While Berkeley’s office vacancy rate is the lowest in the East Bay, the city is not so fortunate when it comes to retail space—those street-level locations so prized by merchandisers and restaurants. 

The city got an unpleasant jolt and reminder of this fact in recent days with the announcement of the closing of the See’s Candy store at 2170 Shattuck Ave. The See’s closing as part of a move by the South SanFrancisco-based chain to shift operations to shopping malls. See’s is owned by billionaire investor Warren Buffett. 

While a public protest last month apparently has saved the last See’s store in Oakland—in the city’s Lakeshore District—Berkeley’s store is closing without a fuss. A new store will open on Bay Street in Emeryville’s mall-heavy Bay Street. 

And the loss of See’s was not the only blow. 

Joining the list of Berkeley’s commercial casualties late Thursday afternoon was computer manufacturer Gateway Inc., which announced it was closing all of its 188 retail stores in the nation, including its downtown Berkeley outlet. No date was available at press time for the actual closures.  

Berkeley’s Gateway store stands on Shattuck Avenue next door to the Eddie Bauer retail clothing outlet, also recently closed by a national chain, and only a block away from Huston’s Shoes, a retail store which went out of business last year. The loss of the three retail outlets, one right after the other, leaves an enormous hole in Berkeley’s downtown. 

No one’s sure just how poorly Berkeley’s retail leasing sector is doing, because retail vacancies aren’t tracked with anywhere near the same precision as office space. But all the sources contacted for this story agreed Berkeley houses too many vacant storefronts. 

Downtown has been the hardest hit, while the Solano Avenue, College Avenue, Fourth Street and South Shattuck corridors have been faring better.  

“The last update I had was a year ago, and we were running about ten percent vacancies downtown then,” said Ted Burton, the city’s Economic Development Project Coordinator. 

That’s better than 1992, when vacancies hit 16 percent, but a lot worse than 2000, when the rate was four percent. 

“I don’t think it’s bottomed out yet,” said Burton’s boss, acting Manager of Economic Development Thomas A. Meyers. “Investors and developers are going to hold back a little longer to see how the national and state economies are going.” 

Another crucial factor facing the city is the fact “most agents dealing in retail space don’t do business in Berkeley,” said Jim McMasters, national retail chair for Colliers International, a major trans-national real estate agency. “Berkeley’s always been an enigma. It’s is a very difficult market to lease space in. The city isn’t a popular market for traditional retailers. The cultural environment doesn’t welcome chains, they don’t like fast food outlets or the chain coffee shops. Berkeley wants unique shops and boutique retail stores.” 

Both city officials and Berkeley consumers seem to agree that, except for drug stores, auto parts shops, supermarkets, gas stations, and a clothing store or two, Berkeley prefers to remain unchained. 

Berkeley’s distaste for mass production and mass marketing poses unique difficulties. “New mom and pop stores don’t have the track records and credit histories of chain outlets, and if you’re leasing space, you have to find one well equipped to survive,” McMasters said. 

The population of Berkeley differs from the rest of the Bay Area too, he added. “There’s a heavy student population and a liberal, health oriented populace that’s not as interested in acquiring things as people in Walnut Creek and Concord.”  

And chains, the dominant force in retail elsewhere in America, rely on standardization, concentration and locations in major shopping centers with massive on-site parking facilities. 

Acting Manager of Economic Development Meyers acknowledged that “it’s definitely more of a challenge to get a particular retail client to match a particular location in Berkeley, in part because city residents play a greater role in deciding which businesses will locate in the city. The community has a more focal input to city government, and that’s definitely a double-edged sword.” 

Restrictive zoning in the city also poses more challenges to business trying to locate, here, “and to our credit,” Meyers said. 

“We’re having a hard time attracting big tenants,” said John Gordon of Berkeley’s Gordon Commercial Real Estate Services. “The worst news I’ve heard in a long time is that the former Pier One store [at 1824 University Ave.] is becoming a Salvation Army Thrift Store. The larger tenants are having difficulty here and they’re moving to places like El Cerrito.” 

Chains also face the additional challenge posed by the lack of large sites and major parking facilities. “We don’t have the facilities for stores like the Gap and Old Navy,” Meyers said, but added that the city does offer potential locations for outlet stores. 

Researchers looking for information on the extent of retail vacancies have a much harder time coming up with hard numbers compared with office and apartment vacancies. 

“In the Bay Area, there are probably 800 brokers specializing in industrial space and 600 or so specializing in office space. But when it comes to retail there are only 80 or so, and the bulk of business is done by 12 or 15,” McMasters said. “Most of that business is in new growth areas like Concord, Walnut Creek” and out into the Central Valley. 

Gordon’s agency is handling downtown Berkeley’s biggest vacancy at 2201 Shattuck Ave., the site just vacated by the closing of the Eddie Bauer clothing store. 

“The new Vista College building and the new university hotel project will help downtown,” Gordon said, “but the thing that will make retail thrive is more housing downtown. When you have more people on the streets, it enhances the retail sector.” §

For students at Thousand Oaks Elementary School, the only thing worse than losing a game at recess was losing their ball in the polluted Blackberry Creek that runs through their schoolyard.  

“We’d pick it up, wash it down really well, and then not use it for a couple of days,” said Isaiah Torrez, a fifth grader. 

Tuesday, one year after Torrez and his classmates went before the City Council to demand a stop to the dangerous amounts of bacteria flowing down their stream, Mayor Tom Bates arrived with good news. 

After an exhaustive search that cost an estimated $120,000, the city believes it has plugged the leaks from which flowed fecal coliform—minute bacterial particles can cause hepatitis A or diarrhea if ingested in large doses.  

A 60-year-old abandoned sewer line on Solano Avenue was leaking the particles into a catch basin that flowed into the creek, said Director of Public Works Renee Cardinaux, who joined Bates at a school assembly for fourth and fifth graders at Thousand Oaks Elementary. 

Since maintenance workers plugged the holes in the sewer line four months ago, tests have shown acceptable levels of fecal coliform in the creek. Cardinaux said that in about two weeks, if the next reading is also okay, the city would take down the warning signs posted along the creek, which also flows past a toddler park. 

The contamination hadn’t stopped students from learning about science at their creek, teacher Jon Bindloss said. But instead of an outdoor biology laboratory, the creek better resembled a superfund site. Students had to wear elbow-length rubber gloves when they performed their own tests for the particles, he said.  

High readings of fecal coliform have plagued Blackberry Creek intermittently since the city unearthed the 250-foot segment in 1995.  

City engineers worked 200 hours and maintenance workers 140 hours trying to locate the source, Cardinaux said. They shot dye through the plumbing of the buildings on the 900 block of Colusa Street and the 1800 block of Solano Avenue, dropped cameras into storm drains, and dug holes outside of Zachary’s pizza in search of the leak. 

“This kind of thing can drive you nuts,” Cardinaux said. The city is littered with old sewers, he added, and most people aren’t aware they might have an illegal hookup. 

Finally city workers dug a hole at a catch basin beside Peets Coffee and found a culprit they didn’t even know existed. With the holes to the abandoned sewer line plugged, the city is rerouting the catch basin to the storm drain system, before giving Blackberry Creek a clean bill of health, Cardinaux said. 

Blackberry Creek has been an ongoing problem because of its locations in the Berkeley Hills, where there are far more independent and aging sewers that break due to minor earthquakes, said Carole Schemmerling of the Urban Creeks Council. 

The cleanup of Blackberry Creek comes just as advocates for unearthing city creeks are pushing ahead with their most ambitious project: the daylighting of Strawberry Creek at Center Street as part of the redevelopment of the block along with a planned hotel and convention center. 

Juliet Lamont, an environmental consultant for the Urban Creeks Council, insisted Strawberry Creek would not be as susceptible to contamination because it flows above ground through much of the UC Berkeley campus. “If there were a problem it would be very easy to pinpoint where it was coming from,” she said. 

The city’s two other sections of unearthed creek—Strawberry Creek, between Acton and Bonar Streets and Cordonices Creek, between Eighth and Ninth streets—have occasionally tested for unsafe levels of pollution, but not to the extent of Blackberry, Cardinaux said. “Urban creeks are seldom really clean as much as we might wish they are.”  

But that doesn’t mean the problems at Blackberry Creek have biased him against future daylighting projects. 

Cardinaux said that if the creek had not been daylighted and water tests in the bay had shown pollution coming from Blackberry Creek, the city would have had a much tougher and more expensive job locating the problem. 

Students all said they were happy to hear their creek was finally clean, but not everyone was completely satisfied. “It’s really ridiculous how long it’s taken to fix it,” said Julianna Meagher, a fifth grader. “I mean, there’s a tot park right here with two-year-olds. They can’t read the signs.” 

Student Xochi Hernandez had said one problem remained. “I wouldn’t get as freaked out when I touch it now, but if you walk by the pipes, it still smells really bad.”.

While Berkeley Police are offering few details about the in-custody death of 45-year-old Tyrone Hughes Sr., the dead man’s son is talking lawsuit, and he’s already arranged for a private autopsy. 

Hughes Sr. died early Monday morning, March 29, after lapsing into convulsions during booking at the city jail, according to police spokesperson Kevin Schofield, who said paramedics found a plastic container lodged in Hughes’ throat. 

Schofield said suspects sometimes try to swallow drugs to prevent their discovery by officers. 

“My father’s known for not ever taking pills,” said his son, Tyrone Hughes Jr. in a telephone interview with the Daily Planet. 

Deirdre Spears, the deceased’s former wife and Hughes Jr.’s mother, said Hughes wouldn’t take pills unless he had first crushed them into powder. “He’d gone to jail so many times before,” she explained. “He would just do his time. He was a drug addict. That’s why I divorced him. But he was a devoted father. He was there at his grandson’s birth, and he came to visit his son every week.”  

Hughes Jr. described his father as 5’7” and weighing “less than 140 pounds.” 

Hughes had been arrested after a routine traffic stop when officers discovered an outstanding warrant on drug charges. Schofield said that officers who frisked Hughes found pieces of suspected rock cocaine in his pockets,. 

During booking at the city jail, Hughes “appeared to suffer from and medical problem and became unresponsive,” Schofield said. 

Paramedics took the stricken man to Alta Bates Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:27 a.m., said Dan Apperson, a supervisor at the Alameda County Coroner’s office. “The cause of death is pending. It’s under investigation by Homicide Sgt. Howard Nonoguchi of the Berkeley Police Department.” 

Hughes Jr. said Berkeley police have refused to talk to him except for Nonoguchi’s comment that “it could be weeks or months before they have a report.” 

“I haven’t eaten since Monday and I can’t sleep,” the young man said over the telephone as his infant son cried in the background. “It’s so hard,” he added, lapsing into sobs. 

After his divorce from Spears, Hughes married Pastor Carol Hughes Willoughby, founder of NewLife for Christ Community Ministry and a candidate who came in third in the 2000 race for the District 2 seat on the Berkeley City Council. 

Spears and her son said they have contacted the office of Oakland attorney John Burris, well-known for pursuing actions against police, but “he hasn’t agreed to represent us yet,” Spears said. “It was a real shame that the police wouldn’t tell my son anything, and that he had to find out the details from the papers,” she added.H

FRIDAY, APRIL 2 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with David Hooson, Prof. Emeritus, Geography, UCB on “Inner Asia.” Luncheon 11:45 a.m. for $12.50. Speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“A Lot in Common” a documentary on the growth of community in a North Berkeley neighborhood as residents, artists, and other volunteers build and use the Peralta and Northside Community Art Gardens, at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists at the corner of Cedar and Bonita.  

“EarthDance“ Environmental Film Festival, showing ten short films on urban, rural and wild environments, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, Oak and 10th Sts. Admission is $5-$8. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

“From Frybread to Fueltank: Bringing Biodiesel to Native America” Join us in a benefit to support a biodiesel bus tour led by Zachary Running-Wolf that will leave from Oakland and cover the Southwest. At 7:30 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way. $5 donation requested. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

“State of California Environmental Issues” with Terry Tamminen, Secretary of the Califormia EPA at 6 p.m. in the Lipman Room, Barrows Hall, UC Campus. Co-Sponsored by the Class of 1935 and the Energy Foundation. 642-1760. 

Kite Fly from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. Part of National Kite Month celebration. www.NationalKiteMonth.org 

Womansong Circle: Songs of Rebirth and a Greening Earth with Betsy Rose at 6:45 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $8. Bring a snack to share. 525-7082. 

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 

Overeaters Anonymous meets every Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Church at Solano and The Alameda. Parking is free and is handicapped accessible. For information call Katherine, 525-5231. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 3 

Behind the Scenes Tour of the Orchid Greenhouse Exotic, rare, fragrant and extensive. Tour with orchid expert Jerry Parsons and hear about the Garden’s global collection of hundreds of orchids and epiphytes. At 1 and 3 p.m. Registration required. UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden. 

berkeley.edu 

Sick Plant Clinic from 9 a.m. to noon, the first Sat. of every month, a team of experts will diagnose what ails your plants. Free. At the Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. 

Color and Art in the Garden with Keeyla Meadow, garden designer and artist at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

California Wildflower Show from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., also on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Admission is $5-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class in Shelter Operations from 9 a.m. to noon at 2100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. To sign up call 981-5605. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

Northern California Socialist Conference 2004 “Resisting US Empire, Fighting for a Better World” from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Cost is $10-$50 sliding scale. For information call 333-4604 or email ISObayarea@aol.com 

“News from Haiti: Eyewitness Accounts” with missionaries Sandra and Daniel Gourdet at 10 a.m. at South Berkeley Community Church, 1802 Fairview, at Ellis. 652-1040. 

Yoga for Seniors at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., on Saturdays 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. 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, APRIL 4 

“What’s Up Down Under?” Explore the fascinating subterranean hemisphere of the hidden half of plants by attending the annual Unselt Lecture delivered this year by UCB Professor of Plant Biology, Dr. Lewis Feldman. Lecture concludes with a walk through the Garden to observe root diversity. From 1 to 4 p.m. at the Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Registration required 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Soda Bottle Ecosystem Build a take-home eco-system that sits in the palm of your hand. Bring two 2-liter bottles. At 10:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Protist April Toss the plankton net, tow it in, and see what members of the Kingdom Protista you can find in the 14-power Discovery scope. From 2 to 4 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Area. 525-2233. 

Full Moon Walk Meet at 7 p.m. at Inspiration Point in Tilden Park. Learn about the origin and history of the moon, and see where the astronauts walked. 525-2233. 

“Ratcatcher” a film set in Scotland during the national garbage strike in the 1970s. At 8 p.m. at the Long Haul Info Shop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751.  

Golden State Model Railroad Museum opens from noon to 5 p.m. Located in the Miller-Knox Regional Shoreline Park at 900-A Dornan Drive in Pt. Richmond. Admission is $2-$3. 234-4884 or www.gsmrm.org 

Berkeley Historical Society’s Annual Meeting, with Cathy Luchetti on ”Women of the West,” from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Berkeley History Center, Veterans’ Memorial Bldg, 1931 Center St. 848-0181. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc/ 

Free Sailboat Rides at the Cal Sailing Club, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the foot of University in the Berkeley Marina. Bring warm, waterproof clothes. For more information, visit our website at www.cal-sailing.org 

Zonta Club “Day at the Races” A benefit for the Writers’ Room Project in the Berkeley Schools. Tickets are available from 644-4480. 

“Meditation for Healing and Renewal” with Robin Canton at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

“The Journey of a UU Christian and Pagan Mystic” with Cathleen Cox Burneo at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd. Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

“Eckhart Tolle Talks on Video” at 6:30 p.m. at the Feldenkrais Ctr., 830 Bancroft Way. First and third Sunday of each month. $3 donation requested, no one turned away for lack of funds. Contact Maitri at 415-990-8977. 

MONDAY, APRIL 5 

The Oakland/East Bay Chapter of the National Organization for Women has cancelled its April meeting because of the Jewish holiday. We usually meet the first Monday of each month at the Oakland YWCA. Hope to see you next month. 841-1672. 

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 nesting birds and flowering shrubs, 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. 

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. 

TUESDAY, APRIL 6 

American Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Advance sign-up needed. 594-5165. 

Berkeley Ecological and Safe Transportation hosts a public discussion of car-free housing at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge, 3rd floor meeting room. 652-9462. 

Death Penalty Vigil, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley BART station. Sponsored by Berkeley Friends Meeting. 528-7784. 

Map and Compass 101 An introduction to backcountry navigation at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Leonar Joy will speak on Human Rights at 11 a.m. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

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

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Passover Seder at 6 p.m. at GTU’s Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. Cost is $10-$25. Reservations required. 649-2482. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7 

Return to the Oakland Docks for the one-year anniversary of the 2003 shutdown of SSA and APL, and Oakland police crackdown on the anti-war movement. See www.actagainstwar.org for details. 

“Liberation from War: Afghan Women Resist” with Sahar Saba of The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Suggested donation $20, no one turned away for lack of funds. All proceeds will benefit RAWA and the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 433-9928. 

“Zapatista: A Big Noise Film” on the first four years of the Zapatista Uprising in Chiapas from 1994-1998 at 7 p.m. at The Fellowship of Humanity, 390 27th St., Oakland. 393-5685. 

Bridging Zapatismo, a community study group on local struggles and the Zapatista movement at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10 sliding scale. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Tilden Tots, a nature adventure program for 3-4 year olds accompanied by an adutl. We’ll explore and taste the five parts of a plant. Bring a plain T-shirt. Fee is $6, $8 for non-residents. Registration required. 525-2233. 

“Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Aboriginal Rights, and a Livable Future for All” A conversation at 7 p.m. at the GTU Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. Part of the Roundtable on Ecological Ethics and Spirituality. 649-2560. 

Collaging Yourself Forward A life coaching workshop with Ryl Brock Wilson at 7 p.m. at Changemakers, 6536 Telegraph Ave. Cost is $25, pre-registration required. 384-4795. ryl@ArtAsAccess.com 

“The Jew and the ‘Other’ in Antiquity: Alienation or Integration?” A lecture by Erich S. Gruen, professor of history and classics, UC Berkeley. One of the 91st Faculty Research Lectures. At 5 p.m., Berkeley Art Museum Theater, 2621 Durant Ave.  

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 7:15 a.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. For information call Robert Flammia 524-3765. 

Fun with Acting class meets at 11 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Free, all are welcome. 985-0373. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Sta- 

tion, 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 We're a serious but lively bunch whose focus is on issues of craft. Novices welcome. Experienced facilitator. Community sponsored, no fee. Meets 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut, at Rose. For information call 524-3034. 

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

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

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, APRIL 8 

Morning Birdwalk Meet at 7 a.m. at Tilden Nature Area to look for early nesters. 525-2233. 

Tilden Tots A nature adventure program for 3-4 year olds accompanied by an adult. We’ll explore and taste the five parts of a plant. Bring a plain T-shirt. Fee is $6, $8 for non-residents. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Tilden Explorers A nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds to learn about plant parts and pollination. Fee is $6, $8 for non-residents. Registration required. 525-2233. 

“Salmon: Farmed and Dangerous” A slideshow presentation by Sophika Kostyniuk from the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. www.ecologycenter.org 

“Our Local Parks” with John Medlock of Albany Parks, Mark Selevenow of Berkeley Parks and Hank VanDyke of Emeryville Public Works, at noon at the Albany Public Library, Edith Stone Room, 1247 Marin Ave. at Masonic. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters. 

East Bay Mac User Group Special session with Inuit, Inc. We meet the 2nd Thursday of every month, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Expression Center for New Media, 6601 Shellmound St. www.expression.edu 

Grizzly Peak Flyfishers, a group dedicated to furthering the noble sport of fly fishing through education and conservation, invites you to its monthly meeting at 7 p.m at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave. in Kensington. 

Host an International Student Let Europe come to you this summer. SWIFT Student Exchange program is bringing Spanish and French middle and high school students to the Bay Area for 3-4 week stays. Informational evening, from 6-8 p.m. at the SWIFT office in Oakland. Call 433-0414 for directions and more information. 

ONGOING 

Project Open Hand’s Senior Lunch Program is welcoming new participants in the East Bay. For information, please call 415-447-2300 or email seniors@openhand.org. 

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.  

Find a Loving Animal Companion at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Adoption Center, from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Tue. - 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  

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

botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

CITY MEETINGS 

Youth Commission meets Mon., Apr. 5, at 6:30 p.m., at 1730 Oregon St. Philip Harper-Cotton, 981-6670. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/youth 

Commission on the Status of Women meets Wed., Apr. 7, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruby Primus, 981-5106. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/women 

Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., Apr. 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the Public Safety Building, 2100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, 2nd floor. David Orth, 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/firesafety 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Turs. Apr. 8, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Commission on Early Childhood Education meets Thurs., Apr. 8, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/earlychildhoodeducation  

Two-by-Two Meeting of elected City and School officials to dicuss common concerns, Thurs., Apr. 8, at 8:30 a.m., in the Redwood Room, 6th floor, 2180 Milvia St. 644-6147, 981-7000. 

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs. Apr. 8, at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7520. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/westberkeley  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Apr. 8, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/zoning  ª

Pedestrian tunnels, daylighted creeks, “green” construction, mass transit, a field trip to San Luis Obispo, street musicians, bus fumes and funding issues dominated the discussion last Wednesday night at the Planning Commission’s UC Hotel Task Force presentation. 

UC has proposed a massive hotel/conference center complex (with a museum complex possibly to follow) for most of the two block area between Shattuck Avenue and Oxford Street between University Avenue and Center Street. Called for in the city’s General Plan and activated at the request of the mayor and the City Council, the task force is charged with making recommendations to the council to both mitigate the project’s impact on the city and to enhance its positive effects. 

The one proposal that displayed significant support at Wednesday’s meeting was a plan to “daylight” Strawberry Creek for the one-block section of Center Street adjacent to the project. Another popular idea involved the creation of a pedestrian tunnel between the downtown BART station and the UC project. 

Task Force Chair and Commissioner Rob Wrenn suggested that the city might consider channeling some of the room occupancy taxes generated by the new hotel to finance stream daylighting and public art for the project. 

But Mayor Tom Bates, who floated between the task force meeting and a session of the Commission on the Status of Women also meeting in the North Berkeley Senior Center, dropped a wet blanket on the potentially costly proposals. 

“Let me remind you that we have a $10 million budget shortfall, and by the time all this is done, we could be facing a $20 million shortfall,” Bates said. 

Juliet Lamont of the Urban Creeks Council said “we are looking for outside funding for the creek because we can’t count on developer fees. It’s important to cobble together what you can from other sources.”  

Just how much revenue the complex might generate for city tax coffers remains an unknown quantity. The transient occupancy taxes paid by hotel guests will go directly into the city treasury—but university and state employees who stay there may be exempt from such tax. 

While many panelists said they hoped the new complex would help revitalize downtown Berkeley, task force member Bonnie Hughes said that “so far downtown Berkeley doesn’t have a good track record in attracting interesting businesses. There’s a kind of dream world we live in, in which interesting old shops driven out by high rents will come back and make things wonderful.” 

But Richard Register, president of Ecocity Builders and founder of Urban Ecology, said daylighting the creek could lead to a resurgence of the city core. He said a similar, city-funded daylighting project in San Luis Obispo had led to a resurgence of the town’s central business district. 

Register’s Ecocity Builders, in cooperation with Mayor Bates, Sarah McLaughlin, the City of San Luis Obispo, the Sierra Club, the Urban Creeks Council, and other organizations, have organized a May 20 overnight train trip to visit the San Luis Obispo creek daylighting and downtown renovation project. 

The next session of the task force, set for April 6, is the public’s last chance to offer suggestions. The meeting’s main focus, however, will be to hear recommendations from the business community. The final two sessions on April 13 and 27 will be devoted to finalizing the task force’s recommendations. 

“Members of the public can submit recommendations, but we will only be discussing those which at least one member of the task force thinks have merit,” said chair Rob Wrenn. 

While most of the proposals will be directed at Carpenter & Company, the project developer selected by the university, Wrenn said other recommendations might be submitted to BART, AC Transit, the university and other organizations.›

Kellie East-Bratt 

Firefighter/Paramedic Jim Fanning got a close shave from Fire Apparatus Operator John Higgins Saturday at Berkeley’s Fire Station 2 as part of a fundraising effort for the American Cancer Society. Firefighters from Berkeley Station 2 made the (nearly) ultimate sacrifice, shaving off their glorious heads of hair in solidarity with Bill Wigmore, a Station 3 Berkeley firefighter who has been battling cancer. The shaving event, along with another fundraiser held at Triple Rock Brewery, brought in $4,500, which will be donated in Wigmore’s name. Anyone wishing to make further contributions can contact the American Cancer Society directly. For the day, the Triple Rock Brewery named a beer for Wigmore: Wiggy ale.

After 16 years, four aborted attempts to win city approval and $600,000 lost, the design of UC Berkeley’s proposed Foothill Bridge across Hearst Avenue has changed dramatically—but not the opposition from neighbors. 

UC Berkeley is making what university Environmental and Long Range Planner Dave Mandel has said is likely its final push to connect the two halves of its Foothill Housing complex with a pedestrian bridge. The dorms themselves were first approved in 1988, with the bridge included in the original design. 

Mandel told participants at a Tuesday community forum on the project that the bridge would give dorm residents a safe passage across the hectic intersection at Hearst and Highland Street and provide access for wheelchair bound students currently shut out of the La Loma dormitory on the north side of Hearst. 

For most of the 350 students living in La Loma, the bridge would only shave about 50 yards off their 650-foot walk across Hearst to the Foothill dormitories where their mail boxes and dining commons are located. But for students in wheelchairs, those services are a world away. Because the terrain around the dorms is so steep, the only path to the mail boxes flat enough for wheelchair riders takes them on a half-mile journey all the way to the Greek Theater and around the complex. 

Not surprisingly, said Larry Wong, manager of the Foothill complex, no wheelchair-using students live in La Loma’s 12 wheelchair accessible units.  

The university has no shortage of disabled accessible housing units, but that wasn’t the point, said the Vice Chancellor for Resident and Student Service Programs Harry Le Grande. “What we want to do is make it accessible. If they want to live here they should be able to.” 

While the university originally pitched the bridge as a safety benefit for all residents, UC Planner Mandel said its chief concern is now access for the disabled. He said UC fears that a student could sue the university for denying access to a public building in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. 

Neighbors didn’t buy any of the university’s arguments.  

“If they’re seriously concerned about access for the disabled, they’d make the buildings more accessible,” said Chris Scott, an architect who worked on the design of UC Merced. Scott insisted that even with the bridge, disabled students would have limited access to the dormitory. 

