Page One

Press Release: Faculty Senate to Take up No-Confidence Resolution

By Public Affairs, UC Berkeley
Wednesday November 23, 2011 - 09:40:00 PM

The Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate has scheduled a special meeting to take up a series of resolutions prompted by the Nov. 9 campus confrontation between police and Occupy Cal protesters. -more-



Sequoia Fire Investigation Ongoing;
Businesses Open, Temporary Traffic Routes

By Steven Finacom
Wednesday November 23, 2011 - 12:01:00 PM
Barriers remain up around the fire-damaged Sequoia Apartments at Telegraph and Haste.

The future of the fire-damaged Sequoia Apartments at Haste and Telegraph remained uncertain today, as crews worked to board up the ground floor storefronts and a fire investigation remained ongoing. All but one Telegraph Avenue business on the blocks adjacent to the fire is open, and all the open businesses can be reached by pedestrians.

The historic 96 year old building, a visual icon of the Telegraph district, looked much as it did on Saturday after the Friday night fire was largely extinguished, with a missing roof and many of the windows gone, while others looked incongruously normal with blinds closed behind the glass. -more-



Five Who Survived

By Ted Friedman
Wednesday November 23, 2011 - 11:44:00 AM
Five who survived.

Five students who survived Friday's blaze at the Sequoia apartments at Telegraph and Haste returned to the site Tuesday to see if they could re-enter the building to rescue a hamster named Tango. -more-



Forty-Seven Berkeley Faculty Members Sponsor No Confidence Resolution Against Birgeneau: Meeting to Take Place Monday Afternoon

From the U.C. Berkeley Academic Senate Website
Wednesday November 23, 2011 - 06:00:00 PM

NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING
BERKELEY DIVISION OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE
Monday, November 28, 2011, 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Chevron Auditorium, International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue
Summary of Business -more-



Press Release: President Yudof Launches Initiatives to Address Policing and Protests

From Steve Montiel, University of California Office of the President
Wednesday November 23, 2011 - 09:42:00 AM

University of California President Mark G. Yudof moved on two fronts today (Tuesday, Nov. 22) to address policing issues in the wake of the pepper spraying of UC Davis students and other incidents involving law enforcement officers and protesters. -more-



Features

Fire-Damaged Sequoia Building Part of Berkeley's Heritage

By Steven Finacom
Wednesday November 23, 2011 - 07:57:00 AM
The Sequoia Building this week, after the fire.   Part of the interior, and almost all of the distinctive brick façade of the 1915 edifice, remains.

Telegraph Avenue’s Sequoia Apartments building, seriously damaged in a fire on Friday, November 18, 2011, is a stately and historic edifice that helped define the character of Telegraph Avenue in both the early 20th century and in the 1960s.

Constructed in 1915, the 96-year-old, 39-apartment, building was part of an early 20th century development boom that transformed Telegraph Avenue into a bustling business and residential district.

When the Sequoia was built, Berkeley was one of most populous cities in California, riding a wave of suburb development and urbanization that had started with the construction of streetcar lines around the turn of the century, and accelerated after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. -more-


Public Comment

New: Thoughts on the Sequoia Apartments

By Kirk E.Peterson
Friday November 25, 2011 - 05:22:00 PM

Without my knowledge the Daily Planet published a paragraph I wrote regarding the treatment of what's left of the Sequoia. It was not a big deal, there was certainly no malfeasance, and they've apologized nicely. My words were clear and are now part of the internet's parallel internet universe. So I am now expanding on what I said, in the hope of provoking some discussion. Please consider the following: -more-


New: Alarming News! Trees in Strawberry Canyon to be Clearcut for UC Berkeley, Lawrence Lab

By Lesley Emmington, for Save Strawberry Canyon savestrawberrycanyon.org
Thursday November 24, 2011 - 08:13:00 AM

Up in the Berkeley Hills, the cutting of some 50 trees will begin tomorrow morning, the day after Thanksgiving. The tree cutting is the initial step to clear the hillside landscape for the construction of a massive "supercomputer" structure. It is the University of California's (UC) Computational Research and Theory Facility (CRT), a 130,000 GSF facility built for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in contract with the Department of Energy (DOE). The site is located above Hearst Avenue and, then, above the steep curve of Cyclotron Road where it meets the LBNL security gates. CRT promises to become a dominant presence spanning across the Canyon ridge, in an unstable area that has suffered over 40 landslides, contaminating Strawberry Creek's watershed and further destabilizing the hills. -more-


