An Alameda County Superior Court judge Tuesday dismissed a challenge filed by the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation that threatened to undo Berkeley’s plan for integrating its schools. 

Judge James Richman ruled that a Berkeley Unified School District policy that uses race as a factor for assigning children to elementary schools did not, on its face, violate Proposition 209. 

That measure, enacted by California voters in 1996, forbids racial preferences in public education, employment and contracting. 

John Findley, an attorney from the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), which filed the lawsuit on behalf of Berkeley resident Lorenzo Avila and his two school-age sons, said he plans to appeal the case. 

Judge Richman’s decision means that Berkeley Unified—which in 1968 became the first school district in the country to voluntarily desegregate—can, for the time being, continue to use race as a factor to produce diversity in schools. 

Although the ruling only holds for Berkeley, civil rights advocates hope that, if upheld in the court of appeals, the decision would halt what they see as the Pacific Legal Foundation’s campaign to overturn race-based desegregation plans throughout California. 

“This is a whole new ballgame. The tide is starting to turn in public education,” said Michael Harris, assistant director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.  

At the same time Judge Richman ruled on the plan, the judge also granted the lawyer’s committee, the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP, the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary and more than 300 Berkeley residents legal standing to join the opposition to the lawsuit should the decision be appealed. 

The rush by civil rights proponents to defend Berkeley Unified underscored the importance of the case, Harris said. “This could set a new precedent for all school districts in the state.” He added that since the passage of Prop. 209, several districts had pulled back from using race in school assignments under threats of possible legal action from PLF. 

Berkeley School Board Director Terry Doran said the decision vindicated the district for “having the courage of their convictions to fight the case.” 

Though PLF won a similar case against a school district in Huntington Beach two years ago, the group had a tougher challenge against Berkeley Unified, said Goodwin Liu a Boalt Hall Professor with a specialty in education law and policy, because the Avila children never claimed to have suffered adversely from the district’s policy. 

Since the Berkeley plan considered several factors other than race, Judge Richman concluded the possibility existed that the plan could be implemented without ever taking race into account. “If the implementation of the plan might not result in a single pupil’s school assignment being changed based on the pupil’s race, the plan cannot be unconstitutional on its face,” he wrote.  

Richman also distinguished the Berkeley case from the ruling in Huntington Beach, which Findley argued that the judge was bound to follow. Richman wrote that the Huntington Beach transfer policy in question was a “one-for-one same race exchange policy” that essentially created a “non-white opening” and prevented white students from transferring from a minority white school unless another white student took his place. Since the Berkeley plan contained “no such differential criteria for school assignment,” it didn’t apply, Richman wrote. 

Liu said he believed Richman’s ruling was correct, but that if PLF returned with a plaintiff who could make a claim of being denied his first choice of schools based on race, “it might be a different story.” 

Other professors, however questioned the underpinnings of the decision. “The ruling doesn’t grapple with 209 very successfully,” said Vikram Amar, a UC Hastings law professor with a specialty in constitutional law and civil procedure. Amar said the Berkeley plan might be defensible on other grounds, but “just because race is used as one factor among many, doesn’t take it outside of 209.” UC affirmative action plans also took race into account among many factors, he said, and Prop. 209 “was clearly intended to overthrow that.” 

David Levine, another UC Hastings law professor, predicted the appeals court would overturn Richman’s ruling. Levine was one of the attorneys who represented a group of Chinese American students who, in 1999, won a federal court order ending race-based enrollment in San Francisco. 

“The judge has given PLF something easy to shoot at,” Levine said. “He strained to distinguish the Berkeley case so he didn’t have to follow precedent. I don’t think it’s very convincing.” 

The Berkeley school assignment plan in question requires the racial mix for each grade to fall within five percent of the district-wide tally. To achieve that goal, parents must fill out a form indicating their child’s race and list their top three choices of schools, with the district retaining ultimate control to produce a racial balance. 

Earlier this year, while it was preparing its defense against PLF, Berkeley amended its school assignment policy to alter how it accounted for ensuring racial diversity. Beginning this fall, instead of individually assigning a race to each student the new plan will assume a racial and socioeconomic profile for students based on the U.S. census data of the roughly four-block neighborhood in which each student lives.  

The school board approved the new plan after debating alternatives for four years, during which PLF repeatedly threatened litigation. One school assignment plan proposed by a community committee appointed by the superintendent would have done away with race as a factor altogether. Pacific Legal Foundation had said that would have staved off a lawsuit, but a majority of the school board refused to consider the proposal. 

Amar said the new plan would stand a much better shot at passing muster on appeal under Proposition 209. He questioned why PLF would bother to proceed against the old plan, especially considering they weren’t trying to reverse a school assignment for a student harmed under the previous rules.  

“This is not the way litigation works,” he said. “Just because [Pacific Legal Foundation] wants to send a message to other districts doesn’t mean there’s a case here.” 

By granting the district’s motion to demur, Judge Richman essentially threw out the case before it went to trial. Though such rulings are rare in most types of cases, Levine said they are fairly common when, as in the Berkeley case, the issue at hand is the purely legal question of whether or not Berkeley’s plan violates Proposition 209. 

PLF’s Findley—who voluntarily dismissed the Avila’s claim for damages after the judge’s ruling—said he never expected the case to go to trial even if Judge Richman had ruled otherwise, and that he was satisfied to expedite the case to the court of appeals. He added that PLF had no intention to seek a new plaintiff who might make a stronger claim against the district. Avila’s children attend magnet schools, which are not bound to the rules of the assignment plan.  

Although Findley said his client could renew his claim for damages if the appeals court ruled in his favor, Jon Streeter, the attorney representing Berkeley Unified School District free of charge, insisted the district faced no threat of a damage claim. “Those kids were not affected by the school assignment,” he said. “Anyone who argues that there is damage exposure in this case simply doesn’t understand what’s going on here.” 

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On the first anniversary of the bloody waterfront confrontation between Oakland Police and antiwar protesters, officers did their best to stay out of the way of several hundred anti-war protesters—including a large group from Berkeley—who demonstrated Wednesday along the docks of the Port of Oakland. 

During last year’s demonstration, called to protest the invasion of Iraq, members of the Oakland Police opened fire on demonstrators with supposedly “less-than-lethal” weaponry. Several protesters came away with serious injuries.  

A report issued last week by Hina Jilani, a Pakistani human rights lawyer who serves as U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative, suggested that Oakland police used excessive force against protesters. The document was then referred to the U.N. Human Rights Commission.  

Wednesday’s protest was noticeably peaceful. Demonstrators say they had no intent to shut down the port again. Unlike last year’s early morning action, they said they purposely arrived in the afternoon after most of the truck traffic had already left. The few trucks that remained on the docks were escorted out by police.  

But according to Jack Heyman, a business agent for the International Longshoremen and Warehouse workers union (ILWU) Local 10—whose was among the protesters assaulted last year—the protest halted all ship traffic from the Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) and American President Line (APL) ports Wednesday. 

Jackie Thomason of People United for a Better Oakland (PUEBLO) said, “We have an obligation to go back. Of course because of the Iraq war, those issues have not gone away, but we also have to speak about the larger issue of war at home.” 

This week’s protest targeted both the Oakland Police Department as well as several of companies doing business at the Oakland port, including SSA and APL, which organizers claim are guilty of war profiteering. According to Direct Action to Stop the War (DASW), one of the sponsors of Wednesday’s action, SSA received a $14. 3 million no-bid contract to run the port of Umm Qasr in Iraq. DASW organizers also accused SSA of union busting at home and abroad. 

OPD Public Information Officer Danielle Ashford said the department made several changes to their demonstration control procedures after last year’s protest, including an end to the use of wooden dowels—projectiles fired at protesters that leave large welts—and the use of motorcycles to corral the crowd. 

Ashford said OPD officials have also limited the use of bean bag guns and are requiring officers to wear their badge numbers on their riot helmets. Clearly identified and trained liaisons will communicate any orders for crowd dispersal.  

Willow Rosenthal and Lindsay Parkinson, both injured during last year’s protest, carried signs with photos of their scars and bruises during Wednesday’s demonstration. Rosenthal has undergone two surgeries including a skin graft on her calf, where she was hit either with a wooden dowel or bean bag, she says she still suffers from pain in her knee, hip and ankle. 

“We’re here to show that we’re not scared of the police,” said Parkinson. “We need to reclaim the streets.” 

Several people who had been recent victims of what they claim is police brutality spoke at a smaller rally at the police department before the march to the docks. 

According to organizers from Direct Action to Stop the War (DASW), one of the groups who sponsored last year’s protest, an initial push for an independent investigation into the OPD’s reaction never materialized. The Oakland City Council created a commission to investigate the police action, which was later aborted. 

Other fallout from last year’s protest includes the cases of 24 demonstrators who still face criminal charges, including creating a public nuisance, failure to disperse and interfering with a business. They are scheduled to appear in court again April 22. 

A total of 46 protesters from last year’s port demonstration, including several of those who face charges, have filed a civil suit demanding damages and a court decision mandating changes in the way OPD deals with protesters. 

“It’s important. This was perhaps the most violent attack towards any anti-war protesters in any protest leading up to the war,” said Berkeley’s Osha Neumann, one of the lawyers who filed the civil suit. “It’s really critical that the message be sent by the courts that this is not acceptable, that this is a violation of the Constitution. We want them to change explicit policies that will assure that they never again shoot less-than-lethal weapons at peaceful non-violent protesters.”

The Planning Commission’s UC Hotel Task Force’s final public input session Wednesday focused on the project’s likely impact on the downtown business community. 

During the nearly three-hour long session, the Berkeley Convention and Visitors Bureau, a city official, the Downtown Berkeley Association, the chair of the Civic Arts Commission and a BART planner sang the praises of the massive complex. 

The towering new hotel, a collection of museums and a hotel parking lot proposed by the University of California would occupy most of the two-block area bounded by Shattuck Avenue, Oxford Street, University Avenue and Center Street. 

The task force now heads into its final two sessions on April 13 and 27, where members will hash out the slate of recommendations they’ll present to city officials who have the final say on the controversial project. 

Convention and Visitors Bureau President Barbara Hillman led off with high praise for the project, which she said will recapture business lost to Emeryville and Oakland, attract new businesses to the city, and generate significant revenues for cash-strapped city coffers. 

Ted Burton, project coordinator for the city’s Office of Economic Development, said a 200-room hotel and conference center should bring the city at least $1 million a year from the 12 percent transient occupancy tax paid by guests. Property taxes should bring in another $100,000 a year, with more revenues coming from license fees and the facility users tax. 

The money guests would spend with city merchants would generate more tax revenues and provide the economic stimulus to revitalize the downtown business community, he said. 

Burton cautioned that the city hasn’t yet estimated the additional costs the complex could impose on the city, including the need for additional emergency services and the possible need for a larger sewer line to serve the site. 

Planning Commission and task force chair Rob Wrenn allayed concerns expressed at earlier meetings with his announcement that state and university employees who stay at the hotel will be charged the full occupancy tax. 

Derek Miller, chair of the Downtown Berkeley Association Economic Development Committee, said the new complex will finally make Berkeley a destination city, a place for travelers to stay as well as visit. 

One downtown merchant sponsors a major comic book fan convention, but the lack of hotel and meeting space forced them to hold it out of town, Miller said, “but they could have it in Berkeley if the hotel is built.” 

David Snippen, chair of the Civic Arts Commission, said the facility will provide a major boost for the local arts community, “the fourth largest industry in the city. The arts have led the revitalization of cities across the country, and Berkeley has some of the highest numbers of artists. There are over 300 nonprofit arts and cultural organization.” 

Hillman said the recent and pending closings of Eddie Bauer, Gateway Computers and See’s Candy make the arts community even more important to the revitalization of the downtown commercial core. 

“We think the hotel is a really valuable resource for the business community,” said Deborah Badhia, Executive Director of the Downtown Berkeley Association. “People favor that this should be a beautiful hotel that will really serve the community and be an environmental showcase.” 

Panelist and Planning Commissioner Zelda Bronstein urged that any renovations to the downtown sewer system be accomplished quickly. “Replacing the sewers on lower Solano (Avenue) forced some businesses to shut down for a couple of months, and some of them were forced to close because they couldn’t afford the loss of revenues,” she said. 

“Is there anyone here who’s against the hotel?” asked Badhia. 

“No member of this task force has ever said anything to the effect that we shouldn’t have the hotel,” Wrenn answered. 

“We are concerned that there are substantial costs to the city in terms of infrastructure, and we’d like to hear more about them,” said panelist Juliette Lamont, environmental consultant and a member of the Urban Creeks Council. 

“It depends if it’s a distinguished building,” added Peter Selz, a UC professor emeritus and the founder of the university’s art museum. “So far we haven’t heard anything about the architecture.” 

“Some of us have expressed reservations about the location,” said planner and task force member John English. “Some of us might prefer it to be built on university land.” 

“We haven’t heard anything about the cost of daylighting the creek,” said Barbara Gilbert, an activist not on the panel who has faithfully attended the meetings. Uncovering and restoring Strawberry Creek down the middle of Center Street has been urged by many of the panelists. 

Answered Wrenn, “It’s reasonable that this task force should make financial recommendations about who should be paying for what.” 

“Everyone at BART is excited about the project,” said Nashua Kalil, a senior planner for transportation agency. She cautioned that daylighting the creek could have implications for the light rail line beneath Shattuck Avenue, and recommended a preliminary study, which could cost the city about $50,000. 

Kalil also suggested that the hotel developers might be eager to have an underground tunnel under Shattuck to provide direct access to the downtown BART station. 

When one of the panelists suggested adding another track to provide more service, Kalil responded with a sobering cost estimate—$14 billion—effectively closing the issue. 

Daylighting Strawberry Creek and ending vehicular traffic on a block-long section of Center Street could have significant implications for both pedestrian and vehicular movement downtown, and Wrenn and other task force members spent three days in March monitoring both. 

Center and Telegraph Avenue are the city streets most heavily used by pedestrians, while Shattuck is a magnet for bus traffic. 

Wrenn said the single biggest car attractor on Center is the Bank of America at the northeast corner of the Shattuck Avenue intersection—the site of the planned 12-story hotel—which draws a constant stream of cars to the bank parking lot. 

Wrenn asked all panel members to prepare their lists of recommendations prior to the final two sessions, when the final list will be hammered out. 

“We should always strive for consensus” when it comes to which proposals to adopt,” Wrenn said. “I expect there will be a few instances when we will have to vote on particular issues, but I hope that, to a great extent, we be able to arrive at a consensus.” Once the proposals are accepted, Wrenn added, “we need two or three people to serve on a drafting committee” to prepare a final report for presentation to the City Council in early June on “what we want them to be considering and thinking about when they work out the final terms.”

FRIDAY, APRIL 9 

“So How’d You Become an Activist?” with Medea Benjamin, Co-Founder, Global Exchange and Fernando Suarez del Solar, anti-war activist after his son was killed in Iraq war, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Suggested donation $5. 528-5403. 

Best of the Banff Mountain Film Festival at 7 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Cost is $12 for REI members, $15 others. 527-4140. 

“Wild Style” a film of outlaw artists in the South Bronx, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul Info Shop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751.  

“When the Storm Came” A film screening and discussion with Shilpi Gupta, UC Berkeley graduate student in Journalism and International Studies, on her film about a village in Indian-Administered Kashmir that survived a mass rape by Indian security forces in 1991. Winner, 2004 Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking, Sundance Film Festival. At 6 p.m. at FSM Café at Moffitt Library, UC Campus. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Don Olander, Prof. Nuclear Engineering, UCB, “Scientific Fraud and Hoaxes.” Luncheon 11:45 a.m. for $12.50. Speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“If the Buddha Came to Dinner” a lecture and book signing with Halé Sofia Shatz at 3:30 p.m. at Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, 1744 Solano. 527-8929. 

“The Importance of Spirituality in Human Life” with Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, representative of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order, at 6:30 p.m. at Julie’s Healthy Food Café, 2562 Bancroft Way. www.naqshbandi.org 

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

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

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

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

Passover Seder with Kol Hadash at 6 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Reservations required. 428-1492. www.kolhadash.org 

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

SATURDAY, APRIL 10 

Mini-Gardeners A garden exploration program for 4-6 year olds accompanied by an adult. We’ll look at dirt and look for worms, at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. Fee is $3, $4 non-resident. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Wildflower Walk A hike through Big Springs Canyon to see what is in bloom. Meet at 10 a.m. at the Big Springs Canyon sign on South Park Drive in Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Make Wildflower Trading Cards Discover Tilden’s wonderful wildflowers, for ages 8-12, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Fee is $3, $4 for non-residents. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Greens at Work will help Friends of Sausal Creek remove invasive Cape Ivy at the Upper Watershed in Joaquin Miller Park at 10 a.m. The patch of land is home to California native plants that are being smothered by the ivy. Meet at the beginning of the Sunset trail. Bring water and gloves. Take Joaquin Miller Road east from Highway 13 to the Woodminster Amphitheater parking lot. The Sunset Trail begins where the driveway enters Joaquin Miller Road. For more info e-mail greensatwork@yahoo.com  

Native Plant Walk in Strawberry Creek Canyon with Terri Compost. Meet at noon in the parking lot of the Strawberry Canyon Fire Trail head, below the UC Botanical Gardens on Centennial Drive. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. 658-9178. 

Aesthetic Pruning of Tress and Shrubs with Marie Miller. Learn how to shape your plants, including Japanese Maples, for maximum beauty, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class in Disaster First Aid from 9 a.m. to noon at 997 Cedar St. To sign up call 981-5605. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/fire/oes.html 

“Riding the Rails” a documentary of teenagers during the Great Depression, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul Info Shop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751.  

Spring Festival at Bay Street Emeryville, with arts and crafts, live music, spring bunny and more, from noon to 2 p.m. 

“Awaken the God or Goddess Within” with Lolita Thomas-Kendrick, performance life coach and strategist, at 3 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. www.elephantpharmacy.com  

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

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

Dream Workshop on Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to noon at 2199 Bancroft Way. Cost is $10. www.practicaldreamwork.com 

SUNDAY, APRIL 11 

Before Sunrise Birdwalk Greet the dawn and learn the songs of our avian friends. Meet at 6 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center. 525-2233. 

Easter Sunrise with Epworth United Methodist Church at 6:39 a.m. at the foot of Cesar Chavez Park overlooking the Bay. We will greet the sunrise with music, readings and hot cocoa. 524-2921. 

Who Was Easter? Look for sign of spring and learn the lore and customs of Eostre and her bunny companion. From 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. 525-2233. 

Golden State Model Railroad Museum open from noon to 5 p.m. Also open on Saturdays and Friday evenings from 7 to 10 p.m. Located in the Miller-Knox Regional Shoreline Park at 900-A Dornan Drive in Pt. Richmond. Admission is $2-$3. 234-4884 or www.gsmrm.org 

“Cracking the Easter Egg” with Sarah Lewis of the GTU, at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Tibetan Buddhism, with Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek on “Cultivating the Essential Link of Devotion” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Eckhart Tolle Talks on Video, free gatherings at 6:30 p.m. to hear the words of the author of “The Power of Now” at the Feldenkrais Ctr., 830 Bancroft Way. 415.990.8977 or mayahealer@yahoo.com.  

MONDAY, APRIL 12 

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

“Peace and Prosperity in Colombia?” a talk on indigenous communities’ response to drugs and warfare with Floro Tunubalá at 4 p.m. in Room 223, Moses Hall. Sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

“Iron Jawed Angels” a film depicting the strength, courage and perseverance of the 2nd generation suffragettes in their struggle to secure the vote for women. At 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Everyone welcome. Refreshments will be provided. 644-0480. 

Women’s Cancer Resource Center, volunteer training, every second Monday of the month, from 6 to 8 p.m. at 5741 Telegraph Ave. To sign up call Emily at 601-4040, ext. 109. emily@wcrc.org 

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

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

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

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

TUESDAY, APRIL 13 

Morning Birdwalk in Wildcat Canyon. Meet at 7 a.m. at the end of Rifle Range Rd. in Richmond. 525-2233. 

