When George Soros, one of the world’s richest men, announced this week that he’s made getting rid of George W. Bush “the central focus of my life,” it was good news for Berkeley-based MoveOn.org. 

Soros announcement coincided with news that the billionaire is giving five million bucks to fund MoveOn issues advertisements attacking the neoconservative agenda. 

The Hungarian-born financier is just one of several deep pocket donors who have recently pledged to match monies offered by the 1.7 million recipients of MoveOn’s regular electronic mailings. [To be fair, this writer should note that he’s on the mailing list, though he hasn’t given any cash]. 

Another donor—whose name won’t be released till next week—has given a million, and others have volunteered lesser sums, all tied to matching sums from MoveOn subscribers. 

But that should be a snap. 

“Tuesday we took in $800,000 from our subscribers, and that means we’ll be getting a matching funds check for $400,000,” said Carrie Olson, one of MoveOn’s six staff members and the person who handles the incoming contributions. “We’ve had two $500,000 checks so far.” 

MoveOn is one of the leanest political operations ever, with six full-time staff, including Olson, aided by founders and full-time volunteers Wes Boyd and Joan Blades. 

“There are advantages to being lean,” Olson says. “You can turn on a dime because you don’t have to stop and convene a meeting of the board of directors. 

“We also have an absolutely fabulous support team we deal with. We have a great public relations firm, Fenton Communications, the absolutely best political and legal advice you could ask for, and excellent relations with representatives in the Congress and Senate. It’s been an amazing ride. 

“The days are long and we work hard, but we play hard too, and we allow our folks to take time off and recharge.” 

The newest addition to the staff is James Rucker, hired as director of MoveOn’s Political Action Committee after running—as a contractor—the group’s No on 54 campaign in the recent California elections. “We’ll be offering a full slate of candidates in the congressional and Senate races across the country next year,” Olson added. 

MoveOn’s skillful use of the Internet has showcased the electronic superhighway’s role as a medium for political activism. Howard Dean’s run for the Democratic presidential nomination has exploited the MoveOn model with such success that Dean has decided to run his bid without matching federal campaign funds. 

Ironically, it is often forgotten that it was the extreme Right that first capitalized on computerized communications, as extremist groups in the late 1970s and early 1980s created dial-up electronic bulletin boards to organize and share information. 

MoveOn’s success and increasingly high profile have targeted the group for frequent attacks by conservative commentators—Fox’s Bill O’Reilly among the most prominent—and Internet sites, most of which refer back to the organization’s creation to mobilize activist to fight the impeachment campaign against that ultimate neocon bete noir, Bill Clinton. 

“The more people like Bill O’Lie-ly—that’s what I call him—and people like him attack us, the more people are interested in what we’re doing,” Olson said. 

“There’s a growing awareness of people that they are being discounted as people whose opinions don’t count. Like they’re soccer moms who don’t care. But they really do care—in Kansas, in Mississippi, in North Carolina—and they’re waking up and wanting to get involved. 

“I wouldn’t be doing this unless I felt I was making a difference. It’s very unusual in this world that one person can feel they’re making a difference, and because I’m making a difference, I know that thousands of others are. It gets so it’s hard to stop working at night.” 

As MoveOn’s Chief Operating Officer, Olson runs the group’s day-to-day operations. The role is a natural extension of the job she held as Director of Internal Operations for Berkeley Systems, the software company created by MoveOn founders Boyd and Blades and most famous for creating the “Flying Toasters” screensaver. 

Peter Schurman is MoveOn’s executive director, New York-based Eli Pariser is campaigns director, and Washington, D.C.-based Zack Exley is the group’s organizing director. 

MoveOn’s most recent campaign, launched two weeks ago, calls on members to produce their own advertisement and commercial ideas. Once the entrants have been submitted, MoveOn will pick 15 finalists for submission to a panel of celebrity judges that includes polymath documentarian Michael Moore, activist actress Janeane Garofalo, Moby and others, who will pick the winner—which will then be aired for the public, thanks to the generosity of Soros and MoveOn’s many other contributors. 

“The great thing about the Internet is that we can provide a wealth of information people wouldn’t otherwise be able to find in a newspaper or in a 30-second news broadcast segment. People like to say the press is liberal, but that’s not true. There’s one liberal press left here in America, and it’s here in Berkeley,” Olson says. 

MoveOn’s success has attracted considerable interest from organizers in other lands, and efforts to duplicate the program are being tried in at least two other countries. 

“In addition to the 1.7 million on our domestic list, we have 600,000 from outside the country, most of whom came to us in the runup to the Iraq war. We don’t send them e-mails we don’t think will be of interest to them,” Olson said. 

MoveOn is also zealously protective of its mailing list. “Too many do-gooders share names, and you wind up with all this garbage in your e-mail box. We don’t want that.” 

Olson and her colleagues are clearly doing something right, raising cash and issues and sending and unending series tremors through the electronic ether and challenging the growing might of the Neoconservative machine.

FRIDAY, NOV. 14 

“Ecuador and the Price of Oil,” a film screening and panel discussion from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Free Speech Movement Café at Moffitt Library, UC Campus. fsminfo@library.berkeley.edu 

“Rekindling the Spirit of Brown v. Board of Education,” a conference on the journey from the vision of Brown to today’s debates over “minimum education” standards, beginning at 9 a.m. at Boalt Hall’s Booth Auditorium, UC Campus. 642-6969. 

“Life and Debt in Jamaica” a discussion of the price paid by Jamaica for seeking help from the IMF during the 1970s, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Vista College Annex, Room 120, 2075 Allston Way. 

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

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. 496-6000, ext. 135. www.bpf.org 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Rita Maran, Lecturer, Peace and Conflict Studies, UCB, “Take Another Look: The United Nations Today.” Luncheon 11:45 a.m. $11.50 - $12.50. Speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For reservations call 526-2925.  

Berkeley Critical Mass Bike Ride meets at 5:30 p.m. at the Berkeley BART.  

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

SATURDAY, NOV. 15 

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

Pond and Creek Restoration A 2-mile hike and work party in the San Pablo Creek Watershed, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We will visit various restoration sites to see what has worked and what hasn’t. Then we’ll plant natives and do our own erosion control experiments. Cost is $25 and pre-registration required. 231-9430.  

Seed Saving Workshop Learn the importance and methods of saving seeds from the garden. Heavy rain cancels. From noon to 3:30 p.m. at Wildheart Gardens, 463 61st St., at Telegraph. Suggested donation $10. 658-9178.  

Alternative Building Materials: Cob and Strawbale workshop from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Two natural building methods are currently undergoing renewed popularity. Cost is $75. Held at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. 525-7610.  

Green Living Series: Non-Toxic Pest Control Find ways to deal with common pest problems without harmful pesticides, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10-$15. 548-2220, ext. 233.  

Worm Vericomposting, with Gige Coba, Alameda County Waste Management. Composting with worms is an exciting way to turn your kitchen scraps into a fast-release rich soil amendment. You and your children will love this class, held at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

“How the Federal No Child Left Behind Act Impacts Local Schools and Children” with Assemblywoman Loni Hancock from 10 a.m. to noon at Stanley Middle School 3455 School St., Layfayette. 559-1406. 

“Hope Rises from the Ashes” A Vietnam Veteran describes the rebuilding of Mai Lai, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Meeting, 2151 Vine St. Sponsored by American Friends Service Committee and Veterans for Peace. 

Argentine Tango Fundamentals Four class series on Saturdays from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. at the Berkeley Tango Studio. Call Stella at 655-3585 for directions or more information. 

Natural Approach to Pain Management from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Pharmaca Integrative, 1744 Solano Ave. 

“Ruthie & Connie: Every Room in the House,” dinner, Havdalah and movie at 6 p.m. Congregation Beth El, 2301 Vine St. Cost is $5. 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Shelter Operations for anyone who lives or works in Berkeley, from 9 a.m. to noon at 997 Cedar St., between 8th and 9th Sts. Register on-line at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes or by calling 981-5506. 

California Writers’ Club meets to discuss the art of storytelling and reading out loud, with Diane Kuzdry Bunnell at 10 a.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-0861.  

Yoga for Seniors from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For further information and to register, call Karen Ray at 848-7800. 

Pet Adoptions, sponsored by Home at Last, from noon to 5 p.m., Hearst and 4th St. 548-9223. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, NOV. 16 

Seed Games and Art Projects for Children Play seed guessing games and make seed mosaics, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the Play Area in the east end of People’s Park, Haste St. above Telegraph. Free. 658-9178.  

Bird Walk, sponsored by Citizens for the Eastshore State Park and the Golden Gate Audubon Society. Meet at 9 a.m. at the large bird sculpture at the end of Buchanan. Bring binoculars, snacks and plenty of water. Wear sturdy walking shoes, a hat and sunblock. For more information call Tina, 848 - 0800, ext. 313.  

“Libraries: Knowledge Providers or Censors?” a panel discussion with Daniel Greenstein, President, California Digital Libraries Initiative; Anne Lipow, Director, Library Solutions Institute; and Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Achive, at 6 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Sponsored by Berkeley Cybersalon. www.berkeleycybersalon.com 

Tibetan Buddhism, Open House from 3 to 5 p.m. Erika Rosenberg on “Healing through Compassion,” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, NOV. 17 

Public Scoping Session for Lawrence Berkeley Lab’s 2004 Long Range Development Plan at 6:30 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center. The Notice of Preparation of the Draft Enviromental Impact Report is available at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., 2nd Floor Reference Desk, and at www.lbnl.gov.Community/env-rev-docs.html 

“How to Build and Repair GREEN” with Ed Gulick of the Green Resource Center at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Gray Panthers, 1403 Addison St. 548-9696. 

Priority Africa Network, “Fighting to Live,” a talk by Zackie Achmat, founder of South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) which mobilizes support for access to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Laney College, 900 Fallon St., Oakland. Donation $10. No one turned away. Proceeds go to TAC's new treatment campaign. 527-4099. priorityafrica@yahoo.com 

Pastors for Peace Fall Caravan to Chiapas and Central America, send-off celebration at 6 p.m. at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Donation $10-$15 includes dinner. 527-2522.  

Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, UC Campus. Appointments recommended, visit www.beadonor.com (sponsor code = UCB) or call 1-800-GIVE LIFE. 

Friends of Strawberry Creek meeting is postponed until Dec. 8 to allow Friends to speak for the Creek at LBNL Long Range Development Plan Public Scoping Meeting at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 6:30 to 9 p.m. For more information email jennifemaryphd@hotmail.com, caroleschem@hotmail.com 

Berkeley Partners for Parks meets at 7:30 p.m. at the Corporation Yard Meeting Room, 1326 Allston Way. 649-9874. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 6 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, NOV. 18 

Public Hearing on Proposed Tax Measure, at the City Council Meeting, 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. 

Berkeley Garden Club, “Plant Ahead for the Winter Months” Jeff Small and John Hauser, owners of CityLeaf, will speak about indoor gardening, focusing on choosing plants, their placement and care at 1 p.m. at the Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 524-4374. 

Ed Rosenthal, “The State of Medical Marijuana in California” at 6 p.m. at 2050 Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Campus. stopdrugwarnow@cs.com  

Identity Theft panel discussion at 1:15 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center, with Alameda County Consumer Affairs Comission, Dept. of Justice, District Attorney, Dept. of Motor Vehicle, Social Security, Post Office and VISA offices. 981-5190. 

New California Media Awards Ceremony, from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Westin St. Francis, SF. For information contact David Park at 323-954-0415. 

“Channel Change of the Colorado River: A Mandate for Restoration?” with John C. Schmidt, Associate Professor of Aquatic, Watershed & Earth Resources, Utah State University, at 5:30 p.m. in 105 North Gate Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Water Resources Center Archives. 642-2666. 

Safety at Berkeley High, a forum by the PTSA and Safety Committee at 7 p.m. in the Florence Schwimley Little Theatre. Childcare, translation, and special accomodations by reservation, email cpapermaster@earthlink.net 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Glenn Stevenson will present an “Overview of Mature Driving Techniques.” We offer ongoing classes and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

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

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Ernie Braun will speak on “Nature and Creative Slides.” 525-3565. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 19 

“The Gift of Responsibility: Fostering Global Social Contracts,” with Lewis S. Mudge, Robert Leighton Stuart Professor of Systematic Theology (Emeritus) at SFTS, at 7 p.m. in the Hewlett Library, at the Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd. The Faculty Publications Fair and reception follows the lecture. 649-2464. 

“Teenagers and Drugs in Berkeley” with Meredith Maran, author of “Dirty: A Search for Answers Inside America’s Teenage Drug Epidemic” at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Gym at Berkeley High, followed by discussion groups, including one in Spanish. Sponsored by Downtown Berkeley YMCA, Berkeley High School’s Health Center and Parents of Children of African-American Descent. Free and childcare provided with RSVP. 665-3238. 

“Expectations for Next Year: Budget, Politics and Arnold,” with Assemblywoman Loni Hancock at 1:30 p.m. North Berkeley Senior Center. 548-9696. 

New California Media Expo of multi-ethnic print, TV, radio and online media, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at San Francisco Exhibition Center, 635 8th St., SF. For information cal David Park at 323-954-0415. 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters meets at 7:15 a.m. at Hide-A-Way Café, 6430 Telegraph Ave. 925-682-1111, ext. 164. 

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

Yoga Holiday Festival, with yoga teacher Rodney Yee from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. Free. 549-9200. 

“Reverse Annuity Mortage” will be discussed by Cherisse Adams from ECHO Housing at 1:15 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Sta- 

tion, vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Prose Writers Workshop meets 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut, at Rose. 524-3034. 

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

THURSDAY, NOV. 20 

The Ecology Center Celebrates 30 years of Curbside Recycling with a reception, dinner and program at 6 p.m. at the Banquet Hall, International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave at Bancroft. Tickets are $60. Register online at www.ecologycenter.org/30years/ or call 548-2220 ext. 237. 

“Neighborhood in Modern Times” discussionon the neighborhood struggle to Save Ocean View from redevelopment proposed in the 1970s, at 7:30 p.m. at Black Pine Circle School Faculty Arts & Drama Bldg, 2016 7th St. Part of a lecture series commemorating the 150th aniversary Ocean View, Berkeley’s early settlement village. Tickets are $10, no one turned away for lack of funds. 841-8562. bahaworks@yahoo.com  

Berkeley Path Wanderers Association, “Stories of the Paths,” at 7 p.m. at Live Oak Park Rec Center, 1200 Shattuck Ave.  

Berkeley High School Information Night at 7 p.m. in the Berkeley Community Theater. This event is primarily for parents of 8th graders in independent/private schools who are unfamiliar with the Berkeley Unified School District.  

“San Francisco Bay: Portrait of an Estuary,” a new book with text by John Hart, environmental historian, and photographs by David Sanger, will be introduced with a slide presentation at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave at Rose. 843-3533. 

Nepal- Woman Sherpa, a KQED-Frontline/World presentation at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Sproul Room, Piedmont and Bancroft Aves. 642-9460. http://ihouse.berkeley.edu 

Simplicity Forum, “Financial Transformation as a way out of the Corporate Rat Race,” with Fred Ecks at 7 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 549-3509. 

Berkeley Liberation Radio public meeting at 7 p.m. at the Long Haul Info Shop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 595-0190.  

ONGOING 

Current and Former Department of Energy Employees and Contractor Employees A joint U.S. Dept. of Energy and U.S. Dept. of Labor Traveling Resource Center will be in the Bay Area to assist current and former DOE and DOE contractor employees file claims under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. The Traveling Resource Center will be at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel, 5115 Hopyard Rd., Pleasanton, on Nov. 18 and 19, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. For further information or to make an appointment to meet with a counselor please call, toll-free, 866-697-0841.  

We Give Thanks Month, Berkeley restaurants, Bar-Ristorante Raphael, Cold Stone Creamery, Downtown, La Note, Semi-Freddi’s, Skates, and Spengers will donate a portion of their proceeds to Berkeley Food and Housing Project during the month of November. 

Holiday Food Drive Help the Alameda County Community Food Bank help people in need. Offer to run a food drive, or donate healthy nonperishable food at Safeway stores, Berkeley Bowl and Bay Street Emeryville. For more information call 834-3663. www.accfb.org 

City of Berkeley Commissioners Sought If you are interested in serving on a commission, applications can be downloaded from www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/general.htm#applications or contact the City Clerk, 981-6900.  

Personnel Commissioner Sought for Alameda County School Board Responsibilities include administration of the Merit System. Meetings once a month. Applications must be received by Nov. 28. For details please contact Alameda County Office of Education, 670-7703. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Mon., Nov. 17,  

at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon., Nov. 17, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St., Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

City Council meets Tues., Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tues., Nov. 18, at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/housingauthority 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/humane 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/civicarts 

Commission on Aging meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Lisa Ploss, 981-5200. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/aging 

Commission on Labor meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 6:45 p.m., at Berkeley Work-Source, 1950 Addison St., Suite 105. Delfina M. Geiken, 644-6085. www.ci.-berkeley.ca.us/commissions/labor 

Energy Commission meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Disaster Council meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. Carol Lopes, 981-5514. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/welfare 

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 6:30 p.m., at 2640 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Harvey Turek, 981-5213. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/mentalhealth  

School Board meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Queen Graham 644-6147 or Mark Coplan 644-6320. 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/designreview  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Prasanna Rasaih, 981-6950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/faircampaign 

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., Nov. 20, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/transportation

HEIGHT NOT RIGHT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Let me rush to assist Charles Siegel in his faulty research concerning smart growth height recommendations (Letters, Daily Planet, Nov. 11-13). In a handbook for planners and developers published in June, 2003 by the San Francisco District Council of the Urban Land Institute, you will find the following quote: “Building Heights Intent: Buildings in walkable neighborhoods need not exceed three stories to accommodate compact development. Maximum Building Heights: Primary buildings in walkable neighborhoods shall not exceed 35 feet; accessory buildings (garages and second units) shall not exceed 25 feet. Chimneys, vents, cupolas, ornamental parapets, and other minor projections may exceed these height limits by up to 5 feet.” (Note: Buildings in walkable neighborhoods are not to exceed 35 feet, not 35 stories as Mr. Siegel suggested!). 

Reference: Smart Growth in the San Francisco Bay Area: Effective Local Approaches.  

Martha Nicoloff 

co-author, Height of Buildings Initiative, 2002,  

• 

UC WAL-MART 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Last Saturday, the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley held a meeting called “Women in Leadership Conference: The Definition of Success.” One of the speakers was a Wal-Mart executive. 

Wal-Mart is the most sued company in the United States and has a history of union busting. It provides information to its employees on how to get public assistance because it knows it pays less than a living wage. 

The company pays women even less than they do men and denies them promotions. At the moment a federal court in San Francisco is deciding whether a suit brought against Wal-Mart by six women, present and past employees, can be certified as a class action suit. If so, it will affect more than a million women. 

Recently Wal-Mart has been raided by the INS because, through contractors, it employs illegal aliens and overworks and underpays them. 

The meeting was picketed by both campus and the Oakland/East Bay National Organization for Women as well as by various labor unions. 

It is absolutely inconceivable that the University of California should give tacit approval to such an organization by inviting one of their officials to speak. 

Nancy Ward 

Oakland/East Bay 

National Organization for Women 

• 

SCOUT RECOGNITION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you so much for a positive article on Boy Scouts. There are hundreds of Boy Scouts in Berkeley working on improving their citizenship, leadership and outdoor skills. They should not be the target of the public’s frustration with BSA’s definition of who is morally fit to be a Boy Scout. The National Leadership of Boy Scouts of America based in Texas, has defined how morality should be practiced in scouting, and yet calls for more diversity in scouting. Scouts like Baily give hours to improving Berkeley and the Bay Area.  

This week is their annual Scouting for Food drive. Plastic collection bags are put onto front doors this week and full bags will be collected from door steps on Nov. 15. The Boy Scouts are the single largest food gatherer for the Alameda Food Bank. They will soon be out at store locations selling Christmas wreaths in order to earn their way to camp. Please thank them for the many hours that they also put into cleaning creeks, restoring habitats, and leading flag ceremonies. 

Ellen Georgi 

Crew 24 Advisor 

• 

DIEBOLD DANGER 

The following letter was addressed to Bradley J. Clark, Alameda County Registrar of Voters. 

Dear Mr. Clark, 

Having had no response to my letter of Sept. 12, I feel compelled to write again to express my deep dismay at the fact that Alameda County purchased Diebold voting machines that have no means of providing an accurate accounting of the votes made on them. 

That fact that Diebold can make changes to the equipment sold to our counties, as was done on machines used in the last two elections, without the election authorities even being informed is absolutely intolerable. It is outrageous that so essential an aspect of our democracy as the integrity of the vote is given over to profit-making companies who claim their software design to be proprietary information. Diebold’s CEO is a major Republican fundraiser who brazenly promised Ohio Republicans to deliver Ohio’s vote to Bush. How can we “trust” his voting machines when the opportunity to corrupt the vote is so readily available. 

If we are to use computer voting machines, they must function as an open source system, open to inspection by election authorities, technical experts, and others concerned to ensure their correct functioning. And they must provide a record on paper of the votes cast. A scanner of paper ballots would be vastly less expensive, more reliable and less susceptible to tampering. 

It is essential that before the 2004 primary election Alameda County voting machines be retrofitted to provide a paper trail, that there is no open line to the voting machine maker during an election, and that any technical servicing be checked and certified before the machine is used. To accept the makers’ insistence on proprietary technology rather than an open source system is a betrayal of U.S. voters and the democratic process. The voters of Alameda County rely on you to guarantee the integrity of our voting system and this cannot be done with software and machines whose functioning is protected as a “trade secret.” 

I look forward to hearing your plans for ensuring the integrity of the Alameda County voting system. 

Charlene M. Woodcock 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There is a relatively simple procedure which could have reduced the recent seven-hour traffic jam on the new Zampa Bridge. 