Scott said many neighbors remain unsympathetic to the university’s argument for wheelchair accessibility because in 1988 they urged UC to build the dorm on the south side of campus on Bancroft Way and Fulton Street, where the Tang Medical Center is now situated. That location, Scott said, would have offered far better access to students in wheelchairs than the steep slopes of Hearst. 

The opinion of neighbors like Scott carry extra weight for this project because the university needs an encroachment permit from the City Council to build a bridge across the public right-of-way. 

The last three attempts to do so never made it to the council floor. In 1988, 1992 and 1998 the university offered different variations of a massive Bay Region style structure that boasted a slanted roof and wooden pillars, but few supporters.  

Neighbors said it would obstruct their views of the Bay, the Landmarks Preservation Commission opposed it 1988 and again in 1998 on grounds that it would obstruct the view of the national landmark Phi Delta Theta House at 2717 Hearst Ave. (now occupied by the Berkeley Family Church), and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory feared it would collapse in an earthquake and block their passage for emergency vehicles. 

The new scaled back design proposes a steel and wood structure suspended 21 feet off the ground, measuring 11 feet tall, with a slightly arched green top and bottom. The design was developed by Riyad Ghannam of MacDonald Architects 

Lawrence Berkeley Lab backs the new design, which Ghannam says is more seismically sound than the previous versions. Berkeley Design Review lambasted the plan, however, according to Mandel. “They called it boring, ugly and too simplistic,” he said. 

At the meeting, neighbors didn’t focus on the design of the bridge as much as its symbolism. “We’re getting more and more institutionalized and I see this bridge as one more move to intrude on this fragile residential neighborhood,” said neighbor Daniella Thompson. 

The north side of campus and surrounding blocks have seen several new construction projects over the past decade. A decade after UC built Soda Hall on the north side of Hearst, the university is now breaking ground on Stanley Hall, a four-story building on the southside of Hearst. UC also continues work on the North East Quadrant Science and Safety Project. 

Roger Van Ouytsel, another neighbor, said his problem wasn’t with the bridge so much as with the university building projects that only serve students. “If the university wants to spend more than a million dollars it should spend the same amount to improve our neighborhood and improve the traffic which it is responsible for,” he said. 

Vice Chancellor Le Grande never imagined the bridge would end up costing so much. Had the university won approval for the bridge in 1988, the project would have cost $400,000, he said. So far, UC has spent $600,000 on various bridge designs, Mandel said, and would need to spend another $600,000 to build the bridge. The money, he said, would come from the original $65 million bond that funded the housing complex. 

If approved by the City Council, Project Manager Valarie Neumann said the bridge would be assembled off-site and could be attached to the buildings in one work day. 

The university is partnering with the city to improve pedestrian safety at several intersections along Hearst, said Peter Hillier, the assistant city manager for transportation. He said projects are in the works for the intersections at Oxford Street, and at Arch and Leconte streets. 

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, who represents the district that encompasses the Foothill Dorm, empathized with the concerns of the neighbors at the meeting, but said he was leaning towards supporting the bridge. “It sounds like the bridge will allow disabled students access to different parts of the complex and also allow safer crossing for students,” the councilmember said. “That’s a plus.” 

Students were divided on the issue. Pammy O’Leary, a resident advisor at Foothill said despite the many hills, a bridge would make living in La Loma useful for a wheelchair-using engineering student, because most engineering classes are close to the dormitory. 

Scott Baker a freshman at La Loma, doubted students using wheelchairs would want to live in a dormitory so high in the hills. “I’m sure the money could go to something more useful,” he said.

Berkeley/Oakland Turf Battles Renewed?  

Berkeley and Oakland police are investigating a volley of gunfire that erupted in South Berkeley early last Saturday morning near the intersection of Adeline and Fairview streets, which they suspect may be a renewal of the turf wars between drug gangs that resulted in considerable violence last year. 

BPD spokesperson Kevin Schofield said several residents called police at 12:24 a.m. Saturday after hearing gunfire and seeing several people fleeing the scene. 

“Numerous BPD officers responded,” Schofield said. “They found one car that had been damaged by gunshots, but no indications that anyone was hit. We have very little to go on—no victims, no suspects. It could be a renewal of the turf war. We have investigators looking into it, and if they find it to be they case, they’ll decide what steps to take next.” 

In an e-mail to concerned citizens, Oakland P.D. Lt. Lawrence Green confirmed that the drug turf war appears to be heating up, adding two Monday incidents to list of engagements. “North Oakland drug dealers from 59th and Adeline went to the area of Prince and Russell and beat a South Berkeley drug dealer. Two hours later, Berkeley drug dealers went to 59th and Adeline and engaged North Oakland drug dealers in a running gun battle.” 

No one was injured in the exchange of gunfire, and Oakland Police immediately intensified enforcement efforts in the area, Green wrote.  

Drug Task Force Makes Crack Bust 

Several hours before the Saturday morning possible turf war shooting, officers of the BPD Drug Task Force noticed an increase in suspicious activity several blocks away in the 1200 block of 67th Street. Maintaining surveillance, they moved in after witnessing a suspected sale, arresting both the buyer and seller. 

Discovering that the alleged seller was on parole for a previous drug violation, officers searched his nearby residence, turning up more than 50 pieces of rock cocaine. 

“He was arrested for sale, possession for sale and probation and parole violations,” Schofield said. 

Apprehensive Bank Robber Sought 

Berkeley Police are seeking the flustered, would-be bank robber who made an unsuccessful try to rob a branch bank in the 2900 block of College Avenue on March 22. When the bandit handed a demand note to a teller, the stunned bank employee froze, and after a few tense seconds, the robber absconded without a dime. 

Releasing a grainy photo of the suspect captured by bank security cameras, Berkeley Robbery Detective Chris Stines said, “We know that someone out there knows this guy. We hope the community will contact us to identify this person so we can solve the case and prevent him from committing any more bank robberies.” 

Police described the suspect as an African American man, about five-and-a-half-feet tall and weighing about 170 pounds. They estimate his age at between 23 and 28. 

Anyone with information on the suspect should call the BPD robbery detail at 981-5742 or write to police@ci.berkeley.ca.us. 

Ongoing stings aimed at Berkeley liquor stores selling booze to teenagers have left the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) District Administrator Everest Robillard “very unhappy.” 

“The usual violation rate on decoy operations is about 10 percent,” Robillard said, “and this last time the rate was well over 50 percent.” 

Teamed with officers from the Berkeley and UC police departments and two underage decoys, ABC has been running stings on city liquor sellers since January—most recently in a March 19 sweep that found 14 of the 26 targeted stores willing to sell to minors. 

The first raids in early January targeted merchants on San Pablo Avenue, where more than half the stores sold to decoys. On a follow-up operation in the same area, the rate dropped to zero, Robillard said. “In every case in Berkeley there was a common problem, an employee who was willing to sell to minors. The owners were involved.” 

Involved or not, it’s the owners who have to pay fines ranging from $750 to $3,000. 

The stings are being run with the help of $50,000 ABC grants to police departments in Berkeley, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Irvine, San Diego and Santa Cruz. 

The March 19 sting in Berkeley involved three ABC officers teamed with city and university police. The decoys, aged 17 and 19, were carefully screened volunteers recruited through community organizations. 

“We try not to use kids from the neighborhood, so we used Hayward kids in Berkeley,” Robillard said, adding that they were recruited from Community Prevention of Alcohol Related Problems. Volunteers from the Alcohol Policy Network of Berkeley, in turn, are used in stings in Hayward. 

—Richard Brenneman

Berkeley’s Commission on the Status of Women (COSOW) honored fourteen Outstanding Berkeley Women at a public awards ceremony Wednesday evening at the North Berkeley Senior Center. The honorees were recognized before friends and family for their contributions to the Berkeley community in various fields of interest.  

“These women certainly deserve this honor,” said Mayor Tom Bates in comments beginning the ceremony. “We’re so much better off and it’s so great to have them here.” 

The Fifteenth Annual awards are part of the COSOW’s commemoration of National Women’s History Month. 

For the last 15 years, the commission has chosen the Outstanding Berkeley Woman honor from a pool of women nominated by their peers for extraordinary devotion to their respective causes. This year’s honorees received certificates from both the commission and the California State Legislature. The 2004 winners work in fields ranging from public health to neighborhood organization and were presented at the ceremony by the people who nominated them.  

Commissioner Rivka Polatnick said she believes that recognizing the “unsung heroines” of the community is an excellent way to celebrate women’s history. 

This year’s award winners include long-time Berkeley community leaders like Sylvia McLaughlin, co-founder of Save the Bay, as well as a women from a new generation of community leaders like Brianna Georgi. A Berkeley High School senior, Georgi heads the Venture Crew 24, a coed, inclusive adventure program modeled after the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America.  

Also honored was Margi Adam, a singer/songwriter known for her contributions to the women’s rights movement through her exploration and development of women’s music as a political force. Adam spoke about coming to Berkeley at the age of sixteen seeking acceptance in a diverse community, and emphasized the uniqueness and reputation of the city. “There are ideas grown from root in this town,” she said, “and ideas put to the test in this town.” 

Ethel Gomez, 19 year boardmember of the Berkeley Boosters Police Athletics League, reflected on her motivation in helping the city’s youth. “I love Berkeley,” mused Gomez. “I enjoy doing what I’m doing and as long as I can I’ll be out there.” 

Environmental activist Sylvia McLaughlin explained her reason for continuing her long career of activism. “We may be activist visionaries, but there’s still work to do.”  

Another young leader, tobacco prevention advocate Salita Mitchell, reminded the audience, “Us teenagers are the future.”  

Despite mounting pressure from parents for a November ballot measure that would add millions to the Berkeley Unified School District’s signature parcel tax, Superintendent Michele Lawrence urged community members Wednesday to consider a change in course that could delay the vote until 2005 or beyond. 

The time is ripe, Lawrence said, to move beyond the confines of the tax, called the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project (BSEP). Instead of identifying a few key concerns to allocate increased tax revenue, t he superintendent wants the district to embark on an ambitious evaluation of its programs and priorities with all revenue sources in play, including money from the general fund. 

“If we stay to the big [picture], I think we’re capable of finding and ident ifying what’s good for all students,” Lawrence told about 70 parents and district employees at Wednesday’s community workshop on the tax measure. 

BSEP is the biggest and the most widely supported tax measures in the city. In 1994, 82 percent of voters ap proved the $10 million parcel tax to fund specific programs the district’s general fund couldn’t cover. It was re-authorized in 1998 with 92 percent of the vote.  

Now, however, rising inflation has forced the district to cut back on programs the measur e was authorized to preserve, including music classes and elementary school librarians. The measure doesn’t expire until 2006, but parents who attended the first workshop last month voted overwhelmingly to renew it this year at a higher tax rate. Their call to take the measure to the voters comes as the city is considering four tax hikes, including one specifically targeted towards youth programs. 

The current $10 million tax comes to $234 a year from the average property owner. 

Wednesday’s workshop was originally expected to set the framework for how much money to request in the prospective November BSEP renewal and which projects to fund.  

Instead, Lawrence changed the rules of the game. 

With the district’s budget in its best shape since 2001 and her contract renewed through 2006, Lawrence called for the community to begin a “big-picture” review of district priorities and possibly alter the tax to provide greater flexibility for what it can fund and a more centralized site-based oversight committee t o distribute the money. 

Under the current measure, only 16 percent of tax revenue is discretionary. The rest goes directly for class size reduction, music programs, supplies and facility improvements.  

Lawrence also broached forming single school-site c ommittees that would control all discretionary funds for a school. Currently, control over discretionary funds is split over several committees.  

The superintendent insisted her proposal wouldn’t spell doom for a November ballot measure. That decision, along with how much money to seek, is ultimately up to the school board. Lawrence, however, did open the door to another community meeting on the tax, and to possibly holding a special election on it next March.  

Karen Hemphill, parent of a BUSD student, generally approved of Lawrence’s message, but remained steadfast in support of a November, 2004 vote. If approved, a November BSEP renewal would guarantee the added revenue for the following school year. “The delay concerns me,” Hemphill said. “There’s a real need right now. People in the school community wanted to come up with BSEP last year.” 

A final decision from the school board isn’t expected until June. Among their options include: authorizing a new 12-year tax measure for November, authorizing a t emporary measure that would ask voters to raise the parcel tax for a year or two while the district hammers out a long-term measure, or delaying the tax measure until the next scheduled elections in 2006 or a special election next year. 

School board dire ctors declined to discuss their preferences for when to go to before voters or for how much to ask.  

The stakes would be low for a ballot this November. Even if the measure failed, the district would continue to receive its current level of funding thro ugh 2006 and the district could return to voters with a revised measure, Lawrence said. 

At Wednesday’s workshop, participants were told to budget for $16 million in mock allocation exercises, but many said that wasn’t enough and Lawrence was adamant that the $16 million figure was non-binding. Class size reduction and funding for music and arts remained top priorities for parents at the workshop. Others included programs for literacy, libraries, mental health, bilingual education and nutrition. 

Even if the district holds off on a November ballot initiative, it could still win some relief from city ballot initiatives. Julie Sinai, an aide to Mayor Tom Bates, said that in addition to the proposed youth services tax, the city was exploring the possibility of including services for the school district in a potential library tax initiative. The money, Sinai said, could pay to send a city librarian to Berkeley elementary schools during after-school programs.e

The Oakland Tribune informs us that the Oakland School For The Arts (which it helpfully identifies as “Mayor Jerry Brown’s performing arts charter school,” so we’ll remember to whom it belongs) is planning on moving out of its present location at the Alice Arts Center and into tents and portables on the parking lots surrounding the Fox Oakland, sometime thereafter to move into the Fox building itself. The proposal is for OSA to pay the city (meaning us) a thousand dollars a month in rent, which is a good deal for them if they can get it, since Oakland brings in considerably more a month for parking revenue for that space. Oakland’s civic leaders, we learn, are willing to make the sacrifice. “Anything we can do to provide additional educational opportunities in Oakland we have to do,” the Tribune quotes Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente. It’s a good sound byte for a man who would be Oakland’s mayor, if we’d let him, and Don Perata don’t run. But as in all such cases, context—and a little history lesson—is all important. 

In passing the law that authorized charter schools, the California Legislature wrote that “it is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this part, to provide opportunities for teachers, parents, pupils, and community members to establish and maintain schools that operate independently from the existing school district structure, as a method to accomplish [among other things] vigorous competition within the public school system to stimulate continual improvements in all public schools.” 

It’s doubtful that anybody really took that “vigorous competition” thing seriously for most charter schools, because a local church or community group going head to head with the public school behemoth would be something like a pickup basketball team joining the NBA. But then again, nobody envisioned that a city mayor would take up the task. 

Elected to run our city, Jerry Brown decided that he’d rather organize schools, instead. One of them was the nonprofit corporation Oakland School For The Arts, of which he serves as board chairperson. That there was already an existing magnet arts school program at Skyline High School that could have used the mayor’s attention and help seemed to have been somewhere outside Mr. Brown’s line of sight. In any event, OSA was approved by the Oakland School Board as an authorized charter school—with a one-year delay, however, because school board members were concerned that the school’s finances were on shaky grounds. And, in fact, the OSA has only been able to survive because of creative city financing made possible by Mayor Brown’s political clout. 

First the mayor discovered—Columbus-like—that there was a nice, city-owned building (the Alice Arts Center) with a theater and rehearsal space where the arts school could be housed, with only the little messy detail that some natives—in the form of a long-running and highly successful community dance program with nationally known resident companies and packed classes—were already in occupation. OSA took up residence in unused side office and basement space, using a million dollars or so in city money for renovation (if I’m vague on the figures, it’s because there’s no actual line item in the city budget for “Subsidies Of The Oakland School For The Arts”). Thereafter, OSA benefited from city staffing, care and attention in a way available to no other Oakland-based charter school (with the exception of that other mayor-initiated charter, the military institute out on the old U.S. Army base). Some competition. 

What seemed inevitable was that the politically connected Arts School would eventually muscle the dance classes and the resident dance companies out of the Alice. And, in fact, at one point Mayor Brown so declared that to be an accomplished fact, meeting with the community dance folk and upstairs residents and telling them that the school was staying, and they would have to go (the dilapidated and long-unoccupied Fox Oakland, he suggested, would be a nice new home for the dancers and renters). The Alice-folk-who-was-already-there thought otherwise, organized and brought their case to the City Council, which showed some spine against the mayor and agreed that an existing community arts and recreation program benefiting thousands of Oakland citizens was a bit more important than a mayor-sponsored school housing less than 200 students, many (if not most of them) from outside of Oakland. Then came the Saturday Night Massacre (or whatever day it happened on) when the mayor fired City Manager Robert Bobb who, unlike the mayor, actually knew how things in a city get done. With Bobb gone, stiff opposition from the Alice dance folk, and the council against him, Mr. Brown really had no choice. And so it was the arts school that had to make the move to the Fox. 

But not without more and considerable subsidy from the City of Oakland. The potential loss of revenue from the parking lots is only the beginning. Brown is now proposing—through developer Phil Tagami—a full renovation of the Fox Theater, at the cost of millions in Oakland tax dollars, and all for the benefit of his little arts school. “This is my legacy,” Mayor Brown told the Tribune last year. But if it’s his legacy, how come it’s us who’s got to pay for it? 

Now, back to where we got into this. “Anything we can do to provide additional educational opportunities in Oakland we have to do,” says Council President De La Fuente, in agreeing to continued public subsidy of the arts school. If this is so, one wonders where my friend Mr. De La Fuente—and the rest of the City Council—stood a year ago when the Oakland Unified School District was being seized, en toto, by the state. Coulda used some help back then, guys. 

ˇ

CRYING ‘WOLF’ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a Berkeley resident since 1985, I find it distressing that so many people feel that they must state their opinions in the form of nasty personal attacks. Epithets such as “racist,” “pro-developer,” “Zionist,” “elitist” and “anti-Semite” (to name a few) are used so loosely in debates, leaflets, letters to the editor, and public meetings that they lose their meaning. It is like the boy who cried “wolf.”  

In my view, an opinion is more persuasive if stated clearly without insults. 

Eric Weaver 

• 

GREEK THEATER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I hear that the Greek Theater is going to increase the number of its concerts (“Clear Channel Loses Greek Theater Concerts,” Daily Planet, March 30-April 1). The Greek is a venue designed for acoustic events, but rare it is that an acoustic event is held in it. I can think of a couple of such events, such as the real Greek drama held there in the recent past. Most “concerts” are amplified, at noise levels far beyond what is required for the audience to hear. (But may be levels enjoyed, or required, by those high on drugs.) The levels of noise measured in the city of Berkeley are far higher than what is allowed by the Berkeley noise oridinance without a special permit, but we all know the almighty University of California, the largest corporate entitity in the state (at least it was when I last looked) and protected by its own section of the Consitution of the State of California, does not have to follow a puny city’s laws. 

Rather, the noise frequently blasts people attempting to live peaceful lives in their homes until 11 p.m. I know. I live on Panoramic Hill. And I find out from friends on the north side that sometimes they get the brunt of noise. What the university doesn’t realize, and from my experience certainly wouldn’t care even if they knew, is that not all persons living in neighborhoods impacted are young and healthy. Some are old. Some are sick on the night of the concert. Some want to go to sleep before 11 p.m. Shut out the noise? How? Most of these concerts are held in the late summer and early fall. Close the windows on a hot night and let the indoor temperatures rise above 100 degrees?  

Most certainly this noise never reaches the ears of the chancellor. And heaven forbid, if it ever should reach the ears of the president, Robert Dyne, whose residence is far from the Berkeley campus. Perhaps then something would be done. But frankly, I doubt it. 

Ann Reid Slaby 

• 

SISTERNA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks so much for doing the article about the Sisternas (“Sisterna Named City’s Newest Historic District,” Daily Planet, March 9-11).  

Rosario was my great-great-great grand father. 

Rosario’s son was Phillip, Phillip’s son was Arthur (the youngest) whose son was Arthur, my father. I am Toni Louise Sisterna, now Toni Spiegelberg 

Some time ago I wrote to the Berkeley Historical Society, asking about some history I had heard of from relatives about my family. I heard nothing from them, and as time went by forgot about it. I always felt they should be remembered. Thanks again.  

Toni (Sisterna) Spiegelberg 

• 

NOTES ON BUSD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I recently had a conversation with Superintendent Lawrence about bullying at Longfellow and my recent petition to the Alameda County Civil Grand Jury to investigate BUSD’s Food Services Department for losing $2.4 million dollars over three years.  

The bullying involves a Muslim boy who is beaten and stolen from almost daily and is chased around the school yard to taunts of “Osama, Osama” So far there has been no action on that score. 

As to the petition to the Grand Jury, Ms. Lawrence claimed that the numbers in my petition was “old data,” and that she looked forward to making a “fool” out of me. I would love it if BUSD could make a fool out of me. I hope that they really didn’t lose $2.4 million serving lousy salt laden old storage and prepackaged food to our precious children.  

What I am asking is for BUSD to open its books, all of them, and allow a fair, independent and thorough examination of its numbers. 

I urge every parent to have lunch at school with your child.  

Boardmember Terry Doran calls that stuff “fresh, healthy and nutritious.” What do you call it? Every parent should know what the school district is feeding their kids, and why. 

Ray Couture 

• 

CORRECTIONS REQUIRED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m writing in response to Zelda Bronstein’s commentary (“Bates, Stoloff and UC: Dean to the Extreme?” Daily Planet, March 26-29). Ms. Bronstein denigrates the mayor and at least half-a-dozen members of the City Council and the Planning Commission through innuendo, erroneous information, and disingenuous attempts to link unrelated events. 

I want to set the record straight about Tim Perry, one of her targets. I appointed Mr. Perry to the Planning Commission and I have always been proud that he was my appointee. He made substantial, positive contributions to the work of the Commission. His resignation was due to the pressures of his job, which at that time demanded a great deal of his time and energy.  

Councilmember Breland has demonstrated her good judgment by reappointing Mr. Perry to the Planning Commission, and I am confident she, too, will bepleased with his work. 

Mim Hawley 

Councilmember, District 5 

• 

THE GROVE STREET DOCK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John Kenyon’s fine article “Drawing and Painting the Oakland Estuary” (Daily Planet March 30 -April 1) stirred memories of my nights as a security guard on the Grove Street Dock in the 1970s. I was working two jobs and needed the night work as a place to rest. The darkened and rotting dock was just to the south of the giant scrap yard where ships met their doom. I could see the flare of cutting torches and the lights of large crane magnets hoisting the metal into ocean-going barges and rail cars. The only valuable thing on my dock was a sea-going crane that was destined for San Diego. It had been vandalized and set adrift once, and the owners wanted it guarded until it was moved. My first night, the guard from the scrap yard came over and recommended that I arm myself because Grove Dock was the favorite route of violent drug smugglers. Knowing that a sidearm would limit my options, I instead brought my son’s dog Sarah the second night. She was a husky with a suspected strain of wolf and was afraid of our cat. But she looked the part, and in case of trouble, she could run as fast as I. We would sit on the dark, silent end of the dock, guarding the looming crane, I fishing for small sharks until catching them palled. Then I would find a shadow and bed down with Sarah nearby. She barked at anything that moved, and we were left alone. In those dreamy nights it never occurred to me to buy the dock. Who could have seen the giant container hoists shipped in from China and the rise of that part of Oakland as a premiere port? Sleepy security guards don’t see these things. 

Barry Smith 

• 

UNIVERSITY AVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On a recent foray into the shattered buildings and decaying manufacturing plants of Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica Queens, New York in February, I saw what could be University Avenue 20 years from now: a stretch of land stretching to the water devoid of human feeling and quality. Sitting smack in the middle of Queens and leading from the center of the borough to the East River, Jamaica has been victimized by a stunning failure to modernize zoning laws to meet the needs of the local, immigrant-oriented community. 

Berkeley is facing that same fate. 

On University Avenue, Berkeley and its citizens have an opportunity to build a centralized mass transit oriented zone that welcomes residential and commercial denizens alike. The shortcomings are more traffic and higher density. But if we are to reduce sprawl and keep the economy moving forward, it is necessary to allow both. The City Council is in the bad position of being historically over-zealous on the issue of high-density housing; passing projects that raise questionable issues about the use of state matching dollars for low-income housing construction while failing badly to preserve the sentimental qualities of The City’s historic structures. This means that any opportunity to raise population and meet the growing demand of residents and the University of California for space for its students, faculty, and visitors while enticing commercial investment will only be met with doubt by community interest groups. The real community interest, the same one I encountered in Queens is that Berkeley meet the large demand to force developers to provide commercial services and space to businesses along with any housing being considered. The City Council must force developers to reserve space for commercial tenants and bring state legislators into the act to bring an exemption to the ‘bonus system’ of giving extra space to builders willing to house low-income residents. Needless to say, creating an incentive for a community-wide, fee-based parking lot on the site of the former Smart and Final would be an excellent way to allow for growth along the vital University-San Pablo Corridor. 

Everyone in Berkeley should understand that it is in the state’s best interest to allow the exemption: the state would earn far more from the taxes of small businesses than they would simply off building owners alone, who are likely to gain a large tax concession from any deal. 

The real cost will come later, years from now when Berkeley will be faced with problems stemming from its terrible administration of its public schools, which will probably be stressed to their limits by the inflow of children whose parents will live in these proposed University Avenue developments. But that’s for another column. 

John Parman 

Berkeley and New York 

• 

POWERBAR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The untimely passing last week of PowerBar magnate Brian Maxwell got me thinking once again about his big yellow legacy atop the eastern face of Berkeley’s tallest downtown building. 

Wouldn’t it be nice if downtown Berkeley could avoid the fate of that no-man’s-land in The Great Gatsby? 

…above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic—their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existent nose. Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them there to fatten his practice in the borough of Queens, and then sank down himself into eternal blindness, or forgot them and moved away. But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days, under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground. 

I can think of no finer tribute to the memory of this energetic entrepreneur than to remove the PowerBlight sign at once. After all, since March 2000 we’ve been gazing at an appendage of breastfeeding pariah Nestle SA. 

Jim Sharp 

• 

PARKING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Developers have begun building large, overbearing housing blocks throughout Berkeley. These buildings steal light, privacy and parking from adjacent neighborhoods. They are replacing viable businesses, with poor retail spaces, increased traffic, noise and pollution. 

