimidation, and finally to physical violence at board meetings. After the first couple of board meetings in 2004, the original large, but confused, audience of listeners and station staff stopped attending these hate-meetings, and they still haven’t returned. 

It wasn’t until 2007, when a group of honest KPFA listeners, called “Concerned Listeners” had organized to successfully replace the original fascist-corrupted board, resulting in KPFA’s first democratically functioning board. 

The frustrated Berkeley fascists who lost control were furious, and they immediately started a hate campaign to take back their power to corrupt the KPFA Board. They held fake KPFA meetings to demonize the Concerned Listeners, where very few actual real listeners attended. They tried again later to hold two fake “KPFA-Crisis” meetings to again demonize the Concerned Listeners, but these meetings also failed to attract listeners. At future LSB elections they split up their single, easy-to-identify fascist organization into several smaller fascist organizations, pretending to be progressive organizations, but even that deceit didn’t work to get fascists back on the board during 2007, 2008, and 2009. 

Now at this 2009 LSB election they are using every trick possible to regain control over the KPFA Board. The Election Supervisors are totally controlled by the fascists, and were present, on the stage, at the fake “KPFA-CRISIS meetings. The fake “Forums” they organized for today’s “listeners to meet the LSB Candidates” events were deliberately designed to prevent any useful communications between the candidates and the listeners, to help listeners make voting choices. But these fake meetings were an excellent and deliberate opportunity for the fascists to pretend that they were honest progressive candidates.  

The ballots that the listener-voters use to vote have now been re-designed to make any verification of any stolen ballots impossible. And although after the last two elections where stolen ballots were not available to be stolen, this election has great potential for stolen ballots being introduced into the final vote-counting process—unless observer-volunteers at the vote-counting event participate in watching for multiple ballots with obviously duplicated choices by fascists who want to steal this election.  

There will be, as usual, anti-KPFA fascists at the final vote count who are expected to introduce stolen ballots into the  

count, and the election supervisors will do nothing to stop it. But real listener-observers have a right to assure an honest election by insisting that those involved in the vote count have no back-packs or luggage with them inside the vote count area that can contain piles of stolen Ballots to include in the final vote count. And the usual lack of security of the ballot box at the station needs to be controlled by a third party, besides the election supervisors, who seem controlled by the Berkeley fascists. 

Additional deceitful tactics used by the Berkeley fascists includes approaching honest progressive community leaders to endorse the candidacy of these fascists who want to re-take control over the KPFA-LSB. They have also seduced the honest progressive publishers of the Bay View newspaper to publish articles demonizing KPFA management. 

Demonizing is a powerful tool used by all bullies everywhere to control people with fear. Every war that America has been involved in, since the American Revolution, has been made possible by first demonization an “enemy” to frighten Americans into surrendering their young sons lives to die on foreign battlefields. The Secretary of State lying to President Truman started the bloody Korean War. The Viet Nam war was started by a lie about an attack on an American vessel. The recent two mid-east Arab wars were made possible by the demonizing lie that Arabs had crashed planes into the World Trade towers. The real truth is on the web. 

Hitler, the world’s greatest demonizer, demonized the Jews, killed them, and then said to the German people, “See, I have saved you from these evil people!” Today the Berkeley fascists demonize the Concerned Listeners with the lie that they are harming KPFA, using their usual hate-speech without saying how they are harming KPFA. The undefined “harm” is that the CLers took the damaged LSB away from the democracy-hating fascists who really want to harm KPFA. Beware of any fascist warnings against evil because they are the evil that we need protection from. 

Jim Weber has been involved in KPFA politics for decades.

In the grocery store parking lot, soon after the KPFA “Ramparts Magazine” event—a panel of three on a new book about the short-lived but powerful magazine of 30-40 years ago—I waited for Renee Asteria to return to the car before I took her home. Renee is KPFA’s funny, diplomatic, disarmingly creative, hard-working—and young—local election supervisor. I picked up a Planet and was a bit shocked to find an article publicizing two KPFA candidate forums, in Richmond and South Berkeley, where locals could meet candidates running for the hotly-contested KPFA local station board.  

  As we had lost steam in trying to get recent publicity, we had been too burned out to think to call you, who published this unbidden, to inform you that we had to cancel these forums to make way for some KPFA fundraising events. 

  I was very grateful to you, but this just added to the stupid sadness of this whole sequence of (non) events. 

  The forum scheduled as you said for last Thursday, Sept. 24 and listed on the back of the KPFA candidate ballot mailed to over 20,000 KPFA subscribers, was arranged back in early July. Renee booked two bands, planned it carefully, checked the KPFA calendar first, and found no conflicting events. She sent it to the KPFA calendar Bob Baldock, KPFA’s longtime and also creative and hardworking public events coordinator, carefully checks when arranging his KPFA events. Not hearing an announcement on the air or seeing it on the calendar, Renee sent it at least three times, and also to KPFA’s general manager, Lemlem Rijio, urging her to please see that it be announced and listed. But KPFA management declined to get it listed on the calendar, or announced so Bob Baldock never saw it, and booked a KPFA public event for the same night.  

The idea for the canceled event started out seeming kind of um—angly to some of us, but grew on most of us as an interesting KPFA-promoting idea, even aside from its function of introducing the public to candidates, and vice versa. The plan was for a. spoken-word—that means driving, energetic, urgently delivered hip-hop-type stuff, so it seems to a fogey like me—competition with candidates invited to address the gathering at intervals. Most, but not all, of the candidates are over 50, so it sounded pretty cute to me. One 50s-aged candidate I know said “at first I thought this was going to be really weird, but then I kind of got into it…” KPFA diehards of all ages—mostly older yes, but notable are younger staff and management there—are often seen and heard pacing and hair-pulling to get younger listeners for the station. In a world—such as the “spoken word” world—where young people are appropriately concerned about our current shared and unshared sufferings, it seemed that promoting a station whose mission is to report the elsewhere marginalized core stories seemed, well, inspired.  

  Not one announcement was ever made of the forum on the air, at least not between programs—maybe Renee herself made one of her professional-quality “carts,” and was able to play it during an election forum.  

  Eventually, Renee was urged to cancel her event in deference to the need to promote more fundraising. The Ramparts magazine event set for the same night would be a fundraiser for the station.  

Our efforts to point out that community-building, promoting a sense of involvement in these atomizing times, including reminding listeners that they actually have a stake in the station and can vote for the board—that all this might surely be a good a fundraising scheme—this was to no avail. 

No announcement of the forum. No announcement about voting during the fund drive. Period. 

  The Richmond event is canceled as well, for a similar reason—there’s a public KPFA fundraising event the same night. 

  I’ve left out a lot of good tying together because I just could not face the emotions I feel writing this. But one thing I did leave out that I’ll let you know now: About 50 paying people, if that many, attended the Ramparts magazine event, including Renee, who promoted it widely the last few days, carefully writing up something urging candidates and all on her mailing list to buy tickets, attend and support the station.  

While no candidates bought tickets that I could see, Renee did. She even stayed, despite its speakers having almost nothing—I’m saying almost but it may be absolutely—nothing to say about the world of today. Except that media is different now with the internet. Despite Ramparts having had a “bomb in every issue” this event had absolutely nothing to say about the world of today except this: you can reach 30,000 a day minimum with a blog, versus maybe 5000 a year with Ramparts. The Independents for Community Radio (ICR), and candidates Judith Gips, Stan Woods, Jim Curtis, and possibly others running for the KPFA board have promoted a more interactive website than the current KPFA blog-less website, most of whose archives have even been removed without an adequate explanation. 

And one last thing: as if having heard some of what we were saying about community-building being a way to fundraise for the station, Renee was promised a two-minute spot at the podium for the Ramparts event. 

  Well, she quietly stayed through the whole nostalgic—for me, not for 27-year-old her—event, and, despite sitting almost next to Bob Baldock, was never invited by him to take the stage. It felt like a slap, but, as he is extremely busy too, it may have been an unfortunate oversight. 

Virginia Browning is a Berkeley resident. 

Readers of the Daily Planet might have noticed an odd disconnect in the recent exchanges between the supporters of Concerned Listeners (CL) and their opponents in the current KPFA Local Station Board elections. CL’s endorsers are heavy on the labor side, including at least two Labor Councils, the leadership of several others, not to mention scores of militant organizers from a wide range of unions. Yet some of our attackers have called us anti-worker. Such is the mudslinging in this election. 

  Many CL candidates, like myself, come out of the labor movement—I grew up in a farm worker family, and I’ve been a trade unionist all my life. We stand in support of the workers at the station in the face of animosity from unexpected places—such as the KPFA board and candidates. I have been particularly disturbed by the hostility of our opponents to the union staff at KPFA, who are members of the Communications Workers of America. A number of people running for the KPFA board have come out against a statement by KPFA’s union asking candidates to vow to raise money for the station. Given that fundraising is one of the duties of the board, spelled out in the Pacifica bylaws, such a position should be of concern to all voting listener-members of KPFA who care about the station’s health. I certainly vow to raise money for KPFA if I am elected to the board, as both a responsible board member and as a proud union supporter. 

  I also hear there is talk within Pacifica of using this economic crisis as an opportunity to get rid of paid staff at KPFA and change to an all-volunteer station. That’s an elitist model that leaves the radio station in the hands of those who can afford to work long hours for free. That sounds pretty anti-union to me. 

  So here’s the irony: the Concerned Listeners slate is made up of labor folks, backed by labor leaders and rank-and-filers, supports KPFA’s union, and yet some of the candidates running against CL have accused us of “union busting.” Why? Because some of us didn’t insist that the station’s management recognize just any old group of people calling itself an unpaid staff organization as a volunteer collective bargaining unit. 

  This is actually a pretty easy call if you are a trade unionist. Calling yourself a union doesn’t make you one. In every union I was ever in we had elections or collected cards indicating that more than 50 percent of the workforce—the real workforce—wanted representation. Membership rules are very important. No group of workers wants to be represented by an organization whose membership is not tied to specific work requirements. The reason is simple: those who work have a real stake in the outcome of a dispute between labor and management. An organization that is composed of people, paid or unpaid, who only have a tangential relationship to production doesn’t have much on the line when it comes to a fight. 

  So, why did come Concerned Listeners members voice reservations about supporting recognition of the current Unpaid Staff Organization at KPFA? There is a contradiction between the Pacifica bylaws and the charter of the current unpaid staff organization. The bylaws say you have to volunteer 30 hours every three months under the supervision of station management to qualify as “unpaid staff” and earn voting rights. But the rules of KPFA’s Unpaid Staff Organization say that you ony have to volunteer 30 hours in a year, that work doesn’t have to be supervised, and if there’s any dispute, it’ll by the Unpaid Staff Organization leadership that decides whether or not you qualify. Under the former rule everyone can be confident that an unpaid staff member is actually doing something, and therefore has the right to vote for staff representatives on the LSB. Under the latter rule, however, a faction on the unpaid staff organiztion could pack the election with its allies and essentially load the dice. Not only is that unfair to KPFA members, it reduces the unpaid staff organization to little more than a way to win elections—and recognition lets those rules trump the ones in Pacifica’s bylaws. 

  KPFA’s unpaid staff have a right to organize—but I hope we could all agree that an Unpaid Staff Organization recognized by KPFA should be composed of people who actually work at the station, under station supervision, for a substantial amount of time. Otherwise you have a phony organization that keeps real workers off its rolls to prevent them from voting—a charge a number of unpaid staff have made against the current unpaid staff organization—and just acts in the interest of the so-called “independent” faction. 

  So if you want a board at KPFA that respects the station’s union employees enough to contribute to fundraising efforts during tough times, and respected station’s unpaid staff enough to want them represented by more than a sham front group, support our Concerned Listeners slate. Check us out at www.concernedlisten 

ers.org 

Virginia Rodriguez is a member of Concerned Listeners. 

There’s a growing consensus that the great recession is over, but the pace of U.S. recovery will be slow. Meanwhile, China’s economy is speeding up. A comparison of economic policies in the two countries indicates the White House must be more aggressive. 

In the second quarter of 2009 U.S. GDP was slightly down, while China’s economy grew at an annualized rate of 14.9 percent. Experts attribute the rapid expansion to four factors. 

Both countries enacted economic stimulus programs, but China moved faster. Last November, the Chinese government announced a $586 billion economic stimulus plan. In contrast, the United States didn’t officially acknowledge a recession until Dec. 1 and it took until February for Congress to pass a $787 billion Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Furthermore, the economic stimulus funds were distributed more rapidly in China; by early July the Chinese had spent half the allocated funds while the Obama administration had expended only one-quarter. 

