Simeon Properties, the controversial co-developer of the troubled Campus Bay site, is UC Berkeley’s first choice for developing the adjacent Richmond Field Station, a UC official revealed Monday. 

Simeon, a Marin County firm headed by Russ Pitto, has drawn considerable heat from concerned neighbors of Campus Bay, both for his plans to develop a 1,330-unit housing project on the property and for problems with the ongoing site cleanup. 

The firm was selected by the university from among the applicants who responded to an April 9, 2004 Request for Qualifications issued by UC Real Estate Group Senior Planner and Project Manager Kevin Hufferd. Negotiations have been underway between Simeon and the University ever since. 

Though no final agreement has been signed, the proposal calls for the university to lease most of the site to a private developer for 60 years. 

The university is now in negotiations with Simeon to devise a workable plan to build a mixed corporate and academic research park on 70 acres of the 152-acre site. 

“We’re still trying to agree on broad terms,” Hufferd said. “There’s no deadline on negotiations and we hope to be able to reach agreement within the next few months.” 

Representatives for Simeon did not return calls for comment. 

Privatization could result in a tax windfall for Richmond, which can collect a possessory interest tax—equivalent to property tax—on all parts of the site leased by corporate clients, Hufferd said, though any property leased to the university would be tax-exempt. 

University plans envision the redeveloped site as “a financial resource,” which would provide additional revenue for the school. 

“The idea is to have a development that can meet the needs of the university and have private labs, especially for research that has connections to the university,” Hufferd said. 

According to an Aug. 17, 2004 “concept summary” distributed to field station employees, plans call for “a projected build-out of approximately two million square feet in the aggregate,” a figure that includes additions to the few existing buildings that would be spared from demolition. 

Many of the buildings on the to-be-leased area of the site were built before 1940, and four have “very poor” seismic ratings while 18 have “poor” ratings, according to a 1997 seismic survey of the site. 

While the April 9, 2004 proposal called for the developer to clean up pollutants on the site, Hufferd said the university now plans to tackle that responsibility. 

The site, located immediately to the west of Simeon’s toxics-laden Campus Bay site, is contaminated by substances ranging from acid-producing iron pyrite cinders to mercury and PCBs. 

The pyrite was dumped at the site by Stauffer Metals, one of the previous owners of the campus Bay site, and the mercury comes from the field station site in its early incarnation as the home of the California Cap Company, which manufactured fulminate of mercury blasting caps on the property. 

Cleanup of the university property is being conducted by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board under a three-year-old cleanup order. The water board currently has no toxicologist on its staff. The school rejected a 1995 cleanup proposal from the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), which is staffed with toxics experts. 

The adjacent Campus Bay site was also entirely under water board control until a legislative hearing in December prompted by irate Richmond residents caused developer Cherokee-Simeon to call for DTSC regulation of the upland portion of its site, home to a massive mound of buried pyrites and toxics. 

Some of the pyrites at Campus Bay were trucked over from the university property. 

Sherry Padgett, a leading activist in Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development (BARD), said she wasn’t surprised by the news of Simeon’s involvement at RFS, adding that it “is all the more reasons to have both sites under the supervision of DTSC.” 

“Starting last year I heard several people connected with the project refer to restaurants and recreational facilities to be built just west of the property line,” she said. “Now I know why.” 

UC’s proposals call for both types of facilities at the field station site. 

News of Simeon’s involvement came the day before Tuesday night’s Richmond City Council meeting, where Mayor Irma Anderson was scheduled to appoint a Blue Ribbon Committee for the Campus Bay Project and the council is to consider an ordinance on the demolition of buildings that have been used to make or house toxic chemicals. 

Mayor Anderson said the panel will include nominees from each councilmember, and may also include individuals with specific expertise. She said she had not decided on the committee’s size as of late Monday afternoon. 

“We’re having a lot of community input,” she said, “but we need to make sure its effective.” 

BARRD is also scheduled to present the council with a formal resolution signed by hundreds of area residents calling for the whole Campus Bay site to come under DTSC jurisdiction, Padgett said. 

While a 2002 “Richmond Field Station Working Paper” prepared by the university for their 2020 Long Range Development Plan rejected a proposal to place housing on the site because it “would require additional site remediation costs,” it raised the idea of building a “charter school” and conducting a major outreach program with local schools. 

Hufferd said Monday that there’s “not been a lot of active discussion with the developer” about the school. “It’s not part of the ongoing discussion.” 

Several proposals raised in the 2002 LRDP working paper have been implemented, including this one: “Rename the property to reflect the campus’ commitment to the site as a first class research environment.” 

The name chosen was Bayside Research Campus. 

The neighboring Campus Bay site was originally intended as a biotech research and development park until the biotech industry tanked in the wake of the post-9/11 stock market stumble. Simeon and financial partner Cherokee Investment Properties then shifted plans to a housing development. 

The university’s 2002 LRDP report noted that the field station “has the potential to play a significant role in the campus’ future growth, and how this site is developed may, in turn, affect both the nature and the magnitude of growth on and around the core campus.” 

Ousted UC Berkeley College of Natural resources Professor Ignacio Chapela has speculated that the new field station proposal is aimed to target it as a site for researchers cashing on the stem cell research bonanza funded by California voters in November.›

At an hour when many of their friends are sitting down to Sunday brunch, the congregates of Berkeley’s New Spirit Community Church hunt for spiritual nourishment. 

With the choir pumping out upbeat songs and the casually dressed congregates bouncing along, the hour-and-a-half service stylistically resembles those of other small upstart Protestant denominations leading a nationwide religious revival. 

But New Spirit is a different breed. Many of those swaying arm-in-arm to the songs are same-sex couples. One lesbian pair slow danced in the aisle as the pianist played “From A Distance,” a song made famous by Bette Midler. 

“The whole point is to have folks leave here feeling joy,” said Karen Foster, who has served as the church’s pastor since its founding in 2000.  

New Spirit grew out of San Francisco’s Metropolitan Community Church, a predominantly gay Protestant denomination. For the church’s founders, building New Spirit wasn’t just a means to cut down on church commutes for East Bay residents, but a project to create a church where everyone—not just gays—felt at home. 

“We’re not a gay and lesbian church, we’re a Christian church,” said founding member Sylvia Perez. “No one is checking credentials at the door.”  

New Spirit is the only church to affi liate with three of the nation’s most progressive mainline Protestant denominations, Metropolitan Community, United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ. Since its inception, the congregation has doubled to 160 members, about one-third of whom identify as straight.  

“If there’s a common thread it’s that most people have felt disillusioned with churches in the past,” said Foster, a former Southern Methodist from South Carolina, and graduate of Berkeley’s Pacific School of Religion. “They come here as one last chance to see if church can be what it should be.” 

Among Sunday’s first-time congregates was Rosie, a former nun, who left the convent 13 years ago after coming to grips with her sexuality. 

“Since then I’ve felt spiritually homeless,” she said. After years of studying Buddhism, Rosie expects to return to New Spirit next week. 

“I love church. The music, the holidays, it’s all part of the rhythm of my life that was missing,” she said. 

For Richard Brabham, who grew up in a devout Methodist home, accepting his sexuality never imperiled his faith. “Even as I came out as a gay man, and other churches didn’t want me, God was still a presence in my life,” he said. “Now I can celebrate every part of who I am.” 

New Spirit attracts congregates as much by offering a sense of community as with religious ritual, members said. The church sponsors social events and helped form YEAH, Berkeley’s winter-time youth shelter, which 20 members help staff. Last week, the congregation raised $3,700 to help Tsunami v ictims. 

“If people say we’re supposed to love one another and we just sit here in the church, then we’re just talking bullshit,” said Michael Mansfield, a church member. 

Sandra Meucci, one the church’s first straight members, said politics initially bro ught her into the fold, but a renewed faith keeps her coming every Sunday. 

“Originally I thought it was important that gay and lesbian people wanted to form a church that moved beyond the confines of just gays and lesbians,” said Meucci, a sociologist and lapsed Methodist. “Then I attended the service and I was kind of surprised that I was so moved by it. I didn’t even recognize that there was a part of my life missing until I started up again. Now I feel a more personal relationship with God.” 

With a congregation that is all over the spiritual map, New Spirit doesn’t push Christian dogma. At Sunday’s service, the emphasis was on music and the offering of communion. Pastor Foster never referred to Jesus, an omission she said was unintentional.  

“We take the bible seriously, just not literally,” she said. Foster said the church holds study sessions both on social justice icons and Christian texts and also offers religious instruction to members’ children. 

While congregates feel accepted in the church, several said their gay friends didn’t quite know what to make of their new Sunday pastime.  

“It was a little bit like coming out,” Perez said. “When I told people I was going to church they’d be like, ‘Oh my God are you kidding?’ They don’t frown on it, but they don’t necessarily understand it either.” 

After five years, New Spirit’s congregation can nearly fill the Pacific School of Religion’s chapel on Holy Hill, which it rents. Still, it is not yet large enough to get them a church of their own. The church is hoping to expand its base and find more success in reaching out to minorities. 

Carl Lawrence, one of New Spirit’s three African American members, said attracting other gay African Americans is a challenge. “Many black people are still in the closet,” he said. “And many of the black churches aren’t comfortable having gays in the congregation.” 

Lawrence’s spiritual journey has come a long way from the Baptist church he attended as a child in New York. “At times I like to hear good gospel music,” he said. “But to me it’s more important to be in a place that’s welcoming and accepts you for who you are.” 

New Spirit Community Church holds Sunday service at 11 a.m. at the Pacific School of Religion’s chapel, 1798 Scenic Ave. 

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Reports of the impending death of the Elmwood Pharmacy and its ever-popular Ozzie’s soda fountain have been greatly exaggerated, said Victoria Carter, the second-generation owner of the pharmacy. 

“We just signed a five-year lease,” she said, “and we’re going to be doing a restoration.” 

The interior of the building at 2900 College Ave. is showing its age, and Carter’s repairs will restore the space to its former glories, she said. 

One other change is in the works, she acknowledged, and that’s the name of her business. 

Because Carter closed out the prescription drug side of the business, state law forbids the continued use of “pharmacy” in the name. 

Instead, the store will henceforth be known as Elmwood Health & Mercantile and Ozzie’s Soda Fountain. 

Carter is currently distributing a marketing survey to customers, asking such things as what items they’d like to see her stock and what hours the business should keep. 

“We’re here to stay,” said Michael Hogan, who operates the soda fountain. 

—Richard Brenneman

Patrons of Berkeley’s main post office are used to waiting. For years, customers have sat on benches or strolled along nearby blocks killing time until their number was called. 

But for several, their patience ran out last November when the post office’s pick-a-number dispenser system broke down. Post office officials responded by instituting a formal line, forcing customers to wait inside and on their feet. 

“For me standing is painful,” said Ardys DeLu, who suffers from a foot ailment. Her job requires frequent trips to the downtown post office to send and receives packages for her employer. The recent change in the post office waiting policy has made the job harder, she said. 

DeLu didn’t get much sympathy when she informed postal workers at the main branch of her condition. “They told me to call my congressman,” she said. 

Instead DeLu joined a coalition of elderly and disabled patrons, and a few allies, who wouldn’t stand for standing in line at the post office. 

Now, after standing their ground, they have carried the day. 

“The postmaster got so many complaints from customers he ordered a new system,” said U.S. Postal Service spokesperson Gus Ruiz. The new system, which private companies list for about $600, is expected to be installed within two weeks, he added. 

DeLu, however, isn’t claiming victory just yet. “I’m 55, I’ve learned a lot of things about public agencies,” she said. 

The line remained in effect Friday. 

Most post offices don’t have pick-a-number systems, said Ruiz, adding that the decision about how customers wait for service rested with the individual postmaster. 

The Solano Avenue branch shelved its number system after it malfunctioned.  

The elderly and disabled were not the only patrons pushing for a return to the number system. Barbara Wilke, a post office patron, wrote in an email that her sensitivities to fragrances often required her to wait outside. 

“The bigger the crowd, the harder it is for me to breath,” she wrote. 

For Hannah Karpilow, the line at the main branch is an inconvenience, not a health hazard. “I would prefer to sit outside in the fresh air or if I’m really busy go run an errand,” she said. 

In addition to restoring the pick-a-number system, new Berkeley Postmaster Ralph Cherry, in an email to City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, promised to hire new mail clerks to reduce service delays. 

On Friday afternoon, during the lunch hour, patrons standing in line waited about 10 minutes to reach the clerk. Among those waiting was 90-year-old Eugene Sharee, who wasn’t too bothered by having to stand. 

“It’s just a matter of life you come to expect,” he said. “You have to stand in line sometimes.” 

›

After months of unsuccessful negotiations, the union representing nearly 7,300 University of California service workers has declared impasse and asked a state mediator to help both sides reach an agreement.  

The union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the university have been bargaining since the worker’s old contract expired in June but have been unable to agree on contract issues including pay and a job advancement system. 

Of the 7,300 workers represented under the contract, roughly 700 work at UC Berkeley. 

According to Faith Raider, a union spokesperson, 10,000 patient-care and technical workers who staff the hospitals run by UC were engaged in a similar contract fight last year but were able to reach an agreement after asking a mediator to step in. 

“We hope [the mediator] will get us what we need,” Raider said.  

Raider said AFSCME, unlike other unions, is restricted from escalating its fight against the university until they declare an impasse and meet with a mediator. Other unions can threaten to boycott or strike as soon as their contract expires. 

The first meeting between the two sides was Monday. Raider said they will continue to meet as long as the mediator thinks there is still room for negotiation. 

—Jakob Schiller 

A 15-year Berkeley Unified School District-City of Berkeley joint project that helped boost the city’s reputation for teen services has moved to permanent headquarters on the Berkeley High School campus. 

The Berkeley High School Health Center celebrates its public opening Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. with a public reception at its new half-million-dollar facility in the school’s ‘H’ building. It is credited with helping Berkeley achieve the status of “Number One Teen Healthy City in California,” according to the California Wellness Foundation. Berkeley has the lowest teen-pregnancy rate in the state and one of the lowest in the nation. 

Normally the center is open only to staff and students seeking services, which is why—according to City of Berkeley Director of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Vicky Alexander—students named the center four years ago as the top service on campus. 

“They like it for the confidentiality,” Alexander said. “That’s what made it a success. We work closely with parents, but there are clearly some things that the students need to be able to talk about in private.” 

Added privacy is one of the benefits of the new facility. 

The center opened its doors in 1990 as a mental health counseling facility through the city’s Mental Health Services division, and operated for most of its existence out of a portable building near the football field. 

Clinic Manager Ojig Yeretsian said the new facility has several more rooms than the old portable, and the rooms are more functional. 

“Compared to the trailer,” she said, “this place is amazing.” 

Medical provider Barbara Morita, who has worked at the facility for 10 years, said that the walls in the old portable were “paper thin,” but the new facility’s walls are soundproof. There are other benefits. “When it’s windy, the roof doesn’t shake over here,” Morita said. “The water doesn’t flow in through the windows; the bathroom doesn’t get drenched. And we feel safer in earthquakes.” 

Maybe more important, Morita now works out of her own office. In the old portable, she “literally worked out of a closet” according to Yeretsian. Another advantage in the new facility is that a triage room has been added. 

Berkeley High students can either be referred to the clinic or can drop in on their own. In either event, they get funneled through receptionist Berthean Coleman. Yeretsian says that many students are too shy to state their problems at first, so it is Coleman’s job to talk with them and draw out the nature of their concerns. 

“She determines whether they have a physical illness that requires the nurse’s attention, or a mental health concern, or questions related to sexual activity, or domestic violence issues, or other concerns, and then sends them to where they need to go inside the facility,” Yeretsian said. 

All services are provided to BHS students free of charge. 

Funded through various sources and operated as a collaborative effort between the city’s Department of Health and Human Services and the Berkeley Unified School District in collaboration with Children’s Hospital and in association with the Alameda County School-Based Health Center Coalition, the Center currently operates a full range of services, including family planning, STD and HIV counseling and testing, full medical exams, and examinations for sports team participants, a nurse’s station, two medical exam rooms, and a laboratory. 

›

Berkeley Unified School District plans to enter the state budget battles this week with a board resolution calling on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to “fully fund education according to the requirements of Proposition 98.” 

The resolution highlights the agenda at Wednesday’s BUSD Board of Directors meeting, set for 7:30 p.m. at the Old City Hall on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

Proposition 98 is the 1998 state Constitutional amendment which established minimum-funding levels for K-12 schools and community colleges in California. During budget negotiations last year, Schwarzenegger made a deal with state education leaders that—in return for their support of temporary suspension of the Prop. 98 funding guarantees in 2004-05—the governor promised to restore the money in 2005-06 and to fully fund Prop. 98 beyond. However, Schwarzenegger reneged on the deal, cutting more than $2 billion in Prop. 98 money this year. 

Noting that California ranks 44th in the nation in per-pupil spending, the proposed BUSD resolution accuses the governor of “break[ing] his promise to California’s students to ensure adequate school funding.” 

Last month, BUSD Superintendent Michele Lawrence told the Daily Planet that the days of traditional lobbying state government were over, saying “that kind of marching on Sacramento and waving your flag doesn’t seem to be getting the results that we would like any longer” and adding that “it’s yet to be decided what the response of the education community should be and is likely to be.” 

In recent days, BUSD leaders have been saying that Lawrence is working to help build a statewide education coalition designed to fight the governor’s education cuts. 

In other action at Wednesday’s meeting, the board will be asked to approve a $200,000 contract for Berkeley-based Design Community and Environment (DCE) to hold community meetings and develop a plan for the district’s West Campus and Oregon Street/Russell Street properties, as well as for the district’s administrative offices at Old City Hall. The superintendent’s office is scheduled to present a proposal for the three properties to the board at its Jun. 29 meeting. 

The board is also scheduled to hear a report on student diversity in the district, as well as a financial update on Measure BB, the school funding tax approved by voters in November.Å

It is easy not to pay attention to the jumble of Speak Up—Stop Bullying posters lined inside the Addison Street Windows Gallery across from the Berkeley Repertory Theater. 

Pedestrians pass by without even looking up. Put together by Berkeley middle school students, the pastel coloring and hand-drawn printing don’t have the polish of modern street ads. It is only by stopping at the window, and spending some moments reading and absorbing, that the observer begins to understand the power of the message and the depth of feeling that inspired the Berkeley Unified School District middle school student exhibit. 

• A grave site dotted with headstones—marked “RIP anti-Semitism, RIP racism, RIP discrimination, RIP ageism, RIP stereotype”—below a banner “Maybe One Day...” 

• Three juvenile faces filling a poster, wide-eyed and innocent, different colors and genders, with the message “We May All Be Different But That’s Not A Reason To Bully.” 

• A familiar television cartoon scene, Bart Simpson being strangled by his father, Homer, but with the added slogan “Stop The Abuse.” 

• A poem by Willard student Valerie Dohrer begins with “The teasing starts. The tears hidden and, kept inside,” and asks, “Where are the allies? Too scared to help.” 

• A printed list of stark statistics that tell endless tales of terror and fear in California public schools: “An estimated 160,000 miss school every day out of fear of attack or intimidation by other students.” One reads, “27 percent of California middle and high school students are harassed because they are not ‘masculine enough’ or ‘feminine enough.’” And another, “For children in grades 6-10, nearly one in 6—or 3.2 million—are victims of bullying each year and 3.7 million are bullies.” 

Berkeley Unified’s Stop Bullying project had its genesis in a two-dad Berkeley family looking for a Berkeley public school to send their daughter six years ago, and was kickstarted by the hate-crime murder of Newark transgender student Gwen Arujo in the fall of 2002. 

“We were looking at public schools in Berkeley for our daughter,” said Jon Logan, “and we didn’t feel particularly comfortable in terms of our type of diversity. Berkeley Unified School District just didn’t have the teachers or support or tools to deal with questions of homophobia. That was surprising to me. I thought it would be a slam dunk, finding an appropriate school in Berkeley. But as budgets go, priorities go, and some things get pushed aside.” 

Logan and his partner, Kevin Woodward, eventually put their daughter in private school, where she remains. But “because we pay our taxes here, and because we have a deep concern for our community, we’re very dedicated to making Berkeley a better place,” Logan said. 

Logan and Woodward, who operate the Logan Family Fund out of the East Bay Community Foundation in Oakland, got the chance to put that dedication to work after the 2002 hate-crime murder of Arujo. The murder, and subsequent trial of three of Arujo’s high school classmates, caused media outlets to converge en masse on the South Bay to report the events. Patrice O’Neill of Oakland-based The Media Group—which had produced an award-winning documentary about community response to hate-crime in Billings, Montana—approached the Community Foundation about funding a film about the Arujo murder. The Logan Family Fund led the funding efforts for the film, and Logan said the discussions surrounding those events—and the need for a formal violence prevention curriculum in the public schools—led the Logan Family Fund to begin efforts to set up anti-homophobic and anti-violence programs in the Berkeley schools. 

“The thrust is against bullying and violence in general,” Logan said. “We’re not focusing solely on the homophobic issue, although that is one component. But students are picked on every day for any and every reason... Kids have a tendency to turn on people one day just because they don’t like them for some reason, and other kids fall in line.” 

The Stop Bullying campaign began in January of 2004 in Berkeley’s middle schools and involves both teacher training and regular work with students. This fall the program sponsored a contest for posters, essays, poems, and spoken word on anti-bullying. Logan said that the Addison Street Windows Gallery display is just a small part of the submitted entries. 

“An amazing number of kids participated,” he said. “Each school held their own contest, and each school had evening programs where students read their poems or performed their raps or showed their artwork.” 

Logan said the next step is to move the stop bullying program into the district’s elementary schools and high school campuses. 

“While outside donors have supported the beginning of this program and provided consultation, this is a BUSD-based program, and it should be,” Logan said. “It needs to be an internal school-run program, with the full endorsement of the administration and the school board.” 

He said that support has already come from Superintendent Michele Lawrence’s office, which authorized a full day of in-service training last year on bullying issues. His goal for the program is to have a full-time staff person at each school to train teachers and provide a place where students can go to for support.  

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USCountVotes, a nonpartisan scientific research project, issued a statement Monday critical of exit pollsters Edison and Mitofsky’s Jan. 19 report attributing differences between exit poll and election results to possible survey-response rates of Republicans and Democrats. 

The researchers say the data does not support such a hypothesis but actually suggests the contrary. The USCountVotes team writes that Edison/Mitofsky assert the “disparity was ‘most likely due to Kerry voters participating in the exit polls at a higher rate than Bush voters’, but no evidence is offered to support this conclusion. In fact, data newly released in the report suggests that Bush supporters might have been over represented in the exit polls, widening the disparity to be explained. The report gives no consideration to alternative explanations involving election irregularities.” 

The USCountVotes team faults Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for failing even to explore the possibility that the election results were faulty, instead focussing only on hypotheses about why the exit polls might have been in “error.” Furthermore, the Edison/Mitofsky report elides from hypothesis to assertion of fact, without the benefit of confirming data.  

Edison/Mitofsky are quoted as saying, “While we cannot measure the completion rate by Democratic and Republican voters, hypothetical completion rates of 56 percent among Kerry voters and 50 percent among Bush voters overall would account for the entire Within Precinct Error that we observed in 2004.” 

(Within Precinct Error is defined as “an average of the difference between the percentage margin between the leading candidates in the exit poll and the actual vote for all sample precincts in a state.”) 

However, this hypothesis is treated as fact on page four of Edison and Mitofsky’s Executive Summary, “It is difficult to pinpoint precisely the reasons that, in general Kerry voters were more likely to participate in the exit polls than Bush voters.” The hypothesis has morphed into asserted reality. 

Edison/Mitofsky acknowledge that the differences between the exit polls and the election results are far greater than can be explained by statistical sampling error. The USCountVotes authors write, “Seven of the 50 states . . . had less than 1 percent probability of having the reported difference between exit polls and election results occurring by chance.” 

According to the authors, the probability is one in 10,000,000 that seven of 50 states would have such results in the same election. 

“The many anecdotal reports of voting irregularities create a context in which the possibility that the overall vote count was substantially corrupted must be taken seriously,” the report concludes. 

USCountVotes is creating and analyzing a database containing precinct-level election results for the entire United States in order to do a thorough mathematical analysis of the 2004 election results. 

The full text of the USCountVotes statement is available at www.uscountvotes.org/ucvAnalysis/US/USCountVotes_Re_Mitofsky-Edison.pdf 

The full text of the Edison/Mitofsky report is available at www.exit-poll.net/election-night/EvaluationJan192005.pdf 

Judy Bertelsen is co-chair of the Voting Rights Task Force, Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club 

›

Less than two months after the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board approved a proposal for a five-story condominium apartment and retail building at 1122 University Ave., developer Alex Varum has put the property up for sale. 

Varum, a licensed real estate broker, steered the project through the city approval process, winning high praise from ZAB members who were delighted that he had committed to offering 20 percent of the units to buyers who make only 80 percent of the area’s median income. 

“I’m really excited,” ZAB Chair Andy Katz told Varum at the time. 

The project contains 65 housing units and two ground floor live/work units as well as two retail spaces and 74 underground parking units. 

Varum is asking $6.95 million for the site, which includes all the city approvals. 

Steve Wollmer, an activist with PlanBerkeley.org, a community group concerned with development along University Avenue, estimated that Varum had paid around $2 million for the land and architectural plans. 

“The real question is, is he going to find someone who’s willing to pay his price?” Wollmer mused. 

The Daily Planet was unable to reach Varum for comment. 

—Richard Brenneman

THE LOOKING GLASS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In a Jan. 28 letter from through the looking glass, Robert C. Cheasty of Albany thanks Berkeley City Councilmembers for “courageously” ignoring their constituents’ wishes by voting to remove two lanes from Marin Avenue. He styles this a “vote for safety over convenience” and decries lobbying by “opponents from the hills...fearful they would be slowed on Marin.” 

Mr. Cheasty is wrong here on nearly all counts. The evidence for any safety improvements from such street narrowings ranges from very slim to nonexistent. Marin Avenue is already safer than other streets with similar traffic volumes, according to collision statistics. And the strongest objections came from residents of adjacent flatlands neighborhoods, who rightly fear traffic diversion onto their local streets. 

If this misguided lane removal produces any net benefit, it will overwhelmingly go to a relatively small number of Marin Avenue residents, who primarily live in Albany. These folks knew they were buying homes on a busy street—but they’ve just offloaded much of the traffic problem onto their neighbors. 

I don’t appreciate Albany residents, like the energetic and prolific Mr. Cheasty or his advertised four vulnerable children, telling Berkeley decisionmakers how to arrange our city. Perhaps we should return the favor? 

There’s plenty I don’t like about Albany. I intend to start testing the “courage” of Mr. Cheasty’s own City Councilmembers by challenging them to reconfigure Albany according to my own tastes. 

Marcia Lau 

• 

DERBY STREET 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Its a real shame that the Daily Planet doesn’t fact-check its articles. In his recent story on the Derby Street project, Mr. Allen-Taylor reports two untruths as fact: “some residents wanting Derby Street to remain open and the Farmers Market preserved, others pushing for the two properties to be combined and turned into a regulation baseball diamond for use by the high school team.” In truth, the School Board has been committed for almost five years to preserving the Farmer’s Market use of the site if Derby is closed; even the Ecology Center Board has said (in your paper!) the “Farmers’ Market might coexist with a baseball field on the site.” And closing Derby would create a larger multi-purpose field that would serve not just baseball but more than two dozen different sports, by the city’s calculation serving at least 200 more children than a smaller field that leaves Derby open. 

This kind of sloppy reporting is truly irresponsible in the context of a controversy like this, where it is likely to inflame passions and derail the important public debate over the real issues. If the Daily Planet wants to be taken seriously as a source of community information, you really need to be sure what you report as fact is true. 

Will Hirsch 

• 

THEATER OF THE ABSURD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

At last, the curtain falls on the latest act in a sad drama. 

Every night for weeks we’ve seen carefully selected, professionally produced clips of pseudo-news stories with voice-over by non-inquisitive journalists subtly justifying the cost in lives and dollars that made it possible for the world’s mightiest military now occupying Iraq to force-feed democracy to its suspicious people. There’s never been an election campaign as absurd as the one Bush and his supporters have imposed on Iraq.  

