Features

JEFFERSON SCHOOL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The central issue regarding the possible re-naming of Jefferson School has a contemporary correlate, namely, our current president, who proclaims that he advocates peace, yet orders in invasion of a vulnerable country, killing soldiers and civilians, and destroying essential infrastructure. 

Alistair Cooke once noted in a radio talk that,” The whole truth about any of us would shock all of us.” 

Jack W. Fleming 

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UC HOTEL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

All of Berkeley should be thanking Randy Shaw for his commentary piece “Berkeleyans Must Unite to Stop UC Hotel,” Daily Planet, March 12-15). Finally, a voice of reason.  

If a hotel adjacent to the campus and downtown is desired, let the university build it on its own property, the huge parking lot west of the Tang Center that is one block from downtown.  

Why should more of city be sacrificed to the university’s greed? 

What is behind our city politicians’ eagerness to engineer that sacrifice? One wonders... 

Sharon Entwistle 

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REQUIRED READING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Randy Shaw’s commentary in the Daily Planet should be required reading for those who think the UC-proposed downtown hotel and conference center is a win-win for the city and the university.  

While relentlessly expanding into adjoining neighborhoods and the downtown, UC officials hope to avoid a legal challenge on this project by giving consideration to certain city zoning laws. But this doesn’t mean the city will have an effective voice in determining the most appropriate use of this land in our downtown. 

Many questions remain to be answered. For example, Mr. Shaw points our that a UC conference center and hotel could be substantially underutilized for much of the year—a huge dead space in the heart of downtown. Will it be another disappointment, like Oakland’s downtown Hyatt/convention center? Is this the best use of land in the heart of our tax- base? Have we considered other priorities? 

While UC Berkeley is a great university, its reach can be greater than its grasp in matters that go beyond its educational mission. 

Alan Goldfarb 

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NICE GOING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I picked up a Berkeley Daily Planet at my work and started to read the Susan Parker column entitled “A Frightening Day Both Inside and Out” (Daily Planet, March 16-18). At the end of the column there are lyrics quoted from a rap song. Every swear word was spelled out. I believe the point of Parker’s column was that she was upset that these lyrics were available to read on her home computer (via Internet) by an underage child. So what did you do? You took these lyrics and published them so even more underage children can get there hands on them. Nice going. Could you not have abbreviated them? There are security measures that you can place on your home computer to prevent children from reading stuff like this, but you have published this for everyone under the sun to read. I would love to know what you guys were thinking when you allowed this to go to print. Freedom of speech and all that is fine but there are limitations, and in my opinion and as a parent, the Daily Planet has over stepped the line!! I look forward to hearing your response. In the meantime, I am going to try to get my place of work to stop receiving and circulating the Berkeley Daily Planet. 

Debbie Crowson 

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SAVE HUD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Concerned about the housing problems their children and grand children will face in the years to come, senior citizen residents of Strawberry Creek Lodge in Berkeley are conducting a nationwide SAVE HUD petition campaign addressed to Congress. The petition calls for restoring the original purpose and funding of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as it was enacted in 1965.  

The administration’s recently announced budget for fiscal year 2005 cuts even more deeply into a budget already decimated to one third of the 1976 HUD funding level. Not only may the next generation be saddled with new costs to help shelter their aging parents, they will be required to deal with housing a growing number of homeless and ill-housed lower-income households nationwide. 

Originally the petition was directed only to U.S. Representative Barbara Lee. However, as petitioners realized that adjacent area residents showed interest in signing up, the campaign took on a Going National aspect. Strawberry Creek Lodgers are now sending petitions and fact sheets to their friends and families in other parts of the country asking them to gather names and petition their own representatives in Congress. 

For fiscal year 2005 budget considerations, the organizers require Congress to restore HUD support at least to the 2004 budget level, and reverse the projected cuts for the very lowest-income households. Seniors on fixed incomes have no way to pay more for housing than they do at present, and the same can be said for millions of families who earn the lowest wages. 

Locally, the campaign initiated at Strawberry Creek Lodge is approaching the goal of 2,000 signatures. The petitions will be presented to Rep. Barbara Lee at an event scheduled for April 13 at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 

SAVE HUD can be reached at P. O. Box 2805, Berkeley, 94702 or online at www.savehud.org. 

Dee Rossman 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

In both its editorial pages and reportage, the Daily Planet is becoming an anathema to fair-minded readers in general and most of the local Jewish community in particular. Last month, the Daily Planet apologized for printing a letter I wrote accurately quoting an individual’s anti-Semitic rant as he attempted to disrupt a lecture by Daniel Pipes. It then published a half-page litany of lies by that self-same individual who, even though he disrupted a Savio Memorial Lecture two years ago, justified his abrogation of freedom of speech at the Pipes lecture by perversely wrapping himself in the mantle of FSM values.  

