The Police Review Commission could sign off Wednesday on a controversial plan to welcome two German shepherds to the Berkeley Police Department—the first crime fighting dogs in the city since the 1930s. 

“I thought we were going to reject it, but now I’m not so sure,” said Chairperson Jon Sternberg, one of four commissioners to publicly oppose a police department proposal to establish a canine unit. 

Police want the German shepherds to help them track down armed suspects hiding in cordoned off blocks or buildings and to help them search for missing people.  

With a decision scheduled for Wednesday’s commission meeting, opponents need one more vote to stop the plan in its tracks. Otherwise it heads to the council with the blessing of the commission responsible for reviewing police conduct. 

Four commission members (David Ritchie, appointed by Linda Maio, Jack Radisch, appointed by Betty Olds, Lucienne Sanchez Resnik, appointed by Miriam Hawley and Michael Sherman, appointed by Dona Spring) are believed to be leaning toward support of the proposal, while a fifth member, Annie Chung, the appointee of Mayor Tom Bates, is a wild card. 

“I think she’s feeling pressured to vote yes, but I heard she might abstain or not even show up,” said one person close to the commission. Chung could not be reached for comment. 

Bates supports the canine unit, but said he hasn’t given Chung marching orders for the crucial vote. Without the support of the commission, Bates doubted the City Council would even take up the proposal. “As far as I’m concerned if the PRC votes against it, it’s over,” he said. 

That the PRC would even consider sending dogs on patrol has infuriated some of its members. “I think it’s a sin. We have so little money, how can we rather spend it on dog food than food for seniors,” said Commissioner Jacqueline DeBose, an appointee of Maudelle Shirek. DeBose is joined in opposition to the canine proposal by Chairman Sternberg, appointed by Margaret Breland, William White, appointed by Gordon Wozniak, and Michael Sheen, appointed by Kriss Worthington. “The PRC should be ashamed,” DeBose added. “I don’t know how anyone can not remember Bull Connor sending the dogs on marchers in Alabama. It wasn’t that long ago.” 

BPD Capt. Stephanie Fleming has tried to allay fears. The dogs, she said, would be trained to bark, not bite, and would never be used for crowd control or demonstrations. 

“These are ‘bark and hold’ dogs,” she said. “They’re not the same as what some other police departments are using.” 

“Bark and hold” was popularized in the 1990s to help cities fend off liability lawsuits against dog bite victims, said Peace Officer Standards and Training Senior Law Enforcement Consultant Mario Rodriguez.  

According to Rodriguez, dogs are trained to corner a suspect, then bark and growl at him until the officer arrives. He said the key to the program is the skill of the officers handling the dogs.  

The new method has made canine units more palatable for several Bay Area cities, including Oakland and San Francisco, which both reintroduced units to positive reviews since Berkeley’s ban. 

“We catch so many guys we otherwise wouldn’t have and they really do find kids in the woods,” said Oakland Police Lieutenant Lawrence Green. 

Currently when a situation calls for a dog—about 25 times per year—the BPD must contact Oakland, BART or Richmond canine units. Depending on the availability, said retired BPD Lieutenant Bud Stone, help arrives hours late or not at all. 

“It’s a huge pain,” he said. “I’ve sat for hours at locations waiting for Richmond dogs. When they weren’t available we had to send the SWAT team in blind.” 

Most cities the size of Berkeley have a canine unit, including liberal communities like Santa Monica and Santa Cruz, police said. Police insist that shepherds are best suited to handle the varied types of police work Berkeley requires. 

Berkeley did away with police dogs in the 1930s as a cost-cutting measure. Various efforts to reintroduce dogs were met with sharp opposition that led to an outright ban in 1997, modified by the City Council in 1982 to allow use of other cities’ dogs in special circumstances.  

The current use of police dogs in Berkeley is one factor that has Commissioner Michael Sherman leaning in favor of the proposal. “If we’re going to have dogs, I’d rather use dogs that we have control over how they’re trained,” he said.  

Opponents of the plan dominated the floor at three public hearings held earlier this year by the PRC. Police counter that most neighborhood watch groups and neighborhood organizations polled have voiced support for a canine unit. 

The current proposal was hatched during a 2002 meeting between Mayor Tom Bates and the Berkeley Police Association, said Lt. Dennis Ahearn at the first public hearing. 

Berkeley police would use $30,000 from a county forfeiture fund that typically goes towards equipment to start up the program. The dogs and their two BPD handlers would undergo up to 380 hours of state certified training. Annual upkeep is estimated at $15,000. 

When it comes to addressing civilian fears, “bark and hold” dogs seem to excel. Kevin Allen, director of the San Francisco Office of Civilian Complaints said his office had received one dog bite complaint in the last three years. 

That doesn’t mean a canine unit doesn’t pose some financial risk for the city, said Dave Schlosser, a former New York Police Department Canine Unit detective, who said he gets 15 calls a year to testify against cities in police dog bite cases. 

“More times than not someone is going to get bit,” he said. “If the guy just stops, the dog just barks, but if he runs, the dog’s going to run and the dog’s going to bite, and if the guy tries to free himself, the dog’s going to bite harder.” 

Bruce Praet, a former canine officer, who now defends cities from police dog bite suits, said he negotiates about 10 settlements a year in the “$5,000 to $10,000” range for innocent bystanders accidentally bitten by police dogs. He predicted Berkeley would face about two such lawsuits per year. 

Those opposed to the plan stressed the city’s risk to liability lawsuits during a budget crunch. “These animals are going to take somebody’s job away,” said Berkeley attorney and former PRC Commissioner Jim Chanin who has represented police dog bite victims.  

“If [the police] do this, I’ll be watching and waiting,” he said. “They’ll use them at their peril.”›

With signs in their hands, buttons on their bags and plenty of sunscreen smeared all over their exposed areas, Berkeley residents turned out en masse Saturday in San Francisco for a protest march marking the one-year anniversary of the United States invasion of Iraq. The protest was also organized to voice continued opposition to the U.S. occupation of that country. 

“We’re here so that people don’t forget, we’re here to remind people that money is still going to fund the war and people are dying while cuts to services are taking place here,” said Chandra Hauptman, a Berkeley resident. “What kind of peace have we brought?” 

On a bright and warm first day of spring, Hauptman was among an estimated 50,000 people who walked from Dolores Park in the Mission District to the Civic Center. Filling the streets as they went, protesters carried signs, sang and danced along the way. Eventually they gathered on the lawn in front of City Hall as part of the largest anti-war demonstration here in the Bay since the height of the Iraqi invasion last year. 

Coordinated demonstrations were held in 250 cities across the United States. Millions of other demonstrators participated around the world.  

While the war in Iraq was the dominant theme, other issues also made their way onto signs and into chants, including the recent U.S.-supported coup in Haiti, the upcoming presidential election, the occupation of Palestine, and gay marriage.  

At the Civic Center, a variety of speakers—including political activists, actor Woody Harrelson, and a number of elected officials—addressed the crowd . 

According to Andrea Buffa, the Peace Campaign coordinator for Global Exchange, marching on the Iraq invasion’s anniversary was meant to send a message to global leaders about continued world-wide opposition to the war. Global Exchange was one of the organizations that helped organize Saturday’s event, 

“A world-wide protest makes you feel like you can make a difference. Getting on the streets helps people not feel so isolated,” Buffa said. 

Laura Venturi, 13, who attends Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, marched with her mother and put it bluntly about George Bush, by far the favorite political target during the march. “The only reason he is president is to piss people off,” she said. 

Wearing a mask and sign around her neck that read, “It’s time to unmask this bloody war,” Venturi was one of many who used the march to creatively express her opposition. 

“[The war] doesn’t make sense,” she said. “He said there were weapons of mass destruction, and there weren’t. I just don’t like him.” 

“One year later we have to keep showing the public that we’re here. We have to put it in the public face,” said Melodie Venturi, Laura’s mother. “[The Iraqi occupation] has become a hidden war. It’s not in our daily lives, but it’s something that I think about every day.”  

Four months after a tax revolt stopped plans to ask property owners to dig a little deeper, the City Council will have to decide yet again just how much it wants to test taxpayer largess. 

Tonight (March 23), City Manager Phil Kamlarz—armed with the latest tally of a $10 million looming General Fund deficit for fiscal year 2004-05—will recommend at a 5 p.m. special meeting that the council “strongly consider” placing ballot measures in November. The proposed ballot measure is expected to seek as much as $4.9 million in city services at a cost of $122 per year to the average homeowner. 

The council is scheduled to discuss and possibly vote on Kamlarz’ recommendations at its regular 7 p.m. meeting. 

Although neighborhood groups have already voiced opposition, some on the council didn’t wait for the latest budget report to hit their desks to call for new revenues. 

Mayor Bates, along with Councilmembers Miriam Hawley, Linda Maio and Kriss Worthington want the council to consider a November ballot initiative asking voters for $800,000 to fund youth services expected to be cut from the General Fund.  

The trio are still working out the details with the Berkeley Unified School District, which is considering renewing a tax measure of its own—The Berkeley Schools Excellence Project—that raises $10.5 million for school music programs, libraries and one out of every six teachers. At a meeting on the proposed school district tax measure Wednesday, the vast majority of participants favored going to voters for more money this November. A decision to put BSEP on the November ballot could sway the city to forgo a youth services ballot initiative, Worthington said. 

If either initiative reaches voters’ touchscreens this November it might have plenty of company. With the General Fund too deep in the red to dish out subsides to other parts of the budget, the City Council could ask voters to foot the bill for keeping those other city funds solvent. Among the council’s considerations include $1 million to maintain paramedic services, $700,000 for street lights, $1 million to maintain storm water drains, and $1.2 million to preserve library services. 

That would be too many new taxes and not enough time for public input, the Berkeley Association of Neighborhood Organizations announced Saturday. In a statement issued to the council, the group pledged to fight any new property taxes with the same ferocity they showed last November against a failed $7 million parcel tax. 

“So long as our taxes remain so high and since your work with respect to the wealthy nonprofits and the city employee contracts is not satisfactorily completed, we will oppose and work to defeat all of the new tax measures you are floating, even though we may like some of the services they are intended to support,” the statement read. 

Taxes are only part of the city’s strategy to reign in its deficit. At the 5 p.m. working session, Kamlarz will also present a plan to raise revenues as much as $2.6 million per year with a series off fee hikes. The biggest money maker would be a 911 surcharge for all telephone landlines and possible cellular phone lines, netting the city between $1.5 and $2 million. Other recommendations include eliminating the option for citizens to perform community service for parking fines, rescinding seismic fee waivers for building permits and implementing a $2 fee for paying city fines over the Internet. 

Kamlarz stressed taking a multi-year approach to tackle the deficit which, if not reigned in, is projected to hit $19.4 million in 2009. In addition to calls for new revenues, Kamlarz is recommending the city use $1 million of its reserves for the upcoming fiscal year and cut general fund programs by $7.2 million.  

Time is of the essence for both the council and staff. Tuesday’s discussion will guide the staff in presenting the council with a proposed budget by May 4—the third meeting after the council returns from its spring recess. Public hearings will follow on May 25 and June 25. The final budget is scheduled for adoption on June 22 and the deadline to approve ballot initiatives for November is scheduled for July 20. 

The flurry of proposed ballot initiatives is not limited to taxes. At its 7 p.m. regular meeting tonight, the council will discuss a proposal from Councilmember Worthington to align mayoral elections to presidential elections, a period when voter turnout is highest. To align the two elections, Worthington proposes granting only a two-year term to the winner of the 2006 mayoral election. 

The council will also consider changes to its own rules of procedure. After the agenda committee struck some of their more controversial proposals last month, including denying free council packets to the media, the council will consider a series of reforms. Among them are holding lengthy public hearings on Thursdays, granting the city manager “ministerial action” for urgent matters when the council doesn’t meet for two consecutive weeks, and granting the council more leeway in expanding or shortening public comment time. 

Councilmember Dona Spring offered a competing proposal that would allow any councilmember who attended agenda committee meetings to have a vote. Currently only Mayor Bates and Councilmembers Maio and Hawley are voting members of the committee. 

In an agenda item listed as “time critical,” the council will hear an appeal to the use permit granted to Library Gardens—a planned 176-unit housing and retail development slated to rise just west of the main library.  

Steve Geller contends that by designating 105 parking spaces to residents, when zoning rules requires the developer provide them with just 59 spaces, the complex runs contrary to the city’s goal of transit friendly development in the downtown. 

Brian Maxwell, founder of the Berkeley-based PowerBar corporate empire and a major benefactor of UC Berkeley, died Friday of a heart attack after collapsing on the steps of the San Anselmo post office. Maxwell was 51. He is survived by his spouse and six children. 

“He was the most generous person I’ve ever met,” said Tom Oliver, who worked for Maxwell at PowerBar and later at Coolsystems Inc., a Berkeley company that develops and markets technology for treating sporting injuries. Oliver is CEO at Coolsystems, and Maxwell was chairman of the board. 

“Financial success didn’t change him,” said Tanya Clark, who worked for Maxwell as PowerBar’s sports marketing manager. “He had tremendous passion and authenticity, and he always had time to listen to employees and customers.” 

Maxwell and his spouse Jennifer, a nutritionist, were inspired to create what became the PowerBar as a quick energy pickup for athletes after exhaustion forced him to drop out of a marathon. The couple launched the company in 1987, building it into a corporation with global reach, including subsidiaries in Canada and Germany. Eventually, 13 years after its founding, they sold PowerBar to Swiss-based Nestle for $375 million. 

The Maxwells moved to Marin County several years ago, though Brian had been spending at least two days a week in Berkeley at Coolsytems, Oliver said. “He was very much a hands-on chairman.” 

Coolsystems is a startup company that designs and makes cooling and compression devices for soft tissue sports injuries which have been sold to 70 universities, 110 NFL players, 37 NBA stars, and more that 50 professional sports teams, as well as physical therapy clinics. 

Maxwell was also involved with two other firms: KINeSYS, which manufactures a sunscreen for athletes in endurance sports, and the Active Network, an online service that helps athletes locate and register for sporting events and provides online training and discounts on equipment. 

Born in London, Maxwell grew up in Toronto. Even after moving to the United States in 1971 to attend classes at UC Berkeley, he ran under the Canadian flag in distance races. For several years, Maxwell was ranked as one of the world’s leading long distance runners. 

Maxwell came to Berkeley on a track scholarship, setting school records and lettering during each of his four years. He graduated in 1975, receiving a degree in architecture and the school’s Brutus Hamilton Award as outstanding student-athlete. 

Two years later, Track and Field News ranked him the world’s third-best marathon runner, the same year he finished third in the Boston Marathon. He was named to the Canadian Olympic Team in 1980, but did not get to compete after Canada joined the U.S. in boycotting the Moscow events. Maxwell did get to the Olympics, leading the Canadian team onto the field at Salt Lake City for the opening ceremonies in 2002. 

Maxwell met Jennifer while she was a student at the university, studying nutrition at the College of Natural Resources and running on the school’s track and cross country teams. She graduated in 1988. 

With their financial success, the Maxwells became major benefactors of their alma mater. In February, 1998, the pledged $5 million to UC Berkeley—$3 million to fund the Haas Pavilion and $2 million to improve academic life. 

In 2002, the Maxwells endowed a chair at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health for research in maternal and child health. That same year, the Maxwells paid all the costs to replace the damaged artificial turf at the university’s Kleeberger Field, saving the athletic facility from closure. The university renamed the facility the Maxwell Family Field in the couple’s honor. 

The Maxwells also donated money to the chancellor’s discretionary fund and funded environmental programs at UC’s Bancroft Library and biology programs within the College of Letters and Science, said UC Senior Public Information Representative Sarah Yang. 

Vice Chancellor for University Relations Donald McQuade offered a formal statement: “Brian Maxwell's life and dedication to UC Berkeley exemplify the highest standards of charitable good will and spirited advocacy. From his exuberant court-side cheering at Cal basketball to his determined support of building a world-class program in track, Brian seized every opportunity to champion excellence in athletics and academics. His legacy is everywhere evident at Cal. . . Brian's sudden death is a stunning loss for the entire Cal family, and we offer our deepest condolences to his wife, Jennifer, and to their six children. His stalwart spirit and unsurpassed dedication to Cal will always inspire us.” 

UC officials and friends of the Maxwells are organizing a local memorial service. 

“He was really an amazing spirit,” said Debbie Pfeifer, who worked for Maxwell as communications manager at PowerBar and as public relations officer for one of Coolsystems product lines. 

“He was really competitive and a natural marketer, but he also encouraged people to spend more time with their families. At PowerBar, people worked hard when they were at the office, but they went home at night and they didn’t come in on the weekends because that’s how he wanted it,” Pfeifer said. “He was really unusual that way.” ›

TUESDAY, MARCH 23 

Tuesday Morning Birdwalk at Briones, Bear Creek Road entrance parking lot, to see woodpeckers, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Call if you need binoculars. 525-2233. 

“Wilderness Weekends: Camping and Backpacking in the Bay Area and Beyond” at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Copwatch Film Screening, “These Streets Are Watching” at 9:15 p.m. at Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd. in Oakland. Cost is $5. 814-2400. 

Dine Out for African Aids Orphans Unicorn Pan Asian Cuisine is donating 25% of its proceeds today to the rural Uganda Golomola Village AIDS orphanage. Co-sponsored by ACT UP East Bay & Priority Africa Network. Unicorn is at 2533 Telegraph Ave. Reservations recommended. 841-4339.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Charles Fitch will show travel slides at 11 a.m. 845-6830. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers We are a few slowpoke seniors who walk between a mile or two, meeting at 9:30 a.m. in the Little Farm parking lot. 215-7672. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24 

Tilden Explorers A nature adventure program to learn about racoons and skunks from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. For 5 to 7 year olds. Fee is $6, $8 for non-residents. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Great Decisions 2004: “Reform in the Middle East” with Dr. Laurence O. Michalak, Vice Chair (ret.) Center for Middle Eastern Studies, UCB, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For reservations call 526-2925.  

“Prospects for Peace” with Stephen McNeil, regional director for Peace Building, American Friends Service Committee, at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Sponsored by the Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

Academic Quiz Bowl, featuring high school teams, at 7 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-0861. 

Berkeley Stop the War Coalition meets every Wednesday at 7 p.m. in 255 Dwinelle, UC Campus. www.berkeleystopthewar.org  

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities. 

com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Prose Writers Workshop Novices welcome. Experienced facilitator. Community sponsored, no fee. Meets 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut. 524-3034. 

“A Conversation with Artists on the Image of Christ ” at 7:30 p.m. at All Souls Episcopal Parish, 2220 Cedar St. 848-1755. 

Berkeley CopWatch open office hours 7 to 9 p.m. Drop in to file complaints, assistance available. 548-0425. 

Free Feldenkrais ATM Classes for adults 55 and older at 10:30 and 11:45 a.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut at Rose. For information call 848-0237.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 25 

Residential Green Building and Remodeling Learn about healthier building materials, how to lower your utility bills, reduce home maintenance and minimize remodeling construction waste. From 7 to 10 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $35. 525-7610.  

Amazon Rainforest Slideshow Join us for a slideshow presentation showing images of completely wild and undeveloped regions of the Amazon jungle with Rainforest Action Network volunteer Larry Landry at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Free. Donations accepted. 548-2220, ext. 233.  

Types of Home Care & What to Consider, with Pat Brown, RN, at 2 p.m. at Longs Drugs Wellness Center, 1941 San Pablo Ave. To register call 841-8466. 

FRIDAY, MARCH 26 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Robert E. Brown on “The Power of Handshaking.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $11.50 - $12.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“Literacy & Beyond!” Family Literacy Night Event at the Berkeley YMCA, 2001 Allston Way, between Shattuck and Milvia. From 7 to 9 p.m. Free and open to the community. 665-3271. 

Literary Friends meets at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center to discuss “For a Future, Is it Possible’’ 232-1351. 

Old School Dance Party in support of Haitian grassroots organizations at 8 p.m. at Fellowship of Humanity Hall, 390 27th St & 411 28th St, between Telegraph & Broadway, Oakland. 465-9914. 

Report Back from Venezuela by the February delegation at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St. 528-5403. 

Preparing for Surgery, Chemo, or Radiation Treatment? A workshop with Carolyn Janson from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Longs Drugs Wellness Center, 1941 San Pablo Ave. Bring a friend or family member for free and they can learn how to support you in this process. Workshop fee is $45 and includes book and audio tape. To reserve a space call 925-825-4704. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Players at all levels are welcome. 652-5324. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 548-6310, 845-1143. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

Kol Hadash the Bay Area’s only Jewish Humanistic Congregation meets at 7:30 p.m. for Shabbat at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. 428-1492. www.kolhadash.org 

Shekinah Sanctuary, a metatrance ecstatic prayer ritual using chants and movement at 7 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. Admission is $21. 883-0600. 