There Should Be a Moratorium on the Use of Pepper Spray

By Carol Denney
Wednesday November 23, 2011 - 11:18:00 AM

If all the University of California chancellors resigned simultaneously, that would still leave pepper (OC) spray, carotid holds, hog-tying, and blunt-end baton strikes available for the next bored police officer who loses patience with student protests. -more-


Editorial

Yudof Gets It Wrong Again

By Becky O'Malley
Wednesday November 23, 2011 - 11:07:00 AM

The University of California bureaucracy is all over the Occupy scandal, now that it’s gone viral. Seldom have I experienced such a fast response to my online opinions—but University of California President Mark Yudof seems to have hopped to, with alacrity. Unfortunately, he's only made things worse.

Last Wednesday I predicted that U.C. administrators would continue their longstanding tradition of trying stupid repressive measures against students exercising free speech. Right on cue, the dumb cops at U.C. Davis on Friday assaulted passive non-violent students with pepper spray—on camera yet. -more-


The Editor's Back Fence

And a Happy Thanksgiving to You

Wednesday November 23, 2011 - 12:50:00 PM

The master sets the tone: "A lot more to say about this — but I’m needed in the kitchen to chop vegetables."--Paul Krugman's blog today. Me too.

But an apology is owed to architect Kirk Petersen--I accidentally published one of his informal and private emails exploring the idea of reconstruction instead of demolition for the Sequoia building, which had been forwarded to me by the recipient, thinking it was a Letter to the Editor. I did think it was an intelligent observation, and I hope he takes me up on my invitation to write a formal commentary on the subject when he has time. -more-


Columns

New: The Public Eye: Thanksgiving Politics: Top Ten Reasons to be Thankful

By Bob Burnett
Wednesday November 23, 2011 - 09:43:00 PM

Despite the dreadful recession, a broken political system, and other woes, Americans have many reasons to be thankful. Here is my top ten list: -more-


On Mental Illness:Remembering to Give Thanks

By Jack Bragen
Wednesday November 23, 2011 - 05:58:00 PM

If I stop myself from complaining for a little while and realize that I am fortunate in life, there are numerous things that come to mind that I ought to be grateful about. -more-


Odd Bodkins: My Surreal Period

By Dan O'Neill
Saturday November 26, 2011 - 10:16:00 AM

Arts & Events

New: Neil Marcus: Fantastic Spastic

By Dorothy Snodgrass
Wednesday November 23, 2011 - 09:44:00 PM

I have a dear friend and neighbor, Neil Marcus, a playwright, poet and actor, who describes himself as a "fantastic spastic, creatively endowed with disability." As a perfectly healthy eight-year old growing up in Ojai, he was stricken with dystonia, a rare neurological disorder in which powerful involuntary muscle spasms twist and jerk the body into unusual postures. Neil is affected with "generalized dystonia", the most severe and painful form of this disorder. It denies his ability to speak, stand and walk and/or control sudden and sometimes bizarre movements. -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Yudof Gets It Wrong Again 11-23-2011

The Editor's Back Fence

And a Happy Thanksgiving to You 11-23-2011

U.C. Police in Berkeley and Davis Are Savages--the U.C. Executives Responsible Should be Fired 11-21-2011

Cartoons

Odd Bodkins: My Surreal Period By Dan O'Neill 11-26-2011

Public Comment

New: Thoughts on the Sequoia Apartments By Kirk E.Peterson 11-25-2011

New: Alarming News! Trees in Strawberry Canyon to be Clearcut for UC Berkeley, Lawrence Lab By Lesley Emmington, for Save Strawberry Canyon savestrawberrycanyon.org 11-24-2011

There Should Be a Moratorium on the Use of Pepper Spray By Carol Denney 11-23-2011

Letter from Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association to Owners of Sequoia Apartments Per Carrie Olson, President 11-21-2011

Why They Go After the Students: Reflections on Police Actions at Davis and Berkeley By Michael Song Lim 11-21-2011

An Open Letter to Cal Parents and Alumni By Peter Ernst, San Diego 11-18-2011

Peralta Colleges Take Steps to Reinvest Money in Community-Based Financial Institutions By Abel Guillen 11-18-2011

Letter to Chancellor Regarding Violence Against Students By Nathan Danielsen, Class of 2007, US Peace Corps in Senegal from 2007 to 2010 11-18-2011