“How Animal Lineages Diversify: Implications for Evolutionary and Conservation Biology,” with David B. Wake, professor emeritus of Integrative Biology, UCB, at 5 p.m., Berkeley Art Museum Theater, 2621 Durant Ave. 

“The Housing Crisis” with US Congresswoman Barbara Lee at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Also speaking, Steve Barton, City of Berkeley Housing Director, and Wanda Remmers, Director, Housing Rights, Inc. Sponsored by Strawberry Creek Lodge Tenants and Gray Panthers of the East Bay. 548-9696. www.savehud.org 

“Diaspora and Homeland Development” A conference to discuss Haiti, the Philippines, Mexico, Palestine, Morocco, India, Pakistan, Armenia, Iran and Nigeria. Co-sponsored by the Institute of International Studies, the Center for Urban Ethnography, the Center for Latin American Studies and the Institute of Governmental Studies. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Room 223, Moses Hall, UC Campus. 642-2088. 

“Desalination Issues in the United States” with Kevin Price, Water Treatment Engineering, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, at 5:30 p.m. in 105 North Gate Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Water Resources Center Archives. 642-2666. 

“Where are You on Your Writer's Journey?” with Teresa LeYung Ryan, author, at 7 p.m. at Boadecia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave., at Colusa Circle, Kensington. $10-$20 sliding scale donation to support this independent bookstore, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. 559-9184. www.bookpride.com  

Writers Workshop on how to hire and work with a freelance publicist at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-0861. 

Introduction to Yiddish Folk Singing Workshop with Michael Alpert, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 27th and Harrison Sts. Cost is $20. Registration required. 444-0323. www.kitka.org 

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

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Volunteer Recognition Luncheon. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

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

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14 

“Zapatista Women” a documentary about the indigenous women soldiers of the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN), at 7 p.m. at The Fellowship of Humanity, 390 27th St., Oakland 393-5685. 

Tai Chi Exercises for Two People with Jonathan Russell, senior student of Master T.T. Liang, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. www.elephantpharmacy.com  

Intermediate/Advanced Yiddish Folk Singing Workshop with Michael Alpert, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 27th and Harrison Sts. Cost is $20. Registration required. 444-0323. www.kitka.org 

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

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

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

com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, APRIL 15 

The Berkeley Path Wanderers General Meeting, free and open from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Live Oak Park Rec Center, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Alan Kaplan, a member of East Bay Parks, will talk about East Bay birds. 524-4715. 

Golden Gate Audubon Society presents, “An Exploration of Chile’s Birds” at 7:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 843-2222. www.goldengateaudubon.org 

“Taking Exception to the Rulers” An evening with Amy Goodman, Michael Franti and David Goodman. The short film “Independent Media In a Time of War” will be shown. This event celebrates the 55th anniversary of KPFA Radio. At 7:30 p.m. King Middle School 1781 Rose St. Tickets are $15 advance, $20 door, available at independent bookstores. 848-6767, ext. 612. www.kpfa.org  

“Perspectives on a Changing Haiti” A discussion with Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) at 7 p.m. in the Lounge, Women’s Faculty Club, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

“The Snail as Architect” Design and construction with biominerals with Carole Hickman, UCB professor of Integrative Biology at 12:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

UC Berkeley Charter Day Events from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a ceremony honoring outgoing Chancellor Robert Berdahl at 3 p.m. in Zellerbach Auditorium. www.urel.berkeley.edu/charterday 

ONGOING 

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

Help Protect Berkeley’s Public Trees by campaigning for a Berkeley Public Tree Act. To learn more and help call 594-4088, or visit www.BerkeleyIssues.org 

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

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

Art Show Submissions for The Oakland Animal Shelter The art gallery in the large adoption area displays art from local artists that depicts animals in a positive light. Submissions for the May show can be sent to art@oaklandanimalservices.org or by mail to Megan Webb, Community Outreach Program Manager, 1101 29th Ave., Oakland, CA 94601. Samples will not be returned without a stamped/self addressed return envelope. All submissions should be received by April 20, 2004. 

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

botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon., Apr. 12, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St., Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Four by Four Joint Task Force on Housing Members of City Council and the Rent Board meet Mon. Apr. 12, at 5:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Stephen Barton, 981-5400. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/4x4/default.htm 

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Mon. Apr. 12, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Gisele Sorensen, 981-7419. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/commissions/landmarks 

Commission on Disability meets Apr. 14, 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., Apr. 14, 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., Apr. 14, at 7 p.m. at 1170 The Alameda. Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/library  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Apr. 14, 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. Apr. 14, 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., Apr. 14, at 7 p.m., at 201 University Ave. Cliff Marchetti. 644-6376 ext. 224. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/waterfront 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs. Apr. 15, 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., Apr. 15, 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., Apr. 15, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/transportationÅ

Lawrence McGrew, a Berkeley High football standout who finished his NFL career a Super Bowl champion, died last Friday of a suspected heart attack. He was 46. 

McGrew was celebrating his tenth wedding anniversary with his wife Charyce at their home in Lancaster, in north Los Angeles County, when he suddenly collapsed. “We were having a good time, then he just walked over to my left and started to slump,” she said. “I could just tell by the way he was falling down that something was wrong.” 

The 6-foot 5-inch, 260-pound former linebacker was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead. A representative for the county coroners office said a toxicology report had not been completed. McGrew suffered from high blood pressure, his wife said. The couple had two children together, ages 4 and 7. 

Charyce McGrew described her husband as a jokester, who never got caught up in his fame and remained totally devoted to his family. When he was on the road, she said, he would call 10 times a day. “I would pick up the phone and tease him and say ‘what do you want stalker?’ If he went two hours without calling, I knew something was wrong,” she said. 

McGrew spent plenty of time dialing his friends too, said Wendell Tyler, a former running back for the San Francisco 49ers. “He’d always get up early and call all his buddies and wake them up, he said. “You could expect a call from Larry ever day.”  

Harold Williams, a friend of McGrew’s since they attended the now defunct Franklin Elementary School in Berkeley together, said he could only remember two or three days that McGrew hadn’t called him since he retired from the NFL in 1991. 

The two met one Saturday while riding their bikes on competing paper routes. Williams was distributing the Berkeley Gazette and McGrew worked for the Oakland Tribune. They began talking and learned they both had dogs named Sparkly. 

“It was instant karma—we had the same off-beat sense of humor,” Williams said. The two spent their days playing sports and walking the trails at Tilden Park, sometimes jumping out from the bushes to scare people. 

At Berkeley High, Williams said, McGrew was a beloved cut-up. “We’d put on shows for people. People wanted to see us act goofy,” he said. McGrew, though, took football seriously. He lifted weights religiously and made second team all-county as a senior, despite suffering a broken ankle. 

After a year at Contra Costa College, he enrolled at USC where he starred on a team that won a share of the national championship his junior year. Artie Gigantino, the press secretary for the Oakland Raiders, joined the team as an assistant coach for McGrew’s senior year, and remembered the linebacker as a cool customer. “My first game as a coach I was literally upchucking in the locker room and Larry put his arm around me and said, ‘Relax, we’re USC, we always win.” 

McGrew spent most of his 11-year NFL career with the New England Patriots. He led the team in tackles in 1985, the year the Patriots made it to the Super Bowl, but is best known for being the defender William “The Refrigerator” Perry stampeded over for a touchdown in the Chicago Bears victory over the Patriots in the championship game. His friend Williams said that when a teammate asked McGrew if he was all right as he lay on the ground after the play, McGrew replied, “I’m OK, but I’m going to be on ESPN for the rest of my life.” 

Injuries took their toll on McGrew, who ended his career as a reserve on the 1990 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. Though his skills deteriorated, Charyce said, McGrew’s spirits were always high. “Larry never sulked. I can’t remember him ever complaining,” she said. “For him, it was just work.” 

An inoperable neck injury made it difficult for McGrew to work after his football days were over, Charyce said. Tyler, also a resident of Lancaster, said he and McGrew often exercised together at a local gym. He said McGrew made friends with everyone and never played up his NFL past. “He was never Lawrence McGrew the football player, he was always just Larry.” 

But even though McGrew didn’t want to play up his days as a pro football player, someone wanted to do it for him. Last year McGrew was the victim of a highly publicized case of identity theft. A Nevada resident, Fred McGrew, made headlines when he was arrested for posing as the football star to get a job as a football coach at Gavilan College in Gilroy.  

“He wasn’t a happy camper about that one,” said Charyce. Not only was the impostor only six feet tall, he claimed to have gone to school in Cincinnati. 

McGrew moved his family back to the Bay Area after his playing days were over to be close to his parents and his three children from a previous marriage. After a few years the couple moved to Lancaster to be closer to Charyce’s family. Tyler said McGrew would drive to Berkeley every month to visit his mother and children. 

During their last conversation, the day before he died, Tyler said McGrew was planning to go Berkeley Friday to visit his mother, who is on dialysis, but then realized Friday was his anniversary. “That was Larry,” he said. “He was always on the go helping others.” 

Inebriated student sparks campus hazing probe  

The collapse of a 19-year-old UC student on a South Berkeley sidewalk last Friday has triggered a UC Berkeley police investigation of what they suspect may have been an incident of sorority hazing. 

Just one week earlier, police were summoned to the Regent Street apartment of a 21-year-old university student, Steve Saucedo, who had died from acute alcohol poisoning following a drinking binge with friends from Southern California. 

The incidents come as state Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) officers—teamed with officers from the Berkeley and UC police departments and underage decoys—have been running stings on city booze sellers. 

The first raids in early January targeted San Pablo Avenue merchants, where more than half the stores sold booze to minors. A March 19 sweep along Telegraph Avenue and other locations near campus found 14 of the 26 targeted stores willing to sell to minors. 

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

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer Thursday announced the formation of a expanded statewide program designed to curb underage drinking by targeting stores, restaurants and bars. 

“We have seen too many tragedies involving underage drinking, and we all must do our part to prevent them,” Lockyer said. 

Target Responsibility for Alcohol Connected Emergencies (TRACE) evolved from a task force Lockyer formed last year after a 20-year-old student was killed by a drunk driver in March, 2003. 

TRACE combines the efforts of the Attorney General’s office, ABC, the California Highway Patrol, the state Office of Traffic Safety, the California Police Chiefs Association, the California State Sheriff’s Association, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. 

South Berkeley home invasion arrest  

Berkeley Police arrested a 31-year-old Oakland man following a home invasion robbery shortly after midnight Wednesday that resulted in minor injuries to the resident of a home in the 2500 block of Dana Street. 

Two suspects remain at large, said BPD spokesperson Kevin Schofield, who also said the robbery doesn’t appear to be a random incident. 

Twayne Dill was booked into city jail and held in lieu of $20,000 bail. 

A three-hour search that included Oakland Police dogs, turned up a handgun believed to have been used in the crime, but not the other two suspects. They remain at large. 

Armed suspect pepper sprays merchant  

Armed with a pistol and a canister of pepper spray, a bandit walked into the Unitech Electronics store at 2594 Telegraph Ave. shortly before noon Tuesday and demanded cash. 

The cash register drawer was empty because the store had just opened for the day, so the frustrated thief blasted with hapless victim with a pungent stream of capsacin and fled in a white four-door car. 

The clerk was rushed to Alta Bates Summit medical Center, where he was treated and released. 

Police have made no arrests in the case, said Officer Schofield. 

s

Recently-circulated reports of a ban on the sale of bio-diesel in California are not true, according to Dave Williamson of the Ecology Center in Berkeley. 

  Williamson, Recycling Operations Manager for the Ecology Center, said that despite efforts by both the Engine Manufacturers Association and ChevronTexaco Corporation to put roadblocks in the bio-diesel fuel regulation process, the California Department of Weights and Measures has opted only to regulate the fuel more thoroughly, not ban it outright.   

  In Berkeley, the entire public works fleet of diesel vehicles runs on bio-diesel. That includes fire trucks, school busses, recycling trucks and solid waste trucks. Williamson said that even if there were a state ban on the sale of bio-diesell fuel to consumers, Berkeley would be exempt because the city is classified as a fleet and not a consumer.  

—Jakob Schiller

SAN PABLO —A hospital that provides the majority of emergency care to West Contra Costa County residents could be shut down unless voters approve Measure D, a $1 per week parcel tax that would fund hospital operations, Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia and West Contra Costa Healthcare District officials said in a news conference on Thursday. 

Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo is a 234-bed hospital that sees 43,000 emergency room visitors a year and has the only helicopter pad in the area. 

“Two hundred thousand West County residents depend on the hospital and this issue is a matter of life and death,” Gioia said. 

The West Contra Costa Healthcare District owns the hospital and pays Tenet Healthcare Corp. to manage it. Tenet has decided not to renew its contract and as of July 31, the district will take over operations, Tenet spokesman David Langness said. 

To stay open, the district needs a $40 million loan to pay hospital employees and to fund operational expenses for three months, West Contra Costa Healthcare District Director Beverly Wallace said. 

If voters pass Measure D, the district would use the money generated to repay the loan, Wallace said. If the measure doesn’t pass, the hospital will be shut down, district officials said. 

The district paid an outside agency to determine the potential impact of closing the hospital. The agency’s findings were revealed in a report released at today’s news conference. The report said shutting down the hospital will have a “substantial effect on local health care providers and the public’’ and it will “disproportionately affect Kaiser Permanente, the only other medical facility in the area.’’ 

“Let me put it into perspective: people are going to die,” said Dr. Laurel Hodgson, assistant director of the emergency room at Doctors Medical Center. “By 10:15 a.m., Kaiser will be diverting ambulances to other hospitals so between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 10 p.m., don’t let your kids fall off the monkey bars,’’ she said. 

The fate of Measure D will be determined by West County voters who will receive ballots sometime after May 10, according to Measure D spokesman Raymond Ehrlich. Voters must send in their ballots for this special election by June 8. 

—Bay City NewsÃ

SAN FRANCISCO—A civil lawsuit filed against a Berkeley landlord by four natives of India who claimed they were sexually abused or exploited for cheap labor was settled in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday just before the start of a trial. 

The lawsuit was filed against Lakireddy Bali Reddy by a teenage girl, by the estate of the girl’s deceased sister and by another man and woman who came from India to work in Reddy’s businesses. 

The lawsuit alleged that both girls were raped, defrauded and denied minimum wages in businesses owned by Reddy after Reddy brought them to Berkeley in 1999. 

The alleged abuse came to light after one sister, 14-year-old Vani Prattipati, died of carbon monoxide fumes in a Berkeley apartment owned by Reddy in 1999. The surviving sister, identified as Jane Doe, was 15 at the time. 

The other two plaintiffs claimed they were fraudulently lured to the United States for non-existent jobs and then denied minimum wages in menial jobs. 

Reddy, 67, pleaded guilty three years ago in a separate federal criminal case to charges of violating immigration laws and bringing girls from India to the United States for illegal sexual purposes. 

He is serving an eight-year prison sentence at Lompoc federal prison but appeared in federal court in a business suit this morning for the scheduled opening statements in the civil trial. 

But instead of opening the trial, U.S. District Judge William Alsup told the jury, “Part of this case has now been eliminated.’’ 

The remainder of the lawsuit was settled later in the day, according to lawyers in the case. 

Attorneys on both sides declined to give the amount of the financial settlement, but said their clients were pleased with the resolution. 

Michael Rubin, a lawyer for the surviving sister and for the family of Vani Prattipati, “They will now have financial security. They’re never going to be able to forget what happened, but they have gained some amount of justice and they’re satisfied with the result.” 

Rubin said the surviving sister, who is now 19, and her parents have been granted political asylum and live in an undisclosed location in Northern California. 

The attorney said the parents and Jane Doe also settled a separate wrongful death and personal injury lawsuit pending against Reddy in Alameda County Superior Court. 

In addition to Reddy, the defendants in the federal lawsuit were two of his sons, two of his brothers, and nine businesses allegedly owned by Reddy and other family members. 

Michael Bolechowski, a lawyer for Reddy, said, “The whole Lakireddy family is just grateful that the whole case is behind them. They are looking forward to getting their lives in order just as the plaintiffs are going to be able to get their lives in order.’’ 

Bolechowski said preparing for the now canceled trial “was a painful experience for everyone.’’ 

In the criminal case, Reddy was ordered to pay $2 million in restitution to four victims. Bolechowski said Reddy paid the restitution within several days of being sentenced in 2001. 

—Bay City Newsœ

A friend and I were speaking this week about events in Iraq—what else?—and she posed the questions that haunt many Democrats who came of age in the Vietnam war era: If John Kerry wins in November, how does he extricate the country from the Iraqi war? Even under a Kerry presidency, aren’t we looking at months—perhaps even years—of continued American military occupation while the new administration seeks out that elusive “peace with honor”? 

Back to that, in a moment, while I collect some random thoughts... 

I’m no religious scholar, but it’s my understanding that the differences between the Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims began shortly after the Prophet Muhammad died in 632 of the common era, almost 1,400 years ago. It is clear that the division between the Iraqi Shi’ites and Sunnis was fairly significant prior to the American invasion of Iraq a year ago, and—if one recalls both television and newspaper accounts during the past year—the Bush administration counted pretty heavily on those divisions in plotting their occupation plans. Former President Saddam Hussein, we are told, oppressed the Shi’ites and favored the Sunnis in his administration, and the Shi’ites, therefore, would welcome our presence in the country. 

And up until this week, it appeared that Iraqi resentment of and opposition to the U.S. occupation was centered in the Sunni neighborhoods. 

That, we now know, is no longer completely true, if it was ever true. We find that over here in the states, we know very little about Muslims in general and Iraqis in particular, and we are beginning to choke on that ignorance. 

The Shi’ites and the Sunnis have been at odds for the past 1,400 years or so, and if their coming together to fight a perceived common opponent in the dusty Iraqi backstreets invites jokes of “well, after all, Bush did say he’d be a uniter”…with the body bags loading up on American transport planes and graves springing up like spring flowers in Iraqi stadiums, it just doesn’t seem quite funny. 

Our good friends, the British, and our used-to-be-good-friends, the French, might have given us a bit of advice on the subject of the perils to be avoided in empire-building, had we taken the time to listen. One might even try a taking look at Gibbons’ Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, somewhere amongst its three volumes one might be expected to find some useful clues. 

The Bush administration, however, insists that we are not in Iraq to build American empire, but to bring democracy to the Iraqi people. Democracy, we are told—or at least, Thomas Jefferson told us, and he’s supposed to be one of the world’s leading authorities thereon—begins with a free press. Our present troubles with the Shi’ites began when we shut down the newspaper of a Shi’ite leader which was publishing things of which the Americans did not approve. We have also been teaching the Iraqis on the intricacies of elections, informing them that they are free to choose for their leaders anyone they want when we turn the country back over to them this summer, so long as the leaders they choose are not on the list of those banned from the Iraqi political process by the American occupying forces. 

Thus, we introduce our views of government to the world. 

President Kennedy, no stranger to war-making or empire-building himself, once said that the way to spread democracy to other countries was to strengthen it at home, making it so desirable a system that everyone in his right mind would want to adopt it. I have no idea how serious Kennedy was on the subject, but it was an interesting thought. Gone are the days, aren’t they? 

If the Bush administration does not want to look to the Democrats for examples, there are plenty to be had among former Republican presidents. Theodore Roosevelt—another made famous by both war-making and empire-building—is most known for the motto “speak softly and carry a big stick,” an admonition to not boast, or unnecessarily stir up enemies. Contrast that to President Bush’s call of “bring it on!”, one of the least-thoughtful admonitions of our time. Sure, they cheered it in Crawford. But the were also listening in Kut and Najaf and the backstreets of Baghdad. 

“I can call spirits from the vasty deep,” says Glendower. “But will they come when you do call for them?” Hotspur replies. This time, unfortunately, they may have complied. 

Anyhow, having declared that we are not in Iraq to build empire, we see no useful value in a public discussion of the perils thereof. And since there is not much public discourse of the problems of spreading democracy—of which we insist we are about—that pretty much leaves us to chart our own territory. 