As a one-party state, the Chinese Communist leaders implemented their recovery with no dissent. In contrast, the American economic stimulus act was passed with only a handful of Republican votes and remains controversial. (Nonetheless, the most recent New York Times/CBS News Poll found a significant increase in the number of Americans who believe that the economic stimulus package “has made the economy better.”) 

While China’s unemployment hovers around 5 percent, the U.S. rate approaches 10 percent. (And many observers believe that one in six Americans is unemployed or underemployed.) Many economists feel there will have to be an additional U.S. stimulus package focused on job generation. 

The second factor that distinguishes China from the United States is the availability of credit. The Chinese government controls its banks, which incurred minimal losses in the fall 2008 financial meltdown that slammed American financial institutions. Under orders from the central government, China’s banks “unleashed $1.2 trillion in extra lending to Chinese consumers and businesses in the first seven months of this year.” During the same period, U.S. consumer credit declined by 10.5 percent and commercial and industrial lending fell by 8 percent. 

The third factor is exports. The Chinese government has given broad assistance to exporters, including tax breaks and restrictions on imports. There is no comparable program in the United States, although some might say that the federal government’s bail out of banks and auto companies was a step in that direction. (From a business perspective, the focus of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was on tax cuts to offset losses and investment in alternative energy, healthcare, and infrastructure.) 

For the foreseeable future, China will be a net exporter of greater than $300 billion per quarter, while the United States will be a net importer of roughly $400 billion per quarter. 

The fourth factor explaining the difference between the American and Chinese economies is public sentiment. There’s no reliable measure of Chinese consumer confidence, but with unemployment at 5 percent and visible signs of economic recovery, it’s likely that it is positive. In comparison, the most recent New York Times/CBS News Poll found that only 36 percent of Americans felt our economy is getting better, while 17 percent felt it is getting worse, and 46 percent said it is about the same. That’s a big improvement over a year ago, when only 2 percent felt it was getting better, but there’s obviously a lot of room for improvement. While U.S. consumer confidence is improving, it’s still below the level it was at a year ago, before the collapse of Lehman Brothers. American consumers are, at best, guarded; Chinese consumers are optimistic and therefore in the mood to buy goods and services. 

It’s useful to imagine the economies of China and the United States as elevators. A year ago they were both in freefall. Now the Chinese elevator is steadily moving upward. Meanwhile the American elevator is stuck between floors. 

If the U.S. economic “elevator” is going to begin to move upward, there has to be more active involvement by the White House. The Obama administration must speed up the stimulus process and ram a second stimulus package through Congress. The administration and the Federal Reserve should force American banks to expand consumer and commercial credit. Finally, the administration should encourage exports in key industries by a combination of enlightened fiscal policy and import restrictions. To increase the growth of U.S. GDP, and prepare America to compete in a global economy where China has taken the lead, the White House must be more aggressive. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net.

They only hold the summer Olympics every four years and 2009 wasn’t the year for them. But they do hold the International Association of Athletics Federations world athletic championships every odd year, which is not quite the same thing, but close. This summer they were held in Berlin, and there were some absolutely memorable moments for those who love watching track and field competition on the world stage. 

The games marked the return to world championship competition of Jamaica’s phenomenal sprinter, Usain Bolt, who set world records while blowing away the field in both the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 

The Berlin world games was billed, in part, as a showdown between Mr. Bolt and America’s best sprinter, Tyson Gay. Mr. Gay missed the 100 meter finals in Beijing last year because of an injured hamstring, and was pointing to Berlin as his chance to redeem his reputation and vault himself over Bolt to gain the title as the fastest living human. 

A press conference with Mr. Gay at the Berlin games prior to the 100 meter finals demonstrates how much the Bolt-Gay showdown was played up, with a reporter mentioning the billboards set up around Berlin advertising the Bolt-Gay race, and Mr. Gay admitting that he was looking at the 100 meter final as a “two-man, head-to-head race” because Bolt was “the only fellow you guys [the press] ever mention to me.” 

A quick scan of newspaper articles leading up to the race illustrates that media attention. As only one example of many, an Aug. 14 article in the online Telegraph newspaper from England entitled “Usain Bolt V Tyson Gay 100m Battle The Highlight At Berlin World Championships” notes that “There may be 2,500 athletes in action over the next nine days of competition, but you could be forgiven for thinking that the 12th World Championships are just about two men. But the hype is understandable. Not since Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson locked horns at the 1988 Seoul Olympics has there been so much expectation about a sprinting showdown. The forthcoming clashes over 100 and 200 metres between Bolt, the triple Olympic champion, and Gay, the triple world champion, have all the makings of the greatest sprint duels in the history and, if the weather conditions are right, world records must surely tumble.” 

The race absolutely lived up to the hype.  

In the 100 meter finals, Mr. Gay was fantastic, delivering on a world stage. He ran a 9.71, the third fastest time a human being has ever been officially recorded running over that distance. That must be said again, to be appreciated: the third fastest time ever in all of human history. His time broke the American record for that distance and, until almost exactly a year ago, when Mr. Bolt topped that mark in Beijing, would have set the world record. In a field of world class sprinters, Mr. Gay absolutely blew away everyone behind them, leaving them in the dust. 

The problem was, there was one sprinter in the Berlin race who hit the finish line ahead of Mr. Gay. That was Usain Bolt, who broke his own world record to win going away at 9.58. The race, commemorated on YouTube, is one of the more thrilling track showdowns you will ever watch. This particular video features the race call by a German announcer, and even if you speak not a lick of German, you will recognize the absolute excitement and awe in his voice. Meanwhile the YouTube video, just as the live broadcast of the event when it was telecast last summer, followed Mr. Bolt’s enthusiastic victory lap around the track, camerafolks hustling to keep up in tow, ending with Mr. Bolt’s trademark “lightning bolt” pose for the crowd. His joy and bubbling enthusiasm at his accomplishment is absolutely infectious. 

But what about Mr. Gay? 

Without his participation in the event as a major competitor and threat to beat Mr. Bolt, the Berlin 100 meter showdown would have had no drama at all. It would not, in fact, have been a showdown. Three days after the 100 meter finals, Mr. Gay dropped out of the 200 meter dash, officially to nurse his still-sore hamstring for the relay races, but probably because he knew he had no chance against Mr. Bolt. With no one to challenge him, Mr. Bolt won the 200 meter finals by a ridiculously wide margin, setting a new world record in that race as well. But without major competition, the 200 meter race was merely a race by Mr. Bolt against himself. And while it was fun to watch, and the world record was enormously impressive, it was nothing to get especially excited about. 

While it was Mr. Bolt’s 100 meter accomplishment that got all the attention, it was Mr. Gay’s participation and effort that made it a race, and that’s what made the Berlin 100 meter final special, and absolutely memorable. 

But for all his efforts leading up to and including the Berlin 100 meter final, in which he ended up running the third fastest time ever in human history, Mr. Gay was either ignored or—what is worse—labeled a “loser.” In the various YouTube videos there is only a brief picture of Mr. Gay in the field at the finish line, the disappointment clearly on his face, and he disappears from view after that as the cameras follow the winner.  

An ESPN story (“Bolt Lowers 100-Meter Mark To 9.58”) posted online immediately following the race is typical of how the race was covered. In a story where all the paragraphs are one-sentenced, Mr. Gay is first mentioned in the fifth paragraph, when the story says that “Gay, [Mr. Bolt’s] closest rival, broke the American mark with his 9.71 performance and still looked like he was jogging—finishing a few big strides behind Bolt in second place.” 

You have to make it through almost to the end of a long article before you get to Mr. Gay again. After giving long details of Mr. Bolt’s actions during his victory lap, the ESPN article continues “Standing back at the finish line, waiting for [Mr. Bolt] to finish up, was Gay. … Gay was quite complimentary of his rival in a race that lived up to the hype.” The article noted near its conclusion that “Gay didn’t have much of a chance. Not against Bolt.” 

So in a race that “lived up to the hype,” a hype only possible because Mr. Gay provided credible competition to the world’s fastest sprinter, Mr. Gay is relegated to “loser” status, as if he had never even existed except as a canvas upon which Mr. Bolt could paint his masterpiece. 

It would be as if you spent your time praising the work of Michael Keaton in the original Batman movie or Christian Bale in The Dark Knight while mentioning the respective Joker roles of Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger as an afterthought.  

In athletics, there is an inherent (but not necessary) myopic focus on the winners of any competition—to the detriment of the worthy competitors—that explains, in part, the reaction to the selection of Rio De Janeiro as the site of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games and the non-selection of the city of Chicago. 

In case you missed it, Chicago made a serious, credible effort to win the games, even sending—at the last minute—their most high-level booster, former Chicago resident Barack Obama, to make a pitch for the city at the International Olympics Committee selection meeting. 

There appeared to be some sort of shock in the country when Rio won the bid over Chicago, but one wonders why there was any surprise. 

If Chicago had won the bid, it would have made the third time in nine Olympic games that the United States would have played the host (Los Angeles hosted in 1984, Atlanta in 1996). Unsurprisingly, no other region of the world has received such preferential treatment. In the 13 Olympics between 1960 and 2008, all of Europe has hosted only four times (Rome 1960, Munich 1972, Barcelona 1992, and Athens 2004), and no nation, of course, has hosted them twice in that period. Athens has hosted the games three times since their modern revival in 1896, but since Greece is the home of the original Olympics, that counts as a special case. Only England and France have joined the United States in hosting Olympic games twice, and while London gets them again in 2012, the last time they were in London was in 1948. All of the Asian continent has hosted Olympics only three times (Tokyo 1964, Seoul 1988, Beijing 2008). And while Mexico held the Olympics in 1968, that nation-for the geographically challenged-is in North America. Most significantly for the present discussion, South where Brazil and Rio De Janeiro are located-has never previously hosted a summer Olympics. 

Given the above history, there is nothing that suggests that the United States should not have put in its bid to hold the 2016 Olympics in Chicago in competition with Madrid and Tokyo. But given that both Spain and Japan have hosted Olympics in recent years, and the United States has done it twice, fairness alone would seem to dictate that a South American city would get the next nod. 

But there is another factor that argued for the Rio games, one that is so obvious that it shouts out at you. Brazil is one of the world’s unique countries, the carnival capital that offers a mixture of culture’s pretty much unmatched anywhere else. Much like Beijing in 2008, it is self-evident that the 2016 Rio games will be presented in a cultural atmosphere so pronounced and different that the venue itself will define the games as much as the competition. 

Beside that, the only American city that readily comes to mind that could provide a comparable unique cultural experience would be New Orleans. And even New Orleans before Katrina is overshadowed by Brazil. Chicago is a great city, a major world city. But while it is competent to host the Olympics, there are few objective observers who believe that the city itself would have made the 2016 games memorable. 

In this case, therefore, it is hard to see how it can be reasoned that Chicago “lost” the 2016 Olympic games. Chicago did not “lose.” It put its best effort forward-including one of the most persuasive persons on the planet, President Barack Obama—and in any other year, with any other competition, it would probably have gotten the bid. 

But just like Tyson Gay in the Berlin games, Chicago had the bad luck of running against an almost otherworldly opponent, Rio and Brazil. And since there can be only one host every four years for the Olympics-just like there can be only one winner of a hundred meter dash-it would seem that no shame should accrue to Chicago’s attempt. 

It did, of course. Just witness the sample headlines that followed the failed bid: “Why Chicago Lost” (Chicago Sun-Times), “The Agony Of Obama’s Defeat” (Politico.com), “Chicago Torpedoed By Anti-US Sentiment?” (Chicago Sun-Times), and “Did Derrion Albert Beating Footage Kill Chicago’s Dream?” (Note: Derrion Albert was a Chicago honor student brutally beaten to death by a group of fellow teenagers that was captured on video and widely shown on the Internet and by the media.) These articles, and many others, focused on why Chicago lost the bid, rather than on why Rio won. 

That brings to mind the legendary answer the unknown coach gave to the question of how his team came to lose the big game. “Because,” the coach replied after much thought, “the other guys got more points.” Tyson Gay did not do anything wrong. He lost because Usain Bolt ran faster. One need not have to look at what might have caused Chicago to lose the Olympic bid beyond the fact that Rio was the best choice, a fact that seems easy to see if one is not preternaturally wired to root for America at all times. 