Unequal Pay By Robert Clear 11-18-2011

News

Press Release: Faculty Senate to Take up No-Confidence Resolution By Public Affairs, UC Berkeley 11-23-2011

Sequoia Fire Investigation Ongoing;
Businesses Open, Temporary Traffic Routes
By Steven Finacom 11-23-2011

Five Who Survived By Ted Friedman 11-23-2011

Forty-Seven Berkeley Faculty Members Sponsor No Confidence Resolution Against Birgeneau: Meeting to Take Place Monday Afternoon From the U.C. Berkeley Academic Senate Website 11-23-2011

Press Release: President Yudof Launches Initiatives to Address Policing and Protests From Steve Montiel, University of California Office of the President 11-23-2011

Fire-Damaged Sequoia Building Part of Berkeley's Heritage By Steven Finacom 11-23-2011

UC Delays Decision on Second Campus For Berkeley Lab By Jeff Shuttleworth (BCN) 11-22-2011

Press Release: Berkeley Lab Second Campus Preferred Site Announcement Expected in 2012 From Jon Weiner 11-22-2011

New: Oakland Chamber of Commerce Executive Board Member Charged with Committing $19.75 Million Corporate Fraud by Darwin BondGraham 11-22-2011

Occupy Cal Quiet, But Still Present, on Monday By Steven Finacom 11-22-2011

UC President Condemns Police Response to Berkeley and Davis Protesters, Calls for Thorough Investigation By Bay City News Service 11-21-2011

Fire a Death-Blow To Lower Telegraph? (News Analysis) By Ted Friedman 11-21-2011

Press Release: President Yudof Acts in Response to Campus Protest Issues From Steve Montiel, Media Relations Director, UC Office of the President 11-20-2011

UC Faculty Associations Council Condemns Police Violence at Berkeley, Other Campuses By Scott Morris (BCN) 11-20-2011

Occupy Oakland Protesters Set Up Camp on Lawn of Foreclosed Home By Bay City News 11-22-2011

Sequoia Building Demolition Likely,
Say City Officials;
Not All Residents Accounted For
By Steven Finacom 11-19-2011

Apartment Fire Still Smouldering By Steven Finacom 11-19-2011

Berkeley Fire at Sequoia Apartments on Telegraph Contained at 3 a.m., Chief Says By Sasha Lekach (BCN) 11-19-2011

Flash: Huge Fire Raging at Telegraph and Haste in Berkeley By Becky O'Malley and Steven Finacom 11-18-2011

Press Release: Occupy Oakland Takes to the Streets on Saturday at 2 From Kevin Seal 11-18-2011

Occupy Cal Camp and Police Low Key on Friday Morning By Steven Finacom 11-18-2011

"Occupy Cal" Votes on Next Step By Ted Friedman 11-19-2011

Occupy Cal Plans to Re-Group By Jeff Shuttleworth (BCN) 11-18-2011

Signs from A Protest--Tuesday's Action By Steven Finacom 11-18-2011

A Last Look at Occupy Cal on Wednesday By Steven Finacom 11-18-2011

Columns

New: The Public Eye: Thanksgiving Politics: Top Ten Reasons to be Thankful By Bob Burnett 11-23-2011

On Mental Illness:Remembering to Give Thanks By Jack Bragen 11-23-2011

My Commonplace Book (a diary of excerpts copied from printed books, with comments added by the reader.) By Dorothy Bryant 11-22-2011

The Public Eye: Politics 2012: They’ve Gone Too Far By Bob Burnett 11-18-2011

Eclectic Rant: What Next for Occupy Wall Street after Adverse Court Ruling? By Ralph E. Stone 11-18-2011

SENIOR POWER… A Play for an Older Actress By Helen Rippier Wheeler 11-18-2011

On Mental Illness: Psychosis or Depression, Take Your Pick By Jack Bragen 11-18-2011

Arts & Events

New: Neil Marcus: Fantastic Spastic By Dorothy Snodgrass 11-23-2011

Berkeley Arts Festival Hosts Piano--and Pianists By Bonnie Hughes 11-21-2011

Eye from the Aisle: The Hot Mikado at Pt. Richmond MASQUERS, Uneven but Thrilling by John A. McMullen II 11-18-2011

Theater Review: David A.Moss in 'Cracked Clown' at the East Bay Media Center By Ken Bullock 11-18-2011