Berkeley police Tuesday arrested an already-jailed South Berkeley man for the two Sept. 18 murders in the 1400 block of Derby Street. 

The suspect, 24-year-old Desmen Riashem Lankford, was already in custody following an Oct. 9 arrest on parole violation and weapons possession charges. 

Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Andrew Frankel said the weapon in that case was subsequently found to have been used to kill Kelvin Earl Davis, a 23-year-old Berkeley man, who was found mortally wounded along the curbside, and 42-year-old Oakland resident Kevin Antoine Parker, whose body was discovered slumped nearby behind the wheel of his wrecked car. 

Tuesday’s arrest was the second time Lankford has been booked on murder charges. On June 24, 2003, he was booked by Berkeley police after leading them on a foot chase that ended in a back yard near his home in the 1400 block of Alcatraz Avenue. 

Lankford was taken into custody then at Berkeley City Jail on suspicion of the murder of Ronald Easiley, a 19-year-old continuation school student who was gunned down on the previous Jan. 14 on Harmon Street in Berkeley. 

Officer Frankel said he didn’t know what had happened to Lankford after the earlier arrest. 

The double murder on Derby Street led to a third shooting, the wounding of a woman who lived across the street from a makeshift shrine erected after the killings. She survived her injuries. 

Frankel declined to give further details about the latest arrest, beyond acknowledging that “we believe that an additional suspect or suspects are outstanding.” 

He asked anyone with information about the crime to call BPD’s Homicide Detail at 981-5741. Those with information who would prefer anonymity may relay it through Bay Area Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. 

A student at Willard Middle School in Berkeley has admitted to starting some of the trash can fires at the school more than three weeks ago and will take part in intervention services. 

Berkeley Fire Department Deputy Chief Gil Dong said that the student’s name and age were being withheld since he was a juvenile. 

Berkeley fire officials responded to a fire alarm activation on Oct. 22 and on arrival found a small trash can fire being extinguished by school authorities. 

A total of three small trash can fires were reported, and two of them had started in restrooms located inside the school, Dong said, resulting in smoke but no injuries. 

School authorities interviewed several students in the weeks following the incident to get an idea about who could have been involved in the incident and finally identified one student, Dong said. 

“A fire investigator and a person-in-charge from the Juvenile Firesetter Program met with school officials and learned that the student had admitted to starting several of the fires, not all,” he said. “We don’t know what his motives were. We have recommended that our intervention officers meet with the child’s family to make sure they are willing to participate in the program. The final meeting has not taken place yet. We are trying to use intervention methods to change the student’s behavior.” 

Calls to Willard principal Robert Ithurburn and Berkeley Unified School District spokesperson Mark Coplan for comment were not returned. 

The AC Transit Board of Directors moved quickly on its two most controversial projects following this month’s electoral victories, scheduling a special board workshop on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) for Wednesday afternoon and approving a new round of Van Hool bus purchases. 

In the Nov. 4 voting, Alameda and Contra Costa county voters approved Measure VV—assuring continuation of AC Transit’s $48 per year supplemental parcel tax—while Berkeley voters rejected Measure KK, an attempt to put the brakes on BRT’s Telegraph Avenue lane-set-aside in that city. In addition, Board President Chris Peeples (at large) and Board member Greg Harper (Ward 2-Emeryville, Piedmont, and portions of Berkeley and Oakland) fought off electoral challenges, winning new four-year terms on the board. A third board incumbent, Joe Wallace (Ward 1-El Sobrante, San Pablo, Richmond, El Cerrito, Albany, and Kensington and a portion of Berkeley) was unopposed for re-election. 

At a special board meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 5 p.m. at the AC Transit headquarters at 1600 Franklin St. in Oakland, board members will hear staff presentations on the status of BRT, including the project status and funding, the local government process with the cities of Berkeley, Oakland, and San Leandro, environmental documentation, and the “public relations aspect of the project.” 

BRT is a long-range proposal by AC Transit to establish a high-speed bus line between downtown San Leandro and downtown Berkeley through downtown Oakland, using the route currently run by the 1 and 1R lines. A portion of that proposal involves setting aside dedicated bus-only lanes along Telegraph Avenues and International Boulevard-E. 14th Street. City staff and councils in the three affected cities are currently considering the project, which is scheduled to release a final Environmental Impact Report within 9 months to a year. 

Meanwhile, in a complicated action that left board members at times appearing visibly exasperated and confused, the board approved General Manager Rick Fernandez’ recommendation to purchase nine more 60-foot “articulated” Van Hool buses as well as authorizing a contract for a prototype 45-foot “suburban style” bus from Van Hool that could eventually mean the purchase of as many of 40 new buses from the Belgian manufacturer. The “suburban style” 45-footers are intended to be used primarily on AC Transit’s cross-bay route between the East Bay and San Francisco. 

The purchase of the 60 foot Van Hool double “artix”--probably the most controversial bus in AC Transit’s fleet--had originally come before the board last May in the General Manager's request for the purchase of 19 buses. But board members balked at the request at the time, asking that the staff justify the district’s need for that many 60-footers in its fleet. 

AC Transit Special Projects Manager Stuart Thompson and Procurement and Materials Director Charlie Kalb’s memo for Wednesday’s board meeting requesting reconsideration of the 19 bus purchasedetailed no justification for the purchase in response to the board’s concerns, instead stating simply that “a compelling need still exists to purchase nineteen (19) articulated buses to complete the fleet composition plan and replace aging buses.” 

But by the time the board was meeting on Wednesday, General Manager Fernandez had dropped 10 buses from the request for the 60-foot Van Hools, saying that the district’s needs for higher-capacity buses could be partially met by the proposed new 45 foot “suburban-style” buses Fernandez wants Van Hool to build for AC Transit. Since the 45 foot “suburban” Van Hools are not yet in existence, the district was proposing that Van Hool first produce a prototype of the proposed new buses before final district approval of a contract. 

Fernandez said that AC Transit put out a Request For Proposals (RFP) for the new 45 foot suburban contract last June to 11 domestic and international bus manufacturers, but that only three manufacturers (Van Hool, Motor Coach Industries, and Bluebird) attended a July pre-proposal conference, and only Van Hool ultimately submitted a bid. 

At one point, Fernandez had board members considering the 60 foot purchase and 45-foot prototype proposal simultaneously, with no exact designation of the number of new suburbans to be eventually requested from Van Hool, as well as a third agenda item in which the district was seeking “between $9 million and $50 million” of special state transportation money which district staff said could be used for the purchase of additional buses. The back-and-forth discussion finally became so confused, it caused an irritated Board President Chris Peeples to declare that the state financial request had nothing to do with the current bus purchases, and he called for a separate vote on each issue. 

Eventually, board members approved the purchase of the nine 60-foot Van Hool articulated buses on a 5-1-1 vote (Harper voting no and outgoing board member Rebecca Kaplan--newly elected to the Oakland City Council--abstaining) and authorizing the 45-foot suburban prototype and contract negotiations for up to 40 of the buses on a unanimous vote. 

Late last June, on a 2-4-1 vote (Chris Peeples and Jeff Davis yes, Greg Harper, Elsa Ortiz, Rocky Fernandez, and Rebecca Kaplan no, Joe Wallace abstaining), the seven-member board voted to reject going directly back to Van Hool for the new 60 footers, instead calling for the contract for the 19 new buses to be up for competitive bidding. AC Transit staff apparently never put the 60 foot contract up for bid, and on Wednesday, Fernandez argued against such an action as he had last June, saying that “if we put off the procurement of the buses to do another bid, Van Hool will probably win the contract because their price is lower, but the delay in letting out the contract [to put out the new bid] will ultimately raise that price.”  

In explaining his no vote on the additional 60-footers, Harper said that “what bothers me is we’re doing this on the fly. What I and Rebecca (Kaplan) had asked for last May was a complete re-evaluation of our fleet plan. We’re not getting that.” 

Cell phone antenna regulations, West Berkeley zoning issues, two condo conversion proposals and the land use chapter of the Downtown Area Plan have all been crammed into Wednesday night’s agenda for the Berkeley Planning Commission. 

The session gets underway at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

The cell phone antenna legislation is being considered on the same evening that the City Council is hearing appeals on the Zoning Adjustments Board's decisions on placement of the controversial structure atop two buildings, the French Hotel at 1540 Shattuck Ave. and University Neighborhood Apartments at 1725 University Ave. 

Cell antennas have proven a controversial issue in a city where many residents rely on wireless phones for many of their calls to family, friends and business clients. 

The one issue federal law bars cities from regulating—possible adverse impacts from exposure to nearby residents and workers—is the elephant in the room. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is the greatest obstacle to neighbors worried about radiation emitted by the antenna arrays which are concentrated on taller buildings such as apartments, church steeples and structures like the UC Storage building—which is now the subject of a lawsuit filed by concerned neighbors. 

Writing new regulations, initially demanded by cell phone companies, has proven a time consuming task, in part because of a recent federal appellate court ruling that gives local jurisdictions greater flexibility than they had before. 

Commissioners will also be continuing their discussion of zoning issues in West Berkeley which some developers say are hindering their project proposals, and which area artists and small industrial companies fear could create pressures that would drive them out of their last refuge in the city. 

Another issue fraught with controversy on Wednesday’s agenda is the land use chapter of the Downtown Area Plan—the section that will determine just how high and how dense the downtown could become. 

The condo proposals cover two existing properties: one is a two-building complex at Virginia Street and San Pablo Avenue that would be transformed into eight residential condos and one commercial unit, the second building at 1708 Martin Luther King Jr. Way which would become five residential and two commercial condos. 

The agenda, with links to reports and key documents, is available at www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=29832erkeley buildings/. 

The UC Police Department is investigating a fight that erupted Thursday evening between a group of current and former UC Berkeley students after a Palestinian flag was hung over a balcony overlooking a pro-Israel concert on campus. 

Lt. Adan Tejada of the UC police said that the UCPD received a report of an altercation on the second floor balcony of Eshelman Hall, above Lower Sproul Plaza, at 5:45 p.m. on Nov. 13, but by the time the officers responded, the fight had already stopped. 

He said that a number of witnesses identified at least five students involved in a fight, which he said broke out, according to eyewitness testimony, when some Palestinian students hung a Palestinian flag over the railing of the balcony to protest what they alleged were anti-Palestinian lyrics performed during a concert for Israeli Liberation Week. 

According to Tejada, some of the people attending the concert went up to get the flag off the balcony, which led to pushing and shoving. The exact details of what happened at that point are still under investigation, he said. 

“We were not able to make any arrests because no one was fighting when the police arrived,” he said, adding that supporters on both sides asked police to charge members from the opposing side with battery. 

Two students and one former student were cited for battery, authorities said, and several witness statements were taken. UCPD has not released the names of the students involved in the incident pending investigation. Once the investigation is complete, the case will be referred to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. 

“We are looking at things that were said during the investigation right now,” Tejada said, adding that this could provide clues as to whether the incident was a hate crime or not. 

He said that the alleged statements made during the incident were still under investigation and could not be released. 

Tejada said that there was little possibility that the incident was connected to acts of vandalism that occurred on campus last month, when pro-Israel posters at a UC Berkeley bus-stop outside Eshelman Hall were defaced with anti-Israel graffiti. 

Although UC police have not stepped up security measures on campus after the incident, he said, university officials and student groups were doing extensive outreach to unite students across campus. 

“I think it’s safe to say that over many years we have seen flare-ups between Israeli and Palestinian students on campus and we have always encouraged them to resolve ongoing disagreements in a non-violent way and will continue to ask them to do so,” he said. 

Two student groups on campus—the Zionist Freedom Alliance and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)— sent out press releases following Thursday’s events which contained conflicting accounts of the incident and statements defending their actions. 

The e-mail from the Zionist Freedom Alliance stated that the group was “deeply concerned by the latest in a series of attacks on Jewish and pro-Israel students at UC Berkeley perpetrated by members of Students for Justice in Palestine.” 

It charged that around 6 p.m. on Thursday, members of Students for Justice in Palestine disrupted a hip-hop concert organized by the alliance celebrating the Jewish connection to Israel and attacked students who had asked them to stop the disturbance. 

According to the e-mail, three members of Students for Justice in Palestine “illegally draped large Palestinian flags behind the stage of the concert, a part of Israel Liberation Week,” which was followed by Yehuda De Sa, one of the performers, UC Berkeley alumnus Gabe Weiner, and current Associated Students of the University of California Senator John Moghtader “walking to the balcony from which the flags were hanging" and asking "the students to remove the flags as they misrepresented the concert’s message.” 

The e-mail charged that members of SJP reacted with hostility to the request and that current SJP leader Husam Zakharia “instigated a physical altercation by striking Weiner on the head,” which was followed by Weiner and De Sa trying to defend themselves” and Moghtader—who was standing away from the scuffle—making a successful effort to break up the fight. 

The alliance also wrote that members of SJP shouted “anti-Semitic epithets referencing the Holocaust throughout the ordeal.”  

In their press release, the Students for Justice in Palestine dismissed all the allegations put forward by the Zionist Freedom Alliance against them and called on campus administrators to “immediately investigate the incident and bring those responsible to justice.” 

Calling the incident “a violent attack on three Arab Palestinian students,” the e-mail said that dozens of witnesses had testified that “three organizers for the Zionist Freedom Alliance attacked one male and two female Arab students who stood nearby the event holding a Palestinian flag,” which according to the SJP had been a “silent statement” against offensive anti-Arab remarks at the concert. 

The e-mail further alleged that shortly after the flags were displayed, the “assailants” angrily rushed into Eshelman Hall disturbing several meetings to reach the second floor balcony and upon arriving, pushed the protesters aside and took their flags away. 

It claimed that in the process, one of the protesters was knocked against the balcony railing, which was followed by a scuffle leading to one male and one female Arab student being hit several times, within minutes of which the perpetrators began to rush away. 

The group also wrote that throughout the incident the “assailants and their supporters” were overheard making remarks such as “we’re about to take care of some f***ing Palestinians,” and “you Arab dogs, we will kill you.” 

UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof said Monday that university officials were crafting an open letter to the campus outlining how the campus was responding to the incident and laying out possible resources for students in the event something similar happened in the future. 

Plans for a $159 million biofuel and alternative energy lab in the Berkeley Hills have been put on hold by UC President Mark Yudoff while the project is sent back to the drawing board. 

Yudoff and UC Regents Committee on Grounds and Buildings (CGB) Chair Leslie Tang Schilling have signed a letter which decertifies the environmental impact report and rescinds the regents’ approval of architectural plans for the Helios Building. 

That high-tech structure at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is to be the site of much of the research conducted under the $500 million Energy Biosciences Institute, a controversial crops-into-fuel program funded by British petroleum giant BP. 

The CGB is scheduled to vote Tuesday on funding for a second new building planned for the lab, covering interest costs during construction of the already approved Computational Research and Theory (CRT) building. 

Yudoff’s letter on the Helios building said that a redesign is needed “to address geotechnical issues identified subsequent to ... approval of the project.” 

But Stephan Volker, the attorney who represents Berkeley preservationists who have sued to block the project, said the university’s approval of the project before thorough engineering tests were conducted shows that “once again, the university has put the project approval cart before the environmental horse.” 

A second LBNL project also facing a legal challenge is up for reconsideration at Tuesday’s meeting of the UC Board of Regents in San Francisco. 

The CGB is scheduled to vote for a second time on approving external funds for the CRT building, which will be built at the opposite, northwestern end of the lab complex from the Helios Building. 

An action opposing that project has been filed by Alameda attorney Michael Lozeau. 

Approval of the $113 million building in May included a provision that costs of funding debt incurred to cover construction costs would come from lab operating funds.  

The revised approval before the CGB Tuesday added a proviso declaring that “LBNL operating funds are not guaranteed funds, and that their availability depends on Congressional appropriations” and federal Department of Energy (DOE) decisions. 

The revisions would allow the UC president to arrange for loans with interest-only payments during construction and allow the executive to ”create a contingency funding strategy to pay the debt service for the external funding” in event the cash isn’t available from lab operating funds. 

One unresolved issue is whether or not the DOE will house a supercomputer facility inside the new structure, calling into question a major potential funding source. 

Relocating the federal department’s National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center from its current location in a former bank building in downtown Oakland had been cited as a major reason for building the CRT facility. 

But while the DOE professes “great interest” in relocating to the CRT, in a March memorandum, federal officials “made clear that DOE was not making any present commitment,” according to the proposal CGB is set to vote on Tuesday. 

The proposal before the committee creates a plan to cover the $8.7 million in debt service costs during construction. 

The plaintiff in both lawsuits is Save Strawberry Canyon, a non-profit whose members includes Berkeley residents Sylvia McLaughlin, Lesley Emmington, Janice Thomas and Hank Gehman. Former mayor Shirley Dean is listed as the group’s legal agent on its filings with the California Secretary of State. 

Both actions contend that the regents acted improperly when they certified environmental impact reports on the projects and approved funding for building critics contend are located in an environmentally sensitive landscape that contains threatened species and faces the risk of serious damage from earthquakes along the Hayward Fault. 

I didn’t join the street protests against Proposition 8 right after it passed. My gut reaction was: “Where were all these people when we had the chance to defeat it?” But “No on 8” ran a terrible campaign that would not have effectively used more volunteers, and it’s possible that many had tried to get involved. Now the state Supreme Court will decide what to do about Prop 8, and City Attorney Dennis Herrera has put on a strong case to have it overruled. But that doesn’t mean the Court will do the right thing; even the best legal arguments can lose. A mass movement of peaceful protest is crucial at building the political momentum to attain marriage equality – which can convince the Court it’s okay to overturn the “will of the voters.” Social movements rely too much on lawyers and politicians to make progress—without effectively using the masses of people who want to help. Now people are angry, and this weekend we saw mass protests across the country. It’s now time for everyday people to get involved. 

As Barbara Ehrenreich once argued, Roe v. Wade didn’t just happen because a majority of Supreme Court justices decided women have the right to choose. It was after a mass movement worked hard for many years to make that politically possible. While we like to believe the best legal arguments always win in Court, judges are—at the end of the day—politically connected lawyers who wear robes. As much as Dennis Herrera’s lawsuit is well written and legally sound, it’s still a leap of faith for the state Supreme Court to override a popular majority in the last election. And citizen action—if done effectively—can go a long way to give them the political courage to do the right thing. 

Public outrage at Prop 8’s passage has not just been a few angry protests in the Castro, or righteous indignation at churches. People who never thought of themselves as “activists” have suddenly been spurred into action – and they’re using the same tools the Obama campaign used to win the presidency. For example, my friend Trent started a Facebook group called “Californians Ready to Repeal Prop 8.” He expected a few hundred people to join, but in less than a week the group had over 200,000 members. Efforts are afoot to collect signatures for a statewide proposition—in 2010, or sooner if we have a special election. 

This viral activism is in stark contrast to the “No on 8” campaign—where people relied on political leaders who failed us in waging a statewide effort. My first involvement with “No on 8” was in July, right after the San Francisco Pride parade. The campaign had just collected thousands of postcards at Pride, and our task was to call these people and recruit them to volunteer. But a lot of people come to SF Pride from across the state, and all the volunteer activities were in San Francisco. It was a lot to ask someone who lives in Monterey or Santa Rosa to come table at a Farmer’s Market in San Francisco for a day. 

I asked the campaign why they couldn’t just get people to do “No on 8” activities in their own communities. They didn’t have to wait until the campaign could afford to open offices in other parts of the state. Online groups like MoveOn have perfected the model of using the Internet to connect like-minded activists to each other—and get them to meet in “offline” locations to push their political cause. My suggestion was ignored. Now we see spontaneous efforts—organized online via social networks, without any “leaders”—to lay the groundwork for a future Proposition campaign to restore marriage equality. 

Nov. 15 was a massive “Day of Protest” against Prop 8, and we predictably had a huge rally in San Francisco. But we also had nearly 2,000 people in Sacramento, 12,000 in Los Angeles, a whopping 20,000 in San Diego, 2,500 in Santa Rosa, and over 1,000 in Downtown Ventura. And it wasn’t just a statewide action—12,000 took to the streets in Seattle, 5,000 in Boston, thousands in Chicago, 1,000 in Albuquerque and even a rally in Peoria. Prop 8 hit a nerve felt past California’s boundaries: during a presidential election that gave millions hope, one of our bluest states voted to take away peoples’ fundamental rights. People are upset, and want to get involved. 

Now Prop 8’s fate is in the hands of our state Supreme Court—who must decide if the greater good (equal protection under law) is worth telling 52 percent of California voters they can’t eliminate marriage rights. Peaceful protests can give judge the resolve to do the right thing. Unlike George W. Bush—who said he didn’t “listen to focus groups” after 2 million people across the world marched against the Iraq War on a single day—I believe that our justices will take these protests seriously. Which is why they matter so much. 

This article was originally posted on BeyondChron.org

An argument over alcohol at the Marina Liquor store on 1265 University Ave. late Thursday night resulted in two Berkeley residents being stabbed, authorities said. 

The Berkeley Police Department received a 911 call from the liquor store’s clerk at 11:49 p.m. who reported a stabbing. 

According to police, the clerk said that, the suspect, Richard Allan Jacobs of Richmond, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair, got “enraged” after the clerk refused to sell him more alcohol since he seemed already pretty intoxicated. 

At that moment, another customer, a 52-year-old Berkeley resident, stepped in to calm the argument and Jacobs unleashed his anger on him, stabbing him in the stomach. 

The man struck Jacobs in the head with a bottle. An acquaintance of Jacobs, a 58-year-old Berkeley woman who also uses a wheelchair, became involved and tried to make peace, but Jacobs stabbed her too. 

Sgt. Mary Kusmiss of the Berkeley Police Department said that Berkeley police officers responded to the scene within seconds of the clerk’s call and arrested Jacobs who was still at the store. 

The Berkeley Fire Department also responded to the incident with three ambulances and a fire engine at 11:50 p.m.  

The male victim underwent emergency surgery but is expected to survive, Kusmiss said. The woman was treated for a stab wound to the leg. 

Jacobs, 55, was booked into Santa Rita County Jail for two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. 

Arson fires 

At 12:47 a.m. today (Friday), the Berkeley Fire Department received a report of vehicles burning close to a building on the 1800 block of Fairview Avenue, Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong said. 

Dong said that when fire department officials reached the location, they saw that the fire had caused severe damage to three vehicles. 

Two of the vehicles were total losses, he said, and the electrical system had been damaged in the third. Dong could not say what make the vehicles were and whether the vehicles belonged to neighbors. 

A large crowd had gathered on the site of the incident by the time authorities arrived. 

“The fires were extremely suspicious,” Dong said, adding that the matter was still under investigation. 

UC Berkeley students joined the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights, and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) Thursday to launch a national campaign urging President-elect Barack Obama to enact the federal Dream Act, which would legalize federal financial aid and open a path of citizenship for undocumented immigrant college students across the nation, who are otherwise entrapped in complicated paperwork. 

Held at the MLK Student Union on campus, the event—which was organized by BAMN and co-sponsored by Rising Immigrant Scholars through Education, the Latino Business Students Association, the gender and women’s studies and Spanish and Portuguese studies departments at the university and the Chancellor’s Student Opportunity Fund—started with a group of undocumented students from around the Bay Area testifying about their struggles in the absence of federal financial aid. 

Calls to Chancellor Robert Birgeneau’s office for comment were not returned by press time, but a campus spokesperson confirmed that the chancellor supports the Dream Act. Birgeneau wrote an op-ed piece in support of the act for the UC Berkeley student newspaper The Daily Californian, Nov. 5. 

In California, undocumented students have the right to attend a public university but are not allowed to apply for financial aid, something Thursday’s participants said they would aggressively push for once the new president is sworn in. 

BAMN activists also called upon UC Berkeley to become a sanctuary campus and welcome African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and other minority and immigrant communities. 

“We want to make the era of change and hope real,” said BAMN organizer Yvette Felarca, who also teaches at Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkeley. “When we see the nation elect the first black president and yet we see that the percentage of blacks and Latinos on campuses like UC Berkeley and UCLA is so low, we need to make a change.” 

Shanta Driver, national chairperson for BAMN, asked students to seize this important moment in history to start a new kind of civil rights movement which would oppose racism and bring equal opportunities to all. 

“Over the last few weeks we have seen a real change in America and it has presented us with an opportunity to leave our mark on our nation,” she said to applause from the audience. “If it’s possible for America, with such a strong and deep history of racism to do this, then anything is possible. We need to resolve deep social problems and engage in a real debate and discussion on racism. “ 

She said that Obama should enact the Dream Act within his first 100 days in office. 

“If the people who worked for Obama’s victory decide after inauguration day that their work is over it won’t happen,” Driver said. “We have to continue to be leaders of the movement that put him in power.” 

Driver added that if the Dream Act failed under Obama, then generations of young people would ask, “If a black president couldn’t do it, then who can?” 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed SB 1301, which incorporates the California Dream Act, on Sept. 30, citing a staggering state economy. Thousands of students who had mobilized in support of the bill were disappointed by his decision. 

“The governor said that although he shared the author’s goal of making affordable education available to all California students, given the precarious fiscal condition the state is facing right now, it would not be prudent to place additional demands on our limited financial aid resources as specified in this bill,” said Francisco Castillo, a spokesperson for Schwarzenegger. 

Castillo added that the governor supported a local bill which allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition. 

Gabriella, a UC Berkeley undocumented student from El Salvador who has been in U.S. since October 2005, said that even with in-state tuition, it is difficult to make ends meet 

“The reason my dad brought me here is because he wanted me to have a better life,” she said. “But my transition to UC Berkeley has been very different than that of the other students. My dad earns less than $10,000 a year. I couldn’t get enough scholarship to live on campus so I am living with my best friend’s sister in Davis. I have to commute three to four hours every day. “ 

Gabriella—who wants to go to law school—said that when she started out as a sophomore at her high school in California, she didn’t speak English and never imagined going to community college, let alone UC Berkeley. 

“Right now I can’t get a job because I don’t have a Social Security number and residence,” she said. “Sometimes I have to skip meals in order to pay for the shuttle. I had to sacrifice many things to be at UC Berkeley. Usually people have gym, clubs or homework sessions after class, but I can’t go to any of those. My future is pretty uncertain and if the situation doesn’t change I might have to drop out. I have hope that the Dream Act might get passed one day.” 

Zaira, another undocumented student at the university, echoed her thoughts. 

“It’s hard to describe the life of an undocumented student on campus,” she said. “We act the same as the other students but our efforts are not reciprocated by the education system. All undocumented students are equal and deserve the same rights. There’s no reason why we should get the leftovers of education. I want to ask those opposing the Dream Act to give me one reason why it shouldn’t be made a reality.” 

Authorities served dozens of warrants in the Bay Area this morning as part of a massive California Department of Justice operation targeting a violent Richmond gang known as "Deep C," state officials said. 

The operation, described by the Department of Justice as a "gang takedown," was carried out at various locations starting at 7 a.m. 

Forty-three arrest warrants and 40 search warrants were served in Contra Costa, Alameda, Marin and Sacramento counties, DOJ officials said.  

Most raids were carried out in the city of Richmond.  

State Attorney General Jerry Brown spokeswoman Christine Gasparac said Deep C, short for "Deep Central," is one of the area's most notorious gangs.  

"They're one of the big ones in Richmond," she said. "The other one is the Project Trojans." 

"There's a whole gang war between the two," Gasparac said.  

State justice officials said Richmond saw 47 murders and 350 shootings in 2007, and that more than half can be attributed to members of the Deep C gang. 

They said the gang is also involved in drug trafficking, robbery, assault, and prostitution. 

One of this morning's raids in Richmond was carried out in the area of Eighth Street and Barrett Avenue. A man answering the phone at a home nearby said he saw numerous law enforcement agents, including a SWAT team.  

Richmond police have declined to provide specifics on the raids, referring inquiries to the Department of Justice.  

A battle over the installation of a cluster of cell phone antennas atop a building owned by Patrick Kennedy has revealed a paper trail and testimony focusing on his financial dealings with City Councilmember Linda Maio. 

Maio has sometimes voted on council matters involving Kennedy, the city’s most controversial developer, and sometimes recused herself from votes, citing her financial relationship with the developer. 

But it is her votes that allowed Kennedy to install cell phone antennas—erected and maintained by the carriers—that resulted in a subpoena and deposition by a lawyer representing neighbors of the UC Storage Building at 2721 Shattuck Ave. 

Stephan Volker, a fixture in regional land use litigation, grilled the councilmember on behalf of the Berkeley Neighborhood Antenna-Free Union and co-plaintiffs Michael Barglow, Ellen McGovern and Pamela Speich. 

Maio had no personal attorney of her own, but was represented as a councilmember by Kirk E. Troost, a Sacramento attorney hired to represent the city and City Council in the lawsuit. 

Also on hand for the Oct. 15 deposition were San Francisco lawyer James A. Heard in a dual role as representative for both GTE Mobilnet and cellular service brand Verizon and 2721 Shattuck, LLC, Kennedy’s corporate mantle for the building otherwise known as UC Storage. Nicholas Selby of Palo Alto represented Nextel Communication. 

“We have produced some six or eight inches of documents here,” Troost said as the questioning began, referring to a collection of notes, emails and official documents produced by the councilmember. 

Troost had agreed to allow only limited questions about Maio’s financial relationship with parties specifically named in the subpoena, but not including conversations with her husband Rob Browning about their jointly owned Talavera Ceramics. Questions were off limits when it came to “communications, negotiations, ownership interests, letters of credit, credit facilities between her and Rob Browning and Talavera Ceramics.” But the lawyer and his client did provide e-mails between Browning and Maio about the property sales. 

Browning, Maio’s spouse, runs the ceramics business, which operates out of a commercial condominium on the ground floor of University Lofts, a building located at the northeast corner of the intersection of University and Grant Street. 

Three buildings developed by Kennedy figure in the story: University Lofts, the UC Storage building and the Gaia Building at 2116 Allston Way, which was subject to several city council votes. 

Another player is Congregation Beth El, a Berkeley Jewish congregation of which Kennedy’s spouse, Julie Matlof Kennedy, is the immediate past president. 

While Maio recused herself from most recent votes involving the Gaia Building, citing her relationship to Kennedy as a tenant at University Lofts, she participated in all the votes on the UC storage building’s cell phone antennas, which are the subject of the ongoing lawsuit. 

Volker has announced his intention to conduct a second deposition of the councilmember, and he is also seeking Kennedy’s testimony. 

What follows is a chronology derived from the depositions, documents filed with the Alameda County Recorder’s office and records of the Berkeley City Council and Zoning Adjustments Board, as well as previous reporting in this newspaper. 

1996-2004 

• Oct. 15, 1996: A Certificate of Limited Partnership for University Lofts filed with the state lists Patrick C. Kennedy as general partner. His signature on the document is dated November 14, a month after the document was actually filed.  

• 2000: Rob Browning and Linda Maio purchase Talavera Ceramics at 1805 University Ave. “We jointly own it,” she testified, adding that the business has one employee.  

• Feb. 10, 2000: A Certificate of Dissolution for University Lofts Limited Partnership is filed with the Secretary of State, signed by Kennedy as general partner, ending the partnership’s paper trail with the agency. 

• Jan. 21, 2003: Browning makes a note which appears in the file about his interest in acquiring the leasehold at 1801 University should tenant Anna De Leon vacate the premises, which she held on a 10-year lease then in its fifth year. (De Leon soon vacated and Berkeley Youth Radio became the new tenant.) 

• June 16, 2004, Nextel Communications files an application for a use permit to install twelve antennas and related equipment at the UC Storage building, at 2721 Shattuck Ave. 

2005-2006 

• 2005 or 2006: Browning learns from discussions with Ellen O’Leary that Youth Radio plans to vacate the adjacent space at 1801 University. He and Maio discuss acquisition of the space. 

• April 25, 2006: Maio votes with the council majority to support the Gaia Building cultural use letter signed by former planning department staff member Carol Barrett, which developer/owner Patrick Kennedy supports, despite objections from the Zoning Adjustments Board. 

• May 25, 2006: The Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) approves Nextel’s application to install antennas at the UC Storage building. 

• June 19, 2006: A neighbor appeals ZAB’s decision to issue the Nextel antenna permit for the UC Storage building. 

• July 18, 2006: Browning is in discussions with Steve Smith of Norheim & Yost—the couple’s commercial real estate broker—over a possible offer to purchase the commercial space that houses both Talavera and Berkeley Youth Radio. “I think it was just information gathering at that point,” Maio said.  

• Sept. 26, 2006: Maio votes with the City Council majority to remand back to the Zoning Adjustments Board for reconsideration that board’s vote to deny Nextel. 

• Dec. 12, 2006: Maio recuses herself from two votes on Gaia Building cultural space use which involve Kennedy both as landlord and as a partner in a business operating in the cultural space. She cites as a reason Kennedy’s role as her landlord at University Lofts. The council capitulates to the developer. Kennedy had threatened to sue the city unless the council upheld his position. 

2007 

• Jan. 30, 2007: The Zoning Adjustments Board votes to deny permission for Nextel and Verizon Wireless to install cell phone antennas on the UC Storage building after neighbors protest the installation. 

• Late Spring, 2007: Browning in a discussion with Patrick Kennedy learns that Kennedy plans to donate the commercial condo unit that house Talavera Ceramics to Congregation Beth El. In her deposition, Maio said she believed—but was not told—that the donation was to provide a tax deduction to offset Kennedy’s profits from the sale of seven Panoramic Interests properties, including the Gaia Building. “And my speculation is that he needed a tax write-off,” she said. 

• April 6, 2007: The Daily Planet reports that Kennedy’s Panoramic Interests is selling the Gaia Building and six other Berkeley apartment buildings to Equity Residential, a Chicago-based corporation controlled by billionaire developer Sam Zell.  

• April 25, 2007: The couple consults City Councilmember Laurie Capitelli in his capacity as a real estate broker, seeking advice. “Because this is strange to us, we asked Patrick to pay for our own attorney to advise us of the legitimacy of this process,” an e-mail to Capitelli reads. Maio told Volker she consulted with Capitelli about the choice of attorney because Kennedy “didn’t follow a normal route to condoize these commercial units. He did something else. We needed to have an attorney to help us figure out what this something else was.” 

• May 8, 2007: Maio seconds Councilmember Laurie Capitelli’s motion to continue until May 22 hearings on installation of Verizon and Nextel antennas at the UC Storage building. 

• May 22, 2007: Maio votes with the council majority to remand ZAB’s denial of the cell antenna installations back to the ZAB with instructions for the board to reconsider. 

• Undated, summer 2007: Berkeley Youth Radio vacates 1801 University. 

• June 28, 2007: Kennedy deeds the commercial condo to the Congregation Beth El in a deed. It does not include the ownership parking space Talavera is then using. “What I believe happened is that he donated the two spaces to Beth El with no parking,” Maio told Volker. “We were advised to get parking. We made that known to Beth El and to the realtor. And they went and figured out how to get us the parking space that Rob wanted.”  

• June 28, 2007: Kennedy deeds the condo, the same property he has already given away to Congregation Beth El, from University Lofts Limited Partnership (which had been dissolved in February of 2000) back to himself. 

• June 28, 2007: The Zoning Adjustments Board votes 5-4 to deny permission for Nextel and Verizon Wireless to install antennas on the UC Storage building. 

• July 18, 2007: Maio meets with broker Smith to discuss separate contracts, one for purchase of the commercial space, the second for purchase of a single parking space with a storage lift. 

• Late July, 2007: Maio and Browning begin negotiations with Congregation Beth El to buy the commercial condos after they learn “they wanted to sell it quickly ... We knew that we had to get our ducks lined up to be able to actually go into acquisition,” Maio said, “which meant that we had to sell a property that we owned, put it on the market ... It was a piece of country property that had been rented for some time.” 

The property, in Nevada County, which included 13.4 acres and a house, sold for $420,000, yielding “net proceeds of about $250,000.” 

• July 31, 2007: Broker Smith advises Browning and Maio to “conserve” their use of the services of attorney Larry Neal, since Kennedy has orally agreed to pay only $2,000 of their legal expenses in just two legal issues: clearing the title to an unusual configuration of air rights and protecting the would-be buyers from the effects of the homeowners’ association lawsuit. “Patrick made the commitment to pay an attorney to research these issues and clarify them,” Maio said in the deposition. 

Two months later Kennedy agreed to double the amount because of the complexity of issues arising from the litigation. “He wouldn’t go any further, but he honored it,” Maio said. Their total legal expenses exceeded Kennedy’s $4,000 by $2,929.25. 

• Aug. 6, 2007: A purchase agreement is completed but not signed. The price, which remained the same throughout negotiations between the couple and first Kennedy, then the congregation, is $525,000. 

• Week of Aug. 20, 2007: Nextel sues the city in federal court over its refusal to grant the permit to install cell phone antennas at the UC Storage building. 

• October, 2007: Neal continues to work out a detailed offer with the congregation’s attorney, Harry Pollack (another past president of Beth El, and also a Berkeley planning commissioner appointed by City Councilmember Gordon Wozniak). One complication that requires detailed work is a pending “major suit” filed by the homeowners’ association against Kennedy’s Panoramic Interests which, Maio said, had alleged “shoddy workmanship.” That litigation is still underway. 