Over a hundred political parties sprouted over night led by hundreds of rookie politicians who mostly dared not show their faces. Secret ballots had to be filed at secret polling places and those voters brave or foolhardy enough to run the gauntlet of violence stood a good chance of casting their first and last ballot. 

Pundits and panderers insist that the tremendous importance of the election lies not in the product but in the process. This means that no matter who gets elected the process is over and our troops can start allowing the Iraqis the same freedom we enjoy—the freedom to secure themselves and govern as best they can.  

Marvin Chachere  

San Pablo 

• 

PROPOSITION 71 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I do hope you believe in equal opportunities because that commentary by Barglow, Low and Schiffenbauer (“Proposition 71’s Medical Research Will Be in the Public Interest,” Daily Planet, Jan. 28-31) on the altruism of the Prop. 71 directorate needs a response.  

Of, course the ICOC is filled with those in the research and experiment fields who all hope to get a cut of the taxpayers money. The head of Cal Berkeley and the head of the Stanford Medical School were both hired in the middle of last year precisely to guide development of stem cell research on their campuses. 

Robert Klein funded most of the support for that ballot measure and now he’s the head of the committee. What is the meaning of “Independent?” 

C. Giglio 

Walnut Creek 

• 

BRENNAN’S 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Today I decided to go see Brennan’s Pub to discover what all the fuss was about. I’m here to tell you: This building is a piece of shit. Worthy of preservation? Historical landmark? Give me a break! Before arriving, I was hoping to find something worth looking at: some decorative elements, an interesting facade, perhaps a funky building that had grown by accretion, anything. What I saw was a nondescript, boxy, featureless and, frankly, unattractive structure with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. It occurred to me that the “Est. 1959” on the sign was about all there was to recommend this site for a reprieve from the bulldozer. 

If historical preservation in Berkeley has become so devalued that we’re now fighting over completely marginal buildings like Brennan’s, we’re in deep trouble. While neighbors raise a hue and cry to save this questionable site, there are dozens of other buildings with real historic preservation value that are in jeopardy. By crying wolf over Brennan’s, the danger of losing structures with merit—with the corresponding loss of historical and esthetic character—actually increases. 

What is up with Berkeley? Those who oppose the removal of structures like Brennan’s are often categorized as NIMBYs, but I don’t think that adequately describes it. If the mythical man from Mars were to land here and analyze the situation, he might conclude that it’s really a case of a mass neurosis, an advanced form of xenophobia, where some folks become upset when anything in their immediate surroundings changes. Doesn’t matter if the change is for better or worse—it’s protest time! 

On a more general note, let me ask a naive but pointed question: How did Berkeley come to have so many ugly buildings, anyway? As I explore the city, I’m continually astounded at the number of abominable structures, residences and businesses alike. Especially in a place like this, inhabited by lots of smart, well-traveled and well-informed people, many of whom care passionately about the environment, both local and global: how did this happen? (Of course, this blight is made all the more evident, by contrast, with the presence of hundreds of truly exquisite buildings.) 

Well, the question isn’t entirely naive: I’ll just pretend I’m less cynical than I really am and that I don’t have any well-founded suspicions. 

David Nebenzahl 

North Oakland 

• 

NOT WITH MY MONEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I agree with what Ajit Indrajit wrote (Letters, Daily Planet, Jan. 28-31). I had a discussion with friends after Bush was re-elected. We were pondering as what should be done to stop the war and cope with four more years of Bush and his regime. Some suggested we keep sending e-mails, faxes, and letters to the Congress and senators. Some suggested to make movies and documentaries or write books to awaken the people. Some suggested to travel to the red states and talk to the folks there. Some suggested more demonstrations and holding signs. Armed revolution was even mentioned. Some suggested not to file taxes. I believe that this is the best and non-violent approach to stop the war. The US regime invaded Iraq with our tax money. More than 1,400 U.S. troops and thousands of Iraqi people are dead. All this with our tax money. Last week, Bush asked for $80 billion more to finance his war. A week before that, he spent $40 million for his inauguration. Who is paying for all this? Yes, we are paying for it— our tax money. I am not going to file taxes this year. Filing taxes is endorsing the Bush’s regime and the war. This is my motto now: not in my name; not with my money. 

Helena Bautin 

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Click here to view the latest work by Justin DeFreitas 

Due to a snowstorm on the East Coast, I got back a day late from New York and missed my date with the Superior Court of Solano County. 

Shortly before Christmas I learned that I’d been charged with a VC22450 Stop Requirements violation in Vallejo. Someone with my ID had been driving a Jaguar and running stop signs. I called the Superior Court in Vallejo and tried to explain my predicament, but it wasn’t easy. 

First I had to tackle the telephone system, a task that proved daunting. I was cut off several times, left on hold, ignored and forgotten. When I was finally able to get a human being on the other end, I was told I would have to appear in person to prove to the judge and the ticketing officer that I was not the woman in the Jag. After subsequent calls, a clerk in the records department took pity on me and divulged the name, phone number and e-mail address of the officer who wrote the ticket. 

“Perhaps,” she said, “he’ll believe your story.” My story was that I had been robbed of my passport, drivers license, credit cards and jewelry several weeks earlier. The person who was driving the Jag had my identity. I wish she had my other problems as well, but for the moment I needed to concentrate on getting my bail of $157 dismissed.  

I left messages for Officer Joe Smith. I sent him my photograph and explained that I drive a Dodge Caravan with a wheelchair lift. I’ve never been in a Jaguar, let alone driven one. Maybe it was the time of year that kept Officer Walker from responding. Christmas came and went and I did not hear from him. I left for the East Coast, hoping my problems would go away, but they didn’t.  

Now I was back home and still in the same pickle, with the additional mess of missing my day in court. Again, I attempted to crack the Solano County telephone tree. After several false starts, I got through to someone who said I could reschedule. The next available date was May 31. Maybe by then my impersonator would be incarcerated and I would have my life back.  

This week I received a call from Inspector Jane Jones of the SFPD Fraud Department. A woman with my ID had picked up a john and asked him to cash a check for her. Because she didn’t have a bank account, she needed help. She was generous. She’d share the loot with him if only he’d deposit it into his ATM. Of course the check was bad and she was able to run off with the money, leaving the john in debt and in trouble with his bank. 

This is what she’d done to the man who was living with us and taking care of my husband. But in addition to the banking fiasco, he had entertained her in my house while I wasn’t at home. That’s how she got my license, passport and cell phone. That’s how she became me. 

In December I’d given the Oakland Police Department information I’d received from a credit card company: a name (V. Johnson), and an Oakland address, but the police officers advised me that they couldn’t be of help. They said Ms. Johnson most likely was not her real name, and the address was probably bogus, although an American Express card in my name had been sent to that very address and activated. I thought about dropping by the address on my own but decided against it.  

I told my tale of woe to Inspector Jones. I gave him Officer Smith’s phone number and e-mail address. I gave Officer Smith Inspector Jones’s number. I didn’t bother contacting the Oakland Police because they’d made it clear they were busy with other, more important matters. And I didn’t call Ms. Johnson because the only number I have for her is my cell phone, and that’s been canceled.  

Editor’s note: The names in this column have been changed for publication.

The Iraqi elections provide the American people with an opportunity to consider whether they want to continue the obdurate path chartered by the Bush administration or, instead, go in another direction. To chose the path not taken, we will first have to learn to set limits. 

It’s been said that there are actually only two kinds of people in Berkeley: therapists and their clients. Given our cultural familiarity with therapy, we understand that one therapeutic challenge is learning how to set limits; for example, how to escape an abusive relationship. 

The citizens of the United States are stuck in a dysfunctional relationship with the Bush administration, one that shows many of the classic patterns of abuse: We have been lied to and our resources squandered, yet we keep coming back hoping for the “goodies.” For Americans to escape this abuse, we must set limits with Bush and company. 

The first step will be for the public to acknowledge that we placed our trust in an administration that has shown dreadful judgment by, first, invading Iraq without an exit plan, and then, refusing to answer essential questions about the duration, cost, and morality of the occupation. An objective reading of the Administration’s record reveals a pattern of egregious bungling; indeed, we assaulted Iraq to make sure that it was not a source of support for Al Qaeda and, instead, have turned it into a breeding ground for terrorists. 

The second step, one that proceeds from a new willingness to question the administration’s basic assumptions, will be to question a fundamental premise of the occupation: that Iraq is one country. The Bush administration has stuck to this idea and the related notion that Iraq is best governed by a national assembly—to be established through the Byzantine Jan. 30 electoral process. 

They have refused to acknowledge the reality that Iraq is not a real country with deep historical roots; it is an artificial entity, manufactured by the British after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, a patchwork quilt of tribes held together by a succession of dictatorships. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman noted that Iraq is based upon “tribes with flags,” and therefore, has little of the Western sense of country, “based on voluntary social contracts between the citizens inside [its] borders.” Nonetheless, the Bush administration has insisted on treating Iraq as it were a stable national entity and the U.S. was reenacting the occupation of Germany, after the end of World War II. Americans would do well to remember that, after the fall of the Soviet Union, we realized that Czechoslovakia was actually the Czech Republic and Slovakia. 

The reality is that Iraq is three different countries: A primarily Kurdish state in the north, inhabited by non-Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslims (roughly 20 percent of Iraq’s population); a mostly Sunni state in the center, inhabited by Arabic-speaking Muslims (another 20 percent); and a large Shiite state in the South (the remaining 60 percent). These groups have widely differing attitudes about the U.S. and their future; the insurgency is strongest in the central region and weakest in the Kurdish north. 

The third step will be to recognize that we are dealing with three different states and, therefore, Iraq should not be considered a republic, but, instead, a federation where each regional group has their own government, and there is a minimal central administration to deal with problems such as the equitable distribution of petroleum resources and the relocation of displaced groups. (This solution was first proposed by Les Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, in a New York Times op-ed piece on Nov. 25, 2003.) 

Changing our conception of Iraq is essential if we are ever to develop a workable occupation plan. For example, the Kurds welcome the American forces and would cooperate in sealing their borders, training a functional Kurdish security force, and holding free elections. The US could establish a valid timetable for ending the occupation in the Kurdish state, and withdrawing most of our troops. 

It is widely believed that a comparable plan would work in the Shiite southern region, particularly if America enlisted the cooperation of Iran.  

It is only in the central region, the deadly “Sunni triangle,” that the immediate prospects for stability are dim. We should respond with bold action: withdraw our troops from the central region and ask an independent entity, such as Syria, to help facilitate the move to self-government. While the Sunnis get their act together, we should direct the bulk of reconstruction dollars to the Kurds and Shiites (and let indigenous contractors do most of the work). We should seal off the Sunni area until order returns. 

The occupation has gone so badly, and America is in so deep, that there remains no painless solution to the problem of how we get out. But successful business practice teaches that there is a singular difference between a satisfactory and an optimal solution. Partitioning the country into three states, and then withdrawing from Sunni region, is a satisfactory solution—one that can only be achieved when Americans learn to set limits. 

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Fast Bandit Grabs Cash  

Four men entered a gas station at the southwest corner of Shattuck and Ashby Avenues around 3:45 a.m. Wednesday, grabbed the contents of register and fled in an older model gray Japanese import, said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

Armed Trio Robs Pedestrian 

Three men in their late teens to early 20s, at least one of them armed with a pistol, confronted a 24-year-old man near the corner of Sacramento and Cedar streets just after midnight Friday and relieved him of his cash. 

Second Trio Uses Knife 

A band of three juveniles, one armed with a knife, robbed a 63-year-old Berkeley man and his companion just before 9 p.m. Thursday, making off with the man’s cash and his companion’s purse. 

Cell Phone Robbed 

A heavy-set robber used his fists to persuade a 19-year-old Berkeley man to surrender his cell phone in the 2700 block of Channing Way just before 2 a.m. Friday. 

Another Trio Uses Feet, Fists 

Kaiser Oakland called Berkeley Police Saturday morning to report that a patient had been robbed. Investigating officers discovered that a gang of three had approached the 44-year-old man in the 3100 block of California Street, then struck and kicked him until he surrendered his cash. 

Robber Employs Screwdriver 

A man called police just before 11 a.m. Friday to report that a robber had confronted him with a screwdriver in the 2700 block of San Pablo Ave. and demanded he surrender his wallet and cash. The victim complied and the perp fled. 

Supertech Robbed 

A gunman walked into Supertech Communications at 82 Shattuck Square at 4:30 p.m. Friday and made off with the cash from the register. 

Verizon Deregistered 

The gunman who walked into the Verizon Wireless store at 1100 University Ave. less than an hour later wasn’t satisfied with just the cash. He also departed with the register. 

Ex-Boyfriend Busted 

Police arrested a 40-year-old man Saturday afternoon after he allegedly entered his former girlfriend’s 63rd Street residence, made violent threats and trashed her belongings. He faces three criminal charges, said Officer Okies. 

Gunman Grabs Purse 

A gunman confronted a 32-year-old Berkeley woman in the 2600 block of Regent Street around 11:30 p.m. Saturday and successfully demanded her purse. 

Confronts Cops with Chain 

When a resident of the Haste Street and Shattuck Avenue neighborhood spotted a stranger messing with his motor scooter Sunday afternoon, he confronted the man—who promptly produced a chain and threatened him. 

Police arrived moments later and searched for the suspect. The officers ran him down and presented him with a chain of their own, the one linking the two locked bracelets they fastened to his wrists before they escorted him to a new accommodation which featured even-sturdier steel bars. 

Takes Cell, Cash 

A gunman confronted a man near the intersection of Claremont Avenue and Hillcrest Road shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday and made off with his cash and cell phone.›

We are enormously gratified by the City Design Review Committee’s praise for the David Brower Center and Oxford Plaza (“Design Committee Praises Plan for Brower Center,” Daily Planet, Jan. 25-27). We are similarly pleased with the Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA) Design Committee’s positive response to the building’s design a few days earlier. This early support from city officials, downtown leaders, environmental and housing activists is very encouraging as we proceed to honor the memory and contribution of David Brower, one of the world’s greatest environmental activists, with a model of environmentally responsible design. 

When the city originally issued requests for a mixed-use development proposal that would include housing, commercial space, and replace the city-owned parking lot with a revenue generating garage, many wondered if all of those uses could be feasibly accommodated. 

We are proud that not only will the city host a home for the environmental movement, but it will also gain nearly 100 units of badly needed affordable workforce housing and introduce new retail businesses to downtown. 

The David Brower Center/Oxford Plaza recognizes that parking and traffic circulation issues pose a serious challenge in the downtown. As currently proposed, the project includes one level of underground parking to replace the existing surface lot, which will be owned and operated by the City of Berkeley. Despite competing pressures on the project from those advocating for maximum amounts of parking and those who would prefer none at all, we have agreed to study the feasibility of a two level underground garage as requested by the city and DBA. 

In keeping with our environmental values, the David Brower Center/Oxford Plaza will implement aggressive transportation demand management programs, involving incentives for public transit use, carpooling, walking and bike riding in order to reduce local auto trips and traffic congestion, improve air quality, and reduce parking demand. The project will provide secure bicycle parking, showers and lockers to make riding to work more attractive. 

The Brower Center is yet another “Berkeley first”—firmly establishing the city as the center for global environmental leadership. 

John Clawson is Equity Community Builders’ project manager for the David Brower Center and Oxford Plaza. 

›

Residents of the East Campus neighborhood in South Berkeley were recently given an opportunity to experience yet again the city’s (in this case, the School Board’s) devious tactic for pushing through a project that residents in a neighborhood don’t want. In this case it is a hardball field with overhead lights and loudspeakers that the neighborhood has been fighting for years. The first step of the tactic took place at the “East Campus Design Charrette” held at the Alternative High School Multi-Purpose Room, MLK Jr. Way and Derby, on Monday, Jan. 24. 

The tactic—which all Berkeley citizens would do well to learn to recognize, since it will almost certainly be used when the city decides to invade their neighborhood—is well-known to residents of the East Campus area. It works like this: (1) The city agency (in this case, the School Board) decides what it wants to do (e.g., install a hardball field). (2) The agency then hires a consulting firm to “make a plan,” and instructs the firm to hold several meetings gathering “input” from the affected neighborhood. These meetings involve lots of visual displays, oversize maps, handouts, and the breaking up of attendees into smaller groups so that they can arrive at “recommendations” to be then carefully considered by the consultant company. There is a great display of recording attendees’ wishes, of inviting attendees to “participate” in the planning process. (3) The city does exactly what it intended to do originally. 

Few residents of the East Campus area have had any objection to the removal of the decaying temporary school buildings in the East Campus and their replacement by soccer and softball fields, children’s playgrounds, and tasteful landscaping. But residents have a major and overriding objection to the School Board’s plan to close Derby Street and install a full-size regulation hardball field with overhead lights and loudspeakers that would be available for use by Berkeley High School teams and, far worse, would be rented out to various sports groups throughout the year. In fact, some proponents on the School Board have been very clear about what they have in mind, namely, making the field available “seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., 365 days a year.” The main justification is that the School Board needs the income from the rental of the field.  

The damage to the neighborhood is obvious to residents, and to other Berkeley citizens who have heard about the plan: noise day and night that will destroy the peace and quiet the neighborhood now enjoys, increased vandalism and traffic, plus the loss of the Farmer’s Market.  

At a previous planning meeting, I pointed out to a member of the School Board that there was a much better way to increase the board’s income. The total cost of the hardball field installation is estimated to be $2-3 million. (This in a time when the city is facing major budget deficits.) Assume $2.5 million. If this money were invested in conservative tax-free municipal bonds paying, say, 5 percent, then each year the School Board would have an income of $125,000, plus they would get their principal back whenever they wanted! Knowledgeable persons I have talked to have said that $125,000 is far more than the board could hope to make by renting out the field. In addition, there would be no need for support staff to manage the field rentals, no need to pay ongoing maintenance costs, no need for additional police to control vandalism. I told the School Board member that it seemed to me that this proposal completely eliminated the School Board’s “we need the income” justification for the field. 

In reply, he shrugged, said he didn’t believe it was legal. He made not the slightest indication that he would investigate whether it was or not.  

Proponents of the field—including parents in the hills who see the field as a way to save 15 minutes’ driving time in getting their kids to baseball practice—and their cronies on the School Board and the City Council, have used every sort of devious and shameful argument against the neighbors.  

They have accused the neighbors of being NIMBYs, to which neighbors have offered a succinct and cogent reply: “Fine: then why don’t you put the field in your back yard?” The truth is, there are several perfectly good alternative locations, and the School Board and the City Council and mayor have known about them for years. But overcoming the resistance of the East Campus neighbors has become a self-esteem issue, a personal crusade, for some of the most vehement proponents of the field: “No one says no to us!” 

Proponents have called the neighbors “against youth,” when the fact is that the fenced and locked field would be used by only about 40 male high school students, plus the various adult teams (“beer-ballers”) the field would be rented to, whereas the unfenced softball and soccer fields that the neighbors are perfectly willing to accept, could be used by many more students, including girls. 

When neighbors have pointed out that the field would undoubtedly lower property values in the area, proponents have accused the neighbors of being “selfish” (translation: how could they think of their property values when 15 minutes’ driving time by the city’s elite parents was at stake?) 

Lying and betrayal has been the rule rather than the exception in this fight. The above-mentioned member of the School Board said early in our conversation that we neighbors had it all wrong: at most 10 games a year, by high school teams, would be played at night, and thus would require speakers and overhead lights. How could we refuse to accept such a small disturbance to the neighborhood’s peace and quiet, if it were for the good of the youth (all 40 of them) of the city? I had to remind him that the projected usage goal of seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., 365 days a year had been stated publicly, on more than one occasion, by a member of the board. 

Mayor Bates, during his campaign, said he would take no part in promoting the field if he were elected. As a result, our precinct gave him the highest percentage of votes he received from any precinct in Berkeley. Within months after he was elected, he had changed his mind and was actively arm-twisting councilmembers to get them to vote for the closing of Derby Street. 

Over the years, meetings on the East Campus Plan have been held with no notice to residents of the area. “Someone forgot to send them out,” we were told  

more than once. 

Many of us consider the fight over the hardball field to be one of the most shameful episodes in Berkeley’s history, and a lesson (if anyone needed it) that even in the most liberal city in the country, what counts in the last analysis is not “the people” but the wishes of the wealthy and influential.  

While I was distributing flyers announcing the above-mentioned meeting (“charette”), several neighbors told me what lengths they were prepared to go to in  

order to stop the field. “We’ll make it an ongoing policy to disrupt the games,” one said. I pointed out to him that that was probably against the law. He replied, “But it’s not against the law to disrupt the games and go to jail for it, and to have reporters on hand during the arrests, and for their papers to then run articles with titles like, ‘Elderly Neighbors Arrested for Trying to Defend Their Neighborhood.’” 

I then pointed out that interest in participating in such demonstrations would probably fade pretty quickly. Several neighbors disagreed, arguing that every day of the year they would have an incentive, namely, the racket of the games, and the traffic, and the vandalism. 

Others said they would contribute all the time and money they could spare to defeat, in the next election, any City Councilmember (not to mention the mayor), and any School Board member, who voted for the closing of Derby Street. 

Two said that they were going to start an ongoing nuisance campaign outside the homes of all those on the City Council and the School Board who supported  

the field, if it becomes reality.  

I have no idea if these are merely empty threats, or if they will be carried out, but I do know that they are a measure of East Campus area neighbors’ determination to protect their homes and neighborhood against an unconscionable invasion by the city. 

Peter Schorer 

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Since I was unable to attend the Jan. 24 community meeting on Derby Field use, I appreciate J. Douglas Allen-Taylor’s report on the decision to demolish the old East Campus temporaries, but not to consider closing Derby for the present. However, because crucial details of this issue were left out of his article, many readers will surely misunderstand what our neighborhood concerns are. 

Allen-Taylor writes, “Some neighbors are adamantly opposed to the baseball field, and others complain that as long as the empty buildings remain standing they serve as a haven for drug use, prostitution, and homeless people.” This could be misunderstood, confusing two separate issues. Those who oppose the closing of Derby for a fenced, locked, hardball field with night lights and electronic sound system, are not in favor of keeping those broken-down “temporaries.” We all want those buildings torn down, and the land used for an acceptable educational purpose. Some of my neighbors have said that they feel the BUSD has delayed tearing down the temporaries in an attempt to blackmail us by implying that in order to get the buildings torn down, we must accept a regulation hardball field that will bring more noise and traffic to our congested streets. I have never of heard any neighborhood opposition to multi-purpose use—soccer, softball, basketball—of the field. 

Our neighborhood is already impacted by facilities that serve, not the neighborhood, but the whole city (Alternative High School, Early Childhood Center) or the whole Bay Area (Berkeley Bowl, Iceland). Of the eight east/west streets between Ashby and Dwight, three are already blocked to through traffic between MLK and Shattuck. Closing Derby would not only create a fourth blockage, but would mean that the firehouse on Derby and Shattuck would have send its westbound emergency trucks down one of our residential streets (there is no residential housing on Derby between Shattuck and MLK). 

I’m not surprised that, as Allen-Taylor reports, the supporters of the Berkeley High Hardball field mobilized for this meeting. They want closure of Derby Street in order to meet size regulations for hardball. They want another city-wide facility—but not in their neighborhood—especially since plans for the use the of this fenced, locked field (with night lights and sound system) include generating income by renting the field to outside organizations when Berkeley High is not using it. In other words, this is a dubious semi-commercial use of school land that will be closed to use by anyone but the Berkeley High baseball team and renters from outside Berkeley. 

The article noted that few nearby residents attended the meeting. Maybe that was the result of a kind of battle fatigue. Last year, after much input by neighbors who listed all these reasons for NOT creating the field the Berkeley High School coach wants, the BUSD voted to tear down the temporaries and install an open, multi-purpose athletic field (no Derby closure) that had the full support of the neighborhood. Only two weeks later the School Board met again and voted that this decision was only temporary until they could get City Council approval to close Derby! In other words, we had all gone through the “process” only to see agreement reached, the decision announced—and then nullified. 

The only ray of hope in all this is Max Anderson’s proposal for a “land swap,” that would put the Berkeley High hardball field in a city park and designate part of the Derby field as a city park, keeping it open to multi-purpose use.  

I am glad we have a temporary reprieve from having a commercial hardball field forced on us. I look forward to the demolition of those temporary buildings, and I—like my neighbors—fervently hope that Mr. Anderson can somehow convince the BUSD and the City Council to consider the welfare of our neighborhood while using this school land as it was meant to be used—for the welfare of all the children of Berkeley. 

Dorothy Bryant is a local author and frequent contributor to the Daily Planet.›

MASON, Tenn.—Bank robbers are discovering how it feels to be robbed when they make a phone call from a prison run by the Corrections Corporation of America, a private company that today oversees a large share of the nation’s prisons and jails.  

Only collect calls can be made from their facility here, which currently has me in its clutches. A 15-minute phone call runs more than $8.  

“That might not sound like much, but my wife is on welfare,” says one inmate, who’s being tried on a gun charge. “She loves me, and her and my kids need to hear from me, but in another way she dreads my phone calls.”  

The Dallas, Texas-based Evercom Systems, Inc. holds the phone monopoly for over 2,000 city, county, state and private prisons and jails. We’re told that special companies are needed as intermediaries because phone calls must be recorded and some lines have to be blocked. At this joint, Evercom charges $3 for a connection and 35 cents a minute.  

Another inmate, who just arrived here from the Shelby County Jail in Memphis, hears us complaining about the price of our phone calls and says we should count our blessings:  

“Over at the jail on Poplar Street it costs 60 cents a minute,” he says. So a 15-minute call is $15. You guys are getting off cheap.”  

A lifer just in from the Tennessee State Prison says prices are a little better there, but not much:  

“The state of Tennessee uses Global Telelink. Their rates are a dollar forty-three for the hook-up and 18 cents a minute. I guess that’s a bargain compared to this place. I know Tennessee gets 42 percent as its cut. There’s no telling what CCA gets on theirs here.”  

Inmates here tell the same story time after time. The first several collect phone calls to a number go through without any problem. After that, Correctional Billing Services, a subsidiary of Evercom, has an automated service that repeatedly calls loved ones who have received those calls.  

When a friend I call answers Evercom’s robot calls she hears a recorded message that leads her through a lengthy phone tree. At the end of the tree, she’s told it’s “a courtesy call,” but since she gets three or four of these calls a day, they’re hardly courtesies to her. She’s told that 75 percent of her phone credit has been used up, and unless payment confirmation is made, the line will be restricted.  

When she calls the number she was given to straighten out the bill, it turns out that Evercom’s operators are based in Canada. I wonder why? Are they sidestepping some American credit laws, or is this just another example of outsourcing greed? She’s told by the Canadian operator that Correctional Billing Services should be paid through her local phone company, SBC, which is what she routinely does anyhow. My collect-call charges from prison are part of her regular SBC bill.  

But because the turnaround time for Evercom to get its money from SBC is one to two months, and because that money comes to Evercom in a lump sum without individual accounts being specified, she needs to verify payment to Correctional Billing herself, divulging personal credit information, to avoid restrictions on her line.  

“I really feel like Correctional Billing is taking advantage,” she tells me with scarcely concealed anger. “I don’t like giving out my personal information over the telephone. I’ve paid my bill, and now it’s between SBC and Correctional Billing Services. It really bothers me that Evercom can block my line at their whim, even though my bill is paid and has never been in arrears. You’re stuck in what sounds like a horrible place, and I want to hear on a regular basis that everything is OK. There’s no reason I should be hounded by this corporation in order to do that.”  

Whether it’s the “for profit” motivation in corrections or the “throw away the key” mentality, cons are being gouged in every possible way. And it’s especially hurtful because most convicts and their families are among the poorest people in America.  

The bad news for jail and prison inmates and their families is that because of the exorbitant cost, fewer collect calls are being made and there is less contact with support systems. The good news is that stamps cost only 37 cents. Those of us who didn’t make any money on our crimes are dropping the phone and grabbing a pen.  