There are certain situations, we learn in the wisdom of our eldering age, where there is simply nothing we can do to help, and our very presence makes things worse. The most skilled police domestic crisis intervention officers understand that, and know when it is best simply to leave so that the parties themselves can work out a solution. 

Americans—big and bold and brash that we are—operate under the impression that just about any problem we set out to solve can be solved…it’s merely a matter of will. Curing cancer or AIDS. Returning to the moon, or venturing beyond, to Mars. We could do them, we tend to believe, if only we could rally the country and put our ingenuity, energy and pocketbooks to the task. 

Maybe. But there are some problems which are beyond our ability to solve. Not someone else’s ability. Our ability. And the mess we have made in Iraq might be one of them. 

Aside from all the other bad things about it, the American occupation of Iraq has made the world more dangerous for Americans, not less dangerous. We cannot correct the chaos we have caused in Iraq, no matter how hard we might want to, and our continued presence is a magnet drawing violence and bloodshed to it. 

What could a President Kerry do next January to extricate the United States from Iraq? Sign the order. Withdraw the soldiers. Someone else will have to clean up the mess because, unfortunately, all we have in our power to do right now is to make it messier.

ONE YEAR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I congratulate the Daily Planet for hanging in there a whole year—the first of many, I hope, giving us facts to set beside the abstract slogans we hear too often. I never miss an issue, and this is the only publication I read in which I never skip the ads. I want your advertisers to know that if it they are selling anything I need, they are the first people I’ll patronize. 

Dorothy Bryant 

• 

DOWNTOWN VACANCIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your story quoted the city’s Economic Project Coordinators as not having had an update (on downtown vacancies) since a year ago (“See’s, Gateway Closings Jolt Downtown Retail Outlook,” Daily Planet, April 2-5). What, pray tell, is in the person’s job description? 

Two other reasons for the vacancies, which your interviewees were too polite to mention, were 1) the deplorable conditions on Shattuck Avenue with encampments and spare change artists, shopping carts, etc. which discourage anyone with a choice from coming to downtown Berkeley to Shop and 2) the inordinate expense of time and money it takes to get a business permit through the morass at City Hall. 

Out of town business owners have a choice of where to locate, and they take these factors into their decision-making process. Wouldn’t you? 

Steve Schneider 

• 

OPEN ARMS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was really puzzled by the remark made by John Gordon in the article about commercial storefronts in Berkeley (“See’s, Gateway Closings Jolt Downtown Retail Outlook,” Daily Planet, April 2-5). He said “The worst news I’ve heard in a long time is that the former Pier One Store [at 1814 University Ave.] is becoming a Salvation Army.” What nonsense on several levels.  

For starters we don’t need more empty storefronts sitting empty waiting for the “perfect” tenant. The City of Berkeley has a habit of subsidizing these so called perfect tenants (Eddie Bauer, etc.) only to have them leave on the whim of a faceless corporate board. I’ve also noticed that thrift stores don’t go out of business that often. As I understand it, Salvation Army also provides valuable services to people who are down and out seeking a second chance. 

If a business isn’t doing anything illegal and its goods and services are in demand why not welcome them with open arms? I own a business on University a block a way and I look forward to having them as neighbors! 

Richard Crowl  

• 

CERRITO THEATER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Dave Yandle (Letters, Daily Planet, April 2-5) and others interested in updated news about the Cerrito Theater might want to check out the website cerritotheater.org. I believe they will be quite happy to hear the status of the Cerrito, not the least of which is that Speakeasy Theaters, operators of Oakland’s Parkway, is planning to operate the Cerrito as well. 

Now if only something could be done with the UC... 

Garrett Murphy 

Oakland 

• 

SIERRA CLUB 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Ms. Burke’s letter (Daily Planet, March 26-29) reminds me of why I quit the Sierra Club the last time the immigration issue came up. In 1998, if you expressed an interest in discussing or exploring the impacts of population growth and immigration on the environment it was promptly construed as an anti-immigrant bias, with overtones of racism. The same things appear to be happening this time. Ms. Burke claims that the “anti-immigration slate” wants to redirect club priorities into anti-immigration issues. This is certainly not what I wanted, and it is not what I have been reading in the communications from the Sierrans for U.S. Population Stability (SUSPS). 

I hope that most people recognize that population control is a necessary component of any long-range plan for environmental protection. It may be that you can deal with population growth without dealing with immigration, but you can’t know that unless you are willing to first ask the question and do some work to find the answers. I find it disturbing that “mainstream” Sierrans are unwilling to ask this question themselves, but I find it even more disturbing that they denigrate the motives of those who do wish to. The message this sends to people makes the Sierra Club part of the problem instead of part of the solution. 

My response to the club’s disappointing attitude towards open discussion was to redirect my money and efforts to some of the many other environmental organizations available, and to join two groups that are involved in the population issue: EngenderHealth (www.engenderhealth.org) and the Population Connection (www.populationconnection.org). Current Sierrans may want to consider similar options if the club still refuses to consider the environmental effects of population growth. 

Robert Clear 

• 

ACACIA TREE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Today my respect for Berkeley City Government increased tenfold. 

Three days ago, I discovered a notice on the Black Acacia tree in Oak Park, informing the neighborhood that the tree’s days were numbered. At some unspecified time during the next 30 days, the Berkeley Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department would chop down this beautiful Acacia which shades the entire park. The notice invited me to contact Jerry Koch, the department’s Senior Forestry Supervisor, with questions or comments. 

Serendipitously, the next day I threw a big “Beat Bush” event for Party For America, and found myself surrounded by my neighbors. No one wanted to loose the tree, so we all signed a petition requesting that it be allowed to live out its years into peaceful retirement. 

Yesterday I left messages both for Jerry Koch and my council representative Gordon Wozniak. This morning, Jerry called me back. When I told him about the neighborhood consensus, he was pleased to change the plans - “the tree is not in immediate danger of falling” he told me, and there is no problem with leaving it standing.  

Thank you Jerry. Together, we all saved the tree. Now I’m that much more confident that working together, we can beat the Bush. 

Robert Vogel 

• 

AC TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks to Daily Planet reporter Richard Brenneman for a detailed story about the just-passed federal Transportation Equity Act funding ACT’s “controversial” and outrageous Telegraph Avenue express bus lane reconfiguration scheme (“Local Projects Pass in House, Senate,” Daily Planet, April 6-8). Those details you wrote correctly inform readers of what’s been cooked up for our communities central and major arterial by the public transportation bureaucrats—without the communities knowledge or consent. 

I question ACT’s accuracy when they claim 40,000 current ridership on Telegraph Avenue buses, and that projected 20,000 ridership increase figure being used by ACT’s planners to justify shrinking Telegraph Avenue down to a one-lane street from Broadway in downtown Oakland to UC Berkeley. Your factual details are helping the community to understand that a possible regional transportation disaster is being planned by AC Transit. 

Robert Pratt 

• 

BOALT HALL BLUES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The annual U.S. News and World Report rankings of law schools, released earlier this month, show the University of California, Berkeley, slipping once again: seventh place two years ago, tenth last year, now thirteenth (“Boalt Hall Maintains Solid Reputation,” April 6). No law school in the top 20 has fallen as sharply as Boalt Hall has in the last two years. While lawyers say that the rankings do not matter, a slip of nearly 100 percent does. 

The bad news is that the rankings were affected by Boalt’s poor student-faculty ratio and meager financial resources, which are among the lowest in the nation. 

And Boalt’s rank is not the only thing falling. During constitutional law class today, I leaned back slightly in my chair to sip some water, and it broke. I spilled the water on my shirt and pants as I fell backward, in front of my classmates and professor. 

Despite the bad news, Boalt is still the second ranked law school west of the Mississippi River, trailing Stanford. And, with lower fees than our rival across the Bay, Boalt may be the best value in legal education between Chicago and the Pacific Ocean. 

The real blessing of the rankings, however, is that Boalt’s lackluster performance will call attention to Governor Schwarzenegger’s untimely budget proposal. It recommends 40 percent fee hikes for law students, after we endured a 48 percent increase last year. This proposal is also unfair, because the extra money taken from law students would go toward paying California’s debt—not a dime to Boalt Hall. 

If California wants Boalt Hall to remain the model of public legal education, Sacramento politicians should take heed of the rankings by repairing our classrooms and chairs and by hiring more professors. Legislators should then reduce the proposed fee increase and return to its rightful place the money that students shell out for their law degrees. 

Mark Massoud 

UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) 

• 

BULLYING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Jan Goodman’s assertion that bullying and harassment exists in all schools is probably correct (“Bullying Article Was a One-Sided Attack on MLK Middle School,” Daily Planet, April 6-8). But, as the parent of a former Berkeley middle school student who endured months of intimidation and brutality from his fellow students, I would feel more optimistic if Ms. Goodman spent less time defending and more time explaining what the school has done to protect students.  

It sounds like everyone at King is doing a l lot of talking and discussing. How about some concrete action? Are the targets of bullies, like Dominique Reed, still put in solitary confinement at recess? Can students count on getting help if they ask for it? Or do they still need to defend themselves, and possibly face suspension?  

I think your reporter, Matthew Artz, was accused of a one-sided attack because he ignored King’s “sea of words” and focussed instead on the incident reporting system recently established at Willard. Unlike Ms. Goodman’s litany of discussions and training, the incident reporting system is a concrete change that will help the school identify chronic bullies and their targets. That kind of system could have helped my son. 

Laurie Leiber 

Oakland 

• 

TAKING AN OATH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Recently at the public library I read in the January issue of Vanity Fair David Rose’s detailed and horrifying article “Guantanamo Bay on Trial.” This evening I watched on public television a two-hour long review of the cowardice of the developed countries of the West, and of the U.S. in particular during the holocaust in Rwanda. 

Put aside “under God,” Allah, Yahweh, Buddha, or who-or-what-ever. To strengthen their children’s ability to think critically, and to help them make sound moral judgments, present-day U.S. parents who still believe rote oath-taking has merit would do well to have their off-spring recite this up-to-date pledge to the flag: 

“I forswear allegiance to the flag of the Dis-united States of America and to the republic for which it stands, on nation now divided, denying liberty and justice for all—especially at Guantanamo, and for non-whites.” 

Judith Segard Hunt 

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POPULATION BOOM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read with horror that “in the next 10 years thousands of new residents” will be jammed into University Avenue (“Fighting to Save What We Have on University Avenue, Daily Planet, March 26-29). And I’m here to tell you: This is just the beginning! The California population is projected to increase form 34 million to 60 million over the next 20 years, almost entirely from our insane level of Mass Immigration. Does anybody out there happen to know where the endless millions of new homes are where these people are going to live? There’s only one solution to the looming nightmare that is now staring us in the face. Will the geniuses of Berkeley be able to figure out what that solution is? 

Peter Labriola 

As a gray-haired 60-year-old whose activism, such as it is, started with Free Speech Movement sit-ins, I find it ironic to be back to civil disobedience.  

But as volunteers with one of the Bay Area’s many local creek-restoration groups, here we are lawbreaking—from schoolchildren who pick up litter and plant flowers, to working folks who get their exercise by building trails on weekends, to retired ladies who chat while pulling invasive weeds.  

Why? The California Department of Industrial Relations is enforcing a poorly written state law that says that anyone who works on a state-funded public works project must receive prevailing wages. This now been interpreted to include volunteers. There are some exceptions, but they are narrow and require case-by-case approval—not workable for the thousands of small volunteer groups who just want to give something back to their communities. 

Violators—like a Redding-area nonprofit that let students earn course credit for watershed restoration, or volunteers caring for grass on kids’ ballfields—face heavy fines. A major grant program that requires community partnership in restoration projects has been put on hold. Projects are being redesigned to do less at higher cost, using only paid work. If state funds are involved (think parks, schools, clinics) hands-on education is out, as is enjoying your free time by doing something positive with others. 

Almost everyone recognizes this as absurd. Legislators who wrote and supported the laws say that’s not what they meant. Organized labor is not clamoring to outlaw volunteerism. Nevertheless, enforcement has gathered momentum for almost four years, and the only bill introduced so far (AB 2960, by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley) deals only with environmental projects. Too bad about those who want to work on low-income housing or kids’ playgrounds.  

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may or may not be able to change the rules administratively—various legislators say yes, various agency spokespeople say no. If this is impossible, what is needed is a bill passed on an urgency basis, going into effect as soon as signed. It should protect pay of those who work for wages. But it also must welcome volunteer contributions, without bureaucratic hoops, delays, and paperwork that will choke any citizen’s outpouring of generosity and make sure that no good deed goes unpunished. Please write your representatives to ask for action! 

Susan Schwartz is head of Friends of Five Creeks, an all-volunteer group working on creeks and watersheds in North Berkeley, Albany, Kensington, and south El Cerrito and Richmond. 

When Jon Alff generalizes about Europe based on what he has seen in Bilbao and says that removing parking increases congestion, he is just plain wrong. (Letters, Daily Planet, April 6-8) 

Consider the example of Copenhagen. Copenhagen has reduced traffic as it has gradually reduced parking in the city center, according to Peter Newman and Jeff Kenworthy in their book Sustainability and Cities. 

I have visited Copenhagen. It has traffic but not major congestion. During morning commute hours near the center of town, you can see as many bicycles as cars waiting at intersections for the light to change. And there is a huge pedestrianized area that has been increased in size over the last 40 years. It has much less parking in its center than the average American city.  

I have walked through residential areas near the center where you see far more bicycles than cars parked in front of apartment buildings. Copenhagen has experienced neither increased congestion nor reduced commercial viability. What it has instead is a thriving pedestrianized commercial center. 

Both London and Paris are also moving to deal with traffic. London has implemented congestion charging which has reduced traffic in the center. Paris has converted traffic lanes on streets to bus-only lanes and has closed a major highway along the right bank of the Seine during summer months. 

The European cities that have made the most progress in reducing traffic and increasing livability seem to be those that aggressively work to re-allocate space from cars to pedestrians, bicycles and transit. Some parking is removed. Streets are closed to cars and pedestrian zones are created. Dedicated lanes for buses and trams and separate lanes for bicycles are created. 

Even in cities that have not done all these things, Europeans drive less. According to Newman and Kenworthy, people who live in 13 major American 

cities travel an average of 16,045 kilometers per capita per year in private passenger cars, while people who live in 11 major European cities travel 6,601 kilometers per capita. In addition, all 11 European cities that they studied had a majority of people commuting to work by alternative modes. 

Overall, European cities have much less parking than American cities and have much less driving and many more people commuting by alternative modes. 

Mr. Alff makes his statements about Europe as part of an effort to argue that Berkeley isn’t requiring enough parking to be built with new development and that this failure will somehow lead to increased traffic congestion. 

When we look at Berkeley, there are certainly areas such as the Southside and the downtown where living without a car is a viable option because of all the transit service available within a few blocks walk. Requiring any parking at all for new development in these areas makes no sense. A majority of people who currently live in these areas don’t own cars. 

People who have occasional need for a car have the option of joining City CarShare, which is certainly less costly than owning a car. The fact that you may want or need to drive sometimes does not mean that you need to own a car or have a parking space provided. 

University and Shattuck avenues in downtown have blocks with no driveways. Requiring someone who wants to redevelop a property on those blocks to put in a curb cut for parking makes no sense and would be very bad for the many pedestrians walking on those driveway-free sidewalks. 

In areas of the city where the quality of transit service is not as good, requiring some parking for new development makes sense, though there is no need to increase parking requirements for new development and no compelling evidence that the city is not requiring enough parking. 

The whole idea of “transit-oriented development,” which is central to the city’s General Plan, is a good one. If the city is going to encourage new development, it should be located in areas served by transit, so that new development doesn’t just clog Berkeley street’s with more traffic. 

Unfortunately, the development that is occurring now on Berkeley’s commercial corridors is happening at the very time that AC Transit is cutting service. There are grounds for concern. 

But there are some bright spots. 

AC has implemented a rapid bus on San Pablo Avenue that has reduced travel times. And plans for Bus Rapid Transit on Telegraph with dedicated lanes for buses will also improve and expand transit service. Ultimately, Berkeley also needs light rail or bus rapid transit on University Avenue as well. 

Our City Council needs to make improving transit service in Berkeley a priority. If we are going to have more development, we need improved transit 

to go with it. One first step the council can take toward improving transit is to approve the Transportation Commission’s recommendations for the use of 

Vista College mitigation funds, which calls for some of the money to go to transit. 

Some people have the mistaken impression that almost everyone in Berkeley has to drive and that cars are a necessity for everyone, except maybe for a few students. But Berkeley residents actually drive less than residents of most other cities in the U.S. We are different from other Bay Area cities of 

similar size. 

Berkeley ranks number seven among all cities in the U.S. with 100,000 population or more in the percentage of non-car commuters. Forty-two percent commute by means other than a car. Berkeley ranks number one in the percentage of bicycle commuters and number two in the percentage of pedestrian commuters. 

Even with a transit system that does not adequately serve all sections of the city, lots of people still get around without cars. With a concerted effort to upgrade transit service, people can become even less reliant on cars. Adding a lot more parking along with new development is certainly not going to accomplish anything other than to increase traffic throughout the city’s neighborhoods. Traffic congestion results from too much parking in relation to street capacity not from too little. 

Rob Wrenn is a Berkeley Planning Commission and chairman of the UC Hotel Task Force.  

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Months before Mel Gibson’s picture The Passion of the Christ was even released, the public was counseled by a plethora of spiritual mentors to avoid autonomic assumptions that the Jews were responsible for Christ’s death. Although there is little coherent evidence that has put the issue of culpability to irrefutable rest, there is nothing inductively impossible in the gospels’ telling of the social-political denouement leading to the crucifixion of the Nazarene, Jesus Christ.  

Yet, there has arisen a determined and insistent effort to disavow any possible or significant Jewish collaboration in the seizure and execution of one of our own great teachers. This has become an unfortunate, specious defense of the people of Judea, as if they were beyond reproach and somehow immune to the existential fragility of their antecedents. The impassioned, almost obsessive need to reinterpret Jewish participation amidst those epic proceedings in Jerusalem impedes our abilities to interpret human nature with the integrity that our intelligence should command today. 

Of course, this apprehension is understandable, given the enormous struggle of the Jewish people to survive wave upon wave of anti-Semitism and outright plunder that has burdened our history, particularly in the last century. However, to dismiss this film as patently inaccurate, or dangerous because of these concerns, encumbers the future of Judeo-Christian conciliation as well as the potential unity and breadth of the Hebrew liturgy. To insist that Jews of first century Judea were not engaged, at least in some way, in the crucifixion of Christ, is taking refuge in a moral comfort zone that serves only to punctuate inveterate denial. This in turn perpetuates a divisive dynamic, not only between Jews and Christians, but between Jews and the best of their spiritual legacy: the traditions of empathy, activism and theological polemics. 

No one knows exactly what events during those infamous days almost 2,000 years ago spawned a mythology enveloping the lives and beliefs of so many people. There is no instant replay available here. But at the core of our imperfect understanding, we can assume with reasonable certainty that Jesus confronted the Jewish ruling and commercial classes. He also may have brought on the antipathies of the “Zealots,” as he did not teach strict adherence to the Law while, at the same time, associating with sinners and people outside that Law. Furthermore, some historians have claimed he dangerously supported the movement for Jewish independence from Roman control, thereby evoking a double threat to both the Jews fearing Roman retaliation and to Roman authority itself. 

While there is no indisputable proof that the Romans, who were known to crucify dissidents with abandon, didn’t just round him up with the rest of the usual suspects, the Bible is quite consistent in maintaining that other forces and complexities were in play. For political purposes, the gospels may very well have exaggerated the Jews’ guilt and betrayal of Jesus. But it is hard to believe that the travesty did not involve the Jewish high priests, the Pharisees, the Sadducees and perhaps some of the quotidian population. What is easily inferred from this is that our renegade Rabbi, along with his aphoristic musings on peace, love, forgiveness, and the kingdom of heaven, was very much an agitator, considered blasphemous, and a perceived menace to the power structure of the Roman and Jewish establishments in their various forms. Even the questionable Barrabas story has some plausibility considering the almost unreachable standard of spiritual and social behavior that Jesus may have demanded from his people.  