This procedure is “Alternate Merging.” My wife and I saw it at an on ramp to a freeway outside Calgary about twenty years ago where was a sign with alternate arrows pointing upward. 

What that means is that vehicles from different lanes have to merge together without closing up and forcing one lane to stop. It works no matter how many lanes must merge at different points, the two lanes move along at the same speed. It’s basically just common courtesy. A small cure for road rage. Closing up may be cited as a moving violation. 

I tried to get this system started here in California by writing letters to three members of the California Traffic Controls Device Committee (CTCDC), which is part of a nationwide Uniform Traffic Control System. 

I got no answer from the CTCDC then or later after I made a public comment at a meeting they held at the Caltrans in Oakland after which I had lunch with some of the members. 

At one time I appealed to the Caltrans ombudsman, who supposedly looked into it. Later he said “They did all they needed to do for you,” which was nothing. 

Caltrans’ attitudes toward employee suggestions and citizen complaints leave much to be desired. While I was at Caltrans, I had made many very practical suggestions which were largely ignored. That’s why I have written hundreds of mini-essays about transportation problems since retiring. 

Charles Smith 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

Chris Kavanaugh of the Berkeley Rent Board asserts that “…property tax increases-along with over a dozen other city, county and utility taxes, fees, assessments, etc, --are passed through to Berkeley renters as part of the (AGA) Annual General Adjustment” (Letters, Daily Planet, Nov. 7-10).  

Kavanaugh is either ignorant or willfully dishonest. There is nothing secret or esoteric about it. Year after year the rent board has granted AGAs that are far less than the increases in fees, costs, taxes and expenses. The rent board has sometimes employed consultants (paid for with tax payer money) to determine a fair annual rent increase but have subsequently ignored these consultants’ recommendations. 

The increase in garbage collection costs and utilities alone are often greater than the entire monthly rent increase granted by the AGA. No compensation is granted for increase in maintenance costs or structural upgrades, the price of which has significantly increased due to rising material and labor costs. Nor is there compensation for increases in insurance costs and related required upgrades.  

The rent board has increased its per unit fee. The city has added housing inspection fees. Business license fees are assessed against landlords. The county annually increases tax assessment (2 percent, as per Proposition 13). Building permit costs have skyrocketed!  

In the midst of this, the rent board waste $3,000,000 a year in public money operating its unjust and Byzantine system. 

Kavanaugh constantly comes to the boards defense mouthing untruths and never addressing the fundamental injustices perpetrated by rent control. What motivates his blind allegiance to this absurd and unfair system? Perhaps, he personally benefits from it!? 

Mr. Kavanaugh, do you or any other board members enjoy the random benefits of this system? That is, do you or any members of the rent board live in a rent-controlled unit?  

Please answer Chris. As an elected official the public needs to know what is behind your misrepresentations. 

John Koenigshofer 

• 

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The following letter was addressed to Mayor Bates and City Council. 

I am writing on behalf of the LeConte Neighborhood Association board to urge you not to place a parcel tax measure on the March 2004 ballot. 

Our association objects to this tax for several reasons: 

1) It’s not fair to expect taxpayers in Berkeley to bear the full burden of the current fiscal mess. City staff should share the burden by reopening their union contracts and agreeing to smaller raises. Union contracts negotiated in fall 2002 increase city employee compensation by 33 percent over six years. That’s an average increase of 5.5 percent a year. Not only are there large annual pay increases, but staff in some job categories are receiving extra “equity increases,” and pensions have been increased by over 30 percent with the 2.7 at 55 formula (three percent at 50 for police). 

Can any supporter of the proposed tax increase name a single city or county in the Bay Area that has negotiated such large increases in compensation costs in the current economic and fiscal climate? Certainly not the cities of San Francisco or Oakland, where unions agreed to new worker contributions toward pension costs, and certainly not Alameda County, where unions agreed to a one-year contract extension with no pay increase. 

We need equality of sacrifice. Right now, taxpayers are being asked to make all the sacrifices through higher taxes and reduced services. The large compensation increases are a major source of the current deficit. Reducing the size of those increases has got to be part of any fair and equitable response to the deficit. This needs to happen before any tax increase is put on the ballot. 

2) The Daily Planet reports that seven city developments didn’t pay the existing city parcel taxes over the last four years. The city should get its house in order and ensure that everyone is paying existing taxes before asking voters to create a new tax. 

3) The city is not the only public entity that may need a tax increase. What about the Berkeley schools where class size has increased sharply? What about Alameda County with its healthcare safety net in a state of collapse? Berkeley voters should know about whether the schools and the county will be asking for tax increases before being asked to decide on a tax increase for the city. If there is going to be a city tax increase, it should wait until November. 

4) Many residents of our neighborhood have questions about how current revenues are spent and also wonder whether there aren’t other ways to increase revenues. Alternatives to a parcel tax should be thoroughly explored. Each department should consider how fees and collectable fines should underwrite projects being considered. 

Residents of our neighborhood have traditionally voted in favor of parcel taxes and bond measures by large margins. But if a parcel tax of any size is put on the ballot in March, we predict that there will be strong opposition. 

Karl Reeh, President 

LeConte Neighborhood Association  

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

Stack up the bodies—in Iraq, from Oakland murders, from homicides of innocent persons resulting from unauthorized chases by Oakland police officers. All victims just as dead; most acts essentially as unjust and preventable—two more in the last category Monday night. 

The police say they ended the chase, for reasons of safety, “seconds before the wreck,” according to the Oakland Tribune. Consider the fate of an ordinary citizen who should make such a statement to the police. Reasons of safety dictate not to begin a chase of a car going 70 mph on city streets, and what rules exist say such chases are permitted only upon knowledge that the fugitive has committed a violent crime. No such knowledge has been revealed in this chase. 

Same old story in Oakland, ramped up: One person thuslso killed in this city in November 1999, one in September 2002 and one in August of this year. I probably missed some. More notches on the cops‚ speedometer this month ˆ two down in one act. Yes, they do it elsewhere, but particularly in California, many in the Bay Area, most in Oakland. In a civil action resultant from the 1999 event, two witnesses, who claimed the police lied in respect to alleged violence as an excuse to chase, chose not to testify, due to their illegal-alien status. Time and time again, OPD officers do not play by their department‚s hot-pursuit rules [19 pages of them, dated 18 May 98]. 

What is the fix? A solution, of course, would not exonerate such fugitives; but the liability of each participant in chases resulting in such collisions should reflect that person‚s relative capability of avoiding damage and injury. One has to assume that the capability of a qualified police officer on duty greatly exceeds that of an inebriated, drugged, frightened, injured and/or otherwise-incapacitated fugitive. The instant fugitive is reported to have been decidedly drunk; and for driving while so incapacitated, his punishment must be great. However, it remains that the police had clear brains and able bodies and did not have authority under the cited OPD rules to chase, for any length of time, this 70-mph vehicle on city streets. 

The most basic solution is modification of California Vehicle Code 17004.7, which determines a police jurisdiction‚s liability in such „accidents‰. This code section merely states that to avoid such liability, the jurisdiction must have a written policy; but it does not specify any substantive restrictions on chases be within such. When Dion Aroner was our state assemblywoman, I asked her to pursue legislation to correct this situation. She refused. We should all write her replacement, Loni Hancock, in regard to pursuing this. No other fix will accomplish anything until such change is accomplished. Only the CHP investigates such local-jurisdiction collisions. The CHP has one of the worst records around, of maiming and killing as a result of high-speed chases. Nobody‚s prison time will ever lessen this sort of wholesale killing of innocents in Oakland and throughout California. 

Raymond A. Chamberlin 

Tom Ross says he’s been trying to bring “Lobby Hero” to the Aurora Theater ever since he first saw it in New York three years ago at the Playwright’s Horizon. He’s finally made it: The play opens this weekend on Friday night and runs through Dec. 21.  

Ross, who’s been the producing director of Aurora Theater for the last 12 years—sharing managing director duties with the near-legendary Barbara Oliver—is directing the play himself. (One suspects that he wasn’t about to let anybody else get their hands on this particular brain child: He’s put too much into getting it here).  

The playwright, Kenneth Lonergan is probably best known for his screenplays. He wrote and directed “You Can Count on Me,” was one of the writers on “Gangs of New York,” and wrote “Analyze This.” Ross describes “Lobby Hero” as “ebbing and flowing. There are no heroes or villains,” he says. “Just four people trying to do the right thing.” He says “It’s incredible dialogue, very funny, very moving.” 

The title suddenly makes sense when you find out that the four people he’s talking about are a security guard, an uptight boss, and two cops: one male, one a female rookie. 

During Ross’ three-year struggle to bring the play to Berkeley, he says that it became “a big hit” in London. He sounds a bit distressed that a Los Angeles theater managed to snag it for the West Coast premiere, but brightens over the fact that at least this will be the East Bay premiere. 

Ross tries to get to New York every year to scout for new plays as well as to renew old ties. He’s one of those ex-New Yorkers who can never quite give up his apartment there—just rents it out, keeping his hold on it, just in case... This has gone on for over twelve years, of course, but he has good reasons to keep his hold on the city fresh. 

While he’s back there, aside from seeing old friends, he takes in one or two plays a day, and meets with agents and performers. It’s a classic busman’s holiday, perfectly appropriate for a guy who learned his stuff at New York’s renowned Public Theater as a co-director and producer under Joseph Papp. 

Ross wrote plays in high school and went to New York from Chicago on acting scholarships, but knew he wanted something else: He “wanted to create my own world.” He says “Producing is addictive.” 

It must be. He’s done over 200 productions . 

His version of the work is simple. He says his job is to “bring in the artists, get the money, and over-see the production.” Saying that’s “simple” is a little like saying there are two kinds of people, tall and short. “Lobby Hero” is the first play of the season and will open this weekend.  

In addition to directing this production he is working on next season’s plays.  

What he looks for, he says, are things that are interesting, that will work for the audiences, and that will meet the limitations presented by the theater. He wants “intelligent plays, plays with an emphasis on ideas.” He selects an eclectic mix of styles, mixing comedies and dramas, but always offering one world premiere.  

Aurora uses local actors, Ross says, about 80 percent of whom are members of Actors Equity. Since the theater pays all of the actors equally regardless of the size of their parts or their membership, the only immediate benefit to the actors in belonging to the professional organization is that the theater pays for healthcare and pension benefits for members.  

Everybody knows that actors put in incredible hours, usually supporting themselves with “day jobs” in addition to their weeks of evening rehearsals and performances. But how about a kind word for the producers, juggling the details of more than one season at a time, maybe directing the occasional play in addition?  

It doesn’t make sense: It must be love.

FRIDAY, NOV. 14  

CHILDREN 

Rainbow Fish Storytime at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

THEATER 

UC’s Department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies, “Getting Married,” by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Barbara Oliver, opens at 8 p.m. and runs through Nov. 23 at Durham Studio Theater, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14 and are available from TicketWeb 866-468-3399. www.ticketweb.com 

Alchemy Works, “Where There’s a Wil(l), There’s a Play” a collection of short works by, or inspired by famous Wills, at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $10-$15 and are available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Aurora Theater Company, “Lobby Hero” opens at 8 p.m. and runs to Dec. 21. Tickets are $28-$40. 2081 Addison St. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Polly's Phat Phollies, A Musical of Generous Proportions, a singing and dancing play by well-know Fat Activist, Judy Freespirit, at 7:30 p.m., Hamilton Hall, 685 14th St. at Castro, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$50, sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. Wheelchair accessible; no scents, please. 836-1153. 

FILM 

Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival, “Thunder in Guyana” at 7:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Children Underground,” a documentary about street children in Romania, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble performs at 7:30 p.m. in the Little Theater, 1929 Allston Way. Tickets are $5-$10, available at the door. www.berkeleyhighjazz.org 

In Love with the Violin, concert by Donna Lerew, violin, and Skye Atman, piano, with narrative by actress Donna Davis, at 8 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Tickets are $10-$15. 525-0302. 524-5203. 

The Suzanne Farrell Ballet performs an all-Balanchine program at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$46. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

The UC Jazz Fall Concert at 7 p.m. in Chevron Auditorium, International House. Tickets are $5-$10 at the door. http://ucjazz.berkeley.edu 

Tim Barsky and Everyday Ensemble, musical theater, at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Laetitia Sonami, composer, performer and sound installation artist will premiere “The Appearance of Silence,” at 8 p.m. at CNMAT, 1750 Arch St. Cost is $10 general and $5 students. www.cnmat.berkeley.edu 

Moh Alileche performs traditional Amazigh music from Algeria at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $10-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Noche de SKAtemoc, with Tokadiscos, La Plebe, Firme and La Banda Skalavera at 9 p.m., at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Wadi Gad, Cosmo, DJ Sister Yasmin perform conscious roots reggae at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

20 Minute Loop, Bitesize, Ex-Boys Friends, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Ned Boynton at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Lost Weekend, western swing big band, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Matt Berkeley Group at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Mood Food, Cosmic Mercy at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes On Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Fabulous Disaster, Butcher & Smear, Pin Up Motel, Whore You at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Doctor Masseuse at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

www.beckettsirishpub.com 

SATURDAY, NOV. 15 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Magic Window Puppets, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

gested donation $3. Children under 3 free. 549-1564. 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“The Long Walk to Freedom,” an interactive public art project highlighting the contribution of 28 civil rights activists opens at the African American Museum and Library, 659 Fourteenth St., Oakland, with a reception for honorees from 1 to 4 p.m. Exhibition runs Tue. - Sat. through Dec. 31, noon to 5:30 p.m. 486-2340. 

Kirk Thompson, “Ordinary Nature: Recent Landscape Photography,” from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St. 644-1400. 

A New Leaf Gallery/ 

Sculpturesite “New Works” reception from 2 to 4 p.m. at 1286 Gilman St. 527-7621. www.sculpturesite.com 

THEATER 

Polly's Phat Phollies, A Musical of Generous Proportions, See listing for Nov. 14.  

Alchemy Works, “Where There’s a Wil(l), There’s a Play” at 8 p.m. See listing for Nov. 14. 

Living Arts Playback Theater, “Listening to Stories of Your ‘Enemy’” at 7:30 p.m. at International House, 2299 Peidmont Ave. Cost is $10. 642-9460. 

FILM 

7th Annual SF Latino Film Festival, “The Lost Reels of Pancho Villa,” at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7.50 in advance, $9 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

A Short History of Polish Animation, Program 3 at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Multicultural Children’s Picture Books, with readings by three authors, at 2 p.m. at Eastwind Books, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Trinity Chamber Concerts Farallon Brass Ensemble at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Donation, $8-$12. No one turned away. 549-3864. 

San Francisco Early Music Society presents Classics of the Salon, what Mozart, Hayden and their friends played for each other, at 8 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $10-25. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

St. Petersburg String Quartet, at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $42. Tickets for the previously scheduled Zehetmair Quartet concert will be honored at the door. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

The Suzanne Farrell Ballet See listing for Nov. 14.  

Choreographers’ Performance Alliance, “Works in the Works” at 7:30 p.m. at Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St. Cost is $10. 644-1788, ext. 2. 

Tim Barsky and Everyday Ensemble, musical theater, at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Laetitia Sonami, composer, performer and sound installation artist will premiere “The Appearance of Silence,” at 8 p.m. at CNMAT, 1750 Arch St. Cost is $5-$10. www.cnmat.berkeley.edu 

Jinx Jones Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Dave LeFebvre Quartet, new music and odd meters, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Roy Rogers and Norton Buffalo, harmonica and guitar duo, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50 in advance, $21.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Amandla Poets, South African township jive, Jamaican reggae and American R&B at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

“Hola! Hands out to Latin America!” a concert by the Berkeley Music Cooperative Players at 3 p.m. at La Peña. Donations accepted to help music teachers in Latin America. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Café de la Paz's 10th Anniversary and Flamenco Celebration featuring Yaelisa and Caminos Flamencos. Dinner show at 8 p.m., seating at 6 p.m. for $40-$47, or late show at 10 p.m. for $20-$27. Reservations encouraged. 843-0662. cafedelapaz.net 

Doni Harvey, blues singer and guitarist, performs at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $6-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazz- 

house.com 

Naked Barbies and The Jolenes at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Stymie and the Pimp Jones Luv Orchestra, Thunderpussy at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes On Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Marcos Silva at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

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

Bananas, I Farm, Stivs, Mermaid-Unicorn, Problem at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, NOV. 16 

THEATER 

Alchemy Works, “Where There’s a Wil(l), There’s a Play” at 8 p.m. See listing for Nov. 14.  

FILM 

“A Brivele der Mamen” in Yiddish with English sub-titles, the story of a Jewish mother’s efforts to keep her family together, at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Donation $2. 848-0237.  

A Short History of Polish Animation, Program 4 at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Marilyn Hacker and Sandra Gilbert at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Guided Tour: Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics, at 2 p.m., followed by lecture with Maynard Olson at 3 p.m., Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Robert Pollin on “Contours of Descent: U.S. Economic Fractures and the Landscape of Global Austerity” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Choreographers’ Performance Alliance, “Works in the Works” with host Frank Shawl, at 7:30 p.m. at Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St. Cost is $10. 644-1788, ext. 2. 

Music from Scotland, England and Beyond with Margaret Christl at 7:30 p.m. Donation of $12 in advance, $15 at the door. For reservations and location email sally@greenberg.org 

St. Petersburg Academic State Capella performs sacred hymns and Russian folk songs at 3:00 p.m. in Zellerbach Hall. Tickets are $24-$46, and are available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Rhythm Workshop: Ta Ke Ti Na with Zorina Wolf from 3 to 6 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $35. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Achi Ben Shalom and Adama CD release party at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Triaxium West with John Shiurba, Acme Observatory’s Comtemporary Composer’s Series at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. 649-8744. www.the 

jazzhouse.com 

Mingus Amungus, be-bop, funk and hip hop jazz at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Siempre Los Sundays, premiere of the Sunday dance series with Domingo Siete and Somos at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Dan Bern, chronicler of the real and surreal at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50 in advance, $18.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Seratone, Operation Interstellar, End on Nine at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes On Telegraph. Cost is $3. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

MONDAY, NOV. 17 

EXIBITION OPENINGS 

“Art, Medicine and Disability,” artwork by students and participants from four local agencies, reception at 4 p.m. at the Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Krober Hall, UC Campus. 642-2582. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

David Cole discusses the situation of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay in “Enemy Aliens: Double Standards and Constitutional Freedoms in the War on Terrorism” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Express, open mic featuring Susan Birkeland from 7 to 9:30 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

Susan Kinsolving will read from her new collection of poetry, “The White Eyelash,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Dan Bern, chronicler of the real and surreal, John Vecchia- 

relli opens, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50 in advance, $18.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

TUESDAY, NOV. 18 

CHILDREN 

Todd Parr, Berkeley author and illustrator, will read from his books and draw for children, at 7 p.m. at the Library North Branch, 1170 The Alameda. Sponsored by Friends of the Berkeley Public Library. 981-6624. 

First Stage Theater, “Time Capsule Blues,” a musical comedy, performed by 8-11 year olds, at 7:30 p.m. at the Julia Morgan. Tickets are $4 at the door only.  

FILM 

Alternative Visions: No and Goshogaoka at 7:30 p.m at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is  

$4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Alice Sebold, author of “The Lovely Bones” will speak on the process of writing, the difference between memoir and fiction, and the issues of violence, loss, hope and faith at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall. Tickets are $18-$28 and are available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Gerald Torres introduces “The Miner’s Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy” at 4:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

Melody Ermachild Chavis introduces, “Meena: Heroine of Afghanistan” about the founder of RAWA, who was assassinated at age thirty, at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave at Rose. 843-3533.  

“Being Human at Work,” with six authors at 7 p.m. at Barnes and Noble.  

The Creative and Unconventional Journey of Jake Heggie, composer and pianist, at 7:30 p.m. at The College Preparatory School, Buttner Auditorium, 6100 Broadway (north). 658-5202. www.college-prep.org/livetalk  

Roger Kamenetz will read from his new collection of poetry, “The Lowercase Jew,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

Tom Rigney and Flambeau performs at 8:30 p.m. with a Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Mark Erelli, singer, songwriter at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $10. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Dayna Stephens House Jam at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 19 

CHILDREN 

Todd Parr at 3:30 at the Library Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. See listing for Nov. 18. 

FILM 

Standby: No Technical Difficulties, Program 3 at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Leo Braudy discusses “From Chivalry to Terrorism: War and the Changing Nature of Masculinity” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Maargret Schaefer, translator, introduces Arthur Schnitzler’s “Desire and Delusion” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

Turning Corners a conversation with Richard Candida Smith and Lucinda Barnes on the influence of process at noon at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Ellen Waterston will read from “Then There Was No Mountain; A Parallel Odyssey of a Mother and Daughter through Addiction” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

David Law will show slides and introduce his two California history books, “Steinbeck Country” and “Silicon Valley” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

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

Café Poetry and open mic, hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Conjunto Coyote and Friends CD release party at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ritmozolando, Venezuelan folkloric music, at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The Weepies, Deb Talen and Steve Tannen at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Donation $10. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org

In a distinct escalation of the ongoing battle between Berkeley developers and some Berkeley citizens, Councilmember Dona Spring has called for what amounts to a full city investigation of the way major developers do business in Berkeley. 

Spring’s request is scheduled for presentation to City Council at its Nov. 18 meeting, followed by a discussion by Council at its Nov. 25 meeting in conjunction with City Manager Phil Kamlarz’ report on “escaped property fees and assessments” in the city. 

In a “Request For Information Regarding Compliance Of Berkeley Development Projects” released on the city’s website this week, Spring asks her fellow Councilmembers to request the city manager to answer “a series of questions regarding compliance of [three] Berkeley development projects...with payment of fees and assessments, state and federal funding requirements, compliance with the provision of 20 percent low income housing, and cultural space in return for an extra story in height.” 

The three projects listed in her memo are the Berkeleyan, the Gaia Building, and what she identifies as the Pioneer Building. 