Housing advocates, developers and self-appointed urban reformists say they will avoid these problems by reducing parking in their projects. Berkeley officials agree. Berkeley City Planners Mark Rhoades and Dan Marks recently told the Planning Commission that they believe Berkeley’s parking requirements are the lowest required by any US city. They added that it is Berkeley’s official goal to reduce traffic by eliminating parking. 

Rhoades and Marks argue that people will give up their cars and use public transit if they can’t find parking. Several Planning Commissioners questioned this argument. When asked, Marks and Rhoades were unable to cite statistical support for the city’s parking policy. They explained that they know of no study that supports the city’s policy. 

When similarly challenged others are less candid. Livable Berkeley members readily cite the quality of life found in European cities as support for Berkeley’s parking policy. They argue that the high population density, job proximity, public transit found in European cities reduces traffic by eliminating the need for cars. This in turn provides a better city. 

Unfortunately, such references are vague and lack supporting detail. European cities simply fail to support such conclusions. I have been visiting Bilbao Spain, my wife’s hometown, regularly for the past 10 years. It is about the same size as San Francisco. It has excellent transportation with well integrated subway, rail and bus networks. These networks are well explained in readily available brochures and signs. Public transit is thoroughly used. One is lucky to find seats day or night. 

Bilbao also has unrelenting traffic. The traffic is so intense that sensors are used to monitor traffic. Their readings are shown on electronic flow maps located throughout the city so that drivers can respond to real time information while selecting how to get around. 

Bilbao’s parking is quite difficult and getting harder every year. People often park their cars as much as a 15 minute walk from their apartments. The problem is so pressing that many old buildings have had multi-level basements excavated for parking. Vertical access is provided by auto elevators operated from within the car! 

Despite all this and $5 a gallon gas prices Bilbao’s cars continue to proliferate. Great public transportation doesn’t mean that people will stop using cars. People want to leave the city on weekends and holidays; they travel evermore often to the city’s periphery to shop in growing shopping centers. Cars make this possible. 

In conclusion one can not equate removing parking with traffic mitigation. Doing so is simplistic, without precedent and contrary to actual experience. Removing parking, judging from European examples, will increase congestion, reduce commercial viability and encourage road rage. Failure to provide sufficient parking for future development will harm our neighborhoods for decades to come. 

I urge all who agree to engage the city in a broad debate on parking, traffic, and development. Failure to do so will lead to added congestion and flood our neighborhoods with overflow parking. 

Jon Alff 

• 

OAKLAND VIOLENCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In the March 19-22 Daily Planet there was an article called “A Teenager Looks At Oakland’s Murderous Row.” I feel really bad for the girl whose father was shot in Oakland, but some of the comments made were very prejudiced. I am African American and I have lived in East Oakland all my life. I am now 17. One of the girls commented that “black people are crazier that any other race.” That is a very ignorant comment because people are individuals and you cannot blame a whole race of people for the actions of a select few. Believe me I do understand where those girls are coming from because up until I was five my whole family used to live in East Oakland.  

However, they all moved to the Sacramento area when my 16-year-old cousin was shot and paralyzed from the waist down. My family got scared and, just like the young girl who wrote the article, thought that Oakland was a violent city and if they just went somewhere else things would get better.  

But contrary to popular belief they did not. Eight years later my 19-year-old cousin was shot and killed in Suisun Valley by a group of Mexican boys. Now I could be prejudiced and say, “I’m not surprised because you know, Mexicans are crazier than any other race.” I do not do this because I know that killings happen no matter what skin color you are or what city you are in. People do not come to Oakland and then get the sudden urge to kill. It is not fair to single out a specific group of people in a specific area. The blame lies solely on the person who pulls the trigger—no more, no less. 

Andrea Page 

Oakland 

• 

CERRITO THEATER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing in praise and thanks for your great article, written by Dave Weinstein, on “Saving the Cerrito Theater.” It appeared in your Feb, 17 issue, but I didn’t get around to writing this letter until now.  

This beautiful theater must be saved! It is just too beautiful to be torn down to make way for another B.U.B. (Big Ugly Building). We here in Berkeley have already way too much of that! 

These “developers” tear down older buildings which are perfectly good, and in far too many instances, absolutely charming old buildings. 

The article described breathtakingly beautiful murals, many of them depicting gods and goddesses of Greek and Roman mythology, done in silver leaf! Imagine the energy and painstaking hard work that went into the project when the theater was built! And now, some guy that owns a furniture store was using the Cerrito Theater for storage for furniture. How crass! 

It was mentioned in the article that there are married couples who went to the Cerrito Theater for a film, on a date, and fell in love because of it. It must have a lot of meaning in their lives. How will tearing down the Cerrito Theater impact their lives, when they have a place in their hearts for the place they first fell in love? It just does not seem right at all to tear down this theater. 

I am sure that this theater can be retrofitted to make it “earthquake resistant.” I know that it could also be renovated with a modern theater audio dolby digital/DTS surround sound system, just like other cinemas. Imagine how awesome!  

The Cerrito Theater should be preserved. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” 

Thank you for the wonderful article about this. It is a part of California history and heritage. “”A city without a past lacks a soul.” (Weinstein). All the best, 

Dave Yandle 

Compiled for Councilmember Dona Spring by Leuren Moret. 

“What a wonderful shot of energy the Daily Planet is. Tabloid and spunky, up-to-the minute, with a welcome intelligence and rooted ness running through it.”  

Malcolm Margolin,  

Heyday Books 

“In this critical election year, Americans must raise the expectations they have of their chosen candidate. This means demanding more and not settling for less. Republicans should take responsibility for President Bush having misled the country. Democrats should remember Kerry’s promises. And Independents should bring true opposition politics to American. The Daily Planet can help.”  

Dr. Laura Nader,  

former president of the American Anthropological Association 

“Without independent media, we wouldn’t know that we've been lied into war again. We still need urgently the Pentagon Papers of Iraq.”  

Daniel Ellsberg,  

The Pentagon Papers 

“I think it’s a greatly needed asset to the community. I wish it every success in shedding light on what goes on here.”  

Shirley Dean,  

Former Berkeley mayor 

“The Planet is the one place Berkeleyans can go to find out what’s happening in town and what our astute friends and neighbors are thinking about issues affecting our city. First stop: the op-ed page and the letters to the editor. A civic forum in print! We send it off to our kids and other displaced homesick natives.” 

Linda Schacht,  

UC Graduate School of Journalism,  

and John Gage,  

Chief researcher, Sun Microsystems  

“The Daily Planet is a vital witness in our community to the privilege and responsibility of freedom of expression. Congratulations on a successful inaugural year.”  

Maestro Kent Nagano,  

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra 

“H.L. Menken famously said: “ The average newspaper, especially of the better sort, has the intelligence of a hillbilly evangelist, the courage of a rat, the fairness of a prohibitionist boob-jumper, the information of a high-school janitor, the taste of a designer of celluloid valentines, and the honor of a police-station lawyer.” Say what you want about the Daily Planet, but it is certainly not an average newspaper. Congratulations on your first year.”  

Mayor Tom Bates 

“Congratulations on your first anniversary. In an era where we need to ensure that the media remains independent, The Berkeley Daily Planet represents an important voice in the public arena. Good luck as you move forward into your second year.”  

Congresswoman Barbara Lee 

“We are so fortunate that the O'Malley’s have been subsidizing our community newspaper, which is vital to helping us create and maintain our communication with each other. “ 

Dona Spring, City Councilmember 

I have been reviewing the proposed zoning code amendments to implement the University Avenue Strategic Plan, and I am disappointed that the balance of a citizen written plan promoting redevelopment along one of Berkeley’s most neglected Avenues has been lost and instead the Planning Commission is being presented with a blueprint for a four- and five-story University Avenue. This plan will burden Berkeley with a distorted development pattern of over-size buildings with little hope of realizing the avenue’s retail potential and severe and unmitigated privacy, shadowing, and traffic impacts to the residential streets that adjoin the avenue. The zoning code amendments that staff are proposing do a disservice to the entire planning process, they consistently ignore the purpose and the goals of the UASP plan, they emasculate and/or ignore the plan’s protections for the existing business and residential neighbors, and they open areas of ambiguity that will be fought over in the planning process and the courts for years to come. 

What staff presented to the Planning Commission and the public on March 24 is the most significant up-zoning Berkeley has experienced in many years. Every use type in the Avenue Nodes is increased by either five or 10 feet in height and one or two additional stories; in the University Avenue mixed-use areas, commercial and other-use use types are likewise granted an additional one story. Because these increases in height and number of stories can’t be accommodated within the existing 3.0 FAR (Floor Area Ratio), staff has unilaterally proposed increasing the FAR to 3.5 (before application of the state mandated density bonus). Acton Courtyard at 1392 University Ave. is an example of a recent project with a FAR of 3.19, but for a truly scary vision of the future University Avenue you need look no farther than the plans for 1885 University Avenue on http://planberkeley.org/1885ua_files/1885ProjHmPage.html which lords over the modest Berkeley Way neighborhood with a truly regal FAR of 3.67. 

The clear intent of the UASP plan to require retail (with an explicit exemption for accessible dwelling units) on the ground floor unless hardship could be shown has become an open invitation to developers to fill the ground floor with parking, because the amendments include parking as the only other permitted use besides commercial/retail. Unfortunately, the parking will be required for the residents and workers, and where shoppers and business customers will park is not discussed. If this is the best Berkeley can do to encourage retail we may as well resign ourselves to driving past serried rows of iron-gated garages up and down University Avenue as we drive to the malls in Emeryville and Albany, because there will be nowhere to park along the avenue. Possibly the most egregious example of the planning staff ignoring the clear intent of the plan is the omission of the vitally important caveat about building height and stories: 

“Sets minimum and maximum building height limits for residential, mixed-use, and commercial buildings within avenue nodes and avenue mixed-use areas. New buildings in avenue nodes will be required to be a minimum of two stories in height, and a maximum of four stores. Buildings in avenue mixed-use areas will be required to be at least two stories high and may be a maximum of three stories. These maximum heights may only be granted if all other solar, privacy, open space, signage, design, and parking standards are met.” (p. 34 UASP) 

I find it curious that staff could determine and incorporate the maximum heights for each and every use type, but not the accompanying, absolute requirement that these heights can only be granted if the UASP standards are met. The way the code amendments are proposed, there is no requirement that any of these standards are met—in the findings, where words get appealed and litigated, the language is toothless, unenforceable drivel: Be generally consistent with the design guidelines contained in the University Avenue Strategic Plan, as adopted by the City Council in November, 1996. Even worse, the staff has taken it upon themselves to offer an invitation to one and all developers to apply for a ‘get out of (zoning) jail free’ card by fulfilling any one of five poorly drafted ‘public use’ exemptions from all neighborhood protections. I await the first developer who after graciously providing a few bike racks in front of their building demands a complete exemption from yard development standards that are vital to protect adjoining residential districts—if you think this is impossible, I challenge staff to show us what in the code the city could use to refuse the request. 

I cannot tell you how appalled I am by planning staff’s work on this project. I had expected better from, and for Berkeley. The public hearing on these changes has been held open until April 14, I ask one and all to write to the Planning Commission and request that they reject the staff report, and direct staff to meet with the community to incorporate development standards that reflect the balance the community worked hard and long to build into the UASP. 

Stephen Wollmer  

ˇ

University Avenue is the main gateway to Berkeley and its appearance and function set the tone for our city. Currently, the avenue lacks the intensity of retail and pedestrian activities that characterize a vital urban street and support use of public transportation. This under-development creates an opportunity to build new housing, which will help provide housing for people who work here, revitalize existing commercial areas, and provide customers for new retail that can serve all Berkeleyans as well as our visitors. 

The Planning Commission is now preparing to amend the zoning on University Avenue to implement the University Avenue Strategic Plan (UASP). The UASP called for a maximum height of four stories on University Avenue. However, the UASP was adopted in 1996, and is now eight years old. What is now clear is that the UASP is out of date, and that a divergence from it would be appropriate in order to enhance University Avenue’s role as a transportation corridor and center for new housing development. University Avenue’s wide right-of-way makes greater heights more appropriate, as lovely older buildings such as University Avenue Homes and the Koerber Building demonstrate admirably.  

At the same time, new development along University Avenue raises legitimate concerns for neighborhoods immediately adjacent to it. In this light, the Planning Commission should consider the following issues when revisiting the zoning: 

1. Flexibility. As currently drafted, the proposed rezoning does not allow the Planning Commission or the City Council the ability to add density bonuses for particularly strong projects. It makes more sense for any revised zoning to allow either body to increase the allowable height of buildings up to five stories in the nodes designated by the General Plan. 

2. Shadow Setbacks. The proposed rezoning includes a significant setback on the north side of projects to prevent shadowing of neighboring properties. While it is important to reduce the impacts from development on University Avenue on adjacent properties, the proposed setback is based on the worst case scenario: the winter solstice at 9 a.m. The resulting rear setback is large enough to make many projects infeasible. A better solution would be for the city to adopt a more reasonable target date for setting rear setbacks: the spring equinox at noon. Furthermore, the city should allow up to 15 feet of shadow on adjacent properties at that time.  

3. Mixed Use. At present, the zoning for University Avenue allows an extra floor of height for mixed use projects through consideration of a use permit. Mixed use projects add vitality by bringing more residents, employees, and shoppers to the area, and should be encouraged. To ensure this sense of vitality on University Avenue, the provision that allows mixed use projects an extra floor should be kept with the current discretionary thresholds. 

4. Transitional Zoning. Neighborhoods bordering University Avenue have raised legitimate concerns about the impact of new development. Because the high-density corridor is only half a block a wide, unfortunate adjacencies can occur where taller buildings are located next to one-story bungalows. For a bungalow, it makes no significant difference whether a new building is five stories or four stories tall, so the proposed rezoning does not adequately addresses neighborhood concerns. It would be preferred for the city to instead study rezoning the blocks north and south of University Avenue to allow slightly higher densities. This would create a more gradual transition from University Avenue to the residential neighborhoods adjacent to it, and minimize the impact from the current stark transitions.  

The current rezoning process offers the possibility of enhancing University Avenue’s role as a center for new housing development and a transportation corridor. As one of the city’s main gateways, the character of University Avenue is of vital importance to the Berkeley community, and deserves the city’s focused attention.  

Towards a More Livable University Avenue 

By David Early, Chair, Board of Directors – Livable Berkeley 

TAKE A STAND 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We read with interest Matthew Artz’s article “School District Fails to Protect Bullying Victim at MLK,” (Daily Planet, March 25-29). 

In our professional opinion, it is clearly time to take a firm stand and approach to address “hostile school environment harassment” and bullying. 

Current initiatives follow in the footsteps of a more than two-decade struggle in the workplace to end not only the instrumental and procedural forms of employee aggression but to also eradicate the more subtle interpersonal hostilities that create an atmosphere of disrespect. What can we take away from this history to guide us in the effort to improve the climate in schools? 

We are psychologists with a specialization in harassment and discrimination—in the workplace and in the schools. From more than 25 years of experience, we know that teaching employees the do’s and don’ts is not a very effective way to change culture. Students are still more complicated: Children and adolescents are not just “little adults.” It takes more than policy to change behavior. 

We know, because we have been doing it. 

Steven Dranoff and  

Wanda Dobrich 

• 

ESCAPED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

This year, it will be exactly 30 years since I escaped the Berkeley public school system into private school. I had suffered three bladder infections in my two years at Willard Junior High School, because I was afraid to go to the bathroom—girls did their clandestine smoking there, and though all I really wanted to do was mind my own business, pee and get out, because I was a smart, “weird,” fat kid who liked my teachers (who, in fact, generally liked the company of adults better than my that of age-mates) the smokers assumed that I was going to rat them out. They would therefore gang up on me to abuse me physically and verbally. 

I stopped going to the bathroom at school, with the result I mentioned. My doctor wondered aloud what was wrong after the second infection; I told him and my mom I wasn’t going to the bathroom at school, and why. Mom told the school administration. And nothing changed. I went to the bathroom, I got beat up, I quit going. 

Let’s face it: Kids are hideous to each other. (Yes, adults are hideous to each other too, but let me at least make the point.) It’s a fact of life, and nobody does anything about it because nearly all of us adults either bullied or were bullied by some other kid in school. Most of us grow up and get over it; at the other end of the spectrum, there’s Columbine. The little girl I once was is personally in favor of corporal punishment for bullies, but I don’t see that happening in our (ahem) enlightened, modern Berkeley milieu. 

Meanwhile, I nourish a sweet daydream of standing across the street from my old school (any of them, really) in broad daylight on a school day and screaming at the top of my lungs, “F**K YOU, (LeConte/Malcolm X/Willard Jr Hi) School, f**k you all and everything you stand for, the Berkeley public school system sucks, it turned me into a f**king basket case and crippled me emotionally for years, so f**k you, f**k you, F**K YOU!!” 

But since I’m all grown up now—and actually have made considerable strides in my adult life to get over that damage—I just cherish the idea rather than acting on it. My school experience didn’t kill me, so it made me stronger? Maybe. But it sucks no less for that. 

Mad props to Dominique for having the guts I didn’t have, to stand up to the bullies, but I’m afraid that if in 30 years no real change has been made to address bullying in the BUSD middle schools, it’s not likely to be made anytime in the foreseeable future either. 

Leigh Ann 

• 

OUTRAGEOUS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I feel very angry about the non-protection of the bullied girl by the Berkeley School District. Why was not the bully kept in at lunch time, instead of the victim? Was the bully also suspended? No supervision at lunch time seems outrageous. 

Julia Craig 

• 

ZERO TOLERANCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you for bringing this difficult issue to people’s attention. Though you talk about middle school, our problem actually started in elementary school (Berkeley Arts Magnet). According to my kids, the bullies threatened, teased, mocked, pushed, punched and kicked as far back as kindergarten. The problem was never dealt with properly in the lower grades, so it continued to grow and worsen. In my experience, only one or two teachers ever dealt with the problem by confronting situations when they occurred and discussing the issue of bullying with the class. For the most part, when I talked to teachers and administrators about the problems my kids were having with bullies, the usual response was, “Unless I see it happen, there’s really nothing I can do about it.” 

In your article you wrote, “One policy that is uniform in the district is that any student who fights, even if it is in self defense, is suspended for at least one day.” Unfortunately that is not true. Children who fight are not always suspended (in the lower grades suspension is left up to the discretion of the teacher), and children are frequently suspended for more minor infractions. 

The victim is often blamed for provoking the bully’s “attack.” In fifth grade my son had to sit next to a boy who threatened every day to beat him up. The teacher refused to change his seat, so I went to the principal about the matter. She said my son was at fault for probably provoking the threats. In fact, most times when I approached the principal about my son’s problems with bullies, she found a way to hold the victim responsible. It’s easier to blame the victim than to discipline the bully. 

By middle school, the bullies were bigger, stronger and meaner. My son has been threatened, physically assaulted, had his basketball stolen, had a garbage can thrown at him and had a knife held to his neck—all this in his first year. 

When Dominique (the girl in your article) was denied outside lunch recess to protect her from her abusers, she was the one being punished. The bullies are the ones who should have been denied lunch recess. Instead of disciplining the bullies, the school punished the victim. 

The problem won’t go away by itself. The schools need to have a consistent, zero-tolerance policy for handling bullying in the schools. It must begin in elementary school, and it must treat the bully at the perpetrator and the victim as the victim. 

Debbie Dritz 

• 

KING STAFF DESERVE PRAISE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The article about bullying at King Middle School was an interesting analysis of a complex problem. However, the anecdote about the Reed family lacked many facts and focused the article on people who had problems at the school. However, my son had a recent experience with bullying at King that turned out well for him and our family. He wore a Halloween costume to school that evoked considerable teasing and eventually provoked a fight that caused him to be suspended. 

Unlike the Reed family, I found Vice Principal Sing, and my son’s teachers, to be pro-active and helpful. The administrative process and staff intervention that occurred after my son’s fight was a positive experience that helped him understand his role in the conflict and how he could prevent similar events in the future.  

Unfortunately, given the large number of students and variety of discipline problems, not every student’s issues can be addressed to the satisfaction of all. However, the staff at King should be praised for their hard work and expertise in a difficult environment. Ms. Sing in particular was wonderful with my wife, son and I.  

Name withheld to spare my son embarrassment 

• 

SIMILAR EXPERIENCES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I wanted to write to you in response to your article “School District Fails To Protect Bullying Victim At MLK.” My children used to attend public schools in Berkeley and they encountered the same failure to protect victims at the grade school level. One memorable time when my son nearly had his thumb broken and his face had footprints on it from a bully, the then principal of Rosa Parks also tried to get my son in trouble and not take it seriously because my son tried to fight back.  

On top of that, nobody at Rosa Parks would take it seriously that this bully had attacked my son at the request of another child who threatened to have my son beaten up if he told the teacher about his harassment. Normally the police do not convict the victim if they are attacked and try to fight back to defend themselves, but the school district’s administration does not take the same attitude. There is nothing in place to help victims of bullies in the BUSD district, no tracking of who is being victimized, no paperwork trail of how often someone is attacked, so even the good administrators have no tools or records to deal with systematic abuse. BUSD’s “conflict resolution” programs only help a little bit since BUSD allows the instructors to force victimized children to work with their bullies and then get them in trouble if they object or are unable to work calmly with the same bully who calls them names, steals their things, destroys their things, and physically harms them on a regular, daily basis. The following is an excerpt from a poem I wrote in March 2002 about what my son suffered at Rosa Parks (and previous to that, at Thousand Oaks):  

“I can’t leave my oldest child/who no longer goes to school/because his nerves fire up in pain/because his body trips him up/because his classmates have been allowed/to show a face of hate/screaming him into a migraine/laughing when he falls down in pain/some trying to make him bad/because he is different and white/but he looks bewildered/when four black kids call him white boy/because they are the same color as his best friends/so they call him every other schoolyard bully name/that humans have not evolved away from.”  

To the Reed family, you have my sympathy and agreement. I chose to pull my son out of school rather than sue the school district, because I needed the energy to help my son deal with his educational and health needs. At this point, I am homeschooling both my sons through Hickman Charter School and will never force them to set foot in a Berkeley public school again. 

Debra Grace Khattab 

• 

KUDOS TO MATT ARTZ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Great article on Dominique Reed at Martin Luther King Middle School. Kudos to your Matthew Artz for writing it. 

John Russell Uren 

• 

SUGGESTIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I applaud Mr. Reed for making a formal complaint to the police after his daughter’s school utterly failed to protect her from bullies. I would encourage him and the parents of other children in similar situations to consider two other measures: 

1. Enroll your child in an accredited, supportive and challenging martial art school. Such schools provide instruction in self-defense and in motor and mental skills that improve a child’s ability to perform scholastically. If your daughter has to defend herself, you should give her the ability to do so competently, in the ways least likely to result in permanent harm to herself or her attacker. Competent martial art instruction includes situational awareness and escape techniques, to allow you the means of avoiding assaults, as well as techniques for incapacitating an attacker. Make certain that the school you chose includes all of these in its curriculum. 

2. Get out of the public school system. It clearly is not teaching your child the same values you believe in. Look into private schools as quickly as possible and determine which schools refuse to tolerate student conduct like that inflicted on your child. Advocate for a voucher system and support political candidates who do likewise.  

Barry H. Bloch 

• 

DISABILITY RIGHTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The bullying article raises questions about the treatment of students with disabilities in our public schools. According to the article, both students—the bully and the victim—have disabilities.  

The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), a national law and policy center, has been headquartered in Berkeley since 1979. DREDF is the designated Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) for Alameda, Contra Costa, and Yolo counties under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). DREDF’s PTI helps the families of children with disabilities navigate public school systems and access special education services.  

One of DREDF’s training workshops concerns how to handle bullying targeted at children with disabilities at school. The training was written by the National Alliance for Parent Centers and reviewed by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. “Is Your Child a Target of Bullying: Intervention Strategies for Parents of Children with Disabilities” addresses parents of children with disabilities and the professionals who work with them. This training is available to the BUSD and any group interested in learning to deal with the complexities of bullying. 

Susan Henderson 

Managing Director 

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund

With the violence in the Middle East, the slumping economy, the controversy over gay marriage, and a do-or-die election quickly approaching, the Jewish holiday of Passover is especially meaningful for many this year. 

The holiday, which starts at sundown on Monday, April 5, traditionally celebrates the liberation of Jews from slavery in Egypt. With the theme of liberation at its heart, it’s a time to remember the past but also reflect on the present. Not surprisingly, however, the holiday has been adapted over several thousand years to fit various individual and group takes on what it means to celebration liberation. You can probably guess that Berkeley is no exception. 

A good indication of just how varied this year’s celebration will be can be found at several of Berkeley’s local bookstores in the Haggadah section. The Haggadah is the book used during the dinner feast that guides participants through the ceremony developed to remember the events of Passover. One quick glance over the shelves reveals a variety of themes, including women’s rights, peace, lesbian rights, Yiddish culture, and youth, among others. 

“When we read the Haggadah we don’t want to think of something that happened in the past. If you don’t take into account what’s going on around you, it’s hard to understand it,” said Ira Steingroot, who currently works at Spectator Books but used to manage what he claims is the world’s largest selection of Haggadahs at Cody’s Books. 

“If we were in a place where everyone belonged to synagogues, like those of us from the East Coast, everyone would use the same Haggadah,” Steingroot added. “Now we’ re are out in the West—the frontier—and for that reason people are looking for an alternative way. You come to Berkeley looking for an alternative lifestyle.” 

According to Steingroot, Seders (the traditional Passover dinners) were strictly by the book until the 20th century. Around World War I he said, people began to develop their own themes, and by World War II, it was a free-for-all. Over the years, Steingroot admitted he’s seen everything from the strictest Orthodox interpretation to the most liberal reinvention. 

“Every generation needs their own interpretation, just like Homer or Dante,” he said. 

One theme that stays constant, however, is liberation.  

“Our religion is nothing else but a struggle for freedom, our own as well as for others,” said Rabbi Ferenc Raj, from Congregation Beth El. “Our teachings say that every person represents the entire universe. If you destroy one person, you destroy the entire universe. If you help one person, you help the entire world.” 

The Seder, Raj said, is a time to remember this basic teaching and a time to pass it on to the younger generations. 

Both Raj and Steingroot agree that much of the focus on liberation is also a result of more recent struggles within Jewish community. From the concentration camps, the pogroms, and the ghettos of Europe to the pronounced anti-Semitism existing here in the United States during the first half of the 20th century, the need for liberation has been a constant theme. 

“They cannot take this love of freedom from us,” said Raj. “Even when we were oppressed in the ghettos we were free because we did not let them take our souls. Jews are called prisoners of hope, and this is so true. We are obsessed with hope.” 