Adherence to simple psychological sense suggests that along with awe and veneration, there may have been resentment, as well, for Jesus’ preachings. His exhortations and orations must have put a great deal of pressure on both the ordinary and well-appointed Jews to change their ways—no small matter for any prophet to sustain without an inevitable backlash. Again, to pretend, under these circumstances, that some of the Jews did not have an interest in his departure from the social-political landscape simply flies in the face of human nature. 

Ask yourself, what possible purpose does it serve to support this cloak of innocence, given that the people who felt threatened by his challenge to the status quo were only behaving as human beings behave, even to this day? Although, complicity with the capture, and likely mutilation of one’s own ethnic, corporeal relation is not a laudable evocation of the best in human nature, it was not, and is not, a weakness specific to the people of Judea, or Jews in general. The roots and residue of treachery go far back, and way beyond that of the Jews in Christ’s time. After all, the Bible, particularly the First Testament, is fraught with horrific acts of betrayal, violence and human iniquity.  

For Jews to consistently proclaim their impeccability in this matter only sets up a kind of transcendental ethic that we are implicitly ascribing to ourselves. Claiming that any suggestion of responsibility in the matter is intrinsically anti-Semitic, or beyond the moral compass of first century Judaism, implies an unreal spirituality. It is a counter intuitive conceit that ultimately does as much to alienate us from our Christian brethren, and a potential universal sodality, as does any subjective cinematic recreation of the gospels. In the hopes of defusing anti-Semitism, this pressing zeal for vindication may, indeed, only exacerbate it. 

Some Jewish “revisionists” take this repudiation of responsibility to the point of asserting that neither Christ, nor his crucifixion, has a legitimate basis in reality. Of course this begs the question of the Old Testament as well, and virtually obviates any discussion whatsoever concerning scriptural ethics and their contemporary implications. Regardless of the definitive authenticity of the ‘holy word,’ the drama known as “The Passion” will remain pertinent to understanding ourselves and our social-spiritual parameters.  

Moreover, the sooner we come to grips with both our perceived and interpreted past, the easier it will be to make peace with our future. Habitual denial, aided by well-intentioned but spurious arguments advanced by Christian revisionists, only circumvents the ever-haunting ghosts of biblical yore. Perpetuating a supposed scrupulous relation to the notorious episode of that Passover in Jerusalem merely exacerbates accusation and controversy while denying us potential entry to a traversable bridge into the coming era. 

Crossing that bridge requires that we finally recognize the inimitable contribution that this Jewish man has made toward sustaining some semblance of humanity and faith in a continuing, very treacherous world. Yes, senseless slaughter has been committed in the codified political entrenchment of Jesus’ name. But without his life, and the mythology it has engendered, a good part of civilization may have pummeled itself into oblivion, far before any of us had the chance to even review it.  

Whether or not Jesus was the “Son of God,” the “Son of Man” the “Messiah” incarnate or just a courageous, iconoclastic rebel can be debated indefinitely. But the propensity to dismiss his ministry to humanity, fostered by the practicing Hebrew faith and its community, is a grievous misinterpretation of our own ancient culture and sacramental demeanor. Consider that in the United States alone, 80 percent of the population shows at least a cognizance and respect for the man’s pivotal place in the pageant of our spiritual infrastructure. The canonical Jewish relegation of this courageous teacher beyond the hinterlands of its liturgy and ritual is an ancestral oxymoron at best, and perhaps a heresy within the wailing walls of our own faith. The mantras of rejection, and deflection of his relevance have isolated the hallowed halls of the temples, and divided the contiguity of Judeo-Christian heritage for far too long. Let’s be clear: Jesus was a Jew...and few better have we seen, or heard from since!  

Finally, it might be worthwhile to revisit the plea, “never again,” that has resonated throughout the Jewish-humanitarian fellowship for over half a century. It surely would behoove us to extend this invocation to the most ill-famed execution in Western history, a murder of a human being who put his life behind his transcendent vision and faith. Any doubt whatsoever about a cultural collaboration to put one of its best to death for political purposes demands serious scrutiny and collective redress. Although it is comfortable to pretend that we can interpret this tragic cornerstone of Western spirituality strictly as a statement of universal generosity, by way of intentional sacrifice, it is also a visceral testament to human weakness. It is this weakness we must face up to and get beyond, not by denying conscience, but by learning from it. 

Marc Winokur sometimes writes under the name Marcus O’Realius. 

Richard Clarke’s recent televised apology during the commission investigating 9/11 was a rarity in public American life. It not often that a high ranking public leader takes responsibility for the failure to protect the American people and for the ultimate disaster of 9/11. The issue, however, goes way beyond 9/11. It speaks about our inability to act humanely and decently in a variety of situations. No one, especially our leaders, wants to be seen as “weak.” Somehow we’ve come to confuse apology with weakness. The myth is that real men and women do not make large and serious mistakes, and that the effort to deal with these errors will only compound the sin. For a variety of reasons the act of apology is taboo. It has been in serious disrepute for as long as we can remember. 

We believe that an apology is a nettlesome can of worms that can only lead to more problems. We act as though it is a prelude to public humiliation and that it will invite a full-fledged attack by political and other opponents. Our collective attitude has become, “My God, never let your guard down, who knows where it may all end!” So, instead we have developed our own macho ethic, wherein you hang tough, you say little or nothing, and you hope and pray it will all pass quickly. When horrific situations do occur, and the buck cannot be passed, we aim for a passive apology with euphemisms in the third person, such as “mistakes were made, … or…serious errors of judgment occurred…” By removing ourselves to the passive voice we think we will deflect the anticipated harsh retribution, which will follow a direct and personal apology. 

This dodging of personal responsibility comes at a very large price. We frankly do not expect our leaders, let alone one another, to act honestly or decently when the stakes or consequences are high. Our leaders regularly set a very low bar for the admission of blame or error. Every manner of excuse, and equivocation has become the norm. When our leaders are exposed for lying, cheating and stealing it is handled not with apology, but with good public relations. High-priced consultants are at the service of people in public life who have been somehow disgraced, or caught with their hand in the till. 

Like it or not, this is the norm. 

Politicians are, of course, the most notorious dodgers of apology, to the point that we don’t take them seriously. They regularly pollute our airwaves. It would be bad enough, however, if it were limited to our politicians, but unfortunately it is not. 

Similarly, we routinely expect bad behavior and the denial of responsibility by Wall Street and corporate moguls. In these highly paid regions of American life there is a long-standing taboo on telling the truth. But how about the priests who committed sexual abuse of minors, and much of their religious hierarchy who refused to fully accept responsibility for the abuse of thousands of vulnerable individuals over a 30-year period, perhaps longer. Is even this shocking? Not really. Nothing shocks us anymore. 

The denial of responsibility is deeply woven into the fabric of American life. We expect lies because we cannot accept the simple truth—that the good people as well as the bad ones are very imperfect, and often fail miserably despite good intentions or valiant efforts. Ultimately, we are probably as much to blame as our leaders for the decline of public honesty. Our unrealistic demands for perfection help create the need for their evasions and their lies. The ethic of the sacrificial lamb is also certainly part of the problem. We demand that someone must inevitably take the blame. Heads will certainly roll, and it's better if it’s not mine!  

In a better society there might be fewer guillotines and more encouragement of truth. The guilty, no matter what the deed, might be tried or publicly admonished without being banished to Siberia or the equivalent. We might relish the notion that people can learn from large mistakes, and that taking responsibility might be the first step in that process. A businessman once told me that one of his loyal employees made a mistake that cost the firm $50,000. He said, “I could let him go but I know him to be an honest man who is truly remorseful. He has learned painfully from this mistake and he is now worth $50,000 more to me.” Is this attitude too idealistic? 

One of the roots of the problem is that we see serious errors and mistakes as a revelation of bad character. This is not necessarily true. It is the cover-ups and deceptions which follow these mistakes, that are in fact, not just criminal, but are far more damaging and toxic to our public life. And this pollution is pervasive.  

On a local level we have a former chancellor of the Oakland schools, Dennis Chaconas. He is basically a good man who never really took responsibility for a devastating million-dollar deficit that recently occurred under his watch. Never mind all of the excuses and evasions—it happened here in Oakland and this man has never fully apologized to the community. I believe he has just won election to another local public office. Has he learned from his mistakes? Probably not. Sadly, he, like most others was raised and trained in a system whereby an apology is seen as "unmanly" and the kiss of death.  

Apology is not only good for the soul; it’s crucial for public life. You can barely count on the fingers of one hand the instances of direct and honest apology in public life. Whatever else you may think of Richard Clarke he has set in motion an opportunity to reconsider the positive contributions of an honest apology. By admitting fault and apologizing he has shamed his superiors. If only others would follow suit and accept responsibility for their deeds—who knows where it could all end? 

George Cohen is a psychotherapist and the author of How To Test and Improve Your Mental Health (Prima Publishing, 1994). He has also written for the Christian Science Monitor and the Utne Reader.R

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Berkeley Daily Planet extends a hearty welcome to Beyond Chron, (www.beyondchron.org) the Voice of the Rest, a new online publication launched by Randy Shaw, the director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic. His announced goal is to “provide coverage of political and cultural issues often distorted or ignored by the Bay Area’s largest newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle... with a critical look at the cutting edge issues of the day.” The Daily Planet has agreed to provide a newsprint outlet from time to time for interesting articles from Beyond Chron. We are pleased to launch this collaboration with part one of an article on spam blocking by Berkeley resident and technology expert Henry Norr. Part two will appear next week. 

Just over a year ago—on March 21, 2003, to be precise—I sat down at what was then my desk at the San Francisco Chronicle to bang out a column about Mailblocks, a spam-blocking e-mail service that was set to debut the following Monday. I’d been trying out the product for two or three weeks, and I was sold—I gave it a rave review. 

Unfortunately, hardly anyone ever got to see that column. The bosses at the Chron killed it—and shortly afterwards fired me—because I’d been among the tens of thousands of people demonstrating in the city’s streets against the attack on Iraq the day before. I told my supervisors they were making a mistake: even if they were going to can me, I argued, they should run that column anyway, because Mailblocks offered a neat solution to a real problem, and they had a chance to be the first publication anywhere to review it. But they stood on principle—how, after all, could readers trust someone openly opposed to the war to review an e-mail service? 

Since then, Mailblocks has managed to make a name for itself without my assistance. As its website (www.mailblocks.com) boasts, it has garnered glowing reviews from, among others, PC Magazine, PC World, and Wall Street Journal personal-tech columnist Walt Mossberg. But when Beyond Chron founder Randy Shaw contacted me with an invitation to contribute to the project, he confessed he hadn’t heard of Mailblocks before, and my guess is that a lot of other Bay Area folks who might benefit from the service still don’t know about it, either.  

Besides, since my Chronicle career ended with Mailblocks, I can’t resist the symmetry in starting with it at Beyond Chron. 

Death to spam 

Here’s how my year-ago review was to begin: 

“Who would pay $10 a year for a web-based e-mail service when you can get Hotmail or Yahoo Mail for free? Well, suppose the service in question offered a clean, elegant look, faster and simpler access to your mail (through your browser or almost any mail application of your choosing), more storage space for old mail, and—get this—no spam whatsoever? And suppose you could even keep your old address at Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, America Online or a standard Internet mail server, but use the new service to retrieve the real messages from those accounts and leave the spam behind?” 

Some of the details have changed, but that’s still the basic picture. I’ve been relying on Mailblocks ever since I lost my Chron e-mail a year ago, and in all that time only about a dozen pieces of spam have shown up in my inbox. And that’s certainly not because the spammers don’t know where to find me—my Mailblocks inbox handles all messages sent to two widely publicized e-mail addresses, as well as others I’ve used to register at countless websites. For a while I even had it set up to hunt for meaningful messages in my ancient Yahoo and America Online inboxes, until I finally decided that was pointless.  

In this day and age, when spam is said to account for nearly two thirds of all e-mail traffic and fighting it has become a major industry, can anyone report better results than I’ve had with Mailblocks over the last year?  

Granted, you could do as well with a so-called “white list” system—one that allows no mail into your inbox unless the sender is on a list of addresses you’ve authorized. The problem with that approach, aside from the racist terminology, is that most of us can’t afford and don’t want our inboxes to be quite that closed off to the world. Think of the long-lost childhood chum, or the friend who just got a new e-mail address when she changed jobs or Internet service providers, or the stranger who could become a client or customer—if their addresses aren’t on your white list, their messages won’t get to you. 

The beauty of Mailblocks is that it slams the door on spam but offers a key to folks like those. And if you, like me, still feel some humanistic ambivalence about technology, you’ll probably get some satisfaction from knowing that the whole system relies on the inability of even today’s powerful computers to meet a challenge most 8-year-olds could toss off in a few seconds. 

Challenge/Response 

Mailblocks’ approach is actually akin to classic “white list” systems, in that it relies mainly on a database of authorized addresses to determine which messages to deliver to your inbox. (You don’t have to create the database manually—for starters, you can just import the address book from whatever program you now use for mail, and any address you write to is added automatically.) 

What Mailblocks adds is a technology known as challenge/ response. (Other companies, including other e-mail services and anti-spam software vendors, use variations on the idea, but Mailblocks claims to own the key patents on it; besides, no one else has integrated it into a full service as smoothly as Mailblocks.)  

Here’s how it works: Whenever a message to you from someone not on your authorized list arrives at the Mailblocks servers—whether it’s sent directly to your Mailblocks address or to any other account you’ve asked Mailblocks to monitor—the service delivers it not to your inbox but to a separate folder called Pending. At the same time it fires off an automatic reply to the sender, in your name. You can add your own wording, but the heart of the message reads “Because this is the first time you have sent to this e-mail account, please confirm yourself so you’ll be recognized when you send to me in the future.”  

To do so, the sender is invited to click on a URL, which in turn opens a page displaying seven digits, printed at varying angles against a multicolored, pointillist-style background, with instructions to type the number into an empty field.  

Now, for most people, this isn’t much of challenge. Just type in the seven digits and hit return, and Mailblocks automatically moves your message from the recipient’s Pending folder to his inbox and adds your name to the authorized address list. For spammers, however, it’s a different story. They’re blasting out messages by the billions and getting paid only a fraction of a cent for each one—even if they were to see the Mailblocks challenge (which is unlikely because they usually transmit their pitches from phony addresses), there’s no way they could afford to pay a human even for the seconds it would take to hit the link and enter the number. 

The obvious solution, from the spammer’s perspective, would be to automate the process. But for now at least there’s evidently no practical way to do so—computers simply don’t “see” well enough to recognize digits displayed the way Mailblocks does.  

Of course, many humans don’t either. Even simple color blindness, I’m told, can make it difficult to meet the challenge. But Mailblocks provides a workaround for the visually impaired: they need only forward the challenge message to the service’s support team, and their name will be authorized. A sufficiently motivated spammer could no doubt set up a system to take advantage of this back door automatically, but so far they apparently haven’t found it worth the trouble. 

As long as that remains true, Mailblocks’ challenge/response system provides practically bullet-proof protection against machine-generated mail. There’s a problem, though: not all machine-generated mail is spam—the category also includes electronic newsletters you’ve subscribed to, confirmations for orders you’ve placed at online shopping sites, and various other kinds of messages you might actually want to appear in your mailbox. For these cases Mailblocks provides a couple of pretty good solutions. There’s a special option in the address book, for example, for mailing lists, or you can enter entire domains (e.g., beyondchron.org) if you’re willing to accept mail from anyone at the organization. 

The best workaround, though, is something Mailblocks calls (oddly) “trackers.” These are additional addresses each subscriber to the service can create and give out when subscribing to a listserv or making an online purchase. Messages sent to your tracker addresses are delivered automatically, without challenge, to your inbox. If a spammer somehow gets hold of one of your trackers—something that happened to me once—you can easily delete it and create a new one; the only hassle is that you have to provide the new address to any site that had the deleted one on file, or else you’ll never see anything else it tries to send you.  

The other big problem with the challenge/response system, I’ve found, is not technical but social: a significant percentage of the people writing to me for the first time—including my wife, the first time she used my Mailblocks address—don’t respond to the service’s challenge message. Maybe they’re scared it’s some kind of trick, like the mail sent out by the online swindlers known as “phishers;” maybe they’re just too busy to bother, or resent the modest hassle.  

In these cases, you can easily authorize the sender yourself—just drag and drop the message from the Pending folder to your inbox, or use a popup menu, or reply to the message. To do so you have to locate the legitimate messages in your Pending folder, which implies wading through the swamp of spam accumulating there. If that’s a price you’re not willing to pay, you could just decide you don’t really care about mail from anyone too lazy or unmotivated to bother responding to the challenge; in that case, Mailblocks will automatically delete the message, like everything else left in your Pending folder, after four, eight, or 14 days (one of the many configuration options Mailblocks provides). 

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No question but that the Shotgun Players are on a roll. Ever since last summer’s terrific production of Mother Courage they’ve been showing their stuff by leaping from one high point to another—all equally fine shows, but extraordinarily different in content and style. 

Their last production, The Death of Meyerhold, was so avant garde that it was difficult to even describe the acting—except to mutter “Great stuff. Really great.” So now Shotgun’s gone to the opposite extreme. 

What they’re serving up now at the Julia Morgan Theatre is a classic farce, centuries old. So old, in fact, and so classic, that people may have forgotten that the revered playwright, Moliere, gained his status as a playwright simply because he was enormously good at what he did. And what he did in The Miser is produce one of the great bubbles of pure fun in theatrical history.  

If you absolutely insisted upon it, you might be able to drag some huge meaningful truth out of this hilarious evening’s entertainment, but you probably won’t make many friends that way. The Miser is funny, simply funny and silly as the dickens, carrying no message and with no lessons to teach.  

The play’s a piece of brilliantly conceived fluff, circumambulating around the antics of the extraordinarily miserly miser, Harpagon, played with enormous agility by Clive Worsley. All of the characters are one-dimensional, enacted in a hilariously exaggerated mock-melodramatic style. They take themselves and their absurd issues with absolute seriousness; but absolutely no sense of real pain ever touches their antics. Their very seriousness is the source of the comedy. 

The plot is silly and exaggerated, of course. Harpagon is determined to get through life without spending so much as a cent unless it’s forced out of him. This presents a problem in an era in which a dowery is a vital part of marriage arrangements. Since both his son and daughter are determined to marry the totally perfect mates they’re certain they’ve found—and Harpagon himself has eyes for the same young woman that his son has already co-opted, there are definitely issues to be resolved.  

The company at times almost dance their roles. What we have here is a group of ten actors who in the course of the rehearsals of this play have indeed managed to become a true ensemble. It goes beyond the fact that they each can and do turn out fine performances—it as if they are almost fingers of the same hand. It can be as much fun to watch some of the actors who are only background to whatever absurdity is currently going on as it is to follow the main course of the action.  

Shotgun Theatre has every reason to be proud of themselves: Moliere lives!

Q. I hired a contractor to remodel my bathroom and expected it to be finished while I was out of town. When I returned, the job was not completed and the contractor keeps stalling. I’m really frustrated. What should I do? 

A. First of all, check your written contract. A home improvement contract should include, among other items, the approximate dates when the work will begin and be completed. For example, the contract should read “Begin approximately April 20 and end approximately April 30,” not “Complete the job in 10 days.” This eliminates the possibility that the contractor will take 10 days to finish the job but spread them out over the span of a year. The dates should be approximate since external factors such as the weather or a delay in materials shipment are beyond the control of the contractor. 

Your home improvement contract should also include a description of what is a substantial commencement of work. Failure by the contractor, without lawful excuse, to substantially begin work within 20 days from the approximate start date is a violation of contractor law. In that case, the homeowner can postpone the next payment to the contractor for a period of time that is equivalent to the time between when substantial commencement was to have occurred and when it did occur. 