The Berkeleyan at 1910 Oxford St. and the Gaia Building at 2116 Allston Way were both developed by Patrick Kennedy’s Berkeley-based Panoramic Interests company. 

Spring said the “Pioneer Building” is the mixed-used project at 2161 Allston Way developed by Berkeley developer Avi Nevo’s Aldar Investment Company and also known as both Oak Court and Allston Oaks. 

The Gaia Building was completed in 2001 and has operated since that time under a temporary occupancy permit issued by the city. The Berkeleyan was completed in 1998. Oak Court was completed in 2002. 

All three developments were listed in the Nov. 4 Kalmarz “escaped property taxes and assessments” report as having not being billed by the city for significant Berkeley fees and assessments over the past few years. 

By late Wednesday night, Kennedy said he had not seen the Spring memo on the city’s website. Neither Nevo nor Aldar Investment Company could be reached for comment. 

For her part, Councilmember Spring had plenty of comments in a telephone interview.  

“I think the public is wondering why there’s favoritism of one business over another,” she said, adding that “citizens have been asking these kinds of questions for several years” concerning the three projects. 

“We’ve given maximum heights and densities, low setbacks, reduced parking—and we’re now finding out that these are heavily publicly-subsidized projects. It raises a lot of issues about how much is being doled out at the public trough. What are we getting for this funding? We have no way of verifying what we’ve been getting.” 

Spring said she was particularly galled by the fact that City Council has never received definitive information as to how many low-income tenant units actually exist in Kennedy’s Gaia Building. Called “inclusionary units,” these set-aside apartments are often cited by Kennedy as one of the benefits of the project in downtown Berkeley. 

“Not providing accurate information on the actual number of the inclusionary units is one of the reasons [the Gaia Building] was never given a permanent occupancy permit,” Spring said. 

“But [having a temporary occupancy permit] doesn’t hurt [Kennedy] any. He goes on with business as usual. Ironically, by only having a temporary occupancy permit, he was able to escape fees and assessments. So it only rewarded him. It didn’t put any pressure on him. 

“The city seems toothless to regulate this guy. We know that Mr. Kennedy exploits every loophole and angle that he has. He needs to be run under a fine-tooth comb.” 

Kennedy didn’t respond by presstime to a reporter’s voicemail message seeking his comments on Councilmember Spring’s assertions. 

Spring’s request lists nine separate questions she wants the city manager to answer concerning the three downtown projects, including the amount of fee waivers granted, the amount of money loaned or granted to the projects from federal or state sources, and the number of affordable units required for each project. 

In addition, Spring wants to know how the Gaia Building was occupied for three years without being in compliance for a permanent occupancy permit.

The Berkeley City Council will consider a proposal Nov. 18 to form a BID (Business Improvement District) on Solano Avenue in Berkeley. 

If the Council approves the proposal, one submitted by the Solano Avenue Association (SAA), merchants doing business on the Berkeley end of the avenue, and one block north and south, will be forced to join the BID—whether they like it or not. 

BIDs were originally developed for business districts that are “economically disadvantaged,” “underutilized,” or “unable to attract customers due to inadequate facilities, services, and activities…” (State of California Streets and Highway Code, Section 36501). Clearly none of these conditions exist on Solano Avenue—not in Berkeley nor Albany. 

Yet this is the third time in as many years the SAA has attempted to form a BID on Solano, though this year, they have limited its scope to Berkeley. Why? Because there is overwhelming opposition to a BID among businesses in Albany.  

If the Berkeley City Council endorses the SAA’s latest proposal, every business on Solano Avenue in Berkeley will be not only be required to join the BID, they will also be forced to pay an assessment on their business license, and forbidden from withdrawing from it. 

Why would anyone advocate such a proposal? At a meeting of the SAA last spring, that organization’s executive director explained: “I’m tired of having to collect dues and give everyone else a free ride,” she said.  

Things would definitely change in that regard if a BID is established on Solano. For one thing, the SAA would become the BID.  

The Albany Chamber of Commerce opposes a BID anywhere on Solano Avenue (two-thirds of which is in Albany). Why? We believe individuals and small businesses have the right to free association, and to join organizations by choice. If an organization like the SAA, or our Chamber, is doing good work, businesses can become dues paying members. However, if they are not, then a business owner can opt not to join, or stop paying dues. That is what keeps us honest. 

The process of forming a BID is also decisively undemocratic: there is no election, no vote, nor even a poll of the businesses involved. The SAA argues that though companies are not allowed to vote “yes” or “no” on the BID proposal, they can “vote” to prevent one.  

Yet only a rejection by over 50 percent of the businesses on Solano would stop a BID from being established there. What’s more, BID bylaws award larger firms substantially more votes than small ones, squeezing out family-owned businesses and defying the principle of “one person, one vote.”  

We urge that before the Berkeley City Council moves to establish a BID on Solano, that an election be held among businesses there -- an election where every business would have one vote. We believe that is the democratic way to decide this issue. 

James Carter is the executive director of the Albany Chamber of Commerce. 

When a North Oakland “troublemaker” was released on bail, Oakland Police Officer Robyn Clark e-mailed over 200 neighbors the following: Hi everyone! Mr. [Name withheld] is NOT currently wanted by the police. This information is being disseminated to you, because everyone needs to be very cautious of [Name withheld]. 

“This man is very articulate and smart. He can also be hostile if you confront him. If this man enters your business and causes any problems, call police, and use the following information to get a restraining order...” 

Later that day, the owner of a cafe just over the Berkeley border followed Clark’s advice, warning neighbors that the man had been a nuisance to customers in his cafe and had taken advantage of acquaintances. 

Clark and his fellow e-mail recipients belong to an Oakland Police Yahoo newsgroup—the brainchild of Oakland Police Lieutenant Lawrence Green—that releases up-to-the-minute alerts and oodles of crime data, putting pressure on known criminals in North Oakland as well as the Berkeley Police Department to keep up. 

“The neighbors love it,” said Samantha Herbert, an Oakland group subscriber and member of a South Berkeley group urging the BPD to develop something similar. 

“As far as we’re concerned what we don’t know might hurt us. Berkeley police mean well, but they’re having to be dragged into this by the nose.” 

Berkeley police, though, say that when it comes to providing crime data, they’re hamstrung by antiquated technology and a data system purchased three years ago that has since proved useless. (See Sidebar) 

Green’s chat group does more than just issue warnings and crime data. It’s a free-flow forum for residents in his six-beat patrol just across the border from Berkeley.  

When neighbors complained about noisy motorized scooters, an officer responded—outlining the OPD’s action plan. When neighbors wanted to pursue nuisance lawsuits against owners of drug-infested properties, Lt. Green e-mailed them a lawyers’ telephone number.  

“We include anything impacting crime or quality of life,” said Green, who started the group in June, 2002, and watched as OPD Chief Richard Word mandated a year later that the rest of Oakland follow suit. 

“I give to the community everything except what they don’t have access to,” such as domestic violence cases or specific crime fighting tactics, he said. 

BPD Capt. Doug Hambleton said his department wasn’t as comfortable releasing the information on individuals Oakland provides. “We have different interpretations on what is appropriate,” he said. 

Berkeley Police spokesperson Kevin Schofield said one of the department’s goals is not to release any information that would jeopardize anyone or inhibit an investigation. 

The different approaches were exemplified during a flare-up of shootings this summer along the North Oakland-South Berkeley border. 

While Berkeley police were hesitant to link the shootings, Green released the following on his website: “The bottom line is that North Oakland drug dealers are responsible for multiple murders and shootings in Berkeley, and Berkeley drug dealers are banding together to ‘take out’ the North Oakland dealers.”  

He later informed neighbors that both departments would perform joint drug buy-and-bust operations, infuriating BPD officials—who complained to Green’s boss that he was undermining the their work. 

“They got all bugged,” Green said. “I don’t understand that. “I’d rather have criminals think that we’re going to be in the neighborhood every day so they’d go somewhere else. I’m not as paranoid about information compromising things.” 

Though Green said his upfront style has resulted in “some touchy issues,” he remains committed to his community policing model. 

“The old way was ‘everything is police business.’ That’s fine if you can solve all the crimes yourself. But in reality, we don’t have big police forces. So we need to tell [residents] more so they can tell us more.” 

The chat group has won much praise, but few copycats. When contacted, most criminologists or police organizations knew little about their existence. 

“[Oakland] is right on target, said John Furman, a community policing researcher at the International Association of Chiefs of Police, adding that though “an excellent use of technology,” chat groups are “hardly a trend.” 

UC Irvine Criminology Professor Paul Jesilow said that if more police departments adopt Internet chat groups, the goal won’t just be better communication with residents. “This stuff is all politically driven,” he said. “If [the police] are seen as likable good guys they’re going to get money. If they’re seen as schmucks, they’re not.”  

Jesilow feared that the Internet was not an equitable tool for pooling community input. “If the Internet is the only mechanism, then priorities may turn on cultural differences rather than community-wide problems,” he said, noting that minorities and poor people are less likely to have online access. “You’re starting off with a segment of the population who likes the police and will buy into what the police say.” 

Ozzie Vincent, a South Berkeley resident who participates in Oakland crime prevention councils—the heart of that city’s community policing—said all seven area leaders in his beat were white, although until recently two had been African-American as are several of the grassroots members. 

Meanwhile, Vincent, Herbert and others have formed the South Berkeley Crime Prevention Council to lobby the BPD to reinvigorate community policing, something they say hasn’t existed for over a decade. 

First on their list is a call for Berkeley to scrap neighborhood watches—many of which are dormant—and replace them with Oakland-style crime prevention councils in which a beat is divided into seven or eight areas and area leaders meet monthly with beat cops to discuss concerns. 

“In two hours we cover everything in a 50-block area,” Vincent said. “If all the neighborhood watches in Berkeley were active, area coordinators would have to be at 60 meetings a month and then disseminate the information. It doesn’t work.” 

Next on their list: More information and better lines of communication.  

“In Oakland you have total transparency and mutual trust. In Berkeley you have to beg, borrow and steal to get information,” said Herbert who added that BPD Chief Roy Meisner was “blown away” when she showed him the detailed crime reports OPD provided.  

Two weeks ago, her group met with top BPD brass, who pledged to improve community involvement.  

“I was amazed how upfront they were,” Herbert said.  

“Lawrence Green is so energetic and devoted to this concept that you can’t just mandate it,” she added. “We don’t have to be carbon copies, but certainly there is room for real improvement.”

The University of California—under court order—finally posted all of the investment data for their risky venture capital funds, and the numbers aren’t pretty. 

Long the crown jewel of UC’s employee retirement portfolio, the funds have slid below benchmarks and plummeted more than 20 percent in recent years. 

As of June, they had dropped 21.5 percent over the past three years, 8.6 percent below their self-picked benchmark based on the Russell 3000, a tally that includes 98 percent of U.S. stocks. 

Last year, the funds barely underperformed the benchmark, losing 21.5 percent, compared to a 21.4 drop for the Russell 3000. 

“The more information we get, the more questions we want answered,” said Jason Barnett a spokesperson for the Coalition of University Employees (CUE), which joined the San Jose Mercury News in a lawsuit to force the university to release the data. “We want to know what they were thinking over the last three years putting more and more money into the investments when it’s a bad market.” 

Venture capital funds have taken a beating recently after years of unprecedented returns because fund managers raised too much money and began indiscriminately throwing it at failing start-ups. In 2002, investment opportunities were so bleak that some venture firms actually returned money to their customers rather than invest it. 

The university’s private equity funds have long outpaced other investments. Although they account for just under two percent of all investments, they account for eight percent of returns for the university’s $55 billion fund, according to spokesperson Trey Davis. 

New funds lagged far behind older funds. The 13 venture capital funds begun in 2000 or 2001 lost an average of 28 percent. That put UC on a par with other public entities that are obligated to release private investment data. The University of Michigan, for instance, saw its 15 new venture capital funds decline 26 percent. 

University officials and investment professionals cautioned that the performance indicators—known as individual rates of return (IRR)—are arbitrary and tend to start poorly when the fund is pouring money into private ventures that are not yet making profits. 

“If the vintage year is 2002 and the fund is negative 20 percent, that doesn’t mean that much,” said Danielle Fugazy, a reporter at Private Equity Week. 

Jeanne Metzger, spokesperson for the National Venture Capital Association (NVCP) called IRRs “squishy numbers” because private investments have no true benchmarks, and consequently IRRs are somewhat ambiguous and fluctuate drastically. 

UC fought to keep its investment returns private, fearing that public disclosure of IRRs would shut the university out of exclusive funds. After a federal judge ruled against them, UC released the IRRs and several weeks ago—responding to further requests from the Mercury News and CUE—provided the beginning year and amounts invested and cashed out for each fund and posted them on its web page. 

The jury is still out as to whether releasing the data will limit UC’s investment options. Top-tier firm Sequoia Capital banished UC from its new fund and asked them to withdraw from its nine other funds—which have netted UC investment returns of $508 million on investments of $110 million over the past 22 years.  

In all, private equity investments increased 26.5 percent over the last ten years versus 13.4 percent for the benchmark. During the same period UC’s equity funds increased 9.4 percent compared to 10.3 percent for the benchmark. 

But Brad Pacheco, spokesperson for the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), said the agency has not been booted from any funds since it began disclosing IRRs last year, also in response to a Mercury News lawsuit. “We felt in the short term there was the possibility that we’d be kept out of funds, but so far the funds have been cooperative,” he said. 

Metzger said the that since few new funds have been launched in the past couple of years, it’s too early to know how firms will handle public entities required to release IRRs. She warned that with fewer investment opportunities on the horizon, firms could be more finicky in picking their clients. 

For venture capital firms, the biggest fear is not so much the release of information contained in the IRRs, Fugazy said, but that ultimately judges could require public entities like UC Berkeley to release more extensive data on the individual companies invested within the fund. 

Venture capital funds manage the affairs of the nascent companies and fear that such information would give rivals a competitive advantage.

Eleven years after the California State Legislature created the privately-run Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) to help keep the state’s at-risk school districts from going under, the California State Auditor’s office is about to take its first formal look at just how well the rapidly expanding, Bakersfield-based agency is actually living up to its job. 

The increasingly controversial agency plays a dominant role in the Oakland public schools and is a growing presence in the Berkeley Unified School District.  

The audit is scheduled to begin within a month, and should be finished by mid-Spring. 

California Assembly Education Committee Chair Jackie Goldberg (D-LA) requested the formal state FCMAT audit this fall in the wake of public criticism of FCMAT’s role in the state takeover of the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). 

In the fall of 2002, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Sheila Jordan declared a fiscal emergency in the Oakland schools and FCMAT became OUSD’s fiscal advisor. 

A year later, when Oakland was forced to take out a $100 million line of credit from the state to keep from going bankrupt, the state appointed a professional administrator to run the district, and FCMAT was assigned to assist in the district’s recovery. 

The County Superintendent assigned FCMAT as fiscal manager to the Berkeley Unified School District in 2001 after learning the Berkeley district had mishandled state-assigned funds. 

Now the State Bureau of Audits has been asked to “determine whether FCMAT can demonstrate that its involvement has improved the fiscal health of school districts, thereby preventing the need for emergency loans to school districts.” 

The audit will also examine FCMAT’s contracting policies and administrative and overhead costs, and “determine the level of oversight other entities have” over the organization. 

FCMAT was created by the state legislature in 1991 during a fiscal crisis in the Richmond schools and is run by a governing board consisting of county and local school superintendents representing the 11 education service regions across the state. 

From a small, little-known agency, it has steadily increased its role as the deepening economic crisis afflicts California’s public schools. 

Today, FCMAT had been contracted to assist more than 300 local school districts and county offices of education—including its intervention in officially declared fiscal emergencies in the Compton, Emeryville, Berkeley, Oakland, West Contra Costa, and West Fresno school districts.

Though more than two weeks have passed since three UC Berkeley students presented their arguments to an independent tribunal that was to recommend appropriate university punishment for their participation in an anti-war sit-in last March, they’re still waiting to learn their fates. 

As of yesterday, the trio still hadn’t heard from Dean of Students Karen Kenney, who received the panel’s recommendation shortly after the Oct. 28 hearing. 

Although the students have charged that the university has been using scheduling to railroad a case they say is unfair and unfounded, university officials say the delay is merely business as usual. 

According to hearing panel chair Bob Jacobson, the group was supposed to present its recommendations to Dean Kenney within a week of the hearing, but they missed the deadline by a day.  

UC Berkeley’s Department of Public Affairs says the dean must issue her decision within 10 days from the time she received the report. 

The students, however, believed they’d get the panel’s report at the same time as Dean Kenney. 

If the dean upholds the charges against them, they say they plan to appeal—and for that, the Public Affairs office says, they’ll have 15 days. 

The students and their supporters—including Todd Chretien, a member of the Committee to Defend Student Civil Liberties, the ad-hoc group formed to defend the students—accuse university of employing stall tactics. 

“There are two things that they’re doing,” Chretien said. “One strategy is to drag it out because they are nervous that they’ve disregarded these students’ rights. And second, by delaying, they want to show that the dean is giving a measured approach. But it’s just a delay.” 

Janet Gilmore from the Public Affairs office said the dean is following code and expects her to issue the report by the deadline. 

The students suggest the university is stalling to release the decision until the approach of final exams and the holidays, a move they say would hinder their ability to file an appeal. 

“It is getting closer to finals and it makes it harder for us to respond,” said Rachel Odes, one of the three. 

Meanwhile, the university has announced revisions to the student code of conduct that change procedures for campus hearings. Most significant, the new code revokes the right of students to have an attorney speak for them during a campus hearing. The change would not prevent them from seeking legal advice. 

Ronald Gronsky, a professor in the Engineering department who chairs the Academic Senate and co-chaired the committee responsible for updating the code, says most changes were made to bring UC Berkeley’s policies in line with the rest of the UC system and to make the hearing process more educational and less adversarial so students can learn from the process, “rather than be distracted by a lawyer who comes in and takes over.” 

He said the move also lowers cost for students unable to afford a lawyer. 

“I think this is an abrogation of due process rights,” said Chretien. “They are trying to place themselves outside the Constitution and say that students don’t have legal rights, all the rights people fought so hard for, all the rights we take for granted.” 

Odes agreed, saying the charges she faces along with Michael Smith and Snehal Shingavi expose the errors in the code change logic. 

“The assertion that the process is educational and not adversarial is pretty flawed, and our experience at the university has shown that,” said Odes. “They made allegations about Mike that were untrue and they have run over our due process rights. Students need as much representation and as many resources as they can get because the university is not about safeguarding due process.” 

Neal Rajmaira, campus judicial officer who suggested the original punishments, said students can incur campus charges that stay on their records beyond school. At least two of the three students in the protest action could receive letters of warning in their files that would be reportable if they applied to a government job or waived their rights to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). 

The students say it’s unfair to face such consequences without legal representation. 

Gronsky said the changes resulted in part from a schedule that mandates a code update every five to six years. “The [update] process was under way before the takeover [in question],” he said. “It was on the dockets.” 

“It’s obvious that they are revising the code of conduct in the middle of this case,” Chretien responded. “It proves that this is a kangaroo court.” 

Anne Weills, a lawyer with the National Lawyer’s Guild and one of the attorneys who represented UC Berkeley students involved in the Students for Justice in Palestine sit-in at Wheeler Hall, agrees that the new policies take away due process rights. She said the Wheeler case dragged on for months, and the students would have been railroaded had it not been for their legal defense. 

As a result of those proceedings, a university panel met to explore ways to rewrite the code in a way that—unlike the current changes—would have increased the student’s ability to defend themselves. She called the university’s backtracking a sure defensive sign. 

“They knew they lost [the Wheeler sit-in case] ultimately because these students were represented by lawyers,” she said. “They want to take that power back. This is the UC way, it is the same way they deal with labor unions and graduate students. It is a constant fight to maintain due process.” 

The three students and their supporters say they plan to publicize the delay until the dean announces her decision. 

The students have also contacted journalist Amy Goodman of the radio show Democracy Now and asked her to raise the issue when she visits the campus to receive the university’s Mario Savio free speech award. 

If Kenny upholds the charges, the student says they plan to re-contact all the people who signed a support letter published in the Daily Californian—a list that includes Green Party gubernatorial candidate Peter Camejo and well-known academic Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn—to create pressure they hope, along with their appeal, will force the dean to drop the charges.

Knowing firsthand what it’s like to face student conduct charges, I have to admit I find myself sympathizing to some degree with the students who stand accused of violating the UC Berkeley student code of conduct. 

As editor of the UC Santa Cruz student newspaper, I was summoned to defend my editorial policy before a group of students who claimed I’d dished out biased, wrongheaded coverage of a prominent international issue. 

Needless to say, I was scared. It was the first time I’d faced any sort of judicial proceedings. 

While the potential outcome for me wasn’t as drastic as the one facing three UC Berkeley students arrested at the March anti-war sit-in, what happened reveals several problems with UC judicial systems that will can only worsen when the newly announced changes take effect. 

At the newspaper, word of the summons ignited a firestorm among my peers and the staff advisors. They quickly decided that none of them wanted to take the heat, advising me to set a meeting right away to work out a deal with the students who filed the complaint.  

Their solution: Comply, solve the problem and be done with it. 

University staff told me repeatedly that because the situation was a campus affair, the whole thing could be handled quickly and smoothly. Why bother with getting a lawyer involved? It would only cause complications. In other words, they wanted me to sacrifice my due process rights in order to avoid a confrontation—much like the framework spelled out by the code of conduct revisions. 

And now students are being told that campus hearings are part of the educational process, and they don’t require the presence of lawyers speaking for their student-clients. 

It’s the same policy at UC Santa Cruz, though I didn’t understand it at the time.  

I felt like I was being pushed, intimidated and manipulated. I also missed an excellent opportunity to educate myself about due process.  

Though the students facing severe student conduct charges are threatened with black marks that can stay on their records for life, the university seems to claim student hearings are less severe than criminal hearing. 