Overeaters Anonymous meets at 1:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Church at Solano and The Alameda. 525-5231. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 27 

Felt Fun Make your own felt from the Little Farm’s sheep’s wool. Discover felting, spinning, shearing and more, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Carpentry Basics for Women An introduction to basic carpentry tools and skills for women with little or no previous hands-on experience. After a morning lecture and demonstration, you will build your own bookshelf unit (we provide the materials). Students are asked to bring their own hand tools. From 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sat. and Sun. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $225. 525-7610.  

Urban Weed Walk Learn about the edible and medicinal uses of common weeds as Terri Compost leads a walk exploring the neighborhood around the Ecology Center. Meet at 10 a.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233.  

Wild About California Take a walk on the wild side amid California native plants flush with spring growth with area horticulturist and native plant expert Nathan Smith. From 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $17, members $12. Registration required. UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Using Natives in Your Garden with Judy Thomas, Merritt College Horticulture Dept., at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Spring Fling Contradance at 3 p.m. at Church of Good Shepard at 9th and Hearst. Music by Robin Flower and Libby McLaren. Cost is $7-$12. 482-9479. 

“Discovering Dominga” a special screening of the PBS documentary of an Iowan housewife who discovers that she is the sole survivor of the massacre of her Mayan family in Guatemala, with the filmmaker Mary Jo McConohay in person at 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison. Donations requested. 482-1062. 

Saturday Night Sing-Along for all ages. Bring your family, neighbors and friends for an evening of campfire classics, silly and serious songs, rounds and movement activities. At 7 p.m. at 1216 Solano Ave. at Talbot, Albany. Sponsored by the Albany YMCA. Cost is $3 for adults, $2 for children. 525-1130. 

Berkeley Copwatch Know Your Rights Orientation, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Free, donations accepted. 548-0425. 

Center for Live Art, Art Auction and Gala from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Slingshot Gallery, 1721 63rd St. at Adeline. Donated art works include paintings, prints and sculpture by prominent Bay Area artists including David Ireland, Arthur Gonzalez, Lisa Lightman, and emerging artists Liz Walsh, Sean MacFarland, David Fought. Free. 835-3130. www.nclt.org/Liveart.htm 

Yoga for Seniors at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., from 10 to 11 a.m. The class is taught by Rosie Linsky, who at age 72, has practiced yoga for over 40 years. Open to non-members of the club for $8 per class. To register, call Karen Ray at 848-7800. 

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, MARCH 28 

Sunday Morning Birdwalk for beginning birders from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Butterfly Club for ages 8 and up. Learn about these colorful insects, growing native plants and habitat restoration. From 1-3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Dog Walk with your best friend along the creek in Tilden Park. Meet at 2 p.m. at Lone Oak picnic site by Meadows Playfield. Bring water, leash, baggies and be prepared for mud. 525-2233. 

Pat Bond Old Dyke Awards Ceremony at 3:30 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Sponsored by the National Center for Lesbian Rights. 415-392-6257, ext. 321. 

Berkeley City Club free tour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tours are sponsored by the Berkeley City Club and the Landmark Heritage Foundation. Donations welcome. The Berkeley City Club is located at 2315 Durant Ave. For group reservations or more information, call 848-7800 or 883-9710. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Lama Amdo on “Entering the Bodhisattva Path” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 29 

“The Plight of Tigers in the Wild” with Anthony Marr at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. Sponsored by East Bay Animal Advocates. 925-487-4419.  

West Berkeley Community Meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. at Wells Fargo Bank, 1095 Universtiy Ave. Free and open to all West Berkeley neighbors. 845-4106. 

Labor Regulations and the Auto and Clothing Industries in Mexico with Dr. Huberto Juárez Núñez at 4 p.m. at CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch St. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

Fitness for 55+ A total body workout including aerobics, stretching and strengthening at 1:15 p.m. every Monday at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5170. 

Baby Yoga Learn how to soothe your infant. Bring a pillow, blanket, mat and olive oil. at 11 a.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. Admission by donation. 883-0600. 

Yoga and Meditation for Children from 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. at at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. Admission by donation. 883-0600. 

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. 

ONGOING 

“Freedom from Smoking” a free six-week smoking cessation program offered Mondays from March 29 for May 3, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sponsored by the City of Berkeley Tobacco Prevention Program. To register call 981-5330 or email QuitNow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Open Auditions for children for Woodminster Summer Musical March 27-28, and adults April 3-4. For information call 531-9597. www.woodminster.com 

Dance and Fitness Classes at the Berkeley YWCA start in late March, sign up now at 848-6370. www.ywca-berkeley.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., Mar. 23, at 7 p.m. with a Special Meeting at 5 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Budget Review Commission meets Wed., Mar. 24, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7041. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/budget 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Mar. 24, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533.www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/civicarts 

Disaster Council meets Wed., Mar. 24, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. Carol Lopes, 981-5514. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., Mar. 24, at 6:30 p.m., at 2640 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Harvey Turek, 981-5213. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/mentalhealth  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Mar. 24, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed. Mar. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Barbara Attard, 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs. Mar. 25, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning 

Three times in the last two weeks, hours-long power outages blacked out large sections of downtown Berkeley, angering merchants and raising concerns among city officials. Almost a thousand downtown electricity customers lost power twice in separate incidents over the course of two days. 

“All three times, we had to close,” said Edward Holman, a partner in Eudemonia, the game store/gaming space/cybercafe at 2154 University Ave. Eudemonia customers can engage in online gaming through the store’s two dozen state-of-the-art gaming computers, “and since we had a lot of computers up and running each time, the outages were rather hard on us.” 

City Energy Officer Neal De Snoo said he’s been in regular contact with Pacific Gas & Electric, which maintains the city’s electrical system. “We’re looking into it,” he said, “and in the past, PG&E has been responsive to putting in long-term fixes.” 

When a series of outages hit the downtown and Telegraph Avenue business district in winter 1997-98, “we undertook a meeting of business people and PG&E representatives. They undertook an improvement program and put in long-term fixes.” 

A study of those earlier failures placed the blame on a number of causes. 

“We’re talking to PG&E, and they’re telling us that underground cables have been shorting out. We may be holding another meeting with them and with business people,” De Snoo said. 

Brian Swanson, a spokesman for the utility, said PG&E representatives will meet with Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington and business owners Thursday at Worthington’s request to discuss electrical service reliability. 

The first outage on March 8 was the smallest, interrupting service to 381 customers near the intersection of University Avenue and Milvia Street between 3:29 and 5:42 p.m. Swanson blamed the outage on a tree. 

The second outage came six days later and was caused by a transformer failure. The outage began at 6:52 p.m. and lasted until 8:12 p.m., cutting service to 964 customers from Martin Luther King Jr. Way east to Fulton Street between Cedar Street and Bancroft Way. Crews restored power by linking customers to another circuit. 

The third and most severe outage followed at 3:37 on the afternoon of March 16, after an underground lead cable failed because of a combination of age, the extra burden caused by the linkage to customers in the earlier outage, and heavy use caused by unseasonably high temperatures. 

The March 16 failure blacked out service to the same 964 customers who had lost power on March 14, plus an additional 2,825 in two areas—the first from Addison Street south to Allston Way between Milvia Street and Shattuck Avenue and the second from Bancroft Way south to Stuart Street between Telegraph Avenue and Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve. 

Service was restored to 2,825 customers at 5:24, and to the remaining 964 at 11:38 p.m. 

The utility is in the midst of a long-term project to replace all the antiquated lead cable, PG&E’s Swanson said. 

Asked about the impact of the electricity failures on local merchants, Downtown Berkeley Association Executive Director Deborah Badhia said she wasn’t sure how to respond. 

“On the one hand, it’s good to let people known that we’ve been having problems with the electrical system, but on the other hand, business owners are worried that reports might discourage customers from coming.” 

Businesses which suffered losses because of the outage are eligible for damages from the utility, said Badhia. For information, see the utility’s website at www.pge.com and click on “claims.”

Confusion over a special education fund has plunged Berkeley schools back into debt and left district officials and the administrator of the fund trading accusations of blame. 

Berkeley Unified had penciled in approximately $5.3 million for its 2003-04 budget from the Special Education Local Plan Area—a public agency that pools and distributes state, federal and county special education funds for groupings of school districts. But Berkeley Unified recently discovered that because of a $1.3 million shortfall in the fund, Berkeley is now facing a $867,000 deficit. Berkeley, like all districts in California, is required by law to allow SELPA to manage its special education funding. 

Superintendent Michele Lawrence said the district plans to make further, undetermined cuts, rather than carry the deficit over into next year’s budget. 

David Wax, Director of SELPA Northern Alameda County Region, said Berkeley Unified should have known better than to budget for $5.3 million, the dollar figure slated for Berkeley in 2003-04 as its base amount. Last year, Wax said, Berkeley was scheduled to receive $5.3 million in SELPA money, but the district ended up with just $4.1 million because of declining enrollment and other revenue adjustments. This year was bound to be worse, Wax added, because the state didn’t pass on a cost of living adjustment to its contribution to the fund. 

“I’d like to know who promised them $5.3 million in revenue,” he said. “It wasn’t me.” 

Berkeley Unified’s Director of Fiscal Services Song Chin-Bendib blamed the confusion on SELPA’s inability to give the district realistic numbers in a timely manner. The district didn’t receive the actual figure until December, she said, after it had already completed its first interim budget report. She defended her decision to rely on the original $5.3 million figure. “We have to rely on written documents,” she said. 

Berkeley Unified appears to be the only district challenging SELPA’s numbers. Margaret Romero, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services for Albany Unified said SELPA’s projections “appeared right.” 

But that doesn’t mean the districts have confidence in SELPA’s accounting. Last year SELPA overfunded Berkeley, Piedmont, Albany and Emeryville at the expense of Alameda, Romero said. 

The year before that mix up Piedmont and Albany mistakenly were given a chunk of Emeryville’s share, Romero said. And this year, Chin-Bendib said she found errors in SELPA’s formulas that netted the district an extra $20,000. 

Wax, who doubles as the director of special education for the Alameda County Unified School District, refused to comment on the series of accounting errors. 

On Wednesday top district business officials will meet with Wax to pour over the funding formulas. “We couldn’t make heads or tails of their numbers,” Romero said. “So now we’re getting together to make sure everything is kosher.” 

With the battle over teaching evolution in America’s schools erupting yet again, two Berkeley activists stand at the vanguard of the opposing sides on the legal, legislative, and mass media battlefields of the nation. 

At the forefront of the fight to reinstate the image of a divinely created humanity in public school textbooks and the public imagination stands Phillip Johnson, emeritus professor of law at UC Berkeley. Speaking of that nationwide effort, Johnson says, “My fingerprints are on it.” 

Leading the effort to keep creationism out of public schools is Eugenie Scott, a physical anthropologist and Berkeley resident.  

Scott has headed the Oakland-based National Center for Science Education since 1987, the year the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws mandating textbooks give creationism equal time with evolution. Four years later, Johnson entered the fray with the first in a series of anti-Darwinian books. With Darwin on Trial—“which,” he says, “has sold a few hundred thousand copies and has been translated into a few languages”—the Berkeley legal scholar established himself as the leading advocate of what he calls Intelligent Design. 

Johnson’s efforts are being funded by Roberta and Howard F. Ahmanson Jr., the couple to whom he dedicated his second book (Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds). Heirs to the Home Savings of America fortune, the Ahmansons are Christian Reconstructionists, a sect who have been accused of believing that their co-religionists should impose a reign of biblical law in America that would demand death for non-Christian proselytizers, adulterers, gays, witches and rebellious children. 

While the law and public policy have favored Scott’s side in recent years, repeated polling has revealed the United States as the most religious nation on earth. According to a 1991 poll of the U.S., 16 European countries, Israel and the Phillipines conducted by the International Social Survey Program, only in Poland and the Philippines were more people convinced of the existence of God than in America. Americans led in belief in miracles, hell, and the devil–and only the Irish topped the Americans in belief in heaven. In no other country besides the United States did a smaller percentage of the populace accept evolution as a fact (the now-defunct East Germany topped the list of evolutionists, followed by Great Britain and West Germany, all with more than twice the rate of America.) 

Repeated polling also shows that belief in evolution rises with education and income level. 

Johnson’s creationist views are being challenged by who he calls the “high priests” of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), “the entire scientific hierarchy which has a tremendous interest in maintaining belief in a naturalist, materialist creation story and who say your only source should be the mandarins of science.” 

In October, 2002, the AAAS board declared that “the lack of scientific warrant for so-called ‘intelligent design theory’ makes it improper to include as part of a science education.” And in a Feb. 9 letter to Ohio state officials, NAS President Bruce Alberts declared that “Intelligent Design is not scientific because its ultimate tenet that life on earth is the result of some intelligent being is scientifically untestable and therefore cannot be invalidated through scientific means.” 

Johnson’s greatest obstacle is that Intelligent Design hasn’t made the slightest headway in the scientific literature. 

“Nobody is using Intelligent Design in applied science,” Scott says. “Nobody’s using it to understand scientific phenomena, which is the only purpose of a scientific theory. They’re not being accepted in the scientific community.” In addition, Scott adds, no public schools have yet mandated teaching Intelligent Design. 

“They’ve had more success in getting pieces in newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post,” Scott acknowledges. “It sounds much more attractive than Young Earth creationism.” 

But the real battle lines are drawn around the nation’s schools, where Scott has another ally in Berkeley. 

To Molleen Matsumura, who serves on the national board of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AUSC), the classroom evolutionary battle is but one skirmish in a broader cultural war, in which the struggle over faith-based initiatives is an even greater concern.  

While creationism remains the standard in the increasingly cash-strapped public schools, moves to implement school vouchers at the national and state levels could move more students into taxpayer-funded religious schools, where Darwin is banned and Bishop Ussher reigns. “This is the real battleground,” Matsumura says. 

AUSC also worries about federal judicial nominations, “because a lot of these [church/state] issues get decided in the courts,” Matsumura said. 

And it was in a courtroom, during the first great multimedia “Trial of the [20th] Century,” that the most famous battle between science and creationism was waged when Dayton, TN, public school teacher John Scopes was prosecuted 79 years ago for the “crime” of teaching Darwin. 

While the law under which Scopes was convicted was revoked in 1967, it took a federal court ruling two years ago to end Bible classes in Dayton’s public schools. 

For more information on the web, see the National Center for Science Education’s site at www.natcenscied.org, the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture at www.discovery.org/csc/ and Americans United for Separation of Church and State at www.au.og. 

›

Now that my husband Ralph is home from a 51-day stay in Kaiser’s ICU, there are some things I need to catch up on. I took our car to the mechanic for a tune-up, and our dog to the veterinary clinic for the same.  

“Are you brushing Whiskers’s teeth?” asked the vet.  

“No,” I said with a trace of guilt. During our last check-up together, Whiskers and I were given a mini toothbrush and a tiny tube of canine toothpaste. The vet instructed me to brush Whiskers’ teeth, particularly the back molars everyday, but I had ignored him. I brush my own teeth and my husband’s teeth. It’s about all the daily dental hygiene I can handle.  

But now my lack of attention to Whiskers’s mouth was coming back to haunt me. The doctor shook his head in frustration as I reflected on the ghost dogs of my past. Back when I was a kid I don’t remember anyone ever brushing their dog’s teeth.  

Growing up in the New Jersey suburbs in the 50s and 60s, my family owned big dogs: Shepherds, Boxers, Dobermans and Great Danes; dogs with monstrous barks and enormous slobbering tongues; canines who scared the milkman, threatened the mailman and responded to names like King, Ace, Mickey and Mack. We didn’t brush their teeth. We threw them bones.  

In our family we called diminutive designer dogs like Whiskers, punting dogs: dogs that were only good for kicking around. We didn’t mess with wimpy little mutts. We had dogs with official papers and family trees that went back to the Mayflower.  

Our dogs were never allowed to sleep in the house, not even on the coldest winter nights. They roughed it outside in a huge doghouse with an extensive chain-link fence surrounding an exercise “pad” that gave them plenty of room to move. Our dogs didn’t squirm. They paced.  

So imagine my dismay when, several months after Ralph’s accident, a miniature Schnauzer was placed gently on my lap, a present from a friend. “Try this,” said the gift-giver. “She’s better than therapy. You won’t need Zoloft anymore.”  

Accompanying the perfume-smelling fur ball was a seven-month supply of puppy chow, a pink plastic toy, canine combs and brushes, a sheepskin dog bed and a book entitled How to Train Small Dogs. The pooch’s name was Misty. “That has to go,” I said when no one was listening.  

Ralph renamed her Whiskers. I stopped combing her curly hair and soaking her in perfume. I took her for long walks in my neighborhood.  

Slowly I’ve begun to appreciate her small charms. Her turds are minuscule. She fits into my crowded house quite well. She doesn’t eat much, but she barks like a son-of-a-bitch, and even though it is more of a high-pitched squeal than a low menacing woof, she sounds vicious and ready to tear apart, limb by limb, anyone who dares to threaten me. When we walk by schools, children flock up against the playground fence, begging me to stop and let them pet her. Elderly men and women pause from their gardening to tell me about their own pets. Homeless people with shopping carts give us a wide berth, and delivery men ask if she bites.  

I got rid of the fleece-lined dog bed. Whiskers really didn’t enjoy sleeping in it. She prefers to curl up with me in bed, wrapping her furry body around my neck, emulating those coats old ladies used to wear to church, foxes clenching tails, head to ass.  

I looked up from my revelry to see the veterinarian petting Whiskers. “She’s a good dog,” he said, “but she’s got bad teeth. This could cost you a pretty penny if you don’t start brushing today.”  

“Give me another toothbrush,” I demanded. He’d said the magic words.  

Now I sit in my living room, tiny toothbrush in hand, scrubbing Whiskers’ back molars, grateful that she isn’t Ace, King, Mickey, or Mack. She wiggles in my arms, a little ball of unruly curls who is saving me a bundle in therapy bills. Brushing her teeth is the least I can do in return.  

Girl Scout Justice 

Berkeley police believe they have arrested the boy who robbed more than $100 from a Girl Scout Troop selling cookies on a Berkeley street corner.  

On Friday police arrested a 16-year-old Berkeley resident who they suspect swiped Troop 3983’s cash box, while two accomplices staged a fight in front of the girls at Center Street and Shattuck Avenue Monday evening.  

Police charged the boy with one count of grand theft, a felony. He was later released to the custody of a parent. Police have not caught the two accomplices. 

Armed Robbery 

Four men robbed a Berkeley resident on the corner of 10th and Hearst streets early Sunday morning, police spokesperson Kevin Schofield said. The victim was on foot when a gray car approached, and four men jumped out. One man had a gun and demanded the victim’s wallet.  

South Berkeley Robbery 

A man robbed a 17-year-old Berkeley resident of his cell phone Tuesday night at the corner of Ashby Avenue and California Street. Police spokesperson Schofield said the robber punched and kicked the victim until he surrendered the phone. 

Purse Snatch 

A woman had her purse snatched on the 2000 block of Stuart Street Saturday evening, Schofield said.  

FOR KERRY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing in defense of Senator John Kerry’s voting record that has been called inconsistent. His Senate voting record is to me a sign he voted based on the evidence available to him. His vote in October 2002 to authorize the president to use military force was with the caveat that the force must be used as a last resort and with international cooperation regarding Iraq. Senator Kerry then voted against the $87 billion appropriation in Iraq be-cause it was not clear from U.S. allies that that much was needed. The French, at least, were saying that training and rebuilding of infrastructure need not cost as much as $87 billion, if contracts were open to more companies than Halliburton.  

Similarly, Senator Kerry’s vote against military spending in the 1990s was against measures that would enhance defense contractors, as op-posed to providing for troops and veterans.  

Senator Kerry’s voting record is consistent to a voter who follows the news. It would behoove the electorate to elect a leader who is willing to respond to new evidence issues of national importance.  

Devaki Chandra 

• 

ELECTION RESULTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation I heard this morning [March 15] a British editor agree with an American call-in who opined that appeasement never works. The implication is that the Spanish vote and troop withdrawal from Iraq after the Madrid holocaust will be “Neville Chamberlain-like” appeasement of al-Qaeda. 

Bush and Blair will of course embrace this interpretation this interpretation of Spanish revulsion to their non-war, unsubstantiated “preemptive” massacre in Iraq. But I wonder about John Kerry. Could the tardy U.S. troop scramble out of Vietnam be called “appeasement?” Wasn’t it rather a well-deserved defeat by forces we had very unjustifiably viciously attacked? 