And that brings into focus another aspect of the reactions to the Chicago Olympic loss. Far too many Americans don’t see such things as a competition, they see these things as events-or bids, or international conflicts, or wars-that America is always supposed to win. 

It isn’t, friends.  

And though one should always examine their effort to see where it failed, and figure out how to try better the next time, that is really all that needs to be said about this Chicago Olympics thing. 

Along with the migrant songbirds (the recent tanager, a female black-headed grosbeak, and a couple of yellow warblers, among others), I’ve been seeing a steady trickle of monarch butterflies in the neighborhood. Whether western monarchs actually migrate or not is a point of controversy. UC Santa Barbara emeritus professor Adrian Wenner has argued that what we have here is more of a range expansion and contraction between wintering roosts along the Central Coast and interior breeding areas. Unlike eastern monarchs, the western population doesn’t all wind up in the same place. 

As Art Sharpiro, UC Davis butterfly maven and author of a notable recent field guide, points out, it’s curious that there are no records of wintering monarchs in California before the twentieth century. You’d think someone would have noticed those huge aggregations. But the absence of evidence (although not evidence of absence) supports the idea that the monarch may be a fairly recent colonist along the West Coast. It also seems that no one has found genetic markers that reliably differentiate western and eastern monarchs, so they may still constitute one big gene pool. 

The journey of the eastern monarch is a different story. From all over temperate North America, these butterflies find their way each winter to a small patch of oyamel fir forest in the Mexican state of Michoacan. They do this with no prior experience of the journey and with a brain the size of a poppy seed. This navigational feat has challenged scientists for decades.  

Researchers concluded some time ago that monarchs orient themselves by the sun’s position in the sky. But the sun is a moving target; the butterflies need to keep recalibrating their solar fix based on the time of day. It was assumed that all of that happened within the organic microcircuitry of the brain. 

But there was one bit of anecdotal evidence that suggested something else might be going on. Here I should warn readers that the research I’m about to describe involves what some might consider physical cruelty to insect experimental subjects. The highly empathetic may want to stop here. The pain perception of butterflies (or lobsters, for that matter) is a can of worms I’m not about to open here. And I’m not necessarily endorsing the methodology in question, just reporting the results. 

Anyway, sometime in the 1950s entomologist Fred Urquhart clipped off the antennae of a group of monarchs. When they were released, they appeared disoriented and flew in random directions. 

Fifty-odd years later, Steven Reppert of the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine decided to follow this up. 

Reppert and his group had been working with a flight-simulation device, gluing monarchs to wires and suspending them in open barrels where they could see the sun but no other landmarks. Wire or no, they attempted to fly, and a monitoring device recorded their heading. Intact butterflies oriented toward the south or southeast, on the proper course for Mexico. 

When Reppert clipped his subjects’ antennae, they still flew in a single direction—but a random one, unrelated to the sun’s position. They appeared to have lost their time-compensation ability. Not completely, though: the clock genes in the butterflies’ brains continued to manufacture the protein that governs the recalibration. 

So the group took two more sets of monarchs. In one, the subjects had their antennae painted with black paint; in the other, with a clear enamel. The clear-enamel group oriented properly in the flight simulator, indicating that just having their antennae messed with didn’t throw them off. But the black-paint group tried to fly north to northwest. That suggested to Reppert that the onboard clocks were still functioning, but were off by a few hours because they hadn’t compensated for the sun’s movement. 

This wasn’t the first time an antennal clock had been discovered in insects. Previous studies had found that a similar mechanism enhanced the sensitivity of moths and fruit flies to pheromones at certain times of the day. Could an older system inherited from some remote common ancestor have been repurposed as a navigational tool? There are hints that honeybees may also use a time-compensated sun compass in wayfinding, although it’s not clear that the antennae are involved. 

But how on earth does it work? Reppert’s team found a light-sensing protein in the monarch’s antennal clock that had previously been identified as a magnetic field sensor in fruit flies. 

Like homing pigeons and sea turtles, monarch butterflies may be able to tune in to the earth’s magnetic field. It will be interesting to see where this research leads.

Periodically I see something that is so stupid that I have to reset my stupid gauge, re-evaluate the relative stupidity of all the other things I see, and give all the other builders, handy-folk and homeowners a little more slack because they didn’t perform this particularly odious act. As you may have surmised, I was recently privy to such an act and it is both fascinating and incredibly stupid. So without further ado, I present for you the mysterious, eternally exploding water heater. 

The scene is an REO in a relatively poor neighborhood near the Oakland-Berkeley border. A lot of young couples are making their starts in these marginal neighborhoods and I say bully for them. The houses need saving, the neighborhood need revitalization and an infusion of new blood, and I need the cash. 

This house was all right but nothing particularly special. But with love and the energy of these two extraordinarily beautiful and talented people, it will no doubt be a hot ticket as the years roll by. I racked up item after item as I proceeded through my job and then got to the water heater. It had been, I noticed, turned all the way down to what is often labeled as the vacation setting (perhaps the makers of these things are under the impression that you earn enough to take vacations, but that’s another subject).  

A vacation setting is, essentially, a stand-by mode. The pilot is still lit; The main controls are in the on position but no heating will take place. Actually, these make a lot of sense and we would all do well to put our water heaters in the vacation setting when we’re away for a few days (of course, with an on-demand water heater, they are always in this setting but for the few moments when you ask them to shower you). 

Obliged, as I am, to investigate things, I turned the water heater dial up to the standard, non-numerical setting on the dial and listened. The water heater went “shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhFWUMP” with what sounded like a small explosion at the end. This was about five to seven seconds—a long time in the ignition business. I don’t usually wait this long to hear a pilot ignite the burner without shutting something down, but I was just hoping against hope that I would hear that burner ignite and was a bit in the headlights of the thing as I waited for what I suspected was coming. Afterwards, I left the unit on but kept a close eye on it. When the heating stopped, after a long while, I intended to turn it off and started looking it over. 

Something was very wrong and I figured it must just be a defective unit that somehow involved the pilot’s inability to efficiently and immediately ignite the gases as they left the burner. 

In fact, that was just exactly the case but not due to a manufacturing error or anything that had failed in the unit. For reasons I cannot explain, I decided to take a look at the specification tag on the unit and there, in bold Times New Roman, stood the word I need to see: Propane. Never seen it—in more than 20 years of doing this. This unit, installed in the city on a CNG system (natural gas) was built for use with propane. I figure it must have been brought down from Sonoma or Marin by some stoned plumber who never stopped to ask a vital question. 

Propane and natural gas are not the same. They seem similar but they are different in one enormous way that affects a lot of things. They are not the specific gravity (whaaahu?). One is lighter then air (natural gas or “CNG”) and one is heavier (propane) and this is a huge matter; just ask anyone who lives on a boat. 

When hooked up to propane, a propane water heater will release gas from its burners and the propane will fall from the burner and meet a pilot light that is located just below the burner, thus igniting it quickly, and therefore safely. 

When hooked up to CNG, a natural gas water heater will release gas from its burner that will immediate rise, meet the pilot light above the burner, and burst into diaphanous blooms of blue heat. 

But when CNG is released from the burner of a propane water heater, the gas will rise and meet empty space above the burner inside the water heater as it fills downward from the top, eventually meeting the pilot light located below the burner. Thus the long wait and the small explosion that nearly blows the door off the thing every time it comes on.  

And that was the thing I shared with my client. Left as it is, this unit would do this every time the water cooled down a bit and during every shower that lasts more than two minutes and several times every night (good God). Given the variable dynamics of this behavior, it is more than possible that one of those occasions would indeed blow the door off the combustion chamber, inflaming the nearby corn broom, followed by the house. 

Again, the placement of the pilot, above the burner or below, is critical. Now there are other variations in the make of the two different water heaters based on the differing temperature of combustion, density of the gas, etc. but clearly, this is the big difference. 

Natural gas, being lighter than air, has to be regarded with a special respect since it can fill up areas under floors or the tops of fireplaces where dampers are shut. Any upper surface can contain it and, when a sufficient concentration has been reached, it only takes a small spark to wake the thunder and fire gods simultaneously. 

Propane, for those who don’t live in the country, may be more dangerous because it will fall to the floor and fill up the bottom of the basement or even crawlspace before the unseen lake of potential energy meets a suitable catalyst and blows the house off its foundation. Crawlspaces in country propane casas are usually, and certainly should be vented at the very lowest point to allow for the escape of the gas. On boats, it’s no joke. A propane leak fills the boat from the bottom up, which can destroy the vessel or just ruin your day, if you’re lucky. 

As long as we’re on the subject of flammable gases and their specific gravities, it’s fun to introduce one more member of this family, and that is gasoline (which slowly becomes gaseous at room temperature). Gasoline fumes, like propane, are heavier than air and will accrue on the floor of your garage (or wherever you store your car or a leaky can of gasoline). For this reason, the building codes have long demanded that sources of ignition, such as water heaters and clothes dryers be, elevated well above the floor (18 inches is usually cited in the code books) so that they cannot ignite this low-lying blanket of dynamite. 

Take a look at your garage and imagine what would happen to a fluid poured on the floor and that’s what gasoline fumes will do. They’ll act just like a fluid on the floor except that you won’t see it. A nice secret is that all the water heaters sold in California are now of a special type that we call FVIR, or Flame Vapor Ignition Resistant, and these are designed to prevent the disaster I’ve just described. Their “combustion chamber,” the little cavity containing burner and pilot, is sealed to prevent ignition of gasoline fumes nearby and a complex intake system allows flammable gases to burn up inside the unit without getting back out and lighting the rest. A very amazing invention and, again, the only thing sold in California for residential tanked water heating today. 

This job never fails to make me laugh, surprise me and make me scratch my head. I have no idea what the next 10 years will bring, but as long as I don’t get blown up in the process, I’m dyin’ to see what’s next. 

THURSDAY, OCT. 8 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Inventing a Masterwork: Bernard Maybeck and the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley, 1909-1911” with Robert Judson Clark at 7:30 p.m. at First Church of Christ, Scientist, 2619 Dwight Way. Tickets are $15, available from Berkeley Architectural Heritage. 841-2242. berkeleyheritage.com 

Poetry Flash with Rose Black, Rafaella del Bourgo and Joseph Zaccardi at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. moesbooks.com 

Sherman Alexie on “War Dances” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Oakland, 2501 Harrison St., at 26th, Oakland. Tickets are $6-$15. www.brownpapertickets.com 

Cornelia Nixon discusses “Jarrettsville” about brothers who fought on opposing sides in the Civil War at 7 p.m. at Diesel, 5433 College Ave., Oakland. 653-9965. www.dieselbookstore.com 

Individual World Poetry Slam Championships 7 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10-$15. 841-2082. www.iwps.poetryslam.com 

Poetry Slam Thurs. and Fri. at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, with events from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the café. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Edward Espe Brown presents “The Complete Tassajara Cookbook: Recipes, Techniques, and Reflections from the Famed Zen Kitchen” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ablaye Cissoko & Volker Goetze, African, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dr. K’s Home Grown Roots Revue with Culann’s Hounds, Lucia Comnes, and the Gas Men at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50-$16.50. 548-1761.  

Jazz Singers’ Soiree with Benny Watson Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

The Adrian Gormley Jazz Trio at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Country Joe McDonald’s Open Mic at 7 p.m. at BFUU, 1924 Cedar St.  

The Lost Cats at 7 p.m. at Chester’s Bay View Cafe, 1508 Walnut St. 849-9995. 

FRIDAY, OCT. 9 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “The Nerd” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through Oct. 25. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley Rep “American Idiot” at 2025 Addison St., through Nov. 15. Tickets are $32-$86. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “Harvey” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. through Oct. 11 at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. Tickets are $18, $11 for 16 and under. 524-9132. www.cct.org 

Impact Theatre “See How We Are” A contemporary adaptation of “Antigone.” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through Oct. 17. Tickets are $12-$20. impacttheatre.com 

Ragged Wing Ensemble “So Many Ways to Kill a Man” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Metal Shop Theater, 2425 Stuart St. at Willard School, through Oct. 24. Tickets are $15-$30. 1-800-838-3006. www.raggedwing.org 

Round Belly Theatre Company “Orestia: Before the Furies” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Noodle Factory, 1255 26th St. at Union, Oakland. Suggested donation $10. www.roundbellytheatre.com 

Shotgun Players “This World In A Woman’s Hands” The story of the WWII Victory warships and the African-American women who built them, with live acoustic bass by Marcus Shelby. Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at The Ashby Stage. 1901 Ashby Ave, through Oct. 18. Tickets are $18-$25. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Smokey Joe’s Cafe “The Songs of Lieber and Stoller” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Alameda Elks Lodge, 2255 Santa Clara Ave., Alameda. Tickets are $30, Dinner adn show tickets are $55. 522-3428. 