Really? Both have lifelong consequences, yet you can only have a lawyer represent you in one.  

When I was summoned, the first people I turned to were my parents. Then a lawyer. 

Fortunately I was able to avoid charges and the case was dropped. If it had proceeded however, and I had to defend myself in what could have been a First Amendment issue, I would have been lost. Nobody knows the law like a lawyer. 

True, students can obtain legal help, but in the complicated proceedings of a student hearing it’s hard for someone new to the process to make an adequate defense. 

Ultimately, even if UC Berkeley has the best of intentions, the proposed policy is dangerous. Students face serious charges and deserve the due process rights afforded to everyone else so they can obtain the most informed and effective defense.

Berkeley residents can voice their concerns about the future of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab at a scoping session at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. 

Because the lab’s Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) requires an environmental impact statement, concerned citizens can air their concerns at the legally mandated sessions. 

Of particular concern to residents have been impacts of major construction on open space, creek corridors, wildlife, parking, and traffic congestion, as well as pollution from the facilities themselves. 

But some neighbors are worried about something too small to see, too tiny to feel, but big enough to likely dominate some of the discussion at Monday’s session. 

Their concern in nanotechnology. 

A nanometer is a billionth of a meter—roughly 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. But that’s the scale of some of the most controversial technology ever to come down the pike. 

All sides agree that nanotechnology has huge potential. Nano-particles are already responsible for irritation-free contact lenses and sunscreen that doesn’t leave white gunk on your nose. 

Within a few decades, scientists envision nanotech devices tunneling through and cleaning out clogged arteries, forming factories in miniature that emit zero pollution, and making up bombs that can annihilate millions. 

If the technology’s possibilities are immense, some residents fear that risks could also be great if the LBNL’s already-approved Molecular Foundry releases nanoparticles into the air while performing research. 

Since the foundry is already in the pipeline, it’s not included in the long range development plan set to guide future expansion through 2020. But critics say they still intend to be heard Monday night. 

Residents fear are so minusculethat they’ll pass right through the standard lab filters used to capture research emissions. And while there’s little hard evidence that inhaling them is harmful, concerned residents want to be the first ones to know if it turns out they are. 

“This is such a new science, there haven’t been enough tests to know its health effects,” said Gene Bernardi of the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste (CMTW), which has opposed the lab on numerous projects. 

The Community Environmental Advisory Commission (CEAC) unanimously asked City Council last week to ask the lab to incorporate an annual, independent environmental and health review of their nanotechnology work in their LRDP. 

Lab spokesperson Terry Powell called it a “good idea” and said she was sure “the lab would listen to that.” 

Powell said nearly all nanotechnology research already performed at the lab either binds the particles to other substances or traps them in solutions so they can’t escape from the lab. 

While everyone acknowledges nanotechnology will have military implications, Powell insisted that LBNL would not get involved in that facet of research. “This is a basic energy lab. We don’t do weapons work,” she said. 

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) website is vague on nanotechnology work at LBNL, saying the lab will focus on various types of research including carbon fibers and lithographic plates. 

But former Lawrence Livermore Laboratory scientist and CMTW member Marion Fulk fears that work done at LBNL may find its way to the Department of Defense. “I’m concerned when a government lab all of a sudden gets interested in this at a time like this,” he said. 

CEAC’s monitoring proposal comes after it lost a fight in City Council earlier this year to request the lab to conduct an Environmental Impact Report of the Molecular Foundry—the proposed six-story 94,500 square foot nanotechnology center on the lab’s 200-acre Berkeley Hills campus. 

Preliminary estimates show the lab expanding from a daily flow of 4,300 staff and guests to a maximum of 4,750, while adding an additional 238,000 square feet of building space. 

CEAC wants future development restricted to preserve open space, asks that parking space development be limited in favor of better public transportation, and urges a comprehensive study of the facility’s impact on the Strawberry Creek Watershed.

When Solano Avenue Restaurateur Juan Romo saw the hired security guard napping while the party promoter pocketed fistfuls of bills from dozens of teenagers overflowing his 80-person capacity party room, he knew he’d made a mistake. 

“It was like a madhouse,” said Romo, owner of Montero’s restaurant in Albany, where a hip hop party Monday—organized by a local promoter responsible for a Berkeley party that turned violent last year—spun out of control.  

By the time peace was restored—more than an hour after Romo stopped the party—55 officers from six East Bay police departments and one California Highway Patrol helicopter had converged on the restaurant to break up fights and disperse roughly 200 partygoers. 

Police arrived outside the restaurant shortly after 10 p.m. in response to calls from neighbors who were reporting that nearly 100 people had spilled out onto lower Solano Avenue, said Albany Police Lt. Mike McQuiston.  

Romo said he confronted promoter Eugene Cockerham inside the restaurant, ordering him to close the doors after his restaurant had already been filled to capacity. 

“I said, ‘If you don’t stop letting people in, I’m going to have to shut it down.’” 

Romo said Cockerham agreed, but then continued to admit guests. When Romo asked the promoter again “Didn’t I tell you to stop letting people in?” Cockerham replied, “Didn’t you say you were going to shut it down?” 

“After that I told police, ‘I want to shut the party down so get ready.’” 

As the lights were turned up about 10:20 p.m., a fight erupted on the dance floor, and as the partygoers made their way to the street, more fights broke out, McQuiston said, prompting Albany to ask for backup from Berkeley, Kensington, Richmond, El Cerrito, UC Berkeley and the CHP. 

Police cleared the area by 11:30 p.m., McQuiston said, arresting one person for disturbing the peace. 

Romo said the fighters smashed Aztec pottery and paintings worth about $3,000, and left graffiti in the bathroom. 

Albany’s criminal investigations unit is reviewing the incident and could bring charges against Cockerham. 

Cockerham promoted a party last year at Berkeley’s former art complex, the Crucible, where police intervened after two people were shot. 

Earlier last year, a man was shot at a Cockerham party in Clayton following a concert at the Chronicle Pavilion in Concord, according to published reports. 

Romo, who had never previously hosted a Cockerham party and doesn’t expect to receive his promised fee, said he wasn’t aware of the promoter’s history. 

“I’m a trustworthy person,” he said. “I expect the same of other people.”

They built the nation’s capital on the banks of the Potomac River to satisfy the powerful Virginia lords of the time who, presumably, did not want to travel far from home to assume the presidency and other perks which they considered their own peculiar destiny. What the Virginians failed to let on before the plans were drawn up—clever fellows—was that the Potomac ran through the midst of a sickly swamp bottom.  

“Potomac Fever” was the name they gave the peculiar, brain-debilitating malady that afflicted those public servants forced to endure those godawful sweat-hot summers that straddle the Maryland and Virginia border. 

Time passed. The swamp got drained, and then paved over. But as the nation grew, and the power of the presidency with it, the name “Potomac Fever” hung on, now as the description of that peculiar, brain-debilitating malady that seemed to affect so many prominent United States citizens who grew loony, driven, and positively tongue-loose by a desire to occupy a bed in that nice little house on Pennsylvania Avenue. 

There’s no swamp along the Sacramento River—not now, anyways—but there must be something in the air up there that strikes California politicians with a similar malady, an intense desire to lay their heads on the pillows of the governor’s mansion (or the governor’s hotel suite, in the case of the incoming Mr. Schwarzenegger). Anyhow, I guess we’ll have to call it the Sacramento Shakes, and it seems to drive grown men mad. 

Billy Lockyer’s got it, and that’s about the only way you can account for the odd, recent ramblings of our state attorney general, who started off as such a decent-enough guy. 

On the day last spring that Modesto’s own Scott Peterson was arrested for the death of his pregnant wife, Laci, Mr. Lockyer was quoted in the Contra Costa Times saying that “this is a compellingly strong case. I would call the odds slam-dunk that he is going to be convicted.” 

One can understand Mr. Lockyer’s eagerness in this matter. The death of Laci Peterson has drawn the kind of national attention that we haven’t seen since—oh, gosh—the Kobe Bryant rape allegations. Watching Fox “news” from the ninth hour to the eleventh each night, one would think that the up-and-coming trial of Mr. Peterson equates to, at the very least, Christ before Pontius Pilate in its import on history and the modern world. 

Why hold down the office of attorney general, after all, if you don’t call attention to yourself by commenting upon attorney-type affairs? 

That the presentation of evidence at trial ought properly to precede a verdict predicted by the state’s top law enforcement officer apparently only made itself manifest to Mr. Lockyer ex post facto. In an explanatory interview with the Sacramento Bee in early summer, he explained that he had only been commenting about the reliability of DNA, which had been used to identify the body of Laci Peterson and her unborn son, Conner, after they were pulled out of the waters of the San Francisco Bay. “The question I thought I was asked is, is the DNA stuff reliable?” Mr. Lockyer explained. “My comment was that DNA is reliable by factors of billions to one. It was an absolute slam dunk that no defense lawyer can refute that these are the bodies of Laci and Conner.” 

Conviction. Refutation. Let’s not quibble about words that end in ion. 

But having once been bitten by the Sacramento bug, Mr. Lockyer cannot seem to shake it loose. 

Speaking to reporters during a UC Berkeley conference following the gubernatorial recall election, Mr. Lockyer responded to queries about allegations of sexual battery by incoming Gov. Schwarzenegger by saying, “I’m convinced Arnold didn’t really understand that he was caught up in frat boy behavior.” 

A week or so later, with time to reflect on his words, Mr. Lockyer called upon Mr. Schwarzenegger to “have some form of independent, third-party review of these complaints to see if there is any criminal liability that attaches,” adding that “there is a reason to worry about the acts that may have occurred.” 

First, define the state of mind of the alleged perpetrator when he did whatever he was supposed to have done. Next, define whatever it was that he was supposed to have done. Finally, call for an investigation to determine whatever it was that he was supposed to have done. Kind of backwards, don’t you think? Almost like waiting until the election is over to announce who you are going to support… 

Anyway, Mr. Lockyer breezed through his home town of Oakland this week, speaking at the Lake Merritt Breakfast Club in pursuit of his 2006 gubernatorial quest. In response to a query by the Oakland Tribune’s Peggy Stinnett about his Schwarzenegger comments, Mr. Lockyer explained his definition of “frat boy behavior” as encompassing “a wide range, from rowdiness to date rape. It’s the kind of words you should use when you don’t have the facts.” 

Ahhh. A breath of honesty, at last. A symptom not normally associated with the Sacramento Shakes.

EDITOR’S NOTE: As the situation in Iraq deteriorates, President Bush has outlined a grand vision for democracy in the Middle East. But the U.S. will have to change tactics quickly if legitimate elected bodies are to rule in Iraq.  

The Bush administration is trying to sell the disastrous war in Iraq to the American public as a vehicle for promoting democracy in the Middle East. This approach is misbegotten, especially given the vehicle the United States has chosen to promulgate democratic institutions -- the Iraqi Governing Council.  

Iraq’s purported weapons of mass destruction, the original reason given by the White House for the war, were never found. The administration was forced to admit that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 tragedy, thus eliminating their second reason. With these linchpins in the official justification for the war removed, the entire logic of the operation collapsed.  

Even the mantra, “The Iraqis are better off without Saddam,” began to fall flat, as U.S. mercenary redevelopers Haliburton and Bechtel proved unable to turn on the power and water and as killings of Iraqi citizens became part of the routine of daily life.  

Then the worst disaster of all for the Bush administration occurred: American public support for the war dipped precipitously.  

President Bush’s Nov. 6 speech before the National Endowment for Democracy reflected this latest attempt to staunch the hemorrhaging U.S. public opinion on the war. Bush painted a rosy picture of the creation of democracy in Iraq, which would spread throughout the region. “The establishment of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution,” Bush claimed. The president echoed these sentiments in two other speeches within the next week, and Secretary of State Colin Powell followed suit in a speech of his own.  

Then on Nov. 9, Robin Wright and Rajiv Chandrasekran reported in the Washington Post that the administration was thinking of sacking Iraq’s Governing Council. This is the hand-picked, largely exile group that the United States established as window dressing earlier this year to give the appearance of Iraqi local control. Earlier this year, Washington hailed the Council as proof of its good intentions in transferring power to Iraqis.  

The Governing Council proved problematic from its first meeting in July. Its mix of exiles and unknown figures gave it low credibility among Iraqis. Moreover, Ambassador Paul Bremer, the U.S. viceroy in Iraq, always had veto over the council’s actions. And Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi confidant of Donald Rumsfeld and Richard Perle who hopes eventually to rule Iraq, was placed on the Council. Bremer did this despite numerous warnings that Chalabi was utterly discredited as a potential leader among Iraqis.  

The Council began to unravel almost as soon as it began its work. One Council member, Aquila al-Hashimi, was assassinated on Sept. 24. Another, prominent Shi’a cleric Mohammad Bahr al-Uloom, quit after the United States failed to protect an important Shi’a shrine in the holy city of Najaf. After having appointed 25 interim ministers, the Council had nothing else to do, and its members frequently failed to even show up for meetings. They were reportedly out trying to make the most of their temporary positions by peddling their dubious influence and consolidating supporters for future political moves.  

The Council’s behavior shows how astonishingly incompetent the U.S. administration has been in trying to transfer power to Iraqis. If the disintegration of the Governing Council was not enough, President Bush continued to tout its existence as proof of American commitment to the founding of democracy in Iraq in a speech before the conservative Heritage Foundation on Nov. 12.  

It becomes increasingly clear that the Bush administration is not going to tolerate anything like free elections in Iraq. There are too many people the administration would like to declare ineligible. United States officials have made it clear that they will not allow Shiites to win, or former Baathists, or Kurds, or anyone with connections to Iran. This leaves almost no one left to run, except members of the former exile community.  

First among the acceptable candidates will be Ahmad Chalabi, of course, but he and his ilk among the exile community will never be able to rule without using authoritarian methods.  

Ambassador Bremer was recalled to Washington for talks on Nov. 12, to try and untangle the mess with the Governing Council. Internationalizing the process, as America’s European partners have repeatedly suggested, would lend it credibility and remove the stigma of American dominance. The United Nations or another international body, such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has been monitoring elections and election processes internationally for many years, would be ideal for this task.  

But the Bush administration is now so desperate to earn credit for some modicum of success that they are unlikely to turn over the reigns either to the broader international community or to the denizens of “Old Europe.” It appears that President Bush’s need to control the process trumps his desire to see acceptable democratic institutions established in Iraq.  

William O. Beeman teaches anthropology and directs Middle East Studies at Brown University. He is author of the forthcoming “Iraq: State in Search of a Nation.”

Mother of Drowned Child Faces Judge 

The mother who reportedly lay sleeping on her living room couch while her 11-month old son drowned in a bucket of water was in court Wednesday. 

Judge Allan Hymer arraigned Tammie Galloway, 29, on a felony child abuse charge and ordered her to Santa Rita jail in lieu of payment of $31,000 bail. 

According to police accounts, the boy’s grandfather returned home from a brief errand at 3:05 p.m. Sunday to find Riheemm Titus face down in a bucket of water in the kitchen, while Galloway, apparently under the influence of drugs and alcohol, slept on the living room couch. 

Police and fire department paramedics attempted to resuscitate the boy, who was pronounced dead at Children’s Hospital in Oakland at 3:47 p.m. 

Woman Jogger Attacked 

Police are searching for the man who attacked a female jogger along West Frontage Road north of University Avenue at approximately 7:30 a.m. Saturday. The woman told police the man attacked her from behind after she jogged past him and tackled her into the surrounding brush where he tried to pin her to the ground. 

The victim fought back and managed to escape and then flag down a passing motorist and call 911. The man fled into the bushes. 

BPD Sex Crimes Detail Detective Keith DeBlasi said the incident appeared to be isolated. 

The attacker is described as a white male between 30-40, 5’10”, with light brown hair, medium build, wearing a tan or gray sweatshirt with the hood up. A black ski mask covered his nose and lower face. 

Police urge anyone with information about this case or a similar incident to call the BPD Sex Crimes Detail at 981-5735. 

Rat Pack Attack 

A Berkeley man had the presence of mind to get his bike back after he was attacked by a group of seven youths. Police said the teenagers spotted the victim as he rode his bike at Tenth and Delaware streets. One of the gang kicked the victim’s front tire, knocking him down to ground, where the youths began kicking him. No one reached for the victim’s wallet, but one youth began walking away with the bike. When the victim chased after him, screaming for help, the youth dropped the bike and fled with his friends.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of an ongoing series of articles by UC Berkeley journalism students on the paths of Berkeley. 

When fire swept through the hills of North Berkeley 80 years ago, one of the few structures to survive was La Loma Steps.  

No evidence of the devastation can be seen today on the rose-colored bricks of the steps and path that connect Buena Vista Way and Le Roy Avenue. The only reminders are old photographs and a historical marker that says “the steps remained exposed on a hillside of ruins and ashes.” 

No one knows who designed the steps, though some credit architect Bernard Maybeck. On a 1995 petition to have the steps designated a landmark by the city, Maybeck’s daughter-in-law, Jacomena Maybeck, wrote, “We were always told they were the Maybeck steps.” 

La Loma Steps represent the philosophy of Maybeck and the Hillside Club, founded in 1898 to support development that blended with the city’s landscape. Benches along the path allow passersby to enjoy the quiet and shade, undisturbed by nearby houses and traffic. 

When fire erupted in 1923, nearly 600 houses were destroyed. Standing, with minor damage, were La Loma Steps. The steps were reconstructed a year later by architect John Hudson Thomas. They remained intact, with minor rising caused by land shifts, until the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.  

In 1992, the Federal Emergency Management Administration paid for the second reconstruction of the steps. When crews came to patch the disturbed bricks, neighbors tried to make sure the new bricks matched the old ones. But because the original bricks were unobtainable, some of the steps are now multi-tone.  

Paul Crutchfield has lived adjacent to the steps since 1954. He was among the residents who fought to preserve the authentic look of the steps. “The steps represent a historical lineage. People of the area tried to have new bricks match the old ones as close as possible.” He also worries about the bricks that have shifted. “Irregularities cause a hazard to joggers at night.” This doesn’t disturb the beauty of the steps, he notes. 

The Berkeley Path Wanderers Association holds their next meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, at the Live Oak Park Rec Center, 1200 Shattuck Ave., in North Berkeley. 

The theme is “Stories of the Paths.” 

Members and the public are invited to share stories and anecdotes about Berkeley’s paths from any perspective: historical, aesthetic, emotional, natural, architectural, humorous, kinesthetic, amusing. Photos are welcomed, and will be scanned at the meeting for a planned website with stories and photographs of every path in Berkeley.

“I thought this started at 11 a.m. They’re late, just like the army,” grumbled the veteran leaning against his bike. A woman turned and reminded him, “They start at eleven minutes after eleven o’clock to observe Armistice Day.” 

Precisely at 11 minutes after 11, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of November—the moment the armistice began that ended World War I—the program started, with Country Joe McDonald as presenter, and city officials and veterans speaking to a crowd of nearly 200 people. 

Professor Peter Fowler was glad to see the turnout: “I don’t think Veteran’s Day has always been treated as reverentially as it should be.” 

The emotionally moving ceremony included, in addition to the remarks by those present, the presentation of colors, music—including Country Joe’s new song “Peace On Earth—and the retirement of two flags, one the Stars and Stripes, the other commemorating those missing in action. 

As the second flag was laid on the bonfire, one woman broke down sobbing. The young men next to her shook their heads and looked away; another woman walked over to put her hand on her shoulder. 

Mike Bacon, retired Marine, later reminded me, “People imagine the horrors of war and shrink from the thought of it. A soldier imagines the horrors of what might be without war and shrinks from that prospect.” 

Maria Staal, a survivor of WWII, recalled the end of the war in Amsterdam. “I saw people starve. I would see someone just sitting there, and then suddenly fall over from starvation…There was no bread for a year until the British did a bread drop from airplanes. We called it manna from heaven; people were on their knees, praying and thanking God.” 

Pat Mc Cullough, city of Berkeley employee and Navy veteran, concluded the remarks, saying, “Veterans remember, often in silence, and often alone.” 

Tax deductible contributions for next year’s observance may be sent to the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, 1834 University Ave., Berkeley, 94704. 

Alta Gerrey became a peace activist after a cousin returned from active duty with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

Baily Hopkins is no senior-year slacker. The Berkeley High student plays violin in the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, will perform in the upcoming student performance of Anything Goes, just finished field hockey season, and next month will lead her Boy Scout crew to Nicaragua. 

Yep, Boy Scouts. 

Needless to say, from the pink headband wrapped around her hair to the pint-size rainbow knot affixed to her uniform, Bailey is not your typical scout. 

“I used to be a Girl Scout but that was like, ‘Let’s go learn to sew, let’s go learn to knit,’” she said. “In the Boy Scouts there’s so much more emphasis on the outdoors and sports. It’s the total opposite of Girl Scouts.” 

Hopkins is a Venture Scout—a co-ed Boy Scout outfit that organizes into crews, not troops, and focuses on outdoor sports like rock climbing and kayaking. 

A friend turned her on to Berkeley’s Crew 24 three years ago, and she’s been hooked ever since she went on a Boy Scout camping trip to New Mexico. “Everything was focused on being rugged and going a few days with the same food and crap floating in your water,” she said adding that she felt fully accepted by her fellow scouts.  

The experience as one of five girls in her 12-member crew has meant the world to her, even though it hasn’t made her the coolest kid in school. 

“I like being part of an organization of people who enjoy helping the community,” said Bailey, who, along with fellow scouts, helped replant the garden at Cragmont Elementary School. “It’s given me a whole new look on the outdoors. Backpacking was something I did with my family. I was never aware of the connection between the outdoors and my peers.” 

Still she doesn’t wear her scout shirt at Berkeley High. “I tell my friends, yeah, I’m a Boy Scout...I really sound like such a dork,” she said glancing at the ceiling of her house. “Some people look down on me. They say, ‘Oh you’re one of those people who don’t like gays.’” 

