Steven Finacom
              Open ocean fish swim in an endless circuit around visitors in the unique Fish Roundabout.
Steven Finacom Open ocean fish swim in an endless circuit around visitors in the unique Fish Roundabout.

Page One

Academy Awaits the Wrecking Ball

By Steven Finacom Special to the Planet
Friday December 26, 2003

With the close of the year, one of the Bay Area’s greatest scientific and cultural monuments will disappear as we know it. -more-



Staff
Friday December 26, 2003

SATURDAY, DEC. 27



Letters to the Editor

Friday December 26, 2003

OUTRIGHT LIES -more-



Staff
Friday December 26, 2003

SATURDAY, DEC. 27 -more-



Townsend’s Warbler Serves as Seasonal Harbinger

By JOE EATON Special to the Planet
Friday December 26, 2003

It was 34 years ago last month, but the memory of my first Townsend’s warbler is still vivid: a tiny, brightly colored bird flitting through the trees in the Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park. I was fresh out of North Carolina and everything in the Bay Area—the birds, the trees, the weather, the politics, the music—was new and exciting. It was another “Welcome to California” moment. -more-



Gun Suit Deadlock Results in Mistrial

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday December 26, 2003

Jury deliberations in the multi-million dollar Beretta “unsafe pistol” trial in Alameda County Superior Court may have been closer than a 6-6 deadlock would indicate. So the father of a 15-year-old Berkeley boy accidentally shot and killed by a friend nine years ago says that his family will bring the issue back to court for a third time. -more-



The Twelve Days of Halliburtonmas

Friday December 26, 2003

On the twelfth day of Halliburtonmas, my true corporation gave to me: twelve no-bid contracts asmellin’. -more-



Notes From The Underground: Festive Alternatives for Ringing in the New Year

By C. Suprynowicz
Friday December 26, 2003

å If you think a proper New Years Eve can only be had by weaving your way to San Francisco and back, praying for safe passage, think again. Plot Wednesday evening properly and you can sidle from one Berkeley nightspot to another—getting your fill of food, drink, and revelry—without ever getting near a cab, a limo, or your own endangered set of wheels. -more-



Berkeley’s Homeless Get Good, Bad News

By MATTHEW ARTZ
Friday December 26, 2003

The holidays are bringing a mixed bag to Berkeley’s homeless. -more-



Feeding Junk Food to the Poor

By Shana White Pacific News Service
Friday December 26, 2003

SAN JOSE—Every holiday season, people are told to donate canned food or money to the local food bank to feed our community. I always assumed the food being donated was healthy. I was wrong. -more-



Berkeley High Library Will Reopen in January

By MATTHEW ARTZ
Friday December 26, 2003

For Berkeley High Librarian Ellie Goldstein-Erickson, Christmas break is no vacation. -more-



Rush to IRV Ballots Raises Troubling Questions

By Gordon Wozniak
Friday December 26, 2003

In the United States, the most common election system is to have each voter choose one candidate, and the person who garners the most votes wins, regardless of whether that person has achieved a majority. There are many alternative methods for picking one winner out of a field of candidates. Some examples are listed below: -more-



Berkeley Store Slammed for Peddling Stereotypes

By Jakob Schiller
Friday December 26, 2003

Urban Outfitters, the clothing and boutique chain that found itself mired in controversy over the board game “Ghettopoly,” might draw heat again after distributing a shirt that some say stereotypes Jewish women. -more-



Features

UC Enrollment Holds Steady

by Matthew Artz
Friday December 26, 2003

UC Berkeley enrollment held steady this year, according to final registration figures released last week. -more-


Police Blotter

By MATTHEW ARTZ
Friday December 26, 2003

Online Fraud -more-


Editorial

Under Currents: Saddam Offers Dubya a Chance to Eclipse Poppy

J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR
Friday December 26, 2003

Early one morning last week I woke up to a driving rainstorm outside. The television had been left on for some reason. I lay and watched the public humiliation of an old man, officials probing his hair for lice. This was the monster who menaced the world? I wondered how many others heard echoes of the line from Lawrence of Arabia (“Now we see him without his armor and magic cloaks, bereft of friends and sword, reduced here to his bare and tawdry essence for all eyes to view: a little man, greedy, barbarous, and cruel”), applied, in that case, to the Arab people as a whole. And therein lies the danger in our treatment of the captive, Saddam Hussein. -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Under Currents: Saddam Offers Dubya a Chance to Eclipse Poppy 12-26-2003

Editorial: A Season for Laughter 12-23-2003

News

Academy Awaits the Wrecking Ball By Steven Finacom Special to the Planet 12-26-2003

Staff 12-26-2003

Letters to the Editor 12-26-2003

Staff 12-26-2003

Townsend’s Warbler Serves as Seasonal Harbinger By JOE EATON Special to the Planet 12-26-2003

Gun Suit Deadlock Results in Mistrial By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 12-26-2003

The Twelve Days of Halliburtonmas 12-26-2003

Notes From The Underground: Festive Alternatives for Ringing in the New Year By C. Suprynowicz 12-26-2003

Berkeley’s Homeless Get Good, Bad News By MATTHEW ARTZ 12-26-2003

Feeding Junk Food to the Poor By Shana White Pacific News Service 12-26-2003

Berkeley High Library Will Reopen in January By MATTHEW ARTZ 12-26-2003

Rush to IRV Ballots Raises Troubling Questions By Gordon Wozniak 12-26-2003

Berkeley Store Slammed for Peddling Stereotypes By Jakob Schiller 12-26-2003

UC Enrollment Holds Steady by Matthew Artz 12-26-2003

Police Blotter By MATTHEW ARTZ 12-26-2003

Compromise Rekindles Stalled Library Gardens By MATTHEW ARTZ 12-23-2003

Berkeley This Week 12-23-2003

Arts Calendar 12-23-2003

South Africa Offers Model for Palestine Annette Herskovits 12-23-2003

A.C.T. Does Right By Dicken’s ‘Christmas Carol’ By David Sundelson Special to the Planet 12-23-2003

Designer Offers Unique Cards By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 12-23-2003

Letters to the Editor 12-23-2003

UC Outreach Programs Axed By MATTHEW ARTZ 12-23-2003

International Students Create Holiday Cheer By XIAOLI ZHOU Special to the Planet 12-23-2003

Ski Instructor Offers Tips for Hitting the Slopes By Jakob Schiller 12-23-2003

Motherly Shopping Dilemma Solved By Anne Wagley 12-23-2003

My Favorite Christmas Lights From Susan Parker 12-23-2003

Police Blotter By MATTHEW ARTZ 12-23-2003

Holiday Tree Search Yielded Lessons for Life By Irene SardanisSpecial to the Planet 12-23-2003

Waiting for a Passionate Christmas Letter By BRIAN SHOTT Pacific News Service 12-23-2003

Temblors Add Quirky Touch to Visalia Steps By DANIEL FREED Special to the Planet 12-23-2003