Woman’s Will “The Clean House” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Gaia Arts Center, 2120 Allston Way, through Oct. 10. Tickets are $15-$25. 420-0813. www.womanswill.org 

UC Dept. of TDPS “Dead Boys” A musical by Joe Goode in collaboration with composer Holcobe Waller, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., through Oct. 18 at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC campus. Tickets are $10-$15. 642-8827. 

FILM 

“It Happened One Night” at 8 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets are $5. 1-800-745-3000. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Collecting California Landscape Art” with Thomas Reynolds at 6 p.m., and preview of the Bay Area Landscape Art Show, at Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Free. 644-2967. www.hillsideclub.org 

Naomi Lowinsky and Al Averbach read their poetry at 7 p.m. at Nefeli Caffe, 1854 Euclid Ave., a little north of Hearst. 841-6374. 

Individual World Poetry Slam Championships 7 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10-$15. 841-2082. www.iwps.poetryslam.com 

Poetry Slam at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, with events from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the café. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Deborah Tannen reads from “You Were Always Mom’s Favorite! Sisters in Conversation Throughout Their Lives” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“When Dreams Are Interrupted” dance, music, art and spoken word on the WWII internment experience of Bay Area Japanese-Americans, Fri.-Sun. at 2 p.m. in the Berkeley residence of former internees. For more information see www.purplemoondance.org 

Artists Vocal Ensemble “Kirchenabendmusik” at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $10-$20. wwwave-music.org 

Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum & Friends at 8 p.m. at UTunes Coffe House, First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St., Oakland. Tickets are $14-$18, children ages 6-15, $5. www.utunescoffehouse.org 

Gateswingers Jazz Band at 7:30 p.m. at 33 Revolutions Record Shop and Cafe, 10086 San Pablo Ave. at Central, El Cerrito. 898-1836. 

Quijerema at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373.  

Hurricane Sam & The Hotsshots at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

LT3, in a benefit for Buffalo Field Campaign at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

George Cole & Vive Le Jazz at 8 p.m. at Art House Gallery, 2905 Shattuck Ave.  Donation $10-$12. 472-3170. 

Green Machine at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

7th Street Band at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is 410. 548-1159.  

Socket at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

SATURDAY, OCT. 10 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Juanita Ulloa at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Babes in Toyland Puppet Show at 11 a.m. and 2 and 4 p.m. at at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. 296-4433.  

EXHIBITIONS 

Bay Area Landscape Art Show with works by 22 local landscape painters, Sat. and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Free. 644-2967. www.hillsideclub.org 

“Women in Whiteware” Pottery by Mary Barringer, Lary Law, Elizabeth Robinson and Deb Schwartzkopf. Opening reception at 5 p.m. at TRAX Ceramic Gallery, 1812 Fifth St. 540-8729. www.traxgallery.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Joana Carneiro, Berkeley Symphony’s new music director, in conversation with pianist and radio host Sarah Cahill at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 3rd flr. community room, 2090 Kittredge. 981-6236. 

Ernest Bloch Anniversary Symposium at 2 p.m. at 125 Morrison Hall, UC campus. Free.  

“Metaphysical Abstraction: Contemporary Approaches to Spiritual Content” Artist talk with Tom Marioni at 4 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. Cost is $5. 644-6893. berkeleyartvcenter.org 

Joaquin J. Gonzalez on “Filipino American Faith in Action” at 3:30 p.m. at Eastwind Books of Berkeley, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

Richard Russo in conversation with West Coast Live’s Sedge Thompson at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“When Dreams Are Interrupted” dance, music art and spoken word on the WWII internment experience of bay Area Japanese-Americans, at 2 p.m. in the Berkeley residence of former internees. For more information see www.purplemoondance.org 

Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble 10th year anniversary concert at 8 p.m. at St. Albert Priory Chapel, 6172 Chabot Rd., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$15. www.wavewomen.org 

San Francisco Cabaret Opera “Solidarity” at 8 p.m. at Flux53 Theater/Artspace, 5306 Foothill Boulevard, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$20. 415-289-6877. www.goathall.org  

Ernest Bloch Anniversary Concert at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC campus. Free. 

The Bloom Project Piano and saxophone comprovisations with Thollem McDonas and Rent Romus at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. 

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “The Concerto: An Adversarial Friendship” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $25-$75. 415-392-4400. 

El Cerrito Free Folk Festival with Eric and Suzy Thompson, Leftover Dreams with Tony Marcus and Partice Haan, Euphonia, Misner and Smith, and many others, from noon to 10 p.m. at Windrush School, 1800 Elm St., El Cerrito. www.elcerritofolkfest.org 

Gamelan Sekar Jaya at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$20. brownpapertickets.com 

Orquestra La Moderna Tradición at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568.  

Lady Bianca Blues at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

Reggae Angels, Lionheart Sounds at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

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

Quijerema at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373.  

Sonic Safari at 7 p.m. at Chester’s Bay View Cafe, 1508 Walnut St. 849-9995. 

Moh Alileche Ensemble at 8 p.m. at Art House, Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10-$12. 472-3170. 

LT3 at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

CV Dub at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 11 

CHILDREN 

Asheba at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

Bay Area Landscape Art Show with works by 22 local landscape painters, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Free. 644-2967. www.hillsideclub.org 

“The Color of Music” Mixed-media abstractions interpreting works by Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, and others, by Berkeley artist Hildegarde Haas on display at The Musical Offering, 2430 Bancroft Way. enfieldart@att.net 

Sharyl Gates Solo Show of paintings in oils and acrylics. Opening reception at 4 p.m. at the Albany Community Center Foyer, 1249 Marin Ave., Albany.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

ENDdependence Poets honor Indigenous La Raza Day at 6 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$15. 849-2568.  

Opera Piccola Play Reading & Open Mic Poetry at 4 p.m. at Opera Piccola Performing Arts, 2946 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Free, donations accepted. www.opera-piccola.org  

Anna Thomas presents “Love Soup: 160 All-New Vegetarian Recipes from the Author of The Vegetarian Epicure” at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Poetry Flash with Alison Hawthorne Deming and Ann Fisher-Wirth at 3 p.m. at Diesel, 5433 College Ave., Oakland. 525-5476. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

San Francisco Cabaret Opera “Solidarity” at 7 p.m. at Flux53 Theater/Artspace, 5306 Foothill Boulevard, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$20. 415-289-6877. 

“When Dreams Are Interrupted” dance, music art and spoken word on the WWII internment experience of bay Area Japanese-Americans, at 2 p.m. in the Berkeley residence of former internees. For more information see www.purplemoondance.org 

Chamber Music Sundaes Program of String Chamber Music at 3 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets at the door are $20-$25. 415-753-2792.  

The Prometheus Symphony Orchestra at 3 p.m. at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Free, children welcome. www.prometheussymphony.org 

Sundays @ Four Chamber Music “Two Pianists” with Luis Magalhaes and Nina Schumann at 4 p.m. at Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $15, free for children 18 and under. 559-6910.  

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “The Concerto: An Adversarial Friendship” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $25-$75. 415-392-4400. 

Americana Unplugged: The Earl Brothers at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band Fundraiser for the Stupa Peace Park at 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley Unity Church, 2401 LeConte at Scenic. Tickets are $35-$40. 831-425-4466. 

Darryl Rowe & His Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Terrence Brewer “Goovin Waves” A Wes Montgomery Tribute at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373.  

Bill Staines at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Funkenauts at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Compared to What, R&B, at 7 p.m. at Chester’s Bay View Cafe, 1508 Walnut St. 849-9995. 

Bill Evans and Megan Lynch at 3 p.m. at Wisteria Ways, 383 61st St., Oakland. Donations $15-$20. Reservations strongly recommended. info@WisteriaWays.org 

Hipline Extravaganza, belly dance, at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

MONDAY, OCT. 12 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Subterranean Shakespeare “Timon of Athens” staged reading at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Tickets are $8. 276-3871. 

Berkeley Rep “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later” A staged reading at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St. Tickets are $8-$15. 647-2949. 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley New Music Project Music by graduate student composers at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC campus. Tickets are $5-$15, free for UCB graduate students. 642-9988. 

The Matt Flinner Trio at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

TUESDAY, OCT. 13 

FILM 

“Peregrinos: Pilgrims, A musical Journey” A PBS documentary with composer Gabriela Lena Frank and La Peña Community Chorus at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Free. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry at the Albany Library with Giovanni Singleton and Douglas Scot Miller, followed by open mic, at 7 p.m. in the Edith Stone Room at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720. www.aclibrary.org. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Zydeco Flames at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun/Zydeco 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, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Keoki Kahumoku Ukulele concert at 8 p.m., workshop at 6 p.m. at Temple Bar Tiki Bar, 984 University Ave. Cost is 422 for each event. Reservations suggested. 548-9888. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 14 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Writers at Work Series with Walter Alvarez from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Morrison Library, 101 Doe Library, UC campus. writing.berkeley.edu/bwaw 

Louise Dyble on “Paying the Toll: Local Power, Regional Politics and the Golden Gate Bridge” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

Bryant Terry reads and gives a cooking demonstration from “Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine” at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Shana Mahaffey reads from her debut novel “Sounds Like Crazy” at A Great Good Place for Books, 6120 LaSalle Ave., Oakland. 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Scott Nygaard & Crow Molly at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Babshad Jazzz at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre Resturant, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 

Dan Stanton Group at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Big Bones at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Backyard Tarzans at 7 p.m. at Chester’s Bay View Cafe, 1508 Walnut St. 849-9995. 

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

Flowtilla at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

THURSDAY, OCT. 15 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Bobbin Lace: The Taming of Multitudes of Threads” at Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles, 2982 Adeline St. Exhibition runs to Feb. 1. LacisMuseum.org 

City of Berkeley Civic Center Art Exhibition Works by Berkeley artists on display Mon.-Fri. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Martin Luther King Civic Center, 2180 Milvia St., through Dec. 11. 981-7533. 

“Domestic Disturbance” Intergenerational group of artists on the difficulties of balancing public and private life. Opening reception at 5 p.m. at Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall, UC campus. Exhibit runs to Oct. 31.  

Todd Laby: Images from “Brink” detailing his physical and psychological recovery from a serious surfing accident. at 5 p.m. at The LightRoom Gallery, 2263 Fifth St. Exhibition runs to Nov. 6. 649-8111.  

“Longing for the Background” Thérèse Lahaie’s sculptures, photography and site-specific installations at Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, 25 Grand Ave., upper level, Oakland. Exhibition runs to Nov. 21. 415-577-7537. www.chandracerrito.com 

Robert Rickard, metal wall art at Christensen Heller Gallery, 5829 College Ave., Oakland, through Nov. 1. 655-5952. www.christensenheller.com 

“I’m A People Person” Exhibit depicting images of seniors at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts Annex, 1428 Alice Street, off 14th St., downtown Oakland. Exhibit runs through Oct. 22. 

“Surface Strata” Paintings by Chris Trueman, Kevin Scianni, Alison Rash, Maichael Cutlip, Joshua Dildine, Jay Merryweather, and Eric Ward at Joyce Gordon Gallery, 406 14th St., Oakland. Exhibition runs to Oct. 31. 465-8928. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Thad Carhart reads from his historical novel “Across the Endless River” of frontier America in the 1800s, at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Amy Dean discusses her new book The New New Deal: How Regional Activism Will Reshape the American Labor Movement at 12:30 p.m. at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, IRLE Building, 2521 Channing Way. 642-9187. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Symphony performs works by Berkeley composers, John Adams and Gabriela Lena Frank, at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC campus. Tickets are $10-$60. 841-2800. www.berkeleysymphony.org 

Chirgilchin, Tuvan throat singing, at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15-$20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The James King Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Steve Carter Group at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Mark Holzinger at 7 p.m. at Chester’s Bay View Cafe, 1508 Walnut St. 849-9995. 