I hope something has been learned from Vietnam: when a war is wrong, or at least the side we are supporting is wrong, the right thing to do is get out of that war as quickly as possible, and with as little harm as possible to both sides in the conflict.  

Bravo for the Spanish voters! 

Judith Segard Hunt 

• 

FOR BUSH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

My number one reason for endorsing President Bush for re-election is his overwhelming commitment to world peace. 

After we were attacked in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush knew his role here in America is to protect us from terrorism and tyranny. President Bush has accomplished this by his honest, brilliant, and courageous leadership. 

However our fight for world peace and our fight against terrorism and tyranny will never end. Terrorists are planning attacks every minute of the day and they will never stop. How lucky we are to have President Bush as our leader instead of Gore. Kerry would be worse. During the past 20 years Kerry has been on every side of every issue. 

Our economy today is the most prosperous economy ever known on earth. Here in California most people live in $400,000 houses, drive $20,000 cars and spend $3 for a cup of coffee or pack of cigarettes, and eat half of their food out. Retail sales and home construction are at record highs. 

President Bush is not only a great president, he is the greatest world leader of the 21st century. 

Mike Vukelich 

El Sobrante 

• 

POOL REPAIR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Before the Berkeley High School north pool room is rendered uninhabitable by the gaping roof leaks, so that not even the intrepid of the 300 disabled south pool users can safely pass through on the way to the men’s showers and restrooms, can we do some planning? 

This summer is the best time to replace the north pool roof, so winter rains can be excluded next year and so interior remodeling can take place. Now is the time to prepare specs and refine the detail drawings to produce a better result than the south pool replacement. 

We know the purlins and ledgers have rotted, for example, and need replacement, as well as the roof sheathing boards. Marine plywood would resist high humidity that will doubtless persist. 

I’d like to suggest the council and school board each select one person and give them the power to decide what to do, and organize a meeting between them and a pool committee person for one hour, to finalize a spending plan for the unspent warm pool fund, about $150,000. I suggest Lew Jones, Rene Cardinaux and Josephine Arasteh. I suggest a new roof at north, 2 or 3 new doors including frames, repair south windows and north pool windows, wall cleaning, rust removal, more spalled concrete repairs, epoxy painting of concrete and steel wall columns and trusses, remove ducts at north, and repair or remove conduit. We need this work done before next winter. 

Terry Cochrell 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

How ironic. Just when our Food Service Department is being praised in the New York Times for it’s collaboration with Alice Waters of Chez Pannise; just when our lunch programs at Willard and Longfellow are taking off because of a new menu of fresh, nutritious and good tasting food; just when Berkeley High School will open a huge, new cafeteria with fresh, nutritious, good tasting food with many organic components; and after the BUSD cut out soda pop and junk food snacks from all it’s schools years ago; a hand full of Berkeley residents are asking the Alameda County Civil Grand Jury to investigate our food programs, according to the March 16-18 edition of the Daily Planet. 

The Berkeley School’s Food Services Department has not lost $2.1 million dollars over the last three years, as these people contend, but has found all the discrepancies in previous Food Service budgets and given our community a dose of reality therapy in regards to the challenges of supplying quality food to children with a grossly inadequate budget. Simply put, the budget supplied by the Federal food subsidy program is not sufficient. 

With a completely new administrative team making realistic analyses of food services; budgets that more accurately described the program; the watchful eyes of a citizens committee; a reorganized food service department; and the collaboration of folks like Alice Waters of Chez Pannise, Zenobia Barlow from the Center for Ecoliteracy, and Bert Lubin, head of the Pediatric Department of Children’s Hospital; and other food advocates; we now may be able to find the way to provide wholesome, nutritious, healthy food for our students. A grand jury investigation will not help us find this way. 

Terry Doran 

Berkeley School Board Member 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

You may already have heard that virtually all of the video equipment at Berkeley Alternative High School was stolen just before Christmas. As you can imagine, the students and staff were distraught, as this equipment was essential to many important academic and extracurricular projects.  

Thanks to generous donations by several organizations and individuals, though, the video production program at BAHS is already back up and running. I am writing on behalf of my students and colleagues to thank the community in general and the following organizations in particular: 

Berkeley Public Education Foundation, with special appreciation for Trina Ostrander’s invaluable help in making the rebuilding process a success. 

Berkeley High School Development Group, for supporting education at Berkeley’s other public high school. 

Le Conte Elementary PTA, for their willingness to support high schoolers’ work with elementary-aged kids. 

Nancy Riddle, School Board member, for organizing a donation by the company for which she works, Monster Cable. 

Beyond the gratitude we feel for the equipment itself, we appreciate the fact that the community demonstrated their support for our school through 

their generosity. That support means a great deal to all of us at BAHS. 

Philip Halpern 

English Teacher 

Berkeley Alternative High School 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Do people write silly sophomoric essays posing as theater reviews  

when they obviously know next to nothing about directing, acting, stage  

design, Ibsen or his great work Ghosts, now in a stunning production at  

Berkeley Rep? 

People do. But must newspapers publish them? 

Toni Mester 



GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: The petition to open a Grand Jury investigation of the Berkeley School’s Food and Nutrition Services Program (FNS) is absurd. As a school food director of 27 years (eight with Berkeley Unified) I have a firm understanding of both school and food services financial management and program regulations. 

The continuing deficits are based on school board actions, not illegalities or mismanagement. Whether the three years of red ink is $1.1 or $2.4 million, some perspective as to the cause of this deficit is needed. 

In the 1950s Berkeley enacted a Needy Meal Over-ride Tax adding supplemental funding for school food services based on the number of free and reduced price meals served to students. With the school finance reform of the late 1970s this funding stream was diverted to Sacramento for apportionment back to the district.  

Unfortunately this funding change came without a guarantee that the money would be used to feed children. Though this roughly $500,000 a year in revenue is still based on the number of subsidized meals served, the recommendation from the Fiscal Crisis Management Advisory Team (FCMAT) to maintain these revenues in the General Fund of the district was adopted by the Board of Education in 2002.  

The purchase of new equipment and repairs to facilities are not allowable expenditures under the National School Lunch Act. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent by the district for capital outlay expenses for the cafeterias, particularly at Berkeley High School. Some of these expenditures were to be covered by the insurance settlement from the Berkeley High fire. Under the watchful eyes of FCMAT, these dollars were diverted to cover over-expenditures by the General Fund even though the Board was advised that it was an improper use of Food Service funds. 

Measure BB, the Maintenance Assessment Tax, specifically excluded only one BUSD program, Food and Nutrition Services (FNS). Now, FNS pays for maintenance that the citizens of Berkeley have generously provided for all other district programs.  

Some board policies, regardless of merit, have had a negative fiscal impact on FNS. With funding based on number of meals served, the staffing of small schools creates very high labor costs for the program. The policy that prohibits the district from purchasing milk from dairies where cows have received Bovine Growth Hormone has created a situation where two of the four major milk suppliers in the area are excluded from bidding for the district milk business. I estimate that this lack of competitive bidding alone adds over $25,000 a year in food costs. 

We can have anything we are willing to pay for. The district can serve scratch-cooked, organic meals if funding can be found. Likewise we can reduce class size with additional funding.  

I have been very impressed by the new international food courts at Willard and Longfellow middle schools. It is not Chez Pannise but with a budgeted food cost of less than $1 a meal, FNS has demonstrated a willingness and ability to make positive changes. I await the opening of the new food court at Berkeley High. 

Grand Jury probes should be retained only for the purpose of investigating illegal activities. I have not heard of allegations of grand theft or embezzlement. If you don’t like the policies of the Board of Education you can vote them out. Time, money and energy spent on frivolous investigations is better spent on improving the educational opportunities for the children of Berkeley. 

Dan F. Lee 

It’s spring again, time for math placement tests at Berkeley High. The math department requires that any Berkeley student who did not attend a Berkeley public school in eighth grade take a placement test which measures their knowledge of Algebra I as taught in the Berkeley Middle Schools in order to earn a place in Honors Geometry. Students coming from a Berkeley Middle School are allowed to enter Honors Geometry if they achieved an A or B in Honors Algebra I and have the recommendation of their teacher. 

Since the children taking the test are coming from many different schools, which used different textbooks for Algebra I, it is often difficult for them to pass a test based on the BUSD curriculum. The math department will not tell parents what percentage of the students who take the test pass, but the year my youngest child took it, I heard that it was five percent. A friend who teaches at one of the most respected private schools in Berkeley estimates that it is 15 to 20 percent. Does it make sense that only 20 percent of students coming from selective private schools can do the work required in Honors Geometry? Of course not. What we have is a situation where students who received an A in Honors Algebra and have the recommendation of their teacher at Prospect-Sierra, or St. Pauls School, and score above the 95th percentile on standardized math tests, are placed in regular geometry. 

How is this fair? Well, the math department says that BUSD students take a test to get into Honors Algebra, which is similar. This is nonsense. The test that the students in BUSD take, in the comfort of their own classroom, not in the intimidating and foreign environment of BHS, can’t test knowledge of algebra, because the students haven’t had algebra yet. The only fair way to administer a placement test for Honors Geometry would be to require that all eighth graders go to the high school and take the same test, no matter where they attended middle school.  

The more logical course would be to accept the A and the recommendation of the algebra teacher, no matter where the students attended middle school. When my oldest son entered BHS, in 1996, that was the policy. The math department contends that too many students had trouble with Honors Geometry under that system. In other words, they feel it is preferable to keep qualified students out of the course rather than risk phone calls from worried parents. They don’t allow students to drop back to regular geometry. Contrast their rigidity with the flexibility of the Spanish department at the same school. They allow students to choose the level of Spanish they take in ninth grade themselves, and change after a few weeks if it’s not working out. 

The math teachers I have consulted maintain that there is little relationship between how a student performs in algebra and how that student performs in geometry anyway. Geometry is a detour in the math curriculum, much easier for some students with a good sense of spatial relationships. The head of the math department at BHS is fond of saying that only students who love math should take the honors curriculum. Would that we all lived in her world, where we only have to study what we love. I don’t love math, but I had to take calculus in order to become a physician. I had to take it in college, and struggled mightily, because I had a weak math background in high school. If you had told me that I would be a doctor when I was a freshman in high school, I would have laughed. Concerned parents know that strong math preparation in high school is a prerequisite for many careers. 

Many of us had the opportunity to hear the educator Pedro Noguera speak recently at a fundraiser for the Berkeley Schools Foundation. He advised us to look within our own district for the solution to problems where children are denied opportunity. I have mentioned the Spanish department. The science department at BHS can also serve as a model for the math department, since they recently did away with the tests they used to require for students to take AP science classes.  

Students should be allowed to achieve at the highest level they can. The math department consistently discourages achievement. When my second son entered BHS in 1999, he passed the placement test by one point. The math teacher grading the test on the spot advised him to take regular geometry anyway, “Because students from St. Pauls don’t do well in Honors Geometry.” He made an A in the course and received a state award for excellence in geometry on a standardized test. 

Finally, we parents who pay taxes for public schools and yes, BSEP taxes also, yet commit the sin of sending our children to private school, may deserved to be punished by the math department. But our children don’t. It broke my heart to watch my daughter lose confidence in herself as a good math student because she didn’t pass the placement test. All the rhetoric coming from BHS about closing the achievement gap rings hollow when a black girl who is an A algebra student and scores in the ninety-ninth percentile in math on standardized tests is denied access to the honors curriculum. 

Dr. Toni Martin is a physician, writer and mother of three BHS students: class of 2000, class of 2003 and class of 2006. 

r

I receive messages from below, rather than from above. The sidewalk speaks to me in shades of olive green. Sound like a Berkeley story? Berkeley and beyond …  

To get to my office I must step over “The Frankenstein Project” sprayed in green capital letters on Piedmont Avenue’s sidewalk. Who made these words? Why? When? Intrigued, and clearly having too much time on my hands, I wondered whether archaeology might help answer these questions. Though archaeology is usually concerned with artifacts past and underground, many of Berkeley’s artifacts are not so much underground as underfoot—and they converse actively with the present. Sprinkled on sidewalks from north Shattuck to south Telegraph, east Centennial Drive to west University Avenue, are over 60 spray-painted “sidewalk statements.” I hesitate to use “graffiti” because these statements blur distinctions between art and graffiti. 

Graffiti as Artifact 

For many people the distinction between art and graffiti is clear—authorized versus unauthorized marks. But people also acknowledge Jean-Michel Basquiat’s SAMO and Keith Harding’s pop graffiti as art that migrated from the street to galleries and markets in the 1980s. And what of the political, personal and pensive stencils on sidewalks the world over? The world underfoot is noisy with social commentary like “Who would Jesus bomb?”, regulatory notices like “Walk Bikes,” and irony like “Nothin’s Wrong.” Existencilism. People also scrape, stick and embed messages in sidewalks, marking their environments. Whatever semantics we use, both “art” and “graffiti” remain definitively “artifact” and represent social information. That “The Frankenstein Project” was truly a project became clear after a year wandering Berkeley’s streets, chancing upon the same precise green capital letters that commented pithily on their surroundings. At an intersection, “Anthropologists Convention” suggests Telegraph Avenue’s suitedness for people-watching. Similarly, “About Face” dismisses a newsrack, “Study Project” turns the tables on UC campus, “Indian Rights” broods by a bookstore, “All The Things That We Are In The Sky” mocks/praises a church, and “HQ” at the main post office perhaps alludes to the Unabomber’s letterbombs. These statements suggest an awareness of place and history that goes beyond “vandalism” and which are worthy of further consideration. 

An archaeology of Us 

So, I wondered whether archaeology—a surveillance of people, places, and artifacts past—would help make sense of “The Frankenstein Project?” In other words, if archaeology is so good at studying “them,” may it not also be used to scrutinize “us”? Six archaeological techniques proved fruitful. First, dating. In three instances, green words occur on top of new sidewalks. Courtesy of the City of Berkeley, we know these sidewalks were laid in 1995 and 1997. The words cannot be older than the cement—a terminus post quem in archaeology-speak. Second, interviews with people on and off street determine that these words are variably remembered as appearing 18-34 months ago. Third, recording techniques like photography with ultra-violet film expose words worn by grime and time. Fourth, stylistic analysis shows the 67 statements found so far use the same spray pattern with letters 250 to 400 mm tall and around 25 mm thick. Fifth, a reading of the “text” groups negative identifications like “I Am Not A Toy” and “Not Roy” (with reversed “R”) and definitive declarations such as “I Am Orion” and “I Am A Samurai.” “Tony Curtis” outside a theater suggests an older person or film buff. Does “Fourteens Can Do” tag a gang affiliation? Interestingly, the author(s) use English and U.S. spellings with “Theatre” and “Savior.” Sixth, mapping site distribution suggests a focus on activist churches, “official” buildings and businesses with few private residences, parks or public spaces (other than the sidewalk) targeted. These techniques cannot explain enigmas like “Mens Viking Al Anon Meeting Go Homo Sapiens,” “Surfer Continuum Nine” or why the color green is favored but they do provide the spectral outlines of a possible author. A homeless person? An alcoholic’s spouse? A wacky Berkeleyan? Art happening? Myself in some surrealist hoax?  

Public Ethics 

Is it at all important to know who did it, knowledge having consequences? In the Bay Area “graffiti” is a misdemeanor with a $500 maximum fine. Sixty-seven sites potentially equals $33 500 —so “Frankenstein’s” identity is a sensitive issue, made more so by knowledge that the project is still active. On Friday, April 13, at least seven new sites were created. “No More Al Anon Meetings,” “Credence” and “There Is No Treaty” suggest a new, angrier phase. Hopefully city officials will distinguish between “statements” like these and “vandalism”, which costs the US economy $200 million and Berkeley $250,000 annually (Daily Planet, June 28, 2000). Likewise, property owners tempted to remove words from the foundation that supports the city’s history might think twice. Some erasure attempts perversely accentuate the words by leaving negative removal stains. These and similar sidewalk statements are neither “ephemera”—many outlast the buildings and causes on which they comment—nor are they insignificant. “Archaeologies of us” help place contemporary material cultures in perspective and can give voice to people whose choice or circumstance relegates to the mainstream’s margins. In an increasingly regulated world in which public space is also contested space, popular visual culture is a significant source of creativity, critique and humor. So next time you go somewhere in town, take to the sidewalk; it may be one of the year’s most interesting journeys.  

Sven Ouzman is a Fulbright scholar in the UC Berkeley Anthropology Department.

Is sewing the next big thing?  

That thought was prompted last week by the sight of 11 teenagers who’d chosen to spend their spring break learning to sew at Berkeley’s Stonemountain & Daughter Fabric Store.  

They’d come from Drew School, a 95-year-old, 250 student private college preparatory school in San Francisco. Each year at this time, all regular classes at Drew stop for a week, and everyone participates in DEALL: Drew Education for Active and Lifelong Learning. Students choose from one-week classes posted by teachers in an online catalog. This year the subjects ranged from horseback riding to cartooning, and the venues from close to home to as far away as Japan.  

The sewing class was the idea of Drew teacher and Berkeley resident Shane Carter. Carter, 31, teaches history at Drew and, on Fridays, an elective cooking class. “I think anything that has to do with self-sufficiency is important,” she says. Knowing how to cook and sew help “make you a confident adult.” She added, “I don’t see a line between teaching them how to sew and teaching them how to do algebra.” Indeed, to sew well, she observed, you have to “understand spatial relationships.” Laying out a pattern involves parallel lines and other geometric concepts.  

Carter feels comfortable teaching cooking, but because she taught herself how to sew, she “never learned how to do it methodically” and needed to find somebody else to each the class.  

Last fall she asked Stonemountain owner Suzanne Steinberg to set up the course. Steinberg recruited teachers from Stonemountain’s sewing school and reserved the store’s airy upstairs classroom and its sewing machines for the week of Drew’s Spring Break. The cost was $10 an hour, which worked out to about $250 per student. Financial aid, says Carter, was factored into the price. Students provided their own fabric and notions. The class size was limited to 12.  

To Carter’s delight it filled up, and a handful of would-be students, including a few boys, even had to be turned away. The class met Monday through Friday from 10 to 4, with a lunch break. Seated at her or his—one guy’s—own machine, the students followed lead teachers Alice Elliot and Rosa Fajimi through the basics: choosing and preparing a pattern, following the directions, laying out the pattern pieces, cutting and marking the fabric, how to use a sewing machine, assembling the garment, fitting and finishing (seams, buttonholes, closures, hems).  

By the end of the week, everyone had made a drawstring skirt or pair of pants. Some students had embarked on a second project of their own choosing—pillows, a beach bag, a hoody, a dress. A few want to become fashion designers; others want to make their own clothes or fix things that they’ve bought. All were enthusiastic about the class.  

“The best thing about sewing,” said Sophia, 18, “is instant gratification. It takes awhile, but at the end, you can say: Wow! I have this piece of clothing; I can put it on and wear it. I finished my skirt yesterday, and I wore it last night out to dinner.”  

Many of the Drew students had altered garments or made bags, pillows and other small things. Few had used a machine or a pattern or had the benefit of expert instruction.  

“I’ve sewn before, but I’ve never done clothes,” said Sylvia, 15, as she worked on a dress with spaghetti straps. “It’s really cool. I’ve made quilts and bags, but I can’t really use them for anything except decoration.”  

Teacher Alice Elliot praised the Drew students. “This group is particularly great—really motivated, friendly, respectful—and excited to sew.”  

That doesn’t surprise Stone-mountain & Daughter owner Suzanne Steinberg. “We’ve seen this trend happening for the past few years. This is an incredibly technical and creative generation. They love making things, and focusing on fashion and on clothing. It skipped a generation or two. They’re combining the new technology”—recent innovations in sewing machines and tools that have make it easier to make clothes that look professional—“and the old ways of sewing.”  

For Steinberg, teaching teenagers how to sew is an investment in her business’s future. “Our industry was strong when home economics was taught in the schools. Now home economics is out of schools, but girls still want to learn how to sew.” Two weeks after Drew School called, she was contacted by another high school that wanted to do a sewing class in the same week. She dreams of creating an after-school program for students from Berkeley High which, she notes, is just three blocks away. “This is a really good example of how business and community can work together with the schools and fill a vacuum.” In any case, teenagers are welcome to take Stonemountain’s regular sewing classes.  

Asked why he chose to take the sewing class, Drew student Devon Hayden, 17, said, “I thought it would be cool to make your own clothing.” Did it turn out that way? “Yeah, it’s radical.”  

›

TUESDAY, MARCH 23 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rachel Cohen describes “A Chance Meeting” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Judy Wells and Dale Jensen at 7 p.m. at the Beanery, 2925 College Ave. 549-9093. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Empyrean Ensemble, featuring pianist Amy Dissana-yake, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $20 available at the door. www.berkeleychamberperform.org 

Jewish Music Festival featuring the music collections of S. Anskky and Moshe Beregovski at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Tickets are $10-$15. 848-0237. 