You can allow the contractor to take more time to finish the project; however, get it in writing. Require that the contractor prepare a written change order specifying the new approximate completion date. 

Q. My mother lives in a mobile home park for seniors. Someone came to her door stating that her roof needed to be fixed and offered to do the work. What should she do about these kinds of solicitors? 

A. First of all, your mother shouldn’t feel intimidated, but she should beware of door-to-door solicitors. If sales people have come uninvited to her door, she is under no obligation to entertain their sales pitch. Solicitors in mobile home parks and communities for seniors are the source of many complaints to the Contractors State License Board (CSLB). Some unscrupulous, unlicensed contractors target senior citizens for overpriced repairs that are unnecessary, and then they either do a shoddy job or never complete the work at all. They give phony names, telephone numbers and business addresses, so they can’t be tracked down later. 

Seniors are often targeted for a number of reasons: they have discretionary funds accumulated from a lifetime of saving, their homes are often old and in need of repair, they have a trusting nature, they often live alone and feel intimidated, and they hesitate to report fraud. 

Crooked contractors will use high pressure or scare tactics to get a senior citizen’s attention by claiming that the roof, plumbing or electrical system is faulty and dangerous and work must be done immediately. These fraudulent contractors often claim that they have just finished a painting or driveway repair job at a neighbor’s house, have leftover material, and can give the homeowner a good deal—only if a decision is made immediately. Usually these claims are phony. All too often, they take the senior’s money and run. 

The CSLB urges senior homeowners to follow these tips when dealing with solicitors and when hiring a contractor: 

• Take your time in making a decision about hiring a contractor 

• Don’t be pressured into hiring a door-to-door solicitor 

• Check to see if the contractor is licensed on CSLB’s website at www.cslb.ca.gov 

• Get three bids 

• Get a written contract 

• Pay only 10 percent down, or $1,000, whichever is less, of the contract amount 

• Never pay cash 

• Don’t let your payments get ahead of the work 

• Ask a friend, neighbor or relative to verify that work needs to be done and to look over the written contract 

• Go to CSLB’s website at www.cslb.ca.gov for free consumer publications, including “What Seniors Should Know Before Hiring a Contractor” 

Anthony Elmo is the Chairman of the Contractors State License Board, and the Director of Building and Safety for the City of Temecula. The Contractors State License Board operates under the umbrella of the California Department of Consumer Affairs. The CSLB licenses and regulates California’s 278,000 contractors, and investigates 25,000 complaints against contractors annually.

FRIDAY, APRIL 9 

CHILDREN 

Easter Treasury at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-3635. 

FILM 

Sound of Music Sing-A-Long to April 15 at 7 p.m. (except Aprril 11, 12) at the Landmark California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St. Tickets are $10-$15 available from 866-468-3399 or on-line at www.ticketweb.com 

Charles Burnett: “Glass Shield” at 7:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre Company “Antigone Falun Gong” at 8 p.m. Wed.-Sat., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. through May 16. Tickets are $28-$40 available from 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

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

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

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Katya Kamisaruk introduces “Beat the Heat: How to Handle Encounters with Law Enforcement,” at 7 p.m. at AK Press Warehouse, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. 208-1700. www.akpress.org 

College National Poetry Slam opens at 6 p.m. and continues to April 10. Tickets are $7-$10 available from www.virtuous.com 

“By the Light of the Moon” open mic for women at Changemakers, 6536 Telegraph Ave. Cost is $3-$7. 655-2405. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Company” a musical performed by UC Choral Ensembles at 8 p.m. in the Choral Rehearsal Hall, Room 20 (basement level) of Cesar Chavez Student Center, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$10. 

“Ancestories ... Stories from Beneath the Skirts,” dance and drum works of the African Diaspora at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12 in advance, $15 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Dandeline 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 

Joel Futterman, Ike Levin, Alvin Fielder Trio, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $15-$18. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

O-Maya at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys at 5 and 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $29.50 in advance, $30.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Oakland Wolf Walk Bluegrass Festival with The Crooked Jades at 9:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Cost is $10. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

The Case Worker, Minmae, Built Like Alaska at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Quarteto Sonado, Afro-Cuban jazz, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

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

Jackie Ryan with the Jeff Pittson Trio at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

DJ & Brook, jazz trio, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Wil Bernard and Mother Bug at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 548-1159. 

www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Look Back and Laugh, Iron Lung, Add-C, Ashtray at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 10 

CHILDREN  

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

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

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Fibers and Dyes Exhibit Plants are the origin of the most popular fibers we use in our daily lives and of the dyes that provide us with colors. Feel fabrics, see and smell dyes and look at the many uses of fibers from around the world. In the Botanical Garden’s Conference Center during Garden hours 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free with Garden admission. UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

Volker Schlöndorff: “Circle of Deceit” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Charles Burnett A panel discussion on the film director’s work at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Youth Movement Records Artists at 8 p.m. at Youth Radio Cafe, 1801 University Ave. Cost is $3. 435-5112.  

Berkeley High Jazz Combo at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-2129. 

10th Annual A Cappella Against AIDS Benefit Concert with the UC Choral Ensembles at 7:30 p.m. at 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $5-$10 available at the door. 642-3880. 

Angel Amkgik at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $20. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Gomer Hendrix, ska humor band at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Val Esway, Karry Walker and Kim Norlen at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. All ages welcome. Suggested donation of $7-$10, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Suzy Thompson at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Go Jimmy Go, Chris Murray, Solemite and The Soul Captives at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Oakland Wolf Walk Bluegrass Festival with The Papermill Rounders at 9:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $12. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

“Blaze” Hip Hop Dance Showcase with New Style Motherlode at 6:30 p.m. at Sweet’s Ballroom, 1933 Broadway Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. 597-1056. www.newstylemotherlode.com 

John Santos Quintet at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12 in advance, $14 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Mark Hummel, harmonica virtuoso, at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

Sam Rivers, an evening of conversation and music, at 8 and 10 p.m. at The Jazz House. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Spikedrivers, Anna Coogan & North 19 at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Famous Last Words at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

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

Communique, Kissing Tiger, The New Trust, Pistolito, The Killer Watts at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 11 

CHILDREN 

Asheba at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4 for children, $6 for adults. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

FILM 

“Jesus, You Know” at 5 and 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Joanna Goodman and Tucker Malarky at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alfred Brendel, piano, at 7 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$62, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Chamber Music Sundaes with musicians from San Francisco Symphony performing Schumann, Brahms and Grieg at 3:15 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $7-$18, available at the door. 415-584-5946. 

Joel Futterman, Ike Levin, Alvin Fielder Trio, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $15-$18. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Queens of Boogie Woogie at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Flamenco Open Stage with Carolla Zertuche at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

MONDAY, APRIL 12 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Joanna Katz, “Landscapes and Watercolors” at Gallery 940, 940 Dwight Way. Exhibition runs to May 28. Gallery hours Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

THEATER 

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

FILM 

“The Agronomist” a documentary on the life of journalist and human rights activist Jean Dominique of Haiti, at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies. 642-2088. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Herb Kohl discusses the public education system in “Stupidity and Tears” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

TUESDAY, APRIL 13 

FILM 

Optical Poetry: Oskar Fischinger Classics at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Peter Everwine reads from “From the Meadow: Selected and New Poems” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Nona Mock Wyman reads from her memoirs, “Chopstick Childhood in a Town of Silver Spoons” at 7 p.m. at the El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave. 526-7512. 

“Harlequin Novels, African Style” with Lydie Moudileno, visiting professor, French Dept. at 4 p.m. at 652 Barrows Hall. Sponsored by the Center for African Studies. 642-8338. 

Nuriddin Farah, contemporary African writer, discusses his new novel “Links” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Andrew E. Barshay, Prof. of History, UCB, will present his new book “The Social Sciences in Modern Japan: The Marxian and Modern Traditions” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

Beatriz Manz, “Paradise in Ashes: A Guatemalan Journey of Courage, Terror and Hope” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533. 

“Tongan Tapa Cloth and Kava Demonstration” at 11 a.m. at Far West School, 5263 Broadway Terrace, across from CCA Oakland campus. 594-3763. www.cca.edu/canter 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

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

www.thejazzhouse.com 

Tee Fee Swamp Boogie at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz, with a Cajun dance lesson with Annie Byrd at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a showcase of ensembles at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14 

CHILDREN 

Craft Program Make “Wild Things” masks at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library North Branch, 1170 The Alameda. 981-6250. 

THEATER 

“The Mystery of Irma Vep,” Charles Ludlam’s theatrical cult classic opens at Berkeley Rep’s Thrust Stage at 8 p.m. and continues through May 23. Tickets are $39-$55. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

FILM 

Film 50: “The Art of the Political Film” and “Lifeguard” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Joan Blades, co-founder of MoveOn.org, introduces “MoveOn’s 50 Ways to Love Your Country: How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Frederick Turner discusses “In the Land of Temple Caves: From St. Emilion to Paris’s St. Sulpice--Notes on Art and the Human Spirit “at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Mark Bittner introduces his new book “The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-3635. 

Stephanie Elizondo Griest talks about “Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing and Havana” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam Semi-Finals for the National Slam Team competition 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 Kira Allen at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Donation $2.849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Poetry Writing Workshop with Danna Zeller at 7 p.m. in the Edith Stone Room, Albany Public Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 20. 

Poetry for the People with Mitsuye Yamada at 3:15 p.m. in the All Purpose Room, Unit 3, UC Campus. 642-2743. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Red Archibald & The Internationals at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Deepak Ram and Anuradha Pal, bansuri and tabla, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50 in advance, $18.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

La Verdad performs salsa music at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

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

Sebastien Martel plays Cuban French acoustic grooves at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

THURSDAY, APRIL 15 

FILM 

Vertical Pool: “Hysteria” A film by Antero Alli at 8 p.m. at Finnish Hall, 1970 Chestnut St., near University Ave. with the filmmaker in person. Admission $5. 464-4640. www.verticalpool.com/hysterinfo.html 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Ant Farm 1968-1978” Guided Tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

Amy Goodman discusses her book “The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them” at 7:30 p.m. at M.L. King Middle School, 1781 Rose St. Sponsored by Cody’s Books. Tickets are $15 available from Cody’s. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Daniel Boyarin introduces “Border Lines: The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Micheline Marcom reads from “The Daydreaming Boy” a novel of a survivor of the Armenian genocide, at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. www.codysbooks.com 

Joseph A. Califano, Jr. describes his memoir, “Inside” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Japanese Architect Fumihiko Maki will speak at 8 p.m. at Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. 464-3600. www.aiaeb.org 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Mark Schwartz and Selene Steese followed by an open mic, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. For information call 526-5985 or 205-1749.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

ROVA, avant garde saxophone quartet, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $10-$15 sliding scale. 649-8744. www.thejazz- 

house.com 

Kevin Seconds and Anton Barbeau 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 

Famous Last Words, Lizanah, essence at 9:15 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Nerissa & Katryna Nields, contemporary folk, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50 in advance, $18.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Swoop Unit at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

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

Each no bigger than a poppy seed, a host of minuscule critters lurks in Northern California woodlands, loaded with bacteria capable of inflicting misery on campers, hikers and picnickers who take to the woods this spring. 

The western black-legged tick harbors the spiral-shaped bacterium that causes the dread Lyme disease, named for the Connecticut town of Old Lyme where the affliction was first recognized in the mid-1970s. 

Though the bacterium wasn’t identified until 1982, UC Berkeley professor Robert Lane says evidence now indicates the disease had been around for millennia. 

“Californians who had it in the 1800s and 1900s were misdiagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis or neurological disorders,” said Lane, who teaches in the Division of Insect Biology of UCB’s College of Natural resources. 

Lane and two other students of insect biology are the authors of a study in the current issue of the Journal of Insect Etymology. 

But where Lane is concerned, don’t call ticks insects. “They’re arachnids, eight-legged animals like spiders, scorpions and mites. And of all the arachnids, ticks are the most significant carriers of disease,” he says. 

Officially, Lyme disease strikes about 100 people a year in California, and 17,000 to 18,000 nationally. “But a lot of cases go unreported by doctors, so the actual numbers are probably several times higher.” 

While California cases are concentrated to the north of San Francisco Bay in Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity and Lake counties, the tick is no stranger to the East Bay, 

“We’ve found them in Tilden Regional Park in the 1990s,” Lane said. “We looked in picnic areas and along the trails and found the rate of infected ticks to be very low, less than one percent to zero. We later look for nymphal ticks, which are so small they’re very hard to find, and on one trail slightly less than six percent of them carried the disease.” 

The nymphal—infant—ticks are the size of poppy seeds, between 1/25th and 1/20th of an inch long, he said. 

Lane’s been studying the critters for decades. His first job after receiving his doctorate from UCB in 1974 was looking into ticks for the state health department. Then, in 1982, Willy Burgdorfer, the discoverer of the Lyme disease organism which bears his name—B. burgorferi—invited Lane to join his team. 

Two years later, Lane joined the Berkeley faculty, where he set up a program to study the epidemiology of the disease, which he’s been doing ever since. 

Lane, graduate researcher Denise Steinlein and Jeomhee Munn, a UCB insect biology research specialist, are spreading the word about how not to catch the debilitating disease. 

They earned their expertise the old-fashioned way, by trekking into the black oak forests of southeastern Mendocino county and finding out just which behaviors produced the greatest tick exposures. 

The highest risk comes from sitting on logs in California’s hardwood forests. “We sat on logs for only five minutes at a time, and in 30 percent of the cases, it resulted in exposure to ticks,” Lane said. Second in risk was leaning against a tree, which produced tick exposure 23 percent of the time, followed by gathering firewood, which also gathered ticks in 17 percent of their trials. 

Once the nymphal tick contacts skin, its small size makes detection difficult, he said. 

Once Lyme disease was discovered, researchers found it and its close bacterial kin scattered across the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, Lane said. “It’s particularly common in Central Europe.” 

Lyme disease isn’t the only tick-borne infection. The spotted fevers were known much earlier, and are caused by rickettsia bacteria. 

While pharmaceutical companies once manufactured vaccines for both Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, slow sales and lawsuits triggered by side effects in a small number of patients ended their production, Lane said. 

The ailments can be treated by antibiotics, with good outcomes likely when the ailments are diagnosed early, Lane said. Later diagnosis can result in ongoing affliction. 

Tick season starts in April, and the arachnids become abundant in late April and on into May. The season can extend into August in higher elevations and in more northerly latitudes. 

The creatures love leaves and moisture, although sitting in fallen leaves produced exposure in only eight percent of their trials. 

Lane said the high risk from log sitting may result from their use as favored perches by the western fence lizard, a favorite host for the ticks. The relatively high exposure rate on the Tilden Regional Park trail likely stemmed from another host, the wood rat. 

Genetic tests are most commonly used to diagnose the disorder in humans, and a new test is currently in development. 

“We really want to get the word out about risky behaviors,” Lane said, “and now’s the time to do it.” ›

Mayor Tom Bates has taken the first step in implementing the “most pressing” recommendation of his Task Force on Permits and Development—amending Berkeley’s obscure “ex parte” communications rule. The rule, adopted by the City Council in 1985 and strictly interpreted by City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque, places restrictions on communications with city councilmembers on pending construction developments. Presently, it bans all but written communication outside of a public hearing with councilmembers who are presently deciding—or might possibly decide in the future—on an application or appeal on a pending city development project.  

Albuquerque has warned councilmembers that contact with interested parties before the hearing raises questions of due process on the grounds that the councilmember could base decisions on evidence not submitted at the public hearing or that he would develop a bias before learning all the facts. 

City commissions which also conduct hearings are not bound by the council rule. Albuquerque, however, also counsels them against having ex parte communications and requires that they disclose any such communications before the hearing. 

In a late March letter seeking recommendations from the city’s various commissioners, Bates wrote that Berkeley “prohibit[s] in person private communication between ... decision makers and parties with an interest in the outcome of the decision. ... Many other cities follow less restrictive rules.” The City Council has scheduled an April 20 hearing on the issue. 

“It would be a much needed reform,” said Mayor Bates. “I think these issues would be less contentious if we had a chance to talk with people and give them guidance.” 

“[The ex parte rule is] the largest restraint to free speech in Berkeley history,” Councilmember Kriss Worthington remarked. 

His frustration is not uncommon. The city’s rule on ex parte communications—literally translated, conversations from one side—is one of the few issues that unite developers and the residents who most vociferously oppose their projects. 

Residents like Tim Hansen, denied the chance to talk to his councilmember about pending developments, haven’t been shy about voicing their dissatisfaction with the ex parte rule. 

“It’s outrageous. If you have to wait until a public hearing it’s almost assured the council will never have time to study your point,” Hansen said. 

“It puts the staff in a terrible position,” Mayor Bates said. They’re trapped in the middle between developers and neighbors, while we’re rendered neutral, so by the time things get to us people are furious.” 

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak faulted the current system with leaving the council in a “vacuum.” “We’re not able to get a give and take of the issues and we end up having nine minutes to find a solution in an ad hoc manner.” 

Even prominent Berkeley developer Patrick Kennedy of Panoramic Interests supports a change in the ex parte rule, saying he has always been “puzzled by the city attorney’s interpretation of the law.” 

Despite the apparent momentum for loosening restrictions, passage of a reform is hardly guaranteed. Since the council adopted the rule in 1985, it has twice voted against reforming it, most recently in 2001. Both times City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque recommended keeping the stricter interpretation. 

Not everyone favors a change, however. Councilmember Betty Olds noted that constituents can “send us e-mails galore,” and said she didn’t see anything unfair in the current system. 

Former councilmember Polly Armstrong said the current rule preserved a level playing field between all parties to a development issue. Armstrong also threw cold water on a proposal to change the ex parte rule by allowing parties to contact decision-makers privately, and then have the decision-makers fill out a disclosure form of who contacted them and what was discussed. Armstrong said it was “absurd” to think councilmembers or commissioners would make the effort to fill out the forms. “It’s not going to happen,” she said. “There’s no way people aren’t going to do it.” 

Albuquerque, meanwhile, believes that the city could face legal challenge if the council does not take the strictest and safest interpretation of the constitutional rights to due process, even though, she acknowledged, the law is unclear on the subject.  

“It’s not like it’s a clear cut issue. The U.S. Supreme Court has said this is a matter of flexibility, but there is no case in California that has ruled on this question.” 

State law does not mention ex parte communications in cases where the council or city commissions undertake a judicial proceeding, but does require that both sides of the argument receive due process. In essence for a hearing to be considered fair, all parties must be apprised of all information which has been provided to the decision-making body, so each party can be aware of and respond to that information.

For the second year in a row, the Berkeley High Jazz Band came away as winners of the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Annual National High School Jazz Competition. The event, held last weekend in Monterey, is the premier jazz band competition nation-wide and featured jazz band from across the country. 

The high school’s jazz band, under the direction of Charles Hamilton, beat out the Los Angeles County School for the Arts and Brethren Christian High School from Huntington Beach to claim first place.  

“We weren’t so sure we were going to make it into the finals but once we were in and heard the other bands, I sorta’ knew we were going to win,” said Raffi Garabedian, a sophomore who plays tenor sax. 

Band members said their win was in large part due to Hamilton, who they said has continually been an inspiration. 

“Our director, he’s got soul,” said Eric Ashkenas, a sophomore who plays alto sax. “He leaves it in our hands to decide whether we like the songs. He gives us a lot of freedom, so it’s basically the kids creating music and he’s giving direction.” 

Besides tight execution, the band said a large part of the win was thoughtful selection of their music pieces. Unlike some of the other bands, the Berkeley High group picked several complicated and intricate pieces. On the list were Caravan by Duke Ellington, Goodbye Porkpie Hat by Charles Mingus, and a Latin piece called Cabeza de Carne. 

Several members of the band were also individually recognized, including pianist Jullian Pollack, who won a scholarship to the University of the Pacific summer program. Pollack also won an award for outstanding soloist. 

Several of the musicians were named to the festival’s All-Star High School Big Band (including trombonist Danny Lubin-Laden, this writer’s cousin) and will be traveling with the band throughout Japan this summer. The entire Berkeley High Jazz band will also be invited to perform during the 47th annual Monterey Jazz Festival this September. 