Dolorata, The Big Nasty at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

FRIDAY, OCT. 16 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “The Nerd” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through Oct. 25. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley Rep “American Idiot” at 2025 Addison St., through Nov. 15. Tickets are $32-$86. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Berkeley Rep “Tiny Kushner” Short plays by Tony Kushner at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison, through Nov. 29. Tickets are $33-$71. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org 

Impact Theatre “See How We Are” A contemporary adaptation of “Antigone.” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through Oct. 17. Tickets are $12-$20. impacttheatre.com 

Ragged Wing Ensemble “So Many Ways to Kill a Man” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Metal Shop Theater, 2425 Stuart St. at Willard School, through Oct. 24. Tickets are $15-$30. 1-800-838-3006. www.raggedwing.org 

Shotgun Players “This World In A Woman’s Hands” The story of the WWII Victory warships and the African-American women who built them, with live acoustic bass by Marcus Shelby. Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at The Ashby Stage. 1901 Ashby Ave, through Oct. 18. Tickets are $18-$25. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Smokey Joe’s Cafe “The Songs of Lieber and Stoller” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Alameda Elks Lodge, 2255 Santa Clara Ave., Alameda. Tickets are $30, Dinner adn show tickets are $55. 522-3428. 

TheatreFirst “Stones in His Pockets” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Marion E. Greene Theatre, ground floor of The Fox Oakland Building, 19th St. entrance, through Nov. 8. Tickets are $15-$30. www.brownpapertickets.com  

UC Dept. of TDPS “Dead Boys” A musical by Joe Goode in collaboration with composer Holcobe Waller, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., through Oct. 18 at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC campus. Tickets are $10-$15. 642-8827. 

Youth Musical Theater “A Chorus Line” Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave., through Oct. 25. Tickets are $10-$20. www.brownpapertickets.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

2009 James D. Phelan Art Award in Printmaking Gallery reception at 6 p.m. at Kala Gallery, 2990 San Pablo Ave. 841-7000. www.kala.org 

“Counts & Constructs” Works by Augusta Talbot and Eli Noyes. Reception at 6 p.m. at Garage Gallery, 3110 Wheeler St. Exhibit runs Sat. and Sun. 1 to 5 p.m. to Nov. 1. www.berkeleyoutlet.com 

“Dementions” A Halloween and Day of the Dead art exhibit. Opening reception at 7 p.m. at Eclectix Gallery, 10082 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. Runs to Nov. 29. www.eclectix.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Stewart Brand on “Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way at Dana. Tickets are $40, includes autographed copy of book. www.brownpapertickets.com 

Poetry Reading and Open Mic at 7 p.m. at Expressions Gallery, 2035 Ashby Ave. 644-4930. 

Gabrielle Calvocoressi reads from her new volume of poems, “Apocolyptic Swing” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland Ballet “Jewels of the Bay: A Mixed Repertoire” at 7:30 p.m. at Holy Names University, Valley Center for the Arts, 3500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $25-$30 www.oaklandballet.org 

“Division” Chamber music for viol and lutes at 6 p.m. in the Parish Hall of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $10-$15. www.brownpapertickets.com 

Won Fu, from Taiwan in a benefit for typhoon relief at 7 p.m. at Genetics and Plant Biology Building, Room 100, UC campus. tasa.berkeley.edu.  

Kiyana “Vital and Perpetual Movements” Traditional Persian mystical whirling dance at 8 p.m. at the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California, 1433 Madison St., Oakland. Workshop on Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets are $15 for performance, $45 for workshop. hamza@iccnc.org 

Mestiza at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Music, She Wrote at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Bossa Five-O at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Wailing SoulsLuv Fyah, 7th Street Sound, reggae, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $17-$20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Richard Smith at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Dead Kenny Gs at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

The Rhythm Doctors at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Code Name: Jonah at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

SATURDAY, OCT. 17 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Asheba at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Babes in Toyland Puppet Show at 11 a.m. and 2 and 4 p.m. at at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. 296-4433.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Luminious Veil” Black and white photographs by Kristin Satzman. Artist’s reception at 4 p.m. at El Cerrito City Hall, 10890 San Pablo Ave. Exhibition runs to Nov. 17. 

“Exploring De Staebler Through Movement” A movement workshop with Muriel Maffre in conjunction with the exhibition “Steven De Staebler: The Sculptor’s Way” at 11 a.m. at The Richmond Art Center, 2540 Bartlett Ave., Richmond. Free. 620-6772. www.therac.org 

“The Self as Super Hero: Exchange and Response” A joint project with ArtEsteem and CCA faculty. Reception at 3 p.m. at Oliver Art Gallery, California College of the Arts, 5212 Broadway, Oakland.  

FILM 

Home Movie Day from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Film inspection and check in at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Telling Tales: A Fall Storytelling Festival with Awele Makeba, Joel ben Izzy and Megumi, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Berkwood Hedge School, 1809 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $4 children, $8 adults. www.berkwood.org/storytelling 

Jack Boulware, author of “Gimme Something Better” and member of East Bay punk bands Schlong and Classics of Love at 7:30 p.m. at 924 Gilman. Co-sponsored by Pegasus Books. pdtevents@gmail.com 

Douglass Gayeton presents “Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

at 2 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Spice-Y Comedy Progressive comedy with Kelly Anneken, Awet Teame, Greg Asdourian and others at 7 p.m. at Spice Monkey Cafe, 1628 Webster St., Oakland.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland Ballet “Jewels of the Bay: A Mixed Repertoire” at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at Holy Names University, Valley Center for the Arts, 3500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $25-$30 www.oaklandballet.org 

Kensington Symphony Orchestra performs a Halloween-inspired program at 8 p.m. at Unitarian-Universalist Church, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Suggested donation$12-$15. Children free. 524-9912. kensingtonsymphonyorchestra.org 

Randy Berge at 11 a.m. and Alan Lipton at 1 p.m. at Westbrae Berkeley Bagel Garden, Gilman at Santa Fe. 

“Walk in Faith not in Fear” Gospel Concert at 6 p.m. at Hilltop Community Church, 3118 Shane Drive, Richmond. Benefit concert for Breast Cancer Awareness month. 758-7939. 

Gamelan Sari Raras at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC campus. Tickets are $5-$10. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Arab Orchestra of San Francisco at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $13-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Lloyd Gregory Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Zulu Spear at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Amy X Neuburg & Solstice at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Kelley Gray at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Steve Carter Jazz Trio at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

2ME at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

The Buckets Reunion, 20 Minute Loop at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Strange Angel Blues Band at 7 p.m. at Chester’s Bay View Cafe, 1508 Walnut St. 849-9995. 

Little Muddy, CD release, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Countdown Cabaret Halloween kick-off at 8 p.m. at Flux 53, 5300-12 Foothill Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $10, $2 off with a costume. www.flux53.com 

SUNDAY, OCT. 18 

CHILDREN 

ME3 at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Berkeley in Conflict: Eyewitness Images” featuring never exhibited works by photographers John Jekabson, Dan Beaver, and Lydia Gans. Reception at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. 848-0181.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Metaphysical Abstraction: Contemporary Approaches to Spiritual Content” Adult education and teacher training on “Visual Thinking Strategies from 2 to 5 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893. berkeleyartvcenter.org 

Oran Canfield reads from “Long Past Stopping” at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. moesbooks.com 

Audrey Heller presents her photographs in “Overlooked Undertakings” at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Egyptology Lecture “King Tut’s Medicine Cabinet” with Dr. Lise Manniche, Univ. of Copenhagen at 2:30 p.m. at Barrows Hall, Room 20, Barrow Lane and Bancroft Way, UC campus. 415-664-4767. 

Benefit for Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund with international food, music, poetry and readings of letters from prisoners, from 3 to 7 p.m. at La Placita, 2375 Fruitvale Ave., Oakland. Cost is $10-$15.  

Clive Matson & Friends “Passion & Post-Psychedelic Poetry” at 5 p.m. at ArtHouse Gallery, 2905 Shattuck Ave. Donation $5-$10. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“The Unsung Diva” with Angela Dean Baham at 4 p.m. at The Bellevue Club, 525 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Cost is $12-$30. Dinner follows. 451-1000.  

Christa Pfeiffer, David Aurbach, Michael Jones and William Ludtke Music by Ludtke, Corelli, Granados and Messiaen at 3 p.m. at 2601 Durant. 665-5988. 

Calle 49, instrumental Latin jazz, at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Bryan Bowman Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Americana Unplugged: The Stairwell Sisters at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Vernon Bush at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Peppino D’Agostino at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Flux at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

The lights go up onstage at the Gaia Center, the chords of a piano are heard (Rona Siddiqui, in the “orchestra” she makes right in front of the stage with her fine accompaniment of the action) and we see a young woman showing us a dance very familiarly while telling a joke. But the joke’s in Brazilian Portuguese. Is it about the dance? Or is she dancing to the joke? Or are joke and dance both expressions of her exuberance, joie de vivre? 

The beginning of Woman’s Will’s bright production of Sarah Ruhl’s A Clean House introduces Matilde (a charming Mayra Gaeta), a Brazilian living in the States as a maid, her physician boss Lane (Beth Chastain, the female straightman) and Lane’s sister Virginia (Marilyn Hughes, playing Virginia as a comic sensitive), one after the other, addressing the audience. Not exactly serial intros to the play; we’re already into it, and in it.  

The second act will begin by flashing back to a vignette, established by dialogue, that preceded the end of act one, then flash forward—back—as the couple in the vignette enter the scene that ended act one together. Conventions of “the Fourth Wall” and the unity of Time and Space have long been toppled; the toppling has become the convention.  

Lane—Doctor Lane?—touches on a few of the various juggled themes: she told her maid to clean her house; the maid wouldn’t. “So I took her to the hospital ... I’m sorry; I’ve been to medical school.” Virginia tells us nervously, “If it were not for dust, I would die ... I’m not a morbid person.”  

And Matilde, who confides she hates to clean, reveals she came to the States in order to deal with the sadness of the death of her parents, the funniest people she ever knew, the funniest in Brazil—her mother dying over a joke of her father’s, her father in anguish over the death of his beloved (and funnier) wife. Matilde spends her expatriacy avoiding her duties, dreaming up the supreme joke, afraid it’ll kill her. 

Virginia, a compulsive cleaner, and Matilde make a pact: Matilde will be Virginia’s front so Virginia may clean her sister’s house. There’s a strain, a stand-off in the sisterly relationship. Together Matlide and Virginia discover a pair of lace panties in the laundry, clearly not Lane’s, though Virginia remarks she’s never seen her sister’s underwear before. Could they be from Charles, Lane’s mostly absent doctor husband, whom Virginia has a crush on ... is Charles having an affair?  

Charles (Richard Massery, both polished and ever-active), a specialist in breast cancer, has an older patient, Ana from Argentina (Carolyn Power, who wears the part like a glove), whose survival he’s become dedicated to—passionately dedicated—while Ana is dedicated only to living, to the love of life, come what may. 

The various, unlikely threads tangle. Matilde finds herself serving, if not two masters, two or three mistresses; Virginia and Lane finally speak to each other, not just the audience, of their differences—and Charles, now a knight-errant, tears off to Alaska, to fly back with a tree ... and misses the telling of the world’s greatest joke. 

“The perfect joke makes you forget about your life. The perfect joke makes you remember ...” 

Jodi Schiller has directed her outstanding cast with sensitivity and humanity, following out what seem stray threads of story, or story-within-story, as through-lines, no easy feat with Ruhl’s plays, as other Bay Area productions (often by game professionals) have shown, both of other titles and of A Clean House. 

There’s a tale handed down from Antiquity about a man, told he will die on a certain day, who found the prospect of his death, prophecied so exactly, laughable—and when the predicted day came, died laughing. 

“I got a great deal out of life,” said Natalie Barney, the American Amazon of Paris’ salon scene, “Perhaps more than what was in it.” 

Woman’s Will has expertly realized the possibilities in A Clean House, even pointed beyond, truly getting more out of it than there was in it. The play is amusing, not humorous; well-meaning rather than profound. Its various conceits, in the poetic sense, are awkward, without true stylization—or style. It smells of the workshop, not of that “reek of the human” Dr. Johnson prescribed as the signature of real art.  

A Clean House plays with a few news topics, a couple old jokes and an endemic social dysfunctionality, seeming to defy old, long-ruptured stage conventions, trying to improvise a theatrical meaning. But there’s no sense of these markers “generating a set of ideas that both dominate and are subject to them"—to come back to stylization. There are touches of the usual cliches about latin women.  

It brushes past the subject of Melancholy—like social class, a topic verboten in America, glossed only as “depression"—which it brings up, only to resolve its paradoxes in a conclusion faintly Hallmark. It resembles somebody cluelessly trying to repeat a joke, or an overly literal translation of a poem.  