Steingroot said one of the most moving Haggadahs he ever saw was a copy printed by the American Army in Germany after WWII. The type machines they used to print the books were dirty so they had to find something to clean them. The only thing around were old Nazi flags, which they tore into shreds to clean the type. 

The holiday will also be unique because of the current political climate. As violence continues to plague Israel and Palestine, many Jews here find themselves in the middle of the controversy that surrounds the conflict. On the one hand, there is the Jewish connection to Israel, and on the other there is acknowledgment of the Palestinian struggle against the occupation. 

One group, Jews For a Free Palestine (JFFP), will be hosting a community Seder that focuses on the legacy of liberation among the Jewish community but refuses to restrict the struggle for freedom to Jews. For the JFFP, the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation is just as important.  

“I think our goal is to create a space where we can celebrate the legacy of the biblical story of the exodus ” said JFFP member Eric Roman, “and at the same time build support among Jews and alliances of Jews and non-Jews, for modern day movements for liberation, especially in Palestine.” 

Roman said he, along with others, recognizes the strong legacy of social justice work in the Jewish community but are upset that parts of the community turn their back when it comes to the conflict with Palestine. 

“The strands of that legacy, the commitment to social justice, exist in the broader community,” he said. But unfortunately, he added, parts of the broader community also “have by and large really reactionary politics when it comes to the conflict. We talk about never again… and yet what I came to see in the world is that what some Jews meant was never again meant never again to us. I don’t mean to offer harsh criticism, but that’s getting it wrong.” 

Roman said the Seder that JFFP will host is meant to build community among Jews, non-Jews and allies who feel similarly and want to ensure that support for liberation means support across the board. 

Lisa Stampinsky, a graduate student at Cal and member of Tzedek, a progressive Jewish student group on campus, said their group is also planning a Seder that takes the theme of liberation to mean everyone. 

“Passover is centrally about liberation ,” she said, “so I think it’s important to open that up and not only focus on the history of our own people, but also use the issue to be able to think about the importance of liberation of all people.” 

Several of the Seders Berkeley groups are hosting are open to the public and both Jews and non-Jews are invited to attend. For information for the Seders at Congregation Beth El call 848-3988 ext. 11 or write to frontoffice @bethelberkeley.org. For the information on the Tzedek Seder on Tuesday, April 8, write to caltzedek@hotmail.com. For the JFFP Seder on Wednesday April 9, contact renouncealiyah @yahoo.com. To find Haggadahs, both traditional and alternative, contact Afikomen at 655-1977, or stop by their store located at 3042 Claremont Ave., Berkeley.

The sound of heaven is voices raised in song. With approximately 220 voices, Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra (BCCO) offers the East Bay community heaven on earth. Founded by Eugene Jones in 1966 as a Berkeley Adult Education Program class, BCCO offers all comers, without audition or judgment, the opportunity to rediscover the celestial song inside, despite any deficit in training or talent.  

Musical Director Arlene Sagan has lead BCCO since Jones retired in 1988. A Cal grad and professional musician who appears to be in her sixties, Sagan also directs the vocal group Bella Musica and an outreach group of the BCCO chorus known as the Berkeley Community Chamber Singers. The latter performs at hospitals, retirement homes, festivals, and the like. As director of BCCO, Sagan produces six free concerts each year for the enjoyment of nearly 3,000 appreciative classic music enthusiasts.  

This Saturday, April 3, a BCCO benefit recital features pianist and composer Julian White performing the works of Mozart, Schumann, and Schubert. The benefit will be held at 8 p.m. at the Crowden School, 1475 Rose St., Berkeley. 

White is an Arlene Sagan booster. “What makes Arlene’s situation possible is that she’s very, very open-hearted to anyone who wants to come,” he said. “It’s like out of a fairy tale: ‘If you don’t know how to sing or you don’t know how to read [music] don’t worry, we have free classes.’ She’ll teach you. I think that’s a very seductive embrace. ‘We like you independent of your vocal possibilities.’ You get accepted without having to fill out some huge IOU.” 

All that love doesn’t come without commitment. BCCO members rehearse weekly, with additional weekly sectional sessions available to those whose desire further help. And then there are the six concerts the Chorus performs each year. In early May the Chorus will perform Verdi’s Requiem three times at St. Joseph the Worker Church.  

“If you can walk, you can dance,” said Director Sagan. “If you can talk you can sing. Singing is the most wonderfully satisfying, spiritual experience. You mingle your breath together. We have people who are dying, and they come to a rehearsal and they feel better. It’s just… there’s always been singing, in terms of the history of people.” 

According to Sagan, three qualities make BCCO unique as a choral group. First, neither an audition, nor a musical education, nor vocal talent are necessary for membership.  

“When people say ‘there’s no audition,’ that usually means that you don’t have to read music,” said Sagan. “But we have people who can barely carry a tune. We’re willing to work with them. They don’t sing when they don’t know the music. And because of the fact that we do good work, and are very, very dedicated and work hard, in that group of 220 people we have graduates of music departments as well as people who’ve never seen a note before.”  

It is exactly the human quality of BCCO’s performances that Julian White appreciates most. 

“I think we’re a little bit spoiled,” White said. “We like to have our music at a certain degree of perfection that is really impractical and impossible. If I have a choice between hearing an orchestra where some of the instruments may be out of tune or some of them may be fast asleep, in some way that’s more gratifying than a really one-hundred percent perfect, industrialized, homogenized CD that has nothing to do with reality.” 

The second quality that makes BCCO unique as a chorus is the selection of music it performs. The artistic director deliberately picks difficult works by the recognized masters of classical music such as Bach and Brahms and Schubert and Verdi.  

Third, the chorus, with professional orchestral accompaniment, performs gratis, offering the public six free concerts a year.  

“When you go to concert with full orchestra, in The City or here, you pay $40, $50 a ticket,” Sagan explained. “We work very hard and we’re very organized so it’s also pretty good,” she added, with obvious pride. “We want beginners. In order to keep them we definitely make efforts to try to help them learn the music as much as they can. We’re pretty lucky because we’re big. But out of 200, 30 are basses, 20 are tenors, another 50 are sopranos and 80 are altos. So there are quite a bit more women than men, but we get enough.” 

Sagan also works to include people with disabilities in the chorus. 

“We get people who are in wheelchairs and we’ve had members who’ve been blind,” she said. More difficult is to get an ethnic balance that more represents this community. “Ethnically it’s very not mixed,” she acknowledged. “Our founding director was Eugene Jones. He was black, he tried and he couldn’t. There’s something about the kind of music we do that doesn’t attract a lot of [non-white] people.” 

While the chorus is not yet as ethnically mixed as Sagan would like, the audience is much more inclusive. BCCO fills the 500 seats available at St. Joseph the Worker for each performance. That’s 1,500 in attendance for each concert series.  

A benefit recital for Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra featuring pianist Julian White performing the works of Mozart, Schumann, and Schubert will be held Saturday, April 3 at 8 p.m. at the Crowden School, 1475 Rose St., Berkeley. Only 50 tickets ($30 each) remain. Call Johanna Clark at 526-2609 or 549-1336 to make reservations, limited seating maybe available at the door. A reception will follow.  

On May 2, 8 and 9 BCCO will perform Verdi’s Requiem for free at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St., Berkeley. Call 964-0665 or visit www.bcco.org for more information.  



Comparing loans is often the most difficult part of mortgage shopping. It is important to keep in mind that mortgage packages consist of more than interest rates. They consist of a variety of factors, including when and how the interest rate may change, points, and other fees. 

Points are an up-front fee paid to the lender at closing. Each point equals one percent of the loan amount. Points are charged, or paid, to lower the interest rate on the loan. Most lenders will allow you to choose amongst a variety of rate and point combinations for the same loan product. Therefore, when comparing rates of different lenders, make sure you compare also the associated points. 

Closing costs typically consist of loan-related fees, title and escrow charges, government recording and transfer charges and can add thousands of dollars to the cost of your loan. When comparing lenders, it is important to compare loan-related fees (i.e. the fees which lenders charge to process, approve and make the mortgage loan), since the other fees are typically independent of the lender. 

Also, when comparing loans of different lenders you need to thoroughly investigate and compare all loan features. Pay special attention to the presence of prepayment penalties and the availability and terms of conversion options (such as rate reduction option, or option to convert an ARM to a fixed-rate mortgage). 

For each loan you are comparing find out the lock-in period, during which the interest rate and points quoted to you will be guaranteed. Lock-ins of 30, 45 and 60 days are common. Some lenders may offer a lock-in for only a short period of time (15 days, for example). Usually, the longer the lock-in period, the higher the price of loan. The lock-in period should be long enough to allow for settlement before lock-in expires. 

Finally, make sure that you are comparing the interest rates on the same day. Rates change daily, if not a couple of times a day.  

So, what is the best way to compare loans among different lenders?   

When you compare different lenders, you should compare loan products of the same type (e.g. 30 year fixed). It does not make sense to compare different types of loan programs (e.g. 30 year fixed vs. 15 year fixed, or fixed vs. adjustable). 

To compare loan products of the same type among different lenders: 

1. Fix all lenders at one interest rate and lock-in period. 

You have to compare different lenders on the same rate (e.g. 7.5 percent) and lock-in period, otherwise you will be comparing apples and oranges. 

Most lenders can offer you a variety of rate and point combinations for the same loan product and allow you to choose the lock-in period. 

2. Add up the total lender fees for that rate including points and loan related fees. 

There are a number of different fees paid in connection with loan, and some lenders have different names for them. One lender might offer to waive one fee and then add another one. So when comparing loans of different lenders you should look at the total sum of ALL loan related fees.   

These fees can include processing and underwriting fee, mortgage insurance premium, appraisal fee, the cost of a credit report, tax service fee, application, commitment, wire transfer fee, etc. Points can include discount and origination points and have to be converted into dollar amounts. 

3. The lender that has lower lender fees has a cheaper loan than the lender with higher fees. 

Example: For a loan amount of 100,000 on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, lender A is offering you a rate of 5.375 percent with 0 points, 5.25 percent with 0.5 points, and 5.125 percent with 1 point. They also charge $450 in loan related fees. Lender B offers you 5.25 percent on the same loan with 0.375 points, 5.125 percent with 0.875 points, and five percent with 1.375 points and charges $680 in loan related fees. Both lenders are quoting rates on a 45 day lock. 

Russ Cohn is president of CohnsLoans in Albany and Berkeley.›

FRIDAY, APRIL 2 

CHILDREN 

A Love Story for Children at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“A Woman’s Love” pastels by Kelvin Curry. Reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 5741 Telegraph Ave. The artist will donate 25% of his sales to the WCRC. 601-0404, ext. 111. www.wcrc.org 

“Nudes: An Intimate View of Nature” photographs by Jane Magid. Reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Runs through May 27 at Red Oak Realty, 2983 College Ave. 849-9990. 

THEATER 

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

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Ghosts” by Henrik Ibsen, at 8 p.m. 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 April 3. Tickets are $12-$20 available from 644-2204. 

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 “Improv Survivor” opens 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 

Remembering Marlon Riggs: “Tongues Untied” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

John Eidenow talks about “Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Simryn Gill: “Matirx 210” Curator’s Talk with Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson at 12:15 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Baaba Maal, Senegalese pop singer and guitarist, at 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$36, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Soli Deo Gloria and Orchestra Gloria perform Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at 7 p.m. at Piedmont Community Church, 400 Highland Ave., Piedmont. Tickets are $15-$20 available from 415-982-7341. www.sdgloria.org 

The California Golden Overtones Spring Show at 8 p.m. in 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Performances by the UC Men’s Octet and The Williams Octet. Tickets are $5-$10. 642-3880. http://ucchoral.berkeley. 

edu/uchoral/overtones 

“Stomp the Stumps” Benefit for Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters and Earth First with Wild Buds, Gary Gates Band, Funky Nixons and Day Late Fool’s Band at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Solace Brothers, Amee Chapman, Gina Villalobos at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Triple Play at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

El 20 y 10: A Celebration of Dignity and Rebellion at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Herb Gibson, odd-school jazz, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $10-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Sylvia and the Silvertones play classic music of the 30s and 40s at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

The Waybacks, acoustic mayhem, 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 

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

Yaphet Kotto, Takaru, Confidante, Tafatka, A Light in the Attic 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. 

Mood Food at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Jazz Mine at 6:30 p.m. at King Tsin Chinese Restaurant, 1699 Solano Ave.  

SATURDAY, APRIL 3 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Gaile Schmitt and the Toodala Ramblers performing bluegrass at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Wild About Books with Jo Jo LaPlume and her marionettes at 10:30 a.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223. 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“Paintings of Tilden” by Deborah Shappelle. Reception from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Environmental Education Center, Tilden Nature Area. 525-2233. 

Ant Farm Exhibition Tour at 1 p.m. and screenings at 2 p.m at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

THEATER 

Albany High School Theater Ensemble “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. 

“Free and Ova Saopeng, Lao as a Second Language” at 8 p.m. at La Peña. cost is $5-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Hillside Players “Tangled Tales Three: It’s Not Easy Being Smee” a comic journey into The Enchanted Forest for the whole family at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $7, $4 for children, students and seniors. 384-6418. 

FILM 

Charles Burnett: “Nightjohn” at 3 p.m., “Shorts” at 7 p.m. and “Sleep with Anger” at 8:10 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michael Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, discusses the process of bringing a book to the screen, at 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $18-$28, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

"How to Survive in the Music Business” a panel discussion at 2 p.m. at The Jazzchool. Cost is $10, free for K-12 students. Sponsored by Music in Schools Today. www.jazzschool.com  

Bay Area Poets Coalition holds an open reading from 3 to 5 p.m. at the West Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1125 University Ave. 527-9905. poetalk@aol.com 

Joel Ben Izzy talks about “The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Harvard Glee Club and the Pacific Boychoir at 7 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Ave. Tickets are $15 at the door or from 866-468-3399. 

The California Golden Overtones Spring Show at 8 p.m. in 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Performances by the UC Men’s Octet and the Oxford College Out of the Blue. Tickets are $-$10. 642-3880. http://ucchoral.berkeley.edu/uchoral/overtones 

“Opera Scenes” performed by Holy Names College Opera Scenes Program at 8 p.m. at Regents’ Theater, Holy Names College, 3500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $7-$10, available at the door. 436-1330. 

Julian White will play works by Mozart, Schumann and Schubert in BCCO’s Spring Recital, at 8 p.m. at the Crowden School, 1475 Rose St. Donation is $30, receptions follows. For reservations and information call Johanna Clark at 526-2609, 549-1336 or email johannaclark@comcast.net  

Samba Ngo, Congolese singer, songwriter, guitarist at 8 p.m. at iMusicast, 5429 Telegraph Ave. at 55th. Cost is $13. 601-1024. www.imusicast.com 

BAM/PFA Open House with performance by The Edlos at 3:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lesson with Dana DeSimone at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Rory Block, country blues, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50 advance, $19.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Gojogo, Indian percussion with violin and acoustic bass, 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 

Bill Holdens, The Cables, The Happy Clams at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Rhoda Benin and Soulful Strut at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Tree Leyburn at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Rock & Roll with Nicole at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Time for Living, Killing the Dream, In Control, These Days, At Risk 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. 

Dave Gleason and Wasted Days at 9 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Tickets are $10 at the door. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Pickpocket Ensemble performs European café music at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Happy Birthday Herbie! Cannonball plays the music of Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 4 

CHILDREN 

Radical Puppet Mini-Festival with performances and workshops with Princess Moxie, Big Tadoo Puppet Crew, Gitty Duncan and more at 3 p.m. at 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Cost is $4-$10. For reservations call 415-905-5958.  

THEATER 

Albany High School Theater Ensemble “Crimes of the Heart” and “Alarms and Excursions” at 4 p.m. at Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd., Albany. Tickets are $5-$10 at the door. 558-2500, ext. 2579. 

Hillside Players “Tangled Tales Three: It’s Not Easy Being Smee” a comic journey into The Enchanted Forest for the whole family at 2 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $7, $4 for children, students and seniors. 384-6418. 

FILM 

Volker Schlöndorff: “The Legend of Rita” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“WORD: An Evening of Poetry and Prose for and by Homeless Youth” from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Large Assembly, First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing. Sponsored by Cody’s Books in a benefit for the Youth Program of Chaplaincy to the Homeless. Tickets are $35 available at the door or from 548-0562.  

Cathy Luchetti introduces ”Women of the West“ at the Berkeley Historical Society’s Annual Meeting from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Berkeley History Center, Veterans’ Memorial Bldg, 1931 Center St. 848-0181. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc/ 

The Temple of Olympian Zeus” with Prof. Emmanuel Korres, National Technical Univ., Athens, at 1:30 p.m. at the Archeological Research Facility, 2351 College Ave. 415-38-1537. 

“Eccentrics and Court Painters in Eighteenth-Century China,” guided tour at 2 p.m. and lecture with James Cahill at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

Rinzler’s Return #3, with editor Alan Rinzler at 3 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Bring your manuscripts for a quick and candid evaluation. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Flash with Adam David Miller and Francesca Bell at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

San Francisco City Chorus performs Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem and Cantique de Jean Racine, and Gioachino Rossini's Stabat Mater at 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $20 general; $15 seniors and students. 415-765-7664. www.sfcitychorus.org 

Pro Sonus Chamber Choir and the 100-voice Chancel Choir of First Presbyterian Church perform Mozart’s “Requiem” and “Eli, Eli” by Frank La Rocca at 7:30 p.m. at 2407 Dana St. Pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m. Free admission, donations accepted. 848-6242. www.fpcberkeley.org 

“Out of the Blue” England’s Oxford University’s men’s a cappella chorus at 2 p.m. at Audubon Cellars, 600 Addison St. Tickets are $40, $50 at the door. 925-280-6609. 

UC Folkdancers’ Reunion at 2 p.m. at Ashkenaz Cost is $7. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ray Obiedo and the Urban Latin Jazz Project at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com  

Adrian Legg, British guitar master, 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 

MONDAY, APRIL 5 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

The 25th Annual Quilt Show at The North Branch of Berkeley Public Library, 1170 The Alameda, with over 50 quilts on display to May 27th during regular library hours, Mon.-Thurs., 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. There is no charge for admission. A detailed catalog, in both regular and large print, is available for patrons to use on a self-guided tour. 981- 6250. www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org 

CHILDREN 

Jazz/Art with Lisa di Prima and the Don Robinson Trio at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Central Library, 2090 Kittridge, for the whole family. 981-6224. 

Craft Program Make Harry Potter wizard hats and wands at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library South Branch, 1901 Russell St. 981-6260. 

FILM 

“Promotion of Universal Respect,” the 4th Annual United Nations Association Film Festival with documentaries from Iran, Canada, Russia and the US, at 7 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Tickets are $8-$10 available at the door. 540-8017. www.unausaeastbay.org 

THEATER 

“Jane Austen in Berkeley” Andrea Mock’s one-woman play at 8 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $7. 841-9441. 

Shotgun Players “The Miser” opens at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater and runs Thurs. - Sun. through May 2. Free admission. 704-8210. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Shotgun Theater Lab “Persistent Vegetative State” at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean Theater, 1834 Euclid. Runs Mon. and Tues. through April 20. Free admission. 704-8210. www.shotgunplayers.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Last Word Poetry Series presents Joyce Jenkins and Francesca Bell at 7 p.m. at Pegasus Books, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 

TUESDAY, APRIL 6 

CHILDREN 

Craft Program Make “Wild Things” masks at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library South Branch, 1901 Russell St. 981-6260. 

FILM 

Alternative Visions: “Something More Than Night” at 7:30 p.m.at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Qawwali: The Sacred Music of the Sufis” a workshop from 2:10 to 5 p.m. at Starr King School for the Ministry, 2441 Le Conte Ave. Free. 845-6232. 

Ian Johnson, Pulitzer Prize winner for his reporting on China will speak at 5 p.m. at the IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Floor. 

“The Passion of Christ” From an Evangelical Perspective with the Dean of the GTU at 12:30 p.m. in the Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. 526-1356. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Brass Menagerie at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Balkan dance lesson with Nancy Klein at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

www.thejazzhouse.com 

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

This may be the most exquisite weekend of the year to explore the rolling hills and small, funky, and beautiful little towns of western Marin and Sonoma counties. The grass is still green, the leaves on the trees are brightly new and clean, lambs are popping, and the fish are jumping in Bodega Bay. 

Saturday and Sunday Bodega Bay hosts its annual Bodega Bay Fishing Festival, where you can sample salmon every which way, and take home crab right out of the water for $3.50 a pound live, or $5 a pound just boiled. 

If the festival crowds are too much, avoid Bodega Bay. There is plenty else to do if you follow this trip through fresh air and occasional animal fragrances. 

Follow Highway 101 north and take the East Washington Street exit in Petaluma. Follow East Washington straight across Petaluma Avenue, and keep following west as it becomes Bodega Avenue about seven miles later. Turn west (left) again at Tomales Road toward Two Rock Coast Guard Training Center and keep going, turning right (north) at Highway 1 into “downtown” Tomales. 

Almost immediately on your left is the Tomales Regional History Center in the old Tomales School, where docents include former students and teachers who still live in these sublime climes (open 1-4 p.m. Friday-Sunday, (707) 878-9443)). Tomales celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2000, which inspired the current terrific historical exhibit chronicling matters of farming, social, cultural, and civic importance, all Tomales High School yearbooks, and the community stature of the local fire department and Marconi Wireless Telegraph Stations. Do not miss the quietly elegant Coast Miwok Indian historical exhibit, respecting the area’s first residents. 

Tomales was once the second largest town in Marin and vied with San Rafael to become the Marin County seat. It was a major trading and farming center served by John Keys’ narrow gauge Northwestern Pacific Railroad connecting Tomales to the Russian River redwoods and Sausalito from 1871 to 1930. Art shows, lectures, quinceaneras, town meetings, weddings and “Grand Balls” still occur at the Town Hall, once the Tomales Temperance Club. Local oldtimers wait for the doors to open at the William Tell bar and restaurant, and the elegant Continental Inn occupies the corner at Dillon Beach Road. 

A real find is Cameron Ryan’s Tomales Bakery. A baking veteran of San Francisco’s Square One, Campton Place, and Splendido Restaurant, Cameron first learned to bake from Mildred Jeffreys, her grandmother in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. She later polished her skills at the California Culinary Academy. Cameron and friends create pizzetti, pesto, sundried tomato chile twists, and other goodies in a former gas station. As a consequence, the few tables are outside, perfect for watching a parked bike. Tomales Bakery uses only Strauss Family Dairy milk, cream, and butter, and makes the most of local organic fruits, and Sebastopol’s Taylor Maid Farms coffees. 

Next door is Emily B’s Deli, with fabulous chili topped with grated cheese and avocado, loads of sandwiches, and local fish chowder—nothing over seven dollars. Across the street, Diekmann’s General Store is worth a trip through, with an excellent local wine selection, bait and tackle, tide information, and one of everything for your vacation kitchen. Explore Mostly Natives Nursery for plants that may work in Berkeley too. 

Dillon Beach Road heads west between Diekmann’s and the Continental Inn. Dillon Beach is a good beach with decent restrooms, picnic tables, and protective sand dunes, although controversy has surrounded the private access parking charge of $5.00 per car for years. The Dillon Beach Resort is now spiffed up with casually comfortable rooms, cabins, café, and a beach and snack store, right next to the trailer homes overlooking the ocean. Other nearby Marin County natural adventures include Tomales Bay State Park and the sprawling Point Reyes National Seashore to the south. 

Follow Highway 1 north seven miles and turn left toward Valley Ford, population 126 or so. Depending upon the ebbing and flowing fortunes of local antiques dealers, you may want to make a stop, or try the famous Dinucci’s Italian Dinners in its third generation of “excellence without extravagance.” 

Dinucci’s bar is noisy and old and sets the mood for the entire place, where the floors tilt slightly as do some of the customers. But one can enjoy a hugely filling dinner of antipasti, minestrone soup, salad, spaghetti or ravioli, and an entrée for under $16.50. Deep fried chicken, chicken cacciatore grilled petrale sole, cannelloni, and veal Parmigiana are all unsurprising and good. Soup and antipasti or salad, as well as Sonoma County and Italian wines are also available. 

As you continue north, you can either go east to Occidental, or north to the towns of Bodega and Bodega Bay. Bodega combines funk with history, including several shops with reasonably priced collectibles and antiques, and the Bodega Schoolhouse where Alfred Hitchcock filmed The Birds. Leah Taylor, whose parents Tom and Mary Taylor renovated the building decades ago, leads tours of the building where she and her family live and Leah occasionally gathers audiences to experience her performance art (contacts: (707) 876-3257; www.bodegaschool.com). 

Between Bodega and Bodega Bay are Doran Beach and the Birdwalk Coast Access area, the latter of which is part of the California Coastal Conservancy and managed by Sonoma County Regional Parks. Both are well worth exploring before trying some of the glitz of Bodega Bay. 

In Bodega Bay, my favorite food stop is informal Lucas Wharf, which has a restaurant and a café-fish market where you can enjoy sinfully fabulous deep fried oysters, scallops, calamari, or fish and chips (one order is enough for two) either inside among milling tourists or at tables between the buildings and in front of the fish house. Walk back to the fish market pier, and choose your crab or salmon right out of Bodega Bay. Heaven! 

The leader of a notorious Berkeley real estate dynasty, who in 2001 pled guilty for his role in a family operation to smuggle young Indian girls into the country for sex and cheap labor, has asked a United States District Court judge to rescind his guilty plea just as a civil case against the family is about to commence.  

Berkeley real estate mogul Lakireddy Bali Reddy, 66, has filed a writ of habeas corpus asking Judge Claudia Wilken to overturn his plea of guilt to sex, tax and immigration offenses, Wilken revealed Monday at a sentencing hearing for Reddy’s 45-year-old son Prasad Lakireddy.  

Saying that she feared the no-prison-time plea agreement for Prasad Lakireddy was too lenient, Wilken postponed a issuing a sentence. Lakireddy was the fifth and final member of the family to plead guilty to reduced charges in the scandal. 

While Wilken did not give a timetable for how she planned to respond to Lakireddy Bali Reddy’s request, the judge reset Prasad Lakireddy’s sentencing hearing for April 19 and asked defense attorney Paul Wolf and U.S District Attorney Stephen Corrigan to provide evidence pointing to the appropriateness of the plea bargained sentence. 