Courtableu at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Alex Bordei, pianist and accordionist, performs at 1:15 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. Ave. 981-5190. 

Club Mekon, an evening of song and readings, at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $15. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com  

Mimi Fox, solo guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Dayna Stephens House Jam at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744.  

www.thejazzhouse.com 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24 

CHILDREN 

Jazz/Art, for the whole family, with Lisa di Prima and the Don Robinson Trio at 3:30 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library West Branch, 1125 University Ave. 981-6270. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Paul Waldman will discuss “Fraud: The Strategy Behind the Bush Lies and Why the Media Didn’t Tell You” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Nederlands Dans Theater at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $38-$64 available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Aphrodesia and Sila at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jules Broussard, Bing Nathan and Ned Boynton at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Swing Mine at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Austin Willacy, Beth Waters, contemporary folk at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Taarka, gypsy jazz, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Swamees, Atticus Finch, Little Cat Z and the Voom at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

THURSDAY, MARCH 25 

THEATER 

Traveling Jewish Theater “Fall Down Get Up” by Naomi Newman, directed by Ben Yalom at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $18-$28 available from 415-285-8080. www.atjt.com 

FILM 

International Latino Film Festival, “Queen of the Gypsies, a Portrait of Carmen Amaya” at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $8 general, $6 students. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Robert Newman introduces his new novel “The Fountain at the Center of the World” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Alice Medrich describes “Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales From a Life in Chocolate” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. www.codysbooks.com 

Khalil Bendib, Muslim-American humorist, reads from his new book, “It Becomes Necessary to Destroy the Planet in Order to Save It” at 7:30 p.m. at the North Branch Public Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6256. 

Ira Steingroot describes “Keeping Passover” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Word Beat Reading Series with Ralph Dranow and LisaAnn LoBasso at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. 526-5985, 205-1749.  

“Can Hip-Hop Save the World?” A discussion with Boots Riley from The Coup on personal responsibility in art, activism, and community, at 7 p.m. at Vista Community College Annex, 2075 Allston Way at Shattuck. Sponsored by Club X. Free, refreshments provided. For further information, contact clubxatvista@yahoogroups.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Nederlands Dans Theater at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $38-$64 available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Jewish Music Festival “Kinetic Klezmer” with Elaine Hoffman Watts, percussion, and her daughter Susan Watts Hoffman, trumpet, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Tickets are $10-$15. 848-0237. 

George Mann and Julius Margolin, with a special appearance by Faith Petric, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St. Suggested donation $5-$10. 

The Kambe Consort, two short concerts, each followed by a viewing of “Fine Japanese Mezzotints” at 7:30 and 9 p.m. Admission, by reservation only, is by donation, a minimum of $10.00 is requested. Schurman Fine Art Gallery, 1659 San Pablo Ave. 526-1236. www.scriptum.com 

Keni El Lebrijano, flamenco guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

The Dave Matthews Blues Band, a benefit for the Homeless Action Center at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5 and up. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Jim Page, political folk singer, at 7 p.m. at AK Press Warehouse, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. Donation $5. 208-1700. www.akpress.org 

Joshi Marshal Project at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Serna Band at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Chris & Cassie Webster with Scott Nygaard at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Tiner-Schoenbeck-Phillips Trio, The Wind Trio of Alphaville at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donations of $8-$15 suggested. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

FRIDAY, MARCH 26 

CHILDREN 

Cat in the Hat will be at Barnes and Noble at 10:30 a.m. 644-3635. 

THEATER 

Albany High School Theater Ensemble “Crimes of the Heart” and “Alarms and Excursions” at 8 p.m. at Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. Tickets are $5-$10 at the door. 558-2500, ext. 2579. 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Ghosts” by Henrik Ibsen, at 8 p.m. and runs through April 11. 647-2917. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Central Works, “The Duel” a new play adapted from Chekhov’s novella, at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Runs Thurs. - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. through March 27. Tickets are $8-$20. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Traveling Jewish Theater “Fall Down Get Up” by Naomi Newman, directed by Ben Yalom at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $18-$28 available from 415-285-8080. www.atjt.com 

Hillside Players “Tangled Tales Three: It’s Not Easy Being Smee” a comic journey into The Enchanted Forest for the whole family at 7 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $7, $4 for children, students and seniors. 384-6418. 

Un-Scripted Theater “Imrov Survivor” at 8 p.m. at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St. at Telegraph, and runs to April 3. Tickets are $7-$10. 415-869-5384. www.un-scripted.com 

FILM 

Chantal Akerman: “The Captive” at 7 p.m. and “Night and Day” at 9:10 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed discusses “Behind the War on Terror: Western Secret Strategy and the Struggle for Iraq” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

8th Annual Teen Poetry Slam East Bay Semi-Finals at 7 p.m. at La Peña. Open to any teen between 13-19 years old. Tickets are $10 general. To register call 415-255-9035, ext. 21 or email slam@youthspeaks.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

pickPocket at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum perform roots Americana at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50 in advance, $18.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Vision Walker CD Release Party at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenez. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Zigaboo Modeliste and the New Aahkesstra at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10, $8 with student i.d. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Mystic Roots, Inna Heights at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

“Thieves in the Temple: The Reclaiming of Hip Hop,” written and performed by Aya de León, at 8 p.m. at Oakland Box Theater, 1928 Telegraph. Tickets are $10. 451-1932. 

Crater, Good for Crows at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com  

Anton Schwartz, jazz sazophone quartet, at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Reorchestra, modern dance grooves, at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Sterling Dervish at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

The Fleshies, The Restarts, Born/Dead, Monster Squad, Strung Up at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 27 

CHILDREN 

“Chantecleer and the Fox” at 2 p.m. at Calvary Church, 1940 Virginia St. Tickets are $25 general, $20 senior/student, $65 family special including activities for ages 4-12, refreshments and show. 415-491-0818. www.chaucertheatre.org 

“Wild About Books” storytime at 10:30 a.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223. 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña Creative Movement Together at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Building Experimental Musical Instruments Workshop from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. 644-6893. www.berkleyartcenter.org 

Parent/Child Dance Class and Open House from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Haas Pavilion, Mills College, Oakland. 644-3629. 

THEATER 

Albany High School Theater Ensemble “Crimes of the Heart” and “Alarms and Excursions” at 8 p.m. at Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd., Albany. Tickets are $5-$10 at the door. 558-2500, ext. 2579. 

Traveling Jewish Theater “Fall Down Get Up” by Naomi Newman, directed by Ben Yalom at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $18-$28. 415-285-8080. www.atjt.com 

EXHIBITIONS OPENINGS 

“Breeder's Choice,” a visual inquiry into the world of pedigree dog breeding, with Lauren Davies at the Kala Gallery from 5 to 7 p.m. 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977. 

“It’s All About Location” with Sherrod Blankner, Patrick Marquis, and Ed Monroe. Reception from 7 to 9 p.m. at Fourth St. Studio. Exhibition runs to April 15. 1717D Fourth St. 527-0600. 

FILM 

The Case for Pavel Jurácek: “The End of August in the Hotel Ozone” at 7 p.m. and “A Case for the Young Hangman” at 8:50 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

8th Annual Teen Poetry Slam East Bay Semi-Finals at 7 p.m. at La Peña. Open to any teen between 13-19 years old. Tickets are $10 general. To register call 415-255-9035, ext. 21 or email slam@youthspeaks.org 

“Chaucer’s Stories Simply Retold for the Children” with Velma Bourgeois Richmond, Prof of English, Holy Names College, at 2 p.m. at Calvary Presbyterian Church, 1940 Virginia St. Followed by a slide show. For ticket information call 415-491-0818. www.chaucertheatre.org 

Berkeley Youth Art Festival with Rhythm and Muse Young Poets at 7 p.m., open mic sign up at 6:30 p.m., at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkleyartcenter.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Unified School District Performing Arts Showcase at 1 p.m. at Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley High School Campus. 644-8831. 

Nederlands Dans Theater at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $38-$64 available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Yukimi Kambe Viol Consort, interpretations of Rennaissance music at 8 p.m. at St John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $10-25, available from 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

“Twin Harps” with Cheryl Ann Fulton and Diana Stork at 7:30 p.m. at Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington Avenue in Kensington. Tickets are $12 at the door. 526-9146. 

Berkeley Youth Art Festival with Flute Fest at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkleyartcenter.org 

Jewish Music Festival “ Philly Klezmer Swing Dance Party” at 8 p.m. with a dance lesson by Steven Weintraub at 6:30 p.m. at The Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $15-$20. 848-0237. 

“Chanticleer and the Fox,” a musical at 4 p.m. at Calvary Presbyterian Church, 1940 Virginia St. For ticket information call 415-491-0818. www.chaucertheatre.org 

Rhiannon with Bowl Full of Sound featuring Frank Martin, Jami Sieber, Joey Blake and David Worm at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373.  

Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-2129. 

Misturada, Latin jazz quartet at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

East Coast Swing/Lindy Hop with Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Maya Azucena performs soul and funk at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10, $8 with student i.d. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

“Thieves in the Temple: The Reclaiming of Hip Hop,” written and performed by Aya de León, at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at Oakland Box Theater, 1928 Telegraph. Tickets are $10. 451-1932. 

ACME Observatory’s Contemporary Composer’s Series with Toshi Makihara with Steve Adams, Jon Raskin and Wade Matthews at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Admission free, donations suggested. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Candlebone, Shaken at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Mark Growden, Whore, Three Piece Combo at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Joey Keithley, punk pioneer, at 7 p.m. at AK Press Warehouse, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. Donation $5. 208-1700. www.akpress.org 

Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum, roots Americana at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $17.50 in advance, $18.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Feisty Females in the Round at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Collective Amnesia at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Bekka’s Frogland Orchestra, tribal avant funk, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Le Scrawl, Voetsek, Jewdriver, Lux Nova, Slit Wrist at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

CV1, reggae and jazz-improv, at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Chemystry Set with special guests Sunfire Pleasure at 9:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $8. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

For a few weeks in spring, the downtown part of Shattuck Avenue gets a tropical feel as the pittosporum trees bloom. The heavy, sleepy orangeblossom scent descends from the high-pruned trees and evokes Waikiki or some unlikely urban citrus grove, and lays a sexy benediction on Berkeley’s nightlife. 

Victorian box is more often a shrub than a tree, and, as its name suggests, is one of a suite of plants we inherit from that era’s garden fanatics. If you have a Victorian-style building and want to keep the plantings authentic, you’re in luck—those folks loved variety and “exotic” appearance, and you have a huge palette of species, forms, and habitat types to choose from. Quite a few, like members of the Pittosporum genus, are even fairly drought-tolerant, so you can have an extravagant look for little water.  

I’ve always liked working on Victorian box because of the strong orange-peel scent the wood gives off when it’s cut. It’s easy to prune, too, as its multiple branches give you lots of choices, and in my experience it recovers well. It gets used as a hedge plant, and it’s good for that, but I think the waste of fragrance and flowers because of constant shearing is a pity. Still, the person doing the work gets to enjoy the wood’s scent, a direct reward to the laborer worthy of that Victorian theorist Marx. Worker bees are drawn to the blossoms, too. I hope the nectar’s taste is as good as the scent. If it’s false advertising, well, we can enjoy it anyway. 

Most of the Pittosporum genus hails from Australia and its neighbors, and like many Aussie plants, they’re suited to life in our climate. I haven’t heard of its being very invasive here except in a very few suburban interfaces, but it’s a problem in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. Maybe that crowd heard from their Berkeley brethren about the pleasures of good coffee, and want a cuppa Blue Mountain brew. It’s been a problem in the fynbos of South Africa, but some as-yet-undiagnosed disease seems to be whacking it there.  

Pittosporums have been caught hosting the Sudden Oak Death organism, as have a lot of landscape plants both native and exotic. Don’t panic and cut yours down if it’s healthy, though; it’s the nursery industry that needs to deal with this contagion, and soon. 

The trees on Shattuck Avenue have cousins in gardens and public spaces all around here, some with musical vernacular names like “tobira” and “tawhiwhi.” (Tawhiwhi is the one with the, slightly broader and grayer-green leaves and stylish, slender black twigs, quite an elegant shrub.) The Shattuck trees are about as tall as the plant gets, and are probably near the end of their natural lives; that, with the fact that they drop flowers and little orange fruits and are deemed “messy” and disposable in the landscape trade, means we should enjoy them while we can.  

Just as its balance sheets finally approach equilibrium, Berkeley Unified School District is losing its top numbers cruncher—the man universally credited with helping to erase a $6.5 million deficit and getting the district out of the red for the first time in three years. 

On Wednesday of this week, Deputy Superintendent Eric Smith announced his resignation, effective May 14. Smith cited a family emergency that required him to be with his two young children in San Luis Obispo. “It’s purely personal,” he said. “Basically some events happened in their mother’s life that requires me to be down there with them now.”  

Two of Berkeley’s biggest public entities have now lost their top budget officials this year. In January Paul Navazio resigned as city budget director to relocate to the city of Davis. 

Smith, who joined Berkeley Unified last May, has no job lined up as yet, and plans to work as a consultant until he finds a position on the Central Coast. 

A search for his replacement will begin immediately, said Superintendent Michele Lawrence, who had known for a while that Smith was contemplating resigning. In the meantime, Smith said Director of Fiscal Services Song Bendib will assume more duties and a consultant from the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team will step in to temporally fill the position. 

“It’s a tremendous loss for the district,” said School Board Director Shirley Issel. “When there’s someone capable, it’s noticeable and it makes a huge difference.” 

Smith’s departure comes as Berkeley Unified is fine tuning its 2004-05 budget—expected to be the first balanced budget since 2001. The deputy superintendent said the majority of the work will be completed before his departure, though some revisions might have to be made by his successors based on a May financial report. 

Smith arrived at Berkeley Unified last April to replace consultant Jerry Kurr. The district retained Kurr to lay the groundwork for digging itself out of a financial crisis which was caused, in part, by the collapse of its accounting and management systems. 

Though Smith’s tenure has been short, Superintendent Lawrence credited Smith with saving the district between $2 and $3 million by fine-tuning systems and changing outdated business practices. 

Smith moved to self-insure the district for workers compensation costs and ended the practice of paying insurance premiums for relatives of employees who no longer qualified for coverage, saving a combined $1.8 million a year.  

Among the systems that still need work, Smith said, include tracking employee absences and timesheets for non-salaried workers. 

Lawrence is formulating a list of potential replacements, but said that finding someone with an appropriate skill set will be tough.  

“Eric has some rare talents,” she said. After budget cuts forced the district to eliminate associate superintendents for human resources and curriculum, she gave him responsibility for insurance, liability, facilities and labor negotiations. 

“A school business administrator a specialty job that doesn’t translate easily from the private sector,” Lawrence said. “California finance is so complex and the funding model is so convoluted, especially in Berkeley because of the parcel tax, that you have to be in the system a while to be excellent.” 

Smith, a past president of the California Association of School Business Officials, has spent his entire career in school finance, working his way up from a facilities manager in Modesto to the Deputy Superintendent of Business Services for the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education, the job he held before coming to Berkeley. 

Although they are sad to see him go, school board members and staff supported Smith’s decision. “We always talk about putting kids first, so I’ve got to commend Eric because he’s doing what’s right for his kids,” said School Board President John Selawsky. 

ˇ

Anne Crowden, the beloved music teacher who founded the Crowden School in Berkeley in 1983, died Monday morning in her birthplace of Edinburgh, Scotland, of pancreatic cancer. She was 76. Berkeley composer John Adams, in a 1997 tribute, said that Crowden used “her enormous energy and powers of persuasion to create a place where children from all economic backgrounds could immerse themselves in music while enjoying the highest levels of academic schooling.” A violinist herself, passionate about chamber music, she started her school with eleven junior high school children in a church basement. 

The Crowden School now fills a former public school at 1745 Rose St., and many of its graduates have gone on to distinguished musical careers. A Musical Reverie at the school, intended to produce a recorded tribute to send to Crowden in Edinburgh, was already scheduled, prior to her death, for March 28. Organizer Erika Miranda called it “a gathering in the tradition Anne liked best.” It will go on as planned at 5 p.m., with rehearsals at 4 p.m. Anne’s favorite music will be combined with anecdotes from those who attend, and the resulting DVD will be sent to Deidre Cooper, her daughter, who is a violinist in London. Colleagues, students, friends and admirers are also planning other memorials, with dates, places and times to be announced later, according to Crowden School Board Chair Sallie Arens. 

›

Berkeley resident Karen Rose did not have to hire someone to accompany her to the voting booth during the March primary and read the ballot to her. With no one looking over her shoulder, Rose was able to vote without having to reveal to anyone else who she voted for. 

Rose, a member of the city’s Disability Commission, is blind. Two weeks ago, she was able to vote completely on her own by listening to recorded instructions through headphones provided with a Diebold touch screen voting machine specially designed for the visually impaired. 

“These machines are the only way that I get a secret ballot, a right that is constitutionally guaranteed,” she said. 

The touch-screen machines are so popular within the disabled community, in fact, that last Monday, several disability advocacy and assistance organizations, including the American Association of People with Disabilities, the California Council of the Blind, the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers, and the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund of Berkeley, filed suit against four California counties and California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley for failure to provide such machines to completely service every disabled voter casting ballots in California. 

But while the touch screen machines recently introduced throughout Alameda County are a boon to disabled voters, they are generating complaints from other quarters. 

Three days after the disability advocates’ lawsuit was filed, State Representatives Don Perata (D-Oakland) and Ross Johnson (R-Irvine), filed a joint request asking the Secretary of State to halt the use of all electronic voting in the upcoming November election, citing recent major glitches with the machines here in Alameda county and Southern California during the March primary. In the city of Berkeley, for example, card scanners that clear the previous voter’s electronic ballot malfunctioned, causing major delays in the voting process. 

According to City Clerk Sherry Kelly the city has had nothing but positive feedback about the machine’s advantages for voters with certain disabilities. And while she said she knows the machines have vulnerabilities, she doesn’t think those vulnerabilities are severe enough to disband them quite yet. 

“There are some down sides and they need to be addressed, but I don’t think that means that we should stop using them,” she said. “I don’t think enough is known yet to take a step back.” 

While Berkeley must pay a portion of the cost of the voting machines, the machines themselves are selected by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters office. 

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund attorney Sylvia Yee said there are 250,000 disabled voters in California who could benefit from the touch-screen machines. Along with the visually impaired, she noted that touch screen voting machines are particularly helpful to persons who cannot hold a pencil. 

People with disabilities, she points out, are one of the last minority groups to be acknowledged by voting systems. Language minorities got ballots in their language several years ago. The disabled “want the ability to boldly go where others have gone before,” said Yee. Instead, “people with disabilities are just supposed to be good and wait.” 

Dona Spring, a Berkeley councilmember who is disabled said that she agrees with both sides.  

“People with disabilities have long been disenfranchised by the voting options available to them,” she said. “We need to make these systems more accessible, but at the same time there are some very serious concerns about the Diebold touch screen voting equipment.” 

Spring said she advocates using absentee ballots until the kinks with the machines are worked out. 

“Even if disabled voters have access, if their votes are not counted correctly is does no good,” she said. ˇ

FRIDAY, MARCH 19 

Remembering the Dead, One Year Since the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, at 11 a.m. at Oakland Federal Building, 1301 Clay St. 839-5877. 

International Earth Day Celebration, with a ringing of Berkeley’s Peace Bells at 10:49 p.m. at the back porch of Berkeley City Hall. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Rev. Dennis Kubi and Prof. Lisa Fullam on “Is Physician Assisted Suicide Morally Permissible?” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m., speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

China: Ancient Culture, Pedal to the Floor Slide show by Richard Register of Ecocity Builders and report back on his recent trip to China. Benefit for Ecocity Builders. From 7 to 9 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. $10 donation requested. 548-2220 ext. 233. 

Spring Equinox Gathering at Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. Please arrive promptly at 5:30 p.m. Dress warmly, the weather is part of the experience. 845-0657. www.solarcalendar.org  

“Karate for Kids” a free introductory class with Dara Connolly at 5:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave., for ages 4 and up. 847-2400. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Players at all levels are welcome. 652-5324. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

Overeaters Anonymous meets at 1:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Church at Solano and The Alameda. 525-5231. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 20 

Global Day of Action Anniversary of the Invasion of Iraq. The SF demonstration will begin at Dolores Park, 18th & Dolores Sts., at 11 a.m. and march to the S.F. Civic Center. 415-821-6545. 

Fiddlers for Peace meet 9 a.m. at Ashby Bart, or at Dolores Park (SF) tennis courts- learn to play while we stop the war. 548-1512. 

Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations meets at 9:15 a.m. in the Sproul Room, St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 587-3257. www.berkeleycna.com 

Beach Clean-Up with the Kiwanis Club. Help clear our beaches of winter storm debris. Meet at 160 University at Shorebird Park. For information call 527-2000. 

Jr. Skywatchers Club takes a look at planets. From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. Bring a bag dinner and a blanket. For ages 8-11 years. Fee is $4, $6 for non-residents. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Kids Garden Club on Monarchs. Make monarch wings, play the metamorphosis game and plant milkweed to attact these beautiful insects to our garden. From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. For ages 7 - 10 years. Cost is $3, non-resident $4. Registration required, 525-2233. 

Kids in Gardens A two day workshop for K-12 teachers, today and next Sat. from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This 2-day workshop focuses on demonstrating the connection between garden-related pesticides and urban runoff pollution. For Alameda & Contra Costa county teachers. Pre-registration and fee of $25 is required. 231-9430, mary@aoinstitute.org, www.aoinstitute.org/ 

A Garden Walk with a Chemist Discover pigments, perfumes and poisons with Dr. Margareta Sequin, chemistry professor at SF State University. No previous chemistry knowledge required. At 9:30 a.m. to noon. Cost is $30, $25 for members. UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Registration required. 643-2755. http://botan 

icalgarden.berkeley.edu 

“Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America” with author William White at 1 p.m. at Herrick Hospital, 2001 Dwight Way. 763-0779. www.unhooked.com 

LGBT Family Night at the Berkeley YMCA from 6 to 9 p.m. Family activities include swimming, arts and crafts, kindergym, juggling demo at 2001 Allston Way. Please RSVP to 848-9622.  

Village Day at St. Paul AME from 1 to 6 p.m. Join us for community based activities, cultural marketplace, vendors, silent auction, health and education booths, entertainment, food and more. 2024 Ashby Ave. 848-2050.  

Yoga for Seniors at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., from 10 to 11 a.m. To register, call 848-7800. 

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, MARCH 21 

Welcome Spring Morning Hike from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Dress warmly. Fee is $5, $7 non-resident. registration required. 525-2233. 

Little Farm Lambs Celebrate the first day of spring with a visit to our flock of black sheep to see the new lambs. From 1-2 p.m. at Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m. at Willard Community Peace Labyrinth on blacktop next to the gardens at Willard Middle School, Telegraph Ave., enter by dirt road on Derby. Free. Wheelchair accessible. Sponsored by the East Bay Labyrinth Project. 526-7377.  

Solar Electricity For Your Home Learn how to size, specify and design your own solar electrical generator. A short field trip to a functioning house/system in Berkeley and current catalog of available equipment are also included. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $75. 525-7610.  

Family Explorations: Amazing Insects Discover the weird and wonderful world of the most numerous and diverse animals on the planet—insects! Noon to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of CA, 1000 Oak St. at 10th St. Oakland. 238-2200.  

Bayshore Walk Meet at 4 p.m. for a walk along the Bay on paved trail at Pt. Isabel. Directions: From Hwy 80 exit Central Ave. El Cerrito, go west towards the Bay, over the next overpass. Turn right on Rydin; go to the end of the street and park. Sponsored by Solo Sierrans. 234-8949.  

Berkeley Cybersalon: Travels with Technomads We’ll hear from some actual technomads, at 5:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 

Women’s Day with The Women of St. Paul AME, with Presiding Elder Carolyn Tyler Guidry at 9:30 a.m. at 2024 Ashby Ave. 848-2050. 

Dalite Baum of Black Quandary from Israel in a discussion looking at opposition to the occupation from a queer perspective, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Meditation Seminar with representatives of Sant Thakar Singh at 1:15 p.m. at the Berkeley Main Library, 2090 Kittredge. Free. 845-4870. 

Tibetan Buddhist Open House from 3 to 5 p.m. including prayer wheel garden meditation tour, yoga demonstration, talk on meditation and information on Tibetan art projects. Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Tibetan Buddhism with Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek on “The Way of the Viryuous Householder” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

“Eckhart Tolle Talks on Video,” at at 6:30 p.m. at the Feldenkrais Ctr., 830 Bancroft Way. Donation of $3 requested, no one turned away for lack of funds. 415-990-8977 or mayahealer@yahoo.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 22 

Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s Leadership Breakfast with Congressman Mike Honda, at 7:30 a.m. at the Marriott Oakland City Center, 1001 Broadway. Cost is $25. 663-1207. chloe@leeforcongress.org 

Tea at Four Enjoy some of the best teas from the other side of the Pacific Rim and learn their cultural and natural history. Then take a walk to see wintering birds and dormant ladybeetles, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Registration required. Cost is $5 for residents, $7 for non-residents. Wheelchair accessible. 525-2233. 

Universal Access to Quality Health Care at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Central Library, 3rd floor meeting room. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters. 843-8824. 

Fitness for 55+ A total body workout at 1:15 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5170. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, MARCH 23 

Tuesday Morning Birdwalk at Briones, Bear Creek Road entrance parking lot, to see woodpeckers, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Call if you need binoculars. 525-2233. 

“Wilderness Weekends: Camping and Backpacking in th Bay Area and Beyond” at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Copwatch Film Screening, “These Streets Are Watching” at 9:15 p.m. at Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd. in Oakland. Cost is $5. 814-2400. 

Dine Out for African Aids Orphans Unicorn Pan Asian Cuisine is donating 25% of its proceeds today to the rural Uganda Golomola Village AIDS orphanage. Co-sponsored by ACT UP East Bay & Priority Africa Network. Unicorn is at 2533 Telegraph Ave. Reservations recommended. 841-4339.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Charles Fitch will show travel slides at 11 a.m. 845-6830. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers We are a few slowpoke seniors who walk between a mile or two, meeting at 9:30 a.m. in the Little Farm parking lot. 215-7672. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24 

Tilden Explorers A nature adventure program to learn about racoons and skunks from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. For 5 to 7 year olds. Fee is $6, $8 for non-residents. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Great Decisions 2004: “Reform in the Middle East” with Dr. Laurence O. Michalak, Vice Chair (ret.) Center for Middle Eastern Studies, UCB, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

“Prospects for Peace” with Stephen McNeil, regional director for Peace Building, American Friends Service Committee, at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Sponsored by the Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

Academic Quiz Bowl, featuring high school teams, at 7 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-0861. 

Berkeley Stop the War Coalition meets every Wednesday at 7 p.m. in 255 Dwinelle, UC Campus. www.berkeleystopthewar.org  

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities. 

com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Prose Writers Workshop Novices welcome. Experienced facilitator. Community sponsored, no fee. Meets 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut. 524-3034. 

“A Conversation with Artists on the Image of Christ ” at 7:30 p.m. at All Souls Episcopal Parish, 2220 Cedar St. 848-1755. 

Berkeley CopWatch open office hours 7 to 9 p.m. Drop in to file complaints, assistance available. 548-0425. 

Fun with Acting Class every Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Free, all are welcome, no experience necessary.  

Community Dances, traditional English and American dances, 8 p.m. every Wednesday, $9. 7 p.m. first Sunday, $10. Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. 233-5065. www.bacds.org 

Free Feldenkrais ATM Classes for adults 55 and older at 10:30 and 11:45 a.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut at Rose. For information call 848-0237.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 25 

Residential Green Building and Remodeling Learn about healthier building materials, how to lower your utility bills, reduce home maintenance and minimize remodeling construction waste. From 7 to 10 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $35. 525-7610.  

Amazon Rainforest Slideshow Join us for a slideshow presentation showing images of completely wild and undeveloped regions of the Amazon jungle with Rainforest Action Network volunteer Larry Landry at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Free. Donations accepted. 548-2220, ext. 233.  

Types of Home Care & What to Consider, with Pat Brown, RN, at 2 p.m. at Longs Drugs Wellness Center, 1941 San Pablo Ave. To register call 841-8466. 

FRIDAY, MARCH 26 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Robert E. Brown on “The Power of Handshaking.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $11.50 - $12.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“Literacy & Beyond!” Family Literacy Night Event at the Berkeley YMCA, 2001 Allston Way, between Shattuck and Milvia. From 7 to 9 p.m. Free and open to the community. 665-3271. 

Literary Friends meets at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center to discuss “For a Future, Is it Possible’’ 232-1351. 

Old School Dance Party in support of Haitian grassroots organizations at 8 p.m. at Fellowship of Humanity Hall, 390 27th St & 411 28th St, between Telegraph & Broadway, Oakland. 465-9914. 

Report Back from Venezuela by the February delegation at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St. 528-5403. 

Preparing for Surgery, Chemo, or Radiation Treatment? A workshhop with Carolyn Janson from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Longs Drugs Wellness Center, 1941 San Pablo Ave. Bring a friend or family member for free and they can learn how to support you in this process. Workshop fee is $45 and includes book and audio tape. to reserve a space call 925-825-4704. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Players at all levels are welcome. 652-5324. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

Kol Hadash the Bay Area’s only Jewish Humanistic Congregation meets at 7:30 p.m. for Shabbat at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. 428-1492. www.kolhadash.org 

Shekinah Sanctuary, a metatrance ecstatic prayer ritual using chants and movement at 7 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. Admission is $21. 883-0600. 

Overeaters Anonymous meets at 1:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Church at Solano and The Alameda. 525-5231. 

ONGOING 

“Freedom from Smoking” a free six-week smoking cessation program offered Mondays from March 29 for May 3, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sponsored by the City of Berkeley Tobacco Prevention Program. To register call 981-5330 or email QuitNow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Free Income Tax Help is available on Tuesday mornings between 10 a.m. and 12 noon at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Ozzie Olson, AARP trained tax preparer is available by appointment. 845-6830.  

Spring Bulb Bonanza at the Botanical Garden, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., March 15 - April 15, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755.  

Find a Loving Animal Companion at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Adoption Center, open 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Tues. - Sun. 2700 Ninth St. 845-7735. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

Medical Care for Your Pet at the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society low-cost veterinary clinic. 2700 Ninth St. For appointments call 845-3633. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

CITY MEETINGS 

Energy Commission meets Wed., Mar. 22, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Mon., Mar. 22, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Deborah Chernin, 981-6715. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/parksandrecreation 

Solid Waste Management Commission Mon., Mar. 22, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. Becky Dowdakin, 981-6357. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/solidwaste 

City Council meets Tues., Mar. 23, at 7 p.m. with a Special Meeting at 5 p.m. Special Meeting, in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Budget Review Commission meets Wed., Mar. 24, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7041. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/budget 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Mar. 24, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533.www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/civicarts 

Disaster Council meets Wed., Mar. 24, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. Carol Lopes, 981-5514. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., Mar. 24, at 6:30 p.m., at 2640 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Harvey Turek, 981-5213. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/mentalhealth  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Mar. 24, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed. Mar. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Barbara Attard, 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/policereviewà

It was about a year ago, according to Ocean View Gardens tenant Desiree Lambert, that water began to drip from her living room ceiling whenever it rained. One day the drip from the weak spot turned into a pour. In December of 2003, the weight of the water sent plaster crashing onto her sofa, leaving a hole in her ceiling the size of a basketball. 

Desiree Lambert is grateful that last month her ceiling was patched and the roof repaired, but she is not happy that it took her landlords over a year to do it.  

“The people at Ocean View have the attitude of ‘We’ll do something, but we’ll do it on our own time and when we get ready,’” said Lambert, who has a three-inch ring binder and a computer disk in which she has saved copies of the numerous letters she sent the managers of Ocean View about her ceiling and other maintenance issues.  

Ocean View Gardens is a 62-unit Delaware Street affordable housing complex built in 1982. The homes are currently rented to residents who earn 50 to 60 percent of the Area Median Income, roughly between $40,000 and $46,000 per year for a family of four. AF Evans Company of Oakland owns and operates the complex, leasing the land for the site from the City of Berkeley. 

On Jan. 20, Lambert and a few other disgruntled Ocean View residents complained about conditions at the housing project during a Redevelopment Agency discussion on extending Ocean View’s ground lease from the city. The residents charged that both the city and AF Evans representatives had been unresponsive to complaints about alleged substandard conditions in some of the housing complex’ units. The City Council (in its role as the Redevelopment Agency) ex-tended the lease, but asked the city manager’s office to return to its March 23 meeting with a follow-up report on the tenants’ complaints. 

Stephen Barton, Berkeley housing director, said that the Ocean View owners promptly responded to the complaints voiced at the Jan. 20 meeting, adding that some repairs were made the weekend following the meeting.  

But Lambert is not appeased. She said Ocean View management has ignored her complaints for years. Along with her leaking ceiling, Lambert said the walls in her living room have also suffered rain damage. Lambert said that about a year ago she killed 23 wasps which had swooped into her home through another hole near her ceiling fan. It took a year to repair the hole, according to Lambert, while the project’s management periodically sent someone over to spray for the wasps.  

In 1996, Lambert’s brother fell down the staircase leading to Lambert’s door when one of the steps collapsed. This matter was settled out of court, but Lambert said the incident could have been avoided if Ocean View’s managers had listened to her when she first began to complain about the wobbly staircase.  

The management at Ocean View says that Lambert may have been responsible for her own distress. Cynthia Neal-Wood, community manager at Ocean View, said that Lambert has been very uncooperative. Neal-Wood explained that Lambert does not allow maintenance workers in her unit when she’s not home, and would frequently cancel appointments that she would schedule for contractors to work on her unit.  

“You have to comply with the residents but the resident as well has to comply with the management,” Neal-Wood said. 

Neal-Wood had a similar complaint about Lennita Williams, another resident who spoke out at the Jan. 20 City Council meeting. Neal-Wood said that Williams has also repeatedly refused to allow maintenance workers to enter her home.  

Williams says that the plumbing in her kitchen and bathroom needs repairing. She said that dinnertime and bath time are dreaded hours of the day for her and her 21-year-old daughter Christina. The kitchen sink has little water pressure. When she twists the handles to turn on the water at full force, it just drizzles out of the faucet. Using water from her bathroom sink, she fills pale yellow plastic container with hot water and cleans her dishes in it. 

Williams also keeps a big blue bucket nearby. When she or her daughter takes a shower or bath the water in the tub won’t drain. She has to use the bucket to scoop out the water. Sometimes, she says she just showers at a friend’s place so she won’t have to face the back-straining chore. 

The pipes underneath Williams’ bathroom sink leak. She uses a white plastic bowl to try to keep the cabinet from getting too wet. But there’s not much help for the bathroom floor. The pipe behind the toilet leaks too. The linoleum floor is soaked, cracked, and weakening, and Williams says she’s afraid she or her daughter may fall through the floor on day. She has placed towels, pajama pants, and sheets on the floor around the base of the commode to try to soak up the water.  

“We grab whatever we can find,” she said.  

Williams admits that she has at times refused to allow workers into her home. She said she’s doesn’t trust them and is afraid they may vandalize her home. She says that individuals claiming to be maintenance workers sometimes show up without any uniforms or identification. In addition, she says that part of her distrust comes the fact that a number of years ago, an Ocean View maintenance worker was dismissed for stealing items from apartments while he was inside doing repairs.  

Lambert said she, too, has the same distrust of the housing project’s maintenance workers, and adds an additional problem: Maintenance workers, she says, sometimes ask tenants to wait home all day for repair personnel to come, avoiding giving even the four-hour window normally given by such utilities as PG&E or the cable company. 

For her part, Manager Neal-Wood said that residents have no reason to distrust the management or the maintenance workers. She feels Lambert is just being uncooperative. 

Lambert, meanwhile, feels she is just being demeaned. 

“They do not take the residents of Ocean View seriously,” she said, adding that she thinks the residents are not respected because Ocean View is subsidized housing.  

Williams also thinks she and other tenants are being taken advantage of because of their low income.  

“They don’t care because we’re poor people,” she said. “They know we can’t afford to get good lawyers.” 

ˇ

Berkeley’s mayor and eight city councilmembers, who all together spent a total of approximately $456,000 to get elected to their present terms, failed to reach a consensus Tuesday on presenting a ballot measure to voters that would shift at least some of those expenses to the public. 

Without taking a vote, the council asked city staff to study two scenarios to publicly finance elections: one (proposed by Mayor Tom Bates) that would give public funds to candidates and another (proposed by Councilmember Linda Maio) to require the city to match individual campaign donations dollar for dollar until a set spending ceiling is reached. The Bates proposal also included a provision that in order to receive city funds for their campaigns, candidates would have to prove their viability by collecting $5 contributions from at least 700 separate individuals. If passed, the Bates plan would make Berkeley the first city in the country to fully finance elections. 

Staff will report back to the council on April 27th with recommendations on the plans and potential taxes hikes to cover the costs. In the case of fully financed elections, costs would range between $1.4 and $4 million, according to a proposal offered by the Center for Governmental Studies at UCLA.  

Possible financing schemes include raising the hotel occupancy tax or parking fines. 

In advocating his plan, Bates told the Council that many qualified candidates don’t want to take the financial plunge to run for city office. The average cost of running for office in Berkeley is now $200,000 for mayor and $30,000 for councilmember. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington argued that such a system would not only encourage more candidates, but would keep special interests out of Berkeley elections. “It’s horrendous that by giving donations from a wife and a contractor and employees, one developer can manipulate 25 percent of the money you need for a campaign,” he said. 

Councilmember Miriam Hawley said she opposed either public financing proposal because she believed voters would likely be barraged with ballot measures requesting tax hikes for more pressing needs, including library services and school funding. “We’re asking people to make terrible choices,” she said. “I’d hate to see people choose this [public election financing] over schools.” 

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak called Bates’ full funding plan, “an incumbent protection act.” To level the ground for candidates challenging better known incumbents, he proposed granting challengers more money. He also wanted public funding extended to ballot measures and have staff study increasing councilmember salaries.  

“This job doesn’t pay enough to attract good younger candidates, which is why most of us are so old,” he said. 

Proponents of fully funded elections, including Bates, Kriss Worthington and Dona Spring, had hoped that a vote last January by the Fair Campaigns Practices Commission—approving in principle the concept of Berkeley publicly financing local elections—would help catapult the issue past the council. But when councilmembers offered vastly different opinions Tuesday, Bates told Worthington, “I don’t think the votes are here tonight to do this,” and the matter was put over to staff. 

To get a measure on the November ballot, the council has to approve a plan by July. 

If the council fails to reach a consensus, proponents of fully financed elections might take matters into their own hands. “We’re considering a signature drive if [the council] doesn’t move very soon,” said Sam Ferguson a UC Berkeley student and co-founder of the Berkeley Fair Election Coalition. He added his group hadn’t settled on how they would fund the program if they tried put it on the November ballot. 

The council did reject one election plan. On a 4-5 vote (Bates, Maio, Worthington, Breland and Spring voting no) they killed a more modest election reform proposed by Councilmember Wozniak that would have asked staff to prepare a ballot measure increasing maximum campaign contributions from $250 to $500 for mayoral campaigns.  

In non-election news, the council, amid much confusion, rejected the most stringent regulations proposed by Councilmember Spring to tighten rules for developers who offer cultural space in return for height bonuses for new buildings.  

Spring’s side could only muster four votes (Spring, Worthington, Breland and Maio) to have the planning and civic arts commissions consider provisions that would have prevented developers from renting or selling the additional housing until the cultural space was filled, make the cultural space available only for public venues, and give the city power to force a developer to find a new tenant for the space if part of it has been vacant for more than six months. 

For a fleeting moment, Spring won the vote on the latter two issues, with support from Councilmember Hawley. After Mayor Bates pointed out she had accidently voted to support Spring, Hawley, who appeared confused about what her earlier “yes” vote had implied, asked for a motion to reconsider. Hawley then reversed her vote on the commission referral matters, siding with Bates and Councilmember Betty Olds in opposition. Councilmembers Wozniak and Shirek abstained. 

Spring’s proposal was sparked by public complaint about the Gaia Building, owned by Panoramic Interests, which was two extra stories by the city of Berkeley as mitigation for a proposed cultural space. While there are current plans to move a cultural tenant into the building, the cultural space has remained vacant in the three years since the downtown mixed-use project was completed. 

At its 4:30 pm working session preceding its regular meeting, the council heard a report from Planning Director Dan Marks on proposed changes to the city’s Creeks Ordinance. 

At the council’s request, the City Attorney’s office had earlier presented two proposed amendments to the ordinance, one that would prevent new development within 30 feet of a creek within the city limits, a second that would address the issue of single family homes destroyed by natural disaster. At Monday’s workshop, Marks expanded on those topics, including proposed areas for the Council to discuss such as an appropriate distance to set back developments from creeks and what position the city should take towards creek daylighting. 

The Council is not expected to take up formal discussion of proposed changes in the creek ordinance until later this year.  