Dannie M. Martin, after four years of freedom, was recently returned to federal custody for a parole violation. He is the co-author of Committing Journalism: The Prison Writings of Red Hog and the author of two published novels. He wrote this article from a private prison in Mason, Tenn.; he is currently in federal prison in Manchester, Ky. ›

Berkeley Independent Study student Amber Manuel, the youngest of four children, will be the first to complete high school when she graduates this June. 

Behind the desk in the reception area, Amber recently shared her story—while answering phone calls, assisting students and staff, and keeping an eye on an unlocked bike parked in the courtyard. All the while, the soft-spoken 17-year-old senior bounced her bright-eyed, three-month-old baby girl, Aamari, on her lap. 

Amber, who helps out in the Independent Study office twice a week in hope of gaining job skills, also meets with teachers then, and gets her weekly assignments, which she completes at her mother’s home in Richmond. Her stepmom usually cares for Aamari, but was unable to on this day. 

No one seems to mind when Amber brings Aamari. On the contrary, the level of personal attention Amber gets from Independent Study staff contrasts sharply with the lack of support from her former BHS teachers, she said. Even before she had her baby some of the teachers would forget her name. 

The Independent Study Program operates under the umbrella of BHS and is located on Derby Street. 

Starting at BHS as a freshman, Amber said, “I was too young to handle all the freedom—it got bad,” describing how the high school is so large that its administration can’t account for students who leave campus during the day. Amber began drinking and partying with friends, barely attending classes.  

A nine-month stint at a girls’ boarding school in Mississippi helped her straighten herself out and “fall in love” with journalism and broadcasting, but then the financial aid ended. She returned to the Bay Area only to find herself pregnant while still in her junior year. 

A friend told her about the Independent Study Program, and after meeting with a BHS counselor, Amber was accepted. Being in Independent Study allowed her the flexibility to spend time with her newborn as well as to hold a job at Target to help offset her family’s expenses. However, after a month she realized that juggling a new baby and completing her schoolwork, as well as working at Target was too much. (Now she braids hair several times a week for extra money.)  

“Some things happen for a reason,” said Amber, explaining how giving birth after her accidental pregnancy has fostered her resolve to succeed. But she also spoke of the challenges of being a teen parent and doesn’t recommend it for others. (She said abortion wasn’t an option for her for religious reasons.) 

“I probably wouldn’t be graduating if I’d stayed at the high school,” Amber said. She who plans to attend Contra Costa College before transferring, she hopes, to a four-year college in Florida. Aamari’s father will join them there after he finishes military school. 

Julian Harned, a 15-year-old sophomore, was accepted into the Berkeley Independent Study Program in November, just under the wire. The program currently has a waiting list. 

“It’s liberating because teachers take me more seriously now,” Julian said. His self-confidence and engagement in schoolwork have improved tremendously since he became an Independent Study student, according to this writer, who is also his mother. 

Julian (whose parents live separately) had experienced a taxing summer break that included dealing with his father’s major surgery, an abrupt eviction and going on an undesired vacation with his mother and sister. He had been looking forward to the structure and social opportunities at BHS with renewed anticipation. 

But something happened in late September. Bogged down with an heavy course load and constantly tired, Julian’s grades began to plummet. Bright enough to have earned a nearly perfect score in the Language Arts component of the Star test, his motivation waned until he’d all but abandoned homework. He continued to read avidly about everything from fencing to psychic phenomena, and he worked hard enough in his BHS drama class to earn a major role in the fall play. However, in other classes he complained about the lackadaisical attitudes of certain students, or conversely, felt overwhelmed by the high expectations of teachers who assigned burdensome amounts of seemingly pointless outside work. In most classes his own strengths appeared to go unrecognized by teachers (all with 30-plus students in their classes).  

Concerned, Julian’s parents sought information about the Independent Study program. Sara McMickle, the director, explained the premise of the program, in which weekly teacher meetings are the springboard for working independently to achieve educational success. 

Students in the program are permitted to keep up to two classes at BHS so Julian kept his drama class. He was guided in scheduling Independent Study classes with assignments he had a hand in creating which fulfilled all the requirements for the quarter, and also allowed needed time to focus on the rigorous play preparations. 

His weekly assignments are completed at home, in libraries, or at cafes, and his involvement in his drama class at BHS keeps him socially connected. 

Eighteen year old Joe Herbert, an affable senior, simply wants to learn–as much as he can all at once. 

Joe’s involvement in Independent Study began as a freshman with his enrollment in Spanish. After he had signed up for all the classes he wished to take at the high school, there wasn’t room in his schedule for Spanish. (At the time, 2001/2002, Independent Study students weren’t limited to just two classes at BHS as they are now.) 

As a sophomore and junior, Joe continued to take more classes through Independent Study, and eventually, through persistence, was able to enroll in courses at UC Berkeley as well. Currently he’s taking Spanish and math while still managing to find time to pursue his passions for playing African drums, practicing Capoiera, and dancing samba. 

“The flexibility there [in Independent Study] is something that’s really great,” says Joe, describing how a flu virus in the fall kept him in bed for a week. It was difficult to catch up on his work, he said, except for his Independent Study assignments whose teachers didn’t expect daily class attendance. 

Like Julian and Amber, he appreciates the personal attention he gets from teachers and administrators in Independent Study, which is small enough that students needn’t worry about overworked counselors forgetting to mail transcripts to colleges–as sometimes happens at BHS. 

“Independent Study is too small to be a bureaucracy,” says Joe. 

In late December he learned that he had been accepted at the University of Chicago and was waiting to hear from others. Considering his record, the brown-haired Berkeley resident (whose father, Rick Herbert, is an English teacher in Independent Study) may soon have a tough decision to make. And although he could graduate early, he’s opted to wait until June. Uncertain what his college major will be, but with a desire to “explore the world,” he clearly loves learning for learning’s sake. 

After several decades this writer still remembers painfully an adolescence spent at a large public high school—the pressure to conform and follow rules. Subsequent acceptance at an alternative college (whose philosophy of self-directed learning mirrors that of the Independent Study program) led to vastly increased confidence and sense of purpose.  

For the three profiled here, being in Independent Study has helped instill in them the focus and self assurance for which we all strive. 

This is the second in a series about the Berkeley Independent Study Program. Freelance writer and Berkeley resident Annie Kassof also works as a graphic artist, substitute preschool teacher, and she is a foster parent. Julian Harned is her son. 

?

It figured that when the fearless Berkeley Opera turned to Puccini, they weren’t going to do one of the big three fan favorites. Its choice was Il Trittico (The Trilogy, 1918), a triple bill of one-acters, the less favored members, Il Tabarro (The Cloak), and Suor Angelica together with the more popular, comic, Gianni Schicchi. Saturday’s audience at the Julia Morgan Theater was rewarded with uniformly strong singing, and exceptionally high musical values for a local opera company. 

Once again, artistic director and Berkeley Opera workhorse Jonathan Khuner deserves credit for the project’s success. He also did a triple, an operatic hat trick, functioning as stage director, musical director and conductor (not to mention rehearsal accompanist.) If he avoided an innovative staging approach to these operas, it is because so much of their power resides in small, everyday details, especially in the first two works. As Puccini himself wrote, he was inspired by “great sorrow in little souls.”  

Il Tabarro is Puccini’s real verismo opera, a detached view of life among the lower classes. Set on a river barge docked in the Seine at Paris, it features a love triangle—Michele, the barge owner, his vaguely dissatisfied wife Giorgetta, and her lover, Luigi, a longshoreman. It all ends in murder—surprise! The stagey finale may be a bit over-the-top for modern audiences, its horror that of the comic book variety. But the dominant feeling the opera provokes is the sense of weariness and melancholy of life on the river. Puccini’s score is terse and gripping, often harmonically adventurous, and there is little of that enveloping lyricism the composer is famous for. Only Giorgetta’s hymn to the Parisian suburb where she was born sounds like the Puccini of, say, La Boheme. 

Puccini brought the Seine into play as a character in this opera, and the “river music” runs through the whole first half. The production complemented this effect beautifully with Jeremy Knight’s projections and Robert Anderson’s lighting design, which created a slow sunset and moonrise over the river, with Notre Dame Cathedral in the background and even a few automobile headlights moving across a bridge. In an arty effect, the murder is lit by moonlight reflecting off of the water. 

John Minagro, physically thin and almost spectral, played Michele with tight-lipped evenness early on, his emotions held in check. When the character opened up, and the anguish and rage came pouring out, Minagro made the change seem natural and released the full, stentorian power of his bass-baritone; the effect, as he worked into a despairing, murderous rage, was a little terrifying. 

As Giorgetta, Duana Demus gave a full-blooded vocal performance with resonant low notes, and a steady, open-toned top register. She had a fine understanding of phrasing and varied her vocal delivery with the dramatic situation. Benjamin Bonger, as Luigi, was a little less flexible, but he showed a clear, well-placed tenor, singing the part without much effort. Among the uniformly well-cast supporting players, Patrice Houston rates special mention for her brightly comic portrayal of Frugola, the wife of one of the longshoremen. Only a singer with an excellent ear for pitch can make it through the chromatics of Frugola’s aria; Houston sang it well, while staying in character. 

Suor Angelica’s sentimental story fits more with the familiar Puccini. Set in a 17th century convent, the plot concerns Sister Angelica, who has been cut off from her wealthy family as a result of having borne an illegitimate child. Receiving a visit from her aunt, a Princess, she learns that the child is dead; grieving, she drinks poison, but is saved from damnation by the intercession of the Virgin Mary who appears to the dying woman in a vision. 

Whatever you think about the opera and the slightly bogus religiosity of the ending (which was done literally, through projections), be prepared to change your mind. Jillian Khuner’s electrifying portrayal of the title character was totally real and believable. Every word, every gesture carried conviction; the scream she emitted when Angelica learns of the death of her child was harrowing, her subsequent transfiguration beautifully detailed. And her singing, as always, was incandescent.  

As the stone-hearted Princess, Heather McFadden exploited a solid lower register and her imposing height to bring authority to the character. Playing off Jillian Khuner’s intensity, she rose to the challenge in her set piece and their whole dialogue struck home. 

Like the previous opera, Angelica’s first part is a series of scene-setting vignettes, which director Khuner didn’t sufficiently distinguish or separate so that, as often is the case, they passed in a blur for the audience. Fabienne Wood sang Suor Genovieffa’s wistful aria “Soave signor mio” so sweetly and with such pure tone, that it stood out.  

The evening’s finale, the farce Gianni Schicchi, offers “Oh mio babbuino caro” (a.k.a. “the Room With a View song”) as an enticement to come back after the second intermission. It was touchingly sung here by Ayelet Cohen, with thrilling natural vibrato. In the story, the wealthy Donati clan snubs Gianni Schicchi, an entrepreneur, forbidding the young Rinuccio to marry Gianni’s daughter, Lauretta. They soon discover, however, that they need Gianni’s cunning, when the patriarch of the clan dies, leaving all his money to a monastery. Gianni takes full advantage of this turn of events, allowing the lovers to marry.  

The part of Schicchi is a comic gold mine, and Jo Vincent Parks was an energetic and entertaining presence. Sometimes he sat on his own laughs by trying too hard, but he showed a gift for physical comedy. His diction was excellent, his vocal sound commanding but unforced. Of the other characters, Brian Thorsett, as Rinuccio, displayed a clear, penetrating lyric tenor, Katherine Daniel, playing cousin Zita, and William Pickersgill, as cousin Simone, were hilarious, and both sang well. Nicolas Aliaga was delightfully goofy as the doctor and the notary, and Wayne Wong obviously enjoyed himself as Betto, the drunken brother-in-law. 

The orchestra, playing Bryan Higgins’ ingenious orchestral reduction, was in fine form, despite a couple of harmless flubs. It wanted a few more violins for some of the climactic moments, but the ones that were there played their hearts out. Jonathan Khuner’s reading of the score was alive to dramatic nuances and was musically satisfying. 

The Planet is pleased to be able to print this review courtesy of San Francisco Classical Voice, a non-profit organization which offers a full menu of reviews and criticism of Bay Area classical music performances on their website, sfcv.org.  

3

TUESDAY, FEB. 1 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Lithography of Toko Shinoda” opens at the Schurman Gallery, 1659 San Pablo Ave., and runs through Mar. 31. 524-0623. www.schurmanfineartgallery.com 

FILM 

Japanese Experimental Film and Video at 7:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Theater Crossing Borders” with playwright and director Sabina Berman at 4 p.m. in Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall, UC Campus. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

Martin Jay discusses “Songs of Experience: Modern American and European Variations on a Universal Theme” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Eric Shifrin, solo piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

McCoy Tyner wiith Terence Blanchard, Ravi Coltrane, Charnett Moffett, Eric Holland at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $22-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Peelander-Z, The Bust, punk, at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 2 

THEATER 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Fetes de la Nuit” at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. Runs through Feb. 27. Tickets are $43-$55. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Surprise Me, Show Me Something Good” Local artists respond to the challenge to make themselves vulnerable. Reception at 5:30 p.m. at North and South Galleries, 5241 College Ave., Oakland. 658-1223. 

FILM 

Cine Contemporaneo: “Mundo Grúa” by Pablo Trapero, at 7 p.m. in the CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch St. In Spanish with English subtitles. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

Film 50: History of Cinema “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” at 3 p.m. and “Games” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley High Beats Poetry Slam at 7 p.m. in Room G-210, Berkeley High School. Sign up at 6:30 p.m. Donation $1. rayers@berkeley.k12.ca.us 

Adam Hochshild introduces “Bury the Chains: Prophets, Slaves and Rebels in the First Human Rights Crusade” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryplough.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Il Trittico” at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with the Young Musicians Program at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

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

Whiskey Brothers at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Project Pimento, Famous Celebrities, Dreamend, 2Me, indie rock, acoustic, at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Tom Griesgraber/Jerry Marotta Duo, prog-rock,at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

THURSDAY, FEB. 3 

EXHIBITIONS 

Addison Street Windows Gallery Anti-Bullying Art and Essays by Berkeley Middle School students. Reception from 4 to 6 p.m. in the lobby of the Berkeley Repertory Roda Theater. 981-7546. 

FILM 

African Film Festival: “Story of a Beautiful Country” at 5:30 p.m. and “Kounandi” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Free First Thurs. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lunch Poems Reading Series with Barbara Guest at 12:10 p.m. at the Morrison Library in Doe Library, UC Campus. 642-0137. http://lunchpoems.berkeley.edu 

Maya Khosla reads from her poetry at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards introduce “Grassroots: A Field Guide to Feminist Action” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Kristin Ohlson reads from “Stalking the Divine” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Chris Angell and Rita Bregman at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

New Century Chamber Orchestra performs Cowell’s “Variations on Thirds” at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $18-$39. 415-357-1111.  

Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Vusi Mahlasela, a cappella group from South Africa, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$46 available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, bluegrass, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $29.50-$30.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Barefoot Nellies, all-women classic bluegrass, at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10.  

Research and Development, Japonize Elephants at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

The Jennifer Clevinger Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

FRIDAY, FEB. 4 

EXHIBITIONS 

New Works by Julia Alpers, Mark Fox, Blane Fontana and Anthony Pearce. Reception for the artists at 7 p.m. at Art Beat Salon & Gallery, 1887 Solano Ave. 527-3100. 

FILM 

African Film Festival: “Soldiers of the Rock” at 7 p.m. and “Daresalam” at 9:05 p.m at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “Seduced” by Sam Shepard opens at 8 p.m. at the Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck at Berryman, and runs Fri. and Sat. through Feb. 19. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Aurora Theatre, “Dublin Carol” by Conor McPherson Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun at 2 and 7 p.m. through March 6 at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $28-$45. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Fetes de la Nuit” at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. Runs through Feb. 27. Tickets are $43-$55. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Ragged Wing Ensemble “The Serpent” theater with movement, masks and puppetry, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., through Feb. 19, at the Eighth Street Studios, 2525 8th St. Tickets are $10-$20 sliding scale. 527-8119. www.raggedwing.org 

"Bridge & Tunnel" workshop performances by Sarah Jones at 8 p.m. Thurs.-Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. through Feb. 20 at Berkeley Repertory Theater’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $30-$40. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater, “The Mousetrap” Agatha Christie’s classic mystery Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. through Feb. 19 at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. Tickets are $10-$15. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rosemary Gong explains “Good Luck Life: The Essential Guide to Chinese American Celebrations and Culture” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Kodo, synthesis of music and martial arts at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$46. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Bill Frisell’s 858 Quartet, contemporary jazz guitarist, at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $20-$25. 762-2277. www.tickets.com 

Rhythm Village, West African music and dance, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$14. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Houston Jones at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

The Art of the Trio with the David K. Matthews Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazz 

school.com 

Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, bluegrass, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $29.50-$30.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Denise Perrier Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

The Ravines, singer-songwriters, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Moore Brothers, Alela, Mariee at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Midnight Laser Beam, Casiotone for the Painfuly Alone at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Subliminal Twinkies, The Loyalists, Sizemix, electro-funk-indie-hiphop, at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Jami Sieber at 8 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento.  

Anton Barbeau at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10.  

Flowtilla, groove jazz-funk, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

McCoy Tyner with Terence Blanchard, Ravi Coltrane, Charnett Moffett, Eric Holland at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $22-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, FEB. 5 

CHILDREN 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Gary Lapow at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Danna Troncatty Leahy, author of “Cioa Bamino” at 2 p.m. at Lucciola Children’s Bookstore, 3980 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 652-6655. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Art of Living Black” Ninth Annual Bay Area Black Artists Exhibition Artists’ Talk at 2 p.m. at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. 620-6772. www.therichmondartcenter.org 

FILM 

African Film Festival: “Agogo Eewo” at 5 p.m., “Campus Queen” at 7 p.m. and “Madamce Brouette” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Dr. Cornel West reads from his new book “Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism” at 1 p.m. at Calvin Simmons Theater, 10 Tenth St., Oakland. Free, donations welcomed. Sponsored by Laney College. 

Sandra Gilbert reads from her new volume of poems at 11 a.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 3rd flr Community Room. 981-6121. www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org 

Bay Area Poets Coalition holds an open reading from 3 to 5 p.m. For location or other information call 527-9905 or email poetalk@aol.com 

“Rumi’s Teachings on Global Peace and Harmony” with Dr. Majid Naini at 7:30 p.m. at the Islamic Cultural Center, 1433 Madison St., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$15. 832-7600. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley High School Concert Orchestra at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, North Branch, 1170 The Alameda. 981-6250. www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org 

Trinity Chamber Concert with Sarah Holzman, flute, Krisanthy Desby, cello, and Miles Graber, piano, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. http://trinitychamberconcerts.com 

Healing Muses “Bringing Light to Darkness” a celebration of winter and the coming of spring at 8 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington Ave., Albany. Tickets are $15-$18, reservations recommended. 524-5661, ext. 3. www.healingmuses.org 

Kodo, synthesis of music and martial arts at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$46. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Daria will showcase songs from her newest album, “Feel the Rhythm” at 1 p.m. at Hear Music, 1809 Fourth St. 204-9595. www.dariajazz.com 

La Niña Flamenco Series at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

G.Q Wang, recital of art songs, at 7:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 526-3805. 

Davka, Middle Eastern Ashkenazi jazz, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Virginia Iglesias Flamenco Dance Company at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

John Newby Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Samantha Raven, singer-songwriter, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Sandy Chang at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10.  

Psychokinetics, Sol Rebelz at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Replicator, Cold War, Raking Bombs at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Jami Sieber at 8 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento. 

Neurohumors, improv, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, FEB. 6 

EXHIBITIONS 

Matrix 214: Mark Manders “The Absence of Mark Manders” sculptures and installations opens at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way and runs through April 10. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Matrix 215: Althea Thauberger “A Memory Lasts Forever” video installation with photographs opens at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way and runs through April 10. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Bark and Beyond” giclée color prints by Helene Sobol opens at Photolab Gallery, 225 Fifth St., and runs through March 19. Reception from 3 to 5 p.m. Gallery hours are Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. 644-1400. www.photolaboratory.com/gallery 

FILM 

African Film Festival: “Cosmic Africa” at 5 p.m., and “The Price of Forgiveness” at 6:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Sally Woodbridge, architectural historian, speaks on  

“John Galen Howard and the University of California: The Design of a Great Public University Campus” at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Free. Wheelchair accessible. 

Althea Thauberger and Mark Manders, gallery talk at 4 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way and runs through April 10. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Poetry Flash with Nils Michals and Mark Wunderlich at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Il Trittico” at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Takács Quartet, chamber music at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $42, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Healing Muses “Bringing Light to Darkness” a celebration of winter and the coming of spring at 4 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington Ave., Albany. Tickets are $15-$18, reservations recommended. 524-5661, ext. 3. www.healingmuses.org 

Herb Bielawa, composer-in-residence, 75th Birthday Concert, at 7:30 p.m. at The Unitearian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Tickets are $10-$15. 524-2912. www.uucb.org 

Chamber Music Sundaes with San Francisco Symphony musicians and friends at 3:15 p.m. St John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $7-$15 at the door. 415-584-5946 www.chambermusicsundaes.org 

Kodo, synthesis of music and martial arts, at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$46. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Turkish Sufi Music, poetry, and dance at 7 p.m. at 7th Heaven Yoga Studio, 2820 7th St. at Ashby. Tickets are $12-$15. 665-4300. 

The Black Irish Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Native Fruits, music brunch at 10 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net

Back in the heyday of The Far Side, Gary Larson drew a Sunday panel showing a middle-aged couple slumped on their living room floor and another couple exiting. The caption: “The Arnolds feign death until the Wagners, sensing awkwardness, are compelled to leave.” 

What the Arnolds had done is known technically as thanatosis. The practice is widespread among arthropods—a Google Scholar search turned up references to carrion beetles, ladybeetles, weevils, stick insects, crickets, and spiders—but its best known exemplar is a mammal, the Virginia opossum, as in “playing ‘possum.” (I’m using the “o” and the apostrophe for clarity’s sake. Australia has a bunch of vaguely similar mammals called possums, but they’re no more closely related to the American opossums than are kangaroos, koalas, or Tasmanian devils). 

I’ve known my share of opossums in Berkeley, including the one that passed away in my garage a few years ago, but I’ve never seen one feign death. They’ve tended to stand their ground, giving me an insolent toothy leer. But death-feigning behavior is well documented in the wild, and there have been two confirming laboratory studies.  

It appears that an opossum has to feel seriously threatened before it keels over, and that physical violence is a necessary trigger. This can be intramural—John McManus at Cornell, who worked with a captive population, saw a small male opossum feign death after being bitten by a larger cagemate—but more often involves a predator. A study in the mid-‘60s at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles used what was described as an “artificial dog jaw,” resembling a large pair of pliers, to grab the opossum by the neck and shake it, to the accompaniment of recorded barking. A later project at the University of New Hampshire started out using real dogs. They proved unreliable, though, and the researcher, Edward Francq, wound up picking up the opossums and shaking them manually.  

What happens when you shake an opossum follows a predictable course. The animal falls over on its side and lies still with its body flexed and its feet grasping whatever substrate it’s on. It drools and may discharge a noxious substance from its anal glands. Its eyes remain open and its ears twitch in response to squeaks or other sharp sounds, but it doesn’t react if prodded or pricked. Recovery time varies from a couple of minutes to half an hour or more. 

But is the creature really out for the duration? It appears not, based on the Children’s Hospital study. Electroencephalograph readings before, during, and after what the authors called the “opossum state” showed no significant changes. They concluded that the EEG during thanatosis “is that of a normal, waking, highly alert behavioural state.” The opossum does not lose consciousness, whatever consciousness might be in an opossum. Francq later obtained normal electrocardiogram results during the opossum state. 

If you were wondering, it also appears that Tennessee fainting goats do not actually faint when startled. According to the International Fainting Goat Association’s website, the goats suffer from myotonia; their muscles stiffen up, and they fall over. But they remain fully conscious and aware of their surroundings. Experienced goats learn to lean against something. 

The goats’ condition is caused by a combination of recessive genes, but playing ‘possum is part of a normal opossum’s standard behavioral repertoire. Feigning death may frustrate a predator’s tendency to chase things that move. And the opossum may also render itself unpalatable. Something similar happens with another group of death artists, the North American hog-nosed snakes, but in a more elaborate way. First they bluff; then they play dead. Here’s how the late great herpetologist Archie Carr described it: 

He will coil in a purposeful way, rear back and spread the whole first third of his body as thin as your belt, and lunge out at you repeatedly, each time hissing with almost intolerable menace. If instead of recoiling you steel yourself and reach over and pat the snake on the back, his menace will wilt before your eyes, and he will proceed to prove that you have killed him. He will turn over onto his back, open his mouth,... and then, after writhing about until his moist parts are all coated with debris, lie there belly-up as clearly defunct as any snake could be. 

But don’t feel badly about him. Give him two minutes, say, and the catalepsy will wane. He will draw his tongue back in and ever so slowly turn and raise his head to see whether you are still there. Move your hand quickly before him, and he will flip back over into his supine seizure. Reach down and turn him right side up, and he will instantly twist over onto his back again. But then get up and move off a little way and wait patiently behind a tree, and you can watch him slowly come back to life, turn right side up, and quietly ease away. 

The opossum’s behavior and the snake’s may have evolved convergently, like the wings of bats and birds; or they may both have inherited the genes that code for death-feigning from some remote common ancestor. We may never know. The South American short-tailed opossum is having its genome sequenced, but neither our local opossum nor any of the hog-nosed snakes is on the short list of candidates. 

Opossums and hog-nosed snakes play dead as a defense (as, we presume, did the Arnolds). But there are at least two instances of thanatosis as an offensive strategy, both involving cichlid fish from the Great Lakes of Central Africa: Nimbochromis livingstonii in Lake Malawi and Lamprologus lemairii in Lake Tanganyika. Both have unhealthy-looking blotched and mottled color patterns, and both lie on their sides on the lake bottom, doing convincing impressions of dead fish. But when smaller fish swim by to investigate the corpses, the cichlids snap them up. Cichlid specialist George Barlow says the two are not close relatives and appear to have developed their appearance and behavior independently. ›

TUESDAY, FEB. 1 

Mid-Day Meander to see early blooming schrubs and learn Groundhog Day lore at 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233.  

Bird Walk along the Martin Luther King Shoreline to see marsh birds at 3 p.m. For information call 525-2233. 

“New Era/New Politics” Walking Tour of Oakland highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. Tour is free and lasts about 90 minutes. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Getting Along with Your Adult Children” a participatory workshop at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $35-$40. 848-0327, ext. 110. www.brjcc.org 

“A Test of Will: A Climber’s Story of Survival” with Warren MacDonald at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Sing-A-Long every Tues. from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic. All ages welcome. 524-9122. 

Tap Into It Jazz and Rhythm Tap classes at Montclair Recreation Center, 6300 Moraga Ave., Oakland. Experienced at 6:30 p.m., beginners at 7:30 p.m. 482-7812. 

Berkeley Salon Discussion Group meets to discuss “Political Predictions and the New Administration” from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Please bring snacks and soft drinks to share. No peanuts please. 601-6690. 

Organic Produce at low prices sold at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon Streets every Tuesday from 3 to 6 p.m. This is a project of Spiral Gardens. 843-1307. 

School Age Storytime for ages 5 and up at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext.17. Ends March 1 

Family Story Time at the Kensington Branch Library, Tues. evenings at 7 p.m. at 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Brainstormer Weekly Pub Quiz every Tuesday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Pyramid Alehouse Brewery, 901 Gilman St. 528-9880. 

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

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 2 

Groundhog Day Wildlife Walk in the Eastshore State Park to see ground squirrels, birds and talk about the ecosystem that supports so much wildlife. Meet at 10 a.m. at Sea Breeze Deli, University Avenue just west of I-80/580. Co-sponsored by Berkeley Path Wanderers, Friends of Five Creeks, Save the Bay, and the City of Berkeley’s Everybody Walks program. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

Berkeley High Beats Poetry Slam at 7 p.m. in Room G-210, Berkeley High School. Sign up at 6:30 p.m. Donation $1. rayers@berkeley.k12.ca.us 

AARP Free Tax Assistance for taxpayers with middle and low incomes, with special attention to those 60 years and older. From 12:15 to 4:15 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. This service will continue through April. Appointments must be made in advance. 526-3720, ext. 5. 