After the hearing, Lakireddy’s attorney Paul Wolf blasted the postponement. “This is an ambush to keep this man from defending himself at his civil trial,” he said, pointing at Lakireddy. Wolf’s statement implied that so long as Lakireddy faces criminal sentencing, he would probably choose not to testify in the civil trial, where he would risk incriminating himself. 

The civil trial played heavily into Monday’s proceedings, said an attorney at the sentencing who declined to be named. Should Judge Wilken throw out the guilty pleas of Lakireddy Bali Reddy—the only member of the family to plead guilty to sexual improprieties—it could improve his standing in the civil trial.  

Developments since Reddy pled guilty in 2001 have improved the family’s legal position. Several of the Lakireddy’s chief accusers have alleged that the court translator, Uma Rao, exaggerated their testimony. Some of the victims who might have been key witnesses in criminal trials have subsequently indicated that they would refuse to testify against the family if such trials were now to take place. 

Michael Rubin, attorney for the plaintiffs in the civil case, said six of the original plaintiffs have abandoned the suit and have since filed papers to withdraw their statements from the court record. 

The Lakireddy saga first surfaced in November, 1999 when 17-year-old Chanti Pratipatti died from carbon monoxide fumes caused by a blocked heating vent in a downtown Berkeley apartment owned by the Lakireddys. Pratipatti’s older sister was also in the apartment, but survived. The parents of Pratipatti and two men, brought to the country illegally, are the only defendants remaining in the civil case, Rubin said. 

In November, Prasad Lakireddy entered a guilty plea on one count of conspiracy to employ unauthorized aliens. In return he was to receive five years of probation, one year of house arrest and a $20,000 fine.  

Lakireddy’s brother, Vijay, 34, is serving a two-year sentence for pleading guilty to the same crime—a fact that didn’t sit well with Wilken. “I have a concern with the proportionality with respect to this defendant and the sentence imposed on the brother,” she said. 

Should Wilken ultimately abide by the plea bargain, Prasad Lakireddy would become the third member of his family to avoid prison time in return for a plea. 

Lakireddy’s uncle, Jayprakash Lakireddy, spent one year in a halfway house for conspiring to commit immigration fraud. His aunt, Annapurna Lakireddy, served six months of home detention for the same offense. 

Prasad had originally been charged with nine counts, including conspiracy to import aliens for immoral purposes and witness tampering, but the allegations of misconduct against the translator and the refusal of several of the alleged victims to testify damaged the government’s case. 

When pressed by Wilken about the perceived leniency of the plea agreement, U.S. District Attorney Stephen Corrigan replied, “What we have to consider is what the government can prove.” Corrigan refused to comment following the hearing. 

›

While Berkeley office vacancy rates have been increasing over the past two years, they still remain half those of San Francisco, where real estate vendors estimate year-end office vacancy rates at more than 20 percent. 

But the city’s downtown current vacancy rate of 12.25 percent is more that five times higher than 2000, when BT Commercial Real Estate estimated office vacancies at 2.21 percent. West Berkeley has fared slightly better, with vacancies rising from 3.62 percent four years ago to 11.46 percent today. 

But compared to San Francisco and Santa Clara County, Berkeley is sitting pretty, and the city’s vacancies are the lowest of all regions of Alameda County, save for Jack London Square. 

“We’re going good,” said John Gordon of Gordon Commercial Real Estate Services in Berkeley. “This is generally a healthy community. It’s a place where people want to be.” 

“In the long run, because we’re so diversified, we’ll be in much better shape than a lot of other areas,” said Ted Burton, the city’s Economic Development Program coordinator. 

“The dot.com bust and declines in the high tech sector have had some impact, especially in West Berkeley, but we’re a lot better off than Silicon Valley,” Burton said. 

The recent downsizing of the UC Berkeley Extension program has made 12,000 square feet available downtown, Gordon said, “and there’s been some downsizing and closings in the high tech field.”  

By contrast, downtown San Francisco’s office vacancy rate was the second highest in the country in 2003, trailing only suburban Detroit, according to the Federal Reserve Bank. 

And of the 110 million square feet of vacant office space in the greater Bay Area, 70 million are in Santa Clara County, emptied by the dot.com collapse, said Jeffrey Wieland of Walnut Creek, senior vice president of Colliers International, a global commercial real estate brokerage. 

“The East Bay’s relatively well off because of the diversity of businesses here,” said Erin M. Proto, East Bay Research Services Manager for real estate giant Grubb & Ellis Company. 

Higher vacancies mean less rental income for owners, not only from more empty offices but from the dropping rental rates that accompany high vacancies. 

The average monthly rent per square foot of a downtown office has dropped from $3.29 in 2000 to $2.05 today—in West Berkeley from $2.81 to $1.82. 

High vacancy rates translate into dramatically lower rates in San Francisco, Wieland said, where annual rates for the choicest San Francisco that were running $110 per square foot at the peak of the boom have dropped to $32, with rates in the South of Market area dropping to $18 to $20 a year. 

Nationally, “office markets are unquestionably in the grip of a downward cycle,” reports the Society of Industrial Office Realtors in the 2004 U.S. Office Market Review and Outlook. 

And while federal economic figures show a recovering economy, with corporate profits in double digits for the last two years, there has been no corresponding decrease in unemployment. 

One culprit implicated in the anomalous “jobless recovery” is the increasing reliance on “offshored” jobs—the replacement of American workers by cheaper foreign workers in manufacturing, technology and, increasingly, the so-called service industries. 

Accounting jobs are moving to Asia at record rates, and medical transcription and legal research are also headed offshore, primarily to India. The New York Times reported in October that offshoring has already produced higher office vacancy rates in New York City, where Wall Street brokerages and investment bankers have been sending financial analyst jobs overseas. 

“Offshoring is more of a problem in Concord and San Francisco, which have more back office rentals,” Gordon said. 

“The Berkeley office market is relatively healthy because the city hasn’t built much office space in the last five to ten years, and because the university is a big magnet for tech companies,” said Wieland. “You’re doing a lot better than Emeryville—‘Emptyville’—which has been running around 30 percent,” he said. 

Besides the vacancies created by offshoring, companies are generating increasing amounts of “shadow space” emptied by the replacement of human workers by integrated software platforms that fulfill multiple functions that once required human workers. 

Even without offshoring jobs, Wieland said many Bay Area companies are relocating to Sunbelt states like Texas, where salaries, property taxes, and workers comp insurance costs are all lower. “In the long run, Berkeley’s in an enviable position. Because of the university, people are always going to need offices,” he said. 

Berkeley’s large numbers of nonprofit organizations also contribute to the relative health of the local office market, said Gordon, who’s been dealing in local real estate for the last 24 years.

The Shattuck Hotel is no longer for sale, its owner said Monday, after the prospective buyer, Aki Ito, pulled out of the deal that would have turned the 94-year-old Berkeley landmark into short-term student housing. 

Ito, a San Diego-based businessman, declined to disclose why negotiations collapsed just one month after officials for the Shattuck Hotel said that the deal was in escrow awaiting final approval from Ito’s financiers. 

The hotel at the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Allston Way will now remain the property of Sanjiv Kakkar, who purchased it in 2001 for $12.5 million. Neither Kakkar nor Ito would disclose the proposed sale price or other terms of the deal that for weeks had been rumored to be in jeopardy.  

Ito, the owner of Vantaggio Suites, operates four short-term housing complexes—two in San Diego and two in San Francisco—that cater to international students with short stays in the U.S. Had the sale gone through, he indicated that he planned to turn the 175-room hotel into a similar operation. 

Turning the Shattuck Hotel into a single-room-occupancy facility could have cost the city thousands in transient occupancy tax revenues it collects from the hotel. Any stay longer than 13 days does not qualify for the 12 percent tax, one of the biggest moneymakers for the city, said Ted Burton of the Office of Economic Development (OED). Last year the city garnered $2.5 million from its 23 hotels. Privacy laws, however, prohibit city officials from divulging tax revenues collected from any individual hotel. 

Kakkar blamed a Feb. 6 article in the Daily Planet for complicating the negotiations. “You jumped too soon with the article basically. It caused confusion,” he said. 

The offer from Ito came unsolicited, Kakkar added. Though Burton said other groups have inquired about the Shattuck, Kakkar insisted he has received no other offers and planned to keep the hotel. 

Barbara Hillman, president of the Berkeley Convention and Visitors Bureau, guessed that the pending closure of the English Language Program at UC Berkeley Extension helped sink the deal. “That’s 3,000 students that are not going to be here during the summer,” she said. “It’s hard to fill 175 rooms 365 days a year, especially when there are fewer international students traveling.” 

Ito faced other hurdles as well. He would have had to assume responsibility for an expensive ongoing installation of a sprinkler system. And by changing the hotel’s use to a residential dwelling, Burton said, he would have triggered a host of code requirements for the aging building. 

“I can well imagine that when Mr. Ito saw the number of city requirements he had to meet, he might have had second thoughts,” OED’s Burton said. 

The Shattuck Hotel has already undergone renovations, Abhiman Kumar, the hotel’s manager said in an earlier interview. Many of the rooms, the lobby and much of the fifth floor have been refurbished, he said. Kumar added that the hotel was making a healthy profit, even though about 60 of the rooms were already being rented on a short-term basis to UC Berkeley and other students. 

Burton, however, said he didn’t think the renovations were sufficient to significantly boost business. In 2001, the last time the hotel was up for sale, he said an independent hotel operator told him the Shattuck needed a cash infusion of about $15 million to compete with top-of-the-line hotels. 

With a new UC Berkeley-backed hotel and conference center planned for just a block away at the current Bank of America branch at Shattuck and Center Street, the Berkeley Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Hillman sees better days ahead for the Shattuck. She said the planned complex would return visitors and conferences that had been displaced to Emeryville. “When the new hotel opens we can attract conferences and events we couldn’t have gone after before, and the guests can’t all stay at that one new hotel,” she said. “The Shattuck will get business it hasn’t gotten before.”›

A Berkeley-based concert promoter has struck a blow against corporate music behemoth Clear Channel Entertainment, winning the exclusive rights to promote concerts at the Greek Theater. 

The three-year contract between Cal Performances and Another Planet Entertainment (APE), announced last week, effectively ends Clear Channel’s monopoly over amphitheater venues in the Bay Area. 

It is also the latest salvo in an ongoing feud between Clear Channel and their former employees, UC Berkeley alumnus Gregg Perloff and Berkeley High graduate Sherry Wasserman, who left the company last year to start APE. The two parties are currently in litigation over APE’s first independent concert, a Bruce Springsteen show last summer at Pacific Bell Park that Clear Channel insists Perloff and Wasserman organized while they were still Clear Channel employees. 

Wasserman said she and Perloff decided to bolt from the company after repeated clashes with top management over ideas for shows. After years as one of the region’s dominant promoters for Bill Graham Presents, she savors her new underdog role. “Clear Channel wants to rule the world,” she said. 

Clear Channel has a poor reputation among free speech advocates and music lovers for the company’s banning of controversial songs from its radio stations following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and employing strict decency standards that led to the banishment of radio shock jock Howard Stern from its airwaves. In addition, the company maintains close ties to Republican politicians. But Robert Cole, director of Cal Performances, insisted politics weren’t a factor in his decision to sever ties with Clear Channel. 

“This was more about which group shared our vision for what the Greek could become,” he said. Cole received bids from three promoters—APE, Clear Channel and Nederlander, a Los Angeles-based promoter—and said the top two bidders offered similar (Cole would not reveal which company came in second).  

APE got the nod, he said, because the promoters pledged to make the 8,000-capacity theater in the Berkeley hills their signature venue and offered to put money into upgrading its facilities. That’s something the university can’t do on its own, Cole explained, because of its budget crunch. Cole said he didn’t expect the change in booking agent to affect ticket prices. 

Wasserman said the Greek Theater deal would give APE a base to compete locally with Clear Channel. “For us it’s extremely important to have a place to call home,” she said. “After leaving Clear Channel, there aren’t many buildings still open to independents.” Wasserman and Perloff are no strangers to the Greek Theater venue. They booked it for years when they at Bill Graham Presents. 

Lee Smith, Clear Channel’s vice president of the Western region of its music division, didn’t reply to telephone inquiries. 

Since a 1996 Federal communications law loosened restrictions on media ownership, Clear Channel has gone on a buying spree, gobbling up 135 concert venues, 1,225 radio stations and 39 television stations, according to its website. One of its purchases was SFX Entertainment, the parent company of Bill Graham Presents, which Wasserman and Perloff had co-owned with 14 other partners.  

“The deal bodes well for seeing the best schedule at the Greek in years,” said Gary Bongiovani, editor at Pollstar magazine, a music industry periodical. Previously the venue didn’t get high priority, he said, because Clear Channel shipped most of its top shows to its outdoor theaters in Concord and Mountain View. “In terms of pushing shows into the facility, it makes sense to go with Another Planet,” he said. 

Another Planet might also increase the number of shows at the Greek, said Cole of Cal Performances. The venue is permitted 15 performances a year, but Cole said in recent years Clear Channel had only booked between eight and 10.  

The Greek will now be shut out of some big name performers that have exclusive contracts with Clear Channel, but Wasserman said nearly all of the regular performers for the summer stage would remain available and that she was hoping to book a more eclectic roster of performers. 

Since forming APE, the company has taken over and renovated two clubs in San Francisco—The Independent, formerly known as the Justice League and the Grand Ballroom—and have promoted shows in Sacramento featuring Simon and Garfunkel and Metallica.  

›

A controversial activist group met in a South Berkeley church Saturday afternoon to urge parents to enlist in the fight against a lawsuit filed by an Berkeley affirmative action foe backed by a equally controversial conservative legal foundation. 

“The defense of desegregation in Berkeley is a critical moment in the struggle for desegregation and diversity in America,” Luke Massie, national co-chair of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) told some 50 activists. “This lawsuit is part of the little-publicized but well-organized attack on desegregation, and we must launch an effective defense. We are in the front lines of the battle with this case in Berkeley.” 

The Alameda County Superior Court lawsuit by Berkeley parent Lorenzo Avila, supported by the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), seeks to end a Berkeley Unified School District plan that encourages racial diversity without specifically using ethnicity as a criterion. PLF attorneys, who are arguing the case for Avila, say the new plan is illegal under Proposition 209, the 1996 voter-passed anti-affirmative action amendment to the state constitution.  

In 2002, PLF successfully challenged the Huntington Beach school district’s integration plan, which was nearly identical to Berkeley’s earlier ethnically explicit school assignment plan.  

On Thursday, Alameda County Superior Court Judge James Richman will hear arguments in on a motion by BAMN, sister organization United for Equality and Affirmative Action (UEAA) and two Berkeley parents to grant them legal standing to join in opposition to the lawsuit. A BAMN-sponsored 8 a.m., two-hour rally outside the courthouse at 201 13th St. in Oakland will precede the hearing. 

The Berkeley lawsuit “is a huge opportunity,” BAMN’s Massie told the Saturday gathering. “If we take a stand here and fight and win, we’ll be setting an example for the entire country.” 

Massie’s sister, Michigan attorney Miranda Massie, is one of the attorneys who will argue for the intervention motion. 

Joining Massie on the platform were Janeare Ashley and Pamela Sanford, graduates of Berkeley schools and respectively the mother and grandmother of current students, along with Joyce Scon of UEAA and Yvette Felaca, a member of the local BAMN chapter. 

“I want my child to attend the best possible schools,” said Ashley, a graduate of Malcolm X Elementary School and the mother of a current Malcolm X student. “I don’t want someone else to tell me where my child can go. If you allow a group of people to set the limits, and if you let them take an inch today, don’t you think they’ll take a mile tomorrow?” 

Massie and Scon had harsh words for mainstream civil rights organizations, which they said have been reluctant to mount legal challenges in light of the conservative mood of Congress and the courts. 

Berkeley NAACP chapter chair Alex Papillon told the gathering he approved of the district’s current integration program, but not the revised program which is scheduled to start with the next school year. “We’d refuse to be an intervenor in defense of a non-race-based plan.” Berkeley’s was “the first and only school system that voluntarily integrated,” Papillon said, “which was a slap in the face of racism because it showed that white people were opposed to segregation.” 

Papillon said he is worried because a partial confluence of interests between whites on the far left who are shooting for a non-race-based society and those on the far right “who are shooting for a segregated society achieved by not using race.” 

The NAACP has filed a separate intervention brief in the case in alliance with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.  

Papillon said he’ll attend Thursday morning’s rally because “if PLF wins in Berkeley, they’ll crow about it all over the country.”  

John Findley, the PLF attorney representing the Avilas, said he doesn’t think a judicial decision to grant the intervention petitions should have much impact on the case. “We are dealing here with constitutional law, and we assume that’s what will govern the outcome of the case,” he said.  

›

As touchscreen voting machines continue to draw heat from critics pointing to allegations of security vulnerabilities, one group of computer science experts proposes to have the solution. 

The Open Voting Consortium (OVC), a nonprofit group with several Bay Area members, recently announced the development of touchscreen voting machine software that uses open source and creates a voter verified paper trail. Recently completed, the software is set to be publicly tested this Thursday, April 1, at the Santa Clara County government offices in San Jose. 

The group’s development comes at a particularly charged time for the touchscreen debate. Just last week, Alameda County Registrar of Voters Brad Clark filed an official complaint with Diebold, the manufacturer of the touchscreen voting machines used throughout the county. Clark was one of the first county registrars in the state to invest in the new technology, spending $12.7 million on the Diebold machines in May of 2002. But he made his formal complaint after several problems with the Diebold machines during last October’s gubernatorial recall, as well as the primary earlier this month, resulted in switched votes and major delays. 

Two state senators, including Oakland’s Don Perata, recently introduced legislation asking the state to decertify touchscreen machines. California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley has also issued two mandates asking for increased security updates on all touchscreen machines for upcoming elections. 

Taking all the complaints and security vulnerabilities into question, the Open Voting Consortium developed a simple approach; maintain the advantages of a touchscreen system but include the security features that alleviate the current security concerns.  

OVC’s system, currently in software form only, can be used on regular desktop PCs hooked up to a touchscreen monitor and a standard printer. Like the touchscreen machines now in use, the OVC unit records the vote electronically. But unlike Diebold’s machines, the OVC system also automatically produce a paper receipt, which is intended to be the official tally. To ensure accuracy, the paper count is then reconciled against the electronic one stored on the machines.  

“Our idea is that the machines should have [a tally] that people can inspect,” said Arthur Keller, a computer scientist who teaches part-time at UC Santa Cruz. “You trust the paper and can have much more faith in the process.”  

The group has written open source software that can be checked by anyone for malicious code that might tamper with votes. Like Linux software for PCs, OVC’s code isn’t proprietary. 

In contrast, the proprietary base software that runs the Diebold touchscreens machines in Alameda county was inspected by private companies before state certification, but is exempt from other check-ups. In the past, Diebold has been severely criticized for using un-certified software updates on their machines. 

No one associated with OVC thinks the new software or process will be the end-all of electronic voting problems but they say it’s a step in the right direction. 

“I think there has been a lack of critical analysis of claims made by voting companies, and now there is a healthier dose of criticism,” said David Dill, a computer science professor at Stanford and one of the leading experts on touchscreen voting vulnerabilities. Dill is not affiliated with OVC. Asked if OVC’s approach might be the solution, he said, “I don’t know, it’s still too early to say. He added, though, that, “I’m glad they’re doing it.” 

“I have hopes that they will come up with something,” said Judy Bertelsen, a member of Berkeley’s Wellstone Democratic Club who has been tracking the touchscreen debate. “What I’m concerned about is that if we do get some sort of paper trail that people will wander off and say everything is fine.” 

The touchscreen machines are just part of the problem, Bertelsen said. She is also concerned about the optical scan machines, another Diebold product. These devices were responsible for switching thousands of absentee ballot votes from Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante to Southern California Socialist John Burton during the Oct. 7 recall election. The Diebold machines used by the county to tally votes are an additional problem. 

Like Diebold’s machines, the Open Voting Consortium’s system would facilitate voting for people with certain disabilities. The group hopes their machines could also provide additional advantages for blind voters by producing paper receipts in Braille.  

The machines are still several steps away from making it onto the market. They need to be certified and also need the financial backing of a for-profit producer. One advantage over the Diebold machines, according to OVC members, is that the OVC software can be put on any standard PC. According to Keller, even an older and fairly slow PC can still run the program. Recycling old PCs could potentially cut down on cost, since old PCs can be bought for a fraction of the price of a Diebold machine. 

Alan Dechart, a former computer consultant for Sacramento County and founder of OVC, said the group has scheduled meetings with several secretaries of state around the country to discuss the new system. OVC also partnered with several universities on their project, including the University of California, and hopes to receive federal funding to move the project ahead. 

“It will catch on in certain areas,” Dechart said. “The people who have bought the voting machines will resist but they have to in order to cover their tracks so they don’t have to admit they made a stupid mistake.” 

The Open Voting Consortium’s software demonstration will take place this Thursday at 10 a.m. in room 157 at the Santa Clara County government office building located at 70 W. Hedding St. in San Jose. For more information please contact them at (916) 791-0456.

When the lights went out in downtown Berkeley two weeks ago, renowned French actor/producer/author Anne Delbee had just launched into her one-women show reenacting the greatest performances of legendary 19th Century actress Sarah Bernhardt. Delbee’s director walked on stage and asked if she wanted to quit. 

“No,” said Delbee, the embodiment of that grand old stage tradition which holds that the show must go on. 

So Aurora Producing Director Tom Ross and his technical director each grabbed a flashlight to replace the darkened spotlights, and Delbee finished her show. 

“Fortunately, she was doing tragedy,” Ross said. “It wouldn’t have come out nearly as well had she been doing comedy. And we didn’t have to give out refunds, which would’ve been a real tragedy.” 

The French American Chamber of Commerce had rented the Aurora Theater for the sold-out one-time-only show. 

Ross said the theater loss power four times over a two-week period, but only once during a performance. 

“The next night (Monday, March 15), power went out again, this time during a board meeting,” the director said. “I couldn’t take BART home because the station was closed, so I had to have a board member drive me home to San Francisco.” 

Mid-show power outages are, in themselves, dramatic events. “The magnetized doors close and iron gates drop down over the box office, making a lot of noise,” Ross said, adding that “all of us who are members of the Downtown Arts District are very concerned.” 

Meanwhile, Councilmember Kriss Worthington and several downtown merchants met last Thursday with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. representative Tom Guarino to discuss the spate of recent outages. 

“It was mildly helpful,” Worthington said. “We are still trying to get detailed information about the outages, and a lot of merchants don’t realize they can file claims with PG&E to recover their damages.” 

Worthington is pushing for businesses to file claims “because the last time something like this happened was in 1998-99 on College Avenue, and we were enable to get enough people to file claims so that PG&E made repairs costing several million dollars, and there haven’t been any more outages like that.” 

One PG&E customer filled out claim forms during Thursday’s meeting. Chamber of Commerce CEO Rachel Ruppert handed the completed documents to PG&E’s Oakland-based government relations manager Tom Guarino before the session adjourned. 

While the utility blames the outages on antiquated lead cable, Worthington has asked PG&E for a complete list of outages, their times and their causes. 

“We also asking what maintenance tags are already in place so we can have our own engineers examine them and prioritize repairs,” he said. “There are three substations that serve downtown, and we want to know if one or all of them need replacement and, if so, could at least one be completed in six months. We also want to know if some part of the cable replacement is critical, and to see if it could be replaced within a month.” 

Worthington said he wants to hold another meeting with the utility and downtown businesses once the necessary information is in hand.  

Phil McArdle is a Berkeley resident and author. On vacation in Spain, he arrived one day after the horrific terrorist bombing on the Madrid commuter train. Below is his first-hand account of events in Spain in the immediate aftermath of that bombing, including the election that toppled the Spanish government. 

On Thursday, March 11, my family and I set out for a holiday in Barcelona, one of Spain’s most beautiful cities. It has achieved a rare balance between the modern and the ancient, and we wanted to see the medieval frescos and the Picasso museum, certain Gothic churches and the Gaudi cathedral. We didn’t know as we rode BART to San Francisco International Airport that in Madrid commuter trains full of workers had been blown up by terrorists. 

When we arrived on Friday afternoon, Spain was in mourning. At least 200 people were known to be dead, and some 1,500 had been injured. And the massacre’s toll had still not been fully counted. We pieced together a picture of this dreadful atrocity from the Spanish newspapers, but our command of Spanish was inadequate to the event. 

The surface of life seemed relatively undisturbed in the Ciutat Vella, the medieval quarter where we had rented an apartment. The shops opened as usual in the mornings and early evenings, and closed in mid-afternoon. Shoals of well-dressed men and stylish women drifted this way and that through the narrow, echoing streets, some shopping, some en route to restaurants. No one hurried. And it was a perfect setting for a holiday: the mellow afternoon light enhanced the light gray of the ancient stone buildings, and the weather was wonderful, cool and comfortable. 

But we soon saw the signs of communal mourning. Catalonians though they are, the Barcelonans fully shared the grief of their fellow Spaniards. Black crepe bows were everywhere: on flags, on white towels hung from apartment windows five and six stories above the streets, on the doors of shops and restaurants, on church altars and government buildings, and on monuments sacred to the Catalan people, such as the eternal flame in the Placa de Santa Maria del Mar. 

In the evening we also saw the rich, somber glow of hundreds of red mourning candles in the plaza on the Palu de Generalitat (which houses Catalonia’s parliament), in front of flower-bedecked national memorials, and in the basilica of Santa Maria del Mar, where we attended a memorial service for the people lost in Madrid, with the liturgy sung in Catalan and the sermon in Spanish. 

On Saturday we found a tobacconist who sold English papers like the Guardian and the Telegraph, and we learned the full extent of the disaster. As we put the threads of the story in place, we learned the government was blaming ETA, the Basque separatist movement, for the crime. We also learned a national election would be held the next day (Sunday). In the final pre-election polls, the governing Popular Party (PP) led the Socialists in a close race. 

Jose Maria Aznar, the PP Prime Minister, a right wing nationalist, had waged an unrelenting personal crusade against ETA. He had made complete suppression of the Basque movement a major theme in his campaign. Aznar was so fixated on ETA that, without waiting for preliminary investigations to be completed, he announced the Basque movement was responsible. Within hours the intelligence services and the Madrid police both told the press that preliminary evidence pointed to Al-Qaeda. Aznar’s credibility plummeted. He stood revealed as a man blind to reality. 

But it was too late for pollsters to predict the impact of this on the vote. Political professionals didn’t know whether people would turn away from Aznar. 