Back in the Black 

The Berkeley Girl Scout Troop, robbed of $150 in cookie sales Monday afternoon, will apparently not suffer a financial loss because of the experience. 

Teresa Beglinger of East Bay Tow reimbursed the troop in 10-dollar bills, five-dollar bills and quarters, so they could make change for future customers, said Troop Leader Jane Stillwater. She added that Beglinger is just one of several local residents quick to offer help to Berkeley Troop 3983.  

The troop was selling cookies at Center Street and Shattuck Avenue after school Monday when two robbers staged a fight in front of them, while a third robber raced off with the cash box. 

Berkeley Police Department Spokesperson Kevin Schofield said the men were chased and dropped much of the money as they were fleeing. 

Employees at MPR Associates have also raised money to cover the troop’s loses, Stillwater said. 

The troop has sold over 40,000 boxes of cookies since they were Brownies and have saved their proceeds for a planned Caribbean Cruise. 

Armed Robbery No. 1 

Two men robbed a 20-year-old Berkeley resident at gunpoint just after midnight Tuesday at the corner of Parker and Regent streets.  

Two men, also armed with guns, robbed an 18-year-old Berkeley resident of a wallet and CD player Monday night on the 2000 block of Center Street. 

Rosa Parks Vandalism 

Vandals trashed and spray painted a classroom at Rosa Parks Elementary sometime last weekend, Berkeley Police Spokesperson Schofield said. School officials found the room in disarray early Monday morning.

The City of Berkeley has issued a rabies alert after a bat infected with rabies was removed from the 2300 block of Warring Street on Monday. 

Berkeley Animal Control Services cautions that unvaccinated and dogs and cats, as well as such wild animals foxes, coyotes, badgers, weasels, raccoons, and can carry the rabies virus. In Berkeley, bats and skunks are the most likely to affected.  

In Oakland in recent years, raccoons have been migrating from the woods and open fields in the hills areas down into the urban community. 

Rabies is almost always fatal in humans if left untreated. Berkeley Animal Control Services cautions that dead animals should never be handled and any nocturnal animal such as skunks, bats or gray foxes, that are seen during the day should be considered dangerous. 

Residents are also advised to educate their children about the dangers of wild animals. For more information or to report a case, call Animal Control Services at 981-6600, Monday through Sunday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. 

The terror attacks in Madrid have done more than put Europe on warning and shake up Spain’s politics. Because of deep historical and emotional ties to Madrid, the entire Spanish-speaking world now feels directly implicated in the 21st century dilemma of how to respond to terrorism. Struggling to make sense of the deadly bombing that struck the traditional heart of Hispanic culture, Spanish-language media on both sides of the Atlantic adopted their own typographical shorthand for the catastrophic event: 11-M. 

The abbreviation, like 9/11, refers to a date, March 11, when bombs ripped through several morning rush-hour commuter trains in Madrid. But 11-M also encompasses the aftermath: the millions-strong peace protests that followed, and general elections three days later that brought a new government to Spain and reconfigured the worldwide war on terror. 

The full meaning of 11-M is being debated far beyond Madrid. Latin American media, and U.S.-based media catering to the country’s over 40 million Hispanic residents have already adopted 11-M as a new symbol for terrorism. 

In a report headlined simply “11-M,” published in the Acapulco, Mexico, daily newspaper Sur, Arturo Martínez Núñez wrote that 11-M appropriately conveys the gravity of the attacks, for the letter “M” also begins the Spanish words for death, “muerte,” and evil, “mal.” 

Many Spanish-speakers responded to the attack as their first direct taste of terror. Editorials on 11-M often referred to Spain as “la Madre Patria,” the Motherland, and referenced even more immediate bonds than just language and timeworn colonial connections. Blood ties, the product of immigration, also bind Latin America to Madrid. It’s not uncommon for Latin American families to have relatives living both in Spain and the United States. 

Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Cuba, Honduras and El Salvador were among the many countries mourning their emigrants killed in the bombings—evidence that Madrid’s working-class neighborhoods are teeming with New World migrants as well as North Africans. 

In a letter titled “The Open Veins of Spain,” published March 15 by Miami Spanish-language daily El Nuevo Herald, María José Garmendí wrote: “The Spain that bleeds today is a Spain that belongs to everyone. It is the Spain that has opened itself to receive all its kin from Latin America (as well as) its Arab ancestors...” 

Much in the way “post-9/11” symbolizes a world changed after the Sept. 11 attacks, 11-M in some quarters is beginning to represent a different way of responding to terrorism, one that stresses peace over bellicosity and calibrated responses instead of an all-consuming world war against a shadowy foe. 

The Spanish electorate, says commentator Luis Bruschtein in the March 16 Buenos Aires daily Página 12, has pointed in a new direction by electing a dovish leader to head their government just days after the deadly bombings. The voters’ decision was “so admirable,” Bruschtein writes, “because they voted against war when the most primitive impulse would have been to seek revenge.” In this way, Spaniards “have discredited the supposed liberating and religious morality of the attackers and have put them in their place as common criminals.” 

In Mexico City daily El Universal, opinion writer Alberto Aziz Nassif put the same idea this way: “To put out a fire one does not continue to toss gasoline on it.” 

This 11-M inspired wave of solidarity toward Spain’s new alignment is partly motivated by what Argentina’s interior minister described as the “ideological affinity” that Spain’s new leader, a socialist, shares with many Latin American governments. 

Immediately after his election victory, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced he would stand firm against terror but would pull Spanish forces out of Iraq, barring U.N. intervention. His announcement almost immediately repaired a rift over Iraq that has complicated Iberian-Latin American relations for over a year.  

With few exceptions, the region’s governments, including key players like Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, share Zapatero’s belief that the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq was wrong and a misguided strategy for stifling terror. 

Even former staunch U.S. allies were suddenly reconsidering their terror war tack in the wake of 11-M. Honduras, which sent hundreds of troops to Iraq, announced a pullout too, despite the Central American nation’s desperate need to stay on Washington’s good side for aid and immigration favors. Guatemala and El Salvador are also now reconsidering their troop commitments. Meanwhile, bombings and attacks are again flaring up in Iraq, near the one-year anniversary of the Iraq war’s start. 

“Winds of change” are blowing across the Atlantic, according to a March 16 editorial in New York Spanish-language daily El Diario/La Prensa. It’s not yet clear how U.S. Hispanics, for whom both 9/11 and 11-M resonate strongly, will react. Polls have shown them to be more disapproving of the Iraq war than the general population. Spain’s new political configuration, and the fact that the Bush administration is more isolated than ever internationally suggest that U.S. Hispanics may begin to object more strongly to President Bush’s anti-terror policies. 11-M and its effect on U.S. politics is, at the least, an important new variable in this year’s election. 

Marcelo Ballve is an editor at Pacific News Service.

Editor’s Note: A 14-year-old Oakland, Calif., resident who’s father was shot to death interviews her friends about what they think causes all the violence in “Tha Town.” 

OAKLAND, Calif—I feel that Oakland was meant to be this way—people killing each other—because it doesn’t seem to stop. I’ve lived in Oakland since I was 3 years old. I’m 14 now. 

Looking at the pictures of those who died really scares me. Recently the Oakland Tribune printed the names and pictures of “Tha Town’s” murder victims in 2003, with a map showing the street location of the homicides. Most of the murders happened in East and West Oakland, and most of the victims were African American, but Asians, Latinos and others are also affected by Oakland’s bloodshed. 

Last year, there were 114 murders in Oakland.  

I feel really sorry for those who died. It hurts me inside. We may be separated by different colors but we still are the same people.  

I know because I lost my dad when I was 3 years old—and he was Vietnamese. I will never know how it feels to have a real father around. You know how my dad died? Someone shot him and my uncle. 

I wish I had been there. I want to know who killed my dad. What did he do wrong? He was just a daddy waiting to go home to his wife and his little daughter.  

My dad was killed in his car on 69th Avenue in East Oakland. All my family knows is that someone shot him and my uncle. My mother believes that kind people die young, but people who are evil and cruel live long lives.  

I asked some young people I know if they feel safe in Oakland. I know I don’t feel safe in my neighborhood at all, and neither do many of my friends. All I do is stay home, because I know if I step out the house the streets will turn me into someone my mom wouldn’t recognize.  

Maria, 14, is Chinese. She’s tall, brown-eyed and hyper. We stay in the same neighborhood, the “Murda Dubs,” the neighborhood in the 20-something Avenues.  

“I don’t feel really safe around my neighborhood. There have been at least three homicides around my streets. It’s gotten to the point where I think killing is an everyday normal agenda. I am prepared to die in the streets any second,” Maria says. 

Leslie, 14, is Mexican. She’s pretty and always has a smile on her face. She lives in East Oakland too. She says, “Sometimes I get scared to walk home because there a lot of people dealing with drugs out in my neighborhood all the time.” 

Ana, 14, lives in East Oakland. She is Salvadorian and has long curly hair. Her neighborhood is hectic. “People have been killed around the corner from my house. People have been beat up for money,” she says. “I can’t even go to the park ‘cause there are freaks who are disrespectful. It’s not a good place for a child to grow up in.” 

I wondered what my friends thought about the fact that black people do most of the dying in Oakland. 

“[It’s not just] Blacks but Asians too. There are also a lot of Mexicans that are killed. It’s not a big deal to Oakland, but I think everyone who lives in Oakland should care. If you don’t care or give a damn, what kind of person are you?” says Lil’ Tone, 17. Tone is Vietnamese and Cambodian. He’s tall and plays football for Oakland High.  

Ana had no idea most of Tha Town’s murder victims are black, but she adds, “I think that black people are crazier than other races. Not to put it out there, it’s just what I think.” 

Still, she says non-black people should be concerned. “I think everyone should care, because what if the person who died is in your family and they die for no reason? You would want people to care.” 

Leslie thinks the murders touch everybody. “I don’t think [murder] affects just black people. I know other races have been killed. It doesn’t mean Oakland only kills black people, it’s just that there more black people out there doing wild stuff.” 

I don’t know why people are killing each other in Oakland. Maria thinks it’s because of the cycle of violence. “Most of the killers probably lived a cruel life and didn’t get a good education,” she says. 

Rosie Nguyen is a student at Met West High School in Oakland and an intern at YO! Youth Outlook, a magazine by and for Bay Area youth and a Pacific News Service project. 

Å

On Friday afternoon of last week, apparently without warning to Burbank administrators, workers from the Oakland Unified School District’s central office demolished a portable building and the mural that had decorated it for several years. The work was done in full view of students present for after-school activities. State Administrator Randolph Ward said later that the portable had long been scheduled for demolition, and its destruction had nothing to do with the possible pending closure school.  

Burbank is one of five Oakland schools tentatively slated to be closed down next June by Ward, who has been running the Oakland school system since it was taken over by the state last year. 

An ad hoc group of parents organized to save the school issued a release stating that “young students and teachers arrived [at Burbank] Monday morning to find the ruins of their buildings still on the playground, with huge trucks and equipment finishing off the remains. Children and adults alike were devastated and disoriented by the inexplicable disappearance of their school buildings. The children are asking if the rest of the school will be torn down around them.” 

Following a Monday evening meeting, a group of Burbank teachers passed out a leaflet noting that “earlier in the week [that the portable was destroyed], people came from the District offices to Burbank and without notice, visited classrooms with video cameras and note pads and started recording teachers’ equipment, supplies and inventory as a part of the closure process. The combination of both events and the fact that there was no notification of either resulted in the teachers feeling more than frustrated with the lack of knowledge about what’s going on.” 

Ward has said that a final decision on the closing of Burbank and the four other schools is still under consideration.›

The U.S. government just released the first trade figures for this year, showing a whopping $43.1 billion deficit for January – an all-time high. More than a quarter of that was with China, whose trade deficit with the United States expanded to $11.5 billion. During the normally staid annual Senate hearing March 9 on trade policy, Republican members pushed Robert Zoellich, the U.S. trade representative, to be tougher on China. That’s what a lot of Democrats want, too. Think again.  

China and other Asian countries are saving a lot and spending relatively little. America, by contrast, saves almost nothing and buys a lot. In other words, we’re living high on the hog, way beyond our means. They’re living low on the hog, arguably way below theirs.  

If you hadn’t noticed, American consumers are deep in debt, and the American government is deep in debt. A large part of the reason we can keep binging is that China and other Asian nations continue to support our habit. They keep buying American assets and lending us money. For the last two years, for example, money flows from Asia into U.S. government securities covered two-thirds of the $650 billion growth in the public debt of the United States.  

It’s like a drunk who’s offered drink after drink by a teetotaler. Finished? Have another. You can’t stand up? Oh, that’s okay. Here, have another.  

Who’s to blame? Well, you could say that they’re to blame for giving us more and more booze. At least, that seems to be the way Washington wants to view it. In yesterday’s trade hearings on Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans alike criticized China for keeping its currency artificially low, which makes its exports cheaper. Treasury Secretary John Snow recently vowed to hold China’s “feet to the fire” to get it to raise its currency.  

But there’s another way to look at this. The reason China’s and other Asian currencies are low relative to the dollar is that these countries have been propping up the dollar by pouring so much money into America. If they stopped supporting our habit, we’d have to sober up.  

If they stopped sending us their money, the results would in fact be sobering. The value of the dollar would plummet, and long-term interest rates in America would soar. American consumers and the federal government would have no choice but to stop binging. We’d be in for a real shock.  

Problem is, there’s no 12-step program for a drunken nation like ours.  

Mr. Reich, former secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, is professor of social and economic policy at Brandeis and the author of "Reason: Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America," out in May from Knopf

San Francisco police are letting people know today that the downtown area may be subject to congestion and delays—particularly for drivers—due to anti-war protests starting Friday morning. 

The first planned gathering begins at 7 a.m. at Justin Herman Plaza at the foot of Market Street, according to Officer Maria Oropeza, with likely protest activity spreading out through the Financial District and toward Civic Center as it did last year. 

Oropeza said “plenty of officers”' would be out both facilitating the exercise of free speech rights for those objecting to the U.S. military presence in Iraq and keeping the streets safe.  

“We are a very patient police department,” she said, “but when people cross into civil disobedience and the disruption of work we have to afford the general public their right to function, as well.” 

More than 2,000 people were arrested in spring 2003 weekday demonstrations that shut down many intersections and freeway ramps at times, but nearly all the charges were later dropped. 

This time, Deputy Chief Greg Suhr has gone on the record telling potential demonstrators that police don't plan to accept the same level of  

chaos. “No, you're not going to shut down San Francisco,'” he said. 

On Saturday, a major march from Dolores Park to Civic Center is planned at midday, with the route along Market Street between Valencia Street and Van Ness Avenue, Oropeza said. Once the Civic Center rally begins around 2 p.m., she said Market Street would most likely be cleared for traffic. 

—Bay City News›

UC Regent Ward Connerly deserves some mention, both for something he recently said, and for something about which he was pointedly silent. 

First, the said part. 

When students apply to the University of California system, they have the option of checking a box to denote their race. The requested information is voluntary, and is supposed to be used for statistical purposes only. For the past 15 years or so, as the multi-racial, multi-ethnic movement has begun to gain ground in this country, UC has given students the option of checking more than one box. If Tiger Woods had applied to UC under that system, for one example, he would have been able to check both “African-American” and “Thai.” 

Well and good. But when it comes time for the UC system to make reports to the federal government on the number of students attending its schools from individual races, federal regulations require that the university arbitrarily assign Mr. Woods to either one checked race, or another. The university makes the choice, a situation which hovers between the ludicrous and the impossible, since by what criteria can a university employee—smart as they are—make a decision on whether Mr. Woods is more Thai or more black, when he is equal parts of both? 

The logic would be for the federal government to allow for the split-the-baby solution: one-half of such a student assigned to one race, one-half assigned to another. But to paraphrase the great “Men In Black” line, the federal government does not exercise any logic of which it is aware. 

So instead, our friend Mr. Connerly has asked that his fellow UC regents include a new box for students to check—“multi-ethnic”—and thereafter lobby the federal government to change its race-reporting requirements to allow for the new category. Mr. Connerly, who campaigned for the late-deceased Prop 54 on the platform of doing away with such race-reporting boxes, now tells a reporter “I don’t like the boxes, but I’m accepting that as a given. But if you’re going to have the boxes, give people a choice to accurately depict how they perceive themselves.” 

Mr. Connerly is onto something here, and if the proposal were being advanced by anyone other than Mr. Connerly, my progressive and liberal friends would almost certainly be a bit quicker to embrace the concept. They (my progressive and liberal friends) like to be known, after all, for being the champions of the unchampioned minority, and no one in the world is more a minority than someone born of parents of different races. 

The problem, of course, is in the numbers. Money and political power in America is often apportioned out by how many numbers is assigned to individual races, leading to a scramble for everyone to sign folks up to their team. Some years ago, before his late extramarital troubles, President Clinton proposed a national discussion on the issue of race. Such a discussion is still in order, but only if we can conduct it like adults, and without all the attendant shouting and poking of fingers in the air. I don’t know if Mr. Connerly’s multi-ethnic category is the answer. But it’s as good a place as any to start the discussion. 

Anyway, on to what Mr. Connerly didn’t say. 

Last week, in an article entitled “UC Reveals Admissions Disparities,” the Oakland Tribune informed us of two things: The number of African-American and Latino students has “plummeted” since the Connerly-initiated ban on affirmative action kicked in, and that African-American and Latino students are being admitted to the UC system at “slightly higher rates” than “similarly qualified” white and Asian applicants. 

The plummeting of the numbers of blacks and Latinos in the UC system was taken as being normal. 

The possibility that “similarly qualified” blacks and Latinos were getting a “slightly higher” jump on their white and Asian friends warranted an investigation, to make sure nothing wrong was being done. 

“We want to determine whether it’s part of the ‘statistical noise’ that occurs in these types of models, or whether it appears the unintentional (racial) patterns are still being exercised in campus admissions policies,” the Tribune quoted Bruce Darling, UC’s senior vice president of university affairs. 

The “discrepancy,” it appears, if one reads the fine print of the Tribune article, is that a UC “model study” predicted how many students of each major race “ought” to be getting into the university, and then noted that the actual numbers were not exactly what the “model study” predicted what they “ought” to be. At UC Berkeley, for example, the study predicted that 32.6 percent of white applicants should have been admitted. Only 32.1 percent of them got in. The difference was slightly larger for Asian students: 34 percent expected, 32 percent admitted. 

One would have thought that such a study of racial percentages would have brought howls of protest out of our good friend, Mr. Connerly, who, after all, has made quite a career in recent years of castigating progressives and civil rights advocates for using race-based statistics to advance their causes. One is tempted to make the conclusion that Mr. Connerly only gets agitated about racial statistics when (coincidentally) they are used to get African-Americans and Latinos in, but is not so exorcised when (again, coincidentally) such statistics are used to keep African-Americans and Latinos out. But perhaps, after all, that is only a coincidence, Mr. Connerly was busy that day, and did not see the news reports. He has time, now, to make amends, if he so chooses. 

But Mr. Connerly, after all, is not really the point here, is he? 

We are merrily—and quite openly and consciously—letting our race attitudes presumptions hang out here, for all the world to see. Does the Tribune run headlines—and do investigations ensue—if African-American and Latino participation falls slightly below the “expected” in some category? If so, we would probably be able to talk about nothing else. And if African-American and Latino students are getting into the UC system in slightly larger numbers than “predicted,” the prevailing presumption is that such a situation cannot have resulted for reasons of merit—greater drive and motivation because such students come from more difficult circumstances, perhaps, or better demonstrated leadership qualities?—but only because of some hidden, unfair advantage. Maybe such suspicions linger because so many of my good white friends (and relatives) know how such a system might operate. 

ˇ

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 

• 

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 

• 

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 

• 

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 

• 

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 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

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 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

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 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

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 

ˇ

It’s a firm belief of mine—and I can’t help but believe that my Berkeley neighbors share it as well—that people in neighborhoods other than where I hang out are as entitled to walk down their neighborhood streets in safety, as I am in my neighborhood. If that other neighborhood happens to be located in Kabul’s busy streets, or near Cambodia’s rice paddies, or in any of the thousands of neighborhoods in the 71 countries around the world where over 100 million landmines are buried, that doesn’t change my far-off neighbors’ entitlement to walk in safety. It’s just that in fact they can’t—and don’t—not in their neighborhood.  

The problem for my far-distant neighbors is nothing less than the imminent possibility of death or a diminished life. Dismemberment may permit survival but not much more than that of what’s considered a decent life. Dismemberment happens often, especially to my neighbors’ kids—in Mozambique, for example, where my neighbors’ kids who are just old enough to tend the family cow are not quite old enough to keep the cow from wandering into tall grass where left-over landmines still lurk. In Bosnia, an 8-year-old came into this world after the war ended in 1995 and so was never shot at by snipers when she walked through her neighborhood to buy the day’s bread; these days in her neighborhood, if she makes a wrong step, she stands the risk of getting blown up by a leftover stray mine. 