But Woman’s Will—with a committed cast and director, and the new artistic direction of Victoria Evans Erville, which from the start seems to be fulfilling founder Erin Merritt’s vision—has made an interesting, lively evening of theatricality from a mediocre play.  

It’s one of the contradictions of the art, what used to be called trouping. As one of its characters might have said, it happens. 

A CLEAN HOUSE 

Presented by Woman's Will at 8 p.m. Thursday–Saturday through Oct. 10. at Gaia Arts Center, 2120 Allston Way. $15-$25.  

420-0813. www.womanswill.org.

The name Julien Duvivier may not immediately register in filmgoers’ minds. Like many other masters of the craft whose mastery extended into many genres—King Vidor and F. W. Murnau, for instance—Duvivier’s varied output did not lend itself to the cult of personality.  

Yet many of those directors whose personas have indeed been stamped into the public consciousness—including Orson Welles and Ingmar Bergman—have praised him as one of cinema’s greatest artists. Pacific Film Archive is presenting a retrospective of Duvivier’s career through October.  

Duvivier directed commercial thrillers and melodramas, comedies and propaganda, musicals, epics and literary adaptations in a career that spanned four decades, starting in the silent era and extending from France to Hollywood and back. 

Au Bonheur des Dames (1930), showing Friday night at 6:30 p.m., is one of Duvivier’s rarely screened early masterpieces. It portrays the struggle of a small shop to survive literally in the shadow of a bustling Parisian department store. Duvivier’s camera lingers on the merchandise and retail hustle of this enormous enterprise, contrasting it with the humble simplicity of the neighboring family-owned shop. Imagery is tantamount in Duvivier’s oeuvre; he rarely hesitates in his use of effects, from double and triple exposures to the moving camera to elaborate lighting and special effects.  

Au Bonheur des Dames showed to a wildly appreciative audience at San Francisco’s Silent Film Festival a few years back, and now gets a welcome reprise. Au Bonheur des Dames will be accompanied by PFA house pianist Judith Rosenberg, who brings a respectful regard to her work, employing her improvisation talents in the creation of scores that emphasize, complement and underscore the themes of silent films without ever overwhelming or undermining them.  

The PFA series also includes Duvivier adaptations of Zola and Tolstoy works, and several of his collaborations with actor Jean Gabin, including perhaps Duvivier’s most famous film, Pépé le Moko (1937) on Oct. 8 and 9, and his own personal favorite, Poil de Carotte (1932), “a heartbreaking chronicle of childhood.” 

When Dreams Are Interrupted, the evocative title of the site-specific dance and multimedia performance that Purple Moon Dance Project will present at the South Berkeley home of the group’s founder, Jill Togawa, Oct. 9 and 10, only hints at the sense of discovery in personal and local community history that Togawa and the other company members have brought to this performance piece since deciding to create something about the real—and long-term—impact of the Japanese-American internment during World War II. 

Just a few anecdotes about the two years of research and planning, passed along by Togawa in a phone conversation, revealed the serendipitous correspondences, the surprises that performances of this kind usually have to generate conceptually or fictionally. 

“One of the questions we posed ourselves when developing the piece,” Togawa said, “was, when dreams are interrupted, where do they go?” 

The search for stories, an invisible history, started two years ago, after Togawa moved with her family to South Berkeley. “I knew nothing about the history of the neighborhood,” she recalled. “An inspector came through, recognized my name as a Japanese name—and knew something of the history of the house, because he used to live in the neighborhood. His neighbors knew the family that had lived here; 50 years later, they were still telling the story.” 

The family was the Nakazawas. “The story was that the parents had died in camp, and their adult children were so brokenhearted, they didn’t come back here. They had made a beautiful garden—the father was a gardener—which was cemented over when we came. The [70-foot] redwood tree, which completely overshadows the house, had been planted by them. We had found it gloomy at first. After finding out they had planted it, I began to think of it as an ancestor.” 

When she started thinking about making a performance, Togawa posed herself a question: How to bring the tree to the stage? In a talk with another choreographer, the suggestion was made that the performance could be site-specific. 

Posting flyers in the neighborhood, telling people about what she was thinking, Togawa “started learning about the big Japanese community here, and began to think, This must be why we’re here, to see this.” She learned that seven families from her block had been interned.  

She also discovered that Richard Aoki, “who I talked to a few times,” was a grandson of the Nakagawas. Aoki, a Japanese-American community activist, died last March. “He was a leader in the community—and he told me he was one of the founders, one of the first, of the Black Panther Party.” The program on Saturday will be dedicated to Aoki’s memory. 

One of the performers, African-American dancer Arisika Razak, whose “second family” in Harlem was Japanese-American, had mentioned the Panthers’ focus on community service; Togawa asked her if she would perform a section of the piece in honor of Aoki (“Fearless Leader/Devoted Son”). 

“Each of the artists has a different way of connecting to the piece,” Togawa said. Ruth Ichinaga will perform a section, “Reflections,” that Togawa said “is Ruth’s own family experience. Her family was sent to camp from Hawaii, where mine was sent from. She’s bringing not only her artistry to this. Ruth’s in her mid-70s. She was 7 when she and her parents, who had a mom-and-pop grocery, were sent away.” Togawa’s mother and grandparents were also among the 1,200 brought from Hawaii to the camp at Heart Mountain, Wyoming. 

When Dreams Are Interrupted will be performed in nine sections, “four of them stories specifically of individuals we interviewed. I’m a dancer who really loves to do just dance. But we realized how much the stories would add to the piece. It was great to meet the people—wonderfully interesting people—we’ve met, including Japanese-American women, one 90 years old; African-Americans who were neighbors here at the time; a Quaker man who shared a lot of his five years of [doing a] research project—in the end, we decided we just couldn’t leave it out. It’s the first time I’ve worked with this much text. But I wish we had more time, more interviews, more readings—more and more and more!” 

The dancers include Michelle Fletcher, Ruth Ichinaga, Arisika Razak, and Sharon Sato. Musicians are Laura Inserra and Claudia Cuentas (of Samavesha). Poet Janice Mirikitami, who was a Topaz, Utah, internee, contributed spoken-word sections to the soundtrack. Ellen Bepp, also a drummer with Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble, designed the site and installations. “The first part is along the driveway, moving for the main part into the back garden. Ellen added elements to connect the different sections of the piece. Her design gives it a very definite palette. There’s a sense of shadow, of interruption, of things where they wouldn’t ordinarily be.” 

“It’s been a true collaboration,” said Togawa, also crediting Jill Shiaki of Preserving California’s Japantowns, who has been project coordinator/manager. It is notable that When Dreams Are Interrupted brings Togawa full circle, as her first commission was by late jazz composer Glenn Horiuchi to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the internment. She has also worked with Berkeley Methodist United Church and with big band musician and historian George Yoshida to find and authenticate background information.  

“We think things have changed, but fear and ignorance are so much more present than what we think. Of all the people in the neighborhood who were sent away, those we could still talk to—they still feel not missed, not noticed; that struck me. Today we have a chance to witness, a chance to be open, to be touched by their experience,” Togawa said. 

She also mentioned at press time that the response has been overwhelming; due to space limitations, the free performances are “sold out,” many of the reservations going to residents and former residents of the neighborhood, to churchgoers from the neighborhood churches and the elders community. 

WHEN DREAMS ARE INTERRUPTED 

Presented by Purple Moon Dance Project at 2 p.m. Oct. 9 and 10. For more information, including locations, call (415) 552-1105 or see www.purplemoondance.org.

Periodically I see something that is so stupid that I have to reset my stupid gauge, re-evaluate the relative stupidity of all the other things I see, and give all the other builders, handy-folk and homeowners a little more slack because they didn’t perform this particularly odious act. As you may have surmised, I was recently privy to such an act and it is both fascinating and incredibly stupid. So without further ado, I present for you the mysterious, eternally exploding water heater. 

The scene is an REO in a relatively poor neighborhood near the Oakland-Berkeley border. A lot of young couples are making their starts in these marginal neighborhoods and I say bully for them. The houses need saving, the neighborhood need revitalization and an infusion of new blood, and I need the cash. 

This house was all right but nothing particularly special. But with love and the energy of these two extraordinarily beautiful and talented people, it will no doubt be a hot ticket as the years roll by. I racked up item after item as I proceeded through my job and then got to the water heater. It had been, I noticed, turned all the way down to what is often labeled as the vacation setting (perhaps the makers of these things are under the impression that you earn enough to take vacations, but that’s another subject).  

A vacation setting is, essentially, a stand-by mode. The pilot is still lit; The main controls are in the on position but no heating will take place. Actually, these make a lot of sense and we would all do well to put our water heaters in the vacation setting when we’re away for a few days (of course, with an on-demand water heater, they are always in this setting but for the few moments when you ask them to shower you). 

Obliged, as I am, to investigate things, I turned the water heater dial up to the standard, non-numerical setting on the dial and listened. The water heater went “shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhFWUMP” with what sounded like a small explosion at the end. This was about five to seven seconds—a long time in the ignition business. I don’t usually wait this long to hear a pilot ignite the burner without shutting something down, but I was just hoping against hope that I would hear that burner ignite and was a bit in the headlights of the thing as I waited for what I suspected was coming. Afterwards, I left the unit on but kept a close eye on it. When the heating stopped, after a long while, I intended to turn it off and started looking it over. 

Something was very wrong and I figured it must just be a defective unit that somehow involved the pilot’s inability to efficiently and immediately ignite the gases as they left the burner. 

In fact, that was just exactly the case but not due to a manufacturing error or anything that had failed in the unit. For reasons I cannot explain, I decided to take a look at the specification tag on the unit and there, in bold Times New Roman, stood the word I need to see: Propane. Never seen it—in more than 20 years of doing this. This unit, installed in the city on a CNG system (natural gas) was built for use with propane. I figure it must have been brought down from Sonoma or Marin by some stoned plumber who never stopped to ask a vital question. 

Propane and natural gas are not the same. They seem similar but they are different in one enormous way that affects a lot of things. They are not the specific gravity (whaaahu?). One is lighter then air (natural gas or “CNG”) and one is heavier (propane) and this is a huge matter; just ask anyone who lives on a boat. 

When hooked up to propane, a propane water heater will release gas from its burners and the propane will fall from the burner and meet a pilot light that is located just below the burner, thus igniting it quickly, and therefore safely. 

When hooked up to CNG, a natural gas water heater will release gas from its burner that will immediate rise, meet the pilot light above the burner, and burst into diaphanous blooms of blue heat. 

But when CNG is released from the burner of a propane water heater, the gas will rise and meet empty space above the burner inside the water heater as it fills downward from the top, eventually meeting the pilot light located below the burner. Thus the long wait and the small explosion that nearly blows the door off the thing every time it comes on.  

And that was the thing I shared with my client. Left as it is, this unit would do this every time the water cooled down a bit and during every shower that lasts more than two minutes and several times every night (good God). Given the variable dynamics of this behavior, it is more than possible that one of those occasions would indeed blow the door off the combustion chamber, inflaming the nearby corn broom, followed by the house. 

Again, the placement of the pilot, above the burner or below, is critical. Now there are other variations in the make of the two different water heaters based on the differing temperature of combustion, density of the gas, etc. but clearly, this is the big difference. 

Natural gas, being lighter than air, has to be regarded with a special respect since it can fill up areas under floors or the tops of fireplaces where dampers are shut. Any upper surface can contain it and, when a sufficient concentration has been reached, it only takes a small spark to wake the thunder and fire gods simultaneously. 

Propane, for those who don’t live in the country, may be more dangerous because it will fall to the floor and fill up the bottom of the basement or even crawlspace before the unseen lake of potential energy meets a suitable catalyst and blows the house off its foundation. Crawlspaces in country propane casas are usually, and certainly should be vented at the very lowest point to allow for the escape of the gas. On boats, it’s no joke. A propane leak fills the boat from the bottom up, which can destroy the vessel or just ruin your day, if you’re lucky. 

As long as we’re on the subject of flammable gases and their specific gravities, it’s fun to introduce one more member of this family, and that is gasoline (which slowly becomes gaseous at room temperature). Gasoline fumes, like propane, are heavier than air and will accrue on the floor of your garage (or wherever you store your car or a leaky can of gasoline). For this reason, the building codes have long demanded that sources of ignition, such as water heaters and clothes dryers be, elevated well above the floor (18 inches is usually cited in the code books) so that they cannot ignite this low-lying blanket of dynamite. 