Scouting is rarely “cool” in cosmopolitan areas, but the Boy Scouts took an especially tough beating in Berkeley two years ago when a visiting troop of Japanese Scouts found themselves as cannon fodder in the feud between then Mayor Shirley Dean and Councilmember Kriss Worthington.  

The Boy Scouts of America’s policy excluding gays figured prominently in the wrangling that eventually kept the Japanese Scouts from meeting the mayor at city hall. 

Hopkins’ crew—along with local Cub Scout Pack 30—are the first to openly reject the ban on gays but remain in the scouting movement. 

They are also the first to receive the Rainbow Knot from Scouting for All, a pro-gay group comprised of current Boy Scouts and former members banished for opposing the national organization’s stance on gays. 

“Ten years from now I think the scouting world will look back on itself and say, ‘How could we have done this?’” Hopkins said. 

“We didn’t just want to stop scouting and be our own little cult,” she added. “We want to do all we can to see that scouting can be available for everyone. If we just said ‘we’re out of here,’ that’s just as bad, because then we’re not helping anyone.” 

Hopkins can do more than help; she can lead. Her fellow scouts elected her—a veteran of the 2002 trip to Panama and the best Spanish speaker of the bunch—senior patrol leader of the eight-person contingent from various local scout troops flying to Nicaragua Dec. 30 for the Central American Camporee. 

The biannual event draws thousands of scouts from Central American and neighboring countries for a five-day campout, filled with cultural exchanges and opportunities to do charitable work. 

Hopkins’ group—which will include one other girl—is the only one from the U.S. that chooses to attend the event.  

On her last trip south of the border, Hopkins struggled to communicate with the predominantly Spanish-speaking scouts, but now as an AP Spanish student, she hopes her interactions will be more meaningful. 

While language might still be a barrier, gender certainly won’t be. Central American countries don’t have Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, only Scouts. 

“We’re the weird ones who put the guys outdoors and the girls inside,” Hopkins said.  

Her fellow scouts are preparing twelve tents to donate to other troops, as well as gifts for street kids in a village they plan to visit. But perhaps most important for Hopkins and her cohorts is to make amends for the skit they performed two years ago in Panama. 

Not aware that they’d have to perform or that their skit was supposed to reflect their culture, they took a page out of elementary school and performed Minty Fresh—a skit that had each person line up brush his teeth, spit into a cup, which the last person in line drank from. 

When scouts from other countries preceded them to the stage wearing elaborate costumes, dancing to folk songs, the embarrassment set it. “We were thinking, everyone’s just going to think Americans drink spit.” 

This year’s skit involves baseball—Nicaragua’s national game—but in an ode to Panama, a spit ball will factor heavily into the production. 

If this trip is anything like the trip to Panama, Hopkins can’t wait. 

“Last time was a really amazing experience,” she said. “We really got an idea of the culture and the people there.”

TUESDAY, NOV. 11 

Veteran’s Day - City Offices are Closed 

Berkeley Honors Veterans in Martin Luther King Civic Center Park at a ceremony at 11:11 a.m. the same time when the guns fell silent in 1918 to end World War I. Country Joe McDonald, a Navy veteran and Vietnam era anti-war singer/ 

songwriter will host the event. 

“Tribute to Veterans” Spenger's Fresh Fish Grotto offers retired military personnel a complimentary lunch or dinner entrée. 1919 Fourth St. 845-7771. 

Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH) meets at 7 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave., near Rockridge BART. 835-6303.  

“A Blistered Kind of Love: One Couple’s Trial by Trail,” written in alternating voices by Angela and Duffy Ballard, covering the couple’s adventures in the wilderness, at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533. 

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

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Blood pressure checks will be given by Dr. Helen Christensen. 845-6830. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. The meeting will include critique of prints. 525-3565. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 12 

“Berkeley’s Future History” with panelists Becky O’Malley, Executive Editor of the “Berkeley Daily Planet,” Patrick Kennedy, Berkeley developer, and Darryl Moore, Peralta Community College Trustee, at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. 981-2924. 

Biodiesel 101 - A Clean Homegrown Alternative Fuel panel discussion about an alternative fuel from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. Sponsored by East Bay Biodiesel Internship, a homebrewer co-op. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Iraqi Women Today, Amal Al-Khedairy and Nermin Al-Mufti, will speak at Mills College, Student Union, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., at 7:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Women’s Leadership Institute. 430-2019.  

Government Information and Participation, a workshop on how to use the City of Berkeley website and obtain information, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Central Library, 3rd floor electronic classroom. Sponsored by the City Clerk Dept. 981-6900. 

The Truth About the Meat and Dairy Industries with Lauren Ornelas of Viva!USA, a nonprofit vegan advocacy organization that campaigns on behalf of animals. At 7 p.m. at 2326 Tolman Hall, UC Campus. www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~boaa 

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

The Women’s Reader Theater will present “Changes and Challenges” at 1:30 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Bayswater Book Club meets at 7:30 pm at Liu's Kitchen, 1593 Solano Ave. 433-2911. 

Cancer Hope: Bridging the Gap Between Here and Hope with Karen M. Cooper, R.N., Holistic Health Education, at 6 p.m. Pharmaca Integrative, 1744 Solano Ave. 

Prose Writers Workshop We're a serious but lively bunch whose focus is on issues of craft, at 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut, at Rose. For information call 524-3034. 

Free Marketing Workshops, sponsored by Sisters Headquarters, for women entrepreneurs, every Wed. from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 643 17th St. Oakland. For information call 238-1100. 

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

com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Amnesty International Berkeley Community Group meets at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1606 Bonita Ave., at Cedar St. 872-0768. 

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

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

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

THURSDAY, NOV. 13 

“Food: From Ground to Table” with Judith Redmond of Full Belly Farm, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd. Part of the series of Topics in Ecology, Theology, and Ethics: Land and Agriculture. 649-2560.  

Equal Education “A Call to Action” on the unfulfilled promise of equal education, with Elaine Jones, President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, at 4:30 p.m. in Boalt Hall’s Booth Auditorium, UC Campus. 642-6969. 

“A Path of Refusal and Building Peace in the Middle East,” with Amir Terkel and Ceclie Surasky from A Jewish Voice for Peace, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Gray Panthers, 1403 Addison St. 548-9696. 

Berkeley-Albany YMCA 100th Anniversary at 6:30 p.m. with a silent auction, dinner and awards ceremony at the Doubletree Hotel at the Berkeley Marina. Tickets are $75 and are available from 486-8406.  

UC Botanical Garden Docent Training at 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fee and registration required. 643-1924. 

So How’d You Become an Activist? with Dennis Bernstein, KPFA Radio investigative reporter, and host of “Flashpoints” and K. Ruby, founder and director of Wise Fool Puppet Intervention, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Suggested donation $5. 528-5403. 

Gary P. Scott, international mountain guide, introduces “Summit Strategies: Secrets to Mastering the Everest in Your Life” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave at Rose. 843-3533. 

Conflict Resolution Workshop with Armand Volks and Liliane Koziol at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Home Room, Piedmont and Bancroft Aves. 642-9460. http://ihouse.berkeley.edu 

Grizzly Peak Flyfishers hosts a program on fly fishing the Missouri River in Montana. Trapper Badovinac, a professional guide and author, will present a slide show from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-0428. 

East Bay Mac User Group meets from 6 to 9 p.m. in the 3rd floor Community Room, Berkeley Central Library, 2090 Kittredge St. No admission or membership charge. http://ebmug.org 

FRIDAY, NOV. 14 

“Ecuador and the Price of Oil,” a film screening and panel discussion, at the Free Speech Movement Café at Moffitt Library, UC Campus, from 6 to 8 p.m. fsminfo@library.berkeley.edu 

“Rekindling the Spirit of Brown v. Board of Education,” a conference on the journey from the vision of Brown to today’s debates over “minimum education” standards, beginning at 9 a.m. at Boalt Hall’s Booth Auditorium. 642-6969. 

“Life and Debt in Jamaica” a discussion of the price paid by Jamaica for seeking help from the IMF during the 1970s, by Stephanie Black, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Vista College Annex, Room 120, 2075 Allston Way. 

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

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship 496-6000, ext. 135. www.bpf.org 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Rita Maran, Lecturer, Peace and Conflict Studies, UCB, “Take Another Look: The United Nations Today.” Luncheon 11:45 a.m. $11.50 - $12.50. Speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

Berkeley Critical Mass Bike Ride meets at the Berkeley BART the second Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m. 

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

SATURDAY, NOV. 15 

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

Pond and Creek Restoration A 2-mile hike and work party in the San Pablo Creek Watershed, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We will visit various restoration sites to see what has worked and what hasn’t. Then we’ll plant natives and do our own erosion control experiments. Cost is $25 and pre-registration required. 231-9430. www.aoinstitute.org 

Seed Saving Workshop Learn the importance and methods of saving seeds from the garden. Heavy rain cancels. From noon to 3:30 p.m. at Wildheart Gardens, 463 61st St., at Telegraph. Suggested donations $10. 658-9178.  

Alternative Building Materials: Cob and Strawbale workshop from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Two natural building methods are currently undergoing renewed popularity. Cost is $75. Held at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. 525-7610.  

Green Living Series: Non-Toxic Pest Control Find ways to deal with common pest problems without harmful pesticides, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10 EC members, $15 general, no one turned away. 548-2220, ext. 233.  

Worm Vericomposting, with Gige Coba, Alameda County Waste Management. Composting with worms is an exciting way to turn your kitchen scraps into a fast-release rich soil amendment. You and your children will love this class, held at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

How the Federal No Child Left Behind Act Impacts Local Schools and Children with Assemblywoman Loni Hancock from 10 a.m. to noon at Stanley Middle School 3455 School St., Layfayette. 559-1406. 

“Hope Rises from the Ashes” A Vietnam Veteran describes the rebuilding of Mai Lai, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Meeting, 2151 Vine St. Sponsored by American Friends Service Committee and Veterans for Peace. 

Argentine Tango Fundamentals Four class series on Saturdays from 10:30 - 11:45 a.m. at the Berkeley Tango Studio. Cost is $15 per class or $50 for the series, teens or full-time students $10 per class or $35 series. Call Stella at 655-3585 for directions or more information. 

Natural Approach to Pain Management from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Pharmaca Integrative, 1744 Solano Ave. 

“Ruthie & Connie: Every Room in the House,” dinner, Havdalah and movie at 6 p.m. Congregation Beth El, 2301 Vine St. Cost is $5. 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Shelter Operations for anyone who lives or works in Berkeley, from 9 a.m. to noon at 997 Cedar St., between 8th and 9th Sts. Register on-line at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes or by calling 981-5506. 

California Writers’ Club meets to discuss the art of storytelling and reading out loud, with Diane Kuzdry Bunnell at 10 a.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-0861.  

Yoga for Seniors from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. Open to non-members of the club for $8.00 per class. For further information and to register, call Karen Ray at 848-7800. 

Pet Adoptions, sponsored by Home at Last, from noon to 5 p.m., Hearst and 4th St. 548-9223. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, NOV. 16 

Seed Games and Art Projects for Children Play seed guessing game and make seed mosaics, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the Play Area in the east end of People’s Park, Haste St. above Telegraph. Free. 658-9178.  

Bird Walk, sponsored by Citizens for the Eastshore State Park and the Golden Gate Audubon Society. Meet at 9 a.m. at the large bird sculpture at the end of Buchanan. Bring binoculars, snacks and plenty of water. Wear sturdy walking shoes, a hat and sunblock. For more information call Tina, 848 - 0800, ext. 313.  

“Libraries: Knowledge Providers or Censors?” a panel discussion with Daniel Greenstein, president, the California Digital Libraries Initiative; Anne Lipow, director of the Library Solutions Institute; and Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Achive, at 6 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Sponsored by Berkeley Cybersalon. www.berkeleycybersalon.com 

Tibetan Buddhism, Open House from 3 to 5 p.m. Erika Rosenberg on “Healing through Compassion,” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, NOV. 17 

Public Scoping Session for Lawrence Berkeley Lab’s 2004 Long Range Development Plan at 6:30 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center. The Draft Enviromental Impact Report is available at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., 2nd Floor Reference Desk, and at www.lbnl.gov.Community/env-rev-docs.html 

“How to Build and Repair GREEN” with Ed Gulick of the Green Resource Center at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Gray Panthers, 1403 Addison St. 548-9696. 

Priority Africa Network, “Fighting to Live,” a talk by Zackie Achmat, founder of South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) which mobilizes support for access to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS, and Nonkosi Khumalo, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Laney College, 900 Fallon St., Oakland. Donation $10. No one turned away. Proceeds from this event go to TAC's new treatment campaign. 527 4099. priorityafrica@yahoo.com 

Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, UC Campus. Appointments recommended, and can be made by visiting www.beadonor.com (sponsor code = UCB) or call 1-800-GIVE LIFE. 

Friends of Strawberry Creek will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library Public Meeting Room, 2090 Kittredge. Please note this is a change of location. For more information email bjanet@earthlink.net, jennifemaryphd@hotmail.com, caroleschem@hotmail.com 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 6 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

ONGOING 

Current and Former Department of Energy Employees and Contractor Employees A joint U.S. Dept. of Energy and U.S. Dept. of Labor Traveling Resource Center will be in the Bay Area to assist current and former DOE and DOE contractor employees file claims under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. The Traveling Resource Center will be at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel, 5115 Hop- 

yard Rd., Pleasanton, on Nov. 18 and 19, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. For further information or to make an appointment to meet with a counselor please call, toll-free, 866-697-0841.  

We Give Thanks Month, Berkeley restaurants, Bar-Ristorante Raphael, Cold Stone Creamery, Downtown, La Note, Semi-Freddi’s, Skates, and Spengers will donate a portion of their proceeds to Berkeley Food and Housing Project during the month of November. 

City of Berkeley Commissioners Sought If you are interested in serving on a commission, applications can be downloaded from 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/general.htm#applications or contact the City Clerk Department, 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900.  

Personnel Commissioner Sought for Alameda County School Board Responsibilities include administration of the Merit System. Meetings once a month. Applications must be received by Nov. 28. For details please contact Alameda County Office of Education, 670-7703. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Nov. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Paul Church, 981-6342. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/disability 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Nov. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed., Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. at 1901 Russell St. Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195. www.ci.berke- 

ley.ca.us/commissions/library  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Nov. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Barbara Attard, 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/policereview 

Waterfront Commission meets Wed., Nov. 12, at 7 p.m., at 201 University Ave. Cliff Marchetti. 644-6376 ext. 224. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/waterfront 

Commission on Early Childhood Education meets Thurs., Nov. 13, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/earlychildhoodeducation  

Community Health Commission meets Thurs, Nov. 13, at 6:45 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/health 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Nov. 13, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Mon., Nov. 17,  

at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon., Nov. 17, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St., Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee

• 

CLEAN AIR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am dismayed that our City Council, which one would hope would be concerned about our air quality and the increased numbers of cases of asthma in children, voted for the cutting of more than 100 trees in the Berkeley Marina. It will be a long time before the twigs that are planted in their stead are capable of cleaning the air as effectively as the mature Monterey pines they are replacing.  

Jeanne Burdette 

• 

UNSAFE SIDEWALKS  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The other day I walked down the street on Ashby in Berkeley, hardly able to navigate the broken sidewalk with my cane; where my friend Fred Lupke in his power wheelchair avoided the impassable way by going out into the street and was struck by a motorist, thrown 55 feet and killed. Weeks later the sidewalk is still in need of repair. Why not create jobs hiring people to repair broken sidewalks and fill in the many potholes in the cities of Oakland and Berkeley. It worked before with the WPA project, why not again? 

Frances Breckenridge 

• 

SCHOOLYARD FIGHT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I believe taking the word of real estate developers with same grain of salt as one would for lawyers, politicians and those folks who always seem to call us up when we are sitting down to dinner trying to get us to buy something. I have never met this chap Patrick Kennedy nor do I have any association in any way with him, but your constant harping on this poor fellow actually has me feeling sorry for him. In my opinion Ms. O’Malley and Douglas Allen-Taylor have let this matter of Mr. Kennedy’s perhaps owing some back taxes get  

personal whereas I believe  

that in the final analysis to Mr. Kennedy this matter is about business and I doubt the $250K or whatever is going to make or break him. And if childishness was taking place in a schoolyard as opposed to what I regard as an otherwise excellent publication, I believe just about any grade school kid would recognize in fact at this point Mr. Kennedy has gotten the best you two. And I will bet you a cup of coffee at one of Berkeley’s many excellent cafes that he is sitting at home have a good old time at your expense not too worried if he is going to pay up or not. And I’ll bet you a second cup of coffee that you will refuse to print this article too. 

Steve Pardee 

• 

HEIGHT LIMITS  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I found it hard to believe Sharon Hudson’s claim that the Urban Land Institute says  

“primary buildings in walkable neighborhoods shall not exceed 35 feet” (Planet, Nov. 7), so I looked at their web site.  

I could not find anything about this height limit. But at the top of the list of winners of their 2003 Awards for Excellence, I found Millenium Place in Boston, two 35-story high rises with five levels of underground parking, which the ULI says “has reestablished the vitality of the surrounding streets.”  

Maybe Ms. Hudson misread the ULI's guidelines for walkable neighborhoods, and they actually said that primary  

buildings “shall not exceed 35 stories.”  

I myself believe in traditional urban design. Older European neighborhoods, with a six-story height limit for fabric buildings, are filled with vitality and are also human scale.  

We certainly don’t need  

inhuman 35-story monoliths 

like Millenium Place to create vital neighborhoods. But we obviously do need height limits greater than 35 feet to give Berkeley more vital, more pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods.  

Charles Siegel 

• 

OPEN SPACES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The 11/4 Editorial (Southside Needs Public Space) is spot on. Berkeley citizens need to preserve our precious, threatened public space—be it the flea market, recycling center, community gardens, or parks. We need to nudge BUSD to include adequate public open space in their redevelopment plans. I would add that Berkeley should be looking at long term planning to expand our network of parks and gardens, with multi-unit housing developers footing 

the bill. Berkeley is adding thousands of new residents with no plans for additional open space and no requirement for developers to pay for new open space. Typically, today’s multi-unit developments contain a large number of tiny units, with on-site open space requirements being reduced or exempted. This is a recipe for increased pressure on our open space network. 

Much of Berkeley’s park (and pathway) system was donated by foresightful real estate companies. Today’s developers are increasing density dramatically with no contributions to our open space system. Developers 

don’t have land to donate,  

but they could be required to contribute a substantial open space fee for each new unit  

of housing. 

In recent years, Berkeley has missed out on open space opportunities (Presentation High, Napoleon Bonaparte Byrne property) for lack of money and planning. There are still a few opportunities, albeit expensive, if the City had a funding source. 

Multi-unit developments should be allowed only if they contribute to a more livable city. Paying their way for open space is part of the solution. If readers have a personal interest in making this happen, they can contact the letter writer at sswanson@ eminentsoftware.com. 

Stephen Swanson 

President, Berkeley Partners  

for Parks (for identification only, the views expressed above may not be BPFPs)

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of an ongoing series of articles by UC Berkeley journalism students on the paths of Berkeley. 

By CARRIE LOZANO 

Special to the Planet 

Indian Rock Park in North Berkeley was founded in 1917, but its history dates back 11 million years.  

Geologists had long theorized that the boulders straddling Indian Rock Avenue in the Berkeley Hills originated from a volcano as long as 200 million years ago in what is now Robert Sibley Regional Preserve in Oakland. But recent findings about the rocks’ age call this theory into question. 

Lin Murphy, 59, a retired lawyer with a master’s degree in geology, has been studying the rocks since the late 1990s. She was the first person to date them using a uranium-lead process at the U.S. Geological Survey.  

Her research revealed that the rocks are much younger than previously thought. “It was a total rethinking of this rock,” says Murphy from her home in Boulder, Colo. “Everybody had lumped the [North Berkeley] rocks together, but my research indicated that [Indian Rock] was different.” She found that instead of coming from Sibley Preserve, the rocks had migrated along the Hayward Fault from an area north of Hollister, south of San Jose. 

“I got into it because I’m a rock climber, and people in the area boulder at Indian Rock,” says Murphy.  

Dan Zimmerlin, who runs a preparation program for public school teachers, has been climbing at Indian Rock since 1978. He is currently working on a video project to document a number of the park’s bouldering routes.  

“Indian Rock ranks as one of the top bouldering spots,” says Zimmerlin.  

“After climbing a section of rock using all the handholds and footholds available, you try to make it harder by choosing not to use certain holds.” 

The park is also known for its views. Small steps have been carved into various sides of the massive Indian Rock to allow pedestrians easy access to its peak. 

Weather permitting, the top of the rock provides clear views of downtown Oakland, San Francisco, the Bay and Golden Gate bridges, and Mount Tamalpais. 

At sunset, the rocks can get crowded. Children and pets scurry around, while grownups sit or stand and take in the sights, sometimes with beer or wine in hand.  

On the north end of the park, a pathway of ramps and steps cuts down the hill, bordering front porches and side yards. Ending at Solano Street, a busy shopping area, the path provides an alternative to the hills’ windy, often steep streets. 

Graduate student and nearby resident Anne Geiger sometimes uses the path to get to Solano Street or to reach public transportation on Arlington Avenue. “The path is a little quiet. Mostly locals,” says Geiger. As for the park, “It’s community building,” she says.

By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 

A week after it was issued to the public, a City Manager’s report on more than $250,000 in mis-taxed properties in the city of Berkeley has raised as many questions as it answered. 

The eight-page “Escaped Property Tax Assessments” memo from Acting City Manager Phil Kamlarz was prepared for Mayor Bates and the City Council last week following questions raised by citizens and the Daily Planet that two properties of prominent Berkeley developer Patrick Kennedy were not being billed for Berkeley fees and assessments. 