Danger signs with skulls and crossbones often warn people and animals to stay away from unexploded landmine sites in their neighborhood. But the signs are aged and fading, and they command less attention than they did when everyone’s body-memory of armed conflict was fresh. My friend’s neighborhood in Angola has had those scary warning signs for years—for decades, even—and she’s feeling mighty frustrated and discouraged about the toll that landmines continue to take of her neighbors and how little anyone seems to care. She wonders how much she can do, what steps she can take, to ensure that neighborhood kids stay safe and whole now, when the enemy is no longer formally the enemy, the war has been declared over, but the mines near their neighborhood go on wreaking terrible damage. 

Landmines maim or kill approximately 26,000 civilians every year. Between 8,000 and 10,000 of those victims are children. The victims who survive endure a lifetime of physical, emotional, and economic hardship. In mine-affected countries, medical care is expensive and often unavailable; most countries are able to fill less than one-fourth of their annual prosthetic requirements. Landmine victims who end up unable to work become a financial burden on their families. Some are ostracized by their communities. As for their ability to make a living, mine-infested land is unusable for agriculture or habitation. 

From January 2002 to June 2003, there were new landmine casualties in 65 countries. The majority (41) of these countries were not even at war; only 15 percent of reported casualties were military personnel. The number of injured survivors continues to grow in every affected region of the world, yet the assistance available for the rehabilitation and reintegration of landmine victims into society is hopelessly inadequate. 

The Bay Area has for a long time attracted refugees fleeing for their lives. My Afghan neighbors in Fremont know about that, with relatives still being dismembered or killed in their neighborhoods in Afghanistan. My Serb friends, living still in the neighborhood where they were born and went to school and where their parents were born and went to school, received a small ray of hope last June. The parliament of Serbia and Montenegro passed legislation to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty. My Sudanese neighbors still in their old neighborhood in Khartoum were glad to hear that in May 2003, the Council of Ministers officially and unanimously endorsed the Mine Ban Treaty transmitted it to Parliament for ratification. And in Iraq, U.S. soldiers have perished in these months since the “major fighting” was declared over. Peace accords, cease-fires, humanitarian pauses—none of those procedures can guarantee safe passage across a field being farmed for the family’s basic food needs. 

What about getting rid of the mines? No single technology is able to detect all types of mines, because landmines come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and are made from a variety of materials. The international community, including both public and private sectors, is working to improve current technologies to make the mine clearance process safer, faster, and more effective. Here in our Northern California neighborhood, Rep. Woolsey announced the introduction of legislation, the Roots of Peace Act of 2003 (H.R. 2299), that would authorize $10 million to help defuse unexploded mines in agricultural lands of formerly war-torn countries. The Bush administration just announced a new landmine policy, but has not changed its policy of staying aloof from the rest of the countries committed to abandoning the use of landmines. 

Wars make headlines, but the continuing curse of landmines goes unheralded and will persist in our global society’s neighborhoods until we eradicate all landmines, present and future. 

Rita Maran, Ph.D., is president of the United Nations Association-USA East Bay Chapter . 

›

IRV WITH PAPER BALLOTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Berkeley can implement Instant Runoff Voting in the elections this fall if the will is there. Run the elections for City Council separately. Print paper ballots for the city offices and have voters in each voting location mark the ballots using the instant-runoff system, where they indicate a rank for each candidate: (“1” for their first preference, “2” for the next, and so on). The ballots can then be counted by volunteers, with other volunteers watching the count to ensure accuracy. There can be several sets of volunteers do the counting in parallel to do it faster.  

One way to do the count would have sheets of paper with the candidates in columns and the ranks in rows. Suppose there are three candidates, Alphy, Betty, and Gammy. Each name would be at the top of a column. There would be four rows, for rank 1, 2, 3, and unranked. So there would be 12 boxes in total. For example, one box would be “Betty, rank 2.”  

For each ballot, a volunteer would call out the candidates and ranks, and another volunteer would mark the appropriate boxes on the sheet. The ballot would be handed to third volunteer to verify the accuracy. When all the votes are counted, a volunteer would telephone to City Hall the totals for each candidate and rank, 12 numbers in this case. These would be entered into a computer program that would calculate the result. 

The ballots would then be sealed in a box and delivered to city hall. This can be done with little cost using volunteers. Rather than wait for the county and state to catch up with Berkeley, let’s lead and do it ourselves! Why not! 

Fred Foldvary 

• 

IRV FLAWS NOT DEBATABLE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On March 2, Berkeley residents voted overwhelmingly for Measure I, empowering the City Council to replace our antiquated, 18th-century voting system with a more modern procedure. Make no mistake: This is a victory for democracy, and we can hope that future elections will produce results that better reflect the will of the people.  

But not necessarily. 

Measure I does not specify the system that will be used to replace our traditional “plurality voting” system. It leaves that detail to the City Council. It is clear, however, that the authors of Measure I prefer the “single transferable vote” system known as Instant Runoff Voting. IRV has a great deal of political momentum, and its proponents portray it as an electoral silver bullet. They claim that IRV will immunize us from “spoiler candidates,” and create a system where we are all free to vote our minds, without ever having to worry about accidentally voting against our own interests. This is far from the truth. In fact: 

• IRV does not eliminate the effect of spoiler candidates. It merely raises the bar of popularity that a candidate must achieve before he or she becomes a spoiler. 

• Under IRV, if you mark your favorite candidate “1,” you could still end up handing the victory to a candidate you dislike. 

• Under IRV, by marking your favorite candidate “1,” you could end up producing a worse result than if you had stayed home and not voted at all. Not even our traditional “plurality” system can go that wrong. 

These flaws are not debatable political points; they are provable mathematical facts. IRV proponents try to belittle them by saying they are unlikely to happen. The truth is we don’t know when or how often these flaws will manifest. It could be next year, next decade, or next century. When it happens, will we be brave enough to seek out an even better system than IRV, or will we retreat to our traditional system, however flawed it may be? 

There are many alternatives to IRV that we might consider, and the one I advocate is Approval Voting. The idea behind Approval Voting is simple: on a traditional ballot, vote for as many (or as few) candidates as you like. Most votes wins. Approval Voting always elects the candidate acceptable to the most voters, and is truly invulnerable to “spoiler” candidates. Because Approval Voting is such a small change from our current system, it is simple to understand and inexpensive to implement. Approval Voting can be implemented without any changes to current voting hardware and software; if we wanted to, we could implement it tomorrow. To the 20,000-plus Berkeley voters who voted for Measure I, I ask: If you could implement cheaper and better voting reform than IRV, and have it sooner, why wouldn’t you? 

By all means, don’t take my word for it. I encourage all voters to do their own research into alternative voting systems. On the Internet, there is an excellent article on Approval Voting at http://alum.mit.edu/ne/whatmatters/200211/, and a comparison of various systems can be found at www.electionmethods.org.  

Our current system is like the proverbial broken clock: It’s right twice a day, but it’s still broken. In our haste to replace it, let’s not choose a clock that’s only right three times a day. When deciding how to best implement Measure I, I urge the councilmembers and voters of Berkeley to consider all the available alternatives, including Approval Voting. Let’s get it right the first time. 

Marc LeBlanc 

Member, Citizens for Approval Voting›

The large mural, Berkeley—the City and Its People, which for more than 30 years has graced the City Council chamber, can now be seen in the fine Romare Bearden retrospective at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  

The show opened last October at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the first solo exhibition featuring an African-American artist in the gallery’s 62-year history. In addition, the New York Times devoted an editorial to this show. Only Vermeer has been given such prominence in recent memory. 

Bearden’s work fully justifies this attention. It is unique, powerful and evocative. It deals with memory and life as he experienced it: his childhood in North Carolina; his youth in New York during the Harlem Renaissance when men like W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson and Duke Ellington were guests at his parents’ house.  

The syncopation of jazz is a major element characterizing his collages and Photostats from early on to his 1985 album cover for Winton Marsalis’ Mood, a tune which, in turn, was inspired by Bearden’s collages. In addition to jazz, Romare Bearden was inspired by a multiple of forms in art from African sculpture to Vermeer, Rembrandt and Matisse—from Dada collages, social realist paintings—from Greek mythology to Zen. Above all, his style is part of the Modernist tradition of Cubist collage, which he made his own. 

In 1945 when he returned from army service in World War II, Bearden went back to his job as a social worker in New York. There, he was witness to the lives of the impoverished, who remained a recurrent theme in his work. The strength of his collages lies in the fusion of the social content and modernist form. 

After studying with George Grosz at the Art Students League, Bearden worked in the prevailing Abstract Expressionist mode from 1955 to 1962. This period is something this carefully curated ex-hibition seems to pass over. At any rate, it was when he em-braced collage as his proper medium that Bearden did his finest work. A student of Zen precepts, his approach was intuitive, but he abandoned Abstract Ex-pressionist gesture painting as too visceral for his purpose. He found his strength in an organic merging of pasted cut-outs with overpainting. 

In the late 1960s, Bearden created deeply moving collages which addressed the life of African Americans in his native Mecklinburg County, North Carolina (Charlotte). They depict cotton pickers, people talking, trains passing and the rituals of baptism, burials and conjur women. Ralph Ellison called them “abiding rituals and ceremonies of affirmations.” Bearden did not portray specific individuals, but created figures that appear like archetypes of the world in which he was born. In a 1979 interview he pointed out that Mecklinburg County was, for him, what Dublin was for James Joyce: the place of the artist’s roots. 

In 1963 Bearden was instrumental in starting the “Spiral” black artists group which facilitated the meeting of black artists. The group initially was active in supporting the civil rights movement; it later turned its attention to the debate over definitions of the black aesthetic.  

Bearden began exhibiting and selling his work in prestigious galleries around the Spiral group time, and in 1971 the Museum of Modern Art in New York honored him with a solo show, called Prevalence of Ritual. The show was booked (by this author) for the Berkeley Art Museum, which led to Bearden’s commission for the City Hall mural. Bearden spent more than a week in Berkeley, meeting with its citizens, drawing and photographing what he saw, absorbing much of the city’s life. Returning to his studio in New York, he produced a truly outstanding work of public art. It may well be the largest collage in existence. More than that, it is a grand image of Berkeley, the Bay and above all, its people with four profile heads in different colors on the bottom of the picture. Many people may not be aware that Berkeley’s logo is derived from this mural.  

Still in remarkably good condition, the mural was taken to the National Gallery, where it occupied the place of honor. In San Francisco in a rather crowded installation, it can be seen until May 16. The mural will travel from there to Dallas, to the Whitney Museum in New York, and then to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, where the traveling show concludes in April 2005. After that, the Bearden City Hall mural will return home to Berkeley. 



For many generations, the Jewish musicians of Eastern Europe played the raucous, emotionally charged dance music called klezmer. They absorbed the Slavic, Gypsy and Turkish musical styles of their neighbors into their own music and invested their playing with a soulful intensity. This coming week, as the Berkeley Jewish Music Festival (BJMF) begins its annual celebration of Jewish music from around the world, the focus will be on klezmer, celebrating its passing from one generation to the next and its connection to Berkeley itself.  

Festival Director Ellie Shapiro explains that this year’s BJMF is “a great immersion course in klezmer music. The range is from pioneer Jewish folklorists to classic Philadelphia klezmer to David Krakauer, who’s taken klezmer as the root and used it to create new music that integrates jazz and hip-hop.” 

Clarinetist Krakauer brings his band Klezmer Madness! to Wheeler Auditorium on Saturday, March 20 at 8 p.m. Krakauer is a versatile virtuoso who has soloed with the New York Philharmonic and Kronos Quartet, and is a fixture of New York’s jazz avant-garde. He plays with a mastery of the highly vocal inflection of klezmer clarinet, and his formidable band is sure to raise the roof at Wheeler.  

Krakauer is steeped in Jewish musical traditions, but he’s also pushing klezmer into the future, augmenting his band with electric guitar and bass, and more recently, the hip-hop sampling of DJ So-Called, aka Josh Dolgin.  

Krakauer explains, “Adding the electric guitar, not only does it give it the sound of modernity, but I also realized that the raw energy of the electric guitar brought my music closer to the music of the 1920s, that had that raw, rough element to it.” 

Krakauer’s band has strong Bay Area connections, with bassist Trevor Dunn, who was active in the local jazz scene for many years, and guitarist Sheryl Bailey, who teaches at the Stanford Jazz Workshop each summer.  

From his home in Montreal, Dolgin discussed his contribution to the band. “I sample old Jewish sources and I try to get authentic Jewish kind of grooves looping. Hip-hop should be about representing who you are. So I couldn’t make music about being a gangster, I had to talk about Jewish stuff, because that’s what I am.”  

Two events spotlight the heritage of Philadelphia klezmer and that city’s remarkable Hoffman family, a musical dynasty stretching back to 19th Century Ukraine. The third and fourth generations of family musicians, drummer Elaine Hoffman Watts and her daughter, along with trumpeter Susan Watts, will lead a jam session on Thursday, March 25 at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center. All instruments and skill levels are welcome. Two nights later, on Saturday, March 27, they’ll close the festival with a Philly Klezmer Swing Dance Party at 8 p.m. at the Crowden Music Center at Rose and Sacramento. Jewish dance and swing expert Steven Weintraub offers a pre-party dance lesson at 6:30 p.m. 

Now in her seventies, Elaine Hoffman Watts discussed her family legacy. “My grandfather, Joseph Hoffman, came to America in the early 1900s,” Watts says. “He wrote two books of music by hand that he remembered from Russia, just great music, and it was popular in Philadelphia at that time. Every city had its own distinct klezmer because they all came from different places and they all brought different music from their shtetls.”  

Beginning in the 1950s, she says, “American Jews wanted to be Americans, they didn’t want klezmer, and that music died out. But thank God, we have people who brought it back. It’s gorgeous music. Susan and I will be playing some of the music that my grandfather wrote when we come to California.” 

The dance party also reveals Berkeley’s special role in bringing the music back to life. Shapiro explains, “The whole klezmer revival started at the North Berkeley branch of the public library with the first concert of The Klezmorim,” the 1970s band that spearheaded the music’s revival. A former member of The Klezmorim, Sheldon Brown, a well-known local clarinetist, will play at the Swing Dance Party.  

Folk music legend and longtime Berkeley resident Ronnie Gilbert performs on Sunday, March 21 at the JCC. In the 1950s, Gilbert was a member of the Weavers, whose version of the Hebrew folksong Tzena, Tzena sold two million copies in 1951 and sparked the era’s folk music revival.  

Gilbert suffered during the era of the McCarthy blacklist because of her radical politics, but continued to pursue both music and activism. As Shapiro notes, “She’s the daughter of a Yiddish-speaking union activist. Her life story is of a generation of people who grew up with very strong politics integrated with their art, and being Jewish was just part of the gestalt of that world.” Gilbert’s show, A Radical Life With Songs, will feature a rich selection of stories and music from her remarkable life. 

On March 23, a program at the JCC called Back To The Source offers audiences a rare chance to discover early documents of Jewish music in pre-Soviet Russia. The talk and musical demonstration will be presented by Dr. Izaly Zemtsovsky (a former UC visiting professor and leading expert on Russian Jewish music) and by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Michael Alpert. 

Although the focus is on klezmer, the festival is presenting an additional series of concerts, films, and talks that highlight the diversity of Jewish music, from Argentina to Azerbaijan. As Shapiro says, “We pride ourselves on being a festival of Jewish world music, so even though this year we’re focusing on klezmer, we have nine additional events that represent other kinds of music as well.” 

The Berkeley Jewish Music Festival runs March 20-27. Information and tickets are available at (925)866-9599 or www.brjcc.org.  

Just like your family, houses are full of things that need annual (and sometimes more frequent) checkups. Gutters crack, septic tanks leak, and furnaces stop working. Keep the following list on hand to remind yourself which household appliances and fixtures you can check yourself, which need professional attention, and approximately how much you’ll have to spend on maintenance and repair.  

Every Day or Week  

• During the winter, press the TEST button on your carbon monoxide detector once a week to make sure it’s working. Cost: Free.  

• Take a weekly look at your water heater. A small puddle under the heater can quickly become a major flood if not caught in time. Cost: Free.  

• Clean out the lint trap in your clothes dryer after each load. Cost: Free.  

Every Month  

• In warm weather, gnats can make their home in traps under your sinks. If you have this problem, pour a quarter cup of bleach followed by a gallon of water down each drain and let it sit overnight. This will kill the pests and prevent more of them from moving in. Cost: Under $1.  

• Add enzymes to your septic tank to keep the bacteria levels high. One way to do this is to flush one cup of brewer’s yeast down the toilet every month. Cost: Under $5.  

• Drain lines leading to septic tanks and cesspools need to be kept clean. Pour a cleaner specially made for the job (available at your local hardware or home store) down the toilet every month or two. Cost: $6 to $11.  

Every Two Months  

• The seal on your refrigerator door will last forever if you keep it clean. Wipe it with a cloth or sponge and warm, soapy water. Cost: Free.  

• Run a lemon through your garbage disposal to keep it smelling fresh. Cost: Under $1.  

Every Six Months  

• Lint in the dryer vent can create a fire hazard and decrease the dryer’s efficiency. To clean out the ducting, follow the instructions on the owner’s manual. Most tell you to detach the 4-inch duct that leads to the outside of the house by unfastening the clamp. If the hose is long, use a vent cleaning brush to clear the lint. If it’s short, reach in and pull out the lint; use a rag to get at the last bits. Cost: $20 for a 10-foot vent-cleaning brush; $30 for a 30-foot brush.  

• Replace the filters in your forced-air heating system. This not only cuts down on allergens, it preserves the life of the motor and blower, and keeps the ductwork clean. Cost: From under $1 for a basic filter to $15 for one of top quality.  

• Change the battery in your fire alarm when daylight savings time starts in the spring and ends in the fall. Cost: About $2 for a 9-volt battery.  

• When the weather turns cold, your automatic garage door opener needs to apply more force to open and close the door. You can increase the amount of force manually. Check the side or back of the unit for screws you can adjust with a screwdriver, and twist them in the direction indicated on the unit. When the weather warms again, decrease the amount of force by reversing the process. Cost: Free.  

In Spring and Fall  

• From the ground, do a visual inspection of the shingles on your roof. If you see any that are discolored or curled, chances are water is seeping underneath. Hire a contractor to add soffit and roof vents to your home. Cost: Varies by region.  

• Look under the gutter. If you can see daylight between the gutter and the fascia board (the board the gutter is nailed to), the gutter has separated from the house. Remove the loose spikes and replace them with gutter bolts from the hardware store. Cost: $1.50 to $3.50 per bolt.  

• If yours is a brick house, look at the mortar line for cracks and loose pieces. You can repair the damage with mortar in a tube. Cost: Under $10.  

• Check your home’s siding for pieces that are stained, or chalky. Clean siding with a cleaner made specifically for aluminum or vinyl siding (available at your local hardware or home store). Cost: Under $15.  

• Make sure that the phone or cable wires aren’t frayed or rusty. If they are, call the phone or cable company to have the wires repaired. Cost: Free, unless the problem is inside the house; then, varies by region.  

• Using your thumbnail, dig into the caulk around your windows. It should be spongy to the touch. If it’s hard, replace it. Remove old caulk using a liquid or gel caulk remover. Then, with a caulk gun, apply urethane caulk, which has good adhesive qualities and is easy to paint over. Cost: $3 for caulk remover; $10 for caulk gun; under $10 for each tube of caulk.  

Every Year  

• The rubber hose on your washing machine can burst, unleashing thousands of gallons of water. Inspect the hose for stiffness, brittleness, or blisters. If you see any of these signs, replace the rubber hose with a stainless steel one. Cost: Under $30.  

• Dirty filters and dusty ducts lower the efficiency of your air conditioner or central air system. What’s more, low coolant levels can leave you sweltering on hot summer days. An appliance repair person can replace the filters, check the coolant level, and clean the ducts in the central air system. Cost: $45 to $125, depending on your system. Changing the coolant level can run you from $400 to $500.  

• If you have a gas-fired furnace, a damaged heat exchange element can release carbon monoxide into your home. Have your furnace inspected and cleaned by a certified heating and cooling repair person. Cost: $50 to $100.  

• A frozen garden hose can burst the pipes inside your house. Close outside spigots; detach and store hoses before the first freeze. Cost: Free.  

• Door locks can become tight, causing your key to break inside. If your locks are hard to turn, use liquid graphite (available at your local hardware or home store) to get them turning again. Cost: Under $2.  

