Wearing bright orange vests, masks and gloves, two five-member teams of young people are tackling one of Berkeley’s ugliest problems: graffiti. 

The mission of the city-sponsored crews is to remove and paint over graffiti found on a buildings – from storefronts to fire stations to senior citizen facilities. With an arsenal of paint cans, brushes and chemical sprays, the teams patrol city streets in a white pickup truck with a trailer looking for graffit. Though sometimes the job is mistaken as a sentence, the cleanup is a program that provides local youth with jobs and money. 

“Some people think we're criminals,” said Myron Seals, a member of the team and Berkeley High Senior. “That's the only bad part about it. They're like ‘What did you do?’ ”  

To clear up any misunderstandings, bright orange jumpsuits that team members used to wear were recently replaced with orange vests, says Edgar Leon, a recent Berkeley High graduate, “so that people won't confuse us for criminals.” 

The graffiti abatement program started 13 years ago as part of a city effort to remove graffiti from public property. More recently, the program included private property. 

Between 1996 and 1999 the number of taggers placed on probation in the city dropped from 48 to 13. Tougher penalties for tagging, and graffiti education programs are the reasons for the decrease, according to the Youth Services Bureau of the Berkeley Police Department. 

While the majority of tagging is attributed to youth, hate crime offenders have accounted for some of the more recent graffiti. This spring, Berkeley’s Hillel, a Jewish student center near UC Berkeley, was a target. 

“Graffiti fluctuates with the emotions of the time,” said Rene Cardinaux, director of Public Works. “If there's a particularly political issue, graffiti will increase. Then, after a few months, it dissipates. There are just certain things in society that will always prompt people to go out and buy a spray can. It's not consistent.”  

Under the city's recently approved Hate Crime Immediate Prevention Plan, additional efforts will be made to reduce hate graffiti and hate crimes. For one, the city plans to targeted graffiti more quickly. 

In addition, meetings are scheduled with city officials and leaders from Berkeley's many different ethnic communities.  

“We want to extend stronger lines of communication and make sure that people can get in touch with someone from the city,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington. “We hope to have a better response to these crimes.”  

Even with their pledges to respond more quickly, officials say that the youthful mischief behind most graffiti could be impossible to eliminate. 

One former Berkeley tagger described painting graffiti as one way in which kids seek recognition from peer groups. 

“If your tag gets out there you're gonna get your props,” said Mark, who chose not to include his last name. “You get a rush out of it.” 

In addition to city cleanup crews, officials say that Berkeley residents can help reduce graffiti. The city recently published a pamphlet that tells residents how to help stop the ugly crime. 

Most importantly, say members of the graffiti abatement team, citizens need to report vandalism to police. 

“I think they should have more citizen input,” said Marcus Jackson, a supervisor with the abatement team. “Citizens should be aware, when they see people do that stuff write their license number down, write their description down and report it.”  

For the members of the abatement team, helping the community is important, and so is having a job.  

“I like it, the pay is good. I'm a high school student so it puts money in your pocket,” Seals said while cleaning up a vacant building on Shattuck Avenue. “It's not in an office all day. You get to be outside with people.” 

Abatement team members, mostly high school students or recent graduates, work five days a week during the summer and often work on weekends during the school year. 

As far as eliminating graffiti, though, members of the team are realistic. None of them think that tagging will disappear overnight.  

“It's everyday... You see it on the side of freeways on buildings, wherever they can get,” said David Robinson, the second supervisor of the abatement team.

To the Editor 

I don’t think Jane Stillwater, who writes you saying, “Let’s start looking for good in the human race... and give ourselves a future,” is offended by Marion Syrek’s letter to you in which she (or he) says, “To hell with what the Afghanis or the Iraqis want...” because, I believe, Stillwater knows Syrek isn’t serious. 

President Franklin Roosevelt knew, as did President Jack Kennedy, that the world needs to be democratically governed. 

Alfred C. Williams 

Berkeley

Wednesday, July 31

Puppet Show about Asthma 

2 p.m. 

Hall of Health, 2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level)  

Learn about asthma and how to deal with it. 

549-1564 

Suggested Donation: $2 

Twilight Tours at UC Botanical Gardens 

(through August 28) 5:30 p.m.  

200 Centennial Drive, Berkeley, CA.  

Tour the garden at twilight with an expert horticulturist every Wednesday. 

643-2755  

Free with garden admission.  

Mountain Adventure Seminars: Introduction to Rock Climbing 

7 p.m.-9 p.m. 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

An introduction to rock climbing including knot tying, belaying and movement. 

For more information: (209) 753-6556 

$115 REI members; $125 non-members 

Thursday, August 1

Putting it Together 

7:00 p.m. 

Zellerbach Hall, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave. 

Middle school students of Berkeley/Oakland Ailey Camp perform dance techniques, spoken word, theater. 

642-9988 

Free 

Public Meeting to Plan New National Historic Park in Richmond 

1:30 p.m. 

Richmond Senior Center, 2525 MacDonald Ave. 

Meeting to gather input for National Park Service to prepare plans that will guide development of historic W.W.II sites in Richmond. 

817-1517 

Free 

Nutrition Career Open House 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Institute of Educational Therapy, 706 Gilman St. 

Become a Nutrition Educator or Nutrition Consultant. 

558-1711 for reservations 

Free 

Saturday, August 3

Mountain Adventure Seminars: Introduction to Rock Climbing 

8 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

An introduction to rock climbing including knot tying, belaying and movement. 

For more information: (209) 753-6556 

$115 REI members; $125 non-members 

10th Annual Stroll for Epilepsy 

Six Flags Marine World, Vallejo 

The public is invited to join the Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California at Six Flags Marine World for a 5K walk/fundraiser. 

1-800-632-3532 for registration 

Storytelling at the Berkeley Public Library 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Library, Central Branch 

2090 Kittredge St. 

Storyteller Joel Ben Izzy will present a variety of stories filled with warmth, humor, drama in the Children's Story Room. 

981-6223 

Sick Plant Clinic 

9 a.m. to Noon  

200 Centennial Drive 

UC Botanical Garden; First Saturday of every month. UC plant pathology and entomology experts will diagnose what ails your plant. 

643-2755. 

Free 

Not Down With the Lockdown 

Noon to 4 p.m. 

Frank Ogawa Plaza, Broadway and 14th, Oakland 

Hip hop concert, DJs, spoken word and art to protest and resist proposed new Alameda County Juvenile Hall. 

430-9887 

Free 

Sunday, August 4

Top of the Bay Family Days 

1 to 3 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive, above UC campus 

Enjoy an afternoon outdoor concert in our family picnic area as well as art and science activities and hands-on exhibits inside LHS. 

643-5961 

$8 adults 

Monday, August 5

National Organization for Women East Bay Chapter monthly meeting 

6:30 p.m. 

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 6536 Telegraph Ave. 

Discussion of harassment of females employed by the City of Oakland Fire Department 

Monthly meeting: NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN Oakland 

549-2970, 287-8948  

Arts Education Department Open House 

6:30 to 8:30 p.m. 

Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond 

Meet teachers, see studios/galleries, info about classes in the arts. 

620-6772 

Free 

Public Meeting to Plan a New National Park in Richmond 

1:30 p.m. 

Richmond Public Library, Whittlesey Room 

325 Civic Center Plaza (near MacDonald Ave. and 25th St.) 

Meeting to gather input for National Park Service to prepare plans that will guide development of historic W.W.II sites. 

817-1517 

Free 

Saturday, August 10

Poetry in the Plaza 

2:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library, Central Branch, 2090 Kittredge 

Quarter hour readings by well-known poets, dedicated to June Jordan. 

981-6100 

Free 

Tomato Tasting 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Tasting and cooking demonstrations  

548-3333 

Free 

Tea Bag Folding 

2 to 4 p.m.  

Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany 

Drop-in crafts program for ages 5 to adult.  

526-3720 ext 19. 

Free 

Tree Stories 

2 to 4 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo, Berkeley 

Come join us as author Warren David Jacobs reads from his book "Tree Stories." 

For more information call: 548-2220 x233 

Free 

Sunday, August 11

Hands-on Bicycle Repair 

11 a.m.-Noon 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

Learn from an REI bike technician basic repairs such as brake adjustments and fixing a flat. 

For more information: (510) 527-4140 

Free 

West Berkeley Arts Festival 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

4th and University Ave. 

Explore the many resident artists located in Berkeley 

Free. 

Monday, August 12

The First East Bay Senior Games 

10:30 a.m. clinic, 12:30 p.m. tee-off (approximate times) 

Mira Vista Golf and Country Club 

7901 Cutting Blvd. El Cerrito 

A golfing event for the 50+ crowd, in association with the California and National Senior Games Association. 

891-8033 (registration deadline July 29) 

Varying entry fees. 

Tuesday, August 13

Tomato Tasting 

2 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Derby Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way  

Sample 35 different Tomato varieties 

548-3333 

Free 

Berkeley Camera Club Weekly Meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share slides, prints with other photographers 

(510) 525-3565 

Free 

Wednesday, August 14

Holistic Exercises Sharing Circle  

3:30 to 6:30 p.m.  

wrpclub@aol.com or 595-5541 for information 

Holistic Practitioners, Teachers, Students & Anyone who knows Holistic exercises take turns leading the group through an afternoon of exercises 

$20 for six-month membership 

Saturday, August 17

Tour for Blind, Low-Vision Library Patrons 

10:30 a.m. to noon 

Berkeley Public Library, Central Branch 

3rd Floor Meeting Rm, 2090 Kittredge St. 

Tour of the new central branch for blind and low-vision patrons. 

981-6121 

Free 

Author Reading and Signing: Haunani-Kay Trask 

3 p.m.  

Eastwind Books, 2066 University Ave., Berkeley 

Meet Hawaiian author Haunani-Kay Trask. 

548-2350 

Free 

Cajun & More 

10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Four Live Bands, crafts fair, Cajun food, dance lessons, micro-brewery beer & dance floor.  

548-3333 

Free 

Sunday, August 18

Bike Tours  

of Historic Oakland 

10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 

Oakland Museum of California, 10th St. entrance, at Fallon 

Leisurely paced 5 1/2 mile bike tour about Oakland's history and architecture. 

238-3514 

Free: Reservations Required 

Top of the Bay Family Days 

1 to 3 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive, above UC campus 

Enjoy an afternoon outdoor concert in our family picnic area as well as art and science activities and hands-on exhibits inside LHS. 

643-5961 

$8 adults 

Hands-on Bicycle Repair 

11 a.m.-12 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

Learn from an REI bike technician basic repairs such as brake adjustment and fixing a flat. 

For more information: (510) 527-7470 

Thursday, August 22

Film: "Ralph Ellison: An American Journey" 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library - Central Branch 

2090 Kittredge St. 

Berkeley filmmaker Avon Kirkland's stirring documentary about the great American author, Ralph Ellison. 

981-6205 

Free 

Friday, August 23

Teen Playreaders present Bizarre Shorts 

(through August 24) 7 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library - North Branch 

1170 The Alameda 

Playreaders present 20 short, bizarre plays, contemporary and classic. 

644-6850 

Free 

Saturday, August 24

Roller Derby & Big Time Wrestling 

6:30 p.m. 

Richmond Auditorium, 403 Civic Center Plaza 

Roller Derby: Bay Bombers vs. Brooklyn Red Devils, Big Time Wrestling superstars 

636-9300 

$10 Advance, $20 Door 

Monday, September 2

National Organization for Women Oakland/East Bay Chapter  

6:30 PM.  

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 6536 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley  

Chapter’s monthly meeting. Speaker: Multicultural historian, Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, received 

the prestigious Valitutti Award for non fiction.  

549-2970 

Free

OAKLAND — Lee Stevens hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning as the Cleveland Indians came from behind to beat the Oakland Athletics 8-6 Monday night. 

The A’s have lost five of six, dropping four games out of first place in the AL West. 

Trailing by three going into the seventh, Milton Bradley hit a two-run single with the bases loaded and Stevens gave Cleveland the lead with his home run off reliever Mike Magnante (0-2). 

It was Stevens’ first home run with the Indians since he was acquired from Montreal on June 27 in the deal that sent Bartolo Colon to the Expos. 

Stevens wasn’t even scheduled to start, but designated hitter Ellis Burks was a late scratch with a sore shoulder. 

Terry Mulholland (1-0), making his Indians debut after being traded from Los Angeles on Sunday, worked two scoreless innings of relief. 

With closer Bob Wickman on the disabled list, Mark Wohlers got two outs for his first save since June 3, 1998, for Atlanta. 

Eric Chavez and Jermaine Dye hit RBI singles in the first inning off Cleveland starter Jaret Wright to give the A’s a 2-0 lead. 

Wright got into trouble in the second, loading the bases with no outs. Ray Durham hit an RBI groundout and Miguel Tejada added a run-scoring single to make it 4-0. 

Tejada extended his hitting streak to a career-high 18 games. The last Oakland player with an 18-game string was Jason Giambi in 1999. 

Ramon Hernandez added a two-out RBI double in the third inning to make it 5-0. 

Wright, making just his second start of the season after recovering from shoulder surgery, allowed five runs on five hits in 2 2-3 innings. He walked seven, a season high for an Indians pitcher. 

Ricky Gutierrez, Einar Diaz and Matt Lawton all hit two-out RBI singles off A’s starter Tim Hudson in the fourth inning to cut it to 5-3. 

Chavez added an RBI double in the fourth to put Oakland up 6-3. 

Hudson allowed five runs and 12 hits in six innings. 

Gutierrez left after the seventh with a bruised left calf. He struck out swinging in the second inning, sending his bat flying into the Oakland dugout. A’s manager Art Howe and several players had to jump to avoid it.

Four new stops south
of San Francisco will
park thousands of cars 

Tired of airport traffic? Then leave the car in the driveway.  

By January Berkeley residents will be able to take the BART directly to San Francisco International Airport in about 70 minutes and for an estimated cost of $7 to $8. 

That trip will come courtesy of a $1.5 billion rail service extension, from just south of San Francisco to the airport, that is nearly complete.  

The project, which had been planned for 30 years and was under construction for four, has survived political intrigue, cost overruns and a rash of dead garter snakes.  

On Monday, BART and the San Mateo County Transit District, which is operating the new stations in conjunction with BART, provided a trial run of the new service for elected officials and members of the media. 

“This is truly a profound addition to the quality of our lives,” said Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Hillsborough, who worked to secure $750 million in federal funding for the project. The rest of the money came from a variety of state and local sources. 

The full project includes four new BART stations, extending south from the current terminus at Colma. The stations, from north to south, are South San Francisco, San Bruno, San Francisco International Airport and Millbrae. 

Passengers will be able to connect with Caltrain transit service at the Millbrae station and continue south along the San Francisco peninsula. 

“You’ll be able to quickly and efficiently get from Berkeley to anywhere that Caltrain travels in the South Bay,” said BART General Manager Thomas Margro.  

“This has been a long, knock-down, drag-out fight,” said James Fang, of the BART Board of Directors. “Boy, am I glad we made it.” 

The BART extension has survived funding fights in the U.S. Congress, $300 million in cost overruns and the death of three endangered garter snakes during construction – which raised environmental concerns and delayed the project. 

The project will add 8.7 miles of track to the existing BART system and is expected to serve an additional 70,000 passengers each day. The system currently serves 310,000 passengers a day. 

Each day the new stations will save 10,000 auto trips to the airport and 23,000 auto trips in San Mateo County, officials say, reducing pollution and congestion on the U.S. Highway 101 corridor. 

BART estimates that about half of its arriving passengers at SFO will be able to walk to ticket counters within five minutes. The rest will be able to take an AirTrain, a small “people mover” that looks like a monorail train, to the appropriate gate.  

In an informal poll in downtown Berkeley, BART riders said the projected $7 to $8 price tag is hefty, but suggested that they will use the new service. 

“I think $7 is too expensive,” said Kai Hutson, a recent graduate of Mills College in Oakland. “But I would do it, because normally I would pay about $40 for a shuttle.” 

BART spokesperson Ron Rodriguez said the forecasted fare would still be less expensive than driving to the airport from the East Bay when gas, tolls, parking and vehicle wear-and-tear are considered. 

To The Editor: 

Perhaps Walter Wood should check with the merchants before declaring a pedestrian presence undesirable in their neighborhood (July 27-28, 2002). Even those who drive to one shop might need to cross a street to get to another. We should discourage this? 

A more troubling oversight is that in refusing light-assisted crossings at major streets near minor streets, you force commuting non-cars to use major streets. For example, San Pablo, Ashby, MLK, and Shattuck have major stretches where you need to be on a major street to get across. Easing the flow of traffic should not refer only to cars; it can benefit both sides. More user-activated lights such as the one at Channing and MLK could mean fewer cyclists and pedestrians on your major streets. 

Barbara Judd 

Berkeley

SAN DIEGO — San Diego Chargers general manager John Butler has been diagnosed with lung cancer and started chemotherapy, a team spokesman said Monday night. 

New coach Marty Schottenheimer broke the news to the players at a meeting, at Butler’s request, spokesman Bill Johnston said. 

Butler, who turns 56 on Aug. 13, didn’t immediately return a call to his home and Schottenheimer was in a meeting and unavailable for comment. 

Butler was diagnosed a few weeks ago, Johnston said. The GM quit smoking during last season, Johnston said. 

In a statement, the Chargers said that during Butler’s chemotherapy, “he is tending to business as usual and wants everyone in the Chargers family to do the same. While he is grateful for the kind thoughts and interest, he wants the entire organization to remain focused on bringing a world championship to San Diego.” 

Team president Dean Spanos also issued a statement. 

“John has been a winner and fierce competitor on and off the field his whole life,” Spanos’ statement said. “We all have confidence that he will overcome this new challenge. We’re all behind John 100 percent.” 

Butler, considered one of the NFL’s best talent evaluators, was hired as San Diego’s GM on Jan. 5, 2001, less than two weeks after the Chargers finished 1-15, their worst season ever. 

He spent the previous 14 seasons with Buffalo, helping build the teams that reached four straight Super Bowls. He was GM from 1993 until late in the 2000 season when he was fired by owner Ralph Wilson, who said he couldn’t get a commitment from the GM that he wanted to stay in Buffalo. 

Under Butler, Buffalo was one of the few powers of the early ’90s that was able to remain an annual playoff contender in the salary-cap era.

Public hearing scheduled Aug. 15 

Shoring up decades of public comment and controversy, planners with the California Department of Parks and Recreation have released a long-awaited plan for the waterfront Eastshore Park. 

The plan lays out the preliminary blueprint for an 8 1/2-mile stretch of natural areas, sports fields and walking trails along San Francisco Bay from the base of the Bay Bridge in Oakland to Marina Bay in Richmond. 

Release of the plan, which was accompanied by a draft environmental impact report, has already reignited an argument about whether playing fields or native habitat is best for Berkeley’s bayfront. 

During the many years of park planning, advocates for sports fields and the environmental community each pushed their agendas.  

Dubbed a compromise by state planners, the preliminary general plan calls for the development of up to five playing fields at the nearby Albany Plateau, with no fields planned for Berkeley, and the establishment of a “conservation area,” protecting plants and wildlife in the bayside Berkeley meadow. 

“The plan reflects a potential for consensus,” said park planner Donald Neuwirth. “Not everyone is going to get what they want here, only some of it.” 

Both the environmental community and the sports field advocates, who have until the end of August to submit comments, are calling the plan a disappointment. 

“There should be more of an effort to protect and bring back natural habitat,” said Norman La Force, chair of the East Bay Lands Committee of the Sierra Club. He noted that the mission of the managing State Parks system is to preserve California’s diminishing native ecological systems, not to develop over them. 

“Creating ball fields on a state park is against the law,” La Force said. 

Proponents of the ball fields think otherwise. 

Citing a need for six more sports fields to meet the city’s rising demand for athletics, Berkeley resident Doug Fielding insists that park planners should prioritize the needs of people. 

“We would like to see playing fields in Berkeley,” Fielding said. Berkeley currently has 21 fields, according to Fielding. 

The Albany-based advocacy group Let It Be agrees with the need to serve local residents. 

“[State planners] are treating this like it’s wilderness... like it’s Alaska,” said Jill Posener, coordinator of Albany-based Let It Be. 

Her group, which claims to have 1,200 supporters, opposes the state’s plan to restore natural habitat in Albany, specifically at the Albany Bulb, because it would put an end to such activities as public art shows and letting dogs run off-leash at the bayfill peninsula. 

Berkeley City Council recently supported Let It Be, calling for the Albany Bulb to remain unrestored, with no nearby sports fields, and suggesting that fields be built in Berkeley instead. 

State planners, who are not legally bound to heed recommendations from the five cities through which the state park passes, rejected council’s idea. 

Neuwirth said that an extensive environmental study considering conditions for sports fields as well as native habitat showed that Berkeley’s proposal was less desirable.  

He also said that the western end of Gilman Street, where Berkeley’s council recommended playing fields, is private property and cannot be considered in the park plan. 

City Council also recommended fewer parking lots than the state did. 

Neuwirth, conceding that no party will be completely satisfied, says it’s time for residents to put aside their differences and support the project. 

“The park’s not going to get built unless people say they want it. There are people competing for money all over,” he said, suggesting that enthusiasm for the park would help attract necessary state funding. 

In addition to state parks, the East Bay Regional Park District and the California State Coastal Conservancy are agencies involved with the project. 

At 7 p.m. Aug. 15 a public meeting is scheduled at which the agencies will answer questions and hear public comments about the preliminary general plan and the environmental impact report. 

Final approval by the State Parks Commission is expected later this year. The documents can be viewed on-line at www.eastshorestatepark.org.

To the Editor:  

I really find it very upsetting that the council has voted to spend up to $93,000 on studying alternatives to the in place and operational communication tower. I really can’t believe that the neighbors who are protesting the tower’s height weren't aware of it when the plans were available for review. The tower is there to benefit all the citizens of Berkeley and shouldn't be dismantled because of the unreasonable demands of a selfish few. 

I really get sick and tired of the council allowing any neighborhood group that complains enough to ignore the good of the whole city. This is the very same neighborhood group that kept our city from having a courthouse built here by very unreasonable demands. I hope you realize that there are many voters in your district who feel just as I do. The money being spent could be used for programs that benefit people in need of basic necessities rather then some disgruntled neighborhood. 

Alex Warren 

Berkeley

PALM DESERT — Tiger Woods turned in another prime-time performance. Jack Nicklaus produced one last memorable shot. 

The best two players of their generations were simply the best Monday night as Woods made nine birdies in 16 holes and carried his 62-year-old idol to a 3 and 2 victory over Sergio Garcia and Lee Trevino in the Battle at Bighorn. 

The only disappointment was the way it ended, with Woods making a 3-foot par putt to halve the hole and win the match. It was the only hole that none of the four players birdied. 

This was more like the Battle of Birdies. 

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Woods said. “You had to make birdie to win the hole. That was incredible.” 

Nicklaus had his moments, too. 

The Golden Bear, in what might have been his last performance before a national television audience of this size, knocked down the flag with a 7-iron on the ninth hole for a tap-in birdie that sent the gallery into a frenzy. 

It wasn’t the 1972 U.S. Open, where Nicklaus produced the signature shot of his career by hitting the stick on the 17th at Pebble Beach. Still, Trevino has seen enough of Nicklaus to know what was coming. 

“Jack loves to knock it stiff when he’s got all the people watching,” Trevino said. 

Woods was so dominant that he was 9 under through 16 holes and didn’t even get a chance at two birdie putts inside 10 feet. 

“I did all right,” Woods said in mock understatement. “I broke 80, didn’t I?” 

That’s something he couldn’t say in the third round of the British Open, where he posted an 81 in raging wind and rain. The only element Monday were temperatures that topped out at 107 degrees. 

That, and putting up with Trevino. The “Merry Mex” contributed three birdies and most of the conversation, jabbering so much that he only stopped long enough to hit the ball. 

And the night wasn’t a total loss for Garcia, the 22-year-old Spaniard known lately for the countless waggles and regrips. Nicklaus tried to counsel him on the strange habit, telling Garcia that he, too, was guilty of slow play. 

“Finally, I had a couple of penalty times and I learned to play faster,” Nicklaus told him. 

Despite making five birdies, Garcia got another lesson that he knows all too well. 

“We had our chances, but we missed too many putts on the front nine,” he said. “When you’re playing against a guy of this caliber, if you don’t make the putts, you can’t afford it.” 

Nicklaus had not played with Woods since the first two rounds of the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla, where Woods went on to win in a playoff for his third out of four consecutive majors. 

“I know now that I have no business playing on the regular tour,” Nicklaus said. “If you see the way Tiger and Sergio play, there’s no such thing as a par-5 anymore. My partner was great. And I like to win.” 

So does Woods, who came out with a focus that belied the hit-and-giggle event. Garcia is the only player to have beaten Woods in the Battle at Bighorn, and Woods seemed bent on gaining some revenge in the middle of a team event.

Peepers found safe 

DES MOINES, Iowa — Police say they have quacked the case of a stolen duck. 

Rita Cane came forward after seeing a story in the newspaper about the stolen pet, a white duck named Peepers. She said she scooped the duck out of the street last week to rescue him. She’s no ducknapper, she said. 

“I’m a good Christian woman and I plan to stay that way,” the 62-year-old Des Moines woman said. “I’m a good Samaritan.” 

Duck owner Brad Moureau said he got a call early Thursday that Peepers was safe — and that he owed $41 to get the duck out of the animal shelter. 

That’s when the insurance man stepped in. Bill Robertson, a regional sales coordinator for AFLAC, heard that Peepers resembles the company’s TV spokesduck and that passers-by often yell “AFLAC, AFLAC” when they see Peepers in Moureau’s yard. 

Robertson paid the shelter’s fee. 

“Maybe we can make Peepers our local mascot,” he said. 

Fish for display only 

SACRAMENTO — Rainbow trout are vanishing from the fish pond at California’s Capitol Park, state police said. 

The fish pond at the 40-acre park is within view of security cameras of the state Capitol. A 4-foot-high perimeter fence and “no trespassing” signs make it clear the trout are not to be harassed or hooked. 

But the fish keep vanishing. 

“They disappear constantly,” said Stephen Fisher, caretaker of the 60-year-old pond. 

This spring, Fisher counted 35 trout in the 25,000-gallon pool. As of mid-July, there were 19. Six succumbed to disease or heat, but the others are missing in action — apparently snatched from the water, he said. 

To the Editor: 

I deeply resent the comments made by Councilmember Polly Armstrong at Tuesday's City Council meeting regarding those of us who followed the General Plan process through to the end. I have no alternative but to interpret her remarks to mean that if someone cares enough to participate in Berkeley, then they must be (her words) “junkies” – not the caring, thoughtful citizens who feel that their gift of time and energy to the city is a good thing. The General Plan process was 2 1/2 years of hard work done since the early 1999 staff draft, which was resoundly rejected in favor of a Planning Commission authored draft (which is still not finalized until the housing element is approved by the state). 

I feel she should give the hundreds of citizens who did participate a public apology. 

It is difficult enough to get people to come out to meetings, and the marginalizing of the people who participate in the process further discourages those who are listening to the council meetings. It was all the more surprising to hear this during a discussion that had a lot of feel-good talk about the city's need to work better with citizens and neighborhoods on land use issues. 

I hope Ms. Armstrong will reconsider her statement, as Berkeley needs the best and the brightest from our diverse community to help guide us through the troubled waters we often find ourselves in. 

Carrie Olson  

Berkeley 

Today’s Highlight in History: 

On July 30, 1945, during World War II, the U.S.S. Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine; only 316 out of 1,196 men survived the sinking and shark-infested waters. (The Navy recently exonerated the Indianapolis’ captain, Charles Butler McVay III, who was court-martialed and convicted for failing to evade the submarine that sank his ship.) 

On this date: 

In 1729, the city of Baltimore was founded. 

In 1932, the Summer Olympic Games opened in Los Angeles. 

In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed a bill creating a women’s auxiliary agency in the Navy known as Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service — WAVES for short. 

In 1975, former Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa disappeared in suburban Detroit. Although he is presumed dead, his remains have never been found. 

In 1975, representatives of 35 countries convened in Finland for a conference on security and human rights that resulted in the Helsinki accords. 

In 1980, the Israeli Knesset passed a law reaffirming all of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state. 

Ten years ago: A TWA Lockheed L-1011 caught fire during takeoff from New York’s Kennedy International Airport; all 292 people aboard survived. At the Barcelona Summer Olympics, Shannon Miller won the silver medal in the women’s all-around gymnastics event. 

Five years ago: Two men bombed Jerusalem’s most crowded outdoor market, killing themselves and 16 others. Eighteen people, including two Americans, were killed in a landslide that swept one ski lodge onto another at the Thredbo Alpine Village in southeast Australia. 

One year ago: Typhoon Toraji churned through Taiwan, killing 61 people and leaving about 150 missing; Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe’s ruling party won a special parliamentary election. 

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Dick Wilson (“Mr. Whipple”) is 86. Blues musician Buddy Guy is 66. Singer Paul Anka is 61.

Owners must limit
hours of operation, fence
the area, lock premises 

OAKLAND – An East Oakland community Monday celebrated a victory that will force a problematic gas station to clean up its act. 

Over the years, the Beacon gas station at the intersection of Foothill and Havenscourt boulevards has gained notoriety as one of the top five locations for rowdy, late-night gatherings of young motorists known as “sideshows.” 

In the last year-and-a-half, police have been called to the area more than 800 times to investigate numerous complaints, including reports of drug trafficking, excessive noise, public urination and intoxication.  

The station, which also includes a 24-hour convenience store, has been accused of ignoring the situation and making it worse by allegedly selling alcohol after 2 a.m. and selling alcohol to minors. 

Neighbors expect the station to be a lot quieter now that the city of Oakland's planning department has moved to issue further restrictions on the station's operation permit. 

The move is the result of the Neighborhood Law Corps program, a service of the city attorney's office, which puts city attorneys in the communities they serve, allowing them to work with residents on specific problems. 

In this case, law corps attorney Austin Cattermole worked with neighbors for three months as he compiled evidence to build a case against the station. The result was a planning department hearing, after which the department moved to impose strict regulations on the business. 

Under the new permit, the owners of the station must limit the station's hours of operation and close from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day. The owner must also fence off the area and lock down the premises to ensure that no one can access the areas after it shuts down.  

In addition, the owner must improve exterior lighting and hire a uniformed guard to patrol the lot on weekends and holidays and it must install video surveillance cameras. 

According to evidence presented to a hearing, the gas station is the number one location for sideshows in East Oakland, and is considered one of the top five locations for sideshow activity citywide. 

In the last two years alone, the Oakland Police Department has spent more than $27,000 for extra police officers to control sideshow activity and other disturbances at the station.  

City Attorney John Russo, who started the Neighborhood Law Corps program, said that the limitation on the gas station constitutes a major victory that illustrates how having city attorneys work closer with the community they represent helps to achieve results.  

“The main thing about this program is that it takes its direction from the neighbors,” said Russo. “Cities have always had the power to bring these types of cases forward, but they require people to step forward.” 

OAKLAND – The Solano County Coroner's Office Monday identified the young Oakley man killed in a solo-vehicle accident on Interstate Highway 780 in Benicia Saturday morning. 

David Demong, 23, was driving at approximately 80 mph in the fast lane on eastbound I-780 at East Second Street when at about 4:35 a.m. he drifted into the graveled center median.  

Demong then suddenly swerved to the right and crossed two lanes before colliding with the right shoulder embankment. The car drove up the embankment, became airborne, landed south of the freeway lanes and rolled three times.

Bay Area conservationists said Monday they are seeing an outpouring of gratitude for their move to intervene in a suit by a Sacramento activist group to weaken protection for a threatened bird. 

Representatives of the Environmental Protection Information Center and the Oakland office of the Center for Biological Diversity say groups along the Pacific Coast have contacting them to support their action in a challenge by the Pacific Legal Foundation to federal action on behalf of the western snowy plover. 

The PLF suit, brought in a federal court in Oregon under the federal Endangered Species Act in May, charges the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with illegally designating 28 critical habitat areas that affect 20,000 acres of land for conservation of the species. 

Snowy plovers are small birds that lay their eggs in slight depressions of sandy beaches. After hatching, flightless chicks forage for food along the beach. Numbers of the western snowy plover, which the federal government listed as threatened in 1993, have dwindled to fewer than 2,000 individuals. The bird has been found throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, but only a few remain. 

“We have moved to intervene to ensure the plover habitat is vigorously defended,” Galvin said. “Unfortunately, we cannot rely on the current administration to uphold or defend wildlife and environmental regulations.” 

The two broad-based environmental groups are joined by several Audubon society chapters, including the Marin Audubon Society, in their motion to have their views on the matter heard by the court. 

Center for Biological Diversity conservation biologist Peter Galvin said the groups are particularly interested in the PLF suit because the Bush administration has settled a series of similar lawsuits that industry groups have filed in an attempt to weaken wildlife and environmental protections. 

Galvin said the plover is threatened by coastal development, dogs unleashed in their nesting areas, and by beach driving, as well as by coastal pollution. 

“Industry has launched a jihad against environmental protection, and it's playing it out in the court system, with the Bush administration rushing to settle these (lawsuits) out on favorable terms for the industries,” Galvin said Monday. “So we're rushing in to try to stop the Bush Administration from essentially caving in on these lawsuits.” 

But according to the Pacific Legal Foundation complaint, federal officials did not balance the economic impact of prohibitions on recreational and other human activities against the potential benefit to the species when they determined the critical habitat needed for western snowy plover conservation.

A Bay Area woman is among five of President George W. Bush's nominees to the National Council on Disabilities to be confirmed to the post late last week, the council announced Monday. 

Kathleen Martinez of Oakland is deputy director of the World Institute on Disability, a non-profit research, public policy and advocacy center dedicated to promoting independence and societal inclusion of people with disabilities. 

Martinez was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Friday, the 12th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

The National Council on Disabilities is an independent federal agency that makes recommendations to the president and congress on disability policy.  

The council is currently coordinating a multi-year study on the implementation and enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and other civil rights laws, a spokesman for the council says. 

SACRAMENTO — More than 3,400 California schools will finally get their bonuses for improving student test scores, state education officials announced Monday. 

The bonuses, which were held up nearly seven months by budget troubles, are part of the Governor’s Performance Awards program. 

Many school officials and parents said they had almost written off last year’s bonuses, which were expected in January or February. 

Martha Roten, principal at Noralto Elementary School in Sacramento, said her school has already spent the award money on instructional supplies. Other schools have pushed back purchases until the money comes through. 

Irma Marquez, principal at Peter Burnett Elementary School in Sacramento, said the school’s parents and students have been “eagerly awaiting” the money, which will go toward upgrading the school’s computer lab and installing security cameras. 

“We know it’s coming so we keep saying to the kids that we are going to improve their school as soon as the money gets here,” Marquez said. “We know how we’re going to use it, but we can’t move forward until it gets here.” 

The Governor’s Performance Awards go to schools that reached their Academic Performance Index targets during the 2001 administration of state tests. School targets are set at a 5 percent growth over the previous year. 

About 47 percent of California schools hit their targets in 2001. 

“Public schools, students, teachers and parents have never worked harder to improve, and their efforts are paying off,” said Secretary for Education Kerri Mazzoni Monday. 

The first installment of the award, about $67.3 million, will be distributed to 3,428 schools, Mazzoni said. The second part, about $77 million, is tied in with next year’s budget, which is stuck in the Assembly.

SAN FRANCISCO — Venture capitalists continued to tippy-toe through the high-tech wreckage in the second quarter, sending investments in startups to the lowest level in nearly four years, according to an industry report to be released Tuesday. 

The $5.7 billion of venture capital invested in the second quarter represented the industry’s lowest three-month volume since the quarter ended in September 1998, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association. 

This year’s second-quarter investments — disbursed to 819 companies nationwide — fell 53 percent from the same time last year when venture capitalists doled out $12 billion to 1,376 companies, the survey said. 

Venture capitalists have been backpedaling since the market values of tech companies peaked with the Nasdaq composite index in March 2000. The $5.7 billion invested by venture capitalists during this year’s second quarter is 81 percent below the record $29.5 billion invested in startups during the first three months of 2000. 

The tech-laden Nasdaq composite index closed Monday 74 percent below its March 2000 high. 

Most venture capitalists expect the industry’s doldrums to continue for the foreseeable future. 

“We still have a long period of pain and ugliness in front of us,” said Mark Saul, a general partner with Foundation Capital in Menlo Park. 

Hundreds of startups and a large number of venture capital firms are expected to fall by the wayside during the anticipated turmoil. 

With little hope of taking a high-tech startup public in today’s climate, venture capitalists are pouring more resources into their existing portfolio of companies. 

Two-thirds of the venture capital invested in the second quarter went into so-called “expansion stage” companies — typically startups that need a third or fourth round of financing to stay alive. 

The triage is “a lot of hard work,” said Ted Dintersmith, a general partner with of Charles River Ventures. “Not many venture capitalists are having a relaxing summer.” 

The sharpened focus on saving the best startups created during the past few years is making it tougher on entrepreneurs trying to bring new products to market today. 

San Francisco-based Typesoft had to delay its plans to introduce an electronic text pad in May when venture capitalists reneged on a verbal promise to invest $3 million, said Rod Stambaugh, the company’s chief executive officer. 

Stambaugh hasn’t been able to interest other venture capitalists in the company, even though Typesoft has lined up deals with several major retailers, including Target and Office Depot, to sell its text pad. 

With no money to back Typesoft’s concept, Stambaugh said he and the company’s three other employees have gone into “hibernation” in hopes of raising some venture capital by October.

WellPoint settles
fraud case for $9.25 million 

LOS ANGELES — Blue Cross of California and its parent company, WellPoint Health Networks, agreed to pay the government $9.25 million to resolve allegations that BCC defrauded Medicare, the Justice Department said Monday. 

BCC and WellPoint did not admit any wrongdoing. 

Responding to information provided by a former BCC employee, the government claimed that between 1990 and 2000 BCC falsified its audits of health care providers who were seeking reimbursements through Medicare. 

WellPoint, one of the nation’s largest managed health care companies with more than 13 million members, also offers other services, including underwriting, medical cost management, and claims processing. 

The government hired BCC to act as a watchdog against Medicare fraud. It claims the Thousand Oaks-based company falsified dates in a database to make the government believe BCC had performed more audit work that it did. 

“This settlement demonstrates that the government will continue to aggressively pursue health care fraud not only by providers but also by intermediaries or other contractors who submit false or fraudulent information to Medicare,” Robert D. McCallum, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a release. 

WellPoint denied the allegations and added that the settlement agreement will not prevent BCC or any of its affiliates from conducting business with federal or state governments. 

Budget Rent-A-Car parent
files for Chapter 11 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The parent of Budget Rent-A-Car, the world’s third-largest car and truck rental company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, blaming the post-Sept. 11 drop-off in travel. 

Founder of dead dot-com site
puts internal memos online  

NEW YORK — The publisher of a profane Web site that skewers troubled companies on Monday launched a new online service showcasing the correspondence of top executives and managers. 

InternalMemos.com is the brainchild of Philip J. Kaplan, a wisecracking high-tech contractor who touched a nerve in May 2000 when he launched a sarcastic Web site ridiculing dead dot-coms. 

The name of Kaplan’s original site, which attracts as many as 4 million visitors per month, is a vulgar twist on the high-tech magazine Fast Company, which hailed the rise of dot-coms in the late 1990s.

SAN JOSE — Yosemite killer Cary Stayner has more than 20 signs of mental illness, ranging from sexual fantasies with kids to depression to chronic hair pulling, a psychiatrist testified Monday. 

Stayner also showed signs of a narcissistic and schizoid personality, was socially dysfunctional and abused marijuana, said Dr. Jose Arturo Silva. 

Silva was the first expert called by the defense to testify about Stayner’s mental condition, which is the basis for his insanity defense in the killings of three Yosemite National Park tourists. 

Silva said Stayner dreamed about watching neighborhood girls being raped. In some scenarios, he rescued the girls. In others, he joined the assailants. 

“Those are fantasies because he is enjoying himself,” Silva said. “These things have been going on since he was very young. They have been there ever since.” 

During the daylong testimony, Stayner appeared attentive at times, slumped in his chair at other moments and plugged his ears as the psychiatrist revealed painful secrets. 

Silva spent more than 21 hours interviewing Stayner, reviewed over 400 documents and reports about him and interviewed his parents. 

Stayner’s family has a long history with mental illness, including psychosis, depression and sexual perversion. 

“A rather impressive history of psychiatric illnesses that goes back two generations,” Silva said. “It’s impressive and sad to see that.”

LA Times evacuated after
bomb threat; suspect cornered 

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Times building was evacuated Monday night and surrounding streets shut down after the newspaper received a bomb threat and police cornered a person at gunpoint inside the building. 

The man was trapped on the building’s first floor and had not taken any hostages, said Officer Jason Lee, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman. He couldn’t immediately say how many people were evacuated. 

“We’ve got the individual contained in a particular segment of the Times building and we’re awaiting the response of our SWAT personnel and our crisis negotiation personnel in an attempt to get this matter resolved safely,” Lee said. 

Police had learned the man’s identity by Monday night but were not releasing it, said Lt. Horace Frank, another police spokesman. He added that the man was not a newspaper employee. 

Five-second kiss: Prison system
eyeing new inmate visit rules 

SACRAMENTO — Prison inmates will still be allowed to kiss visitors for more than five seconds at a time. 

There will be no prohibition on children over age 7 sitting on their incarcerated parent’s lap. 

And the Department of Corrections has dropped a proposal to bar drug offenders from touching their visitors during the first year of their imprisonment, despite concerns that visitors will surreptitiously pass illegal drugs. 

“We got rid of a lot of things that were considered objectionable” by inmate relatives and prisoner rights advocates, department spokesman Russ Heimerich said Monday. 

The department has been trying since last year to rewrite inmate visitation regulations. It is reworking the rules again after relatives, advocates and some state lawmakers raised objections at public hearings this spring. 

The latest version drew criticism Monday from Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, who said the department wants to impose too many restrictions on attorneys who visit inmates. 

Bill Simon unveils
child-care proposals 

LOS ANGELES — GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon on Monday announced proposals for improving child care in the state, including tax credits for businesses that expand their child-care facilities. 

The state is facing a $23.6 billion budget deficit, but Simon said he believed such credits would stimulate economic growth that would outweigh any revenue reduction from a decrease in tax collections. 

“It’s going to stimulate it by allowing businesses that would not have otherwise been able to grow, to grow,” he said. “... I don’t believe there would be a substantial reduction in revenue.” 

Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, Simon’s opponent in the November election, last year signed a bill extending two tax credit programs for employers. One rewards employers who establish or construct child-care programs, and another benefits employers who contribute money to child care for their employees. 

Simon did not specify how the employer tax credit he envisioned would differ from those already in place, and another proposal he unveiled Monday — to give a tax credit to working families for child-care costs — also is already being implemented by the state. 

Aides said later that Simon wants to expand the child-care tax credits already in place for working families and employers. 

“Bill Simon’s go further than the current ones on the books and provide more people with more access to child care,” said Simon spokesman Mark Miner. 

While short on specifics, Simon made it through his speech without facing questions about his tax-returns or other issues that dogged him through a rough recent stretch in the campaign. In the past two weeks Simon’s campaign staff was restructured for the fourth time and he bowed to pressure to release his tax returns, only to face criticism for making the returns available for just an afternoon to a limited number of reporters. 

“Child care has too often been a target of Gray Davis’ mismanagement and failed leadership,” Simon said outside the Para Los Ninos Child Development Center in downtown Los Angeles, as children swarmed a playground behind him. “The state’s fiscal crisis, a crisis of Davis’ own making, has made every tax dollar precious, but there is no excuse for not exploring innovative ways to provide more care for the same amount of money.” 

A knot of college students outside the center’s gates chanted and held handmade signs labeling Simon a “tax cheat.” Similar groups, sometimes organized by college Democrat groups, have showed up at his events for weeks. 

Simon’s proposals also included consolidating child-care programs under one state department and increasing the number of people eligible for subsidized child care by structuring co-payments on a sliding scale based on income. 

He called for more partnerships between the public and private sectors to improve child care. Para Los Ninos, which runs 15 child care centers in Southern California, is a nonprofit supported 61 percent by government funding and 39 percent by foundation and corporation money, private donations and other sources. 

Aides to Davis dismissed Simon’s proposals as short on substance and said the governor has a strong record of support for child-care programs. Blanca Castro, spokeswoman for Davis’ department of social services, said childcare funding has increased by 62 percent since the governor took office. 

“Those of us who, unlike Mr. Simon, can’t afford British nannies know that Gray Davis has significantly increased funding for child care services for low-income working families,” said Davis press secretary Roger Salazar. 

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Two new studies add fresh fuel to a decades-old debate about whether a parchment map of the Vikings’ travels to the New World, purportedly drawn by a 15th century scribe, is authentic or a clever 20th century forgery. 

Using carbon dating, scholars from the Smithsonian Institution, the University of Arizona and Brookhaven National Laboratory determined the map predates Christopher Columbus by about 50 years, proving he was not the first European to reach America. 