“Matrix of Evil” A documentary with footage from speeches and conversations with Cong. Ron Paul, Col. Craig Roberts, Cong. Cynthia McKinney, Frank Morales, and Alex Jones, at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Free, $5 donations accepted. 393-5685. 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 7:15 a.m. at Au Cocolait, 200 University Ave. at Milvia. For information call Robert Flammia 524-3765. 

Artify Ashby Muralist Group meets every Wed. from 5 to 8 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, to plan a new mural. New artists are welcome. Call Bonnie at 704-0803. 

American Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Volunteers are needed to support the more than 40 blood drives held each month.  Advance sign-up needed 594-5165. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch Bring your knitting, crocheting and other handcrafts from 6 to 9 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

Winter Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

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

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, FEB. 3 

Early Morning Bird Walk in Tilden Park to look for winter residents. Meet at 7:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Area. 525-2233. 

Painted Dog Project A discussion of the efforts to save these rare canids in Zimbabwe at 7 p.m. in the Marian Zimmer Auditorium, The Oakland Zoo. Cost is $20. 632-9525, ext. 142. www.oaklandzoo.org 

“World Religions and Ecology” with Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker and Dr. John Grim, both of Bucknell University, at 7 p.m. at the Richard S. Dinner Boardroom, Graduate Theological Union, Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2560. 

“Nonviolent Resistance to U.S. Militarization in Okinawa” A presentation by Suzuyo Takazato, a cofounder and co-coordinator of Okinawan Women Act Against Military Violence at 7 p.m. in Mudd 100, Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave. 849-8244. 

“Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin” at 6:30 p.m. at the Ellen Driscoll Theater, Frank Havens School, 325 Highland Ave., Piedmont. Sponsored by the Piedmont Appreciating Diversity Film Series. www.diversityworks.org 

“Kingdom of the West” A video tour by air of Yellowstone, Yosemite & Glacier National Parks at 1:30 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping in Berkeley Public Schools at 4:30 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

FRIDAY, FEB. 4 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Debra Pryor, Chief of the Berkeley Fire Dept. Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

Outings on Fridays with Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association Tour of the Hearst Memorial Mining Building, UC Campus at 11 a.m. Cost is $15. Reservations required. 841-2242. www.berkeleyheritage.com 

“From Chiapas to California” with Ramon Penate Diaz and Miguel Pickard from Chiapas, in an evening of spoken word and music at 8 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. 654-9587. 

“Dancin’ in the Street: The Influence of Black Music of the Vietnam Era” from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Cost is $15-$20. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“The Thursday Club” screening of a new documentary by George Csicery about Oakland police officers and the Black Panthers at 7 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Life and Debt” Stephanie Black’s award winning documentary examines the devastating effects of globalization upon local agriculture and industry in Jamaica. Part of the First Fridays series at 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Free. 482-1062. 

Literacy & Beyond! Lunar New Year Celebration at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley YMCA, 2001 Allston Way. Free. 665-3271. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

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 

SATURDAY, FEB. 5 

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

“Pinguicula and Utricularia in the Cloud Forests of Ecuador” hosted by Geoff Wong of the Carnivorous Plant Society, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. 643-2755.  

“New Era/New Politics” Walking Tour of Oakland highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. Tour is free and lasts about 90 minutes. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Waterfalls of Berkeley Discover the little-known waterfalls of urban Berkeley on the moderately challenging walk. Find three stepped waterfalls tucked away in parks and neighborhoods, and see gardens and historic homes. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Reservations required. For details call 415-255-3233. www.greenbelt.org 

Mushroom Walk in The Redwoods Join Berkeley Path Wanderers for an easy walk in Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, looking for showy mushrooms, enjoying birds, and pondering the lives and histories of redwoods. Meet at the Canyon Meadow Staging Area, the main parking lot farthest into the park from Redwood Gate, the main park entrance on Redwood Rd at 10 a.m. For information contact Robert Mackler, walk leader 799-6756.  

Tilden Toddlers For ages 2-3 to explore the Nature Area and look for amphibian friends. From 2 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. 525-2233. 

Kid’s Garden Club for ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7, registration required. 525-2233. 

Magnificent Magnolias and Other Early Blooming Trees at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

Celebrate Black History Month with Bambara Mud Cloth painting at Habitot, 2065 Kittredge St. Cost is $5-$6. 647-111. www,habitot.org 

“Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism” with Dr. Cornel West at 1 p.m. at Calvin Simmons Theater, 10 Tenth St., Oakland. Free, donations welcomed. Sponsored by Laney College. 

“Evidence for Global Warming: A Scientific Perspective” from 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Progressive Democrats of America organizational meeting to form an East Bay Chapter, at 1 p.m. at Temescal Oakland Library, 5205 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 

Emergency Response Training Class on “Disaster First Aid” from 9 a.m. to noon at the Fire Dept. Training Center, 997 Cedar St. To register call 981-5606. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

“Rumi’s Teachings on Global Peace and Harmony” with Dr. Majid Naini at 7:30 p.m. at the Islamic Cultural Center, 1433 Madicon St., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$15. 832-7600. 

Valentine Making from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. Fee and all supplies will be provided. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 845-4116. www.nativeplants.org 

SUNDAY, FEB. 6 

Conifers of California from 10 a.m. to noon at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Early Bloomers Look for currant leatherwood and trillium from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Mythical Owls Learn about owls and separate fact from fiction at 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Healthy Gardening Workshop Learn about basic integrated pest management to keep both garden and gardener healthy with Contra Costa Master Gardener, Jeanine Sidran, from 1 to 3 p.m. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. Registration required. 643-2755. 

Alan Rinzler’s Writer’s Workshop at 3 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Telegraph Ave. Seating is first-come, first-served. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Oakland Tet Festival A celebration of the Vietnamese New Year with music, dance and food, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Clinton Park, 1230 6th Ave., by International/14th St., Oakland  

Institute for World Religions Book Study Group on “Dimensions of Unity” and “Religion East & West” at 2 p.m. at Vara Healing Arts, 850 Talbot at Solano Ave. Albany. 548-4517. 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Tibetan Buddhism with Jack ven der Meulen on Tibetan Yoga “Listening to the Heart” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, FEB. 7 

Tea and Hike at Four Taste some of the finest teas from the Pacific Rim and South Asia and learn their natural and cultural history, followed by a short nature walk. At 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7, registration required. 525-2233. www.ebparks.org 

Help Find Frogs Learn how to help with Friends of Five Creeks’ every-other-year frog survey at 7 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin, Albany. Volunteers learn at the meeting to recognize frog calls and then listen at likely spots after sundown. Focus is on East Bay from Berkeley to Richmond, but others welcome. 548-3787. www.fivecreeks.org  

Winter’s Sky at New Moon Time Meet at 6:30 p.m. at Tilden’s Inspiration Point and dress warmly for the evening’s star study. 525-2233. 

National Organization for Women Oakland/East Bay Chapter meets at 6 p.m. at the Oakland YWCA, 1515 Webster St. The speaker will be Claudette Begin, union activist and former candidate for mayor of San Jose on the Socialist Workers Party ticket. 287-8948. 

“Mesopotamia Endangered: Witnessing the Loss of History” with Joanne Farchakh, Lebanese journalist, at 5:30 p.m. at 370 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by The Archaeological Institute of America, San Francisco Society, The Dept. of Near Eastern Studies, UCB. 

Home Buyer Assistance Information Session for first-time homebuyers at 6 p.m. at 1504 Franklin St., Suite 100, Oakland. Free, but call to reserve a seat. 832-6925, ext. 100. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

ONGOING 

Pee Wee Basketball for boys and girls ages 6 to 8, begins Sat. Feb. 5, from 10 a.m. to noon, and runs for six weeks. Fee is $25-$35. For information call Berkeley Youth Alternatives, 845-9066. sports@byaonline.org 

Albany Berkeley Girls Softball League is looking for girls in grades 1-8 to play girls softball. Season runs March 5-June 4. Scholarships available. To register call 869-4277.  

All Net Basketball for boys and girls ages 9 to 11, begins Tues. Mar. 8, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., and runs for five weeks. Fee is $10-$15. For information call Berkeley Youth Alternatives, 845-9066. sports@byaonline.org 

Docent Training for the Magnes Museum for those interested in Jewish culture, history and art. Classes will be held on Thurs. evenings starting Feb. 3, at the Museum, 2911 Russell St. For more information contact Faith Powell at 549-6933. 

“Half Pint Library” Book Drive Donate children’s books to benefit Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland. Donations accepted at 1849 Solano Ave. through March 31. 

Taoist Tai Chi Society Beginning Level Class starts Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. New students may register at any time. 415-864-0899 www.taichicalifornia.org 

Berkeley Rhino Rugby Club is seeking new high school age players for the Spring 2005 season. No experience required. Practices are Tues. and Thurs. 5 to 7 p.m. at San Pablo Park. 466-5113. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Commission on the Status of Women meets Wed., Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Tasha Tervelon, 981-5347. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/women 

Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m. at 997 Cedar St. David Orth, 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/firesafety 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed., Feb. 2, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/welfare 

Commission on Early Childhood Education meets Thurs., Feb. 3, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Angellique De Cloud, 981-5428. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/earlychildhoodeducation  

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/housing 

Public Works Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 3, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jeff Egeberg, 981-6406. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/publicworks 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon., Feb. 7, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

citycouncil/agenda-committee 

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

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Mon., Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Gisele Sorensen, 981-7419. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/landmarks 

Peace and Justice Commission meets Mon., Feb. 7, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Manuel Hector, 981-5510. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/peaceandjustice 

City Council meets Tues., Feb. 8, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www. ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

For San Pablo city officials, it isn’t a casino so much as an economic godsend, a chance to save an impoverished city that will die without it. 

“Even with the casino as is”—a cardroom—“if [the expansion] doesn’t proceed, the City of San Pablo will fold,” said a passionate City Manager Brock Arner  

For critics, though, it’s an economic parasite, feeding off the poor and the elderly, sucking blood out of the community and threatening to create traffic and public health nightmares. 

“A casino is a false economy. It undermines the economic basis of small business... It destroys lives,” said Rev. Chuck Day, senior pastor emeritus of the First Baptist Church of San Pablo. 

If city and tribal officials have their way, with the blessing of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the cardroom that is Casino San Pablo will become a 2,500-slot-machine urban gambling mecca—California’s first—siphoning off millions for the state and local government and reviving a city on the brink. 

But the opposition is fervent and substantial, including state legislators, a U.S. senator and other gamblers, including the owners of the card rooms that are the only form of non-tribal gambling—besides the lottery—currently allowed in California. 

The conflicting currents all came together Saturday in a five-hour forum that packed a San Pablo auditorium and spilled out into the lobby. 

Led by East Bay Democratic Assemblymember Loni Hancock, whose district includes San Pablo, the meeting was organized into a series of panels heavily weighted with critics of the proposed casino. 

The staunchest defenders of the governor’s plan to create the first urban gambling palace along the California coast were Margie Mejia, chair of the Lytton Band of Pomos who own the casino in its current incarnation as a card room, elected and appointed San Pablo city officials and UNITE-HERE!, the hotel workers’ union. 

The promise of economic revitalization and jobs drives the city’s interest, and it’s the jobs themselves that fuel the union’s ardent advocacy. 

Other concerns about the proposal included a poignant plea by a woman whose life was saved by a fast ambulance ride to Doctors Hospital—situated adjacent to the casino and the only public emergency room within a 25-mile radius—who worried that heavy casino traffic congestion could cost lives, a concern shared by hospital officials. 

Contra Costa County Health Services Director William Walker said that assessing the casino’s public health impacts is difficult, primarily because there are no other urban casinos in California to compare it to. 

But he said other cities with casinos reported higher incidence of suicide, sexually transmitted diseases, alcoholism, drug deaths and arrests. He also noted that casino gambling is more addictive than other forms of wagering and results in increases in domestic violence. 

Walker said he also worried that increased traffic to the site on San Pablo Avenue could adversely impact access to Doctors Hospital. 

San Pablo Mayor Joe Gomes said he was very concerned when city voters originally passed a measure to allow the card room in 1994. “But we had been badly impacted financially, and in due time we would have had to disincorporate—and that would have been a disaster,” he said. 

“Since then, the club has enabled the city to stay solvent, improve our infrastructure and provide recreational facilities we didn’t have previously.” 

City Manager Arner put the city’s plight in starker terms: “Ninety percent of San Pablo residents have to commute outside the city to work. Eighteen percent of residents live below the poverty level, which is 330 percent above the county average, and unemployment is 170 percent higher than the county.” 

Tribal Chair Margie Mejia promised that her tribe “will provide good jobs with good benefits. We will create a thousand additional union jobs, and there will be thousands of union construction jobs.” 

The 25 percent of net gambling winnings the tribe has promised to pay the state—a figure she estimated at $155 million annually—“is higher than for any tribal government anywhere,” she said. 

“We will also pay for traffic mitigations and city services, and for improvements to local roads and the (San Pablo Avenue) freeway interchange.” 

Mejia hailed the casino as a “long-awaited opportunity to lift our tribe out of poverty. Many of us now live in desperate conditions as a result of generations of poverty going back at least 100 years.” 

However, the state’s percentage from the site could drop if other casinos open without the 35-mile-radius exclusive franchise proposed by the governor. Plans for two nearby casinos are now in the regulatory pipeline—a Las Vegas-style hotel resort at Point Molate and another casino-only planned for North Richmond.  

Similar arguments to those raised by Mejia and San Pablo officials were raised in Richmond when that city’s council agreed to sell Point Molate to Berkeley developer James D. Levine. 

But William Thompson, a professor at the University of Nevada—Las Vegas and one of the country’s leading gambling experts, said the proposed casino would inevitably draw its clientele from the people Arner said it would benefit. 

Thompson compared the likely habitués of the expanded Casino San Pablo to those who haunt the slot machines in Las Vegas grocery stores. 

“Neighborhood casinos are bad for communities,” he said, citing the 1999 findings of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. He said half the players would be Alameda and Contra Costa County residents, and only 10 percent would come from outside the Bay area. 

The casino would pose no threat to Las Vegas, he said, and Nevada would reap substantial profits, including millions from slot machine sales, since all slots are manufactured in that state. 

Thompson’s contention received reinforcement this week when the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry published a study showing that elderly gamblers on fixed incomes are at high risk for becoming problem gamblers.  

Legislative View 

Hancock, an opponent of casinos in her East Bay district, began the meeting by noting that the state constitution doesn’t require local input when tribes negotiate casino compacts with the state. 

Though San Pablo voters approved the 1994 initiative authorizing the present card room, the current proposal requires no such action. That agreement was hammered out by representatives of the tribe and Schwarzenegger’s office, but has stalled in the state Legislature. 

“The California Constitution does not require that members of the community should be involved when a compact is negotiated between a tribe and the state,” Hancock said. “There is nothing requiring that the City Council be involved.” 

“There is the promise of a great many millions coming to the community, but there is no provision in the compact guaranteeing money to local communities,” she said. 

Assemblymember Joe Cianciamilla, a Pittsburg Democrat whose district borders on Hancock’s, said the broader question is whether gambling is good for California. “Is this the way we want to fund local services? Is this the legacy we want to leave for future generations?” 

Cianciamilla called Casino San Pablo “a bellwether for casinos in San Francisco and San Diego.” 

Joe Nation, an Assembly Democrat who represents southern Marin County, said “It seems to me that we’re losing control of the process.” 

While not an outright foe of gambling, Nation said he opposes authorization of urban casinos like the Lytton proposal. “Once you cross that line, instead of the 54 casinos we have now there could be 109 casinos in California.” 

San Pablo Councilmember Leonard McNeil blamed the need for casinos on Proposition 13. 

While he said he doesn’t believe that the states can “gamble their way out of fiscal crisis. . .you cannot put the genie back in the bottle.” 

While McNeil claimed that tribal gambling “is the most regulated in the country,” regulators in Nevada and New Jersey typically deride the loose oversight of tribal gaming, and a recent study by the San Diego Union-Tribune demonstrated that tribal records go largely unaudited. 

“Contra Costa County is becoming ground zero for urban gambling in California,” said Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who said he was especially concerned about the cumulative impacts and the ambiguity of compacts. 

Dave Brown, a member of the West Contra Costa County School District board, said he was especially concerned about the messages casinos send to young people whom the schools are trying to teach character and moral values. 

“The major regional impacts are out of scale with the surrounding communities,” said El Cerrito Mayor Sandi Potter. 

Oakland City Councilmember Jean Quan, a vocal casino foe, recently voted with her colleagues against plans for a tribal casino at the Oakland airport. 

“Gambling redistributes wealth from the have-nots to the haves,” said recently elected Richmond Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin. “It creates no new products and low-income people suffer the most from gambling problems.” 

Cathy Ornellos, representing San Leandro Mayor Sheila Young, noted that her city council had voted in unanimous opposition to the Oakland Casino, and Frank Egger, Fairfax councilmember, read from his proposed statewide ballot initiative calling for a moratorium on new tribal casinos and enhanced regulatory structure. 

Audience members seemed to be weighted against the casino, judging by the applause speakers received.

Is there enough room in West Berkeley for the green grocer and the guy in the hard hat? That is a question the Planning Commission started to consider Wednesday at its first public hearing/workshop on the proposed West Berkeley Bowl. 

While some in the capacity crowd called the new store a death knell to manufacturing and art space in West Berkeley and a harbinger of even worse traffic congestion, others see it as the triumph of a homegrown treasure and a boon to neighbors with no nearby market. 

On the table is a 91,060-square-foot three-building complex complete with a two story supermarket and pharmacy, a warehouse, offices and 211 parking spaces and a separate building for prepared foods. The West Berkeley Bowl would be the biggest supermarket in Berkeley and more than twice as large as the current South Berkeley store. 

Currently the 2.3-acre lot is home to vacant buildings and one asphalt business.  

The site, however, is part of West Berkeley zoned for artist and industrial space, not supermarkets. To move the project forward, the Planning Commission and later the City Council must rezone the block for retail. After two hours of public comments, with little discussion from commissioners, the commission agreed to continue the discussion at its next meeting. 

If the commission ultimately doesn’t oblige with the rezoning, Bowl owner Glenn Yasuda promised he would search out a different West Berkeley plot rather than shrinking his development plans. 

“We feel compromising the size is not an option,” he said. “In retrospect we feel that the proposed store is too small, but it’s something we can work with.” The original plans for the store envisioned a 27,000-square-foot market, akin to the current store. 

Opponents said they feared that the new store would open the flood gates to more commercial development in West Berkeley, driving up rents and chasing out artists and industrialists. 

“Changing the [zoning] means waving a big green flag to other developers,” said John Curl, a West Berkeley-based woodworker. “The only way [artists and industry] can stay in West Berkeley is under the umbrella of industrial zoning. Otherwise they’ll be pushed out by gentrification.” 

John Phillips, a business owner on nearby Grayson Street, called the proposal “spot zoning”, and cautioned the commission against giving extra leeway to the popular store. “Will this always be the Berkeley Bowl?” he asked. “What happens when it’s sold?” 

Darrell de Tienne, a local developer representing Wareham Properties, one of West Berkeley’s largest land owners, urged the commission to welcome new uses into West Berkeley. 

“You need to be flexible,” he told commissioners. “Nothing is static. Things do change and we need to change.”  

Cameron Woo, who lives a block from the proposed supermarket, said he would welcome more commercial development. “I breath that blue collar work every day and night,” he said. 

For many of Woo’s neighbors, the key issue wasn’t more retail stores, but more cars on their streets. 

A study by transportation consultants Fehr & Peers found the only significant impact for the project would be at the intersection of San Pablo Avenue and Heinz Street, where the Bowl has agreed to pay for the installation of a traffic signal. 

The store would generate about 3,800 new weekday vehicle trips, but most would absorbed by major streets like Ashby and San Pablo avenues, said Fehr & Peers’ Rob Reese. Ninth Street, he added, could expect a daily increase in vehicle trips from 1,800 to 2,100, and frequent traffic congestion on nearby Seventh Street could be alleviated by improving poorly timed traffic signals. 

“Seventh Street should not be an albatross around the neck of this development,” said Peter Hillier, Berkeley’s assistant city manager for transportation. He touted the supermarket’s willingness to extend the Ninth Street bicycle boulevard through its property and promised residents that the city would take actions to keep cars off residential streets if they become clogged with shoppers. 

Claire Cotts, who lives at an artist’s loft on Heinz Street, remained concerned. “I love the Berkeley Bowl, but I can’t park in my neighborhood,” she said. “Heinz is just way too small.” 

G

While the Berkeley Unified School District awaits a decision by the Berkeley City Council on whether or not the city will close down a block of Derby Street, a BUSD-contracted architectural firm is moving forward to develop proposals for temporary use of the district-owned adjoining property. 

At issue is the two-block property bounded by Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street to the east and west and Carleton and Ward to the north and south, with Derby running in between. The southern block of the property houses the Berkeley Alternative High School, while the northern block houses unused storage buildings, offices, and classrooms owned by the school district. The Berkeley Farmers’ Market operates on Tuesday afternoons on the stretch of Derby Street. 

The Berkeley community has been split over the future of the property, with some residents wanting Derby Street to remain open and the Farmers Market preserved, others pushing for the two properties to be combined and turned into a regulation baseball diamond for use by the high school team. Some neighbors are adamantly opposed to the baseball field, and others complain that as long as the empty buildings remains standing, they serve as a haven for drug use, prostitution, and homeless people. 

On Tuesday night, representatives of WLC Architects of Emeryville and Rancho Cucamonga held a community meeting at the Berkeley Alternative auditorium to try to bring the various sides together for a temporary solution. 

Berkeley City Councilmember Max Anderson—who represents the district surrounding the properties—and BUSD Board Directors Terry Doran and John Selawsky participated in the meeting, but did not make formal presentations.  

Marcia Vallier of Vallier Design Associates, a subcontractor on the development project, drew applause when she told a gathering of some 75 residents that the school district had charged WLC with demolishing the existing buildings on the north lot. 

Vallier said that the architects are also responsible developing a plan for that property, with two conditions: The development plan cannot consider the closure of Derby Street, but the plan must have no permanent structures that cannot be moved or expanded in the event that Derby is eventually closed. 

Taking the Derby closure off the table for the sake of the meeting discussion initially disappointed baseball field supporters, who had mobilized their forces to come out to the meeting. 

Earlier in the week, Berkeley High baseball coach Tim Moellering had circulated an e-mail saying, “It is time for those of us who support a field that can include baseball to show ourselves.” 

Moellering’s e-mail explained “For many years, we have been trying to build playing fields at East Campus on MLK and Derby. In order to include a baseball field that can accommodate Berkeley High players, the City of Berkeley needs to approve the permanent closing of Derby Street between Milvia and MLK. Once again, this issue is on the table. Some neighbors are vehemently opposed to the project.” 

One property neighbor, looking over the participants at the beginning of the meeting, said “I don’t see many neighborhood residents here. It’s mostly field supporters. I think it’s a done deal.” 

It wasn’t, at least for the time being. With the full-sized baseball field temporarily off the table, field supporters and neighbors instead broke into groups around the auditorium, working out temporary plans on property maps to satisfy both maps.  

By the end of the evening, a consensus had emerged for a multi-purpose field for soccer and rugby on one portion of the property, with some combination of baseball infield, softball field, basketball courts, gardens, and other smaller parcels in the remaining space. 

Vallier said that the architects would return on Feb. 28 to present finalized plans to the community before giving a final report to the BUSD board. She said that demolition of the buildings on the north property is scheduled to begin in May or June or this year, and promised that the demolition would not affect the operation of the Farmers’ Market. 

Councilmember Anderson told meeting participants that he considered the meeting “as much a community building exercise as it is a design exercise.” 

He said that while “there has been some mistrust in the past between the community and city officials, I’m in office now, and I’m going to do my best to craft a resolution that will be in the best interest of both the community and the kids.”  

Anderson also said that he has been looking into land-swapping proposals that would place the high school baseball field in a location other than the Derby Street properties. 

Following the meeting, Anderson said he expected the Derby Street closure issue to be discussed by Berkeley City Council before the community meets again in late February.w

Starting this summer Marin Avenue is scheduled to slim down for its 21,000 daily motorists. 

The City Council Tuesday voted 8-1 (Olds, no) to approve a hotly contested plan, known as a “road diet,” to reduce traffic lanes on the major North Berkeley thoroughfare in hopes of slowing down cars and improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists. 

The city plans to reduce the lanes along the avenue in July. 

In other matters, the council approved funding for three affordable housing projects and ordered the Zoning Adjustment Board to conduct a new public hearing on a proposed five-story condo complex. 

The vote on Marin came one week after 42 residents split on whether Berkeley should join Albany in scaling back the avenue from four lanes of oncoming vehicle traffic to two lanes, with two bike lanes and a center turning lane. Only a couple of plan backers and detractors were in attendance Tuesday for the council vote. 

Berkeley’s share of the project is estimated at $35,000, which the city hopes to fund through state and regional grants, said Peter Hillier, assistant city manager for transportation. Restoring the street to its current configuration after a one-year trial period would cost an additional $35,000 and, if deemed necessary, would likely come from the city’s coffers, Hillier added. 

Although the council passed the plan by a strong majority, several councilmembers expressed concerns that despite a transit study showing limited traffic impacts, Marin might bottleneck during rush hour.  

“It’s a very crude model,” said Councilmember Gordon Wozniak. He feared that reducing the avenue’s vehicle capacity would send many commuters dashing through neighboring streets and leave Berkeley powerless to remedy the situation until the year trial period ended. 

“A year is a lifetime if you’re sitting on Marin for an extra half hour,” chimed in Betty Olds, who represents a swath of the Berkeley hills for whose residents Marin is the quickest route to I-80. 

As a condition for approval the council asked that city traffic engineers prepare a report three months after the re-striping project is completed and add Gilman Street and the San Fernando/Thousand Oaks corridor to a list of nine streets slated for before and after transit studies. Additionally, Mayor Tom Bates wrote a letter requesting that Albany officials consider scrapping the project quickly if it backs up traffic. 

Albany residents along Marin have lobbied for seven years to re-stripe the avenue, and the Albany City Council was set to go ahead with the project independent of Berkeley. 

The project will encompass 12 blocks in Albany from Cornell Avenue to Tulare Avenue and an additional four-and-a-half blocks in Berkeley ending at The Alameda where Marin shrinks to one lane in each direction.  

The specter of Albany going ahead with the project, leaving the four Berkeley blocks sandwiched between two narrower sections of Marin appeared to sway several councilmembers. 

“It just seems to me that trying to keep it consistent would be reason enough to do it,” said Linda Maio, fearing that otherwise motorists would see the Berkeley section with four lanes of traffic as a cue to make up for lost time. 

“In many ways it would be more dangerous not to go ahead with this,” said Councilmember Laurie Capitelli, who lives four blocks from Marin and found himself wrestling between the arguments of avenue residents concerned about safety and their neighbors who fear motorists will now commute down their streets instead. 

“It’s a rare opportunity to piss off 10,000 people if you vote yes and 10,000 people if you vote no,” he said. 

Condo Development 

The council voted unanimously to send back to the Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) a five-story condo project at University Avenue and McGee Street after an appeal showed that the project violated a state housing law. 

The ZAB had approved the project with a 25 percent density bonus in return for the project’s inclusion of four condos priced at 120 percent of the area’s median income. However, an appeal by project opponent Robin Kibby showed that a 2003 state law allows the 25 percent bonus only for condos priced below 80 percent of AMI.  

The ZAB now must either compel the developer to offer the affordable units at the lower price or find that the developer has economic necessity to proceed with the current design. Losing the bonus would cost the building three condos. 

The project, long opposed by several neighbors for being too big and bulky, has already been to the Design Review Commission seven times and the ZAB three times. In response to concerns, the developer has shrunk the project from 31,500 square feet to 28,300 square feet, reduced the number of units from 43 rentals to 25 condos and doubled the number of parking spaces from 16 to 32.  