The Kamlarz memo named 10 properties that either were under-taxed by the city or may have been mis-taxed, including four properties developed by Kennedy’s Berkeley-based Panoramic Interests company. The original question was raised at City Council two weeks ago concerning the Kennedy-developed Gaia Building on Allston Way. 

The inquiry thus far has focused on systems failures within the way the City of Berkeley bills its property fees and assessments. There have been no allegations of fraud by the property owners themselves. 

The questions concerning the Kamlarz escaped taxes memo surround the nature of an agreement reached in the last two weeks between the city and Kennedy on his mis-taxed properties, as well as how a branch bank office on Shattuck Avenue owned by the Bank of America came to be assessed as a parking lot rather than as a commercial building. 

Kamlarz wrote in the memo that “Mr. Kennedy and staff have met and reached agreement on the square feet to be taxed for each property, the dollar amounts calculated related to each, and the total amount due by property.” That raised questions that the city was negotiating with Kennedy on the size of his property tax assessments and fees. 

But both Kamlarz and Berkeley Revenue Collection Manager Heather Murphy said in separate telephone interviews that this was an incorrect impression. Kalmarz said that there was “no formal agreement” between the city and Kennedy. 

Murphy speculated that the confusion may have come from the language of the memo itself. 

“When I read the [Kamlarz] report [and the term ‘agreement’] I said, ‘Oooh, that doesn’t sound good,’” Murphy said. “Why did we use that term?” 

But the Revenue Collection Manager also used the term “agreement” several times in the interview to characterize what occurred in recent days between city staff and Kennedy concerning the Gaia Building assessments, though the exact terms of that agreement remain unclear. 

According to Murphy, at her direction, one of her staff members from the Revenue Collection Office took measurements of the Gaia Building after the controversy over the escaped assessments surfaced and her office was directed to investigate the matter. 

“My staff member came up with what the actual square footage of commercial property is, and what the actual residential property is, and then what are the parking spaces. Based on that agreement as to what that square footage is, we came back and determined what [the Gaia Building’s] assessments were,” she said. 

“It wasn’t like we made any negotiated agreement on what’s residential and what’s commercial and what’s parking. We came to agreement as to what the square footage was and how it would be taxed. [Kennedy] was taxed according to what that calculation came out to be.” 

Murphy said her office will assess the Gaia Building at 65,950 square feet of residential space, 10,767 square feet of commercial space, and 7,898 square feet of parking lot. 

Kamlarz said that city Finance Director Fran David is still working with Kennedy on such issues as when the building permits were finalized and when the building was actually occupied. Kamlarz also said discussions with developers over the actual square footage of buildings were not uncommon in Berkeley, emphasizing that Kennedy “did not get any special treatment different from any other taxpayer in similar circumstances.” 

“Usually, cities measures improvements for taxable purposes based upon lot size,” Kamlarz said. “Berkeley bases it upon square footage. When we first [started doing this] in 1980 we had a zillion complaints. 

“Sometimes there’s a difference in what they have in the records in the permit center for gross square feet and what may be taxable, and you have to reconcile that. Many times when we first did this stuff, we had to go out and measure almost every lot that we got a complaint on. It took us two or three years to go out and measure everyone’s square footage. So discussions with a property owner to reconcile these differences is not unusual.” 

Kamlarz said that no formal, written agreement has yet been reached with Kennedy on the Gaia Building back assessments, nor has a schedule been formalized on paying the back assessments. 

As for the Bank of America branch, the Kamlarz memo noted that its correct assessment “was missed in the past few years due to a staff data entry error, which inadvertently...tied the address to the parking lot rather than the building.” 

The bank branch is located on the corner of Shattuck and Henry in North Berkeley. A chart included with the memo indicated that the error took place somewhere between the 2000-01 and 2001-02 tax years, and that the Bank of America would be back billed for a total of $19,260 for the past three years. By law, parking lots are not billed for all city fees and assessments. 

However, a review of building permits pulled for the property could not determine why city staff would have had a reason to make changes in the assessment rate in either 2001 or 2002. City records show only that a new awning and a flower stand were built at the branch during that time. 

The current Bank of America branch building was built in 1978, replacing an older branch building next door. The older Bank of America building was then razed to make room for an expansion of the bank’s parking lot. 

While the branch address is listed at 1536 Shattuck, the bank building and parking lot parcels include two other addresses on Shattuck and two on Henry Street. These “orphan addresses,” as they are called by city staff, are addresses of original buildings, no longer existing, which were consolidated into the Bank of America property. 

Possible confusion surrounding these “orphan addresses” may have contributed to the error in the building’s assessment.  

But the real problem, according to City Auditor Ann-Marie Hogan, “appears to be due to a failure of internal controls.” The City Auditor is an elected official and is independent of the City Manager’s office. 

“The city’s assessment system shouldn’t allow a data entry error to delete a parcel,” Hogan said. “It should make it difficult to delete a parcel from the tax rolls. And when any staff member is deleting a parcel [such as apparently occurred in the Bank of America situation], an exception report should go to their manager making clear why it was done. On the face of it, that kind of internal control is not in place on a parcel deletion in the city of Berkeley.” 

Hogan pointed out that the City Auditor’s office has pointed out such failures of internal controls to the City Manager’s office as far back as 1994. 

Such internal controls should mandate that “only certain specified people have the ability to delete and add parcels,” the City Auditor said, adding that “you want to make sure that any parcel deletion is documented. You want to make sure that anyone who uses a password to delete passwords doesn’t loan their passwords to anybody else. In addition, you want to have all these procedures documented. These were [the City Auditor’s] audit recommendations way back in the early 90’s [when other escaped parcels were found].” 

Hogan pointed out that this is not a new problem in Berkeley. In a 1996 memo addressed to then-Mayor Shirley Dean and Berkeley City Council concerning an audit of the city’s Clean Storm Water property assessment program, the Auditor wrote that “the Auditor’s Office has issued five reports [between 1994 and 1996] regarding significant loss of revenue because of internal control weaknesses related to billing [by the City of its Clean Storm Water assessments]. 

“These weaknesses include failure to properly document billing systems and to perform billing procedures, to reconcile data, to ensure integrity of databases, and to exercise adequate oversight. Lack of timely implementation of improvements recommended by these audits could result in significant loss of revenue to the City because of time limits on collectibility.” 

Because the city cannot capture back fees and assessments that were the city’s own error beyond three years, the recent Kamlarz escaped assessments memo did not give details of any fees and assessments missed before the 2000-01 tax year. 

In a 1999 memo to the Mayor and City Council entitled “Response To Audit Recommendations,” then-City Manager James Keene wrote that “many of the audit recommendations [including the Clean Storm Water recommendations] have been addressed. ... However,” he added, “accuracy of the City’s square footage data remains a major unresolved item...” 

Hogan says that other than from the assertion contained in the 1999 Keene memo, she doesn’t know if the city is implementing her recommendations for tightened internal controls. Hogan said that her office would probably formally again address the issue of internal controls for city property tax assessments in its Year 2005 Audit Plan. 

Discussion of the Kamlarz memo, originally scheduled for Council’s Nov. 4 meeting, was held over until Nov. 25 at the request of Councilmember Dona Spring. Spring said she had several additional questions on the escaped property assessment issue which she wished to be answered by the City Manager’s office before the matter comes before Council.

The call for help came to Berkeley fire stations on Sunday afternoon three weeks ago, and by nighttime a strike team was heading due south.  

They arrived in San Diego before dawn, where they received their orders—protect houses in the Ramona Valley from the raging inferno that was devouring the landscape in a swathe across a front as wide the distance between Berkeley and Petaluma. 

Within two hours they had arrived in the orange-tinged valley and were hunkering down to battle the blaze.  

“Brother let me tell you, it was unbelievable,” Berkeley firefighter John Louzao said. “The flames were 50-60 feet high, just racing over you. 

“It sounded like a freight train coming down the mountain. Fences just burst into flames from the heat. I couldn’t even look at it; it was so hot.” 

Louzao was one of ten Berkeley firefighters sent to fight the Cedar fire—the largest and most destructive of the Southern California wildfires, claiming 14 lives and 2,232 homes.  

Only the 1991 Oakland-Berkeley Hills Fire—which killed 25 people and burned over 3,000 homes—was more destructive. 

But for the firefighters, most of whom had battled the local blaze, there was no comparison. 

“This reminded me of the Oakland fire, but ten times as worse,” said Lt. Kurt Chun. 

Chun led the four-man engine crew—Berkeley’s contribution to a five-engine county strike team. All four men, along with two Berkeley fire safety specialists, had volunteered for a county list for such assignments. Because they were working that Sunday, they got the call. 

Despite coming from different crews the firefighters worked seamlessly. 

In the valley, the strike team chief barked out orders about which houses to protect. The Berkeley engine crew would back into the driveway, rip out any brush that could fuel the blaze, lay down their hoses, soak the house and property, knock down the towering flames, extinguish any burning embers then race to the next house. 

“Houses were burning down right and left,” said Lt. John Anderson, one of the safety officers charged with establishing escape routes in case the fire threatened to overrun the firefighters. If the passageway closed, their packs contained fire-retardant tents as a last-ditch safety option. 

Complicating efforts, Chun said, was that they had to use their hoses sparingly because the engine only carries 500 gallons and they didn’t have an additional water source. 

Still, they saved countless homes that first day—in one instance using a garden hose and an ax to chop down beams of a burning patio and extinguish the fire before it engulfed the house. 

The rush of the first day paled in comparison to the joy of that first morning. With their section of the fire now under control, they spent the night camped in a neighbor’s back yard and awoke to find the neighbors had returned and prepared them breakfast. 

They received royal treatment wherever they went, drawing standing ovations in restaurants, honks of support from drivers and thumbs-up signs from passersby. 

“People were so generous,” Louzao said. “It’s hard to deal with someone saying thanks because it’s awkward to be thanked for just doing our job.” 

They took care of each other as well. 

Anderson recalled a comrade taking a cold pizza delivered by local police and heating it on tiles from a burnt-out house so the firefighters working 24-hour shifts could eat a warm meal. 

The 50-mile-an-hour wind gust that made their first day so challenging soon shifted, making the rest of the week easy by comparison. 

They were sent to protect a trailer park and a Bible camp, spending most of their time clearing brush to prepare for a fire that never arrived.  

“The roofs and gutters got a good cleaning and the trees were trimmed, but that morning the fog came in,” Chun said. 

Their last assignment was their saddest. They were sent to perform mop-up duty in Julian, one of the hardest hit towns—and the place where Novato firefighter Steve Rucker died fighting the blaze the same day that Berkeley firefighters were battling in the valley. 

Rucker’s death weighed heavily on all the firefighters and their families. The media first erroneously reported the victim as an Alameda County firefighter, prompting Berkeley fire officials to call the firefighters’ families to assure them that everyone was OK. 

“It was really somber,” Chun said. “I think it was a reality check to everyone in our strike team that here is someone just as well trained as we were, and that it could have happened to anyone.” 

Julian looked apocalyptic. Lone chimneys rose from the blackened earth beneath a dirty orange sun. “The plants were toast,” Louzao said. 

But by morning, the winds shifted again, bringing cold, humid ocean breezes and even, perhaps miraculously, a little rain. 

The changes reigned in the fire, and when a second Berkeley engine dispatched to relieve the crew arrived, they quickly headed back north. A week had passed and the job was done. 

“I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to help another community,” said Chun, a 17-year veteran of the Berkeley Fire Department. “Isn’t that just like Berkeley, being as humanitarian as we are? It fits us to send help to a community in need.”

Protesters facing three misdemeanor charges after their arrests at the Oakland Port anti-war demonstration last April were cleared of disturbing the peace charges Friday after an Alameda County Superior Court judge told the District Attorney’s office there wasn’t sufficient evidence to sustain the charge. 

It was a short-lived victory for the 25 defendants and their attorneys, for prosecutors promptly substituted a new charge of creating a public nuisance. 

Most of the hearing was consumed by the defense, disputing the new charge—which defense attorney Bobbi Stein called “vindictive.” 

“They could have [filed the charge] originally and they didn’t,” Stein said. “They did it because they got one dropped.” 

Deputy District Attorneys Stuart Hing and Julie Dunger defended the public nuisance charge, saying it was added after a new investigation by the prosecution. 

Defense attorneys, who had originally asked a judge in October to dismiss all charges, expressed frustration after the judge upheld the new charge and sustained the other two charges—failure to disperse and interfering with a business.  

The defense also gave vent during the hearing to allegations that the DA’s office hadn’t provided written discovery and hadn’t cooperated in determining how to pay for copies for the indigent defendants. 

“It’s ridiculous that we’ve had to wait in line for three months to get the discovery,” said Elizabeth Grossman, another of the defense attorneys. “How are we supposed to discuss motions without discovery?” 

The protesters and their supporters continued to demand that all charges be dropped in a case they say highlights the Oakland Police department’s record of abuse and corruption. The case has brought renewed attention to a department already mired in “The Riders” case, where OPD officers have been accused of using excessive force and making false arrests in West Oakland. 

Several participants were injured during the April protest when police fired weapons including wooden dowels, lead-filled beanbags and rubber bullets. 

Protesters say that even though the weapons are labeled non-lethal, police misused the equipment, firing directly at demonstrators instead of deflecting rounds off the pavement and disregarding warnings on the equipment that said direct hits could be lethal.  

Willow Rosenthal, a protester who was hit but not arrested, attended a rally outside the courthouse before the hearing, holding a sign that read “Victim of the Patriot Act” and standing with her pant leg rolled up to display a large scar covering most of her right calf. 

Rosenthal said she doesn’t know what hit her, but the injury left her in debilitating pain for a month. She has undergone two surgeries—including a skin graft—and says she still suffers pain in her knee and ankle. 

She is one of the group of protesters who filed a class action lawsuit against the City of Oakland in June, claiming infringements of their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, assembly and association. 

Kate Sassoon, a UC Berkeley student studying Theater and Biological Sciences, was among those arrested at the April rally. She and her two housemates were apprehended as they backed away when police started firing. Because they had linked arms, she said, they were unable to escape when motorcycle police pursued them, another tactic the protesters are calling abusive. 

“Before we knew if we were tackled to the ground and held face down,” said Sassoon, who spent 15 hours behind bars before her release.  

Sassoon says she won’t pay the fines she and her fellow defendants expect if they are convicted. 

“I’m being prosecuted on charges that are on the books to deter people from using their civil liberties,” she said. 

Stein, Sassoon’s lawyer, said she thought the whole case was ridiculous and that most of those on the defense side thought Oakland Police were pressing charges to divert attention away from their own conduct. 

“It’s absurd that Alameda County is prosecuting these cases,” said Stein. “If this is the county’s attempt to save face, I think it’s a weak one.” 

A new hearing is now set for Jan. 9, where defense attorneys again plan to challenge the charges.

“You’re a risk taker,” said my therapist, staring at me, the eraser end of her pencil pressed to her cheek. 

“I don’t think so,” I said. 

“Yes you are,” she countered. “Look at the things you used to do before your husband’s accident: climbing up Mt. Rainier, skiing across the Sierra, bicycling in Tasmania. You are definitely a risk taker.” 

“Hundreds of people climb Mt. Rainier every year,” I argued. “Lots of people ski across the Sierra. Tasmania is about the safest place on earth. I think it’s all relative.” 

“That’s true,” she said. “But look how you’re living your new life since your husband became a quadriplegic. You’re a risk taker.” 

“And you’re full of baloney,” I thought to myself. “I’m taking my risqué self home and I’m not coming back.” But instead I made an appointment for the following week. I needed help. 

Back home I readied myself for the weekend. My friend Jernae was coming to visit. The daughter of my husband’s live-in attendant, she had entered my life just when I needed someone young, innocent and optimistic to restore my faith in the future.  

“What are we doing this weekend,” she asked as she bounced through the front door.  

“I don’t know,” I answered. “What do you want to do?” 

“I wanna go swimming, rollerblading, ice skating and fishin’,” she said. “Then I wanna go to the movies and eat ice cream.” 

“You know your mom won’t let you go swimming,” I said. “She’ll be mad if we mess up your hair.” 

I took a long look at this week’s hairdo. Every visit it was different. Some days she appeared at our house with two braids tightly attached to her head; other weeks she sported plaits that resembled racing stripes zigzagging behind her ears. 

Sometimes she had six strategically placed ponytails and other times she had hundreds of thin, intricate braids ending with seven heart-shaped pink beads and a small piece of tinfoil. 

On those days I looked forward to the melodic sound of her beads making noise as she moved her head back and forth, but not to the leftovers. After she went home I would find beads all over the house: under the mattress, on the bathroom floor, behind the sofa cushions, out on the porch and buried in the garden.  

“Look,” she said. “If I wear a bathing cap, nobody’s gonna know I went swimming, you dig?”  

“Okay,” I said, “but we’ve got to be careful. I don’t want to get caught.”  

We went to the Willard Pool in Berkeley. She wore a bright yellow bathing cap pulled low over her forehead and a pair of lime green swimming goggles that made her look like a gigantic insect. 

As soon as she jumped in the water the bathing cap flew off. Hundreds of pink beads floated to the bottom of the pool.  

“Uh oh,” she said. “You’re in trouble.” 

“I’m in trouble? What about you?” 

“You’re the one who brought me here. Momma is gonna be mad.” 

We climbed out of the pool and rushed to Walgreens. She told me what to buy and I bought it: special combs and brushes; a big jar of hair goup; tiny black rubber bands and a bag of plastic knockers. We sped home in a panic. 

“Turn on the TV,” she shouted. “Throw some popcorn in the microwave. I gotta be able to watch television and eat while we do my hair.” 

Somehow we managed to put the braids back together, although it was clear that we had messed with something we shouldn’t have. When her mother came to pick her up she screamed. “What’s with the hair? You went swimming after I told you not to. Girl,” she said turning to me, “you’re in trouble now.” 

“I know,” I said. “It’s my fault. It won’t happen again.” 

Jernae and her mother went home. I went back to my therapist.  

“My name is Suzy,” I said when my session began, “and I’m a risk taker.”

A UC Berkeley lecturer jailed in Iran for nearly four months was released Sunday, but will remain in Iran for the time being while the investigation against him continues, a friend said. 

Dariush Zahedi is staying with family members in Tehran after friends and family paid in $250,000 bail to secure his release. 

Zahedi is free to return to his home in Lafayette, said his friend, Rutgers Professor Hooshang Amirahmadi, who spoke to him Sunday. But the lecturer is staying because he hopes to disprove allegations that he went to Iran to foment student protests against the Islamic Republic. 

“His hope is the judiciary will see this as a misunderstanding,” Amirahmadi said, adding that he may return to the United States before the case is resolved.  

Zahedi, 37 and a naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested at his brother’s Tehran office one day after meeting with a pro-reform group in Iran. The meeting coincided with annual student protests commemorating a July 19, 1999, demonstration that was violently suppressed by militias loyal to the ruling clerics. 

Iranian officials accused Zahedi of being a U.S. spy, but Amirahmadi said he was the victim of bad timing: Arriving in Iran during a wave of student protests and increased tensions with the United States over Iran’s budding nuclear capacity. 

“He made a mistake meeting with those people, but he could not be a spy,” Amirahmadi said. 

Zahedi was placed in solitary confinement at Evin prison north of Tehran, where Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi died while being held for photographing student protesters. But the Berkeley man told his friend that guards treated him “OK.” 

Amirahmadi and Zahedi are both members of the American Iranian Council, which works to improve relations between the two nations. 

Zahedi, who was to teach War and Peace in the Middle East at Berkeley this fall, is the author of The Iranian Revolution Then and Now: Indicators of Regime Instability, published in 2000. In April, he co-authored an op-ed in Newsday calling for the U.S. “[t]o engage the Islamic Republic in multilateral talks” to diffuse tensions over Iran’s potential nuclear capacity. 

Edwin Epstein, chair of UC Berkeley’s Peace and Conflict Studies program, said news of Zahedi’s release “made my day,” and he was hopeful he would be back teaching in the spring. 

The Iranian Ministry of Justice is continuing to investigate the charges against Zahedi, who could stand trial if new allegations surface. 

Amirahmadi insists that Zahedi is not at risk by remaining in Iran. “The dangerous part has passed already,” he said. “If they had a significant case against him they would not have let him out on bail. He added that remaining in Iran would facilitate convincing the judiciary that he committed no crimes.

A big box Target is coming to Eastshore frontage road near Gilman Street just north of the Berkeley line. At the same time, a proposal is being floated to rezone west Gilman from manufacturing to commercial, to catch the regional retail traffic. Development of this kind will profoundly affect the whole city. 

Imagine the entire length of Gilman below San Pablo lined with shops and chain stores, with one big box down at the freeway, a second near San Pablo, and a third in the middle at Sixth Street. Imagine traffic increased many fold, leaving commutes snarled and traffic problems plaguing the adjacent residential neighborhood. Imagine shoppers tangling with tired commuters desperate to get home. Along the side streets a few manufacturers and artisans still hang on, but their ability to function is severely hampered; quickly rising rents and retail conditions are making them unfeasible, and they all have relocation plans. Imagine the Fourth Street commercial corridor moving inexorably north, toward its manifest destiny of merging with the Gilman mall. 

Why would Berkeley politicians and planners consider development that is hardly distinguishable from Emeryville and El Cerrito Plaza? The answer is simple: Regional retail brings in tax dollars. The city is hurting for revenues, and many politicians and planners ogle West Berkeley as a cash cow waiting to be milked, a politically easy alternative to raising property taxes or cutting services. 

But beyond the immediate costs to the adjoining neighborhood and to the businesses and people being displaced, there are costs and long-term repercussions affecting the whole city that may not be apparent at first.  

West Berkeley plays a unique role in our city. It is a very diverse place, ethnically, socially, and economically, and plays host to numerous ventures that would otherwise be lost to Berkeley. As our only industrial section, it provides jobs with good wage levels for people without advanced degrees. The industrial environment provides shelter and nourishment to a wide variety of uses. Light manufacturers, artists, craftspeople, residents, creative startups, nonprofits, restaurants, and offices share many blocks with a minimum of conflict. Its neighborhoods are home to many of our lower-to-middle income residents, working people from every corner of the world, including an important part of our African American community. West Berkeley—and not the downtown arts district—is the place where our working artists and artisans have their studios.  