But researchers at University College in London, who analyzed the map’s ink under a Raman microscope, concluded that the map was produced after 1923. 

Both studies were published independently in scholarly journals, the researchers announced Monday. 

“The results demonstrate the great importance of modern analytical techniques in the study of items in our cultural heritage,” said Robin J.H. Clark, a University College professor. 

The research by Clark and a colleague, Katherine Brown, is included in the July 31 issue of Analytical Chemistry, the journal of the American Chemical Society. 

The Smithsonian Institution study, published in the July issue of the journal Radiocarbon, concludes that the map’s parchment was produced around 1434 — exactly the right time for the map to be authentic. 

“It’s not a trivial thing for a forger to get a parchment” from that time period,” said Jacqueline Olin, a research chemist recently retired from the Smithsonian. 

The authenticity of the map — valued at more than $20 million — has been debated since the 1960s, when benefactor Paul Mellon donated it to Yale. 

The map depicts the world, including the north Atlantic coast of North America. It includes text in medieval Latin and a legend that describes how a Norseman, Leif Eriksson (spelled Eiriksson on the document), found the new land called Vinland around the year 1000. 

The map was included in a medieval travelogue book and sold in the 1950s to a Connecticut dealer, then to Mellon. The original dealer died without revealing his source. 

Yale has not taken a position on whether the map is authentic. 

In the 1970s, the university hired the late Chicago chemist Walter McCrone Jr. to do a microscopic analysis. He focused on the map’s ink — a black layer that is flaking off over a yellowish layer that adheres firmly to the parchment. 

McCrone found round, uniform crystals of anatase in ink. Anatase, a form of titanium dioxide, has been used to produce inks since the 1920s. 

Anatase is found in nature, but in small amounts that would be found in jagged, irregular crystals if a medieval scribe had used it to make the Vinland Map’s inks, he said. Based on this conclusion, McCrone pronounced the map a fake. 

However, McCrone’s conclusions were debunked in a 1995 book by Thomas Cahill, a professor of atmospheric science and physics at the University of California at Davis, and one of Cahill’s colleagues. 

Among other findings, the researchers concluded that most of the crystals McCrone found were not anatase, and that a third of the ink contained no titanium. 

Clark’s study, using a Raman microscope, found that anatase was detected solely in the yellowish ink lines, and not elsewhere on the parchment. The Raman microscope uses a laser beam that scatters off molecules as radiation with different colors. 

Yellow lines are sometimes left behind when medieval ink, made of iron gallotannate, degrades. Clark said a forger would know about the yellow residue and would try to reproduce it. 

But, the black ink on top of the yellow ink was found to be carbon-based, not iron gallotannate, so no yellow residue should be present, Clark said. 

Not so, say Olin and other researchers who used a thin strip of parchment taken from the map to date it with a mass spectrometer. Their results showed the map dates to 1434. 

“The question of whether the parchment came from the period is settled,” Olin said. 

Utility district was fined earlier
this year in Berkeley and Oakland 

The East Bay Municipal Utility District is facing $5,700 in fines from the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which has cited the utility for allegedly overlooking asbestos-related regulations. 

The allegations concern the roofs of two water storage facilities, the Sobrante Clearwell in El Sobrante and a facility on Highland Drive in Danville.  

The roofs are made of corrugated transite, a material that may contain asbestos particles. The allegations were made on behalf of gardeners who expressed concerns about having to sweep the roofs and possibly dislodging particles. 

The general citations say that the utility district did not evaluate the roof at the Danville location or inspect it for unsafe conditions, and that there were not adequate warning labels at the site to inform workers that the roofs could hold possible asbestos-containing materials. The utility also failed to provide up-to-date training, OSHA said. 

Earlier this year, EBMUD was fined $3,350 in similar citations relating to reservoirs in Oakland and Berkeley. EBMUD has filed appeals of the earlier citations and spokesman Charles Hardy said the district will appeal the recent citations. 

Hardy said that the only fines that the district will not appeal are those that charge the district with not putting up appropriate signs at the reservoirs informing employees of the particles. Signs, Hardy said, have already been set up. 

Hardy said that EBMUD is confident that it never exposed its gardeners to asbestos, and he added that the district has test results that support its position. 

"We intend to present our side,'' Hardy said. "We don't think we deserve those citations.''

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Vice President Dick Cheney conceded Monday that corporate scandals have shaken confidence in the economy but said reforms will “bring out the best of the free enterprise system.” 

“When there are reports of corporate fraud the American people can be certain that the government will fully investigate and prosecute any wrongdoers,” Cheney said. “That system will be stronger and better.” 

During a fund-raising appearance on behalf of Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, Cheney said the reform measure Bush is signing Tuesday will “protect investors, bring more accountability to corporations and toughen controls of the accounting industry.” 

Cheney did not refer to questions that have been raised about his tenure as CEO of Halliburton Co. The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into accounting issues at Halliburton during that period, and investor lawsuits have accused Halliburton of accounting gimmicks similar to those used by the failed energy trader Enron Corp. 

Scandals at Enron, WorldCom and others have been blamed for shaking investor confidence and causing the plunge in the stock market. Congress rushed through a measure toughening penalties for corporate wrongdoing in an effort to restore investor confidence. 

Cheney conceded the scandals have had an effect. 

“Confidence in the free enterprise system has been tested recently,” he said. “The president’s reforms will bring out the best of the free enterprise system.” 

Cheney conceded the nation has suffered through an economic recession, but he said things are turning around. 

“On the economy, there is a great deal of work yet to do,” Cheney said. “We are proceeding from a condition of considerable strength.” 

He said there are clear signs of recovery in all segments of the economy. 

“Clearly we believe we’re on the path to what we believe will be a strong and prolonged recovery,” Cheney said. 

Company names new CFO 

NEW YORK — AOL Time Warner, EDS and MetLife were among 15 parties chosen Monday to serve on the committee that will represent thousands of creditors owed billions of dollars in WorldCom’s bankruptcy. 

Also Monday, WorldCom named John Dubel as its new chief financial officer and Gregory Rayburn as chief restructuring officer for the telephone and Internet service company’s bid to reorganize its debts and operations. 

Dubel replaces Scott Sullivan, the ousted CFO who is expected to face criminal charges in WorldCom’s accounting scandal. He and Rayburn are both principals with the restructuring firm AlixPartners. 

The Nasdaq Stock Market, meanwhile, announced it would delist the nearly worthless shares of WorldCom and its MCI long distance unit. The move, effective Tuesday, was blamed on the bankruptcy case and WorldCom’s inability to stay up-to-date with the federal filings expected of public companies. 

The creditors committee was selected from among 51 parties who submitted applications to Carolyn Schwartz, the U.S. Trustee handling the WorldCom case for the Justice Department. 

WorldCom chief executive John Sidgmore opened the creditors’ meeting in New York by trying to reassure the 250 or so lawyers and other creditor representatives on WorldCom’s prospects. 

Despite a “crippling” $41 billion debt load and revelations that $3.8 billion in costs were hidden from investors, “underlying those factors, this is a real company with real value,” Sidgmore said. 

The creditors committee will negotiate what portion of their debts the creditors would be repaid when WorldCom emerges from bankruptcy, as well as how much stock in a reorganized WorldCom they might receive in lieu of cash debt payments.

16th child added to cancer
cluster in Nevada town 

RENO, Nev. — A sixteenth case of childhood leukemia has been confirmed in a cancer cluster that has baffled scientists and frightened residents in the northern Nevada town of Fallon, state health officials announced. 

Acute lymphocytic leukemia was diagnosed in a 2 1/2-year-old former resident of Churchill County, according to the Nevada State Health Division. The child’s name and gender were not released. 

Health officials have said that, given an average rate of about three childhood cases per 100,000 children, they would normally expect to see about one case every five years in the Fallon area, which has a population of 26,000. 

Of the confirmed childhood leukemia victims linked to Fallon since 1997, two have died. 

Floyd Sands, the father of one of those who died, called news of the latest Fallon case disturbing. 

“When are these people going to do something real?” he asked the Reno Gazette-Journal. “I don’t believe those people have done anything real so far.” 

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been testing for potential environmental contaminants since September 2001, according to the state. 

9 beached whales die
on Cape Cod beach 

DENNIS, Mass. — More than 50 pilot whales beached themselves on a stretch of Cape Cod sand Monday and nine of them died before vacationers and other volunteers could push the animals back out to deeper water in a feverish rescue effort. 

Hundreds of vacationers lined a quarter-mile of Chapin Beach and watched as rescuers tended to the small, glistening black whales, first discovered stranded about 6 a.m. 

One of the whales was dead when rescuers arrived, and another was euthanized after it went into shock, said Sallie Riggs, director of Cape Cod Stranding Network. Seven others died after spending hours in the hot sun. The carcasses were taken away in a dump truck while volunteers poured buckets of water over the others and draped them with wet towels to keep them moist. 

Researcher charged with
stealing biological material  

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A former Cornell University researcher was charged Monday for allegedly stealing biological materials from the Ivy League school and attempting to return with them to his native China. 

FBI agents detained Yin Qingqiang, 38, at Syracuse’s Hancock International Airport after security workers conducting a random luggage search found more than 100 glass vials and containers holding unknown substances Sunday. 

Yin was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States government by transporting stolen property and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud in interstate or foreign commerce. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

To the Editor: 

It is nice that Berkeley High School teacher Rick Ayers was able to take 13 of his students to visit Vietnam. I am sure they must have learned much in meeting with children deformed by Agent Orange or visiting the former National Liberation Front official Nguyen Thi Binh.  

Ayers says, “The idea that I, a high school English teacher who was a rather small light in the peace movement of 30 years ago, should be sitting having a cup of tea with Mme. Binh and a few students, seemed almost unbelievable to me.”  

A student says that everyone in Vietnam “has a story of war, determination and pride.” 

That is true, not only for those who fought on the communist side during the war but also those who fought on the anti-communist side, as well as those within Vietnam who actively opposed the war from both sides. 

Unfortunately, many of the latter wound up in re-education camps and later fled the country by boat. Their stories also deserve to be heard and understood. 

I don't know what kind of education Mr. Ayers' students have received in Vietnam, but I would hope that, in addition to meeting with high-ranking communist officials in Vietnam or victims of the U.S. bombing, his students could also meet with dissidents and former re-education camp internees from Vietnam, and read recent reports about the country by organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. 

Stephen Denney 

Berkeley

NAPA – Marques Tuiasosopo is trying not to drop any center snaps in practice. That’s something the official backup quarterback just shouldn’t do. 

Tuiasosopo jokes about dropped snaps, but he’s serious about his new job as the Oakland Raiders’ No. 2 guy behind Rich Gannon. 

“I’ve got my goals, and I like to keep them to myself,” Tuiasosopo said. “But one thing is I want to work as hard as I can each day to get better. So far, I’ve been doing that. It’s about consistency, and that’s what you’ve got to do each day.” 

Tuiasosopo learned of his new role when the Raiders opened training camp and put backup Bobby Hoying on the physically unable to perform list. Hoying has been slow to rebound from elbow surgery last year. 

The second-year quarterback and former Washington standout got a head start on his new job over the summer, when Gannon’s contract talks kept the Raiders veteran out of many offseason workouts. 

Tuiasosopo was the man, working with receivers Jerry Rice and Tim Brown and running back Charlie Garner. 

“I feel like I have a better grasp of the offense,” Tuiasosopo said. “I’ve still got a ways to go, but it’s just a matter of getting my head in the playbook and continue going to meetings and listening to the coaches.” 

New Raiders coach Bill Callahan said Tuiasosopo will get about 30 percent of the snaps in training camp, while Gannon, who inked a six-year, $54 million deal two weeks ago, will get the majority. 

“The No. 1 goal for Marques is to play in the system,” Callahan said. “Don’t do more than is necessary.” 

The Raiders don’t want to rush their future into creating plays, Callahan explained. 

“He has to have a knowledge, a feel and a trust that guys are working for him,” he said.

For those who think of kites as the simple diamond-shaped menaces that caused eternal frustration for cartoon character Charlie Brown, kite flying took on a new meaning at the Berkeley Marina last weekend. For the leagues of professionals that competed there, kite flying was more than just a day in the sun. It was fierce competition.  

Thousands of sun-kissed and wind-blown kite flyers and their fans came to the Berkeley Marina Saturday and Sunday for the 17th annual Berkeley Kite Festival. Sitting under pitched windbreaks and spread out on ground blankets, the crowd of flyers and onlookers ranged from kids piloting the wind for the first time to yahoos on kite buggies to the serious stunt “kiters.” 

The serious “kiters” faced three types of competition – ballet “kiting,” which compares to ice skating in the air; hot tricks, which values aerial sparring; and precision, which awards ability to fly along a pre-determined flight path. 

Except during the serious precision competition, music blasted through the main “kiting” field at the marina – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, punk from the Ramones, Wyclef Jean’s disco hip-hop and heavy metal. There was also classical and traditional Chinese music. 

The fundamental pleasure of watching shapes at play in the wind – akin to staring hypnotized into a campfire or a fascination with crashing surf – was a magnet for photographers. 

The festival was laden with camera bags bulging with telescope lenses. The brilliantly colored kite designs floating on a blue sky is shutterbug heaven. Kite festivals may be second only to San Francisco’s Gay Pride parade for rainbow colors flapping in the wind. 

Red, white and blue were also popular colors. A world-record attempt to fly 250 stacked kites went into the air like a pillar of patriotism. Champion multiple-flyer Ray Bethel dazzled the crowd with his three-kite gymnastics, controlling a trio of red-white-and-blue bird kites with his hands and hips. The 77-year-old Canadian and a favorite on the international kite festival circuit said he can fly up to seven kites at once using his shoulders, ankles, knees and a helmet. “Every time I do that a barman comes over with a few beers,” he said. 

At a different marina location were lazier, standing kites on an enormous scale. The people lining up for hot dogs and kettle corn could watch a wind-filled teddy bear, cat, penguin and a huge caterpillar floating in the air like windsocks. 

On the other side of the hill, facing the bay were amateur flyers with no tricks up their sleeves who just wanted to put something up in the sky, like little birds, a shark and even an old-fashioned box kite. 

“If you have a problem, then go and fly a kite,” said Ray Bethel. “It won’t solve the problem, but you might live with it.” Bethel is deaf, and flies with his back to the crowd. While oblivious to the sound of music and applause, he stands, like a Beethoven, carving designs into the wind. 

“Last year I flew to over 4 million people around the world. This year I have 33 full-sponsor trips around the world, and they don’t do that for nothing,” said Bethel, who is an excellent lip-reader. 

“They need you, and you need to see the world. So everything’s cool,” he said.

Wednesday, July 31 

Puppet Show about Asthma 

2 p.m. 

Hall of Health, 2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level)  

Learn about asthma and how to deal with it. 

549-1564 

Suggested Donation: $2 

Twilight Tours at UC Botanical Gardens 

(through August 28) 5:30 p.m.  

200 Centennial Drive, Berkeley, CA.  

Tour the garden at twilight with an expert horticulturist every Wednesday. 

643-2755  

Free with garden admission.  

Mountain Adventure Seminars: Introduction to Rock Climbing 

7 p.m.-9 p.m. 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

An introduction to rock climbing including knot tying, belaying and movement. 

For more information: (209) 753-6556 

$115 REI members; $125 non-members 

Thursday, August 1 

Putting it Together 

7:00 p.m. 

Zellerbach Hall, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave. 

Middle school students of Berkeley/Oakland Ailey Camp perform dance techniques, spoken word, theater. 

642-9988 

Free 

Public Meeting to Plan New National Historic Park in Richmond 

1:30 p.m. 

Richmond Senior Center, 2525 MacDonald Ave. 

Meeting to gather input for National Park Service to prepare plans that will guide development of historic W.W.II sites in Richmond. 

817-1517 

Free 

Nutrition Career Open House 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Institute of Educational Therapy, 706 Gilman St. 

Become a Nutrition Educator or Nutrition Consultant. 

558-1711 for reservations 

Free 

Saturday, August 3 

Mountain Adventure Seminars: Introduction to Rock Climbing 

8 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

An introduction to rock climbing including knot tying, belaying and movement. 

For more information: (209) 753-6556 

$115 REI members; $125 non-members 

10th Annual Stroll for Epilepsy 

Six Flags Marine World, Vallejo 

The public is invited to join the Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California at Six Flags Marine World for a 5K walk/fundraiser. 

1-800-632-3532 for registration 

Storytelling at the Berkeley Public Library 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Library, Central Branch 

2090 Kittredge St. 

Storyteller Joel Ben Izzy will present a variety of stories filled with warmth, humor, drama in the Children's Story Room. 

981-6223 

Sick Plant Clinic 

9 a.m. to Noon  

200 Centennial Drive 

UC Botanical Garden; First Saturday of every month. UC plant pathology and entomology experts will diagnose what ails your plant. 

643-2755. 

Free 

Not Down With the Lockdown 

Noon to 4 p.m. 

Frank Ogawa Plaza, Broadway and 14th, Oakland 

Hip hop concert, DJs, spoken word and art to protest and resist proposed new Alameda County Juvenile Hall. 

430-9887 

Free 

Sunday, August 4 

Top of the Bay Family Days 

1 to 3 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive, above UC campus 

Enjoy an afternoon outdoor concert in our family picnic area as well as art and science activities and hands-on exhibits inside LHS. 

643-5961 

$8 adults 

Monday, August 5 

National Organization for Women East Bay Chapter monthly meeting 

6:30 p.m. 

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 6536 Telegraph Ave. 

Discussion of harassment of females employed by the City of Oakland Fire Department 

Monthly meeting: NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN Oakland 

549-2970, 287-8948  

Arts Education Department Open House 

6:30 to 8:30 p.m. 

Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond 

Meet teachers, see studios/galleries, info about classes in the arts. 

620-6772 

Free 

Public Meeting to Plan a New National Park in Richmond 

1:30 p.m. 

Richmond Public Library, Whittlesey Room 

325 Civic Center Plaza (near MacDonald Ave. and 25th St.) 

Meeting to gather input for National Park Service to prepare plans that will guide development of historic W.W.II sites. 

817-1517 

Free 

Saturday, August 10 

Poetry in the Plaza 

2:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library, Central Branch, 2090 Kittredge 

Quarter hour readings by well-known poets, dedicated to June Jordan. 

981-6100 

Free 

Tomato Tasting 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Tasting and cooking demonstrations  

548-3333 

Free 

Tea Bag Folding 

2 to 4 p.m.  

Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany 

Drop-in crafts program for ages 5 to adult.  

526-3720 ext 19. 

Free 

Tree Stories 

2 to 4 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo, Berkeley 

Come join us as author Warren David Jacobs reads from his book "Tree Stories." 

For more information call: 548-2220 x233 

Free 

Sunday, August 11 

Hands-on Bicycle Repair 

11 a.m.-Noon 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

Learn from an REI bike technician basic repairs such as brake adjustments and fixing a flat. 

For more information: (510) 527-4140 

Free 

West Berkeley Arts Festival 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

4th and University Ave. 

Explore the many resident artists located in Berkeley 

Free. 

Monday, August 12 

The First East Bay Senior Games 

10:30 a.m. clinic, 12:30 p.m. tee-off (approximate times) 

Mira Vista Golf and Country Club 

7901 Cutting Blvd. El Cerrito 

A golfing event for the 50+ crowd, in association with the California and National Senior Games Association. 

891-8033 (registration deadline July 29) 

Varying entry fees. 

Tuesday, August 13 

Tomato Tasting 

2 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Derby Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way  

Sample 35 different Tomato varieties 

548-3333 

Free 

Berkeley Camera Club Weekly Meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share slides, prints with other photographers 

(510) 525-3565 

Free 

Wednesday, August 14 

Holistic Exercises Sharing Circle  

3:30 to 6:30 p.m.  

wrpclub@aol.com or 595-5541 for information 

Holistic Practitioners, Teachers, Students & Anyone who knows Holistic exercises take turns leading the group through an afternoon of exercises 

$20 for six-month membership 

Saturday, August 17 

Tour for Blind, Low-Vision Library Patrons 

10:30 a.m. to noon 

Berkeley Public Library, Central Branch 

3rd Floor Meeting Rm, 2090 Kittredge St. 

Tour of the new central branch for blind and low-vision patrons. 

981-6121 

Free 

Author Reading and Signing: Haunani-Kay Trask 

3 p.m.  

Eastwind Books, 2066 University Ave., Berkeley 

Meet Hawaiian author Haunani-Kay Trask. 

548-2350 

Free 

Cajun & More 

10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Four Live Bands, crafts fair, Cajun food, dance lessons, micro-brewery beer & dance floor.  

548-3333 

Free 

Sunday, August 18 

Bike Tours of Historic Oakland 

10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 

Oakland Museum of California, 10th St. entrance, at Fallon 

Leisurely paced 5 1/2 mile bike tour about Oakland's history and architecture, led by docents. 

238-3514 

Free: Reservations Required 

Top of the Bay Family Days 

1 to 3 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive, above UC campus 

Enjoy an afternoon outdoor concert in our family picnic area as well as art and science activities and hands-on exhibits inside LHS. 

643-5961 

$8 adults 

Hands-on Bicycle Repair 

11 a.m.-12 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

Learn from an REI bike technician basic repairs such as brake adjustment and fixing a flat. 

For more information: (510) 527-7470 

Thursday, August 22 

Film: "Ralph Ellison: An American Journey" 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library - Central Branch 

2090 Kittredge St. 

Berkeley filmmaker Avon Kirkland's stirring documentary about the great American author, Ralph Ellison. 

981-6205 

Free 

Friday, August 23 

Teen Playreaders present Bizarre Shorts 

(through August 24) 7 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library - North Branch 

1170 The Alameda 

Playreaders present 20 short, bizarre plays, contemporary and classic. 

644-6850 

Free 

Saturday, August 24 

Roller Derby & Big Time Wrestling 

6:30 p.m. 

Richmond Auditorium, 403 Civic Center Plaza 

Roller Derby: Bay Bombers vs. Brooklyn Red Devils, Big Time Wrestling superstars 

636-9300 

$10 Advance, $20 Door 

Monday, September 2 

National Organization for Women Oakland/East Bay Chapter  

6:30 PM.  

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 6536 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley  

Chapter’s monthly meeting. Speaker: Multicultural historian, Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, received 

the prestigious Valitutti Award for non fiction.  

549-2970 

Free 

Sunday, September 8 

Lifelong Medical Care First Annual 5K Fun Run/Walk Fundraiser 

9 a.m. to noon 

West Berkeley 

Individual and team participation, a health fair, food, prizes, live music, free insurance eligibility screening - fun for all ages. 

704-6010 

Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Free 

Sunday, September 15 

Heritage Day 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

4th and University Ave. 

International BBQ and beer festival 

Free 

Bike Tours of Historic Oakland 

10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 

Oakland Museum of California, 10th St. entrance, at Fallon 

Leisurely paced 5 1/2 mile bike tour about Oakland's history and architecture, led by docents. 

238-3514 

Free: Reservations Required 

Saturday, September 21 

BREAD and Roses Garden Party 

1 to 5 p.m. 

Peralta Community Garden, Berkeley 

Hopkins & Peralta, Wheelchair accessible  

BREAD's birthday party - five years of dismantling corporate rule through local 

currency. 

644-0376 

$12 in advance, $15 door, low-income rate $10 

Coastal Cleanup Day 

10 a.m. 

Work at the outflow of Strawberry Creek to clean up the San Francisco Bay coastline. 

info@strawberrycreek.org or 848-4008 

Free 

Saturday, October 12 

Indigenous People's Day Pow Wow, Indian Market & Fall Fruit Tasting 

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Free 

Tuesday, October 15 

Fall Fruit Tasting 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

2 to 7 p.m. 

Derby Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way  

Free 

To publicize an event, please submit information two weeks in advance. Fax to 841-5694, e-mail to out@berkeleydailyplanet.net or mail to 2076 University Ave., 94704. Include a daytime telephone number.

At Berkeley Marina’s Adventure Playground, adult staffers and a revolving door of local kids did more than just hammer together and paint a wooden doghouse, fighter plane and beagle last Saturday – they rebuilt a piece of Berkeley lore. 

For more than 20 years, wooden statues of Snoopy and the Red Baron sat atop twin posts in San Francisco Bay along Interstate 80 between University and Ashby avenues. 

“They were the coolest thing,” said Berkeley resident Ryan Troy. 

The comic strip icons first appeared in Berkeley in 1975. The original statues fell victim to the bay’s strong winds and rough tides, but the second rendition met a more mysterious end. A few days after Peanuts creator Charles Schultz died in February of 2000, the statues were inexplicably removed from their posts. 

The posts have been naked ever since, but Berkeley resident Joshua Polston is working to change that. 

Polston said he was recently reminiscing with a friend about old times in Berkeley, and they both wondered, “where’s Snoopy?” 

Three weeks ago, he approached Adventure Playground staff about his idea to include neighborhood children in rebuilding the statues. 

Denise Brown, director of the Adventure Playground, fully embraced the idea. “It’s wonderful to be able to do this with children and work with recycled wood,” she said. 

The new statues, which were completed after a hard day of work Saturday, resemble the previous ones, in which Snoopy is chasing his adversary, the Red Baron, in an aerial battle. 

On the left post will be Snoopy, wearing his pilot scarf and goggles, on top of his doghouse. On the right post will be the Red Baron’s World War I-era fighter plane, flying away from Snoopy. 

Polston conceded that the roughly two-and-a-half foot high doghouse and 3-foot long plane are a little smaller than the previous renditions, but said that they are built for “simplicity and durability.” 

With the statues completed, the question now is where will they ultimately reside. Everyone working on the statues wants them to go back onto the posts along the freeway. But that will not be an easy task. 

“The wrinkle is that to get a permit, we need permission from the landowner,” Polston explained. 

Since the statues last stood in the bay, ownership of the land has been transferred to Eastshore State Park. 

The park is still in its planning stages, but already a dispute with community activists about public art in the park has begun. Art work on the Albany Bulb, amid controversy, has been slated for removal by park planners. 

“Eastshore State Park is not in a position to grant approval because of the Albany Bulb,” said Paulson, who added that getting a permit for Snoopy and the Red Baron could take a couple of years. 

Often, according to Polston, such art is placed in the desired location without proper approval, but because he worked with the city-funded playground, Polston insists on going through official channels. 

Until a permit is granted, the statues will be mounted on posts adjacent to the Cal Sailing Club, of which Polston is a member. 

Everyone at the playground hopes that Snoopy’s new home will be temporary. 

“It’s has to go back. It’s part of Berkeley,” said Wally Trifiletti, who works in Berkeley. “Every day you were wondering if Snoopy was finally going to get him.” 

To the Editor: 

In my seven years as a pedestrian and bicyclist in Berkeley, by far the greatest hazard has been drivers at traffic-light intersections attempting to execute left hand turns during the often very short interlude after ongoing traffic stops but before cross traffic begins. Hastily hitting the gas pedal, it is easy to overlook a small pedestrian or suddenly-appearing bicycle. 

If the city of Berkeley really wants to measurably improve pedestrian safety, it will have to put its money where the problem is. Traffic circles, lighted crosswalks, and extended curbs would all be nice, but don't address the basic issue.  

The much more acute need is for left-hand turn lights and left-hand turn lanes at major intersections. 

Drew Keeling 

Berkeley

Berkeley is one of the first cities in the state to reject plans for cable service provider AT&T Broadband to merge with its umbrella company. 

Approval from the cities that AT&T Broadband provides service to, including Berkeley, is required for the merger, which AT&T sees as a cost-saving move. 

The City Council voted last week to “deny consent” to the company's wish to transfer control to AT&T Comcast, citing a list of 19 requests and complaints that the cable provider has not addressed. 

Berkeley has requested a discount on cable prices for senior citizens as well as financial protection for the city “in case of an Enron-style corporate meltdown,” said Roger Miller, senior management analysis for the city.  

The council has also asked the company to expand its service to the downtown and other neighborhoods in industrial or commercial areas that don’t currently have cable.  

Also on the city’s wish list is moving local programming from channel 78 to channel 26 as well as a demand for more than $70,000 in unpaid fees from AT&T Broadband for taxes and advertising revenue owed to the city. 

While Berkeley may be the only city in the country to have withheld its consent of the merger, many other cities are still deciding. 

Without unanimous consent, AT&T Comcast will have to run two companies instead of being able to fully integrate the businesses.  

“It means if AT&T Comcast tried to switch to a new billing system, they would have to keep the old one at the same time which makes an awkward situation for them,” Miller said. 

The cable company and the city have been in negotiations since the beginning of 2002, and AT&T Broadband has already gone through two extensions of its applications for consent. 

Miller says that Berkeley is ready and eager to work with the cable provider, and expects an agreement to be reached by Sept. 10, when City Council regroups after recess.

To the Editor: 

It now appears inevitable that we will have a hard-fought and ugly mayoral campaign in Berkeley. Contrary to the impression that readers of this newspaper may be left with, though, the mudslinging I've seen has to date been totally one-sided, coming from the incumbent mayor and some of her supporters. 

As one indication of this, the term “leftist” has been much in evidence in the Daily Planet's letters column of late. I'd be grateful if the letter writer, or the editor who chose to publish the same scurrilous attack letter three times, would explain to those of us who merely live in Berkeley what that term means these days. Clearly the letter writer thinks it is a negative characterization, but it sounds to me like empty rhetoric, intended to activate some tired old emotional reflex. 

Then there's the mayor, who recently wrote to supporters that the mayoral race “is about a fork in the road. One way returns Berkeley to the divisive and destructive slate politics of the past. The other continues the real progress of the present.” 

She goes on to characterize Tom Bates as having a “political machine” and tries to attack him by associating him with one of his supporters, Kriss Worthington, an elected member of the City Council. 

It is likely futile, but I'd like to appeal to all parties to make this election about Berkeley's future, not its past. Tired old labels won't help me at all in the ballot booth. And there are enough real problems facing our city – problems with housing costs, traffic, the local economy, maintaining our environment and UC's role in Berkeley – that calling names is just a waste of valuable energy.  

More than that, it suggests a candidate more concerned about winning the election by any means necessary than about positioning our city to meet future challenges. 

Victoria Liu 

Berkeley

Last fall, with a GPA above 4.0, an SAT of 1300 and a stint as a varsity golf player and student mentor, Jack Graham applied to the University of California campuses of Berkeley, San Diego and Santa Barbara. 

He was turned down by all three. 

Graham missed getting in by a few hundred points at UC San Diego, where under UC’s new “comprehensive review” policies students can get up to 500 points for personal disadvantages. 

“If my parents would have been divorced I would have gotten in,” Graham says wryly. 

UC officials say it’s not that simple. A student claiming disadvantage due to divorce would have to make a convincing case that it created a specific hardship, say a sudden loss of income. Getting the full 500 points would take a life-altering event, such as being forced into foster care. Meanwhile, academic criteria accounts for more than 75 percent of San Diego’s evaluation system. 

But affirmative action critics are taking aim at the new system, saying it has turned admissions into a sob-story sweepstakes that most benefits blacks and Hispanics. 

“On the face of it, there’s a lot of unfairness in this system,” said Harold Johnson of the Pacific Legal Foundation. The foundation is exploring whether comprehensive review flouts a California law banning race-based admissions at public schools. 

Since race-blind admissions went into effect, enrollment of blacks and Hispanics tumbled, then rebounded. But there has been a reshuffling, with more blacks and Hispanics going to lesser-known campuses such as UC-Riverside and fewer going to Berkeley and UCLA. 

So far, there’s little evidence that the new comprehensive review policies, passed last November, benefit any one group. This fall, in the first year of comprehensive review, blacks, Hispanics and American Indians made up 19.1 percent of freshman admissions. That was the first time the number surpassed the 18.8 percent set in 1997 — the last year of affirmative action. The groups together represent 39.3 percent of California’s population, according to Census 2000. 

However, the number of these “underrepresented minorities” has been increasing ever since the big drop in 1998 — last year the pool was 18.6 percent — and the personal disadvantages scorecard is but one of many factors influencing admissions numbers systemwide. 

UC officials say it appears the incoming class is as academically strong as in previous years and that admissions directors did not find a marked increase in students pleading hardship. 

They describe comprehensive review as a better and closer method of evaluation, looking at not just what a student accomplished but how hard he or she had to work to do it. 

“It was an opportunity for us to look at the whole student’s record, consider all of the student’s attributes while maintaining primary emphasis on the academic profile of the student,” said Dennis Galligani, UC associate vice president for student academic affairs. 

Take the case of Vanessa Vidal, who was accepted to Berkeley this fall. Vidal has an overall grade point average of better than 4.0, was editor of her school newspaper, had tutored other students in a mentoring program and had an SAT score of 1150. 

Neither of her parents has a college degree and her mother is not fluent in English. She attended a high school of 4,700 students, most of whom are low-income. 

UC officials warn that individual cases such as those of Vidal and Graham cannot and should not be compared in a judgment-by-anecdote; there are too many factors involved in admissions. For instance, UC has been placing less emphasis on SAT scores for some time, citing studies showing the test is a poor predictor for how well a student will do in college. 

Vidal sees comprehensive review as a way for admissions officials to see her in context. 

“It is harder for us to get a better education,” said Vidal. She said she didn’t try to spin a hard-luck tale to admissions officials, and simply stated the facts about having to figure out homework assignments on her own as well as help her younger siblings with their work. 

Vidal’s school, South Gate High School near Los Angeles is one where UC has an outreach program, a system of recruitment and mentoring that replaced the old affirmative action programs. 

Graham, who ultimately got accepted into UC Santa Barbara on appeal, went to one of the best high schools in the state, where there was no such program. 

His mother, UC Irvine professor Mary Gilly says she supports affirmative action, but not “this idea of tweaking and doing a formula and playing games to work out the numbers. He would have gotten more points had he gone to a bad high school ... you wonder what’s the point of trying to live in a good school district.” 

UC critic David Benjamin, who runs an SAT prep company in Southern California, says UC is focusing outreach on schools that are predominantly Hispanic and black, bypassing poor whites and Asians and families that “are poor but their parents ... sacrifice everything to send their kids to a better high school. Their kids are not even being looked at.” 

Applicants get extra points for being in college prep programs — UC’s and others. UC officials say they target poorly performing high schools, regardless of race. The truth is, many of these schools are predominantly Hispanic and black. 

Each campus has a different formula for what constitutes hardship and how much it counts. 

UCLA considers a number of disadvantages including recovering from a life-threatening illness, accident or a shooting. 

At Berkeley, admissions officers don’t assign points — readers come up with an overall total for each applicant based on all the information in the file. 

At UC Davis, students can earn up to 250 points for perseverance, which can include difficulties associated with family disruptions, poverty, health and dysfunctional environments. However, perseverance can only account for 2 percent of the maximum point total; academics account for 73 percent. 

Applications are read by at least two people and if they’re more than slightly off, a third person is called in. 

But critics say there’s nothing to stop students from inventing difficult pasts. 

UC is working on a verification system, although Galligani said they’ve been checking up on academic claims for years and “what we find is that students do not exaggerate.” 

South Gate counselor Shawna Parish-Valbuena says the challenges her students face are real. 

She gives college pep talks and “I’m looking at this crowd of students out there who think I’m talking to somebody else. These kids, they don’t have parents at home who can help them with homework. For the most part, parents are just trying to survive, they’re trying to put food on the table.” 

Students who pass UC-required courses, take the tests and get into a campus, will be successful, Parish-Valbuena said.

Mutated light bulbs, glass-encased scientific scales and what looked like an ancient hairdryer were perched alongside scientists, French art collectors and a lot of men wearing blue jeans and glasses Sunday morning. 

The scene was the vintage laboratory equipment auction at Harvey Clars on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland. The event, looking more like Frankenstein’s laboratory than a sales show, raised $34,000 which will be used primarily to buy new science equipment for physics students at UC Berkeley. 

All but four of the items auctioned Sunday came from the dusty attic of the university’s physics department. The items were taken out of storage earlier this year when the science building was emptied in preparation for seismic retrofitting. 

“This is a department that has not thrown anything away for 50 years,” said Thomas Colton, co-coordinator of the auction and responsible for laboratory support at UC Berkeley. 

Fifty years might be an understatement. The oldest object discovered in the attic was a diffraction grating – an optical device that concentrates light waves in order to view their spectrum – dating to 1895. The grating, though, along with other items of historical importance, will form part of a university collection and was not for sale Sunday. 

Amid the auction house’s usual pianos, paintings and ornate rugs, and available to weekend bidders, was a 400-piece vintage mix of leather, glass and wood that included potentiometers, voltmeters, ammeters, balances, prisms diffraction gratings and diodes. 

The department first discovered the hot market for the instruments at a “test the waters” auction four weeks ago, in which 15 items raised $3,240. 

“The air was electric. It was just phenomenal,” said Virginia Rapp, director of development of the physics department. 

A Tinker Toy set built to model molecules sold for $220 and a demonstration-sized slide rule sold for $450. Yale statistician William Kahn purchased seven traditional-sized slide rules for $200. 

“Buying them was one of the high points of my life. I actually still use my slide rules,” Kahn said.  

He is not the only one who puts relics of science to use. Former Berkeley physics students Donald Shipley, 54, and Jon Ferguson, 53, both engineering consultants, bought a potentiometer – a type of electronic resistor – at the auction and immediately tested it out. 

“We calibrated it against a $1,000 Hewlett Packard meter and it worked just as well,” said Shipley.  

Mad-scientist hair and nerdy, black spectacles were common in the predominantly male crowd Sunday. Most of the attendees were engineers and physicists, some retired and many new to the auction experience. 

“Anytime you have a specialty auction, it brings people out of the woodwork,” said auctioneer Jane Alexiadis. 

The crowd also included architects, collectors, dealers and artists, who bought the equipment for aesthetic purposes or for use in their work. Before the auction began, all had gathered to squeeze, test, tap and measure the 400 retro-items. 

The most expensive sale was a microscope built in 1900 that sold for $3,750. The microscope was one of the few pieces not pulled from the university attic. Susan Catmull, 50, bought the microscope for her husband, a physicist who fell in love with it at the preview.  

The most expensive attic items were wooden balances. The most valuable went for $1,200. 

“Everyone understands what a balance does. It is not just used in physics. It will be valuable and useful years from now,” said Ferguson at Sunday’s auction.  

At the auction preview, editor of Moxi magazine Emily Hancock could not tear herself away from the balances. “They are works of art, so beautiful,” she said. 

Less beautiful but much prized was the 1917 “model of the Cavendish experiment,” a wood mounted metal tower flanked by two large lead balls that sold for $350. English scientist Henry Cavendish used an identical contraption to measure the earth’s gravitational constant for the first time at the end of the 18th century. 

SAN FRANCISCO – Once the sport of a hip subculture, surfing has drawn more than a million newcomers in the last decade, all searching for the perfect wave. 

That popularity has led to a fierce battle in the state’s surf industry for market share between longtime manufacturers and retailers of surf gear and new shops and production plants in Northern California. 

As the number of surfers in the country has doubled from 1.2 million in 1990 to 2.4 million in 2001, the market also doubled to $3.8 billion in the past decade in the United States. That figure, from Board Track of Trabuco Canyon, includes surfboards, accessories and clothing, but it doesn’t include surf tours, camps, videos, movies and magazines. 

Jack O’Neill, 79, started O’Neill Inc. with a surf shop at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach in the early 1950’s. He developed neoprene wet suits to help surfers deal with the icy waters off the Northern California coast. 

Now, his company, one of Northern California’s surf commerce powerhouses, has other local surf shops concerned. 

O’Neill has bought a restaurant across from Marin Surf Sports store in Mill Valley, hoping to open its fifth retail store. 

Marin Surf Sports owner Jochen Wentzel, 40, hasn’t had any competition for almost two decades, and he’s worried. 

“The surfing industry is a kind of tricky industry, and the profit margin is not so great here,” he said. “Owning a surf store is more of a passion, not a ticket to economic security.” 

Mike Locatelli, O’Neill’s retail manager, said the company had invested a lot of money in Mill Valley. 

“We feel the people up there deserve a first-class shop,” he said. 

A similar situation happened in Santa Cruz, when O’Neill opened a store across the street from the Pacific Wave surf shop in 2000. 

Todd Noland, owner of Pacific Wave, said the company has felt O’Neill’s presence and has made adjustments in its business to compensate. 

“We focused more on skateboards and some brands that we have that aren’t across the street,” he said. 

But the O’Neill store is feeling the crunch from the dot-com meltdown that brought new surfers to Santa Cruz. 

“Everyone wanted to live here, and they had disposable income, buying three or four wet suits and three or four surfboards at a time. We don’t see any of that anymore,” Locatelli said. “It has all dried up.” 

But one such scenario has had a happy ending, so far. 

When Wise Surfboards, which San Francisco surfer Bob Wise had opened in a landlocked area of the city in 1968, moved across the street from Big Yank Board Sports in 1999, Big Yank got worried. 

The new surf shop had opened as close to the beach and as far away from Wise Surfboards as possible in 1994. So Wise’s decision to move near Big Yank surprised the company, said store manager Mark Abbott. 

“Our first reaction was worry, but it has brought us more walk-up customers,” he said. “Now we’re very happy to be next door to Bob.”

LOS ANGELES – Basketball star turned businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson said it took him almost five years to realize he was spending more than he earned as an NBA player with a $400,000 annual salary. 

“Once I understood what I need versus what I want, my bank account started to reflect that,” said Johnson, who shared his own economic story Saturday at the kickoff of a national program to educate black professionals about their personal finances. 

“Know Your Money,” a 12-week course designed to help 21- to 35-year-olds examine their attitudes toward spending, budgets and long-term investment strategies, was the first major initiative to emerge from the 92nd annual conference of the National Urban League. 

The conference, which has brought 10,000 delegates and visitors to Los Angeles, marked the national civil rights group’s first return to the city since 1996 — when it pulled out to protest former Gov. Pete Wilson’s support for anti-affirmative action legislation. 

Relations between politicians and the league’s leadership, however, has remained shaky in the aftermath of the videotaped beating of a 14-year-old black teenager by a white police officer in Inglewood this month and Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn’s refusal this year to support former Police Chief Bernard Parks’ bid for a second term. 

Urban League President Hugh Price put the spotlight Saturday on economic self-sufficiency, noting that recent turbulence in the country’s financial markets made the personal finance course the league plans to launch this fall particularly timely. 

“This looms more important today than it ever has been,” Price said. 

His observation was backed by numbers. According to the league’s recently released State of Black America 2001 report, 60 percent of blacks said economic opportunity should be the primary focus of black organizations. Sixty-seven percent also said they would like to open their own businesses. 

Alishia Brown, a 28-year-old account executive attending the conference, said she hopes the $30 finance classes — due to begin in Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., in September — can help her trim personal debt. 

“Now I am at the point where I am trying to change my situation,” said Brown, who graduated from college with a degree in psychology and $30,000 in credit card and student loan debt. 

Although she has been in the work force for five years and putting aside 20 percent of each paycheck into a 401K savings account, Brown said she is afraid she won’t be able close the gap on her debt, which has grown to $45,000 because of interest. 

“Any program available, I am interested in,” she said. 

Keith Arnold, a 39-year-old flood maintenance worker, said his long term goals include buying a home and starting a business. Arnold, however, said he doesn’t expect to sign up for the finance class. 

“To take on another task is just not feasible at this time,” said Arnold, who applied for bankruptcy four years ago. 

Johnson, who has carved a $500 million empire of movie theaters, restaurants, shopping centers and a bank by taking brands such as Starbucks to the inner city, said he can teach by his example. 

In his own case, Johnson said he spent $400,000 in lavish expenses for years, even though his take home pay was closer to $250,000 after taxes. He advised conference attendees to keep track of their spending and set annual saving goals. 

“This is our problem, we just live check to check,” Johnson said.

CAMARILLO – After a flat summer, gasoline prices edged up nearly 2 cents per gallon in the past two weeks, an industry analyst said Sunday. 

“The low and very, very stable prices throughout the summer did have to end some time,” Trilby Lundberg said. “What we have is a closer balance between supply and demand and continued crude oil price strengths.” 

Despite increased summer driving demand, supplies remained plentiful, she added. 

“Considering the extremely low prices of the whole summer, this is not an indicator of great price hikes to come ... or a gasoline shortage,” Lundberg said. 

The national price of gas at the pump averaged about $1.46 per gallon on Friday, according to the Lundberg survey of 8,000 stations. That was up 1.68 cents from July 12. 

The average had hovered within a few pennies of that range since peaking at $1.46 in early April. 

Most regions of the country saw a price hike, although the West, where prices already were higher, averaged a drop of about a penny per gallon, Lundberg said. 

The hike brought the average pump price back to where it had been a year ago. 

The national weighted average price of gasoline, including taxes, at self-serve pumps was about $1.43 per gallon for regular, $1.53 for mid-grade and $1.61 for premium.

SAN FRANCISCO – Federal investigators have found University of California, San Francisco researchers did not follow federal guidelines to obtain consent from emergency room patients for a study on breathing support techniques. 