Councilmember Dona Spring urged the council to ask the ZAB to consider shaving off an extra 800 square feet from the south end of the building, where there is no setback from the sidewalk, and requiring pedestrian improvements at the site as a condition of the use permit. Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Max Anderson backed Spring’s motion, but couldn’t muster a majority. 

Affordable Housing 

The council voted to fund $6 million for three affordable housing projects totaling 231 apartments. The projects—Ashby Lofts, University Avenue Senior Housing and Oxford Plaza—will nearly double the number of new affordable housing units constructed in Berkeley since 1999. However to pay its share of the construction costs, the council agreed to tap its housing trust fund for the next three years and, if additional funds don’t materialize and the federal government cuts back on housing grants, commit $500,000 from the city’s general fund reserve. 

All three projects must first compete for state grants and win city permits before beginning construction. 

The council voted unanimously for Satellite Senior Homes and Ashby Lofts and approved Oxford Plaza 8-1 with Olds casting the lone dissenting vote.  

The City Council has authorized up to $75,000 to prepare a lawsuit against UC Berkeley.  

The action taken in closed session Monday comes after the latest round of town-gown negotiations last week ended in stalemate. 

“A lawsuit is all but certain,” said Cisco De Vries, chief of staff to Mayor Tom Bates. 

The suit would challenge the adequacy of the university’s Environmental Impact Report for its recently approved Long Range Development Plan. 

City officials argue the plan, which guides UC Berkeley development through 2020, neglects to specify precisely where the university intends to build and fails to account for the impact of the construction, especially of up to 2,300 new parking spaces. 

In negotiations, the city has tried to use the specter of a lawsuit to settle its demand that the university increase payments for city services it provides such as the fire department and sewer system. 

The city has retained Michelle Kenyon, of the Oakland firm McDonough Holland & Allen to prepare the lawsuit.  

Berkeley has until Feb. 18 to file suit against the university. A legal battle is estimated to cost the city $250,000. 

—Matthew Artz?

Caltrans announced Thursday that it is “moving full speed ahead” with perhaps the most eagerly awaited transit project in Contra Costa County and one of the least loved in Berkeley. 

The fourth bore to the Caldecott Tunnel should be completed by 2012 at a cost of between $200 million and $400 million, said Caltrans Director Will Kempton at a press conference atop the tunnel connecting Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The new bore would be located to the north of the other three, where Caltrans has secured the right-of-way. 

Caltrans currently devotes two two-lane bores heading in the direction of rush hour traffic and one in the opposite direction. The result is often that traffic backs up going towards Contra Costa County in the morning and towards Berkeley in the evening. 

The media gathering came the day after state legislators grilled Caltrans officials at a hearing over $2.5 billion in cost overruns on the Bay Bridge retrofit project. 

Pressed about the timing of Thursday’s announcement, Kempton refused to touch on the bridge controversy, but said the agency was pushing reforms. “We’re looking to improve our project management and operate more like a business,” he said. 

Kempton emphasized a memorandum of understanding among Caltrans, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority and the Alameda County Congestion Agency to handle potential conflicts and keep the tunnel project on track. 

Contra Costa politicians have pressed for the tunnel project for years and Berkeley has opposed it every step of the way. In 2000, the City Council voted unanimously to oppose the project, fearing that a fourth bore would mean more commuters driving their cars through Berkeley streets on their way to work. 

“It’s not going to do us any good,” said Transportation Commission Chair Rob Wrenn. He said he thinks the project will encourage more commuters to drive to jobs at UC Berkeley. 

“Instead of being creative and offering free BART rides and shuttles, Caltrans threw in the towel and decided to further clog roads,” said Stuart Cohen, executive director of the Transportation and Land Use Coalition. 

Ann Smulka, a transportation commissioner who lives in southeast Berkeley, said noise is a big issue in her part of town. Recently she began contacts with Oakland neighborhood organizations that have pressed for effective measures to lessen the impacts of construction and anticipated traffic. 

The project has been essentially a done deal since November when Contra Costa voters approved the extension of a sales tax earmarking $125 million for the tunnel. Previously a regional transportation initiative passed last March set aside $50 million for the project and Caltrans has already committed $40 million. 

Alameda County has pledged $8 million to pay for mitigations for surrounding neighborhoods, said Dennis Fay, executive director of the Alameda County Congestion Agency. Proposals include sound walls and bicycle access at the bore. 

Since commuters from Contra Costa County into Berkeley already have the advantage of two available bores, Fay didn’t think the fourth bore with traffic going in the opposite direction would attract more rush hour commuters into Berkeley. 

“The real advantage will be for people commuting from Alameda to Contra Costa County,” he said. 

Bob McCleary, executive director of Contra Costa County Transportation Authority, said the main issue for his county wasn’t to improve work commutes, but to provide predictability for off peak and weekend trips.  

“A lot of people from Contra Costa go to Cal sporting events and restaurants in Berkeley and Oakland weekend evenings when the traffic is horrendous,” he said. McCleary added that a 2000 Metropolitan Transportation Commission Study studying different alternatives to improve transit recommended proceeding with construction of the fourth bore. 

The price tag for the project will depend on whether the fourth bore has two or three lanes. A two lane design, favored by Caltrans, is estimated to cost between $200 million and $250 million, while the three lane design would push the costs closer to $400 million. 

A draft Environmental Impact Report, being prepared by Parsons Transportation Group, is due out by the fall, said Cristina Ferraz, Caltrans’ project manager for the tunnel. Caltrans, she said, would schedule a new round of public hearings to coincide with the release of the report. 

›

A sharply-divided Peralta Community College Trustee board this week narrowly approved Chancellor Elihu Harris’ request to authorize a Facility Land Use Plan. The decision followed a contentious debate. 

By a four-three vote (Cy Gulassa, Bill Withrow, and Nicky Gonzáles Yuen, no) trustees authorized Harris to enter into a six-month, $45,000 no-bid contract with Scala Design & Development company of Oakland to complete a Land Use Report for the district. 

The board had tabled approval of the proposed contract at its Dec. 14 meeting after Trustee Gonzáles Yuen requested that the proposal be first vetted through Facilities Committees from the district’s four colleges. 

Director of General Services Sadiq Ikharo told trustees that a survey of stakeholders from the district since the Dec. 14 meeting—including Facilities Committees, Academic Senates, Student Associations, and College Presidents from the four colleges—showed that “98 percent of all comments were not positive.” 

Ikharo said that the major complaints throughout the district were that the Facility Land Use Plan was being rushed through too quickly, and that the district should set some overall goals and objectives before moving forward with land-use issues. 

Trustees rejected an amendment by Trustee Gonzáles Yuen to establish a district-wide facilities committee chaired by a faculty member, as well as arguments by Trustee Gulassa that the Scala contract might conflict with a strategic planning group currently being formed by trustees, faculty, and district staff. 

Debate over the issue was sometimes bitter, with trustees interrupting each other and charges of possible racism and sexism by district employees. 

The contract negotiation approval came after Scala principal Atheria Smith asked trustees why district staff required her to submit 45 copies of her resume, and asked ethnic background and places of birth of her staff members. 

“Other vendors with much larger contracts are not asked to do this,” Smith said. While Smith did not offer any reason why her firm may have been singled out for special scrutiny, Trustee Hodge suggested that the actions might have been taken for “gender and race” reasons. Smith is African-American. 

And referring to the Scala contract controversy, Trustee Alona Clifton said that “there have been unconscionable things taking place in the past few weeks. Things that are absolutely unacceptable. Attacks on potential contractors and attacks on private citizens.” 

In answer to Smith’s complaint, Gulassa said that her firm was getting extra scrutiny “because we’re in a very sensitive area after the controversy over the Dones contract.” 

The Dones reference was to a proposed one-year contract with Oakland developer Alan Dones’ Strategic Urban Development Alliance (SUDA) to produce a development plan for certain Laney College properties and the adjacent Peralta administrative offices. Over the objections of some incoming board trustees and Laney College representatives who said they had not been consulted, the outgoing board at its final meeting last November authorized Chancellor Harris to negotiate the contract with SUDA. Last month, Harris announced that he had not moved forward with the SUDA contract negotiations because of the controversy, and because he thought such negotiations “premature.” 

At Tuesday’s trustee meeting, SUDA representatives said they were working to repair the damage caused by the controversy and to get the contract back on track. 

SUDA associate James Collier said that SUDA representatives was making contact with administration, faculty and staff, and student body representatives from Laney, and would soon be “making presentations looking for feedback” concerning the land development proposal. 

“Our development team’s proposal does not involve development of any of the athletic fields at Laney College,” he explained, stating that the proposal was limited to the Laney parking lot and maintenance facilities as well as the nearby Peralta District headquarters. 

Speakers at the November trustee meeting had focused most of their complaints about the proposed Laney College athletic field development portion of the plan. 

In a telephone interview following the meeting, SUDA principal Dones said that, in fact, he never intended to develop the Laney athletic fields since the fields are “constrained by a BART tunnel that runs underneath.” 

Dones also took responsibility for failing to consult Laney representatives about the proposal before it was introduced at the November trustee meeting. 

“That was an oversight on my part,” he said. “I was involved in some other meetings and activities, and did not get it done. But it’s very important—from my perspective—that the Laney College family be informed and completely engaged in any development plan at Laney. I’m not so arrogant than I think I know more than Laney people about what should be done at their college.” 

In his interview, Dones took issue with recent newspaper reports—one of them published in the Daily Planet—linking his proposal with State Senate Majority Leader Don Perata (D-Oakland). A Dec. 17 Daily Planet article revealed that SUDA principal Calvin Grigsby of San Francisco had close ties with the Senator. Dones called those references “ironic and unfortunate.” 

“Although I know Senator Perata and I like him, I’m not one of Don’s everyday people,” Dones said. “I don’t think any relationship between us is relevant to this contract. I’d like to be able to argue the merits of our proposal, without people getting distracted by all these other aspects.” 

›

The Berkeley Historical Society has announced that it is sponsoring the first Berkeley Historical Society Life Magazine-style photo essay competition, and the Berkeley Daily Planet has agreed to be a co-sponsor. A total of $1,028 will be awarded for 12 prizes: first prizes, $127, second, $75, third, $50.  

Entries will be accepted from now until March 19 at 4 p.m. They should be delivered to the Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St., Berkeley, 94704, in the west wing of the Veterans’ Building. The center is open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Its telephone number is 841-0181. 

Four categories of entries will be eligible: junior high and high school students, college students, adults and seniors 55 years of age and older. All contestants must be residents of California. Criteria for judging include: human interest and originality of research; visual impact and photography excellence in black/white, color and/or digital prints; and historic relevance to Berkeley, past and present, for publication or exhibition. 

All entries should be mounted on 30” x 40” mount boards furnished by the Society, with a maximum of six mounted photographic prints of any size, in black and white, or color. 150 words of text, including captions, will be allowed. 

On Saturday, Feb. 19, a free advisory “How To” workshop will be offered at the History Center. 

Winners will be announced on Friday, April 1, the 127th anniversary of the founding of Berkeley and the second anniversary of the revived Berkeley Daily Planet.

When they came for Hadi Saleh, they found him at home in Baghdad with his family. First, they bound his hands and feet with wire. Then they tortured him, cutting him with a knife. He died of strangulation, and before fleeing, his assailants pumped bullets into his dead body.  

No group claimed credit for the Jan. 4 assassination. But for many Iraqis, the manner of his death was a signature.  

In 1969, when Saleh was only 20 years old, sentenced to death in a Baathist prison, such murderous tactics were already becoming well known. For the next 30-plus years the Mukhabarat, Saddam Hussein’s secret police, used them against Saleh’s friends and coworkers. In early January in Baghdad, killers intent on sending the same bloody message finally visited these horrors on him.  

Iraq has never been a very safe place for trade unionists, socialists or democratic-minded people. Iraqi progressives seemed to be on top briefly in 1958, when they finally threw out King Faisal II. For a few years, organizing unions and breaking up the big estates were not just dreams, but government policy. Oil was nationalized, and the revenue used to build universities, factories and hospitals.  

That vision of Iraq shaped Saleh’s generation of political activists, and still does today. For Americans, who know little of Iraqi history, that vision is unknown. Mainstream U.S. media did not report his death.  

Thirty-five years ago, Saleh’s dangerous notions led to his being arrested, accused of being a trade unionist and a red. Narrowly escaping execution, he spent five years in prison. On his release he joined many of his compatriots in exile, where he lived for over 30 years.  

When Saddam Hussein finally fell, Saleh and his friends returned to reorganize the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU). He became its international secretary. Despite a brutal U.S. military occupation, the IFTU began seeking ways to turn into reality that old dream of a progressive Iraq.  

Remarkably, the group has been very successful at organizing new unions, which workers need as never before. A study by the economics faculty of Baghdad University last fall puts unemployment at 70 percent. Wages were frozen by the occupation authorities at $60 a month. First U.S. administrator Paul Bremer, and now Iyad Allawi, installed as president by the United States and the British, seek to privatize Iraq’s big state-owned factories, which workers fear will lead to even further job losses. In September 2003, Bremer issued Order #39, permitting 100 percent foreign ownership of businesses, except for the oil industry, and allowing repatriation of profits. Bremer appointee Tom Foley, a Bush fund-raiser, drew up lists of state enterprises to be sold off.  

In two years the IFTU has organized 12 national unions for different industries, and successfully challenged the occupation’s low-wage regime. But success has had its cost. Saleh’s murder is the latest in a series of attacks on workers and unions in response to their increasing activity. Last November, armed insurgents attacked freight trains, killing four workers. Other workers were kidnapped and beaten a month later. Teachers have also been murdered. They say they’re being blamed for helping the occupation by doing their jobs, although they perform no military function.  

Attacks come from U.S. troops and the Iraqi government as well. U.S. soldiers threw the Transport and Communication unionists out of their office in the Baghdad’s central bus station in December 2003, and arrested members of the IFTU executive board. Last fall, after textile workers in the city of Kut struck over low pay, the factory manager and city governor called out the Iraqi National Guard, who fired on them. Four were wounded, and another 11 arrested.  

Saleh’s murderers had two objectives in making him a bloody example. For the Baathists among the insurgents, the growth of unions and organizations of civil society, from women’s groups to political parties, is a dangerous deviation. Their hopes of returning to power rest on a military defeat for the United States, without a corresponding development of popular, progressive organizations that could govern a post-occupation Iraq.  

Trying to stop those organizations from using the elections to organize a support base is a second objective.  

None of Iraq’s new unions support the armed resistance, nor do most other organizations of Iraqi civil society. But even progressive Iraqis disagree about the elections. Some boycott the process as a charade organized by the occupation. Other parties, from the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP), to which Saleh belonged, to the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq of Shiite Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, see the elections as a vehicle for winning power. In exile, the ICP condemned the war and U.S. invasion, but when the occupation started it joined the Governing Council. Two of its members are currently ministers in the Allawi government.  

While some parts of Iraqi civil society and the Bush administration might share a desire for elections, they have very different goals in mind. For some on the Iraqi left, once the occupation is gone, a mass-based political party with a radical program could win the actual power to implement it.  

Iraqi civil society—unions, women’s and professional organizations and left-wing parties—are trying to grow in a political space that is rapidly shrinking. The armed resistance doesn’t want them around. And despite talk of democracy, the Bush administration would doubtlessly prefer another dependable dictator than popular resistance to the free-market plan. Furthermore, the longer the occupation lasts, the more violence skyrockets and the harder it is for workers to join a union, much less demonstrate and protest.  

Another IFTU leader, Abdullah Muhsen, remembered Saleh’s vision: “a democratic, peaceful and federal Iraq, which would unite all Iraqis, regardless of their background, ethnicity or religion ... workers’ rights to organize and to strike to achieve decent jobs, pay and working conditions ... a defeat for IMF shock therapy and economic occupation, imposed on us by the occupying powers.”  

David Bacon is a photographer and writer specializing in labor issues. He visited Iraq in October 2003.  

Taste of the Himalayas Restaurant 

1700 Shattuck Ave. 

849-4963 

Taste of the Himalayas is in the grand opening stage with new ownership. Rajen and Bijaya Thapa and their two children and friends are all recent immigrants to the United States and Berkeley from Nepal.  

Formerly the Kurry Klub, Taste of the Himalayas is located on the southwest corner of the intersection of Shattuck and Virginia. 

Dishes are prepared by a seasoned staff in true Nepalese and Indian styles featuring all fresh ingredients including mutton, chicken, fish, shrimp, Basmati rice, lentils, onions, peppers, peas, spinach, beans, okra, bamboo shoots, eggplant, and many others. Naan, a bread, is served with most dishes and especially compliments the servings from the Tandoor ovens. Vegetarian Tarkari (curry dishes) are popular for those who avoid meat. 

The current menu includes 49 listings of various appetizers, main dishes, and desserts. There is a good selection of beer and wines to complement these choices. 

The noon buffet served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. offers a wonderful opportunity to sample the Nepalese and Indian cuisine at modest prices.  

Taste of Himalayas is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. 

—Bill Hissô

GRAFFITI 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In reference to Sherry Smith’s Jan. 25 “Arts District Graffiti” letter: My hunch is that most of the poets who attended the events on Addison Street would be embarrassed to have such an overt violation of the First Amendment performed to protect their delicate sensibilities. 

Bonnie Hughes 

Member, Civic Arts  

Commission 

• 

THE GOVERNOR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Our charming celebrity-governor is leaving nothing to our imagination as he continues to demonstrate his mental-challenges. Name-calling, of course, seems to be his favorite way to avoid mature intelligent discourse, and his continued focus on the “healthiness” of his distorted musculature further demonstrates his displaced values. I shudder to think our youth may be influenced by the vulgarity of these behaviors. 

Gerta Farber 

• 

OAKLAND CURFEW 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Stop Jerry Brown before he can hurt again! 

Jerry’s newest idea of curfews adds to the weight of my conviction that it is long time this man retires!! Curfews are the beginning of martial law. “First they came for the parolees and I didn’t speak up, next they came for the teenagers and I didn’t speak up, next they came for the poor...” Curfews are a terrible idea. Jerry Brown has consistently acted to hurt the poor and under advantaged in Oakland since he was elected to office on a platform promising the opposite. He has hurt school children, advertised for Auto Row without supporting real local businesses, shut down art and music venues and in general caters to rich “other” people while hurting the people who live in Oakland. Look at his face. There is no light in it. I suggest Jerry quickly resign from politics and find a nice retreat to try to save his own soul.  

Tierra Dulce 

• 

PERFORMANCE PAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The governor and others are pushing the view that the same way of rewarding performance in business and industry should be applied to teaching. It stands to reason, they say, that good teachers should be paid more than average teachers.  

In the course of 30-plus years in the classroom I found out early that teaching is an art, the art of connecting with minds, the art of doing whatever you can to get students to want to learn. I found out that every mind is different as I’m sure doctors discover that every body is different. In this regard teaching is cousin to all art and like doctoring, mutatis mutandis, calls for the application of means to ends. Seen in this light a teacher’s performance is no more measured by students’ test scores than a doctor’s performance is measured in a battery of physiological tests. 

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

• 

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I just would suggest that those “Not in My Name” folks either get with the program and unite behind our government the way we always do or leave the country. If you choose to do so you can get free tickets at www.sendthempacking.com. We will be glad to oblige. 

Steve Pardee 

• 

MARIN AVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a frequent motorist on Marin Avenue and an avid cyclist, I read with great interest the many opinions regarding how best to mark the lanes on this important thoroughfare. I really don’t know what would be best for traffic and pedestrian safety, but cyclists should be clear about one thing—don’t ride on Marin, even if they paint bike lanes!  

Riding a bike on a thoroughfare makes sense only if there are no realistic alternatives. A quick look at a map reveals several alternate, quiet streets running parallel to Marin. I have ridden on them dozens of times, each time with very little auto traffic. 

Cyclists, steer clear of Marin and give yourselves a more peaceful ride, and your loved ones piece of mind. 

Andrew J. Dhuey 

• 

A COMMITMENT  

TO SAFETY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On Jan. 25, the Berkeley City Council courageously voted 8 to 1 to join Albany in the experiment to reconfigure Marin Avenue. This vote reflects their commitment to the safety of school kids, bicyclists, and all those no longer able to dash for their lives as they try to cross Marin.  

This is a vote for safety over convenience. Although the engineering studies showed that the additional time to drive west from Colusa to San Pablo Avenue would range from nothing to about a minute, some opponents from the hills lobbied to prevent the change, fearful they would be slowed on Marin, and others feared traffic might be diverted onto their side streets.  

After years of study, it became clear that re-engineering the street was the best solution for safety and livability. The Berkeley City Council carefully examined these engineering studies showing how this change would slow Marin traffic without any significant negative impacts (no diverting traffic; no significant delays).  

It took courage to vote for safety in the face of these fears. The children of our Berkeley/Albany community can be proud of the Berkeley City Council for choosing wisely. 

Robert C. Cheasty 

Marin Avenue Neighbors for Safety 

Former Mayor of Albany 

• 

ALIENATING VOTERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On Jan. 25 the Berkeley City Council approved the Marin Avenue reconfiguration. Councilmember Olds made the lone stand for righteousness when she opposed this Albany Boondoggle. At the end of the meeting Mayor Bates giggled that the council had just alienated 10,000 people. I am one of the alienated and I will not forget this. The council was not aware of the potential opposition to this measure until the Jan. 18 hearing, but this was something it should have considered. The entrenched Bicycle Curia in the city comprised of the Transportation Commission, city staff and the consultants must be blamed for this. Their treachery in their dealings with the City of Albany lead the council as well as others into thinking this was a “slam dunk.” It was not and the semi secrecy in which the process was conducted was partly to blame. It was difficult to follow the doings of the city council and much less the Transportation Commission and who paid any attention to the backwater, Albany.  

I would say that this is the last bicycle project in the city, just to teach the Bicycle Curia a lesson. But, as they are so entrenched and since their policy is enshrined in the General Plan, I have little hope of this. Speaking of teaching a lesson, if this project turns out badly and I suspect it will, if any councilomembers who support it run for a higher office, like mayor or state assembly, I will oppose them as they have failed the litmus test. I will try to do what I can to get the 10,000 alienated to vote as a block against any such candidates. I can imagine the campaign signs on Marin, “__________GAVE YOU THIS TRAFFIC JAM” or “ANYBODY BUT _________” (or maybe I should form a PAC. How does teachthemalesson.org sound?). Remember, council tax plans failed, in much part, due to the lack of support in this area.  

Mayor Bates says that he wants to remain a good neighbor to Albany. I want to remind him that Albany has been a bad neighbor to us and the council did not stand up for us. It became partners with their fellow plutocrats in Albany in this Machiavellian subterfuge. Once this boondoggle is established there is little chance it can be reversed since there is no money identified to accomplish this. This had better work.  

Frederick O. Hebert  

• 

KACH PARTY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I believe that your characterization of the Kach party in Israel as “anti-Arab” or “virulently anti-Arab” is erroneous. I was intimately involved in Kach from the beginning. The Kach party points out that it is impossible for an Arab Moslem to be a good citizen of a Jewish state, since he (erroneously) sees the state as having robbed him of his land. Allowing people to be citizens of a state when they actively wish for and support the destruction of said state is suicide. No country would allow such people to stay in their borders, yet Israel does. Kach is against this suicidal policy. 

Kach also points out that the concept of an open secular democracy a la Jefferson, as opposed to a democracy of Jews only is unworkable. To have an open secular democracy such as the current State of Israel purports to be, one must accept that any group of citizens may become the majority, including Arab Moslems. However, the current state has repeatedly stated that they will not accept an Arab Moslem majority. This is akin to apartheid, and is nothing less than hypocrisy.  

Kach rejects the hypocrisy and says that citizenship in a Jewish state should be limited to Jews (duh!). It is important to keep in mind that whereas Judaism is a religion, the Jews are not a religious group. If a Jew even practices a different religion, he is still Jewish. Jews are a people with a land, a language, a legal code, and a religion. Thus they are a nationality, and it is logical that they may limit citizenship in their state to those of their nationality. 

Avraham Sonenthal 

• 

STOP PAYING TAXES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Since Mr. Bush was re-elected, many have been lamenting. Surely, people should express their frustration about the U.S. regime and Mr. Bush. Also, we witnessed that there were protesters who marched in D.C. on the inauguration day. I believe that holding signs and demonstrations against Bush’s regime will not change anything. Those who really believe that Mr. Bush and his cabinet should not be running the country, should stop filing taxes. Yes, it is possible to make this regime bankrupt by not sending taxes. Perhaps, this is the only means to dislodge an illegitimate regime. Your forefathers did so: Henry David Thoreau refused to pay taxes to oppose the U.S. war against Mexico. 

Ajit Indrajit 

• 

WEST BERKELEY BOWL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The proposed West Berkeley Bowl is the sort of freeway-oriented development that environmentalist oppose because it generates more long-distance automobile trips, more energy consumption, and more air pollution—the same reason we oppose Wal-Marts and big-box retailers.  

The proposed 55,000-square-foot market is often compared with the existing 42,000-square-foot Berkeley Bowl, but the existing Bowl itself is a large store. It makes more sense to compare the proposed market with traditional-size supermarkets, such as Whole Foods, Andronicos, and north Shattuck Safeway, which typically have 27,000 or 28,000 square feet—only half the size of the proposed West Berkeley Bowl.  

The original proposal for a 27,000-square-foot West Berkeley Bowl would have been a traditional-size, neighborhood-serving supermarket. The expanded proposal would draw cars from the entire I-80 corridor, and it should be rejected.  

I write as a smart growth advocate who has supported virtually every major development proposed in downtown Berkeley and on transit corridors during the last 15 years (with the sole exception of a proposed drive-through Rite-Aid in downtown, which I worked against).  

It is time for Berkeley to move beyond the usual debates between people who blindly support all development and people who blindly oppose all development. We should learn the lesson that the smart growth movement is teaching to communities all across the nation: We should support pedestrian- and transit-oriented development, like most of the new development in downtown and on University Avenue, and we should oppose environmentally destructive freeway-oriented development, like the proposed West Berkeley Bowl.  

Charles Siegel  

• 

FIREPLACES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was delighted to read in the Jan 18-20 Daily Planet that the Community Environmental Advisory Commission (CEAC) may make the use of some fireplaces illegal. Matthew Artz covered the pollution aspect of the problem thoroughly, and I thank you him for that. However, there is another important aspect to fireplace use that eludes most people and is important in deciding whether to burn wood, and that is efficient home heating. 

Most people think that burning wood will warm this house, but in fact the opposite is true. How can this be? How can a fireplace cool the house? Most homes are warmed by sun coming in the windows and the refrigerator pumping heat out of the food and into the kitchen. When you light a fire, the room air goes up the chimney with the smoke, and colder exterior air enters through cracks around the doors and windows. Thus, in the end, burning in a fireplace cools the house. 

Instead of burning a log, why not put candles in the fireplace and use a hot water bottle or an electric blanket to create a warm spot in a cozy chair? Your house will be warmer, your PG&E bill will be lower, and the air will be cleaner. There is no reason to retrofit the fireplace or to spend any money doing anything fancy. A few candles are cheap and easy and give that sense of a warm hearth without all the problems associated with burning wood. 

I applaud the CEAC and hope they follow though in their effort to make the air healthier for all to breathe. 

Sal Levinson 

• 

PRO-BOWL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am a resident of Berkeley, living a block away (Eighth and Grayson) from the proposed site of the West Berkeley Bowl development. I have attended at least three neighborhood meetings beginning in December 2003, discussing with Kava Massih (the architect), the owners and neighbors, their plans and concerns. I’ve found the dialogue to be honest, responsive and reasonable with the principle goal of addressing all of our needs. I resent the fact that a couple of individuals have misrepresented that process, denied its existence and diminished both parties involvement in the planning process. The meetings I attended showed overwhelming support for the project at every phase, including the expanded (current) size. The neighborhood clearly voiced concerns over traffic flow and parking but approached it with an open mind, requesting that the city and developers mitigate these issues satisfactorily.  