• Oct. 15, 2007: A purchase agreement is signed by Browning, Maio and Beth El treasurer Alan Statman, subject to an agreement that because Beth El “didn’t know very much about the property, that we would make a good faith effort to find any flaws in the property.” 

• Oct. 23, 2007: City Council refuses to overturn a ZAB decision to deny installation of cell phone antennas at Patrick Kennedy’s UC Storage building. 

• Nov. 5, 2007: Maio signs a contingency agreement removing the remaining obstacles to the purchase agreement. 

• Nov. 6, 2007: Maio votes with the city council majority to reverse their Oct. 23 vote and approve installation of the antennas at the UC storage building. 

• Dec. 2, 2007: Congregation Beth El deeds the commercial condo to the councilmember and Browning. Maio said she does not believe she or her husband ever negotiated with Kennedy himself, though “there had been discussion between largely Patrick and Rob about acquiring that space (1801 University) and actually purchasing it.” 

• Dec. 11, 2007: An e-mail notes that Maio and Browning have asked their broker to notify Alan Statman that they will need additional time to close on the property to satisfy their lender’s concerns about their construction contract for modifying the units. 

• Dec. 20 or 21, 2007: On one of these days, Maio said, the commercial spaces at 1801 and 1805 University were consolidated into a single property when the sale closed. The sale included one parking space and the storage space above it. 

2008 

• January, 2008: Maio and Browning begin renovations of the space formerly occupied by Youth Radio. 

• March 21, 2008: Kennedy notifies Browning and Maio that he intends to sell the two parking spaces they are leasing, pursuant to an agreement that gives them the right of first refusal to purchase them. 

• March 25, 2008: Kennedy notifies the couple’s broker that he has an offer to purchase the Unit 4 commercial condo space at 1801 University including the two parking spaces Talavera had been leasing. 

• April 15, 2008: Browning and Maio notify their broker that they accept the terms of the proposed agreement to buy the two additional parking spaces. 

• April 29, 2008: The couple signs a $45,000 promissory note to Panoramic Interests for a loan at 7 percent interest after paying a $5,000 down payment for two additional parking spaces. Kennedy was the only available source of funding, Maio said, “since we had pretty much maxed out our ability to borrow at that point.”  

The councilmember said she had tried to negotiate a lower rate, suggesting Kennedy split the difference between his initial offer and the then-current prime rate of five percent. The developer refused. “So we had no choice but to accept 7 percent if we were going to have this arrangement,” she told Volker. The note is for interest-only payments, with principal due in a final balloon payment. 

• April 30, 2008: Browning emails Kennedy with a notification that “I intend to terminate my lease for parking space No. 4 as of May 31.”  

• May 2, 2008: Three grant deeds recorded, the first transferring ownership of the parking spaces from the legally defunct University Lofts, L.P., to Patrick Kennedy, followed by a second transferring them from Kennedy to himself and his spouse as trustees of the family trust and a third transferring the property from the trust to Browning and Maio. 

• May 8, 2008: Maio recuses herself from a vote that rescinds the council’s Dec. 12, 2006, resolution that had granted owners of the Gaia Building relaxed standards for use of its cultural bonus space. 

• May 9, 2008: Sale of the two parking spaces to Maio and Browning. 

• May 9, 2008: Kennedy e-mails city staffer Christopher Wolf that Nextel, Verizon and T-Mobile—three cell phone carriers—all had permission “to pursue cell phone antenna installation” at UC Storage, which he said he controlled through the 2721 Shattuck partnership. 

• May 10, 2008: A final grant deed for the parking spaces corrects an error in the property description. 

• May 13, 2008: A settlement statement for the sale of the two additional parking spaces is prepared and the trust deed for the loan is signed. 

• May 15, 2008: The loan document is filed with the Alameda County Recorder’s office, with Maio and Browning as the recipients and Kennedy and spouse Julie Kennedy (as trustees for the Patrick and Julie Kennedy Revocable Trust), listed as beneficiaries in trust deed signed before a notary April 29.  

Neighbors worried about cell phone antenna radiation and angry at city officials who have allowed it in their neighborhoods poured out their frustrations at the Berkeley Planning Commis-sion meeting last week. 

Planning commissioners listened, questioned, then decided to hold off on any decision for another two weeks—in part because of a recent federal appellate court ruling. 

But whatever the commission decides, Deputy Planning Director Wendy Cosin said she is obliged to make a recommendation to the City Council in January. 

That deadline was imposed in the settlement of a lawsuit brought against the city 15 months ago by Verizon Wireless, which obligated the city to consider—but not adopt—amendments to the existing ordinance by mid-January. 

And while angry neighbors around two antenna concentrations along Shattuck Avenue in the Gourmet Ghetto on the Northside and in South Berkeley are following developments with fierce concentration, a city councilmember and Berkeley’s most prominent local developer are awaiting grilling under oath. 

The federal Telecommuni-cations Act of 1996 bars states and localities from enacting laws that prohibit the provision of telecommunications services, including cell phones, so the question becomes just what limits a local government can apply. 

Wireless carriers, including Sprint and T-Mobile, are pressing the city to adopt regulations proposed before a ruling by the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 11, which gave municipalities greater control over the location of cell antennas. 

Nick Selby, outside counsel for Sprint Nextel, urged planning commissioners to adopt the regulations drawn up before the court’s ruling in a lower court case brought by Sprint and Pacific Bell Wireless against San Diego County. “If I were a betting person, I would not be surprised if the decision” in the Ninth Circuit were appealed, he added. 

If commissioners don’t make new recommendations, Cosin told them, she’ll give the City Council the earlier version of the revisions they had approved before the recent court ruling gave them—at least for now—more discretion over placement. 

Commissioners Gene Poschman and Patty Dacey made it clear early in the meeting that they favored regulations that tightened control on the carriers and restored the discretion of the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) to deny permits through findings of detriment. 

“We had general discretionary findings” in earlier regulations, Poschman told Selby, “but we took it out because of the district court decision” which was later reversed by the higher court, “and you were very happy and didn’t tell us to wait until the Ninth Circuit” had acted on the appeal. 

“But now you want us to make do with the original language that was reversed” in the San Diego case, said Dacey. 

Findings questioned 

Selby said that providing for a finding that a permit application can be denied because it is detrimental to the general welfare—one of the grounds cited in the original regulations developed by the Planning Commission—“is such a formless, standardless concept that the people behind me”— referring to the members of the public who had come to push for stronger regulations—“would say no cell site should be approved.” 

But Poschman responded that in the 16 years he had served on ZAB before coming over to the Planning Commission, “we never made a general finding about detriment to general welfare.” In each case, he said, specific grounds were cited in the facts and findings used to deny a permit, “and never once about general welfare.” 

The Ninth Circuit decision gives jurisdictions more power to regulate antenna placement in particular, which critics have hailed because the previous interpretations of federal law gave local jurisdictions little power to demand that companies spread out rather than concentrate their antennas, so long as the regulations don’t create an outright ban that would deny service to subscribers. 

None of the speakers who weren’t there on the payroll of Ma Bell’s progeny had anything favorable to say about the antenna farms sprouting in their neighborhoods. 

Harvey Sherback, a neighbor of the French Hotel, the northern Shattuck Avenue cell tower site of choice for one carrier, gave commissioners petitions signed by 65 merchants in the Gourmet Ghetto between Cedar and Rose streets, with world-renowned restaurant proprietor Alice Waters among them. 

“They’re asking for this not to happen” he said. 

Speaking on the day after the election, he added, “Here comes the Obama era. In the Bush era, the telecoms were basically allowed to write their own legislation. That’s why they’re in such a rush because their backs are up against the wall ... We’re asking you, ‘Don’t put this on a fast track just because of men in suits ... you don’t have to be intimidated by them.” 

Sherback and others also complained they hadn’t been notified of the commission’s earlier meetings on the regulations, Planning Commissioner David Stoloff, who has an office on Rose, initially suggested a proposal later adopted unanimously: to continue the hearing for a second session in two weeks to allow critics time to review the proposed revisions and Cosin’s staff report. These documents are available online at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=29150. 

Strong words 

Laurie Baumgarten, who lives within 500 feet of the UC Storage building, is one of a group of neighbors who are suing the city over placement of antennas on that building. 

After a protracted battle before ZAB and an appeal to the City Council, councilmembers eventually agreed to the placement of 11 antennas on the building, their presence marked by thick black cables that scale the building’s eastern wall. 

“This is not a public hearing,” Baumgarten told commissioners. “This is a joke.” 

Baumgarten said that in the three years she had been involved in fighting the placements, she had never received notice of official meetings on the ordinance. But Cosin said Baumgarten’s spouse, Michael Barglow, had been notified. 

Other neighbors said they hadn’t been notified either, and in the end a signup sheet was passed through the audience to collect addresses and e-mails for those who wished to be notified of upcoming sessions. 

Neither version of the ordinance—the draft prepared earlier before the Ninth Circuit ruling, and the staff revisions included in the report—are likely to please critics, whose real fears are of possible effects arising from living and working near high energy sources of electromagnetic radiation. 

Cell companies contend that even when clustered together the towers pose no dangers to nearby residents. Neighbors charge that the current U.S. standards allow far more radiation than permitted in most European countries. 

Given that the Berkeley police called out extra manpower to handle the council session where the UC Storage antennas were approved, and the strong fears about the French Hotel placements, the Nov. 19 Planning Commission could prove interesting. 

Meanwhile, the lawsuit BNAFU—the Berkeley Neighborhood Antenna-Free Union—filed challenging the UC Storage placements continues, with one councilmember already deposed and more questions in the offing. 

An out-of-control party at the Gaia Arts Center in downtown Berkeley two weeks ago prompted Berkeley Police to label the venue a public nuisance, leaving its owners susceptible to a fine from the city if a similar incident occurs there in the next four months, authorities said Thursday. 

Sgt. Mary Kusmiss of the Berkeley Police Department (BPD) said that around 11:20 p.m. on Oct. 25, BPD supervisor Sgt. Katherine Smith noticed a large crowd spilling out on the sidewalk of the 2000 block of Allston Way, trying its best to get into a party at the arts center, located inside the Gaia Building at 2010 Allston Way. 

Gaia’s owners Equity Resi-dential—headed by real estate magnate and Tribune Co. proprietor Samuel Zell—have leased the Gaia Arts Center to Berkeley developer Patrick Kennedy, who built the Gaia Building and sold it to Equity last year. 

Calls to Kennedy at his firm, Panoramic Interests, and requests for comment made to Equity Residential through its attorney, Allen Matkins, were not returned. 

The Gaia Building has had a long and often controversial history with the City of Berkeley, with at least three Berkeley residents going as far as to sue the city for failing to impose the cultural use mandates listed in its use permit. 

Anna de Leon, who owns Anna’s Jazz Island, another first floor tenant in the building, has repeatedly complained to the city that the Gaia Arts Center was violating its permit by renting space to churches, weddings and private parties. 

A recent Zoning Adjustments Board meeting tried to determine whether or not the building was in violation of the condition on its original use permit that required a certain percentage of cultural activities to take place in the space in return for allowing two extra stories above what area zoning ordinarily allows. The board voted to give Equity Residential six months to hire a marketing firm to promote the center for cultural events. 

At this particular Saturday-night party, Sgt. Smith learned from some of the young “predominantly college-age” boys and girls lining up outside that the event had been advertised as an after-Cal football game party hosted by Kappa Alpha Psi, a UC Berkeley black fraternity, which has chapters worldwide. The Cal Bears won the game against UCLA that Saturday. 

After speaking with Tyler Null, a Gaia Arts Center employee, inside the Gaia Building, Smith learned that the fraternity had rented the center’s theater and mezzanine level for the party—which was not serving any food or alcohol—and was charging a $20 entry fee per person. 

On Monday, Gerald Lee, the undergraduate adviser for the UC Berkeley student chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, said that, although its members had been present at the party, the event had not been sanctioned or endorsed by the fraternity. Lee said that he did not have any information about who had hosted the party. 

Kusmiss said that the total capacity of the theater and mezzanine together was 275, and that the fraternity had also hired American Liberty, a private security company, to manage the event. 

“It’s a very common practice for fraternities to hire private security guards,” she said. “With the ability to text these days, word gets out very quickly. It’s a good measure to take because of the capacity issue.” 

Although the private guards were doing their best to control the crowd, Kusmiss said, several young men tried to crash the party by climbing through the windows of Anna’s Jazz Island, frightening the bar’s patrons. 

Calls to de Leon Friday were not returned. Her account of events appeared in the Planet's Public Eye column two weeks ago. 

Kusmiss said that a DJ was spinning loud music at the party, causing several neighbors to complain to the police. 

Smith also called for additional officers to control the raucous crowd outside the Gaia Building. 

“The people were yelling and making a lot of noise outside, and they were also blocking traffic on Allston Way, causing a safety hazard,” Kusmiss said. “With the help of the private security guards, BPD officers tried to move the crowd out of the area telling them that the party was filled to capacity and that they needed to go home. Once they heard the news, some of the young people became unruly and started throwing plastic bottles at the officers.” 

Kusmiss said that although no one was injured, the incident led to 17 Berkeley police officers being dispatched to the area around 11:43 p.m. and Smith issuing to the property a public nuisance notice also called a second response ordinance notification—under a law passed by the City Council several years ago to address community concerns around loud parties, especially those taking place in North and South Campus. 

The notice warns that if the police are called to look into a similar disturbance at the Gaia Arts Center within the next 120 days of its issuance, the responsible parties will be fined by the City of Berkeley. 

“The event was violating the city’s noise ordinance by disturbing the peace after 10 p.m.,” Kusmiss said. “The people were yelling and rolling out on the streets and posing a threat to public safety. It created a significant impact. There were officers on the scene till a quarter to one. Officers were taken away from patrolling other parts of the city they are responsible for.” 

Kusmiss added that Berkeley Police had not had any problems from either Kappa Alpha Psi members—which she described as a highly reputable fraternity—or the Gaia Arts Center in the recent past. 

“BPD officers had a very fruitful meeting with the Gaia Arts Center’s employees, who were very concerned about the public nuisance posting,” she said. “They came to an agreement about renting out the spaces and making sure the property was properly managed.” 

Calls to Kappa Alpha Psi’s Berkeley Alumni Chapter in Oakland and Dr. Grahaeme A. Hesp, director of fraternity and sorority life at UC Berkeley, were not returned.

Berkeley’s Long Haul Infoshop finally has its computers back, but its legal battle with UC Berkeley is far from settled. 

Jennifer Granick, Civil Liberties Director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in San Francisco, said she has asked the campus police to delete all the information they seized during an Aug. 27 raid at the Infoshop. 

Members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force seized computers and electronic storage devices from several offices at 3124 Shattuck Ave. looking for evidence that would identify the senders of threatening e-mails received by campus researchers who experiment on live animals. 

Granick said the university has yet to respond to a letter “we sent about two weeks ago.” 

The EFF and the American Civil Liberties Union have been working with groups at the Long Haul, with the ACLU replacing the National Lawyers Guild, which had earlier been involved in the case. 

The raid raises a number of legal issues, Granick said, including the sworn statement used by campus Detective Bill Kasiske to get a search warrant, which failed to mention that the Long Haul offices housed several organizations including a publication—which is entitled to special protections under federal law. 

That the Long Haul houses a variety of groups is apparent to any visitor, Granick noted, as well as from its website, http://thelonghaul.org/. 

The presence of the Slingshot, a quarterly tabloid newsletter, raises questions under the federal Privacy Protection Act, which gives special legal status to organizations that disseminate information to the public, said the EFF attorney. 

If the search was invalid, then campus police aren’t entitled to retain or use any of the information seized during the raid, Granick said. Attorneys for the Long Haul are now deciding what their next steps will be. 

No arrests have yet been made as a result of the raid, which featured officers from the campus police and Alameda County Sheriff’s department as well as at least one FBI agent. 

The raiders removed locks from several doors, including those of offices housing Slingshot and East Bay Prisoner Support, a group which works with inmates. Also seized was Berkeley Liberation Radio’s hard drive. 

Four of the computers were freely available for “activist-oriented access” to anyone who sat down at the keyboards in a second floor loft area.

Berkeley Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who for the last seven years has been advocating for a strong sunshine ordinance to give citizens access to government records and meetings, will put the Berkeley Sunshine Committee’s draft ordinance—crafted as an alternative to one written by the city attorney—on the agenda for the Dec. 8 City Council meeting. 

At that time, Worthington will request City Manager Phil Kamlarz to present the document to the public and city officials. The city manager’s office and the city attorney would then submit comments on the citizens’ draft within a month. 

Councilmembers could then hold a discussion on the draft, Worthington said, and could vote to approve the ordinance or parts of it. If they were to pass a “watered-down version,” the citizens’ group could take its draft to the voters as an initiative. 

Worthington made the announcement at a public meeting with the citizens’ committee at City Hall on Monday. Both Worthington and the citizens’ group working on the draft over the last few years stressed that enforcing the ordinance was their most important concern.  

“I think because the general public is served by having strong enforcement, politicians might not think it is in their best interest, because they might end up getting caught,” Worthington said. “But I am hopeful our City Council will approve a strong ordinance.” 

If the ordinance were to be put on the ballot as an initiative in the 2010 general election, the citizens’ group—which is composed of members of Berkeleyans Organizing for Library Defense (SuperBOLD), the League of Women Voters, former Mayor Shirley Dean, lawyers and community activists—would need to collect thousands of signatures. 

“We want different groups to look at it now and not before the election,” Worthington said. “If we get a good ordinance—one that is well written and financially feasible—Berkeley voters will vote for it.” 

Both Oakland and San Francisco voters approved sunshine ordinances for those cities. 

Worthington told the committee to reach out to unions, ethnic groups, activists, racial justice groups, women’s groups and neighborhood organizations among others, adding that neighborhood groups especially would be really passionate about sunshine laws. 

“It will be a good thing for us to be as sunshiny as possible,” said Sherry Smith from the League of Women Voters, adding that more public meetings were needed to get the word out. 

“The good thing about consulting people is that it makes them feel like a part of it,” Worthington said. “We need to go to community groups and get their input, no matter what the City Council does.” 

Gene Bernardi of SuperBOLD suggested that a charter amendment might be more appropriate since it would give more power to the sunshine committee instead of the city manager. 

A charter amendment would also require more signatures. 

Worthington said it was vital that the group get an expert to provide statistics about how much it would cost to implement different sections of the ordinance, since those who opposed it could dismiss the ordinance as being too expensive. 

“For example, in this draft they have added a community engagement process,” he said. “It’s not clear how much this process, which doesn’t exist now, would cost and how many times it would kick in. So we need to know how it will be financed.” 

Metzger said a powerful ordinance would save citizens money since they would be able to get information from the city without having to sue, which often costs tens of thousands of dollars in attorney fees. 

Worthington said that the city attorney’s analysis would prove valuable in terms of knowing which parts of the ordinance required more work. 

One of the sunshine committee’s primary goals is to avoid lawsuits by raising awareness, integrating sunshine into the public process and gradually changing the culture of government, which it plans on doing by creating a sunshine commission to monitor whether a municipal government was in violation of the ordinance. 

The citizens’ draft insists that the sunshine ordinance be enforceable in court, failing which it is meaningless. 

Metzger informed the audience that currently there wasn’t a single ordinance in California that had effective enforcement. 

“So again Berkeley can be the first,” he said smiling. 

Worthington said that although he hasn’t discussed the citizens’ draft with the other members on the council yet, he was confident that he would be able to get several of them to sponsor referring it. 

The public will be able to comment on the citizens’ draft on Dec. 8 

To view a copy of the citizens’ draft sunshine ordinance, see www.berkeleydailyplanet.com.  

To view the city attorney’s draft sunshine ordinance, see www. ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=17770.

Berkeley City Councilmember Laurie Capitelli can rest easy. Sophie Hahn has decided not to ask for a recount. 

Backed by an impressive list of endorsements and a hefty campaign war chest, Hahn, a political newcomer, waged a tough battle against the incumbent District 5 councilmember. 

But with the last returns slowly trickling in, Capitelli retains his lead, with 4,158 votes to Hahn’s 3,757 as of 5:42 p.m. Sunday, the latest tally from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters office. 

“It was really close for a while, but it’s not looking that way now” Hahn said. 

She had been thinking of a recount until later returns showed the gap widening. “I think the person who really won is the one who should be elected,” Hahn said. 

Only a 5 percent margin separated the two, a close race when one of the candidates is a well-known incumbent. 

Hahn said she’ll stay active in community affairs, “carrying forward some of the things I campaigned on.” 

She said she will continue to press for a strong city sunshine ordinance, while pushing to make government more open and accessible to the community. 

“I don’t believe the current commission structure is really accessible,” she said. 

Hahn said she would also pay close attention to the progress of plans for a new Safeway store being developed to replace the existing outlet at Shattuck Avenue and Rose Street. 

Among her concerns are the new building’s size, sustainability elements, aesthetics and amenities for the neighborhood. 

An attorney and neighborhood activist, Hahn said she believed that she attracted a larger number of committed voters than her opponent. 

While Capitelli carried the endorsements of many of his council colleagues and was listed on most of the slate mailings, Hahn said her votes came from people she had met or spoken to, as well as from word-of-mouth recommendations and study of campaign literature. 

“I think it was an extremely effective campaign, and I only regret that I didn’t win,” she said. 

The winner took Hahn’s comments in stride. “I haven’t made that analysis,” he said. “She can have that ground. All I know is that I got enough votes to win. 

“Getting back onto the council was important to me, because there are still things I want to do,” Capitelli said. “I’ll leave it at that.”

Incoming At-Large Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said that hard work by volunteers and supporting organizations was the key to her victory in last week’s runoff election. 

“It’s still pretty surreal,” Kaplan said of her election. “And beautiful. And cool. But I’m well aware that I didn’t do it all myself.” 

Kaplan beat retiring Oakland Unified School Boardmember Kerry Hamill by a 62 to 37 percent margin in Tuesday’s election to succeed outgoing At Large Councilmember Henry Chang. Chang chose not to run for re-election this year. 

That volunteer work helped overcome a Hamill advantage in televised advertising, one of the first times local voters have seen such ads in a City Council election. With a decided fundraising advantage over Kaplan for the November runoff, Hamill was able to outspend Kaplan $21,295 to $4,321 in television ads. 

Kaplan said that the television ads were financially possible for both candidates because cable television allows a targeted ad buy for the Oakland market alone, something not possible for broadcast television, where ads must be purchased at a much higher rate for viewing in all of the Bay Area. 

The ads for the two campaigns were identical in one respect—while praising their own candidate, each avoided criticizing the opponent. 

“I definitely think that television ad helped,” Kaplan said. “Hundreds of people stopped me and said that they saw it.” 

Kaplan also said that having the endorsement and support of the Democratic Party “was helpful.” “And to be fair,” she added, “I’ve been doing work around Oakland for years, so I think that people knew me.” 

While praising her own volunteers, who she said did “tons of phone banking” and door-to-door work and operated booths at local fairs, Kaplan discounted what had been another seeming Hamill advantage, the proliferation of Hamill campaign posters throughout many of Oakland’s major thoroughfares. 

“It made it look like (Hamill) had a lot of support,” Kaplan said, “but actually, those signs were mostly put up by paid consultants, and they weren’t on the property of her supporters, but simply along public fences, on abandoned property, and on property without the consent of the owners.” Kaplan said that some Hamill signs were put on property owned by the McDonald’s and Chevron corporations. “It might have been significant if she had the support of McDonalds and Chevron but, of course, she didn’t. The posters were put up to give the illusion of widespread support, but they didn’t reflect actual supporters, which was why she didn’t get a good vote-to-sign ratio.” 

Hamill spent $21,295 in television commercial costs. 

Kaplan also said that having “a lot of widespread endorsers,” including such disparate groups as the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce PAC, the Oakland Black Caucus PAC, the Democratic Party of Alameda County, and several local labor unions, was key to her campaign. “They reflected different constituencies that tend to follow them, and different audiences that they reached,” the victorious candidate said. 

Kaplan said that her next job will be to set up a transition team to prepare for her joining the Oakland City Council in January. “I’m going to have specific teams to work on specific topical areas,” Kaplan said, adding that she would make an announcement on the composition and makeup of the teams later this month. 

Meanwhile, reports turned in by both campaigns to the Oakland city clerk’s office show that Kaplan won even though Hamill outraised her in finance by close to two-thirds.  

Hamill raised $78,636 for the November runoff, $50,386 in the three-month period between July 1 and Sept. 30, and another $28,250 between Oct. 1 and the last reporting date of Oct. 18. Kaplan, on the other hand, raised $49,260 for the November runoff, $33,343 in the three-month period between July 1 and Sept. 30, and another $15,917 between Oct. 1 and Oct. 18. 

Kaplan received major financial support from several union organizations, including $1,300 apiece from the SEIU United Healthcare Workers PAC and the California Nurses Association PAC, $1,200 from the Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21, and $1,100 from the Central Labor Council of Alameda County PAC. Kaplan also received $1,000 from the Oakland Black Caucus PAC, as well as donating $4,020 to her own campaign. 

Hamill received many donations at the $600 individual limit, but her only donation larger than that came in a $1,200 check from the United Administrators of Oakland Schools. Interestingly, Hamill received a $600 contribution from Rogers Family Foundation Executive Director Brian Rogers for the November runoff, even though Hamill supported Rogers’ successful opponent, parent activist Jody London, in the June election to replace Hamill on the Oakland School Board. 

AC Transit Board President Chris Peeples hit the election trifecta on Tuesday, but by Friday morning, he didn’t sound in the mood for celebration.  

By a 71.6 percent to 28.4 percent margin, Alameda and Contra Costa voters passed Measure VV, a two-thirds measure extending AC Transit’s existing $48 per year parcel tax for another 10 years, ensuring a continuing source of needed extra cash for the two-county public bus system.  

In Berkeley, voters decisively rejected Measure KK by a 23.04 percent to 79.96 percent margin, not ensuring that AC Transit’s Bus Rapid Transit plans will go forward in the city, but at least ensuring that they won’t hit an immediate citizen roadblock.  

And finally, Peeples himself beat back a spirited challenge to his at-large AC Transit Board seat by AC Transit critic Joyce Roy, winning by a 64.3 percent to 34.9 percent margin.  

“I feel pretty good,” Peeples said by telephone when asked about the electoral victories for himself and AC Transit.  

But his mind was really on events currently going on in the state capitol, particularly in regard to the state’s continuing budget problems. While the legislature passed a budget last August for fiscal year 2008-2009, gloomy economic forecasts that have since been released have caused Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to call a special legislative session to make substantial budget revisions. In the original budget, the legislature siphoned off some $1.7 billion in public transportation monies into the general fund in order to bring the state into balance. “I’m a little paranoid about Sacramento and the special session and if they’re going to whack at transit funding again,” Peeples said.  

He noted that there are “a whole lot of ugly choices out there” to balance the state budget, but only if Republican lawmakers are successful in holding to their united front against tax increases or any other revenue generating measures. If that Republican bloc can be cracked, Peeples said he would favor outgoing State Senate President Don Perata’s call for a return to the Vehicle License Fee as a way to keep state funding for local public transportation agencies intact. The VLF became a hot political topic in the 2003 recall election against former Governor Gray Davis, and Schwarzenegger abolished it as one of his first acts as governor.  

The VLF “was a pretty fair and progressive tax,” Peeples said. “The more expensive your vehicle, the more you had to pay. Readopting it would put $6 billion back into the state budget.”  

Asked if further state transportation budget cuts would trigger an AC Transit fare increase—something that was temporarily held off by the Measure VV campaign—Peeples said, “I don’t know,” but added, “I tend to think we won’t have one in the coming fiscal year.”  

The AC Transit Board president said that state cuts would “probably mean service cuts” in the bus district, however.  

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)  

The AC Transit Board president said he was “pleased” with the defeat of Measure KK, the Berkeley citizen initiative that would have required a ballot measure every time the City of Berkeley proposed to close a city street lane for the use of public transit. AC Transit is proposing just such a street lane set-aside, of Telegraph Avenue from the Oakland border to UC Berkeley, as part of its proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line from downtown San Leandro to downtown Berkeley. AC Transit is counting on BRT as a major part of its plans to revive its waning fortunes.  

“Regardless of its effect on BRT, KK was just bad government,” Peeples said. “Berkeley is a small city, but it’s not a 5,000-person New England village where you can hold quarterly town meetings to set town policy. Leaving the dedication of street lanes to a vote of the people was just crazy.”  

But even if Measure KK had passed, making it unlikely that the Berkeley portion of BRT could have used dedicated lanes, Peeples said, “I don’t think that would have killed BRT at all.”  

He called the proposed high-speed route a “combination of two major AC Transit routes” (the old International Boulevard-East 14th Street lines and the Telegraph Avenue lines linking Berkeley and San Leandro to downtown Oakland) that will benefit from whatever form of BRT eventually comes out of the complicated planning process.  

Peeples’ major concern for BRT, now that Measure KK has been defeated, is how to bridge the gap between the draft environmental impact report (DEIR), the document that began the public planning process, and the environmental impact report (EIR) that will end it.  

At many public meetings in recent months, BRT critics have attacked some of the plans and proposals outlined in the DEIR, but Peeples said that AC Transit planners have made significant alterations and mitigations in response to public input since the DEIR was originally published. The problem of public perception about BRT, he said, is that those changes are not reflected in any public document. Peeples estimated that the final EIR is not due to be released for another nine months or a year.  

“A second draft EIR is a possibility, but there may be legal problems associated with that,” Peeples said. “But I’ve been urging (AC Transit) staff to come out with some sort of interim document so that the public can see the amount of work that’s been done.”  

Another alternative, Peeples said, might be to release AC Transit’s BRT changes and additions through working papers associated with the public process now going on in the three proposed BRT cities—Berkeley, Oakland, and San Leandro. City councils in each of these cities will be coming up with preferred local alternatives to AC Transit’s BRT plan, a process that will generate public documents in each of the cities. When the public process in each of the three cities is completed, AC Transit will then take the individual city’s preferred local alternatives and try to work them into the finished BRT proposal.  

In the meantime, Peeples said that “at some point” while the final EIR is being worked on, the AC Transit Board will hold a public workshop on BRT to include reports and documents from “our staff, our consultants, and the staff of the three affected cities” in order to bring both the AC Transit Board and the public up to speed on the progress being made on the project.  

Defeated But Not Silenced: Roy Speaks Out  

Although she lost decisively to Chris Peeples in the at-large AC Transit race in last week’s election, retired Oakland architect and AC Transit rider activist Joyce Roy showed no signs of slowing down her criticisms of the bus agency in general or Peeples in particular.  

Following the election, Roy released the following email to supporters:  

“I lost by 196,506 to 107,341, about 65 percent to 35 percent,” she said. “It shows one does not need to do anything to serve bus riders and operators to be elected again and again to the board. In fact, you can promote a disservice to them by promoting a bus that they hate. All you need to do is belong to every political club ever invented with members that know nothing about what is going on at AC Transit and don’t ride buses. And schmooze every elected official who likewise don’t ride buses or know anything about AC Transit, except what AC Transit management and Chris tells them. Both management and Chris believe saying it is so makes it so, like ‘the Van Hools are the best bus in the world’ and their hydrogen fuel cell program which consists of three Van Hool buses which break down frequently, is ‘the best in the world.”  

She continued: “I did not enter this race because I wanted to be an elected official and sit on a podium. I want to change AC Transit from an agency which serves the needs a foreign bus manufacturer and, instead, serves the needs of its bus riders and operators. Serving on the board seemed to be an effective way to do that especially by removing the biggest obstacle to that change. But I am not going to quit in my effort to change AC Transit. I have more arrows in my quiver, but I will need to call on you to help. I may have lost the battle but I haven’t lost the war.”  

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to make additional state education budget cuts to stimulate California’s flagging economy set off alarm bells for school districts last week, many of which had been fearful of mid-year reductions when the governor released a delayed state budget in September. 

At a special legislative session Thursday morning, the governor announced an action plan to get the state budget back on track, calling for $4.5 billion in budget cuts-including $2.5 billion in Prop. 98 funding—and $4.4 billion in new revenue to address the state’s $11.2 billion budget deficit. 

Prop. 98 is a voter-approved statute that establishes a minimum level of funding for California schools. 

The proposal, which district officials said the governor wanted the Legislature to act upon immediately, would leave the Berkeley Unified School District with a loss of $2.8 million, taking away a 0.68 percent anticipated increase in cost of living. 

It would also reduce K-12 revenue limits by another $1.7 billion, which translates to a total of $350,000—$300 for every student attending school daily. 

Traditionally, mid-year reductions have been very difficult for school districts to make, said some members of the Berkeley Board of Education, since schools have to cut into their mid-year reserves and look at ways of tightening spending. 

“It’s really impossible to do mid-year cuts because everyone is under a contract,” said district Superintendent Bill Huyett in a telephone interview from Pennsylvania, where he is on vacation. 

“What school districts will end up doing is going broke. It’s an impossible thing for school districts to do. I think the governor will find that out when he goes to the Legislature. Some other solution needs to be there.” 

The Berkeley Unified School District already took a $2.5 million cut this year but was able to retain all its teachers, who at one point were facing layoffs. 

Javetta Robinson, the district’s deputy superintendent of business services, said the proposal meant a substantial cut for Berkeley Unified, and eliminated a big chunk from the general fund. 

“Unfortunately because we are already in the middle of the year it will be very difficult,” she said, adding that the superintendent would have to summon his Budget Advisory Committee once again to figure out the best way to handle the cuts. 

School Board Vice President Nancy Riddle said that structurally mid-year cuts were very tough for school districts. 

“We have been watching this because we knew it would be hard to react to mid-year cuts,” she said. “We are really worried, but at least in his remarks the governor is admitting that the state cannot cut its way through this situation, that revenues have to be created also. We will see what that looks like.” 

The governor called for a 1.5 cent increase in sales tax, which would last for three years and raise $3.5 billion in the current year and also proposed an oil severance tax worth $530 million. 

Riddle added that the governor’s proposed cuts in higher education also made it a challenge for parents whose children were about to enroll in college, since it meant less financial aid for them. 

Community members will get a chance to comment at two scheduled meetings on the Citywide Pools Master Plan, which is being developed by the City of Berkeley and the Berkeley Unified School District over the next six months. 

A 16-member task force, assisted by architecture and pool experts, is behind the development of the master plan which will address citywide needs and interests related to existing pools and aquatic programs. 

Key topics of the plan include the Warm Water Pool in Berkeley High School’s Old Gym, the existing King, Willard and West Campus pools and options for new swim facilities. 

At the first workshop held at the Live Oak Recreation Center Craft Room last month, participants discussed their vision for the city’s pool system and identified key issues and opportunities. 

A second community workshop will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at Malcolm X Elementary School, where participants are expected to discuss the site plan concepts and preferred alternatives. 

The third and final public workshop will be held on Jan. 28 at the James Kenney Community Center and will allow participants to comment on the draft Citywide Pools Master Plan. 

City officials have encouraged the community to attend these workshops and speak out about the future of the city’s pools and aquatic programs. 

For more information, please visit the Pools Master Plan Link (in the What's New section) on the City of Berkeley’s Parks, Recreation and Waterfront home page: www.CityofBerkeley.info/parks. 

The two community workshops have been scheduled on the following dates: 

• 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, Malcolm X Elementary School (Library), 1731 Prince St. Topics: Site Plan Concepts and Preferred Alternatives 

• 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, James Kenney Community Center (Community Room), 1720 8th St. Topic: Draft Citywide Pools Master Plan.

California’s leading newspaper publisher, Dean Singleton’s MediaNews, is shedding eight more jobs in the East Bay. 

BANG-EB, short for Bay Area News Group-East Bay, was created out of the Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times, Fremont Argus and other newspapers assembled by the media mogul and allowed him, briefly, to bust the Media Workers Guild by adding the staff of the non-union Times to the union shops in Oakland and Fremont. 

The guild responded last week with an organizing drive that reinstated the union shops, adding the Times staff as a bonus. 

But the union’s efforts haven’t stopped the drastic downsizing that continued with Thursday’s announcement. 

In an e-mail to union colleagues, guild unit chair Sara Steffens notified them that still more newsroom positions were on the block. Steffens herself was the subject of one of the earlier rounds of downsizing. 

“In a note sent to the Guild office this afternoon, Human Resources director Laurie Fox said the company planned to cut eight jobs from our bargaining unit, effective Nov. 14,” Steffens reported. “They did not provide any details about which employees, departments or newsrooms may be affected by the proposed cuts.” 

The local currently represents 200 staffers in the East Bay papers. 

Steffens said more cuts will come from non-union positions as well. 

Previous layoffs had reduced the chain’s pool of journalist by 100 positions to a current level of about 200. 

“Members of our bargaining team will meet with the company first thing Monday morning to begin negotiations,” Steffens said in her e-mail. “We intend to do everything we can to lessen the impact of this blow on our unit members and our already understaffed newsrooms.” 

The layoffs have hit hard, cutting back on the ability of the papers to cover local news. At just one paper, the Argus, the reporting staff is down by half and the editorial staff by two-thirds. 

Rumors of the coming layoffs had circulated through the chain’s newsrooms shortly before the election. 

Singleton owns most of the newsrooms in both the Bay Area and the Los Angeles basin, boasting a combined circulation greater than those of the combined circulations of the Tribune Company’s Los Angeles Times and Hearst’s San Francisco Chronicle.

At the Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting last week, preservationists and architects warned against stripping historic buildings of their original windows, explaining that it could take away character-defining features, and advised homeowners to instead invest in sealing problem areas, weather-stripping and making use of natural ventilation. 

Called “Greening Your Historic Building,” the hour-long session was run by Billi Romain, Berkeley’s sustainability coordinator and Tom Dufurrena, principal at Page & Turnbull. They guided citizens through the city’s Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance (RECO) and sustainability measures as part of Berkeley’s Climate Action Plan, which proposes to cut Berkeley’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. 

The public review and comment period for the draft has been extended till Jan. 16 and can be viewed at www.BerkeleyClimateAction.org. 

Although Thursday’s green tip mainly revolved around how to make residential buildings air-tight, Dufurrena told the Planet after the meeting that there was more to historic preservation than what meets the eye. 

“People that are maintaining historic buildings are already playing a part in preservation,” he said. “The embodied energy already put in the building is being recouped rather than it being demolished and going to a landfill. We should maintain buildings not just as a part of our physical resource but also as a cultural resource. A lot of the older historic buildings are not as efficient in terms of insulation but there is value there.” 

Dufurrena said that homeowners could choose from either the Greenpoint principles or LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification when it was time to evaluate buildings for restoration, adding that Greenpoint was geared principally toward residences while LEED’s primary focus was on commercial properties. 

LEED, he said, was mainly targeting new buildings and upgrading systems located inside buildings. 

“It doesn’t have a lot of emphasis on historic buildings but there are some projects out there,” he said. 

The National Trust for Historic Preservation—which provides a comprehensive guide to greening historic buildings—encourages development which is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable and calls on homeowners to re-invest in older and historic communities as an important way to address climate change. 

Insulating old buildings to lessen the heat which gets lost in them is a great way to green historic buildings, Dufurrena said. 

“Originally, woodframe buildings were not built for insulation,” he said. “But a lot of historic buildings have windows which are fairly distinctive. If you take them away or change them, you change the building. Sometimes impulsive homeowners will take away the windows and replace them with double pane ones. It does not make economic sense and defers from the historic characteristic.” 

Dufurrena said that homeowners should resist this temptation and instead try to install really good seals around windows and carry out air flow tests. 

“Most people are very interested in doing that,” he said. “Whenever there’s an opportunity to improve energy performance of a building people should take advantage of it. It doesn’t have to be a formal process, people can do it on their own.” 

Neal Dessno, the city’s energy planning officer, said that the Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance, put into effect in the 1980s, required residents to carry out 10 measures—including insulating attics and getting low flow installations—to help reduce energy loss every time a building was sold or remodeled. 

Dessno said that natural gas consumption in residential buildings had gone down drastically since the law was put into place and added that city was currently working to update it in order to make it more flexible and tailor-made for individual needs. 

Landmarks Preservation Commissioner Carrie Olson said that although she appreciated the city’s efforts to encourage historic preservation, she wanted to see the Climate Action Plan reflect it in more detail. 

“I am looking forward to what must be a new draft of the Climate Action Plan,” she said Monday. “Historic preservation wasn’t presented at all in the current draft. At this point I just consider it to be chatter. It doesn’t mean anything until the city actually has something to offer. Historic preservation is extremely important. These are 50 percent of our green house gases and yet the Climate Action Plan talks more about getting people out of their cars and into buses.” 

To review and comment on Berkeley’s Climate Action Plan visit www.berkeleyclimateaction.org. 

Amoeba smash 

A passerby punched through the storefront glass of Amoeba Records on the afternoon of Nov. 6. Employees told police that a blond man in his 20s, wearing baggy blue jeans and a long grey coat, was walking by and lashed out at the glass around 2 p.m. One of the employees followed the man to nearby People’s Park, where someone gave him a bike, and he rode off.  

High school holdup 

Four teenage boys were robbed at gunpoint around 4:15 p.m. on Nov. 6 on the 1900 block of Center Street. The youths, all Berkeley residents under 18, were sitting in Civic Center Park when a tall, thin young man in dark clothing approached them. 

The man, who stood about 6’2” and had braces, brandished a gun and demanded their belongings. He fled after taking their cell phones and an undisclosed amount of cash.  

Credit card fraud 

Police are investigating alleged credit card fraud at Andronico’s on Nov. 7. A customer contacted authorities on Friday, claiming that their credit card was being charged by someone else. They believe the responsible party is an Andronico’s employee. 

Gas theft 

Although gas prices have plummeted recently, gas theft is still a problem. Around 9 a.m. Nov. 7, a woman who parked her truck overnight on Shattuck Avenue noticed that the gas door was ajar and the tank cap was loose. When she started the engine, she found that the fuel gauge was lower. According Officer Andrew Frankel, a police spokesperson, such incidents were more common during the summer, when gas prices were at record highs. “I don’t recall any spate of them recently.”  

Stolen car chase 

A car stolen from Cragmont Avenue was recovered Nov. 8 after police spotted and pursued the stolen vehicle early that morning. According to spokesperson Andrew Frankel, police were responding to reports of auto burglaries in the area of Grizzly Peak Boulevard where they spotted and gave chase to a silver Audi A4 traveling at a high rate of speed. The Audi hit a parked car, and the suspect fled on foot.  

The Audi was returned to its owner. Two other related reports of auto burglaries were reported in the same area that evening.  

Stickup robberies 

Two stickup robberies took place on Harper Street Nov. 8. A woman was robbed around 1 p.m. by two men of medium height wearing white T-shirts and jeans. One of the men threatened her with a small silver pistol and demanded her belongings. The two fled northbound on Harper with her purse.  

Around 4:20 p.m., a man was held up by two different robbers at Harper and Ashby. The victim told police he was walking southbound on Harper when he was approached by two young men. One of them, who was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and jeans, pulled a black revolver and demanded the man’s backpack. He fled with an accomplice whom the victim could not identify.  

Vandalism 

Two West Berkeley businesses reported similar incidents of vandalism Nov. 8. Around 7 p.m., Subway Sandwiches in the 1100 block of University Avenue reported its locks were filled with glue. Two hours later, Sea Salt Restaurant on San Pablo Avenue also reported locks filled with glue.

Flameless fire 

Though residents of a home in the 900 block of Shattuck Avenue had smelled smoke through much of the day Nov. 6, it was not until they felt heat on the ceiling that they called 911. 

Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong said that no smoke alarms had been triggered before firefighters arrived. 

When the emergency workers arrived, they started from the top down, pulling away sections of the ceiling to discover what turned out to be a long-smoldering slow burn, apparently triggered by an electrical short. 

It was a case of pyrolysis, said the deputy chief, where enough heat is generated to char the wood without bursting into a faster-burning open blaze. 

Residents of the single-family home were displaced for the night, and the total loss was estimated at $22,000—$15,000 in structural damage and the remainder in harm to the contents.  

Main Burst 

Firefighters on the morning of Nov. 5 rushed to respond to the 1000 block of Euclid Avenue, where a 16-inch water main had burst. Water had erupted through at least four places in the street and was sending a flood cascading down Euclid. 

By the time the main was repaired, the entry and part of the ground floor of one home had been flooded, along with its garage and that of a second home, while the landscaping of a third house had been damaged and flooded, plus the yard and floor of a fourth home had been flooded. 

No damage estimate was available, said the deputy chief. 

There’s still plenty of time to offer comments on Berkeley’s proposed Climate Action Plan. 

The new document, which spells out standards to meet the greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions mandated by city voters two years ago, is now in its second incarnation. 

Retooled to emphasize development along urban transit corridors as the primary vehicle to reduce GHG emissions, the document is posted online at http://www.berkeleyclimateaction.org/Content/10054/ClimateActionPlan.html. 

Members of the public have until Jan. 16 to comment on the revised plan. 

It’s time for the post-election post-mortems in California races, now that a significant number of the votes in all categories have been counted. First, the one that shocked everyone around here. 

That would be the Yes on 8 vote, incomprehensible to the ordinary Bay Area voter, especially to those of us who spend most of our time in Berkeley. On many blocks, at least half the houses had No on 8 signs. On election day, earnest No sign-wavers were on every street corner and outside every polling place around here. So what happened? 

In technical terms, it’s called “preaching to the choir.” It’s a truism that it’s important to energize your base before trying to make converts, but it’s also important to educate and inform the undecided, especially in the nether world of ballot initiatives, where what seems like a clear No can easily morph into Yes in the mind of the confused voter.  

Around here, most of us and our kids and grandkids have friends who have two moms or two dads, and we take this for granted. A six-year-old of our acquaintance went along with her (one of each) parents to the post-election demonstration in San Francisco, but she simply couldn’t understand who would want to take away one of her friend Eric’s moms or why. 

But any one who travelled in the hinterlands of rural California pre-election saw a completely different picture. There almost every farmhouse had a Yes sign. It’s partly just culture: two-dad families still prefer to live in urban centers where they’re less conspicuous, but that allows voters elsewhere to form crazy mental images of who they are and what they do.  

No on 8 organizers were lulled into complacency by an early Field poll which showed their side leading, but which probably just reflected the consensus among informed voters. When the uninformed voters started thinking about how to vote, they made some bad decisions. 

It’s too easy just to blame white and African-American Evangelical Protestants, or Catholics, or Mormons, or even Obama voters. The good news about this election is that it brought out many inexperienced voters, but that’s also the bad news. Many of those who voted Yes on 8 didn’t realize that they were voting to deprive a significant segment of the population of basic civil rights. Many seem to have thought they were just expressing their opinion on what they regarded as a religious issue.  

Inevitably as a result of the enormous role played by religious organizations in this campaign, people are asking why churches are given tax exemptions when they clearly functioned as political entities in this election. A movement to change this is afoot. 

A better-organized No campaign might have highlighted the real effects of the amendment on real people in human terms while acknowledging religious differences. No on 8 backers turned down an offer from Arnold Schwarzenegger to make commercials on their behalf, a major mistake. Yes on 8 proponents fielded a well-funded robo-call campaign targeting African-American voters with deliberately misleading information. A San Francisco friend got several such calls, but none on the other side from No on 8.  

My own preferred solution is to get the state out of the marriage business altogether. The state doesn’t regulate baptisms or bar mitzvahs, so why marriages? The state should regulate civil unions in which willing combinations of people agree to take care of one another if the need arises and to share benefits with each other and with dependents. The sex part should be none of the state’s business.  

“Marriage,” whatever that might mean to participants, should be just a religious ceremony, with no tax deductions or other benefits attached. Ministers, rabbis and even priests would be free to “marry” anyone their dogma allowed them to, but if spouses wanted the legal advantages conveyed by the state a civil union would also be required.  

And what else can we learn from the election? In Berkeley, the defeat of LL and the success of KK showed clearly that voters might give the electeds the benefit of the doubt, but they’ll rap their knuckles if they screw up. Voters turned down LL’s predecessor Measure P, which was intended to be a pre-emptive strike at the Bates-Capitelli campaign to emasculate neighborhood and historic preservation at the behest of the building industry. But when the developer-controlled city council actually went ahead and enacted a bad new Landmarks Preservation Ordinance, citizens stopped it with a referendum. (The Yes on LL postcard, by the way, set a new record for most bold-faced lies on a single political mailer, but smart Berkeley voters weren’t fooled.) 

There could be a similar outcome with bus rapid transit, the proposal which sparked KK. Most voters rejected the initiative as drafted because they thought it was an unwieldy mechanism to control AC Transit’s manifest planning errors. Also, the manufacturers of the dread Van Hool busses managed to funnel many thousands of dollars into the No on KK campaign through a sneaky maneuver, which didn’t hurt. But if the Berkeley City Council makes a bad call on implementing BRT, it can still be revoked by referendum, just as the bad new landmarks law was.  

Councilmember Capitelli’s squeaker in District 5 and Jesse Arreguin’s resounding victory over Terry Doran, the developers’ anointed candidate in District 4, clearly showed that Berkeley voters now have their eyes on the ball, if they didn’t before. Sophie Hahn came within 200 votes of knocking off an incumbent, which is usually considered almost impossible. Rumors that Capitelli is Bates’ designated successor will have to be evaluated in light of his near-loss to a more progressive candidate in a conservative district, which speaks poorly for his chances in a city-wide race. It will be difficult for the Berkeley City Council to go forward with business as usual—voters are looking for change. 

In Oakland and Richmond, change also ran well. Rebecca Kaplan knocked off Don Perata’s pick for the at-large city council seat. Richmond actually voted to tax Chevron, as well as electing two of the three progressives who ran.  

Berkeley voters showed once again that they are willing to pay what government costs, within reason, by passing all the tax measures they were offered. Being basically intelligent and sensible people, we are leery of trying to control policy just by cutting off funds—a cleaver of a solution when a scalpel, or at least a carving knife, would yield better results. Referendums and initiatives are also clumsy ways to influence government. 

On the other hand, entrenched representatives doing 20-year stints in perfectly homogeneous districts is not good either, as any student of the history of the California legislature can confirm. Three out of five Berkeley council seats were essentially or actually uncontested in this election, and the mayor’s race was just a re-run of ancient grudges between two old adversaries. Only two districts spawned real contests, and that was only because the incumbent died in one of the two.  

The time has come for thoughtful citizens to start looking at suggestions for charter revisions to solve some of these problems. Sharon Hudson’s recent proposals in this section, which can be found online in Planet archives, are an excellent place to start. 

• 

WINDOWS GALLERY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Addison Street Windows Curator Carol Brighton is to be congratulated for her efforts. Her intellectual forebear Thomas Bowdler would undoubtedly be proud of her. 

Guns are just the tip of the iceberg. Swords, knives, baseball bats, fists, civilian airplanes, even rope deserve a place on Ms. Brighton's proscribed list.  

Ms. Brighton and Ms. Merker ought to turn over the names of artists manque such as Doug Minkler and Jos Sances to the Department of Homeland Security for a thorough investigation of their un-American art. Gitmo is still open, at least for the next 70 days or so. 

Ms. Merker and Ms. Brighton undoubtedly have the wholehearted support of Mayor Bates, personally experienced as he is in suppressing the free-speech rights of Berkeley residents. 

Shankar Ramamoorthy 

Albany 

• 

A NEW DANCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In honor of the election of Barack Obama I believe we should start a new dance craze called “The Obama.” It should be jazzy, classy and upbeat. I believe it will catch on. 

We have the Macarena, the Jitterbug, the Charleston, the Two Step, Swing, the Tango, the Waltz, the Polka, etc. I am open to suggestions as to what form the dance "The Obama" should take.  

Possibilities for “The Obama” are: 

1. Democratic version: Two steps forward, one step back (not everything goes as you plan or hope), swing or circle to the left, always to the left. Have the audacity to hope for the best. 

2. Republican version: Two steps back, never forward, always swing or turn to your right. Hope the craze never catches on. 

3. The Independent voter version: Do not participate. Never take the dance floor. Be a wallflower.    

4. The Green Party version: Expend as much energy as humanly possible. Try to harness that energy and put it to good use. 

5. The Libertarian version: Dance freely with no structure whatsoever. Try hard to keep in tempo with the beat but don’t fret the structure or rigidity of the dance. Express yourself with no concern about what effect you are having on others. 

6. The Sarah Palin version: Dosado and pander to the right. Never Alemende left. Don't bother learning how to dance, just do it. Dance as if God is directing your every step. 

Paul M. Schwartz 

• 

SMYTH HOUSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Daniella Thompson writes in her interesting Nov. 13 article on William Henry Smyth and his Fernwald property that the Smyth House was "built in 1889 by realtor Joseph L. Scotchler, a leading Berkeley Republican..."  

Property records and newspaper articles are essential research tools, but they do not necessarily tell the whole, or most accurate, story. 

Years ago while researching, in my UC staff capacity, the history of the California Schools for the Deaf and Blind campus in Berkeley, I came across a fascinating photograph of the school site, now the Clark Kerr campus. 

The photograph, identified as taken in 1874, looked from the vicinity of what is now Garber Street northeast across the fields, showing the Deaf School campus and, beyond it on an otherwise open hillside, a white Victorian house with adjacent barn and plantings.   

The photograph must date from before January 1875, when the main stone edifice on the school campus burned. 

The hillside house in the photograph is so similar to Smyth House in massing, siting, and details such as placement of chimneys and windows, that I have thought it most probably shows the earlier incarnation of what is now Smyth House. If that is the case it's far older than 1889, dating to the early 1870s at least.  

I thought I also might offer a helpful bit of additional detail on the origins of the Fernwald dormitories. During World War II, many fraternities in Berkeley shut down for the duration, and were rented to women who made up the majority of the Cal student population from the fall of 1943 through the spring of 1945.  

When the war ended the fraternities notified their women residents that they would have to leave. The construction of the Fernwald residence halls for women was one of the results. Later, they became co-educational, with separate buildings for men and women students and, still later, were converted to the family student apartments that remain there today.  

Margaret Dewell, my old supervisor at the University's Housing Office, who was at Cal in that period, always recalled with pride the speed with which the campus responded to that sudden housing crisis at the end of the War. She referred to the Fernwald dormitories as "90-day wonders," since they were constructed in about three months. 

Because of his gift of property that became the Fernwald residence halls, William Smyth's name is now inscribed with those of individuals such as Phoebe Hearst, Jane Sather, and the Haas family, on the University's memorial wall honoring "Builders of Berkeley" near the north entrance to Doe Library. 

Steven Finacom 

• 

OLD FOLKS JUST IN THE WAY? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding Judith Segard Hunt's Nov. 13 letter demanding that people using senior BART tickets pay double during rush hour: I qualify for these tickets, and use them every morning on my way to the part-time job in Oakland that keeps me from living on the street and starving to death. Does Ms. Hunt think that all the seniors who so inconvenience her by riding BART during rush hour are on their way to the golf course? If so, than I can only hope and pray that she finds herself in the same position when her time comes. For shame! 

Michael Stephens 

Point Richmond 

• 

BERKELEY'S PRO-TRANSIT MAJORITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The election results showed a solid pro-transit majority in Berkeley. Over 70 percent supported AC Transit's Measure VV, 

and over 75 percent voted no on Berkeley's anti-BRT Measure KK. If the Belgian manufacturer of Van Hool buses really did contribute to these campaigns, I'd like to think the result was better-informed voters. 

While Berkeley was considering KK, the city of Cleveland implemented a new BRT, with proof of payment (POP), hybrid buses and bus-only lanes.  

Now that we know that a majority of us want better bus service, it's time to stop fooling around; we should ignore the endless minority misinformation campaigns and start planning for a BRT that will both give us car-free transportation and make a real contribution to the fight against global warming. Berkeley cannot claim to have a real Climate Action Plan unless Berkeley is planning for BRT—with bus-only lanes. 

We should negotiate reasonable compromises on the bus-only lanes. They don't have to be everywhere. Some sections can be bus-only just during the rush hours. AC Transit should implement POP on the Rapid lines now. If Van Hool can't supply hybrid buses for BRT, AC Transit should get them from Orion. AC Transit should stop sending people on junkets to Belgium and start sending observers to New York City (which runs Orions) and of course to see Cleveland's BRT. I may visit Cleveland myself this spring. 

Steve Geller 

• 

BUS RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It seems to me that 9,900 people who care for Telegraph Avenue voted for this and that 29,000 people who thought they were saving polar bears voted against it. 

It is very uncertain that carbon or pollution would be saved by BRT. The traffic back-ups that result will cause a good deal of pollution. Bus ridership will decrease because local service will be eliminated so there will be fewer buses spitting diesel into the air. This is a blessing for greenies but not for most bus users. 

We've got to face the fact that AC Transit is doing it for the money and prestige of having a BRT system. Our mayor is trying to amass green credentials in hopes of a job in the Obama administration. I do hope he gets one, it will save us a lot of trouble. 

No one is fooling anyone about the ridership on buses from Oakland to Berkeley. The route parallels BART for longer distances, and the true ridership is on the local that serves the people who live on Telegraph. 

We have ridden and studied the situation and if ever there was a tempest in a teapot, this is it.  

We've also got to face the fact that successful BRTs add lanes for traffic and the web is full of examples of huge traffic jams caused by BRTs that reduce lanes for cars. These sure cause pollution and carbon. 

Even though GM may well disappear, cars are here to stay, our towns are designed for them, and many of us, including me, cannot walk well enough any more to get to a bus. We need our car. 

George Oram 

• 

STORMS FLUSH LITTER INTO BAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Did you participate in the Coastal Cleanup in September? Thousands of volunteers came out to help pick up trash along California's beaches and waterways as part of a global effort. 

Unfortunately, the recent rains flushed a fresh load of styrofoam cups, plastic bags, cigarette butts, and other non-degradable trash down into the storm sewers, and out into the bay. The streets and sidewalks of Berkeley, like most other cities in the world, are littered with plastic trash. Although most plastic waste ends up in landfills, the fraction which does wind up as litter constitutes a major pollution problem. Much of this litter will wash out into the Pacific ocean to join a huge floating plastic garbage patch, and it will remain there indefinitely. Plastic does not biodegrade, and therefore it is critical that we find ways to reduce and eventually eliminate plastic litter. Otherwise future generations will inherit a world choked by our carelessly discarded coffee cups and soda straws. 

What to do? Each of us must play a role. Make sure your trash doesn't wind up on the sidewalk or in the gutter. Don't overfill trash cans. Pick up some litter every day. Don't throw cigarette butts on the ground. Avoid creating plastic trash by looking for ways to avoid using throw-away items. When you go out for meal, support the many restaurants listed on GreenMyCuisine.com that use compostable containers. Encourage your favorite eateries to participate. If each of us does a little, we can all accomplish a lot. 

Jim Meador 

• 

IMPEACH NOW 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is absolutely critical that impeachment hearings start now for Cheney and Bush. Do not let Bush pardon himself, Cheney, and everyone else pre-emptively, before they have even been charged with crimes against the Constitution. The evidence is too strong to ignore—and we at least need hearings to get the truth and justice! 

Cynthia Papermaster 

• 

GAY AND STRAIGHT TOGETHER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Darren Main is mistaken; he leaps to the conclusion that demonstrations opposing the Mormons’ funding of Proposition 8 are the same as opposing the Mormon religion, and that such demonstrations disrupt services. 

The Nov. 9 demonstration at the Oakland Mormon Temple did not disrupt services, had nothing to do with religion, and had everything to do with politics and equal rights. 

The Mormons’ history of persecution for, among other things, its unorthodox view of marriage, is a history of an unconventional minority group finally finding acceptance and the freedom to worship as they please. Using that strength to fund an effort to rob a protected class of its fundamental rights is entirely separate from worship, and should be opposed from both within the church and from the outside community. 

Those who participated in funding Proposition 8 need to see the faces and the outrage of those they have wronged; gay people who live in a second-class status, and straight people who find this not only specifically objectionable, but who worry that churches will continue to use their tax-free dollars to target others. 

There is nothing wrong with Darren Main’s suggestion that everyone try to be respectful. But there is nothing disrespectful in standing outside someone’s church with a sign promoting equal rights, and taking care to make sure one chooses inclusive, pro-equal rights businesses to patronize in the community. 

Carol Denney 

• 

PROP. 8 REDUX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It seems strange that no one is talking about putting a measure to repeal Proposition 8 on the next ballot. The outcome was close enough to suggest the outcome rests on vagaries of turnout. If it is on the ballot every single election, the chances go up for overturning this misery. 

Another thing to consider is the out of state money that will pour in to defeat this effort. That money will bring jobs and profits to our local media industry. Furthermore, a continuous effort will eventually exhaust the resources of the opposition. 

By all means, work for repeal through courts. However, it wouldn't hurt to pursue all avenues of relief. Besides, when the pro-Prop. 8 advocates say, "Why don't you respect the will of the people," one can reply, "We do. That's why it's on the ballot." 

Thomas Laxar 

El Cerrito 

• 

AFTERMATH OF PROP. 8 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Now that Proposition 8 was overwhelmingly approved by California voters, many protesting voices are belatedly heard. It would seem many opponents were shocked by the huge number of voters, especially in the Hispanic and African American communities, who oppose gay marriage. And now opponents are angry and hurt. But they should not have been surprised. In fact, both Obama and McCain campaigned as opponents of gay marriage. According to Mayor Willie Brown, the pro-Proposition 8 campaign very successfully used audio of Barack Obama expressing his opposition to gay marriage in robocalls to likely African American voters.  Perhaps gay marriage supporters shouldn't support candidates who oppose gay marriage. If gay marriage supporters had thrown their support to a pro-gay marriage candidate like Ralph Nader, perhaps the Democrats wouldn't have taken the pro-gay marriage vote for granted.  

Nathaniel Hardin 

El Cerrito 

• 

LOONY LEFT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding David Bacon's Nov. 13 piece: To publish a lengthy commentary on the subject of illegal immigration that does not once mention the word "illegal" shows how loony the left is becoming. The first stage of insanity is denial. 

James Riley 

New York, NY 

• 

HYPOCRISY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Marc Sapir ludicrously clams that the Jewish people who returned to their homeland "lay waste" to the land. Of course, the Jews took a land that was mostly waste and developed it into a modern country—to the benefit of both Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel. And of course Israel did this despite multiple attempts by surrounding Arab countries to destroy it, and while integrating millions of refugees not only from Europe but also from Arab lands. 

If Sapir wants to see a member of a society that actually has seized land and subjugated the indigenous people, he merely has to look in the mirror—or doesn't he realize that all of us are living on land that once belonged to the Ohlone and the Miwok? How does he think that this area came to be part of the United States? And, of course, those of us who are not Native American do not have our historical, cultural and religious roots in this area. 

When Sapir voluntarily turns over his own home to the descendants of the Native Americans that once lived in the area, then he can stand on his moral pedestal and demand that others living halfway around the world do the same. Until then, he's just a hypocrite. 

Michael Harris 

San Rafael 

• 

MIDDLE EAST COMMENTARY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your paper is so biased against Israel and the Jewish people that it is painful for me to read. You never put issues into long-term historical perspective (such as noting the continual attacks by Arab neighbors throughout Israel's history as well as the sanctuary that Israel has provided for millions of refugees and victims of genocide).  

The British mandate as well as the United Nations gave the Jewish people back a portion their homeland and gave the Arab people a much larger portion of land called Transjordan. Israel was immediately surrounded and attacked in 1948 and many times thereafter. The Jewish people fought back and won those wars of aggression. Land was taken by the victor to ensure security at its borders. Israel did not ask for the 1967 nor the 1973 wars against it. Jordan is a Palestinian State. The West Bank and Gaza can become an independent Arab state if they would stop attacking Israel and negotiate for peace.  

Your paper makes everything one-sided. Since when does a warring conflict not involve missteps on both sides? How about calling for an end to Arab aggression? Call for an end to Hamas and Hezbollah openly calling for the complete destruction of Israel? Show me the peace advocates representing the Arab side? To live in peace, the Arab Palestinians must be working for peace as well. Both sides must work hard. Your paper is blinded by anti-Semitism, for you can only see the bad aggressive Jews in this situation. Jews are tired of being victims. I am tired of your anti-Semitic, biased and hateful editorials and news articles.  

There are 15 Arab countries within an hours drive from Israel. Let them open their doors to the suffering Palestinians. They have vast amounts of land to share. If they truly cared about their brothers' suffering, let them provide land and resources to the Palestinians. The people have made a viable country out of a land with few resources. The Arab people could do the same if they stopped warring with Israel and helped one another create a good life for their people. Destroying Israel is not going to bring prosperity or a stable government to the Palestinians. Working for a positive society based on gender and sexual equality, democracy and peace will truly help the Palestinians have a viable existence. That said, shame on you for your very evident bias and anti-Semitism.       

Gail Taback 

Oakland 

NO ENDORSEMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It has come to our attention that Mr. Zachary Running Wolf claims us as endorsers of his write-in mayoral campaign. We were not asked and did not endorse.  

Gray Brechin 

Ignacio Chapela 

• 

IN SUPPORT OF CURATORIAL JUDGMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I support Carol Brighton’s decision to use curatorial judgment on the “Art of Democracy” show at the Windows on Addison Gallery. Carol is a sterling person of incredible integrity, generosity and intelligence. Art Hazelwood had an opportunity to select another gallery for the show, knowing full well the gallery’s policy. Carol Brighton has an e-mail from Art Hazelwood, early on agreeing to the gallery’s position. Why didn’t he find another gallery for his show? I find this curious. 

Nancy McKay 

• 

VIOLENCE TO DEMOCRACY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

“Curatorial judgment” does not mean individuals can censor public images because of their content. Doing so, as Carol Brightman and Mary Ann Merker have done, is not respectful of art, artists, or Berkeley citizens. Their arbitrary censorship of anti-violence images at the Addison Street Windows Gallery is a public stance in favor of totalitarianism and should not be allowed. Their censoring does violence to democracy. 

Tim Drescher 

• 

FREE THE WINDOWS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In February Melanie Cervantes and I drafted a number of letters alerting the city that there was a serious problem involving arbitrary unnecessary curatorial censorship of the Windows on Addison Gallery. Since that time I have learned that there have been others that have not been allowed to show their work in the Berkeley’s Addison Street Windows. The curator, Carol Brighton and the Berkeley Art Commission’s decision to back her ban on military symbols in this public space was an unconstitutional act. To limit debate on a most central issue of our times—war—through abolition of war objects is not legal. The embedded journalist/embedded art commissioner model does not reflect the community of Berkeley nor the Bay Area. Our three months of meetings and letter-writing trying to correct this policy accomplished little. No one we wrote or spoke to at the city wanted to take on this censorship issue. 

Today the community of Berkeley has again been denied an opportunity to view important work (the Art and Democracy Exhibit) due to this absurd ban on artists who show military armaments in their work. This is like telling poets they can’t use the word death in their poems because it might be unsettling to the children that read their poems. All poets that use the word death are banned from exhibiting in the Addison Street Windows by order of the City of Berkeley. Context is everything. 

I support the current attempt being launched by the “Art of Democracy” artists to have these precious windows freed from the current censorship policy. The First Amendment, free speech, means nothing if we do not enforce it. Please speak up. 

Doug Minkler  

• 

CENSORSHIP AT  

ADDISON ST. GALLERY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am a former art curator, museum educator and an artist living in Berkeley. I am dismayed at Mary Ann Merker and Carol Brighton’s decision not to display the “Art of Democracy” exhibition at the Addison Street Gallery. This is censorship, plain and simple. 

Would they have decided not to exhibit Picasso’s Guernica because it contained disturbing images and nudity? Would they have denied the public the right to view Goya’s Disasters of War because it contained violent images? Would they have passed on the opportunity to show Rauschenberg’s Vietnam War-era work because it might frighten or offend people? 

I have been working on a series of anti-war ceramic pieces and the Richmond Art Center showed my work, entitled, “Will They Never Learn?” It contained graphic images of war. Apparently, Richmond, has more integrity and courage than the City of Berkeley’s Civic Arts department. What a pity that this should happen in Berkeley, home to the Free Speech Movement. It is a shame that our community, with its large political and anti-war movements was denied the chance to view the “Art of Democracy.” 

Nancy Becker 

• 

FREE SPEECH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Once again: Berkeley is not “home of the free speech movement” because it honored speech, but quite the opposite. The oppression of free speech in Berkeley is so outrageous that people, from time to time, understandably revolt. 

Carol Denney 

• 

BAIL ME OUT! 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Here is a short thought about the current financial crisis in America. On the one hand you have the corporate world, and on the other hand you have the American people. In the middle you have the Federal Reserve (and to a lesser extent you have the American government).  

The Corporate world needs help, as well as the American people need help. But, strange things happen on the way to the bank. The corporations get to stand in a different line than the American people. The corporations get to stand in the cash bailout line, while the people get to stand in the loan restructuring line.  

In other words corporations get all the cash infusion they collectively need to right their ships, while the average American gets no real cash, no real debt forgiveness, no congress fighting to bail us out, and no fund for the beleaguered to tap in case of an emergency. The only reprieve that the people get out the deal is a postponement in foreclosures, while the banks that the taxpayers are bailing out get to restructure our debt. Is it just me, or is this kind of ironic? 

I wish that the American public was 70 percent of the Gross Domestic Product instead of the corporations. Oops, Americans are 70 percent of GDP. Why let 70 percent of America’s GDP suffer while at best the corporate world makes up 30 percent of GDP. Saying that the corporate world is too big to fail, then letting the American people fail is not smart thinking. I cannot find the logic in this practice of the Fed and the American government. It looks to me that the people are too big to fail—not the corporate world.  

Kevin Thomas 

Hercules 

• 

UNSUBSTANTIATED  

ACCUSATIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The commentary by Ayodele Nzinga is disconcerting. The Berkeley Police Department isn’t perfect, but I’ve never known them to display the kind of behavior that Ayodele Nzinga accuses them of. 

Further, I think that Daily Planet should start displaying better standards of journalism. I’ve nothing against someone airing a grievance in a public forum, but if this accusation is true and not merely a smear campaign against the BPD, then the officer involved and his badge number should be mentioned in the public accusation. Anyone can see a BPD car driving down the street, take down the car number and make a vague complaint. 

Finally, doing this bit of fact checking before publishing something that is inflammatory for our community is not difficult to do. All you need is the time, date, and address of supposed incident, then you can cross reference the beat officer assignment list (www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=6934) and knock on a couple of doors where the incident supposedly happened and see if there were witnesses. 

There are a lot of blind accusations in this city against the police and it seems that the community forgets at times that BPD officers put their lives on the line every day to help us out when drug dealers, gangs, rapists, carjackers, prostitutes etc., start taking over in different neighborhoods. I don’t always see eye to eye with the BPD, but when that happens I do try my best to get my facts straight and support it with hard evidence, especially if I air a grievance in a public forum. 

Jarad Carleton 

• 

WINDOWS GALLERY CRITERIA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The issues raised in your article concerning the Addison Street Windows Gallery are numerous: whether there are explicit, written guidelines for exhibition in this public space, what constitute those guidelines and what criteria are used to determine the appropriateness of artwork for exhibition, who makes this determination, and how/whether/if this information is public knowledge. As artists (scheduled to exhibit a collaborative installation in the Addison windows in December and as yet not informed of specific written guidelines) we believe the issues are actually broader than the question of censorship and free speech in Berkeley. 

One of the roles of the artist is to engage and thoughtfully provoke, to ask questions, hold up mirrors, and make creative linkages that often go unnoticed or unvoiced. Questions we would ask are, “What role does the community of Berkeley want artists to play in helping shape public discourse on critical issues of our time? How can our public exhibition spaces be used to enhance and enrich our daily lives, and in so doing provide reflective experiences that deepen and stretch our understanding of the world around us? 

If the curator and arts commission, with community input, deem that we would benefit from broad guidelines for the windows gallery, we would support ones similar to “Work exhibited in this public space should refrain from explicit or gratuitous sex (i.e., pornography or similar) or from glorifying violence (i.e., glamorize gang warfare or warfare in general).” But maintaining (an as yet unpublished) policy that out of hand prohibits nudity and guns —guns being equated as violence —without taking context into account, effectively and sadly eliminates a range of important artwork across the spectrum from the likes of Michelangelo’s David—exhibited in the Piazza Signora in Florence for four centuries (the original statue now in the Academia), to most forms of visual discourse on the role of militarism in our society and the world at large. Given that we are currently engaged in two wars, one of the most pressing current socio-political issues, eliminating the representation of guns from permitted artwork, guns by their nature one of the most effective symbols incorporated into anti-war and anti-militarism artwork, seems both counter-productive and problematic, all the more so in a progressive community like Berkeley. 

Hopefully, we will use this opportunity to explore the crucial role that art can play in our community and help shape guidelines to be used as a curatorial framework for this wonderful public gallery space that benefits us all. 

Laurie Polster, Oakland 

Janet Delaney, Berkeley 

• 

CURATORIAL DISCRETION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Last week an article in your paper featured the complaints of a couple of artists who were planning to show in the Addison Street Windows gallery. I love this gallery, because of its public aspect; the work is visible to anyone walking down the sidewalk, day or night, and whether or not they consider themselves part of an art-going community. 

Unfortunately, the first artist mentioned in your article was misleading when he characterized curation as censorship. It’s too bad your reporter didn’t call a few other public art administrators for more background on the issue of respect guidelines, which Ms. Brighton (the Windows’ curator) mentioned. 

A guideline is just that, a guide. A curator can choose beyond that guide if she considers the art worthy of the challenge, and she can then provide some context to educate people who might otherwise feel disrespected by the choice. (See Mapplethorpe labels.) 

But curators are not compelled to include work submitted after the original artists’ agreement has been made; if they were, exhibits would never open on time, and any decision could be rendered arbitrary. 

Ms. Brighton demonstrates strong insight that is inclusive and not antagonistic; potent qualities in a curator. I don’t love each and every show that I see in the windows. That’s not the point. 

As to the charge of “boring” leveled by the second artist, since he is a member of the art commission I’m sure he too listens to all sorts of praise and complaints, and then is asked to exercise good judgment and diplomacy in recommending—or not recommending—a variety of artists for city awards. 

Why was his opinion in this case of the windows considered news? 

Jennifer Cole 

• 

MIXED FEELINGS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We, the members of the Berkeley Potters Studio, have mixed feelings about receiving a last-minute invitation to show at the Addison Street Windows Gallery. We are always pleased to have a chance to display our work and let people know about our studio. But had we known about the scheduled show that was canceled over free speech issues, we would not have agreed to participate. 

In fact, just a few days after we set up the show, we were shocked to read about the controversy in Nov. 3 issue of the Daily Planet. Frankly, we felt unwittingly complicit with what certainly looks like a censorship action. Whether it was Carol Brighton, the curator of the gallery, or the City that has rejected the works depicting guns, we agree with the Art of Democracy artists that the poster show should have been put up as fully constituted, and that the works that were “curated” out had sound artistic and political reasons for including the so-called offensive images. 

Berkeley is after all, the home of the Free Speech Movement. A key manifestation of free speech is the right of artists to shed light on the key issues of the day. Certainly violence, war and gun proliferation are important issues in America today. Even a teapot knows that! 

Maija Williams 

Studio Manager, The Potters Studio 

• 

DISTRICT 3 RESULTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding your statement (in the Nov. 6 article “Bates Re-Elected, Arreguin Wins District 4, Wengraf Replaces Olds, Capitelli Retains Seat”) that Max Anderson “captured 96.2 percent of the vote of 93,337 ballots” for the District 3 City Council seat, per the partial count released by the Alameda County registrar’s office, Anderson got 3,377 votes. What percentage that is of ballots cast is currently unknown, since the registrar has so far reported only votes and write-ins, not blanks. 

My understanding is that roughly a third of the ballots remain to be counted. Once the registrar issues the official final results, we can see what percentage of District 3 voters expressed their dissatisfaction or apathy by leaving the City Council choice blank. 

Robert Lauriston 

• 

BIGOTRY WINS ... FOR NOW 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am disappointed that Proposition 8 has passed, but I am glad to be living in a county that voted Proposition 8 down. 

I donated time in an effort to defeat Proposition 8, and I met a lot of really great people in the process. Good people came out together from all walks of life to fight this terrible Proposition. I live in Berkeley with my partner and it is a good feeling knowing that I live in a place where bigotry and hate is not what people value. The Bay Area (excluding Solano County), and all of the counties where Proposition 8 failed to pass are what I like to call “Enlightened America.” 

The fight for marriage equality is not over! It has just begun. In the words of Gavin Newsom: “The door’s wide open now. It’s gonna happen...” 

Ian Griffith 

• 

THE MESSIAH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As an amateur psychologist, I’d like to point out an important factor that the pundits (left, right and center) failed to mention about the election. And that was the powerful messianic quality that Barack Obama exuded. Here, on some deep level, was a black messiah who seemed to appear out of nowhere, awesomely eloquent, youthful, handsome, and Harvard smart; a person to “deliver us from evil.....Amen!”  

Robert Blau 

• 

INTERMITTENT  

COLOR BLINDNESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In middle school in 1960s San Francisco, Terry was my best friend. His eyes were brown like mine. His hair was brown like mine, but wavier. His lips were full like mine, but not much more so. His skin was darker than mine, but no darker than I can get in a week of California sun. I thought nothing of it. Then I met his father. He looked like Willie Brown. I thought, “My God, Terry’s father is black! That must mean that my best friend is black.” I just hadn’t noticed, and now that I did, it just didn’t matter, even though inner cities were burning and we white folks were supposed to be afraid. Terry and I went on being best friends until one of us moved away and we lost touch. More than friendship was lost. Over the years, I looked back on that experience of color blindness as an innocence of youth, never to be recaptured, and I have always cherished it. 

In 2008, I supported a presidential candidate, and he won the election. I certainly knew that he was an African-American, but it just didn’t matter. The media touted the historical significance of his candidacy from the beginning of his campaign, growing louder as he drew nearer to the goal, but that steady din, increasing by imperceptible degrees over the many months, just seemed so much background noise to what I hoped he could accomplish for our nation. On election night, I saw the television images of Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey listening to the most moving speech I have heard since John F. Kennedy, and tears welled in my eyes as well, for I shared their joy. A couple of days after the election, an image was circulated by e-mail: a group photo of the future First Family with the presidential seal behind them, and I was struck by the enormity of the deed we had accomplished as a nation. I thought, “My God, the First Family is black!” In that moment, I realized that I had been color blind again. 

It just didn’t matter.  

And yet, it does matter. 

Thomas Gangale 

Petaluma 

• 

THE BUSH-CHENEY LEGACY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Howard Zinn says: “There is a general understanding among Americans who follow politics, and certainly among students of constitutional law, that the Bush administration has committed outrageous violations of both constitutional and statutory law.” 

Now, after the election, each of us has a new job to do: Undoing the Bush/Cheney Legacy. So Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute has just published a handy book with that title, subtitled: “Tool Kit for Congress and Activists.” 

Our interns and I did not even realize the size of our problem until we got into it! We found 70 Bush-Cheney laws that could/should come before the new Congress in the first 100 days for amendment or repeal—and several signing statements and executive orders President Obama could immediately reject. If everyone who worked on the election started working on their Congress members now, this could happen! 

On every issue, from agriculture and anti-trust to veterans and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the book gives: 

• Name of Bush law. 

• Where to find it. 

• Who is hurt by this law. 

• What the law provides. 

• What basic law the Bush law ignores, both sections of the U.S. Constitution and articles in treaties ratified by the U.S. that are, under the Constitution, “the supreme law of the land.” 

• Bills already introduced into Congress amending or repealing the laws. 

• Names of representatives and senators who have introduced good bills on each issue. 

Zinn says about the book: “But no one has documented these violations as meticulously, as dramatically, as [Editor] Ann Fagan Ginger has done in this concise and very important volume. It will give both scholars and citizens the information they need to contest what has been going on, in order to restore the liberties taken away by this administration.” 

El Cerrito Democratic Club vice chair Betty Brown says the Tool Kit is “an invaluable and timely guide.” 

If Planet readers would like to discuss the issues in the book, give us a call at (510) 848-0599, or get your copy: www.mcli.org. 

Ann Fagan Ginger 

• 

WHERE IS THE COMPASSION?  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The other day I met a woman who had been beaten and after a cataract operation she had no where to go. She had just left a slum single room occupancy hotel in Oakland where the landlord had ignored the rats and the mice which were harmful to her well being while she lay helpless after the injury. Normally I do not take in strangers. Years ago I was a street artist and I started missing work. I would go to the food truck sometimes just to hear “good morning” even when I had coffee at home. Recently I returned to working at a real job writing comedy and copy for local hotels and other businesses which is important to me. I had been lonely before when I was forced to rest following my own experience of being assaulted, robbed, threatened and almost killed living and consequent breakdown in a so-called low income apartment. In light of my own experience I took in this blind defenseless woman rather than see her die on the streets of Berkeley. I did this in the spirit of the Golden Rule of do unto others what I would have done unto me. I am now trying to help her get into senior housing. I feel compelled to help her. 

Our homeless sisters and brothers will be cold and hungry in the winter in our parks and on the streets, dying, at times physically disabled while the rich will be in the hills gorging on wonderful holiday feasts. I want to ask them and you the reader to give housing back to those without. The $150,000 bailout to the Berkeley Housing Authority has not visibly made any difference on the streets as the new authority enjoys brunch out at the Hilton Doubletree. Where did the rest of the money go? Why do we see the hiring of Tia Ingram as director of the BHA when she left under a cloud of $400,000 missing money from when she was at Richmond Housing Authority? A former BHA director Jackie Foster was taken away in handcuffs for letting her boyfriend near the petty cash. We have seen the previous indictment of Franklin Raines former head of Fannie Mae before the recent federal bailout. We have seen badly managed properties under the Oakland Housing Authority. Why do the very poorest, the most neediest fail to get help and into housing when those who have gamed the system on top go unpunished? Does anyone care? 

Diane Arsanis 

• 

NOVEMBER 4 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I just finished writing to Representative Barbara Lee asking her to initiate the process for Congress to set aside Nov. 4 of each year as a National Day of Unity in recognition of the monumental mark in history that was made on Nov. 4, 2008. This presidential election has brought together and accomplished the dreams of diversity in action, racial unity, with the great overshadowing of hope for the future of this nation. When President-Elect Barack Obama and Vice-President-Elect Joe Biden, along with their families, embraced one another and walked forward on that platform last night, chills ran through my body as I saw unity in action; an action only just beginning.  

The will and the power of the people have prevailed. This election has restored faith in our hearts and healed wounds laying in wait for this moment. President-Elect Obama has set the stage for a new United States of America. A new time and a new world is about to emerge. 

Join with me now by writing your representative and asking that this date be marked not only in history books but as a National Day of Unity. 

Serena Nova 

• 

OBAMA ELECTION  

OPENS FLOODGATES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

From the most virulent Obama opponent to the most zealous supporter, everyone agrees that the election of our 44th president was an event of profound historic significance. I have read several dozen commentaries, op-eds, letters, poems, and hallelujahs but despite universal consensus as to the event’s great extraordinary moment, taken together there is not a single line that might encompass the vast range of reactions.  

Ignore the stupid (Obama is a Marxist/socialist), the malicious (Obama pals around with terrorists) and the inane (McCain’s main man Sen. Lindsay Graham’s promise to drown himself if Obama “…took North Carolina” and Sen. Joe Lieberman’s assertion that unlike his idol McCain, Obama did not “…always put America first”). What one hears from scanning 360 degrees of Babel in the dominant media is a shrieking cacophony of mostly biased reactions. Here’s a brief incomplete survey. 

The New York Times asks provocatively and without acknowledging inherent speculative bias, “Will a President Obama fall captive to liberal interest groups and the Democratic Congress?” (Online edition, “Bloggingheads,” Nov. 8). The same illustrious newspaper of record reported that “a Jihadi leader” declared that “…the election of Barack Obama represents a victory for radical Islamic groups,” yet failed to recognize the poison implicit in that anonymous assertion. Several members of the hard-right punditry whined in harmony that McCain lost not because he ran a bad campaign or because Obama was the better man but because the economy, collapsing when it did, tilted the game in Obama’s favor; Obama just lucked out. 

There’s more, but by headlining this kind of nonsense the dominant media distracts us from the fact that we have a president, almost the opposite of the incumbent, that we have long hoped for, a president who is not only “…young, handsome and suntanned” according to Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi who ought to know, but is, articulate, intelligent, sensitive, diligent and sincere.  

We couldn’t wish for anything more.  

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

• 

IMPEACH BUSH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Now that Democrats have the ultimate say, what could possibly be the reason for not upholding the Constitution and impeach Bush for the many crimes against the state that he’s committed? The world is watching to see if now, finally, the Democrats will fulfill their appointed duty to hold our officials as accountable for their actions as the average citizen is held for theirs. 

Both Kucinich and Wexler have given to the Congress all the evidence necessary to begin the investigations and proceedings. 

It will be to the shame of Nancy Pelosi and all Democrats to ignore the Constitutional directive for impeachment for crimes against the State. It will be the shame of our entire nation to let these immense wrongs that have killed and maimed and traumatized so many, go unpunished. 

Sabriga Turgon 

Oakland 

• 

ELECTION REFLECTIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The recent election results of the election of our nation’s first black president, combined with the passage of Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriages, has resulted in many heated discussions: particularly given the exit poll statistics that 70 percent of black voters voted yes on Prop. 8. Letters have appeared expressing dismay that a group who has historically experienced so much oppression voted so overwhelmingly to discriminate against another minority group. Discussions I observed also often contained comparisions between the suffering or oppression of different groups, in one case with a black man who voted yes on 8 arguing vehemently that no one has experienced the type of suffering that blacks in America have experienced.  

A couple reflections. First, I have always found something repugnant about any oppressed group’s attempt to make their history of oppression/suffering into a bank account or cash cow whereby they can extract equity, obtain leverage and/or moral authority, and basically use their suffering to either devalue another person’s experience or figuratively “hit” someone on the head or assign blame. “We’re the biggest victims of all so the rest of you better shut up” is not a very noble argument. Secondly, the attempt to compare types of suffering in order to find “who’s had it worst of all” is equally repugnant, and in that move to glorify victimization and assert the “superiority” of one’s experience of oppression, we not only devalue and belittle the experiences of other groups or individual’s pain, but we denigrate suffering and pain itself. The experience of suffering cries out with its own innate eloquence, and in itself can open hearts. I think of the song sung by Nina Simone, “Strange Fruit.” That powerful song simply opens hearts. Leave it alone. Once you attach to it the argument, “and you white folks did this to us, you nasty racists!” immediately the pureness, power and poignancy of that song is lost in the distasteful and misguided, corrupted move to assign blame. Will we ever learn that there is no one group or people who is innately evil, and no one group who’s got the monopoly on suffering? Let’s just listen to each other, valuing all our stories, and stop trying to compare and find the “winner.” 

When a legacy of suffering simply becomes a bank account or a cash cow to gain wealth from, a weapon to assign blame, or a tool with which to cow others into obedience or to manipulate, we’ve corrupted our experience of suffering.  

Deborah Cloudwalker 

Oakland 

• 

WOMEN SEALED THE DEAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For the last two years, I’ve been writing and telling anyone who would listen that American women could elect the next president, if only they voted. 

Well, this time they did, and there is no doubt that women were a decisive factor in the election of Barack Obama. 

To listen to the pundits, however, you’d think that only youth (bless them!) and minorities turned out in overwhelming numbers to stand on endless lines to elect the first African American and liberal and brilliant president. 

Frank Rich, whom I admire tremendously, even missed the boat. In his Sunday New York Times column in The Week in Review, Rich never mentioned the amazing gender gap that catapulted a young and relatively unknown senator to become our 44th president. 

Just take a serious look at the numbers. As the data in the Week in Review in the New York Times reveals, women constituted 53 percent of the electorate, while only 47 percent of men voted. Among those who voted for Obama, 56 percent were women and 43 percent were men. Among unmarried women, a whopping 70 percent voted for Obama. 

There are many variables in this data that need to be explained. The extraordinary female vote almost certainly came largely from minority and young women. But even white, married women, who usually vote more conservatively, went for Obama. 

Does this matter? Yes, and here’s why. For years, women have been saying that we are invisible in this political culture. The consequence of this invisibility is that our poverty, our economic insecurity, our need for health care, child care, elder care, and equality in wages and training are also ignored. 

So, with all due respect to those who are praising the young and minorities, and rightfully blessing their energy and enthusiasm, take a good hard look and notice that it was women who, in the end, sealed the deal. 

Ruth Rosen 

Professor Emerita of History, UC Davis 

Visiting Professor of History, UC Berkeley 

• 

CAMPAIGN CASH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I hate to sound like a spoiler while the Bay Area celebrates the election of Barack Obama. But am I the only one concerned that he raised almost a billion dollars in campaign contributions? Who will he be indebted to? Unless we have real election reform so obscene amounts of money aren’t involved in elections, the corporations and the banks will always run this country. 

Stacy Taylor 

• 

ABOUT UNDERCURRENTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

With every issue, the Berkeley Daily Planet devotes an entire page of space to J. Douglas Allen-Taylor’s discussions of either current incidents of racism, or, if he can’t find those, incidents from 50, 100, 200 or 300 years ago. Clearly the Planet readership is by now well educated about issues of racism. Given the outcome of the recent elections, where racism in whites did not prevent the nation from voting in a black president, but prevalent homophobia in the black community may well have caused the proposition banning gay marriage to pass, I think new priorities are in order. The Planet should cease devoting so much space to Allen-Taylor’s lectures about real or imagined racism in whites and more to education of the black community about their heterosexism.  

Arthur Levin 

• 

• 

ROAD TO HAPPINESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

At Monterey Market recently, the couple before me at the cash register, who I had never met, insisted on treating me to the muffin I was about to purchase. I was amazed. They explained that they were feeling very happy about the election, and this was one way of expressing it. On Shattuck Avenue, right after Obama’s acceptance speech, huge crowds of people were hugging each other and dancing in the street. Much of the Bay Area was raining with joy.  

The defeat of Bush and the election of an African American to the nation’s highest political post is a monumental event, which is already having a tremendous personal impact upon us. It has certainly given us a glimmer of what is possible. For most people, the realization that emerged from the election has shown that years of psychotherapy is unnecessary to access our capacity for happiness and our social selves. These wonderful qualities are right beneath the surface. And they can be realized by making important political gains. 

But we are also mindful of the unfortunate vote on Proposition 8. I have no doubts, though, that defeating the right of gay people to marry will be overcome. The civil rights movement of gay people to achieve equality deserves our support and involvement. Human and civil rights belong to all of us. No exceptions. 

Harry Brill 

El Cerrito 

• 

A GOOD GLOBAL CITIZEN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Mr. Stone describes the state of Israel as a major arms dealer. However, his list of products, beginning with “high-tech fences” and ending with “prisoner interrogation systems” is entirely defensive in nature. Not one of them is designed to kill anyone. What he describes is a good global citizen. 

James D. Young 

Oakland 

• 

REAL STORIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Hassan Fouda’s letter about Walid Shoebat and Kamal Saleem made several statements about both speakers that were just plain wrong. 

Fouda claimed the two speakers were “frauds” who converted to Christianity to present themselves as “insiders on a holy mission to warn the world about Muslim’s designs to wipe out Christians and Jews.” 

They did no such thing. 

First, they did explain how they were raised in a culture of Jew hatred and felt that American Muslims should not support such ideas and also asks Muslims here to say Allah bless America—not make excuses for terrorist groups overseas. 

Second, the Jerusalem Post did no investigation as Hassan Fouda claims proving the men to be “frauds.” The Post ran an article by an independent writer that the newspaper later retracted as inadequate and uncorroborated. The article was a hit piece by someone claiming he wanted to interview Walid Shoebat who ultimately interviewed people who had threatened Walid’s life and wanted to destroy him—even members of his own family who had been arrested for terrorism in the past. The article that ran also did not establish that “Shoebat’s story is lies” but only had the author claiming he could not find proof of some events—that’s a big difference. 

The Air Force Academy article by Chris Hedges also contained smears because Chris Hedges did not like the message from Shoebat and Saleem in support of Israel and the US. Calling these two brave men frauds does not negate the truth that they are the real deal. As further proof they have been invited to speak to the US Marine Corp’s training academy and by the FBI. Law enforcement agencies continually seek their advice and expertise. 

Fouda, who belongs to ICHAD, a group that objects to the homes of suicide bombers or domiciles used as bombmaking factories being destroyed by the IDF has an axe to grind against anyone who supports peace with Israel and support for the US. As such his letter is both untrue and a veiled attempt at mouthing support for terrorist activities and groups overseas. What he really means is “these guys can’t be real terrorists therefore the actions of real terrorists are legitimate and should be condoned.” 

I know both of these men and, yes, their stories are real—they were once terrorists—and what bothers the likes of Fouda so much is that they show the hypocrisy and deception of anti-Israel/anti-U.S. movements so prevalent in Berkeley today. 

Lee Kaplan 

Walid Shoebat Foundation 

• 

CONGRATULATIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I want to congratulate Jesse Arreguin on his decisive win for District 4 and for Berkeley. This victory was earned through the hard work of Jesse, his family, and Dona Spring’s legacy of and hardworking and sincere activists and advocates who are the backbone of his campaign. I celebrate their victory. Jesse Arreguin is a good man, his values are in the right place, he is earnest, dedicated and covers all the bases necessary to clearly address the issues at hand. Like Kriss Worthington and unlike the rest of our City Council, Jesse is known for reading every last page submitted to the agenda. This race was a fight for the heart of our city, and for the voice of dissent on our council. Like two years before, the developers pushed hard to take every seat in our City Council. And once again the community voice and not the developers dollar, spoke loudest. 

As I celebrate Jesse’s victory I thank all of you who supported me in this campaign for City Council. We injected a great deal of content into this last round of local elections, not just in the contest for District 4, but into all the races. And Berkeley needs more voices to build a clearer perspective of the problems we face, and the solutions they invite. 

I will continue working to empower real neighborhood and community input in our governance process. Its the only thing that can holistically beat the community vs. developer gridlock. Its a deeper solution for a resilient and engaged voting populace. Along that line the Berkeley Climate Action Plan developed by the planning department (read developers department) needs a real response. 

I organized a wiki for us to develop our own real climate action plan, and for us to critique the existing one. Its a real wiki, which means it hosts real live group editing. You can plug in valuable content form other areas climate action plans, and we can all edit it into a seamless plan. You can check it out at http://climateactionplan.pbwiki.com. 

Asa Dodsworth 

• 

BRT AND SQUEAKY WHEELS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Measure KK, the anti-Bus-Rapid-Transit initiative, was defeated overwhelmingly—by a margin of more than 3-1. A margin of 2-1 is generally considered a landslide, and the defeat of KK went much further than that. 

No doubt, the anti-transit crowd will complain that the campaign was unfair. If the margin were close, their complaints might carry some weight, but a margin this large cannot be explained by the campaign. The supporters of this initiative defined it as a vote on car lanes versus transit lanes, and the result shows clearly that most Berkeley voters are pro-transit. 

Though we hear from them all the time, opponents of BRT represents a distinct minority of Berkeley’s voters—a relatively small group of squeaky wheels who are constantly making noise. 

It is time to remember that we are a democracy, where the majority rules, and not a squeaky-wheel-ocracy, where the people who make noise rule. This election shows that, in Berkeley, the majority cares about the environment, the majority wants better public transportation, and the majority supports Bus Rapid Transit. 

Charles Siegel 

• 

BART FAIRS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A part of the rush-hour crush on BART could be alleviated by charging senior citizens double fare during rush hours. Senior BART tickets for $24 worth of rides are sold for less than half price. The present toll stiles distinguish between regular and senior tickets. They should be capable of being easily adjusted to open passage during rush hours only after two insertions of a senior ticket. 

A similar adjustment for San Francisco, certain peninsula and East Bay bus systems could also diminish their rush-hour discomfort and overloads. 

Judith Segard Hunt 

• 

FIELDS OF LEARNING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding your “Sather Gate Gets a Facelift” story: Eight fields of learning? I thought there were seven, the trivium and the quadrivium combined. “Don’t know much about algebra...” (Or math either.) 

H. Granger 

• 

COUNCIL CALM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have appreciated the calmness of Berkeley City Council meetings during the past years of Mayor Tom Bates’ management. 

However, I wonder to what extent the smooth functioning of the council depends on manipulation of election campaigns for council seats so that only a candidate who fully supports the mayor can win. 

Dorothea Gielow 

• 

AN EXTRAORDINARY DAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

This old white guy, a native Southerner (Kentucky), cried tears of joy when Obama won the election. What an extraordinary day for people of color—indeed, for the entire world. 

And now exit polls report that 70 percent of African-Americans and the majority of Latinos voted for California’s Prop. 8 (and similar hateful propositions in Arizona, Florida and Arkansas). One would think that these folks would know enough about discrimination and prejudice so as not to trample on the rights and happiness of others. Not fair! And certainly not “Christian.” So much for the Golden Rule. 

I doubt that Jesus would approve. Whatever has happened to “separation of church and state,” pray? Churches which get politically involved should at least be taxed accordingly. 

Gay marriage is a Constitutional matter which will doubtlessly be won in the courts. In the interim, perhaps we should mount an initiative to ban straight marriage, since more than half of them end in divorce, and infidelity is rampant. Such immoral behavior sets a terrible example for gay people everywhere. 

Eric Mills 

Oakland 

• 

POST-ELECTION MELTDOWN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I know that we are now supposed to be all bi-partisan and stuff but I need to scream this at the top on my lungs before I can possibly do that: SUCK IT, REPUBLICANS! 

Jane Powell 

Oakland 

• 

OPEN LETTER TO OBAMA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’ve always been rather skeptical about the hype, but I do think it’s great that you’re going to be our next President. And I did contribute to your election, in my own small way. Now I want to join those who are saying, “Congrats Barack, now get the hell out of Iraq!” 

I know you’ll say we can’t just pull U.S. troops and mercenaries out of Iraq within a few short weeks. But we say, “Yes we can!” 

You’ll probably say we can’t just withdraw from Afghanistan and shut down our 800-plus military bases all over the world. But we say, “Yes we can!” 

And you’ll probably say we can’t expect to see justice for the Palestinian people. But we say, “Yes we can!” 

And you’ll probably say we can’t actually honor the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, which we signed forty years ago, in which the United States and other nuclear nations agreed “to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.” (Article VI) But we say, “Yes we can!” 

And you’ll probably say we can’t have a single payer health care system like our neighbors in Canada, must less even consider the health care system of our Cuban neighbors to the south. But we say, “Yes we can!” 

And you’ll probably say we can’t just tear down the walls on the border, abolish the ICE, and welcome immigrants (the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, and the homeless, tempest tossed) into the United States, But we say, “Yes we can!” 

And you’ll probably say we can’t have a moratorium on all evictions and layoffs, so workers don’t lose their homes and jobs because of the greed of the bankers and financiers. But we say, “Yes we can!” 

And you’ll probably say we can’t have a special prosecutor to investigate the crooks in Wall Street and Washington. But we say, “Yes we can!” 

And you’ll probably say we have to be patient, that change takes time, and we can’t expect real revolutionary change in this country. But we say, “Yes we can!” 

Anyway, that’s what I think. Have a nice day and enjoy your new puppy. 

Eugene E. Ruyle 

Peace and Freedom Party Candidate for Congress 

California’s 10th Congressional District 

• 

NO BAILOUT FOR GM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For two decades, the “big three” American auto makers have been making a fortune building and selling gas-guzzling SUVs while Toyota and Honda were developing energy-efficient, well-designed, long-lasting cars. They were able to profit so mightily because their SUVs were exempted from the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards, due to their lobbying of Congress. Now the cry-babies want a bailout? I say, “Heck no.” Let these companies wither or get bought up by companies who know how to make good and useful cars for the 21st century. 

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont 

• 

SUNSHINE ON BRT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I don’t know what to make of Alan Tobey’s references to weaponry and the bible in his Nov. 6 commentary about Measure KK. But Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) does seem to be a religion to him. 

Discussion of AC Transit’s BRT proposal is now out in the open. Measure KK brought BRT out of the dark recesses of Berkeley’s broken process, the “dozens of public meetings, workshops and public hearings” that serve to wear people down rather than encourage citizen participation. Partly because of the lively discussion that has taken place about BRT, opposition from Oakland residents is rapidly growing. 

Interestingly, Tom Bates distanced himself from BRT at every campaign debate I attended, as if he didn’t want to be associated with it while running for office. Also, at the Green Party endorsement meeting, Kriss Worthington said he was opposed to Measure KK, but then clearly stated that if he could vote against AC Transit’s current BRT proposal, he would do so. 

The local branch of the Sierra Club allowed its good name to be used in vain. Mailers and large signs against Measure KK shouted, “Sierra Club says", as though the entire membership was speaking in concert. I understand that only a small number of very biased individuals got to vote to endorse against Measure KK. Mr. Tobey seems proud of their bias; he called the Club a “charter member of the Bates Machine” in a widely circulated e-mail. 

I have heard about a few members who intend to quit the Sierra Club because of its mendacious, over-the-top campaign against a citizen-initiated measure. I would prefer to see people become active in reforming the organization’s endorsement process. But if members do not have time to get actively involved, their financial support might continue to be used—not to protect the environment—but to squash democracy. 

Gale Garcia 

• 

• 

OUT OF TOUCH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

After reading the article “A Victorious AC Transit President Sets His Sights on the Bus District’s Challenges And Problems,” I tell you, Joyce Roy is surely out of touch for the needs of the parents and not family friendly. I love European Busses, they are more parent and stroller friendly. Having experience visiting European cities from Marseille, Rhodes, Palma de Mallorca, Toulon, etc; after seeing the Mercedes Citaro, Renault, Iveco, MAN and Van Hool busses, I felt how come American mass transit agencies can’t purchase these types of busses? I know it is because the Buy America law, but it should be exempt if American made busses can’t meet the specification of being stroller friendly. Until Gillig, NABI, Orion, New Flyer can finally get a clue of becoming stroller friendly like the European busses, I think all American mass transit agencies should buy European busses, and be exempt from Buy America policy. The American manufacturers finally got the clue of designing them more aerodynamic and low floor, but they still haven’t got the clue of being more stroller friendly. AC Transit and all other Mass Transit Agencies, please continue to buy European busses until the American bus manufacturers get a clue. Van Hool and other European bus manufacturers have a clue; I am able to board through the middle door with my daughter in the stroller and able to park the stroller in the open area and secure the stroller with the seat belt, and pay fare with my Translink Card, after securing my daughter’s stroller. AC Transit and all other Mass Transit Agencies please buy more European busses, not just Van Hools.  

I also suggest Merceds Citaro for the School Routes and Owl service. Knowing the Orions are made by Daimler, how come they can’t just manufacture the Mercedes Citaro in the U.S., just like they do the Sprinter.  

David Yamaguchi 

Richmond  

Controversial and costly changes are planned for Berkeley High School (BHS) as a way to help close the achievement gap. BHS administrators claim that the addition of advisories, block scheduling and another small school will improve standardized test scores and college preparedness for African American and Latino students. While the goal is laudable, the effectiveness of the proposed changes remains questionable at best. The School Board should be critically assessing the costs of implementation of the reforms against a realistic appraisal of the benefits.  

These changes are part of a strategy advanced by Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools (BayCES) to convert Berkeley High from a large comprehensive school to a mix of smaller learning communities. The reconfiguration of the high school carries the unintended consequences of an erosion of the academic program and a decline in student achievement. BHS may not benefit from these changes, but BayCES will. The group stands to gain $865,000 in consulting fees. 

Next year Berkeley High administrators plan to rearrange the school day by instituting block scheduling (increasing class periods from 45 minutes to 90 minutes) and adding an advisory period. They also intend to add a new small school. These changes will make it even more difficult to manage the already cumbersome and ineffective high school bureaucracy. Teachers will need to re-tool their curricula, staff will need to be trained as “advisors,” teacher contracts will have to be renegotiated to compensate for the increased work load from 150 to 170 students, and many new classrooms will have to appear miraculously to accommodate the 160 advisory classes of 20 students each. Because the school day remains unchanged, time in academic subjects will be sacrificed to advisories.  

In February, without approval of the School Board or the superintendent, BayCES submitted a grant application to the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) in the name of BUSD requesting federal funds to finance these high school reforms. The reforms came with a $5.3 million price tag. USDE approved a grant for $1 million with the requirement that BUSD pony up the remaining $4.3 million from BUSD’s general fund and Berkeley’s parcel tax, Measure A.  

As a condition of the grant, USDE placed a requirement that the board give legal assurances to the feds that the proposal will be fully funded and implemented. In August with very little public knowledge the board approved the conditions of the grant. Certainly few Berkeley residents are aware that Berkeley High School will actually obtain less than $50,000 of the $1 million grant, with $865,000 going to pay for the consulting services of a single outside contractor, BayCES. Moreover, BayCES was paid $10,000 to write the grant proposal. To make matters even worse, when the School Board accepted the grant, they committed $4.3 million for the non-federal share of the project cost from the school district’s own coffers. 

More money in consultants’ pockets 

In 2003 BayCES became a contractor to BUSD providing consulting services to create four small schools within Berkeley High. Their services were paid from a private one-time $1 million grant from the Gates Foundation that ran out in 2007. During 2008, BayCES was paid an additional $178,000 by BUSD for small schools coaching and consulting services out of the BUSD general fund, the California State School Site Discretionary Block Grant, and other sources.  

The funding to be received under the USDE grant is earmarked for BayCES consulting for the next five years to the tune of $865,000. BayCES coaches are billed at a rate of $850 to $1500 per day. Why Berkeley High administrators support paying outside contractors at a rate of $110 to $185 per hour when they pay beginning teachers $30 per hour is an issue the community may wish to explore.  

Illusory benefits 

According to the grant proposal, “anticipated project outcomes include improved standardized test scores and college preparedness for African American and Latino students.” The grant proposal claims that the combination of advisories, block scheduling and an additional small school will improve achievement for all students by 17 percentage points in English and 16 percentage points in math over current proficiency levels.  

No data has ever been produced to support the claim that advisories, block scheduling and the addition of another small school at BHS will have any positive effect on student achievement. In fact, reliable research indicates these measures are neutral at best and, in the case of block scheduling, can harm learning in foreign language, math and science classes. 

BHS small schools strategy shows declines in student achievement 

After five years of resources and effort, the creation of four small schools may have increased personalization for students and teachers in those schools. However, it has not produced any gains in student academic achievement. In fact, student achievement (as measured by percent of students proficient or above) at Berkeley High and in the four small schools (AHA, CAS, CPA, and SSJE) has declined in both English Language Arts (ELA) and math. 

BUSD has already been subject to $2.5 million in budget cuts this year and faces difficult mid-year cuts as well. Our schools can’t afford changes that incur real costs and provide illusory benefits. Tell our School Board it would be prudent and wise for them to rescind the commitment they made to the USDE in light of the economic deterioration of the last six weeks.  

[Notes: (1) As of this writing a special board meeting has been announced for Nov. 19. Berkeley High School reforms are on the agenda. (2) For USDE Smaller Learning Community Grant see BUSD website, Aug. 11, 2008 board packet.] 

Priscilla Myrick is a former chief financial officer and Berkeley High School Governance Council parent representative. She can be reached at priscilla@myrick4berkeleyschools.com. 

The conversation going on about whether or not there should be criteria that exclude the use of guns for art work placed in the Addison Street Windows exhibition is very delicate. But now that the conversation has moved from the Civic Arts Commission meetings to the public sphere in the form of flyers and newspaper articles, I feel that it is time that I add my voice. I have served on the commission for the past year and a half and during that time I have had the privilege of learning an enormous amount of information about the ways that a city commission works. I have a newfound appreciation for those who serve in public office, their roles, responsibilities and the challenges of reaching consensus in a city with a progressive history and outlook.  

Publicly funded spaces have a different mandate than those which are privately owned. On-going exhibitions free of any type of consideration, or restriction based on size, theme, content or material are very rare outside of the “virtual” displays on the Internet. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of galleries, museums and art exhibition spaces have in place some criteria, either clear and stated or covert. The selection process and curatorial decisions of these institutions are not done publicly, usually not informed by public input. In museums or galleries, one has a choice to visit and view art that might be considered controversial. Publicly displayed art doesn’t allow the viewer to have this choice. I believe that public art should not be focused solely on individual artists and their work. As an art form connected to public awareness and appreciation, public art’s capacity to educate, inspire curiosity, promote new ideas, support community involvement and provide a pleasurable experience should be in the fore ground of our conversations. As such, the focus is on the effect of the work on the larger mass of public viewers.  

As an African American parent of a young child who attends a Berkeley public school, it is my responsibility to provide a safe environment in our home, monitor and interpret the imagery presented on the streets so that she is buffered from sexism, racism and commercialism (among other “isms”). As we know, young children are deeply affected by the images around them and the world they live in. Until they reach a certain age, it is hard for them not to take on physical and psychic damage because they have not developed the ability to analyze and deconstruct what they are seeing. As a professor of art in the state university system, I have the opposite task; to encourage my students to create work that questions their world, to help them to critically analyze the images they see in the media, and to assist them in resisting the negative, destructive “isms” they see in any form, anywhere. Many of my college students are learning visual literacy and the impact of image and the underlying message that is being “sold.” It is my hope that the development of these tools will be a lifelong process that will inspire them to become active artists, productive local and global citizens, family members and participants in community building. As a parent and a professor, I am acutely aware of these two groups; minors who are sheltered in certain ways due to their vulnerability and young people who are entering the world as adults for the first time. 

Though I agree with those citizens and colleagues who question censorship in any form, I want to highlight the role of location and context in the Addison Street Windows display debate. Framed as “censorship,” I feel that the criteria is thoughtful and appropriate in light of two factors. The Addison Street Windows are two blocks from Berkeley High School and because of this location they operate as a public gallery. Our high school students are up against an unprecedented level of violence in their daily lives. This violence comes at them in a variety of forms ranging from shooting on the street to the violence in Iraq as a result of the United States occupation A significant number of high school students in Berkeley and surrounding cities have been affected by the gun violence involving friends, family members, and associates who have been killed or injured as a result of being shot. Often, the students make altars as public displays of grief. A sense of anxiety and fear has been triggered in young people (and all of us) even for those who have not been directly affected. Parents worry about their children walking or biking to the neighborhood schools, students worry about being beaten up or shot as they walk to the corner store. There is an overall environment of apprehension in the city of Berkeley because the level of violence has increased to an unprecedented level. And Berkeley as a city is not alone, this is indicative of a national and international trend. The depiction of guns and the violence that is implied either metaphorically or physically could re-trigger the psychological wounds inflicted upon our young citizens so we need to be extremely thoughtful about their display in The Addison Street Windows space and the ways we approach a discussion of violence. When art is public is presented in a venue such as the Addison Street Windows, there is no structure in place for analysis about the images to help young people who may need guidance in understanding the work. For the record, I am not anti political art. On the contrary, I have gotten into trouble a number of times for my work being “too political." Therefore, I understand, support and applaud most political artwork as an essential safeguard against the tide of “art for art’s sake” and its associated commercialism. It is the location of the Addison Street windows and the context of violence faced by our young people that are primary considerations in my support of the current Addison Street Windows criteria. 

Finally, do we want to extend the conversation about this particular venue into the foreseeable future? What kinds of compromises can be made to insure that our cultural ethos as an arts community is maintained at the same time that we pay attention to the needs of young people and other passersby? Though I appreciate the debate and discussion about this particular venue, I came to the Civic Arts Commission with a number of plans in mind. At this point in history both personally and nationally resources and time are precious commodities and I would very much like to turn my attention back to those ideas; the creation of city, community, campus and community art partnerships, the creation of art opportunities for the young people in Berkeley, and the active inclusion of communities of color, working class and poor people in art projects that renew, empower, and beautify all parts of my beloved city of Berkeley. Thank you for this opportunity to express my opinion. 

Professor Stephanie Anne Johnson is co-chair and service learning coordinator for the Visual and Public Art Department at California State University, Monterey Bay and represents Berkeley's District 2 on the Civic Arts Commission.  

In the wake of the Proposition 8 vote, it is easy for the LGBT community and those that support us to feel deflated. To focus on the temporary loss rather than the amazing strides we have made since Harvey Milk said, “You cannot live on hope alone—but without it life is not worth living.” In spite of this set back, which is admittedly disappointing, we have so much to be hopeful for.  

We have a new president who has pledged to give us the same federal rights that straight married couples enjoy. Young people voted overwhelmingly against Prop. 8 and while the results of the vote were not what we had wanted, the vote was much closer than the 2000 Knight Initiative. 

There’s even room for hope when considering the driving force behind the anti-gay marriage movement—the Christian vote. According to The Barna Group, a polling organization that specializes in the views of Christians, attitudes are changing (albeit slowly). According to a recent survey, Christians under the age of 35 are “much more likely to argue that homosexual relations should be legal; substantially more likely to consider homosexuality an acceptable lifestyle; and notably more likely to approve of clergy conducting or blessing gay marriages.” 

There is reason for concern, however. This week I learned of plans by some in the LGBT community to protest at the local Mormon Church in response to their financial support of Prop. 8. To protest any religion, even those that actively oppose our rights, is counterproductive and harmful to our cause. If we truly want to stand up for our own rights, we can only do so by showing deference toward the rights of others. As much as we might disagree with some people of faith, that doesn’t give us the right to disrupt their religious service or suggest that they should not be able to believe what they like, vote how they see fit, and financially support causes in which they feel passionate. 

History often casts a long cold shadow on those who oppose the rights of others. Gay rights suffered a blow in the short term, but in the long arch of history, equality always wins. For now, it is my deepest hope that future generations will look back on this time and see those who opposed Prop. 8 as dignified and peaceful warriors rather than an angry mob because if we truly want to hasten the day when marriage equality is a reality, we need to demonstrate to the world that we are not angry and deranged the way Mormons and other conservative Christians portray us.  

All great social justice movements are rooted in hope, not anger. For Gandhi, King, Milk and now Obama, hope is central to their message. They inspire us to strive for our rights without denying others theirs and to earn the respect of others by showing them deference even when they are not yet willing or capable of responding in kind. 

So to my fellow opponents of Prop. 8, I hope you will take to the streets and make your voices heard, but never lose sight of the fact that the only way we will lose this fight is if we follow the lead of those whom oppose equal rights by joining them in a shouting match rather than leading the way to a more enlightened future. 

Darren Main is a San Francisco resident and the author of Hearts & Minds: Talking to Christians about Homosexuality.

The ink is barely dry on AC Transit’s Measure VV and Van Hool can’t wait to get a return on their investment. The ABC Company that “sponsored’ Measure VV is the agent for Van Hool buses. (I wonder if it would have passed if more people knew that!) So with indecent haste, the general manager is asking the board to approve more Van Hools at this Wednesday’s board meeting!! 

First, the general manager wants the board to authorize him to negotiate a contract for 45-foot Van Hool “suburban style commuter buses” for use on Transbay routes. Except they aren’t; they are Greyhound-like over-the-road buses like the MCI, inappropriate particularly when you consider most of them begin and end on hilly, winding roads. The reason AC Transit bought 30-ft buses for routes in the hills is because residents complained about big 40-foot buses so now 45-foot buses are proposed! And, in May the board had not settled on 45-foot buses and they asked for a competitive process. The Van Hools would cost $511,119 each and an American built and tested 40-foot suburban style commuter bus would cost about $340,000! 

Then there is a re-run of the general manager’s request in May to purchase 19 more of the Van Hool 60-foot articulated buses that were nixed by the board. They do not need them now anymore than they did in May and the board asked him to verify the need for them. He simply says, “A compelling need still exists to purchase 19 articulated buses to complete the fleet composition plan and replace aging buses.” In other words, trust me! 

The cost of each 60-foot articulated would be $592,289 so $11,253,491 for 19 buses. That will use up most of the $14,000,000 they are expecting from Measure VV this year. 

When, and if, they do need more 60-foot articulated buses they should buy a true low floor bus like the one produced by New Flyer which is readily accessible to the elderly and disabled and, in fact, everyone so dwell time would decrease. Or was the Measure VV claim that it would keep “seniors and people with disabilities independent” just hype to get people to vote for more funds to buy buses seniors find treacherous? 

Let’s hope the board sees though these charades and stops letting Van Hool and their willing accomplices, the general manager and general counsel, drive AC Transit’s decisions. If they don’t, AC Transit should consider changing its name to VH Transit. 

In this last election, 113,003 thinking voters voted for change at AC Transit. 

Joyce Roy is founder of AC Transit Activists for Change (ACTAC). 

I grew up in this city and I am so disappointed in it I could just spit. How its citizenry can keep electing someone as mayor who quite obviously doesn’t care about their wants, needs or rights escapes me. 

Are my fellow Berkeleyans who voted for Bates aware that he now plans to extend the parking meters until 10 p.m. to milk his individual taxpayers further but continues to refuse to have the sprawling University of California pay for the city resources with which we increasingly provide it? 

Bates has been obsessed with aggressive development to win and woo outside industry and big business at the expense of his actual citizens: the small business owners, the residents, the parents and the children living in his city. 

He refuses to enact a Sunshine Ordinance to allow these citizens to know what he’s doing with city funds, policy and planning. Meanwhile, he gives developers, UC and other agencies carte blanche to carve up and pollute this city and throw up high rises that may not even be occupied but will block the sun from families’ yards for good. 

As a resident of Northwest Berkeley, I have watched Tom Bates engage in a transparent charade skirting the serious air pollution problem caused by Pacific Steel Casting, a company releasing dangerous manganese, other heavy metals and carcinogenic binding agents into Berkeley’s air next to preschools, shopping districts and the city’s oldest, historic residential neighborhood where thousands of children live. 

Bates has stood by while Pacific Steel fails to follow mandates and clean up the problem. Yet he likes to call himself a “green” mayor and Berkeley a “green” city as he lets this 70-year-old decrepid factory operate and pollute through its failing walls as though it were an acceptable modern structure. If it weren’t so serious, it would be laughable. 

He fails to allow the objective scientific data collected to be made available to the experts or affected residents. He fails to mention that his PR firm is the same as Pacific Steel’s. He sits on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board and fails to mention it was formed 70 years ago by a Pacific Steel chairman. He claims the problem, which in residents’ opinion is worsening, is improved by citing that complaints in the area have gone down. He fails to mention that he and the Air Quality Board have made the process of filing a complaint increasingly difficult to nearly impossible and the inspection process completely unscientific as inspectors are young, inexperienced and not allowed to work with monitors or instruments. 

This kind of covert, duplicitous behavior and total lack of integrity is not surprising from someone who stole and destroyed all the Daily Cal newspapers in 2002 when the paper endorsed his opponent. What is surprising is that a city with residents as savvy as Berkeley would re-elect this person. What is going on? 

Bates sold our city’s air rights to developers building high rises for one fifth of the value at which they were appraised in a back room deal and says he’ll do the same in South Berkeley neighborhoods near Ashby BART. So we’ve reelected a mayor who is essentially purposefully underfunding the city’s budget? And then we are told that times are tough and our parks, libraries and resources need to be cut back or further funded by us with bonds and taxes?? 

Tom Bates can call himself progressive, fiscally responsible and environmentally sound when it suits him but his record says 180 degrees otherwise. I hope all you Bates voters think twice when you pay your 10 p.m. parking meter tickets—this guy is taking from you and giving nothing back. He needs to be held accountable. It’s our children he’s stealing from. 

Reva Aimes is a Berkeley resident.

It is unbelievable that Mayor Tom Bates could be re-elected by an astonishing 62 percent of City of Berkeley voters. This is the same mayor who gave University of California at Berkeley the rights to run rough shod over the downtown area for the next 15 years with no input from the residents. This UCB giveaway was signed behind closed doors by our mayor. The pending university land grab will result in reduced property taxes while placing the increased cost of maintenance on the backs of Berkeley residents. You see UCB is exempt from City of Berkeley property taxes. 

It’s not surprising that Bates, all his six years in office, has fought citizen efforts to create a strong Sunshine ordinance and more open government. Bates’ backroom deliberations have carried over to city council meetings when he has attempted to limit public comment. This has meant violations of the Brown Act at nearly every council meeting in the last half dozen years. This is something I fought to change and SuperBOLD has picked up the baton and continues this struggle. We want everyone to be able to speak with enough time to react to what our mayor, unscrupulous developers and the UCB are pushing through at City Council meetings. 

This is the same mayor who has had protesters outside his house, not the disadvantaged but his neighbors. They are upset for his selling out to Corporate America again by allowing Verizon cell phone towers in the area. Speaking of the disadvantaged, Bates is also cutting homeless assistance programs. At this same time the mayor has expanded the war on homeless people by introducing the Public Commons Ordinance making it illegal to sit on the sidewalk. This mean-spirited draconian law expanded the troubled police department’s selective enforcement. This is the wrong time to give the police expanded powers as they are in trouble with drug vault problems, shooting and killing an African-American grandmother in the back and being overly aggressive throughout the city. Code Pink protesters know first-hand what I mean. 

It was Bates who engineered Berkeley’s pull out of the appeal of UCB high performance sports facility lawsuit at the oak grove, which is also acknowledged as an Ohlone burial ground. Bates should be reminded that university’s stadium grove was originally dedicated to the 92 veterans of World War I. The mayor’s cowardly act of guiding the city away from defending the grove against a “hate crime” against the indigenous community has also alarmed plenty of residents who are afraid of the pending UCB/LBNL over-development in Strawberry Canyon. The mayor has been culturally insensitive in his attempt to get rid of Ashby Bart Flea Market coupled with the insult of preventing the celebration of Juneteenth, both attacks on the African-American community. 

Finally, there was no way my campaign would get 600 fewer votes than two years ago with more support (Cindy Sheenan) and greater visibility this time around. I seriously question the validity of this 62 percent by the most hated man in Berkeley. This time he can thank the Sequoia voting machines. 

Zachary RunningWolf was a candidate for Berkeley mayor in 2008 and 2006.

Alan Tobey’s strange Nov. 6 rant, “Measure KK Aftermath: Perish by the Sword,” prompted me to reflect on Measure KK and the discussion it generated about Bus Rapid Transit. The Measure KK campaign brought to light some interesting information about our community. Here are some of the most memorable things I learned. 

A 1R bus with four riders gets about half the passenger-miles-per-gallon as a driver-only Toyota Prius. Driving big empty buses up and down Telegraph may inflate the ego of AC Transit managers, but its not helping the environment. Driving big empty buses up and down Telegraph in their own lanes may further inflate the ego of AC Transit managers, but it won’t help the environment either. 

Twenty-three percent of Berkeley voters don’t trust the City Council to make decisions about bus lanes. For politicians, that may be acceptible, but for the thousands of Berkeley citizens who feel they are being ignored by the City Council, it is a vote of “no confidence” in our local government. 

The campaign against Measure KK was paid for almost entirely by the companies that sell new buses to AC Transit. What more can I say about that? 

AC Transit could fit one bus lane into Telegraph without removing any of the existing traffic lanes. With some rearrangement of parking spaces, Telegraph could have a dedicated bus lane down the center, along with two car/truck lanes in each direction. One bus lane, with traffic lights to control the direction of bus travel, could easily handle all the bus traffic AC Transit is proposing. BRT would work just as well (or badly) with one lane as with two. But for some reason, AC Transit is demanding two bus lanes, both of which will sit empty and unused more than 90 percent of the time. 

People who live in Oakland and San Leandro are not very impressed with the idea of two expensive, unsightly, and poorly utilized bus lanes down the middle of their cities. For BRT to be fully implemented, both those cities will have to approve it, and that is doubtful. So even if the Berkeley City Council votes for BRT, it still might not get built. 

Four hundred million dollars is a lot of money. Our society could invest that money in a lot of useful things, like solar power, better education, and better health care. There is only so much money to spend, especially these days, and if we waste it on a useless bus lane, some other valuable projects will suffer. 

So was the defeat of Measure KK a victory for anyone? The Van Hool company must feel like it is, or their US distributor wouldn’t have spent all that money on the campaign. Same for Cummins West, the makers of the diesel engines in the Van Hool buses, who also contributed heavily. They seem to expect AC Transit to continue buying the polluting diesel buses, rather than switching over to clean technologies. So it doesn’t look like it’s a victory for the environment. It’s certainly not a victory for the people who live in my neighborhood, and its not clear that BRT will bring any real improvement for the riders of AC Transit either. In fact, there is a good chance that Oakland or San Leandro won’t approve BRT, in which case Van Hool and Cummins West will have wasted all that campaign money. 

As for me, I’m going to wait and see whether BRT ever gets built. I’m hoping it won’t. 

Russ Tilleman is a Berkeley resident and a Measure KK supporter. 

I have to say I’m rather appalled. In the last edition of the Daily Planet, there was an article regarding the United Healthcare Workers SEIU strike and protest and the noise complaints from surrounding Alta Bates area neighbors. Peter Shelton was specifically noted as having his 5- and 7-year-old boys woken up on the morning of the protest. The police, union representatives, the union vice president, the chief of police, a city department director, a city council member and hospital management were all quoted as regretful and solemn about correcting future such problems. 

I live in Northwest Berkeley in the widening zone of Pacific Steel emissions of manganese, nickel, other heavy metals, burning plastic and noxious gases and neurotoxins. My 3-year-old daughter has had to take prednisone to be able to breath. She was taken to the emergency room, hospitalized for three days and I curled up in a tiny cot next to her and slept that way while she tried to sleep with tubes in her mouth. Some of the protesting workers may well have been monitoring her during our stay. We have no history of asthma in either family and had no such problem before moving to this neighborhood. 

Yet when I, and hundreds of other families, in our area have brought this serious health risk that has been allowed to exist for decades to the attention of city officials—my councilmember, Linda Maio and the now re-elected mayor—I have gotten dismissive platitudes about protecting the union workers’ jobs at Pacific Steel or simply no response at all (from Tom Bates.) 

So am I to understand that if your child is woken two hours early on one morning in their own bed by union workers, then the city, police department and union are vigilantly remorseful and ready to prevent any further such harrowing experience. But if your child is being sickened every hour of every day of every year, continually on steroids and hospitalized for days by union workers working in a 70-year-old building that’s polluting the air and causing asthma or worse, then everything is just fine and we parents are overreacting and silly to complain? 

This blatant backwards sensitivity and injustice is infuriating. Parents with children suffering ill health from the neglected problem of Pacific Steel in Northwest Berkeley should not have to read such overprivileged nonsense. Or perhaps it’s actually helpful to realize how very classicist and racist this once liberal city of Berkeley has become: the wealthy white neighbors in Rockridge have been woken up early on one occasion and that is enough to quell union protests concerning unfair working conditions—but hundreds of families are being poisoned in a predominantly low income, historically ethnic neighborhood and that’s not important enough to bother the unions or stop production until the emissions can be assessed and cleaned up. 

More than 80 percent of Pacific Steel workers live outside a 15-mile radius of Berkeley; they are not Maio or Bates constituents. And even if they were, if a local restaurant posed a health risk, would the mayor and Ms. Maio insist it stay open and serve in order to employ the waitstaff? How about toxic toy manufacturers and cigarette companies, should we keep all companies running to capacity to employ their workers no matter what? 

I don’t think the city cares much about children’s health, workers’ rights or environmental impacts. It cares about money. Moneyed upper class citizens in wealthy neighborhoods getting upset. Or one of the largest, oldest steel foundries with taxable polluting product getting upset. If the union sides with the money, it’s listened to, if it doesn’t, it’s told to be quiet: there’s rich people sleeping. 

Pear Michaels is a Berkeley resident.

As the so-called victim of the Oct. 19 assault in West Berkeley described in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Oct. 28 article “When Wife is Attacked, Husband Becomes Hero,” I would like to express a few thoughts on the matter. While I am grateful to journalist Chip Johnson for bringing attention to the assault and to crime in West Berkeley I am curious as to why he chose not to hear and include “the wife’s” version of the events. Mr. Johnson presented the crime and my husband’s actions as a hyper-masculine fantasy in which a lone-ranger saves a damsel in distress and bashes the bad guy. I found this to be disturbing on a few different levels not least of which was the reaction it received from readers: many readers wrote in to the Chronicle’s blog saying my husband should have simply killed our assailant. 

I was also troubled by Mr. Johnson’s presentation of the story because neither I nor my two small daughters were voiceless, passive victims in this assault and we do not appreciate being portrayed as such. I screamed and screamed, and did not stop screaming from the moment Mr. Davidson sprayed mace in my face, hit me on the back of the head, and shoved me to the sidewalk. I screamed even louder when, with the one eye I could see with, I watched him get into my car and try to turn it on, with my two young daughters still buckled into their seats. Luckily for my daughters, I had pocketed the car keys before getting out of the driver’s seat to remove the grocery bags from the car’s rear. They had the good sense to scream their lungs out when they saw someone they did not know get in their mommy’s seat. They and I did not stop screaming until neighbors up and down the street came running out of their houses and my husband came running from our backyard. What the neighbors and my husband thought at first was children playing they quickly had figured out were people in distress and they came to help.  

Thank God for my neighbors and for the close-knit community we have created. Thank God for the Berkeley Police Department and Berkeley Fire Department which both came quickly to the scene and were helpful and sympathetic. Thank God for my husband who is guided as much by his instincts as his mind. He did not want to hurt Mr. Davidson, he wanted only to catch him and subdue him. In fact, when Mr. Davidson complained that he suffered from asthma as my husband was pinning him to the ground my husband advised him to “breathe slowly and evenly, like they do in yoga.” 

My husband and I, and our two young daughters, have put our hearts and souls into West Berkeley since we moved here in 2000. We connected a local boy and his parents who have no financial resources with a school that gave him a full scholarship and continues to stimulate his exceptional brain. With the help of neighborhood kids we painted the ugly, crumbling white stanchions (those road barriers all over Berkeley preventing speeding) with brightly colored flowers and hand imprints. We planted flowers and succulents in them and replanted them for years, even after angry neighborhood kids and teenagers would regularly pull everything out and throw it to the ground. We have been greatly involved with the Rosa Parks Neighborhood Association—an on-again, off-again group of varying size and commitment that tries to bring peace, beauty, health, and better opportunity to the West Berkeley community. As part of my belief that making and viewing art can bring healing to people, I almost succeeded in organizing the kids of the neighborhood into painting a mural on Rosa Parks Elementary School’s huge wall facing the community park. I have taught media courses at another local elementary school, Black Pine Circle School, in which the kids photographed and videotaped West Berkeley residents and shopkeepers as a way to celebrate our community, record its stories, and foster dialogue. Simply by buying a home in West Berkeley and putting our time, energy and resources into turning it from an eyesore with crack vials and discarded condoms in its front yard into a place that people pass and say “I like what you’ve done with your house” we have helped our community. Up and down the street, when people take pride in their homes and their community, whether it is as modest a thing as clearing up garbage on the sidewalks or planting a few flowers, it helps everybody.  

After this recent assault I am sad. My sorrow lies in my loss of enthusiasm for this wonderful, diverse, fascinating West Berkeley neighborhood I still love. And my sorrow lies also in the fact that I am so angry. I am angry at President Bush and the past eight years and the disasters that he has brought upon all of us and the world. He and his policies have decimated the social structure and education that our youth so obviously need. His policies have taken the money needed for health and education and society’s well-being to pay for exorbitant wars that have only brought those nations and ours further suffering. Finally, I am sad for this young man, Mr. Davidson, who through a series of events in his own life has arrived at a point where he can assault a fellow human being.  

Obviously what happened to my family is nothing compared to the terrors people deal with every day in Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur, and many places right here in the United States. But it was still upsetting and mirrors larger societal problems. Surely the City of Berkeley can do something to get rid of or at least lessen the drug dealing, prostitution, robberies, and assaults in West Berkeley. Surely something can be done to funnel the energies of our young people from destructive to creative activities—like the mural-painting project that West Berkeley artist Juana Alicia and the City of Berkeley have recently started with local youth. Surely with the hope and leadership that our new President-elect provides to all of us we can find ways to foster the many positive, unique qualities of West Berkeley. Like Obama, we are all creative, resourceful, inspired, and inspiring people; let’s come up with solutions. Let’s make an effort anyway.  

Myra Paci is a West Berkeley resident. 

Having worked as a physician for the United Farm Workers Union (UFW) from 1973-78, I was interested in Zelda Bronstein’s interview with Randy Shaw about his new book on Cesar Chavez and the UFW. Since Cesar’s death it’s been my feeling that anyone who tried to write the story of Cesar might either succumb to psychocophancy or else be branded a heretic. Thus I have avoided comment on Cesar’s legacy. Like many former UFW staff I refused to talk publicly. Former KPFA programmer Chuy Varela once did a program on Cesar that I thought lacked insight and I called Chuy to tell him why. He invited me to come on the air. I refused.  

In 1999 I—and many former UFW staff—received a letter from History Professor Paul Henggeler of the University of Texas—Pan American (at Edinburg, Texas) asking for help in a book he was writing about Cesar and the UFW. I was wary of his motives but Henggeler was persistent and persuasive. He demonstrated that he had a strong pro-union history, admired Chavez, that 95% of his students were Mexican-American and he had written a well received book on the relationship between Lyndon Johnson and the Kennedys. On August 29, 1999 Henggeler wrote me: “Personally, I am a New Deal Democrat and very much pro-union…I admire Chavez and firmly believe that he did more to help the farm workers than any person in American history….But if I don’t assess these documents (he had read the entire archives of the UFW at Wayne State University) someone else will—someone who might not be sympathetic…he (Cesar Chavez) is betrayed by people who misread the past. I do not believe that the future of the farm workers or the UFW would be best served by ignoring the past, or by trying to escape this unfortunate turn in the UFW’s history. Mistakes were made, prompting the sad departure of some very dedicated and hard-working people and eventually even Board members themselves. History is bigger than its subjects. And I believe that the best service one can do for Cesar Chavez is to tell his story.” Like many others, I then spoke with Henggeler. 

When I last spoke with Paul Henggeler he was having trouble with some loose ends and the book’s publication date had already been pushed back over two years. That was around 2004-5. Within a year Henggeler was suddenly dead of a heart attack at a young age. So far, to this date, his wife, whom I do not know and have never contacted, seems reluctant to go ahead and publish. That would be understandable for I’m sure it would put her in the media spotlight and create some attention and also some animosity.  

However, Hengeller’s stirring up the embers of the deep historical controversies within the UFW gave Leroy Chatfield, a former priest and one of Cesar’s former personal support staff at La Paz in Keene California an idea. Leroy initiated a kind of people’s history of the UFW by gathering e-mail addresses for many or most of the UFW’s former staff members (several hundreds of people) and asking them to participate in an open uncensored gathering of information, experiences and opinions on the UFW’s past for a new web site. That web site went up in mid-2007 and has had, I believe, over 1 million hits since. I was at first wary of participating in the Leroy’s effort (as I was with Henggeler) but slowly it became clear that Leroy was seriously interested in trying to moderate a full and mutually respectful airing of everything from the vital years of the UFW’s growth into a powerful force in California and US politics through its period of major gains in rights for farm workers. And so, although I did not particate in the 6 months of blogging discussion that is totally on the web site, I did ultimately write my own story and post an essay among the hundreds of other essays that detail our experience with the La Union and La Causa.  

From Zelda’s interview I wouldn’t want to say much about Shaw’s book except that I doubt it could have the depth and inclusiveness that readers may find on the web site Leroy still monitors at www.farmworkermovement.org. Or that it could be as rigorous as the effort that Henggeler had “almost completed.” There are months of fascinating reading to be had at the farm worker movement web site from all sides of the story of the UFW and Cesar E Chavez. In addition a former Berkeleyan who was one of the Oakland 7 from Stop the Draft Week and then became a farm worker and union organizer has also been working on a book on this subject.  

I am writing now because I think we too often mis-teach and mis-learn history as undialectical—as if great leaders like King and Chavez come along and simply lead us out of bondage into great social advances by force of their own natures. The effort to canonize such leaders is misguided and prevents us from learning much about the social forces that work to the benefit or the destruction of our social movements and leaders. More than any leader I know Cesar Chavez approaches the stature of a tragic figure. It was Cesar’s leadership strengths—his charisma, his intelligence and pragmatism, his faith (religious in particular), his belief in himself, in destiny and hope to improve people’s lives—that made him an exceptional leader, allowed him to both suceed and then to be trapped as in a room with no exit by forces he thought he understood and could control. Those forces of capitalism included the national AFL-CIO leadership—which was at that time working closely with the CIA through the American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD)—the liberal wing of the Democratic Party—in particular Jerry Brown—and the Catholic Church. Each of these forces gave much unto Cesar to grow and sustain the UFW’s meteoric rise, only to later corner him and exact unacceptable prices. The greatest price was the internal battle waged over whether the UFW would become an economic trade union with better management efficiency like any good union or remain a broad political movement rallying social forces and communities to fight for a more just society. Cesar and the UFW leadership were being pushed to resolve this dillema but it was not actually a dillema that had to be. The UFW did not have to desert its movement character in order to perfect is labor organizing efforts. At first, Cesar thought he had a way to control those forces that pushed him hither and yon, but they ultimately forced him into a kind of leadership isolation that led to internal divisions, weakened the UFW and made him paranoid about people who criticized his policies, methods, and style. With all his successes, Cesar Chavez saw no good reason why anyone should feel they could challenge him. Look at what he had achieved. Chavez, but also some leaders around him, could not see that his autonomy and that of the farm workers’ movement had been irreversibly compromised right there on the path of its successes, and that from the workers in the fields and Ranch Committees, to the union offices, the legal department and the clinics, these compromises would inevitably become unacceptable to many of those dedicated Chavistas who had built the union. Mass purges ensued, the UFW became only a shadow of itself, and its impact in the fields, in the lives of farm workers and around the nation faltered, but the effort to blur these terrible losses still continues. That was almost 30 years ago, and Henggeler’s book needs to be published.  

Marc Sapir is a Berkeley resident.

My daughter, who is 28 years old had just picked up her 3-year-old toddler from childcare and was on her way home from work. She made a right hand turn onto a busy street when her car was struck on the passenger front door damaging her front passengers mirror by a Caucasian male riding a bicycle. After the incident happened, she heard a crowd of people yelling and screaming angrily at her. The incident startled her and her baby as well and was frightening, because she was unsure what had occurred at the time; maybe it was a car jacking, or someone trying to snatch her baby. She tried to make a turn on a street to come back on the street where the accident occurred but got lost. When she did return, she parked her vehicle about a block away where the accident occurred and waited for the police to arrive. She was kept separate from the bicyclist and the crowd of people and was questioned by Berkeley Police. The ambulance with the medical team arrived to examine and give first aid to the bicyclist, but the medical team never examined the baby or my daughter to see if they were physically injured or in shock, etc. My daughter was arrested. This was the first time she had ever been arrested and placed in jail. She bailed out of jail three days later and got a public defender to represent her. The public defender stated that there was a possibility her case would be dropped. After I spoke with him, pertaining to the bicyclist being the one to cause the accident, he assured me that the bicyclist was not responsible and that my daughter had left the scene of the accident which made her automatically guilty.  

Under the special circumstance, that my daughter felt threatened, and was shocked by what happened, was the main cause for her struggling trying to find a safe place for her and her baby to park and wait for the police to arrive.  

It was clear that my daughter suffered shock and was traumatized. She and her child never received any kind of medical treatment by paramedics at the scene of the accident.  

Although some of the charges were dropped against her, she was told by her attorney that it was in her best interest to plead no contest to a misdemeanor to hit and run. He also stated that the man on the bicycle claimed that he had injuries to his hand and then the next appearance in court, the bicyclist claimed he had injuries to his teeth. The judge found her guilty with time served, placed on probation and paid a court fine of $130. 

Here is a person who can barely afford to pay her bills, who was incarcerated, had to pay bail. While incarcerated, the jailers failed to feed her, she had to seek medical treatment after she was released from jail for herself and her baby, she had to pay for her own damages to her vehicle, and the public defender representing her from Alameda County stood up in court and demanded they district attorney stipulate as part of her probation that she pay for the bicyclist medical cost for dental work if any occur. I thought that the public defender was supposed to work in the total best interest of its client.  

African Americans plead guilty to most cases because they do not have the money to bail out or to afford good attorneys to represent them. It makes no difference if that person is totally guilty or innocence. And we call this justice. 

Prior to this incident, my wife received two parking tickets in the same day and at the same location that she was parked. Although she had a handicapped sticker clearly hanging on the rear view mirror, she was cited twice by a parking code enforcer located in Berkeley.  

On another my son tried to throw a birthday party at a park recreation center located. He was given permission by the Parks and Recreation people on site to have music but was stopped by the Berkeley Police Department stating that the reason was for disturbing the peace. The same park was used by other groups playing baseball late at night and the noise from the baseball game could be heard four blocks away. No action was ever taken by the police department pertaining to the noise by these people playing baseball late at night. From what I have seen, none of the people playing in the baseball game were African Americans.  

I feel that it is very important to enforce equal protection as well as civil rights to insure that every American regardless of color or sex should be able to enjoy the same liberties and protections as any other American. 

Earl V. Levels, Sr. is an East Bay resident. 

new blood was needed 

mixed blood was had 

most of us jubilant 

one percent sad 

the last 8 years 

what an ordeal 

each day i woke screaming 

“god, this can't be real!” 

what comes next 

truly historic 

so much riding on one meteoric 

this last week, what lovely connection 

not used to us being such a friendly confection 

with the next era 

our lives could be strained 

a key to survival 

this momentum sustained 

Of many things, I wish my parents had lived long enough to see Barack Obama elected as the 44th President of the United States. I think they would have appreciated it far more than I ever could. 

My parents were Depression-era kids, African-Americans raised in that East Bay racial netherworld that actively practiced anti-Black racism, but then unashamedly spent the following years wrapping itself in the mantle of progressivism and pretending that it never did. My mother’s father, Thomas Reid, was a skilled carpenter from Georgia who could never get a job as a skilled carpenter in the Bay Area, and so he ended his life supporting his family by mopping floors at Berkeley’s Wonder Bread bakery. My father’s father, Ellis Allen, a Louisiana man of many talents, could only find work in Oakland as a waiter on the Pullman trains, a subservient position barely a step up from the old Black man-servants of slaverytimes, where the “yessir” and tip of the cap were mandatory job skills. Grandmothers on both my mother’s and father’s sides were still alive late in my parents’ childhood, women who had been born into and lived their earliest years in plantation slavery in Virginia and Louisiana, respectively. 

In the East Bay world in which my parents grew up, the swimming pools and beaches were segregated, and African-Americans had to picket and boycott local stores and other businesses in order to get jobs at places where they shopped. Most of the East Bay hills was off limits for African-American residents, as were large stretches of the East Oakland flatlands. Black workers were only allowed to work in the World War II Richmond shipyards under the covenant that Henry Kaiser—the industrialist who brought them up from the South by the trainload—agreed to demolish the houses and neighborhoods he had built for them as soon as the war was over. 

Both my parents found outlets in competitive sports—which, during their growing up years, was deeply segregated beyond the high school level—and like many African-Americans of their era, closely followed the national progress of African-Americans by tracking the progress in that arena. 

But even in that seemingly innocuous area—where prestige but no power was the reward—African-Americans had to be careful under certain circumstances to mute their exuberance. 

My cousin, Geoffrey Pete, often illustrates this point with a story about an unnamed Black waiter and the 1938 Joe Louis-Max Schmeling heavyweight boxing title fight. 

Louis, affectionately known as the “Brown Bomber,” was the first African-American to win the heavyweight crown since it was stripped from Jack Johnson for daring to have a white girlfriend. But in 1936, Louis lost the title to the German Max Schmeling, no Nazi himself, but used by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis to advance their theory of Aryan supremacy over the darker races. When Louis and Schmeling met for a rematch in New York in 1938, before the horrors of World War II and the revelations of the Holocaust had turned American opinion against the Nazis, support for the two fighters in America was often divided along racial lines. 

The website Legends And Lore describes at http://www.ibhof.com/ibhfhvy5.htm what actually happened in the second Louis-Schmeling fight: 

“At the opening bell, Louis forced Schmeling to the ropes. Suddenly a Louis right lifted Schmeling’s right foot in the air and the German grabbed the top rope to steady himself. Schmeling extended only his left arm for protection. Louis then unloaded a barrage of punches, many landing against Schmeling’s head. Schmeling then turned away from the champion and a body shot seemed to leave him paralyzed. Schmeling later said it was an illegal kidney punch and that he never fully recovered from the blow. With Schmeling still pinned along the ropes, a Louis right buckled his knees and referee Arthur Donovan intervened. After a brief count, he allowed the action to continue. Schmeling wobbled toward Louis and was met with a right hand that sent him crashing to the canvas. Schmeling gamely reached his feet but another Louis combination sent him down again. The Schmeling corner then threw a towel into the ring, signifying their surrender. Donovan, who had reached the count of five, waved the bout off after just two minutes and four seconds of action. Schmeling threw just two punches in the bout.” 

The course of the short fight was followed on radios around the nation, one of them in the basement of a San Francisco hotel, where the Black staff huddled, and listened, and then roared out in celebration at the result. As my cousin, Geoffrey, tells the story, one of the waiters left the gathering grinning with pride, only to meet a white patron in the empty street just outside the hotel. The white man had evidently been somewhere out on business, and had not been able to listen to the fight. 

“How’s it going with Schmeling and Louis?” the white man asked the waiter. 

The waiter quickly sized up the situation, replacing his widespread grin with a look of serious concern. “I ain’t know, boss,” he said, rubbing his brow. “Louis a good man, but look like Mr. Schmeling taking it to him.” 

We have come a long way, haven’t we, in these intervening 70 years, to a moment when African-Americans could openly dance up and down Broadway in downtown Oakland, celebrating the election of the first African-American president in United States history. 

My parents never broke the habit of following African-American progress through the medium of sports. My mother was never a golf fan, but in her last years she adopted Tiger Woods as a fourth grandson, never calling him anything but “Tiger,” and during golf tournaments, when I came home from work in the evenings, she would greet me, inevitably, with a smile and a “did you see what Tiger did today?” 

My father’s measure was football, and the march of African-Americans into the quarterback ranks. As remarkable as it must seem for those who have come of age recently, Black athletes were long barred from the football quarterback position on the grounds that they either lacked the intelligence to make the many and fast-moving decisions that the position required, or the courage to stand and make the proper play with defensive linemen bearing down on them. Blacks who played successfully as quarterbacks on high school or Black college teams were inevitably moved over to wide receiver, running back, or defensive back when and if they entered the pro ranks. When that barrier was finally, and slowly, broken in the white colleges and the pros, my father maintained no allegiance to any particular team, but rooted for whatever team on television had the Black quarterback. It is amusing to think how he would have managed things today, when not only is a Black quarterback v. Black quarterback game common, but a Black coach v. Black coach as well. Like a kid at Thanksgiving dinner, I think he would have mourned the fact of too much food, and too little plate. 

If my mother had lived to see 2008, she would have adopted Barack Obama immediately as she had Tiger Woods, calling him “Barack” as if she had known him all her life, following the course of the election on the cable news stations by day, and then listening to the radio talk show chatter over it late into the night. She would have cooed and fussed over Michelle and the girls, and fumed when either they or her “Barack” came under attack. She would have tolerated John McCain, though blaming him for unleashing the dogs of racism, and she would have hated Sarah Palin, greeting her with glares and choice words every time she came onscreen like the audiences greeted the old silent movie villains. And she would have squealed and screamed and gotten up and danced on the night Barack Obama won, as we did on the night that Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston, or when the Williams sisters won Wimbeldon. 

My father would have come along more slowly. 

My father was the most thoughtful person I ever knew, a man who kept his own counsel, did his own research, and made up his own mind before ever voicing an opinion, and without being swayed by what the public was thinking. In addition, my father had no illusions about Black politicians, even pioneering Black politicians, knowing them as persons first, rather than legends. Long before Lionel Wilson became a state judge and then Oakland’s first African-American mayor, my father knew him on the Oakland basketball courts. (“He was always the captain of the team, always was the point guard, always took the last shot,” my father would say of Mr. Wilson. “You know why?” He would give a knowing smile. “Because he was always the one who brought the basketball.”) 

More than anything else, it would have been the Rev. Jeremiah Wright affair that would have stayed my father’s enthusiasm about Barack Obama, but not in the way it affected many white Americans. My father—who faithfully, without fail, read the newspaper over coffee every morning—would have found a way to listen to Mr. Wright’s sermons—the whole sermons, not just the salacious snippets—and there would have found resonance in his own experiences and views on America. My father would have believed-rightfully so, I think-that Barack Obama and Mr. Wright were far closer than was later asserted, probably mentor and pupil, and that if Mr. Obama did not hear the most radical of Mr. Wright’s sermons first-hand as he later claimed, he almost certainly heard those views forcefully argued by the reverend over Sunday suppers. While it is probably true that Mr. Obama did not agree with the most adamant of Mr. Wright’s pro-Black and criticize-America sentiments, and would have argued with the reverend just as forcefully in rebuttal, he would have learned much from those exchanges that was not in his background, and would have incorporated many of those thought-processes in his analyses of America and the world. While my father may have seen Mr. Obama’s disavowal of Mr. Wright’s views as politically necessary to win the presidency, he nonetheless would have seen that disavowal as disingenuous and something of a betrayal, souring him even more on the political process, if not the man himself. 

But in the end, I believe, my father would have come around, and seen in the Obama victory a long, crossover step in the long march of African-American history. 

Once, when my father and I were driving through West Oakland, we saw an elderly Black woman walking along the street and my father, unaccountably, said, “I wonder what she’s thinking.” When I asked him what he meant, he said, “The things she’s seen in her life. The tragedies. The sorrows. She’s seen things we can never imagine. I wonder what she thinks about them, now.” 

I think that about my parents. I walked along Broadway in downtown Oakland on the night Barack Obama was elected, watched the celebrating crowds, and wondered what my parents would have thought about all that had happened and was happening. I wish that they were here to see it, and to let me know. Of these golden days, my chief regret is that they are not. 

On Oct. 2 the City of Berkeley butchered the big ornamental pear tree that grows in the sidewalk median in front of my house. 

The tree, formerly a prime specimen, did need to be pruned. It had grown up into the telephone lines, its lower lateral branches needed trimming, and its canopy need to be thinned out. And I knew that the City planned to prune it: Notices asking motorists to remove their cars next to the adjacent curb had been posted on the tree a few days earlier. On the morning of October 2, the City staffer who did the actual pruning—Alex or Alec, hereafter A.—came to my door and asked if I knew whose cars were parked next to the sidewalk. I told him that I didn’t, and he left. 

When I went out, perhaps an hour later, I was stunned. A. had sawed off at least two dozen lateral limbs. At least four of those limbs were 2 ? to 4 inches in diameter. This once-graceful ornamental pear now looked like one of those “lollipop” trees drawn by small children. Before, its lower branches and foliage had shaded pedestrians and screened the view from my house. No longer and nevermore: A tree this old won’t put out new lateral branches of the sort that A. had sawed off. Strangely, the uppermost branches hadn’t been touched; they still reached into the telephone lines. 

I was appalled. A. mumbled something about how residents were often unhappy when trees that had once screened their views no longer did so after having been pruned, but it couldn’t be helped. 

I went into my house and called the Parks Department. Within an hour or so, City Arborist Betsy Reeves appeared at my door. I thanked her for her prompt attention. On the phone, I’d predicted that she would vindicate her colleague. She speedily confirmed my prediction. Surveying the tree, she told me that A. had done nothing improper. She said that City rules required that trees extend no more than eight feet into the street and no more than 14 feet above the sidewalk. (The City has legal authority over trees in sidewalk medians.) 

When I asked why I hadn’t been consulted beforehand, Reeves repeatedly stated that City rules specify that only those who ask to have their trees pruned have to be consulted about the pruning. My next-door neighbor to the west had asked that the City prune the Chinese pistache trees in the sidewalk median in front of her house, and she had been consulted. After A. left and before Reeves arrived, that neighbor told me that another City employee—Tom?—had come out the week before and discussed with her the pruning of each bough of her trees. (Another strangeness: post-pruning, the highest branches of her pruned trees were still much lower than those of my mine.) Presumably Tom had decided that my tree also needed to be pruned. 

Before departing, Reeves gave me a handful of literature about street tree maintenance in the City of Berkeley. I read one of the handouts—“Tree Pruning Standards/Guidelines”—and concluded that Reeves and her team had violated three of the standards/guidelines in the “Mature Tree Pruning” section. 

Standard/Guideline #2: “Clearance of fourteen (14) feet over roadways and eight (8) feet over sidewalks should be achieved during the pruning operation to accommodate vehicle and pedestrian traffic.” 

But A. had pruned my tree to a fourteen-foot clearance over the sidewalk as well as the street. 

Standard/Guideline #3: “The least amount of foliage possible should be removed while achieving the pruning objectives. No more than 25% of a tree’s foliage should be removed at any one time. Upon completion of pruning, one-half (1/2) of the foliage should remain evenly distributed in the lower two-thirds (2/3) of the tree and individual limbs.” 

A. had removed far more than 25% of my tree’s foliage. And his pruning had left far less than half of the remaining foliage evenly distributed in the lower two-thirds of the tree. 

Standard/Guideline #12: “Consideration should also be given to the desires of the adjacent property owner. Often street trees have been pruned in such a way as to give the person living next to the tree physical and visual screening from the street. If the pruning of a street tree will drastically change the form or clearance of the tree, an attempt should be made to contact the property owner or resident to explain the purpose of the pruning.” 

In the case at hand, I was both the property owner and the resident—and for good measure, the person who many years ago planted the tree and tended it to maturity. But the City had made no attempt to contact me and explain the purpose of the proposed pruning—pruning that would eliminate the physical and visual screening from the street that the tree provided. 

There wasn’t a word in the “Tree Pruning Standard/Guidelines” about requiring the adjacent resident or property owner to call the City in order to merit a pre-pruning consultation. Either Reeves had lied to me, or she didn’t know the rules that ostensibly govern her work. 

After a good cry—I really loved that tree—I decided to file a complaint with the City. On October 13 I went to City Hall, where I delivered a letter addressed to Human Resources Director David Hodgkins and Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Director William Rogers. I told what had happened and asked them to assess the performance of Reeves and her colleagues, to explain the basis of their assessment and to describe what if any disciplinary measures they planned to take. I included post-pruning photos of the tree. 

Hodgkins and Rogers kicked my letter down to newly appointed Parks Superintendent Sue Ferrera. On November 10, Ferrera’s reply appeared in my mailbox. Another brushoff. “It is my understanding, Ferrera wrote, “that staff spoke with you prior to pruning the tree, but there was no mention of your pruning preferences in that conversation. In the future, please know that our staff is very receptive to resident feedback and preferences and they would have made every effort to accommodate your requests within the guidelines and City policies for tree trimming.” 

In other words, it was all my fault, though Ferrera never said so straight out. Using the subject-free passive voice so dear to bureaucrats—“there was no mention of your pruning preferences”—she merely but clearly implied that the failure was mine. If only I had made my preferences known beforehand, staff “would have made every effort to accommodate [them].” 

But what about the city’s official guideline stipulating that when City arborists are contemplating a drastic change to a mature tree, they are supposed to take the initiative and try to contact the property owner or resident? Quoted in full in my letter, that guideline was ignored in Ferrera’s reply. 

I called her to ask why. “We can’t talk to everyone,” she told me, about four times in a row. In turn, I repeatedly observed that I wasn’t “everyone” but rather the person who, according to the City’s own rules, was supposed to be contacted and consulted before major pruning occurred. Finally she said that she didn’t think the tree had been drastically changed. How do you know? I asked. After all, she’d never seen the tree in its pre-pruning state. She said she’d visited the tree and looked at the size of the cuts. That effectively ended our conversation. 

Since then I have learned that prior to becoming City of Berkeley Parks superintendent in Summer 2008, Ferrera was supervisor of Anthony Chabot Park—a job unlikely to have required or developed expertise in the arboriculture of residential street trees. It’s hard to imagine that Ferrera could have gained such expertise in her few months as superintendent of Berkeley’s parks. As far as I can tell, in brushing me off, she was just protecting her subordinates and appeasing her superiors. 

In a city that has 40,000 trees, the mutiliation of one may be a small thing. But official toleration, not to say defense, of staff incompetence and arbitrary behavior is a big thing indeed. City Arborist Reeves and her colleagues are still out there with their chain saws, likely citing rules that don’t exist to justify their violation of rules that do and expecting with good reason to be shielded by their bosses from angry citizens whose trees have been deformed or, as happened in one case, completely removed without any notice, much less actual consultation. 

A cheap and easy way to make our urban foresters more accountable would be to require them to photograph each tree before they prune it. Then we’d have some objective evidence about the quality of their work. How about it, Parks Commission? 

Meanwhile, Berkeley citizens: Be vigilant. Should you learn that the City has trained its sights on the sidewalk median trees in front of your house, take action. One friend and her neighbor came out and simply refused to let the City's arborists touch the trees in the sidewalk medians adjacent to their properties. Would that I had done the same. Of course in a well-run city, residents don’t have to defend themselves from the civil servants. We don’t live in such a place. 

On election night, Barack Obama’s magnificent acceptance speech felt like a defining moment in American history. Adding to the elation many of us experienced for having supported the winning candidate in a twenty-two month presidential marathon was our sense that America had turned a page and headed off in a new direction. But what exactly is the Obama moment?  

Some will see the election as a defining point in American race relations. Nonetheless, while this is a major step forward in the long struggle for racial equality, it won’t solve the problems of institutional racism; it won’t miraculously lift up the young black child born into an inner-city ghetto who doesn’t have a supportive family or enough to eat. 

Others will view Barack’s victory as a triumph of liberalism and prophesy the conservatives’ dream of a permanent majority has been crushed. While Democrats winning the presidency and convincing control of Congress supports this notion, the political reality is that many Democratic congress members are not liberal. The last time a similar Democratic sweep happened, at the dawn of the Clinton era, the result was not a new liberal era. 

Many will regard the 2008 election as evidence Americans have grown up: we’ve decided to elect a president who has the temperamental and intellectual qualities required to do the job. Even so, when Jimmy Carter replaced Gerald Ford, or when Bill Clinton replaced George H.W. Bush, there wasn’t the political sea change many expected. 

Certainly Obama’s ascendancy signals a changing of the guard. As happened in the Kennedy Administration, the best and the brightest will now descend on Washington and, after Jan. 20, we’ll have the sense that our country is being run by people who actually believe in government, rather than those who want to dismantle it or use it to benefit the rich and powerful. Having competent people run Washington is a good thing, but not a historic shift.  

What has changed is our process: a democrat has replaced a plutocrat. 

During the past eight-long years, George W. Bush governed as a plutocratic oligarch: someone who places the interests of the wealthy above those of the American people; a president who views the executive branch of the Federal government as having more power than does Congress or the Judiciary. After 9/11, Bush put on the mantle of “commander-in-chief” and never took it off. His actions demonstrated he doesn’t believe in democratic process. 

Barack Obama does. From the beginning of his campaign, he has consistently spoken as a philosophical democrat. He’s avoided the personal pronoun “I” in favor of “we.” He often returned to the refrain: “This election is not about me, it’s about you… Change happens because the American people demand it—because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.” Election night Barack repeated these sentiments and added, “The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America—I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you—we as a people will get there.” Repeatedly he’s emphasized, “we’re in this together.” 

While his words are important, the best evidence of Obama’s deep affection for democracy is his presidential campaign, which would not have succeeded without the support of millions of average Americans who gave generously of their money and, more importantly, their time. 

For the past two months I worked as a volunteer with the Obama organization in Boulder, Colorado. (Colorado was a swing state with a competitive Senate race and, in Boulder County, a competitive House race, and therefore a far more interesting place to volunteer than was Berkeley.) Although there were more than fifty Obama offices in Colorado, and twenty paid staff in the Boulder office, what was most impressive was the participation of volunteers, many of who traveled long distances and worked horrendous hours to ensure an Obama victory. Before election day, the Obama campaign arranged twenty “staging locations” in Boulder County, satellite offices for the get-out-the-vote effort. These were staffed and run by volunteers and, on November 4th, we used them to deploy more than 3000 Obama volunteers for the final push. As a result, Obama got 72 percent of the Boulder County vote. 

This elaborate volunteer-driven get-out-the-vote effort succeeded because ordinary Americans believe Barack is a democrat in the best sense of the word; believe that as president he will represent the people rather than the powerful. The day-to-day field operations were driven by three Obama principles from his days as a community organizer: respect, empower, and include. Obama field staff respected volunteers, empowered them to become team members, and fully included them in get-out-the-vote efforts. On election day, millions of volunteers were empowered to get voters to the polls in record numbers. 

This Obama moment is about democracy. As Americans watched Barack’s acceptance speech, the powerful feelings that surged through many of us were about more than winning or the symbolic importance of electing an African-American or a uniquely competent individual. These feelings rose up from the moral fabric of the body politic: they were the recognition that we—the American people—have taken back our country. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley activist. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net

On Sunday Nov. 9, some 30 volunteers planted more than 700 young native plants in that section of Audubon Canyon Ranch on Marin County’s Bolinas Lagoon. The canyon is named for the volunteers who worked to save the lagoon and other parts of the local seashore from a catastrophic oil spill in 1971.  

On the anniversary of a more recent spill from the Cosco Busan last November, these folks are working to stem a more insidious disaster. Invasive plants have been altering the California landscape for at least a century, and not for the better.  

One reason wildland weeds are so successful is that they have fewer local predators—that is, they support fewer other species. Another is that they happen to be species with a tendency to colonize disturbed sites, where the web of local life has been ruptured, the way opportunistic microorganisms become pathogens in wounds and with compromised immune systems. Clear-cut forests, abandoned pastures, plowed fields, and even roadside gravel strips host these plants that were brought into the Americas by Europeans as cattle-feed contaminants, ornamentals, even medicinal herbs.  

Volunteer Canyon used to be a working ranch. The good: ancient apple and pear trees, the odd grapevine. The bad: poison hemlock, French broom, assorted thistles, non-native grasses.  

Audubon Canyon’s charismatic project leader, Denise Della Santina, has been here only a year. She’d rebuilt a shadehouse, a greenhouse, and various useful sheds; more important, a seedbank and a volunteer corps. They’ve planted native honeysuckle, coastal sage, mugwort, cow parsnip, coffeeberry, coyote brush, coast live oak, bigleaf maples, alders, and more over the past seasons. They’re supporting California’s unique lifeweb, building a system that reduces silting-it’s a significant problem accelerated by recent human activities like ranching, and it’s aging Bolinas Lagoon prematurely-and, hopefully, fosters the return of species like salmon.  

“All the plants-we have over 5,000 of them, for the Ranch’s four canyons-were propagated from seed we gathered right here,” said Della Santina. “First, we had to clear this”—she sweeps an arm in a broad arc over several visible acres—“of Himalayan blackberry and poison hemlock, French broom, all those invaders. We’re laying down hay as mulch, to suppress weeds and give our plants a head start. We’ll need volunteers for regular maintenance, too. 

“It’s education too-when people invest their time and labor and get dirty, it changes their perspective,” she said. She didn’t need to point out that they’re working in one of our most beautiful spots, with hawks and ravens flying over to supervise and rafts of newly-arrived wintering ducks and shorebirds joining the lagoon’s resident egrets and visiting pelicans.  

Audubon Canyon Ranch holds weekly workdays on Thursdays, 9 a.m. to noon. More volunteer days like Sunday’s are scheduled for December 6, 2008 and January 10, 2009. See the Volunteering page at http://www.egret.org or call(415) 868-9244 or e-mail Denise Della Santina at denise@egret.org for more information. Everyone’s welcome! 

Bolinas Lagoon Preserve 

4900 Highway One, Stinson Beach 

(415) 868-9244 

FAX (415) 868-1699 

acr@egret.org  

Back to the raccoons. Last week I wrote about one way of indirectly assessing intelligence in non-human mammals: the Encephalization Quotient, the difference between actual brain size and expected brain size based on body size. It’s a measure on which humans outscore all our fellow mammals, bottle-nosed dolphins outrank the great whales, and dim creatures like opossums occupy the cellar. Based on data from the German biologist Dieter Kruska, carnivores have higher indices than hoofed mammals, and raccoons outdo their closest relatives, the bears, pandas, and coatis. 

But what are they using those big brains for? Anthropologist Robin Dunbar of the University of Liverpool has published extensively on brain size and social intelligence—the cognitive skills needed to sort out relationships within a group, keeping track of kinship ties, alliances, and grudges. In mammals, that’s the work of the neocortex, the part of the brain involved with sensory perception, motor commands, spatial reasoning, and, for some of us, conscious thought and language. Dunbar hypothesized that neocortical function would be important for social primates, and that the size of the neocortex would correlate with the size of the social group. 

His magic number is the Neocortex Ratio: the volume of the neocortex divided by the volume of the rest of the brain. A ratio of one means forebrain and hindbrain are equal in volume. In general, group-living primates like chimpanzees and baboons turn out to have higher-than-average NRs, and solitaries like many of the lemurs score low. There are a few anomalies, though. Gibbons live in monogamous pairs, and orangutans are loners; but these apes have high NRs. Although behavior doesn’t fossilize, it can be argued that gibbons and orangutans evolved from more social species. 

Humans, of course, have the highest NRs of all. Based on that Dunbar proposes that the “natural” human group size is around 150, and offers supporting evidence from New Guinea villages, Hutterite communities, military units, and workplace social networks. (For the full Dunbar, try Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language.) 

Trying to extend the method to nonprimates, Dunbar and his colleague Julian Bever calculated NRs for a number of carnivores (both highly social species like lions, wolves, and spotted hyenas, and nonsocial species like weasels) and insectivores (moles, shrews, and the like, mostly nonsocial as far as is known.) Some of their results paralleled the primate studies. Weasels tended to score low. Wolves, with an NR of 1.83 and an average group size of seven, outranked coyotes and jackals. Ultrasocial spotted hyenas, at 1.94, had higher ratios than striped or brown hyenas. And the Neocortex Ratio of the African lion was a whopping 2.11; oddly, no data was given for the other cats. 

Raccoons are somewhere in the middle of the pack (NR 1.35.) And that’s a problem: raccoons are not all that social. Mothers and their kits form the largest units, and these are only temporary associations. But the raccoon’s ratio is actually a bit higher than that of its close relative the coati, which has an average group size of eight. 

The bears are even more problematic. Few carnivores are less social; but North American black bears (NR 2.4), sun bears (2.7), and giant pandas (2.4) score even higher than lions. That’s an awful lot of social intelligence going to waste. As with orangutans, you could always invoke the hypothetical social ancestors. But you also have to wonder what else might be going on in a bear’s forebrain, or a raccoon’s. 

Dieter Kruska’s article on evolutionary trends in brain size among mammals provides a clue. Kruska reports that one part of the raccoon’s neocortex is enlarged in comparison with those of similar-sized mammals: the part that receives sensory input from the forepaw. Raccoons are processing the feel of the world; they’re not keeping social scores, much less proving theorems. (What the bears are doing I can only conjecture. Maybe they have richly detailed mental maps of food sources, caching sites, places to hibernate.) 

We shouldn’t get too mammal-centric here. I should point out that some birds-corvids and parrots for the most part-are paragons of social intelligence. And they manage just fine without a neocortex. Evolution has produced a whole different brain structure in birds, but it seems to allow for comparably complex social interactions. 

I don’t think any of this necessarily invalidates the idea of social behavior as a driver of brain evolution. However, it’s always good to be wary of single-factor explanations. There’s likely to be more than one pathway to increased brain size. 

A little-noticed gated driveway branching east off Hillside Avenue north of Dwight Way bears a name most Berkeleyans wouldn’t recognize: Fernwald Road. It leads to a UC apartment complex housing 74 student families. Smyth Fernwald, as the complex is called, is named after the previous owner of the land, engineer, inventor, and social economist William Henry Smyth (1855-1940). Fernwald was the name Smyth gave his estate in the mid-1890s. 

A German word meaning “faraway woods,” Fernwald aptly described the oak-studded hilly terrain hugging the southern bank of Hamilton Creek, high above the town. In August 1926, when Smyth donated his estate to the University of California, the Berkeley Gazette described it. “The grounds, with their great trees, a splendid marine view, and beautified by a fern-clad gulch, are among the most picturesque in the East Bay district.” 

The gift was appraised at $150,000 to $200,000 but, as explained in the Oakland Tribune, “future years are expected to see the property more than doubled in value owing to its choice location for home sites.” Nobody gave any thought to the Hayward Fault, which cuts through the estate and whose creep has resulted in an almost 90-degree change in the course of Hamilton Creek. 

“In turning over to the university the estate he has personally developed from a wooded wilderness since coming to Berkeley 40 years ago,” reported the Tribune, “Smyth stipulates that the money eventually derived from the property be used for the foundation of a research fund in physical science. He has suggested to the college authorities that in the meantime his residence be used as a home for retired university presidents.” 

It was Smyth’s intention to remain in his home for the rest of his life. “I could not be happy elsewhere,” he told the Tribune, surveying the brown hills and the wooded canyon. He lived for another fourteen years. 

William Henry Smyth first appeared in the Berkeley city directory in 1887, when he was listed as a mechanical engineer living on the north side of Audubon Street (now College Avenue) between Bancroft Way and the university grounds. In those days, Strawberry Creek was the campus’s southern boundary, and College Avenue north of Bancroft Way was lined with private homes. Reminders of that residential past can be seen in the former Zeta Psi chapter house, now the UC Archaeological Research Facility, and the two Warren Cheney houses behind Wurster Hall. 

Smyth had come to Berkeley from England by way of Illinois, Montana, and Dakota. He was born in the Cheshire port town of Birkenhead, across the Mersey River from Liverpool. According to a biographical sketch published in the 1908 edition of Who’s Who in America, Smyth was educated in the Mechanics’ Institute and the Yorkshire College of Technology in Leeds before becoming an apprentice and later a draftsman in that city. 

Smyth came to the United States in 1872 and began a general practice as a consulting engineer in 1879. Over the next quarter-century he invented and patented many machines and devices, including a drag-saw (1888); various machines for making, soldering, and testing cans (1889-1903); mechanical movement (1890); pneumatic apparatus (1896); steam beer fountain (1896); hydraulic and chain bucket dredger (1898); air compressor valve (1898); means for applying fluid metals (1900); art of utilizing heat energy (1900); internally fired engine (1900); printing press (1902); menugraph (1902); deep well pump (1903); racing boat oar (1903); appliance for drafting garments (1904); shingle gauge and clamp (1905); ore-roasting furnace (1907); segmental cargo boat (World War I); and chain link hinge (1921). After the war he worked as a patent expert for a tractor company, inventing several track-related devices, including a high-speed tractor (1924). 

After seven years on Audubon St., the inventor and his wife Helen moved to Fernwald Avenue, where they were first recorded in the 1895 directory. The house into which they moved had been built in 1889 by realtor Joseph L. Scotchler, a leading Berkeley Republican who was president of the town’s board of trustees in the early 1890s. Scotchler never lived in this house; his address was 2214 Atherton Street, in another Southside residential enclave that was later to be swallowed by the campus. After three years of ownership, Scotchler sold the house to J.E. Nutting, who owned it until 1901 without ever appearing in the Berkeley directory. By then, Smyth’s earnings from his patents and consulting enabled him not only to buy the house from Nutting but to acquire seven additional lots from Clarissa Hamilton. 

In 1903, Smyth’s distinctive signature headed a short list of five property owners with frontages along Hillside Avenue who protested to the town’s board of trustees against the “grading, macadamizing and curbing, etc.” of their street, noting that “the 24-inch vitrified Ironstone pipe culvert which the specifications propose to substitute for the present bridge would destroy the desirability and beauty and depreciate the value of the property affected.” The protest was sustained, as attested by the stone bridge still spanning Hamilton Creek. 

In 1911, Smyth engaged Julia Morgan to expand and modernize his Victorian home. Among the alterations listed in the building permit were 8-foot-by-16-foot extensions across the front and the rear, 20-foot long verandas along the north and south sides, a second-floor deck across the front, a square tower added on the roof, stucco exterior, replastered interior, and new plumbing and heating systems. The result was a charming villa, distinct for its pointed arches and fanciful window panes. 

Smyth’s most lasting claim to fame is his coinage, in 1919, of the term ‘Technocracy,’ which he defined as “scientific reorganization of national energy and resources, coordinating industrial democracy to effect the will of the people.” He also believed that ownership is a social convention, and property should revert to the community upon the death of its owner. 

Finding the University of California to be the best expression of the community in which he lived, and since it was the university that had attracted him to Berkeley 40 years earlier, he decided to make it the beneficiary of his fortune. “There should be more giving whereby the benefits come to many and not few,” he declared. 

By the time Smyth died, World War II was raging in Europe. The end of the war brought thousands of new students to U.C., and the university scrambled to find housing for them. Veteran architect Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr. was recruited to design dormitories for 480 women in Fernwald. The U.C. Regents were initially opposed to the expenditure, and when approved, the project drew the ire of the neighbors, who weren’t happy to see multiple dwellings in a two-family zone and maintained that the dorms would destroy the general character and beauty of the area. 

In October 1945, with protests causing construction delays, the university announced that only 280 students would be accommodated at the opening of the fall term. “University officials are now seeking locations further removed from the residential area, on which to build housing accommodations for 200 more co-eds,” reported the Gazette. 

In 1964, the university offered the complex to the University Students Cooperative Association (USCA). In the co-op’s history, A Cheap Place to Live, Guy Lillian III wrote, “The complex […] had become a liability to the University. Its distance from campus and the uphill slog required to reach it were petty inconveniences compared to the maintenance problems which had been allowed to develop in the twenty years of its existence.” 

USCA pursued the offer, but when the Daily Californian got hold of the story, it transpired that the university had not informed the Smyth Fernwald residents of the impending change. According to the Daily Cal’s summary of the situation, “Smyth-Fernwald residents did not like the idea of having to work, or felt that the complex would deteriorate under the co-op system.” A petition was circulated, and 71.5% of the residents who signed it were opposed to the co-op takeover. The sale fell through. 

Smyth’s intended fund for physical science research never saw the light of day. His house, still standing in the center of the Smyth Fernwald complex, has become a dilapidated hulk. A 1997 U.C. Seismic Action Plan (SAFER) report found its condition to be poor and the estimated repair or replacement cost to be $1 million. That price tag will have doubled by now. Among all the university buildings awaiting seismic retrofitting, the Smyth House is a very low priority. Its fate seems all but sealed. 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA). 

It’s funny how little I know about a house prior to pulling up to the curb. Despite some lengthy conversation with my client, it really isn’t until I’ve arrived that I can actually see what I’m going to be dealing with. Had I known on this particular day what it was that I was going to see, I might have turned it down but, in retrospect, it was probably best that I didn’t know and showed up anyway. 

The agent, Jimmy, climbed out of his tony vehicle, smiled and said, “Well, I don’t know what you’re going to inspect…” Sheepishly, I smiled and proceeded to circumnavigate the property in search of just that. What I was going to inspect and bring to the table. Was I was going to make my involvement worth the fee and their time? 

This house (if you can call it that) had been so thoroughly botched that there was virtually nothing left to salvage save the framing and, blessedly, the foundation. But this alone became sufficient grist for my mill to make for a worthwhile conversation. This was precisely because it was not clear to the client that most of what had been done would have to be fully removed and replaced at unanticipated expense and by parties of a skill level beyond what I suspect she was anticipating. 

The financial conditions of recent years have forced many folks to bail out while still miles from completion on their “project—or their “flip.” Conversely, when the market is good, it’s often hard to make a project of this kind really profitable. When houses were a dime a dozen in the ‘70s, it was reasonable to turn one around and make some real money. We may see these days coming again but they’ll require that the market ultimately heal enough for new buyers to come along and snatch up the completed projects. It will require faith to venture into the market in this way, but it also requires some very practical skills in project management. 

The prospective buyer (who no longer was, it turned out) had envisioned moving into the property and finishing the work that appeared to be merely incomplete. What wasn’t obvious was that the electrical system (for one) was so badly ravaged that it was essentially a complete redo. That’s the catch, you see. With every prospective course of work, one must ask how much repair is actually worthwhile. I’ll give you an example that comes up all the time. 

Let’s say you have a room that has bunch of holes in the drywall (left over from the poor excuse for an electrician, to draw upon a recent discussion from this column). If you have, say, 10 percent of the wall torn away, it’s already becoming a question as to whether it makes sense to remove all of the drywall and start again or to try to fill and smooth over these holes. 

There are two factors in this equation. One is made up of time and materials but the other factor, equally important (if not more so) is the quality of the finished product. When you flip over to replacement of all the drywall in a given room, you change the game plan from arduously attempting to neatly work on each hole and try to smooth the finished fillers so that you won’t see the patch, to working rapidly with large sheets of fresh material (that cost almost nothing). Then you simply tape and smoothing the major seams. The latter approach is fast, comprehensive and hides most sins and other manifestations of evil and sloth. 

I will generally tweak the equation somewhat and say that more than about 20 percent of repair to drywall in a room ceases to be financial sensible and beckons a full replacement. 

This is less true in an electrical or plumbing system. But these principles are still highly relevant surfeited by more factors that flood in to replace the ones missing from a world in which one may play with mud and tape to adequate results. With electrical wiring, exactness and proper application of the principles can be a matter of life and death (not to put too fine a point on it) because fire can result from poor electrical work. With a lousy drywall installation, the worst you face is a disapproving Martha Stewart showing up unannounced (although that spell in the slammer may have softened her edge somewhat). 

With plumbing there is also not a great danger, although a flood or leak can be quite unpleasant. Nonetheless, good use of time and materials and good layout improve the quality and longevity of these systems and attempting to patch together a bunch of poorly installed plumbing may take much of the time that a complete layout from scratch requires. Here’s how this works: 

If you have a lot of fittings already in place and you’re attempting to work between them, you have fewer choices on how to run your work and, perhaps, many short sections to cut and fit exactly into place. If I know where my various fixtures are going to be and I can work from the main water supply forward to each of these and pick the points at which I branch off from scratch, my entire job may take less time than the that required to carefully perform a series of repairs. Moreover, I can make a set of decisions that I could not make in the former case. For example, I can decide to run a larger pipe for all the main trunks, reducing to smaller branches for each finished line if I’m working from scratch. I can also pre-solder whole sections outside the house and then bring them in and solder them into place in the former case. If I’m doing sectional repairs, I have fewer of these choices and have to make do with what’s already there and work mostly in situ. My main point is that all of this is slower but the other issue, that of overall control is also important. 

This is why a factory built thing (almost anything) is cheaper than a custom or site-built thing. It’s all about economies of scale. 

Back to the electrical, which was a Greek tragedy, inspiring me to want to remove my eyeballs. There was so little that wasn’t botched that it would actually be more work than starting from scratch because one would first have to remove all the little bits of what was there and then install a complete electrical system. 

To make matters worse, the remuddlers had notched the lower edges of the floor joists (the ceiling of the basement) so deeply that a set of structural repairs would be required to go along with the plumbing, wiring and other refits. 

While I won’t belabor all the other elements that reflected the sore lack of expertise demonstrated on the part of those who preceded us that day, I will say that many of the other features that would be requiring renewal/repair/replacement were not so obvious. These included windows that were marred, broken or punctured during installation and would not be good enough to deserve reinstallation. The client had assumed that these would be serviceable and it took some close pointing and discussion of the complexities of the reinstallation process for it to become clear that on the day when they were due to go back in, it would become obvious they were not going to be acceptable. 

Seeing and accounting for these many issues prior to purchase and commitment is essential to avoid heartache and financial woe. And it takes patience, self-honesty and a willingness to fold and wait for a better hand (read house) to come along. 

Lasty, a little skill with a spreadsheet can be quite a good thing. And better, a knowledge of business plans puts the buyer of the major fixer at a significant advantage since, ultimately, rehabilitation of a house is a short-term business. 

We all like bargains and every one of us would like to be the one to land that great deal that turns into a gold mine. The trick is to know when the bargain is an illusion and when it’s actually better to back away from the table, take a deep breath and wait for the deal to come back around.

THURSDAY, NOV. 13 

FILM 

“CRWSDSPCR” with an introduction by Merce Cunningham Dance Company archivist David Vaughan at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“The Influence of Japanese Art on Design” with Hannah Sigur on Japanese art and America’s journey to modern architecture and design in the Gilded Age, from the Centennial of 1876 through the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Sponsored by Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association. Tickets $15. 841-2242. 

Caroline Grant, Lisa Harper, Irena Smith and others discuss “Mama, PhD: Women Write about Motherhood and Academic Life” at 6 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. www.universitypressbooks.com 

“The State of Preservation in California” with Cindy Heitzman at 7:30 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimesm 4499 Piedmont Ave. Sponsored by Oakland Heritage Alliance. Cost is $8-$10. 763-9218. 

Austin Grossman reads from his novel “Soon I Will Be Invincible” at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Sylvia Brownrigg reads from her novel “The Delivery Room” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Damian Masterson at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Carmen Cansino’s “Listen Here!” at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Avery Mast, acoustic/folk rock at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Seneca, The New Centuries, Demons Wear Muted Colors at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Beat Boxing Concert with Soulati, Infinite, Syzygy, Eachbox and many others at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Dave Ridnell & Friends, Brazilian jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at 33 Revolutions, 10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 898-1836. 

Diablo’s Dust at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Jessica WIlliams at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$25. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, NOV. 14 

EXHIIBITIONS 

“Walls” Paintings by Joel Isaacson on contemporary social and political concerns, at Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. Exhibition runs to Jan. 30. 649-2500. www.gtu.edu 

Eclectix Group Show Opening reception at 7 p.m. at Eclectix Gallery, 10082 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. www.eclectix.com 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “The Devil’s Disciple” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. through Dec. 7. Tickets are $40-$42. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “Doctor Faustus” Fri. and Sat at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave., at Berryman, through Nov. 22. Tickets are $10-$12. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Berkeley Rep “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St, through Dec. 14. Tickets are $13.50-$71. 647-2949. berkeleyrep.org 

Berkeley Rep “The Arabian Nights” Tues.-Sun. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., through Jan. 4. Tickets are $27-$71. 647-2949. berkeleyrep.org 

Central Works “Blessed Unrest” by Paul Hawken, Thurs, Fri, Sat at 8 p.m., Sun at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. through Nov. 23. Tickets are $14-$25. 558-1381. centralworks.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Greater Tuna” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through Dec. 7. 524-9132. www.ccct.org  

Impact Theatre “Tallgrass Gothic” Thurs.-Sat at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, to Dec. 20. Tickets are $10-$17. 464-4468. impacttheatre.com 

Masquers Playhouse “Do I Hear a Waltz?” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Pt. Richmond, through Dec. 20. Tickets are $20. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

UC Dept. of Theater “Top Girls” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. to Nov. 23 at Durham Studio Theater, UC campus. Tickets are $10-$15. 642-8827. 

Youth Musical Theater Company “Fiddler on the Roof” Fri. at 7:30 p.m., Sat. at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $8-$20. 800-838-3006. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Paul Unschuld discusses “Chinese Medicine and Natural HIstory: The Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen” at 6 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. www.universitypressbooks.com 

Jeanne Powell and Stephen Kopel, poets, at 7 p.m. at Nefeli Caffe, 1854 Euclid Ave. as part of the Last Word Reading Series. There is also an open reading. 841-6374.  

Open Mic Literature and Poetry at 7 p.m. at Expressions Gallery, 2035 Ashby Ave. 644-4930. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Nina Haft & Company “One Becomes Two” A dance installation, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., sun. at 3 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz Ave. Tickets are $12-$15. www.shawl-anderson.org 

Merce Cunningham Dance Company at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$48. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Panorama: Multi Media Happening with dance, theater, robotics, and digital games from 5 to 7 p.m. at Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Center, UC campus. Free. 642-9988. 

San Francisco Opera Cabaret “Opera Apocalypse” 3 one-act operas at 8 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $20-$30. 415-289-6877. 

The KTO Project, featuring Kelly Takunda Orphan Martinez at 8 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$18. brownpapertickets.com 

JazzSchool’s Advanced Jazz Ensemble at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $5-$10. 845-1350.  

Sandy Owen, Spencer Owen & Sean Smith at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568.  

The Taylor Texas Corrugators and Jambang at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10. 848-0886.  

Terry Disley Experience at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

The Vowel Movement, beat box, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054.  