The researchers often got approval to use patients who were too sick to give consent themselves with just a phone call to relatives, without providing any written description of the study or its risks, according to two federal reports obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle. 

An anonymous complaint in 2000 prompted investigators from the Office of Human Research Protections, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to take a closer look at the study, which was completed in 1999. 

UCSF recruited 105 emergency room patients for the nationwide study on 861 people to look at whether routine ventilator settings used to help patients with lung damage could be harming the patients by over-stretching their lungs. 

The study found that lower settings on ventilators were better for the patients, cutting the death rate by 22 percent. 

But many of the patients were required to make a decision about participating in the study within minutes of being told about it, and some of them could only nod, as they were too sick to speak or hold a pen, the report found. 

UCSF lets researchers conduct clinical trials on incapacitated people when researchers get a relative’s consent, which the university’s lawyers say the law allows. 

But at least three other UC campuses have found that state law prohibits research on patients unless researchers have gotten permission from a court-recognized representative, not just a relative. 

Pulmonary specialist Dr. John Luce, with San Francisco General Hospital, helped conduct the research and acknowledged that errors were made in obtaining consent. But he said the university has modified its policies as a result of the federal inquiry. 

The university’s practices come at a time the UC is pressing state lawmakers to relax protections for human subjects and allow researchers to get proxy consent from a prioritized list that starts with patient-appointed representatives and ends with relatives such as a spouse, adult child or sibling. 

UC is urging support for legislation on proxy consent, because researchers say the current law is holding up work on Alzheimer’s disease.

SAN FRANCISCO – Thirty-two men whose only protection between them and the asphalt below is a small skateboard-like contraption and a helmet plunged down a steep street as they competed in a rather dangerous luge competition. 

The Red Bull Streets of San Francisco luge event, held Saturday, attracted hundreds to the run described as one of the most innovative such competitions in the world. The run can hurl riders down the straw-lined street at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. 

The downhill course includes jumps that can launch riders up to 80 feet over the asphalt. 

“This is the wildest thing we’ve ever done,” said racer John Lewis of Seattle. 

This year the competition’s innovator was also one of its winners. 

The competition is the brainchild of Tom Mason, a professional luger, who has organized four such events in the last five years. 

This year Mason won the downhill race, which pitted 32 international racers against each other. Racers came from as far as Australia. 

“Normally I put so much energy into organizing it, I never have any energy left to race,” Mason said. 

Streets of San Francisco is the only street luge competition that couples a straight-shot, downhill course with three “big-air” jumps, Mason said. 

The same roster of competitors also competed in a Big Air competition, which used the naturally tiered streets of the city to see who could fly the farthest off of a ramped jump. 

Leander Lacey of South Africa won the Big Air competition. 

Both Mason and Lacey took home $2,500 in prize money. 

The competition is not for the novice or anyone without steel nerves. 

Mason said the competitors were hand-picked because those without enough experience could get seriously hurt. 

“I had to pick people that would survive,” Mason said. 

Mason said that this is the last year he plans to organize the event because he wants to stop while the street luge is still a popular event. 

Mason has held the Guinness Book of Records world speed record since 1998 for an 82 mph street luge run. But regardless, no matter how many times he does the Streets of San Francisco run he still gets a little frightened 

“I’m scared to death up there,” he said. “I’m more scared than anyone else.”

SAN JOSE – A San Jose radio personality has been suspended after joking about the kidnapping of a 7-year-old Philadelphia girl. 

The girl escaped her kidnappers by chewing through duct tape. 

After a sidekick read the news item Wednesday about the girl, shock jock “Mikey” Esparza of KSJO-FM said, “That’s why I don’t use duct tape. That’s why I use nylon rope.” 

Esparza continued after a commercial break, suggesting kidnappers buy tarps and use lye to dispose of murder victims. 

The station suspended Esparza Thursday for a week and broadcast a formal apology to listeners. 

Esparza’s show, “The Mikey Show” is also heard in San Diego and Dallas. 

The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications. 

“The station’s position is that we were not comfortable with the comment,” said Joe Cunningham, Clear Channel’s vice president and general manager. “We don’t condone comments that make light of, or try to find humor in something of that particular nature.” 

Santa Cruz-based Media Watch has filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.

SUNNYVALE – FBI agents have busted a nationwide bribery, money laundering and prostitution ring. 

Agents made 30 arrests in eight states Tuesday, the culmination of a five-year investigation that began when owners of a massage parlor in Blount County, Tenn. allegedly tried to bribe public officials, including a judge. 

When federal authorities began looking into the parlors, they found most were nearly identical and appeared to be a part of a chain. 

In Tuesday’s coordinated bust, officials raided spas, modeling studios and hostess bars, which make money by enticing men to buy drinks for the women who work there. Arrests were made in California, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio. 

Police also shut down the Crystal Palace Nightclub and the Ok Yeo Bong bar in Sunnyvale. Four owners were arrested as well as Sunnyvale police officer David Miller, who was charged with protecting them for gifts, cash and sex. 

The FBI said that the bar owners coordinated with a broker in Korea that would provide women with visas. If visas couldn’t be arranged, the women were flown to Mexico, where another broker would drive them over the border. 

The Crystal Palace would pay the women’s rent and utilities. The women would repay the debts of their travel and living expenses by providing services, such as “dates” and sex, to customers of the club. 

An Internal Revenue Service investigation of Ok Yeo Bong found evidence of money laundering.

SACRAMENTO – In 1996, supporters marveled at the decisive victory of Proposition 203, a $3 billion school bond measure that was then the largest in state history. 

Now, six years later, Californians will be asked to pass another school bond measure worth four times as much. Proposition 47 will authorize selling $13 billion in general obligation bonds to build new schools and repair existing ones, and recent polls suggest voters will approve it in November. 

California, already the state with the nation’s largest bond debt, will have three bond issues on the ballot in November worth $19 billion. 

While those bond issues await approval on the ballot, the government is also inundating the market with a number of lease-payment bonds that don’t require voter approval. 

The state is currently preparing for an $11.1 billion bond sale — the largest one-time borrowing by a government agency in U.S. history — to pay off the significant budget shortfall caused by last year’s energy crisis. 

Gov. Gray Davis’ current budget plan includes closing off some of the state’s $23.6 billion budget deficit by selling bonds to be paid off with the state’s share of the $206 billion settlement between states and tobacco companies. 

California expects to receive about $21.4 billion from the 1998 settlement over 25 years, but the Davis proposal would sell bonds to collect a smaller lump sum payment now. 

Once resistant to passing large bond issues, California voters have been approving them in record amounts over the last six years. Since March 1996, voters have approved 12 of 14 measures on the statewide ballot. 

“We went through a long period where they were not passing bond issues. It’s a catch-up right row,” says Zane Mann, publisher of the California Municipal Bond Advisor, a newsletter monitoring the California bond market. 

Voters snubbed the first bond measure to reach the billion-dollar mark in 1988, a transportation bond defeated in the June primary. All other bond measures that year were approved. As California fell into a budget crisis in the early 1990s, voters turned away from long-term borrowing, only approving five of 23 bond proposals between November 1990 and November 1994. 

Since 1996, however, bonds have regained favor. The 12 bond measures passed since then have added about $24 billion to the state debt. With about $27 billion in bond debt, California leads the nation, followed by New York, Texas, Pennsylvania and Illinois. 

Voters have been especially receptive to school bond issues. According to a recent report from state Treasurer Phil Angelides, almost 60 percent of California’s current bond debt has gone to education-related programs. 

“There’s a general belief that we have under spent,” said Kim Rueben, a research fellow, specializing in education, at the Public Policy Institute of California. 

The size of the recent school bond issues is a response to studies that have predicted the state needs $32 billion over the next five years. 

More than in most states, Rueben said, California’s state government ends up paying for school bonds more than local governments. 

In 2000, voters made it easier to pass school bond measures by lowering the vote requirement from two-thirds to 55 percent. 

As interest rates have fallen to 30-year lows, the use of bonds has increased. Angelides has urged selling about $25 billion in new bonds over the next four years to save millions of dollars in the future. The majority of the bonds will be paid with state tax revenue. 

While bond supporters revel in the low interest rates, others say California is launching into a bond frenzy that is fiscal mismanagement. 

“There are many voters who confuse bond measures with free money,” said state Sen. Tom McClintock, a Northridge Republican and an advocate of the pay-as-you-go policy. “The fact is that bonds are the most expensive way to finance any government project.” 

For every dollar of capital, McClintock said, taxpayers must pay roughly $2 in principal and interest. 

McClintock, who is running for state controller in November, has been a staunch opponent of bond measures and has called for a blanket moratorium on long-term borrowing. 

Despite the cost of incurring bond debt, the state treasurer’s report showed California’s current debt service as a percentage of general fund revenues to be well within credit analyst recommendations of five percent or less. In fact, if the state were to increase its debt service to five percent in the coming years, it could handle as much as $63 billion in bonds by 2010. 

Despite concerns over running up a large bond debt, the demand for California bonds remains strong, according to the treasurer’s report. 

While last year’s energy crisis led bond rating agencies to reduce California’s credit rating to one of the lowest among the 50 states, the report indicated that bonds have still sold. 

Amy Doppelt, the managing director in public finance at the credit rating agency Fitch, said investors who face high state taxes consider the tax-free bonds, backed by the world’s fifth largest economy, sound investments during uncertain times.

KERNVILLE – The fire raging near California’s giant sequoias grew by another 1,500 acres Sunday, but the ancient redwoods seemed to be largely out of trouble, fire officials said. 

The fire spread north toward Rattlesnake Canyon and the Golden Trout Wilderness in the northeast part of the Sequoia National Forest, where the terrain is steep. 

Firefighters on the ground and in the air continued to work on the western edge of the blaze to protect 11 groves of sequoias, some of the world’s oldest and largest trees. The trees aren’t completely safe just yet, but firefighters have minimized the threat, said fire information officer Jill Slater. 

“They’re really getting a handle on it,” she said. 

The 66,000-acre wildfire remained 30 percent contained Sunday morning, Slater said. 

A Bakersfield woman is accused of igniting the fire about 130 miles north of Los Angeles while cooking hotdogs over an illegal campfire. Peri Van Brunt, 45, was arraigned Friday in U.S. District Court in Fresno, but entered no plea. She remains in custody. 

The fire has consumed more than 90 square miles. Firefighters were building more than 80 miles of firebreaks to contain it. 

The nighttime weather, which was cool and humid, has favored the firefighters’ efforts, although it’s still windy in the daytime, officials said. 

Higher humidity and softer winds the last few days were a change from the conditions that sent the fire raging out of control its first few days, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Sue Exline. 

Firefighters hosted meetings to update residents on the fire’s progress Friday night in California Hot Springs and at the Pierpoint Springs Resort, and had more planned. 

There was no telling when residents evacuated from Ponderosa, Johnsondale and other areas might be able to return, fire officials said. At least 10 structures had burned and 200 were threatened, though firefighters said most appeared now to be safe. 

The campsite where Van Brunt is alleged to have ignited the blaze had been cordoned off with crime scene tape. White-bread toast and beer cans littered the riverside campsite, along with the burned shards of a tent. Authorities said Van Brunt was cooking hot dogs when her unpermitted campfire got out of control. 

The cost of the fire climbed to an estimated $9.1 million as close to 2,278 firefighters worked in shifts around the clock to build firelines and douse flames. 

About half the fire was within the 327,769-acre Giant Sequoia National Monument, within Sequoia National Forest. It has burned within a mile of the Packsaddle Grove, and within two miles of the Trail of 100 Giants.

WASHINGTON – California finds itself in an awkward position in Congress: hands outstretched for two major water projects but unsure whether it will get enough money even for one. 

The result is a competition that at first looks like an unfair fight between CalFed, the program to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta, and the much-maligned Salton Sea. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., champions the delta, which provides drinking water for two-thirds of the state and irrigation water for Central Valley crops. Feinstein is trying to get $1.6 billion for the delta, while a similar bill in the House of Representatives would provide $3 billion. 

The biggest name attached to the Salton Sea — the salty, often malodorous desert lake southeast of Palm Springs — is the late Sonny Bono, who represented the area in Congress. The sea’s wildlife refuge bears his name. 

“The Salton Sea can gladly wait in most people’s minds,” said Rep. Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, Bono’s widow and successor in Congress. 

The sea, already 25 percent saltier than the Pacific Ocean, probably will need at least $1 billion to keep it from getting too salty to support its fish and the birds that feed on them. The sea has become one of the West Coast’s most important stops for migratory birds, which flock there by the tens of thousands each year. 

The sea gets almost all its water from agricultural runoff and a fetid river that flows from Mexico. At 228 feet below sea level, the Salton Sea has no drainage. What flows in, stays in. 

But the sea is commanding new attention because it holds the key to a complicated transfer of water from Imperial County agriculture to San Diego for drinking water. 

That transfer is a key component in California’s plan to reduce its take of Colorado River water by 15 percent by 2016. Six other western states, their populations growing rapidly, want their fair share of river water. 

The state has until Dec. 31 to show it is on track to meet that goal or risk an immediate cutback that would be borne entirely by Southern California homes and businesses. 

The Salton Sea’s connection to the water transfer is that it would shrink and get saltier faster because there would be less farm runoff, according to one plan under consideration. 

That, in turn, would threaten some of the hundreds of species of birds that make the sea an important stopping point in seasonal migration. Bono and others also fear that a smaller sea would expose miles of lake bed and kick up dust storms that would have a harmful effect on air quality. 

No all-encompassing plan has been proposed to restore the sea, a popular resort until the early 1960s, although Interior Department officials are preparing one. 

CalFed, on the other hand, is a complete plan to restore the fragile delta and ensure reliable water supplies to accommodate the state’s expected growth. 

Still, neither the House nor Senate has passed a CalFed bill. It will be after Labor Day before either house takes it up again. 

Critics of CalFed and the Salton Sea restoration complain that the federal government is bearing too much of the cost. 

“California is asking the federal taxpayer once again to serve as a safety net,” said Aileen Roder, who follows California water projects for the nonpartisan Taxpayers for Common Sense. 

The group bills itself as a watchdog against profligate spending. 

But the convergence of these projects offers an advantage, said Bill Snape of Defenders of Wildlife. 

“Whether they like it or not, members of Congress are being forced to take a fairly comprehensive look at California water,” Snape said, after testifying to a congressional panel about the Salton Sea and the ramifications of the California water transfer. 

California lawmakers generally are reluctant to describe the two projects as being in competition, although Feinstein has made clear that CalFed is her top priority and that Salton Sea proponents should scale back their plans because Congress is unlikely to come up with $1 billion or more. 

Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, chief sponsor of the CalFed bill in the House, said he tells colleagues from other states, particularly in the West, that they benefit from helping California. 

“Anything that makes California less dependent on the Colorado River, for example, should be a reason for them to want California to succeed,” Calvert said.

SACRAMENTO – The Folsom prison guard who turned the California Correctional Peace Officers Association into one of the Capitol’s most powerful political forces is stepping down after 20 combative, colorful years at the helm. 

Don Novey, 55, says it’s time for fish, golf and grandchildren. 

In his wake, he leaves a five-year, 34 percent raise totaling $1 billion for the union’s 28,000 employees, a feat pulled off early this year amid a $23.6 billion budget deficit. 

Under Novey’s leadership the once-obscure union rode a wave of tough-on-crime laws and a $5 billion expansion of the state prison system to become one of the most formidable players in state politics. The union spent more than $2 million in 1998 to help elect Gov. Gray Davis and has contributed another $650,000 to his current campaign. 

An influential force in the “Three Strikes And Your Out” campaign that mandated long prison sentences for repeat offenders, the union also provided cash, endorsements and television ads that helped elected Gov. Pete Wilson in 1990. 

Novey, who is retiring this Thursday from the headquarters he built in West Sacramento with its gun turret windows overlooking the lobby, will be replaced by the union’s longtime number two chief, Mike Jimenez. 

“There’s a time in your life when you have to move on and face new, wonderful challenges,” Novey says. He says he will stay active in politics and is weighing three other offers. 

The former U.S. Army intelligence officer says he moved into union politics full time after hating the way managers treated guards at Folsom State Prison. After becoming president of the 2,000-member union, Novey, with his trademark black fedora hat, flashy clothes and tough, blunt manner, built the union into a $22 million-a-year powerhouse with nearly 28,000 members paying $59 a month in dues. 

While counting politicians among his friends, he says he learned much about how to deal with them during his stint working with prisoners at Folsom. 

“That might sound strange,” he says, “but the conniving, the manipulation — it’s two subcultures of our society, and some of the same type of gamesmanship goes on in both elements.” 

Novey’s detractors include supporters of private prisons. Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, who supports them, has likened Novey to a demagogue who opposes anyone who disagrees with him. Polanco declined to comment on his retirement. 

Under Novey’s leadership, pay for prison captains with 10 years experience has grown to $78,000 yearly, while nonsupervisors with six years experience earn about $55,000. 

Says D.O. “Spike” Helmick, commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, “He’s done an excellent job for his people. I admire him for it.”

LOS ANGELES – Officials temporarily evacuated five terminals at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday, after a man bypassed security checkpoints by slipping under ropes. 

Airport officials closed Terminal 5 at 12:40 p.m., then expanded the evacuation to include four more terminals, causing more than 150 delays and affecting 8,000 travelers, according to Tom Winfrey, spokesman for Los Angeles World Airports. 

Police used bomb sniffing dogs to check the terminals before reopening them around 3:30 p.m. All passengers heading through those terminals were re-screened. 

Authorities did not immediately find the individual who skipped security, said Chris Rhatigan, spokeswoman for the federal Transportation Security Administration. Airport police said the man was traveling with a woman who did pass through security. 

During the evacuation, fifteen Delta Airline flights had their departures delayed. Continental, American, United and several international airlines’ flights also were delayed. 

“Flights headed to Los Angeles from the eastern United States were allowed to continue on their way, as well as those from international departure points. But flights that were leaving to come to Los Angeles from West Coast points were delayed,” Winfrey said. 

The evacuation was the latest in a series of alerts and brief evacuations at the airport since Sept. 11. Security has been tightened following a fatal shooting at Israel’s El Al ticket counter July 4. 

On Friday, Los Angeles Jim Hahn unveiled a $15 million security upgrade to the airport’s perimeter fence.

A new train station could be added to the city’s vision of a new transit hub in west Berkeley and be a depot for bus, ferry, train and taxi services. 

Proponents of the project hope to purchase and restore the defunct Southern Pacific Station, built in 1913 at the intersection of University Avenue and the train tracks. Part of the plan is to add a cafe, murals and plaques detailing the history and cultural resources of the area. 

The 90-year-old station is privately-owned, but city officials have been talking with the owner about buying it. 

The station would be a centerpiece for west Berkeley’s revitalization, city planners say, and could link transit to the redeveloped Fourth Street shopping corridor and other parts of the city. 

Now vacant, the station was most recently home to two restaurants, China Station then Xanadu. 

With Amtrak passengers currently boarding trains directly from the tracks, the train station has not been used by rail passengers since the 1960s. 

A concern among station proponents is whether ridershipd would be great enough to support Amtrak staff at the station. 

Currently, 18 trains stop in Berkeley each day serving approximately 200 riders, significantly fewer than stations in Emeryville and Jack London Square. 

Increased ridership would be a goal of the train station project, city planners said. 

The proposal is part of a larger redevelopment plan in west Berkeley. In addition to increasing transit options, residents and city officials want to enhance the safety, appearance and cultural resources of the area. 

Considerable attention has been given to the preservation of the Ohlone Indian Shellmound, which are remnants of the native tribe located underneath the project site. 

“The Shellmound is just the beginning of the cultural history in the area,” said Betsy Morris of the West Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation. “The plan should represent west Berkeley as a historical place of first residence for African Americans, Japanese, Latinos. It should be a gateway into a neighborhood.” 

Berkeley resident Steve Geller proposed the idea of including a museum near the station site to attract and teach children about history. 

As it stands now, the city’s Redevelopment Agency has about $1.5 million in grants and bonds slated for the area bounded by Fourth Street, University Avenue and the railroad tracks. The funding must be used by September 2003. 

“The priority should be the train station, a place where people feel safe and comfortable with a cafe,” said Berkeley resident Eric McCaughrin. “People aren’t going to want to sit underneath an overpass on a bench. This plan needs to focus on the idea that we will purchase the train station. I would urge people to rethink this whole project and focus on that goal.”  

In a meeting with three city commissions Thursday night, officials continued discussions on how the redevelopment plan could be implemented, and if and when the train station would be added to the area plan. 

A visually pleasing aspect of old downtown buildings is often their elaborate decoration. The modern movement striped the "unnecessary" decoration off buildings in order to emphasize the essence of a structure, but the older buildings in downtown are embellished with examples of architectural decoration that break the monotony of modernism.  

A good example is the Heywood Building at 2014-18 Shattuck Avenue. Built in 1917, it is a small, two-story commercial building that is only one retail space wide, but it is the only building in Berkeley where terra cotta is used in such a lush and decorative manner. The facade is a composition of a ground floor storefront with a wide transom above, and a set of three arched windows on the second floor. These are all surrounded by elaborately carved terra cotta glazed creamy white and accented with pale blue and green. A heavy Classic styled cornice is also made of terra cotta.  

The building was featured in the February 1919 issue of Architect and Engineer. It was designed by James Plachek, who also designed the Main Library, for William Heywood a son of Berkeley pioneer Zimri Brewer Heywood. (Berkeley Observed June 15/16)  

Terra cotta simply means fired clay and the use of unfired (adobe) or fired clay (usually brick) as a building material has been used since ancient times. In Babylon Nebuchadnezzar built the Ishtar Gate in the 6th century B.C. and lined the walls with bas-relief panels of animals made from carved bricks glazed with bright colors.  

In more modern times, architectural terra cotta became a popular building material as a substitute for carved stone. Its colorful decorative possibilities made its use very popular during the 1920s & 30s when fabulous Art Deco buildings, such as the Flower Depot in Oakland, were constructed.  

The type of terra cotta used on the Heywood Building was made in hollow block-like sections. The clay was hand pressed into plaster molds made from hand-carved clay pieces. The sections could be glazed in any color and some were glazed to look like stone. The hollow block-like sections were then attached to the under-structure of a building with rods and wire. A facade made of architectural terra cotta was truly hand-made.  

In downtown Berkeley other buildings where terra cotta is used are the Koerber Building at 2050 University Avenue, the Wells Fargo Building. the U.S. Post Office, the Kress Building and the signage on the Acheson Building, the Masonic Temple, and Roos Brothers Building.  

The terra cotta on the Heywood Building was produced by the Gladding McBean Company in Lincoln, California, the largest producer of terra cotta on the West Coast. The company is still in business and many of its master molds and drawings still exist. Occasionally the company has tours of its terra cotta factory.  

Susan Cerny is author of Berkeley Landmarks and writes this in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.  

To the Editor: 

While watching a few soporific minutes of the Berkeley City Council meeting on July 23, I was struck by the number of ballot items that propose to spend additional taxpayer money. The council needs to make some effort to bring an equal number of items to the agenda that will reduce spending. Let me offer two suggestions. 

1) We don’t need additional spending on pedestrian safety. My mother taught me to look both ways before crossing a street and to not start walking into the path of cars. This is all the pedestrian safety we need and it is a parental responsibility that should not require tax dollars. We don't need expensive (hundreds of thousands of dollars) traffic signals at small intersections like McGee Street and University Avenue. Traffic signals at such locations would actually harm Berkeley by impairing the flow of traffic on one of Berkeley's main arteries. A traffic signal at such a location would also harm Berkeley by encouraging an undesirable pedestrian presence on an avenue which is not and should not be residential. 

2) We don't need improvements at the park across from of City Hall. The trees there are fine and there is no need to spend on new ones. We don't need a new playground, the one we have is fine. The fountain might need some repair but we don't need a new one. Could we please use the money to fix potholes on the city streets? 

I could go on, but I hope the reader gets the idea that money in the public coffers is being wasted while our City Council keeps trying to get more.  

The majority of our council, with the possible exception of Polly Armstrong, seems to have no recognition of the need to reduce the expenditure of public funds. Why is the council so enthusiastic about encouraging a new tax for every conceivable thing? They seem to be pandering to a “tax the rich” constituency of students and renters who have discovered a right to vote oppressive taxes upon others (generally property owners) with little immediate effect on themselves, a process which is nothing less than legalized theft. Was it DeToqueville who said that democracy would fail because voters would attempt to vote themselves largess from the public coffers? I urge voters to say no to all ballot measures that spend even more money, no matter how meritorious these measures may seem. 

Walter Wood 

Berkeley

Berkeley directors Kathryn Golden and Judith Montell offer two stories of Jewish migration to America in this month’s 22nd annual Jewish Film Festival in San Francisco, Berkeley and Menlo Park.  

In making “Across Time and Space,” Golden’s Searchlight Films company crossed three countries to capture the life of the Bondy family, innovative educators driven from Nazi Germany. Montell and collaborator Bonnie Burt’s “Home on the Range” explores the culture of the Eastern European Jews who settled in Petaluma in the early 20th century to become, of all things, chicken ranchers.  

The transplanted directors (Montell was born in New York, and Golden in California’s Central Valley) have been fixtures in documentary film making for the past two decades. Montell has been based in Berkeley since 1986. Her 1991 documentary, “Forever Activists: Stories from the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade” was featured in that year’s Jewish Film Festival. Golden graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her 1984 film “American Treasure” won the Smithsonian Institute’s National Heritage Award. 

Both current films took circuitous routes to the final stage. Montell first discussed the chicken ranch documentary with Burt in 1991. Golden read an article by Annemarie Bondy Roper five years ago and began research then. “ I felt like the person who had written the article was speaking a language that I understood,” says the director.  

“Documentaries don’t generally make money,” says Montell. So the directors are on a constant cycle of shooting and fund raising, looking for ways to get the project done in a timely yet thrifty fashion. Montell says, “That’s what takes everything so long! You apply for grants, you go to friends, you have house parties.  

Golden says, “You also depend on the kindness of your friends who are in the similar positions and have skills to offer.”  

Luckily, the Fantasy Building on 10th Street in Berkeley where Montell and Golden toil is full of movie production companies whose cameramen and other specialists can sometimes be cajoled. 

Sometimes unexpected stories emerge during filming. Bonnie Burt made a second, short film on Scott Gerber, whom they met during the filming of “A Home on the Range.” The result was “Song of a Jewish Cowboy,” which also makes its debut at the festival. “We didn’t want him to take over the film because his story is quite different. I said to Bonnie, ‘You go ahead, you do it, I can’t take on anything else right now.’ ” 

Montell lent another kind of expertise: “I did help her work on it, holding a ladder in the middle of a field of cows as she tried to get a perspective on it.” She laughs. 

Then there’s the editing. Both films are less than one hour, yet Montell estimates she whittled 40 hours of interviews into the story. “The question becomes, ‘What stories do you leave out?’ ” she says. As for Golden, “I don’t want to remember that part. I did as much as I could until I had to stop and raise more money. We edited for about four months, and then we stopped for a year (to do other work). Then came back to it and edited for another six months.” 

Both Montell and Golden see the potential for films as a means of social change in these turbulent times. 

Says Montell, “I think the festival has done remarkable work in showing a wide spectrum of films and having the courage to show some of the Palestinian films, and I applaud the stand that they’ve taken and their consistency. I think that films play a very important part in widening people’s understanding and opening their minds.” Golden says of her subjects, “ They came to this country and they said, ‘We have to do it ourselves.’ The film shows how we can really be involved to make the world different for the next generation.” 

In the end, both films are truly about creating community in difficult times. Montell says, “I found that it was a very unusual community that was created in the early 1900s by Jews who were fleeing pogrom in Eastern Europe and sweat shops in New York and Los Angeles. They became a community that was very close and at the same time very argumentative. Luckily we had two of the original generation (to interview).” 

“I think it’s much wider story, of an immigrant community that becomes Americanized and what they give up and what they maintain,” says Montell.  

This film was influenced by Barbara Myerhoff’s “Number Our Days,” which was about a similar Jewish community in Southern California. 

Montell went on to discuss the significance of social responsibility in her work. “I’m attracted to stories that deal with people living their lives in a way I find encouraging or enlightening. How do I want to live my older years? I look for people who have somehow made their lives rewarding and ways to show that to myself and an audience. And the liveliness and the intensity of the Petaluma Jews spoke to me.” 

Golden echoed the sentiment. “(This film) is talking about challenges we have when we come together as a community and how we can make schools better and have that experience ripple out to whatever students do after that. A big part of making the film was to personalize that experience.”  

Both directors are honored to be part of the ongoing tradition of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

Saturday, July 27 

Hope Briggs In Concert 

Accompanied by the Combined Choirs of St. Paul 

4 p.m. 

St. Paul AMEC, 2024 Ashby Ave. 

Free 

Saturday, August 3 

Bata Ketu 

8 p.m.  

Alice Arts Center, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. 

Interplay of Cuban and Brazilian music and dance  

www.lapena.org 

$20 

Atomic Mint 

9 to midnight  

Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

21+ 

Sunday, August 4 

Paula West 

4:30 p.m.  

Jazzschool 2087 Addison St. 

San Francisco's own delightful diva with the Ken Muir Quartet  

845-5373 for reservations  

swing@jazzschool.com or www.jazzschool.com 

$6 to $12 

Sunday, August 11 

Robert Helps Memorial Marathon Concert 

11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Wells Fargo Annex, 2081 Center St. 

A dozen of the best pianists of the Bay join in a marathon tribute to Robert Helps, who died last year. 

665-9099 

Virginia Mayhew 

4:30 p.m.  

Jazzschool 2087 Addison St. 

New York-based saxophonist-featuring Ingrid Jensen, Harvie Swartz-Allison Miller 

845-5373 for reservations  

swing@jazzschool.com or www.jazzschool.com 

Wednesday, August 14 

John Sanborn: Film Premiere with Sarah Cahill: Piano Concert 

8 p.m. 

Wells Fargo Annex, 2081 Center St. 

West Coast premiere of Sanborn film, "MMI," with performances on piano by Sarah Cahill. 

665-9496 

"First Anniversary Group Show"  

Reception, 5 to 8 p.m.  

Through Aug. 17  

13 local artists display work ranging from sculpture to mixed media 

Ardency Gallery, Aki Lot, Eighth Street 

836-0831 

"Before and After"  

Reception 4 to 6 p.m.  

Through Sept. 19  

Albany Community Center and Library Galley 1249 Marin Ave. 

Jim Hair's photographs of the San Diego Hells Angels motorcycle chapter from the 1970s  

524-9283  

Ongoing 

First Year Anniversary Group Exhibition 

Through Aug. 17 

Ardency Gallery, 709 Broadway, Oakland 

New works from various artists. 

836-0831 

Images of Love and Courtship 

Through Sept. 15 

Gathering Tribes, 1573 Solano Ave. 

Ledger paintings by Michael Horse 

528-9038 

Free 

"Balancing Acts" 

Through Oct. 10 

Gallery 555, 555 12th St. in Oakland City Center 

Oakland's 'Third Thursday' art night features Ann Weber's works made of cardboard. 

http://www.oaklandcitycenter.com.  

Free 

The Creation of People’s Park 

Through Aug. 31, Mon. through Thurs., 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fri. 9 to 5 p.m.; Sat. 1 to 5 p.m. Sun. 3 to 7 p.m. 

The Free Movement Speech Cafe, UC Berkeley campus 

A photo exhibition, with curator Harold Adler 

hjadler@yahoo.com 

Free 

"Red Rivers Run Through Us"  

Through Aug. 11, Wed. through Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St.  

Art and writing from Maxine Hong Kingston's veterans' writing group 

644-6893 

Jan Wurm: Paintings and Drawings 

Mon. and Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tues. through Thurs. 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

Flora Hewlett Library at the Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Road 

649-1417 

"New Work: Part 1, The 2001 Kala  

Fellowship Exhibition"  

Through July 31 

Kala Art Institute,  

1060 Heinz Ave. 

Featuring 8 Kala Fellowship winners, printmaking 

Reception 

549-2977 

"New Visions: Introductions '02"  

Works from emerging Californian artists 

Through Aug. 10 

Pro Arts, 461 Ninth St., Oakland 

763-4361 

Free 

Saturday, July 27 

SF Improv 

8 p.m. 

Café Eclectica 1309 Solano Ave.  

“Tales and Tribulations” an improvised show. Come down for an evening of improvised comedy and drama, created on the spot using your suggestion. 

www.sfimprov.com or 527-2344 

Tuesday, July 30 

"Fighting for Clarity" 

7:30 p.m. 

St. John's Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 

Retro Poll, a survey research organization to challenge the corporate media, presents a night of comedy. 

848-3826 

$20 

Friday, August 9 

Once Upon a Mattress 

7:30 p.m. [5 p.m. Sat. & Sun. Aug. 10 and 11] 

Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave.  

A hilarious retelling of "The Princess and the Pea," presented by Stage Door Conservatory, by students grades 5 through 9. 

527-5939 

$8 to $12 

Grease 

Through Aug. 10, Sunday matinees July 28 and Aug. 4 

Contra Costa Civic Theater, 951 Pomona Ave. El Cerrito 

Directed by Andrew Gabel 

524-9132 for reservations 

$17 general, $10 for under 16 and under 

Abingdon Square  

Through July 6, Thur. to Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun. at 7 p.m.  

Julia Morgan Theater for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 

The Shotgun Players,  

directed by Shana Cooper 

704-8210 www.shotgunplayers.org 

$18 regular, $12 students 

Benefactors 

Through Aug. 18, Wed. though Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun. 

2 and 7 p.m. 

Michael Frayn's comedy of two neighboring couple's interactions 

Aurora Theatre Company,  

2081 Addison St. 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org  

for reservations.  

$26 to $35  

The Heidi Chronicles 

Through Aug. 10, Fri. and Sat. 8 p.m. 

Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley present Wendy Wasserstein’s play about change. 

528-5620 

$10 

A Thousand and One Arabian Nights 

Through Sept. 28, Fri. through Sun. 8 p.m.; Sun. 4 p.m. 

Forest Meadows Outdoor Amphitheater, Grand Avenue at the Dominican University, San Raphael 

Marin Shakespeare Company’s presents this classic story with original Arabic music. 

415-499-4488 for tickets 

$12, youth; $20 senior; $22 general 

The Shape of Things 

Sept. 13 through Oct. 20 

Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St. 

Neil LaBute's love story about two students 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org for reservations 

$26 to $35  

Alarms and Excursions 

Nov. 15 through Dec. 22 

Aurora Theatre Company,  

2081 Addison St. 

Michael Frayn's comedy about the irony of modern technology 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org for reservations 

$26 to $35  

Saturday, July 27 

Rhythm & Muse, Maxine Hong Kingston’s Veterans writing class 

7 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 

Open mic sign-up is 6:30 p.m., readings at 7 p.m. 

352-6643 

Free 

Ongoing 

Open Mike and Featured Poet 

7 to 9 p.m. First Thurs. and second Wed. each month  

Albany Library 1247 Marin Ave. 

526-3720, Ext. 19 

Free 

Poetry Diversified 

First and third Tuesdays,  

7:30 to 9 p.m. 

World Ground Cafe,  

3726 Mac Arthur Blvd., Oakland 

Open mic and featured readers 

Saturday, July 27 

"Hysteria" 

9 p.m. 

TUVA Space, 3192 Adeline St. 

Film by Antero Alli [Best Cult Filmmaker, 2002 - "SF Weekly"] 

$7 

Saturday, August 3 

Jewish Film Festival 

Through Aug. 8 

Wheeler Auditorium 

925-866-9559

When Oakland Tech High megastar Leon Powe announced his plans to play basketball for Cal earlier this week, it was more than a recruiting coup for head coach Ben Braun. It marked the first time since Jason Kidd a decade ago that the Bears lured the top local player to Berkeley, a sign that the program has finally recovered from the shameful Todd Bozeman era. 

Bozeman’s violations are well-documented: he paid recruits’ parents cold cash to attract talent and didn’t take care of business on the academic side. But he also threw a veil of shame over the basketball program, and for all of Braun’s success since taking over, he has a history of losing out on the Bay Area’s top players. El Cerrito’s Drew Gooden headed off to Kansas, Modesto Christian’s Chuck Hayes to Kentucky, and Berkeley’s own Justin Davis skipped across the Bay to the dreaded Stanford Cardinal, a defection of John Walker Lindh proportions.  

Braun instead focused on southern California and the Midwest, where he has roots after bringing Eastern Michigan University a surprising amount of success before coming to Cal. He even grabbed players from Europe, with variable results. The core of the current squad came from the Rockfish, a Los Angeles AAU program that doesn’t get the top dogs of the area. But the inroads into the local kids just weren’t bearing fruit. 

That’s why Powe’s decision is a momentous one for the Cal program. The Bay Area produces some great players, and there’s no reason Cal shouldn’t be the preferred destination for that talent. Great academic opportunities without the admissions handcuffs of Stanford, a solid basketball tradition and revamped facilities are just a few of the amenities the school can offer, yet players like Gooden and Davis barely gave Cal a glance on their way out the door. 

Things started to turn around a bit last year, as Braun signed both Richard Midgely and David Paris out of Modesto Christian High, but neither was the subject of bitter recruiting battles, as Cal was up against schools like St. Mary’s and Cal State Northridge for their services. Powe is another story. The other schools on his short list read like a role call of national champions: Duke, North Carolina and Maryland, with Kansas thrown in for some heartland flavor. Anytime Cal beats those powers for a player, it’s cause for celebration up and down Telegraph Avenue. 

Powe is expected to make an instant impact on the program, the kind of player around whom a coach can build a team. Now the Bears are the front-runner for Powe’s AAU teammate Ayinde Ubaka, at one time thought to be a lock for Arizona and their progression of point guards who end up in the NBA. Ubaka and Marquis Kately, another Cal signee who will spend a year at prep school, just finished leading their Slam ‘N Jam team to a top-four finish at the Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, the top West Coast event of the summer. If Braun can establish a relationship with Slam ‘N Jam, it would give him an in with most of the Bay Area’s best high school players, including three standouts for the class of ‘04. 

Of course, Braun can’t win ‘em all. Vallejo High’s DeMarcus Nelson, one of the top rising juniors in the country, gave his verbal commitment to Duke earlier this year. Of course, this is the same kid who decided to transfer to St. Mary’s High last summer but changed his mind after just two days, so his commitment to Duke may be about as solid as stock advice from an Enron exec. But Cal doesn’t lure players away from Tobacco Road, so there’s no reason for ACC schools to be able to strip-mine the Bay Area for talent without at least some resistance from the Bears. 

Braun has done amazing things with limited players, helping turn Sean Lampley from a marginal recruit into the Pac-10 Player of the Year and reaching the NCAA Tournament last year without a legitimate scoring threat. Last year’s recruiting class was supposed to be his motherlode of talent, but the Julian Sensley fiasco and Jamal Sampson’s burst of NBA optimism put the kibosh on that. If Powe qualifies academically and Ubaka joins him at Haas Pavilion along with super-talented classmates Kately, Wesley Washington and Dominic McGuire, Braun would have the personnel to play with any team in the country. What more could a Cal fan ask for than local kids in blue and gold taking on the Dukes of the world?

Everything was going to be all right. Now it’s uncertain. 

In March, voters elected two allies of County Superintendent Sheila Jordan to the county board of education, including Berkeley delegate Jacki Fox Ruby. Many predicted the highprofile rift between the superintendent and board would come to an end, and that the county office would be out of the headlines. 

But not so. A nasty fight over the office’s $30 million 2002-2003 budget, a critical report by the Alameda County Civil Grand Jury and a looming computer software liability that could approach $2 million has disturbed the calm. 

The county office, which has broad jurisdiction over 18 local school districts and is directly responsible for six county education programs for “at-risk” students, is no stranger to budget fights. 

Last year, four representatives on the seven-member board squared off with Jordan and the board minority in a brutal, often personal fight over the 2001-2002 budget. The two sides eventually reached a compromise and passed the budget a month-and-a-half late.  

This year, Jordan submitted a $30 million budget to the board for its consideration. The board voted 5-2 on June 25 to approve the budget, with about $500,000 in revisions, a week before the state’s July 1 deadline. 

The board decided, among other things, to withhold $217,000 in payments to vendors until the district audited all of its contracts and to place a cap on salaries for administrators. 

The board majority painted the revisions as responsible oversight. But Jordan viewed the move as a hostile swipe at her authority.  

After the meeting, the superintendent declined to submit the June 25 budget to the state, preferring to wait until the two new members of the board, elected in March, took office in early July. 

The new board, aligned 5-2 in favor of Jordan, stripped the $500,000 in revisions made by the old board and passed the budget originally submitted by Jordan. The board also decided to place a series of policies approved by the old board under review. 

Jordan’s opponents have cried foul. 

“It was quite shocking to me,” said board member Gay Plair Cobb, discussing Jordan’s refusal to file the June 25 budget. “That’s a budget that was worked on for 12 months.” 

But Jordan said the move was appropriate given that new members of the board – Fox Ruby and Yvonne Cerrato, who represents Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore – had expressed interest in reviewing the budget. 

Fox Ruby, who unseated Jerome Wiggins – Jordan’s chief opponent on the board – defended the superintendent’s decision. She said the budget process should include newly-elected members. 

“There was an election. There was a reason one of the board members was defeated,” Fox Ruby said. “Get real.” 

But Wiggins said the budget reversal is simply evidence that the board has been “bought and paid for by Sheila Jordan,” making reference to the superintendent’s heavy contributions to the Fox Ruby campaign. 

Jordan has repeatedly asserted that she did not support Fox Ruby to gain control of the board, arguing that the new representative has an independent voice. 

The budget flap coincided with the release of an Alameda County Civil Grand Jury report that, among other things, found the county board ill-trained on budget matters and the administration in violation of a policy requiring it to bring contracts in excess of $25,000 before the board for review. 

Mike Lenahan, the county’s associate superintendent for business services, said the county is working to implement the contracts policy better.  

He said compliance with the policy, and the county’s general handling of contracts, has improved markedly since the office hired a half-time purchasing agent a year ago. 

But perhaps the most pressing concern for the county is a potential financial liability incurred through a 1997 “joint powers agreement” with 10 districts in its jurisdiction. 

Under the agreement, according to Lenahan, the county and the districts formed an independent agency to make a joint purchase of software that tracks student attendance and demographics. 

County officials declined to offer specifics on what went wrong with the deal because there may be litigation involved. But they said poor management of the agreement, inked by Jordan’s predecessor, may end up leaving the county with heavy expenses. 

Cobb says the staff has estimated a liability as high as $2 million for the county, but Lenahan said that number is too high. He declined to offer another figure. 

Jordan would not go into detail, but said the county’s finances are not jeopardized by the liability. 

Cobb said the county’s auditor, Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co., with offices in Pleasanton, has failed to include the item in its reports to the state Department of Education the past two years, suggesting that the auditor may be liable. 

Vavrinek, Trine did not immediately return calls for comment. 

Despite the recent turmoil, Fox Ruby said she hopes the newly-constituted board will be less divisive than its predecessor and make important strides for students. 

“If we are to raise the achievement level of all kids in Alameda County, we must establish a collaborative model for working together as board members,” she said.

To the Editor: 

It sure makes me sad to see the public safety communications tower being treated as an esthetics issue (‘City considers felling new communications tower,’ July 26). 

If the tower is so ugly, what about the gas station down the street? Why should we have those billboards with stupid ads up on the roofs of beautiful Berkeley? 

Isn't the McDonalds “chicken fingers” sign ugly? I think so. 

What's especially esthetically offensive to me is all the honking traffic at Shattuck and University. Can’t we move that somewhere else? It's ugly. 

When I look at the tower, I see a communications link, which might use radio to dispatch aid to someone in trouble – might even be me. 

I must be esthetically insensitive. To me, public safety is way more important than appearances. 

Steve Geller 

Berkeley  

“I don’t have any really good stories to tell,” said experimental film artist Alfonso Alvarez while sitting outside his garage-cum-studio in Berkeley earlier this week. “I’m more interested in the act of seeing than the act of telling a story.” 

Alvarez is part of a loose community of artists working with film as a sensory medium rather than a narrative one. His abstract work and his film projector performances have taken him from the Fine Arts Cinema in downtown Berkeley to the Ann Arbor Film Festival in Michigan where, last spring, a contingent of Bay Area experimental artists arrived en masse. 

His work layers film on top of film and slips images off their anchors. Through optical printing and hand processing he can beat celluloid to within an inch of its life down to shadows of shape and color, and in doing so knocks its figures out of this world. It tickles the eyeball. 

In “My Good Eye” (1995), a piece commissioned by the Lollapalooza traveling music circus, he rapidly juxtaposed images of flowers and city traffic and a cable car turn-around and film leader together to form what he calls a “retinal massage.” 

“We see things simultaneously. We make connections all the time. Our lives are not linear narratives,” said Alvarez, challenging the sanctity of characters and plot development. In his films, he says, “There is a collapse of those things into a medium.” 

The way that abstract image making (both in film and, by extension, painting) takes objects and figures out of any real-world context can be confusing to one viewer or sublime to another. His film “La Reina,” a sequence of densely-manipulated cresting waves that might be the rippling cosmos or could be the folds of a carnation ends with a parade for “La Reina de Guadalupe,” a ritual for the miraculous apparition of the Virgin Mary in a Mexican village. 