Now I read in the Daily Planet how the project has been created behind closed doors and morphed into a regional superstore. I hear inflammatory terms like “big box store” thrown around, and threats of an urban nightmare about to befall us. Are they talking about the same project I’ve been considering over the past year? I won’t argue about how this fits or doesn’t fit into the much talked about West Berkeley Master Plan. I’ll speak as a neighbor to the project and a resident of Berkeley. I am quite willing to give up a good portion of our deserted neighborhood quietude in exchange for the ability to walk to a quality market and green grocer to shop. No longer would I have to drive across town to a grocery shop or frequent a San Pablo liquor store for a quart of milk. The residents of West and South Berkeley have been in dire need of a supermarket for years, and now we have the opportunity to have a Berkeley-owned, world-renown greengrocer/market prepared to develop not only a store, but a holistic pharmacy and cafe. The Berkeley Bowl would bring much needed fresh food and produce to a community in great need. After shelter, is there anything more fundamental to the quality of life than fresh food? In this day and age of processed food, corporate ownership, genetically engineered produce—shouldn’t we herald the Berkeley Bowl for offering a healthy antidote to these forces? As a resident of Berkeley, I have to look beyond my own selfish concerns—whether they support (which is the case) or oppose this development, and look to what is good for the community and city at large. And, if I objectively consider the greater good, than the Berkeley Bowl project must succeed. And, I encourage the developers, the city, the residents and neighborhood businesses to work together to solve the valid issues we face.  

How can we as a community deny the right for families access to healthy food? Are we dooming future generations to a diet of fast food and liquor store groceries because we could not solve the traffic flow? Because of parking? Because it might, just might, in the imagination of some, open the door for a chain mega-store? Need I list the other tangible benefits?—tax revenue for the economically strapped city budget, over 150 jobs created and the decongestion of the other Berkeley Bowl location. I would argue that the stakes are too high not to work together to make this project succeed.  

Cameron Woo 

• 

WHO’S NEXT? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If you think the Bush administration is going to just stop with Iraq you are kidding yourself. As Bush has made it very clear that we are going to spread “democracy” around the world and that we are not going to leave Iraq until the mission is complete, a mission that most likely includes more then just Iraq. Recently if has been leaked out of the Pentagon that plans and preparations are being made to invade Iran sometime in the near future, already special forces have secretly gone into Iran during this past year. And we are already hearing similar accusations toward Iran that the Bush administration gave for invading Iraq. So the stage is being set, but Iran is no Iraq and if we think we are having problems in Iraq well multiply that by ten folds with Iran as they are no pushover to say the least. So let’s not kid ourselves, as most people though Hitler was done after he invaded Austria, if Bush does invade Iran this could possibly lead to world war three. Also Bush believes by “winning” the last election that he has a mandate and that the American people are supporting what he has done so far in Iraq regardless that no WMDs were ever found. At this point the only thing that maybe able to stop this madness is when enough people in this country take to the streets like we did during the Vietnam war and demand for it to stop or else! Otherwise it may not and then there will be no one else to blame but ourselves as we cannot claim we did not know. 

Thomas Husted 

Alameda 

• 

SAN LUIS OBISPO 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What happens in San Luis Obispo, a small town of 25,000 taken over by 18,000 CalPoly students every fall, winter, and spring? The town shows indifference to all the investments and positive groups that thrive at CalPoly trying to make the community a better place, a place to survive and flourish. However, this year, they have shown resentment and disdain and have acted out by canceling the famous Mardi Gras scheduled for the week of Feb. 8, after a riot broke out last year in which police hoarded up festival goers like cows forcing them into apartments and then shooting tear gas and bean bags at angry participants. They have threatened the festival-goers this year before they even hit the streets with 400 extra police and security. Calvary units will be in place, and rumors go around about how partiers plan to bring weapons to protect themselves in case things get out of hand. Flyers and ads have been posted stating that “visitors are not welcome” in San Luis Obispo this Mardi Gras, however, being a small town with many private businesses placed on 7 o’clock evening curfews to shut down and no fast food drive-through, the town relies on tourist to support the economy.  

Rather than thriving off a possible great reputation as SLO being the Mardi Gras of the West, the community and authorities plan on being as stubborn as ever by threatening our basic rights. We have been warned to not walk on the streets and our civil liberties are being violated. Now it is time to warn the authorities of San Luis Obispo that the people want their festivities. 

Shaun Haugen 

San Luis Obispo 

• 

CROSSING TO SAFETY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a recent arrival from the crowded and yet pedestrian-friendly cities of the East Coast, I’d like to share something I was taught on my second day of Kindergarten. 

How to Cross the Street 

1) Approach the curb at the crosswalk 

2) Stop. Plant both feet. 

3) Look left. Remain standing still. 

4) Look right. Remain standing still. 

5) Look left again. Proceed if safe. 

6) Face oncoming traffic at all times, seek eye contact with other road users. 

7) Move quickly, do not hesitate or get distracted. 

This lesson would have been useful to the woman who walked straight into me this morning as I paused before crossing Shattuck. She was about to step into four lanes of busy traffic with her eyes fixed on a book and her ears blocked by headphones. I don’t think she appreciated that I prevented her from doing something quite reckless (and, as I was raised, quite inconsiderate). 

An urban area is a complex system of thousands of people, all with places to go and things to do. Reframing the debate in terms of responsibilities, rather than rights, might put the problems in their proper perspective. 

Matthew Reagan 

Oakland 

• 

BROWER CENTER COVERAGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your coverage of the proposed David Brower Center’s praise by Berkeley’s Design Review Committee omitted criticism delivered at the same hearing that your reporter may have attended. One reason for this omission may have been the odd impression your reporter had—or he has a brilliant sense of humor—in your Jan. 25-27 edition: “No parking is planned for the Brower Center, in keeping with the organization’s pro-bike and mass transit agenda.” 

Wow, I love that! If only it were true. It’s more like, “Enviros, start your engines!” The amount of parking on the site could almost double, from 132 spaces at present. On the architect’s website as of Jan. 26, the claim was that only underground parking would be available, but the plan is for above ground pollutionmobiles to be accommodated as well. The architect’s website also had David Brower down as the “founder” of the Sierra Club, which the Club was amused by when I visited yesterday at its headquarters for an all-day session of the Campaign Against the Plastic Plague. Perhaps one of the lead nonprofits in the “David Brower Memorial Parking Garage” scheme, the Center for Ecoliteracy, could educate the architect as to who the hell John Muir was. 

Planet readers can see a full report on the Brower Center and the criticisms, with some nice pictures of Dave himself, at the culturechange.org website (top of homepage). The report was sent out this week to over ten thousand subscribers of the Culture Change Letter, and the feedback has been emotional, such as from the architecture review editor of The Nation magazine, Jane Holtz Kay: “This is @#$%^&*() unbelievable. I will have to put it in my global warming book, or something. It sounds like your basic ‘Let all ye who enter here be damned.’” Mark Robinowitz, of Oilempire.us, wrote in: “The irony is overwhelming...” 

Wait, perhaps your reporter has a crystal ball about the “no parking,” and the city and the establishment environmental groups will soon see the light. More and more of us are crying out: Change this plan regarding designing a future for more global warming, oil wars and car injuries/fatalities, and instead honor David Brower as we all know he should be honored! 

Jan Lundberg 

Publisher, Culture Change 

• 

GIVE IT A REST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I would be much more inclined to give some thought to the meetings between the mayor and Seagate developers if Zelda Bronstein’s name wasn’t associated with the story. Has anyone else noticed that Ms. Bronstein’s name appears regularly in news reports concerning opposition to development projects or requests for commercial expansion. This morning her name is in the Daily Cal story on the Berkeley Bowl, she is against the project. She was also against the expansion of Jeremy’s the clothing store on College Avenue. The Seagate project has gone through all the required levels of our city government checks and balances. Perhaps Ms. Bronstein could try and see that not all development is bad for our city....give it a rest! 

Alex Warren 

• 

LIBRARY FUNDING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your article on the Berkeley Public Library’s cutbacks mentioned a shocking fact: The city’s General Fund contributes $0 to the library. 

The library tax was originally posed as a supplement to ensure longer hours and more books. The General Fund should pay for a baseline of service. 

What next? Will the Police Department be entirely funded by a special tax? 

William J. Flynnô

Click here to view the latest work by Justin DeFreitas 

THE STUPIDIPTY OF THE POLITICAL LEFT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As our great nation marches steadily to the Right, the political Left is scratching its’ collective head trying to figure out why. They stubbornly blame their consistent and substantial electoral losses on the supposition that they are not getting their message out. The fact is that the Lefts’ melancholy and always predictable message is getting out loud and clear, but being rejected. 

The American public is maturing beyond the Left’s naive approach to social ills and is increasingly dismissing pillars of Leftist ideology such as political correctness, which most often requires the complete suspension of reality to be believed. Accepting personal responsibility is considered taboo as “society” is faulted for everything and the honorable badge of victim hood is draped around the necks of everyone from criminal junkies to the obese. 

Your story on the long troubled Harriet Tubman Apartments illustrates beautifully, at the local level, why the Left is not trusted on national security. Political correctness trumps common sense and denies reality, which then makes it impossible to identify and solve a problem. 

I have not had a Leftist lobotomy so I am still able to ask a tough question and accept the answer. How is it that the sweet and gentle old folk of Berkeley live in a senior housing project which is, and has long been plagued with crime and drug problems? Are the residents causing the trouble? Are the children of the residents or other family relatives responsible?  

In fine Leftist tradition, neither Max Anderson or Kriss Worthington demand any accountability or explanation from the seniors. Apparently the greedy, for-profit (dirty word) Century Pacific Housing Partnership was getting them hooked on drugs to maximize profits. Perhaps they were forced to sell drugs to make up for the money that George Bush stole from them. Common sense (dirty word) tells us that the residents of the apartments cannot all be innocent victims. For these conditions to prevail their must be some culpability. 

But let’s suspend reality and accept that they are all innocent victims. Then the blame for not protecting the most needy and vulnerable among us falls squarely on the shoulders of the Berkeley Housing Authority and the Berkeley Police Department. What type of system could allow such a horrible situation to fester and grow? It is shameful! What has rendered the police impotent to stop criminal behavior and provide security? Could it be that their hands are tied by the Leftist policy directives which promote “tolerance” to the point of absurdity? Who are the drug dealers and who are the criminals responsible for the problems? If you can’t ask the question because you may not like the answer you can never solve the problem. Thankfully there are those in this country who have not lost their common sense and they are beginning to make their voices heard. The Left in this country today, do nothing but whine, complain, and make excuses. The only answer they provide to today’s problems is a demand for more money to feed their failed and corrupted programs. The message which the Left is sending out is the best recruiting tool the Republicans ever had.  

Michael Larrick 

Now that we’ve heard the announcement that the Chinese government is going to rent two giant pandas to the Oakland Zoo—and before City Councilmember Henry Chang comes up with another five or six year project to occupy his publicly-financed hours—perhaps the time has come for Oakland to rethink this whole idea of an at-large councilmember. 

For those with short memories, Mr. Chang—who once told the San Francisco Chronicle that he had been “dreaming about pandas for years”—made acquisition of the rare Chinese bears his major project during his three terms on council, once leading a delegation of city officials to China to, among other things, “observe the panda.” 

(The Oakland Panda Project website www.oaklandpandas.com/oakland_camp includes a picture of Mr. Chang, fellow Oakland Councilmember Larry Reid, and several other suited and dignified-looking people posing in front of a pagoda-type building and a statue over the caption “In search of Pandas.” No actual pandas appear in the picture, so it is not certain whether any were found on that particular trip.) 

Now that they apparently have been found, the pandas—when and if they actually come to Oakland—will not come cheap. The Chinese government does not sell or give their pandas away, but only offers to rent them out. For Oakland, that means a term of 10 years at a million dollars a year, which is not as expensive as a good-rebounding power forward, but is rather on the high-end for creatures who do little else but sit and eat all day and balk at breeding. We are also told that it will cost between $5 million and $15 million to build a house for the bears—my, but home prices are skyrocketing in the Oakland hills these days—and an unknown additional amount to keep them in bamboo and other amenities during their stay. 

Oakland taxpayers are being cautioned to rest our worries, since the money is going to come mainly from private donations, and Oakland is going to see it all back in tourists flocking up to Knowland Park. This is from the same city government that once told us the Coliseum would sell out for every Raider game, so forgive us if we remain a little skeptical. 

Meanwhile, back to the at-large Oakland city councilmember thing. 

Not certain how or why this whole position was conceived, but for many years the at-large Oakland council position was considered the “Asian seat” on Oakland City Council, first held by Frank Ogawa—after whom Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall is named—and then passed on to Mr. Chang, who was first appointed to the position in 1994 following Mr. Ogawa’s death, mid-term. 

In my mind, this was not a bad thing, the “Asian seat” thing. I am a firm believer in affirmative action, an absolutely dreadful system only made necessary because it works toward the elimination of an absolutely worse system—institutional racism. 

But I’m also a firm believer that affirmative action should be eased out once it has been objectively demonstrated—Mr. Connerly and friends, please note the distinction—that the institutional racism conditions that caused it to come about are ending, and, therefore, the solution is no longer needed. Oakland voters having demonstrated in the cases of Councilmember Jean Quan and recently-former Councilmember Danny Wan that we are beginning to be mature enough to elect Asian-American officeholders on our own, without undue prodding, it would seem that we need to find other uses, now, for the at-large council seat. 

Some suggestions, therefore. 

One function of the at-large Oakland councilmember, we are told, is to act as a sort of a back-up for constituent service, helping city residents get through the maze of Oakland’s bureaucracy and city regulations. But even if that occurred in fact, it would not be enough to justify the presence of an extra councilmember. And it hasn’t occurred in fact. Mr. Chang once described himself as being “invisible” by design, and during Mr. Chang’s 2004 re-election campaign, the Oakland Tribune noted that “Councilmember Danny Wan, who is helping to orchestrate Chang’s campaign, said his colleague … worries about stepping on the toes of the other council members, who are elected by district.” Translate that to mean: since Mr. Chang doesn’t actively tell Oaklanders that he’s there to answer their constituent calls, Oaklanders don’t know it, and therefore don’t call. 

Another function of the at-large Oakland councilmember is to act as a sort of “super councilmember,” looking at larger city issues crossing district lines that the rest of the council—too often confined by the needs and demands of constituents in their own districts—either can’t or won’t see. 

But the sort of “super councilmember” role is what the city mayor is actually supposed to fill, even if the mayor no longer sits on City Council. Oaklanders have found that in recent years, at least, this relationship has been…umm….less than satisfactory, but we can hope that this will not always be the case, now that Mr. Brown is on his way out the door and other, more Oaklandcentric, politicians are lining up to take his place. 

Further, given Mr. Chang’s interpretation of grand visions is a six-year quest to put bears in the hills, Oaklanders can be forgiven if we want to give a little bit more direction to the job before letting another at-large councilmember loose to wander our streets and spend our money. 

Perhaps what is needed is an actual job description for the at-large council seat, putting a portfolio in the City Charter that outlines what an at-large councilmember ought to do for public pay. 

One set of responsibilities, as one example, might be as the council’s liaison for development issues. There are some development zones—the downtown area, the Coliseum, the Hegenberger corridor out by the airport, or the port—that are so important to the city’s economy that they supercede the interests of the district in which they are located (Oakland City Council normally ignores Councilmember Nancy Nadel’s wishes as to what ought to happen in her downtown district, anyway, so this would not be so large a change from what presently occurs). 

This does not mean that other councilmembers would not have an interest in—or a vote on—these development zones. But giving the at-large Oakland councilmember a specific set of responsibilities would allow voters to look for a specific set of qualifications in prospective candidates, and would also give something by which to judge when re-election time rolls around. 

Another alternative—if we’re still looking—would be for Oaklanders to go the teats-on-a-boar-hog route, declaring the at-large councilmember post a useless appendage and lopping it off of the Oakland body politic. There is nothing in constitution or custom mandating that once the number of a City Council has been set, it has been set in granite, for all time. Last November, voters in the City of Richmond agreed by a 72 percent to 28 percent margin to drop two seats from their nine-member at large City Council as a cost-cutting measure. Richmond, we are sure, will survive the operation. 

Whatever Oaklanders decide do about the at-large city councilmember position, the designation of Mr. Chang as the official Procurer of Pandas gives city residents a long-needed opportunity to rethink the position he holds. If we wait until the next election cycle, it will be way too late. 

›

The election of a new Iraqi Assembly is a milestone in the occupation and, therefore, an opportunity for Americans to consider our options in Iraq: one would be to stick with the Bush “plan” to tough it out, another to withdraw our troops, and a third to proceed in some novel direction. This analysis considers the second option, a speedy withdrawal. 

Pundits have observed that George W. Bush’s brand of religion is closer to Manichaeism than it is to mainstream Christianity, as it is dominated by images of a battle between good and evil, and judgments such as “You’re either with us or against us.” Whatever it is called, Bush’s belief system causes him to paint America’s policy choices as either black or white. His penchant for radical simplification makes for convincing sound bites and has greatly helped create an image of Bush as a man who makes up his mind and sticks to it. 

As a result of this Manichaeism, the Bush administration has cast the occupation Iraq as having only two faces; those who support the president’s stance of “staying the course” are portrayed as being on the side of righteousness; on the other hand, those who suggest that we ought to withdraw are described as terrorist sympathizers. This aggressive Bush posture has been so effective that most Democrats have adopted the tactic of only questioning administration policy at the margins, by arguing, for example, that we need more troops or we should fight smarter. Over the holidays Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman was in Iraq visiting the troop and observed, “Morale is high. [U.S. troops are] serving with a real sense of purpose and they’re proud of what they’re doing. They are contributing in a difficult circumstance to a historic transformation.” Translation: “I support the troops and don’t have the slightest idea how to get out of this mess.” 

Yet there are plausible alternatives to the obdurate Bush Iraqi strategy. They begin with the observation that the occupation has been characterized by gross incompetence and, as a result, many policy choices have been rendered unfeasible by administration bumbling. Among these lost options is that of relying upon the United Nations or NATO to provide peacekeeping forces so that the United States can gracefully withdraw from Iraq. The few choices that remain viable might be termed triage tactics, for all of them have a painful down side.  

With notable exceptions, such as Congresswoman Barbara Lee, few Democrats have had the temerity to call for one of these difficult alternatives, an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, but such a move has obvious advantages: The swift removal of U.S. troops would bring an end to American casualties. It would also be viewed positively by much of the world, and, thereby, restore some of America’s credibility. For many Americans, it would belatedly recognize the immorality of the invasion. 

But the longer the occupation continues, the more unlikely it is that an immediate withdrawal would be a viable option. Saying that America should abruptly depart from Iraq is comparable to the situation where a well-intentioned friend or relative advises a battered wife that she should immediately leave her husband; It’s morally correct but, usually, operationally impractical advice, as most battered women have no resources: no housing, money, job, or childcare—none of the essentials they would need to make a safe break from an abusive relationship.  

A unilateral withdrawal may be the morally correct stance, but it is now operationally impractical. The United States overthrew the Hussein regime and occupied Iraq; in the process we destroyed the country’s infrastructure. Therefore, we have an obligation to rebuild Iraq and to do what we can to establish the social foundation for an enduring democracy. This would not happen if the U.S. were to abruptly withdraw. Instead, Iraq would fall further into chaos.  

There are many other considerations that argue against a total withdrawal: America has guaranteed the safety of the fledgling Kurdish state, and to a lesser extent, the prospects for democracy among Iraq’s Shiite population; both of these efforts would be jeopardized if we left now. The administration has touted Iraq as the cornerstone of an American initiative to bring real democracy to the Middle East; many would see our departure as not only a U.S. failure, but as evidence that democracy will not work in the region. Finally, observers of all political persuasions argue that removing our troops from Iraq would only serve to encourage terrorists, to remind them of previous retreats in Beirut and Mogadishu, and thereby increase the probability of attacks on American interests in the Middle East and Central Asia.  

The Bush administration is famously adverse to constructive criticism. They have stubbornly clung to the position that there is only one correct way through the Iraq maze, and that is the path that America is plodding down. Such a perspective does not encourage creative thinking, but that is what is needed if our nation is to escape this quagmire; progressives must think outside the box and propose a novel solution.›

Frat Pack, Not Rat Pack 

Berkeley Police were summoned to the 2300 block of Telegraph Avenue a few minutes before midnight Tuesday where callers had reported a brawl in progress, according to the police blotter. 

Officers quickly established that the frac as had resulted from an excess of testosterone and allegiances to two rival fraternities and counseled the combatants to, like, chill. 

City Hall Keys Swiped 

Berkeley Planning Commissioner Susan Wengraf called police to report that someone had broken in t o her car while it was parked near Cordonices Park Tuesday and made off with her purse—which included keys to City Hall. 

Officers were unable to find anyone who had witnessed the crime. 

Hit and Run Injuries 

A 40-year-old Berkeley man sustained injuries in a hit and run accident at 1099 San Pablo Avenue Tuesday morning. 

Police are seeking a Richmond resident in connection with the incident.

Yule Fuel 

A full crew of Berkeley firefighters arrived at Casa Zimbabwe just after 8:30 last Sunday evening after receiving a report of flames shooting from the roof of the co-op housing building on Ridge Road. 

Though the flames were gone when the trucks arrived, firefighters were quickly able to determine their source in the charred skeletal remains of two Christmas trees reposing in a water-filled bathtub accompanied by a partially gas-filled liquor bottle. 

Two residents acknowledged that they’d set one of the trees alight, just as they had the night before, said Deputy Fire Chief David Orth. 

After learning from their previous experiment that gas wasn’t needed to ignite a desiccated Christmas tree, the pair said they hadn’t bothered with the fuel for the Sunday night fire fest. 

No arrests were made, and no more trees remained to be burned. 

Burned Again 

A homeless couple camped against the side of a deserted and to-be-demolished building at 2332 Fourth St. inadvertently ignited a blaze last Friday that brought firefighters out in full force. 

“We suspect they were the same couple who was camped there in September and were responsible for a fire that destroyed another structure on the site,” said Deputy Chief Orth. 

Friday’s blaze did little structural damage, but Orth said that city officials have repeatedly tried to get the site’s owners to secure the area where homeless people have cut holes in the fence.?

The recent meeting between President Bush and the Congressional Black Caucus grabbed headlines because Bush and the group spent the last four years snubbing each other. What did not make news was a meeting Bush had with black evangelical leaders the day before his get-together with the caucus.  

The great untold story of the 2004 presidential elections was the black evangelical vote. Although black evangelicals still voted overwhelmingly for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, they gave Bush the cushion he needed to bag Ohio and win the White House. There were early warning signs that might happen. The same polls that showed black’s prime concern was with bread and butter issues—and that Kerry was seen as the candidate who could deliver on those issues—also revealed that a sizable number of blacks ranked abortion, gay marriage and school prayer as priority issues. Their concern for these issues didn’t come anywhere close to that of white evangelicals, but it was still higher than that of the general voting public.  

A Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies poll in 2004 found that blacks by a far larger margin than the overall population opposed gay marriage. That raised a few eyebrows among some political pundits, but there were much earlier signs of blacks relentless hostility to gays and gay rights. A survey that measured black attitudes toward gays published in Jet Magazine in 1994 found that a sizable number of blacks were suspicious and scornful of them. Many blacks also loathed Kerry’s perceived support of abortion. In polls, Kerry got 20 percent less support from black conservative evangelicals than Democratic presidential contender Al Gore received in 2000.  

In the right place and under the right circumstance, black evangelicals posed a stealth danger to Democrats. As it turned out, the right place for Bush was Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida. These were must-win swing states, and Bush won them with a considerably higher percent of the black vote than he got in 2000. In Ohio, the gay marriage ban helped bump up the black vote for Bush by seven percentage points, to 16 percent. In Florida and Wisconsin, Republicans aggressively courted and wooed key black religious leaders. They dumped big bucks from Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative program into church-run education and youth programs. Black church leaders not only endorsed Bush, but in some cases they actively worked for his re-election, and encouraged members of their congregations to do the same.  

The helpful nudge over the top that the black evangelicals gave Bush in Ohio, Florida and Wisconsin has not been lost on Bush’s political architect Karl Rove. He has publicly declared that he will pour even more resources and attention into revving up black evangelicals in the 2006 and 2008 congressional and presidential elections. Rove has flatly said that Bush will try to pay off one of his debts to evangelicals by pushing the languishing federal gay-marriage ban. Family groups say they’ll dump gay-marriage ban initiatives on ballots in as many states as they can.  

Republicans will inflame black’s anti-gay bias in states such as Michigan, where blacks, who make up a significant percent of voters, backed a gay marriage ban in big numbers. Even if passage of the federal marriage ban ultimately falls flat on its face should it get out of Congress to the states, the fight over it can still turn the 2006 mid-term and 2008 presidential elections into a noisy and distracting referendum on the family. That will give Republican strategists another chance to pose as God’s defenders of the family and shove even more black evangelicals into the Republican vote column.  

Meanwhile, Bush officials will continue to ladle out millions through their faith-based programs to a handpicked core of top black church leaders. They’ve already announced a series of conferences that will be held in various cities starting in February to show black church leaders and community groups how to grab more of the faith initiative money. That will be more than enough to assure the active allegiance—or at minimum, the silence—of some black church leaders on those Bush domestic policies that wreak havoc on poor black communities.  

Bush and the Republicans bank that their strategy of bypassing black Democrats and civil rights leaders to make deals with black evangelicals will finally break the decades-long stranglehold Democrats have had on the black vote. If they’re right, it will spell deep peril for the Democrats in future elections.  

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a political analyst and author of The Crisis in Black and Black (Middle Passage Press). He publishes The Hutchinson Report Newsletter, an on-line public issues newsletter.›

Unless U.S. senators have a collective spine transplant (our own Barbara Boxer is thankfully excluded from this group) they will soon confirm Alberto Gonzales as the United States Attorney General. I mention spinelessness because it seems to be the new Democratic policy to “work with” the Bush administration, no matter how outrageous its proposals are. For example, if the Bush administration were to suggest strip mining the entirety of Yosemite National Park (as they probably will) we can be sure that some—if not most—of the Democrats will decry that and, instead, propose that they only strip mine half of Yosemite. Then, when a bill sails through the congress providing that three-quarters of the park be strip mined, the Democrats will trumpet that they got the best deal they were capable of. After all, they wouldn’t want to offend any middle of the road potential voters. 

Anyway, as background on Gonzales, he is a former Texas Supreme Court Justice, with ties to Enron Corporation. When on the court, he accepted $35,000 from that company in campaign contributions— according to the New York Daily News of February 2, 2002. The organization Texans for Public Justice charges that Gonzales accepted campaign contributions from other corporate litigants who were appearing before his court. Others would say this was bribery, but this, apparently, is accepted practice in the judicial offices of Texas. 

When Bush was governor of Texas, Gonzales advised him on death sentence commutation requests. Gonzales apparently supplied Bush with the Classic Comics Illustrated version of the facts. Atlantic Monthly reported that “Gonzales repeatedly failed to apprise the governor of crucial issues in the cases at hand: ineffective counsel, conflict of interest, mitigating evidence, even actual evidence of innocence.” (July/August 2003.) 

Gonzales has justified torture of prisoners to get information of them. He is the architect of the Abu Ghraib atrocities. Referring to the War on Terror, he wrote in a memo, “This new paradigm renders obsolete Geneva’s strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions.” (Do you want an attorney general who writes using the term “paradigm” whatever his views?) 

Now Newsweek reports that when George W. Bush was Texas governor, Gonzales pulled strings to get Bush out of jury duty. It seems that in 1996, Bush was called as a juror to sit on a case involving a stripper who was arrested for driving under the influence. In voir dire—the part of the trial where the lawyers question the biases of the potential jurors—it surely would have come out that Bush himself had been convicted of a DUI. Bush didn’t want that offense to be made public as it would impact his chance of becoming president. Gonzales took the defense attorney and the prosecutor back into the judge’s chambers and argued off the court record that if convicted the stripper could ask for a pardon from the governor (How many strippers convicted of drunk driving go to the governor for a pardon?) and this created a “conflict of interest.” The judge then excused Gov. Bush from the jury on this flimsy argument. The defense attorney, the prosecutor, and the judge all remember Gonzales doing this.  

However, Gonzales himself says he does not remember it. This is a sort of non-denial denial. Gonzales doesn’t say it didn’t happen, just that he “doesn’t remember.” 

Strange. I’ve been practicing law going on 30 years now, and if I ever took a governor back into a judge’s chambers to get the governor out of jury duty, I think I would remember it. Even if the governor for whom I did it was unmemorable, say, like Gray Davis.  

So how can we refresh Gonzales’s memory of this unusual influence peddling and help him to tell the truth? My suggestion: Torture him. I think perhaps some water boarding, or perhaps being made to stand naked in an uncomfortable position, being given minimal food in a cold cell, with strobe lights flashing, with no toilet and with wires attached to his testicles would do wonders for his capacity to recall the facts. 

I think that getting the truth from the man who is about to become the top law enforcement officer in the United States is every bit as important as gaining tidbits of information from Afghan farmers who fought on the losing side of a battle.  

When this little memory refreshment session is finished, someone could then ask Gonzales how “quaint” the prohibitions against torture now seem to him.  

Paul Glusman is a Berkeley attorney.

The recount of Berkeley’s Measure R ended Jan. 10, with the Alameda County Registrar of Voter declaring this initiative had failed by 161 votes. However, inefficient counting methods, denial of voter intent, and flawed machinery combined to make this recount meaningless. Americans for Safe Access, a Berkeley based patient’s rights group, along with several individual voters, are contesting this count with a motion filed in Superior Court. 

Measure R, a medical marijuana voter initiative, was too close to call on election night. It took 20 days of counting, which were observed by concerned patients and caregivers, before the Alameda County Registrar of Voters declared a loss by 191 votes. Observers had reported widespread problems throughout the original count, so supporters of the immediately requested a recount. 

Sadly, the recount was equally flawed, and supporters are no closer to a final vote total. Here are some of the problems observed: 

• The system used to verify registered voters in Alameda County does not work properly due to a lack of consistency in data entry resulting in difficulties with subsequent searches. Berkeley votes were disqualified without a complete search of this database. Of special concern are University of California students, as there were approximately 1,000 votes disqualified from campus polling places.  

• People who chose to use paper ballots at polling places instead of the touch screen machines may not have had their votes counted. There are hundreds of Berkeley votes that were left uncounted because voters did not correctly complete the provisional voter forms. These mistakes were found in several Berkeley polling places. Further investigation is merited to determine if this was a due to voter error or misinformation given by poll workers.  

• The Diebold electronic voting machines used in Alameda County do not allow for a meaningful recount. It is impossible to recount individual ballots cast on these machines, and there is no voter verified paper trail to back up the totals. Votes cast on these machines are converted into delicate electrons, and then put on hardware that is vulnerable to tampering and malfunctions.  

• Observers witnessed electronic voting machines malfunctioning throughout the reprint of election night data, including system crashes and difficulty getting machines to register touches correctly. This likely happened during the election, but supporters were denied back up data and audit logs from the machines used in Berkeley. 

• Provisional and absentee ballots were improperly cataloged and stored after the election. Tamper proof seals were broken on ballot boxes, batch totals were missing, misplaced, and tallied incorrectly, and the chain of command records were not intact on some boxes. Ballots are still missing, and have not yet been recounted. 

• Registrar staff is allowed to remake damaged hand ballots into “duplicates” in order for them to be counted with the optical scanners. During the recount, there were damaged original ballots that could not be matched to a duplicate ballot, as well as left over duplicates without matching originals. These ballots were not counted during the recount, and it is impossible to determine if their matches were lost or counted correctly. 

Vote totals changed in nearly every Berkeley precincts. Failure of the optical scanners to count the initial votes correctly accounts for some of this discrepancy, as the Diebold machines used in Alameda County miscount from 1 percent to 3 percent of the vote. However, no further effort will be made by the Registrar’s office to audit discrepancies, find missing ballots, or improve the damaged systems that led to these problems.  

People with serious illnesses depend on the initiative process to guarantee safe access to medical marijuana. Measure R would have implemented a sensible policy with lasting benefits for patients and caregivers. We still do not know the intent of Berkeley voters, but on March 2 the California Superior Court will have a chance to determine who really won Measure R. 

Debby Goldsberry is on the board of directors of Americans for Safe Access. 

›

We live in an era of privatization of essential social services. The most recent to come under attack is social security, a reform enacted during the New Deal which the Bush administration now wants to roll back. 

Proposition 71, the stem cell research initiative recently passed here in California, goes against this trend. It provides government funding for life-saving biomedical research and places the administration and conduct of this effort squarely in the public realm. This measure, which aims to heal terrible illnesses to which human beings of every nation, ethnic origin, and religion are vulnerable, deserves our support. 

Yet here in the Bay Area, some progressive media are misinforming us about this proposition. The San Francisco Bay Guardian, for example, proclaims that the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, established by Prop. 71 to administer and oversee implementation of the measure, is “composed entirely of representatives of groups who want a spot at the $3 billion trough.” An editorial in the Berkeley Daily Planet says that “Many of us voted for the big stem-cell ballot measure in November because we sincerely believed that it would aid scientific progress, and it probably will. But we didn’t understand what an immense cash cow for drug companies it would turn out to be ...” 

There is no evidence for these allegations of corruption. The entire 29-person Oversight Committee consists of individuals who have clear and consistent records of public service, including scientists from universities and nonprofit research institutes, ten patient-group representatives, and only four members from private industry. 

Prop. 71 is a “cash cow for drug companies”? On the contrary, Prop. 71 takes control of health care away from them. Currently, decisions regarding the direction of medical research are largely made by corporations such as Merck and Pfizer. Their research aims to develop drugs that will maximize profits, and they take little interest in finding treatments that are less profitable but of greater benefit to society. In marked contrast, the Oversight Committee established by Prop. 71 is mandated to serve the public interest, not a corporate bottom line. 

The provisions of Proposition 71 spell out in considerable detail appropriate ethical standards and ensure accountability. Chair Robert Klein and other Committee members have stated clearly and unequivocally their commitment to adhere to these standards, including those regulations that prohibit conflicts of interest. In implementing this measure, the Oversight Committee is consulting and cooperating with NIH authorities and California state committees to establish ethical working practices, and will continue to do so. 

Openness and transparency in implementing Prop. 71 are of course essential. And it’s true that at its first meeting in December, the newly constituted Oversight Committee stumbled in not providing the public with adequate advance notification and documentation about the agenda. But let’s not allow this mistake to obscure the Committee’s diligence as it begins to fulfill its responsibilities. Any California citizen can provide testimony at Oversight Committee meetings, whose agendas are posted at: www.cirm.ca.gov. 

Much of the criticism of the Oversight Committee has focused on its choice of Robert Klein, the financier who initiated and led the Prop. 71 campaign, to be its Chairperson. Being wealthy, he exemplifies to some progressives a ruling-class mogul clearly on the other side of the class divide. Yet Mr. Klein, whose son has juvenile diabetes and mother has Alzheimer’s, is a dedicated advocate of patient interests, and he has worked on behalf of good causes for decades, including affordable-housing legislation and global disarmament. Although categories of economic class are valuable analytic tools, they may mislead us if they’re not thoughtfully applied. 

By law, the California Assembly and Senate do not have direct responsibility for managing the implementation of Proposition 71. The reason for this is the desirability of a certain distance or “buffer” between scientific inquiry and legislative control. Public guidance and oversight of scientific research is necessary, as is a measure of freedom of inquiry on the part of scientists. (That freedom is precarious today -- the religious right aims to halt embryonic stem cell research.) Given the inherent tension between these two values, the provisions of Prop. 71 strike a careful, reasonable balance. 

Progressives’ suspicion of scientific research is often well-founded. For centuries, scientific discoveries have abetted militarism and oppression. That gives us all the more reason to applaud a scientific initiative that is humane in its aim and conscientious in its implementation. 

Barglow, Lowe and Shiffenbauer are Berkeley residents.

Lewis and Mary Suzuki will soon celebrate their fifty-second wedding anniversary, but a fair-sized book could be written about their adventures and misadventures before they ever got together, starting with Lewis’ father jumping ship in 1912, entering San Francisco illegally, and making his way to L.A., where he made a precarious living as a musician. In 1917 He went back to Japan, married, then re-entered the U.S. legally, starting a dry-cleaning business and a family in L.A.  

Lewis was born in 1920, “delivered by a midwife under a dry-cleaning press,” he says, grinning. “I was the oldest boy.” 

“Yes, ‘botchang,’” Mary laughs. “That means ‘spoiled son.’” 

In 1929 Lewis’ father died (along with the boom years of the ‘20s) and his mother took her three boys and three girls back to Japan.  

That was the year Mary’s parents married. They had met as students at the University of Nebraska. Her mother was Dutch-Irish-Welch American and her father had come from the Philippines to study. They left Nebraska, where so-called miscegenation laws prohibited them from marrying, and went to Chicago. Mary’s grandfather disowned his daughter. “But my grandmother gave my parents her blessing.” Mary, the second child, was born in 1931, and was only six months old when the family left for the Philippines.  

“My father had been beaten up repeatedly. He said if he had to deal with violence, he could handle it better in his home country. Actually it was much better for an inter-racial couple there. Both my parents got teaching jobs, and had three more children.” 

Meanwhile Lewis, in Japan, had found his vocation early. “The elementary schools in Japan had wonderful arts programs. Good teachers, art contests every couple of weeks; my best friend and I always won first and second prizes.”  

The rise of Japanese militarism began to cast a shadow over all of Asia, including the Philippines. “My father wanted my mother to take us children and go back to the U.S.,” says Mary, “but she wouldn’t go without him, and he wanted to stay and fight the Japanese, if they invaded. Suddenly it was too late to leave; the bombs started to fall, and we were stuck there throughout the war.” Mary has a couple of souvenirs from those years of “bombing and starvation:” a piece of shrapnel in her leg, the loss of hearing in her right ear. “My father lost an eye when the Japanese tortured him. He was in the resistance; so was my mother.” 

Lewis was luckier. By 1939 he was committed to art and wondering where he might study. One day, on a commuter train, he was looking at a directory of art schools in the United States. A man, looking over his shoulder, suddenly said, “If you’re a nisei, an American citizen, you should get out of this country, now.” Then he invited Lewis to his apartment. “I’ll never forget it. He showed me photos of the Rape of Nanking—he would have been put in prison if he’d been caught with those photos. He said war would come and I’d be drafted and made to do things like that! I must write to any relatives I could find in Japan, and get enough money to get me to America.  

‘Now!’ he said. And he did one more thing, gave me a name to contact when I got to L.A., Edo Mita.” (last name first, in the Japanese way) “So that’s what I did.”  

Edo helped him to get work as a house boy to take care of his room and board while finishing school at Belmont High. “After a while he invited me to his house to a ‘Marxist Study Group,’ attended by Japanese speakers who worked in the film industry behind the cameras. We watched movies and discussed them in terms of ‘dialectical materialism.’” Lewis smiles and shrugs, as if he’s still not quite sure what that term is supposed to mean. “They always ended up talking about things I did understand: militarism, war and peace, and the evil rule of the emperor of Japan.” 

In 1941 Lewis made his way to Washington D. C., where he got a job at the Japanese Embassy, “mostly as tea-boy,” mostly for room and board, taking art classes whenever and wherever he could. “Then came Pearl Harbor. There was a move to send all embassy personnel to Japan, but I had American citizenship and refused to go. I had heard the embassy officials talking at dinner, after they had a few too many drinks, crying, and telling how in China they had been handed a sword and forced to proved their loyalty to the emperor by grabbing innocent Chinese off the street and beheading them!” 

Mary nods. “I don’t know what it was, that beheading ethos—some crazy old combat tradition?” 

“Tell her about my brother,” says Lewis. 

Mary nods. “A couple of years ago, Lewis’ younger brother visited us here. One day he said he had to tell me something before he left. He wanted to apologize—you understand, this was half-a-century later—for any hurt the Japanese had done to my family. I knew he had not committed atrocities. I’d heard the story of how, at the end of the war, when Chinese civilians were hunting down remaining Japanese soldiers and killing them, a Chinese family had sheltered and hidden Lewis’ brother, saving him.” 

In 1942 Lewis worked briefly as a translator at the Office of War Information in New York, but as a Japanese-American he was always under suspicion. A friendly American officer took him to lunch one day and told him he was surely going to be laid off unless—“Could you possibly dig up some communist connections? Anything at all? Everyone knows communists are safe because they’re all anti- militarist, anti-fascist, anti-emperor of Japan.” 

“Later I realized that some of the anti-war groups I joined were connected to the Communist Party. But at that time the term ‘Marxist Study Group’ meant nothing to me.” Nor did the fact that helpful men like Edo seemed to have a lot of anti-fascist, anti-racist, anti-war friends here and there where Lewis could get help with housing and jobs. (Lewis sounds like the old-lefty friends I made during the McCarthyite-witch-hunting fifties, for whom political naivete and protective, selective amnesia had become a reflex.) “I had to tell the officer, no, I didn’t know a thing about communism or communists.” 

In that case, the friendly officer advised him, his best bet was to join the army, where he would surely be of value as a translator. Lewis took his advice and spent 1943 to 1945 teaching Japanese at the Military Intelligence Language School in Minneapolis. After being discharged at the end of the war in 1945, he spent the next seven years trying to study art in New York, to earn his living (as a cabinet maker) and to continue to work for peace and, especially, against atomic weapons. “Art and activism, art and activism. I couldn’t do both, but I couldn’t quite give up either one.” 

When the war ended in 1945, Mary’s mother took her children aboard a hospital ship back to the U.S. “Her marriage was over. My father was dedicated to staying and finishing the liberation struggle against colonial power—getting the Americans out and making the Philippines an independent country. We were still starving. My mother had actually seen human finger bones in soup in Philippine restaurants. She got us back to Nebraska, to Lincoln, where she had friends and could get a teaching job. Racial attitudes were better there too, except—” 

Mary laughs. “One day we kids were downtown and some police mistook us for Indians, wanted to pick us up. They almost drove us out to the reservation. But I had wonderful teachers at University of Nebraska High School in Lincoln. I’d missed out on school during the war. My math teacher tutored me. My English teacher encouraged my writing.” 

(Mary continues to write, occasionally publishing. Her “New Country” can be found in the anthology Writing For Our Lives.)  

“My brother was unhappy at school in Nebraska. He ran away to California, and soon the whole family followed, to Stockton, where I graduated from high school in 1949, with honors, and a scholarship to San Joaquin General Hospital Nursing School, awarded by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, their first to a Filipina. I liked nursing, but I didn’t last long. There was the Loyaly Oath, which I wouldn’t sign. And I was shocked when I was told to cover up medical errors on patient records.” 

“She’s still a good nurse,” Lewis adds, smiling. “She takes care of me.” 

“I ended up going to Berkeley,” Mary continues. “I managed, after a big fuss to prove my credits and transcripts were good, to get admitted to UC, took a full schedule of classes, and worked full time at Children’s Hospital. Of course, I was always exhausted, always getting sick. I finally managed to get a small scholarship. 

“By that time I had become a Quaker. In 1952 I learned of a chance to visit China, and, more than anything else in the world, I wanted to go there to see how they were celebrating the end of centuries of foreign domination. I identified with the Chinese because of growing up in the Philippines, under the Americans, then under the Japanese, then Americans again, and always hearing about the earlier Spanish rulers. It was a very hopeful time in China. I couldn’t resist. With $900 I was off, by way of New York, Europe, a roundabout route to Peking, where I immediately got deathly ill!” 

As she lay on her bed, several visiting Americans were asked to look in on her. One of them was Lewis Suzuki. “In 1952, I’d hurt my hand, so when the American Peace Crusade asked if I’d like to attend a meeting in Peking, I decided, okay, I can’t paint—time for some activism again.” 

“The first time he saw me,” says Mary, “I was throwing up.” 

It was love at first sight. They traveled around China together for a couple of months, then returned to America by way of a Peace Conference in Vienna. Once back here, they disagreed briefly about whether to settle in New York or in California. “UC was cheaper than Columbia,” says Mary, “and I wanted to finish my degree.” 

Lewis nods. “That settled it.” 

They were married in 1953. Lewis worked as a cabinet maker while Mary finished up at UC and gave birth to their son and daughter. Then Mary began working in early childhood education—part time when their two children were little—full time later—giving Lewis more time to paint. Both continued to work with activist groups against war and social injustice.  

Eventually Lewis was able to make enough by selling his paintings to paint full-time. He exhibited widely, mostly in California, and many of us own one or two of his landscapes or seascapes. “I try to keep the prices low so people can afford to own one. I even do smaller prints of some of the paintings and sell them for only about $20. I do my own framing because that’s what can run into money.” 

Lewis’ paintings, like his mellow, gentle demeanor, give no hint of the dangers he has survived nor of his passionate opposition to injustice. They are generally light, sunlit—glowing sails or flowers or trees against cloudless skies. There are exceptions, like a well-known peace-dove poster and his disturbing “Smokey Mountain.” This rather controversial painting (”some Filipinos don’t like it”) depicts the infamous shanty town built on a huge dump outside Manila, crowds of people foraging through garbage while gleaming white skyscrapers loom in the background. He painted it after he and Mary visited the Philippines in 1986. Lewis is proud of it as an example of the successful fusion of his art and activism. 

At 85 Lewis continues painting, as Mary continues to write, and both enjoy their three grandchildren. Lewis’ fragile health now prohibits him from driving out to exhibit or teach, but he continues to show and sell his paintings or prints in the studio attached to his home. “People come during the ‘Open Studios’ weekends every year, or by appointment the rest of the year.” (Call 849-1427).  

“As long as I can paint and work for peace, I’m satisfied,” Lewis says, as he tenderly places a cracker with a sliver of cheese in front of Mary, then turns to explain to me, “She’s diabetic, has to eat all day.” 

V

Giacomo Puccini’s Il Trittico (The Triptych), an unusual omnibus of three one-act operas, will be presented by Berkeley Opera this Saturday and Sunday and Feb. 2 and 6 at Julia Morgan Theater, sung in Italian with English supertitles. 

Seldom performed either separately or—as the composer intended—together, these three unrelated, fully self-contained short operas (“Il Tabarro,” “Suor Angelica” and “Gianni Schicci”) make a combined program of just under three hours, “slightly trimmed” by the company.  

“It’s really three entirely different operas—albeit short ones—in one performance,” said Jonathan Khuner, artistic director of Berkeley Opera. He is also, with Jason Sherbundy and Rafal Klopotowski, in charge of musical and stage director of this production. 

“Puccini invested each opera with a completely unique atmosphere and its own high-tension drama,” Khuner said. “[He] deliberately set out to construct a different type of evening, partly because the stories ... intrigued him [yet weren’t] of sufficient scope for a full evening. Puccini was one composer who chose compression over the Italian tradition of expanding slim stories to full evenings.” 

“Il Tabarro,” a dark tale of murder, tells of the sullen jealousy of barge-owner Michele over the presumed infidelity of his country-girl wife Giorgetta, as his men unload the barge against the backdrop of a Paris sunset. Giorgetta is in fact awaiting her lover Luigi, one of the hired hands, after Michele retires—the tryst to be signaled by lighting a match. Duana Demus, John Minagro, Benjamin Bongers, Patrice Houston, Piet van Allen, John Milagro and William Pickersgill are the cast. 

“Suor Angelica,” a moving religious experience of life and death, is the tale of a young woman who left her wealthy family to join a convent, where she pines for her relatives. 

When her rich aunt comes to announce her younger sister’s wedding, Angelica’s happiness is swept away by revelations of shame and tragedy. Mortal desperation—and the fear of mortal sin—are succeeded by a miraculous sense of grace. Jillian Khuner, Fabienne Wood and Heather McFadden perform. 

“Gianni Schicchi,” a satirical celebration of wit, has the title character vocally impersonating an already dead man making a new will at the behest of a miserly family, so that the estate won’t go to charity—and Gianni gives a more than eloquent testament. It’s sung by Jo Vincent Parks, Ayelet Cohen, Brian Thorsett, Katherine Daniel and Linda Blum. 

Using creative backdrop projections by Jeremy Knight with spare staging, Khuner said, “Berkeley Opera’s intimate style of presentation can get closer to Puccini’s true intentions for dramatic effect than can a large company. We avoid the larger-than-life stances and vocal exaggerations.” 

He said, “People consider the grand Italian operatic style, but Puccini was against any exaggeration. His notation was very precise in suggesting the amount of nuance necessary to give a rich and vivid portrayal of his characters’ experiences. There is no overarching theme in the stories, but there is an underlying continuity in [Puccini’s] attachment to ‘telling the story’ line by line, scene by scene, with a minimum of reflection or out-of-frame vocal delivery.”  

Berkeley Opera has a commitment to producing lesser-known operas by well-known composers, Khuner says. 

“My philosophy for Berkeley Opera has always been to give our audience an alternative,” he said. “When a major opera house does unusual repertoire, it is often a vehicle for a particular star singer, or variety for variety’s sake. We can focus on [these works] for their own sake.” 

FRIDAY, JAN. 28 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “Seduced” by Sam Shepard at 8 p.m. at the Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck at Berryman, and runs Fri. and Sat. through Feb. 19. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Aurora Theatre, “Dublin Carol” by Conor McPherson Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun at 2 and 7 p.m. through March 6 at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $28-$45. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

"Bridge & Tunnel" workshop performances by Sarah Jones at 8 p.m. Thurs.-Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. through Feb. 20 at Berkeley Rep’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. tickets are $30-$40. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater, “The Mousetrap” Agatha Christie’s classic mystery Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. through Feb. 19 at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. Tickets are $10-$15. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Ragged Wing Ensemble “The Serpent” theater with movement, masks and puppetry, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., through Feb. 19, at the Eighth Street Studios, 2525 8th St. Tickets are $10-$20 sliding scale. 527-8119. www.raggedwing.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“California Landscapes” by Jim Brosnahan at 6 p.m. at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church, Claremont and Russell St., also Sat from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sponsored by Options Recovery Services. www.optionsrecovery.org 

FILM 

David Thomson History of Hollywood: “Daisy Kenyon” at 7 p.m. and “Men in War” at 9 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Sierra Birds: A Hiker’s Guide” a dinner, lecture and slide show with author Jack Laws at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Yacht Club, One Seawall Drive. Tickets are $20, benefits the Sierra Club. For reservations, call 526-2494. 

Simon Singh describes “Big Bang: The Origins of the Universe” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Li Onesto disucusses “Dispatches From the People’s War in Nepal” at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Coltrane: A Tribute with saxophonist Howard Wiley at 9 p.m. at 21 Art Gallery, 449B 23rd St. between Telegraph and Broadway, Oakland. Presented by The Jazz House. Cost is $10. www.thejazzhouse.org 

West Side Story Remix at 7 p.m. at 4551 Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $3. 658-0967. 

Kaki King, guitarist, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Inspector Double Negative, Paris King and Friends at 9:30 at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Jeffrey Luck Lucas, Sonya Hunter, Sean Hayes at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Adrian Gormley Quartet, jazz at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

Moonrise & Harmony Grisman at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10.  

Sara Manning Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Beth Robinson, singer-songwriter, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Harvie S and Mimi Fox at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Everton Blender, reggae, at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. 548-1159.  

John Schott’s Typical Orchestra, avant folk-jazz-blues at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Betray the Species, Funeral Diner, This Song is a Mess at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

McCoy Tyner with Stanley Clarke and Billy Cobham at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $25-$35. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, JAN. 29 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Earthcapades, jugglers, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $3-$4. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Absolutely Abstract” Artwork by Zarmine Aghazarian, Peggy Cotton and Andrea Markus. Reception from 7 to 9 p.m. at Innersport, Strawberry Creek Design Center, 1250 Addison St. Exhibition runs through April. www.innersport.com  

“Resurrection” found object sculptures and assemblages by Gaelyn Lakin at John F. Kennedy University Arts Annex, 2956 San Pablo Ave. Reception for the artist from 5 to 8 p.m. Exhibition runs to Feb. 4. 521-0663. 

FILM 

David Thomson History of Hollywood: “Meet Me in St. Louis” at 6:30 p.m. and “The Bad and the Beautiful” at 9:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Japanese Mingei and the Way of Folkcrafts” a lecture by David Coates, Mingei Researcher, at 1 p.m. at Common House, 930 Clay St., Oakland. 528-0600.  

Douglas Coupland introduces his new novel “Eleanor Rigby” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Il Trittico” at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Phillip Greenlief, saxophone and Diane Grubbe, flute at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St., between Bancroft and Durant. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. http://trinitychamberconcerts.com 

Magnificat performs Charpentier’s “The Sacrifice of Abraham and the Prodigal Son” at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Ellsworth and Bancroft. Tickets are $12-$25. 415-979-4500. www.magnificatbaroque.org 

Cirque Eloize at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$48. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

North Indian Classical Music Concert for Tsunami Relief with Terry Riley and friends at 7 p.m. at St. Alban's Parish Hall, 1501 Washington Ave. at Curtis, Albany. Suggested donation $35-$50. Please bring a cushion if you prefer floor seating, venue is not wheelchair accessible. Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

John Murray, singer-songwriter, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Mitch Marcus Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Lou & Peter Berryman at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Kurt Ribak Jazz Group at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Tiempo Latino and La Familia at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Re-Ignition, Kaos, Zeitgeist, Fuzzplow at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Fred Randolph Quintet at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com  

Carney Ball Johnson at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Eileen Hazel & Andrea Guskin at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10.  

Wanda Stafford Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Love Equals Death, 1208, Instigator, Cigar, False Alliance at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JAN. 30 

CHILDREN 

Lunar New Year Celebration for the whole family with lion dancing, Taiko drumming, mochi pounding and hands-on arts activities from noon to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. www.museumca.org 

FILM 

David Thomson History of Hollywood: “Heat” at 5 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Stellasue Lee and Alison Luterman at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

“The Art of Living Black” Artists’ talk at 2 p.m. at Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. 620-6772. www.therichmondartcenter.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Il Trittico” at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Ciaramella Composers of Liege and Burgundy 1400-1477 at 5 p.m. at MusicSources, 1000 The Alameda. 528-1685. www.sfems.org/musicsources  

Piedmont Choirs Annual Winter Concert at 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $10-$12. 547-4441. 

Jazz Fest 2005 featuring Faye Carrol, Sista Kee, Bandworks in a benefit concert for the King Middle School 8th grade delegation to Washington D.C. at 4 p.m. in the Martin Luther King School Auditorium, 1781 Rose St. Suggested donation $10. 289-4166, 644-4544. 

Cirque Eloize at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$48. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Ragamala Paintings” a musical performance by Rita Sahai, at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Manose, Himalayan flautist plays raga, Nepali folk, fusion and rock, at 7 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation $10-$20. 527-0450. 

Pappa Gianni and the North Beach Band from 2 to 5 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Flameco Open Stage with Yaelisa at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Lecture/demonstration at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Mark Hummel & The Blues Survivors at 4:30 at the Jazz- 

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

Mike Marshall & Choro Famoso, Brazilian swing jazz fusion, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

MONDAY, JAN. 31 

FILM 

Seeing Through the Screen: Buddhism and Film, “Waking Life” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Page to Stage, a conversation with playwright Charles L. Mee and director Les Waters at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Repertory Theater, 2015 Addison St. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Samina Ali talks about life as a Muslim woman in “Madras on Rainy Days” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Laurence Gonzales discusses “Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Poetry Express with Ian Hoffman, Victor Infante and Lea Deschenes from 7 to 9:30 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Gift Horse, fiddle duo, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Songwriters Symposium at 8:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

John Jorgenson Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, FEB. 1 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Lithography of Toko Shinoda” opens at the Schurman Gallery, 1659 San Pablo Ave., and runs through Mar. 31. 524-0623. www.schurmanfineartgallery.com 

FILM 

Japanese Experimental Film and Video at 7:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Theater Crossing Borders” with playwright and director Sabina Berman at 4 p.m. in Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall, UC Campus. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

Martin Jay discusses “Songs of Experience: Modern American and European Variations on a Universal Theme” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Eric Shifrin, solo piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

McCoy Tyner wiith Terence Blanchard, Ravi Coltrane, Charnett Moffett, Eric Holland at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $22-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Peelander-Z, The Bust, punk, at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 2 

THEATER 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Fetes de la Nuit” at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. Runs through Feb. 27. Tickets are $43-$55. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Surprise Me, Show Me Something Good” Local artists respond to the challenge to make themselves vulnerable. Reception at 5:30 p.m. at North and South Galleries, 5241 College Ave., Oakland. 658-1223. 