Judy Wexler, jazz, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Martin Simpson at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Jerry Kennedy, acoustic soul, at 7:30 p.m. at 33 Revolutions, 10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 898-1836. 

Bernie Worrell and the Woo Warriors, The Eric Mcfadden Trio at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $15. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Trash Talk, Never Healed, Landmine Marathon at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $8. 525-9926. 

The P-PL at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Cole Davis, Navery EAP at 9 p.m. at Maxwell’s, 341 13th St., Oakland. Cost is $15. 839-6169. 

Harley White Jr. Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

The Kenny Werner Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, NOV. 15 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Rafael Manríquez & Ingrid Rubis at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Coppelia, the Doll with the Porcelain Eyes” a puppet show at 11 a.m., 2 and 4 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Cost is $6. 452-2259. www.fairyland.org 

THEATER 

“Mrs. Pat’s House” A musical performed by Jovelyn Richards at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Made of Spirit” Mische technique oil paintings by Krista Augius. Reception at 6 p.m. at Studio 40, 933 Partker St. at 8th. Cost is $5. 415-548-0498. 

“Plasma Nation” Group show of plasma and neon sculptors. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Float Gallery, 1091 Calcott Place, #116., Oakland. 535-1702. 

FILM 

Jewish Film Series “Prime” at 7 p.m. at Temple Israel, 3183 Mecartney Rd., Alameda. Cost is $10. 522-9355. 

“Sherlock Jr.” A Buster Keaton comedy for all ages at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Cinema Dreaming: Spirited Away Anime followed by discussion 2 p.m. at The Dream Institute, 1672 University at McGee. Cost is $10-$12. 845-1767. dream-institute.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Taubman Piano Seminar with John Bloomfield, Robert Durso, Marc Steiner, Elizabeth Swarthout, and Debbie Poryes. Lectures, master classes and demonstrations, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sat. and Sun. at Berkeley Piano Club, 2724 Haste St. Suggested donation $110. 523-0213. eswarthout@sbcglobal.net 

Frances Dinkelspiel reads from “Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California” at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Roshni Rustomji and Aamina Ahmad, contributors, introduce the new anthology “And the World Changed: Contemporary Stories by Pakistani Women” at 3:30 p.m. at East Wind Books of Berkeley, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Nina Haft & Company “One Becomes Two” A dance installation at 8 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz Ave. Tickets are $12-$15. www.shawl-anderson.org 

Merce Cunningham Dance Company at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$48. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Dimensions Dance 35th Anniversary Celebration at 8 p.m. at Oakland Inter-Stake Center, 4780 Lincoln Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $20-$25. 652-2344. 

Philharmonia Baroque “A Classic Triple” Beethovan, Haydn and Mozart at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing. Tickets are $30-$72. 415-252-1288. 

“Music of Aaron Blumenfeld” at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. www. 

trinitychamberconcerts.com 

Taubman Faculty Piano Concert with John Bloomfield, Robert Durso, Marc Steiner, Elizabeth Swarthout, and Debbie Poryes at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Piano Club, 2724 Haste St. Suggested donation $20. 523-0213. 

Robin Gregory & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Kalbass Kreyol, Haitian Liberation from Slavery Celebration, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Collie Budz at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $20-$25. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

The Bobs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761.  

Sol do Brasil at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15-$20. 845-5373.  

Jazz Fourtet at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Revtones, The Mighty Lynchpins at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Five Dollar Suit at 7:30 p.m. at 33 Revolutions, 10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. Albany Adult School performs jazz vocals at 2 p.m. 898-1836. 

Peligro Social, A.D.T., Sista Sekunden at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, NOV. 16 

EXHIBITIONS 

“We Celebrate Together” figurative paintings by Salma Arastu and ceramics and textiles by Josie Jurczenia. Reception at 3 p.m. at the Community Art Gallery, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, 2450 Ashby Ave. Exhibition runs through Jan. 22. 204-1667.  

“October 9, 1969” by Scott Reilly. Tea at 3 p.m. at The Compound Gallery, 6604 San Pablo Ave., Oakland. 655-9019. 

FILM 

Talk Cinema Berkeley Preview of new independent films with discussion afterwards at 10 a.m. at Albany Twin Theater, 1115 Solano Ave., Albany. Cost is $20. http://talkcinema.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Berkeley Women in the Book Business” A panel discussion featuring Pat Cody, with participants from Moe’s Books, University Press Books, Pegasus Books, Mrs. Dalloway’s, and Rebecca’s Books, at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Historical Society, Veterans Memorial Bldg., 1931 Center St. 848-0181. 

Day of the Dead Artists’ Talks with Guillermo Galindo, Gustavo Vazquez and Mary Andrade at 2 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Egyptology Lecture “The Amduat and its Relationship to Early Eighteenth Dynasty Tombs” with Barbara Richter, PhD Candidate, University of California, Berkeley at 2:30 p.m. at Barrows Hall, Room 20, Barrow Lane and Bancroft Way, UC campus. 415-664-4767. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Nina Haft & Company “One Becomes Two” A dance installation at 3 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz Ave. Tickets are $12-$15. www.shawl-anderson.org 

“Artiste—Portrait of Django Reinhardt” with Hot Club of San Francisco at 4 p.m. at Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Cost is $12. Free for under 18. 559-2941. concerts@crowden.org 

Philharmonia Baroque “A Classic Triple” Beethovan, Haydn and Mozart at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing. Tickets are $30-$72. 415-252-1288. 

Cançoniér “Brumas est Mort” Medieval Music from Times of War, Plague and Death at 4 p.m. at St. Alban’s Church, 1501 Washington Ave., Albany. Tickets are $12-$15. 486-2803. 

Pacific Collegium “Miserere mei” at 4 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 144 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$20. www.pacificcollegium.org 

Berkeley Symphony Under Construction conducted by Paul Haas at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley. Tickets are $10-$20. 841-2800. www.berkeleysymphony.org 

San Francisco Opera Cabaret “Opera Apocalypse” 3 one-act operas at 7 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $20-$30. 415-289-6877 

Concerto Auditions at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Albany Jazz Big Band at 2 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

“Jazz at the Chimes” featuring The Marcus Shelby Trio at 2 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$15, children under 12 free. 228-3218. 

Junius Courtney Big Band with Denise Perrier at 7 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $12-$14. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

John Scott Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Pappa Gianni & the North Beach Band, Italian opera and song at 2 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

The Winners, family square dance, at 3 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

David Pinto & Syncopated Colors at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Take the State Concert at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $8.50-$9.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Zap Guru, jazz, rock, jam band, at 2 p.m. at 33 Revolutions, 10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 898-1836. 

MONDAY, NOV. 17 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

PlayGround, short works from new and emerging playwrights at 8 p.m., pre-show discussion at 7:10 p.m., at Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $15. 415-704-3177. www.PlayGround-sf.org 

“Tell It On Tuesday” Storytelling Workshop Performance at 7:30 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center For the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Not recommended for children. Cost is $8-$12 sliding scale.  

Poetry Express with Adelle Mendelson at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Acoustic Mandolin Ensemble traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

West Cast Songwriters Competition at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $5. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool Benefit with Taylor Eigsti, Madeline Eastman, Marcos Silva and owthers at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $125. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, NOV. 18 

FILM 

“Collisions in Forms” Experimental videos from Shanghai and Beijing at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Martha & Monica Cello and piano duo perform Beethoven, Schumann, and Elliot Carter at 8 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Cost is $20. Students via high school, free. 525-5211. www.berkeleychamberperform.org 

Aux Cajunals at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Russell Carl at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 19 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tweed Conrad discusses “Oscar Wilde in Quotation” at 6 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. www.universitypressbooks.com 

Project Censored 2009 Professor Peter Phillips and Professor Mickey Huff discuss the top 25 censored news stories of 2007-2008 at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. www.revolutionbooks.org 

Rabbi Sholom Groesberg on “Jewish Renewal: A Journey” at 7:30 p.m. at JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. Sponsored by Aquarian Minyan. 528-6725. 

Karen Volkman and Andrew Joron at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

UC Jazz Ensembles at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Urubanda, music from Uruguay, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $13-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

Tangonero at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Tango dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $7. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Nada Lewis, Eastern European music, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. www.lebateauivre.net 

Mazacote at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Vance Gilbert at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

THURSDAY, NOV. 20 

FILM 

International Latino Film Festival “Cuba, el valor de una utopia” at 6 p.m. “Matar a Todos”/”Kill Them All” at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Cos tis $5-$7 each film. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Anna Deavere Smith “We Are What We Say” at 4 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum Theater, 2621 Durant Ave., access via sculpture garden. Sponsored by Townsend Center for the Humanities. 643-9670. 

Linda Williams and Kristen Whissel discuss their new books on film “Screening Sex” and “Picturing American Modernity” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. www.universitypressbooks.com 

Poetry Flash with Michael McGriff and Andrew Grace at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Fall Forward 2008” Mills College Repertory Dance Concert Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Lisser Hall, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$15. 430-2175. 

Bay Area Classical Harmonies “Incarnation: Advent and Christmas Music of Eastern Orthodox Traditions” at 7:30 p.m. at Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension, 4700 Lincoln Ave., Oakland. Suggested donation $20. www.bayareabach.org 

The Rubber Souldiers, The Rowan Brothers, David Gans at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Rova, Nels Cline Celestial Septet at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Kelly Park & Friends at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Tim Mooney at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Dogwood Speaks, Alex Lee, The Knockout Brothers, progressive fink and hip hop, at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Dave Ridnell & Friends, Brazilian jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at 33 Revolutions, 10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 898-1836. 

Adrian Gormley Jazz Ensemble at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

McCoy Tyner Trio featuring Mac Ribot at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$35. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, NOV. 21 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “The Devil’s Disciple” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. through Dec. 7. Tickets are $40-$42. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “Doctor Faustus” Fri. and Sat at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave., at Berryman, through Nov. 22. Tickets are $10-$12. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Berkeley Rep “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St, through Dec. 14. Tickets are $13.50-$71. 647-2949. berkeleyrep.org 

Berkeley Rep “The Arabian Nights” Tues.-Sun. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., through Jan. 4. Tickets are $27-$71. 647-2949. berkeleyrep.org 

Central Works “Blessed Unrest” by Paul Hawken, Thurs, Fri, Sat at 8 p.m., Sun at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. through Nov. 23. Tickets are $14-$25. 558-1381. centralworks.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Greater Tuna” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through Dec. 7. 524-9132. www.ccct.org  

Impact Theatre “Tallgrass Gothic” Thurs.-Sat at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, to Dec. 20. Tickets are $10-$17. 464-4468. impacttheatre.com 

Masquers Playhouse “Do I Hear a Waltz?” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Pt. Richmond, through Dec. 20. Tickets are $20. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

UC Dept. of Theater “Top Girls” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Durham Studio Theater, UC campus. Tickets are $10-$15. 642-8827. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Gift of Art” group show of smaller works in various mediums. Reception at 6 p.m. at Cecile Moochnek GAllery, 1809-D Fourth St.  

FILM 

International Latino Film Festival “Utopía 79” at 6 p.m. “Calle Santa Fe” at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$7 each film. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Movie Classic “Singin’ in the Rain” at 8 p.m. at Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway. Tickets are $5. 625-8497. 

The Films of Robert Aldrich “Vera Cruz” at 6:30 p.m. and “The Last Sunsert” at 8:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Leslie Carol Roberts reads from “The Entire Earth and Sky: Views on Antartica” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Bay Area Classical Harmonies “From Constantinople to Tblisi: An Armenian Legacy” at 7:30 p.m. at St. Vartan Armenian Church, 650 Spruce St., Oakland. Tickets are $15-$35. 868-0695. www.bayareabach.org 

“Music of War for Harpsichord and Organ” at 8 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington Ave., Albany. Donation $10. 525-1716. 

Marcus Shelby Quartet at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Mads Tolling Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Sila & The Afrofunk Experience at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is tba. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band from New Orleans “Calling the Spirits - An Evening of Mystical Mantra Music” at 8 p.m. at Sacred Space at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way, at 6th. TIckets are $15-$20. 486-8700. 

Ellis Paul at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Izabella, 2Me at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Jerry Kennedy, acoustic soul, at 7:30 p.m. at 33 Revolutions, 10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 898-1836. 

Rhonda Benin at 9 p.m. at Maxwell’s, 341 13th St., Oakland. Cost is $15. 839-6169. 

Nathan Clevenger Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Voetsek, Mind of Asian, Lack of Interest at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $8. 525-9926. 

Soul Magic, roots, rock, reggae at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. 548-1159.  

SATURDAY, NOV. 22 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Gary Lapow at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Coppelia, the Doll with the Porcelain Eyes” a puppet show at 11 a.m., 2 and 4 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Cost is $6. 452-2259. www.fairyland.org 

The Bubble Lady at 11 a.m. at Studio Grow, 1235 10th St. Cost is $7. 526-9888. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Art from the Heart” Reception at 2 p.m. at NIAD Center for Art and Disabilities, 551 23rd St., Richmond. Exhibition runs through Dec. 19. 620-0290. www.niadart.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Literary Works on Trial” with David Green, Exec. Dir. of the First Amendment Project at 3 p.m. at African American Museum and Library, 659 14th St., Oakland. 637-0200. 

Peter Glazer, co-editor, reads from James Neugass’s “War Is Beautiful: An American Ambulance Driver in the Spanish American Civil War” at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

San Francisco Taiko Dojo International Taiko Festival at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $38-$49. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

“Fall Forward 2008” Mills College Repertory Dance Concert at 8 p.m. at Lisser Hall, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$15. 430-2175. 

Garrett McLean, violin, Jenness Hartley, viola, Ting Chen, ‘cello, Marvin Sanders, flute, perform music of Bach, Haydn, and Mozart. Nov 22 at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $10. 848-1228. www.giorgigallery.com 

Afsaneh Art and Culture Society “Miriam’s Well” Sacred dance, music and poetry at 8:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $24-$28. 848-2192. 

Rhythm & Muse spoken word and music open mic series features singer/songwriter Olmec at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., between Eunice & Rose Sts., behind Live Oak Park. 644-6893.  

The Function at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Ed Reed & His Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Mark St.Mary Lousiana Blues & Zydeco Band at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

All Ones, jam band, at 7:30 p.m. at 33 Revolutions, 10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 898-1836. 

Woody Guthrie Tribute with Country Joe McDonald at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The German Projekt at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Gaucho Gypsy Swing Music at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $5. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Midnight Train at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Dave Matthews Blues Band at 8:30 p.m. at Royal Oak Pub, 135 Park Place, Pt. Richmond. 232-5678. 

Gooferman, The Fuxedos, Party of Ten at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

McCoy Tyner Trio featuring Mac Ribot at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$35. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Stitches, Bodies, The Forgotten, Wild Weekend at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, NOV. 23 

CHILDREN 

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

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Tellabration” Celebrate National Storytelling Day with Randy Rutherford and others at 3:30 p.m. at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Ticekts are $10. 444-4755. www.stagebridge.org 

“Inside/Outside: The Great Wall of China” a conversation with Michael Meyer and David Spindler at 3 p.m. in the Berkeley Art Museum Theater. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Prometheus Orchestra at 3 p.m. at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Free. www.stpaulsoakland.org 

“Kafka Fragments” Music of Gyorgy Kurtág at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC campus. Tickets are $68. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

University of California Alumni Chorus “Voices of Light/The Passion of Joan of Arc” A oratorio with silent film at 7:30 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC campus. Tickets are $6-$15. 

Family Fall Concert “Music & Dance” with San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and San Francisco Ballet School Training Program at noon at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Free.  

Annabelle Chvostek at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Thangs Taken: Rethinking Thanksgiving with music, poetry and film at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$25, sliding scale. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Tammy Pilisuk & Friends at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

San Francisco Taiko Dojo International Taiko Festival at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $38-$49. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Birol Topaloglu with George Chittenden, Lisa Liepman and Ruth Sali Shopov at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Johannes Wallmann Quintet at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

“Opera Apocalypse!” The title of San Francisco Cabaret Opera’s show of three short, new pieces conjures up Wagnerian images of The End. Some might say it’s a tautology. But the trio of operas—Mark Alburger’s Antigone, Ophelia Forever by Amy Beth Kirsten and John G. Biloota’s Quantum Mechanic—offer a mix of humor, intensity and thoughtfulness “exploring a post-apocalyptic future focused on women.” 

Some of that future is abstracted from a famous past. Ophelia Forever features a trio (sopranos C. A. Jordan and Megan Cullen and mezzo Cary Ann Rosco) essaying, in both solo and ensemble, the three aspects of Ophelia’s character: Mad Mermaid, Faithfull, Seductress and Violated Saint, with a voiceless Melancholy Prince (Terence Bennan) wandering through, enjoying the attention but seemingly oblivious to the derogation, in a libretto derived from The Bard, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Christina Rossetti—and the composer.  

At the start, Keisuke Nakagoshi burns up the keyboard, while Mark Alburger, Cabaret Opera musical director, conducts with one hand, fingering his oboe with the other, the music both torrential and haunting. 

Bilotta’s Quantum Mechanic, winner of last year’s Opera-in-a-Month competition, receives its first full staging here, opening with a strange tableau: three turquoise-coiffed beauties in basic black with pale blue scarves posed above an old industrial refrigerator plastered with nuclear-plant-type warning signs. Mrs. Schrodinger (Elizabeth Henry), housewife and professor’s spouse, tears into the scene with the happy aplomb of a ’50s commercial, almost dancing as she whisks up a special fluffy dessert.  

But it falls flat in the futuristic fridge, and she calls a bumbling Quantum Mechanic (Michael Desnoyers), who mistakenly opens up a wormhole, letting in the Quark Sisters (the now-animated Erin Lahm, Maria Mikheyenko and Laryssa Sadoway as Misses Up-Down, Charm-Strange and Top-Bottom) from the parallel universe next door, along with Aesop the fabulist (who delivered a genial prologue), Mark Alburger again, now in robe and ubiquitous pale blue scarf, with a dollop of white cotton on his chin, an archaic Diz beard. Pulling a wire (and what’s a wire doing in hi-tech? Or is it the eponymous String Theory that’s pulled?), the Mechanic vanishes, the tuneful trio retreat to their dimension with fabulist in tow—and the soufflé emerges, perfectly stiff. 

Alburger’s Antigone is the most serious and truly apocalyptic piece of all, less Sophocles than the also-credited (for inspiration) Jean Anouilh, lacking the blind, androgynous seer Tiresias (unless he’s subsumed by The Fixer, played by set designer Adam Broner) and almost devoid of the white spaces of classical irony (something Satie strove for in Socrate), but filled with wonderful harmonies and much emotion, with a kind of humor in some exchanges and The Puppetmaster (Bennan again) lurking behind a swing-like throne.  

Creon (an impressive bass-baritone, Micah Epps) and Antigone (emotionally charged soprano Eliza O’Malley, who alternates with Letitia Page) spar furiously, their high and low registers (and those of tenor Desnoyers as Antigone’s intended, Haemon, Creon’s son) exploited in the solos. But the solos come out of and return to the wonderful choral sound of the 13-strong ensemble—the one thing, Alburger quipped, truly Greek about it all—though he quotes Greek chant along with everything from Bach to the Beach Boys in this “grid opera” drawn from The Magic Flute, which will stand up with Honegger’s music for Cocteau’s Antigone and Carl Orff’s wild, percussive setting with soloists for Holderlin’s hyperliteral translation. 

Alburger and Harriet March Page, artistic director, continue to realize a performance style in the grand old West Coast tradition: eclectic, professional—and fun.  

OPERA APOCALYPSE 

Featuring Antigone, Ophelia Forever, Quantum Mechanic. 8 p.m. Friday; 7 p.m. Sunday at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. $25 general; $20 seniors, students. Telephone Reservations: (415) 289-6877. Online discounts at www.wehavemet.org.

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra will perform a challenging program, featuring violinist Colin Jacobson, cellist Tanya Tomkins and fortepianist Eric Zivian, with the orchestra conducted by musical director Nicholas McGegan, at First Congregational Church this weekend. 

The program features Beethoven’s unusual “Triple Concerto,” the Concerto for Violin, Violoncello and Fortepiano in C major (Op. 56), followed by Haydn’s Symphony no. 88 in G major and Mozart’s Symphony no. 35 in D major (KV 385), the “Haffner.” 

McGegan, in his program notes, stressed his enthusiasm for the Triple Concerto, commenting that “the fortepiano is much softer than the modern piano, which offers us the chance to hear Beethoven’s exquisite and challenging cello passages” and “Beethoven pushes the edge of what instruments of the time could do.” 

Tanya Tomkins and Eric Zivian talked about the work. “It pushes all the instruments in many ways,” said Tomkins, “and it’s a totally virtuosic cello piece. Beethoven composed it knowing Anton Kraft, a great virtuoso would play the part. The pianist and violinists were amateurs—though those aren’t easy parts, either. It’s really unusual for a concerto to feature a trio like this. Mendelsohn wrote for piano and violin, but you almost never hear piano trio with orchestra.” 

Tomkins will play a period violoncello, with gut strings and no endpin (or “spike,” which was introduced around 1830; previously, the cello was held between the player’s calves).  

“It’s a major thing, gut strings and the lack of an endpin,” she said. “A friend at the Conservatory said, ‘You have a death wish or something?’ The violin will have gut strings, too, and no shoulder-rest. And it’s great with the fortepiano. I can only think of one recording with period instruments, with Anner Bylsma, my teacher, on cello. With the fortepiano’s softer sound, we can all think of other musical matters than loudness. ‘Let the piano come up more!’ You never hear that said with modern piano!” 

Tomkins spoke more of the pleasures of working with the period instruments: “Eric and I have played Beethoven sonatas together. Beethoven writes many notes for piano. With fortepiano, we can do a lot of colors and not be concerned with the volume. You can really get the feeling of what a crazy, funny piece it is, too. It’s stodgier on modern instruments, easier to get into the thickness of the sound. The wit comes across a lot better on the earlier ones; it’s inherent in the sound ... there are circus things, gypsy things ...” 

It’s been noted that Beethoven has more of a reputation for melancholy and high-mindedness than for wit or humor. Eric Zivian noted, “Anything of Beethoven’s from this time—about 1805—is looking back, at least a little bit, more like Haydn, who was not always so happy with Beethoven. It’s got a classical structure, a grand first movement, but the last movement’s a Rondo alla Polacca, with an ethnic, Eastern European flavor. Beethoven had a very special, a unique brand of humor.” 

Haydn’s symphony, from 1787, was composed for violinist Johann Peter Tost to capitalize on the “extraordinary” popularity of Haydn’s six “Paris” symphonies (ironically, a city Haydn never visited).  

Mozart’s “Haffner” Symphony, 1782-23, is reminiscent of “the many earlier serenades Mozart had composed for use in Salzburg ... [It] was originally intended to simply be another serenade to celebrate the elevation of Sigmund Haffner, a boyhood chum of Mozart’s, to the nobility.” 

The Haydn and Mozart symphonies “are symphonies with great contrasts that the orchestra really enjoys and plays with great skill,” said McGegan. “The composers’ ‘late greats’ [Mozart’s “Jupiter” and Haydn’s “London” symphonies] often overshadow these works.” 

PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE 

8 p.m. Saturday; 7:30 p.m. Sunday at  

First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. $30 and up. (415) 392-4400 or www.philharmonia.org.

Oakland East Bay Symphony will premiere an unusual commissioned work by San Francisco composer Nathaniel Stookey, Zipperz, with a libretto by Dan Harder, also of San Francisco, to be sung by Berkeley-native Eisa Davis and Manoel Felciano, both recently featured on Broadway in New York, at the opening night of the Symphony’s 20th anniversary season, this Friday at 8 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Oakland. 

Zipperz, which is described as “a soap opera, with the passion of opera and the sizzle of pop,” will be preceded by George Antheil’s Jazz Symphony and followed by suites from Romeo and Juliet by Serge Prokofiev. 

Michael Morgan, OEBS musical director, who will conduct, commented on how the unusual show came together: “We did a piece by Nat Stookey three or four years ago, and had been talking about something else. It was his idea, from Dan Harder’s poetry, and he recommended Manoel and Eisa to sing it. I added the Prokofiev—Romeo and Juliet seemed logical, following a love story—before I knew his piece would need the intermission in the middle! It has two acts. I added the Antheil piece at the beginning. It’s only eight or nine minutes; I thought it would be fun, used as an overture for the evening—a wacky, coked-out midcentury jazz piece. I came upon it at some point, researching jazz-influenced pieces for the concert hall, something not so easy to find! And of course, Antheil’s reputation as an iconoclast makes it even more attractive to do.” 

(Antheil, a prolific composer, dubbed “The Bad Boy of Music,” was an Ernest Bloch piano student in New York, composed ç in 1925, the year after his notorious score for painter Fernand Leger’s film, Ballet Mechanique, featuring an aeroplane propeller onstage. Supporters included Satie, Stravinsky, poet Ezra Pound and artist Man Ray. In 1936, he became a Hollywood composer, best-known for the theme for Walter Cronkite’s later, long-running CBS TV Sunday news-show The 20th Century. He also invented frequency skipping transmission and torpedo guidance systems with actress Hedy Lamarr. His legacy includes students Henry Brant and Benjamin Lees and influence on diverse musicians, including Frank Zappa.)  

Responding to a joking remark that such a program would’ve been relegated to “Pops” status 20 years ago, Morgan replied “what would constitute a Pops concert in a city as diverse as Oakland? We do a lot of crossover types of things. We want composers who can engage the audience, then let them go where they want to go. That’s why so far we’ve never done a Pops series. We cover a pretty wide range of genres—and even the Prokofiev is popular!” 

Nathaniel Stookey, who at 17 was the youngest composer ever commissioned for the San Francisco Symphony’s New and Unusual Music Series in 1987, also talked about the genesis of his piece: “The impetus was Dan Harder sending to me a collection of poetry in which he uses a form he calls ‘zipperz,’ where the poems printed on left and right pages opposite each other can be read independently or alternating lines across both poems, becoming more than the sum of the parts. It reminded me of counterpoint in composition. Because the language is so important, I didn’t want to use supertitles. Originally, I thought of using opera singers. Then I went to see Manoel, who like Dan is an old friend, sing in Sweeney Todd on Broadway and his own songs in a weekend of pop shows. From that point, I wrote the piece for him, and for Eisa, who he suggested.” 

Asked about the theme, Stookey said, “I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, but with such a compelling title, it’s pretty hard to imagine it without the removal of clothing! It does involve a certain amount of that—and something happens, an important piece of action in the relationship, offstage between acts, which they have to deal with when they come back on, all I’ll tell you about it is it has to do with zippers! But zippers are also a metaphor for how people mesh. And I think the most shocking thing for the audience won’t be the subject matter, but listening to pop singers singing pop music in counterpoint with an orchestra. It’s part opera, part pop, part daytime TV.” 

Commenting on working with OEBS, Stookey said, “Michael Morgan’s special. He likes to take risks—and the Symphony putting its neck out for a big, unorthodox 40-minute piece like this, with Broadway and pop singers as a season opener, that’s valuable for a composer. Few orchestras in this country would go for such an unknown quantity. Everything else I’ve done for orchestra is very different from this. Michael likes to have something popular alongside something classical, knowing people don’t listen to just one kind of music. Michael’s vibe with the orchestra is great, too. They’re allies, not opponents. If that relationship is adversarial, the composer ends up siding with the conductor. If the conductor can’t sell the music to his own band, the composer’s left out to dry!” 

Eisa Davis remarked, “As always, it’s so good to be home, and so good to be onstage in a classical music environment. Most of what I’ve done is pop or in musicals, but I started performing as a classical pianist. This will make my teachers happy! I’ve sung with Mano before and just realized he’s playing violin on my record. It’s fun to perform with friends; you can go a lot further.” 

Davis, a Berkeley High and UC Young Musicians Program graduate, had her Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Bulrusher produced at Shotgun Players last year, just months after she performed in the musical Passing Strange at Berkeley Rep, which went on to win Tony Awards (and an Obie for Eisa) for its New York run. She sings on the original cast album, and will be seen in the upcoming Spike Lee-directed film version. Her other plays include Angela’s Mix Tapes, inspired by her aunt, Angela Davis. She has also recorded her own songs on CD, like her debut album Something Else.  

Manoel Felciano was nominated for a Tony Award in 2006 for his portrayal of Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd and has been performing in Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll at ACT in San Francisco. His debut album of original songs, Moonshot, was released in 2007.  

ZIPPERZ 

Presented by Oakland East Bay Symphony 

at 8 p.m. Friday at the Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. $20-65. 444-0801. oebs.org.

A young boy looks out from a picture frame hung askew, calling out for his mother, who is herself surrounded by a frame, in the throes of a bad dream, finally waking up and running out into the countryside. 

It’s the 1870s, outside Paris, and in Virago Theatre Co.’s new production of Heather McDonald’s Dream of a Common Language at Rhythmix Cultural Center in Alameda, a painter and his wife (Steve Budd as Victor, Angela Dant as Clovis), whom he met at the Academy, are living simply. Victor is painting Clovis’ portrait, though Clovis’ dreams and her anguish—partly over an accident at first just referred to, and even more from a sense of being out of place as a woman who wanted to paint—absent her from the house as she rambles outside. Their son Mylo (Hank Smith) is cared for by Dolores (Adrienne Krug), a woman who seems to have no past, to be drifting through life herself. 

When another old classmate, Pola (Laura Lundy-Paine), arrives from her life of riding her bicycle and painting flowers from nature, more of the unease and resentments of the women are expressed—especially when other male artist friends, including Marc (Michael Cappelli), who seems wistful when Clovis is near, come for dinner and a meeting about exhibiting, expecting the women to wait on them but not be part of the meal or the discussion. 

There are a number of ripe moments, besides the staging of the opening: Victor painting Clovis nude, while she keeps verbally probing him; the women holding their own dinner “backstage” from the men’s meeting, declaring “the sopranos must sing louder!”; the women playing games together from their childhood memories—and other fertile moments. Especially at such moments, it’s an attractive cast, which clearly revels in collaboration with Rachel LePell, the first director in Virago’s history from outside the fold. 

These moments aren’t played out, though, at least not in the script, which relies a great deal on exposition in an arch, sometimes cloying idiom, which seems to be a version of the “Lust for Life” syndrome, when Anglo-Saxon misconceptions of anything Gallic miss even the purple prose of the era in question. Skill and the best of intentions notwithstanding, the actors sometimes seem as if they’ve got kid gloves on, at other times seems a little over the top, as if to emphasize the real passions over the stilted expression.  

There’s plenty of great, leading material about painters and that general period, too, from the letters and stories about Cézanne and Van Gogh, Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt (who seem to be referred to familiarly in the play, as “Mary” and “Bertha”) and Jean Renoir’s great trove of a book about the Belle Epoque, Renoir, My Father. Morisot and Cassatt figured in the recent Legion of Honor exhibit, The Women Impressionists; Virago has a docent from that show coming to talk to its audience before one of the performances. 

Dream of a Common Language 

Through Nov. 22 at Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda. $15 advance, $20 at the door ($12-15 students, seniors, TBA members).  

865-6237. viragotheatre.org. 

A rare event is coming to the Bay Area this next week. One of cinema’s greatest works of art will screen twice—once at San Francisco’s Castro Theater and once at UC Berkeley’s Hertz Hall—accompanied by 200 singers and a 24-piece orchestra. UC Berkeley’s Alumni Chorus will present Voices of Light, an oratorio, as accompaniment for Carl Dreyer’s 1928 landmark film The Passion of Joan of Arc. 

Composer Richard Einhorn was kicking around New York’s Museum of Modern Art one day in 1988 when he came across a still from a movie, an arresting shot of a woman’s face from a silent film about Joan of Arc. Though Einhorn was a film buff and fairly knowledgeable about the medium’s history, he had never heard of this movie. He immediately requested a screening. 

“Some 81 minutes later,” Einhorn later wrote, “I walked out of the screening room shattered, having unexpectedly seen one of the most extraordinary works of art that I know.” 

He had long considered writing a piece about the 19-year-old martyr, and now inspiration had finally struck. The result, Voices of Light, is, as Einhorn describes it, “neither opera nor oratorio, but a mixture of both.” The libretto, containing Latin, Old and Middle French and Italian, is a pastiche of writings by female mystics of the Middle Ages, including Joan herself, the voices of the choir echoing the voices that spurred Joan on in her quest to unite France. 

Soldier, insurgent, terrorist, transvestite, schizophrenic, mystic, witch, saint, seer, martyr, feminist; the modern world could apply many words to this fascinating life, all of them containing a bit of truth but none of them wholly accurate. It is an extraordinary story, one that might have devolved into myth but for the plentiful documentation of her trial: a pious, illiterate farm girl, prodded by voices, rises up to lead an army and to consult with kings, and when captured stands her ground against her captors until breaking under threat of torture, then rises again to retract her confession before bravely facing death at the stake. 

“The piece explores the patchwork of emotions and thoughts that are stitched together into the notion of a female hero,” writes Einhorn. “Such a hero invariably transgresses the conventions and restrictions her society imposes.” 

Einhorn debuted the piece to critical praise in 1994, and though Voices of Light was not written as a score for the film, Einhorn often presented it that way. 

When Criterion released the film on DVD, the disc came with two options: The film could be watched with Voices of Light or in complete silence. The Passion of Joan of Arc is one of the few films from the silent era that its director preferred to screen truly silent, without any musical accompaniment at all, but considering the options available at the time, Dreyer’s wish is understandable. While the larger theaters of the era could afford to use an orchestra, most theaters would have presented the film with improvised accompaniment on Wurlitzer organ or piano, and Dreyer probably felt that neither instrument could do justice to his film. He could not have imagined that his avant-garde masterpiece would one day get so lavish and respectful a treatment as Einhorn has provided. The opportunity to see the film on the big screen is rare enough; to see it presented with a full choir is an opportunity that may not come again. 

Mark Sumner, director of UC Choral Ensembles, will conduct Voices of Light along with The Passion of Joan of Arc twice: at 7:30 p.m. Monday at San Francisco’s Castro Theater, and at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23 at Hertz Hall on the UC Berkeley campus. A 24-piece orchestra will provide the music, while the Alumni Chorus will combine with the UC Men’s and Women’s Chorales and Perfect Fifth for a total of 200 singers. 

It will make for an unusual arrangement at the Castro. Sumner will conduct the orchestra in front of the stage, while the chorus will fill the seats off to the sides in the first few rows, behind the conductor. “It will be a challenge,” says Alumni Chorus Manager Karen Moore. According to Moore, Sumner may have to wear white gloves so that his hands can be seen by the choir behind him, and the singers have had to memorize as much of the multi-lingual libretto as possible in order to reduce their scripts to one page, so that the audience isn’t distracted by the sound of 200 pages flipping every few minutes. 

There will be differences between the two performances. At the Castro the film will be shown full screen in 35mm, and the choir will be joined by San Francisco’s Unitarian Church choir. For the Hertz Hall performance, the film will be shown on a smaller screen with the use of DVD projection, and the Unitarian choir will not participate. 

The Passion of Joan of Arc has a history nearly as turbulent as the life of its heroine. When the French learned that a Danish director, a non-Catholic, was coming to their country to make a movie about their recently sainted heroine (Joan was excommunicated from the church before her execution and was not reinstated and elevated to sainthood until centuries later, in 1920), they were outraged. They were further scandalized by the news that the lead role would be taken by an Italian (though not quite as scandalized as they had been over rumors that Joan would be played by American actress Lillian Gish). French authorities were unable to stop the production but were successful in demanding a few changes. Meanwhile, the producers went ahead with what they may have expected to be a commercial film, a sort of epic biopic; elaborate sets were constructed and a generous budget was approved.  

However, Carl Dreyer was not one to put commercial considerations before artistic concerns, and when he saw what he had in Renée Falconetti it was clear that there was little need for sets and high production values. This would be the only film performance for the successful stage actress, and Dreyer ensured that it would be an immortal one, recognizing that he had a great actress with a face that could carry the film all on its own. Dreyer contrasts the purity and beauty of that face with the harsh, corrupt and scheming faces of Joan’s interrogators in a film that largely consists of close-ups, alternating between the pious sincerity of the girl soldier and the fleshy, self-important visages of her persecutors. For Dreyer, form must follow function, and so he used the actual transcripts of the trial (condensed from several months into a single day) to stage a series of dramatic, face-to-face confrontations. He allowed his actors no makeup, and the walls behind them are almost uniformly white, accented here and there with windows, crucifixes and low-angle shots for a mise-en-scene as stark, as spare and as simple as Joan’s religious conviction. 

It is an avant-garde film, and its impact has hardly lessened over the years. Dreyer’s imagery is relentless, and his editing ranges from staid to rapid-fire, at times juxtaposing shots from multiple angles and culminating in a forceful and dynamic final sequence that rivals Sergei Eisenstein’s fabled Odessa Steps scene from Battleship Potemkin.  