Last week, Daily Planet Executive Editor Becky O’Malley dismissed Daniel Pipes’ website as “reprehensible,” without bothering to discuss why. I wonder what she thinks now following bombings in Spain and Israel by the very Islamic fundamentalists Pipes rightfully takes to task? It should be said that O’Malley stated rightfully that the demonstrators holding signs outside the Pipe’s lecture were correct to protest in that manner. But she failed to note that most of those very protesters were thrown by the police out of the auditorium when they tried to interfere with Pipes’ constitutionally-guaranteed liberty of speech. 

Finally, Jakob Schiller wrote a feature on Kahlil Bendib (“Kahlil Bendib: Pledging Allegiance to No One,” Daily Planet, March 16-18) in which he discussed one of Bendib’s more benign cartoons on the Middle East crisis. Yet Schiller must have looked at the other scribblings in Bendib’s book and realized why numerous members of the Jewish community protested to Black Oak Books that such overt anti-Semitism had no place in the windows of the bookstore. Alas, the feature had nary a word of the controversy Bendib’s bigotry has generated. 

With nearly every issue, the Daily Planet reveals itself to be little more than an echo in print of KPFA’s stridently anti-Israeli, anti-Jewish flatulence. And as it does so, it takes no seer to see the paper’s audience eventually diminishing like its predecessor. 

Dan Spitzer 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

Library Gardens, a new development planned for the property to the west of the main downtown library exemplifies how short-sighted people can be in their decision-making process. While city zoning requires only 59 residential parking spaces for the development, this project has been approved with 240 spaces, 105 of which are for residents of the project-to-be. With BART and buses a few steps away, new housing does not need to provide excessive parking.  

I say short-sighted because I’m thinking of the future of our city and our planet. I would rather see less cars and think of ways to reduce congestion on our streets, than think of ways to accommodate those cars. I would rather create a city that welcomes pedestrians, transit and bicyclists by making streets safer and more convenient for those modes of travel. If we continue to welcome and accommodate more cars, all we will get is more cars. We need to change that practice and create an environment that will attract more pedestrians, transit and bicyclists if we are to ever change this trend of ever-increasing numbers of cars and ever-increasing congestion, pollution, and therefore global warming.  

Fossil fuel is a finite source of energy being depleted and due to run out in our lifetime. Damage to our health and that of our planet caused by unlimited use of this fuel is well-documented (despite what the George Bush’s of this world say for their own financial gain.). 

We have to start somewhere. It starts with me, and it starts with us. Decision-makers in this city must hear from those of us who don’t think more parking is the answer.  

Berkeley Ecological and Safe Transportation (BEST), is a group of people volunteering their time to work with residents, city staff, appointed and elected officials to create the pedestrian-, bike- and transit-friendly Berkeley mentioned above. We started this group two and half years ago to create a more friendly environment for pedestrians, transit and bicyclists. Our group is open to anyone wishing to work on this goal. Car-Free Housing is the subject of our next meeting, Tues., April 6 at 6 p.m. at the Main Library, third floor meeting room. To find out more about what we are doing, go to www.berkeleybest.org or contact imgreen03@comcast.net, or come to our meeting. 

Marcy Greenhut 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

First off, thank you for all the kind words written by Richard Brenneman about the Jazz Lounge I am opening in the Gaia Building (“De Leon’s New Club Could Be Gaia Tenant,” Daily Planet, March 5-8). As at my former place on University Avenue, we will offer live music every night with a strong emphasis on local, too often unsung, musicians. I plan to show free vintage jazz movies in the late afternoons. I am very excited about opening soon. 

I need to correct a couple of errors: The place will be called Anna’s Jazz Lounge and not Blackbird. I kicked around many names, and love the name Blackbird, so full connotations. But since our décor is tropical, and blackbirds don’t live in palm trees last I looked, I have decided to go with just the former name “Anna’s,” which will be simpler for those who remember us from before. 

The other correction results from what I believe was editorial in nature. On page 16, a long quote begins the second paragraph, “We lost faith that anything would happen and we had no written agreement with him [Patrick Kennedy], despite our best efforts…” The paragraph concluded with my stating that I did not have a lease until two months ago. The long quote seems to be attributed to me as it is attributed to no one else and my indirect and true statement closes the paragraph. However, I simply never said any of those quoted words, they don’t apply to me, and I want this to be made clear. 

Anne de Leon 

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