Alvarez said his friend and colleague Greta Snider, a prominent local, short- and avant garde-filmmaker (and one who is not usually given to ecstatic revelations) told him that watching “La Reina” was close to a religious experience. Alvarez hesitated to accept religiosity in his work, but acknowledged spirituality in his color whorls and splotchy frames. 

A few years ago Snider premiered a film memorial to her father, “Flight,” created with ray-o-grams, a process that puts objects directly onto photographic paper and exposes them to light. An artist who is not usually associated with hand-processed filmmaking, Snider came close to rendering the familiar sublime through an attempt to turn the material – her father’s worldly possessions – into pure light. 

The newest work by Alvarez – also a memorial to his father – finds him moving in the opposite direction. The abstract artist comes close to being downright representational. “Calling All Cars” is him restraining his “collapsing” style of dense hand processing. It is very nearly linear. It will be a part of a program of short films showing 8 p.m. June 30 at Independent Exposure, a monthly microcinema, at 111 Minna St. Gallery in San Francisco.

OAKLAND – Eric Musselman has youth, boundless energy and a willingness to be patient. 

He’ll need all three qualities to turn around the Golden State Warriors, who made him the NBA’s youngest head coach on Friday. 

The 37-year-old son of former NBA coach Bill Musselman was an assistant with Atlanta the past two seasons. He’ll lead a team that hasn’t made the playoffs or posted a winning record since 1994 – but the daunting challenge only excites a coach who began breaking down game film of his new team even before he got the job. 

“From the moment my mother gave birth to me, I’ve understood what the coaching world is all about,” Musselman said. “I understand the pressure of coaching in the best league in the world, and I’m ready for it.” 

Musselman, the Warriors’ eighth coach since 1994, agreed to a three-year contract worth about $4.5 million. Assistant coaches Phil Hubbard and Mark Osowski will be retained, and another veteran NBA assistant will be added. 

Though his previous NBA experience is limited to assistant positions with the Hawks, Orlando and Minnesota, Musselman was considered one of the league’s most promising coaching prospects. His hiring is a calculated risk by the Warriors, whose last five coaches had previous NBA coaching experience. 

“We talked to some terrific people, but there are times when you leave an interview and that bell rings — it just clicks,” Warriors general manager Garry St. Jean said. “He’s prepared, he’s organized, and he’s motivated to succeed. We’re going to go through this thing together.” 

Musselman has extensive head coaching experience from the CBA, where the 5-foot-8 former San Diego guard won 270 games over seven seasons and first became known as a fiery motivator and a hard worker. He built that reputation as an assistant to Chuck Daly and Doc Rivers in Orlando and Lon Kruger in Atlanta. 

“He seems like he’ll give us a good direction for the team,” Warriors center Adonal Foyle said. “I like the way he spoke about improving our defense.” 

Musselman, who turns 38 on Nov. 19, is 108 days younger than Seattle’s Nate McMillan. He becomes the NBA’s seventh coach younger than 43, continuing a league-wide trend of hiring coaches closer in age to their increasingly young rosters. 

“I wanted this job very badly,” Musselman said. “I think it’s a good fit for a young coach. I’ll grow along with the players.” 

Musselman’s greatest task might be learning how to lose constructively. He was extremely successful at every stop in the CBA and USBL, but just like his father, Musselman is known for an extreme drive to succeed that could take a pounding during another losing campaign for the Warriors. 

“As these people got close to hiring me, that’s something that came up,” Musselman said. “If you’re not a competitor, that drives me even more crazy than losing. As long as we’re competitive and hard-working, I’ll be happy.” 

St. Jean, also one of Golden State’s five coaches in the past 32 months, chose Musselman over interim coach Brian Winters to lead a team that’s expected to have at least six players younger than 23 on its roster this fall. 

After taking over for the fired Dave Cowens last December, Winters led Golden State through the final 59 games of Golden State’s third straight season with at least 60 losses. The Warriors went 21-61, missing the playoffs for a league-worst eighth consecutive season since owner Chris Cohan gained control of the team. 

The Warriors have a dismal recent history, but Musselman was attracted to their impressive stockpile of young talent. Golden State has drafted six players in the first 30 picks of the past two drafts, including budding star Jason Richardson and Mike Dunleavy, the third overall pick last month. 

Bill Musselman died of cancer two years ago while serving as an assistant to Dunleavy’s father, Mike, with the Portland Trail Blazers. 

Musselman’s resume is covered with stops along the backroads and minor leagues of professional basketball. He’s the latest CBA coach to move from the former top developmental league to a top NBA job, following the lead of former CBA coaches Phil Jackson, George Karl and Flip Saunders. 

Musselman coached the CBA’s Florida Beach Dogs from 1990-97, going 270-122 and sending 24 players to the NBA after becoming the youngest head coach in league history at 24. He also coached in the USBL for two seasons, going 54-3 with the Florida Sharks from 1995-96.

Berkeley’s planning commission criticized city planners Wednesday for making changes to the city housing policy that could limit citizen participation in the approval process of proposed developments. 

The revision to the city’s housing element, part of the city’s governing General Plan, came at the request of City Council before the document was sent for state approval in April. 

Commissioners said changes made to the housing element, specifically the appendix, did not reflect the council’s vision. Rejecting a proposed development on the grounds that it is a “detriment” to the community might become more difficult, according to the commission. 

“There are a substantial number of changes in policy on housing that the council didn’t approve,” said Zelda Bronstein, the commission chair. 

But city planners disagreed. 

Steve Barton, housing department director, said the appendix revisions were technical and did not alter established policies in the housing element or weaken citizens’ rights. 

Barton also said the controversy has spawned unfair accusations at staff that could make the city’s ability to retain staff difficult.  

“Attacks on staff turn procedural flaws into mountains,” said Barton, referring to an unnamed letter addressed to state regulators that accused housing employees of unlawfully altering city housing policy. 

The housing element spells out Berkeley’s housing policy and serves as the blueprint for future residential development.  

The appendix controversy emerged during a recent Zoning Adjustment Board hearing about a proposed 16-unit development at 1155 Hearst St. The property was zoned to have no more than eight units, but a staff report advised the ZAB to approve the project, citing language in the appendix instead of the main body of the document. 

The report quoted the appendix: “The city needs each of its commercial and residential zones to produce housing in sufficient numbers to accommodate Berkeley’s regional housing needs... .” 

According to Bronstein this language contradicts the housing element approved by City Council. She said the element specifies that large-scale housing developments be concentrated along major transit corridors downtown and in commercial areas, not in residential zones. 

Barton agreed that the staff member erred in basing his recommendation on the appendix, but dismissed the notion that the text could be used by developers to push projects through. 

“The housing element is written to separate the issue of affordability from development, Barton said. “It was not written to take a stand on development.” 

The commissioners were also troubled by the appendix’s discussion of “detriment.” 

Historically, Berkeley has used the concept of detriment to promote resident involvement in planning decisions. If citizens demonstrate that a legal development proposal nevertheless poses a significant “detriment” to the community, the Zoning Adjustment Board can reject the project. 

According to Bronstein, this practice was endorsed in the housing element, but was given a mixed review in the revised appendix. 

In one section, the appendix suggests that Berkeley could produce more housing if housing developments were made into a matter of right, and provided a stronger definition of “detriment.” 

Barton insisted that such language was merely background analysis and did not affect the policy. 

Bronstein disagreed. “It is part of the plan and does signal policy directives,” she said. 

The California Department of Housing and Community Development received the housing element on May 7 and is expected to approve or reject it no later than Aug. 5.  

No matter what the state’s decision, several commissioners have already expressed intentions to review the appendix revisions. 

“We want the appendix to be consistent with the wishes of the community, and we want staff to resume the close relationship with the planning commission we had during our work on the General Plan,” Bronstein said. 

To the Editor: 

I write to add my voice to so many others in the Berkeley community who celebrate Mary Friedman for her exemplary leadership as executive director of Berkeley Public Education Foundation. [Friedman, executive director of the Berkeley Public Education Foundation for 19 years, will retire Aug. 1.] 

Mary's vision and leadership skills built an organization that united a community in the support and celebration of children and educators However, for all of her success in developing funding for Berkeley schools, she has accomplished much more. 

In the process of raising millions of dollars for schools, teachers and children, Mary showed all of us that when our government fails to meet its obligations to provide for our most important needs, it is possible to make a vital difference in our community through direct citizen action. It takes endless commitment, and intelligence and a talent for working with others. It also requires the skill to build and staff an organization and imbue it with the capacity to carry on after her departure. 

Mary Friedman's greatest legacy is that of model and mentor, demonstrating to others the path to successful leadership in community activism. In this capacity she serves not just Berkeley but all of Alameda County, for her talents, methods, and contributions are many, visible, and widely recognized. In the field of education, what greater honor can we bestow than to recognize someone as a master teacher. Mary Friedman has been that to all of us, and for that we are grateful. 

Sheila Jordan 

County Superintendent of Schools 

SAN FRANCISCO — More grass-roots than Lollapalooza, more political than Lilith Fair, Ladyfest is a summer festival produced entirely by people proud that their styles of feminism, art and music cannot be easily categorized — or commercialized. 

Appearing in more than a half-dozen cities around the world this year despite no major corporate sponsorship, Ladyfests have created havens for female artists and organizers who feel excluded from male-dominated pop culture. 

“For a lot of us in the punk rock scene we get harassed at the door and in the clubs, then you see some stupid boy band on the stage,” said Allison Wolfe, whose band Bratmobile is playing Ladyfest Bay Area. “This space felt much more shared.” 

Some call Ladyfest an “anti-Lilith Fair.” But Wolfe, who was instrumental in starting the first festival two years ago in Olympia, Wash., rejects the comparison. 

“I don’t want to have Ladyfest pitted against Lilith Fair,” she said. “I really do appreciate the space that it created.” 

Ladyfest organizers have invited “pro-woman people” of all genders, ages, shapes and sizes — but the event also has drawn some backlash. 

“We talked to a couple of filmmakers who didn’t want to be premiered at Ladyfest because they didn’t want to be pigeonholed,” said Lara Warren, organizer of the Los Angeles Ladyfest set for in November, which will feature a West Coast film premiere. 

The planning for San Francisco’s five-day festival, which runs through Sunday, began last October, mostly in people’s living rooms. There were 40 volunteers in 10 committees and no hierarchies. 

They pulled together more than 30 bands, 12 film screenings, visual arts galleries, spoken-word performances, and 50 workshops with topics ranging from transgender issues and knitting to “How to Be An Ethical Slut.” 

“I think it speaks to the power of feminist culture at this moment. We have the energy to produce the world we want for ourselves,” said Kyla Schuller, one of the organizers. “It’s filling a really crucial gap of noncommercial entertainment and politics.” 

The first Ladyfest came out of a reunion of people from the 1990s Riot Grrrl movement of punk rock feminists. There hasn’t been another event in Olympia since, but that was the point — organizers hoped others would take the idea and run with it. 

They got their wish. 

In 2001, events emerged in Chicago, New York, Bloomington, Ind., and Glasgow, Scotland. This year has seen festivals in Lansing, Mich., and Ontario, Canada, with more events scheduled for Washington, D.C., Amsterdam, London, Atlanta, among other cities.

An accident involving a young teenager and a car on Ashby Avenue Wednesday (see sidebar) occurred just one night after Berkeley City Council approved a new pedestrian safety measure for the November ballot.  

The measure calls for a special property tax to fund the maintenance and installation of pedestrian safety improvements starting July 1, 2003. 

Police said the 13-year-old boy is recovering from cuts and abrasions. He was one of at least three serious crashes this year. In May and June, two men were killed by cars on Addison Street and Adeline Street. Last year, a woman was killed by a cement truck at Shattuck and Hearst avenues. Residents have pleaded for the city to find ways to make the streets safer.  

“Berkeley receives no annual funds for pedestrian safety, and this proposed tax will provide the city with a way to fund such improvements,” said Wendy Alfsen, Coordinator of Walk and Roll Berkeley, a pedestrian safety group. 

For property owners with a 1,900-square-foot home, the new tax would amount to $24.70 a year. Owners of a 3,000-square-foot home would pay $39 a year and owners of a 10,000-square-foot home would pay $130 per year. 

Plans for maintenance funded by this tax include accessibility upgrades for the disabled, lighted crosswalks and traffic circles.  

Dave Campbell, president of the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition, sees these improvements, traffic circles particularly, as having positive affects not only for pedestrians, but for cyclists and drivers.  

“They [traffic circles] slow traffic down, which makes it safer for everyone” Campbell said. 

Also part of the improvements are pedestrian countdown signals and bulbouts – extended curbs which increase pedestrian visibility when crossing busy streets. 

“The city has to make it a priority to improve places where people are being injured and killed,” Alfsen said. 

In the 2000 Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Report (BAPS), Berkeley had the highest number of pedestrian and bicycle injuries and deaths out of 44 California cities of similar size. 

On a statewide level, children younger than 15 make up 26.5 percent of pedestrian injuries, and 28.8 percent of all bicycle injuries and deaths, according to the 2000 Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), a report put out by the California Highway Patrol.  

Campbell said he has seen a decline in bike use in the city, even in short commutes. 

“Many people drive a mile or mile-and-a-half out of concern for their safety.” Campbell said. “If the streets were safer, more people would ride.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A new tune about John Walker Lindh by Nashville singer-songwriter Steve Earle has kicked up a fight between critics who feel he’s unpatriotic and defenders who consider him provocative. 

The song, “John Walker’s Blues,” is not due for release until September. It describes Lindh as “an American boy raised on MTV” who sought out another culture because he felt alienated from his native country. 

“If my daddy could see me now — chains around my feet/He don’t understand that sometimes a man/Has to fight for what he believes,” Earle sings. 

Lindh, a 21-year-old Californian captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, pleaded guilty this month to fighting alongside the Taliban militia. In return, prosecutors dropped the most serious charges against him, saving him from a possible death sentence. He is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in prison in October. 

In a story Sunday, the New York Post charged that the song glorifies Lindh. Nashville radio personality Steve Gill said on CNN Tuesday that Earle was trying “to be outrageous to attract attention.” 

“We’re within a one-year period of the attacks on America, and I think it’s too early for a song like this,” Gill said. “He is free to put this song out there, and the American people are free to say ’No thank you’ when it comes to buying it.” 

“John Walker’s Blues” represents a change in the popular music world in how it responds to the war on terrorism. Until now, most offerings have been stirring calls to arms — “Freedom” by Paul McCartney, “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American)” by Toby Keith — with Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” a doleful, reflective alternative. 

Bruce Springsteen’s upcoming album, “The Rising,” is suffused with stories about the aftermath of Sept. 11. Yet it also contains a song, “Paradise,” written in part from a suicide bomber’s perspective.

A 13-year-old Berkeley resident was struck by a car Wednesday night at the 1300 block of Ashby Avenue, just west of Mabel Street. 

The boy, whose name is being withheld by police because of his age, was riding his bike eastbound on Ashby on the south sidewalk.  

While crossing the street through stopped traffic, the boy was struck by a westbound car moving 15 mph to 20 mph, police said. The boy was riding with two friends, both who crossed safely. The cyclist was taken to Children’s Hospital in Oakland where he was treated for a broken rib, air in his chest, an abrasion and lacerations to his neck and left wrist.  

The police department would not give the driver’s name and would not say whether any arrests were made. Police would not say if the cyclist was wearing a helmet.

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court declined to reinstate a lawsuit from Mattel Inc. alleging the rock song “Barbie Girl” infringed on the toy-maker’s doll patent. 

Mattel sued MCA Records Inc. and others who helped produce and market the song, which includes the phrase, “I’m a blond bimbo girl in a fantasy world.” The maker of Barbie claimed the song by the Danish band Aqua violated Mattel’s copyright and that the song confused consumers into thinking Mattel backed the Top 40 composition. 

MCA also sued Mattel for defamation while the lawsuit was pending. Mattel, the court wrote, said MCA’s alleged trademark violation was a “crime.” 

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court that threw out the defamation suit and the trademark lawsuit. 

“The parties are advised to chill,” Judge Alex Kozinski wrote for the three-judge panel.

Today’s Highlight in History: 

On July 27, 1953, the Korean War armistice was signed at Panmunjom, ending three years of fighting. 

On this date: 

In 1794, French revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre was overthrown and placed under arrest; he was executed the following day. 

In 1960, Vice President Nixon was nominated for president at the Republican national convention in Chicago. 

In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 to recommend President Nixon’s impeachment on a charge that he had personally engaged in a “course of conduct” designed to obstruct justice in the Watergate case. 

In 1996, terror struck the Atlanta Olympics as a pipe bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park, killing one person and injuring more than 100. 

Today’s Birthdays: TV producer Norman Lear is 80. Rhythm-and-blues singer Harvey Fuqua is 73. Actor Jerry Van Dyke is 71.

The Berkeley Chamber of Commerce announced Thursday that developer John DeClercq will succeed Reid Edwards as chair of the chamber’s board. Edwards is stepping down after a record three-year stint at the helm. 

The Chamber also awarded Councilmember Polly Armstrong and developer Patrick Kennedy with community service awards.  

The announcements were made to 230 people who attended the Chamber’s 102nd annual dinner at the Radisson Hotel on the Berkeley Marina.  

DeClercq, who has been a board member for four years, is the senior vice president of Berkeley-based Transaction Financial Corp., a for-profit development company. TFC renovated the Hinks Building, which opened in 1990 and now houses a number of businesses, including the Shattuck 10 Cinemas, Mel’s Diner and the Habitat Children’s Museum. 

He is currently seeking city approval for a 176-unit project at 2020 Kittridge St., in the downtown, called Library Gardens. 

DeClercq said he will use his new position to encourage businesses to work the basics. 

“Some people think you have to look outside the box for creative and innovative solutions,” he said. “I will encourage businesses to take an inside-the-box approach or more back-to-basics approach.” 

He said businesses should concentrate on keeping tidy storefronts, providing good customer service and maintaining product quality control.  

He added that even though the current economic climate is bleak, business owners should continue to be active in the community. 

“We need to be generous with our time and dollars especially now when it hurts,” he said. 

DeClercq takes over for Edwards who has been chairman for the last three years. Mayor Shirley Dean credited Edwards with increasing the chamber’s interaction with community representatives and city staff.  

Dean said the chamber’s voice is important because the business community generates 22 percent of the city’s general fund.  

“You would not have the services that Berkeley needs without a strong business community,” she said. “Without them you wouldn’t have after-school programs, police services, senior centers and filled pot holes.” 

Edwards, who will remain a member of the board, has been a longtime employee at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where he was recently promoted to head of public affairs. 

The Chamber awarded Councilmember Polly Armstrong with the Chairman’s Award to recognize her contributions to public service and the business community during her three terms on the City Council. 

Armstrong, who announced she will not seek re-election this November, said she was surprised to receive the award. 

“I was shocked, surprised and very pleased with the award,” she said. “It’s nice to have the work you do for the community recognized.” 

Developer Patrick Kennedy was this year’s recipient of the Community Service Award for building 321 housing units in Berkeley. Kennedy’s company Panoramic Interests built 233 of those units in the last 12 years. Kennedy said that 55 of them are for low- to moderate-income tenants.  

Kennedy, who is no stranger to controversy, has been criticized by some neighborhood groups and affordable housing advocates who say his developments are too big and don’t provide enough affordable housing.  

Kennedy, who has been Berkeley’s most prolific developer for many years, argued that his company is the only company to consistently overcome the ingrained anti-development sentiment and provide new housing in a city that suffers a chronic housing shortage.  

Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rachel Ruppert agreed. 

“The reason Patrick received the award is because against all odds, he has been able to provide this community with something this community really needs – housing,” she said. 

Kennedy, who has been on the chamber’s board for the last two years, said he was shocked to be named for the award. He said it’s not often that development issues are recognized as public service. 

“I feel like I do good things for this town by providing much needed housing,” he said.  

Kennedy added that as a developer, being in a room full of friendly people was an unfamiliar feeling to him. 

“Usually when I’m in a room where that many people are assembled they are there to vilify me or oppose one of my projects,” he said. 

In addition to the awards, the Chamber of Commerce announced two scholarships to Berkeley Graduates Jennifer Aquino and Adaku Ude. The Zonta International Club also presented Betty Loftesness with the outstanding contribution to good fellowship for her 12 years at the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce.

NEW YORK — Wall Street finished a tumultuous week on an upbeat note Friday, with stocks posting a solid advance and raising hopes that after more than two months of selling, the worst of the market’s decline might be over. The gain helped the Dow Jones industrials achieve their biggest weekly advance in 10 weeks. 

“We are starting to get investor interest back into the marketplace,” said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. 

The week, which saw the Dow make its second largest one-day point gain, also marked the first time since July 1-5 that the Dow, the Nasdaq composite index and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index all had two winning sessions. 

The Dow closed up 78.08, or nearly 1 percent, at 8,264.39. The blue chips ended the week up 3 percent, their best showing since they rose 4.2 percent the week of May 17. 

The market’s other major indexes also advanced Friday. The Nasdaq rose 22.03, or 1.8 percent, to 1,262.11. The S&P 500 advanced 14.16, or 1.7 percent, 852.84. 

But the week was mixed for the broad market with the Nasdaq falling 4.3 percent and the S&P 500 rising 0.6 percent. The three indexes have not all had a weekly gain since May 17. 

Analysts believe that investors — both individual and institutional — are beginning to feel more at ease after driving prices to five-year lows over the past 10 weeks. But investors are still tentative as the market’s steep declines are still fresh. 

“There is a belief that there is a near-term bottom in place and that has bolstered some confidence,” said Jeff Kleintop, chief investment strategist for PNC Financial Services Group in Philadelphia. 

Mutual fund managers, Kleintop said, “feel more comfortable with their cash flows, that investors aren’t going to pull money out, and the valuations make them feel excited about doing some buying.” 

Analysts said the lower prices are going to be the biggest factor in getting investors back into the market. But, at the same time, the buying won’t be long lasting unless investors’ confidence in corporate bookkeeping is restored. 

Substantial progress toward rebuilding sentiment was made Wednesday when executives from Adelphia Communications were arrested for allegedly looting the company. And, House and Senate negotiators on Wednesday agreed on legislation that would create tougher penalties for corporate fraud. The Dow soared 488 points, its second biggest one-day point gain ever. 

“All of that is part of the process that instills confidence back in the system,” Hogan said. “It feels like we are at a juncture where people want to get back into the game.” 

Among Friday’s winners, Dow industrial Microsoft rose $2.52 to $45.35 on news it would increase by 22 percent its sales force dedicated to its SQL Servers, according to Dow Jones Newswires. 

Qualcomm advanced 34 cents to $25.99 on profits that were two cents a share higher than expectations. 

Chip equipment makers advanced after Goldman Sachs upgraded several companies, noting that “while fundamentals are not likely to improve in the near-term, we believe that funds flow and seasonality may drive a meaningful move in the stocks.” 

Novellus rose 30 cents to $24.60, and Applied Material gained 9 cents to $14.32. 

Pfizer rose $1.39 to $29.46 after Lehman Brothers said in a research note that it was the strongest drug stock. 

Analysts expect investors in the coming weeks to do more buying, enticed by lower stock prices after more than two month of heavy selling brought issues to values not seen since 1997. 

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners more than 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was light. 

The Russell 2000 index, the barometer of smaller company stocks, rose 4.14, or 1.1 percent, to 382.25. 

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average finished Friday down 3.4 percent. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.3 percent, France’s CAC-40 gained 0.7 percent, and Germany’s DAX index advanced 1.7 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com 

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com 

SAN DIEGO — Pearle Vision, one of the nation’s largest eyeglass retailers, has filed a lawsuit challenging a California law that bars out-of-state companies from selling eyewear and providing eye exams at the same location. 

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in San Diego Superior Court in response to a lawsuit filed against the Ohio-based company in February by California authorities. 

Pearle Vision and its affiliate, Pearle Visioncare Inc., claim the California ban is unconstitutional and stifles competition. 

In California, retail eyeglass sellers may not control optometrical services. Attorney General Bill Lockyer has said the law is aimed at ensuring customers receive quality eye care without being pressured to buy eyewear. 

In February, Lockyer accused Pearle Vision of offering low-cost eye exams to lure customers into its stores to boost eyeglass sales. The company also was accused of practicing optometry without a license, deceptive marketing and unfair business practices. 

Under a preliminary injunction issued on July 11, Pearle Vision has modified its advertising to clarify that optometrists conducting eye exams are employed by Pearle Visioncare. 

The issue of whether eye exams and eyeglasses can be offered at the same location by an out-of-state company remains in question. 

Pearle Vision’s lawsuit claims the California ban is “irrational” and favors in-state optometrists. The law also results in greater costs and inconvenience for consumers, it says. 

Pearle Vision, based in Twinsburg, Ohio, operates 24 retail stores in California and has more than 850 stores nationwide. 

SAN FRANCISCO — An assembly of West Coast longshoremen has given union negotiators the power to call a strike vote, though no action is imminent since talks with shipping lines have been postponed until mid August. 

The talks affect a contract that covers 29 major Pacific ports from San Diego to Seattle, which this year are projected to handle $300 billion worth of cargo. 

About 80 rank-and-file members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union met here this week and unanimously rejected a contract proposal by shipping lines. The assembly spent Thursday preparing a response, which included extending the current contract until Aug. 13, the next time negotiators will meet. 

In addition, the delegates took the proactive step of empowering union negotiators to call a strike vote. Usually, negotiators must request that authorization. 

The message, union spokesman Steve Stallone said Friday, was that “something like a strike vote may be necessary and negotiators should be prepared to do it if they need to.” 

It would take three to five weeks for the 10,500-member union to execute a mail-in strike vote, according to Stallone. 

“They’re not interested in calling for it immediately, but they want to be able to do it if they need to,” he said. “We’re working under a better contract than they have on the table. We can just sit on this right now.” 

The contract officially expired July 1. Both sides have renewed it on a stop-gap basis since to keep goods flowing along the West Coast waterfront, even as each started charging the other with bad-faith tactics. 

The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents dozens of shipping lines at the table, greeted news of the delay with dismay. 

“Delay will not bring us any closer to an agreement,” Joseph Miniace, chief executive officer of the association, said Friday in a written statement. “It will only cause uncertainty for our economy and for the millions of U.S. workers whose jobs depend on West Coast trade.” 

“It is hard to imagine what could be more important to the members of the ILWU than getting back to the table and securing a new contract,” Miniace said. 

In an interview, Miniace said he was less bothered by word of the strike authorization power, calling it “neither unusual nor unexpected.” 

Miniace has said that a proposal he made Sunday, which over five years would have increased longshoremen’s overall compensation by 17 percent — was fair and reasonable. 

Union delegates objected to the association’s proposals on health care and how to preserve union jobs as shipping lines introduce new technology to make the docks more efficient — but also some union jobs obsolete. 

With Pacific Rim trade projected to double in the next decade, shipping lines complain West Coast ports won’t be able to keep up unless they catch up with their more automated Asian peers. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.ilwu.org/main.htm 

http://www.pmanet.org/ 

A new study of San Francisco Bay Area passenger ferries finds that unless new passenger ferries using cleaner fuels or advanced emission control technologies are put in service, overall air quality in the region will suffer. 

The study by a transportation technologies consortium notes that technologies capable of delivering reductions of 85 to 98 percent below EPA regulations affecting new ferries beginning in 2007 are needed to ensure that ferry commutes contribute less to regional pollution than on-land travel. 

“This report found that ferries are not as clean as we thought but the good news is that the technology exists to make them cleaner,” said John Boesel, president of CALSTART, the consortium that conducted the study, entitled “Passenger Ferries, Air Quality, and Greenhouse Gases: Can System Expansion Result in Fewer Emissions in the San Francisco Bay Area?” 

According to the consortium, existing technology required for on-road vehicles far surpasses what is currently required and used in the marine sector for ferries. 

Under current regulations, emissions for new diesel engines in buses and heavy-duty on-road vehicles must be significantly reduced beginning in October, with further reductions set to take effect by 2007. 

As a result, the report concludes that unless new ferries use advanced emission control technologies or natural gas engines that go well beyond the current EPA marine standards, they will be contributing to the region's air quality problems. 

Boesel said passenger ferries must take advantage of clean fuels such as natural gas or advanced emission control technologies. He said, too, that the vehicles people drive to and from the ferry terminals contribute to air pollution tied to ferry travel.  

The U.S. Department of Energy Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Department of Transportation Global Climate Change Task Force and the Gas Technology Institute financed the study. 

Disney has taken the most corn-pone of all theater cliches — “We gotta put on a show!” — and turned it into a foot-stomping, crowd-pleasing, heartwarming G-rated romp with the animals in “The Country Bears.” 

More than 75 million people have seen The Country Bears Jamboree, one of the most popular attractions for decades at Disney parks. Disney has now expanded the old franchise by creating a film that parents can take their littlest ones to and not fight off seat-rot or mind-numbing boredom. 

Three aspects of “The Country Bears” make the movie: a catchy soundtrack with at least three show-stopping musical routines, a scattering of comic touches aimed straight at parents, and goofy, slapstick humor that appeals to audiences age 2 and up. 

Christopher Walken is screamingly arch as the villainous banker who wants to tear down Country Bear Hall. 

Daryl “Chill” Mitchell and Diedrich Bader are two modern-day Keystone Cops, guaranteed never to get their man, even if he is an 11-year-old boy bear. Their car-wash chase scene rates with the classics of comedy, so simple and yet so stupid. You don’t really want to laugh, but you must. 

Haley Joel Osment is sufficiently earnest as Beary, the young bear who realizes he must leave his human family to reunite “The Country Bears” rock group and save the hall they made so famous. So much for the plot. 

Jennifer S. Paige, as a winsome waitress, and singers Krystal Marie Harris and Brian Setzer engagingly belt out the big songs — seven of them written by John Hiatt — that keep everyone awake in a dark theater. 

Older kids (we are talking 7- to 8-year-olds) can identify with Beary’s human brother Dex (Eli Marienthal), who is amazed that his parents will not just admit that his younger brother is a bear. 

While the bears specialize in slow-motion, pun-filled humor, screenwriter Mark Perez did not forget the adults who drove his audience to the movie. 

“They are great. They were always great!” Bonnie Raitt says to Hiatt, as they sit at a bar admiring the bears who are singing with their voices. 

“Better than the Eagles,” Hiatt adds. 

The bus sign reads “Hiber Nation Tour,” a dissolute rocker bear has a “sticky honey” problem, a former lover “took off with a panda” and Beary innocently asks his human parents “Am I adopted?” 

The audience screeches out “Yes!” 

Tremendous effort went into making and operating such realistic bear costumes, and costume designer Genevieve Tyrrell added some eye-catching fashions, my favorite being the “wedding singer bear” outfit. 

“Beary, beary good!” one father chortled as he herded his crew home. 

“The Country Bears” is released by Disney. It runs 88 minutes and is rated G. Three and a half stars for the G crowd. 

NEW YORK — CBS ”60 Minutes II” correspondent Scott Pelley landed a big exclusive when President Bush agreed to an interview about the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

The interview will be shown during the network’s Sept. 11 prime-time coverage, and the White House says it’s the only interview the president is giving to mark the anniversary. 

Pelley, who will interview Bush in the Oval Office and in Air Force One, aims to produce a video version of a series done by The Washington Post reconstructing the administration’s response in the hours and days after the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked. 

“It would have been attractive under any circumstance,” Pelley said Friday. “But the fact that this is going to be an exclusive interview with the president ... raises the stakes of this enormously and raises the profile of this broadcast enormously.” 

Pelley lobbied White House officials relentlessly over nine months for the access, including speaking to the president about it three times, before getting his answer. 

The White House saw it as an opportunity for reflection in a serious broadcast, while spreading access around (since the president spoke earlier this year to NBC’s Tom Brokaw and ABC’s Claire Shipman). 

CBS and ABC are devoting all of their prime-time air Sept. 11 to news coverage of the anniversary. NBC is offering a mixture of news and a Kennedy Center concert that will feature an appearance by first lady Laura Bush. 

Pelley said CBS hoped to make its broadcast the definitive video record of that historic day. He’ll also have access to other top administration officials to reflect on the events of a year earlier. 

“I’d like to think that students ... in the year 2050 will be watching this,” he said. 

City officials are considering dismantling the city’s 170-foot public safety communications tower at 2100 Martin Luther King Way and moving its communications components to the top of the nearby Civic Center. Neighbors say the tower is too big, too ugly and a possible health hazard. 

The communications tower, built in 2000 and activated in February, supports radio communication for all of Berkeley’s emergency services. The new tower, behind the new Public Safety Building, was built to withstand a major earthquake after concerns arose about the strength of the old antenna at the same site. 

The City Council voted Tuesday to increase funding from $50,000 to $93,000 to study two possible alternatives to the 170-foot, three-legged tower that neighbors have nicknamed the “oil rig.” If council elects to proceed with either alternative, city officials estimate the action could cost as much as $500,000. 

One alternative is to disassemble the tower, which is festooned with 14 separate antennas, and move the antennas to the roof of the Civic Center. The second possibility is to split the tower into two, 110-foot “flag pole-style” towers. 

According to the Director of Public Works Renee Cardinaux, if the 14 antennas are moved to the Civic Center’s roof each would likely be 20- to 30-feet tall. 

Council voted 6-2-1 to increase funding to study the alternatives, with Councilmembers Polly Armstrong and Betty Olds voting against it and Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek abstaining. 

Mayor Shirley Dean said she supports the study but is not yet convinced that moving the tower is a good idea.  

“I voted to increase the money for the study but before the tower is moved, I will have to be sure the new design is as functional and secure as the existing one,” she said.  

The feasibility study will be performed by Marco Corporation, which is scheduled to complete the study before the end of the year. 

“The study will show if the alternatives make sense,” Cardinaux said. “The new tower has been in use for several months and it’s doing a great job. Everybody is happy with it.” 

Cardinaux said the Civic Center’s roof may pose a problem because it is close to several tall buildings that could interfere with radio signals. The study will consideration this. 

Councilmember Dona Spring, who represents the district in which the tower sits, said she is glad the city is looking at alternatives. 

“I’m very pleased the city manager is now working with neighbors to try and find a resolution,” she said. 

Councilmember Polly Armstrong, who voted against the tower study, said the money could be better spent on programs other than moving a tower that works.  

“It’s a question of resources,” she said. “You could house three families in new apartments for that kind of money.”  

Shortly after the tower was built in 2000, a six-member committee called Citizen’s Committee on the Public Safety Building Communications Tower was formed to work with city staff to address criticism of the tower. 

The committee argued that the tower blocked views and blighted the Civic Center Park area. It also raised concerns about the electromagnetic waves the tower radiates, believing the emissions could be a health hazard. 

According to city staff, the radio emissions are well below federal safety standards.

About this homeless problem. The poor we have always had with us, and also a certain number of free souls who love fresh air and actually prefer to sleep out in the open, under the stars, at least in summer. But homelessness didn't get to be a major social problem until some time in the 1980s, when the greed of the landlords in raising rents coincided with the greed of employers in holding down wages, and more and more people were caught in the gap between. 

The obvious solution is to close the gap. For starters, we could roll back all rents by 10 percent, and increase all wages by 10 percent. And also, to make sure there are enough jobs for those who want them, let's reduce the workweek by 10 percent, with no reduction in pay and all overtime to be strictly voluntary. The only other essential measure would be to provide adequate medical care for everyone. 

Marion Syrek 

Oakland

’ve dropped by Tuna, Texas, a half dozen times in the past two decades, and on each visit Patsy Cline is still on the radio, Aunt Pearl Burras is still snuffing dogs with strychnine-laced "bitter pills," and Hank Bumiller is still sighting UFOs shaped like giant chalupas after too many drinks down by the bridge. 

And Judge Buckner’s lifeless body is discovered in a Dale Evans swim suit. 

What is Tuna? For those who’ve been blind to theatrical phenomena for the past 20 years, it’s the "third smallest town" in the Lone Star State, though you won’t find it on any map because its dusty streets and off-the-wall denizens spring to life only on stage. 

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Greater Tuna is resting easy at the Curran Theater in San Francisco right now. 

All its inhabitants are played by just two actors, Joe Sears and Jaston Williams. Tuna’s cozy corner of quirky conservatism was invented in 1981 by Sears, Williams and Ed Howard for a small cabaret in Austin, Texas. They called their show Greater Tuna, because its imaginary radio station, OKKK, broadcasts “to the greater Tuna area.” Not surprisingly, that station features public service announcements from the local Klan branch, as well ads for Didi Snavely’s Used Weapon Shop, where every weapon is “guaranteed to kill.” As chain-smoking Didi puts it between cigarettes, “If one of my guns won’t finish it off, it’s immortal.” 

A satire of small town Texas attitudes, Greater Tuna remains hilariously bright and fresh due largely to Sears and Williams’ relaxed, tongue-in-cheek acting. The pair has brought their invention to life more than 3,000 times, yet the 20 or so characters they inhabit – from screechy teens to bullying cops to whining dogs – don’t feel stale. They include the slow-talking radio guys, Thurston Wheelis and Arvis Struvie, who’re never quite sure if they’re on the air. Then there’s the dysfunctional Bumiller clan, headed by Bertha Bumiller [Joe Sears in a lime-green pants suit], whose daughter Charlene [Jaston Williams, sporting pink pompons in a blonde wig] longs to become high school cheerleader next year, even though she’s a senior. We meet animal lover, Petey Fisk, who hopes a deaf person will adopt "a small, shrill dog," and lumbering Aunt Pearl, who crows over a corpse in a coffin, “I said I’d sing over your dead body, and I feel a song coming on!” 

Tuna’s enlightened township features a “Committee for Fewer Blacks in Literature,” and “The Smut Snatchers Society,” which seeks to ban words like “clap,” “knocker,” and “nuts” from dictionaries. Kids at Tuna camp study “Christian biology,” and the annual school essay award winner is, “Human Rights: Why Bother?” 

Could the inventors of Greater Tuna have guessed 20 years ago that it would become a national institution? Evidence that it has strutted the theater lobby opening night, where a cowboy-hatted fan bragged that he’d seen the show 47 times. That may be a tad too many for most people, but you ought to stop by at least once. As Arlis Struvie says at the end of the show, “If you can’t find something you like about Tuna, move!” 

Thursday, July 25 

Midsummer Mozart Festival Orchestra 

8 p.m. 

First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way 

Divertimento in D, Piano concerto No.17, Symphony No. 38 “Prague” 

(415) 292-9624 for tickets 

$25 to 50 

Reorchestra 

8 p.m.  

Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. 

Bringing you live jazz/funk/hip-hop/ecclectic  

grooves to move your body on the dance floor 

Friday, July 26 

Baroque Concert 

Trevor Stephenson; Harpsichord, Elaine Kreston, Cello; Isabelle Metwalli, Soprano 

7 p.m. 

Albany United Methodist Church 

527-6202 or CelloChat@mindspring.com 

$15 for adults, $10 for students, $5 for children 

Ear2theground Punx Presents 

7 p.m. 

Burnt Ramen Studios, Richmond 

Catheter, Brainoil, Municipal Waste, Born/Dead and more. All Ages. 

$5  

Jill Olson 

9:30 p.m.  

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

Album release party for "My Best Yesterday" 

841-2082 

$6 

Ward Churchill CD Release Party 

7 p.m. 

AK Press Warehouse 674-A 23rd St., Oakland 

Come party with Ward and listen to his latest ruminations on Native America, COINTELPRO (the new and old one), Surveillance and The Prison Industrial Complex.  

Free 

Saturday, July 27 

Hope Briggs In Concert 

Accompanied by the Combined Choirs of St. Paul 

4 p.m. 

St. Paul AMEC, 2024 Ashby Ave. 

Free 

Saturday, August 3 

Bata Ketu 

8 p.m.  

Alice Arts Center, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. 

Interplay of Cuban and Brazilian music and dance  

www.lapena.org 

$20 

Atomic Mint 

9 to midnight  

Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

21+ 

Sunday, August 4 

Paula West 

4:30 p.m.  

Jazzschool 2087 Addison St. 

San Francisco's own delightful diva with the Ken Muir Quartet  

845-5373 for reservations  

swing@jazzschool.com or www.jazzschool.com 

$6 to $12 

Sunday, August 11 

Robert Helps Memorial Marathon Concert 

11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Wells Fargo Annex, 2081 Center St. 

A dozen of the best pianists of the Bay join in a marathon tribute to Robert Helps, who died last year. 

665-9099 

Virginia Mayhew 

4:30 p.m.  

Jazzschool 2087 Addison St. 

New York-based saxophonist-featuring Ingrid Jensen, Harvie Swartz-Allison Miller 

845-5373 for reservations  

swing@jazzschool.com or www.jazzschool.com 

$6 to $12 

Wednesday, August 14 

John Sanborn: Film Premiere with Sarah Cahill: Piano Concert 

8 p.m. 

Wells Fargo Annex, 2081 Center St. 

West Coast premiere of Sanborn film, "MMI," with performances on piano by Sarah Cahill. 

665-9496 

"First Anniversary Group Show"  

Reception, 5 to 8 p.m.  

Through Aug. 17  

13 local artists display work ranging from sculpture to mixed media 

Ardency Gallery, Aki Lot, Eighth Street 

836-0831 

"Before and After"  

Reception 4 to 6 p.m.  

Through Sept. 19  

Albany Community Center and Library Galley 1249 Marin Ave. 

Jim Hair's photographs of the San Diego Hells Angels motorcycle chapter from the 1970s  

524-9283  

Thursday, July 25 

Freedom! Now! 

Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery & Headquarters 2055 Center St. 

Reception 6 to 8 p.m. 

July 25 to Aug. 25, Tues. - Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

Commemorates the work of those who struggled for justice and freedom from government/state repression. 

841-2793 

Ongoing 

First Year Anniversary Group Exhibition 

Through Aug. 17 

Ardency Gallery, 709 Broadway, Oakland 

New works from various artists. 

836-0831 

Images of Love and Courtship 

Through Sept. 15 

Gathering Tribes, 1573 Solano Ave. 

Ledger paintings by Michael Horse 

528-9038 

Free 

"Balancing Acts" 

Through Oct. 10 

Gallery 555, 555 12th St. in Oakland City Center 

Oakland's 'Third Thursday' art night features Ann Weber's works made of cardboard. 

http://www.oaklandcitycenter.com.  

Free 

From the Attic: Preserving  

and Sharing our Past 

Through July 26, Thur.-Sat. 1 to 4 p.m. 

Veterans Memorial Building,  

1931 Center St. 

Exhibit shows the 'inside' of museum work 

848-0181 

Free 

The Creation of People’s Park 

Through Aug. 31, Mon. through Thurs., 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fri. 9 to 5 p.m.; Sat. 1 to 5 p.m. Sun. 3 to 7 p.m. 

The Free Movement Speech Cafe, UC Berkeley campus 

A photo exhibition, with curator Harold Adler 

hjadler@yahoo.com 

Free 

"Red Rivers Run Through Us"  

Through Aug. 11, Wed. through Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St.  

Art and writing from Maxine Hong Kingston's veterans' writing group 

644-6893 

Jan Wurm: Paintings and Drawings 

Mon. and Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tues. through Thurs. 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

Flora Hewlett Library at the Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Road 

649-1417 

"New Work: Part 1, The 2001 Kala  

Fellowship Exhibition"  

Through July 31 

Kala Art Institute,  

1060 Heinz Ave. 

Featuring 8 Kala Fellowship winners, printmaking 

Reception 

549-2977 

"New Visions: Introductions '02"  

Works from emerging Californian artists 

Through Aug. 10 

Pro Arts, 461 Ninth St., Oakland 

763-4361 

Free 

Saturday, July 27 

SF Improv 

8 p.m. 

Café Eclectica 1309 Solano Ave.  

“Tales and Tribulations” an improvised show. Come down for an evening of improvised comedy and drama, created on the spot using your suggestion. 

www.sfimprov.com or 527-2344 

Tuesday, July 30 

"Fighting for Clarity" 

7:30 p.m. 

St. John's Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 

Retro Poll, a survey research organization to challenge the corporate media, presents a night of comedy. 

848-3826 

$20 

Friday, August 9 

Once Upon a Mattress 

7:30 p.m. [5 p.m. Sat. & Sun. Aug. 10 and 11] 

Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave.  

A hilarious retelling of "The Princess and the Pea," presented by Stage Door Conservatory, by students grades 5 through 9. 

527-5939 

$8 to $12 

Grease 

Through Aug. 10, Sunday matinees July 28 and Aug. 4 

Contra Costa Civic Theater, 951 Pomona Ave. El Cerrito 

Directed by Andrew Gabel 

524-9132 for reservations 

$17 general, $10 for under 16 and under 

Abingdon Square  

Through July 6, Thur. to Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun. at 7 p.m.  

Julia Morgan Theater for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 

The Shotgun Players,  

directed by Shana Cooper 

704-8210 www.shotgunplayers.org 

$18 regular, $12 students 

Benefactors 

Through Aug. 18, Wed. though Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun. 

2 and 7 p.m. 

Michael Frayn's comedy of two neighboring couple's interactions 

Aurora Theatre Company,  

2081 Addison St. 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org  

for reservations.  

$26 to $35  

The Heidi Chronicles 

Through Aug. 10, Fri. and Sat. 8 p.m. 

Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley present Wendy Wasserstein’s play about change. 

528-5620 

$10 

A Thousand and One Arabian Nights 

Through Sept. 28, Fri. through Sun. 8 p.m.; Sun. 4 p.m. 

Forest Meadows Outdoor Amphitheater, Grand Avenue at the Dominican University, San Raphael 

Marin Shakespeare Company’s presents this classic story with original Arabic music. 

415-499-4488 for tickets 

$12, youth; $20 senior; $22 general 

Cloud Nine 

July 26, 8 p.m. 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, 2025 Addison St. 

Caryl Churchill's topsy-turvy play about race, class, history and sex. 

647-2949 [Box Office] 

The Shape of Things 

Sept. 13 through Oct. 20 

Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St. 

Neil LaBute's love story about two students 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org for reservations 

$26 to $35  

Alarms and Excursions 

Nov. 15 through Dec. 22 

Aurora Theatre Company,  

2081 Addison St. 

Michael Frayn's comedy about the irony of modern technology 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org for reservations 

$26 to $35  

Saturday, July 27 

Rhythm & Muse, Maxine Hong Kingston’s Veterans writing class 

7 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 

Open mic sign-up is 6:30 p.m., readings at 7 p.m. 

352-6643 

Free 

Ongoing 

Open Mike and Featured Poet 

7 to 9 p.m. First Thurs. and second Wed. each month  

Albany Library 1247 Marin Ave. 

526-3720, Ext. 19 

Free 

Poetry Diversified 

First and third Tuesdays,  

7:30 to 9 p.m. 

World Ground Cafe,  

3726 Mac Arthur Blvd., Oakland 

Open mic and featured readers 

Thursday, July 25 

A Place Named Destiny  

7:30 p.m. 

La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 

A documentary about Oakland youth from filmmaker Paul Ginnocchio followed by a discussion with the filmmaker and youth from the film 

597-1619, infor@destinyarts.org, www.destinyarts.org.  

$5 to $15, sliding scale 

Saturday, July 27 

"Hysteria" 

9 p.m. 

TUVA Space, 3192 Adeline St. 

Film by Antero Alli [Best Cult Filmmaker, 2002 - "SF Weekly"] 

$7 

Saturday, August 3 

Jewish Film Festival 

Through Aug. 8 

Wheeler Auditorium 

925-866-9559

Thursday, July 25 

Combat Medic: World War II 

7:30 p.m.  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave.  

Memoir presentation by San Francisco physician John Kerner, describing experiences as a combat medic in World War II.  

843-3533 

Free 

California Landscapes: A Geologist's Perspective 

7 p.m. 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

John Karachewski presents an educational slide show on such amazing places as the Sierra Nevada, Coast Ranges the Great Valley and Cascades 

For more information: 527- 4140. 

Free 

Saturday, July 27 

Test Ride Kestrel Bicycles 

11 a.m.-1 p.m. 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

Pristine Sandusky of Kestrel, a premier manufacturer of high-end, carbon-fiber road and mountain bikes, introduces their latest design. 

Free 

Graywater Workshop  

10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave 

Learn the ins and outs of reusing water with the Guerrilla Graywater Girls 

548-2220 x233  

$10 members, $15 non ( no one turned away for lack of funds) 

Santa Fe Right of Way Path Walk 

10 a.m. 

Meet at the Ohlone Greenway at Cedar St, in Cedar Rose Park. 

A new path opportunity, recently funded by the City Council. 

649-9874, or http://www.internettime.com/path 

"Neon: The Living Flame" 

7:00 p.m.  

Alameda Museum, 2324 Alameda Ave.  

The Alameda Museum presents Michael Crowe, author, and neon artist Karl Hauser 

lecture by Michael Crowe 

748-0796 or 841-8489.  

Members free, non-members $5  

Grand Summer Rummage Sale 

9 a.m. to 4 p.m 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Cedar and Bonita Streets 

A benefit for ANSWER- Act Now to Stop War and End Racism. Donations and volunteers are needed 

(415) 821-6545. 

Sunday, July 28 

Hands-on Bicycle Repair  

11 a.m.-12 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

Learn from an REI bike technician basic repairs such as brake adjustments and fixing a flat. 

(510) 527-4140 Free 

Tuesday, July 30 

The Birdhouse Chronicles: Surviving the Joys of Country Life 

7:30 p.m.  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave.  

Reading and discussion of Cathleen Miller's personal account of moving from San Francisco to Amish Pennsylvania to restore an old house. 

843-3533 

Free 

Wednesday, July 31 

Twilight Tours at UC Botanical Gardens 

(through August 28) 5:30 p.m.  

200 Centennial Drive, Berkeley, CA.  

Tour the garden at twilight with an expert horticulturist every Wednesday. 

643-2755  

Free with garden admission.  

Mountain Adventure Seminars: Introduction to Rock Climbing 

7 p.m.-9 p.m. 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

An introduction to rock climbing including knot tying, belaying and movement. 

For more information: (209) 753-6556 

$115 REI members; $125 non-members 

Thursday, August 1 

Putting it Together 

7:00 p.m. 

Zellerbach Hall, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave. 

Middle school students of Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp perform dance techniques, spoken word, theater. 

Free 

Public Meeting to Plan New National Historic Park in Richmond 

1:30 p.m. 

Richmond Senior Center, 2525 Macdonald Ave. 

Meeting to gather input for National Park Service to prepare plans that will guide development of historic WWII sites in Richmond. 

817-1517 

Free 

Nutrition Career Open House 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Institute of Educational Therapy, 706 Gilman St. 

Become a Nutrition Educator or Nutrition Consultant. 

558-1711 for reservations 

Free 

Saturday, August 3 

Mountain Adventure Seminars: Introduction to Rock Climbing 

8 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

An introduction to rock climbing including knot tying, belaying and movement. 

For more information: (209) 753-6556 

$115 REI members; $125 non-members 

10th Annual Stroll for Epilepsy 

Six Flags Marine World, Vallejo 

The public is invited to join the Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California at Six Flags Marine World for a 5K walk/fundraiser. 

1-800-632-3532 for registration 

Storytelling at the Berkeley  

Public Library 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Library, Central Branch 

2090 Kittredge St. 

Storyteller Joel Ben Izzy will present a variety of stories filled with warmth, humor, drama in the Children's Story Room. 

981-6223 

Sick Plant Clinic 

9 a.m. to Noon  

200 Centennial Drive 

UC Botanical Garden; First Saturday of every month. UC plant pathology and entomology experts will diagnose what ails your plant. 

643 - 2755. 

Not Down With the Lockdown 

Noon to 4 p.m. 

Frank Ogawa Plaza, Broadway and 14th, Oakland 

Hip hop concert, DJs, spoken word and art to protest and resist proposed new Alameda County Juvenile Hall. 

430-9887 

Free 

Sunday, August 4 

Top of the Bay Family Days 

1 to 3 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive, above UC campus 

Enjoy an afternoon outdoor concert in our family picnic area as well as art and science activities and hands-on exhibits inside LHS. 

643-5961 

$8 adults 

Monday, August 5 

National Organization for Women East Bay Chapter monthly  

meeting 

6:30 p.m. 

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 6536 Telegraph Ave. 

Discussion of harassment of females employed by the City of Oakland Fire Department 

Monthly meeting: NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN Oakland 

549-2970, 287-8948  

Arts Education Department Open House 

6:30 to 8:30 p.m. 

Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave, Richmond 

Meet teachers, see studios/galleries, info about classes in the arts. 

620-6772 

Free 

Public Meeting to Plan a New National Park in Richmond 

1:30 p.m. 

Richmond Public Library, Whittlesey Room 

325 Civic Center Plaza (near Macdonald Ave. and 25th St.) 

Meeting to gather input for National Park Service to prepare plans that will guide development of historic WWII sites in Richmond. 

817-1517 

Free 

Saturday, August 10 

Poetry in the Plaza 

2:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library, Central Branch, 2090 Kittredge 

Quarter hour readings by well-known poets, dedicated to June Jordan. 

981-6100 

Free 

Tomato Tasting 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Tasting and cooking demonstrations  

Free 

Tea Bag Folding 

2 to 4 p.m.  

Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave, Albany 

Drop-in crafts program for ages 5 to adult.  

526-3720 ext 19. 

Tree Stories 

2 to 4 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo, Berkeley 

Come join us as author Warren David Jacobs reads from his book "Tree Stories." 

For more information call: 548-2220 x233 

Free 

Sunday, August 11 

Hands-on Bicycle Repair 

11 a.m.-12 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

Learn from an REI bike technician basic repairs such as brake adjustments and fixing a flat. 

For more information: (510) 527-4140 

Free 

West Berkeley arts Festival 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

4th and University Ave. 

Explore the many resident artists located in Berkeley 

Free. 

Monday, August 12 

The First East Bay Senior Games 

10:30 a.m. clinic, 12:30 p.m. tee-off (approximate times) 

Mira Vista Golf and Country Club 

7901 Cutting Blvd. El Cerrito 

A golfing event for the 50+ crowd, in association with the California and National Senior Games Association. 

891-8033 (registration deadline July 29) 

Varying entry fees. 

Tuesday, August 13 

Tomato Tasting 

Tasting & cooking demonstrations 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Derby Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way  

Free 

Berkeley Camera Club Weekly Meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share slides, prints with other photographers 

(510) 525-3565 

Free 

Saturday, August 17 

Author Reading and Signing: Haunani-Kay Trask 

3 p.m.  

Eastwind Books, 2066 University Ave., Berkeley 

Meet Hawaiian author Haunani-Kay Trask. 

548-2350 

Free 

Cajun & More 

Four Live Bands, crafts fair, Cajun food, dance lessons, micro-brewery beer & dance floor. 

10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Free 

Sunday, August 18 

Top of the Bay Family Days 

1 to 3 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive, above UC campus 

Enjoy an afternoon outdoor concert in our family picnic area as well as art and science activities and hands-on exhibits inside LHS. 

643-5961 

$8 adults 

Hands-on Bicycle Repair 

11 a.m.-12 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

Learn from an REI bike technician basic repairs such as brake adjustment and fixing a flat. 

For more information: (510) 527-7470 

Thursday, August 22 

Film: "Ralph Ellison: An American Journey" 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library - Central Branch 

2090 Kittredge St. 

Berkeley filmmaker Avon Kirkland's stirring documentary about the great American author, Ralph Ellison. 

981-6205 

Free 

Friday, August 23 

Teen Playreaders present Bizarre Shorts 

(through August 24) 7 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library - North Branch 

1170 The Alameda 

Playreaders present 20 short, bizarre plays, contemporary and classic. 

644-6850 

Free 

Saturday, August 24 

Roller Derby & Big Time Wrestling 

6:30 p.m. 

Richmond Auditorium, 403 Civic Center Plaza 

Roller Derby: Bay Bombers vs. Brooklyn Red Devils, Big Time Wrestling superstars 

636-9300 

$10 Advance, $20 Door 

Monday, September 2 

National Organization for Women Oakland/East Bay Chapter  

6:30 PM.  

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 6536 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley  

Chapter’s monthly meeting. Speaker: multicultural historian, Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, received 

the prestigious Valitutti Award for non fiction.  

549-2970 

Free 

Sunday, September 8 

Lifelong Medical Care First Annual 5K Fun Run/Walk Fundraiser 

9 a.m. to noon 

West Berkeley 

Individual and team participation, a health fair, food, prizes, live music, free insurance eligibility screening - fun for all ages. 

704-6010 

The Slam ‘N Jam AAU basketball program returns to Berkeley with the Elite 8 Tournament this weekend, welcoming teams from all over North America to Cal’s Recreation Sports Facility and fans to watch five courts of high-flying action. 

While the hype may not live up to last year, when future NBA superstar LeBron James played with the Slam ‘N Jam Soldiers and wowed coaches and fans alike, the overall field should be just as good. All-star teams from Michigan, Houston and Baltimore should bring superb talent to the tournament, while the Canada Kings will be the first team from north of the border to participate. 

“Teams are just dying to get into our tournament,” said Slam ‘N Jam organizer and coach Mark Olivier. “It’s becoming like Las Vegas (where the top West Coast tournament is held each year). A lot of people want to see how basketball is played in other areas, and they can see teams from all over the country.” 

Several teams from Northern California will also take part, including Bay Area Ballers, SSA and Inland. 

Cal fans can get a glimpse of one possible future just by watching the Soldiers. Marquis Kately has committed to the Golden Bears but will spend next year at a prep school to get his academics straight, and point guard Ayinde Ubaka is one of Cal’s top recruiting targets. Throw in Leon Powe, the Oakland Tech star who verbally committed to Cal this week, sitting on the sidelines while he recovers from knee surgery, and three possible future Bears will be on or around the court when the Soldiers play their first game at 6 p.m. on Saturday. 

Part of the excitement attached to any AAU tournament is checking out which college coaches come calling. But new NCAA rules on college coach interaction with players and their families and coaches has created an atmosphere of hesitance. At the Elite 8, college coaches will be seated in a separate area from the rest of the fans as organizers try to avoid any violations, mirroring the arrangements at most of this summer’s tournaments. 

“We have to partition off the coaches from the public,” Olivier said. “As a fan, you can’t sit next to (Kentucky coach) Tubby Smith this year like you could in the past. We don’t want anybody getting in trouble.” 

A new wrinkle this year is the inclusion of an eighth-grade bracket, mostly to give Slam ‘N Jam’s new developmental squad some tough games. 

The Slam ‘N Jam Elite 8 Tournament will be held Saturday through Monday at Cal’s Recreation Sports Facility, with games running from early afternoon until approximately 10 p.m. Admission is $5.

A 1999 agreement between Gov. Gray Davis and the University of California, providing funding for the university in exchange for progress toward 22 goals, does not allow for true accountability, according to a report issued Thursday by the California State Auditor. 

The report asserts that only nine of the 22 objectives laid out in the four-year “partnership agreement” include quantifiable benchmarks that the governor and legislature can reference in making funding decisions. 

The audit also notes that, while the university’s primary mission is to teach and conduct research, only 44 percent of its salary increases between 1997 and 2001 went to academic salaries, while 56 percent went to support staff salaries. 

Furthermore, the report finds that 13 percent of the courses used to evaluate faculty workloads include two or fewer students, while an additional 15 percent of the courses have enrollments of only three to five students. Increasing faculty workloads is one of the goals in the partnership agreement. 

UC officials said they will re-examine the issue of small classes and will remove from their calculations any courses that should not be counted as full courses. 

“We very much take that recommendation to heart,” said university spokesperson Paul Schwartz. 

Schwartz said the emphasis on staff salaries rather than faculty salaries was due, in part, to a legislative mandate that the university focus on building its outreach efforts to high schools. Outreach, he noted, requires new staff hires rather than new faculty hires. 

Schwartz said a strategic decision to build the university’s information technology and fiscal services staff also played a role in the disparity. 

Former Gov. Pete Wilson in 1995 formed the first partnership agreement with the university in an effort to ensure funding stability and academic quality. 

In 1999, when the Wilson partnership expired, Davis agreed to support the new agreement as long as it included quantifiable measurements. 

Some of the goals laid out in the 1999 agreement include increasing faculty-teaching loads, boosting engineering and computer science enrollments, providing competitive faculty salaries and enhancing outreach programs.  

The agreement does not carry the weight of law, but the legislature and governor have used it to guide multibillion dollar funding decisions.  

In fiscal year 2000-2001, the legislature provided the university with $3.4 billion of its $12.7 billion in revenues. 

While the Davis Administration called for defining benchmarks, the auditor’s report suggests that the goals of the agreement are not clear enough. 

For instance, the agreement calls on the university to increase enrollment from low-performing high schools, but does not identify a specific percentage or timeline.  

A spokesperson for the Davis Administration said the governor had not reviewed the audit and had no comment. 

Schwartz said the university accepts the report’s recommendations, which suggest that future partnerships include clear, measurable objectives. 

But he argued that while the university’s progress on the 22 objectives in the agreement may not be easily measurable, the university has still made important strides. 

“We understand that we may not satisfy certain criteria for auditability,” said Schwartz. “That doesn’t mean we haven’t made progress.” 

The university said it has reached three of the nine quantifiable objectives laid out in the audit – ensuring admittance for all eligible applicants, increasing faculty-teaching loads and boosting engineering and computer science enrollments. 

The university said it did not reach two of the nine objectives – improving teacher education programs and increasing community college transfers to UC by 6 percent annually – due to factors beyond its control. 

In the case of community college transfers, for instance, the number of “transfer-ready” students declined by 10 percent in 1999-2000 from the prior year. 

The other four of the nine quantifiable objectives have future deadlines, so university progress cannot yet be measured. 

I was stunned to read in Thursday's paper that Berkeley plans to build 6,700 new housing units in the next 40 years.  

When I stop to try and picture that, I think about the downtown Gaia Building [91 units] and imagine another 73 or 74 buildings of that size added within the borders of Berkeley. Try to imagine that. No wonder the Height Initiative is on the November ballot.  

Of course, even if the buildings are smaller and more plentiful, think of how tremendously overcrowded Berkeley will be – it will resemble downtown San Francisco.  

Michael Goldberg 

Berkeley

BEDFORD, N.Y. — She’s not a movie star or a musician. Yet Genevieve Gorder stands surrounded by six teen-age girls, each thrusting bits of paper toward her to sign. 

A designer, Gorder is taking a break from splashing “coffee-toned” paints on the walls and ceiling of a suburban bedroom for The Learning Channel program “Trading Spaces.” 

“It’s the only thing I watch obsessively,” said Jess Netro, 17, who hung out with her friends in a driveway across the street from a home being invaded by the cable show’s cameras. 

Netro’s not alone in her devotion to a program about interior design. “Trading Spaces” has become a sensation that has set ratings records for TLC, developed its own heartthrob (hunky carpenter Ty Pennington) and spawned a spinoff bound to create marital discord. 

“Trading Spaces” got an Emmy nomination Thursday, and even has its own lingo: The “reveal” is the moment when participants discover — to their delight or horror — what their neighbor hath wrought on their home. 

A mix of a reality and game show, “Trading Spaces” takes neighbors who agree, with a professional designer’s help, to make over a room in the other’s home. They have two days to work and a $1,000 spending limit. 

“We’re the ultimate neighborhood gossip show,” said Denise Cramsey, executive producer of “Trading Spaces” for Banyan Productions. “Everyone wonders what’s going on in their neighbors’ house. Now we’re in the neighbors’ house and we’re creating what’s going on.” 

TLC didn’t expect much when it got the rights to a British show, “Changing Rooms,” to remake for an American audience. But it caught on quickly after its premiere in September 2000, and the network moved it from a weekday afternoon time slot to Saturday nights. 

As is customary for many cable networks when a hit blossoms, the show is rerun relentlessly throughout the week. 

“I’ve lost count,” said TLC executive Stephen Schwartz, laughing, when asked how many times a week it airs. 

Three episodes that ran during TLC’s Memorial Day “Trading Spaces” marathon rank among the highest-rated prime-time shows in the channel’s history. 

Earlier this month, TLC also drew strong numbers when it premiered a new series, “While You Were Out,” about one-half of a couple that remakes a room while their spouse is out of town. 

Cramsey sees success in more than the ratings. She gets 300 applications each day from neighbors who want to trade spaces; it used to be 50. When Schwartz’s wife wore a “Trading Spaces” cap on vacation this month, strangers approached her to ask how to be on the show. 

The Bedford neighbors, Amy Suffredini and Amy Minasian, coaxed their husbands to participate. They’re both friends and relatives — Amy Suffredini and Phil Minasian are cousins — who bought homes on the same street in the past few years. 

They’ve renovated extensively, but neither had done much with their master bedrooms. 

Of the two couples, Amy Minasian is the show’s biggest fan. 

“I like the before and after,” she said. “I like the idea of doing it for only $1,000 and seeing how much of a dramatic change can be made.” 

She, her husband and Gorder were tearing up the wall-to-wall carpeting in the Suffredini’s bedroom, in an old farmhouse built in 1790, to expose the wood floor. They were building a new headboard with a built-in desk to fit a computer. For art, they were blowing up to poster size a picture Amy Suffredini had taken during a trip to Ireland. 

Theoretically, the design was a partnership between Gorder and the Minasians. In the first hours of work, Gorder became miffed when one of her ideas was questioned. 

Aside from the fact that it’s made her a mini-celebrity, the designer said she likes the show because it lets her quickly realize a vision for a room with little burden from second-guessing clients. 

“Ninety-nine percent of the time, people say, ‘I want my house to look like Pottery Barn,”’ Gorder said. “And that can be pretty boring.”

ANAHEIM – Second baseman Ray Durham, the subject of recent trade rumors, was finally dealt by the Chicago White Sox on Thursday to the Oakland Athletics for Triple-A pitcher Jon Adkins. 

The trade, completed after the White Sox agreed to send cash to pay part of Durham’s salary, was announced following Oakland’s 5-4 loss to the Anaheim Angels. 

Durham, an All-Star in 1998 and 2000, will join the Athletics in Texas for Friday night’s game. The A’s are in the middle of the AL West and wild card races while Chicago is way behind in the AL Central. 

“He’s a talent, this kid,” Oakland manager Art Howe said. “It’s nice to inject that kind of bat into our lineup. He’s a switch-hitter with speed, he’s got a lot of tools.” 

Durham, 30, was hitting .299 with nine homers and 48 RBIs. He also stole 20 bases and scored 71 runs. 

Atlanta, Los Angeles and Boston were also said to have been interested in Durham, who’s in the final season of a four-year contract extension. Baseball’s deadline for making trades without waivers is July 31. 

“One of the things about this deal was that we creatively worked with the White Sox,” Athletics general manager Billy Beane said. “We had little to no payroll flexibility. We’re very limited to what we can do at this time.” 

Adkins, who turns 25 on Aug. 30, was 7-6 with a 6.03 ERA at Triple-A Sacramento. The right-hander was a ninth-round draft choice in 1998. 

“The decision to trade Ray was not an easy one. Ray has been part of our family since 1990,” White Sox general manager Ken Williams said. “In Adkins, we are getting a young pitcher with a live, quick, power arm.” 

The A’s are 59-43 and Howe said they will benefit from Durham’s versatility. 

“He (Beane) had told me that he was working on trying to get him here. He’s going to play some second, he’s going to DH and get some playing time. We may even look at him in the outfield and see if he can play some outfield,” Howe said. 

“He’s hit from one, two, three, he’s done well in any one of those spots. So we’ll take a look and see what the best fit is for us right now. Just the bat is what I like. He’s an offensive impact player,” he said. 

Oakland has mostly used Mark Ellis, Frank Menechino and Randy Velarde at second base this season. Ellis has started as the Athletics’ leadoff hitter in 38 games — Jeremy Giambi did it 39 times before being traded to Philadelphia. 

Mainly as a leadoff man, Durham has scored more than 100 runs in each of the past five years. He hit a career-high 22 homers last season, and is the only White Sox second baseman with lifetime totals of more than 100 home runs and 100 steals. 

“He gets on base close to a .390 clip, that’s first and foremost what we’re trying to achieve,” Beane said. “He steals bases, which we haven’t done much of this year. And he’s a guy with surprising pop sometimes.” 

“Given our position in the standings, we hope it’ll even further motivate Ray,” he said. 

Durham has reached the postseason only once, in 2000 when the White Sox were swept by Seattle in the first round of the AL playoffs. 

Durham began his major league career in 1995 with the White Sox. He is a .278 lifetime hitter with 106 homers, 484 RBIs and 219 steals. 

“It’s a surprising trade. I didn’t know anything about it until a few minutes ago,” A’s pitcher Cory Lidle said. “But Billy has a pretty good idea of what he’s doing, so it should help us out.” 

“We haven’t been scoring a whole lot lately, so maybe that will boost our guys a little bit. That’s the way Billy is. He looks forward to the last week before the trade deadline, so I’m sure he’s still thinking about what else he can do.” 

The White Sox were off Thursday. They are a disappointing 47-56 and 14 games behind division-leading Minnesota.

Berkeley Daily Planet co-founders Arnold Lee and Ed Carse have promoted Kurtis Alexander to the position of editor in chief of the Berkeley Daily Planet. 

Alexander has been working as weekend editor and news reporter at the Daily Planet since April and is now assuming command of the paper’s editorial department. 

Alexander comes to the position with a background in community journalism, having worked most recently for the San Mateo-based Independent Newspaper Group, the San Francisco Examiner and The Fresno Bee.“My focus will be delving deeper into some of the local issues and broadening our coverage, while at the same time sharpening the writing and reporting in our newsroom,” he said. 

“Berkeley is blessed with an abundance of cultural and intellectual activism. It deserves a first-rate community paper,” he added. 

Lee expects Alexander’s promotion at the three-year old newspaper to enhance the quality and quantity of coverage and continue providing in-depth local news to the paper’s growing readership. 

“Kurtis, since joining us earlier this year as our weekend editor, has already demonstrated strong leadership, editing, and reporting skills,” Lee said. “He also has been successful as a reporter and editor with other newspapers.”

The members of Neighbors for Fire Safety wish to give public thanks to the Berkeley City Council for its 6-0 vote on July 16 in support of the new Hills Fire Station at 3000 Shasta Road.  

Mayor Shirley Dean, Vice Mayor Shirek and councilmembers Breland, Hawley, Maio and Olds voted to uphold the Zoning Adjustments Board ruling on the variances and use permit for construction of the station. We applaud them for helping Berkeley to achieve this important life/safety goal.  

At the meeting, a broad consensus of grassroots support was evident with many residents representing different Berkeley neighborhoods speaking in favor of the Fire Station. Compare that with the handful of comments from opponents.  

In addition, hundreds of concerned residents had signed letters written to the Mayor and City Council indicating overwhelming community support for the project.  

We hope that the next steps in the process can be achieved expeditiously so that construction can begin before another fire season is upon us.  

Collin Murphy, Barbara Allen, Juliann Beckendorf, Trudy Washburn, and 23 other members of Neighbors for Fire Safety 

Berkeley

I met Chuck Palahniuk, author of “Fight Club” at one of San Francisco’s upscale hotels where chipper mid-20s bellhops and fine-dining waiters hustle for tips and walk on their heels to please. The irony is all too present with Palahniuk. Here is the man who wrote the book that would become the most subversive movie Hollywood has ever made. Now the waiters and waitresses who rise up against society in the novel and movie are turning down his bed and serving him meals as he tours the Bay Area reading from his latest paperback “Choke”. 

There is nothing, however, about Palahniuk’s demeanor, presence, or personality that would make him a target of another’s dissatisfaction. He still lives in the same pre-fame rural home, has the same friends and writes on the same desk as he did before success as a writer ever found him. Clean shaven with gym-thick arms, a chiseled face and dark hair and eyes, the soft spoken Palahniuk greatly contrasts all aspects of the personalities his maniacally humorous writing explores – except for the fact that he gave the characters life. 

Tonight Palahniuk will read from his novel “Choke” at Cody’s Books on Telegraph at 7:30. “Choke” is Palahniuk’s fourth published novel. It will be followed by the release of “Lullaby” in September and a work in progress due next year called “Period Revival.” 

Born in Washington and now a resident of Portland, Ore., Palahniuk finished his first published novel “Fight Club” in three months.  

While working by day as a mechanic, Palahniuk found himself getting in frequent fist fights. After one particularly rough thrashing, Palahniuk returned to work battered and bruised. Not one co-worker acknowledged how roughed-up he looked, and it was then that Palahniuk realized that if a person looked like they’d been through hell, no one would question why they looked so bad. They didn’t want to get involved. They didn’t want to know. Then and there he began writing Fight Club. 

Palahniuk’s first novel “Invisible Monsters” was rejected with long explanatory “Nos” from publishing houses claiming it was too dark and unsettling. Angered by the rejections, he wrote the gnarliest book he could – “Fight Club.” His attempt to spite the publishers not only caught their attention, but inspired the feature film starring Ed Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter. The movie also inspired a cult following that leaves Palahniuk loyalists standing shoulder to shoulder at readings.  

“Choke,” is another dark comedy. This time Palahniuk’s dark literary chasm, once filled to the brim with violence, is now teeming with sex. It’s about medical-school dropout and antihero Victor Mancini, who spends much of his time cruising Sexaholic Anonymous meetings to find partners. He also pretends to choke in restaurants. After unsuspecting good Samaritans “save” Mancini with the Heimlich maneuver, he gets a free meal from the restaurant and scams his rescuer for money. It’s another kind of maniacal expose on modern-man’s identity crisis, and on the world in general. For Palahniuk, the exploration of the dark side of life through his novels is a product of his craft. 

The following was a conversation between Chuck Palahniuk and Daily Planet correspondent Neil G. Greene on July 24, 2002. 

Daily Planet: In “Fight Club” you drew a lot from personal experiences. Do you do this in your new books or is it completely from the imagination? 

Palahniuk: First of all I don’t think anything is completely from the imagination. But I think you run out of your own personal experience, so you’ve got to be like this roving drift net I call the “two-mile wall of death.” It’s constantly going through the world looking for people’s stories, looking for sensory details, looking for little bits of evidence you can put together to make a story out of. It listens to what people talk about, what they’re concerned about, it looks for patterns. If enough people mention something then I know it’s something that is in the culture and it’s probably a good place to go. 

Daily Planet: Where do you go to gather information? 

Palahniuk: Support groups, and going out with friends and listening to what people talk about. Road trips are excellent for that, it’s like life in fast forward. People are always telling me weird things that are such incredible metaphors. A guy yesterday was telling me they’ve identified five types of core weight lifts – like bench presses, squats, and power cleans. Each one corresponds with a different personality type. He was telling me this whole thing that correlates with Jungian psychology and Jungian archetypes, but presented it in an entirely new different way. It’s fascinating I can’t wait to go research that, and talk to people about that. People are always bringing you these gifts, and all I have to do is sit back and people will just lay these gifts down. 

Daily Planet: And then you take what you’ve gathered and kind of put it in a big bowl, stir it up and write it out? 

Palahniuk: It’s kind of evil. I’ll go to parties and throw it out like it’s an innocent topic of conversation. People will just grab it and they’ll all start offering anecdotes that develop and flush the idea out. 

Daily Planet: Do you record the information in your mind? 

Palahniuk: Until I can get into the bathroom and write it down on Kleenex or something from the trash. I put it in my sock and I take it home because I know I can’t relax until I’ve written it down in some way. 

Daily Planet: Do you keep those scraps of paper? 

Palahniuk: I think I threw them away, but then I come across them. I’m still coming across grease stained pieces of Fight Club on gum wrappers. My dad said I should always keep them, but I don’t, it’s like keeping the scaffolding on a cathedral after it’s done. As soon as I find them I throw them away. 

Daily Planet: Is there a unifying thread in all your books? 

Palahniuk: The unifying thread is finding a way to get people to laugh at something they’re really frightened of. Because unless you can laugh at terminal illness or violence, or even sex, than you have no freedom around it and you’re completely used by it. If you get people laughing then they’re shocked, they hear themselves laughing and they say, ‘Oh my god I’m laughing at mutilation,’ at something so horrible, but that’s really the biggest theme. 

Daily Planet: Is that where you find the line is drawn – between people who can enjoy you’re writing and people who are unable to laugh at it? 

Palahniuk: Yeah, because in a way they can’t see past the surface of things, or so few people who’ve actually read it haven’t like it at this point which is nice. I think people tend to judge it before they even read it. The other thing is, this is something that happened to my dad. My dad dreamed his whole life that if he could put together enough to get a mountain and cabin away from everybody he’d be happy. Then he got that, and he spent all his time in his cabin phoning people saying ‘please come up and join me I’m so lonely.’ It is really the American myth that if we can move into that castle on the beach or that penthouse and we can get away from everybody then we’re going to be happy. So all of the books are about somebody who’s achieved this isolation that’s supposed to make us happy. And then, for whatever reason, circumstances bring them back into community with people. They find more happiness in the turmoil of being with people then they did in blissful isolation. So all of the books, all five books are about that isolation to community. 

Daily Planet: Who are your main inspirations? 

Palahniuk: The people who really got me excited about writing, Michael Chabon’s “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh”, Thom Jones’ “The Pugilist at Rest”, Mark Richard’s “Ice at the Bottom of the World”, and everything by Amy Hempel. Amy Hempel is just extraordinary. She only does short story collections, they’re really the finest minimalist writing there is. Everything I do is just completely ripped off of her. I almost don’t even want to recommend her, because when you read her stuff, you fall into a depression because some part of you knows you will never write as well as Amy Hempel. 

Daily Planet: Some of your beginning books were turned down, what kept you going? What made you keep at it? 

Palahniuk: I was really really angry that people were just never going to publish anything I wrote. They weren’t going to publish it because it was too dark and too upsetting and I felt like I had the choice of making it less dark or never getting published. So I just figured I’d never be published, and in a way that’s why the parts in “Fight Club” I don’t like are still in there because I figured it would never be published. 

Daily Planet: So not caring helped take a weight off your back? 

Palahniuk: Oh yeah, suddenly you’re just writing for fun. You’re writing for the whole reason why you wanted to write, before you started to think about money or recognition. You just wanted to write because it was fun. 

Daily Planet: Do you think the book or movie would have been well received after Sept. 11. 

Palahniuk: Sept. 11 is the death date of the transgressive fiction. So many transgressive fiction books like “Monkey Wrench Gang,” “Trainspotting” or “American Psycho,” books just like that will not be published, there were contracts already signed, advances paid out, but after Sept. 11, those sort of civil disobedience books will not come out. 

Daily Planet: What fills that space? Is a new way of transferring the information emerging? 

Palahniuk: We do what we did in the 50s, we get charming and clever and seductive, and we do our social commentary through horror, science fiction and fantasy. So you can say things about the culture, and say, ‘No, no, no, no, that’s not about the Nazis, it’s just about elves. It’s not about the rise of fascism, it’s just animals in a barnyard.’ We can pretend that it’s not a threatening thing. We can get away with questioning the culture. That’s not a bad thing. I think we’ve been on the soap box way too long. It’s time for us to be seductive and clever. 

Daily Planet: Are you still getting in fist fights? 

Palahniuk: No, I sort of completed that part of myself. Each book is about completing some part of myself. “Invisible Monsters” was about realizing I wasn’t going to be a young person for ever and ever, and that I’d better find another source of power other than just youth. 

Daily Planet: Do you think your best piece is still ahead of you? Leading you like the donkey’s carrot? 

Palahniuk: Yeah, I can still surprise myself. I look at parts of “Fight Club” and they’re totally wrong and they’re an embarrassment to read. And I can still pop out seven pages that I’m just in love with. I totally think it’s just going to get better. For a few more years, god knows if not forever. But eventually I think you stop and you start teaching. I turn 40 in Feb., and this is going to be ten years of writing and playing the game and having a good time, but once I turn 50 it’s going to be time to give it all back.

ANAHEIM – Garret Anderson’s game-winning hit was nothing to brag about – an opposite-field blooper to left. 

The Anaheim Angels’ cleanup hitter was able to chuckle about it afterward because it gave his team an important victory. 

Anderson’s two-out single off Oakland closer Billy Koch drove in Darin Erstad with the go-ahead run Thursday as the Angels beat the Athletics 5-4. 

“He’s a tough pitcher, he can make the ball move a couple different directions. I don’t ever remember getting a good part of the bat on the ball,” Anderson said, smiling. “I just got lucky. The ball dropped where nobody was playing. He got me to pop up, he got his job done. 

“When you face a guy like that with overpowering stuff, I’m just trying to put the ball in play. I’ll take it. I know there’s a lot of them I’ve hit that have been caught.” 

David Eckstein singled with one out for his fourth hit of the game, equaling a career high. Erstad forced Eckstein and took second on a wild pitch before Jim Mecir (3-3) walked Tim Salmon. 

Koch relieved and Anderson came through on a 1-0 pitch with his third hit of the game and 77th RBI of the year. 

“He’s always tough on us,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Koch, who’s 6-1 with 25 saves in 30 chances. “Even though Garret didn’t hit it very hard, he found a hole.” 

The Angels rallied from a 3-0 deficit and scored all their runs with two outs. 

Scot Shields (3-1) pitched 2 2-3 scoreless innings to earn the victory and Ben Weber worked a perfect ninth for his fifth save in seven chances. 

The Angels, contending with Oakland and Seattle in the AL West, have played their last eight games against the A’s and Mariners, winning six. They open a three-game series in Seattle on Friday night. 

The A’s, who lost for just the fifth time in 15 games, fell two games behind the Angels. 

The A’s took a 3-0 lead off Ramon Ortiz in the fifth on an RBI single by Miguel Tejada and a two-run single by Eric Chavez. 

The Angels drew within one run off Cory Lidle in their half when Salmon snapped an 0-for-11 drought by hitting a two-out, two-run single. 

The A’s made it 4-2 in the sixth when Shields threw a two-out, bases-loaded wild pitch, enabling Olmedo Saenz to score. 

But the Angels tied it in the bottom half on two-out, RBI singles by pinch-hitter Jorge Fabregas and Eckstein off Chad Bradford. Mecir fanned Salmon with the bases loaded to end the inning. 

Ortiz, who has given up a big league-leading 28 homers, allowed eight hits — all singles — and four runs in 5 1-3 innings. 

Lidle, who pitched a one-hit shutout against Texas last Saturday, gave up seven hits and four runs in 5 2-3 innings. 

“It’s always frustrating when you have the lead and give it up, but they’re a good team,” Lidle said. “They know how to win and they’re playing good ball right now.” 

The A’s ran themselves out of a potential rally in the first. Terrence Long hit a one-out single but was thrown out stealing. Tejada singled and Chavez walked before Angels catcher Jose Molina picked Tejada off second. 

Notes: There were 22 hits in the game — all singles. ... Anaheim’s Troy Glaus, mired in a 4-for-31 slump, wasn’t in the starting lineup. He entered the game in the eighth and struck out in his only at bat. ... Tejeda has hit in 14 straight games. He hit in a career-high 15 straight earlier this season,

Four months after its proposal, the idea of reducing speed limits to 20 mph in Berkeley’s residential neighborhoods is now being reviewed by the city manager. The city manager’s assessment could pave the way for City Council to adopt some of the lowest residential speed limits in the state. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington came up with the proposal in March that would reduce speeds from the current state-designated 25 mph to 20 mph in neighborhoods that are willing to adopt the change. The proposal would also lower speeds to 15 mph near schools. The state recommended speeds of 25 mph in school areas.The proposal comes amid a rising number of pedestrian-vehicle accidents in Berkeley. 

The city manager and the city’s Transportation Commission will decide which streets are best suited for lower speeds, the costs involved with lowering speed limits, and if there are any additional safety issues, Worthington said.  

Some neighbors have expressed enthusiasm about lower speed limits. 

“I'm eternally telling people to drive slower, and if we could make lower speed limits work, I think it would be great,” said Kary Sprague, a member of the McKinley, Addison, Allston, Grant Neighborhood Association. 

MAAGNA has not taken an official position on Worthington's idea, but the neighborhood association is focused on getting the city to slow traffic in their neighborhood. 

Critics of the speed limit reduction plan say that it will be too difficult to enforce, and that other traffic impediments such as barricades, narrow intersections and traffic circles are effective, and don’t require costly policing. 

Peter Hillier, assistant city manager for transportation, said that the city’s review could take six months. The earliest an assessment would be presented is September, when the City Council reconvenes after its recess, Hillier said.

Thank you so much for your thorough July 23 article on the ferry study that was before the Berkeley City Council this week. It has been inspirational to see Berkeley come together on what is probably the most important public transportation issue of the next decade. 

With an almost unanimous vote [seven for and one abstaining], the City Council expressed their support for studying an environmentally friendly, economically sound ferry line from Berkeley to San Francisco. This was after receiving unanimous recommendations from seven city commissions to implement city transportation policy regarding ferries and to study the possibility of a new ferry terminal on the Berkeley/Albany waterfront. In addition to many local groups such as Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition, East Bay Bicycle Coalition, the Gray Panthers, and others who came to speak in favor of ferries, former Mayor Loni Hancock, Albany Vice Mayor Alan Maris, and AC Transit Director Rebecca Kaplan also urged the Council to support a ferry in Berkeley. 

The reason ferries are so popular can be summed up in Loni Hancock's letter to the Berkeley City Council, “During the days of the Berkeley Ferry, I frequently rode the ferry to my job in downtown San Francisco. It was a wonderful way to start and end the day, and to experience the natural world en route to the office.” Not to mention the fact that ferries get lots of people out of cars, improve air quality, increase disaster-preparedness, and facilitate recreational access to the Bay.  

Berkeley Ferry Committee

t took the work of 150 animators and digital artists more than three years to complete the sequel to “Stuart Little.” 

It shows: “Stuart Little 2” looks fantastic. 

The digital animation, impressively lifelike the first time, is even better now. Every single white hair on Stuart’s mousey head looks real, his facial expressions are natural, and the light glistens off his tiny whiskers. 

Rob Minkoff, who also directed the 1999 original (based on E.B. White’s book about a talking mouse who lives with a New York family), wisely staged several opportunities to show off the visual effects: when the wind is blowing as Stuart drives his little red convertible, when he’s zooming around the Littles’ impeccably detailed Fifth Avenue brownstone in a model plane. 

The most minute details, crafted with loving care, give the film its real charm — from the tiny pajamas Stuart wears when he crawls into his tiny bed at night, to the Tinkertoy pulley system he uses to lower himself to the floor in the morning. 

And kids will enjoy watching Stuart doing tricks on his skateboard in the birdbath (wearing the required headgear, naturally), and running down the soccer field with the big boys. 

But “Stuart Little 2” lacks the childlike sense of fun that gave the original film its buoyancy. It its place, screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin (an Oscar winner for 1991’s “Ghost”) has injected more action sequences, which have a palpable sense of desperation. The movie tries too hard to thrill, but the result is loud and overbearing. 

Still, if you liked the original, which grossed more than $300 million worldwide, you’ll be happy to know that most of the cast is back, including Michael J. Fox as the voice of Stuart — and Fox is so incredibly likable, he makes even the most hokey lines bearable. 

Nathan Lane also is back as the voice of Snowbell, the Littles’ pampered, neurotic cat, and it’s a joy to hear him even when some of his jokes fall flat. 

Stuart still lives with the insufferably perky Mr. and Mrs. Little (Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie) and their bespectacled son, George (Jonathan Lipnicki). He’s a little older now — he drives his car to school and plays on the soccer team — but when he tries to hang out with George and his buddies, they often give him the brush off. 

Right on cue, Stuart makes a friend of his own: an injured bird named Margalo (voiced by Melanie Griffith in her usual breathy, girlie monotone). Stuart saves Margalo from the clutches of the menacing Falcon (voiced by James Woods), who chases her around the city. 

Or does he? After Margalo moves in with the Littles, and Stuart helps her mend her broken wing, it seems she’s not exactly the friend she appeared to be. When she disappears, though — along with Mrs. Little’s two-carat diamond wedding ring — he assumes some horrible fate must have befallen her and enlists Snowbell’s help in finding her. 

This sets up an overlong chase through the skies over Central Park, and the requisite happy ending with its messages of friendship and loyalty. But what comes at the end will make you long for more of what you saw in the beginning. 

Let’s hope the filmmakers get everything right if and when “Stuart Little 3” scampers into theaters. 

“Stuart Little 2,” a Columbia Pictures release, is rated PG for brief mild language. Running time: 72 minutes. Two stars (out of four). 

OAKLAND – The Golden State Warriors’ youth movement will extend to their coaching staff next season. 

The Warriors will make Atlanta Hawks assistant Eric Musselman the NBA’s youngest head coach on Friday, according to two team and league sources. 

Musselman, the 37-year-old son of former Minnesota coach Bill Musselman, will sign a three-year contract to take over the Warriors, who haven’t made the playoffs or had a winning season since 1994. 

Plenty already have failed where Musselman hopes to succeed. He will be Golden State’s eighth coach in slightly more than seven seasons since owner Chris Cohan gained control of one of the NBA’s original franchises. 

Warriors general manager Garry St. Jean and Musselman didn’t return phone calls on Thursday, but the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Musselman’s hiring. 

The Warriors, who went 21-61 last season, have been without a permanent head coach since Dave Cowens was fired last December. Golden State waited three months to decide the fate of interim coach Brian Winters, who went 13-46 while finishing out the season. 

Winters participated in Golden State’s draft preparations and summer league play as the Warriors interviewed applicants for his job. He might even be part of Musselman’s staff, since Winters is still under contract to Golden State for next season along with assistants Phil Hubbard, Mark Osowski and Clifford Ray. 

That’s the way things work in Oakland under St. Jean, who coached the team himself after firing P.J. Carlesimo midway through the 1999-00 season. Every fall, St. Jean unveils a new plan to rebuild his team — and every spring, the Warriors change plans. 

But Golden State might be ready to turn a corner, given the impressive young talent it has stockpiled. The Warriors have chosen six players among the top 30 picks in the last two drafts, including top-five selections Jason Richardson and Mike Dunleavy. 

“Whoever they choose, whether it’s Brian or somebody else, he should be a guy who works well with young players,” star forward Antawn Jamison said last month. “We need a guy who can motivate us, but who also knows how to relate to us.” 

Musselman has been an assistant to Lon Kruger in Atlanta for two seasons. He joined the Hawks from Orlando, where he was an assistant coach and a scout. Musselman also coached in the CBA for seven years, compiling a 270-122 record. 

Known for an intense work ethic and an animated presence on the sideline during his CBA days — just like his father — Musselman apparently wowed the Warriors’ front office brass during an interview in Long Beach earlier this month. 

It’s thought that Golden State planned to hire a coach who would work for a low salary — something around $1.5 million per year — since the Warriors still owe money to Cowens and Carlesimo. As a career assistant with no previous NBA experience in a head job, Musselman likely fit the bill. 

Golden State also interviewed New Jersey assistant Eddie Jordan and former Phoenix coach John MacLeod for the job. Jordan withdrew from consideration last week. 

Former Lakers, Bucks and Trail Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy was thought to be a possibility, particularly after the Warriors drafted his son last month. But the elder Mike Dunleavy said last week he wasn’t a candidate.

City Councilmember Kriss Worthington and mayoral candidate Tom Bates urged the University of California to meet its clerical workers’ contract demands. 

“I studied economics in college, but I didn’t need to spend all those tens of thousands of dollars to understand that what UC is offering its employees is bad management and bad treatment,” said Worthington. 

The Coalition of University Employees, an 18,000-member union with 2,200 members at UC Berkeley, and the office of the university president in Oakland, is calling for a 15 percent raise over the course of a two-year contract, with additional 4.5 percent raises for employees who advance a step on the pay scale. 

The university is offering a 2 percent raise in the first year of the contract and a 1.5 percent raise in the second year. University spokesperson Paul Schwartz said state funding cuts have placed limits on what UC can offer. 

The union alleges that UC has a $2.3 billion unrestricted reserve it could tap to fund salary increases. The university asserts that, while the reserve may be technically “unrestricted,” it is in fact tied up in various legal and fiduciary obligations. 

The union is also asking the university to commit to testing every work station to ensure employees’ safety and guard against repetitive stress injuries. 

The university says it takes the issue seriously and is working to negotiate the details. 

“The university needs to respect you, needs to honor you and needs to negotiate in good faith,” said Bates, pledging that he would come to the union’s aid as mayor. 

“I support the clericals in their request (for wage increases),” said Mayor Shirley Dean, in an interview after the rally. “I’m sure that the university’s budget is tight, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pay the clerical workers.” 

Dean said she will write a letter to the UC Board of Regents supporting the union.  

Worthington signed a pledge of solidarity with the union at the rally and said he intends to get the rest of the City Council members’ signatures. 

He said the City Council will consider a strongly-worded rebuke of the university at its Sept.. 10 meeting if no agreement is reached before then. 

In the course of negotiations, which began in May 2001, the union filed an “unfair labor practice” charge against the university, alleging that it has fired more than 200 temporary workers, in violation of the union contract, just before they attain “career” status. 

The university maintains that it is complying with contract language. But, UC officials have placed a four-month moratorium on termination of temporary employees while they discuss the issue with the union at the bargaining table. 

Last month, UC Berkeley clericals voted to authorize a strike of up to three days. No strike date has been set.

LOS ANGELES — The movie industry is hunting down people who swap digital films online and demanding that their Internet service be cut off — all part of an effort to stamp out piracy and avoid the online trading frenzy that has plagued the music business. 

The Motion Picture Association of America uses a special search engine to scour the Web for copyright movies, which circulate on the same peer-to-peer software networks as MP3 music files. 

Since 2001, more than 100,000 customers have been ordered to stop their activities through cease-and-desist letters sent from their Internet service providers, the MPAA said. 

In a newer initiative, AOL Time Warner’s broadband division has begun trying to identify and stop customers who upload huge amounts of data — which in almost all cases means people trading bulky video or music files. 

“We are not blocking the use of any applications or access to any Web sites,” said Mark Harrad, a spokesman for Time Warner Cable. “But we are doing various things to manage bandwidth better and to interfere with people who are in violation of (their) service agreements.” 

Harrad declined to elaborate on interference techniques. But he denied the effort was specifically targeted at people swapping music and movie files, saying the issue is bandwidth hogs, not piracy. 

AOL Time Warner owns one of the seven major studios, Warner Brothers, a member of the MPAA. It also owns Warner Music Group, one of the five major record companies. 

Meanwhile, Rep. Howard Berman, D.-Calif., is preparing legislation that would allow entertainment companies to obstruct the peer-to-peer networks with a variety of invasive electronic techniques, including software that blocks file transfers, redirects users to other sites or confuses users with fake files. 

Privately, music industry officials already admit to frustrating file traders by putting up bogus files. Individuals trying to download unauthorized tracks from Eminem’s latest CD last month, for example, occasionally got files containing only a single verse repeated continuously, rather than a complete song. 

Such acts by companies could, however, be illegal today under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. 

Current rules allow people to duplicate copyright material for their own use. But the distribution power of the Internet, which allows someone to share a personal copy with millions, has left the concept of “fair use” unclear. 

Movie files are harder to share over peer-to-peer networks because they are significantly larger than music files. At more than 600 megabytes, a full length movie can easily take six hours to download over broadband. By contrast, an average music file of six megabytes takes a few minutes. 

But Hollywood studios worry that the rising number of broadband connections and improved video compression techniques will open the door to runaway piracy. 

Between 400,000 and 600,000 copies of movies are downloaded illegally each day, according to the consulting firm Viant. Though far fewer than the 3 billion daily music downloads off the now-defunct music swapping site Napster at its peak, it’s enough to spook the movie industry. 

“Our industry could be damaged as much as the music industry,” said Ken Jacobsen, senior vice president of worldwide antipiracy at the MPAA. 

The MPAA uses special monitoring software from San Diego-based Ranger Online Inc. The automated software provides the Internet address of the file-swapper, which the MPAA forwards to the relevant Internet provider. 

The MPAA then asks the provider to contact the user with an ultimatum: Remove the copyright files from your computer or have your service disconnected. 

Almost everyone served with a cease-and-desist letter by their Internet provider complies, Jacobsen said. The group said it does not keep records of how many users have actually been disconnected, though at least one recipient has fought back. 

InternetMovies.com, a Hawaii-based Web site, filed suit against the MPAA for causing a business disruption after it was tagged for illegal file-swapping and had its Internet service disconnected. Jacobsen said the MPAA will wage a vigorous defense. 

Some critics of the MPAA’s initiative question how long Internet providers will continue to assist the hunt against their own customers. 

It’s just too expensive for the providers to lose those customers, said Fred von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group representing defendants in copyright infringement suits. 

“Hollywood is pressuring intermediaries to do their police work. That was never the intention of copyright law,” von Lohmann said. 

But the MPAA says Internet providers have many reasons to cooperate: They don’t want illegal activity on their networks, they don’t want to be exposed to litigation and they don’t want users eating up extra bandwidth by trading large movie files. 

Q: I recently moved into a two-bedroom apartment. I received the owner’s permission to move in, but pay rent to my roommate, who has lived here for four years. She originally signed the lease with someone who moved out after a year, so she has had the place to herself for a few years now. She acts like she owns the place, saying I can’t use the living room because she’s writing her “great American novel” there, and has papers all over the place. She further threatens that since I’m not on the lease she has the right to kick me out if I don’t obey her every command. What are my rights? 

A: It doesn’t matter that your name is not on the lease, because you are as much a tenant as your roommate, and you are protected by the Rent Ordinance in that you can be evicted only for one of the good causes listed in the ordinance. You are a subtenant and she is your landlord, but have the same right to occupy the apartment as she does. 

Your roommate’s ability to exclude you from the living room is governed by your original agreement with her. If you agreed to share the living room, or reasonably assumed this was the case, then you have a right to use that space. [This is a good reason to put a subtenancy agreement in writing.] But if it was clear when you moved in that the living room was her space, then you probably can’t insist on being able to use it. 

In any case, your rent cannot exceed an amount proportional to the space you occupy. In other words, if your roommate pays the owner $1,100 for the entire apartment and you occupy half of it – say, you each have exclusive use of a similarly-sized bedroom and share the rest of the space – your rent should not exceed $550. If your roommate has exclusive use of the living room, then your rent should be less than $550, reflecting her greater share of the unit. You should try to negotiate a lower rent if you think you’re paying more than your fair share, but if you cannot work out your differences, you may file a petition with the Rent Board. If it is determined that your roommate either reduced the space originally available to you, or is charging more than your proportionate share of rent, your rent will be reduced. 

Q: My tenant moved out and left a bunch of things in the apartment and in the yard. Some of it is obviously garbage, but he also left behind things of some value, like furniture and electronic equipment. Can I assume he doesn’t want it and throw it out? Can I charge him for storage costs by deducting it from his security deposit? 

A: Your responsibility under California law is to act reasonably to ascertain whether or not the tenant would like his possessions back or whether the property has been abandoned. In any case, you should safely store the property where it cannot be damaged or stolen because you could be liable for losses caused by your negligence. You must give the former tenant an opportunity to reclaim his possessions by written notice to him that sets a deadline [at least 15 days after the notice is personally delivered, or 18 days if mailed] after which he can no longer claim the property. You may demand storage costs incurred as a condition of returning the property, if you include your intent to charge these costs in the notice. [You could instead deduct the charges from his security deposit, but an accounting of deductions and return of any remaining deposit must, under state law, be made within three weeks after the tenant vacates.]  

Specific steps to follow regarding property left behind, including the wording of the notice, how to determine whom the owner is when there is more than one tenant, and separate rules for tenants who have been evicted, are outlined in the California Department of Consumer Affairs legal guide, “Options for a Landlord: When a Tenant’s Personal Property Has Been Left in the Rental Unit.” You can access this guide from the Rent Board website under “Other Sources.” 

You can e-mail the City of Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board at rent@ci.berkeley.ca.us for individual questions, or you can call or visit the office at 2125 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 (northeast corner of Milvia/Center Streets) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, between 9 a.m. and 4:45 p.m., and on Wednesday between 12:00 noon and 6:30 p.m. Our telephone number is (510) 644-6128. Our website address is www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent. 

OAKLAND – Voters in San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties will be asked in November to decided if they want to pay more than $1 billion for a seismic retrofit project designed to keep the transportation systems running after a major earthquake. 

At their meeting in Oakland this morning, the BART board of directors moved to place a $1.05 billion general bond on the upcoming ballot, saying that securing BART against earthquakes cannot wait.  

According to the directors, the consequences of having the transit system unavailable after a temblor would have repercussions throughout the Bay Area. 

Especially essential is the transbay tube, which stretches underwater across the bay on a gravel-filled trench. Earlier this year, a report concluded that the tube could be affected by liquefaction during a major earthquake. 

The proposed bond would go first and foremost toward upgrading the system's core, which is defined as the area between the Berkeley Hills tunnel and Daly City. The remaining money would go to pay for safety retrofits throughout the entire system. 

If voters approve the BART bond, property owners would pay $23 per year for each $100,000 that their property is assessed. Building would begin in 2004 and last an estimated ten years. 

The adopted bond proposal is smaller than other options that BART officials had considered. One proposal asked for $1.5 billion to completely retrofit the entire original system.  

Directors had also considered asking for an additional $200 million for post-Sept. 11 security measures such as security cameras and detectors for biological or chemical weapons. 

To be successful, the bond needs approval from two-thirds of the voters in the three counties. 

One San Francisco group that is supporting an affordable housing bond initiative on the same ballot urged the BART directors not to move forward. 

Marco Montenegro, spokesman of the group Homes for the City, said that having the BART bond proposal on the same ballot might dissuade some San Franciscans from voting for the $250 million housing bond. 

"As the economy continues to slide, gathering a two-thirds vote will be a difficult task to say the least,'' Montenegro said. "Please avoid putting another bond measure on the November ballot at this late a date.'' 

BART Director Joel Keller, however, said that the transit system's seismic safety needs to be addressed immediately. 

“There are always going to be competing interests when you've got a bond issue,” Keller said. “But I have no question that we have to move forward today.'”

SACRAMENTO — California pension funds should divest their $752 million investment in companies that have moved their headquarters to tax havens such as Bermuda or the Cayman Islands, and should halt future investments in those corporations, state Treasurer Phil Angelides said Thursday. 

Angelides proposed a blacklist of 22 companies that have moved to avoid paying taxes, as part of his effort to use the power of institutional investors to influence corporate behavior. 

Foreign tax shelters are a growing trend, Angelides said Thursday. 

“You have companies here that are setting up sham offshore mailboxes just to avoid paying taxes,” he said. “It’s not clear that Congress is going to close the loopholes this year.” 

Shareholders’ rights are weakened when companies move to offshore locations, Angelides said, because the companies’ operations are less visible. It’s more difficult for shareholders to sue if the company is in a tax haven. 

“This kind of conduct is part of a pattern of behavior, how to bend the rules, game the system for short-term gains,” he said. “It’s the same kind of thinking that led to accounting tricks at Enron and WorldCom.” 

Angelides has proposed other measures to reform corporate behavior by strategic investments, but said he’s finding a wider audience for his message after several high-profile bankruptcies that stemmed from accounting irregularities. 

“I think people are learning that companies who violate environmental laws or exploit its workers are the same companies that wouldn’t think twice of sticking it to their shareholders,” Angelides said. 

Pension funds and mutual funds own 42 percent of American companies’ stocks, he said, and can use that as leverage to encourage better corporate behavior. 

Angelides sits on the boards of both the California Public Employees Retirement System, which is the nation’s largest public pension fund with $150 billion in investments, and the California State Teachers Retirement Fund, which controls a $100 billion investment portfolio. 

CalPERS spokeswoman Pat Macht said the board would discuss the policy at the August meeting, but probably wouldn’t take action until September. 

“CalPERS has been voting proxies against companies that have done this,” she said, “but we’ve never had a policy discussion on the issue.” 

In the last seven years, the board has voted only once to divest and that was with tobacco stocks, Macht said. 

CalSTRS spokeswoman Sherry Reser said Angelides’ proposal would be discussed at the next board meeting in October. 

In addition to the CalPERS and CalSTRS proposal, Angelides also announced a new policy for the funds his office oversees. That policy bars the treasurer’s office, which controls the state’s $45 billion investment account, from investing in “expatriate” corporations. 

Citing that policy, Angelides removed Ingersoll-Rand from the list of approved companies for the state’s $42 billion pooled investment account. The company recently reincorporated in Bermuda, though its U.S. offices are still in New Jersey, estimating that it will save between $40 million to $60 million in taxes for 2002. 

“Ingersoll-Rand was on the approved list. Now they’re removed,” Angelides said. “They’re not an American company.” 

Ingersoll-Rand spokesman Paul Dickard said 89 percent of the company’s shareholders approved the move, which could save the corporation up to $60 million in 2002. 

“We would be glad to address any concerns the state of California has with respect to our reincorporation before it unilaterally denies itself and the people of California the opportunity to invest in our company or to benefit from the good work of Ingersoll-Rand employees,” Dickard said. 

The company is also on the list of 23 companies that would be barred from CalPERS and CalSTRS investments. 

That threat should get some response from the business community, said Sol Price, the founder of Price Club. 

“Would the thought of losing a customer the size of CalPERS scare me? You’re damn right,” Price said. 

Angelides and other fund managers have the resources to research corporate governance in companies in which they invest — and smaller investors can follow their lead, Price said. 

“He’s doing what he should be doing — he’s becoming vocal, as all large investors should,” he said. 

NEW MARKET,Va. — Brush up against the wrong characters while working in your garden and it could cost you a lot of scratch. 

You think city streets are tough? You may have a murderer’s row hiding quietly among your vegetables or climbing the trellis with your morning glories. 

The perpetrators are poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac and they can be found everywhere in the United States except Alaska, Hawaii and portions of Nevada. 

The most frequent contact comes during the searing heat of summer, when an estimated 10 - to 50 million Americans develop the redness, swelling, blisters and maddening itch characterizing the allergic rash, the Harvard Medical School says. 

But the urushiol (oo-ROO’-she-all) oil in the poison ivy, oak and sumac sap can get under your skin any time of year and remains potent for long periods, especially if whatever was contaminated is kept in a dry place. That could include boots, balls, shovels, firewood or hunting gear. Secondary sources also could rub you the wrong way. You can easily acquire the rash from dogs and cats when they sidle up to you after frolicking among the plants in your yard. 

“Where you really see it is on the forest’s edge, where you might be trying to put in a garden,” says Tony DiTommaso, a professor of weed science at Cornell University. “It’s a real transport corridor for pets, which can carry the resin in.” 

An allergic reaction from the plants can be more than a temporary irritant. Infections can last from 10 days to three weeks. 

Scratching won’t spread it or make it contagious, dermatologists say, but it can cause an infection. 

There are a few things you can do to reduce the odds of acquiring the rash, but the best remedy is prevention. Rule No. 1: Know your enemy. 

“I love gardening, but I’m surprised at how many people don’t know what the (poisonous) plants look like or misidentify them,” DiTommaso says. 

“The one they usually confuse it with is Virginia Creeper. I walk around with a book and show it (ivy, oak, sumac) to my students. That wouldn’t be a bad idea for anyone in poison ivy habitat.” 

Avoid the plants if you can. But if you can’t, wear long pants, gloves (with plastic covers) and long-sleeved shirts when you go out. 

“If I go out into the woods and come across it (ivy), I head back home and take a shower,” says Glen Juergens, a U.S. Forest Service silviculturist with the Monongahela National Forest office at Marlinton, W.Va. 

Getting the poisonous oils off your body is one thing. Ridding it from around your garden is quite another. 

“It’s a tough plant, with a deep root system,” Cornell’s DiTommaso says. “Herbicides will work, but they’re nonselective and have a tendency to kill other perennials around them anything green. Digging it up doesn’t do it. The plants come back, and contaminate your shovels and everything.” 

And don’t, please, try burning any dead plants: Urushiol can spread in the smoke and cause big-time lung infections. 

“I was working with a bunch of scouts and scoutmasters who built a big bonfire after picking up around up a Civil War battlefield several years ago,” says Ronnie Zerkel, a hardware store owner from Mount Jackson, Va.. “The litter included some poison ivy plants. The whole bunch came down with a rash, about 200 of us.

So you finally found the ideal general contractor for your major home improvement or repair job. The interviews went well. The background checks checked out. You really trust this person. 

But what’s with these new faces on the job you haven’t seen before? 

They’re probably subcontractors, specialists hired by the general contractor to perform specific jobs. According to an expert who shepherds home improvement tasks for a living, homeowners should understand their relationship and responsibilities to subcontractors. 

“Subcontractors don’t work so much for the homeowner as they do for the general contractor,” says Michael Turner of the Home Service Store. “Some homeowners assume the general contractor performs all the work and are surprised when other workers show up at the front door.” 

The role of the general contractor is to coordinate the project. Dozens of tasks, such as drywall, plumbing, wiring and roofing are farmed out to specialists who are usually independent contractors. Homeowners usually have no role in the selection of subcontractors. However, homeowners who have heard from friends and neighbors about the good work of a subcontractor can suggest names to the general contractor. 

Turner says general contractors “should be very clear with homeowners about the jobs and work schedules of subcontractors. Homeowners need to insist upon a work calendar that shows approximate time frames when subcontractors will be on the job. That’s the only way everyone stays on the same page and the job stays on track.” 

Subcontractors, or subs, are paid by the general contractor. The payments often are drawn against an amount of money the homeowner provides to the general contractor to pay for project costs. “Homeowners would do well not to make the advance payment one large, lump sum,” says Turner. “Instead, they should add money to the fund only when certain jobs involving subcontractors are performed.” 

Although subcontractors are not paid directly by the homeowner, it is the homeowner’s responsibility to make certain the general contractor makes payments on time. Turner says payments are due when the subcontractor is at a point when critical materials are needed or when the job is done. 

If the general contractor does not make payments, subcontractors can take action against the homeowner. These actions, often filed as liens, place the financial burden squarely on homeowner shoulders. If liens aren’t taken care of quickly, work on the project can stop. 

“Worse still,” says Turner, “liens may show up years later when the home goes up for sale. No sale can be completed until past liens are resolved.” 

The working relationship with subcontractors is the general contractor’s job. He or she makes sure the quality of workmanship and materials by subcontractors is in line with project plans or homeowner expectations. 

The general contractor makes certain subcontractors have the necessary licenses and insurance. 

The homeowner can exercise some clout on subcontractor performance. Turner says “a cost of delay clause should be inserted into the contract with the general contractor. If the subcontractor doesn’t show for work, the general contractor can be held financially responsible.” 

If the homeowner believes subcontractor work is shoddy, Turner advises the homeowner to first bring the problem to the attention of the general contractor. If that does not yield results, the homeowner can seek arbitration between the parties. The last resort is litigation. 

In extreme cases, subcontractors can be removed from the job for failure to perform, argumentativeness or drug and alcohol abuse. 

LOS ANGELES — California residential real estate prices continued their skyward climb in June, with the median price of an existing, single-family detached home rising 21.3 percent to $324,370 from a year earlier, according to industry figures released Thursday. 

But in an early sign that activity might be cooling down, the number of homes bought and sold declined by the largest month-to-month amount this year, decreasing nearly 14 percent from May, the California Association of Realtors said. 

Some real estate agents say a lot of potential buyers are now waiting longer than before to purchase. 

“I think the market is slowing down, but I don’t know by how much,” said Linda Zimmerman, an agent with Prudential California Realty, who sells mid-range houses in San Fernando Valley, Hollywood Hills and West Hollywood. 

Zimmerman said she’s been less busy in recent weeks than at any time in the last 12 months. 

But even with the drop off in activity, experts say the market remains robust. 

“Although the sales pace decreased compared to the previous month, we’re still seeing volume that exceeds our 2001 levels,” said Leslie Appleton-Young, vice president and chief economist of CAR. 

Year over year, sales activity increased 1.4 percent in June, CAR reported. 

Tight housing supply and continued low mortgage interest rates keep bringing buyers into the market and driving up prices. 

Since the beginning of the year, the average existing house price has increased by $38,510, or 13.5 percent, according to CAR figures. 

The rapid appreciation of the housing market stands in stark contrast to plunging stock market values. The S&P 500 Index declined 7.2 percent in June. Between the start of June and Thursday’s close, it tumbled 21.4 percent. 

Analysts expect the gyrations of the stock market to have a mixed effect on residential real estate in California. 

To the Editor: 

Mr. Mark McDonald of the anti-Lawrence Lab faction has commented on my July 12 letter, attacking both my character and the accuracy of my statements. May I respond to the most egregious distortions and inaccuracies? 

1. I had noted that seven studies have shown that the tritium lab has never posed a health risk to Berkeley. Mr. Mc Donald claimed these studies have been "debunked", but he provided no information to support his assertion. Where are the studies that allegedly refute the findings of independent risk analysis scientists, the state department of health, the National Institutes of Health, and the U. S. Public Health Service? He said the work of these scientists is "laughable" because they "just quote LBNL numbers… " In fact, the data in these studies include measurements by independent testing laboratories, East Bay Municipal Utility District, the state’s cancer surveillance department, and the Environmental Protection Agency, not just LBNL itself.  

Last Friday, the EPA announced that tritium levels at LBNL were not a health risk. Their report confirms what each prior study had indicated – tritium levels in the air and ground around LBNL have been and continue to be far below hazardous concentrations. 

2. I stated that the Straume and Franke studies, both done by scientists chosen by Mr. McDonald’s group, had failed to support their contention that the tritium lab was hazardous. Mr. McDonald did not contest this statement but claimed that "the city-funded Straume report notes higher levels of cancer in affected neighborhoods…" In fact, Dr. Straume made no measurements of cancer incidence. He came to the same conclusion that all the other risk analyses reached – that the possible additional risk of getting cancer from the tritium lab was so small as to be hardly measurable. As he said, the risk of death from tritium-induced cancer for a resident living just adjacent to the lab was about one-half as likely as dying from the bite of a venomous animal. (The average lifetime risk of getting cancer is about 400,000 out of one million people. For people working 30 years at the Lawrence Hall of Science, exposure to tritium from the lab might theoretically increase their risk by 0.05 to 2.5 chances per million. As the scientists from the Senes Center for Risk Analysis reported, "no additional cases of cancer would be expected due to exposure to tritium releases from the NTLF (the tritium lab)." 

3. Nor does Mr. McDonald contest the conclusions of the Franke report. He criticizes Franke’s study on the grounds that the "tritium work was drastically reduced" during the two years on which Franke concentrated. In fact, the lab decreased its work load from its previous average of about 100 tritiations a year during a revamping of the lab in 1997; they resumed active work in 1998, reaching an average of 60 a year in the years before the lab was closed. This was taken into account by Franke. Those who heard Mr. Franke when he gave his 2001 report may recall him agreeing with another independent risk analyst that they had never seen a situation with so much concern over so small a risk. 

Mr. McDonald describes the Lawrence Hall of Science as a "radioactive museum". Franke stated that if he lived in Berkeley he would have no hesitation taking his children there.  

A telling example of Mr. McDonald’s cavalier approach to the truth is his statement "Also stated [ by Franke ] was that the LBNL itself had 119 mostly unmonitored stacks dumping radioactive poisons into the air." In fact, what Franke stated was this: "In 1999, there were 119 potential locations at LBNL where radioactive materials are present and could be released to the environment. This is hardly the same as "dumping radioactive poisons into the air." Nowhere in Franke’s report is there any basis for Mr. McDonald’s fearsome statement. 

5. Now that the tritium lab is inactive, Mr. McDonald and his friends have begun attacking LBNL on other fronts, claiming that LBNL is circumventing normal processes in dismantling the Bevatron. Had they bothered to telephone the lab for information, they would have learned that the demolition is proceeding exactly as required by law. Mr. McDonald referred to "thousands of truckloads of hazardous and radioactive debris"; in fact, most of the debris is neither. Only non-radioactive material will go to regional landfills, and radioactive material will be sent to appropriate disposal sites.  

It is not easy to understand the consistent pattern of disregard for facts that characterizes the anti-lab group. No matter how often their charges are shown to be fallacious, they return with new allegations and with increasingly personal attacks on those who disagree with them. Insults are not an adequate substitute for thoughtful examination of public issues; the CMTW and their allies are debasing the democratic process in Berkeley. 

Elmer R. Grossman, M.D. 

Berkeley

There is a youth program in Oakland that shows results, and there is a documentary film that showcases the program. “A Place Named Destiny” is a feature-length video about the Destiny Arts Center in west Oakland where young people, mostly from nearby McClymonds High School, are taught martial arts and dance. In the process, they learn how to pursue personal transformation and social activism. 

The film had its premiere at McClymonds this spring. It will be screened in Berkeley 7:30 tonight at La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 

The centerpiece of Destiny, and the film’s subject, is art center’s performance troupe. The Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company auditions hopeful dancers from the neighborhood and beyond to work up an annual performance at McClymonds. 

The film shows the students doing not only the hard work of creating and performing a show, but also the “heart-work” of meditation and group encounter meetings to promote community strength and spiritual growth under the guidance of Sarah Crowell, the performance company director. 

Crowell starts every dance practice with meditation. The filmmaker, Paul Ginocchio, said that Crowell believes her work at Destiny is of body, mind, and spirit. Some of the students – eager to dance – only grudgingly submitts to meditation exercises, at least at first, but by the end of the journey the payoff of personal triumph and group cohesion seems to make it worthwhile. 

Oakland-based Ginocchio spent years as a producer for KRON-TV news. He was burning out on reporting about crime and poverty in the Bay Area when he decided to focus on positive things. “That’s where me and news clashed,” Ginocchio said. He found the Destiny Arts Center to be hope inside a ghetto. “We need more positive media images of young people to counter the stereotypes that young people are violent, unambitious, and unthinking.” 

Most of the young people in the program, however, are misfits in neighborhoods patrolled by gangs and thugs. Racially mixed, some are too white or not black enough. Chanel, one of Ginocchio’s main subjects, is a lesbian in a place where homosexuals are often beat up. One teenager says she’s outcast as being too smart, and another speaks with a proper diction that sets her apart from street slang. These are not kids who aspire to life on the streets. 

“It’s really hard to get them,” Ginocchio said of the young people entrenched in street life. “When you go into an impoverished area, there’s a real strong energy.” But channeling that energy is difficult. “They are normalized to dysfunction.” 

The young people of Destiny put amazing energy into their dancing, which is the film’s greatest appeal. Their playfulness and enthusiasm, sweat and determination, are edited alongside anger and tears. Ginocchio filmed the long process of working up a dance show, but he did not take his cameras to the student’s homes. Through cameras Ginocchio gave to two of his principle characters, viewers get a glimpse into their lifestyles. Chanel Baty used hers to interview students and faculty about homosexuality at her school. Sam Mende-Wong took a camera home to the upscale Piedmont area when he received his acceptance letter to Bard College. 

A longtime Destiny dancer, Mende-Wong also acts as a youth leader. In the film he talks about violence prevention and community building. Like every earnest inner-city activist, he warns that, "violence beget violence. It is just a cycle and we need to stop the cycle." 

Whether the cycle will ever be broken – whether or not poverty will ever be divorced from violence – is a battle that social workers will always be fighting. But if it can happen in small pockets around Oakland, Ginocchio’s film shows that it can happen in places like Destiny. 

WHO: Destiny Art Center 

WHAT: “A Place Named Destiny” 

WHEN: 7:30 tonight 

WHERE: 3105 Shattuck. Ave. 

COST: $5 to $15 

INFORMATION: 849-2568 

For many in the Bay Area, basketball is more than just a sport. It’s a way of life. On a typical summer afternoon, local parks are filled with players of all abilities, all shapes and all sizes. Games are played not just for an hour or two but all day long. 

Opinions on the best spots to play pick-up basketball are as diverse as the locals that play the game. While some swear by the 5-on-5 games played at their neighborhood park, others take a more adventurous approach, travelling far and wide in search of top competition. 

A look at five local spots, from Albany to Oakland, shows that the game that so many love to play has its own rules and its own flair from court to court. 

People’s Park 

Starting in the heart of Berkeley at People’s Park on a recent Saturday afternoon, dozens of ballers gathered for a day of competition. Just off of Telegraph Avenue, the park, with its bathroom walls covered by ‘60s-era murals and peace signs, is a living piece of Berkeley history. Games at the park are competitive though many complain that because of the park’s single court, not enough games can be played.  

“People’s Park is pretty good as far as competition,” said Vishu Shuhakar, a UC Berkeley senior. “But sometimes it’s overcrowded and hard to get a pick-up game because there’s so many people there.” 

Unique to the park is the number of spectators that gather for a glimpse of the fast-paced action. 

“No other court pulls me like this one. There’s an energy and a camaraderie and a history. There’s lots of drama too, most of it good,” commented Jonathan Taylor, a Berkeley resident and photographer who frequently captures images at the park. According to Taylor, who has been interested in visual art since childhood, the park is an ideal location to shoot still photography. 

Though the occasional fight does break out during a game at People’s, Ray Kuhn of East Oakland said the park is better and safer than most. Kuhn also said the park provides local kids with a positive activity to focus on. 

“The atmosphere out here is pretty cool, pretty laid back. No one really bothers you or thinks you’re selling drugs when you come out here like at some parks,” Kuhn said. “It’s good because it keeps a lot of kids off the streets. If they had something like this in Oakland I wouldn’t have to come all the way out here.” 

Cal Recreational Sports Facility 

Fans of indoor basketball often opt for the clean and spacious facilities of the Recreational Sports Facility at UC Berkeley. Although players do have to compete with the occasional volleyball game or practice at the RSF courts, many feel the three gyms at the facility provide the surest bet for a pick-up game. 

“You can’t always depend on a game at other spots like you  

can here,” said UC Berkeley junior Greg Huynh. 

Games at the RSF are generally faster, as the regulation-size courts are larger and wider than many of area’s outdoor courts. As such, the variations in the size of the court often dictate the style of play. Smaller parks, tending toward half-court games of 3-on-3 instead of 5-on-5, can be slower but are often more physical.  

Adjustments must constantly be made not only when travelling from court to court, but from continent to continent as well, says Oscar Perea, who recently arrived from Spain and was playing at RSF on Monday. According to Perea, a UC Berkeley professor of medieval history, games in Europe are a bit slower but have more of a team emphasis. 

“The games there are slower but we use the pass more. Sometimes we pass between four or five or six times. Here the games are all 1-on-1. The difference is the individual versus the team,” noted Perea. 

Marin Elementary 

One local spot that does believe in a team-oriented game is the court at Marin Elementary. Located on Marin and Santa Fe Avenues just over the Berkeley border in Albany, the court stands out from the rest with both its own rules and a uniquely friendly atmosphere. Because the courts at the elementary school are smaller than most, no game is played with more than four to a team. Also, all games go to 12 points except the last of the day which goes to 16.  

“This is a really friendly court,” said Jason Stafford, an Albany native. “A lot of kids play here. Everybody’s welcome here. The best part about this place is we don’t care who plays here. The people here just want to be happy and have a good time.” 

According to Stafford, who met his current roommates through pick-up games at the court, the spot is probably different than most because regulars at the court look out for the younger, elementary school-age kids. 

“People argue here, the games get physical. But there are always regulars here to break it up. People don’t deal drugs here because they realize there are a lot of kids,” Stafford said. 

Grove Street Park 

Across town at Grove Street Park, locals gather for high-intensity games and a south Berkeley brand of basketball. Located at Russell Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way (formerly Grove Street), the courts are often divided between players and spectators as many watch and provide commentary on games from a set of bleachers on the south end of the court.  

For Berkeley High senior Dezz Grant, a small forward on the BHS basketball team, the courts are a distinct part of the neighborhood and provide a high-level of competition.  

“There are usually pretty good games here. It’s always a challenge to come out here,” Grant said. 

Female basketball players, a more common sight recently, often play at the courts on MLK, Jr. Way. According to locals at the park, there are some girls that have more game than the guys. 

“A few of the girls shoot better than the guys,” said Tyree Shelton of West Oakland. “I’d like to see a girl make it to the men’s league. There’s some in the WNBA that the Warriors should take a look at.” 

Danesha Wright, a sophomore on the varsity girl’s Berkeley High basketball team, says playing ball with the guys isn’t that strange. Asked about any changes she makes against guys, Wright said succinctly, “I just play.” 

Mosswood Playground 

While competition at the south Berkeley courts can be fierce, Mosswood Playground, just over the Berkeley border in North Oakland, is widely considered the best spot in the area to play ball. 

“It’s not even close,” said Shelton. “The competition is way higher there.” 

Attracting players from all around the Bay Area, Mosswood is known as a legends court by many. Current and former NBA stars like Bill Russell, Gary Payton and Isaiah Rider have all stepped foot on the hallowed grounds.  

“It’s history down here. They can’t compete with that,” said Phil Bluefield, an Oakland native. 

Located on West MacArthur Boulevard and Webster Street, the playground is a step above other local spots not just because of history but also because of the talent the park attracts. In addition, many consider the history and level of competition at north Berkeley’s Live Oak Park to be among the best in the area. 

Players at Mosswood Playground, however, place the north Oakland courts on par with storied Rucker Park, located in New York City’s Central Park. 

“People have been talkin’ about the games at People’s Park. People’s Park is garbage compared to Mosswood. We’ll go to People’s and blow them out of the water,” Bluefield said. 

The pressure is on a Berkeley waterfront restaurant, Skates by the Bay, to pay its employees more money. 

City Council for the first time has decided to enforce a city ordinance that requires private employers on city property to pay their hourly workers a “living wage” of up to $11.37. The state’s minimum wage is $6.75. The city’s higher wage minimum is an attempt to make the area’s high cost of living more bearable. 

Skates is not complying with the living wage laws, according to city council members. On Tuesday City Council requested that the city manager’s office tell Skates, which sits on city-owned property at the Berkeley Marina, that it has breached its lease, and if it does not adhere to city regulations it could be forced to close. 

The decision came as Skates is appealing its failed attempt to oust the city’s living wage ordinance in court. 

Skate’s managers could not be reached for comment. 

Berkeley's Living Wage Ordinance, passed in June 2000, requires any employers who hold leases or contracts with the city to pay their workers $9.75 plus $1.62 in benefits, or $11.37 per hour with no benefits. 

The ordinance was amended in September of 2000 to include only businesses at the marina that employ more than six people and generate more than $350,000 annually. 

Councilmember Chris Worthington, who authored the 2000 ordinance and sponsored Tuesday’s decision to enforce it, said that the council intends to stand by its ordinance. 

“We want to be reasonable and give Skates appropriate legal notice and sufficient time,” he said. “But it has taken many months for the city to up the pressure on them and start to say, ‘Hey, this law has been on the books for more than year. It is about time you start paying living wage.’ ” 

In March a district court dismissed Skates’ 2001 lawsuit filed against the city in opposition to the living wage ordinance. The court claimed the restaurant had no legal basis to defy the city’s ordinance and should be required to pay the higher wages. 

The lawsuit, though, suggested that higher wages were unfair. 

Wages could cause “increased prices, consolidation of jobs, elimination of reduction of part-time employment, elimination of non-mandated benefits, reduced hours of operation or potentially closing of the restaurant depending on the total impact,” the suit stated. 

Skates, which is owned by multimillion dollar Restaurants Unlimited Corp. based in Seattle, also said the ordinance illegally changed the terms of its lease with the city. The wages could hurt their business, the restaurant owners added. 

Employees of Skates and an intervening union say that council's recent decision will be powerful. 

“Skates has done everything to avoid paying as long as they can, and now the City Council has taken this very strong move to finally get them to do it," said Martha Benitez of the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE). 

With council’s action Tuesday, the city has legal authority to file a lawsuit against the restaurant or send a formal notice to terminate its lease. 

EBASE has already filed a suit against Skates, although the organization says that city intervention will have a greater impact on restaurant managers. 

In addition to raising wages, both the city and EBASE expect Skates to pay past wage differences owed to current and former employees. Skates' managers are holding the past wage difference in a separate bank account and are prepared to pay if they have to, according to Benitez. 

Skates’ employees were blocked from suing the restaurant over the ordinance because of the restaurant’s ongoing legal battle with city.  

“Skates took advantage of the fact that they have money and are not paying their employees during the lawsuit,” said City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque. “They sued as a practical matter because they knew while the constitutionality [of the ordinance] was being litigated, employees couldn't sue.” 

While a lawsuit would allow Skates to continue delaying payments to employees, city intervention will force the restaurant to address the issue, Albuquerque said. 

The City Council voted to oppose an initiative that would further limit the size of buildings, angering a number of Berkeley citizens that say Berkeley’s buildings are too tall and too dense. 

The height initiative, which will be on the city’s November ballot, calls for restricting building heights to three stories in residential neighborhoods and five stories downtown. Currently, buildings can be as tall as five stories in residential neighborhoods and seven downtown. 

The petition-driven initiative, which was written by Berkeley Party members Howie Muir and Martha Nicoloff, recently made the ballot. 

According to the initiative, buildings higher than three stories in residential neighborhoods block sunlight and views, increase traffic and overburden the city’s already decrepit sewer system. 

Opponents of the restricting initiative, though, say it would undermine the city’s goal to help ease the regional housing shortage.  

The city hopes to build 6,700 new housing units during the next 40 years. But according to a Department of Planning and Development report, if voters pass the initiative, the city’s potential for new housing could be reduced by as much as 66 percent. 

The council voted 8-0, with Councilmember Dona Spring abstaining, to approve a resolution opposing the height initiative. Councilmember Maudelle Shirek authored the resolution. 

About 20 height initiative supporters raised yellow placards during the council meeting Tuesday that read “We vote,” and “Hear the appeals,” referring to appeals filed against three proposed multi-unit developments that council was deliberating. [See story on this page.] 

Councilmember Linda Maio opposed the appeals and the height initiative because Berkeley needs more housing, she said. 

“I’m opposing this initiative because it’s too restrictive,” Maio said. “When I first moved to Berkeley [in 1970], there were more people living here than there are now. We need to build more affordable housing for working people like librarians, teachers and clerical staff.” 

Muir was on vacation and unavailable for comment and Nicoloff could not be reached Wednesday. 

Initiative supporters are also concerned that developers are getting incentives to build taller buildings from city planners, City Council and the Zoning Adjustments Board. The incentives, they claim, are not consistent with the city’s General Plan or the California Environmental Quality Act. 

Berkeley resident Douglas Press said the city public process is unfair. He unsuccessfully appealed the approval of a four-story, 35-unit development at 2700 San Pablo Ave. at Tuesday’s meeting. 

“Planning staff issued their analysis of our appeal on Friday and we were not even allowed to respond to their findings in writing,” he said. “It’s this type of summary approval by the Zoning Adjustments Board and the City Council that is creating support for the Height Initiative.” 

Mayor Shirley Dean sympathized with neighbors who feel that their neighborhoods are being over-developed, but agreed that the height initiative is “too blunt of a tool.” 

“Voting for housing is a difficult thing to do when people don’t want it in their neighborhood,” she said. “I hope that we will use this opportunity to discuss our [planning] process.” 

City Manager Weldon Rucker said the city’s unclear development guidelines often result in city staff being unfairly blamed for confusion in the process by angry neighbors and anti-growth factions. 

“Berkeley is a very challenging place to work,” Rucker said, gesturing toward a 4,500-page stack of reports that city staff prepared for Tuesday’s meeting. “Staff ends up becoming scapegoats because we are not dealing with this issue as a community.” 

He suggested that it’s time “to take a little time out” and figure exactly what type of development is needed and how to regulate it. 

To the Editor: 

Tom Bates says he's not a leftist, yet he is surrounded by leftists from every corner of town, all hoping against hope that he can unseat Shirley Dean. Tom Bates laments about the loss of rent control, a most important issue to leftists. Just what does Bates mean?  

Passage of Costa Hawkins (vacancy decontrol) does not mean that rent control has ended in Berkeley; it has just been modified from the draconian environment that prevailed under the leadership of former mayor Loni Hancock. Thousands of tenants throughout Berkeley enjoy low rents and eviction controls virtually unprecedented in any American city, yet Tom Bates says rent control is a thing of the past. 

Tom Bates says he can work with both sides to solve disputes. Does he mean he'll convince leftist councilmembers like Dona Spring and Kriss Worthington to change their minds on important issues like housing, development, and sensible conversion of warehouse space? What specifically are the disputes that Mr. Bates hopes to resolve? 

Just what is Tom Bates up to? Is he temporarily disassociating himself from the left, very conveniently, to give us the impression that he is a moderate? Sounds like Berkeley voters are in for a slick campaign of deception from Mr. Bates. 

Leon Mayeri 

Berkeley

If you've been itching to push your acoustical music boundaries look no further than the Freight and Salvage Coffee House tonight. With their three-part harmonies grounded in pop-folk sensibility, the Bluehouse, a trio of female musicians from Australia, is sure to expand your horizons. 

Critics compare the Bluehouse to the likes of wistful kd lang and the harmonic Indigo Girls, but with the added benefit of humor. And, it's a tad more hard-driving, yet is soulful, sultry and fun. 

“To give a description of our music is the 64 thousand dollar question,” said bass player Jacqueline Walter while on a stop-over at Lake Tahoe.  

“We try to push the boundaries of where you can go acoustically. We're all influenced by different musicians, such as Suzanne Vega, Michelle Shocked and Chrissie Hynde. But I also like mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne.” 

The other members of the band include Samantha Harley on guitar and Bernadette Carroll also on guitar. All have done the varied odd-jobs before coming together as a group. Walter pierced bodies, Harley taught school, and Carroll at one point was a synchronized swimmer.  

The three met in a pub in Melbourne in 1995. The name Bluehouse, said Walter, was the best they could come up with at the time. 

“This is a true story,” said Walter. “We had an hour to go before our first show and we had no name. So we all put three random words and three random colors into a hat and picked. Bluehouse was the best out of all three. I mean, we couldn't really have gone with Green Giraffe or Orange Toaster. Well, I suppose we could have.” 

The three musicians come from parts of Australia. Walter was born in Melbourne. Harley and Carroll were both born in Sydney. Scheduled stops on their tour include the New Glasgow Jubillee in Nova Scotia, and the Mountain Stage Newsong Festival in Charlestown, W. Va. They have released four albums on various, independent labels. Their latest album is called “6 Minutes of Breathable Air.” 

For more information visit the band’s web site at: www.bluehouse.net/ 

WHO: The Bluehouse 

WHAT: acoustical music 

WHEN: 8 tonight 

WHERE: Freight and Salvage  

Coffee House, 1111 Addison St. 

COST: $15.50 in advance/ $16.50  

at the door 

INFORMATION: 548-1761 

info@freightandsalvage.org 

Oakland Tech High senior Leon Powe verbally committed to Cal Wednesday, providing the cornerstone of what could be head coach Ben Braun’s best recruiting class ever. 

Powe, who is at the Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas with the Slam ‘N Jam Soldiers this week, is widely considered one of the top 10 seniors in the nation. The 6-foot-7 power forward, who averaged 27 points per game for Oakland Tech last season, isn’t playing at the tournament, as he tore his ACL in May and is currently rehabilitating following surgery. He said the recovery is going smoothly and expects to be at full strength for the high school season. 

Recruits aren’t allowed to sign official letters of intent until November, and Powe indicated he committed early in hopes of encouraging other top players to join him in Berkeley. 

“I know that if I commit today, there’s a good chance more players will want to come play with me,” he said. “I figured I was going to commit (to Cal) anyway, so now we can probably get some great players.” 

Braun already has verbal commitments from Seattle wingman Wesley Washington and small forward Dominic McGuire of San Diego, but neither is as highly-rated as Powe. Also, fellow Soldier Marquis Kately, a Riordan High (San Francisco) graduate, has committed to Cal but needs at least a year at a prep school to qualify academically, which means he could be part of Powe’s freshman class.  

The Bears have a maximum of five scholarships to give for the 2003 freshman class, so if Powe, Washington, McGuire and Kately all qualify and attend Cal, only one more spot is available. The Golden Bears are pursuing Oakland High point guard Ayinde Ubaka, who also plays for Slam ‘n Jam, and Powe said he might give his AAU teammate and Oakland Athletic League rival a friendly push in the right direction. 

“I’ll be talking to Ayinde all summer,” Powe said. “I want three of us to play together. I know I can count on them. Soldiers don’t back down from nobody. In the heat of battle, they won’t run from anybody.” 

Powe also dismissed the possibility of heading straight to the NBA from high school, especially after suffering a serious knee injury that has wiped out his summer season. 

Powe’s short list of schools included Duke, Maryland, Kansas and North Carolina along with Cal. Duke was considered the front-runner until the Blue Devils got a commitment from forward Kris Humphries of Minnesota, who plays the same position as Powe, in May. 

Cal has been recruiting Powe since he was a freshman at Oakland Tech, and the player has attended Golden Bear games for the past two seasons. Powe cited his relationship with Braun as a factor in his decision, as well as the chance to play where his family and friends can watch him. Family has become a bigger concern since the death of Powe’s mother, Connie Landry, in March. 

“I think it’ll help my family a lot to have me here,” Powe said. “My little brothers and sisters need a role model, and I know they look up to me.” 

Powe said he has taken the SAT twice and hasn’t achieved a qualifying score, but he hasn’t taken any prep classes and is confident he’ll qualify. 

A group of Oakland parents, working with Berkeley-Richmond Jewish Community Center, has extended the life of an Oakland childcare center that was slated to close its doors next month. 

In April the Oakland-based Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay, fiscal sponsor for the Olam Yeladim childcare center, announced that it would not renew the program’s lease when it expires Aug. 31. 

But last week, three months of intense fund raising, strategic planning and advocacy, by parents and program administrators, culminated into a one-year extension of the lease. 

“I’m very excited,” said Josh Kramer, who runs the center that sits on the Oakland-Piedmont border. “It would have been a shame if the programs had disappeared.” 

Now parents and administrators say the long-term health of Olam Yeladim depends upon the center’s ability to raise funds and recruit participants for a program that many thought was dead. 

“We’re on a heightened state of alert and we are enrolling people as fast as we can,” said Henry Epstein, one of the parents involved in the drive.  

Marianne Smith, another parent, said she is confident that enrollment goals will be met and cited fund raising as the key to building a viable long-term program. The parent group has already secured $16,000 in pledges and is looking to raise more. 

Olam Yeladim serves about 95 children from the East Bay, Jewish and non-Jewish. The program, which serves preschool- through elementary school-age children, provides foreign language training, sports, arts and sewing, among other activities.  

The story of the center’s demise, and resurgence, is a complicated one involving three separate agencies – Oakland’s Jewish Community Services, which operates the child care center, the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay and the Berkeley-Richmond Jewish Community Center, based in Berkeley.  

In April, the federation cited declining enrollment and an estimated $70,000 budget deficit at the child care center when it decided to shut down the program. 

Stacey Simon, the federation’s director of marketing and public relations, said a lack of parental involvement at the center also played a role. 

“There had been some concern that there wasn’t active community participation,” Simon said. 

But parents say the real problem was a lack of communication between the federation and the community. They were caught off-guard by the April announcement. 

“There was a lot of miscommunication,” Smith said. “We didn’t know what was going on. But as soon as we found out, we were upset.” 

After the April announcement, parents worked to develop a business plan and negotiate the lease extension. One parent even agreed to serve as a guarantor should the program run a deficit next year. 

Throughout the process, the parents worked with the Berkeley-Richmond Jewish Community Center, which was assigned by the federation in April to oversee the program. 

Last week the parents and Berkeley-Richmond center secured a one-year lease extension with an option to bail out early if Olam Yeladim does not prove financially viable. 

But Michele Schwartz, president of the Berkeley-Richmond center board, said she is confident in the financial plan. 

“I feel very good about it,” she said. “I think it’s a very solid plan for the coming year.” 

Smith credited the federation, which is supporting the move through the Berkeley-Richmond center, for reconsidering its April decision. 

“They listened and they were willing to reconsider,” Smith said. 

Simon, of the federation, said the parents’ surge in involvement was the key to shifting the federation’s approach. 

“The federation has committed itself to partnering with the community to provide services,” she said. “You see the support and you work with it.” 

PASADENA — An asteroid more than a mile across could strike the Earth in 2019 but further observations will likely show it will turn out to provide no more than a close shave, astronomers said Wednesday . 

There is a slight chance the asteroid, dubbed 2002 NT7, could smack the Earth on Feb. 1, 2019, causing a global catastrophe, astronomers said. 

However, they stress the odds of such an encounter are about 1-in-250,000 — and shrinking. 

“One way or another, this thing is coming off the risk page,” said Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA’s near-Earth object program office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

Astronomers with the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research Project used a New Mexico telescope to discover the space rock on July 9, when it was about 84 million miles from Earth. 

More than 100 follow-up observations have allowed astronomers to calculate six other potential impact dates in 2044, 2053, 2060 and 2078. 

The asteroid will remain in the sights of astronomers for another year at least, allowing them to further refine their estimates of its trajectory on its 837-day orbit around the sun. 

“At that point, if it’s still a threat, I’d start to get a little concerned, but not before then,” said Gareth Williams, associate director of the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass. 

In other cases where potentially Earth-crossing asteroids have been discovered, it has typically taken just days or weeks to determine they pose no threat. This asteroid, however, is larger than most and has attracted more interest. 

Were the paths of 2002 NT7 and the Earth to cross, the object would cause widespread devastation. It would enter the atmosphere at nearly 64,000 mph and strike with the explosive energy of 1.2 million megatons of TNT, according to JPL estimates. 

“We really wouldn’t want this object to fall on us,” Williams said. 

The odds of the asteroid doing so remain slim. The 2019 date ranks a one on the zero-to-10 Torino scale, meaning the chances of a collision are about the same as a random object of the same size hitting the Earth in the next few decades. 

Last month, an asteroid the size of a soccer field missed the Earth by 75,000 miles — less than one-third of the distance to the moon in one of the closest known approaches by objects of its size. 

SAN FRANCISCO — The judge presiding over the Cary Stayner murder trial wrongly excluded the public and media from the courtroom earlier this month, a California appeals court ruled Wednesday. 

To make room for potential panelists during jury selection on July 15, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Thomas C. Hastings briefly emptied the San Jose courtroom and continued court proceedings in the absence of public witnesses. 

The case was brought by The Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News. The media argued that Hastings violated the public’s right to access court proceedings. 

The San Jose-based 6th District Court of Appeal agreed, and ordered transcripts of the proceeding to become available within five days. 

Stayner, a former motel handyman, faces the death penalty if convicted of murdering Carole Sund, 42, her daughter, Juli, 15, of Eureka, and their Argentine friend Silvina Pelosso, 16, in February 1999 near Yosemite National Park. 

Stayner, 40, already is serving a life sentence without chance of parole after pleading guilty in federal court to killing Yosemite National Park nature guide Joie Armstrong. 

The highly publicized trial was moved to San Jose from Mariposa County. 

Meanwhile, Hastings on Thursday is expected to hold a hearing requested by several media outlets who are challenging the judge’s decision to bar media interviews inside the courthouse and immediately outside the building. The media, including the Fresno Bee and Santa Rosa Press Democrat, contend that Hastings’ order violates reporters’ constitutionally protected rights of speech. 

OAKLAND – City Council moved Tuesday night to enter into an exclusive arrangement with a developer to build on what has been deemed as the most appropriate site for a new baseball-only stadium without including the Oakland A's in the deal. 

But the council members made it clear that the exclusive negotiating agreement with Forest City Residential West to try to draw a mixed housing and retail development plan for the 800-acre site that has been called the “uptown” is not a snub to the city's baseball team, as some had maintained. 

To show that they plan to continue talking to the A's in earnest about a new ballpark, the City Council OK'd a seven-year lease extension at Network Associates Coliseum and unveiled two nearby site options where a stadium could go. 

But even those preliminary sites are useless, council members and city officials said, until the team steps forward and makes clear what its long-term goals are. 

“Nothing can happen with a new stadium until we hear from the team itself,” said City Manager Robert Bobb, as he presented a report on the efforts of the city to scout for a new ballpark to the council. “At the end of the day, it's really up to the A's.” 

City officials have repeatedly noted that even though there has been a lot of talk about a baseball stadium in the uptown area -- located north of City Hall along Telegraph Avenue -- the team has not publicly announced where it would like a new stadium to go. 

At a news conference earlier this month in which officials announced the tentative lease extension that the council approved today, team co-owner Steve Schott dodged questions about the team's preference for a new home.  

City officials say that even if the A's decide that they want to move forward on the uptown site, the exclusive negotiating agreement does not preclude the team from going to Forest City and trying to work a plan with them. 

For his part, Forest City president Bill Kin said he is ready to entertain a reasonable proposal for the A's. 

Although many A's fans spoke in favor of building a baseball stadium in Oakland to secure the team, others were worried about the financial implications of such a move. 

Oakland resident Joel Kurtz, for one, said he was opposed to any public funding for the ballpark. 

“If the A's would like to pay for this stadium, as the Giants have done, I say fine, put it wherever you want,” said Kurtz. 

RICHMOND – Richmond police and U.S. Coast Guard officials are hoping to get word out to the public about a coalition of public safety agencies joining forces to protect the Bay Area from maritime and terrorist acts. 

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Marc Warren said the marine and air units of two dozen law enforcement departments and the Coast Guard that formed the “Neptune Coalition” in February have been meeting each month to coordinate their efforts. 

Member agencies have been taking turns hosting the meeting.  

Richmond police Sgt. Enos Johnson said that although the group was formed in response to the Sept. 11 airliner hijackings, it's still in the “forming stages.” 

Johnson said the group pools resources of member agencies including the state Department of Fish and Game, Highway Patrol and Office of Emergency Services, federal agencies like the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Department of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, Department of Transportation and Customs Service with those of several Bay Area police and sheriff's departments. 

He said that in addition to preparing for and protecting against terrorism on San Francisco Bay waters, the Neptune Coalition is also helping to coordinate law enforcement for public events like Fleet Week and this year's Independence Day holiday period, when members combined efforts to provide nearly 24-hour patrols logging 400 patrol hours during the five day period. 

OAKLAND – The agency that provides communal cars for Bay Area residents is teaming up with BART in its efforts to expand services. 

Representatives from City CarShare announced today that their cars are now available at the Rockridge and Lake Merritt BART stations in Oakland, as well as at the Glen Park Station in San Francisco. 

The hope is that having the CarShare vehicles at major transportation hubs will entice commuters to give up their own cars regardless of where they live. 

The program already offers services within walking distance of nine other BART stations. 

"This brings us even closer to being the regional transportation network that we want to become,'' said the nonprofit's East Bay director, Daryl C. Norcott. 

The service began operating last march with 50 members. It now boasts a membership of 1,600 people who share 60 cars in Oakland, San Francisco, Berkeley and Palo Alto. 

With little ceremony, the City Council dismissed three development appeals Tuesday night, clearing the way for 179 new units of housing in Berkeley. 

The council voted on the appeals after approving a controversial resolution opposing a ballot initiative that would put new height limits on future developments. Councilmembers said the height initiative’s restrictions would hinder the construction of much-needed housing. 

The Zoning Adjustments Board had previously approved use permits for the three housing projects discussed. All projects were proposed by Berkeley-based Panoramic Interests.  

The projects include a 44-unit project with 3,000 square feet of commercial space at 2119 University Ave. near Shattuck Avenue; a 100-unit project with 8,500 square feet of commercial space at 2471 Shattuck Ave. near Haste Street; and a 35-unit project with 5,200 square feet of commercial space at 2700 San Pablo Ave. near Derby Street. 

Based on staff reports that found little basis for the appeals, the council upheld the ZAB’s approvals.  

The appeals had cited too little parking, too dense of development and a lack of conformity to the neighborhood aesthetics regarding height and design. 

One appellant, Douglas Press, who lives near the San Pablo Avenue project, was shocked that City Council dismissed the appeals without input from the neighbors. 

“We submitted this appeal with over 400 signatures and the council chose not to hear those people,” he said. 

Panoramic Interests Project Manager Chris Hudson said he wasn’t surprised by council’s decision. 

“These are all very reasonable projects,” he said. “We hope to begin building them in March.” 

SAN FRANCISCO — Educational toy maker LeapFrog Enterprise Inc. jumped into the turbulent stock market Wednesday with an initial public offering at $13 per share. 

The IPO, priced at the low end of the company’s targeted range of $13 to $16 per share, raised $111.9 million before expenses. 

LeapFrog sold 8.61 million shares and stockholders sold another 390,000 shares. The Emeryville-based company is best known for a hot-selling high-tech toy called LeapPad that helps teach preschool children how to read. 

The offering delivered another windfall for two of the country’s wealthiest and most provocative businessmen — software mogul Larry Ellison and fallen financier Michael Milken. 

Ellison, Oracle Corp.’s flamboyant chief executive officer, and Milken, convicted of securities fraud in perhaps the biggest stock market scandal of the 1980s, control 82.8 percent of LeapFrog’s voting stock through a limited liability corporation called Knowledge Universe. 

The two men own Knowledge Universe with Milken’s brother Lowell, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Knowledge Universe’s 33.2 million shares of LeapFrog stock were worth $431.6 million after Wednesday’s IPO. The company’s shares are expected to begin trading Thursday morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “LF.” 

LeapFrog forged ahead with its IPO amid dicey market conditions that scared away several other companies. 

All four of the other companies that had planned to go public this week indefinitely postponed their offerings until the market settles down, according to Kyle Huske, an analyst with IPO.com 

Theater chain Cinemark and airline Republic Airways were among the companies to delay their IPOs, Huske said. 

LeapFrog’s unique blend of rapid revenue growth and a recent history of profits apparently helped reassure investors in the jittery market. 

Bolstered by the success of its LeapPad reading tool, the company’s sales have soared from $71.9 million in 1999 to $313.2 million last year. After several years of losses, LeapFrog posted a $9.7 million profit last year, according to its SEC filings. 

The company’s LeapPad product line accounted for 54 percent of LeapFrog’s 2001 sales. The company made 78 percent of its sales through four retailers — Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, Kmart and Target. 

LeapFrog has written off $6.4 million of the $11 million that bankrupt Kmart owes the company, according to SEC documents. 

LeapFrog’s sales through the first half of the year continued to grow at a rapid rate, based on preliminary data that LeapFrog included in its most recent SEC filing. 

Through June 30, the company estimated its revenue this year at $100.9 million, more than doubling its sales of $48.3 million at the same time last year. LeapFrog estimated it lost $12.5 million during the first half of this year, down from a $15.9 million loss at the same time last year. 

Like most toy makers, LeapFrog generates most of its sales and virtually all of its profit during the final half of the year. 

LeapFrog CEO Michael Wood, a former lawyer specializing in venture capital, founded the company in 1995 after he became frustrated with the lack of educational toys for his son, then a preschooler. 

In 1997, Wood sold the company to Knowledge Universe, which turned the CEO duties over to Thomas Kalinske, who had run video game maker Sega of America for six years. Kalinske relinquished LeapFrog’s CEO duties to Wood four months ago, but remains the company’s chairman. 

MOUNTAIN VIEW — Handspring Inc. has stopped shipping two models of its new Treo handheld devices after discovering some of them won’t light up. 

A defective component in the backlight assembly has caused the screens of some Treo 90 and Treo 270 models to go dark over time, making them unreadable, company spokesman Allen Bush said Wednesday. 

The Mountain View-based company expects to begin shipping the products again, after replacing the faulty part, within two to three weeks. Customers with defective models will get free replacements. 

Company officials would not disclose how many units were affected but said tests showed only a “small amount” of them malfunctioned, and that most Treo 90 and 270 models should not experience the problem. 

SACRAMENTO — A federal judge ordered over 4 million acres to remain as critical habitat for the California red-legged frog Wednesday until a ruling can be made on a dispute between developers and conservationists. 

The two parties have been fighting over rights to the land since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated it as a critical habitat in March 2001. The 4 million acres cover parts of 28 of the state’s 58 counties, from Tehama and Plumas counties in the north to the Mexican border. 

Conservationists have long fought to preserve the area for the frog, which has already been listed as “threatened” and therefore covered under the Endangered Species Act. They’ve fought developers who want to build on the land. 

Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., approved a proposed settlement to eliminate the frog’s habitat protections in the 4 million acres. That order followed a lawsuit by a developers group that claimed the economic analysis that led to the original designation was flawed. 

But Leon reinstated protections temporarily Wednesday after conservation groups complained they weren’t part of the negotiations for the previous settlement. 

“All we really wanted was a fair shot to get our opinions heard by the court,” said Richard Stack of the Jumping Frog Research Institute. 

Paul Campos, a lawyer for the Home Builders Association of Northern California, said the developers group, which includes his client, had expected the order. 

Builders realized Leon had signed the settlement they had proposed before hearing responses from the opposition. 

The order signed Wednesday allows the time for both sides to file responses before the judge makes a final ruling on the future of the land. 

Despite the setback, his group remains confident that the court will eventually rule in their favor, Campos said. 

Encouraged by the order, Peter Galvin of the Oakland-based Center for Biological Diversity said the conservationist group remains “guardedly optimistic.” 

LOS ANGELES — A Superior Court jury awarded $14.9 million to a talent agency that claimed The Walt Disney Co. underpaid commissions to the creator of the show “Home Improvement.” 

After a two-week trial, the jury found by a vote of 11-1 that Disney failed to pay agreed-upon commissions after the show, which starred Tim Allen, became a hit on the ABC Television network. 

The Agency for the Performing Arts represented the show’s creator, Matt Williams. The show aired on ABC from 1991 to 1999. 

Disney said it is considering an appeal. 

“We are disappointed by the verdict, particularly since we had prevailed on the vast majority of the claims in this case,” Disney said in a statement. “We believe we had satisfied our obligation to APA. However, the jury disagreed with our interpretation of the definition of base license fee. There are solid grounds for appeal.” 

Larry Feldman, an attorney for the agency, argued that Disney agreed to pay a commission on the “base license fee” that it received from ABC for each episode. In 1991, that fee was $410,000. 

Feldman said the deal with Disney called for the commission to rise, assuming that the base license fee would rise at a rate of 4 percent per year. 

By the end of the series, ABC was paying Disney $3 million per episode, but Disney was paying APA a commission only on the original fee, plus the 4 percent growth rate. 

BEVERLY HILLS — Colombian folk singer Carlos Vives collected a leading six Latin Grammy nominations Wednesday, including album, record and song of the year. 

Vives, who won a mainstream Grammy this year for best traditional tropical Latin album, was recognized again by the separate Latin Recording Academy for his album and song “Dejame Entrar,” which translates to “Let Me In.” 

He also had nominations for contemporary tropical album, tropical song and music video. Vives, a former television actor, performs in the style of Vallenato, the traditional music of Colombia’s northern plains, which is known for its simple lyrics about village life. 

“Me and my people are very happy,” Vives said through a translator. “This shows that tradition music and rhythms that come from the heart can have appeal no matter the language.” 

Salsa singer Celia Cruz, a two-time Latin Grammy winner, had four nominations that included album and record of the year, best salsa album and best music video for her album and song “La Negra Tiene Tumbao.” 

Other top album nominees were “Sereno” by Miguel Bose, “Jobiniando” by Ivan Lins and “MTV Unplugged” by Alejandro Sanz. Record of the year nominees included Sanz’s “Y Solo Se Me Ocurre Amarte,” La Ley’s “Mentira” and “Se Me Olvido” by Gian Marco. 

Colombian rocker Juanes, who won best new artist, rock solo vocal album and rock song last year, was nominated this time for song of the year, rock song and music video for “A Dios Le Pido.” 

“It’s like a miracle. It’s crazy,” he said after the nomination ceremony. 

The third annual Latin Grammys are planned for Sept. 18 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, which is also the new home of the Academy Awards. It will be televised live on CBS. 

The nearly 4,000-member Latin Recording Academy added two new categories this year, best contemporary tropical album and best Christian album, bringing the total to 40. 

The Latin Grammy’s sophomore ceremony, scheduled for Sept. 11, was canceled last year after the terrorist attacks. The awards were later announced at a small news conference. 

The event had been scheduled in Miami, but was abruptly moved to Los Angeles less than a month before the ceremony. The move occurred after academy and local officials could not agree on where anti-Castro protesters would be permitted to picket the show. 

“This year, the academy voters recognized excellence from Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico, Brazil and beyond,” said Enrique Fernandez, executive director of the Latin Recording Academy. “This shows how the nomination process truly salutes excellence in music regardless of where it is produced.” 

An ongoing air study at the popular Harrison soccer fields in west Berkeley continues to show elevated levels of particulate matter, which some say can aggravate respiratory problems. 

Particulate matter is pollution, small airborne pieces of liquid or solid that originate from a variety of sources. It is most often associated with exhaust from automobiles, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management Web site. 

The findings come despite the installation of a long-planned dust suppression system that promised to improve safety standards for employees at the Berkeley Transfer Station. City officials had hoped the system would also reduce particulate levels at Harrison Field. 

The study revealed that each month since April the airborne matter exceeded state Environmental Protection Agency standards by nine to 15 times. 

And according to city Hazardous Materials Supervisor Nabil Al-Hadithy, the tests show that air at Harrison Field is twice as concentrated with the particulate matter as downtown San Jose, and three times as high as downtown San Francisco.  

Despite the findings, Al-Hadithy said there is no hard evidence that a significant health risk exists. 

“City staff is not going to make any assessments about possible health risks until further analysis is completed,” Al-Hadithy said.  

The field is used heavily by the Alameda-Contra Costa Soccer League, which consists mostly of players between the ages of 6 and 18. Despite the lack of specific information about health risks, the city posted a sign at the field warning users about possible risks from particulate matter. 

Particulate matter can be hazardous to children and the elderly who are more sensitive to respiratory problems such as asthma and bronchitis, according to the BAAQMD.  

Particulate Matter 10, which is responsible for the high levels at Harrison Field, consists of particles about 10 micrograms in size. PM 10 is not as dangerous as Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM 2.5), which is much smaller and embeds deeper in the lung’s membrane. Data from the last four months of the air study shows PM 2.5 has not exceeded state standards, although 25 days of data are missing from the May and June reports.  

The field is adjacent to the Berkeley Transfer Station, where large amounts of dust are kicked up when waste is moved from trucks to hauling containers. In May, the city installed a $60,000 dust suppression system. As a byproduct of the installation, city officials had hoped the system would lower the level of PM 10 at Harrison Field. 

However, the results show PM 10 exceeded state EPA standards at a greater rate after the system was installed. In March, before the system was put in, the air at the field had elevated PM 10 levels on nine days. During May and June there were 11 elevated days in each month. 

Air quality could be a consideration in a recent proposal to build the Ursula Sherman Village, a transition home for 132 adults and children who are struggling to get off the streets. Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency is developing plans for the home, which would provide a variety of services including education, job training and an on-site health center. The project is proposed at the southwest edge of the field.  

Community Environmental Advisory Commissioner L A Wood, who is also a candidate for Council District 4, said the study ought to change its focus. 

“I would like the city to take their blinders off and look at the industry around the park instead of just the freeway and transfer station,” Wood said.

To the Editor: 

It is ironic that stories suggesting Colin Powell is in line to be the next vice-president are appearing the very time that President Bush is going to force the Secretary of State and his department to eat a healthy dose of crow.  

Unless the President has an abrupt change of heart, he will very soon order Mr. Powell or one of his close aides to announce that the U.S. is permanently blocking all funds for the United Nations Population Fund [UNFPA] family planning programs. 

Last year, it was Secretary Powell who told Congress how important UNFPA's work was and how the administration supported international family planning for the well-being of women and children. At his urging, the President asked for $25 million for UNFPA and a bipartisan majority of both houses of Congress approved $34 million in a bill signed by President Bush last December. In January, the President inexplicably announced a "hold" on these funds pending a review of UNFPA's work in China [which more than 60 foreign diplomatic delegations had already reviewed and reported as exemplary and which no U.S. funding goes to, anyway.] The President's hand-picked team went to China and reported that UNFPA was doing good work and was helping China move away from its coercive population policies [that from "sources" since the White House has refused to release the report.] 

If the president is withholding the UNFPA funds only to appease his more vocal domestic supporters, it's hardly surprising. He owes his job, in some part, to those people. If withholding these funds only kept the UNFPA from saving the lives of 4,700 women and 77,000 children under the age of five or from preventing 800,000 abortions but served some larger foreign policy initiative, I would have been troubled, but perhaps understood that there is some “bigger picture.” 

But Bush's decision to withhold UNFPA funds is not only bad for women and children in the developing world, it is terrible foreign policy. This decision puts us at odds with our most important allies [The United Kingdom, Japan, Germany] and is counter to our strategic interests everywhere in the world. 

So Mr. Powell will eat his crow, the domestic radical right ideologues will brag of a victory, and our friends in the international community will wonder what has happened to America. Meanwhile, thousands of women and children who could have been saved will die, and and an outstanding Secretary of State will be left to ponder whether his job is to conduct foreign policy or to do the bidding of Mr. Bush's radical right. 

Peter H. Kostmayer 

President 

Population Connection 

Washington, DC

Wednesday, July 24 

Berkeley Gray Panthers General Meeting 

1:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. 

Pharmacist Fred Mayer prescriptions and their costs, etc. 

548-9696  

Free 

Getting Help When You Need It 

7:30 to 9 p.m.  

Summit North Pavilion, Cafeteria Annex A 

350 Hawthorne Ave. Oakland 

Free interactive workshop to help caregivers obtain free assistance, deal with paid in-home help, and create plans to care for loved ones. 

869-6737 

Free 

"Green Building" Workshop 

6:30 to 8 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library, Meeting Room A, 2090 Kittredge 

Henry Siegel, Architect, on how to use building materials that are healthier for your family and the environment.  

614-1699 

Thursday, July 25 

Combat Medic: World War II 

7:30 p.m.  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave.  

Memoir presentation by San Francisco physician John Kerner, describing experiences as a combat medic in World War II.  

843-3533 

Free 

California Landscapes: A Geologist's Perspective 

7 p.m. 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

John Karachewski presents an educational slide show on such amazing places as the Sierra Nevada, Coast Ranges the Great Valley and Cascades 

For more information: 527- 4140. 

Free 

Saturday, July 27 

Test Ride Kestrel Bicycles 

11 a.m.-1 p.m. 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

Pristine Sandusky of Kestrel, a premier manufacturer of high-end, carbon-fiber road and mountain bikes, introduces their latest design. 

Free 

Graywater Workshop  

10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave 

Learn the ins and outs of reusing water with the Guerrilla Graywater Girls 

548-2220 x233  

$10 members, $15 non ( no one turned away for lack of funds) 

Santa Fe Right of Way Path Walk 

10 a.m. 

Meet at the Ohlone Greenway at Cedar St, in Cedar Rose Park. 

A new path opportunity, recently funded by the City Council. 

649-9874, or http://www.internettime.com/path 

"Neon: The Living Flame" 

7:00 p.m.  

Alameda Museum, 2324 Alameda Ave.  

The Alameda Museum presents Michael Crowe, author, and neon artist Karl Hauser 

lecture by Michael Crowe 

748-0796 or 841-8489.  

Members free, non-members $5  

Grand Summer Rummage Sale 

9 a.m. to 4 p.m 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Cedar and Bonita Streets 

A benefit for ANSWER- Act Now to Stop War and End Racism. Donations and volunteers are needed 

(415) 821-6545. 

Sunday, July 28 

Hands-on Bicycle Repair  

11 a.m.-12 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

Learn from an REI bike technician basic repairs such as brake adjustments and fixing a flat. 

(510) 527-4140 Free 

Tuesday, July 30 

The Birdhouse Chronicles: Surviving the Joys of Country Life 

7:30 p.m.  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave.  

Reading and discussion of Cathleen Miller's personal account of moving from San Francisco to Amish Pennsylvania to restore an old house. 

843-3533 

Free 

Wednesday, July 31 

Twilight Tours at UC Botanical Gardens 

(through August 28) 5:30 p.m.  

200 Centennial Drive, Berkeley, CA.  

Tour the garden at twilight with an expert horticulturist every Wednesday. 

643-2755  

Free with garden admission.  

Mountain Adventure Seminars: Introduction to Rock Climbing 

7 p.m.-9 p.m. 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

An introduction to rock climbing including knot tying, belaying and movement. 

For more information: (209) 753-6556 

$115 REI members; $125 non-members 

Thursday, August 1 

Putting it Together 

7:00 p.m. 

Zellerbach Hall, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave. 

Middle school students of Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp perform dance techniques, spoken word, theater. 

Free 

Public Meeting to Plan New National Historic Park in Richmond 

1:30 p.m. 

Richmond Senior Center, 2525 Macdonald Ave. 

Meeting to gather input for National Park Service to prepare plans that will guide development of historic WWII sites in Richmond. 

817-1517 

Free 

Nutrition Career Open House 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Institute of Educational Therapy, 706 Gilman St. 

Become a Nutrition Educator or Nutrition Consultant. 

558-1711 for reservations 

Free 

Saturday, August 3 

Mountain Adventure Seminars: Introduction to Rock Climbing 

8 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

An introduction to rock climbing including knot tying, belaying and movement. 

For more information: (209) 753-6556 

$115 REI members; $125 non-members 

10th Annual Stroll for Epilepsy 

Six Flags Marine World, Vallejo 

The public is invited to join the Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California at Six Flags Marine World for a 5K walk/fundraiser. 

1-800-632-3532 for registration 

Storytelling at the Berkeley Public Library 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Library, Central Branch 

2090 Kittredge St. 

Storyteller Joel Ben Izzy will present a variety of stories filled with warmth, humor, drama in the Children's Story Room. 

981-6223 

Sick Plant Clinic 

9 a.m. to Noon  

200 Centennial Drive 

UC Botanical Garden; First Saturday of every month. UC plant pathology and entomology experts will diagnose what ails your plant. 

643 - 2755. 

Sunday, August 4 

Top of the Bay Family Days 

1 to 3 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive, above UC campus 

Enjoy an afternoon outdoor concert in our family picnic area as well as art and science activities and hands-on exhibits inside LHS. 

643-5961 

$8 adults 

Monday, August 5 

National Organization for Women East Bay Chapter monthly  

meeting 

6:30 p.m. 

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 6536 Telegraph Ave. 

Discussion of harassment of females employed by the City of Oakland Fire Department 

Monthly meeting: NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN Oakland 

549-2970, 287-8948  

Arts Education Department Open House 

6:30 to 8:30 p.m. 

Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave, Richmond 

Meet teachers, see studios/galleries, info about classes in the arts. 

620-6772 

Free 

Public Meeting to Plan a New National Park in Richmond 

1:30 p.m. 

Richmond Public Library, Whittlesey Room 

325 Civic Center Plaza (near Macdonald Ave. and 25th St.) 

Meeting to gather input for National Park Service to prepare plans that will guide development of historic WWII sites in Richmond. 

817-1517 

Free 

Saturday, August 10 

Poetry in the Plaza 

2:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library, Central Branch, 2090 Kittredge 

Quarter hour readings by well-known poets, dedicated to June Jordan. 

981-6100 

Free 

Tomato Tasting 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Tasting and cooking demonstrations  

Free 

Tea Bag Folding 

2 to 4 p.m.  

Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave, Albany 

Drop-in crafts program for ages 5 to adult.  

526-3720 ext 19. 

Sunday, August 11 

Hands-on Bicycle Repair 

11 a.m.-12 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

Learn from an REI bike technician basic repairs such as brake adjustments and fixing a flat. 

For more information: (510) 527-4140 

Free 

West Berkeley arts Festival 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

4th and University Ave. 

Explore the many resident artists located in Berkeley 

Free. 

Monday, August 12 

The First East Bay Senior Games 

10:30 a.m. clinic, 12:30 p.m. tee-off (approximate times) 

Mira Vista Golf and Country Club 

7901 Cutting Blvd. El Cerrito 

A golfing event for the 50+ crowd, in association with the California and National Senior Games Association. 

891-8033 (registration deadline July 29) 

Varying entry fees. 

Tuesday, August 13 

Tomato Tasting 

Tasting & cooking demonstrations 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Derby Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way  

Free 

Berkeley Camera Club Weekly Meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share slides, prints with other photographers 

(510) 525-3565 

Free 

Saturday, August 17 

Author Reading and Signing: Haunani-Kay Trask 

3 p.m.  

Eastwind Books, 2066 University Ave., Berkeley 

Meet Hawaiian author Haunani-Kay Trask. 

548-2350 

Free 

Cajun & More 

Four Live Bands, crafts fair, Cajun food, dance lessons, micro-brewery beer & dance floor. 

10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Free 

Sunday, August 18 

Top of the Bay Family Days 

1 to 3 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive, above UC campus 

Enjoy an afternoon outdoor concert in our family picnic area as well as art and science activities and hands-on exhibits inside LHS. 

643-5961 

$8 adults 

Hands-on Bicycle Repair 

11 a.m.-12 

REI Berkeley, 1338 San Pablo 

Learn from an REI bike technician basic repairs such as brake adjustment and fixing a flat. 

For more information: (510) 527-7470 

Thursday, August 22 

Film: "Ralph Ellison: An American Journey" 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library - Central Branch 

2090 Kittredge St. 

Berkeley filmmaker Avon Kirkland's stirring documentary about the great American author, Ralph Ellison. 

981-6205 

Free 

Friday, August 23 

Teen Playreaders present Bizarre Shorts 

(through August 24) 7 p.m. 

Berkeley Public Library - North Branch 

1170 The Alameda 

Playreaders present 20 short, bizarre plays, contemporary and classic. 

644-6850 

Free 

Saturday, August 24 

Roller Derby & Big Time Wrestling 

6:30 p.m. 

Richmond Auditorium, 403 Civic Center Plaza 

Roller Derby: Bay Bombers vs. Brooklyn Red Devils, Big Time Wrestling superstars 

636-9300 

$10 Advance, $20 Door 

Monday, September 2 

National Organization for Women Oakland/East Bay Chapter  

6:30 PM.  

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 6536 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley  

Chapter’s monthly meeting. Speaker: multicultural historian, Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, received 

the prestigious Valitutti Award for non fiction.  

549-2970 

Free 

Sunday, September 8 

Lifelong Medical Care First Annual 5K Fun Run/Walk Fundraiser 

9 a.m. to noon 

West Berkeley 

Individual and team participation, a health fair, food, prizes, live music, free insurance eligibility screening - fun for all ages. 

704-6010 

To the Editor: 

The recent tragedy of Samantha Runnion reminds me that there is a wonderful workbook available for elementary-school-age children and their parents called Know & Tell: A Child Abuse Prevention Workbook for Parents and Young Children, by Yvette Lehman.  

The workbook, written in progressively intimate language that is warm and nonthreatening, offers a simple, step-by-step way for children to learn how to assess possibly dangerous situations and a tells how to deal with the confusion and fear associated with them.  

I highly recommend it to be used by families and schools. The author can be reached at 647-3442 or at yklehman@earthlink.net. 

Estelle Jelinek 

Berkeley

Medical staff at Berkeley’s only hospital with an emergency room got the go-ahead from city leaders Tuesday to upgrade the interior of its aging emergency department. 

The renovation was 10 years in the planning at the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center when it was held up last spring by two appeals filed by neighbors in the south Berkeley neighborhood. Noise and the removal of trees were the residents’ chief concerns. 

But just hours before City Council was expected to rule on the appeals, both were dropped, according to City Manager Weldon Rucker. The appellants had called him late Tuesday afternoon. 

The appellants could not immediately be reached for comment, but neighbors indicated that an agreement had been struck with hospital officials that lead to the dismissal of the appeals. 

“The neighborhood got a lot of assurances,” said Mary Barclay, president of south Berkeley’s Bateman Neighborhood Association. “Over the past four weeks, everyone has worked hard to make sure the issues were going to be resolved.” 

Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board approved a use permit for hospital work in April, but the two appeals had delayed the project. 

While the neighborhood has largely supported the hospital’s renovation project, deliberations about the way it should be done are what racked the planning process for the past decade. Concerns ranged from traffic and parking to the appearance of the new department. 

With the appeals dropped, hospital officials can move forward with expansion of the emergency department and with relocation of the radiology department. 

The hospital’s emergency department sees more than 45,000 patients each year, according to Alta Bates staff. The emergency department was built in the 1960s to accommodate only 12,000 patients, hospital spokesperson Carolyn Kemp said. 

Dismissal of the appeals allows certification of the project’s environmental impact report to stand and it moves forward operational guidelines that the hospital must act under once the new facilities are completed.

To the Editor: 

Pardon my ignorance, but I always thought breakfast grits were nothing more than coarsely ground corn. Silly me. I read the ingredients on the box and discovered I should have earned a degree in chemistry before I sat down to eat my morning cereal. 

No withstanding the fact I have no idea whether the corn is genetically modified because chemical companies fight tooth and nail to prevent dissemination of such information, the white corn is degerminated, I suppose to prevent grits from growing a corn stalk in my stomach – illegally. [And you thought abortion only applied to humans.] 

Chemists seem to love the hydrogenation of added oils. Don’t worry, it’s only partial. Perhaps too much may blow a paying customer away? After all, and according to the Websters Dictionary, hydrogen is an inflammable gas. 

Cereal companies, being health conscience though, also add soy lecithin instead of the more expensive egg yolk-amongst sundry and suspect ingredients too numerous to mention due to lack of box and column space. 

Of course, there are the ever present preservations that hold the grits in [perp¬etuity, just in case I plan to reincarnate and again have a taste for grits. Guess I’ll just have to grow and grind my own corn, organic, naturally. 

Charmaine Soedat 

Berkeley

Berkeley playgrounds are among the safest in the country, according to a nationwide study by the Consumer Federation of America and the Public Interest Research Group. 

The study, “Playing it Safe: The Sixth Nationwide Safety Survey of Public Playgrounds,” found that outside of Berkeley, seemingly innocent recreation yards are sometimes hazardous. Hard surfaces, equipment that is too high off the ground and swings that are too close together pose significant safety risks to children, according to the study. 

“Playgrounds can be wonderful places for children to have fun and face new challenges, but far too many playgrounds contain hazards that can injure and even kill,” said California Public Interest Research Group campaign director Becki Kammerling. 

According to federal data, more than 190,000 children injured on public playground equipment in 2001 required emergency medical treatment.  

Eighty percent of playground injuries were the result of falls – making the playground surface where a child lands one of the most important factors in park safety.  

All nine of the Berkeley parks examined in the study used a federally-recommended playground surface made of sand and hardwood chips or synthetic rubber. But none of the park surfaces were the recommended thickness of 9 inches. 

According to the study, Berkeley playgrounds also have adequate “fall zones,” or spaces to land around swingsets and climbers. Crowding the area with other equipment, by contrast, can lead to dangerous collisions for falling children.  

None of the Berkeley parks in the study had equipment that could entrap or entangle children. Kathy Swartz, CalPIRG campaign coordinator, said this type of equipment – a ladder with narrowly-spaced bars that could trap a child’s head, for instance – are most often to blame for the 15 to 20 children who die in playground accidents each year. 

Perhaps the most high-profile playground danger is chromated copper arsenate, or CCA, a wood preservative and pesticide used in play structures across the country. CCA is a type of arsenic, which is a known human carcinogen.  

Since the mid-1990s Berkeley’s City Council has provided at least $100,000 each year to address CCA and other playground hazards. 

The Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department has identified CCA in equipment at 12 of the city’s 48 play areas. In at least two cases the equipment has been replaced. The rest of the effected wood has been sealed to prevent leaks and is scheduled for replacement. 

There are no mandatory national standards for playground safety, though the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has published a series of recommended guidelines. 

California regulations that reflect the federal recommendations went into effect January 2000. 

Parents at Willard Park Tuesday afternoon said, in their experience, Berkeley parks are generally safe. 

“Most of them are pretty good,” said Lisa Cloud, a mother of a 4-year-old who has twins on the way. 

Parents said they simply avoid area parks with dangerous equipment or broken glass. 

The nine Berkeley playgrounds in the study include Grove Park, Willard Park, Peralta School Park, two playgrounds at Malcolm X school, two at Ohlone Park, and a pair at San Pablo Park. 

Retro Poll, a new organization planning to find out what Berkeley residents really think about things, is challenging the polling practices of the major media networks by doing some polling of its own.  

While none of Retro Poll’s surveys are yet completed, the group is developing questions for such issues as the war against terrorism and United States military involvement overseas. They hope to reveal misinformation in current corporate media polls.  

They want to examine public viewpoints, like 70 percent supporting Mr. Bush and ask, ‘What does that mean?’ “ said Kris Welch, a radio host for KPFA in Berkeley. 

Others agreed that vagueness in polling is a major problem. 

“The audience for good qualitative polling information could be quite broad, especially in the Bay Area and even in the corporate media, to varying degrees,” said Peter Phillips, a professor of sociology at Sonoma State University and a Retro Poll board member. 

Retro Poll is made up of media activists and volunteers, including professors from universities across the country.  

The group does not claim to be capable of pure objectivity, but it aims to rework poll questions, polling methodology and to interview a diverse socio-economic sample. 

“In statistical analysis, the same questions need to be asked of republican, democrat, or green, in addition to people from all levels of income,” Phillips said.  

Retro Poll organizer Marc Sapir was interviewed on Welch’s daily radio program and gave a sample of one of the polls. He showed a series of true and false questions designed to reveal how little the U.S. public knows about U.S. military action. 

“I would love the public to be confronted with these questions, although I don’t know what they’ll say,” said Welch. “It’s what Gallop never asked.” 

It costs $15,000 to run a poll, according to Retro Poll. With funding from private donations, grants, and fund-raising benefit events, Retro Poll hopes to meet its goal of performing 10 polls a year.  

On July 30, Retro Poll will hold a benefit called, “Fighting for Clarity,” to raise funds for its first poll. The event will feature comedy, music, and commentary by media critics. Call 848-3826 for more information.

SAN FRANCISCO — Frustrated by the federal government’s determination to shut down medical marijuana clubs, San Francisco is thinking about growing its own. 

The city Board of Supervisors voted late Monday to put a measure on the November ballot that would have city officials explore growing marijuana on publicly owned lots and distributing it to ill patients. 

Supporters said such a program could double as job training for the unemployed. 

“I don’t think it would be all that dramatic a venture,” said Supervisor Mark Leno, who proposed the idea with three colleagues. 

The city already issues medical marijuana use cards to patients who have a doctor’s permission. California was the first state to approve medical marijuana with the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996. 

“The health department or some other entity would distribute it over their own counter,” Leno said Tuesday. “We already have 4,000 San Franciscans coming in to get medical marijuana ID cards, now they could also get their marijuana.” 

Leno said he drafted the proposal because the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration remains determined to close down medical marijuana clubs in the city and across California. When DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson spoke here in February, Leno was protesting out front with a bullhorn. 

“If the federal government is going to continue to harass and shut down these clubs, then I think it’s the city’s responsibility to take action,” he said. 

Providing job training to unemployed or homeless residents would be “an added benefit to this project if, in fact, it happens,” said Board President Tom Ammiano. 

“If you don’t attempt these things there will never be any change,” he said. “We’ve got to give it a shot.” 

Still, hesitant to take on the federal government without being sure of their own political support, city supervisors voted to put the measure on the ballot. 

“Challenging federal law is a significant step for a city to take,” Leno said. “Before the elected body should do that, I think it’s important for voters to share their opinions. If 60 or 70 percent of voters say ’yes,’ the supervisors would be on very solid ground knowing that voters would be with us.” 

“We have a lot of land,” Leno added. “That’s not going to be a problem.” 

The problem is that cultivating, possessing and distributing marijuana are illegal under federal law. 

“Unless Congress changes the law and makes marijuana a legal substance, then we have to do our job and enforce the law, whether or not it’s popular,” Richard Meyer, a DEA spokesman in San Francisco. 

Meyer said if San Francisco began growing marijuana, it would be “business as usual. We’d conduct an investigation, collect the evidence and take appropriate action.” 

Pro-pot advocates in California have already faced a series of federal crackdowns that culminated when agents raided a medical marijuana club and arrested four people just hours before Hutchinson spoke. 

San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan, who also protested Hutchinson’s speech, was unavailable for comment but has been outspoken in his support of the clubs. Police have refused to participate in any raids and last year city leaders declared San Francisco a sanctuary for medical cannabis use. 

Medical marijuana advocates lauded the ballot measure. 

“The real fight we’ve been having is distribution,” said Wayne Justmann, who’s been HIV positive for more than 15 years, carries the first city-issued ID card and operates one of San Francisco’s 11 remaining pot clubs. 

Canada and Holland already grow and distribute medical marijuana, said Jeff Jones, executive director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative. 

“I think San Francisco in some sense is a petri dish for what will happen for policy around the country,” said Jones, whose club was set up to dispense medical marijuana but stopped because of federal pressure. 

The Berkeley Police Department and California Highway Patrol arrested a Richmond drug trafficker suspected of supplying Berkeley dealers with significant quantities of crack cocaine last week. 

Arness Frazier, 35, was arrested Thursday outside his Richmond apartment. Officers found more than nine ounces of base cocaine in his home, which equates to more than 2,500 individual crack rocks with an estimated street value of $25,000. 

The search also uncovered a .38-caliber pistol and 3.3 grams of powdered cocaine. 

Frazier was charged with felony possession of a gun and possession of crack and powder cocaine with intent to sell. 

“He is considered a major drug supplier in that he is above mid-level and he only sells quantities,” police spokesperson Lt. Cynthia Harris said.

The family of an Oakland man who was gunned down in January as he was preparing to testify against a murder suspect who moved closer to suing the City of Oakland today, alleging that police ignored his pleas for protection. 

Chance Grundy, 21, was killed on Jan. 27, weeks before the preliminary hearing of 24-year-old Michael Scott was set to begin. Scott was accused of killing Eugene Abraham, 26, in the 600 block of 31st Avenue in October. 

In June, a jury found Scott guilty of murdering Abraham. The jurors also found Scott guilty of four counts of dissuading witnesses, for allegedly masterminding the killing of Grundy and another witness while in custody at the Santa Rita Jail. 

Civil rights attorney Pamela Y. Price today filed a claim for $3.5 million against the City of Oakland on behalf of Oran Grundy, the father of the slain 21-year-old, and the victim's toddler, Jordan Grundy.  

The claim, which is a precursor to a formal lawsuit, alleges that investigators probing the Abraham murder coaxed Grundy to testify against Scott, and then unbeknownst to Grundy, played the tape to Scott. 

The claim states that in November of last year, Grundy began to receive threats.  

He reportedly requested police protection, but police allegedly told him that Scott did not pose a serious threat to his safety and that they had already notified Scott's associates on the outside that they would be looking at them if anything happened to Grundy. 

“Mr. Grundy and his family detrimentally relied upon the officers' assurances that (he) was not in danger,'' the claim states. “The officers' refusal to place Mr. Grundy in protective custody, or offer him any type of witness protection, and their assurances that they had already taken adequate steps to protect Mr. Grundy induced a false sense of protection.'' 

Based on information obtained at Scott's trial, Price and the Grundy relatives believe that Scott created a hit list from within the jail that included Grundy's name and mailed the list to his associates.  

They also believe that Scott placed telephone calls soliciting the murders of several witnesses, including Grundy, who were set to testify against him. The allegations are that Grundy was never told about the hit list or the telephone calls, which helped a jury convict Scott of dissuading witnesses in the case. 

In addition to suing the City of Oakland, Price says she intends to sue Alameda County, which operates the jail, and Gary Sherrer, who she alleges gave ill-redacted documents to Scott that included Grundy's name and address. 

Sherrer, who once worked in the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office, said he had not heard of the intended suit, and added that he couldn't comment on something that he has not yet seen. 

Karen Boyd, spokeswoman for the Oakland City Attorney's Office, said the city had not yet reviewed the claim and so couldn't comment on the allegations either. 

The lead prosecutor in the multiple murder trial of Cary Stayner said in court today that he expects to rest the first phase of his case on Wednesday morning. 

Prosecutor George Williamson said that he plans to call one additional witness after FBI expert in paint, tape and plastics Ronald Menold finishes on the stand. 

“We've got Mr. Menold and then one other witness,'' Williamson said. 

Stayner's lead attorney, Marcia Morrissey filed a motion asking for a continuance in the trial Tuesday afternoon. Morrissey said that after the prosecution rests the defense would need additional time to have its experts evaluate Stayner's mental state. 

“The neuro-psychiatric testing that we undertook as soon as it was recommended has not been completed,'' Morrissey said. 

Stayner, 40, faces a possible death penalty if convicted of the February 1999 murders of Eureka residents Carole Sund, 42, and her daughter  

Juli, 15, and their family friend Silvina Pelosso, 16, of Argentina. He is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole in federal prison after pleading guilty to the July 1999 murder of Yosemite National Park naturalist Joie Armstrong, 26. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the charges. 

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Thomas Hastings told Morrissey that he would not delay the trial because of a defense witness’ availability. 

“We're not going to be captive to a witness for the defense,” Hastings said. 

The majority of Tuesday’s trial proceedings involved portions of Stayner's alleged taped confession in which he was negotiating with FBI agents for concessions, including access to child pornography, in exchange for his confession to the murders of the Sunds, Pelosso and Armstrong. 

“If I don't confess it's going to cost you guys a lot of time and money. I'd like to save you guys that time and money,'' Stayner said on the tape. “What difference is it ... viewing a little child pornography in light of the murders of four people.” 

FBI agent Jeffrey Rinek spoke to Stayner with a great deal of empathy on the tape in an attempt to get him to testify. 

“Christ, we'll send out and get the video and we’ll sit here and watch them with you,” Rinek said. 

Stayner told Rinek and FBI agent John Boles that his lifelong desire to view child pornography contributed to his allegedly committing the murders. 

“Maybe because I never got to see it, these things happened,” Stayner said. 

Stayner also attempted to negotiate two other concessions from the FBI. He wanted the $250,000 reward money that the Carole Sund's family had offered to go to his parents. He also wanted to be incarcerated in a federal prison near his Merced County home. 

Frances Carrington, Carole Sund’s father, said the reward money was offered for the safe return of the three Yosemite tourists and was never paid out.  

Carrington said today's playing of the tapes of Stayner negotiating with the FBI is further evidence of the former motel handyman's depravity. 

“What kind of mind would ask for his folks to get the reward money at the time of his confession and ask for kiddie, what did they call it, kiddie porn,” Carrington said. 

No evidence has been introduced that the FBI ever actually provided Stayner with child pornography. 

LOS ANGELES — The nation’s automakers say they will sue California to block a landmark anti-global warming bill that restricts carbon dioxide emissions from cars. 

The measure, which squeaked by the state Legislature despite a multimillion-dollar opposition campaign by carmakers and auto workers, was signed Monday by Gov. Gray Davis. 

California already has the nation’s most stringent standards for other vehicle pollutants. The new law sets emission standards for CO2 and other greenhouse gases that would apply to new passenger cars and light trucks beginning in 2009. 

It is “the first bill in America designed to combat global warming,” Davis said before signing the measure on a hot, smoggy day along a pine-scented trail in Griffith Park, the sprawling, hilly expanse near downtown. “We are going to set an example for the country.” 

The governor said he believed other states and the federal government eventually would follow suit. 

Opponents quickly condemned the measure, saying it would increase the price of vehicles and would reduce greenhouse gases globally by less than 1 percent. 

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said it would challenge the law in federal court. 

The bill “will reduce the freedom of choice” by pricing sport utility vehicles, minivans and other models out of some consumers’ range, said a statement from the American Highway Users Alliance, a Washington-based nonprofit advocacy group. 

The bill maintains that passenger cars and light trucks are responsible for 40 percent of California’s carbon dioxide emissions. The gases form a heat-trapping blanket in the atmosphere that scientists fear could cause disruptions in farming and the snowpack that provides much of Southern California’s water. 

More than 2 million cars were sold in California last year, making it the nation’s biggest auto market, so the law’s impact on the auto industry was expected to be enormous. 

Davis portrayed the measure as flexible and cost-effective. It doesn’t set any new fuel economy standards or mandate any changes to individual makes of cars, nor does it ban gas-hogging SUVs, the governor said. 

The emission standards would apply to the average pollution from an automakers’ line. Carmakers can partially meet the standards by reducing non-auto pollution, such as emissions from their factories. 

Though the legislation does not affect large polluters like big rigs or other commercial vehicles, environmental groups were jubilant. 

“This bill is an earthshaking event. This is going to start us on the fight against global warming,” said David G. Hawkins of the Natural Resources Defense Council. 

Supporters also included water districts worried about declining snow melt, the state’s largest cities and director Rob Reiner, who was at Monday’s signing. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Although he moved into the top income bracket long ago, billionaire Charles Schwab says he still relates to the small investors who helped transform his discount stock brokerage from a quirky upstart with four employees in 1971 to a financial services icon with 19,100 workers today. 

His empathy for Main Street — and desire for its business — is one of the reasons Schwab decided to run a satirical television advertisement skewering Wall Street for the alleged conflicts of interest that led some analysts to publicly tout stocks they privately derided. 

Schwab is also worried about the recent wave of accounting scandals 

The comedown since the market’s height in 2000 has been especially sobering for Schwab’s company. With trading activity down 35 percent from 2000, Schwab has jettisoned 7,200 jobs since the beginning of 2001. Last year, the firm suffered its first quarterly loss since 1987. 

The slump has ravaged Schwab’s stock, trading now in the $9 range, far below its peak of $51.67 reached in 1999. The downturn has wiped out at least $8.5 billion of Schwab’s personal fortune. 

AP: What do you think of market conditions? 

SCHWAB: In my career, it is clearly the worst market decline. This decline will end. They always do. Then we will have equity markets get back to a sort of normal state of affairs. 

AP: It seems like it’s going to be hard to know when we might be hitting a bottom this time. 

SCHWAB: There is so much in the winds right now. There is complete dissatisfaction with corporations and CEOs and politicians and fear of terror. All these things in combination give people just a complete lack of confidence. 

It’s one of those ugly things you have in a free market system. What is going on is ... correcting excesses of the past. And it’s cruel, absolutely cruel. 

But it is the most incredible mechanism that we have in a capitalist society. And if we don’t let it happen, if we legislate against everything, you end up having a socialist system instead of a capitalist system. Consequently, you have got to deal with the reality of the time. 

AP: Your company has been running ads suggesting that a lot of folks on Wall Street can’t be trusted, that the firms give people misleading advice ... 

SCHWAB: Well, it’s true. Many times you see that a commission-based broker is basically masquerading as a fiduciary. You see the same thing in respect to the analysts that reach over and have close relationships with the corporations and sort of sell their soul when they write up those reports that end up going to retail investors. Structure is the problem, frankly. 

AP: So what do you think needs to be done to start addressing these trust issues? Do we need to start throwing some of these guys in jail? 

SCHWAB: Certainly. Anyone who violates the law should pay the penalty, whatever the maximum penalty is. 

AP: Do we need stiffer penalties? It’s been said that white-collar crimes never really draw big penalties. 

SCHWAB: Well, they don’t get prosecuted. Like we all know, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) is badly understaffed. They have been battling for more assistance for years and Congress has refused to give them the resources to do it with. It should be on the footsteps of our good people in Congress. It is absolutely essential to have the maintenance of the integrity of our markets never be in question. 

AP: You are on the audit committees on the boards of both Gap Inc. and Siebel Systems Inc. With all these accounting scandals, has it changed the way you approach your responsibilities on those committees? 

SCHWAB: Well, some of the thinking has probably been amended, given the things that have come to light. 

In each one of them, you have time alone with the accountants and the external auditors. You have time with the internal audit people separately from management. You drill them and you hope the hell they tell you if there is a problem. 

At the end of the conversation, you always say, ’Is there anything we need to know that you haven’t told us?’ You look them straight in the eye and you hope the hell that that’s the moment of truth. That’s what you do. You have got to rely on that kind of thing. 

AP: Do you think this market volatility is driven more by economic concerns, trust issues or a confluence? 

SCHWAB: I think it’s really the economic issues. But the economic issues can be impacted — and that’s what people worry about — by highly restrictive legislation of some kind. 

NEW YORK — When Carol Levey got married, her father gave her some investment advice: Buy stock in safe, dependable companies — the kind that pay dividends. 

Nearly eight years later, Levey wishes she had listened. Her portfolio, which contained mostly riskier tech shares, has crumbled as the market plunged over the past two years. Now Levey and her husband own Exxon Mobil, IBM, McDonald’s and Pfizer, all of which pay dividends to shareholders. 

“It is a little bit of safety,” the Encino, Calif., woman said of dividends. “My parents provided for me, and they didn’t have all these high-flying stocks. They did it the old-fashioned way.” 

During the bull market of the late 1990s, investors turned away from dividends. They were deemed passe in the new technology and dot-com era, when Wall Street’s most successful companies reinvested all their profits to maximize growth. But with a grueling bear market sending stocks to their lowest levels in years, the dividend is back in vogue, touted for giving investors a dependable source of income. 

“It is a certainty in terms of what you are going to receive versus stock prices going up, because everyone believes prices can only fall,” said Joseph Keating, chief investment officer at AmSouth Asset Management in Birmingham, Ala. 

With the market having lost about a quarter of its value over the past nine weeks, a 92-cent-per-share annual dividend from Exxon Mobil looks pretty good, representing a guaranteed cash return of $920 to investors who own 1,000 shares. 

”(Investors) are looking for, as we say, a bird in the hand, and dividends represent that,” said Arnie Kaufman, editor of Standard & Poor’s newsletter “The Outlook.” 

Low interest rates have also worked to make dividends fashionable again. The annual yield on a money market account is 1.8 percent, according to Bankrate.com. But the average yield on dividend-paying stocks in the S&P 500 index is 2.3 percent. 

“Investors are saying, ‘I need a certain rate of income. I need additional income from the common stocks I own,”’ Keating said. 

Stocks that pay dividends recently have also lived up to their reputation as safe — or at least safer — havens in terms of performance on Wall Street. So far this year, the 350 dividend-paying stocks in the S&P 500 have declined about 11 percent, less painful than the 29 percent drop among those that don’t pay dividends. 

Financial advisers have long recommended investors include dividend-paying stocks in their portfolios and for a variety of reasons.  

Dividends are more attractive during bear markets and particularly for investors who are retired and look to quarterly payments to supplement their income. 

With dividends, “you have the ability to wait out the stock market decline and still have some income,” said Steve Wetzel, a professor of finance at New York University’s School of Continuing Education and a certified financial planner. 

Another advantage to dividend-paying stocks is the opportunity for investors to reinvest the money. Rather than get a check, investors can use dividends to purchase additional shares. 

Some companies have responded to renewed interest in the dividend by increasing their payments. Dividends of S&P 500 companies were up 4 percent during the first half of 2002 from the same period last year. 

Procter & Gamble announced earlier this month it was raising its annual payment to $1.64 from $1.52 a share. 

Other companies, such as Ashland Inc., are keeping their dividends steady but have noticed a greater interest in them. 

“In recent months, I have had more questions about the dividend than I have had in my career,” said Paul Chellgren, chairman and 28-year veteran of Ashland Inc., an oil services and diversified chemicals company in Covington, Ky. 

Ashland’s annual dividend is $1.10 a share. During the last bull market, Chellgren said investors and analysts were asking: “Why don’t you eliminate your dividend? It is not important any more.” 

Indeed, back in the years of the bull, there was much less appreciation for companies that shared a portion of their profits with shareholders. The thinking was that if Microsoft didn’t pay dividends, then they were unnecessary, a throwback to an older generation that talked of safe bets rather than stellar returns. 

“We just sort of got caught up with the excitement of tech stocks. We weren’t looking for dividends,” said Levey, the Encino, Calif., investor. 

But investor Sanford Holstein said he’s been buying dividend-paying shares “because of how the market is. You don’t stand a chance.” 

The retired shop owner in Syracuse, N.Y. said, “My strategy now is to protect as much as I can, and earn as much as I can.”

SAN FRANCISCO — The state famous for its sunshine and beaches leads the nation in another summertime staple: ice cream. 

California produced about 145 million gallons of ice cream last year, 64 million gallons more than Indiana, the No. 2 state, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. 

“The dairies have gotten bigger, and there’s more milk per cow, and the number of cows has gotten bigger,” said Karen Dapper, a research analyst for the Dairy Marketing Branch of the state’s Department of Food and Agriculture. “The number of dairy farms is going down, but the number of cows and milk production has gone up.” 

Tulare County, the No. 1 agriculture county in the state, has 312 dairies that brought in about $1.2 billion in milk production alone in 2001. 

“We had the first $1 billion commodity this year and that was milk,” said Tulare County Assistant Agricultural Commissioner Bill Appleby. “A lot of dairies have moved up here from Southern California, where they’re paving over agricultural land.” 

California has more than 2,100 dairies, about 1.55 million cows and about 35 ice cream plants. 

Americans spent nearly $20 billion dollars on ice cream and other frozen desserts in 2000, according to the International Dairy Foods Association. 

Ice cream has become such a part of the American life, that it has surpassed apple pie as the No. 1 dessert — at least in the assessment of John Harrison, ice cream connoisseur. 

Harrison is the official taste tester for Oakland-based Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream. 

Using a golden spoon to prevent aftertaste, Harrison tastes about 60 samples a day, examining them for appearance, flavor and texture. He compares his work to that done in another California specialty — wines. 

“I start with the white wines of ice cream — vanilla, vanilla bean — and work my way up to the heavy Bordeaux of ice cream — black walnut, mint chocolate chip,” he said. 

Harrison’s work is so valuable that Dreyer’s insured his tastebuds for $1 million. He also takes care to avoid spicy foods, caffeine and alcohol during the week. 

“On Friday night, I can let the hair down and have a little pepperoni pizza or some garlic mashed potatoes,” he said. 

Harrison developed the flavor Cookies ’N Cream for Dreyer’s, but his favorite ice cream is the nation’s most popular flavor — vanilla. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Voters will decide this November whether the aging system that delivers water to more than 2 million people in the Bay Area will get a much-needed seismic retrofit under a $1.6 billion bond measure city leaders placed on the ballot. 

With an 8-3 vote, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a measure Monday that would help finance $3.6 billion of construction on Hetch Hetchy, a complex of aqueducts that supplies water to 2.4 million homes and runs more than 160 miles from Yosemite National Park to the San Francisco Bay area. 

An upgrade could prevent century-old aqueducts from collapsing in a major earthquake and leaving several Bay Area cities without their main source of water for as long as two months, according to scientists. The system’s pipes and tunnels cross three major earthquake faults — the San Andreas, Hayward and Calaveras. 

The system delivers water to 770,000 people in San Francisco and to 29 suburban wholesalers, which, in turn, serve about 1.7 million people in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties. Seventy percent of Hetch Hetchy’s users don’t live in San Francisco, but in outlying cities such as Palo Alto, Mountain View, Redwood City, Fremont and parts of San Jose. 

However, the water system is owned and administered by San Francisco. 

If approved, the average four-person household in San Francisco would see its monthly water bill more than triple from an average of $13 to nearly $44 by 2015. Suburban rates would rise to an estimated $70 from its current average, $38. 

LOS ANGELES — As the parents of a 5-year-old Orange County girl who was abducted and murdered prepare for her funeral and police search for a 7-year-old snatched off the street in Philadelphia, worried parents are looking to police and school officials for help coping with a phenomenon authorities are dubbing “stranger danger.” 

In the Los Angeles suburb of Stanton, where Samantha Runnion was abducted July 15, about 50 parents gathered for a seminar on child safety Monday night. In nearby Irvine, a “Keeping Your Children Safe” meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at City Hall. 

At the Orange County Fair, police handed out fliers with tips for protecting children from abduction, while hundreds of fairgoers took time out from rides and food booths to search sex-offender databases set up by the California Department of Justice and the Orange County Probation Department. 

In neighboring Los Angeles County, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to ask Sheriff Lee Baca to work with radio and TV stations to create a countywide child-abduction alert system. 

In Tustin, police were fielding extra requests for safety presentations at local schools. 

“We are getting a lot more calls than usual for those,” said Stacy Margolin, in the community relations office of the Tustin Police Department. “We had a session at one school scheduled for August and we moved it up because all the parents are concerned.” 

The concern remains despite the arrest last week of Alejandro Avila, 27, of Lake Elsinore. He is charged with kidnapping, two counts of a lewd act on a child and murder in the slaying of Samantha Runnion, who was abducted just yards from her Stanton townhome as she played with a friend. She was carried off kicking and screaming for help. 

Thousands were expected Wednesday at Samantha’s funeral at the Crystal Cathedral, a nationally known church in nearby Garden Grove. 

The abduction and murder garnered intense national media attention, as has Monday’s abduction of 7-year-old Erica Pratt off a Philadelphia street, along with the unsolved disappearance of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart from her Salt Lake City home in June, and the Feb. 1 abduction and murder of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam of San Diego. 

The high-profile cases, coming so close together, have left many parents on edge. 

Phil Pierce, a minister and father of four, contacted police last week because parents at his Irvine church were upset by the Runnion murder and wanted information. 

“I knew we needed to do something to make parents feel a little bit safer and to make kids feel a little bit safer,” he said. 

Det. Tracy Jacobson, a child abuse investigator at the Irvine Police Department who will conduct Wednesday’s seminar, said parents need to be creative in teaching their children how to avoid what Jacobson called “stranger danger.” 

“It’s important to teach your child by example, by reinforcement and role playing,” Jacobson said. “Just explaining what to do doesn’t always work so well.” 

Neena Malik, a professor of psychology at the University of Miami, said the spate of child abductions, along with lingering concern about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, have parents on edge. 

“These isolated events of child abductions are getting more national attention. The national attention is a consequence of most people feeling like things are not so safe anymore,” Malik said. 

Taking action — by attending seminars, talking to children or gathering information — can help parents cope with their fears, she said. 

Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona, who appealed to the public for help during the investigation, said parental concern is a positive response to the tragedy. 

“We never wanted people to overreact. We wanted to make them aware of what we had and for them to pay maybe a little closer attention to their children,” Carona said. 

Juan Rivera, who stopped recently with his children and nephew at the makeshift memorial outside Samantha’s home, said he has reminded young family members about what to do if they are approached by a stranger. 

To prove his point, Rivera turned to his 5-year-old nephew. 

“What are you supposed to do if somebody you don’t know comes up?” he said. 

“I have to scream and run?” said 5-year-old Miguel Trejo. 

“What else?” Rivera asked. 

“I have to tell somebody,” the boy said.

CHICAGO — Passengers who fly aboard planes that re-circulate cabin air are no more likely to catch colds than travelers on aircraft that pump in fresh air, a study suggests. 

Still, all of the air travelers in the study got a lot of colds — significantly more than would be expected in non-fliers. 

Health experts have long suspected that re-circulated air carries more germs and causes more colds. 

Researchers called the latest findings encouraging, because planes that pump in fresh air are being phased out in favor of less costly, more fuel-efficient models with ventilation systems that re-circulate air. 

“Re-circulation of cabin air did not emerge as a risk factor for the development of upper respiratory-tract infection symptoms in our study,” Dr. Jessica Nutik Zitter of the University of California, San Francisco and colleagues wrote. 

The study, published in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association, involved questionnaires given to 1,100 passengers leaving the San Francisco area and traveling to Denver between January and April 1999. 

A week after their flights, 21 percent of the fresh-air passengers and 19 percent of the re-circulated-air passengers reported having a cold. The researchers said the incidence of colds in non-travelers is about 3 percent. 

Researchers said the high number of colds among passengers in both groups could result from factors unrelated to cabin air, such as stress, sleep loss and poor eating habits sometimes associated with travel. 

Judith Murawski, an industrial hygienist for the Association of Flight Attendants, said the rate of colds in air travelers seemed high and could suggest that cabin air in general is poor. 

Many airlines use ventilation systems with filters designed to remove viruses and bacteria from re-circulated air, but not all do, she said. 

She also said there is no minimum standard for how much outside air is brought into airplane cabins. Her union, which represents 50,000 flight attendants at 26 airlines, opposes a move in the industry to set a standard significantly lower than that recommended for office workers. 

HAPPY VALLEY— Olive fruit flies have been discovered for the first time in Shasta County. 

“This is the farthest north they have ever been,” said Paul Kjos, deputy commissioner of the Shasta County Agricultural Department. 

The were found late last month and early this month in detection traps in the Happy Valley-Olinda area, where most of the county’s roughly 500 acres of olive trees are located. 

The department plans to monitor the traps the rest of the growing season, through September or October, to gauge the extent of the infestation. 

If not controlled, the olive fruit fly, first observed in North America in 1998, can damage a grower’s entire crop, Kjos said. 

“Any fruit that the eggs are laid in are destroyed,” Kjos said. 

Adult female fruit flies lay eggs in olive fruits, but it is the developing larvae that actually damage the fruit, he said. 

Kjos said his department is working with growers, processors and other northern counties to find ways to fight the pest. Tehama County, for instance, immediately to the south, has been spraying orchards from the air and ground with pesticide. 

PHILADELPHIA — Law school applications are up dramatically — the biggest increase in at least two decades — as more young people are deciding the job market out there is just too rough. 

With business schools and other graduate programs also reporting a surge in applications, it’s a big difference from late 1990s, when students skipped graduate school for high-paying jobs and big signing bonuses at dot-coms. 

“With the way the economy is, there’s really nothing I can do right now except go to graduate school and hope that in another three or four years something will change,” said Brett Tishler, 21, who is entering his senior year at Temple University and applying to law school. 

Some of those applying are going straight from college to graduate school. Others have been in the work force for a while and have decided to go back to school. 

Law school applications are up 17.9 percent for 2002-03, the biggest spike in more than 20 years, according to the Law School Admission Council. As of July 5, the council counted 88,418 applications nationwide, compared with 74,994 at the same time last year. 

A record 2,914 applications poured into the University of Connecticut law school in Hartford, up 46 percent from the previous year. The school expects to enroll about 240 people, up from the usual 210. 

“It got very crazy,” said admissions director Karen DeMeola. “Any given applicant could be a perfectly good attorney, or a great attorney, but there’s just no room at the inn.” 

Columbia University’s business school received 7,400 applications this year, up about 26 percent. Some 1,700 applied to the University of Pennsylvania’s graduate school of education, a 38 percent increase. 

“There might be a little bit of a dot-com backlash,” said Tom Kecskemethy, associate dean of the education school at Penn. “Graduate education tends to be a haven for students when you’re choosing between a lousy job market and the prospect of increasing your education, even if there is a price tag attached.” 

In a spring survey of 415 members by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, companies estimated they would hire 36.4 percent fewer graduating seniors this year than last. 

Starting salaries also are down. Computer science graduates saw their offers drop 5.9 percent to $49,957, sliding under $50,000 for the first time since the fall of 2000. Undergraduate psychology majors saw their offers fall 12.8 percent to $26,456, according to the association. 

Medical school applications have been falling since 1996, and interest remains low. Experts said those numbers may take longer to rebound in a slow economy. Most students cannot decide on the spur of the moment to go to medical school; they need a premed education as undergraduates. 

Medical school applications climbed from 37,402 in 1992 to 46,965 in 1996 before starting their slide to 34,859 in 2001, a drop-off attributed to the burdens of managed care and the big money to be made in business, technology and other fields. The 2002 figures are not yet available. 

“It may be bottoming out. That’s the impression we have,” said Dr. Jordan Cohen, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges. 

Stacy Heenan, a 26-year-old television producer in Philadelphia, will start law school next month at Temple, where applications soared 32 percent this year. The Sept. 11 attacks convinced her it was time to get moving. 

“It gave me the sense that life is short, and you’ve got to make things happen — follow your dreams — while you can,” Heenan said. 

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A jury held two retired Salvadoran generals responsible Tuesday for atrocities committed during El Salvador’s civil war two decades ago and ordered them to pay $54.6 million to three torture victims. 

The generals, who now live in the United States, were sued by a church worker, a doctor and a professor who fled their homeland after being brutalized by Salvadoran soldiers. 

The federal jury found that retired Gens. Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova and Jose Guillermo Garcia had ignored massacres and other atrocities against civilians. 

Two of the victims, Carlos Mauricio and Neris Gonzalez, were in court and wept as the verdict was read. 

“This has been a long, long struggle for justice,” said Mauricio, who was strung up by his arms, starved and beaten during eight days of torture. 

Defense attorney Kurt Klaus said the generals cannot pay the verdict and cannot even afford to appeal. He had previously advised them not to even fight the claims. 

“I’m disappointed. I wish I would have done a better job,” Klaus said. 

The victims, who also live in the United States, sued under the 1991 Torture Victim Protection Act that allows U.S. courts to assess damages against perpetrators of human rights abuses committed abroad. 

The jury was asked to determine whether the generals knew their troops were torturing and murdering civilians but failed to try to stop it or punish those responsible. 

Jury foreman Arnie Esbin said he found the generals’ testimony to be “self-serving” and “inappropriate.” The jury deliberated for 20 hours over four days. 

“This reign of terror involved tens of thousands of deaths and torture,” attorney James Green said in his closing argument. “You have a historic opportunity and a historic obligation to set the record straight and to tell these generals what they did was wrong.” 

Klaus described the men as champions of democracy, like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and said they helped reform their country’s corrupt banking system and its agriculture-based economy. 

“There’s no doubt that what happened in El Salvador was horrible, that what happened to these people was horrible. It was a horrible war, a dirty war,” Klaus said. “But I don’t think the parties that are responsible for what happened to these people are here.” 

PHILADELPHIA — Authorities said Tuesday that a 7-year-old girl was grabbed, kicking and screaming, from in front of her home and less than 20 minutes later a caller demanded a $150,000 ransom to save the girl’s life. 

Police were seeking to question two men who know the girl’s family but wouldn’t say whether the men were considered suspects in the abduction of Erica Pratt. 

Police Inspector Bill Colarulo said they were searching for the men, James Burns, 29, and Edward Johnson, 23, because they may have information that “could possibly shed light” on the girl’s whereabouts. 

The men’s names were given to authorities by two people who witnessed of the girl’s abduction, Colarulo said. 

Erica was playing with her 5-year-old sister in front of their grandmother’s rowhouse Monday evening when two men drove up, called her by name and dragged her into their car as she screamed and resisted, witnesses told police. 

Less than 20 minutes later, Erica’s grandmother and primary caregiver, Barbara Pratt, received the first of at least six calls from a man who threatened to kill the girl unless he received a $150,000 ransom, police said. 

Colarulo declined to reveal details about the case Tuesday but said detectives believed the girl was still alive. 

“I’m confident that Erica is going to be returned safely,” he said. 

He wouldn’t say when the last ransom demand was made or whether the caller offered proof that he had the child. A $10,000 reward was offered for information. 

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — A popcorn plant worker has been diagnosed with a rare lung disease that health authorities have linked to inhaling the artificial butter flavoring used in microwave popcorn. 

Federal health officials are testing other workers at American Pop Corn Co. for bronchiolitis obliterans, also known as popcorn packers’ lung, a severe and irreversible disease. 

The man, who was not identified, still works at the plant. He has a “light case” of the disease that is not life-threatening, company vice president Tom Elsen said Monday. He no longer works in the department where butter flavorings are mixed with other ingredients. 

Elsen said the man’s condition was discovered when a federal health team visited the plant last year after eight popcorn workers in Missouri were sickened by the disease, prompting a national investigation. 

The disease is caused by inhaling damaging amounts of chemicals such as chlorine or ammonia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A chemical called diacetyl in the butter flavoring of popcorn may be the cause of the illness found in the popcorn workers, the CDC said in an April report. 

The disease kills cells in the bronchial airway tubes in the lungs and causes scarring, which makes breathing more difficult. 

The CDC says scientists have found no evidence of danger to people who eat microwave popcorn. 

OAKLAND – A spokesman for the Oakland Fire Department says that a second-alarm fire displaced 17 children and five adults from a Victorian home this afternoon. 

Battalion Chief James Williams said fire crews were called at 2:04 p.m. concerning the fire in the house at 2014 West St. 

Arriving crews called a second alarm because the house, which was a multifamily apartment building, was old and had the potential to become engulfed in flames. 

Crews were able to get the fire under control by 2:22 p.m., but water and smoke caused significant damage to the building.

OAKLAND – Voters in the city of Oakland may decide at the polls in November whether to pay for the cost of hiring 100 new police officers and expanding crime-prevention programs. 

The Oakland City Council on Tuesday will hold a special meeting to debate whether to put on the ballot a set of measures that would increase taxes on parking lot fees, hotels and utilities. 

Another measure would ensure that if the increases were approved, all of the extra revenue would go toward police services. 

The measures would allow the Oakland Police Department to hire 100 new officers. Of those, 45 would deal exclusively with street-level drug dealing, while 27 officers would be assigned to foot and bike patrols along the most troubled commercial corridors and residential neighborhoods to look for crime and work with business owners and residents on safety issues. 

If approved, the measures would also add nine officers who would work with the probation department to monitor probationers and arrest them if they break the law. Fifteen officers would be assigned to solve and prevent robberies as well as sexual and aggravated assaults.

Web donations are not income, judge says 

NEW YORK — The creator of a Web site about a jobless man can keep his unemployment money. 

Todd Rosenberg, who created the cartoon site after he was laid off last year, does not have to return the $2,237.50 in benefits he received, an administrative judge ruled. 

“Justice prevails!” read a message Thursday on Rosenberg’s Web site. “I was cleared of all charges! Yea!” 

Officials at the state Department of Labor had challenged Rosenberg’s filing for unemployment, alleging that the Web site was a moneymaker for the man who dubbed himself “Odd Todd.” 

“As a joke, the claimant started a Web site poking fun at the day in the life of an unemployed person,” the decision said. “It was simply a lark that turned into something lucrative.” 

Rosenberg filed for unemployment on June 13, 2001, after losing his job at a dot-com company. When he had trouble finding a new job, he launched his Internet site with cartoons about his job woes. 

Rosenberg stopped collecting unemployment on Dec. 21, 2001. 

What raised the state’s interest was Rosenberg’s November introduction of a “Tip Cup,” which allowed visitors to contribute $1 to Odd Todd. Rosenberg was surprised to receive several thousand dollars from Web surfers. 

The Labor Department said taking the donations were tantamount to running a business, making Rosenberg ineligible for any benefits. Rosenberg challenged the ruling, and received word of the judge’s decision on Wednesday. 

“There was no willful misrepresentation on his part,” the decision said. “He was eligible for the benefits he received.” 

On the Net: http://www.oddtodd.com/ 

Tipsy scoots just fine 

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Tipsy the tortoise is back on his feet. 

About a year after his handlers at Roger Williams Park Zoo noticed he had a bum left front leg, the 21-year-old year-old radiated tortoise has finished his rounds of physical therapy and is back munching on plants and scoping out the females in his pen. 

The endangered tortoise from the African island of Madagascar had suffered tissue damage and spent a year getting around on a makeshift skateboard that allowed him to exercise without putting too much pressure on the injured limb. 

After confirming the injury during tests at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton, Mass., caretakers cobbled together an oval-shaped roller. 

Tipsy showed admiring onlookers Thursday just how well he could scoot around on his mini skateboard. He bounced off walls, crashed into a door, walked over shoes and wiggled between legs. 

Three-pick is a two-time winner 

BATON ROUGE, La. — Anyone who won the Louisiana Lottery’s Pick 3 daily game earlier this week should have tried again the next night, too. 

Zero, five and one were winners for the Louisiana Lottery’s Pick 3 daily game on Tuesday. They were winners again on Wednesday. 

“That’s the first time in the near 11-year history of the lottery that that’s happened for Pick 3,” said lottery spokesman Dudley Lehew. “What the odds are I couldn’t even begin to calculate.” 

The selection was pure coincidence because one computer randomly chose the numbers Tuesday and a second computer randomly picked the numbers again Wednesday. 

Winners of the Pick 3 on those two nights received $40 to $290, depending on the order of the numbers and the way the numbers were selected. 

BERKELEY — Last fall, with a GPA above 4.0, an SAT of 1300 and a stint as a varsity golf player and student mentor, Jack Graham applied to the University of California campuses of Berkeley, San Diego and Santa Barbara. 

He was turned down by all three. 

Graham missed getting in by a few hundred points at UC San Diego, where under UC’s new “comprehensive review” policies students can get up to 500 points for personal disadvantages. 

“If my parents would have been divorced I would have gotten in,” Graham says wryly. 

UC officials say it’s not that simple. A student claiming disadvantage due to divorce would have to make a convincing case that it created a specific hardship, say a sudden loss of income. Getting the full 500 points would take a life-altering event, such as being forced into foster care. Meanwhile, academic criteria accounts for more than 75 percent of San Diego’s evaluation system. 

But affirmative action critics are taking aim at the new system, saying it has turned admissions into a sob-story sweepstakes that most benefits blacks and Hispanics. 

“On the face of it, there’s a lot of unfairness in this system,” said Harold Johnson of the Pacific Legal Foundation. The foundation is exploring whether comprehensive review flouts a California law banning race-based admissions at public schools. 

Since race-blind admissions went into effect, enrollment of blacks and Hispanics tumbled, then rebounded. But there has been a reshuffling, with more blacks and Hispanics going to lesser-known campuses such as UC-Riverside and fewer going to Berkeley and UCLA. 

So far, there’s little evidence that the new comprehensive review policies, passed last November, benefit any one group. This fall, in the first year of comprehensive review, blacks, Hispanics and American Indians made up 19.1 percent of freshman admissions. That was the first time the number surpassed the 18.8 percent set in 1997 — the last year of affirmative action. The groups together represent 39.3 percent of California’s population, according to Census 2000. 

However, the number of these “underrepresented minorities” has been increasing ever since the big drop in 1998 — last year the pool was 18.6 percent — and the personal disadvantages scorecard is but one of many factors influencing admissions numbers systemwide. 

UC officials say it appears the incoming class is as academically strong as in previous years and that admissions directors did not find a marked increase in students pleading hardship. 

They describe comprehensive review as a better and closer method of evaluation, looking at not just what a student accomplished but how hard he or she had to work to do it. 

“It was an opportunity for us to look at the whole student’s record, consider all of the student’s attributes while maintaining primary emphasis on the academic profile of the student,” said Dennis Galligani, UC associate vice president for student academic affairs. 

Take the case of Vanessa Vidal, who was accepted to Berkeley this fall. Vidal has an overall grade point average of better than 4.0, was editor of her school newspaper, had tutored other students in a mentoring program and had an SAT score of 1150. 

Neither of her parents has a college degree and her mother is not fluent in English. She attended a high school of 4,700 students, most of whom are low-income. 

UC officials warn that individual cases such as those of Vidal and Graham cannot and should not be compared in a judgment-by-anecdote; there are too many factors involved in admissions. For instance, UC has been placing less emphasis on SAT scores for some time, citing studies showing the test is a poor predictor for how well a student will do in college. 

Vidal sees comprehensive review as a way for admissions officials to see her in context. 

“It is harder for us to get a better education,” said Vidal. She said she didn’t try to spin a hard-luck tale to admissions officials, and simply stated the facts about having to figure out homework assignments on her own as well as help her younger siblings with their work. 

Vidal’s school, South Gate High School near Los Angeles is one where UC has an outreach program, a system of recruitment and mentoring that replaced the old affirmative action programs. 

Graham, who ultimately got accepted into UC Santa Barbara on appeal, went to one of the best high schools in the state, where there was no such program. 

His mother, UC Irvine professor Mary Gilly says she supports affirmative action, but not “this idea of tweaking and doing a formula and playing games to work out the numbers. He would have gotten more points had he gone to a bad high school ... you wonder what’s the point of trying to live in a good school district.” 

UC critic David Benjamin, who runs an SAT prep company in Southern California, says UC is focusing outreach on schools that are predominantly Hispanic and black, bypassing poor whites and Asians and families that “are poor but their parents ... sacrifice everything to send their kids to a better high school. Their kids are not even being looked at.” 

Applicants get extra points for being in college prep programs — UC’s and others. UC officials say they target poorly performing high schools, regardless of race. The truth is, many of these schools are predominantly Hispanic and black. 

Each campus has a different formula for what constitutes hardship and how much it counts. 

UCLA considers a number of disadvantages including recovering from a life-threatening illness, accident or a shooting. 

At Berkeley, admissions officers don’t assign points — readers come up with an overall total for each applicant based on all the information in the file. 

At UC Davis, students can earn up to 250 points for perseverance, which can include difficulties associated with family disruptions, poverty, health and dysfunctional environments. However, perseverance can only account for 2 percent of the maximum point total; academics account for 73 percent. 

Applications are read by at least two people and if they’re more than slightly off, a third person is called in. 

But critics say there’s nothing to stop students from inventing difficult pasts. 

UC is working on a verification system, although Galligani said they’ve been checking up on academic claims for years and “what we find is that students do not exaggerate.” 

Gov. Gray Davis warned today that if the state Assembly doesn't pass the 2002-2003 budget by Aug. 1, there will be a devastating effect on people living with HIV and AIDS. 

"Every day that the budget does not pass, these AIDS-based organizations lose $170,000 a day -- that's over $4 million,'' Davis said. 

Davis made a plea asking the Assembly to quickly pass the budget before the end of the month outside San Francisco General Hospital after touring the hospital's AIDS ward and visiting with patients there. 

The governor, who said he has made it a personal mission to lead California in the fight against AIDS, reports that since he's been in office the state has increased AIDS funding by 51 percent. 

"No state in America is doing more than California,'' he said. 

And although the Medi-Cal funding that hospitals such as San Francisco General use to treat patients with HIV and AIDS will not be affected by a lack of a budget until September, other HIV/AIDS service providers that rely on other types of state payments will be affected immediately, Davis said. 

Davis alleged that state Assembly Republicans are "putting people's lives in jeopardy'' by dragging their feet and not approving the budget in a timely manner. 

"All the gains we've experienced over the last four years are preserved in the budget that the state Senate has passed on time but the state Assembly has yet to pass,'' Davis said. 

"I have proposed a budget in a very difficult year,'' said Davis, noting that lots of cuts were made to balance the budget in the face of a $23 billion deficit. 

"Virtually all AIDS programs have been kept intact, but benefits of those programs can not go to the hospitals and community-based facilities, and the AIDS-based organizations that serve people until the budget is passed.'' 

Davis implored both Democrats and Republican in the Assembly to "do the right thing'' and pass the budget together. 

"They don't have a plan -- they don't like my plan -- but they don't have an alternative,'' Davis said. 

"If they don't have a plan they should just get out of the way and let the budget pass.'' 

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. But in Berkeley, there is a free retrofit. 

For the second consecutive summer. California Youth Energy Services, a program funded by the city and the East Bay Municipal Utility District, is providing Berkeley residents with free energy and water conservation retrofits that save the average resident $200 per year on utility bills, according to organizers. 

The program, which employs 20 Berkeley High School students, is aimed at middle-class residents who do not qualify for the city’s low-income weatherization and house repair programs. 

“This is our concerted effort to go out and focus on a market that hasn’t been touched yet,” said Alice La Pierre, an energy analyst for the city. 

“These are people who have energy bills of more than $20 to $30 per month,” she continued. “It is very possible to have a bill of less than $10 per month.” 

The city spends $40,000 a year on the energy program. 

The students, who earn minimum wage and work 30 hours a week, perform a variety of services, from weather stripping doors, to cleaning refrigerator coils, to installing energy-efficient lightbulbs and “low-flow” showerheads. 

All the services are free, but residents are asked to reimburse the program for the weather stripping and lightbulbs. Low-flow showerheads and faucets, which reduce the amount of water that drops into a sink or bathtub yet maintain adequate water pressure, are donated by EBMUD and are free. 

Last summer, students retrofitted 289 households and four homeless shelters. 

Co-manager David Margoliash said the numbers have slipped a bit this year. CYES has served about 70 households since the program got under way with a weeklong orientation for students June 24. 

“We really haven’t been working at the level we’re capable of,” he said, noting that students are performing one or two retrofits a day when they could be performing three or four. 

The key to boosting work orders, he said, is outreach. Students have canvassed door-to-door this summer, and last week the city mailed out 10,000 brochures about the program. Press accounts, Margoliash added, should help. 

Part of the problem, according to students in the program, is that residents have a hard time believing the program is free. 

“People in Berkeley think there must be a catch,” said Jessica Baron, who just graduated from Berkeley High in June. “There isn’t.” 

Margoliash said the program also has a positive impact on the environment. Last year, CYES retrofits reduced emissions of greenhouse gases by an estimated 185 tons. 

It was the environmental angle that attracted recent Berkeley High graduate Hakan Menda to the program. 

“I thought it was a great idea that I could help the environment and work at the same time,” he said. 

Menda is working on a promotional video that he is hoping will inspire other cities to launch similar programs. 

Residents interested in a free retrofit can call the CYES office Monday through Friday at 428-2357.