We had, of course, noticed political graffiti. Its import was ambiguous. Some was perfectly clear, as in this anti-PP slogan: “Is it democratic to be fascist?” But some of it could be read in a number of ways: 

“NO to AIDS 

“NO to AL-QAEDA 

“NOW—VOTE!” 

But who should you vote for? The Socialists or the Popular Party? 

Saturday evening when we took a stroll through the Gothic quarter, we heard the voice of the people. Indeed, in those narrow streets—some only eight feet wide—it practically deafened us. At ten o’clock people indoors and outdoors, in the streets and at their windows, began beating on pots and pans. The volume of sound rose as it echoed off the stone walls, quickly reaching an ear-splitting, rock-concert volume. And it went on, and on, and on. As we approached an apartment where a young man stood in the doorway beating on a frying pan, I stopped and asked, “What is this all about?” 

“We are protesting the lies of our government,” he answered. 

“Which particular lies?” 

“About the bombings in Madrid.” 

We walked further on, sat down on a bench, and let the sound roll over us. My wife said, “We’re in the presence of something profound.” The protest lasted for an hour. 

The next day, the Spaniards voted out the conservatives. 

Sidney Blumenthal described the outcome as “a revulsion against the political manipulation of terror.” It is clear that the Spanish believed Aznar hoped their rage at the massacre in Madrid would cause a surge of patriotic feeling and return him and his party to office with an increased majority. They became angry at him, believing he deliberately lied for political advantage—playing politics with the deaths of his own people. 

American conservatives have derided the Spanish vote as appeasement of Al-Qaeda. They could hardly be more mistaken. The Spanish have contempt for the terrorism of Al-Qaeda. None of our conservatives have had the grim wit to compare the sickness of Osama Ben Laden’s terrorism to the scourge of AIDS. 

For what it’s worth, we came home convinced the Spanish election was a marvelously encouraging event. Aznar lost because he lied to the people. They exercised their right to demand a truthful government. They insisted on the honesty without which freedom and democracy really can’t exist. 

As to the future, the new Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, appears to be part of an evolving European consensus which conceives of the “war” on terrorism differently than the Bush administration. He has frequently said, “Fighting terrorism with bombs is not a way to win, but will instead provoke more extremism. Terrorism is fought with the rule of law, international law, and with intelligence services.” 

Corelli Barnett, the British historian, wrote of Zapatero that he “has expressed his strong resolve to cooperate with other European states in combating terrorism. His opposition to the American-led attack on, and occupation of, Iraq is a quite separate matter. His party believed a year ago that Bush’s plan to topple Saddam was irrelevant to the problem of Al-Qaeda.” His intention to remove Spanish troops from Iraq is consistent with this. 

As we look at the American scene today, we see the Bush administration sitting surrounded on all sides by the rubble of its own credibility, which has been blown up (like Aznar’s) by falsehoods on matters of life and death. The Spanish have every right to ask us whether we will allow our government to lie to us with impunity.

There is an old saying that “to speak the name of our ancestors is to keep them alive.” Today I speak the name of labor leader and environmentalist, César Estrada Chávez. He was a man who died prematurely at 66, a life worn out by dedicated service, personal sacrifice, constant threats to his and his family’s life; and the formidable efforts of agribusiness, Teamsters, and government agents to derail everything he tried to accomplish. 

Those of us who lived during the tenure of his time on this earth have a special obligation to speak his name today and to find enduring ways to remind our children and ourselves of his legacy.  

In 1960, CBS produced a documentary, narrated by the celebrated journalist Edwin R. Murrow, called “Harvest of Shame.” It was a jolt at the time, but seeing it today one is struck by the pathetic pace of change, and by what can only be regarded as the heroic patience of those who are stuck in the inertia.  

Over all these years, César Chávez, more than any other person, was able to bring light, energy and forward movement to the struggle of farm workers in this country. He tirelessly brought attention to a societal detachment from the source of our nourishment, and attention to faceless farm workers who labor in the fields to put food on our tables, and who suffer the vicissitudes of a yearly harvest. 

Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Chávez set an example for the nation in his non-violent leadership. He used Gandhi’s notion of “moral jujitsu” to describe its effect on the opposition. He fasted for enlightenment as well as publicity, putting his life at risk to protest against intransigent growers or grocery chains, or to restrain his own followers when the impulse to violence reared its ugly head. 

Chávez’ successes were many, including the signing of the first agricultural worker agreements, passage of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, banning use of the dreaded and disabling short-handled hoe, and raising the public’s awareness about the dangers of chemicals and pesticides used in modern farming.  

Dolores Huerta, herself such a looming figure in this struggle, pinpointed his gift: “César's life is the lucero, the light, the morning star, that provides vision to the path, with the glow of energy generated by the struggle.”  

César combined a unique set of virtues to sustain the struggle he led, to relentlessly champion those who have no voice, and to resist the seductive temptations of a society propelled by a consumer definition of happiness. 

As Filipino labor organizer Pet Velasco put it, “César taught us how to walk in the jungle and not be afraid.”  

In the vernacular of my youthful street self and the many Chicanos who grew up in the barrios of California and the Southwest, César was “The Vato” the man who stood up to the Man, the one who met danger without giving way to fear. He was courageous and it gave us courage. He was determined and it made us determined. He practiced tolerance and non-violence and it made us more tolerant and non-violent. And he was persistently hopeful, and it gave us hope. Though he rejected the rhetoric of the defiant Raza Movement, he was still ours and he made us proud.  

So how do we perpetuate the speaking of his name, to perpetuate his virtues—determination, courage, tolerance, and hope? And how do we adapt them to the challenges of the future as César might have?  

In Berkeley, the César Chávez Memorial Solar Calendar Project has chosen a dual approach with an educational curriculum (K-12) integrated into a unique memorial that would serve as a field classroom.  

The project, more than five years in the making, aims to create a major work of “site-specific” public art in the form of an ancient solar calendar, a fitting one to a man who devoted his life to the earth and to farm workers who have always lived by understanding the cycle of the seasons. Think of Stonehenge if you are searching for an image, or check the website: www.solarcalendar.org. The project connects art, science, culture and history in a form that is unique for a memorial. When the memorial is completed it will be both contemplative and educational. The Berkeley City Council has provisionally reserved 1.5 acres at César Chávez Park for the memorial, a site with a sensational 360-degree panoramic view of the horizon, and a perfect place for reflection.  

The companion educational curriculum links the legacy of César Chávez with the pressing need for environmental stewardship and service to the community. The memorial calendar will incorporate four of the virtues of Chávez into the four cardinal directions of the site. The subtitle of the curriculum is “the seed of the soul is service.” The four selected virtues will serve as the seeds. 

Though some may argue for an official Chávez holiday, the memorial solar calendar project advocates engaging school children in service learning projects to celebrate Chávez’ life. All lessons will radiate from the four virtues, which will help keep our youth fully engaged in education by serving their community.  

There are many ways to honor an exceptional leader. One is to speak his name and to tell his story. The César Chávez Memorial Solar Calendar and educational curriculum will ensure that we speak his name, reflect on his life and serve his legacy through service to our community. Arguably there are no major memorials to Latinos in this country. May the first one be for César, and may it be right here in the Bay Area. 

Santiago Casal is the director of the Chávez Memorial Solar Calendar Project and the Rhythm of the Seasons Curriculum. 

ª

“I have to go to the powder room,” my ancient Grandmother announced, a note of desperation in her voice, her caterac-ted eyes staring at me in cloudy confusion.  

“Okay, Grandma. I’ll help you.” I pushed back my seat and rolled her walker toward her. I gently grabbed her under the armpits, pushed aside her chair with my foot and moved the walker closer to her shaky, outreached, translucent hands.  

“Here,” I said as I swiveled her slight body around, pointing her toward the woman’s restroom. “The bathroom is down the hallway.”  

It took us an eternity to reach it. I pushed the swinging door forward and accompanied Grandma through, helping her negotiate the transition from carpet to tile.  

“Oh damn,” she mumbled to herself. “I think it’s too late.”  

“It’s okay, Grandma,” I reassured her. “You’ll be just fine.”  

I followed her as she slid the walker across the floor. She headed for the disabled stall, the one with the extra wide seat and handholds. We negotiated the turn and I moved her walker away from her. She held on tight to the banister as I slipped her wool skirt up over her soft thighs, pulling down her stockings and panties in one gentle yank.  

“I hope it’s not too late,” she whimpered.  

“It’s not,” I answered, relieved. I helped her sit down on the toilet seat.  

She pulled at the toilet tissue with her manicured, delicate fingers, her gold charm bracelet clattering against the metal stall wall. She rose slowly as I held her with both my hands under her hollow, fragile armpits. She felt like a rag doll. She could fall to the floor in a heap at any moment.  

“Lean forward Grandma, onto my shoulders,” I directed her. I bent down, pulled up her panties and stockings around her rounded, tender tummy. I tugged the silk slip and plaid skirt down over her prefabricated hips.  

“Thank you honey,” she said as I swung the walker toward her. “Old age is the pits. I hope you never have to go through this.”  

We shuffled back to the table. Our soup was waiting for us. I helped Grandma sit down, then placed a napkin around her neck. “The soup should be cold enough to eat now,” I said.  

“Pass me the sherry,” Grandma demanded before tasting her chowder. I did as she asked. She turned the bottle upside down and poured a generous portion into her bowl. “They never put enough damn sherry into the soup here,” Grandma whispered to me. “You know how they are with sherry? Stingy.” She smiled at me and set about eating with fragile gusto.  

When she was done she pushed the bowl forward. “That was good,” she said leaning back into her chair. “Yesterday your mother took me here to eat and someone paid the tab. The waitress came over to our table and said, ‘Ladies, you don’t need to pay. The man who just left picked up your bill.’ We couldn’t believe it. Wasn’t that nice?”  

“Yes Grandma,” I said.  

“So then your mother took me to the dentist. And when the doctor was done he said ‘Mrs. Daniels, your teeth are fine. I don’t need to do anything with you today. Go home and rest.’ I said ‘What do I owe you?’ He said, ‘Nothing, it’s on the house.’ I turned to your mother and said, ‘Quick Edna, get in the car and let’s go to a fur store and buy a mink stole. Luck is with us today.’ But your mother wouldn’t go. You know how she is. She didn’t think someone would give me a mink coat, but I think if we had gone, there might have been a chance. Growing old is awful sweetheart, but yesterday it worked to my advantage. Now pour a little of that sherry into my glass, please. I might as well finish it up.”  

F

TUESDAY, MARCH 30 

Tuesday Morning Birdwalk at Tilden’s Vollmer Peak, meet at the Little Train parking lot at 7:30 a.m. Call if you need binoculars. 525-2233. 

Return of Over-The-Hills-Gang An excursion for hikers 55 years and over. Meet at 10 a.m. at the Little Train parking lot. Registration required. 525-2233. 

National Nutrition Month “Eat in Season” from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Derby St. at MLK. Cooking demonstrations, recipes and nutrition education. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

Celebrating the Environmental Leadership of Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers’ Movement from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

“The Truth About the Coup in Haiti” with Brian Concamon, Haitian human rights attorney and Lovinsky Antoine Pierre, Haitian human rights activist, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St. Sponsored by the Haiti Support Group. 528-5403. 

“Blue Vinyl” a free screening of the documentary by Judith Hefland and Daniel Gold at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley Central Public Library, 2090 Kittredge, 3rd floor meeting room. Sponsored by Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil. 

Creative Project Institute An event for inspiration, information and motivation for writers with author Elizabeth Stark and editor Nanou Matteson at 7 p.m. at Alaya, 1713 University Ave.  

Bolivian Archeology and Nationalism with José Luis Paz Soria, director of the Kallamarka Archeological Project in La Paz, Bolivia. He has also worked extensively with the Taraco Archeological Project. Please note this presentation will be in Spanish. At 4 p.m. in the CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch St. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

Creativity, Healing, and Wholeness, a workshop on written and visual journaling as a path through cancer at 7 p.m. at Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 5741 Telegraph Ave. Oakland. Free, but please register. 526-0148. 

“Hiking the Pacific Coast Trail,” a documentary by Myles Murphy and Dale Brosnan, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

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

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Dr. Robert Raabi, botanist, will show flower pictures at 11 a.m. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31 

Tobacco Awareness Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Lower Sproul Plaza, UC Campus. Sponsored by the City of Berkeley Tobacco Prevention Program. 981-5330. 

Nonviolent Conflict Transformation a workshop with Johan Galtung, Professor of Peace Studies, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, Kensington. Cost is $120, $60 for students and includes lunch and a comprehensive training manual. A limited number of scholarships are available. For information and registration, please contact Marilyn Langlois 232-4493, or Diana Young 655-8252. 

Berkeley Outstanding Woman Award will be presented to Sylvia McLaughlin in recognition of the work she has done to preserve the Bay and the East Bay shoreline, at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Sponsored by the Commission on the Status of Women. 981-5347, 461-4665. 

Great Decisions 2004: “Public Diplomacy” with Emily Rosenberg, Middle East Peace Education, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

The Berkeley Forum “Peace vs. Empire” with Johan Galtung, father of Peace Studies, UN Consultant, Daniel Ellsberg, anti-war author, Michael Nagler, founder, Peace and Conflict Studies, UCB, Nancy Hanawi, co-chair, Peace and Justice Studies Association at 7:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Road, Kensington. 925-376-9000. 

Re-defining Community, Re-creating Public Space with Keith Thomas, Julio Morales, artists and CCA professors, at 6 p.m. in Nahl Lecture Hall, Oakland campus, 5212 Broadway , at College. 594-3763. www.cca.edu/center 

Bayswater Book Club monthly dinner meeting to discuss “Among the Bohemians: Experiments in Living 1900-1939” by Virginia Nicholson at 6:30 p.m. at Liu’s Kitchen restaurant, 1593 Solano Ave. 433-2911. 

Having Our Say: Children of Jewish - Christian Families Speak Join a lively conversation with a panel of people who have grown up in interfaith homes as they talk about what worked and didn’t work for them. From 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond JCC, 1414 Walnut St. Sponsored by Building Jewish Bridges: Outreach to Interfaith Couples. Cost is $5. For more information or to register call Dawn at 839-2900, ext. 347.  

“Holy Week Processions” with Bonnie Harwick, GTU Library Director, at 7:30 p.m. at All Souls Episcopal Parish, 2220 Cedar St. 848-1755. 

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

THURSDAY, APRIL 1 

Morning Birdwalk on Nimitz Way. Meet at 7 a.m. at Inspiration Point to “hunt the gowk.” 525-2233. 

Livable Berkeley, an organization that advocates smart growth and sustainable development, will host local architect David Baker at the Berkeley Central Library Community room at 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.livableberkeley.org 

“Fourth World War” a documentary produced by a network of independent media and activist groups on the inside of movements on five continents. At 8 p.m. at the Long Haul Info Shop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751.  

“Leadership and Ethics in an Age of Globalization” at 3:30 p.m. at the Pacific School of Religion Chapel, 1798 Scenic Ave. 649-2422. 

Street Skills for Cyclists from 6 to 10 p.m. at Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave. Free, but pre-registration required. 433-7433. 

Free Reading Workshop for Parents of students in Pre-K and Kindergarten at 8 p.m. at Classroom Matters, 2607 7th St., Suite E. 540-8646. www.classroommatters.com 

“Whose House are You Living In?” an inter-active presentation by professional interior designer and author Diana Cornelius at 7 p.m. at the Claremont Resort, 41 Tunnel Rd. 743-3000, ext. 516.  

Metaphysical Toastmasters Practice spiritual public speaking on the first and third Thurs. each month at 6:15 p.m. at 2515 Hillegass Ave. 848-6510. www.metaphysicallyspeaking 

Berkeley Liberation Radio 104.1 FM holds public meetings for all interested people first and third Thursdays, 7 p.m. at the Long Haul Info Shop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751.  

FRIDAY, APRIL 2 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with David Hooson, Prof. emeritus, Geography, UCB on “Inner Asia.” Luncheon 11:45 a.m. for $12.50. Speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“A Lot in Common” a documentary on the growth of community in a North Berkeley neighborhood as residents, artists, and other volunteers build and use the Peralta and Northside Community Art Gardens, at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists at the corner of Cedar and Bonita.  

“EarthDance“ Environmental Film Festival, showing ten short films on urban, rural and wild environments, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, Oak and 10th Sts. Admission is $5-$8. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

From Frybread to Fueltank: Bringing Biodiesel to Native America Join us in a benefit to support a biodiesel bus tour led by Zachary Running-Wolf that will leave from Oakland and cover the Southwest. At 7:30 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way. $5 donation requested. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Kite Fly from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. Part of National Kite Month celebration. www.NationalKiteMonth.org 

Womansong Circle: Songs of Rebirth and a Greening Earth with Betsy Rose at 6:45 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $8. Bring a snack to share. 525-7082. 

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 

Overeaters Anonymous meets every Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Church at Solano and The Alameda. Parking is free and is handicapped accessible. For information call Katherine, 525-5231. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 3 

Behind the Scenes Tour of the Orchid Greenhouse Exotic, rare, fragrant and extensive. Tour with renowned orchid expert Jerry Parsons and hear all about the Garden's global collection of hundreds of orchids and epiphytes. At 1 and 3 p.m. Registration required. UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botan- 

icalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Sick Plant Clinic from 9 a.m. to noon, the first Sat. of every month, UC plant apthologist Dr. Robert Raabe, UC entomologist Dr. Nick Mills, and their team of experts will diagnose what ails your plants. Free. at the Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. 

Color and Art in the Garden with Keeyla Meadow, garden designer and artist at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

California Wildflower Show from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., also on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Admission is $5-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class in Shelter Operations from 9 a.m. to noon at 2100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. To sign up call 981-5605. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

Northern California Socialist Conference 2004 “Resisting US Empire, Fighting for a Better World” from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Cost is $10-$50 sliding scale. For information call 333-4604 or email ISObayarea@aol.com 

“News from Haiti: Eyewitness Accounts” with missionaries Sandra and Daniel Gourdet at 10 a.m. at South Berkeley Community Church, 1802 Fairview, at Ellis. 652-1040. 

Yoga for Seniors at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., on Saturdays 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. 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, APRIL 4 

“What’s Up Down Under?” Explore the fascinating subterranean hemisphere of the hidden half of plants by attending the annual Unselt Lecture delivered this year by UCB Professor of Plant Biology, Dr. Lewis Feldman. Lecture concludes with a walk through the Garden to observe root diversity. From 1 to 4 p.m. at the Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Registration required 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Soda Bottle Ecosystem Build a take-home eco-system that sits in the palm of your hand. Bring two 2-liter bottles. At 10:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Protist April Toss the plankton net, tow it in, and see what members of the Kingdom Protista you can find in the 14-power Discovery scope. From 2 to 4 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Area. 525-2233. 

Full Moon Walk Meet at 7 p.m. at Inspiration Point in Tilden Park. Learn about the origin and history of the moon, and see where the astronauts walked. 525-2233. 

“Ratcatcher” a film set in Scotland during the national garbage strick in the 1970s. At 8 p.m. at the Long Haul Info Shop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751.  

Golden State Model Railroad Museum opens from noon to 5 p.m. Located in the Miller-Knox Regional Shoreline Park at 900-A Dornan Drive in Pt. Richmond. Admission is $2-$3. 234-4884 or www.gsmrm.org 

Free Sailboat Rides at the Cal Sailing Club, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the foot of University in the Berkeley Marina. Bring warm, waterproof clothes. For more information, visit our website at www.cal-sailing.org 

“The Journey of a UU Christian and Pagan Mystic” with Cathleen Cox Burneo at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd. Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

“Eckhart Tolle Talks on Video” at 6:30 p.m. at the Feldenkrais Ctr., 830 Bancroft Way. First and third Sunday of each month. $3 donation requested, no one turned away for lack of funds. Contact Maitri at 415-990-8977. 

MONDAY, APRIL 5 

The Oakland/East Bay Chapter of the National Organization for Women has cancelled its April meeting because of the Jewish holiday. We usually meet the first Monday of each month at the Oakland YWCA. Hope to see you next month. 841-1672. 

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 nesting birds and flowering shrubs, 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. 

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. 

TUESDAY, APRIL 6 

American Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Advance sign-up needed. 594-5165. 

Berkeley Ecological and Safe Transportation hosts a public discussion of car-free housing at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge, 3rd floor meeting room. 652-9462. 

Death Penalty Vigil, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley BART station. Sponsored by Berkeley Friends Meeting. 528-7784. 

Map and Compass 101 An introduction to backcountry navigation at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Leonar Joy will speak on Human Rights at 11 a.m. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers We are a few slowpoke seniors who walk between a mile or two each Tuesday, meeting at 9:30 a.m. in the Little Farm parking lot. To join us, call 215-7672 for information or check our web page, http://home.comcast.net/~teachme99/tildenwalkers 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Passover Seder at 6 p.m. at GTU’s Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. Cost is $10-$25. Reservations required. 649-2482. 

ONGOING 

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.  

Find a Loving Animal Companion at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Adoption Center, from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Tue. - 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  

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

botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

CITY MEETINGS 

Community Environmental Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Apr. 1, at 7 p.m., at 2118 Milvia St. Nabil Al-Hadithy, 981-7461. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/environmentaladvisory 

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs. Apr. 1, at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/housing 

Public Works Commission meets Thurs., Apr. 1, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jeff Egeberg, 981-6406. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/publicworksˇ

“If I couldn’t go to Vista College I would just have to focus on working, getting by. I couldn’t get a better job. What would the future be?”  

—Ayanna Roberts, student 

Vista Community College  

Ayanna Roberts was one of the 10,000 community college students, staff and faculty members who converged on Sacramento on March 15 to protest Gov. Schwarzenegger’s proposed 44 percent increase in community college fees. This proposal comes on top of the 64 percent fee increase these same students saw last year. Last year’s fee increase combined with $200 million in budget cuts forced an estimated 175,000 students across the state out of college this year.  

Before attending Vista, Ayanna was a hostess at IHOP making $6.75 an hour. She now works 32 hours a week in a retail job making all of $8 an hour while going to school full time. She hopes to develop the skills to go into radio and broadcast production. Vista and other community colleges in the East Bay can help. But, right now, the future for all of the Ayannas in the state is at risk. 

Faced with massive deficits, the governor has proposed to balance a large part of the budget on the backs of California’s students. In addition to the fee increases mentioned above, the governor has proposed: 

• Seventy percent increases for community college students who already have a B.A. and are returning for job retraining or continuing education. 

• Ten percent increases for UC undergrads. 

• Forty percent increases for UC’s graduate and professional students. 

• Nine percent budget cuts for Cal State Universities (CSU).  

He then proposes pushing some 10,000 students from the UC and CSU systems into the community colleges, further displacing students like Ayanna. 

For a time in the United States, the classic vision of the American Dream, at least for some, was not just a myth. In the period following World War II, the U.S. economy grew at a fabulous rate. Increases in productivity (averaging three percent a year) translated into higher wages. Between 1950 and 1973, average workers saw their real pay increase from about $9 to just over $14 an hour.  

Open access to higher education was part of the virtuous circle that led to this expansion of the American Dream. California’s Master Plan for Education adopted in 1960 promised every high school graduate in the state access to a college education. College graduates became more productive and creative citizens who in turn paid far more in taxes which allowed for the continued investment in the commons. Put quite simply, public investment in higher education was beneficial for everyone. 

Since the 1970s, however, much has changed. Inflation-adjusted wages have actually declined for wage earners. Between 1973 and 2000, average real income for the bottom 90 percent of Americans workers fell by seven percent. The gap between the rich and everyone else has widened to levels not seen since the 1930s with the top one percent of taxpayers increasing their income by 148 percent, the top .1 percent gaining some 343 percent and the top .01 percent gaining an astounding 599 percent. 

This is a real reversal of fortunes that has been imposed on average people. Major corporations and the wealthy have sent good jobs abroad in search of cheaper labor and bigger profits. They have orchestrated tax cuts for the rich. They have beat up the labor movement, undermining the power of working families to bargain for decent wages.  

And now, they are making it even harder simply to get a college education. Last year, across the country average fees at public universities and community colleges rose by 14 percent (and UC students were hit with a whopping 30 percent fee hike.)  

How important is college for a student’s economic prospects? One report notes that college graduates will earn fully $38,000 a year more than those with only a high school diploma. When Ayanna says that without Vista she would just have to focus on work without much of a future, she speaks for every high school graduate trying to get a college education. 

Sure, there might be some financial aid to help the poorest of these students cope with fee hikes. But what about the average working student who is already juggling two jobs just to pay rent and keep food on the table? What about the student whose book grant program won’t have enough money to help her pay for textbooks? What about the 175,000 students who were already pushed out of school because of the current year cuts? What kind of a future are we holding out for these students? 

I’ve been a community college teacher for 15 years. I love my work. I love that community colleges are a source of hope and renewal for millions of Californians. I love that they are a source of democracy, economic opportunity, and civic engagement. I love that students get a second chance, and in some cases a first chance, to get a good education which can sometimes lead to a good job. And I love that they are the foundation for a skilled workforce for California’s businesses.  

But I’m worried right now and I’m angry. I’m worried for the Ayannas out there who are already having a hard enough time making it. I’m worried that closing access to higher education, means the Ayannas of the world will not become the creative and productive citizens they can be, that they will not pay higher levels of income tax that good jobs generate, that we’re setting up a lose-lose scenario for everyone. And I’m angry that we’re sticking it to students who are already on the edge without first calling for real shared sacrifice— say, by reinstating the tax on household incomes over $270,000?  

Plain and simple, this is a fight about who is going to pay taxes to invest in the future. The community college “fee” increases are just taxes by another name. This money goes not to the colleges at all, but straight into the state’s general fund like any other tax. This “fee” was already increased by 64 percent last year. Haven’t they paid their share already? So, who’s it going to be, impoverished and working students or those who can really afford it?  

This is not just Ayanna’s fight. It’s mine and yours too. Call the governor and tell him to quit picking on the students. Tell him that it’s time for those who benefit most richly from California’s great environment to pony up and pay their share. 

Gov. Schwarzenegger can be reached by telephone: (916) 445-2841; by fax: (916) 445-4633; and by e-mail: governor@governor.ca.gov. 

Nicky González Yuen, JD, Ph.D., is a Berkeley resident and a community college instructor at De Anza College in Cupertino. 

›

Alameda County Registrar of Voters Brad Clark deserves thanks for making a formal contract complaint against Diebold Election Systems, the vendor for the county’s touchscreen and vote tallying technology. According to the Oakland Tribune, the precipitating event for Registrar Clark’s action appears to have been the failure of 200 uncertified and poorly tested voter card encoders during the March 2 election.  

More ominous, however, is the reference to a “glitch” in the recent gubernatorial recall election that transferred thousands of absentee votes for Bustamante to another candidate. Clark is quoted as saying he was sure the problem had been fixed but was “not satisfied with the answers as to why it happened.” Those words make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.  

It is not only the registrar of voters who needs to know exactly how such a miscount of votes could take place. Every citizen has a right to know. Furthermore, we all have a right to know how the glitch was fixed. This is not a private matter between a vendor and its purchaser. It is a crucial matter of public policy and public concern. Apparently the glitch was detected by the registrar’s staff—and the public has a right to know the details of how all of this came to light. Apparently the problem was fixed by Diebold staff by a means that is not fully understood by the registrar. This is absolutely unacceptable.  

The voters of Alameda County and of the whole country cannot afford to entrust the conduct of the November 2004 presidential election to this kind of technology. We must replace all the Diebold hardware and software with methods that are transparent, that involve voter verification of the ballot, and that allow a meaningful recount. It is noteworthy that the glitch that was caught involved absentee votes—the only ballots in Alameda County that currently provide a voter verified paper audit trail. Who knows how many Bustamante votes were transferred to others within the paperless touchscreen part of the election? No one knows, because there is no voter verified paper ballot to count as an independent check against the electronic results. 

California State Senators Don Perata (Democrat) and Ross Johnson (Republican) have recently introduced SB 1438 calling for additions and amendments to the Elections Code to require among other things “a permanent paper record with an audit capacity for that system, to allow the voter to verify his or her votes before the voter’s ballot is cast, and to be accessible for individuals with disabilities.” Parallel legislation has been introduced in the Assembly (AB 2843) by Lloyd Levine. There has been a call for urgency legislation to suspend all paperless electronic voting to go back to paper balloting in order to provide a voter verified auditable paper ballot for the November 2004 election. Furthermore, State Sen. Perata also has introduced legislation (SB 1376, the “Voting System Security Act of 2004”) which makes it a felony to modify any voting system in any uncertified way. All of this legislation deserves to have the active support of all citizens who want a fair election in November. 

Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, who deserves our thanks for his courageous leadership requiring a voter verified paper audit trail by 2005-2006, is continuing to press for reforms that will assure a safe and secure election in November 2004. His Voter Systems and Procedures Panel will hold a two day meeting April 21-22 in Sacramento focused on Diebold and related matters of electronic voting (the agenda and meeting place/time can be viewed at www.ss.ca.gov/elections/ vsp_042104.pdf ). Comments may be sent by April 6 for inclusion in the panel members’ packets to Michael Wagaman, mwagaman@ss.ca.gov. 

The registrar of voters’ office is the responsibility of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. It would seem sensible to let the supervisors know that we support Registrar Clark in his calling Diebold to task and that we demand and require a transparent, voter verified, and secure election system in place for the November 2004 presidential election.  

In the United States Congress, Rush Holt has introduced HR 2239 to require voter verification. Our representative, Barbara Lee, is a co-sponsor of HR 2239, for which she should be thanked. Parallel supportive legislation has been introduced in the Senate. 

I do not think that we can or should consider tolerating another election run by the Diebold technology. Alameda County should become the leader in the nation to get rid of this dysfunctional mess, which includes not only the touchscreens but also the optical scanner and the GEMS system that configures the election and does the final tally of votes, that could contribute to chaos and/or subversion of the voters’ intent in November 2004 by moving votes from the intended candidate to another. We have seen that this can happen here in our county. We need to contact Alameda County Registrar of Voters Brad Clark, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, our representatives in the California State Senate and Assembly, and our representatives in Congress and the Senate to call for decertification of Diebold and other proprietary (secret) paperless touchscreen systems, establishment of transparent and voter-verifiable systems, and establishment of effective security for election processes.  

Judy Bertelsen, M.D., Ph.D., resides and votes (absentee) in Berkeley. She is an active member of the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club and VoterMarch. 

f

PLACEMENT TESTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I would like to respond to the commentary by Toni Martin (“Private School Students Face Bias In Math Placement Tests,” Daily Planet, March 23-25). Regardless of nasty sniping by a “Senior, Berkeley High,” I thought she made many valid points. The math department at BHS is not good. My daughter took Honors math there and was very disappointed by the quality of the teaching. She finally took calculus over the summer at UC to avoid taking it at BHS. 

I also encountered an African-American girl who had been encouraged to leave the Honors Geometry class. She was obviously very bright and could have succeeded in the proper atmosphere. I think that minorities who show interest in honors and AP classes should receive support, not the heave-ho. 

Jenifer Steele 

• 

BARRIERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks for publishing the piece by Toni Martin about bias in math placement tests at Berkeley High. I also have a daughter who did not pass the Honors Geometry placement exam despite getting A’s in eighth grade algebra at a local private school. She spent ninth grade in regular geometry when she could have learned the material in significantly more depth, had she not been denied access to Honors Geometry. 

While this issue may be a small one on Berkeley High’s list, shouldn’t the high school be encouraging students who want to take more challenging classes rather than putting up barriers?  

Thanks for running stories on Berkeley school issues. 

Tish Brewster 

• 

POLICE DOGS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I believe that reasonable people can agree or disagree as to whether or not police dogs in Berkeley are a good idea. However, recent comments in the Daily Planet (“Police Dog Plan Moves Toward Possible PRC Approval,” March 23-25) regarding the “shamefulness” of the PRC to consider police dogs in Berkeley by Commissioner Jaqueline DeBose, I feel, are ill chosen. 

DeBose invokes the infamous Commissioner “Bull” Connor and his vicious use of police dogs and water hoses against African-American civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama as an incident analogous to the situation in Berkeley.. 

This, I feel, is tantamount to calling the Berkeley Police racist Klansmen. 

I, for one, find this an unreasonable and unfortunate comparison. 

John Herbert 

• 

QUALITY OF LIFE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I love the “Berkeley quality of life.” Why? In part: We have a wildly democratic city with a top-notch public university, accessible and varied entertainment, good restaurants, parks, bikeways, good schools, good local shopping, and clean streets. Berkeley is noticeably and measurably different (and better!) than other nearby cities. I feel very fortunate (and even proud!) to be able to afford to live and work here. 

Think about it: Why do you choose to live in Berkeley, and not Concord, Oakland, or El Cerrito, for example? 

I believe we need to pass a measure in November that will maintain city services so that Berkeley can continue to remain an attractive place to work, shop, recreate, and live for everyone. There are many people—seniors, children, youth, people who are disabled or without a home—who are less fortunate than many of us and who need lifeline services. 

I also believe we must use the energy, commitment, enthusiasm and innovative thinking of local community members and city workers to manage our city into the 21st century. We’re not there yet.  

The city needs structural, organizational, and technological changes that have not yet been broached in the current budget discussions. We need proposals that can increase revenue and that will positively, rather than negatively motivate remaining workers. Before we move to cut city services or our public servant’s paychecks, let’s work together to come up with creative and viable longer term approaches to sustaining Berkeley into the new millennium. 

Iris Starr 

• 

UNIVERSITY AVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

University Avenue neighbors are trying to use a subterfuge to get around state law. They want to radically downzone University Avenue by passing two- and three-story height limits, one story less than the limits in the University Avenue Strategic Plan, so the heights will still be three and four stories after applying the state density bonus for affordable housing. (“Neighbors, City Split Over University Avenue Rezoning,” Daily Planet, March 26-29). 

There is a reason this law was passed. Local governments tend to think about the local impacts of their policies, so they tend to zone for very low densities to push traffic problems away from themselves. They do not think about the regional or global impacts of their policies, so they overlook the fact that their low density zoning creates housing shortages and sprawl that harm the entire region and the global environment. 

That is why the state has to step in and pass laws, such as the density bonus law, that protect the region and the environment. 

We have a government of checks and balances, with different levels of government looking at different interests. Berkeley should zone University Avenue with three- and four-story height limits, in keeping with the University Avenue Strategic Plan that was developed to protect local interests. And it should allow the density bonus in addition to these height limits, in keeping with state law that was passed to protect the entire region and the environment. 

Charles Siegel 

• 

PEACE, CIVILIZATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I wonder if everyone was as astonished as I was when Michael Rennie got shot as he stepped out of the alien spaceship. Sent to order the earth to be peaceful and civilized, he is given wonderful powers by his home world. Yet when he lands, he is shot and nearly killed, putting his mission in jeopardy. One must assume that he was chosen in order to get him out of his galaxy, and that his career had had some problems before this mission. 

In 1996, the citizens of Berkeley sent the City Council on a mission to bring peace and civilization to University Avenue. They were given all the power that the people can give. It has taken the council eight years to arrive at University Avenue, having traveled at impulse speed, and now that they have just arrived, their mission seems to be in jeopardy. 

The council has not brought peace and civilization to University Avenue, nor have they laid out a vision different from the University Avenue Strategic Plan. What exactly is the difficulty?  

Why do they not order that: “All plans for development on University Avenue shall conform to the University Avenue Plan in addition to all zoning laws, and that current buildings that are not in conformance with the plan shall apply to the zoning board for a variance.” I believe that Michael Rennie could have done as much. 

Martin Gugino 

• 

BUSHWHACKED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I can’t help noticing how the Bush White House tries to smear every one of its critics who have resigned their post and then reveals some ugly truth about how Bush and Cheney are running our government. The latest man of integrity to be smeared as “disgruntled” is Richard Clark, former anti-terrorism advisor to four presidents. He joins the ranks of Paul O’Neil, former secretary of the treasury, Joseph Wilson, former U.S. ambassador, David Kaye, former CIA weapons inspector, Scott Ritter, former U.N. weapons inspector, Hans Blix, recent U.N. weapons inspector. The smear-jockeys even went after that Medicare cost analyst who found that the Bush proposal to Congress was underestimated by $ 140 billion. 

How many people with integrity need to resign from their jobs before Bush’s supporters realize that their trust has been abused? Are there any people of integrity still in the Bush administration? 

Bruce Joffe 

• 

JOHN CURL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We are active members of a West Berkeley neighborhood association and in this capacity we have watched John Curl, as a member of the Berkeley Planning Commission, demonstrate unwavering clarity and vigorous energy in supporting the interests of those of us committed to protecting our neighborhoods’ character and supporting the light industrial/artist friendly zoning that characterizes the best of West Berkeley. His clarity of purpose and leadership on the Planning Commission will be sorely missed. Our hope is that John will find another venue to put his considerable experience and leadership skills to use in continuing to protect and shape our community. 

Thank you John. You will be sorely missed. 

Paul Shain, Barbara Getz, Rolf Williams, Ed and Sigrid Allen, Carrie Adams, Marc Mathieu, Elaine Eastman, Ruth Knapp, Dale Anania, Michael Duenes, Pam Ormsby, Kimberley Kline, Hopper Branam, Alice Jorgensen, Joe Michael 

Members, Hearst-Curtis-Delaware Neighborhood Association 

?

The San Francisco Bay Area and the West Coast were dramatically transformed during the Great Depression. Great new bridges spanned the bay. The New Deal brought funding for other immense public works—dams, highways, aqueducts, and electrification—throughout California, the Pacific Northwest and the desert Southwest. 

Among the private projects that prospered from government spending during this era were those built by Henry Kaiser, who relocated to Oakland in 1921 and, literally, began building in all directions. 

The Kaiser industries and the man who created them are the subject of a current exhibit at the Oakland Museum. “Henry J. Kaiser: Think Big” profiles Kaiser, his rise to prominence, and his numerous commercial and philanthropic activities. The show runs through Aug. 29. 

A museum announcement posited the exhibit as “a long overdue survey of his life…” That it is, but unfortunately it falls short of the careful historian’s ideal. Much of the exhibit reads and shows disturbingly like publicity, not objective historical inquiry. 

There is no question that Kaiser had an immense impact on Bay Area and American economic and social life. It is worth visiting the exhibit to see the array of Kaiser activities—from dam building to dishwasher production—smartly detailed in panels and display cases framed by faux steel girders.  

The exhibit is rich and engaging in artifacts including cars, appliances, models, maps, and period advertisements (be sure to watch the video reel of Kaiser commercials). But visitors may come away dissatisfied. Instead of a thoughtful exploration of a man who catalyzed major changes in American life, it is primarily a panegyric. There is little introspection on the massive—and mixed—impacts of Kaiser’s accomplishments. 

For example, consider these two sentences from the exhibit text. “1933: Workers are building a 242-mile aqueduct to bring needed water from the Colorado River to metropolitan Los Angeles.” And, “the dam will irrigate the deserts, generate electrical power, and tame the river’s floods.”  

A different exhibit strategy might have noted the extent to which the water was primarily “needed” to make real estate speculation profitable in the Southland, or how “taming” floods changed the ecology of the Southwest. Such an approach would invite viewers to weigh benefits and costs and draw their own conclusions. 

The exhibit also offers little exploration of the connection between government contracts and private prosperity in the West. Henry Kaiser was—like California’s railroad barons before him—an icon whose financial success was substantially built upon his ability to obtain and fulfill massive government contracts.  

California continues to be shaped by the mythology that such men and their enterprises were entirely “self-made,” ignoring the role of public investment (and the methods sometimes used to obtain and direct it) in the state’s political and economic life. 

Another frustrating characteristic of the exhibit is the lack of detail about Kaiser’s life outside business. There is not much about his upbringing in rural New York or his family. A few anecdotes are provided along with an abbreviated timeline of major events in Kaiser’s life, but the overall effect is one of tantalization, not explanation.  

What precisely sparked Kaiser’s early career, work ethic, and drive to succeed in business? This subject is barely outlined, beyond quoting some of Kaiser’s favorite poems. Instead, we learn he liked pink (and painted his cement trucks and aircraft accordingly), didn’t exercise (occasionally serving volleyballs in company games but refusing to return them), and apparently drove like a demon (commuting weekly between the Bay Area and the Hoover Dam site, and piloting his own speedboats on Lake Tahoe).  

He was a man in motion, manipulating eight telephones from his desk, calling his managers at all hours, driving his staff relentlessly, and apparently living what he preached. After he “retired” to Hawaii, he undertook trend-setting developments. He built the first high rise hotel in Waikiki and obliterating a “swamp” by Diamond Head to create a residential subdivision. 

His principal accomplishments should not be minimized. Henry Kaiser pioneered mass pre-paid health care, was more cooperative with unions than many of his fellow industrialists, and was an early practitioner of television show sponsorship to sell the products he manufactured.  

His firms constructed roads, aqueducts, dams and factories that opened up the arid West for extensive development and settlement. Kaiser concerns had a major hand in building the great public works of the age from Hoover Dam on the Colorado to the Bonneville and Grand Coulee dams on the Columbia.  

When World War II began, Kaiser landed a contract to build cargo ships for Britain. This positioned him to be a major manufacturer of both “Liberty” and “Victory” ships when the United States entered the war. His shipyards would ultimately build more than 700 vessels, one-third of the merchant marine tonnage launched by America during the war.  

As a result of the Kaiser shipyards, Richmond changed from a sleepy shoreline town into a roaring industrial center. A commuter rail line shuttled thousands of workers to the yards, which operated around the clock. One ship at Richmond was completely constructed—from laying of the keel to launching, with dishtowels in the galley and pencils in the chartroom—in less than five days. 

With war, the San Francisco Bay region became fortress, arsenal, manufactory, and melting pot. Shipyards, factories, and company towns proliferated along the bay and throughout the countryside, along with new and expanded military bases. For the first time, large numbers of African Americans—many arriving from the American South on Kaiser’s chartered trains—came to the Bay Area to work and settle permanently.  

When the war ended, along with wartime manufacturing contracts, Kaiser smoothly shifted his factories to consumer production and his publicity machine to the promotion of consumer demand. His enterprises built automobiles (two of which are displayed in the exhibit) and household appliances. His construction companies developed some 10,000 suburban homes on the West Coast.  

Throughout his life, Kaiser innovated. Construction of the Philbrook Dam on the Feather River in the 1920s was, according to the exhibit, the “first major undertaking completed solely by mechanical equipment and without draft animals.” Later, he pioneered the use of aluminum in certain types of manufacturing, speculated in plans for personal aircraft, promoted new car technology and new household appliances, and built a large geodesic dome to Buckminster Fuller’s design. 

What the exhibit calls his most considerable accomplishment was the creation of modern pre-paid healthcare, beginning with small company hospitals for workers on his dam projects. Employees could pay a small sum per month for a basic health plan. This was one of the first opportunities for working class Americans to reliably obtain and affordable health care and, in particular, preventive care.  

The exhibit quite rightly places great emphasis on the Kaiser innovations in health care, but once again disappoints in the presentation. Exhibit descriptions again read like press releases. “Consistent with its founding objectives 60 years ago, Kaiser Permanente is committed to physician responsibility for clinical-decision making.” That’s more appropriate for a Kaiser newsletter than a display in a public museum. 

“Henry Kaiser: Think Big” is, on balance, an exhibit worth seeing, particularly if you also take in some of the permanent exhibits and other traveling shows at the finely diversified Oakland Museum. However it’s not the best that could be done on its intriguing subject. ‹

Thirty-five years ago, to an artist captivated by old boats and maritime dereliction, the Oakland Estuary—described on the AAA map as the Inner Harbor—was a paradise of waterscapes. Employed by the city’s Planning Department, I was left gloriously alone for months to pursue a photo-survey of the whole terrain. The old semi-derelict water-edge was far and away my preferred haunt. 

Not much of it at that time was public domain. Jack London Square at the bottom end of Broadway was mostly a collection of popular restaurants and bars. There were a couple of similar destinations on the Alameda side, and that was it. The rest of the seven-mile waterway was lined largely with military installations, the remains of a WWII shipyard, and acres of scrap metal destined for Asia. A few still-functioning docks—the Ninth Avenue Terminal, and the Encinal Terminals in Alameda—guaranteed the occasional passing of large ships, with tugs, fishing vessels, Coast Guard cutters and yachts forming the rest of the nautical parade. 

In those pre-container-port years, along the whole unglamorous stretch, policing and “security” were almost non-existent. One could cruise unchallenged along Middle Harbor Road, and head off anywhere driveable, past old machinery and giant crushers, to an edge of ancient wood pilings. Here was Norwalk Yacht Harbor, a still-functioning dock full of old sailboats, run-down motor cruisers and an occasional tug, a true haven for the non-yuppie sailor. My black pentel on-the-spot drawing of an old ship being cut up for scrap was done in 1971 at the Grove Street Pier, now the cleaned-up unexciting end of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. 

Immediately east of Jack London Square, a long derelict edge stretched as far as the Lake Merritt Channel. Look across the water from this edge today—now an elegantly landscaped portion of the new Bay Path—and you will notice two grand pieces of “industrial archeology” left over from WWII. They are the huge concrete launch ramps of the Bethlehem Shipyard, looking for all the world like some abandoned utopian project by Le Corbusier. 

Still on the Oakland side, between the channel and the city’s Ninth Avenue Terminal, lies a strange enclave of industrial and marine activity hardly changed from my 1960s explorations. South of the elevated freeway, the unpaved alleys of Fifth and Sixth avenues are the busy heart of the J.W. Silveira Co., a little private realm that would make the perfect movie set for a hippie live-work paradise! Welding shops, graphic designers, engine repair and even psychic readings are housed in a bizarre “village” of plywood, ancient boards and metal siding, with here and there a small garden crowded with oddly assorted plants in cans. 

The climax of all this picturesque disorder is the Fifth Avenue Marina, a maze of tippy wood walkways, big antique motorcruisers well-used yachts and a couple of houseboats, enclosed on one side of the barges and tugs of a sand and gravel company, and on the other by a derelict edge of upturned boats. There’s even a lived-steel barge domesticated by a lone tree. If you have any interest whatever in the gutsy remains of the pre-computer age, go visit the Fifth Avenue Marina. 

Brooklyn Basin, east of this disreputable paradise, is now a long curve of power boat sales and bland motels, missing the one drawable activity—Pacific Drydock, where, for decades, one could watch seagoing tugs, bay ferries, and even FDR’s Potomac, being worked on high above dry land. The uninspiring stretch finally becomes eventful in the vicinity of Quinn’s Lighthouse, a romantic tower of restaurants and bars worth visiting for its panoramic views of nearby Coastguard Island and the distant towers of downtown. Immediately west of Quinn’s is a cluster of handsome “Victorians” set in a waterside garden and occupied by law firms. East of it, beyond a small marina, is Livingstone Street Pier, which in my earlier roamings was a busy fishdock surrounded by classic, wood-hulled commercial fishing boats, as captured in my painting from the late ‘70s. 

Now the fishing fleet has gone elsewhere, replaced by “Vortex,” a diving and salvage operation, less paintable, but at least maritime. The dockside cafe, an affordable “1950s” diner, has also gone. 

Just beyond the Coastguard station, the spacious Inner Harbor turns into the Tidal Canal, created in the early 20th Century to connect the Estuary with San Leandro Bay, and incidentally turn Alameda into an island. Here, the dominant features are two steel bascule bridges, a green-painted one at Park Street and a silver one at High. Besides carrying traffic, they open upwards like huge toys to let through an occasional yacht or tall boat. 

For the urban explorer, both are worth walking across to see the lively mix of activities along the shores—old, gutsy ship repair from the one, and the backs of a sedate 1940s subdivision complete with private docks from the other. My painting of old ships seen from the High Street Bridge typifies the changing maritime scene that still prevails along this odd canal. 

Oakland’s water-edge grows simultaneously less derelict and more tidy. It also grows less visually intriguing and more like everywhere else. “Mediterranean” view apartments are not drawable. Old drydocks and derelict marinas are, but for better or worse they can’t be duplicated, even for artists! However, as the old gutsy “blue-collar” scene disappears, it can at least be replaced by imaginative design and inspired uses. The parklike edge of the new Bay Path, the Jack London Aquatic Center, the Potomac—presidential yacht—cruises and the San Francisco commuter ferry are all vivid examples of enlightened change.›

TUESDAY, MARCH 30 

FILM 

Chantal Akerman: “With Sonia Wieder-Atherton” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Kala Fellowship Artists Paul Catanese and Cynthia Innis at 7 p.m. at Kala Gallery, 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

Dawn Prince-Hughes discusses “Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

“Spanning the Strait: Building the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge” a slide show and lecture by John V. Robinson at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533. 

Kate Wenner reads from her new novel, “Dancing with Einstein” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

R. Larry Wilson, author of “Silk and Steel: Women at Arms” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Bandworks Recital at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $4. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

“All The World Is In It: The Musical Universe of East-European Jews” at 7 p.m. at the Dinner Boardroom, in GTU’s Hewlett Library. 649-2482. 

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

Maryann Price & Naomi Ruth Eisenberg at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Berkeley High Photography Exhibition Reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, MetroCenter, 101 Eighth St., Oakland. Exhibition runs until the end of April. 464-7773. 

FILM 

Film 50: “Being There” at 3 p.m. and Meet Your Makers: “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Parrot: The Art of Anne Walsh” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Redefining Community, Recreating Space” with artists Julio Morales and Keith Thomas at 6 p.m. at California College of Arts, 5212 Broadway. 594-3764. www.cca.edu 

“The Frankenstein Projects: An Archeology of Graffiti” with Sven Ouzman, Fulbright Scholar, drawing on examples from Berkeley, San Francisco, and South Africa. At noon at the Hearst Museum, Bancroft at College Ave. Free with museum admission. 643-7648. 

Owen Gingerich describes “The Book Nobody Read: Chasing the Revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

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 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert with Jilian Khuner, soprano and Jonathan Khuner, piano at International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley Youth Art Festival with Karen Sujian Lampkin and students from Whittier EDC at 6 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkleyartcenter.org 

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

Bandworks Recital at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $4. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Lithium Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Scoop Nisker’s “Crazy Wisdom Show” at 2 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Larry Ochs Sax and Drumming Core, modern jazz, experimental, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donations of $8-$15 suggested. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Girl Powder, Milka, Simon Stinger and Mudbath at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

THURSDAY, APRIL 1 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Sketches of a Sound Installation by Hugh Livingston and Michael Zbyszynski, from 7 to 11 p.m. at 21 Grand Gallery, 449b 23rd St., Oakland. Demonstrations at 7:42 (high tide), 8:42, 9:42, 10:42 p.m. Free. Wheelchair accessible.  

THEATER 

Everyday Theater, “The Bright River,” a show by Tim Barsky, at 8 p.m. at the Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. Through April 3. Tickets are $12-$20 available from 644-2204. 

FILM 

Charles Burnett: “Nightjohn” and “My Brother’s Wedding”at 5:30 at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lunch Poems with David St. John, a National Book Award finalist, at 12:10 p.m. in the Morrison Library in Doe Library, UC Campus. Admission is free. 642-0137. http://lunchpoems.berkeley.edu 

Poetry at the Albany Library with Tsering Wangmo Dhompa at 7 p.m. in the Edith Stone Room, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 20. 

“Ant Farm 1968-1978” Guided Tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

Bruce Cumings on “North Korea: Another Country” at 12:30 p.m. at the IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton Street, 6th Floor. 642-2809. 

Beatrice Manz disusses “Paradise in Ashes: A Guatemalan Journey of Courage, Terror, and Hope” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Garrett Murphy and Manuel Garcia, Jr. followed by an open mic, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. For information call 526-5985 or 205-1749.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

Crystal and Angela, acoustic pop, 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 

George Pederson and His Pretty Good Band at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

The Waybacks, acoustic mayhem, 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 

Patrick Cress’ Telepathy & Transmission Trio, innovative jazz, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $8-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

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

Swoop Unit with guitarist/ 

composer Patrick Greene at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

FRIDAY, APRIL 2 

CHILDREN 

A Love Story for Children at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“A Woman’s Love” pastels by Kelvin Curry. Reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 5741 Telegraph Ave. The artist will donate 25% of his sales to the WCRC. 601-0404, ext. 111. www.wcrc.org 

“Nudes: An Intimate View of Nature” photographs by Jane Magid. Reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Runs through May 27 at Red Oak Realty, 2983 College Ave. 849-9990. 

THEATER 

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

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Ghosts” by Henrik Ibsen, at 8 p.m. 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 April 3. Tickets are $12-$20 available from 644-2204. 