FILM 

Cine Contemporaneo: “Mundo Grúa” by Pablo Trapero, at 7 p.m. in the CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch St. In Spanish with English subtitles. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

Film 50: History of Cinema “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” at 3 p.m. and “Games” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley High Beats Poetry Slam at 7 p.m. in Room G-210, Berkeley High School. Sign up at 6:30 p.m. Donation $1. rayers@berkeley.k12.ca.us 

Adam Hochshild introduces “Bury the Chains: Prophets, Slaves and Rebels in the First Human Rights Crusade” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryplough.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Il Trittico” at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with the Young Musicians Program at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

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

Whiskey Brothers at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Project Pimento, Famous Celebrities, Dreamend, 2Me, indie rock, acoustic, at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Tom Griesgraber/Jerry Marotta Duo, prog-rock,at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

THURSDAY, FEB. 3 

EXHIBITIONS 

Addison Street Windows Gallery Anti-Bullying Art and Essays by Berkeley Middle School students. Reception from 4 to 6 p.m. in the lobby of the Berkeley Repertory Roda Theater. 981-7546. 

FILM 

African Film Festival: “Story of a Beautiful Country” at 5:30 p.m. and “Kounandi” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Free First Thurs. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lunch Poems Reading Series with Barbara Guest at 12:10 p.m. at the Morrison Library in Doe Library, UC Campus. 642-0137. http://lunchpoems.berkeley.edu 

Maya Khosla reads from her poetry at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards introduce “Grassroots: A Field Guide to Feminist Action” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Kristin Ohlson reads from “Stalking the Divine” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Chris Angell and Rita Bregman at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

New Century Chamber Orchestra performs Cowell’s “Variations on Thirds” at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $18-$39. 415-357-1111.  

Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Vusi Mahlasela, a cappella group from South Africa, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$46 available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, bluegrass, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $29.50-$30.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Barefoot Nellies, all-women classic bluegrass, at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10.  

Research and Development, Japonize Elephants at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

The Jennifer Clevinger Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.?

On early summer mornings John Muir would climb the stairs of his house to the bell tower above the attic. Here he would meditate and survey grand vistas of fruit orchards and the sweep of hills. Admiring the 360-degree views, his gaze may have turned farther east toward his beloved Sierras. With peace of mind, he would descend to his daily work, managing the ranch and fighting to save America’s resources. 

John Muir, father of the National Park System, led a rich and well-traveled life—Scotland to Wisconsin, a 1,000-mile walk from Kentucky to the Gulf of Mexico, a voyage to California and years spent exploring the Sierra Nevadas—but the last 34 years of his life were spent in Martinez. 

John Muir National Historic Site is a nine-acre preserve, all that remains of the original 2,600 acres, consisting of a Visitor Center, Muir House, grounds and orchards, and Mt. Wanda. A visit here offers a first hand look at Muir’s most productive years, at his life as a doting father, an astute businessman and a prolific writer. 

I began my tour at the visitor center watching Earth, Planet, Universe, learning about Muir’s life and philosophies through this visually appealing video peppered with Muir’s quotes. The broad selection of Muir books and videos and the striking black-and-white vintage photographs and memorabilia further display the depth of this man. 

Using an excellent self-guiding tour booklet of the entire site, I set out to experience Muir’s final years.  

Muir’s marriage to Louie Stentzel in 1880 brought him to the Alhambra Valley, entering into partnership with his father-in-law on his fruit ranch. Viewing the orchards outside the visitor center I envisioned the ranch described on information kiosks—Percheron draft horses plowing, windmills drawing water, and Chinese workers skillfully pruning and grafting.  

A circular path past palm trees, flowers, and the apple orchard leads to the imposing hilltop structure of Muir House, a handsome 17-room Italianate house. Under twelve-foot ceilings, heated by seven fireplaces and lit by kerosene lamps, Muir raised his two daughters, entertained supporters for his cause and wrote.  

For me, Muir’s presence was strongest in his bedroom, uncurtained by request, where he would awaken to the light of the sun, and in his “Scribble Den”. Here he worked, surrounded by piles of manuscripts and books; the Sierra Club symbol, the multi-use tin cup, atop his desk; and balls of dried bread, Muir’s favorite snack, on the mantle. Urging presidents and lawmakers to establish the National Forest Service and five national parks, and helping to found the Sierra Club, he was tireless in his crusades. 

Next door in the Sierra Club Exhibit Room, vintage photos of early club outings attest to Muir’s philosophy that taking men and women into the Sierras to camp, walk and fish, to experience wild nature, would inspire them to fight for its preservation. Thanks to Muir “thousands of tired, nerve shaken people are finding that going to the mountains is going home, that wildness is a necessity and that mountain parks are useful as fountains of life.” 

It’s a lovely walk from Muir House through orchards of cherry, plum, quince, pear, apricot and orange, past the Carriage House and windmill and across Franklin Creek to the Martinez Adobe. Testament to an earlier history, the house was part of 17,000 acres owned by the Martinez family during the Spanish and Mexican land grant period. An attractive two-story house, it’s constructed of two-foot thick adobe bricks and a wood shingle roof, with views from the wide verandas overlooking the orchards. Though John Muir never lived here, it later became the home of his daughter Wanda and her family. Inside, light from large windows illuminates exhibits that chronicle the history of the Martinez area, while the spacious rooms tantalize anyone in search of a comfortable home in a bucolic setting.  

A short drive from Muir House brings you to Mt. Wanda, 325 acres with the highest peaks at 640 feet and 660 feet named after daughters Helen and Wanda. Here, Muir, foremost a botanist, sauntered with his daughters instructing them in correct botanical names. Today the 1.3-mile Muir Nature Trail begins 0.5 mile up from a poorly marked trailhead where self-guiding brochures are available. I climbed the acorn-lined trail bordered with a carpet of verdant grasses, miner’s lettuce and moss-covered boulders. Above me the branches of oak, laurel and willow formed a canopy of dark, lichen-coated branches. The Muir Trail brochure calls attention to the land today and the changes it has undergone while sharing Muir’s visions. Looking east toward Mt. Diablo Muir would have seen a broad sweep of grasslands and tree-cloaked hillsides as far as his “Range of Light,” the Sierras. What would Muir think if he were alive today? 

Muir wrote, “Wedges of development are being driven hard and none of the obstacles of nature can long withstand the march of this immeasurable industry.” Little did Muir know that his prophecy would include his own home. My imagination was far stretched envisioning Muir in this setting, today abutting Highway 4 and a mere enclave in a sea of homes and businesses, surrounded by the sights and sounds of industry. Coming to this historic site, so far removed from wild nature, brought home the importance of Muir’s fight, today more than ever. Without great efforts toward conservation, wilderness will continue to be chipped away, piece by piece. 

Extend your outing away from the highway and the past into downtown Martinez and Martinez Regional Shoreline along the Carquinez Strait.  

Downtown Martinez has that definite “old town” feel: narrow, tree-lined streets, cobbled sidewalks and historic stone buildings with plaster and brick foundations. Three blocks of browse-worthy shops, many centered around antiques, memorabilia, and collectibles, and, of course, food. It’s a pleasant stroll past windows displaying pieces of the past, including the headquarters of the Contra Costa County Historical Society. Fresh flowers, intricate quilts, homemade candy and bakery goods, aromatic coffee, and your choice of food from Mexico, China, Japan and good old-fashioned steamed hot dogs. 

I ended my day at Martinez Regional Shoreline, a large recreational complex of playgrounds, grassy fields, picnic facilities and an extensive marshland. On a cold foggy day, looking out at the water, the resident and migrating bird life far outnumbered people. Pickleweed Trail, wooden boardwalks and an eye-drawing arch bridge over Alhambra Creek call to walkers and cyclists. Trailside dedicated benches and those facing the Strait invite you to enjoy the peaceful sea of dry rushes and reeds and the open blue of the waters beyond watching mud hens and sandpipers exploring the marsh. 

Driving home on Highway 4, the beautiful green rolling hills with scattered dwellings took me back to John Muir. At the top of the bell tower, this land is what he viewed as he prepared to write. Books and articles urging man away from consuming and destroying, and toward the wise use of Earth’s resources. A great man is one who’s words live on, never losing their truth. John Muir—a great man.›

FRIDAY, JAN. 28 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Leslie Michael on “OSHA.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“Sierra Birds: A Hiker’s Guide” Dinner, lecture and slide show with author Jack Laws at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Yacht Club, One Seawall Drive. Tickets are $20, benefits the Sierra Club. For reservations, call 526-2494. 

“The Pinochet Case” a film directed by Patricio Guzmán at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch St. 642-3260. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

Ice Cream Social and Family Fun Night at the Berkeley YMCA from 7 to 9 p.m. to raise funds for Save the Children and World Vision for tsunami relief. Sponsored jointly by Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action and Berkeley Youth United in Action. 658-2467. 

What Kind of State Are You Livin’ In? anarchist hip hop propaganda at 7 p.m. at the AK Press Warehouse, 674-A 23rd. St., Oakland. 208-1700. www.akpress.org 

African American Health Summit Health Expo Public nutrition and exercise health fair, free, everyone invited. From 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Oakland Marriott City Center. 

Literary Friends meets at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley enior Center to discuss Limericks. 549-1879. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

“Three Beats for Nothing” a group that meets to sing, mostly 16th century harmony, for fun and practice, at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 655-8863, 843-7610.  

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 

Shabbat with Kol Hadash at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. info@kolhadash.org 

SATURDAY, JAN. 29 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 845-4116. www.nativeplants.org 

Wetland Planting with Save The Bay Winter restoration activities include planting native seedlings, non-native plant removal, site monitoring, and shoreline clean-up. From 9 a.m. to noon at Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland. 452-9261, ext. 109. dshea@savesfbay.org 

Tour and Restoration of Rheem Creek in North Richmond from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. meeting at Parchester Village Community Center, 900 Williams Drive, Richmond. Reservations requested. 644-2900, ext 109. 

Fruit Tree Pruning at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

Land Use Forum hosted by Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations at 1:30 p.m., St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave., Fireside Rm. For further information contact Marie Bowman at mariebowman@pacbell.net 

Human Rights in Haiti with Fr. G´rard Jean-Juste, a freed Haitian political prisoner at 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Suggested donation $5-$15. 558-9010. 

Emergency Response Training Class on “Shelter Operations” from 9 a.m. to noon at the Fire Dept. Training Center, 997 Cedar St. To register call 981-5606. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/fire/oes.html 

“Conscious Cabaret” Awakening Consciousness through Comedy Theater with Errol & Rochelle Alicia Strider at 8 p.m. at Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St. Cost is $15, or two for $25. 528-8844. www.unityberkeley.org 

Community Sing and Lighting of the Abalone Altar with the Threshold Choir at 7 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. The Threshold Choir is composed of Bay Area women who sing at the bedsides of those who are dying. Suggested donation $10, benefit for Tsunami Relief. http://thresholdchoir.org 

“Pola’s March” with filmmaker Jonathan Gruber and Pola Susswein, with dinner and Havdalah at 6:45 p.m. at Congregation Beth El, 2301 Vine St. at Arch. Donation $10, call for reservations 848-3988, ext. 11. 

“The Cahokia Native Indians of North America” lecture at 7:30 p.m. at New Acropolis Cultural Association, 1700 Dwight Way. 665-3740. guy@acropolis.org 

Design and Build Workshop Learn the details of a successful remodeling project. From 9 a.m. to noon at Truitt and White Conference Center, 1817 2nd St. Cost is $25-$30, registration required. 558-8030. 

Pre-School Storytime for ages 3-5 at 11 a.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext.17. Ends Feb 19 

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

SUNDAY, JAN. 30 

Newt Walk Join the (almost) annual trek to Sindicich Lagoons, breeding grounds for the California newt. Hike is about five miles up and over the Briones Crest. Children age 8 and up welcome. Bring lunch and liquids. Meet at 10 a.m. in the upper parking lot at the Bear Creek Rd. entrance. 525-2233. 

The Hidden World of Cryptogamic Plants An introduction to mosses, lichens, liverworts, and ferns. We will learn how to identify them, then take a walk in the garden. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Visitor Center, Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Cost is $40 members/$45 nonmembers. 845-4116. 

“Ralph Bunche and the Evolution of Human Rights” an address by Charles P. Henry, Prof. of African American Studies, UCB, at 3:25 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Free. www.unaeastbay.org 

Conscientious Objection in the 21st Century Worried about the draft, military recruiters, or militarism in our schools? Berkeley Quakers invite you to presentations by Dan Seeger, plaintiff in the U.S. landmark CO decision, and Steve Morse, of Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, at 1 p.m., at Berkeley Friends Meetinghouse, corner of Vine and Walnut. 525-2390. 

Lunar New Year Celebration for the whole family with lion dancing, Taiko drumming, mochi pounding and hands-on arts activities from noon to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. www.museumca.org 

Jazz Fest 2005 featuring Faye Carrol, Sista Kee, Bandworks in a benefit concert for the King Middle School 8th grade delegation to Washington D.C. at 4 p.m. in the Martin Luther King School Auditorium, 1781 Rose St. Suggested donation $10. 289-4166, 644-4544. 

Family Mardi Gras Art Afternoon from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Arlington Community Church, United Church of Christ, 52 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Come make a mask and learn some of the history of Mardi Gras. Free, but reservations requested. 526-9146. 

White Elephant Preview Sale from noon to 4 p.m. at the WES warehouse, 333 Lancaster St. at Glasscock, Oakland. Benefit for the Oakland Museum. Tickets are $12.50 in advance, $15 at the door. 238-2200. www.museum.ca.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

“The Last Sephardic Jew” a film about a young rabbi who takes a journey back into history at 2 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5. 848-0327, ext. 110. www.brjcc.org 

Tibetan Buddhism with Abbe Blum on “What is Knowledge of Freedom?” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, JAN. 31 

Tea and Hike at Four Taste some of the finest teas from the Pacific Rim and South Asia and learn their natural and cultural history, followed by a short nature walk. At 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7, registration required. 525-2233. 

“Approaches to Adequacy: What Are Essential Elements of Schools?” with David Conley, Associate Professor, University of Oregon, at 7 p.m. in the Berkeley High Library, corner of Addison and Milvia Sts. 644-8549. www.berkeley.k12.ca.us 

Mystical Music, Poetry, and the Sufi Zikr at 7 p.m. at the M.T.O. Center, 2855 Telegraph Ave., Suite 101. Free but please call to reserve a seat. 704-1888.  

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people 60 years and over meets Mondays at 9:45 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Join at any time. Cost is $2.50 with refreshments. 524-9122. 

Bayswater Book Club meets to discuss “Rabbi Paul” by Bruce Chilton at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble Coffee Shop, El Cerrito Plaza. 433-2911. 

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, FEB. 1 

Mid-Day Meander to see early blooming schrubs and learn Groundhog Day lore at 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233.  

Bird Walk along the Martin Luther King Shoreline to see marsh birds at 3 p.m. For information call 525-2233. 

“New Era/New Politics” Walking Tour of Oakland highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. Tour is free and lasts about 90 minutes. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Getting Along with Your Adult Children” a participatory workshop at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $35-$40. 848-0327, ext. 110. www.brjcc.org 

“A Test of Will: A Climber’s Story of Survival” with Warren MacDonald at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Sing-A-Long every Tues. from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic. All ages welcome. 524-9122. 

Tap Into It Jazz and Rhythm Tap classes at Montclair Recreation Center, 6300 Moraga Ave., Oakland. Experienced at 6:30 p.m., beginners at 7:30 p.m. 482-7812. 

Berkeley Salon Discussion Group meets to discuss “Political Predictions and the New Administration” from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Please bring snacks and soft drinks to share. No peanuts please. 601-6690. 

Organic Produce at low prices sold at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon Streets every Tuesday from 3 to 6 p.m. This is a project of Spiral Gardens. 843-1307. 

School Age Storytime for ages 5 and up at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext.17. Ends March 1 

Family Story Time at the Kensington Branch Library, Tues. evenings at 7 p.m. at 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Brainstormer Weekly Pub Quiz every Tuesday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Pyramid Alehouse Brewery, 901 Gilman St. 528-9880. 

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

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 2 

Groundhog Day Wildlife Walk in the Eastshore State Park to see ground squirrels, birds and talk about the ecosystem that supports so much wildlife. Meet at 10 a.m. at Sea Breeze Deli, University Avenue just west of I-80/580. Co-sponsored by Berkeley Path Wanderers, Friends of Five Creeks, Save the Bay, and the City of Berkeley’s Everybody Walks program. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

Berkeley High Beats Poetry Slam at 7 p.m. in Room G-210, Berkeley High School. Sign up at 6:30 p.m. Donation $1. rayers@berkeley.k12.ca.us 

AARP Free Tax Assistance for taxpayers with middle and low incomes, with special attention to those 60 years and older. From 12:15 to 4:15 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. This service will continue through April. Appointments must be made in advance. 526-3720, ext. 5. 

“Matrix of Evil” A documentary with footage from speeches and conversations with Cong. Ron Paul, Col. Craig Roberts, Cong. Cynthia McKinney, Frank Morales, and Alex Jones, at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Free, $5 donations accepted. 393-5685. 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 7:15 a.m. at Au Cocolait, 200 University Ave. at Milvia. For information call Robert Flammia 524-3765. 

Artify Ashby Muralist Group meets every Wed. from 5 to 8 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, to plan a new mural. New artists are welcome. Call Bonnie at 704-0803. 

American Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Volunteers are needed to support the more than 40 blood drives held each month.  Advance sign-up needed 594-5165. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch Bring your knitting, crocheting and other handcrafts from 6 to 9 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

Winter Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

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

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, FEB. 3 

Early Morning Bird Walk in Tilden Park to look for winter residents. Meet at 7:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Area. 525-2233. 

Painted Dog Project A discussion of the efforts to save these rare canids in Zimbabwe at 7 p.m. in the Marian Zimmer Auditorium, The Oakland Zoo. Cost is $20. 632-9525, ext. 142. www.oaklandzoo.org 

“World Religions and Ecology” with Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker and Dr. John Grim, both of Bucknell University, at 7 p.m. at the Richard S. Dinner Boardroom, Graduate Theological Union, Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2560. 

“Nonviolent Resistance to U.S. Militarization in Okinawa” A presentation by Suzuyo Takazato, a cofounder and co-coordinator of Okinawan Women Act Against Military Violence at 7 p.m. in Mudd 100, Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave. 849-8244. 

“Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin” at 6:30 p.m. at the Ellen Driscoll Theater, Frank Havens School, 325 Highland Ave., Piedmont. Sponsored by the Piedmont Appreciating Diversity Film Series. www.diversityworks.org 

“Kingdom of the West” A video tour by air of Yellowstone, Yosemite & Glacier National Parks at 1:30 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping in Berkeley Public Schools at 4:30 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

ONGOING 

Pee Wee Basketball for boys and girls ages 6 to 8, begins Sat. Feb. 5, from 10 a.m. to noon, and runs for six weeks. Fee is $25-$35. For information call Berkeley Youth Alternatives, 845-9066. sports@byaonline.org 

Albany Berkeley Girls Softball League is looking for girls in grades 1-8 to play girls softball. Season runs March 5-June 4. Scholarships available. To register call 869-4277.  

All Net Basketball for boys and girls ages 9 to 11, begins Tues. Mar. 8, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., and runs for five weeks. Fee is $10-$15. For information call Berkeley Youth Alternatives, 845-9066. sports@byaonline.org 

Dance Access & Dance Access/KIDS! offers creative dance classes for children and teens with and without physical disabilities. All classes are held at Eighth Street Studios, 2525 Eighth St. Pre- registration is required. 625-0110. alisa@axisdance.org  

Docent Training for the Magnes Museum for those interested in Jewish culture, history and art. Classes will be held on Thurs. evenings starting Feb. 3, at the Museum, 2911 Russell St. For more information contact Faith Powell at 549-6933. 

“Half Pint Library” Book Drive Donate children’s books to benefit Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland. Donations accepted at 1849 Solano Ave. through March 31. 

Taoist Tai Chi Society Beginning Level Class starts Feb. 16 at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. New students may register at any time. 415-864-0899 www.taichicalifornia.org 

Berkeley Rhino Rugby Club is seeking new high school age players for the Spring 2005 season. No experience required. Practices are Tues. and Thurs. 5 to 7 p.m. at San Pablo Park. 466-5113. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Commission on the Status of Women meets Wed., Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Tasha Tervelon, 981-5347. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/women 

Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m. at 997 Cedar St. David Orth, 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/firesafety 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed., Feb. 2, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/welfare 

Commission on Early Childhood Education meets Thurs., Feb. 3, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Angellique De Cloud, 981-5428. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/earlychildhoodeducation  

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/housing 

Public Works Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 3, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jeff Egeberg, 981-6406. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/publicworks 

?

If you live on Ashby Avenue and wake up in the middle of the night, as I do sometimes, you can tell what time it is by how much noise comes in through your closed bedroom window. If it’s relatively quiet, with only the occasional roar of a really big truck which rattles the windows, it’s probably about 3 a.m. The trucks at that time of night are fewer, but they compensate by gunning their engines up to about 50 mph (when the speed limit is 25.) Commuters get going about 4, at a high speed because they’re not so numerous until about 5, eventually slowing down to just under 30 mph between 6 and 9. By that time traffic is often bumper-to-bumper, with students and employees who come by bridge and tunnel on their way to the UC campus. It’s pretty much impossible to sleep past about 6:30 because of the noise volume, even in the winter when the windows can be kept closed. 

In the afternoon the traffic out of town often starts as early as 3:30, perhaps because more classes are scheduled in the morning and early afternoon. The afternoon traffic is unpredictable, and since we’re not often home at that time of day not such an annoyance. The trucks rattle the kitchen windows at dinnertime, of course. When we’ve gone somewhere by car and are forced to drive on Ashby to get home in the afternoon, it can take as much as half an hour to go from Shattuck to our house east of College. On Sunday afternoons there is often heavy eastbound traffic all afternoon. Who can tell who these people are, or what they’ve been doing? Shopping in Emeryville and avoiding traffic on 24 perhaps? 

Why should any of this be of concern to anyone who is lucky enough to live behind a barrier on Berkeley’s many lovely protected side streets? As a number of those drivers who objected to the narrowing of Marin said, people on busy streets knew what they were getting into when they bought their houses, right? It’s true that we would never have been able to afford the very comfortable house we’ve lived in for 30 years if it hadn’t been on Ashby, so I’ve always been somewhat reluctant to complain too loudly about traffic here. But the thing is, it’s gotten a lot worse, and if those who try to plan our lives have their way in several current schemes, there’s more to come. 

In the discussion about building the big Berkeley Bowl on Ninth and Heinz, planners answered worriers about increased traffic on local streets by pointing out how traffic could actually be off-loaded to Ashby. I immediately flashed on Saturday mornings with even more noise than weekdays, with hundreds of suburbanites coming through that nice new extra bore they’re going to add to the Caldecott Tunnel and heading right down Ashby to the mega-Bowl in search of a recreational shopping experience in Berkeley. I know, it might do wonders for the city’s retail sales tax take, but at what cost to Ashby residents? 

And then there’s the university’s long-range development plan. Can the equivalent of the Empire State Building really be added to downtown Berkeley without massively increasing the traffic load past our house? I doubt it. But since it looks like UC Berkeley is going to get away with skipping a real EIR by contributing a couple of million more dollars to the city of Berkeley’s budget, we won’t know the true impact of the university multifarious expansion plans until they’re a fait accompli.  

Noise, irritating though it is, is not the only major problem with the blithe willingness of city and university to increase Ashby traffic. High cancer rates among residents of streets like ours are well documented, and we have lost too many of our neighbors to cancer to be comfortable with the statistics. But according to an environmental consultant we know, it’s the excessive noise which is both illegal and easily documented, and which could be the basis for an environmental lawsuit by Ashby residents. If Caltrans, UC and the city of Berkeley persist in denying the obvious impacts which plans now in the works will have, that might be our only remedy.  

—Becky O’Malley

One of the perks of this job is that you get an early window on what lies are currently being launched in the D.C. fabrication industry. No sooner do the Republicans dream up a lie in one of their many captive think tanks than it’s on the Internet as a press release directed at editorial writers across the country. That’s how we first found out about that masterpiece of doublespeak titling, the Healthy Forests Initiative, which was a covert attack by the logging industry on the nation’s old growth forests. Frankly, we laughed at it. We didn’t believe that such blatantly untrue propaganda would find any audience among thinking people. We set our Netscape filter to deposit the Healthy Forest people’s press releases in the trash folder and forgot about it. Boy, were we wrong! It passed, with some Democrats supporting it. 

That’s why we’re taking a more serious look at this week’s reprise of another infamous doublespeak campaign, the self-styled American Family Business Institute’s press release entitled “ 2005 GOP Senate Agenda: Kill the Death Tax, Protect Family Businesses and Farmers.” Here’s where you have to keep your eye on the ball. The tax cutters got what they wanted in 2001 by re-christening the tax formerly known the estate tax as the ominous sounding Death Tax. 

The U.S. estate tax, modest by the standards of any first-world country with a respectable social safety net, is currently on hold, thanks to the Bush administration’s tax cutting mania, and the Republicans (or at least the ultra-cons who now control what was formerly the G.O.P.) want to make sure that it doesn’t come back, as it’s scheduled to do in 2010. Permanent repeal of the estate tax is opposed by, among others, Responsible Wealth, a group of socially-minded rich people, including Bill Gates’ father. Many of them were even Republicans, at least until their party was shot out from under them by the radical right. They point out in their literature that the estate tax which was suspended fell exclusively on the richest 2 percent of taxpayers—those with a net worth of at least $1.5 million per individual ($3 million for a couple). Nearly half of all estate taxes have been paid by the wealthiest 0.1 percent of the American population—a few thousand families each year. All sorts of intelligent people like Warren Buffet and Paul Krugman favor keeping some form of estate tax, though there are proposals to raise the exemption amount even higher and lower the percentage tax rate.  

The disinformation campaign waged by the Republicans seems to be working, per the AFBI press release: “Today more than 70 percent of Americans believe the estate tax is one of the most unfair taxes assessed and 92 percent of Americans feel it is unfair for government to tax a person’s income while it is being earned and then tax it again after death.” That’s probably many of the same folks who don’t believe in evolution. What’s sad is that most of them will never have any contact with the estate tax because they’re in the poorer 98 percent, not the richest 2 percent.  

And here’s the most ominous sentence in the release: “Currently, California is a target state for the American Family Business Institute. We hope to gain both of California’s Senator’s [SIC] vote on this important issue to help protect family business owners and farmers in the state from this unfair tax.”  

Oh, no, you think. Not our savvy California senators. They’d never fall for that kind of phony propaganda.  

Sen. Barbara Boxer has consistently voted against estate tax repeal, and good for her. She’s been doing really well lately overall, what with standing up with the Black Caucus to question the election results and raking Condi Rice over the coals in the confirmation hearings. If she keeps this up, we might even let her off the hook for saying she supports the death penalty, especially because she can’t do much about it as a U.S. senator.  

But you know what? California Sen. Diane Feinstein was one of the Democrats who joined the Republicans in putting across the Healthy Forests scam. And she (estimated net worth: $50 million) has supported estate tax repeal in the past. So voters who understand that some form of the estate tax, the most effective way of taxing the super-rich, is necessary to keep this country solvent should start those cards and letters off right now, in case Feinstein can be turned around before it’s too late. Lots of good talking points and statistics are available on the responsiblewealth.com website. 

—Becky O’Malley