For those who missed the competition but still want to see the band (or just want to come out to support them) they will be performing April 18 as part of a gala at the Berkeley Rep. The concert will be a benefit brunch sponsored by Downtown Restaurant and will offer gourmet food and wine as well as a silent auction. All the proceeds will benefit the Berkeley High music program. For more information and for tickets, contact 527-8245.›

The stumbling economy has brought good news to Berkeley apartment dwellers. Although hard numbers are difficult to find, it appears that rental rates are dropping in the city at the same time home prices have been tracking upward.  

The best figures come from UC Berkeley’s Cal Rentals, a service which lists rentals suitable for students. 

“Landlords I’ve talked to say that local vacancy rates are between five and seven percent, the highest in the many years I’ve been working here,” said Cal Rentals Director Becky White. 

“2001 was definitely the peak,” she said. “Now landlords will list their units at one price and then knock them down until they can find tenants.” 

White’s figures show studio apartments peaking in June, 2001, at $1,102 per month, dropping to a low of $744 in September, 2003, while rising to $852 this February. 

One-bedroom apartments peaked at $1,375 in July 2001, dropped to a low this January at $1,064, and rose again slightly to $1,080 in February. Two bedroom units peaked in July 2001 at $1,822 and dropped to a low of $1,356 this February. 

Link Corkery, a real estate broker who chairs the Market Conditions Committee of Rental Association of Northern Alameda County, said apartment vacancy rates have soared from less than one percent in 2000 to seven percent last November. 

Corkery surveyed vacancies in 2,100 apartments in the region. While his survey was heavily weighted toward Oakland, with a vacancy rate of 7.3 percent, he said Berkeley landlords reported vacancies of 4.9 percent. 

Berkeley vacancy rates appear to have stabilized, Corkery said, with most owners reporting they are “treading water.”  

According to figures compiled by RealFacts, a commercial service that tracks privately developed, non-subsidized apartment complexes of 50 units or more in the San Francisco Bay Area, the rental costs per square foot for apartment rents throughout Alameda County dropped from $1.81 to $1.16 between Jan. 1, 2002, and Sept. 30, 2003, a 36 percent drop. 

During the same period, county large building occupancy rates actually increased from 93.9 percent to 95 percent. 

RealFacts Director of Marketing Gerald Cox said there were few hard numbers for Berkeley, because most large apartments in the city were university-owned, built with public funding, or contained subsidized units for low-income residents. As a consequence, RealFacts tracked only three complexes in the city. 

In the greater Bay Area, Berkeley’s large complex rental average of $1,776 ranked near the top of a range that ran from a low of $885 (in Glen Ellen) to the peak of $1,999 (in Menlo Park). 

The overall decline in apartment rents parallels declines for office, retail and industrial leases—although across the board drops were less in the East Bay than for San Francisco and San Jose, according to figures from EDAB, the Economic Alliance for Business, an East Bay consortium of businesses and local governments. 

EDAB figures also show that sales prices for apartment buildings have also taken a hit—by 26 percent in San Francisco and 27 percent in San Jose between Jan. 1, 2001, and Sept. 30, 2003, reflecting sharp drops in employment. The East Bay decline was smaller, at 17 percent. 

In the same period, sales prices for homes rose less than one percent in San Jose and about five percent in San Francisco, while East Bay homes were selling for nine percent more by the end of the same period. 

Rent figures are especially significant in Berkeley, because figures compiled for the 2001 update of the Housing Element of the Alameda County General Plan place Berkeley with the county’s third highest percentage of renters—61.8 percent—trailing only Oakland (62.5 percent) and Emeryville (89.9 percent). The countywide rental rate was 48.5 percent. Piedmont boasted the highest percentage of home ownership at 90.5 percent. 

A 2001 two-year study by the League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville (LWV), highlights another Berkeley anomaly. While Berkeley homeowners have higher incomes than the countywide mean ($64,939 versus $58,894), Berkeley renters earn considerably less than average ($24,557 versus $39,410). 

An additional factor complicating Berkeley’s apartment scene is the University of California, which is the city’s largest landlord.  

The university will be opening units designed to house an additional 2,000 more students by the fall of 2005, according to Kathleen Quirk of the university housing office. That will bring the total UC student occupancy rate to 7,200. The increase will probably exert additional downward pressure on rents in private apartments, according to a spokesperson for the Berkeley Property Owners Association. 

Another indication of the soft rental market came last October when the city Rent Stabilization Board denied rate increases to apartment owners covered under the city’s rent control ordinance. The vote was only the second in the board’s 22-year history to deny any increase to landlords. 

The ruling does not apply to single-family home rentals or new construction. ›

Jakob Schiller 

Ernesto Salazar, 9, of Cuauhtli/Mitotiani Dancers performs at a recent Berkeley High School Cesar Chavez birthday commemoration. 

TUESDAY, APRIL 6 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7 

Return to the Oakland Docks for the one-year anniversary of the 2003 shutdown of SSA and APL, and Oakland police crackdown on the anti-war movement. Meet at 4 p.m. at OPD, 455 7th St. See www.actagainstwar.org for details. 

“Liberation from War: Afghan Women Resist” with Sahar Saba of The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghan- 

istan at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Suggested donation $20, no one turned away for lack of funds. All proceeds will benefit RAWA and the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 433-9928. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Sta- 

tion, corner of Shattuck and Center. Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

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

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

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

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

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

THURSDAY, APRIL 8 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Grizzly Peak Flyfishers, a group dedicated to furthering the noble sport of fly fishing through education and conservation, invites you to its monthly meeting at 7 p.m at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave. in Kensington. 547-8629. 

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

FRIDAY, APRIL 9 

“So How’d You Become an Activist?” with Medea Benjamin, Co-Founder, Global Exchange and Fernando Suarez del Solar, anti-war activist after his son was killed in Iraq war, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Suggested donation $5. For more information call 528-5403. 

Best of the Banff Mountain Film Festival at 7 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Cost is $12 for REI members, $15 others. 527-4140. 

“Wild Style” a film of outlaw artists in the South Bronx, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul Info Shop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751.  

“When the Storm Came” A film screening and discussion with Shilpi Gupta, UC Berkeley graduate student in Journalism and International Studies, on her film about a village in Indian-Administered Kashmir that survived a mass rape by Indian security forces in 1991. Winner, 2004 Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking, Sundance Film Festival. At 6 p.m. at FSM Café at Moffitt Library, UC Campus 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Don Olander, Prof. Nuclear Engineering, UCB, “Scientific Fraud and Hoaxes.” Luncheon 11:45 a.m. for $12.50. Speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“If the Buddha Came to Dinner” a lecture and book signing with Halé Sofia Shatz at 3:30 p.m. at Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, 1744 Solano. 527-8929. 

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

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

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

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

Passover Seder with Kol Hadash at 6 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Reservations required. 428-1492. www.kolhadash.org 

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

SATURDAY, APRIL 10 

Mini-Gardeners A garden exploration program for 4-6 year olds accompanied by an adult. We’ll look at dirt and look for worms, at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. Fee is $3, $4 non-resident. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Wildflower Walk A hike through Big Springs Canyon to see what is in bloom. Meet at 10 a.m. at the Big Springs Canyon sign on South Park Drive in Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Make Wildflower Trading Cards Discover Tilden’s wonderful wildflowers, for ages 8-12, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Fee is $3, $4 for non-residents. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Greens at Work will help Friends of Sausal Creek remove invasive Cape Ivy at the Upper Watershed in Joaquin Miller Park at 10 a.m. The patch of land is home to California native plants that are being smothered by the ivy. Meet at the beginning of the Sunset trail. Bring water and gloves. Take Joaquin Miller Road east from Highway 13 to the Woodminster Amphitheater parking lot. The Sunset Trail begins where the driveway enters Joaquin Miller Road. For more info e-mail greensatwork@yahoo.com  

Native Plant Walk in Strawberry Creek Canyon with Terri Compost. Meet at noon in the parking lot of the Strawberry Canyon Fire Trail head, below the UC Botanical Gardens on Centennial Drive. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. 658-9178. 

Aesthetic Pruning of Tress and Shrubs with Marie Miller. Learn how to shape your plants, including Japanese Maples, for maximum beauty, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class in Disaster First Aid from 9 a.m. to noon at 997 Cedar St. To sign up call 981-5605. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/fire/oes.html 

“Riding the Rails” a documentary of teenagers during the Great Depression, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul Info Shop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751.  

Spring Festival at Bay Street Emeryville, with arts and crafts, live music, spring bunny and more, from noon to 2 p.m. 

“Awaken the God or Goddess Within” with Lolita Thomas-Kendrick, performance life coach and strategist, at 3 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. www.elephantpharmacy.com  

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

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

Dream Workshop on Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to noon at 2199 Bancroft Way. Cost is $10. www.practicaldreamwork.com 

SUNDAY, APRIL 11 

Before Sunrise Birdwalk Greet the dawn and learn the songs of our avian friends. Meet at 6 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center. 525-2233. 

Easter Sunrise with Epworth United Methodist Church at 6:39 a.m. at the foot of Cesar Chavez Park overlooking the Bay. We will greet the sunrise with music, readings and hot cocoa. 524-2921. 

Who Was Easter? Look for sign of spring and learn the lore and customs of Eostre and her bunny companion. From 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Tilden nature Center. 525-2233. 

Golden State Model Railroad Museum open from noon to 5 p.m. Also open on Saturdays and Friday evenings from 7 to 10 p.m. Located in the Miller-Knox Regional Shoreline Park at 900-A Dornan Drive in Pt. Richmond. Admission is $2-$3. 234-4884 or www.gsmrm.org 

“Cracking the Easter Egg” with Sarah Lewis of the GTU, at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Tibetan Buddhism, with Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek on “Cultivating the Essential Link of Devotion” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Eckhart Tolle Talks on Video, free gatherings at 6:30 p.m. to hear the words of the author of “The Power of Now” at the Feldenkrais Ctr., 830 Bancroft Way. 415.990.8977 or mayahealer@yahoo.com.  

MONDAY, APRIL 12 

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

“Iron Jawed Angels” a film depicting the strength, courage and perseverance of the 2nd generation suffragettes in their struggle to secure the vote for women. At 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Everyone welcome. Refreshments will be provided. 644-0480. 

Women’s Cancer Resource Center, volunteer training, every second Monday of the month, from 6 to 8 p.m. at 5741 Telegraph Ave. To sign up call Emily at 601-4040, ext. 109. emily@wcrc.org 

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

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

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

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

ONGOING 

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

Help Protect Berkeley’s Public Trees by campaigning for a Berkeley Public Tree Act. To learn more and help call 594-4088, or visit www.BerkeleyIssues.org 

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

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

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

botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

CITY MEETINGS 

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

ca.us/commissions/women 

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

us/commissions/firesafety 

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

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

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

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

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

keley.ca.us/commissions/zoning  

It’s not walking and it’s not biking, but it’s transportation that doesn’t hurt the environment. Many say it’s the newest invention that promises to revolutionize the 21st century. 

It’s bio-diesel, made from recycled restaurant oil. Thanks to a number of concerned and motivated local citizens it’s becoming increasingly more accessible to the regular consumer here in Berkeley. 

The City of Berkeley is already on bio-diesel’s cutting edge. In 2001, thanks to a large push from the Ecology Center, a local community and environmental organization, the city became the first to run its entire fleet of recycling trucks on the new alternative fuel. The success of the switch impressed city officials, and today a large part of the city’s diesel fleet—including fire trucks, school busses and public works vehicles—run on bio-diesel at least part of the time. 

Because bio-diesel runs in regular diesel engines with no mechanical modifications needed, the only necessary part of the equation is the supplier. 

Before the city’s switch, consumers had few supply options for the fuel. Several were reduced to brewing it in backyard blenders. 

Alternative outlets now exist. The newest and most promising is the budding Biofuel Oasis, a small biofuel station in South Berkeley. The Biofuel Oasis is still in its beginning stages; it is open several days a week, but with a limited supply of product. There are hopes for expansion though, for it now functions as a mainstay for those few who have made the switch.  

Biofuel Oasis, which only recently has been serving fuel, is the brainchild of SaraHope Smith and Jennifer Radtke. They are limited by city regulations and can only store 55 gallons one site for now. They hope to have a pump eventually, but are still waiting for full approval from the city. 

Nonetheless, Smith and Radtke say hurdles will be overcome and are excited about contributing to a change that many hope will revolutionize the way the gas business is done. “We started because we had to, it makes so much sense,” said Smith. 

Besides reducing harmful emissions, bio-diesel has another redeeming quality setting it apart from fossil fuels—it is made from vegetable oil, a renewable resource. The only modification needed is a process that uses chemicals to thin the oil and create the same viscosity as regular gasoline. bio-diesel recycles oil that would otherwise be dumped in landfills. In addition, its supporters say, engine performance is not reduced 

The Biofuel Oasis does not make its own fuel and instead buys it in bulk from a supplier in Ukiah. At $2.90 per gallon it’s still more expensive than regular gas, but the price has dropped substantially from earlier times. According to Smith, biofuel used to go for upwards of eight dollars a gallon. 

The other option here in Berkeley is the Berkeley Bio-Diesel Co-Op. Officially formed on the one-year anniversary of 9/11, the group has around 30 active members. The general public can’t but from the co-op, but Berkeley residents can join. 

According to co-op member Jason Wilkinson, the Biofuel Oasis has helped fill the supply gap lately so the co-op has turned their efforts more towards advocacy. Last week, the group held a bio-diesel car show with a variety of personal and city vehicles on display. Bio-Diesel Co-Op runs workshops on how to make bio-diesel and are working on getting an established office space. 

“bio-diesel is fuel for the revolution because it has the potential to be democratic and de-centralized,” said Jason Wilkinson, a co-op member. “It’s the one way for the community to reclaim the power we’ve given to unaccountable politicians and multinationals.” 

A third alternative fuel option is a different take on the same concept. As part of business called Neoteric Fuels, local Berkeley resident Craig Reece sells and installs kits on diesel cars that run pure vegetable oil. Unlike bio-diesel, which needs to be thinned, Reeces’ engines run on vegetable oil straight from restaurant fryers. 

Instead of thinning the oil, Reece and his partner came up with an attachment that fits onto the engine and heats and filters the oil. Heating the oil, like adding chemicals, increases the viscosity and allows the car to run without any other modifications. 

The car modification is an add-on, costing in the neighborhood of $600, but it’s a one time thing and frees people from dependence on a Biofuel supplier. Reece gets his fuel from a local restaurant that ends up giving him more fuel per week than he can use. The restaurant is happy because they used to have to pay to have the oil taken away. For his part, Reece has no complaints, either. He gets his gas free. 

One variation of Reece’s add-on is the two tank system where the car starts on regular diesel or bio-diesel and then, with heat from the engine and an auxiliary heater, the car starts running on vegetable oil at the flip of a switch. Like bio-diesel, vegetable oil doesn’t reduce the car’s performance. 

Reece says he can comfortably store enough fuel in his tank and in five-gallon containers in the back of his car to go about 2,400 miles. Unlike bio-diesel, vegetable oil can be purchased in grocery stores. 

With the two tank system “people can still go on the road. They can still fill up on diesel or go to a local Chinese restaurant or Costco,” said Reece.      ˇ

GALENA, Alaska—The Nuclear Regulatory Commission hasn’t issued a permit for a new commercial nuclear power plant in the United States since the late 1980s, when the technology topped the list of energy industry taboos following the infamous meltdown of the Chernobyl reactor in the U.S.S.R. But if Japan’s Toshiba Corporation has its way, the prototype for a new generation of “micronuclei” power plants will be constructed on a remote stretch of the Yukon River in Alaska before the end of the decade. 

Last summer, representatives from Toshiba made the journey from Tokyo to Galena, a predominately Alaska Native village with a population of about 700. They met with community leaders to present their “4S” system, which stands for Super-Safe, Small and Simple.  

According to Toshiba, the 4S could cut electricity costs for the village by more than 75 percent for at least 30 years. The plant would also use water from the Yukon River to create hydrogen gas to be stored in fuel cells, one of the most talked-about forms of renewable energy in recent years. 

Galena serves as a hub for a handful of smaller villages along the Yukon and its tributaries. The region is made up of thousands of square miles of largely untouched boreal forest encompassing three National Wildlife Refuges, and includes some of the world’s most renowned moose habitat. Like most communities in Western Alaska, Galena is a fly-in village; there are no highways, roads, or power lines linking it to the state’s larger population centers. Large diesel generators must produce all electricity locally, using fuel delivered by a river barge during the summer months when the Yukon is ice-free. 

The resulting electricity costs for local residents per kilowatt-hour is nearly three times the national average, even with assistance from a state-funded subsidy program.  

Toshiba has pledged that the 4S prototype would be constructed at no cost to the village. Galena would have a cheap, clean-burning solution to all its energy needs for three decades, in exchange for becoming an international nuclear guinea pig.  

Community member Rand Rosecrans cautioned Toshiba representatives at the presentation that many residents would have strong opinions: “You say the word ‘nuclear‚’ and lots of people are going to have an automatic negative reaction.” So far, tribal and city leaders have expressed a cautious interest and desire to learn more about the idea. 

“Like anything new, it’s going to have to be studied pretty closely before we agree to bring it in,” Louden Village Council Chief Peter Captain told the Anchorage Daily News. 

In 2001, the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University released working papers that examined the 4S system and three other similar reactors. The report was co-authored by Neil Brown, a Nuclear Engineer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In a phone interview, Brown explained that besides being smaller than most reactors, the 4S is a liquid sodium-cooled reactor, not a water-cooled one. 

According to Brown, there are 21 sodium-cooled reactors around the world—including Japan’s MONJU reactor, which Toshiba helped construct with three other companies in the 1985.  

After construction delays, MONJU first went critical in 1994, but was shut down after an accidental sodium leak and fire occurred in late 1995 while operating on low power. No radiation leaked out, but community concerns have kept MONJU shut down. 

“MONJU has definitely not been a success,” says Paul Gunter, a reactor specialist with the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Washington, D.C. Gunter said that experience with sodium-cooled reactors in the United States has not been much better. “The main concern (with this type of reactor) is that sodium and water have a tremendous explosive reaction. There was another near accident in Detroit at Fermi Unit One in 1966, resulting from loose parts.” 

But attorney Douglas Rosinski, of the Washington, D.C., firm Shaw Pittman, which represents Toshiba, says the 4S system is nothing like the infamous nuclear power plants of the past. He compares the 4S to a completely self-contained, automated “nuclear battery” with no moving parts. At the heart of the 4S system is a log-sized uranium core, which would generate power for 30 years before needing to be disposed of and replaced. 

Brown said the reactor is similar to the first submarine reactors, and that Toshiba’s design includes inherent safety characteristics, making it “a low-pressure, self-cooling reactor.”  

Toshiba hopes to have a 4S system operational by the end of the decade, but the cost of testing and licensing the prototype to the satisfaction of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission could keep it from getting off the ground. Which is why a rural Alaska Native village with remarkably high-energy costs was chosen as an ideal site for a prototype. 

Rosinski and others seek to gather enough political support to secure significant funding for the project. Alaska’s senior Senator, Republican Ted Stevens, the Senate pro tempore and chair of the powerful appropriations committee, has said that he supports Toshiba’s proposal, but that it will have to first clear the hurdle of public opinion. 

The Department of Energy plans to send staff to the region to evaluate energy production capabilities, including the 4S. They plan to complete a report by the summer. 

Eric Mack is a freelance writer based in Galena, Alaska.›

On Sunday I attended my friend Jernae’s fourteenth birthday party. It was held at the Martin Luther King Pool, located at Bayview Playground on Third Street in Hunter’s Point. Behind a chain link fence, her mother and relatives had dragged a portable barbecue across a grassy field and cooked up a pile of ribs and wings. They covered a picnic table with enormous square pans filled with potato salad, coleslaw, deviled eggs and macaroni and cheese. Paper plates overflowed with chips and dip, pickles and pork rinds. Coolers sat on the ground, packed with soda pop and ice tea. 