Take a look at your garage and imagine what would happen to a fluid poured on the floor and that’s what gasoline fumes will do. They’ll act just like a fluid on the floor except that you won’t see it. A nice secret is that all the water heaters sold in California are now of a special type that we call FVIR, or Flame Vapor Ignition Resistant, and these are designed to prevent the disaster I’ve just described. Their “combustion chamber,” the little cavity containing burner and pilot, is sealed to prevent ignition of gasoline fumes nearby and a complex intake system allows flammable gases to burn up inside the unit without getting back out and lighting the rest. A very amazing invention and, again, the only thing sold in California for residential tanked water heating today. 

This job never fails to make me laugh, surprise me and make me scratch my head. I have no idea what the next 10 years will bring, but as long as I don’t get blown up in the process, I’m dyin’ to see what’s next. 

THURSDAY, OCT. 8 

“Inventing a Masterwork: Bernard Maybeck and the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley, 1909-1911” with Robert Judson Clark at 7:30 p.m. at First Church of Christ, Scientist, 2619 Dwight Way. Tickets are $15, available from Berkeley Architectural Heritage. 841-2242. berkeleyheritage.com 

Helios Community Open House A presentation on the new Biosciences Institute to be built in downtown Berkeley at 7 p.m. at Pat Brown’s Grill, in the Genetics and Plant Biology Building, UC campus. Take the stairs off Oxford St. near Berkeley Way. For information contact comrel@berkeley.edu 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will have a Nature Treasure Hunt. from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m.. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Beginning Seed Saving An introduction to the whys and hows of garden seed saving at 6:30 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. Cost is $10-$15. 548-2220, ext. 233.  

Berkeley School Volunteers New Volunteer Orientation from 3 to 4 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Bring a photo ID and two references to the orientation. Returning volunteers do not need to attend. For further information 644-8833. 

Home Energy Improvements Workshop Learn how you can save energy and money, improve indoor air quality and take advantage of incentives and rebates, at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 981-7473. 

East Bay Mac Users Group with Derrick Story, photographer, at 7 p.m. at Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound St., Emeryville. ebmug.org 

American Red Cross Alameda County Heroes Breakfast at 8 a.m. at the Hilton Oakland Airport Hotel, 1 Hegenberger Rd., Oakland. Tickets are $45. 415-427-8086. www.redcrossbayarea.org 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Samuel Merritt College, Bechtel Room, 400 Hawthorne St., Oakland. To schedule an appointment go to www.helpsavealife.org 

“Everything You’ve Been Told About Communism Is Wrong: Capitalism is a Failure, Revolution is the Answer” at 4 p.m. in the Lipman Room, 8th flr., Barrows Hall, UC campus. on the UC Berkeley campus. 848-1196. 

Circle of Concern Vigil meets on West Lawn of UC campus across from Addison and Oxford, Thurs. at noon and Sun. at 1 p.m. to oppose UC weapons labs contracts. 848-8055. 

The Poetry Workshop, offered by the Berkeley Adult School, meets on Thurs. from 9 a.m. to noon in the library of the North Berkeley Senior Center. Writers of all skill levels are welcome. 

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

FRIDAY, OCT. 9 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Dr. Bethany Cobb on “Astronomical Events: Their Vital Role in the Development of Life on Earth” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $15, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 527-2173. www.citycommonsclub.org 

“Education Inequity” with Dr. Pedro Noguera at 5 p.m. at MLK Student Union at Bancroft Way and Telegraph Ave., UC campus, followed by student spoken word performances on their educational experiences. http://publicservice.berkeley.edu 

Laney College Sixth Annual Business Conference on Green Entrepreneurial Opportunities with keynote speaker Scott Cooney, Author of “Build a Green Small Business: Profitable ways to become an Ecopreneur and a Green Entrepreneur” From 8:15 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Laney College, 900 Fallon Street, Oakland. Free. 464-3161. 

“People’s Park Still Blooming” Book release party at 6 p.m. at Cafe Med, 2475 Telegraph Ave., with slide show and park update. 

Womansong Circle An evening of participatory Spsinging for women at 7:15 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, Small Assembly Room, 2345 Channing at Dana. Suggested donation $15-$20. www.betsyrosemusic.org 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Kaiser Permanente, Dining Conference Room, 1950 Franklin St., Oakland. To schedule an appointment go to www.helpsavealife.org 

Educators’ Appreciation Days, through Oct. 12, with discounts for teachers and libraians at Half Price Books, 2036 Shattuck Ave. 

A Jewish Holiday That’s Like Decorating a Christmas Tree? at 6:15 p.m. at Jewish Gateways, 409 Liberty St., El Cerrito. RSVP required. 559-8140. www.jewishgateways.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. 

Stand With Us Stand for Peace Stand with Israel vigil every Friday from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. www.sfvoiceforisrael.org 

SATURDAY, OCT. 10 

Indigenous Peoples Day Pow Wow and Indian Market from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at MLK Jr., Civic Center Park, with exhibition dancing at 10 a.m., grand entry at noon, Turtle Island Fountain Sculpture Ceremony at 2 p.m. 595-5520. info@ipdpowwow.org 

Berkeley Architectural Heritage Fall Walking Tour Claremont Creekside From 10 a.m. to noon explore this neighborhood where the contours of the land are kept intact. Cost is $10-$15, or $40-$50 for the series. Advance registration required. 841-2242. berkeleyheritage.com  

“Revolt in Berkeley: Restoring Democracy to Education and Keepting Education for the Public” with Jack Gerson, Tanya Smith and others at 7 p.m. at the Lalmeda Free Library, Conference Rooms A and B, 1550 Oak St. at Lincoln, Alameda. www.alamedaforum.org 

Autumn Arachnids Learn about the mysteries of the spider and explore the area looking for orb weavers, jumping spiders, crab spiders and others, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 544-2233. 

Fall Fruit Tasting from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Center St. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. ecologycenter.org 

Harmony Walk to End Hunger A 3.5 mile walk beginning at 8 a.m. at Civic Center Plaza, Richmond. Sponsored by Greater Richmond Interfaith Program. For information call 233-7127, ext. 304. gripcommunity.org 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland Uptown to the Lake to discover Art Deco landmarks. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of the Paramount Theater at 2025 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Native Plant Fair with plants, speakers, books and posters, Sat. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sun. from noon to 3 p.m. at Native Here Nursery, 101 Golf Course Dr., Tilden Regional Park. Sponsored by the California Native Plant Society. 222-2320. ebcnps.org 

Berkeley Garden Club Plant Sale with natives, annuals, perennials, garden items from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 131 Ashbury Ave., El Cerrito. www.berkeleygardenclub.org 

Point Richmond Fall Fest with music, arts, pumpkin patch, chili cook-off and more from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Washington Ave. and Park Place in downtown Point Richmond. www.pointrichmond.com/FallFest 

Rabbit Adoption Day from 1 to 4 p.m. at RabbitEars, 377 Colusa Ave., Kensington. 525-6155. 

German International School, Bilingual K-5 Berkeley Open House from 10 a.m. to noon at UUCB Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. www.gissv.org 

“99 Bottles of Beer: Global Brewing Tradition 2500 B.C. to Present” from noon to 6 p.m. at The Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthopology, Gallery and Patio, 103 Kroeber Hall, UC campus. Tickets start at $20. To register see hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/beer 

Techno Geek Art Challenge Create designs or cyborgs with fuses resistors and other gadjets, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Museum of Children’s Art, 538 9th St., Oakland. Cost is $3-$7. 465-8770. www.mocha.org 

The East Bay Chapter of The Great War Society meets to discuss “Relatives in The Great War” by Robert Denison at 10:30 a.m. in the Albany Veterans Hall, 1325 Portland Ave., Albany. 527-7118. 

Berkeley Project Day 2009 Cal students volunteer with over 70 community partners. Meet at 8 a.m. at Memorial Glade on U.C. Berkeley campus. Register on line at www.berkeleyproject.org 396-9801.  

2009 Reel Rock Film Tour Climbing and adventure films at 8 p.m. at Albany Twin, 1115 Solano Ave. tickets are $12. www.reelrocktour.com 

Great Ghost Gathering at Playland-Not-At-The-Beach Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 10979 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. Cost is $10-$15. “Mystery and Mentalism” with Peter Kim, Sat. at 8 p.m. Cost is $20-$25. 932-8966. www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Herms District Scouts and Lions Club, American Red Cross Bus, 1325 Portland Ave., Albany. To schedule an appointment go to www.helpsavealife.org 

“Taking your Leadership to the Next Level” from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Ginn House in Preservation Park, 1233 Preservation Park Way, Oakland. RSVP to westcoast@moretolife.org  

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. at 2 p.m. and Sun. at 11 a.m. and 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lawn Bowling on the green at the corner of Acton St. and Bancroft Way every Wed. and Sat. at 10 a.m. for ages 12 and up. Wear flat soled shoes, no heels. Free lessons. 841-2174.  

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 11 

Native Plant Fair with plants, speakers, books and posters, from noon to 3 p.m. at Native Here Nursery, 101 Golf Course Dr., Tilden Regional Park. Sponsored by the California Native Plant Society. 222-2320. ebcnps.org 

Pumpkin Patch Pageant Learn about the squash family at 11 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 544-2233. 

Little Farm Goat Hike Join a short hike and learn about the historic connections between humans and their ungulate friends at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. For ages 6 and up544-2233. 

Crabby Chefs Seafood Festival Benefit for Cal Recreational Sports Fund from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto, 1919 Fourth St. 845-7771. 

Education Summit for all Bay Area educators and youth workers from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at MLK Student Union at Bancroft Way and Telegraph Ave, UC campus. Over 25 skills-building and education issues workshops and keynote by G Reyes. Free for all students, $25 for community members. http://publicservice.berkeley.edu  

Green Sunday “Meltdown” A two-part workshop on the economic crisis, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave., near 65th St., Oakland. Second part will be held on Nov. 8. 

Oaktoberfest in the Dimond with a traditional bier garten, Eco-Expo, and events for children, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Fruitvale and MacArthur. www.Oaktoberfest.org 

The Cooperative Grocery Cheese Celebration from 4 to 6 p.m. at 1450 67th St. at Hollis., Emerville. www.thecog.org 

Old Time Radio East Bay Collectors and listeners get together to enjoy shows together at 4 p.m. at a private home in Berkeley . For more information email DavidinBerkeley, [at] Yahoo.com 

All Italian Car and Motorcycle Show Benefit for the Alameda Special Olympics from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lincoln Middle School, 1250 Fernside Blvd., Alameda. Cost is $5. 

“Religious Syncretism in Peruvian Shamanism” with Doug Sharon, retired director of Museum of Anthropology, UCB, at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. at 2 p.m. and Sun. at 11 a.m. and 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 

Tibetan Buddhism with Tom Morse on “Alternatives to Dissatisfaction” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000.  

MONDAY, OCT. 12 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at West Pauley Ballroom, MLK Studen Union, UC campus. To schedule an appointment go to www.helpsavealife.org 

Community Yoga Class 10 a.m. at James Kenney Parks and Rec. Center at Virginia and 8th. Seniors and beginners welcome. Cost is $6. 207-4501. 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group, for people 60 years and over, meets at 9:45 a.m. at Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave, Albany. Cost is $3.  

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. 

TUESDAY, OCT. 13 

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 Coach Drive, Sobrante Regional Park Preserve. Bring water, field guides, binoculars or scopes. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 544-2233. 

Taste of Temescal A culinary crawl along Telegraph between 40th and 51st St, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Cost is $25 and benefits the Women’s Cancer Resource Center. www.brownpapertickets.com 

California Colloquium on Water “Resolving the Delta Crisis” with Jared Huffman, CA State Assemblyman, District 6, at 5:30 p.m. at Goldman School of Public Policy, Rm, 250, UC campus. waterarc@library.berkeley.edu 

Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 6 to 8 p.m. at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Registration required. 594-5165. 

Susan Mernit “Inspired by change” A Woman’s Voice lecture on thriving on change and surviving failure at 7:30 p.m. at Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $5-$10. 644 2967. www.hillsideclub.org 

“Opposition and Defiance in Toddlers and Preschoolers” A presentation at 7 p.m. at College Avenue Presbyterian Church, 5951 College Ave in Oakland. Pre-crawling babies welcome. Free to Twins by the Bay members. $45 for non-members. Registration is required at www.twinsbythebay.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. 

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

Homework Help at the Albany Library for students in grades 2 - 6, Tues. and Thurs. from 3:15 to 5:15 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. Emphasis on math and writing skills. No registration is required. For more information, call 526-3720. 

Homework Help Program at the Richmond Public Library Tues. and Thurs. from 3 to 5:30 p.m. at 325 Civic Center Plaza. For more information or to enroll, call 620-6557. 

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., Sat. and Sun. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Bridge for beginners from 12:30 to 2:15 p.m., all others 12:30 to 4 p.m. Sing-A-Long at 2:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

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, OCT. 14 

South Branch Library Meet the Architects at 7 p.m. at Young Adult Project Youth Services Center, 1730 Oregon St. berkeleypubliclibrary.org 

Walking Tour of Historic Oakland Churches and Temples Meet at 10 a.m. at the front of the First Presbyterian Church at 2619 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234.  

Personal Emergency Preparedness Workshop for People with Disabilities From 3 to 5 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center at 1901 Hearst Ave. Sponsored by Easy Does It Emergency Services in collaboration with Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disasters. RSVP to 704-2179. gina@easydoesitservices.org 

A Tribute to Robert Scalapino: “The Political Landscape of Asia” with Sung Joo Han, George T. Yu, Chongsik Lee, Hong Yung Lee, Wen-hsin Yeh at 4 p.m. at IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th flr. 

“Ask Not” A documentary on the effect of the US military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy at 7 p.m. at Wildwood School, 301 Wildwood Ave., Piedmont. Free. Sponsored by Piedmont Diversity Film Series. diversityfilmseries.org 

“Climate Engineers: War, Profit, Full Spectrum Dominance” a documentary by Geoff Brady of WBAI at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Potluck at 6 p.m., discussion follows film. Donation $5. www.Humanist Hall.org 

“Cycling Solo Across America: A Fundraising Ride” with Shawne Camp who cycled from San Francisco to Washington D.C. to raise funds for the American Lung Assoc., at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the American Red Cross bus, 921 Kains Ave., Albany. To schedule an appointment go to www.helpsavealife.org 

“Jewish Dying, Death, and Mourning Rituals” at 7 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. www.gracenorthchurch.org 

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. 548-9840. 

Theraputic Recreation at the Berkeley Warm Pool, Wed. at 3:30 p.m. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley Warm Pool, 2245 Milvia St. Cost is $4-$5. Bring a towel. 632-9369. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

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

Berkeley CopWatch Drop-in office hours from 6 to 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

THURSDAY, OCT. 15 

Proposed Changes to Berkeley Election Reform Act Discussion on raising the $250 contribution limit and creating additional disclosure requirements, at the Fair Campaign Practices Commission meeting at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Comments can also be mailed to Kristy van Herick, FCPC Secretary, 2180 Milvia St., 4th Flr., Berkeley 94704. kvanherick@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Berkeley School Volunteers New Volunteer Orientation from noon to 1 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Bring a photo ID and two references to the orientation. Returning volunteers do not need to attend. For further information 644-8833. 

“Peace of Mind in Earthquake Country” with earhtquake engineers Peter Yanev and Andrew Thompson at 7:30 p.m. at Builders Booksource on Fourth St. 845-7051. 

SEEDS Community Resolution Center will celebrate National Conflict Resolution Day, honoring Judge Gail Bereola with workshops on Restorative Justice and Conflict Resolution skills. Begins at 7:30 a.m. at Niles Hall in Preservation Park, 1233 Preservation Parkway, Oakland. 548-2377. www.seedscrc.org 

“The New New Deal: How Regional Activism Will Reshape the American Labor Movement,” with author Amy Dean, at 12:30 p.m. at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, IRLE Building, 2521 Channing Way. 642-9187. 

Traditional Farming with Native Farmers from New Mexico A presentation and discussion on farming self-sufficiency at 6:30 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $5$50 sliding scale. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

“Demolition of Berkeley’s Bevatron and its Radioactive Waste” A report by LA Wood and others at 7 p.m. at BFUU, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Donations welcome. 

UC Press Hurt Book Sale New and slightly scuffed books from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 2120 Berkeley Way. www.ucpress.edu 

“Gandhi & the Unspeakable: Why He Died & Why it Matters” with Jim Douglass at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Cost is $10-$20. 268-8765. pacebene.org 

Circle of Concern Vigil meets on West Lawn of UC campus across from Addison and Oxford, Thurs. at noon and Sun. at 1 p.m. to oppose UC weapons labs contracts. 848-8055. 

The Poetry Workshop, offered by the Berkeley Adult School, meets on Thurs. from 9 a.m. to noon in the library of the North Berkeley Senior Center. Writers of all skill levels are welcome. 

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

FRIDAY, OCT. 16 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Nancy Scheper-Hughes PhD on “The Shockng Story of Illegal Human Organ Trafficking” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $15, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 527-2173. www.citycommonsclub.org 

Say No to War! Bring Our Troops Home Now Rally from 2 to 3 p.m. at the corner of Action and University 

Shimmy Shimmy Kids Dance A ‘60s-style event for the whole family at 7 p.. at Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for age 2 and older, 2 and under, free. 865-5060. www.rhythmix.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. 

Stand With Us Stand for Peace Stand with Israel vigil every Friday from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. www.sfvoiceforisrael.org 

SATURDAY, OCT. 17 

Proposed Bus Rapid Transit in Berkeley Public Workshop from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge Street Community Meeting Room, 3rd Floor. 

Telling Tales: A Fall Storytelling Festival with Awele Makeba, Joel ben Izzy and Megumi, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Berkwood Hedge School, 1809 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $4 children, $8 adults. www.berkwood.org/storytelling 

War is Just a Racket Day Readings and Sing-Along from noon to 3 p.m. at the Downtown Bekeley BART Plaza. www.october17.org 

Berkeley Architectural Heritage Fall Walking Tour Berkeley Villa Tract From 10 a.m. to noon along Codornices Creek to explore the area subdivided in the 1880s. Walk is moderate, requiring some climbing. Not wheelchair accessible. Cost is $10-$15. Advance registration required. 841-2242. berkeleyheritage.com  

Berkeley Historical Society Walk “The Obscure History of South Telegraph” A block-by-block stroll down one of Berkeley's oldest streets and into the adjacent neighborhoods, led by Steve Finacom, from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. For reservations and starting point, call 848-0181.  

Berkeley Path Wanderers Panoramic Hill Walk An insider’s look at this neighborhood of steep steps and hills, overlooking the city. Meet at 10 a.m. at the foot of Panoramic Place at the south end of the footbal stadium Parking is difficult. 520-3876. www.berkeleypaths.org 

Hike for Toddlers and Friends to explore the meadows, ponds and trails of Tilden. Meet at 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. 544-2233. 

Creative Personal Statement Writing Workshop for teens writing their college application essays, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. at the Claremont Branch of the Berkeley Public Library, 2940 Benvenue. A free event sponsored by ecBerkeley.org. 266-2069. 

Wheels for Meals Ride Benefit ride through Livermore Valley for Alameda County Meals on Wheels. Ride lengths are 15, 35, or 65 miles. For information see www.wheelsformealsride.com 

Lakeshore Neighborhood Plant Exchange Come trade your excess with others, from noon to 4 p.m. at 3811 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. All types and sizes of plants are welcome. For information see www.plantexchange.wordpress.com 

Greening El Cerrito Day with tree planting in the morning followed by a showcase with educational displays, children’s activities and music from noon to 2 p.m. at City Hall Plaza, 10890 San Pablo Ave.  

Walking Tour of Old Oakland “New Era/New Politics” highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Live Owl Program from 1 to 4 p.m. at RabbitEars, 377 Colusa Ave., Kensington. 525-6155. 

“Exploring De Staebler Through Movement” A movement workshop with Muriel Maffre in conjunction with the exhibition “Steven De Staebler: The Sculptor’s Way” at 11 a.m. at The Richmond Art Center, 2540 Bartlett Ave., Richmond. Free. 620-6772. www.therac.org 

El Cerrito Democratic Club Annual Dinner at 6 p.m. on Sat the Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington Ave., Kensington, with Jenn Pae of PowerPac, on “Is the Honeymoon Over? A Young Obama Delegate Looks Back—and Ahead.” Cost is $30-$35 for adults, $10-$15 for children. 526-4874. www.ecdclub.org 

Home Movie Day from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Film inspection and check in at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Fascinating Objects in our Solar System” with Prof. Imke de Pater, UC Dept. of Astronomy at 11 a.m. in the Genetics and Plant Biology Building, Room 100, UC campus. Free, no science background required. 

Flute Masterclass with Isabelle Chapuis at 11 a.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $25 at the door. 549-3864. 

“Spiritual Awakening, a New Economy, and the End of Empire” with David Korten at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Tickets are $25-$35. www.brownpapertickets.com 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at American Red Cross bus at 2001 Allston Way. To schedule an appointment go to www.helpsavealife.org 

Alameda Public Affairs Forum Good Citizenship Award for Community Service Honoring Jean and Jim Sweeney at 7 p.m. at Alameda Free Library, Conference Rooms A&B, 1550 Oak St. at Lincoln, Alameda. Suggested donation $5. www.alamedaforum.org 

California Writers Club “Could Your Novel be an e-Book?” with Kemble Scott at 10 a.m. at Barnes and Noble, Jack London Square, Oakland. www.cwc-berkeley.com 

Vampires & Werewolves Weekend at Playland-Not-At-The-Beach Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 10979 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. Cost is $10-$15. 932-8966. www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. at 2 p.m. and Sun. at 11 a.m. and 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lawn Bowling on the green at the corner of Acton St. and Bancroft Way every Wed. and Sat. at 10 a.m. for ages 12 and up. Wear flat soled shoes, no heels. Free lessons. 841-2174.  

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 18 

“Berkeley in Conflict: Eyewitness Images” featuring never exhibited works by photographers John Jekabson, Dan Beaver, and Lydia Gans. Reception at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. 848-0181.  

John Muir Legends Honoring John Muir School alumni Marian Alltman, Anne Donaker and Pam Ormsby at 11:30 a.m., luncheon at 12:30 p.m. at John Muir Elementary School, 2955 Claremont Ave. Tickets are $40. RSVP to 653-6761. lockesj@comcast.net 

Grass Roots House Open House with presentations, historical material, food and music from 3 to 6 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Suggested donation $5-$25, no one turned away. 

ACLU Berkeley/North East Bay Annual Meeting “Schools for All Campaign” with Diana Tate Vermeire at 2 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave., Near Solano. www.acluberkeley.org 

Kensington Library Fall Book Sale from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot behind the Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

Free Hands-on Bicycle Clinic Learn how to do a safety inspection, from 10 to 11 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Bring your bike and tools. 527-4140. 

Benefit for Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund with international food, music, poetry and readings of letters from prisoners, from 3 to 7 p.m. at La Placita, 2375 Fruitvale Ave., Oakland. Cost is $10-$15.  

“The Kingdom of God as Alternate Universe” with Sarah Lewis at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. at 2 p.m. and Sun. at 11 a.m. and 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 

Tibetan Buddhism with Ken McKeon on “The Time of Our Lives” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

CITY MEETINGS 

Community Health Commission meets Thurs., Oct. 8, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5356.  

Mental Health Commission meets Thurs., Oct. 8, at 5 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5217.  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Oct. 8, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. 981-7430. 

City Council meets Tues., Oct. 13, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

South Branch Library Meet the Architects Wed., Oct. 14, at 7 p.m. at Young Adult Project Youth Services Center, 1730 Oregon St. berkeleypubliclibrary.org 

Proposed Changes to Berkeley Election Reform Act Discussion on raising the $250 contribution limit and creating additional disclosure requirements, at the Fair Campaign Practices Commission meeting, Thurs., Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Comments can also be mailed to Kristy van Herick, FCPC Secretary, 2180 Milvia St., 4th Flr., Berkeley 94704. kvanherick@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Oct. 14, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5431. 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Oct. 14, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7416. 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Oct. 14, at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Oct. 15, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7415.  

Medical Cannabis Commission meets Thurs., Oct. 15, at 1:30 p.m. at City Hall, Cypress Room, 2180 Milvia. 981-7402. 

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., Oct. 15, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7061.  

Proposed Bus Rapid Transit in Berkeley Public Workshop Sat., Oct. 17, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge Street Community Meeting Room, 3rd Floor.