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 “Improv Survivor” opens 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 

Remembering Marlon Riggs: “Tongues Untied” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

John Eidenow talks about “Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Simryn Gill: “Matirx 210” Curator’s Talk with Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson at 12:15 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Baaba Maal, Senegalese pop singer and guitarist, at 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$36, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Soli Deo Gloria and Orchestra Gloria perform Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at 7 p.m. at Piedmont Community Church, 400 Highland Ave., Piedmont. Tickets are $15-$20 available from 415-982-7341. www.sdgloria.org 

The California Golden Overtones Spring Show at 8 p.m. in 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Performances by the UC Men’s Octet and The Williams Octet. Tickets are $5-$10. 642-3880. http://ucchoral.berkeley. 

edu/uchoral/overtones 

“Stomp the Stumps” Benefit for Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters and Earth First with Wild Buds, Gary Gates Band, Funky Nixons and Day Late Fool’s Band at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Solace Brothers, Amee Chapman, Gina Villalobos at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Triple Play at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

El 20 y 10: A Celebration of Dignity and Rebellion at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Herb Gibson, odd-school jazz, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $10-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Sylvia and the Silvertones play classic music of the 30s and 40s at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

The Waybacks, acoustic mayhem, 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 

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

Yaphet Kotto, Takaru, Confidante, Tafatka, A Light in the Attic 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. 

Mood Food at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Jazz Mine at 6:30 p.m. at King Tsin Chinese Restaurant, 1699 Solano Ave.  

SATURDAY, APRIL 3 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Gaile Schmitt and the Toodala Ramblers performing bluegrass at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Wild About Books with Jo Jo LaPlume and her marionettes at 10:30 a.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223. 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“Paintings of Tilden” by Deborah Shappelle. Reception from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Environmental Education Center, Tilden Nature Area. 525-2233. 

Ant Farm Exhibition Tour at 1 p.m. and screenings at 2 p.m at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

THEATER 

Albany High School Theater Ensemble “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. 

“Free and Ova Saopeng, Lao as a Second Language” at 8 p.m. at La Peña. cost is $5-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Hillside Players “Tangled Tales Three: It’s Not Easy Being Smee” a comic journey into The Enchanted Forest for the whole family at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $7, $4 for children, students and seniors. 384-6418. 

FILM 

Charles Burnett: “Nightjohn” at 3 p.m., “Shorts” at 7 p.m. and “Sleep with Anger” at 8:10 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michael Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, discusses the process of bringing a book to the screen, at 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $18-$28, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

"How to Survive in the Music Business” a panel discussion at 2 p.m. at The Jazzchool. Cost is $10, free for K-12 students. Sponsored by Music in Schools Today. www.jazzschool.com  

Bay Area Poets Coalition holds an open reading from 3 to 5 p.m. at the West Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1125 University Ave. 527-9905. poetalk@aol.com 

Joel Ben Izzy talks about “The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Harvard Glee Club and the Pacific Boychoir at 7 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Ave. Tickets are $15 at the door or from 866-468-3399. 

The California Golden Overtones Spring Show at 8 p.m. in 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Performances by the UC Men’s Octet and the Oxford College Out of the Blue. Tickets are $-$10. 642-3880. http://ucchoral.berkeley.edu/uchoral/overtones 

“Opera Scenes” performed by Holy Names College Opera Scenes Program at 8 p.m. at Regents’ Theater, Holy Names College, 3500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $7-$10, available at the door. 436-1330. 

Samba Ngo, Congolese singer, songwriter, guitarist at 8 p.m. at iMusicast, 5429 Telegraph Ave. at 55th. Cost is $13. 601-1024. www.imusicast.com 

BAM/PFA Open House with performance by The Edlos at 3:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lesson with Dana DeSimone at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Rory Block, country blues, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50 advance, $189.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Gojogo, Indian percussion with violin and acoustic bass, 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 

Bill Holdens, The Cables, The Happy Clams at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Rhoda Benin and Soulful Strut at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Tree Leyburn at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Rock & Roll with Nicole at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Time for Living, Killing the Dream, In Control, These Days, At Risk 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. 

Dave Gleason and Wasted Days at 9 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Tickets are $10 at the door. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Pickpocket Ensemble performs European café music at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Happy Birthday Herbie! Cannonball plays the music of Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277.˝

THE FIVE BIGGEST LIES BUSH TOLD US ABOUT IRAQ 

By Robert Scheer, Christopher Scheer and Lakshmi Chaudhry 

Seven Stories Press, 178 pages, $9.95. 

Editor’s Note: This is a modified excerpt from the new edition of The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq by Berkeley residents Robert Scheer, Christopher Scheer, and by Lakshmi Chaudhry. 

On Feb. 17, President Bush sought once again to extricate himself from the scandal that simply won’t go away: the missing Iraqi WMD. “My administration looked at the intelligence and we saw a danger,” he told thousands of U.S. soldiers at Fort Polk, Louisiana. “Members of Congress looked at the same intelligence, and they saw a danger. The United Nations Security Council looked at the intelligence and it saw a danger. We reached a reasonable conclusion that Saddam Hussein was a danger.” 

It’s no surprise that the independent commission appointed by the president has been carefully instructed to only look into lapses in intelligence-gathering, and not at the ways in which the administration may have exaggerated or misused intelligence. Now that it has become clear that Saddam Hussein’s fabled weapons programs simply “did not exist,” as the outgoing chief weapons inspector David Kay put it, the White House is scrambling to cast its now exposed lies as the inevitable consequence of a massive intelligence failure. In other words, the flaw lay not in the “reasonable conclusion” of the administration, but the evidence it was based on. 

Whatever the state of U.S. intelligence gathering, the Bush administration’s sales pitch for the Iraq War relied on public displays of classified data to an unprecedented degree, a practice that has now come to haunt the White House. Scrutiny of the record since Bush assumed office shows a clear and disturbing pattern: the manipulation of intelligence data to fit the administration’s preconceived theories to support a policy based on a political agenda rather than the facts at hand. 

The practice, which far surpasses the usual political sleight-of-hand employed by previous administrations, was so pervasive as to alarm career intelligence analysts. “I believe the Bush administration did not provide an accurate picture to the American people of the military threat posed by Iraq. Most of it lies with the way senior officials misused the information they were provided,” said Gregory Thielmann, a key whistleblower who was the former director of the State Departments Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) until September 2002. “This administration has had a faith-based intelligence attitude: ‘We know the answers-give us the intelligence to support those answers,’” he said. 

Remember the OSP? 

Where Donald Rumsfeld went for his Iraq intelligence was to something called the Office of Special Plans that he himself had formed as a sort of personal intelligence agency. The day-to-day intelligence operations were run by ex-Cheney aide and former Navy officer William Luti, reporting to Defense Undersecretary Douglas Feith, a former Reagan official. According to the Guardian, “The ideologically driven network functioned like a shadow government, much of it off the official payroll and beyond congressional oversight. But it proved powerful enough to prevail in a struggle with the State Department and the CIA by establishing a justification for war.” 

The OSP amassed huge amounts of raw intelligence from “report officers” in the CIA’s directorate of operations whose job it is to cull credible information from reports filed by agents around the world. Under pressure from Pentagon hawks, the officers became reluctant to discard any report, however farfetched, if it bolstered the administration’s case for war. 

John B. Judis and Spencer Ackerman revealed in a New Republic article published in June 2003 that there was “no consensus” within the U.S. intelligence community on the level of threat posed by Saddam. Judis and Ackerman reported, “The administration ignored, and even suppressed, disagreement within the intelligence agencies and pressured the CIA to reaffirm its preferred version of the Iraqi threat.” Bush then would repeatedly deploy this misleading data to sell the war in his speeches. 

A Pattern of Deception 

There is no better example of the pattern of deception that has defined the administration’s case for the war than its claim that Saddam Hussein possessed a well-established nuclear weapons program. 

On Sept. 8, 2002, in a classic example of how easy it is for the White House to manipulate the media, and thus the public, the New York Times ran a story planted by the Bush administration. The front-page article, written by Judith Miller and Michael Gordon and headlined “U.S. Says Hussein Intensifies Quest for A-Bomb Parts,” informed Americans that, according to unnamed Bush officials, Iraq had repeatedly attempted to secretly purchase aluminum tubes “specially designed” for enriching uranium as part of a nuclear weapons program based on their “diameter, thickness, and other technical properties.” 

It was the ultimate advertorial: great placement, perfect message, excellent timing-all basically controlled by the advertiser but looking as if it came from “neutral” sources. From its August launch through its acceptance by Congress in October, the Bush marketing campaign for the war was perfectly executed, and the tubes revelation was a classic example. 

By the time the truth that the attempted purchases were neither secret nor likely intended for nuclear uses was tracked down and exposed by whistle-blowers, journalists, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, it wouldn’t matter, having already served dutifully as a scary totem in Bush speech after Bush speech. When its power did flag, it would simply be replaced by another shaky fact put into the rotation and foisted upon a compliant media. This leak-and-retreat tactic proved astonishingly effective up to and through the war. 

One key to a president exploiting shaky yet convenient intelligence data is to always maintain deniability. Aiding and abetting this is the array of different intelligence agencies that the president has reporting to him-CIA, NSA, FBI, and sub-agencies of State, Defense, and so on-not to mention the information generated by allied nations’ intelligence agencies that are passed along (more on that later). Combined, these agencies, each with its own strong institutional biases and rivalries, generates so much data that it is child’s play for politicians (or reporters with good sources) to cherry-pick opinions that fit their policy platform (or story angle). 

The Real Intelligence Failure 

In an effort to control this kind of chicanery, the intelligence agencies are often required to pool their insights and evidence into overview documents to see whether or not there is a consensus as to their reliability. Relevant experts may also be called in, especially in a case like this where highly technical expertise was essential to separating fact from fiction. 

When the experts looked at the tubes later cited by the White House, however, questions immediately arose over whether they were appropriate for centrifuges used in a nuclear reactor. Working under a blanket of enormous pressure coming from the White House, and especially the vice president, to find damning things regarding Iraq and nuclear weapons, a full-blown row soon broke out within the alphabet soup of U.S. intelligence agencies over this obscure issue. 

For their part, CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency believed the tubes were similar to those used in Iraq’s previous attempt to build nukes, while the State Department’s INR and the Department of Energy were adamant that they were in fact much more appropriate for artillery shells. The division was made explicit in the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate report on Saddam’s pursuit of WMD, as the State Department experts insisted a sharply worded dissent be included in the overall report, controlled by the top dog in the intelligence “community,” the CIA. 

While the NIE cited “compelling evidence that Saddam is reconstituting a uranium enrichment effort for Baghdad’s nuclear weapons program,” the INR dissent (which was later dismissed by the White House as a footnote), stated explicitly “the tubes are not intended for use in Iraq’s nuclear weapons program.” 

Meanwhile, British experts weighed in against the White House’s interpretation and some CIA analysts also expressed doubts. The longer the tubes bounced around the intelligence community, the iffier it got as a piece of evidence affirming Iraq’s threat to the world. Ultimately, however, the CIA, as the top intelligence agency, won out, forcing their analysis into the NIE, leading inevitably to the New York Times front-page headline trumpeting its scoop. 

Role of the CIA 

The CIA’s complicity in this prototypical Bush bait and switch tactic can be clearly seen when looking back at the annual reports the agency delivered to Congress on the global proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. 

In its 1997 report, Iraq only warranted three paragraphs, to the effect that Baghdad possessed dual-use equipment that could be used for biological or chemical programs. There was no mention of a nuclear weapons program. By 2002, however, the Iraq section was seven times as long, and warned that “all intelligence experts agree that Iraq is seeking nuclear weapons” and the country could produce a nuclear bomb “within a year” if it got its hands on weapons-grade material. The CIA also reported as late as 2001 that enforcement of the UN arms embargo on Iraq was “generally successful”-but this reference was dropped in the 2002 report sent to a White House that claimed the embargo wasn’t working. 

Why, then, had the reports become so shrill on the topic after Bush’s inauguration, presenting the same intelligence with a completely different interpretation? After all, the CIA even had the same director under both Clinton and Bush. 

“I’m afraid that the U.S. intelligence community, particularly the CIA . . . is sometimes quite sensitive to the political winds,” Thielmann, formerly a senior intelligence official at the State Department, told Newsday. 

Despite what David Kay may claim, a number of CIA officers clearly felt the brunt of the administration’s desire for the “right” kind of intelligence. Vice President Cheney, in particular, made a number of personal trips to the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to meet with low-level analysts who were reviewing the raw intelligence on Iraq. As one CIA official told the South African Mail and Guardian, “[He] sent signals, intended or otherwise, that a certain output was desired from here.” 

Other visitors to CIA headquarters representing the White House included Cheney’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby, and ex-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who joined the Pentagon as a “consultant” after 9/11. “That would freak people out,” a former CIA official told the New Republic. 

The Mythic Consensus 

While the Bush administration now claims otherwise, there was no consensus whatsoever over Saddam’s weapons capabilities. The New Republic’s investigation revealed many of the tube skeptics still hopping mad, incited by the continued use of the centrifuge claim. One intelligence analyst, who was part of the internal multi-agency tubes investigation, angrily-though anonymously-told the magazine known for its hawkish stances, “You had senior American officials like Condoleezza Rice saying the only use of this aluminum really is uranium centrifuges. She said that on television. And that’s just a lie.” 

And Rice hadn’t stopped there. After saying on the Sept. 8, 2002 Late Edition that the tubes “are only really suited for nuclear weapons programs, centrifuge programs,” she then went on to brandish the ultimate image of twentieth century terror: “The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly [Hussein] can acquire nuclear weapons, but we don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.” 

And contrary to the president’s claims that the UN shared his interpretation of Saddam’s capabilities, the International Atomic Energy Agency was blunt in its assessment of the tubes. On Jan. 24, ElBaradei told the Washington Post, “It may be technically possible that the tubes could be used to enrich uranium, but you’d have to believe that Iraq deliberately ordered the wrong stock and intended to spend a great deal of time and money reworking each piece.” And on Mar. 7, the IAEA stated its analysis quite clearly in its formal report to the United Nations, just two weeks before the war to “disarm Saddam Hussein” began. 

The truth is that the White House continued to be hell-bent on supersizing our fear in the lead up to the war, turning an admittedly scary world into a chamber of horrors. And it used every weapon in its arsenal-from outright intimidation to skilful media manipulation-to achieve its goal. Claiming that this well-oiled campaign was instead a well-intentioned error is just the latest in a very long list of Bush lies. 

ô

Three recent books with local connections explore a variety of approaches to the topic of what it means to do public service. 

Zac Unger (a Berkeley resident and frequent Daily Planet contributor) has written a personal memoir of his career as an Oakland firefighter, a profession he embarked on almost by accident while trying to decide what to do after he finished an Ivy League education. He combines vivid descriptions of what he does with introspective passages about why he does it. The excitement is a big part of why, but also, he says, because "I know that if I don’t do what I’m supposed to, then nobody else will either." 

Working Fire: The Making of an Accidental Fireman, Zac Unger, Penguin, March 2004. 

Mary Tolman Kent’s memoir of her 80 years of life describes public service of an older school: the generation of women who devoted the major part of their lives to home and family, and who were movers and shakers by virtue of their volunteer activities. She was a faculty wife when that was almost a career in itself, and she and her husband, University of California professor and Berkeley City Councilman Jack Kent, were deeply involved in Democratic politics, civil liberties and other liberal causes. She lost a son to AIDS and her husband to Alzheimer’s disease, and the book is also a moving account of how she has survived these losses. The book was published by the now defunct Creative Arts Book Company, but can be found in local bookstores or purchased from the author. 

The Closing Circle, Mary Tolman Kent, Creative Arts Book Company, 2003. 

MoveOn.com, the online political action organization which is Berkeley’s current pride and joy, has lent its name to a compendium of short essays on 50 Ways to Love Your Country, with introductory remarks signed by founders Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, today’s inheritors of the Berkeley political mantle of Jack and Mary Kent. Most of the recommended activities are the same ones activists did in the last generation: registering voters, writing letters to the editor, holding house parties for candidates, running for office. The new twist is that with modern technology it is theoretically possible to do it all faster and better. The book doesn’t dwell on this aspect, however. 

50 Ways to Love Your Country: How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change, Inner Ocean Publishing, March 2004.

Listening to biologists could easily lead you to believe that all field work has to cope with impassible roads, extreme weather, tropical diseases, leeches, guerilla movements, or some combination of the above. I remember the late herpetologist, Joe Slowinski, describing how everyone in his party contracted malaria in Burma, then going on about what a great place it was in which to work. (On his next trip back, Slowinski was fatally bitten by one of his research subjects.) 

So I was pleased to learn of a recent study by a team of entomologists that entailed nothing more risky or strenuous than walking the residential streets of Berkeley and Albany, counting bees and flowers. 

Robbin Thorp, an emeritus professor at UC Davis, and his colleagues were looking for patterns of native bee diversity in urban settings. Since we’re talking about artificial habitats filled with flowering plants from all over the world, and since many native bee species are specialists in only one or a few kinds of flower, you might not expect much in the way of variety. 

But you’d be wrong. As reported in Fremontia, the journal of the California Native Plant Society, the bee counters found 74 species in their study area. All but two—the ubiquitous honeybee and a European leafcutter bee—were natives. That’s not much compared with a bee hotspot like Pinnacles National Monument with its 398 species, but it’s not bad for next door. The natives were common visitors to native shrubs like ceanothus and California poppies, but they also patronized cosmos, marigolds, marguerites, and other exotics. 

Bee diversity peaked at two locations, the Peralta Community Gardens and the Oxford Tract. With large numbers of bee-attractive plants packed in close proximity, each drew about 20 species of native bees. It probably helped that both gardens were pesticide-free. 

We tend to think of the honeybee as the typical bee, but in fact its social lifestyle is unusual. The hive habit evolved only a few times, in honeybees, bumblebees, sweat bees, and some tropical groups. The vast majority of bee species are solitary. 

If you’ve noticed a non-honeybee in your garden, odds are it was a bumblebee—maybe the yellow-faced bumblebee, which has the resounding Latin name of Bombus vosnesenskii. Their colonies are annual, like those of wasps; the workers die off in fall, leaving the queen to hibernate through the winter and found a new realm when spring comes. 

In some parts of northern California up to a dozen bumblebee species may coexist in a small area, partitioning the floral resources. Species with tongues of different lengths feed at flowers with nectaries of different depths. But some short-tongued bumblebees cheat by biting into the base of a flower to get at the nectar, bypassing the pollen-bearing parts. 

Among the solitaries, the leafcutter bees are the most conspicuous. Males will stake out a patch of flowers and patrol it for females. You’re more likely to see the work of the females, though: neat semicircular cuts excised from the leaves of your rosebushes with the bee’s scissor-like jaws. 

The leafcutter’s nest can be in almost any crevice or cranny, including hollow plant stems and beetle tunnels in wood, garden hoses, even the radiators of abandoned cars. She lines it with elongated leaf fragments, pads it with oval pieces, provisions it with pollen and honey, lays a single egg, seals the brood cell with a plug of circular leaf bits, and moves on. Leafcutter bees will also use artificial nests with ready-made holes, and that European species, the alfalfa leafcutter, has become a commercially important pollinator. 

Mason bees—here’s one species in Berkeley—have their own variation: using resin from pines and other trees, mud, and chewed-up plant material to construct their brood cells. These were favorites of the pioneering French entolomologist Jean-Henri Fabre. 

Fifteen of the bee species recorded in the Berkeley-Albany study were miner bees in the genus Andrena, which has 150 species in California alone and over 500 in North America. As the name implies, they dig their nests, usually in the form of a straight shaft with brood chambers branching off it. The excavation is usually two feet deep or less, but one Colombian miner bee is known to tunnel more than eight feet down. 

What’s remarkable about andrenid miner bees is the way they line their brood cells to keep out the dampness of the soil. They’ve evolved a biological equivalent of polyester. Female miners have an organ called the Dufour’s gland which secretes a sticky substance that the bee spreads over the cell wall. The stuff dries to a waxy or varnish-like finish, effectively watertight and fungus-proof. The chemistry varies: andrenids use a mix of terpenes, others produce polymerized lactones. 

The authors of the Berkeley bee study didn’t have an historic baseline to work from, but they report anecdotal evidence that honeybee numbers have decreased in the last 10 years or so. Since honeybee populations all over North America have been hard hit by parasitic mites, the local decline makes sense. It’s a good thing for home gardeners that the bumblebees, leafcutters, masons, and miners were still around to take up the slack. 

ˇ

Birthdays. Some people love them, some people hate them. For optimists, it’s a chance to have a party, to get gifts and bouquets from your friends, and to look forward with enthusiasm to new triumphs in the coming year. For pessimists, there’s the temptation to be excessively aware of how the time has slipped away since last year, with concomitant worrying about what hasn’t been accomplished. Pessimists are the people who need the parties and the bouquets, but often they greet friends’ efforts to cheer them up on birthdays with surly rejection.  

The Daily Planet’s Re-Birthday is April 1, a day when we’re on deadline for this issue, so we didn’t plan a party for that day. (Just as well as far as I’m concerned, since I am one of the surly birthday types.) We’ll have our cake next week, after our two close-together deadlines have passed, but this is the Official Anniversary Issue, offering the opportunity to reflect on where we’ve come in the last year and where we hope to go in the future. The high-minded editorial about news coverage, reflecting on the importance of the free press in a democracy, ran on March 19. This one is our chance to think about how well we’ve done on the smaller stuff that adds up to the big picture for our readers and advertisers.  

Trying to act like birthday optimists, we’ll concentrate on highlighting what we’ve accomplished so far: 

First, the expanded calendar! We said in our preview edition that “A comprehensive calendar is one of the most essential services of a local paper.” We’ve gotten that, and more, thanks to the dedicated efforts of Anne Wagley and the late Fred Lupke, who is sorely missed. It’s a huge job, assembling, collating and typing all of that information, and Anne is now doing it pretty much single-handed. 

Then, regular columnists. J. Douglas Allen-Taylor and Susan Parker, writers whose work we’d admired in other publications, got in touch with us early on and we eagerly snapped them up as columnists. Zac Unger has managed to work us in for some good columns in between his duties as a firefighter, book author and parent. Joe Eaton and Ron Sullivan, nature writers extraordinaire, have settled comfortably into the back page for our weekday editions, where we hope they’ll be for a long time.  

And features. We said: “We hope to showcase local talent as much as we can. We want to develop an inventory of excellent feature material by local writers which can be used when we have enough advertising to pay for some extra space.” We’ve enticed many local favorites (some of whom have international reputations) to write for us on a one or many time basis. They’re too numerous to mention individually, but we hope they will all continue to write for the Planet when they have time. Some even contribute their pieces gratis, which we especially appreciate. But we could always use more, especially as the paper grows in size. We have been delighted to be able to host the revived Pepper Spray Times, a beloved Berkeley institution that was much missed. 

News from outside Berkeley: In a year which began with the invasion of Iraq, national and international coverage continues to be essential. At readers’ request, we’ve dropped the conventional wire copy in favor of unique perspectives from smaller news services. We’ve added in-depth coverage of state, national and international news, primarily from our good friends at Pacific News Service, and also from Featurewell and Alternet. 

Finally, the real crowd-pleaser: the opinion section. We get more favorable reaction to our super-sized letters and commentary pages than to anything else in the paper. This is Berkeley, after all. News often breaks first in the Planet’s opinion pages; our readers know what’s going on, and they tell us, eloquently. Some of our most distinguished contributors write for our commentary page.  

Are the readers happy? A lot of you seem to be. We get many more bouquets than brickbats. We’re grateful to Dona Spring, Leuren Moret and Zelda Bronstein for collecting some bouquets for today’s paper. We thought about collecting some of the brickbats to give everyone a good laugh, but never got around to it.  

We have a wonderful roster of supportive advertisers, many of whose names are listed in this issue as an “honor roll.” We’d like many more, of course, since the paper is still not breaking even. And that’s where we’d like to enlist the readers’ help.  

A city voter survey discovered that, among regular voters in Berkeley, the Planet is the best-read East Bay paper, a demographic data point that ought to appeal to advertisers. When you shop locally (as we hope you do), ask the people you do business with to think about supporting the Planet with their advertising dollars. It would benefit them, and it would benefit us. 

Are there any negative thoughts amidst all this sweetness and light? A few. We’re sorry that some who hoped that “Berkeley would finally have a progressive paper” took that to mean we would tell only one side of multi-faceted stories and would suppress any bad news about “progressive” politicos. We’re disappointed when successful local businesses don’t think advertising in local publications is something they can afford. And we were profoundly saddened when a loyal advertiser called to say that she’d had calls asking her to drop Planet advertising because we’ve run letters critical of Israel’s policy toward Palestinians. The good news is that she refused.  

Finally, Mike and I very much appreciate the great staff we’ve got working with us, on the editorial side, in sales and in distribution. They treat their work at the Daily Planet as more than just a job—they take it seriously as a commitment to our readers and advertisers. And we are especially grateful to the community volunteers who worked hard for months to get us launched a year ago: people who believed that Berkeley deserved to have a paper, and put their own time, money and energy behind that belief when it counted most. We’ve discovered that despite the April 1 birthday, running a newspaper is no joke, but with a little help from our friends, we’ve done it, at least for one year. 

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Berkeley Daily Planet.

Berkeley Man Dies in Police Custody 

A 45-year-old Berkeley man—believed to be the relative of a Berkeley minister and former City Council candidate—died in police custody early Monday morning while he was being booked at the police station. Berkeley Police spokesperson Ken Schofield said that Tyrone Hughes “appeared to suffer from a medical problem and became non-responsive” during the booking process. 

Paramedics say they found a small plastic object lodged in Hughes’ throat. 

Hughes is believed to be related to Carol Hughes Willoughby, pastor and founder of the NewLife For Christ Community Ministries and an unsuccessful candidate in the 2000 District 2 City Council race. Willoughby could not be reached for comment. 

Hughes was arrested after a routine traffic stop turned up an arrest warrant on a drug violation, Schofield said, adding that during a booking search, officers found pieces of what they believe is rock cocaine in Hughes’ pocket. 

“To my knowledge, there was no fight or struggle at any time,” Schofield said. 

Booze Sting  

Teamed with officers from the Berkeley and UC police departments and two underage decoys, agents of the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control have been running stings on Berkeley booze sellers since January—most recently in a March 19 sweep that found 14 of the 26 targeted stores willing to sell to minors. 

Drinking Binge Kills UC Student 

A drinking binge last week apparently ended in the death by alcohol poisoning of a UC Berkeley student, according to Berkeley Police. The body of Steve Saucedo, 21, was found in his Regent Street apartment Friday morning. He had engaged in a drinking contest the night before with a small group of friends.›