Each young party guest brought with them 50 cents, and when the pool opened they all ran inside and jumped into the shallow end. There they yelled and screamed and splashed at each other along with dozens of other kids, all crammed behind the rope that divided them from the rest of the facility. Nervous, serious lifeguards paced up and down along the cement apron while three quarters of the clear blue chlorinated pool water lay calm, empty and undisturbed, reserved for those who knew how to swim. 

I couldn’t help but contrast this coming of age party to the bat mitzvah I had attended the year before. It was held at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall, a beautiful old venue which was ornately refurbished to resemble the site of Cinderella’s ball, a New York City debutante’s coming out party, and a scene from a Roman orgy. There, over 100 well-dressed guests lined up at the open bar and later were formally seated at small linen covered tables where we dined on filet mignon, seared salmon, perfectly grilled baby vegetables and champagne while listening to classical music. After dinner, a fully orchestrated blues band, whose members knew the words and music spanning a multitude of generations, cajoled everyone onto the dance floor where we wiggled and swayed, attempting pathetic interpretations of the Twist, the Pony and the Cool Jerk. It was a far cry from the scratchy boom box playing the latest mumbled rap lyrics on the picnic table at Bayview Playground. 

It might be easy to dismiss that bat mitzvah as over the top, bordering on ostentatious, except that it wasn’t. It was fun and tasteful and the occasion so joyous and celebratory, so full of meaning and hope and good intentions that even thinking about it now makes me smile. I want every little girl to have a party like that. Hell, I want a party like that myself, where the community that surrounds me—my friends, my parents, their friends and congregation—promises to look after and guide me, support me in my endeavors, turn me around should I go down the wrong path. I want a full-on blues band to play the Oldies But Goodies. I want a crowd of people to lift me in a chair above their heads and rap ancient lyrics while spinning me around and clapping. I want to blow out 52 candles on a gourmet chocolate cake and share it with everyone. 

Back in Hunter’s Point, Jernae’s mother lit 14 candles on a fluffy white Safeway sheet cake that had pastel pink, yellow and blue roses gracing the top. We all sang “Happy Birthday,” which then transcended into a modern rendition that I was unfamiliar with, but it had a good, hip swinging beat. Jernae blew out the candles and made a wish. I made one too: a silent pledge of support and a hope that every kid across the Bay Area, from Hunter’s Point to Sea Cliff, from West Oakland to Woodside, from East Palo Alto to Mill Valley, will have a birthday party like those I attended at the Great American Music Hall and Martin Luther King Pool, where family members and friends promise to love and guide their children toward a future that is bright, beautiful and full of positive, buoyant possibility.›

UNIVERSITY AVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

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

Berkeley is facing that same fate. 

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

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

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

John Parman 

Berkeley and New York 

• 

PARKING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jon Alff 

• 

SECTION 8 HOUSING 

It has been three months but Berkeley Housing Authority Supervisor Sharon Jackson has been keeping my request for “reasonable accommodation” hanging—a request for a permission that will enable me undergo needed medical treatment. And until she does so, I cannot start my treatment. 

Can our elected representatives help me here? I’m a tenant living in an apartment under the Section 8 program. Berkeley Department of Housing oversees that program. I have to leave my apartment for a needed medical treatment and that may take more than a month. I talked with the Section 8 department and they said that usually they don’t allow tenants to leave for more than 30 days.  

A staff attorney of East Bay Community Law Center, who is their expert on the Section 8 program, researched the statutes for me and she gave the opinion that there is nothing in the law that prevents them from granting my specific request and so they are legally required to accommodate my request. A second attorney of EBCLC concurred. I also sought the help of Housing Rights Inc, a nonprofit contracted by the City of Berkeley to advise the Section 8 department and they also concurred. In fact, they wrote the letter to the Housing Department requesting the “reasonable accommodation” on my behalf citing the relevant laws that requires them to grant my request. My physician also wrote a letter explaining the medical necessity of getting that treatment. These letters were submitted to Ms Sharon Jackson at the end of December.  

When Ms. Jackson didn’t respond in a month, I sought the help of Councilmember Kriss Worthington. His office called Mr. Steven Barton—the director of Berkeley Housing Department and Ms. Jackson’s supervisor. I also went and talked to him. However, I haven’t received the permission yet. I’ve been calling his secretary every week or two but her answer has been “We are working on it.” I asked her, “What is there to work on except for writing out the approval letter?” She has no answer. Even the people of Housing Rights Inc. are horrified at this conduct of Ms Jackson. They suggested me to complain to HUD about this discrimination. There is the possibility that because I had complained about her to her superior in the past, she is retaliating against me. 

A few days ago I talked with Mr. Barton’s office again. His secretary called Ms Sharon Jackson and she communicated to me that “Sharon Jackson said that she has nothing against granting my request” but she has referred my matter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. And she will answer only when they respond.  

Would our elected officials investigate this matter? This has been three months since my letter was submitted and what did Ms Jackson do within these three months? When did she refer my request to HUD? How long did she hang on my letter before sending it to HUD? My guess is that she has done it only recently when she ran out of all objection to granting my legitimate request. Does she refer all requests for “reasonable accommodation” to HUD or have I been singled out? And why did she not approve the letter in the first place especially when she has “nothing against granting it” If she has nothing against granting a request, does she refer that request to HUD for approval in other cases as well? Or does it not seem that she is trying her best to harass me? 

What has she done to deserve her outrageous salary of $90,000 a year, outrageous when you compare it with her mediocre job performance, coming out of the pocketbooks of Berkeley taxpayers? Why can’t the city hire a competent person to do her job instead? 

Sooner or later, the city will be sued if this pattern of harassment continues. Why can’t the city prevent that in time by giving her a pink slip? 

T. Alam 

PS: After I told Mr. Barton, the director of housing for Berkeley, that I intended to publish this letter in the Daily Planet, things started moving. I got my approval. But all my questions still remain. Why was I harassed for three months for this? Will our elected officials answer me? 

• 

OAKLAND VIOLENCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

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

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

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

Andrea Page 

Oakland 

ˇ

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing to protest the irresponsible, inflammatory “news” story written about King Middle School by Matthew Artz and published as fact by your newspaper on March 26 “School District Fails to Protect Bullying Victim at MLK”). The article presented a distorted, one-sided viewpoint and was designed to create a negative image of our school and district. Artz deliberately omitted all evidence that King, as well as all middle schools in Berkeley Unified, are working hard to prevent bullying and harassment in our schools.  

I teach eighth grade English and history at King and am released from the classroom part time to coordinate BUSD’s anti-bullying efforts at the middle school level. Your readers should know that on Wednesday, March 17, Matthew Artz called me about the upcoming article. I explained to him that, in addition to current policies and practices already in place, all middle school staff members met together on our Feb. 2 professional development day to create action plans to further address bullying and harassment in our school communities. We have refined these plans at staff meetings in February and March and have made a strong commitment to further implement the activities throughout the school year.  

Matthew Artz was also provided with extensive materials related to our district’s efforts, including information about “Let’s Get Real,” a cutting edge documentary where teenagers talk frankly about their roles as bullies, bystanders and allies. The documentary was shown on Feb. 2 to staff and since that time, in all humanities and English classes as well as parents and guardians at King, Willard and Longfellow, followed by discussions and related activities. Every middle school department addressed some element of bullying. For example, math classes explored startling statistics about bullying and harassment; physical education teachers discussed safety in locker rooms; science teachers administered a survey to gather data about how safe students feel in various areas of school, and which forms of harassment are most common. In addition, each school conducted an anti-bullying poster design contest, with prizes generously funded by the East Bay Community Foundation.  

Although I spoke with Artz at length and arranged for him to receive the follow-up information, he did not include one word of what I said in his article; nor did he refer to the materials provided to him. Artz intentionally chose to ignore the positive and instead located people to support his false premise that King is an unsafe school with an irresponsible administration. 

Artz also failed to look at the bigger picture. Bullying and harassment exists in all schools in the nation, including at King. According to the Family and Work Institute’s 2002 National Survey of Students in grades 5-12, 66 percent of youth are teased at least once a month. The National Crime Prevention Council reports that six in every 10 teenagers witness bullying at least once a day (2003). Every school has problems. 

Furthermore, no district has found a viable solution to the problem. I recently spoke at the annual conference of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development which was attended by 10,000 educators from all over North America. The exhibit center was filled with programs to create “Bully Free” schools, teach respect and resolve conflicts among students. Each year, the number of these programs increase; this is an indication that harassment and bullying is a pervasive and complex problem with no simple solutions.  

Although it is certainly a school’s responsibility to create safe and respectful learning environments, we must also look at the society in which we are raising our children. We live in a violent, hostile world full of racism, sexism, homophobia, economic inequities and other forms of oppression. Children learn at an early age that some groups have power and others are marginalized. Violence is a sold as entertainment; put-downs are a source of comic relief in films; and disrespectful language is pervasive. Our country fights invisible enemies and limits the freedom of its citizens in the process. Yet, we expect students to respect themselves and others and resolve conflicts peacefully when they are surrounded by institutionalized bullying put in place by adults! The staff at King will continue to work hard to make our school safe, and it is an uphill struggle. 

When I received my B.S. in journalism from Boston University, we learned that the job of a reporter was, above all, to remain objective, present all sides of a story, put the facts in context of the bigger picture, and maintain impeccable ethics. Matthew Artz failed in all of these areas. His one-sided attack on our school is not journalism; rather, it is bullying and harassment given an audience by the Daily Planet. 

Jan M. Goodman 

Teacher, King Middle School 

Seagate Properties breezed through the Civic Arts Commission recently with a density bonus proposal that should have raised the eyebrows of more than the three commissioners who voted it down. 

The density bonus is designed to “increase the supply of suitable space for fine arts and performing arts organizations in the downtown” by offering two extra floors to builders who include a public space for the arts. 

The concept is inspired. The language, however, is ambiguous, and mixed with a developer’s pressure and the planning department’s sometimes short-sighted enthusiasm, the results can be as embarrassing as the empty cultural space that bestowed the density bonus on Patrick Kennedy’s downtown Gaia building, which argued successfully that the inclusion of a (now defunct) bookstore satisfied the density bonus requirements, and netted the community an empty hole. 

The Seagate Properties’ promoters brought the Berkeley Repertory Theater into the package to add solidity to the deal and oversee the performance  

space, but negotiated with that group and the Planning Department for 32 months in private, by their own admission, presenting the proposal to the commission as a done deal. Their proposal states, “It should be noted that these drawings were approved in draft form with Phil Kamlarz, city manager then acting as planning director as part of the three-way negotiations between the Berkeley Rep and City of Berkeley and Seagate. The application contains these very same drawings and pre approved text.” 

It’s not surprising that the Berkeley Repertory Theater was an enthusiastic partner. A review of the proposed floor plan shows that the actual performance space is only slightly larger than the “ancillary support” and “production support” storage space set aside for the Berkeley Repertory Theater alone. The programming proposal offers only 100 days of regularly scheduled public events, only 52 of which are required to be offered to other arts groups, who will be charged rent by the Berkeley Repertory Theater for the privilege of the use. 

If this sounds okay to you, then it won’t bother you at all that part of the square footage helping to meet the density bonus requirement is a pedestrian walkway connecting Center and Addison streets which will have space for “visual display.” 

Seagate Properties will be collecting rent on its upper floors 365 days a year, and, with the assistance of the most well-heeled theater group in town, robbing the downtown of an honest, and honestly public, community arts amenity. 

District Council Representative Dona Spring, to her credit, is suggesting tightening up the ambiguous language in the current arts density bonus. But the language is not necessarily the problem. We should be asking much more from those who interpret the language, so that Berkeley’s artists are not shut out again. 

Carol Denney is a Berkeley musician.

If you’ve ever used a moisturizer that left your skin feeling soft and smooth instead of greasy, you have Libby Labs, one of West Berkeley’s major light manufacturers, to thank. “We brought that technology into the industry,” says the company’s founder and guiding spirit, 85-year-old Henry (“Hank”) Libby. Today, Libby’s daughter Susan, 56, and son Gordon, 59, run the company, which makes both cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.  

Hank and Susan recall how the “disappearing” moisturizer was developed in 1963.  

“Two ladies came by with a station wagon full of tomatoes and papayas and things like that,” says Hank Libby. “They said, ‘We want you to make cosmetic products out of fruits and veggies—natural products.’ I said: ‘This is ridiculous.’ [Remember, this was 1963.] ‘But we can extract the papayas or we can buy strawberry extracts on the market, and we can put them into product vehicles—rational products.’”  

By rational products, Hank Libby meant things that could be formulated in a manner that could be controlled and tested. He also meant things that were commercially viable—things that would sell and that had shelf life. What the ladies in the station wagon had was an idea that might or might not have been feasible. They “were just kind of mooshing it together in their kitchen,” says Susan Libby. When they showed up at the lab, they “were about ready to give up,” her father recalls. “They had no place else to go, so they stayed with me.”  

Libby gave the two women what they needed—formulations that enabled them to transform their kitchen concoctions into marketable goods. Under the label Holiday Magic, his clients sold herbal shampoo, banana lotion and strawberry cream. Besides providing the vehicle for their concept of fruit-and-vegetable-based cosmetics, Libby Labs developed at their behest the first cosmetic cream that disappeared into the skin. 

“The ladies’ product got big,” says Libby. “I implemented production for them in Canada and in Mexico. Eventually, they took it around the world. That launched Libby Labs.” 

Since then, Libby has formulated thousands of products. A few of its introductions: a cream that keeps cows’ udders from freezing up in cold weather, the fingertip moistener that sits in little tubs on bank counters, clear glycerin soap (developed for the Berkeley company now known as Body Time), and the first non-PABA sunscreen. Most of the lab’s creations are made in response to client requests and are designed to the customer’s specifications, if possible.  

Indeed, one issue that needs to be resolved at the start is whether a client’s idea is doable. “People always think it’s going to work,” says Susan Libby. But “sometimes people ask for things that can’t be done.” There’s also the question of whether a client’s request is an appropriate assignment for the company. To begin, is it safe? Will it meet public health and regulatory requirements? A further consideration is whether it will involve ingredients that Libby Labs doesn’t want to handle—hazardous substances, for example. And will it require equipment that the lab doesn’t have? “Sometimes,” says Susan, “we do product development and charge fees for it, even if the formulation doesn’t work out….You never know who’s going to make it. Some of the odd ones do!”  

With only twenty-five employees, family-owned Libby Labs is a rarity in a pharmaceutical industry that is dominated by giant corporations. “There aren’t very many companies like us,” says Susan Libby, “because at this time it’s hard to exist in this business and be small.”  

One factor here is the plethora of regulations, the likes of which didn’t exist when Hank Libby started the business in 1959. Libby Labs has to meet requirements for storm water, EBMUD waste water, OSHA and air quality, among other things. The company works with a consultant who’s an expert on environmental regulations and hazardous materials.  

Susan Libby’s not complaining. On the contrary: “We do a lot of stuff that you don’t have to do,” she says. “Yes, we do it because the Food and Drug Administration requires certain things. We are highly regulated because we are a drug manufacturer. But we don’t have to do it for our cosmetics. The FDA really doesn’t care about our cosmetics, even though they come here. But we care about it ourselves, because it makes it easier to make good product consistently. So, if you check your raw materials before you put them in the batch, then you don’t have a batch that goes awry because there was something wrong with the raw materials.”  

There’s another reason that small pharmaceutical labs like Libby are rare: few people know how to formulate. “In the old days”, says Susan, “the pharmacists had to take the active drug, put it into the vehicle, and actually make the products. Nowadays, it’s all pre-made.” Even in 1955, when Hank Libby went back to school—he was already a practicing industrial chemist—and earned a Pharm. D. from the University of California, San Francisco, UCSF was one of the few places you could study the old, artisanal compounding heritage, updated to current scientific concepts.  

With his degree in hand, Libby could have been a pharmacist, and in fact he was very active in organizing the pharmacy at the now-defunct Co-op. But he dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur—of starting his own lab where new products could be developed. In the early years, says Susan, Libby Labs “was a family operation. All the kids would come and help on the weekends—Mom, too. She did the invoicing….Dad talked about the business over the dinner table every night. I used to work there in the summertime. It was just part of life.” So, too, to judge from the tones with which Susan and Hank Libby jointly describe their firm, was a deep mutual respect and affection between father and daughter. 

The Libbys are proud of their company, and not just because of its record of innovative product development. They also see Libby Labs as making important contributions to the local economy and community in its capacity as a light manufacturer. The first benefit to the city, says Susan, is diversity. “You don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket. Second, the kinds of jobs we have. We do employ people at all skill levels. We have good benefits. They’re quality jobs. And I think we’ve laid one person off since 1959.”  

From the other side, the business has benefited from Berkeley’s commitment to manufacturing. Indeed, Libby Labs is where it is—in West Berkeley on the southwest corner of 6th and Virginia—because in the mid-1970s city officials invited it to be there. At that time the land belonged to the city. Envisioning the firm as an anchor for an industrial park, Berkeley sold the site to Hank Libby for $90,000—“a deal,” he says. The park never came to pass, but Libby Labs stayed and prospered. 

Unofficially, Berkeley also provided the Libbys with something that money couldn’t buy: instant cachet. “When I started the business,” says Hank, “you’d get on the phone and start talking business around the world, and when you said, ‘I’m calling you from Berkeley, California,’ you had immediate status, due to the University and the community. The success of Libby Labs depended on Berkeley.”  

It depended on one thing more: Hank Libby’s spirit of inquiry, enterprise and goodwill. Half a century after the founding of Libby Labs, that spirit is in ample evidence in the enthusiasm with which he describes a current project. “I’ve got some stuff here,” he says, gesturing toward the contents of a small, covered jar that sits on his desk, “that’s a concept. We did a product for polo ponies. When they get a scratch, they’re susceptible to infection—you’ve got to keep the insects away. Well, you know those kids in Africa—you see pictures with wounds with bugs on them? Well, I want to adapt that product to help that.”  

You can’t help believing that Hank Libby and Libby Labs will find a way. 

›

The last time bartender Joshua Cluff had to toss people out of the Albatross pub was because they were arguing too loudly about the Iraq war. Last Saturday, the Albatross froze as a woman yelled in triumphant glee, not because the University of Connecticut had made it to the NCAA finals, but because she had just won a game of trivial pursuit on an obscure geography question. At the table to the woman’s right, Liz Guneratne and Tajma Evans sat drinking a flask of wine while their dog Luke munched on popcorn crumbs. 

Sound like a typical bar? Probably not. But that’s why the Berkeley’s Albatross pub is special. Unlike any other local watering hole, the Albatross has created an alternative niche that’s fits in perfectly, Berkeley-style. 

“It’s kind of like a community center that happens to sell liquor,” is how co-owner Wendy Halambeck would describe the Albatross. She and Linda Zsilavetz, the other co-owner, bought the pub seven years ago from brothers Bob and Val Johnson. This Wednesday, the Albatross turns 40, and all are encouraged to come out and celebrate both the old and new, the legacy, and what has quickly re-become a community mainstay. 

Originally opened in 1964, the Albatross was hip during the ‘60s and ‘70s but afterwards fell into disrepair. Then came Halambeck and Zsilavetz. Along with refurbishing almost everything in the bar, the pair worked to create a new and unique bar-scene atmosphere that would foster comfortable socialization, not just drinking. 

They kept the dartboards in the back, brought in a pool table, bought every board game imaginable, decided to allow dogs on leashes, put local artists’ work up on the walls, and made sure to play the music low enough so you could hear the person talking with you from across the table. 

On any given day of the week, you can walk into the Albatross and find a group of young men drinking beer and playing darts and immediately to their left a pair of older men talking philosophy. In the next room, college kids at their table will be screaming like 7-year-olds as they play “Connect Four.” Tucked away in a corner, near the wood burning stove, are a couple enjoying the atmosphere and the fact that they don’t have to go hoarse from shouting at each other. 