However, the public never really got a chance to see this film. Upon release The Passion of Joan of Arc was shown just once in its original state. Soon after, it was edited by censors, and in fact was edited differently in every country it which it was shown, trimmed, rewritten and re-edited to fit each culture’s prevailing political winds. Consequently, the film Dreyer made was rarely seen at all, and, to compound the matter, at some point the original negative was lost to fire. Dreyer, devastated by the loss, was able to cobble together a reconstituted version using alternate takes, creating a shot-by-shot replica, but this version too was later lost to fire. Thus for decades afterward, the film existed only in bastardized forms: sound versions that imposed a narrator’s voice on Dreyer’s dramatic silent imagery; rewritten versions that softened Joan’s interrogators and even Joan herself; poorly paced re-edited versions that inaccurately gauged the projection speed, reducing the film to a dull, plodding pace. Thus critics over the years were hard pressed to claim that the film measured up to its legend.  

But once again, a resurrection. In 1981 a print of The Passion of Joan of Arc was discovered by a worker in, of all places, a storage closet in a Norwegian mental institution. Canisters were turned over to the Norwegian Film Institute, where they sat unopened for three years. When the film was finally reviewed, it was found to be a complete and nearly pristine print of the original version, unseen for nearly six decades. The mental institution’s director had an interest in French history and had apparently acquired the print for his personal use, his staff and patients perhaps among the privileged few to see Dreyer’s masterpiece in its original form. 

Voices of Light / The Passion of Joan of Arc 

7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17 at the Castro Theater, San Francisco; 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23 at Hertz Hall on the UC Berkeley campus. Tickets available at the door: general admission $15; seniors $12. For more information, call (510) 643-9645 or see www.ucac.net. Co-sponsored by Pacific Film Archive. 

New Italian Cinema, the annual San Francisco Film Society festival, returns to Embarcadero Cinemas next week with seven new films by emerging Italian directors, three movies by acclaimed Tuscan director Paolo Virzi and two special closing night films. Some of the filmmakers will be on hand for the showings. 

The festival opens Sunday with a new film by Virzi, best know to U.S. audiences for Caterina in the City (2003). His 2006 Napoleon (and Me) is a historical drama and comedy set in 1814 on the island of Elba, where the exiled dictator is welcomed by most but also becomes the target of an assassination plot. Two previous Virzi films round out his tribute at the festival: Hardboiled Egg, which won the Venice Festival Grand Jury Prize in 1997, and Living It Up, his 1994 debut, both playing Monday. 

From Tuesday through Sunday, each of the seven festival films is shown twice. The first film (Tuesday and Thursday) is The Girl by the Lake, a gripping murder mystery set in the Italian Dolomites. As the inspector investigates the murder of a young woman, he begins to unravel some of the secrets of the small town, presenting a revealing portrait of its inhabitants. The film, Andrea Molaioli’s first feature, won 10 David di Donatello Awards (Italy’s version of the Oscars) last year. 

The film sets the theme for the festival: an emphasis on storytelling on a human scale—personal stories that showcase the realities of modern Italy. 

The films include Lessons in Chocolate, a romantic comedy featuring the chocolate industry in Perugia; Black Sea, a story about a widow and her Romanian caretaker; Cover Boy: The Last Revolution, a drama about immigrants and their exploitation in Italy; Don’t Waste Your Time Johnny! about a teenage guitar player in Caserta, Sicily, in the 1970s; A Night, detailing the reunion of five old friends who attend a friend’s funeral in Naples; and The Rest of the Night, which follows the collision between a middle-class family and two small-time hoodlums. 

Closing night, Sunday, features two films. The first, Gomorrah—this year’s Grand Prize winner at Cannes—was adapted from Roberto Saviano’s explosive book on the violence, corruption and extensive reach of the Comorra, Naples’ organized crime syndicate. The second, Puccini and the Girl, by celebrated director Paolo Benvenuti, is a musical biopic of the composer, based on recently discovered material. 

For details, showtimes and tickets see www.sffs.org or call (925) 866-9559. Both opening and closing night receptions feature complementary Italian beer, wine and appetizers. All films are shown at One Embarcadero Center, San Francisco. 

A little-noticed gated driveway branching east off Hillside Avenue north of Dwight Way bears a name most Berkeleyans wouldn’t recognize: Fernwald Road. It leads to a UC apartment complex housing 74 student families. Smyth Fernwald, as the complex is called, is named after the previous owner of the land, engineer, inventor, and social economist William Henry Smyth (1855-1940). Fernwald was the name Smyth gave his estate in the mid-1890s. 

A German word meaning “faraway woods,” Fernwald aptly described the oak-studded hilly terrain hugging the southern bank of Hamilton Creek, high above the town. In August 1926, when Smyth donated his estate to the University of California, the Berkeley Gazette described it. “The grounds, with their great trees, a splendid marine view, and beautified by a fern-clad gulch, are among the most picturesque in the East Bay district.” 

The gift was appraised at $150,000 to $200,000 but, as explained in the Oakland Tribune, “future years are expected to see the property more than doubled in value owing to its choice location for home sites.” Nobody gave any thought to the Hayward Fault, which cuts through the estate and whose creep has resulted in an almost 90-degree change in the course of Hamilton Creek. 

“In turning over to the university the estate he has personally developed from a wooded wilderness since coming to Berkeley 40 years ago,” reported the Tribune, “Smyth stipulates that the money eventually derived from the property be used for the foundation of a research fund in physical science. He has suggested to the college authorities that in the meantime his residence be used as a home for retired university presidents.” 

It was Smyth’s intention to remain in his home for the rest of his life. “I could not be happy elsewhere,” he told the Tribune, surveying the brown hills and the wooded canyon. He lived for another fourteen years. 

William Henry Smyth first appeared in the Berkeley city directory in 1887, when he was listed as a mechanical engineer living on the north side of Audubon Street (now College Avenue) between Bancroft Way and the university grounds. In those days, Strawberry Creek was the campus’s southern boundary, and College Avenue north of Bancroft Way was lined with private homes. Reminders of that residential past can be seen in the former Zeta Psi chapter house, now the UC Archaeological Research Facility, and the two Warren Cheney houses behind Wurster Hall. 

Smyth had come to Berkeley from England by way of Illinois, Montana, and Dakota. He was born in the Cheshire port town of Birkenhead, across the Mersey River from Liverpool. According to a biographical sketch published in the 1908 edition of Who’s Who in America, Smyth was educated in the Mechanics’ Institute and the Yorkshire College of Technology in Leeds before becoming an apprentice and later a draftsman in that city. 

Smyth came to the United States in 1872 and began a general practice as a consulting engineer in 1879. Over the next quarter-century he invented and patented many machines and devices, including a drag-saw (1888); various machines for making, soldering, and testing cans (1889-1903); mechanical movement (1890); pneumatic apparatus (1896); steam beer fountain (1896); hydraulic and chain bucket dredger (1898); air compressor valve (1898); means for applying fluid metals (1900); art of utilizing heat energy (1900); internally fired engine (1900); printing press (1902); menugraph (1902); deep well pump (1903); racing boat oar (1903); appliance for drafting garments (1904); shingle gauge and clamp (1905); ore-roasting furnace (1907); segmental cargo boat (World War I); and chain link hinge (1921). After the war he worked as a patent expert for a tractor company, inventing several track-related devices, including a high-speed tractor (1924). 

After seven years on Audubon St., the inventor and his wife Helen moved to Fernwald Avenue, where they were first recorded in the 1895 directory. The house into which they moved had been built in 1889 by realtor Joseph L. Scotchler, a leading Berkeley Republican who was president of the town’s board of trustees in the early 1890s. Scotchler never lived in this house; his address was 2214 Atherton Street, in another Southside residential enclave that was later to be swallowed by the campus. After three years of ownership, Scotchler sold the house to J.E. Nutting, who owned it until 1901 without ever appearing in the Berkeley directory. By then, Smyth’s earnings from his patents and consulting enabled him not only to buy the house from Nutting but to acquire seven additional lots from Clarissa Hamilton. 

In 1903, Smyth’s distinctive signature headed a short list of five property owners with frontages along Hillside Avenue who protested to the town’s board of trustees against the “grading, macadamizing and curbing, etc.” of their street, noting that “the 24-inch vitrified Ironstone pipe culvert which the specifications propose to substitute for the present bridge would destroy the desirability and beauty and depreciate the value of the property affected.” The protest was sustained, as attested by the stone bridge still spanning Hamilton Creek. 

In 1911, Smyth engaged Julia Morgan to expand and modernize his Victorian home. Among the alterations listed in the building permit were 8-foot-by-16-foot extensions across the front and the rear, 20-foot long verandas along the north and south sides, a second-floor deck across the front, a square tower added on the roof, stucco exterior, replastered interior, and new plumbing and heating systems. The result was a charming villa, distinct for its pointed arches and fanciful window panes. 

Smyth’s most lasting claim to fame is his coinage, in 1919, of the term ‘Technocracy,’ which he defined as “scientific reorganization of national energy and resources, coordinating industrial democracy to effect the will of the people.” He also believed that ownership is a social convention, and property should revert to the community upon the death of its owner. 

Finding the University of California to be the best expression of the community in which he lived, and since it was the university that had attracted him to Berkeley 40 years earlier, he decided to make it the beneficiary of his fortune. “There should be more giving whereby the benefits come to many and not few,” he declared. 

By the time Smyth died, World War II was raging in Europe. The end of the war brought thousands of new students to U.C., and the university scrambled to find housing for them. Veteran architect Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr. was recruited to design dormitories for 480 women in Fernwald. The U.C. Regents were initially opposed to the expenditure, and when approved, the project drew the ire of the neighbors, who weren’t happy to see multiple dwellings in a two-family zone and maintained that the dorms would destroy the general character and beauty of the area. 

In October 1945, with protests causing construction delays, the university announced that only 280 students would be accommodated at the opening of the fall term. “University officials are now seeking locations further removed from the residential area, on which to build housing accommodations for 200 more co-eds,” reported the Gazette. 

In 1964, the university offered the complex to the University Students Cooperative Association (USCA). In the co-op’s history, A Cheap Place to Live, Guy Lillian III wrote, “The complex […] had become a liability to the University. Its distance from campus and the uphill slog required to reach it were petty inconveniences compared to the maintenance problems which had been allowed to develop in the twenty years of its existence.” 

USCA pursued the offer, but when the Daily Californian got hold of the story, it transpired that the university had not informed the Smyth Fernwald residents of the impending change. According to the Daily Cal’s summary of the situation, “Smyth-Fernwald residents did not like the idea of having to work, or felt that the complex would deteriorate under the co-op system.” A petition was circulated, and 71.5% of the residents who signed it were opposed to the co-op takeover. The sale fell through. 

Smyth’s intended fund for physical science research never saw the light of day. His house, still standing in the center of the Smyth Fernwald complex, has become a dilapidated hulk. A 1997 U.C. Seismic Action Plan (SAFER) report found its condition to be poor and the estimated repair or replacement cost to be $1 million. That price tag will have doubled by now. Among all the university buildings awaiting seismic retrofitting, the Smyth House is a very low priority. Its fate seems all but sealed. 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA). 

It’s funny how little I know about a house prior to pulling up to the curb. Despite some lengthy conversation with my client, it really isn’t until I’ve arrived that I can actually see what I’m going to be dealing with. Had I known on this particular day what it was that I was going to see, I might have turned it down but, in retrospect, it was probably best that I didn’t know and showed up anyway. 

The agent, Jimmy, climbed out of his tony vehicle, smiled and said, “Well, I don’t know what you’re going to inspect…” Sheepishly, I smiled and proceeded to circumnavigate the property in search of just that. What I was going to inspect and bring to the table. Was I was going to make my involvement worth the fee and their time? 

This house (if you can call it that) had been so thoroughly botched that there was virtually nothing left to salvage save the framing and, blessedly, the foundation. But this alone became sufficient grist for my mill to make for a worthwhile conversation. This was precisely because it was not clear to the client that most of what had been done would have to be fully removed and replaced at unanticipated expense and by parties of a skill level beyond what I suspect she was anticipating. 

The financial conditions of recent years have forced many folks to bail out while still miles from completion on their “project—or their “flip.” Conversely, when the market is good, it’s often hard to make a project of this kind really profitable. When houses were a dime a dozen in the ‘70s, it was reasonable to turn one around and make some real money. We may see these days coming again but they’ll require that the market ultimately heal enough for new buyers to come along and snatch up the completed projects. It will require faith to venture into the market in this way, but it also requires some very practical skills in project management. 

The prospective buyer (who no longer was, it turned out) had envisioned moving into the property and finishing the work that appeared to be merely incomplete. What wasn’t obvious was that the electrical system (for one) was so badly ravaged that it was essentially a complete redo. That’s the catch, you see. With every prospective course of work, one must ask how much repair is actually worthwhile. I’ll give you an example that comes up all the time. 

Let’s say you have a room that has bunch of holes in the drywall (left over from the poor excuse for an electrician, to draw upon a recent discussion from this column). If you have, say, 10 percent of the wall torn away, it’s already becoming a question as to whether it makes sense to remove all of the drywall and start again or to try to fill and smooth over these holes. 

There are two factors in this equation. One is made up of time and materials but the other factor, equally important (if not more so) is the quality of the finished product. When you flip over to replacement of all the drywall in a given room, you change the game plan from arduously attempting to neatly work on each hole and try to smooth the finished fillers so that you won’t see the patch, to working rapidly with large sheets of fresh material (that cost almost nothing). Then you simply tape and smoothing the major seams. The latter approach is fast, comprehensive and hides most sins and other manifestations of evil and sloth. 

I will generally tweak the equation somewhat and say that more than about 20 percent of repair to drywall in a room ceases to be financial sensible and beckons a full replacement. 

This is less true in an electrical or plumbing system. But these principles are still highly relevant surfeited by more factors that flood in to replace the ones missing from a world in which one may play with mud and tape to adequate results. With electrical wiring, exactness and proper application of the principles can be a matter of life and death (not to put too fine a point on it) because fire can result from poor electrical work. With a lousy drywall installation, the worst you face is a disapproving Martha Stewart showing up unannounced (although that spell in the slammer may have softened her edge somewhat). 

With plumbing there is also not a great danger, although a flood or leak can be quite unpleasant. Nonetheless, good use of time and materials and good layout improve the quality and longevity of these systems and attempting to patch together a bunch of poorly installed plumbing may take much of the time that a complete layout from scratch requires. Here’s how this works: 

If you have a lot of fittings already in place and you’re attempting to work between them, you have fewer choices on how to run your work and, perhaps, many short sections to cut and fit exactly into place. If I know where my various fixtures are going to be and I can work from the main water supply forward to each of these and pick the points at which I branch off from scratch, my entire job may take less time than the that required to carefully perform a series of repairs. Moreover, I can make a set of decisions that I could not make in the former case. For example, I can decide to run a larger pipe for all the main trunks, reducing to smaller branches for each finished line if I’m working from scratch. I can also pre-solder whole sections outside the house and then bring them in and solder them into place in the former case. If I’m doing sectional repairs, I have fewer of these choices and have to make do with what’s already there and work mostly in situ. My main point is that all of this is slower but the other issue, that of overall control is also important. 

This is why a factory built thing (almost anything) is cheaper than a custom or site-built thing. It’s all about economies of scale. 

Back to the electrical, which was a Greek tragedy, inspiring me to want to remove my eyeballs. There was so little that wasn’t botched that it would actually be more work than starting from scratch because one would first have to remove all the little bits of what was there and then install a complete electrical system. 

To make matters worse, the remuddlers had notched the lower edges of the floor joists (the ceiling of the basement) so deeply that a set of structural repairs would be required to go along with the plumbing, wiring and other refits. 

While I won’t belabor all the other elements that reflected the sore lack of expertise demonstrated on the part of those who preceded us that day, I will say that many of the other features that would be requiring renewal/repair/replacement were not so obvious. These included windows that were marred, broken or punctured during installation and would not be good enough to deserve reinstallation. The client had assumed that these would be serviceable and it took some close pointing and discussion of the complexities of the reinstallation process for it to become clear that on the day when they were due to go back in, it would become obvious they were not going to be acceptable. 

Seeing and accounting for these many issues prior to purchase and commitment is essential to avoid heartache and financial woe. And it takes patience, self-honesty and a willingness to fold and wait for a better hand (read house) to come along. 

Lasty, a little skill with a spreadsheet can be quite a good thing. And better, a knowledge of business plans puts the buyer of the major fixer at a significant advantage since, ultimately, rehabilitation of a house is a short-term business. 

We all like bargains and every one of us would like to be the one to land that great deal that turns into a gold mine. The trick is to know when the bargain is an illusion and when it’s actually better to back away from the table, take a deep breath and wait for the deal to come back around.

THURSDAY, NOV. 13 

Codornices Creek Environmental Education Community Design Workshop at 6:30 p.m. at Four Corners Room, University Village, 1125 Jackson St., Albany. 759-1689. codornicescreekwc@gmail.com 

“Facing Race” A conference examining race in the presidential election, racial justice, race and the global economy and other topics, Thurs.-Sat. at Oakland Marriot City Center, 1001 Broadway, Oakland. Sponsored by Applied Research Center. To register see www.arc.org 

“Give Thanks” A Benefit for the Elders of Big Mountain, with songs, stories, and visions to bring aid and awareness of the struggle of the Dine’ People (Navajo), at 7:30 p.m. at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Donation $5-$10 and organic food donations for the caravan to Black Mesa. 464-4615. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from noon to 1 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. Bring photo ID and two references. 644-8833. 

East Bay Mac Users Group meets to discuss Miro and iDVD at 7 p.m. at Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound St., Emeryville. http://ebmug.org 

Circle of Concern Vigil meets on West Lawn of UC campus across from Addison and Oxford, Thurs. at noon and Sun. at 1 p.. to oppose UC weapons labs contracts. 848-8055. 

Baby & Toddler Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Three Beats for Nothing South Mostly ancient part music for fun and practice meets every Thurs. at 10 a.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, Ellis at Ashby. 655-8863. asiecker@sbcglobal 

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

FRIDAY, NOV. 14 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Frederick Rolf on “Berlin-Shanghai-New York: My Family’s Flight From Hitler” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 524-7468. www.citycommonsclub.org 

Senior Driver Traffic Safety Seminar to help you improve driving skills, refresh knowledge of rules of the road, and identify normal age-related changes and how to adjust to become a safer driver, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. Free, but RSVP required. 268-5376. 

“An Evening with Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo” Book signing at 7 p.m., talk at 8 p.m. at at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Suggested donation $30. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

“Fiat in the Hands of the Workers: The ‘Hot Autumn’ of 1969 in Turin” A discussion of the book at 7 p.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. 595-7417. www.marxistlibr.org 

New Deal Film Festival Artists at Work “WPA and Public Art of the 1930s” at 1 p.m. at North Oakland Senior Center, 5714 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. Sponsored by the Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

Cancer Prevention and Survival Cooking Class meets Fri. for four sessions, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Alta Bates Summit Cardiac Rehabilitation, 3030 Telegraph Ave. Free. To register, please call 869-6737. 

Womensong Circle An evening of participatory singing for women at 7:15 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, small assembly room, 2345 Channing Way at Dana. Donation $15-$20. 525-7082. 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

Three Beats for Nothing Mostly ancient part music for fun and practice meets every Fri. at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Hearst at MLK. 655-8863. asiecker@sbcglobal 

“Why Do Jews Pray?” Explore this question at a no-experience-necessary Shabbat dinner at 6:15 p.m. at Jewish Gateways, El Cerrito. RSVP to 559-8140. rabbibridget@jewishgateways.org  

SATURDAY, NOV. 15 

Guided Community Creek Walk on Codornices Creek with Diana Benner, native plant specialist and co-owner of the Watershed Nursery, and the Codornices Creek Watershed Council. Meet at 10 a.m. at Codornices Creek Bridge at 5th St., one block of Harrison west of San Pablo. 759-1689. codornicescreekwc@gmail.com 

Invasive Plant and Trash Removal at Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Enter the park from Swan Way and follow the road to the end parking lot. Then look for the wooden observation platform, currently bring remodeled, adjacent to Arrowhead Marsh. Sponsored by Golden Gate Audubon Society. 843-2222. ggas@goldengateaudubon.org 

Explore the Albany Mudflats with Oliver James, and search for waterbirds on the mud and land birds on the bulb, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Bring a scope if you have one. Exit Buchanan in Albany and turn west. Park near raised wooden platforms. Sponsored by Golden Gate Audubon Society. 843-2222. ggas@goldengateaudubon.org 

Grandmothers Against the War hosts Yalda Asmatey, an Afghan-American PhD student at Berkeley on “Afghanistan and the United States: The Next Four Years” at 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library Conference Room, Kittredge and Shattuck. 845-3815.  

Hillside Club Annual Fundraiser with entertainment, food and auctions, at 6 p.m. for $45, or 7:30 p.m. for $20. 388-8932. www.hillsideclub.org 

UNA/UNICEF Center Open House with UNICEF holiday cards, free trade gifts, music and more, from 1 to 4 p.m. at 1403B Addison St., facing the parking lot of Andronico’s. 849-1752. www.unausaeastbay.org 

Reptile Rendevous Learn about the reptiles that live in Tilden Park, and meet some up close, from 2 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. 525-2233. 

Close the Farm Help us close the Little Farm and tuck in the animals for the night, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Tilden Little Farm, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Vegetarian Cooking Class Thanksgiving for the Birds Learn to make harvest-stuffed acorn squash, mashed potatoes with caramelized onions, roasted brussels sprouts, mushroom gravy, apple cobbler and more from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Cost is $50, plus $5 food and material fee. Advance registration required. 531-COOK. www.compassionatecooks.com 

Math and Science Classes from the Lawrence Hall of Science for families with children in kindergarten through fifth grade from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Richmond Public Library, 325 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond. Free. 620-6557. 

“Mushroom Hunt in the Garden” Learn to identify mushrooms with biologist Debbie Veiss at 10 a.m. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $12-$15. Registration required. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

“Life After Lawn: Toward New Naturalism” Learn about regionally appropriate ornamental grasses and grass-like plants for gardening at 1 p.m. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $20-$25. Registration required. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

“Safe Cosmetics” Learn about contaminants in popular brands of shampoo, lotion and make-up linked to health problems at 2 p.m. at Rockridge Branch Library, 5366 College Ave., Oakland. Sponsored by AAUW Oakland-Piedmont and Oakland-East Bay NOW. 597-5017, 531-4275. 

“The Green and Yellow Festival” A Ugandan Marketplace from 6 to 10 p.m. at Piedmont Veterans Memorial Building, 401 Highland Ave. Proceeds will benefit KIDA, a grassroots charity in rural Uganda that provides education and medical help. Cost is $35. 925-376-0519 or www.FriendsOfRuwenzori.org  

Gratitude Art Faire with arts and crafts, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Bridgeside Shopping Center, 2671 Blanding Ave. Alameda. Sponsored by the Frank Bette Center for the Arts. 

Albany Library Book Sale, Sat. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720, ext. 16. 

Music Business Seminar sponsored by California Lawyers for the Arts from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound St., Emeryville. Cost is $10-$70. 415-775-7200.  

California Writers Club meets to discuss self-discovery and publishing with D. Patrick Miller at 10 a.m. at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square, 98 Broadway, Oakland. www.berkeleywritersclub.org 

Jewish Literature and Discussion Series meets to discuss “The Mind-Body Problem” by Rebecca Goldstein at 2 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Stress Reduction Workshop from 1 to 3 p.m. at Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. Free but please RSVP. 809-1000. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Alta Bates Summit Auditorium, 2450 Ashby Ave. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Oakland Artisans Marketplace Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jack London Square. 238-4948. 

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

SUNDAY, NOV. 16 

Tales and Traditions of California Indians A program for families to learn about the food, tools and art of California’s First Peoples, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200.  

Fungus Safari Hike Join a hunt for mycelium, its fruiting bodies and learn about their natural history, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. For ages 6 and up. 525-2233. 

The Story’s in the Tracks Join a hike to look at the muddy footprints in the park, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m. at Willard Middle School, Telegraph Ave. between Derby and Stuart. Everyone welcome. Wheelchair accessible. 526-7377.  

“Cornucopia” West Berkeley Arts Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2016 7th St. Hosted by Black Pine Circle School. 644-1023, ext. 15. www.blackpinecircle.org/cornucopia 

Albany Library Book Sale from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720, ext. 16. 

Chiapas Support Committee Community Celebration 10th Anniversary, with speakers, displays, progressive auction, music and dancing from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at The Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Sliding scale $25-$50. For reservations see www.chiapas-support.org 

“Embodied Landscapes: Prayer of the Earth” with Barbara Bye at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Byron Katie Workshop on silence, listening, and meditation. led by Eduardo Zambrano, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1929 Russell St. For cost see www.eastbayopencircle.org 

East Bay Atheists “The Shroud of Turin” with Ken Miller at 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 3rd flr meeting room, 2090 Kittredge. 222-7580. 

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

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Robin Caton on “Attaining Inner Confidence” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, NOV. 17 

Briones Mud Hike to discover the geology of this former ocean floor. Bring lunch and water and appropriate shoes for this slippery five-mile hike. Meet at 10 a.m. at Bear Creek Road Staging Area. 525-2233. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at West Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, UC campus. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com 

East Bay Green Tour to visit green businesses, restaurants and more from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. beginning at Amanda’s restaurant. Cost is $50. To register call 704-0379. 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group, for people 60 years and over, meets at 9:45 a.m. at Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave, Albany. Cost is $3.  

East Bay Track Club for girls and boys ages 3-15 meets Mon. at 6 p.m. at Berkeley High School track field. Free. 776-7451. 

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

Dragonboating Year round classes at the Berkeley Marina, Dock M. Meets Mon, Wed., Thurs. at 6 p.m. Sat. at 10:30 a.m. For details see www.dragonmax.org 

Free Boatbuilding Classes for Youth Mon.-Wed. from 3 to 7 p.m. at Berkeley Boathouse, 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Classes cover woodworking, boatbuilding, and boat repair. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

TUESDAY, NOV. 18 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit Tidewater Staging Area at Martin Luther King Regional Shoreline. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Berkeley Garden Club meets to discuss pruning with Jocelyn Cohen, arborist and member of San Francisco Urban Forestry at 2 p.m. at United Methodist Church,1953 Hopkins St. 524-7296. 

The Phoenix Project for UC Democracy To build a movement to democratize the UC Board of Regents, with speakers from faculty, staff, students and community at 7 p.m. at The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation $22 and up, no one turned away. www.ucdemocracy.org 

The Future of Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park A visioning workshop for the public from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Harbor Master Building, 1340 Marina Way South, Richmond. For more information about the park, visit www.nps.gov/rori. 

Yogurt and Cheesemaking Class at 7 p.m. in Oakland. Cost is $30-$50, plus $12 supply fee. To register call 431-9016. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 10 to 11 a.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. Bring photo ID and two references. 644-8833. 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

American Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation at 6 p.m. at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. To learn more, call 594-5165. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at West Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, UC campus. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Music for Monotones An opportunity for non-singers to improve their skills at 7 p.m. at JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $10-$15. 528-6725.  

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

Sing-A-Long Group from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave., Albany. 524-9122. 

Caribbean Rhythms Dance Class begins at 5:30 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St., and meets every Tues. eve. Donations accepted for Community Rhythms Scholarship Fund. 548-9840. 

Ceramics Class Learn hand building techniques to make decorative and functional items, Tues. at 9:30 a.m. at St. John's Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Free, materials and firing charges only. 525-5497. 

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 19 

Santa Fe Right-of-Way Community Meeting to discuss the future of this valuable community open space at 7:30 p.m. at Frances Albrier Community Center in San Pablo Park, 2800 Park St. 415-397-2220. Benjamin@railstotrails.org 

Tilden Mini-Rangers Hiking, conservation and nature-based activities for ages 8-12. Dress to ramble and get dirty. From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Berkeley Swimming Pools Meeting to address citywide needs and interests related to pools and aquatic programs at 7 p.m. in the library of Malcolm X Elementary School, 1731 Prince St. 501-0256. johncaner@gmail.com 

Project Censored 2009 Prof. Peter Phillips and Prof. Mickey Huff discuss the top 25 censored news stories of 2007-2008 at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. www.revolutionbooks.org 

Appreciating Diversity Film Series “Brazil in Black and White” A documentary about racial justice and affirmative action in Brazil at 7 p.m. at Ellen Driscoll Auditorium, Havens Elementary School, 325 Highland Ave., Piedmont. Free. http://diversityfilmseries.org 

“Unnatural Causes” A documentary about the economic and social inequality in our healthcare system at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.Humanist Hall.org 

“March Point” A documentary of teenagers fighting two oil refineries which were built on land once part of the Swinomish Reservation in Washington, at 6:30 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, James Moore Theater, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. Free. www.itvs.org 

“I.O.U.S.A.” A film on the rapidly growing national debt and its consequenses at 6 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Discussion follows. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“California and California Authors” is the subject of the Albany Library Evening Book Group at 7 p.m. at 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720, ext. 16. 

Simplicity Forum on Finances with Katherine McKay at 6:30 p.m. at the Claremont Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave. at Ashby. 

Bonita Hollow Writers Salon meets at 7 p.m. at Bonita Hollow, 1631 Bonita Ave. 266-2069. 

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. 548-9840. 

Theraputic Recreation at the Berkeley Warm Pool, Wed. at 3:30 p.m. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley Warm Pool, 2245 Milvia St. Cost is $4-$5. Bring a towel. 632-9369. 

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 

Teen Chess Club from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6133. 

Jump Start Entrepreneurs Network meets at 8 a.m. at Cuppa Tea, 3202 College Ave. at Alcactraz. Cost is $5-$6, includes breakfast. 899-8242. www.jumpstartten.com 

Morning Meditation Every Mon., Wed., and Fri. at 7:45 a.m. at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way at 6th. 486-8700. 

Berkeley CopWatch Drop-in office hours from 6 to 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, NOV. 20 

Green Gathering V + Sustainability Summit on ways to make Berkeley sustainable at 4 p.m. at Bancroft Hotel, 2680 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $35. To register see www.ecologycenter.org/GGSS 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for signs of animals, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will learn about the mammals that live in Tilden Park from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

“Save Our Sandhill Cranes” A talk by Gary Ivey, researcher on cranes in the Pacific Flyway, and Mike Eaton, crane habitat conservation expert at 7 p.m. at the Oakland Zoo, Marian Zimmer Auditorium. Cost is $5-$20. amy@oaklandzoo.org 

“It Came from Berkeley” A slide show and talk by Dave Weinstein at 7 pm. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. 526-7512. 

“Sustainability and the Living Roof at the Cal Academy of Sciences” with Dr. Frank Almeda at 12:30 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

LeConte Neighborhood Association meets at 7 p.m. at Mudraker’s Cafe, Telegraph and Stuart. To submit agenda items or get information contact karlreeh@aol.com 

Easy Does It Board of Directors Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1636 University Ave. 845-5513. 

Circle of Concern Vigil meets on West Lawn of UC campus across from Addison and Oxford, Thurs. at noon and Sun. at 1 p.. to oppose UC weapons labs contracts. 848-8055. 

Baby & Toddler Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Three Beats for Nothing South Mostly ancient part music for fun and practice meets every Thurs. at 10 a.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, Ellis at Ashby. 655-8863. asiecker@sbcglobal 

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

FRIDAY, NOV. 21 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Paolo Gianturco, photographer, writer on “Women Who Light the Dark” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 524-7468. www.citycommonsclub.org 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for signs of animals, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

“The Price of Fire” with Ben Dangl on the new social movement in Bolivia at 7 p.m. at AK Press, 674-A 23rd. St., Oakland. 208-1700. www.akpress.org 

Demonstrate for Peace! Bring your signs and determination to bring our troops home now at 2 p.m. at Acton and University aves. Sponsored by Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers and Strawberry Creek Lodge Tenants Association and the Iraq Moratorium. 841-4143. 

New Deal Film Festival Artists at Work “Housing, Farm and Rural Electrical Cooperatives of the 1930s” at 1 p.m. at North Oakland Senior Center, 5714 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. Sponsored by the Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Children’s Hospital, Outpatient Center basement, 747 52nd St., Oakland. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com 

Kol Hadash Humanistic (non-theistic) Judaism Shabbat service at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Please bring finger dessert or snack to share for the Oneg, and non-perishable food for the needy. 428-1492. 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

Three Beats for Nothing Mostly ancient part music for fun and practice meets every Fri. at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Hearst at MLK. 655-8863. asiecker@sbcglobal 

SATURDAY, NOV. 22 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour of Aquatic Park from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. For reservations and starting point call 848-0181. 

Cerrito Creek Work Party Help Friends of Five Creeks plant natives on Cerrito Creek at Albany Hill. Meet at 10 a.m. at Creekside Park, south end of Santa Clara Ave. (internet maps 3499 Santa Clara; AC Transit 72 or 52L). Wear clothes that can get dirty and shoes with good traction. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

Reptile Rendevous Learn about the reptiles that live in Tilden Park, and meet some up close, from 2 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. 525-2233. 

East Bay Baby Fair with information on pregnancy, birth and parenting, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Albany Veterans Memorial Building, 1325 Portland Ave., Albany. www.eastbaybabyfair.com 

Emeryville Marina Sunset Walk Meet at 3 p.m. for an hour walk through the Marina, with quiet views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, on paved trail, wheel chair accessible. Optional early dinner after walk at the Emery Market. Meet at the back of Chevy’s Restaurant, by picnic tables. 234-8949. 

Demonstration of Mayan Backstrap Weaving with Celia Sántiz Ruiz and Maria Gutierrez, members of the Jolom Mayaetik weaving cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico, at 5 p.m. at Talavera Ceramics, 1801 University Ave., at Grant. 665-6038. 

Health & Science Festival with hands-on activities for children and families from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Hall of Health, 2230 Shattuck Ave., lower level. Cost is $5. Children under three free. 705-8527. 

Math and Science Classes from the Lawrence Hall of Science for families with children in kindergarten through fifth grade from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Richmond Public Library, 325 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond. Free. 620-6557. 

Santa Paws Benefit for Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Have your pet photographed with Santa from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Redhound, 5523 College Ave., Oakland, and Sun. from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Dog Bone Alley, 1342 Park St., Alameda. Cost is $30. 845-7735, ext.13. cshelby@berkeleyhumane.org 

Origami Workshop with Nga Trinh for all ages, at 2 p.m. at the North Branch, Berkeley Public Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6250. 

“Rebel Shamans: Indigenous Women Confront Empire” with Max Dashu of the Suppressed Histories Archives aat 7 p.m. at Redwood Gardens Community Room, 2951 Derby St. Donation $15-$20, sliding scale. www.suppressedhistories.net 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Oakland Artisans Marketplace Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jack London Square. 238-4948. 

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

SUNDAY, NOV. 23 

Memorial for Peter Camejo at 2 p.m. at International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. 831-246-1888. 

Thangs Taken: Rethinking Thanksgiving with music, poetry and film at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$25, sliding scale. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Tilden Mini-Gardeners Explore the wonderful world of gardens for ages 5-8 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

Mayan Woman Weavers with Celia Sántiz Ruiz and Marla Gutierrez on the Jolom Mayaetik weaving cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico, at 2 p.m. at The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 

Working with Wool Watch as the spinning wheel turns wool into yarn, try a drop spindle and create a felted holiday ornament, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Tellabration” Celebrate National Storytelling Day with Randy Rutherford and others at 3:30 p.m. at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Ticekts are $10. 444-4755. www.stagebridge.org 

“Garden Inspired Holiday Decoration” with Leslie Piels and Ann Leyhe at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

“Where Do We Go From Here?” Ecumenical Peace Institute’s Autumn Gathering with Byron Williams, pastor of the Ressurection Community Church, at 6 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. Suggested donation $15-$35, includes dinner. RSVP to 655-1162. www.epicalc.org 

“Getting Unblocked” with Ann Wise Cornell at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.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 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Judy Rasmussen on “Gratitude for the Simple Life” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Increase Your Social and Moral Intelligence: Read a Play! Bagel and coffee brunch sponsored by Kol Hadash, Jewish Humanistic congregation at 10 a.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Suggestion donation $5. To register email info@kolhadash.org  

Jewish PJ Party For Very Young Children Songs, puppets, bubbles, snacks, crafts for children up to age 5 and their parents, Jewish or just curious at 10:30 a.m. at Jewish Gateways. To RSVP email rabbibridget@jewishgateways.org  

Sew Your Own Open Studio Come learn to use our industrial and domestic machines, or work on your own projects, from 4 to 8 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Also on Fri. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost is $5 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Commission on Early Childhood Education meets Thurs., Nov. 13, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5428.  

Community Health Commission meets Thurs., Nov.13 , at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5356.  

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs., Nov. 13, at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7520.  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Nov. 13, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. 981-7410. 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Mon., Nov. 17at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 981-7368. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

City Council meets Tues., Nov. 18, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6601. 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Commission on Aging meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5344. 

Commission on Labor meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7550.  

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5427.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Nov. 19, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484. 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7415.  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6950.  

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., Nov. 20, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7010. 

ONGOING 

Help Low-wage Families with Their Taxes United Way’s Earn it! Keep It! Save It! needs Bay Area volunteers for its 7th annual free tax program. No previous experience necessary. Sign up at www.earnitkeepitsaveit.org