The dynamism and creativity coming out of West Berkeley every day benefit the entire city and help maintain its character, although this is scarcely recognized by many who only pass through it on their way out of town. West Berkeley is one of the lungs of our city; cut it out and we lose something of great and irreplaceable value. 

Maintenance of the industrial character of West Berkeley is a key to the perpetuation of our city’s diversity, because manufacturing defines the economic level of the common space in which many other uses thrive. Converting Gilman to a retail strip will trigger a new gentrification spiral to the whole area, and signal a loss of diversity for the whole city. Gentrification is not a tide that lifts all ships but a tsunami that will sweep people with less money out of town. A disproportion of the people shown the door will be ethnic and racial minorities, blue collar workers, craftspeople, and artists. If industries get pushed out of West Berkeley, so will many startups, struggling nonprofits, and lower income families. Gentrify West Berkeley and the city will take a giant step toward becoming just another increasingly sterile upscale bedroom community. 

Yes, the General Fund is hurting, and hard choices will have to be made to bring in new revenues or cut services. And it’s true that manufacturing doesn’t bring in as much sales tax as regional retail. But on the other hand, West Berkeley is currently one of the city’s main economic engines. It provides about a quarter of all jobs in Berkeley, in the most diversified occupations, and generates about 40 percent of all city sales tax revenue, about 30 percent of business license tax revenue, and about 10 percent of property tax revenue. Manufacturing has higher “multiplier effects” than office or retail, generating other local economic activities through its inputs. These multipliers generate tax revenues, but often don’t appear in statistical analyses as credited to manufacturing. It also creates less traffic problems than either retail or office, and traffic problems have a price tag attached. Retail jobs pay a lot less than manufacturing and are almost never unionized; retail has a high percentage of part time workers, and suffers a high employee turnover. 

In its own funky West Berkeley way, Gilman Street today is the center of a successful neighborhood, and manufacturing is the anchor of a diverse economy. What if we convert it for a few magic beans that never sprout? What if the projected regional retail golden goose turns out to be a lame duck? A successful area will have been sacrificed for nothing. During the “new technology” boom of the 1990s some developers wanted to convert large numbers of manufacturing buildings into offices, but were prevented from doing so by the policies of the West Berkeley Plan. If they had been permitted to convert them, when the bust came the city would have been left with blocks and blocks of empty office buildings. 

The issue is not development, but scale, pace, and nature of development. On the one hand, the West Berkeley Plan calls for slow change incorporating the successes of the past, and careful monitoring of the existing mix of land uses. By contrast, some developers are calling for rapid mallization. In the near future the community will be faced with this choice between contending visions for West Berkeley. 

Our city’s uniqueness is more fragile than it may appear, and it is at risk. The character of our town hangs in the balance. Everybody who wants Berkeley to become Emeryville, raise your hand. 

John Curl is a member of the City of Berkeley Planning Commission. 

Right now, the projected all-fund city deficit moves from about $9.4 million in 2004-2005 to $19.6 million in 2008-2009. If the recently-triggered Vehicle License Fee (VLF) increase is somehow repealed, as threatened, the city will lose an additional $6 million annually, bringing the all-fund deficit to about $15.4 million next year and $25 million in just five years. Between now and fiscal year 2008-2009, the cumulative city deficit (excluding the VLF and other potential state impacts) is projected to be $71 million. These figures do not account for other likely losses due to additional cuts in outside fund infusions (foundations and federal and state grants) and additional losses resulting directly or indirectly from the effects of economic recession on our taxpaying residents. 

Clearly, we have an enormous budget problem that will require very painful actions. The city’s increased labor costs are the biggest part of the problem. Labor costs account for about 80 percent of the City budget of $250 million. Due to the recently negotiated labor contracts, the annual increases in city labor costs appear to average out at about $20 million annually for the next several years. Our initial overview of these contracts has convinced us that they are excessive, that our city employees, while generally exceedingly competent, are now being overcompensated, and the labor contracts are the proximate cause of the city’s budget problem. 

We are now in the process of more closely examining these contracts and we hope that our city leadership will do the same. These contracts should be compared to other relevant labor contracts and current practices, and to the actual Bay Area CPI increases. The contract subparts that need closer examination include pay raises, equity adjustments, rapidity of step increases, treatment of overtime, health and welfare benefits, and pension contributions and benefits. This article is a first step in the closer examination.  

City of Berkeley employees, while they may not get rich on the job, enjoy most of the “cradle-to-grave” benefits that have been the hallmark of the Western European welfare states and, in the United States, that are mostly limited to public employees and tenured professors. This comprehensive employment package includes almost total job security, generous defined-benefit pension plans, regular super-CPI adjustments, employer-paid family health insurance that extends beyond retirement, liberal disability and workplace injury policies, excellent working conditions, liberal leave policies, and many other job-related benefits. Meanwhile, huge numbers of Americans, including not a few Berkeley residents, are coping with unemployment, job insecurity, loss of retirement assets, increasing health care costs, and all of the stress and ill effects of economic uncertainty and insecurity. 

There are seven operational city labor contracts plus a manual for unrepresented employees, as follows. All of these items are available online as well as city manager summary reports to Council. 

1. Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Berkeley and the Berkeley Police Association, July 8, 2001-July 30, 2007 

For city manager summary, see Council item #9, 11/13/01. 

2. Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Berkeley and the Berkeley Firefighters Association Local 1227 I.A.F.F., July 9, 2000-Jully 1, 2006 

For city manager summary, see Council item #9, 10/22/02. 

3. Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Berkeley and Social Services Union, Service Employees International Union Local 535, July 7, 2002-June 28, 2008 

Covers about 380 employees in health care, welfare and social service, nursing, library employees, and miscellaneous professional, technical and administrative employees. 

For city manager summary, see Council item #3, 11/12/02. 

4. Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Berkeley and Public Employees Union Local 1, July 7, 2002-June 28, 2008 

Covers about 160 management and professional employees in all city departments and engineering paraprofessional in Public Works, and Parks, Recreation and Waterfront. 

For city manager summary, see Council item #8, 11/19/02. 

5. Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Berkeley and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, AFL-CIO, July 7, 2002-June 28, 2008 

Covers about 20 employees in electrical occupations in Public Works. 

For city manager summary, see Council item #6, 11/12/02. 

6. Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Berkeley and Service Employees International Union Local 790, July 7, 2002-June 28, 2008 

Covers about 560 employees in manual field operations in Public Works and Parks, Recreation and Waterfront, nonsworn paraprofessionals in the police department, and clerical and paraprofessional employees in most other city departments. 

For city manager summary, see Council item #4, 11/12/02. 

7. Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Berkeley and the Part-time Recreation Leaders Association (Affiliate of SEIU Local 535), July 7, 2002-June 28, 2008 

Covers about 80 employees in Parks, Recreation and Waterfront. 

For city manager summary, see Council item #5, 11/12/02. 

8. City of Berkeley Unrepresented Employee Manual, Resolution 60,777-N.S., Effective Sept. 26, 2000 (Amended to Jan. 2002) 

Covers confidential executive, management, professional and clerical employees. 

For city manager summaries, see Council item #15, 9/26/00; #16, 6/19/01; #8, 10/22/02; #7, 11/12/02; and #10, 11/19/02. 

Covers confidential executive, management, professional and clerical employees. 

The additional costs of the six-year contracts for the contracts numbered 3-6 above total $83.2 million, and break down as follows: 

3. SEIU Local 535, Nov. 12, 2002 Council meeting: $30.32 million in additional costs (380 employees, $13,300 additional per year for six years). 

4. Public Employees Union Local 1, Nov. 19, 2002 Council meeting: $16.1 million in additional costs (160 employees, $16,800 additional per year for six years). 

5. IBEW Local 1245, Nov. 12, 2002 Council meeting: $1.8 million in additional costs (20 employees, $15,000 additional per year for six years). 

6. SEIU Local 790, Nov. 12, 2002 Council meeting: $35.1 million in additional costs (560 employees, $10,500 additional per year for six years). 

Not included in the $83.32 million above are the amounts for police, fire, and unrepresented employees (contracts numbered 1, 2, and 8). These latter contracts (and related Council items) need to be reviewed to factor in these costs. 

Thus, the new contracts for approximately 1120 (70 percent) of the city’s 1600 employees are costing the city $83.32 million extra in a six year period (average $12,400 annually extra per employee). If the costs of the remaining 480 public safety and other employees are included, the total of extra cost will be about $120 million for a six year period, or $20 million annually (average $12,500 annually per employee). We are already into year two of this cycle. The deficit for year one has been addressed by the normal two to three percent growth in city revenues combined with about $3 million in cuts and some amount of sleight-of-hand. It is clear that normal city revenue growth, serious service cuts, and more sleight of hand will be totally inadequate to address the huge projected deficit. 

So readers, please look at the city’s labor contracts, look at the city’s deficit, and then, please, connect the dots. 

Barbara Gilbert and Viki Tamaradze are co-chairpersons of the Berkeley Budget Oversight Committee.

Michael Baker’s got more in common with Mel Blanc than just initials. For one, they’re both entertainers—although the late Blanc is arguably the more famous, a genuine Hollywood celebrity who created the voices of Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, and a host of other animated characters. 

But Baker’s the man who’ll fill Blanc’s most celebrated Northern California role—one known to a couple of generations of Bay Area residents—as Moo Master for Berkeley Farms Dairy. 

As in “Farms? In Berkeley? Mooooooo.” 

A lifelong Bay Area resident and leader of the Oakland, rock band Slim, Baker recorded his entry in the parking lot of a Berkeley grocery store. 

His effort was named one of six finalists, which were then posted on the Internet for web surfers to listen to and then vote for their favorite. His masterful moo emerged the clear winner. 

Baker, the grandson of a dairy farmer, collected $5,000 and won the role of corporate Mooscaster for the dairy through the end of 2004. 

The 32-year-old singer/songwriter, who grew up in the East Bay and clearly remembers the original commercials from his childhood in the ‘70s and ‘80s, has never done professional voice-over work. However, he is no stranger to the recording studio or the stage. Baker’s band, Slim, has been performing in the area for the last five years, and recently recorded their debut CD, Interstate Medicine, at Berkeley’s famed Fantasy Studios.  

The album features former members of Counting Crows, Third Eye Blind, and Van Morrison and Bonnie Raitt’s bands, and has already broken onto commercial radio playlists. One song from the album, “Sister Rosa,” was recently named a winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

A three-way deal between the City of Berkeley, Comcast Cable Communications and a Christian broadcaster at the end of October has resulted in a channel shuffle, with Berkeley’s public access station moving from channel 25 to channel 28 and the local government station from channel 78 to channel 33. 

Everything else remains the same. 

According to Roger Miller, a telecommunications analyst for the city, the switches came after Christian station KTLN—also known as Total Life News—asked Berkeley’s Comcast Cable office to pick up their broadcasts. 

KTLN currently broadcasts over the air on channels 25 and 68 and has been slowly establishing themselves on Northern California cable slots using those same numbers under a federal law that mandates broadcast channels receive the same dial positions on cable.  

The City of Berkeley was also looking for a change, and had asked Comcast to move them off channel 78 because that channel falls into the second tier on the cable network—meaning that only some cable subscribers had access (channel 34 is the cutoff for the first and cheapest tier of cable service). 

So the city swapped 25 for 28 and 33, moving them into the cheap channels. 

Miller said that for the next month, digital cable subscribers will view the programming on 33 even if they are tuned to channel 78. Analog subscribers will find a notice advising them of the switch when they try to tune in. 

KTLN is running a public service announcement on 78, directing would-be public access viewers to that channel’s new location. 

For more information contact Miller at atrmiller@ ci.berkeley.ca.us or 981-6502.

“See! I am dancing. On the edge of 

the world I am dancing” 

Ancient Ohlone Indian song 

The body of indigent Paul Henry Fillman, who was widely known as Jean Paul, was discovered three weeks ago in a tent on the Albany Bulb where he had made his home for the last 10 years. He was 59. 

A political activist and dance enthusiast, Fillman was one of those featured in the 2002 documentary Bums’ Paradise, which tells the story of the homeless community that evolved on the Albany Bulb, a former dump on a roadless, windswept, shrub-covered peninsula with stunning bay vistas. 

The City of Albany evicted the homeless community in the fall of 1999 to make way for the Eastshore State Park. 

Pending a toxicology report, the Alameda County Coroner lists the cause of death as “unknown,” but County Coroner Dan Aperson and Albany Police Lt. Daniel Adams say they found no immediate signs of foul play. 

Police say they don’t know how long Fillman had been dead in his tent before he was discovered by an acquaintance Oct. 15. According to several who knew him, Fillman struggled with addiction to a form of methamphetamine known as “ice,” which is typically smoked. 

In the documentary, Fillman said that he preferred living outdoors and that it was “the only time I’ve ever enjoyed myself.” During the 1999 eviction, the city of Albany provided trailers for Bulb residents to help them with the transition from their tents and shacks into homeless shelters, but Fillman refused to use them. 

“The only box that they have ready for me is the grave, because I’m not getting into any other kind of box,” he said defiantly in the documentary. 

Shortly after the eviction, Fillman quietly returned to the Bulb where he continued to discretely make camp. 

A short, lithe and impish man with an infectious laugh, Fillman had long, graying brown hair, which he wore in a pony tail and usually covered with a beret or a well-worn felt fedora adorned with buttons and pins. 

“He participated in a lot of street theaters and loved music, so his bicycle was always decked out with tambourines, drums and horns,” said former Bulb resident Robert Barringer, known as Rabbit to viewers of Bums’ Paradise. 

“He was also careful about his appearance and would make the trek to the laundromat every month.” 

Fillman loved to dance and was a familiar sight at Askenaz Music and Dance Center on San Pablo Avenue. 

“He would come on Friday and Saturday nights when we usually have African or Reggae shows,” said night manager Larry Chin. “He would dance for hours usually by himself and would never bother anybody. He was a good guy.” 

Barringer said dancing was the thing that Fillman loved most. “He would dance sometimes until 3 a.m. and the next morning he would be refreshed and in an excellent space.”  

Though he was born in Brooklyn and never traveled to Europe, he strongly identified with his French heritage. Once, discouraged with American culture, is said to have presented himself at a French Consulate and demanded to be transported back to his rightful home.  

He believed in political activism and participated in protests at the site of the near nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island in the late 1970s and protests at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in the 1980s. 

Prior to the Albany Bulb eviction, Fillman was also a constant presence at Albany City Council meetings, vociferous in advocating for homeless rights and—as he explained in the documentary—the “right to exist… somewhere.” 

Nearly everyone who knew Fillman said his overriding passion was to reconnect with his daughter, Grace, who possibly lives in Oakland.  

“He tried to contact her over the years but was not able to,” Barringer said. “More than anything he wanted to get a copy of the film to her and to let her know that he loved her.” 

Anyone who has any personal information about Paul Henry Fillman, is asked contact the Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau at 268-7300. Those who are interested in learning more about the documentary Bums’ Paradise can go to www.bumsparadise.com.

By Clark Suprynowicz 

Special to the Planet 

If you’re looking for something provocative in the performing arts here in the East Bay, you’re too late for “Vocalists and the Musicians Who Manipulate Them” with Amy X. Neuberg. That was this past Tuesday (the 11th) at the Oakland Box Theater on Telegraph. Ditto a rare visit to Yoshi’s on the part of Michael Stevens, a true cult figure in the New York jazz scene, with drummer Gerry Hemingway and bassist Joe Fonda. That was Monday (I am sad to report that Yoshi’s is severing its long-term relationship with Jazz in Flight, tireless producers of the Monday night series. Who will champion local music at Yoshi’s?) 

More things you missed: Bob Geary’s chamber chorus “Volti” (formerly the San Francisco Chamber Singers) did one of their mesmerizing concerts of contemporary choral works at St. Mark’s in Berkeley this past weekend, and the crackerjack Empyrean Ensemble was just at UC Berkeley on Sunday with a program of brand-spanking-new music. 

Don’t despair. If you’re hoping to imbibe a healthy swig of creative music from the frothy stein that is the East Bay music scene, there’s plenty to be had before we’re faced with our annual glut of Messiahs and Nutcrackers. Why not try, for instance... 

Laetitia Sonami, who designs and builds her own instruments. She’ll be at 1750 Arch in Berkeley this Saturday, brought to you by CNMAT, those wacky people over at UC Berkeley who are edging us into a musical future of their own devising, where lasers are used to conduct racks of electronic gear and a concerto may integrate white noise with sampled duck calls. By the way, kudos to our friends at 1750 Arch. We are not living in a time when contemporary artists are growing fat and complacent, so it is heartening to see spaces like this offered up to the community. John Halle was out here from Yale earlier in the year, offering one of his Politics and New Music evenings, the sort of thing that gives polemics a good name. 

Then there’s the CCM Songlines Series at Mills College. On Saturday, Nov. 22, cellist Joan Jeanrenaud and the ROVA Saxophone Quartet will perform music of visiting Milhaud Professor of Composition Annie Gosfield. 430-2296 gets you the details. 

This Sunday (the 16th), music of Anthony Braxton will be performed by Triaxium West over at the Jazz House, the room formerly known as TUVA (3192 Adeline, 649-8744). I once went to see Mr. Braxton when he was teaching over at Mills, there to pick up a score from him for a grant application. He’d gone to see the movie Batman with his son the night before, and they were both in love with the Batmobile. As to his score, Anthony looked it over, seemed about to reconsider, then thrust it out, saying “If they don’t like it, f— ‘em.” They didn’t like it, and Braxton is now at Wesleyan. 

What about some edgy new opera? On Wednesday, Nov. 26, at 8 p.m. at 21 Grand (449B 23rd St. near 19th Street BART station in Oakland, telephone 444 GRAND) Opera Viva presents Noh Body—a neo-dada topless “impropera” in two acts with Aurora Josephson, Jacob Lindsay, and Scott R. Looney. Now that’s definitely not Handel or Haydn. 

Are the members of ROVA the hardest-working guys in show-business? They may be. On Tuesday the 18th, Larry Ochs of ROVA and his friends Ches Smith and Chris Brown are at the Oakland Box Theater at 1928 Telegraph. My vote for new space most worth checking out goes to the aforementioned Oakland Box, next door to Sears in downtown Oakland. With this space, and the Ookland Metro down at the base of Broadway, you might almost forget that California is now 50th in funding for the arts. Of course, dedication and getting paid are not the same thing. But as someone who lives five minutes from these two illustrious dives, it's a pleasure to recommend them. Here's hoping they continue to flourish. 

Speaking of the Oakland Metro, composer Tom Dean's brainchild, they've got a lively agenda lined up for the rest of November, with Oxbow, Azigza, and Glasshouse performing (respectively) Thursday, Friday, Saturday this week. More info on Metro's calendar at 763-1146. 

Back at Yoshi’s, you can go see Pat Martino this weekend, from the 13th to the 16th. I have a soft spot for Pat. Back in my tender youth I heard a Pat Martino record and had that reaction good new music will (I hope) always have in store for us: I said “What IS this stuff?” Then, before John McLaughlin and Paco DeLucia were household names, I’d never heard anybody play the guitar like that. Now the scuttlebutt is that a brain aneurysm sent Mr. Martino on a long hiatus from performing a few years back. He had lost all memory of having learned the guitar. After an arduous process of re-learning the instrument, both he and his amazing fingers are back, and he is touring again. Amazing. 

Just to give equal time to those looking to imbibe Brahms, Handel and Haydn this season, the first out of the gate may well be the University Chorus, who on Sunday December 2 at 3:00 PM will sing Missa Sancti Nicolai (The Saint Nicholas Mass) at the First Congregational Church. 

There’s plenty more coming down the pipeline. I’ve got a message out to Stephen Kent, and I’ll be sending on the news as to the music of India, Tashkent, and the great beyond ... all right here in the yeasty firmament of our own East Bay. 

Go in peace. And if you can’t go in peace, just go.

TUESDAY, NOV. 11 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“Music to Your Eyes,” an exhibition of new paintings inspired by classical music, by Dean Hunsaker, at the Addison Street Windows Gallery. Exhibit runs to Dec. 10. Sponsored by the City of Berkeley’s Civic Arts Program. 981-7533. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Paula Gunn Allen decribes a heroine from the Native American perspective in “Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

The Whole Note Poetry Series, with Julia Vinograd and Debra Grace Khattab at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave. 549-9093. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Cesaria Evora, Cape Verdean chanteuse, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$48. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Courtableu at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ken Waldman, Alaska’s fiddling poet, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Dayna Stephens House Jam at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

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

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 12 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“Chiapas- At the Edge of Light” with photographer Jutta Meier Wiedenbach at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

FILM 

Standby: No Technical Difficulties, Program 2 at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa. 

berkeley.edu 

THEATER 

Senior Readers’ Theatre, “Changes and Challenges” written and produced by a Berkeley feminist group, at 1:15 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center, Hearst Ave. and MLK, Jr. Way. Free. 724-2779. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Café Poetry and open mic, hosted by Kira Allen at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Ron George introduces his anthology of 26 stories, “The Kindness of Strangers,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Harsha Ram introduces, “Imperial Sublime: A Russian Poetics of Empire” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7,  

$5 with student i.d. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

Wang Ping will read from “The Magic Whip,” a collection of her poetry, at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert Voice Faculty Recital at the Chevron Auditorium at International House, corner of Bancroft and Piedmont Aves. Admission is free. 642-4864. 