Combined, all the patrons create a sort of balance. 

“It’s a weird hybrid of a coffee shop and bar,” is how bartender Joshua Cuff describes the atmosphere. “People don’t come here to drink, they come here to do things around drinking. It provides an opportunity for people to engage on another level.” 

Nonetheless, the drinking is still an important part. With 13 beers on tap (local, national and international), more than 50 bottled beers (there is an emphasis on Belgian beer), a variety of single malt and Irish whiskeys, and a certain class of mixed drink (absolutely no umbrella drinks), there is plenty to chose from. 

Another perk is the Sunday night trivia competition. Hundreds pack into the back room to intellectually duke it out over pitchers of beer. Hosted by Jeff, another bartender, the game draws swarms of locals—intellectuals and non-intellectuals alike. There is also live music several nights a week. 

The pub has drawn a host of interesting characters over the years. There is Funny Old Bruce, who has walked through the front door every day since the Albatross opened 40 years ago, and who drinks only root beer and Calistoga water. According to Halambeck, Sean Penn also stops by once in a while. 

Along with the patrons are the stories. One that sticks out in Halambeck’s mind is the time that the pub staff helped a young man propose to his girlfriend during trivia night. They set up the questions so that each answer was one of the words in the sentence, “Will you marry me?” As Jeff read off the answers, saying the sentence over the microphone, the man got down and proposed. 

Another story is the one of a young woman who had come to the pub to work on her physics homework. The waiter serving her saw she was struggling and knew there was a physics professor in the other room, so the waiter brought the two together. 

The pub has also gained notoriety outside of Berkeley. According to Cluff, the Albatross has become part of a larger well-known bar circuit with patrons coming from all parts of the Bay Area. 

“You feel like you’re part of a community when you’re here,” said Michelle Mulkey, who was with a group from San Francisco who had made the trip across the Bay just to come to the Albatross. “I would give anything to have this in San Francisco.” She added that she’s glad it’s not, “or I’d be an alcoholic.” 



TUESDAY, APRIL 6 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Paintings by Julia Ross, colorful acrylics and watercolors, urban scenes and florals on display at The French Hotel, 1538 Shattuck Ave. through April 30. 527-0173. 

CHILDREN 

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

FILM 

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

READINGS AND LECTURES 

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

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

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

Annie Koh co-author of “How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

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

www.thejazzhouse.com 

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

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7 

CHILDREN 

Craft Program Make “Wild Things” masks at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 981-6280. 

Craft Program Make Harry Potter wizard hats and wands at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Central Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223. 

FILM 

Meet Your Makers: “Peep Show” at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

A Conversation with Ballet Stars Kyra Nichols and Sally Streets Join Berkeley native, Kyra Nichols, star of the New York City Ballet, and her mother, renowned ballet teacher and former NYCB dancer, in a discussion of their respective careers, at 7 p.m. at SF Performing Arts Library and Museum, Veteran’s Bldg., 4th flr, 401 Van Ness Ave., SF. Cost is $15, and reservations can be made by calling 415-255-4800. www.sfpalm.org 

Cara Black reads from her mystery, “Murder in the Bastille,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Nazelah Jamison and Karen Ladson at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7,  

$5 with student i.d. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

“The Asian Galleries” a conversation with Joanna Williams and Raka Ray at noon at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

“An Afternoon with Charles Burnett,” with the artist in person at 3 p.m. at at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

VaaM, collaborative efforts of artists, musicians and filmmakers from around the Bay Area, at iMusicast, 5429 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. all-ages welcome. 

The Creole Belles with special guest Andrew Carriere at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Diana Castillo at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Josh Redman Unit, modern jazz, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

John Wesley Harding, social commentary and humor, 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 

Whiskey Brothers perform old time and bluegrass at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Orquestra Sora performs salsa music at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

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

Sam Bevan Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

THURSDAY, APRIL 8 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“Kids Collect: Honoring Elders” an exhibition by students from four Oakland schools. Runs to June 6 at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Admission $4-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“The Big Picture” an exhibition of large format prints at Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. Reception for the artists from 6 to 8 p.m. Exhibition runs to May 22. 549-2977.  

FILM 

Charles Burnett: “Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

College National Poetry Slam opens at 5 p.m. and continues April 9 and 10. Tickets are $7-$10 available from www.virtuous.com 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Jeanne Powell and Wendy Brown, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. For information call 526-5985 or 205-1749.  

“Ant Farm 1968-1978” Guided Tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

“The Best Travellers Tales 2004” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. at Rose. 843-3533. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Albatross’ 40th Anniversary Party from 7 to 10 p.m. at 1822 San Pablo Ave. Buffet, prizes, pool and darts and live music by the Bluegrass Intentions. Free admission. 843-2473. 

Shoghaken Ensemble, traditional Armenian music, at 8 p.m., Wheeler Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Alex Wise, acoustic swamp, 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 

Oakland Wolf Walk Bluegrass Festival with Jimbo Trout and the Fish People at 9 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Cost is $8. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Markus James and the Wassonrai featuring Mamadou Sidibe at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys at 5 and 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $29.50 in advance, $30.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Swoop Unit at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

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

Bitches Brew, Flowtilla at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

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

FRIDAY, APRIL 9 

CHILDREN 

Easter Treasury at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-3635. 

FILM 

Sound of Music Sing-A-Long to April 15 at 7 p.m. (except April 11, 12) at the Landmark California Theatre, 2113 Kittredge St. Tickets are $10-$15 available from 866-468-3399 or on-line at www.ticketweb.com 

Charles Burnett: “Glass Shield” at 7:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre Company “Antigone Falun Gong” at 8 p.m. Wed.-Sat., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. through May 16. Tickets are $28-$40 available from 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

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

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

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Katya Kamisaruk introduces “Beat the Heat: How to Handle Encounters with Law Enforcement,” at 7 p.m. at AK Press Warehouse, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. 208-1700. www.akpress.org 

College National Poetry Slam opens at 6 p.m. and continues April 10. Tickets are $7-$10 available from www.virtuous.com 

“By the Light of the Moon” open mic for women at Changemakers, 6536 Telegraph Ave. Cost is $3-$7. 655-2405. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Company” a musical performed by UC Choral Ensembles at 8 p.m. in the Choral Rehearsal Hall, Room 20 (basement level) of Cesar Chavez Student Center, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$10. 

“Ancestories ... Stories from Beneath the Skirts,” dance and drum works of the African Diaspora at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12 in advance, $15 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Dandeline 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 

Joel Futterman, Ike Levin, Alvin Fielder Trio, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $15-$18. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

O-Maya at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys at 5 and 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $29.50 in advance, $30.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Oakland Wolf Walk Bluegrass Festival with The Crooked Jades at 9:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Cost is $10. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

The Case Worker, Minmae, Built Like Alaska at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Quarteto Sonado, Afro-Cuban jazz, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

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

Jackie Ryan with the Jeff Pittson Trio at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

DJ & Brook, jazz trio, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Wil Bernard and Mother Bug at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 548-1159. 

www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Look Back and Laugh, Iron Lung, Add-C, Ashtray at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 10 

CHILDREN  

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

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

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Fibers and Dyes Exhibit Plants are the origin of the most popular fibers we use in our daily lives and of the dyes that provide us with colors. Feel fabrics, see and smell dyes and look at the many uses of fibers from around the world. In the Botanical Garden’s Conference Center during Garden hours 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free with Garden admission. UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

Volker Schlöndorff: “Circle of Deceit” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Charles Burnett A panel discussion on the film director’s work at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Youth Movement Records Artists at 8 p.m. at Youth Radio Cafe, 1801 University Ave. Cost is $3. 435-5112.  

Berkeley High Jazz Combo at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-2129. 

Angel Amkgik at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $20. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Gomer Hendrix, ska humor band at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Val Esway, Karry Walker and Kim Norlen at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. All ages welcome. Suggested donation of $7-$10, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Suzy Thompson at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Go Jimmy Go, Chris Murray, Solemite and The Soul Captives at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Oakland Wolf Walk Bluegrass Festival with The Papermill Rounders at 9:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $12. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

“Blaze” Hip Hop Dance Showcase with New Style Motherlode at 6:30 p.m. at Sweet’s Ballroom, 1933 Broadway Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. 597-1056. www.newstylemotherlode.com 

John Santos Quintet at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12 in advance, $14 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Mark Hummel, harmonica virtuoso, at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

Sam Rivers, an evening of conversation and music, at 8 and 10 p.m. at The Jazz House. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Spikedrivers, Anna Coogan & North 19 at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Famous Last Words at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

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

Communique, Kissing Tiger, The New Trust, Pistolito, The Killer Watts at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 11 

CHILDREN 

Asheba at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4 for children, $6 for adults. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

FILM 

“Jesus, You Know” at 5 and 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Joanna Goodman and Tucker Malarky at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alfred Brendel, piano, at 7 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$62, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Chamber Music Sundaes with musicians from San Francisco Symphony performing Schumann, Brahms and Grieg at 3:15 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $7-$18, available at the door. 415-584-5946. 

Joel Futterman, Ike Levin, Alvin Fielder Trio, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $15-$18. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Queens of Boogie Woogie at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Flamenco Open Stage with Carolla Zertuche at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

MONDAY, APRIL 12 

THEATER 

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

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

FILM 

“The Agronomist” a documentary on the life of journalist and human rights activist Jean Dominique of Haiti, at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies. 642-2088. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Herb Kohl discusses the public education system in “Stupidity and Tears” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.comÄ

The Ohlone, who were living in the Bay Area when the first Europeans arrived, left only a few scraps of oral tradition to puzzle over. One is a song, or part of a song, that goes: 

I dream of you, 

I dream of you jumping, 

Rabbit, 

Jackrabbit, 

Quail 

Anthropologists aren’t sure what to make of this. (Imagine trying to reconstruct our culture from, say, a couple of lines from “Uncle John’s Band.”) It could have been a hunting song. The Ohlone, according to Malcolm Margolin, relied heavily on brush rabbits and black-tailed jackrabbits for clothing (200 rabbit skins made a blanket) and food. They killed them with sticks, snares, slings, and arrows. Whole villages would set the underbrush on fire or beat the bushes to chase rabbits into a net. Rabbit drives were occasions of feasting, at which a good time was had by everyone except the rabbits. 

It’s possible, although not likely, that Rabbit was an Ohlone culture hero (Central California was more Coyote’s territory). The Owens Valley Paiute had a hero named Cottontail who attacked the Sun for being too hot, and Rabbit the Trickster was a prominent figure among some Southeastern and Great Lakes tribes. To the Yuchi, who lived along the Georgia-South Carolina border, he was a Prometheus figure who stole fire from its guardians. Contacts between Native Americans and African slaves in the plantation South may have grafted the rabbit character onto stories of West African tricksters like Anansi the Spider, giving rise to the tales of Br’er Rabbit. 

No offense to the Br’er, or to Bugs Bunny, but I’ve always had trouble with Rabbit as a trickster. Coyote or Raven, sure. Rabbits, though, don’t seem all that astute: you never wonder what a rabbit’s thinking. 

Granted, brush rabbits, the locally common species, have to be at least a little tricky to stay alive in a world full of enemies. (Brush rabbits are considered to be cottontails, a group unique to the Americas, although the undersides of their tails are brindled gray rather than cottony-white. The 15 or so cottontail species include the common eastern cottontail, introduced to parts of the West as a game animal, and the semi-aquatic swamp rabbit, which was likely the critter that went after Jimmy Carter in that notorious rabbit attack incident). 

The brush rabbit’s strongest suit is concealment. Its home range centers on thick cover, like an impenetrable (to us) blackberry tangle, through which it has established a maze of tunnels and runways. Before venturing out to eat, usually at dusk, it pauses at the threshold to scan for signs of danger. When hunted, brush rabbits are reluctant to break cover. They’ll climb into the shrubbery, even into low trees, rather than bolt into the open. 

They’re also good at keeping quiet. Like other rabbits, they don’t vocalize unless they’re frightened or in pain. After taking refuge in its briarpatch, a brush rabbit may thump its hind foot out of nervous tension. 

But predators—coyotes, foxes, bobcats, weasels, hawks, owls, snakes, even scrub-jays—still take a significant toll. As with many small mammals, brush rabbits counter by breeding early and often. Mating season in California runs from December through May; by April, most adult females are either pregnant or nursing young, or both. 

The authors of one study figured the average female brush rabbit produced 15 offspring per year. Without predation, that could amount over time to a lot of rabbits (just ask the Australians). In 1948 someone introduced brush rabbits to predator-free Ano Neuvo Island off the San Mateo County coast, best known for its elephant seal colony. The rabbits had built up population densities of 50 per acre by the 1960s, and had eaten enough of the island’s plant cover to ruin it as nesting habitat for white-crowned sparrows and other birds. Typical brush rabbit densities seem to be more like 17 per acre. 

Young brush rabbits, like other cottontails and “true” rabbits, are precocial: born blind and helpless. In contrast, hares like the jackrabbit give birth to altricial young that are up and around right away. A female brush rabbit hides her young in a form, a shallow burrow lined with her own fur and covered with a fur plug. Her only contact with them during their two weeks in the nest comes in nocturnal nursing visits. (The milk of European rabbits is said to be richer than cow or goat milk, although there have been practical obstacles to a rabbit dairy industry. I don’t know of any comparable studies for cottontails.) 

Egg production and delivery, of course, is beyond the talents of brush rabbits and their relatives. You have to wonder what the pre-contact Ohlone would have thought about that bit of Western mythology. 

The most arresting fact so far uncovered in Richard Brenneman’s ongoing series on rental vacancies in Berkeley was this quote from Ted Burton, the city’s Economic Development Project Coordinator: “The last update I had was a year ago, and we were running about 10 percent [commercial] vacancies downtown then.” This is the reason that Berkeley observers of the hectic pace of building projects to which Berkeley has been subjected in the past four years are tempted to call the city’s planning department “The Department of Data-Free Development.” We have no current data showing that we need more commercial space, and in fact our old data shows that we don’t, but let’s just build some anyhow. 

It’s not fair, of course, to ask city employees to take all the bla me for the thoughtless building spree of the recent past. Elected officials, notably the last mayor and the current mayor, have acted as enthusiastic cheerleaders for a process which has resulted in the destruction of historic buildings, the consumption o f open space, the constriction of neighborhoods, and the proliferation of “for rent” signs in tenantless ground floor windows on all of the city’s main streets. It’s gotten so bad that when we printed an architect’s photo-shopped conceptual rendition of y et another Big Ugly Box on University Avenue, we joked about adding a “for rent by John Gordon” sign in the obligatory ground floor retail space depicted in the drawing.  

Builders, of course, love building sprees, because that’s how they make their money. But as a city we have the responsibility to delve more deeply into why proposed buildings are needed, and especially IF they are needed at all. We need more viable businesses and more affordable habitable dwellings, not more empty storefronts and office s and more over-priced studios, which is what we’ve been given by city officials, both elected and employed, so far. In addition, they’ve engaged in activities either devious or thoughtless which undermine the sensible planning which has been done, agains t all odds, by citizen commissioners in the past. 

Two cases in point: the West Berkeley Plan and the University Avenue Strategic Plan. When I was running a high-tech business in West Berkeley, in an office space converted from a small manufacturing compa ny, many property owners, including my otherwise estimable landlord, were whining that the West Berkeley Plan made such conversions overly difficult. Flash forward to 2004: Because of the foresight of the West Berkeley Plan participants, the city is not b urdened with the glut of office vacancies which now plagues San Francisco. But now formerly progressive councilpersons Breland and Bates have colluded in packing the Planning Commission with proponents of mindless retail expansion on Gilman in West Berkeley—at the same time that the city’s already developed commercial districts are experiencing devastating vacancies.  

Discussions of the University Avenue Strategic Plan, currently receiving perfunctory attention from the now-neutered Planning Commission, promise the same outcome. Planning Department staff has proferred a thinly disguised subversion of the eminently sensible goals of the Strategic Plan in the guise of implementation of the zoning contemplated by the plan. In fact, as drafted by staff, it w ould be upzoning, pure and simple, but at least the citizens aren’t fooled by it. People who track planning follies, including some who live near University Avenue, have put together a web site which shows all and tells all, planberkeley.org. It also documents what’s going on San Pablo, another target of the brainless building battalions.  

Next week’s Planning Commission meeting hosts another public hearing on the proposed zoning changes. Not waiting for input, however, city staff have put on the agenda for the same meeting commissioners’ approval of a Negative Declaration for the zoning changes. In CEQAspeak, that means that commissioners are being asked to say that the proposed changes won’t make much difference to the city. Here’s a mission for the sm art folks in the Plan Berkeley organization: Find out if this is true. We’ll look forward to seeing the results. 

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet. 

No other article in the Daily Planet has produced as much response from readers as our recent article on a child who experiences bullying in a Berkeley public school. Many of the letters were heartfelt reminiscences about the writer’s own childhood struggles with bullies, or were from parents whose children have been bullied. Our piece was written primarily from the perspective of the victim and her anguished parents. Today’s commentary page includes a letter from a Berkeley Unified School District teacher and administrator who is trying to work on ways to solve on-going problems. 

Our readers have offered many answers to the question of how to defeat bullying. Today’s letter describes staff development days, videos, class discussions and other forms of exhortation, and points out that no school district claims to have solved the problem. At the other extreme, martial arts proponents have written in claiming that self-defense training protects kids from being harassed.  

I’ve always had a bit of trouble with the latter theory since a good friend of mine, a martial arts champion, was murdered by a hitchhiker he picked up. In general, I think preventing or derailing dangerous confrontations is safer than encouraging adults or kids to fight back physically. But how to do it? 

The school district’s approach, as described by the letter writer, seems to be trying to change the hearts and minds of the bullies, although, as she points out, this is hard when kids grow up surrounded by a culture of violence. But bullying has always been part of the human condition. The Old Testament, which describes a culture at least as violent as contemporary Berkeley, is full of stories about people being bullied, and how they responded to it. Folklore from around the world has many tales of how clever animals (or people) outwitted bullies: the third little pig in English folktales, Br’er Rabbit in African-American legends. One thing that all these stories have in common is that force alone never overwhelms the bully. It takes more than that, and what kind of more is what the stories are all about.  

Another reason that martial arts training is not the right way to deal with bullying in schools is that it’s a form of blaming the victim. The ethic of frontier America said that real men and real boys needed to learn how to defend themselves, a concept that many now want to extend to real women and real girls. But children in modern urban America should not be taught to “fight back.” They should be taught how to avoid fights if possible, and how to get adult help if they need it.  

There’s always a temptation to blame the victim in such cases, since our common culture frowns on whining, but school administrators have the responsibility of preventing this response in employees who work with children. The “solution” described in the article of keeping the bullied child indoors during playtime is worse than no solution. What it teaches the victim is not to complain, and if kids don’t complain the problem can never be solved. 

In a school setting, the single most important factor has always been to provide enough adult supervision to nip problems in the bud before they start. That means having a good adult-to-child ratio, and making sure particularly that playground supervision is adequate. Teaching kids how to ask for help, and then responding immediately and decisively to change the environment where the negative interaction takes place, almost always works, but it requires enough funding to pay for the needed personnel 

It’s hard, in a state which just elected as governor an actor who has made a career of portraying bullies on the screen, to hold fast to the goal of trying to promote harmony and tolerance among our school kids, but we need to continue to try. We adults in Berkeley shouldn’t waste our time and energy in arguments over whose fault bullying is. We need to do many things simultaneously. For the long term, we should work in the political sphere to try to get enough money in the school system to pay for enough adults to supervise kids at play, which is the surest way to prevent bullying. While we’re working on that, we need to educate kids in today’s schools about how to complain about bullies, which means making sure that complaints get results, which means educating staff as well.  

Finally, and this is the hardest, we need to work on teaching kids to want to be kind to one another, starting in kindergarten, not in junior high. That’s the hard one. 

This week celebrates the major holidays of two branches of the majority U.S. religious tradition, both of which have frequently tried to teach humans to love one another, but both of which have frequently failed to do so. 

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Berkeley Daily Planet.