›

FRIDAY, MARCH 19 

CHILDREN 

Elmo’s Birthday at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

THEATER 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Ghosts” by Henrik Ibsen, at 8 p.m. and runs through April 11. 647-2917. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Everyday Theater, “The Bright River,” a show by Tim Barsky, at 8 p.m. at the Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. Through March 20. Tickets are $12-$20. 644-2204. 

Youth Musical Theater Commons “West Side Story” performed by 7th-11th grade youth at 7:30 p.m. at Longfellow Auditorium, 1500 Derby St. Tickets are $5-$10. 848-1797.  

Un-Scripted Theater “Imrov Survivor” at 8 p.m. at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St. at Telegraph, and runs to April 3. Tickets are $7-$10. 415-869-5384. www.un-scripted.com 

FILM 

Chantal Akerman “The Capture” at 7 p.m. and “All Night Long” at 9:10 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Edwidge Danticat reads from “The Dew Breaker” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble and Combos Spring Concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Florence Schwimley Little Theater, BHS Campus, Allston between MLK Jr. Way and Milvia. Tickets are $3-$10. 527-8245. berkeleyjazz@comcast.net 

Newport Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary Tour at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$46 available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Jr. Bach Festival at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $5-$10. 843-2224. www.juniorbach.org 

Acoustic Pop with a Social Conscience with Greg Lamboy in a benefit concert for the Friday Night on College community meal. At 7:30 p.m., College Avenue Presbyterian Church, 5951 College Ave., next to Dreyers. 658-3665.  

Gun and Doll Show, Lemon Lime Lights at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Lichi Fuentes in a concert honoring International Women’s Month at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $14. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The New Hope Bboy/Bgirl Battle with Sisterz of the Underground at 7 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Double Standards, jazz duo, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

AC/DSHE, The Station and Stiletta at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Leftover Dreams with Tony Marcus and Patrice Haan at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Alan Smithline, guitarist and vocalist at 7:30 p.m. at the Fellowship Café, Fellowship Hall, Cedar and Bonita Sts.  

Shadow Puppetry and “Night Music” with Sarah Jo Zaharako at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$10. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Alexis Harte Band and Laughingstock at 9:30 The Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Tickets are $8 at the door. 736-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org  

Michael Bluestein Trio at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Gravytrain, The Quails, The Kingdom at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Peaktimes, improvisational dance and music at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation of $8-$15 requested. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Domino Theory, jazz and funk, at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Woman at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 20 

CHILDREN  

“Wild About Books” storytime with Louise Rafkin and students of Studio Naga in a martial arts presentation, at 10:30 a.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223. 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña Ms. Jay’s Playhouse, music and movement at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Sean Powersí Shadow Puppet Workshop from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. 644-6893. www.berkleyartcenter.org 

Dance Jammies, a multi-generational dance event from 6 to 9 p.m. at Motivity Center, 2525 8th St. Cost is $9. 832-3835. 

Kids on the Block Puppet Show, promoting acceptance and understanding of physical and cultural differences at 2 p.m. at the Hall of Health, 2230 Shattuck Ave., lower level. Donation $3. 549-1564. 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“4x4: Four Sculptors Work in Four Materials” opens at A New Leaf Gallery/Sculpturesite with a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. at 1286 Gilman St. 525-7621. www.sculpturesite.com 

THEATER 

Youth Musical Theater Commons “West Side Story” performed by 7th-11th grade youth at 7:30 p.m. at Longfellow Auditorium, 1500 Derby St. Tickets are $10 adult, $5 youth, available at the door. 848-1797.  

A Family Affair, Teen Council One-Acts Festival at 8 p.m. and 2 p.m. March 21, at Berkeley Rep’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $5-$10. 647-2949.  

“Code Blue at the Genome Zoo” at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Berkeley Rep’s Thrust Stage, 2015 Addison St. Recommended for ages 7 and up. Tickets are $10. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

FILM 

The Case for Pavel Jurácek, “The Key to Determining Dwarfs, or The Last Travel of Lemuel Gulliver” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“The Spirit of Fès: a Vision of Peace,” a roundtable discussion moderated by UC Davis ethnomusicologist Sandra Graham at 3 p.m. in Morrison Hall, UC Campus.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Spirit of Fes Tour, Moroccan sacred music, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$42 available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley Youth Arts Festival with Sean Powersí Shadow Puppets at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkleyartcenter.org 

Berkeley Youth Art Festival with Dance and Rhythm of India at 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkleyartcenter.org 

“From the Yachats Music Festival” by Four Season’s Concerts at 7:30 p.m. at Oakland’s Calvin Simmons Theatre. Long-time Berkeley music teacher, Jesse W. Anthony, will be honored as the third recipient of Four Seasons Concerts “Founder’s Award for Distinguished Service to Our Community.” For tickets, contact 601-7919. www.fourseasonsconcerts.com 

Healing Muses presents “La Foolia” a spectacle of early music at 8 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington Ave., Albany. Tickets are $15-$18. Proceeds benefit Healing Muses’ hospital music program. Advance reservations recommended. 524-5661. www.healingmuses.org 

UUCB Chancel Choir Spring Concert, under the direction of Bryan Baker, at 8 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Road, Kensington. Donation $10-$25. 525-0302. www.uucb.org  

Philharmonia Baroque, “La Musique du Roi Soleil” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, Dana and Durant. Tickets are $29-$60, available from 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org 

Balkan Showcase Benefit More than 15 bands contribute their music to celebrate Ashkenaz’s 31st Anniversary at 7 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

“People Like Me” a world dance and music celebration for the whole family at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $6-$12. 925-798-1300. 

Dave Gleason at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-2129. 

Jewish Music Festival with David Krakauer’s Klezmer Madness at 8 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $20-$25. 848-0237. 

Jen August performs in a benefit for the National Organization for Women at 7:30 p.m. at Change Makers Bookstore, 6536 Telegraph, Oakland.  

G. S. Sachdev, bansuri, with Swapan Chaudhuri, tabla, at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $22-$26 in advance, $30 at the door. 594-0754. 

All Ages Show with The People, Justifi, The Hep at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com  

Janis Ian at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $20.50 in advance, $21.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Madeline Eastman, “Slightly Left of Standard” at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Beth Custer Ensemble performs jazz, funk, Latin, rock at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donations of $8-$15 suggested. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Para ti Chichito Cepeda, Puerto Rican drumming, at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org  

Singer-Songwriter Night with Inka at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Reggae Angels at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7-$10. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

The Lucky Stiffs, Blvd Strays, Jack Killed Jill at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Helen Chaya, Vivian’s Keeper at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Donation of $7-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Triad with Dave Rocha at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Scott Amendola with Ben Goldberg on reeds and Devin Hoff on bass, at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Allegiance, Lights Out, Our Turn, Worn Thin, The Answer, Dead in Hollywood, at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Celebration of Spring with Ken and the New Incredibles and Michelle Mulholland at 8 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento. Cost is $5. 883-0300. www.belladonna.ws 

SUNDAY, MARCH 21 

FILM 

Chantal Akerman: “Chantal Akerman” at 4 p.m. and “The Man with the Suitcase” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Mary Tolman Kent reads from “Closing the Circle” her memoire about life in Berkeley, at 2 p.m. at Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. 848-0181. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc/ 

“Off to a Great Start with Books” a program for parents and teachers with Kathleen Odean, author of “Great Books for Babies and Toddlers” at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Central Library. 981-6223. 

Poetry Flash with Gloria Frym and Ann Joslin Williams at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Ruth Frankenberg explores modern religious life in the United States in “Living Spirit, Living Practice: Poetics, Politics, Epistemology” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

“Ant Farm 1968-1978” Guided Tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

New Brutalism Reading Series with Elizabeth Treadwell and Yedda Morrison at 7 p.m. at 21 Grand, 449B 23rd St. Oakland. Cost is $4. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Salvatore Licitra, tenor, with members of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, at 7 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $38-$100, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Healing Muses presents “La Foolia” a spectacle of early music at 4 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington Ave., Albany. Tickets are $15-$18. All proceeds benefit Healing Muses’ hospital music program. Advance reservations recommended. 524-5661. www.healingmuses.org 

Jewish Music Festival with Ronnie Gilbert “A Radical Life with Songs” at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Tickets are $15-$20. 848-0237. 

Cypress String Quartet, Call and Response performing new compositions in response to master composers at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $12-$17 available from 925-798-1300. 

Philharmonia Baroque, “La Musique du Roi Soleil” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, Dana and Durant. Tickets are $29-$60 and are available from 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org 

Rodney Gehrke, organist, will celebrate the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach at 4 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Reception will follow. Donations gratefully received. 

VOCI Women’s Vocal Ensemble with guest soloists at 4 p.m. at 182 Estates, Piedmont. Tickets are $50 and reservations required. 531-8714. www.coolcommunity.org/voci 

“Thieves in the Temple: The Reclaiming of Hip Hop,” written and performed by Aya de León,at 7 p.m. at Oakland Box Theater, 1928 Telegraph. Tickets are $10. 451-1932. 

Youthquake: Teen Music Auditions from 3 to 6 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5 for 18 and older, free for under 18. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Siete Potencias, from Cuba, (pending visas)t 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Shamani Sound Systems at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

4 Songwriters and an Equinox at 7 p.m. at 1923 Teahouse. Suggested donation of $7-$10. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Diva Dish with Luke Yankee at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

John Calloway and Diaspora: Latin Diversity at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

John Schott and Ben Goldberg at 4 p.m. at Spasso Cafe, 6021 College Ave. at Claremont. 

MONDAY, MARCH 22 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Dalton Conley describes “The Pecking Order: Which Siblings Succeed and Why” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Express Membership Drive, featuring the Bay Area Poets Coalition at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC 

West Coast Songwriters Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $5 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

TUESDAY, MARCH 23 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rachel Cohen describes “A Chance Meeting” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Judy Wells and Dale Jensen at 7 p.m. at the Beanery, 2925 College Ave. 549-9093. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Empyrean Ensemble, featuring pianist Amy Dissana-yake, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $20 available at the door. www.berkeleychamberperform.org 

Jewish Music Festival featuring the music collections of S. Anskky and Moshe Beregovski at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Tickets are $10-$15. 848-0237. 

Courtableu at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Alex Bordei, pianist and accordionist, performs at 1:15 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. Ave. 981-5190. 

Club Mekon, an evening of song and readings, at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $15. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com  

Mimi Fox, solo guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Dayna Stephens House Jam at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744.  

www.thejazzhouse.com 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24 

CHILDREN 

Jazz/Art, for the whole family, with Lisa di Prima and the Don Robinson Trio at 3:30 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library West Branch, 1125 University Ave. 981-6270. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Paul Waldman will discuss “Fraud: The Strategy Behind the Bush Lies and Why the Media Didn’t Tell You” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Nederlands Dans Theater at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $38-$64 available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Aphrodesia and Sila at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jules Broussard, Bing Nathan and Ned Boynton at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Swing Mine at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Austin Willacy, Beth Waters, contemporary folk at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Taarka, gypsy jazz, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Swamees, Atticus Finch, Little Cat Z and the Voom at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.comô

China Camp State Park at Marin County’s Point San Pedro is hidden a few miles behind the Frank Lloyd Wright Marin Civic Center and faces east across the southwestern tip of San Pablo Bay. Having passed the Marin Civic Center hundreds of times, I never even noticed the state’s brown directional sign to China Camp until last Sunday. 

On one of China Camp’s 200 annual fog-free days, spectacular views span from Napa and Sonoma counties to Angel Island, Mount Tamalpais, Mount Diablo, and even as far south as San Francisco. 

Frank Quan, a descendant of one of the founding Chinese business families of the camp, still lives and shrimps in the village that was once home to 500 people. Instead of shrimping for the human market, most of his family’s catch now sells for bait, however, due to pollution of the bay’s waters. Georgette Quan “comes home on weekends” to oversee the snack store and café, where she presides as the ultimate source for local gossip, history, and gooey thick shrimp and cucumber sandwiches ($4.00). Clam chowder tops out at $2.50 with bread, shrimp salad is $4.00. 

Historic buildings include the snack bar, a delightful museum of China Camp and shrimping history, and old buildings that used to service and house the local shrimping industry. 

The bike and hiking trails are abundant and fabulous, even or especially in the spring mud. They wander through acres and acres of oak habitats, meadows, small redwood groves, and bayside salt marshes that attract fowl of many varieties. Several piers offer fishing for striped bass, flounder, perch, and sturgeon. 

Many of the park’s 30 “developed” campsites at Back Ranch Meadows are wheelchair accessible and include picnic table, food locker, and fire ring. Self-contained RVs may park for camping over night in parking lots in good weather seasons. Several picnic sites include great views, barbecues, picnic tables, running water, restrooms, and wheelchair accessibility, with boating, fishing, and windsurfing possibilities. 

China Camp State Park is a great place close to home for all of us to enjoy nature and learn more of our Bay Area history that we should respect. 

DIRECTIONS TO THE CAMP: 

The short way to 1,500-acre China Camp State Park is to travel north on Highway 101 from the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, take the downtown exit in San Rafael, and then Point San Pedro Road east past Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s three miles via Peacock Gap to China Camp Village. For the long and lovely route, exit north 101 at the Marin Civic Center and continue eastward on North San Pedro Road. This way takes you by Turtle Back Hill, Back Ranch Meadows, Bullet Hill, Miwok Meadows, Buckeye and Weber Points, Bullhead Flat, the Ranger Station, Five Pines Point, Rat Rock Cove, and a plethora of hiking and bike trails. 

FOR CAMPSITE RESERVATIONS: 

Call (800) 444-7275 up to seven months ahead. 

San Francisco Chronicle Editor Phil Bronstein has added another corollary to the paper’s Greater Eunuch theory of press objectivity by taking two staffers who had the nerve to marry one another off the part of their city hall beat which involved reporting on same-sex marriage. And yes, they were same-sex, in case you couldn’t guess.  

The paper defended its action in a column on Monday by its on-staff “Reader’s Representative,” in which the logic was so convoluted that it was just about impossible to follow. Here’s a sample:  

“Reader complaints that the paper’s decision reflects discrimination against [Liz] Mangelsdorf and [Rachel] Gordon because of their sexual orientation fall flat. Both are highly regarded, both have covered gay issues for years.” 

Sure, we know that the Chronicle has plenty of gay reporters, has had them for years, some quite distinguished. But what about the fact that the two “have covered gay issues for years”? What’s different about this story? Still covering gay issues, just like they have for years, right? Why are they taken off the beat now? 

Another quote: “The bottom line, as Associate Managing Editor Kenn Altine puts it, is that it’s not about the person, it’s about the action.”  

Which action would that be? Presumably they didn’t just up and get married with no previous history of a relationship which most likely had some action component. What raised their activities in the sexual arena to the point that the Chronicle had to take official notice?  

Marriage, arguably legal? Deputy Editor Narda Zacchino and columnist Bob Scheer have been married for a long time. If Leah Garchik gets married to a man, will she be taken off the gossip beat? If Liz Smith marries a woman, will her column be dropped? Jon Carroll, like many Chronicle columnists before him, actually writes about his (different-sex) marriage from time to time. (But no, we can’t use him as an example, since they do seem to be trying to fire him.)  

A pair of tortured reverse analogies which fail to illuminate the Chronicle’s logic: 

“The decision also does not mean, as some readers have erroneously concluded, that African Americans cannot cover African American issues or that married people cannot cover the same-sex marriage issue.” 

Why is it fair that heterosexual married staffers can cover the same-sex marriage controversy, when according to some observers they are the beneficiaries of the state’s discriminatory policy of allowing them to marry while excluding same-sex couples? How does the Chronicle determine what’s “the issue” in a story?  

Does the decision mean that only African Americans can fairly cover the story about UC Board of Regents’ Chairman John Moores’ insinuations that UC inappropriately favors African-American applicants? But European Americans and Asian Americans can’t, since, according to Moores, they were discriminated against? Or maybe it’s the other way round? No, that couldn’t be right.  

Maybe “objectivity” means that parents of potential applicants to UC, no matter what their race, shouldn’t cover Moores’ activities. No, that couldn’t be right either. We have three reporters at the Planet who could be assigned to cover the regents: one is a parent of two African-American UC students, one is a UC graduate and has no kids, and one has no kids and went to school out of state. Which one should we assign to the story, following the Chronicle logic? Door number three. But what if he knows nothing about education? (Moores’ outlandish behavior, by the way, was the subject of an excellent Chronicle editorial on Monday. Good job, even if the anonymous writer happens to be African American!) 

But of course, long-time (more than a year) Chronicle readers suspect that what’s really going on in this case is another lame attempt to defend management’s indefensible firing of reporter Henry Norr a year ago for participating in (1) anti-Iraq war protests and (2) sympathetic encounters with Palestinian refugees. “See, we are too being consistent, aren’t we, so there!” their action seems to say.  

How close does a relationship have to be before it causes readers, in the words of the Reader’s Rep, to “doubt that journalists could retain a healthy skepticism while on the story”? Well, my collateral ancestor Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” Perhaps the Chronicle’s Greater Eunuch theory, carried to its illogical extreme by little minds, would argue that because my great-great-grandfather was Ralph Waldo’s brother, I shouldn’t quote him in this paper.  

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet. 

It’s been just about a year since we started gearing up in earnest for the first issue of the new Berkeley Daily Planet. Anniversaries inevitably prompt deep thoughts about the meaning of life. Who are we, why are we here, now, doing this? And increasing ly, in the age of hot media, we think, why a newspaper? My friend the journalism professor, who told me this was going to be a lot of fun, has been here for the week. She taught a class last semester that entailed supervising students putting out one issue of a tabloid, and she is now much more realistic about the amount of work involved. We had dinner with another younger friend who hopes to launch a quarterly magazine, and he’s full of (probably warranted) optimism, typical of the pre-publication mood.  

Journalism is exciting. But it’s a lot of work. And expensive.  

What’s the most rewarding part of the job? Being in the office when people who never expected to see their pictures in the paper come in to pick up extra copies for their friends. What’s a nnoying? Well, last week we got a press release from a sausage company asking us to print their recipes, and boasting that their product was so good they’d never had to advertise. I seldom feel the need to respond to press releases, but I did pop off a fl ame mail asking them exactly how they thought newspapers could be paid for, if they never advertised. It’s a simple point, but it’s lost on many. The Berkeley Daily Planet is not yet breaking even, but we have had from a beginning a core of faithful adver tisers who do get it. We’ll be publishing our “Honor Roll” in the next couple of weeks as part of the anniversary commemoration. On the other hand, many well-established local businesses seem to have trouble understanding that their “buy local, not from c hains” sloganeering should extend to their own advertising policy.  

So, still, why newspapers? We continue to believe that everything works better if people know what’s going on. In old Russia, when peasants were being abused by evil overseers, they woul d console themselves by saying “if our little father the Tsar only knew this was going on, he would put a stop to it.” When things go wrong in a city like Berkeley, without a newspaper it’s easy for citizens to say that elected officials are not responsib le because they don’t know what’s happening. Even now, with a newspaper, some commentators on the recent machinations at the Planning Commission have been heard to say that “the mayor didn’t know about what was being done” by his appointee, “is very unhap py about it” and is “trying to do something.” Well, the good thing about having a paper is that they will soon know whether or not this is true.  

For at least 20 years, the majority of Berkeleyans (and also many citizens of Oakland, Albany, El Cerrito and Richmond) have been willing to vote for anyone whose campaign fliers repeated the word “progressive” enough times. It’s been easy for political operatives to frame elections as the struggle between good and evil, between the noble Progs and the dreaded Mods (or the fearful Progs and the sober Mods, of course). With an active newspaper, however, it’s possible for voters to know what the people they vote for are actually doing in the offices they’ve been elected to.  

Berkeley progressives recruited the current Berkeley mayor on the supposition that he supported the issue positions they’d been working on. Now some of them are expressing shock and surprise that the mayor’s appointees to key commissions routinely vote with the Mod appointees, and that he’s turned to Mod contributors in order to pay off his campaign debt. The New Testament warns against false prophets who “come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” That’s a bit extreme when applied to Berkeley’s Prog vs. Mod cam paigns. There may be nothing wrong with a centrist strategy (just ask the DLC, who think it’s great). But at least voters deserve to know who they’re choosing. 

Many in Berkeley are caught up in the struggle between generically modified food and organic p roduce. They will understand the next image in the biblical text: “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” In the most often quoted phrase “by their fruits ye shall know them.” If citizens read a newspaper, they have a shot at finding out what kind of fruits their vote has bought. They can evaluate politicians by what they’ve actually done in office, not just by who they’ve said they were during campaigns. And that makes democracy function better, which is worth all the trouble and expense. 

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Berkeley Daily Planet.  

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