Cesaria Evora, Cape Verdean chanteuse, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$48. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

NC Blue Connection at 9 p.m. with a West Coast Swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Terri Hendrix with Lloyd Maines, Grammy-winning “Texas square peg” at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

Muchas Bluegracias, Belle Monroe and Her Brew Glass Boys, Ho’Down Quartet at 9 p.m. at Blakes On Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Sam Bevan Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

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

THURSDAY, NOV. 13 

THEATER 

Alchemy Works, “Where There’s a Wil(l), There’s a Play” a collection of short works by, or inspired by famous Wills, at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $10-$15 and are available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

FILM 

Exhibiting Signs of Age, screening of “Aging in America: The Years Ahead” at 5:30 p.m. and Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival, “The Day I Will Never Forget” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Meredith Maran reads from her new book, “Dirty: A Search for Answers Inside America's Teenage Drug Epidemic,” in a benefit for Bay Area Community Resources at 7:30 p.m. at Diesel Bookstore, 5433 Colllege Ave. 653-9965.  

Gallery Talk: Ecuadorian Fiestas with Grace Johnson, curator of Latin American ethnography at the San Diego Museum of Man, at noon at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way at College Ave. Free with museum admission. 643-7648.  

Exhibiting Signs of Age, Curator’s Talk with Beth Dungan at 12:15 p.m., Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Going Home to a Landscape: Writings by Filipinas,” with several of the contributors in person, at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Dorothy Jesse Beagle and Raymond Nat Turner, followed by an open mic, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. For information call 526-5985 or 205-1749.  

University Press Books Anniversary Party, with Gerald Nachman, author of “Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s,” from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

Carol Bergman reads from “Another Day in Paradise: International Humanitarian Workers Tell Their Stories” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tim Barsky and Everyday Ensemble, musical theater, at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Tin Hat Trio, chamber folk ensemble, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Liberian Schools Benefit with Sia Amma at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$20 sliding scale. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Alfonso Maya, CD release concert, at 7:30 p.m., at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Faraway Brothers and Bingo Band at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

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

Scott Hill performs modern jazz at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $7-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

CV1 at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

O’Dab at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

www.beckettsirishpub.com 

FRIDAY, NOV. 14  

CHILDREN 

Rainbow Fish Storytime at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

THEATER 

UC’s Department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies, “Getting Married,” by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Barbara Oliver, opens at 8 p.m. and runs through Nov. 23 at Durham Studio Theater. Tickets are $8-$14 and are available from TicketWeb 866-468-3399. www.ticketweb.com 

Alchemy Works, “Where There’s a Wil(l), There’s a Play” at 8 p.m. See listing for Nov. 13. 

Aurora Theater Company, “Lobby Hero” opens at 8 p.m. and runs to Dec. 21. Tickets are $28-$40. 2081 Addison St. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Polly's Phat Phollies, A Musical of Generous Proportions, a singing and dancing play by well-know Fat Activist, Judy Freespirit, at 7:30 p.m., Hamilton Hall, 685 14th St. at Castro, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$50, sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. Wheelchair accessible; no scents, please. 836-1153. 

FILM 

Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival, “Thunder in Guyana” at 7:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Children Underground,” a documentary about street children in Romania, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, a reading room, library and community center in South Berkeley located at 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble performs at 7:30 p.m. in the Little Theater, 1929 Allston Way. Tickets are $10 general, $5 students and are available at the door. www.berkeleyhighjazz.org 

In Love with the Violin, a concert by Donna Lerew, violin, and Skye Atman, piano, with narrative by actress Donna Davis, at 8 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Tickets are $10-$15. 525-0302. 524-5203. 

The Suzanne Farrell Ballet performs an all-Balanchine program at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$46 and are available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

The UC Jazz Fall Concert at 7 pm in Chevron Auditorium, International House. Tickets are $5-$10 and may be purchased at the door one hour before the show begins. http://ucjazz. 

berkeley.edu 

Tim Barsky and Everyday Ensemble, musical theater, at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Laetitia Sonami, composer, performer and sound installation artist will premiere “The Appearance of Silence,” at 8 p.m. at CNMAT, 1750 Arch St. Cost is $10 general and $5 students. www.cnmat.berkeley.edu 

Moh Alileche performs traditional Amazigh music from Algeria at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $10-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Noche de SKAtemoc, with Tokadiscos, La Plebe, Firme and La Banda Skalavera at 9 p.m., at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Wadi Gad, Cosmo, DJ Sister Yasmin perform conscious roots reggae at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

20 Minute Loop, Bitesize, Ex-Boys Friends, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7.  

841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Ned Boynton at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Lost Weekend, western swing big band, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Matt Berkeley Group at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Mood Food, Cosmic Mercy at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes On Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Fabulous Disaster, Butcher & Smear, Pin Up Motel, Whore You at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Doctor Masseuse at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

www.beckettsirishpub.com 

SATURDAY, NOV. 15 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Magic Window Puppets, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

gested donation $3. Children under 3 free. 549-1564. 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“The Long Walk to Freedom,” an interactive public art project highlighting the contribution of 28 civil rights activists opens at the African American Museum and Library, 659 Fourteenth St., Oakland, with a reception for honorees from 1 to 4 p.m. Exhibition runs Tue. - Sat. through Dec. 31, noon to 5:30 p.m. 486-2340. 

A New Leaf Gallery/ 

Sculpturesite “New Works” reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Exhibition runs to Dec. 15. Gallery hours are Wed. - Fri. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat. - Sun. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1286 Gilman St. 527-7621. www.sculpturesite.com 

Kirk Thompson, “Ordinary Nature: Recent Landscape Photography,” from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St. Gallery hours are Mon. - Fri. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 644-1400. 

THEATER 

Polly's Phat Phollies, A Musical of Generous Proportions, See listing for Nov. 14.  

Alchemy Works, “Where There’s a Wil(l), There’s a Play” at 8 p.m. See listing for Nov. 13. 

FILM 

7th Annual SF Latino Film Festival, “The Lost Reels of Pancho Villa,” plus shorts at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7.50 in advance, $9 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org For information on the Film Festival call 415-454-4039. www.latinofilmfestival.org  

A Short History of Polish Animation, Program 3 at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Multicultural Children’s Picture Books, with readings by three authors, at 2 p.m. at Eastwind Books, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Trinity Chamber Concerts Farallon Brass Ensemble at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Admission by donation, $12 general, $8 students, senoirs, disabled. No one turned away. 549-3864. 

San Francisco Early Music Society presents Classics of the Salon, what Mozart, Hayden and their friends played for each other, at 8 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $22 for SFEMS members and Seniors, $25 for non-members, $10 for students. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

St. Petersburg String Quartet, at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $42. Tickets for the previously scheduled Zehetmair Quartet concert will be honored at the door. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

The Suzanne Farrell Ballet performs an all-Balanchine program at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$46 and are available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Choreographers’ Performance Alliance, “Works in the Works” at 7:30 p.m. at Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St. Cost is $10. 644-1788, ext. 2. 

Tim Barsky and Everyday Ensemble, musical theater, at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Laetitia Sonami, composer, performer and sound installation artist will premiere “The Appearance of Silence,” at 8 p.m. at CNMAT, 1750 Arch St. Cost is $10 general and $5 students. www.cnmat.berkeley.edu 

Jinx Jones Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Dave LeFebvre Quartet, new music and odd meters, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Roy Rogers and Norton Buffalo, harmonica and guitar duo, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50 in advance, $21.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Amandla Poets, South African township jive, Jamaican reggae and American R&B at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

“Hola! Hands out to Latin America!” a concert by the Berkeley Music Cooperative Players at 3 p.m. at La Peña. Donations accepted to help music teachers in Latin America. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Café de la Paz's 10th Anniversary and Flamenco Celebration featuring Yaelisa and Caminos Flamencos. Dinner show at 8 p.m., seating at 6 p.m. for $40-$47, or late show at 10 p.m. for $20-$27. Reservations encouraged. 843-0662. cafedelapaz.net 

Doni Harvey, blues singer and guitarist, performs at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $6-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Naked Barbies and The Jolenes at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Stymie and the Pimp Jones Luv Orchestra, Thunderpussy at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes On Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Marcos Silva at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

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

Bananas, I Farm, Stivs, Mermaid-Unicorn, Problem at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926.

Toddler drowned 

Police arrested the mother of an 11-month-old baby boy found drowned in a bucket of water Monday afternoon. According to police, when the baby’s grandfather left the house earlier that day, the baby and mother were on the living room couch. When he returned later, the infant was found head-down in a five-gallon bucket of water. He called 911, and both police and firefighters attempted CPR, but Riheemm Titus was pronounced dead upon arrival at Children’s Hospital in Oakland. 

Police arrested the child’s mother, Tammie Galloway, for felony child endangerment, possession of methamphetamine, and being under the influence of drugs. Police believe the baby either walked or crawled to the bucket in the kitchen and fell in as the mother lay sleeping on the couch. The county coroner performed an autopsy Monday. 

Attempted Robbery 

The cell phone proved mightier than the gun for two Berkeley roommates Sunday. According to police, a man and woman were standing outside their home in the 2800 block of Ellsworth Street a 7:40 p.m. when two men approached them, one pointing a gun at them and demanding money. The woman called 911, and as she was talking to the dispatcher, the would-be robbers fled without stealing anything. A sergeant in the area spotted two men who met the robbers description, but the ensuing block-by-block search failed to locate them. 

Flash Light Fight 

Police arrested a security guard at a Saturday night fraternity party for assaulting a UC Berkeley student. According to police, the security guard was ushering people out of the fraternity house shortly before 1 p.m. in the 2700 block on Bancroft Way when a student resisted, punching him in the face. Police said the guard then whacked the student with his metal flashlight, opening a gash on the young man’s face. Police stationed outside the party and rushed to break up the fight, arresting the security guard was on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. The security guard has not filed charges against the student, who was not arrested.

High enough and deep enough into the Santa Cruz Mountains to help visitors forget its location between Silicon Valley’s concrete boxes and the touristy tackiness of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Felton is a perfect diversion and Excursion. 

Felton is a couple-block town full of mountain folks, big city escapees and present and former Silicon Valley commuters. The surrounding landscape is among the most beautiful on the planet, traversed via winding, narrow roads through the tree-covered Santa Cruz Mountains. 

Henry Cowell State Park, on Highway 9, has 1700 well-preserved acres of large, old-growth redwoods, many of them dating from the days when the Zayante Indians lived in the area. Hikers can enjoy 20 miles of trails and paths, the Redwood Grove and its self-guided nature path, a stand of Ponderosa pine, as well as Douglas fir, madrone, and oak. Trails—ranging in length from 0.4 to 3.3 miles—include Powder Mill Trail Head at the southeast corner of the park on Graham Hill Road, Rincon Fire Road on Highway 9 on the south side of the park, Ox Trail Head on Highway 9 on the west side, and Redwood Grove Trail, a flat, easy loop around the giant redwoods. 

The easiest amble is Redwood Grove Trail, a wheelchair- and stroller-friendly trek that starts near the park’s Nature Center (831-335-7077). Snacks are available at the Gift Shop (831-335-3174). 

Within Cowell Park, cyclists are welcome on Pipeline Road, Rincon Fire Road, Ridge Fire Road, and Powder Mill Fire Road, and horses are allowed on some trails. Parking for horse trailers can be found at Powder Mill Trail Head. 

The San Lorenzo River offers tasty temptations for anglers during steelhead and salmon season (November through February). 

The Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad runs historic steam and freight trains through dense redwood forests, Big Trees, Indian Creek, Grizzly Flats, Deer Valley, and one of the most drastic switchbacks in North America via Spring Canyon and Hallelujah Junction and down the hill into Santa Cruz. 

Isaac Graham settled here in the 1830s, attracting like-minded spirits to his wild encampment, which Mexican authorities soon named “Roaring Camp.” Graham developed the first sawmill west of the Mississippi here in 1842, though sparing the Big Trees—which soon became the first officially protected virgin stand of coastal redwoods. 

The Santa Cruz & Felton railroad began hauling tourists between Big Trees and the beach in 1875, and the Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific Railway has been operating along the old route since 1985. Fares run $17 for those 13 and up and $12 for children 3-12. Children under 3 are free. Trains run at 11 a.m. daily, more frequently on weekends. Contact: (831) 335-4484, www.roaringcamp.com. 

Felton Covered Bridge Park occupies part of the original Rancho Zayante Land Grant, and features the highest covered bridge (35 feet) in the western United States, along with lots of grassy picnic area and kids’ playground equipment. Built in 1892, the Felton Covered Bridge served the main route through Felton until it was bypassed in 1938. Today, it’s maintained and supported by the Felton Volunteer Fire Department’s annual July pancake breakfast. 

Hallcrest Vineyards and The Organic Wine Works provide the most fun and interesting winery experiences in the Santa Cruz area. 

Many “organic wines” are made from organically grown grapes, with sulfites and other preservatives added later that can cause allergic reactions in some wine-bibbers. Hallcrest’s Organic Wine Works is one of the few truly organic producers in the United States, making wine from grapes that are both organically grown and processed without sulfites, “in accordance with the California Organic Foods Act of 1990 and certified by the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF).” 

Hallcrest Vineyards was founded in 1941 by Chafee Hall, who made wines from estate-planted White Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Hall built the winery’s current buildings in 1945, producing his last wine in 1964, when he retired.  

John and Lorraine Schumacher and John’s sister Shirin purchased Hallcrest in September, 1987, restoring the name and the buildings. 

A budding biologist, 13, John Schumacher made his first wine at age 13 from plums plucked from a family tree while his parents were away. He went directly from high school to the U.C. Davis enology program, and today he’s to be found harvesting grapes or driving a forklift around the property. Enjoy their wine cartoon book available in the tasting room. 

Featured wines include Hallcrest Chardonnay, Clos de Jeannine (Rhone style red), Pinot Noir, Veilig, Syrah, Cabernet/Merlot blends, Cabernet Sauvignon; Organic Wine Works Chardonnay, Radical Red, A Notre Terre blend, Carignane, Syrah, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and Vinotopia Ice Wine. 

Hallcrest Vineyards and The Organic Wine Works, 379 Felton Empire Road, Felton 95018; (831) 335-4441 or (800) 699-9463,www.webwinery.com/Hallcrest. Open 12 noon-5:00 p.m. daily. No tasting fee. Partly wheelchair accessible.  

My favorite restaurant in Felton is the copper-countered Cowboy Diner—a great place to watch sports or cartoons)—with its cowboy décor and chuckwagon cover draping the kitchen pass-through. 

The diner’s “outlaw cuisine” includes cowboy sushi, hot legs of chicken, prawn and mushroom quesadillas ($11), yam cakes ($5), ginger ribs ($14), and unusual large salads. Try the Wastenau of tilapia filet with jalapeno-lemon dressing ($12); the Bang Bang, Bang, with 8 ounces of marinated top sirloin on horseradish slaw ($12); the Big Bleu with charbroiled chicken, gorgonzola and hazelnuts ($9); or pork salad Annie with BBQ pulled pork ($10). A just plain green salad and corn bread is $6. Steaks and burgers are done to perfection, with special lunchtime burgers as low as $5.55, and crowned by the Ol’ Smokey—ground, smoked tri tip with melted cheese ($9). Coleslaw comes mounded on a separate plate with cilantro and basil and a pink marinated cabbage flower on top. Outdoor seating.  

Cowboy Diner, 6155 Highway 9, Felton 95018; (831) 335-2330. Beer and wine. Visa and MasterCard. Wheelchair accessible. 

Slightly south of “downtown” Felton is La Bruschetta, an Italian restaurant featuring Sicilian cuisine with Greek influences from the towns of Ragusa and Siracusa and some attributes of Arabian culture a la Palermo, all cooked from local organic ingredients and free range chickens. 

Chef/owner Luca Rubino creates breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast includes free range eggs and organic fruits, veggies, grains, flour, and dairy. Lunch features a variety of salads—from calamari and Caesar to oranges (all under $8)—panini, and a wide range of pastas. Dinner pastas are $14-$16, and entrees include swordfish stuffed with capers, black olives, onions raisins and pine nuts; prawns with garlic, capers and tomatoes; filet mignon baked with pancetta, onions, and rosemary, and veal rolled around mushroom and spinach stuffing topped with pecorino cheese (all $17-$20). Good Italian and short local wine list.  

La Bruschetta, 5447 Highway 9, Felton 95018; (831) 335-3337, fax: (831) 335-2556, www.labruschettasc.com. Open 8:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. daily. Beer and wine. Visa, MasterCard. Wheelchair accessible.

Yes, Berkeley people do read the San Francisco Chronicle on occasion. It’s always amusing to know what Chris Daly is up to. Sad to say, there’s less and less to read in the Chronicle these days. The Datebook section is increasingly pathetic. If the budget permits an occasional excursion to The City, Joshua Kosman’s reviews, though sometimes irritatingly choleric, are the best way to make sure you get some bang for your buck at the major SF performances. Otherwise, today’s Chronicle is pretty forgettable. 

An item in the East Bay Express suggests that Chron icle editors are toying with a lite paper (how could it get any liter?) in order to reach a younger audience. This is presumably based on the assumption that all young people are the mindless airheads who pick up the sex-drugs-rock’n’roll-‘n’-cusswords weeklies inflicted on us by the national corporate chains. Part of the package we got when we took over the Daily Planet was subscriptions to trade magazines aimed at publishers. These magazines regularly print articles by middle-aged white guys in suits about how to dumb down newspapers to appeal to the TV generation. These guys don’t seem to understand that a major portion of their audience, young and old, has defected, not to TV, but to the Internet, in search of more substance in their reading, not less. 

Since the Chronicle was taken over by the Hearst Corporation, another branch of the national corporate media, one of the few continuing bright spots has been Jon Carroll’s column. When Jon wants to, he has the knack of raising serious major moral issues in a compelling way. Sometimes, of course, he prefers to write about cats or what he did on his vacation, which is a lot less interesting but still relaxing. Recently, he’s been vacationing for long enough that we’ve considered putting our Chronicle subscription on vacation hold. We marked his return date, Nov. 9, on the calendar and toughed it out. So now he’s back, and what does he say in his first column? 

"For the next year or so, I will be writing three columns a week rather than five. I do not want to cut back, nor do my editors want me to cut back, but bureaucratic exigencies have prevailed. This temporary curtailment has nothing to do with either with my political opinions or my health. Please set your paranoia meters to zero." 

Sorry. Not nearly good enough. What does he mean, “bureaucratic exigencies”? Does he mean that the mighty Hearst empire is having cash flow problems? His editors like him, but his publishers don’t? His demographics are wrong? Inquiring minds want to know. 

Here at the Planet, we can offer a partial solution. Jon says he’s able to write five columns a week. For whatever reason, his corporate masters now only want to print three of them. The Planet hereby offers to take the other two for our two issues each week, paying our usual high two figures if he needs the money. The Berkeley audience being what it is, we would prefer to get the non-cat non-vacation columns, which should work out since his two Chronicle columns this week have both been vacation. The last time I offered Jon a regular column was in the late 70s, when I was an editor at Pacific News Service and he was at loose ends. He didn’t take me up on it then, but now, in view of the very dangerous political situation in which we find ourselves, he might want to reconsider. 

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet.

The November issue of BDA Update, the monthly newsletter of Berkeley Design Advocates, a group of architects and others who work in the local building industry, has an interesting article on its front page, entitled “From Impalas to Incense”. It reports on a proposal by the Buddhist Church of America to add yet another nonprofit institution to the Southside area. The article reports that the church has bought the old Howard Automobile showroom on the corner of Fulton and Durant, and plans to turn it into a Buddhist Studies Institute, complete with a bookstore, offices, classrooms and dormitory spaces.  

Evidently the church wants to build two additional stories on top of the landmark building, which was restored not too long ago by previous owners who hoped to use it for commercial research and development. The Zoning Adjustment Board vetoed that use, which is probably why the building was sold to the Buddhist Church. A presentation of the church’s plans was well received at BDA’s October meeting, except that audience members thought that too much parking was included (28 cars), and the proposal was criticized for “not maxing out the site”—the building would rise only to three stories, not the four “allowed,” according to author Tony Bruzzone.  

There’s a whole discussion about what’s “allowed” in the remodeling of a designated landmark building, but let’s not go there at the moment. What should be flagged as this proposal enters the public arena is the effect of converting yet another commercial building into a nonprofit use. In other words, if this project goes forward it will be one more part of Berkeley that’s off the tax rolls, at a time when the city is already struggling with the cost of providing city services as revenues decline.  

Citizen watchdogs have been busy calculating, as the deadline for putting new property taxes on the ballot approaches, how much of the city is non-tax-paying property owned by nonprofits. It’s not that citizens don’t appreciate the good works that many of these nonprofits do, but we have a lot of them here already, and more are in the works. On University Avenue, for example, a liquor store (ugly and unpopular) is slated to be replaced by a synagogue for a new congregation, which from an esthetic perspective is a winning plan, but which will mean a loss of taxable property. Next door a restaurant (not ugly or unpopular) is being supplanted by a private school, well-regarded, but another nonprofit. On the south side of campus, the American Baptist Seminary’s plan to add more offices and rental units to their already substantial untaxed holdings has been derailed for the moment by neighborhood objections, but it will certainly be back in another guise. 

These are only a few of the many newer examples. Berkeley has always been hospitable to religious and educational institutions of all kinds, led by the University of California. But we might now be close to reaching some kind of a tipping point. In 1994, a thorough study by then City Auditor Anna Rabkin reported that 35 percent of Berkeley property was untaxed, for a total estimated annual revenue loss of $23.4 million. Reliable observers now estimate that at least 40 percent is off the tax rolls. 

A recent letter from the Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association asked for a concerted and systematic effort to negotiate payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT fees) from the major exempt landholders in Berkeley, as is done in other cities in similar circumstances. It also recommended one-time fees for impacts of new developments on the infrastructure, nonprofit developments included.  

Rabkin’s 1994 study reached similar conclusions. Now, almost ten years later, it’s time to revisit her proposals, and this time the city needs to act on them promptly. Berkeley taxpayers (including renters whose rent goes to pay property taxes) can no longer afford to subsidize city services for almost half of our city.  

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet.