People who park cars for a company that contracts with the city can expect a wage hike on July 1. And so can other low-wage workers whose employers service the city. 

More than a year after the original proposal was brought to the City Council, and after several sessions where dozens of supporters demonstrated in favor of the ordinance outside of the council chambers, the body unanimously adopted a finalized version of the Living Wage Ordinance without comment at its meeting on Tuesday. Councilmember Margaret Breland was absent. 

The ordinance sets the Living Wage at $9.75, plus $1.62 if the employer does not spend that amount of money on health benefits. 

It also includes 22 days off, of which 12 would be paid vacation/holiday days. 

Employees must receive this wage if they work for a company that employs five or more people and is: 

• A for-profit company which does $25,000 annually or more in business with the city. 

• A nonprofit company which contracts with the city for $100,000 of services annually. 

• A company that leases property from the city which grosses at least $350,000 annually. 

• A company that receives more than $100,000 annually in loans or economic assistance from the city. 

The ordinance includes permanent part-time employees. 

Amaha Kassa, an organizer working with the Berkeley Marina Radisson Hotel workers, whose employer just authorized the employees to unionize, spoke before the council, urging the body to create a Marina Zone to complete the living wage concept. This would be an employment zone at the city-owned marina, where all the employees would get wages mandated by the Living Wage Ordinance. 

The hotels and restaurants rent the land from the city, but will not renegotiate leases for a number of years, making the provisions of the Living Wage Ordinance inapplicable for many years, even decades in some cases. 

Kassa asked the council to approve the zone before going on vacation in August. “This concept is the way of significantly increasing the scope of the ordinance,” he said. 

In other action, just before midnight Tuesday, a weary council approved a resolution to increase the speed limit on Claremont Avenue from 25 mph to 30 mph. That’s because the higher limit is enforceable in the courts. The judicial system looks at the lower limit as a “speed trap,” since few people travel at that speed, and throw out tickets officers write in that zone. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington, the only member of the body to oppose the speed limit change, asked that the question be referred back to the Transportation Commission, which had already rejected the change. Worthington did get an amendment added to the motion, saying that if a state law were passed that mandated the courts to uphold Berkeley’s 25 mile-per-hour limit, the limit would revert to 25. 

Neighborhood activist Dean Metzger urged adoption of the higher limit. 

“The issue is an important safety measure for all of us who live on the avenue,” he said.

Saturday, June 24

Disaster First Aid 

9 a.m.-noon 

Fire department’s Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 

This summer, Berkeley’s Office of Emergency Services will offer a set of free training classes to help families prepare for emergencies. The classes, open to Berkeley residents at least 18 years old, will be taught by retired firefighters. The classes give hands-on training in how to put on a splint, extinguish a fire, use a fire hose, and more. Call ahead to register. Future classes will be held on Light Search and Rescue (July 15) and Fire Suppression (Aug. 12). 

510-644-8736 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m.-3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

This weekend’s market will celebrate the summer solstice. Musical performances will be held throughout the four hours of the market. 

510-548-3333 

Jazz/Art at the Library 

3:30 p.m. 

Temporary Central Public Library, 2121 Allston Way 

This event is part of the summer program series in the library system. Lisa di Prima and the Donald Robinson Trio are the featured talents. 

510-644-6100 

Words in Collision: Summer Performance Art Series 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. (in Live Oak Park) 

The featured presentation will be “Out of the Q” by Dale Going. Admission is $7 to $10. 

510-644-6893 

Pedestrian “Bike-In” Movie Night Party and Protest 

9 p.m. 

Underhill parking lot (Channing and College) 

This week's feature: “Doctor Strangelove,” plus video activist shorts. Transform a parking lot into a paradise every Saturday night this summer in protest of the University's plan to build a parking lot on the site, instead of student housing. 

510-CREW-CUT; 

www.geocities.com/rickisyoung 

Sunday, June 25

Spay-Neuter Program 

People are encouraged to bring feral and stray cats to be sterilized and vaccinated. This program is sponsored by Fix Our Ferals. For ahead for location information, reservations and trap loans. 

510-433-9446 

Berkeley Hiking Club Mini-Hike 

8:30 a.m. meet at Shattuck Avenue and Berkeley Way 

Participants will travel to Mt. Tamalpais, where they will reconvene and meet leader at Rock Spring. There are about five miles on the leader’s choice of trails. 

415-388-1929 

Berkeley Hiking Club Main Hike 

8:30 a.m. meet at Shattuck Avenue and Berkeley Way 

Participants will travel to Point Reyes National Seashore, where they will reconvene and meet leader at Bear Valley Visitors’ Center at 9:30 a.m. Participants will make a seven-mile hike to Mt. Wittenburg. 

510-527-7754 

Hula Day: Family Sunday 

12:30-3:30 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive, above UC Berkeley campus 

Hula performances will be held at 1:30 p.m. Science activities run throughout the entire three-hour event. 

510-642-5132; www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

Rhyme and Reason Open Mike Series 

2:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley Art Museum, 2621 Durant Ave. 

The public and students are invited. Signups for the open mike begin at 2 p.m. Featured poets will include Jack Foley and Adelle Foley. 

510-234-0727; 510-642-5168 

Poetry Flash 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. 

The featured poets this session will include Suzanne Lummis. 

510-845-7852; 510-525-5476 

Monday, June 26

Personal security 

5:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

This workshop is designed to help people who live in affordable housing to learn more about security issues. 

510-644-6107 

Tuesday, June 27

Free computer class for seniors 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited; the class is offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Call ahead for a reservation. 

510-644-6109 

Easy Tilden Trails 

9:30 a.m. 

Tilden Regional Park, in the parking lot that dead ends at the Little Farm 

Join a few seniors, the Tuesday Tilden Walkers, for a stroll around Jewel Lake and the Little Farm Area. Enjoy the beauty of the wildflowers, turtles, and warblers, and waterfowl. 

510-215-7672; members.home.com/teachme99/tilden/index.html 

Blood pressure screening 

9:30 a.m. 

“When Do You Take it Personally?” 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

510-548-3333 

The disturbing vitriol with which people spit out lawyer jokes seems to establish that most Americans feel every member of the legal profession is somehow tied to the O.J. Simpson case, Pat Riley the motorcycle lawyer or the million-dollar settlement for the poor old lady who spilled molten McDonald’s coffee in her lap. 

Yet as easy as it is to laugh, generalize a profession and regurgitate the words “overly litigious,” it is just as simple to overlook the real injustices done to the poor, who, lacking the key ingredients of money, power and exposure, have not gained much from this “overly litigious” society. 

So then, whom do you call when you’ve got no assets and your landlord is attempting to put you out on the street? What if you’re already out on the street? What if you’re out on the street and disabled? What if you’re out on the street, disabled and suffering from a debilitating disease? 

Suddenly those lawyer jokes wouldn’t be so funny anymore. 

“Since we opened in 1988 we’ve assisted clients with about 15,000 legal issues and trained and supervised over 500 law students,” estimates Bernida Reagan, the East Bay Community Law Center’s executive director. “We were started by students from the Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley who wanted to do two things: Provide legal service for poor people – a lot of people like they were walking over when they tried to get to school – and also provide clinical opportunities for law students to get hands-on training representing clients in general and poor people in particular.” 

The organization that started 12 years ago with a handful of frustrated grad students and a broken typewriter has grown to accommodate a stable of nine supervising attorneys and the constant presence of dozens of law students, most of them from Boalt Hall. 

A full 97 percent of the center’s clientele hearkens from the low-income sector of society while 30 percent are homeless – and the Shattuck Ave. offices may be besieged with as many as 300 calls on a busy day. 

“There’s no typical call at all,” says client liaison Cseneca Parker. “I know that each call that comes in is what, to the client, seems to be an emergency situation. They’re crises, and they range from how to file for divorce to how to prepare for a will to tenant-landlord disputes. One thing we pride ourselves on is that a human being answers the phone; people don’t dial into some crazy voicemail hell system. We’re the only agency serving low-income individuals that does not automatically put people into an automated system.” 

In fact, helping people out of the system is what the EBCLC is all about. While Parker affirms there is no prototypical quandary for the thousands who call each week, the center’s major areas of emphasis are working to prevent evictions, assisting people squeezed by the welfare system and aiding poor people stricken with HIV/AIDS. 

“Right now, evictions are at an all-time high in Oakland and Berkeley,” says Laura Lane, the supervising attorney of the EBCLC’s housing unit. “In San Francisco and Berkeley, as prices go up, people move into Oakland, where you can be evicted for no cause. Landlords are trying to get people out to raise the rent. We’re trying to get better protection for tenants in Oakland.” 

Unlike Berkeley, where landlords must demonstrate that tenants have acted in a detrimental manner before evicting them, Oakland renters can be hit with 30-day notices known in the field as “no cause” evictions. Lane points out that Sentinel Fair Housing and the Eviction Defense Center estimate a recent 200-300 percent jump in the number of 30-day notice evictions in Oakland. 

And whether it’s eviction defense, helping welfare recipients receive job training or disability benefits, manning the homeless outreach program or slicing through the red tape withholding money and treatment from many impoverished AIDS patients, much of the EBCLC’s work is done by law students. 

“As the semester goes on, the students take on more and more responsibility,” says EBCLC Developmental Associate Sarah Horsley. “Interns do a lot of the work of the law center under the very close supervision of what we call supervising attorneys. Students are our main contacts with the clients.” 

So far, hundreds of these lawyers-to-be – or not, as it turns out sometimes – have learned lessons they could never pick up in a classroom. 

“We’ve built up a core of people dedicated to public interest law,” says Reagan, the center’s executive director since virtually day one. “Whether they’re working at a law firm or public interest law jobs, we’ve really helped develop a large group of people compassionate to the needs of poor people and helping people stabilize and improve their lives. Many of our graduates now run their own programs.” 

Adds Parker, “this is not an agency that has a front to be a community service provider and doesn’t really do it. We really help people. 

“I came into this agency as a client in need of many legal services, and they didn’t just fix things for me, they taught me how to fix them myself,” continues Parker, who has been affiliated with the EBCLC for nine years. “Now I’m a part of the EBCLC family, and another good thing about this law center is it is a family. A multi-cultured, multi-gendered type of family.”

I would like to register my support for the University’s effort to solve the vexing problem of affordable student housing. I would also like to dissuade the University from proposing a beefed-up, three-block “megastructure” on the Southside of Berkeley as its most intelligent response to this need. 

The last UC architecture historian, Spiro Kostof, portrays the megastructures “craze” in the United States as a dated and perhaps farcical solution to urban problems. In the 1950s UC proposed its contribution to this movement, of which Units 1 & 2 were to be part and parcel. The portions of the plan that was built marginalized the neighborhood dysfunction. This painful history is nothing that I need chronicle. It is common lore on both sides of Bancroft. 

As someone who has served on the boards of People’s Park and Telegraph Area Association and who is involved in the restoration of Berkeley’s only National Historic Landmark building (Bernard Maybeck’s Christian Science church on Dwight Way), the least I am good for is alerting the University that the present Underhill plan will amplify the dysfunctional impact. While I question the parking structure, it is the philosophy of warehousing students in domineering towers that I believe is most destructive to the Southside. It is antithetical to the mission of educating community leaders. It isolates students from their community and may reinforce, subtly but effectively, indifference or condescension to their neighbors (’townies’). They literally “look down” on others. 

The Southside is a historic community, limping along in its present situation, but capable of recovery. The present Underhill plan could be the proverbial final nail in the coffin. 

The Southside needs housing. It can increase its housing to an acceptable level without any towers, present or future. 

You might be interested to know that the towers long ago proposed on People’s Park (previously traditional Berkeley housing stock) would have increased the number of beds on the block in the range of only 20-30 percent, according to a professional architect who studied it. Often what is promised in the name of “efficiency of scale” takes extravagant, painful efforts and delivers marginal benefits. 

For a number of years I was involved in developing a deteriorating property on the Southside that faced rigid parameters on every front, from neighborhood preservation ordinances to rent control. Investment seemed impossible. However, the right developer came along and now the owner will increase the number of beds by over double the previous, while retaining parking and neighborhood scale. 

Is there no way for the University to solve its housing shortage by a multitude of smaller development efforts, rather than this bureaucratic megastructure approach that takes full (false) responsibility for housing and feeding students in an institutional regimen? If so, it would leave the University with more resources to educate rather than play developer and landlord, which the private sector does so much better. 

Could the University seed parts of Berkeley with small development grants or create more University/private partnerships that make individual projects appealing and workable? It would give the University a number of private sector partners in the local scene that would support its housing program. This would create University/community good will rather than town and gown chills. 

The old fashioned mid-century megastructures were like the bulky mainframe computers of their day. It took concerted effort and a change of philosophy to bring power down to the human scale of PC’s and their remarkable network possibilities. The change was very painful to IBM, I might add, but critical to its survival in the long run. 

Would there not be substantial University and community benefit in adopting the philosophy of “faster, smaller, better, cheaper?” 

William Marquand is executive director of the Maybeck Foundation. This is a copy of an open letter he sent to UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl.

THEATER

AURORA THEATRE 

“Split” by Mayo Simon, June 1 through July 2. A mordant clear-eyed view of an older couple's love affair. $25 to $28. Wednesday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822. 

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE 

“Closer” by Patrick Marber, through July 9. A funny, touching and unflinchingly honest examination of love and relationships set in contemporary London. $38 to $48.50. Tuesday, Thursday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Wednesday, 7 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; May 27, June 1, June 3, June 10, June 15, June 24, June 29 and July 8, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 845-4700 or (888) 4BRTTIX. 

CALIFORNIA 

SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 

“Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare, June 3 through June 24. The classic romantic comedy of mismatched lovers forced into a union. $21 to $38 general; $19 to $38 seniors; $10 to $38 children. Wednesday and Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m.; June 13 and June 20, 7 p.m. June 24, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Bruns Memorial Amphitheatre, Shakespeare Festival Way/Gateway Exit on state Highway 24. (510) 548-9666 or www.calshakes.org 

LaVal’s Subterranean 

Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Yoni Barkan. The play will run from June 8 to July 8, Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. each night. 1834 Euclid Ave. (510) 234-6046. 

MUSIC VENUES

ASHKENAZ 

Steve Lucky and The Rhumba Bums, June 24, 9:30 p.m. Lindy Hop Dance Lessons with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. $11. 

Hahbi'ru, June 25, 7:30 p.m. $10. 

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5099 or www.ashkenaz.com 

BLAKES 

Kofy Brown, Rous, June 24. $6. 

For age 18 and older. Music at 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. (510) 848-0886. 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

The Limeliters, June 24. $16.50 to $17.50. 

John Dobby Boe and the avant jazz trio, June 25. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Music at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 548-1761 or (510) 762-BASS. 

LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER 

Ritmo y Armonia, June 24, 9:30 p.m. $10. 

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

924 GILMAN ST. 

Damad, Good Clean Fun, Meatjack, Brain Blood Volume, June 24. 

$5. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510) 525-9926. 

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

The Paladins, The Dusty 45's, June 24. $8. 

For age 21 and over. Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:45 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082. 

MUSEUMS

Berkeley Historical Society 

“Berkeley's Ethnic Heritage." May 7 through March 2001. The exhibit examines the rich cultural diversity of our city and the contributions of individuals and minority groups to our history and development. The exhibit look at the original native tribelets in the area and the immigrants who settled in Ocean View and displaced the Spanish/Mexican landowners. It also examines the influence of theUniversity of California, the San Francisco earthquake, and World War II on the population and culture of Berkeley, and subsequent efforts to overcome discrimination. Thursday through Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. Wheelchair accessible. Admission free. 

Berkeley Historical Society located in the Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street, Berkeley. 510-848-0181 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc 

UC BERKELEY ART 

MUSEUM 

“Master of Fine Art Graduate Exhibition,” May 20 through July 2. The 13th annual exhibit of work by candidates for the Master of Fine Arts degree. 

Rodin and His Contemporaries,” through August. An exhibit of 11 bronze maquettes on loan from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in Los Angeles. The bronzes range in style from the artist's classically inspired “Torso of a Woman” to the anguish of “The Martyr.” Some of the maquettes were cast during Rodin’s lifetime, others have been cast fairly recently under the aegis of the Musee Rodin which alone is authorized to cast his sculptures posthumously. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students ages 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 1 1 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-0808. 

HALL OF HEALTH  

2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level), Berkeley 

A hands-on community health education museum and science center sponsored by Children's Hospital Oakland and Alta Bates Medical Center. 

“Your Cellular Self and Cancer Prevention,” ongoing. An exhibit on understanding how cells become cancerous and how to detect and prevent cancer. 

Free. For children ages 3 to 12 and their parents. 

(510) 549-1564 

LAWRENCE HALL 

OF SCIENCE 

“Experiment Gallery,” through Sept. 10. Step inside a giant laboratory and experiment with concepts surrounding sound, light, mechanics, electricity, and weather. 

“Math Rules!” ongoing exhibit. A math exhibit of hands-on problem-solving stations, each with a different mathematical challenge. Make mathematical ice-cream cones, use blocks to build three dimensional structures, make dodecagon pies from a variety of mathematical shapes and stretch mathematical thinking. 

“Within the Human Brain,” ongoing installation. Visitors test their cranial nerves, play skeeball, master mazes, match musical tones and construct stories inside a simulated “rat cage” of learning experiments. 

$6 general; $4 seniors, students and children ages 7 to 18; $2 children ages 3 to 6; free children under age 3. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, University of California, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

PHOEBE HEARST MUSEUM 

Kroeber Hall, UC Berkeley 

“Modern Treasures from Ancient Iran,” through Oct. 29. This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran as illustrated in bronze and pottery vessels, and textiles. 

“Pana O’ahu: Sacred Stones – Sacred Places,” through July 16. An exhibit of photographs by Jan Becket and Joseph Singer. 

“Phoebe Hearst Museum-Approaching a Century of Anthropology,” a sampling of the vast collections of the museum, its mission, history, and current research, with selections from ancient Egypt, ancient Peru, California Indians, Asia (India), and Africa. 

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” Ishi, the last Yahi Indian of California, spent the final years of his life, 1911 to 1916, living at the museum, working with anthropologists to record his culture, demonstrating technological skills, and retelling Yahi myths, tales, and songs. 

Wednesday through Sunday 10 am -4:30 pm; Thursday until 9 pm (Sept-May) 

(510) 643-7648 

HABITOT CHILDREN’S MUSEUM 

Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

A museum especially for children age 7 and younger. Highlights include “WaterWorks,” an area with some unusual water toys, an Infant Tree for babies, a garden especially for toddlers, a child-scale grocery store and cafe, and a costume shop and stage for junior thespians. The museum also features a toy lending library. 

Exhibit: “Back to the Farm,” open-ended. This interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels like an earthworm, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and much more.  

Admission is $4 for adults; $6 child age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child.  

Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

(510) 647-1111 

JUDAH L. MAGNES 

MUSEUM 

2911 Russell St., Berkeley 

“Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season,” through May 2002.  

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch. Through Nov. 4: “Spring and Summer.” 

Free. Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

(510) 549-6950. 

GALLERIES

A.C.C.I. GALLERY 

“Abstract Expressions,” through July 1. A group show featuring Rita Flanagan, Carolyn Careis, Heather Hutchinson, Muriel Paley, and Naomi Policoff. 

Free. Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1652 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-2527. 

KALA INSTITUTE 

“Markings/Imprints,” through July 28. The 2000 Kala Art Institute Fellowship Awards Exhibitions, Part I, featuring works by Susan Belau, Liliana Lobo Ferreira, and Jamie Morgan. 

Free. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Workshop Media Center Gallery, 1060 Heinz Ave., Berkeley. (510) 549-2977. 

NEW PIECES GALLERY 

“Progressions: the Quilt as Art,” through June 29. An exhibit of quilts by Jill Le Croisette. 

“Go We to the Revels Masked,” through June 29. An exhibit of dolls by Elise Peeples. 

Free. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave., Berkeley. (510) 527-6779. 

TRAYWICK GALLERY 

Rachel Davis, Samantha Fisher, Benicia Gantner, Cherith Rose, June 21 through July 22. An exhibit of new work by the four artists. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1316 10th St., Berkeley. (510) 527-1214. 

“Yangtze River: in the Dragon’s Teeth” 

Carol Brighton's poured paper paintings of the Yangtze River gorges, through July 31. Six-foot paper pieces in the long format of a Chinese scroll. This artwork is done in support of the International Rivers Network campaign to save the Yangtze River. The full impact of these beautiful compositions can even be viewed from across the street. 

Addison Street Windows Gallery, 2018 Addison St., Berkeley 

To publicize an upcoming event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). Calendar items should be submitted at least one week before the opening of a new exhibit or performance. Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to clarify any information.

SAN FRANCISCO – William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” an Elizabethan slapstick comedy about a husband who uses physical and emotional abuse to train his wife to be submissive and dutiful, is a tough play for 21st century audiences. 

But England’s Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) brought a crisp and comedic touring production of the play to the Bay Area Thursday for an 11-day run, mounting the play with a concept that fits modern sensibilities. 

RSC’s device is to include in the staging Shakespeare’s introductory scene to the play that is omitted in most productions. 

In this introductory scene, a drunken tinker named Christopher Sly is found passed out in the street by some gentlemen who decide to play a practical joke by taking him home and installing him in the bedroom of a fine house. 

When Sly wakes up, he is told by servants that he is the master of the house who has been in a coma for 15 years. A male servant dressed as a woman pretends to be his wife. 

When this infrequently staged introductory scene is used in productions, the body of the play “Taming of the Shrew” is then performed for the confused, deluded and dazed Christopher Sly as an entertainment by some actors who are in on the joke. 

In the current RSC production, the introductory Christopher Sly scene is performed in modern dress. 

Looking for some way out of his confusion, Sly goes to a computer at the side of the stage, logs onto the web, as though looking for a chat room – maybe a porn chat room – and finds the story of “Shrew,” which is staged in traditional costumes and time period. 

So the performance of “Shrew” then is seen as an anti-social web site which makes a sarcastic joke of conjugal politics and love. This context works fairly well as a justification for the production. 

In the basic story of “Shrew,” fortune-hunting bachelor Petruchio agrees to marry the angry, people-hating Katherine in exchange for a sizable dowry from her father. 

Petruchio is encouraged in his plan by several suitors of Katherine’s younger beautiful sister Bianca, because the father won’t permit Bianca to marry until his older Katherine is married first. 

Director Lindsay Posner’s production is a silly cartoon version of the story, played at times with a high-speed pace and herky-jerky movements that have the look and feel of low-speed video transmitted over the Web. 

There are some nice touches. Servants and masters are an important part of “Taming of the Shrew.” In this production the servants are often smart, though they have to be careful not to show it or they get beaten. 

This element is significant in a story about a husband taming a wife until she is his servant. 

Lucentio (Jo Stone-Fewings), a suitor to younger sister Bianca (Charlotte Randle), is outwitted at times by his smarter servant Tranio, played by Louis Hilyer in a funny, intelligent, devious, and quick-witted performance. 

As a determined, explosive Petruchio, Stuart McQuarrie’s high-speed courtship of Kate takes about 10 minutes from first meeting to a setting of the wedding date a week later. 

Beginning his serious assault on Kate’s mind, body and being, he shows up for the wedding wearing a dress. It is a funny performance. 

Monica Dolan plays a poisonous, sociopathic Kate, with a huge chip on her shoulder and an anger so deep that it gives her a crooked posture. Her inwardly directed rage paradoxically makes the character seem small at times. 

Lucentio’s second servant Biondello (Ryan Pope) is very funny with a rapid movement performance like a cartoon stick figure. 

Director Posner runs the show and the dialogue fast. Sometimes the speed of the physical comedy costs the production laughs that it normally gets when the characters are more real and less cartoony. 

The orchestration of Petruchio’s torture of Kate in his house after their marriage is communicated by nice touches that show how the servants are in cahoots with Petruchio. 

In the context of the brutality of this story, the first kiss between Petruchio and Kate is pornographic in its emotions. 

The silences at the end of “Shrew,” as surprised friends and family try and process what they have just witnessed, are hilarious. 

Designer Ashley Martin-Davis has framed the play’s action in a rectangle that implies it is a story told on a computer screen. 

The cavernous, echoing Herbst Theater isn’t the best place acoustically for a play. At times the performers aren’t easy to hear or understand. 

The Kate in this production comes to her submission to Petruchio not from love, but like a prisoner who learns that deception is a necessary survival technique in her relationship with a jailer. Kate becomes a Stepford wife, living dazed in a brutalized trance. 

At this production’s very end, a sleeping Christopher Sly is dumped drunk onto the street, where he wakes to consider his “brave dream,” in which he was Petruchio. Actor McQuarrie plays both roles. 

RSC’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” hosted by the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, runs through July 2 at the Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. For tickets and information, call (415) 392-4400.

The Berkeley Public Library Foundation announced this week that it received a $300,000 challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation, the largest gift to date in its “We Love the Library” campaign. 

The fund-raising campaign has raised over $3.3 million of its goal $3.7 million for furnishings and other equipment in the new library, which will open early next year. 

In order to receive the $300,000 grant, the library foundation must complete the campaign. That is, it must raise the $3.7 million by the end of the year. BPLF Executive Director Glen Gilbert said that he hopes the money will be raised by September. 

Kresge Foundation grants are made toward projects involving construction or renovation of facilities and the purchase of major capital equipment or real estate. The library foundation began working on its application in September 1999. 

“It was one of the most challenging application processes I’ve ever been involved with,” Gilbert said. “But it was well worth it.” 

In 1999, the Kresge Foundation reviewed 597 proposals and awarded only 203 grants. Gilbert said that Kresge prefers to reward organizations that receive funding from a wide range of groups and individuals. So far, over 5,000 individuals have donated to the library foundation. 

In addition to the Kresge grant, the library foundation also announced that it has completed a $200,000 challenge grant from the Raymond Family Foundation to help refurbish the historic Reference Room. 

The library foundation received more than 100 gifts of $1,000 and 200 gifts of $500 from the community to meet the challenge grant. Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean helped obtain the grant by being the first citizen to contribute money. 

The library is in the middle of a renovation and expansion project that will make the 1931 landmark building more earthquake-safe while doubling its square footage. It is on schedule to open in February; however, the BPLF will have a better time-frame estimate in the next 30 days. 

The bulk of the project’s funding comes from Measure S, the $49 million bond measure approved by Berkeley voters in 1996. About $30 million of the money went to fund the library’s renovation. However, under strict state laws, none of that money can be used for necessities like furniture, bookshelves, or computers, so the Berkeley Public Library Foundation is raising $3.7 million for these furnishings. 

The Berkeley Public Library is ranked No. 1 in California in circulation per capita among communities our size, and number six in the nation in the same category. Total circulation is 1.6 million items per year. The reference department alone handles over 659,000 questions a year or 198 per hour. 

For more information on making a donation, call the Library Foundation at 549-2943. To get more information about the campaign or to obtain downloadable images of the new library, visit www.bplf.org. The Berkeley Public Library Foundation is located at 2150 Kittredge St., Suite 4A, Berkeley 94704.

A Berkeley woman went shopping for a new car recently and learned that someone had stolen her identity. 

She couldn’t buy the car because a thief had applied for a credit card in her name and charged a significant number of purchases in her name – purchases which remained unpaid. The victim reported the crime to police and notified the company that issued the card, but clearing the blemish on her credit report would take time. 

In the first step of another scam that began with thieves in two Solano Avenue businesses, the suspects stole wallets or purses, and then called the victims several hours later. Pretending to be police officers or bank employees, the thieves requested the victim’s personal banking information. 

More stolen identities. 

The varieties of identity fraud are numerous, and the results can be devastating, said Detective Evan D. McWilliams of the Berkeley Police Department. People have been evicted from their homes because their funds are drained, he said. 

The crime of Identity fraud or using an individual’s name to obtain goods or services or to open up a credit card is “booming,” said McWilliams. 

Berkeley has seen a 150 percent increase in identity fraud since 1997, he said. The department averages about 20 cases every month, but it happens everywhere. 

“This crime is probably the fastest growing crime in the country”’ said Beth Givens, director of the San Diego-based Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. “It’s of epidemic proportions.” 

“This crime is so prevalent because the credit industry makes it too easy for the criminals to assume somebody else’s identity and obtain credit.” 

Givens suggests major credit industry reform as well as increasing law enforcement efforts. She also said the crime should be prosecuted much more vigorously by district attorneys than it is now. 

McWilliams believes the numbers are rising here because more people are reporting the crime to Berkeley police, but also because access to the Internet makes it easier to “steal” another person’s identity. 

He said victims of identity fraud should report the crime immediately to the Berkeley police – at any time during the week – when they “see something funny on their credit cards.” 

He said banks want to see a police report before they begin an investigation to determine the legitimacy of the claim. 

An unwritten law in current Identity theft investigations, he said, is that each law enforcement jurisdiction in Alameda County, such as Berkeley, takes only the cases in its district. “Identity theft can be done anywhere, but it is reported locally.” 

However, McWilliams said, if goods are sent to Oakland, for instance, then the Oakland Police Department would investigate the crime. 

The success of the investigation depends upon the amount of information the victim can obtain. 

“The main point is to prevent future damage,” he said. 

McWilliams explained that the suspect is using the victim’s name and police have to show that the suspect received the stolen goods, and that the suspect signed for them using the victim’s name. 

“This crime is politically hot now,” and McWilliams said President Clinton has held a summit conference on identity theft and Attorney General Reno has addressed it. 

In California, he said, there are 23 bills pending in the state legislature regarding identity fraud. 

McWilliams said Berkeley Police are working with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in developing a training course for police investigation cases of identity fraud. 

The 13,000-member Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, which provides police service for unincorporated portions of Los Angeles County, is a leader in identity theft investigations. Currently the L.A. Sheriffs are sponsoring legislation proposed by Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg that would fund Northern and Southern California regional teams to deal with identity theft. 

Detective Joe Dulla of the L.A. Sheriff’s Dept., who is developing a police training course on a team that includes Berkeley Detective Todd Sabins, said police want to attack identity theft on a regional level. 

If the victim lives in Berkeley, Dulla said, but the suspect committed the crime outside Alameda County, police don’t want the suspect to slip through loopholes. 

“We have found multi-agency response to this issue very successful,” he said. 

Dulla said the legal system is increasing its efforts to aid victims of identity fraud. Prior to Jan. 1, 1998, only financial institutions could be victims of this crime, he said. 

At that time State Statute 530.5 of the penal code was enacted. The law gives the person whose identity was stolen legal standing as a victim. Dulla said the L.A. Sheriff’s response to identity theft is similar to its response to domestic violence in terms of outreach. 

The curriculum for the identity theft training course being prepared for the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training is being written in large part by Berkeley Property Crimes Detective Todd Sabins. 

He said the POST curriculum would be used throughout the state to train investigators new to the field of identity theft. It will include victim issues, computer evidence and law and prosecutorial concerns. The POST course is designed to illustrate the magnitude of the problem, to deal with multi-agency networks, It also touches on the problem of how technology is facilitating identity theft because of the lack of security standards, he said. 

Sabins said he is consulting with police agencies throughout the state to gather information. 

“We are setting the standard for this kind of investigation,” he said.

Will Berkeley residents buy goods and services in town more than they do now? Councilmember Linda Maio believes education is the answer to preserving customers for the independent businesses that pump character and cash into the community. 

She is sponsoring the Preferred Berkeley Business program and has requested a $25,000 allocation from next year’s budget that’s up for consideration at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. 

The allocation would pay for a staff person to coordinate the program. She said the city’s Economic Development staff has suggested that $70,000 might eventually be needed to fully fund a promotional campaign that makes a difference. 

“But we’re going to get started more slowly,” Maio said. 

Preferred Berkeley essentially would be a promotional campaign using emblems or decals displayed prominently in storefronts of businesses that qualify to be included in the program. 

Criteria for qualifying have not yet been determined, but Maio mentioned some possibilities: small and locally owned businesses where the owner would pay good salaries and health benefits, perhaps to employees who live in town, and become involved in a community project. 

In her proposal she is combating the “sameness” that people encounter when cities all have the same stores that look the same and sell the same things and price out the independents. 

The other detractor from the local independent retailers is e-commerce, which Maio said is “siphoning off the retail vitality.” 

The pleasures of browsing – not on the Web but in a store – are at stake. 

“We have to become a little more aware of where we put our dollars,” said Maio. “It’s very much a part of the equation of keeping them alive.” 

It’s happening all over country, she noted, and “it’s not very healthy. We lose our diversity and experience as people.” 

The idea came out of Maio’s working with Fourth Street businesses in her district. 

“I’m interested in bookstores in particular,” she said. “They are such an asset in town and we really have to work hard to preserve them.” 

Herb Bivins, an owner of Black Oak Books on North Shattuck Avenue said the idea seems good. 

“I would hope it would work. Some people would respond and I think it is probably worth the effort, but it is always hard to gauge,” he said. 

“Berkeley is in a tough spot,” he concedes, whether the competition comes from Amazon.com or from other businesses already in Berkeley. Black Oak sells used books on the Internet. 

“It’s really trying to get people to shop in local stores, and not go to the chains.” 

Bivins said an important difference between a local independent store and a “big box” retailer is that the local merchant returns money into the community not to far-flung stockholders. 

Another aspect of the role small businesses can play is in providing salaries above living wage guidelines and “treating employees like human beings,” he said. 

John McBride, an employee in the rare book room at Moe’s Books on Telegraph Avenue, a 35-year-old store that has had a web site for five years, said the program’s effectiveness would depend upon the kind of publicity it generates. 

“The chains have their role but the independents drive the scene,” McBride contends.

North Atlantic Books, a Berkeley publisher, purchased a 27-acre farm in Gustine in the Central Valley Thursday as part of a nonprofit program combining preservation of farmland with the Berkeley Youth Alternative’s (BYA) organic-agriculture program. 

BYA is an organization incorporated in California that serves at-risk children in Berkeley and other Alameda County cities. North Atlantic will lease the farm at no cost to Richard Firme, BYA’s principal outreach farmer for the last five years. 

Firme will train young people in organic farming while providing produce for BYA’s food boxes and the public schools. He plans on having an orchard and apiary as well as a wide range of vegetables and melons. 

North Atlantic Books was founded in Vermont in 1975 and moved to the Bay Area in 1977. It was incorporated in 1980 as a nonprofit, The Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences. Its purpose was to publish books from a holistic, nonwestern standpoint in the creative arts, sciences, humanities and healing arts. 

North Atlantic has published approximately 500 titles and together with its sister imprint Frog Ltd., North Atlantic is the largest publisher in English of books on the internal martial arts aikido, t’ai chi chuan and capoeira. 

North Atlantic and Frog also collaborate on a major list of innovative books on alternative healing. 

“We have been publishing books on consciousness and cultural change for 25 years, and we feel it is crucial to put out a portion of our earnings into something that actively furthers this on the ground,” publisher Richard Grossinger said in a press release. 

“We would love to have other publishers and even other businesses join with us in this undertaking. With the help from elsewhere, the farm preservation program can be expanded, saving more land in the Central Valley from development and agribusiness, creating smaller programs elsewhere in the country, and making organic farming available to more inner-city kids at risk.”

Police are investigating whether one man was responsible for two eerily similar crimes that were reported just minutes apart early Thursday morning. In both cases, the suspect asked the victim for the time before issuing a threat and stealing some of their belongings. 

The first reported incident occurred at 6:08 a.m. on the 2100 block of Stuart Street. The victim was parking his car and noticed the suspect pull into the driveway next door to his home in a white mid-size car. The suspect walked up to the victim, who was getting out of his car, and asked him for the time. The victim had a bag with a laptop computer, food and a wallet in it. The suspect grabbed the bag while the victim was asking him not to take it. The suspect reached into the bag, pulled out the wallet and the computer and ran back to his car and drove away, said Capt. Bobby Miller of the Berkeley Police Department. 

In a similar robbery reported at 6:09 a.m. in the 2400 block of Atherton Street, the victim was preparing to get into her car when she noticed a driver pull up in a white four-door Infiniti and park slightly north of her car. He approached the victim and asked her for the time. She told him and turned her attention away and then found the suspect had moved closer to her and acted as if he didn’t hear her, said Miller. 

She told the man the time again but realized the suspect was not really interested knowing the time. He said “Give me your purse or I’ll knock you out,” according to the police report. The victim handed over her purse and he took her car keys, returned to his car and as he was leaving he threw the keys onto the street where she retrieved them. 

Miller said the descriptions of the two suspects were similar and “it is very possible the two incidents are connected.” He said a few minutes delay in the reporting of the first robbery would allow for the crimes, just a few blocks apart, to be linked.

The East Bay Amateur Radio Club will conduct its annual “Field Day” this weekend at Caesar Chavez Park at the Berkeley Marina. 

“Field Day” begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday and ends at 11 a.m. on Sunday. 

Field Day is the annual exercise for amateur radio operators around the country to test their emergency communication skills. 

“Hams” all across the country will be camping out in the field making contacts with other “hams” around the world. Radio communication modes will include voice, Morse code, slow scan TV, and digital. 

The “hams” at the Berkeley site will operate all equipment using only portable generators and batteries to simulate emergency conditions.  

The public is invited to join the group and participate in its attempts to make contacts around the world.

Berkeley Marina Radisson Hotel workers and their supporters were celebrating victory Thursday, with the news that hotel management had accepted unionization. 

“It’s a big victory,” said Stephanie Ruby, an organizer with the Hotel Employee and Restaurant Employee Local 2850, which had supported some 200 Radisson workers in their nine-month unionizing effort. 

Ruby’s elation was tempered, however. 

“It’s not over until the workers get a contract,” she said. “Justice will not be served until people like Addie Washington, who has been there 28 years, have a pension.” 

Community support on the frequent picket lines, included religious leaders, the Gray Panthers and elected officials, Ruby said. A boycott of the hotel was honored by Berkeley city government and groups such as the Berkeley Symphony, the American Association of Sociologists and others. Pressure mounted when the National Labor Relations Board made the decision to go to bat for the workers in a hearing, scheduled to begin Aug. 1, where the hotel faces multiple charges of unfair labor practices, she added. 

Brij Misra, general manager of the hotel, made the announcement in a press release. He declined to comment beyond the written statement. 

“The Radisson Berkeley Marina Hotel has agreed to recognize HERE Local 2850 as the bargaining representative for all employees at the hotel,” he said. “The Hotel recognized that its standing with the city of Berkeley was undermined by the divisive campaigning being targeted at its customers. After discussion with Mayor Shirley Dean, the hotel’s owners agreed to let Local 2850 represent the employees in discussions with management.” 

Misra went on to say that he hoped the animosity was in the past. 

“We have our sights on continuing to work for the best interest of both the hotel and the associates,” he said. 

Dean affirmed that she had encouraged unionization in discussions with one of the owners of the Radisson, Bob Boykin of Boykin Hotel Properties, L.P. 

“Absolutely, I am pleased, cautiously pleased,” she said, echoing Ruby’s concern that the hotel move toward the next step, negotiating a contract with its workers. 

The story could end happily with the signing of a union contract, and a celebration of the lifting of the hotel boycott. 

But there’s a wrinkle that Councilmember Kriss Worthington says might overshadow the festive mood. In a letter released to the council Wednesday, City Manager Jim Keene announced that the city had agreed Boykin’s plan to refinance the Marina Radisson. It is part of a $108 million refinancing that the hotel group is putting together. The Marina Radisson is one of the nine properties encumbered by the deal, so the city, which owns the land on which the hotel is built, had to sign off on the agreement. 

Worthington, who has participated in a number of rallies at the hotel and who met with hotel management on behalf of the workers, said he wants to be sure the agreement to unionize is independent of the action of the city manager signing off on the refinancing deal. 

The councilmember said he and Councilmember Linda Maio have formally asked the city manager to let the council view the entire agreement. This would likely be disclosed to the council in a confidential document or in closed session. 

“Unless we know the details of what is in the refinancing, we can’t tell what it is about,” Worthington said, noting that the city manager’s memo said the deal is good for the city. “Why didn’t we get to look at it before it was signed?” 

The city manager did not return the Daily Planet’s after-hours calls to his cellular phone. 

The mayor, however, said she harbored none of the suspicions Worthington addressed. 

“Refinancing has nothing to do with the union issue,” she said. “The city attorney has said that the two are not related.”

Friday, June 23

“Tai Chi” 

Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

Jarl Forsman, a professional Tai Chi instructor, will speak during this week’s meeting of the City Commons Club. Social hour begins at 11:15 a.m. Luncheon is served from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Speaker starts promptly at 12:30 p.m. Lunch is $11 or $12.25; admission to the speech is $1, free for students. This is the final meeting for the summer. Regular Friday meetings will resume Sept. 8. 

510-848-3533 

Opera: Swan Lake 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Words in Collision: Summer Performance Art Series 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. (in Live Oak Park) 

The featured presentation will be “subtitled” with Susan Gervitz, Margaret Tedesco and company. Admission is $7 to $10. 

510-644-6893 

Bulgarian line dancing 

8 p.m. 

921 Kains, Albany 

The Albany Y Folkdancers and the San Francisco Mandala are sponsoring this Bulgarian line dance workshop by Nina Kavardjikova. Admission is $8. 

510-528-1100; Asha4results@Juno.com 

Saturday, June 24

Disaster First Aid 

9 a.m.-noon 

Fire department’s Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 

This summer, Berkeley’s Office of Emergency Services will offer a set of free training classes to help families prepare for emergencies. The classes, open to Berkeley residents at least 18 years old, will be taught by retired firefighters. The classes give hands-on training in how to put on a splint, extinguish a fire, use a fire hose, and more. Call ahead to register. Future classes will be held on Light Search and Rescue (July 15) and Fire Suppression (Aug. 12). 

510-644-8736 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m.-3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

This weekend’s market will celebrate the summer solstice. Musical performances will be held throughout the four hours of the market. 

510-548-3333 

Jazz/Art at the Library 

3:30 p.m. 

Temporary Central Public Library, 2121 Allston Way 

This event is part of the summer program series in the library system. Lisa di Prima and the Donald Robinson Trio are the featured talents. 

510-644-6100 

Words in Collision: Summer Performance Art Series 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. (in Live Oak Park) 

The featured presentation will be “Out of the Q” by Dale Going. Admission is $7 to $10. 

510-644-6893 

Sunday, June 25

Spay-Neuter Program 

People are encouraged to bring feral and stray cats to be sterilized and vaccinated. This program is sponsored by Fix Our Ferals. For ahead for location information, reservations and trap loans. 

510-433-9446 

Berkeley Hiking Club Mini-Hike 

8:30 a.m. meet at Shattuck Avenue and Berkeley Way 

Participants will travel to Mt. Tamalpais, where they will reconvene and meet leader at Rock Spring. There are about five miles on the leader’s choice of trails. 

415-388-1929 

Berkeley Hiking Club Main Hike 

8:30 a.m. meet at Shattuck Avenue and Berkeley Way 

Participants will travel to Point Reyes National Seashore, where they will reconvene and meet leader at Bear Valley Visitors’ Center at 9:30 a.m. Participants will make a seven-mile hike to Mt. Wittenburg. 

510-527-7754 

Hula Day: Family Sunday 

12:30-3:30 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive, above UC Berkeley campus 

Hula performances will be held at 1:30 p.m. Science activities run throughout the entire three-hour event. 

510-642-5132; www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

Poetry Flash 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. 

The featured poets this session will include Suzanne Lummis. 

510-845-7852; 510-525-5476 

Monday, June 26

Personal security 

5:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

This workshop is designed to help people who live in affordable housing to learn more about security issues. 

510-644-6107 

Tuesday, June 27

Free computer class for seniors 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited; the class is offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Call ahead for a reservation. 

510-644-6109 

Easy Tilden Trails 

9:30 a.m. 

Tilden Regional Park, in the parking lot that dead ends at the Little Farm 

Join a few seniors, the Tuesday Tilden Walkers, for a stroll around Jewel Lake and the Little Farm Area. Enjoy the beauty of the wildflowers, turtles, and warblers, and waterfowl. 

510-215-7672; members.home.com/teachme99/tilden/index.html 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

510-548-3333 

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips. 

510-531-8664 

Few California governors have made themselves as visible as Gray Davis did for one week this spring, as he traveled the state pushing his transportation plan. He set the price tag at $5.2 billion in all his speeches and press releases, even though the actual cost would be three times that. 

But there’s a lot less to the plan than met the eye during the Davis tour. What he showed, what Californians saw, may prove much more than what they actually get. 

The Davis plan has something for almost everybody everywhere in the state: There’s $140 million for a subway to San Francisco’s Chinatown, $740 million to bring rapid transit to San Jose, $25 million for improving Highway 101 north of San Francisco, $256 million for a busway from downtown Los Angeles to the city’s congested Westside, $275 million for more carpool lanes in the Los Angeles area, $481 million for 15 projects in San Diego County and $210 million for projects linking fast-growing parts of the San Joaquin Valley to the Bay Area. 

There’s $235 million for highway improvements in the Inland Empire portions of San Bernardino and Riverside counties and even money to study a 700-mile high-speed rail system linking Northern and Southern California. 

The only thing there’s not is any assurance that any of these projects will ever happen. 

For sure, no one can accuse Davis of lacking vision, even if some critics were saying right from the start that his plan didn’t offer enough. But will his vision be implemented? 

Despite some complaints that his is a halfway plan at best, Davis may have offered far more than he can deliver. 

For when it comes to paying for all he wants, this control-freak governor did not stick with things he can control. Of the 5.2 billion total state dollars involved, Davis originally planned to use $3 billion from the state’s unexpected budget surplus bonanza. Two months later, he added another $2.2 billion when the surplus went even higher. That obviated any need for the ballot proposition Davis had said he would float. 

All this he can control somewhat, if not absolutely. State legislators with other priorities may want to spend some of the surplus money elsewhere or refund it to taxpayers. But in the end, Davis can likely jawbone them for the $5.2 billion his plan needs. 

What’s left very uncertain is where the rest of the money will come from. For it will take another $10 billion in local and federal money to carry out all projects in the Davis plan. 

One example is the $740 million Davis plans to spend in running rapid transit from Fremont in the East Bay to San Jose, a route that could prove vital to further development in the Silicon Valley. Total cost for this project is listed at $4 billion. Davis figures on at least $1 billion in federal money and plenty from local cities and counties. But many congressmen think California already gets too much rapid transit money. So this project may never happen. 

The same for the busway to West Los Angeles, projected cost $595 million. Los Angeles faces the prospect of several billion dollars worth of judgments against its police because of the Ramparts Division corruption scandal which sent scores of suspects to prison on trumped-up charges and falsified evidence. Several corporations also are suing the city, claiming they’ve been overtaxed for years. Faced with these huge question marks, where will that city find $350 million for its share of a transportation project that’s bound to generate plenty of local controversy? 

Davis asserted last year that legislators should “implement my will.” He’s now made his will known on transportation – but there’s absolutely no assurance anyone will implement. 

“The executive proposed, the Legislature will dispose,” said state Senate President John Burton, a San Francisco Democrat. “We will add, subtract, multiply and divide.”  

That’s another way of saying that while Davis may have generated reams of publicity for his plan, there’s much less meat to it than he implied. Only time will tell whether it’s all political flim-flam where what you see is a lot less than what you get. 

Elias’ email address is tdelias@aol.com

Throughout July, the Pacific Film Archive will present restored prints of two dozen classic Hollywood features, in a series saluting the 200th anniversary of the Library of Congress. All the films are in preservation-quality 35mm. 

Created on April 24, 1800, the Library of Congress now holds an essential collection of some 300,000 film titles, dating back to “Edison Kinetoscopic Records” from 1893. The films to be shown at the PFA are chosen from the Library’s important Motion Picture Conservation Center, which has preserved more than 15,000 feature films and shorts since 1970. 

Patrick L. Loughney, Head of the Library of Congress Moving Image Section, will appear in person to introduce programs on July 14, 15 and 16. 

Films include Frank Capra’s classic “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” Lewis Milestone’s anti-war film “All Quiet on the Western Front,” three film noirs by Jacques Tourneur, and a series of rare early films depicting San Francisco and New York City from 1898 to 1915. 

Screenings will take place at the New PFA Theater, located at 2575 Bancroft Way, at Bowditch Street, on the southernmost edge of the UC Berkeley campus. General admission is $7 for one program and $8.50 for double bills. Many of the programs include features and shorts, such as classic comedies by Buster Keaton, Charley Chase and Charley Bowers, jazz and dance films and Looney Tunes. 

For more ticket or program information, call 642-1412. 

Schedule of films

Sunday, July 2 

5:30 p.m. “Out of the Past” Jacques Tourneur (1947). 

7:30 p.m. “Cat People” Jacques Tourneur (1942). With short film “The Great Piggy Bank Robbery” Robert Clampett (1946). 

Friday, July 7 

7:30 p.m. “I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang” Mervyn LeRoy (1932). 

9:25 p.m. “Five Star Final” Mervyn LeRoy (1931). With short film “ ‘Red Nichols and His World Famous Pennies” Joseph Henabery (1936). 

Saturday, July 8 

7:00 p.m. “The Maltese Falcon” John Huston (1941). 

9:00 p.m. “Key Largo” John Huston (1946). 

Sunday, July 9 

5:30 p.m. “The Body Snatcher” Robert Wise (1945). With short film “Artie Shaw and His Orchestra in Symphony of Swing” (1939). 

7:20 p.m. “I Walked with a Zombie” Jacques Tourneur (1943). With short film “Gaiete Parisienne” (1939). 

Friday, July 14 - Introduced by Patrick Loughney 

7:00 p.m. “One Third of a Nation” Dudley Murphy (1939). 

9:10 p.m. “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” Frank Capra (1939) 

Saturday, July 15 - Introduced by Patrick Loughney 

7:00 p.m. “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum” Lewis Milestone (1933). 

9:15 p.m. “All Quiet on the Western Front” Lewis Milestone (1930). 

Sunday, July 16 - Introduced by Patrick Loughney 

6:30 p.m. “Bay Area and New York on Film, 1898 to 1915.” Bruce Loeb on Piano. Program includes: “A Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire (1906), “A Trip to Berkeley” (1906), “Scene in Chinatown” (1903), “Mt. Tamalpais Railroad” (1898), “San Francisco Earthquake ad Fire” (1906), “Arrival of Emigrants, Ellis Island” (1906), “The Skyscrapers of New York” (1906), “Star Theatre” (1901), and “What Happened on 23rd Street” (1901), plus Mabel Normand and Fatty Arbuckle in a promotional film produced for the 1915 San Francisco Panama-Pacific International Exposition. 

8:45 p.m. “The Great Gabbo” James Cruze (1929). 

Friday, July 21 

7:00 p.m. “Employees’ Entrance” Roy Del Ruth (1933). With short film “The Pip from Pittsburgh” James Parrott (1931). 

9:00 p.m. “Only Angels Have Wings” Howard Hawks (U.S., 1939). 

Saturday, July 22 

7:00 p.m. “The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek” Preston Sturges (1944). 

9:00 p.m. “Arsenic and Old Lace” Frank Capra (1944). With short film “Baby Bottleneck” Bob Clampett (1945). 

Sunday, July 23 - Jon Mirsalis on Piano 

5:30 p.m. Annie Laurie” John S. Robertson (1927). 

7:30 p.m. “The Blue Eagle” John Ford (1926). 

Friday, July 28 

7:00 p.m. “Footlight Parade” Lloyd Bacon (1933). 

9:10 p.m. “The Public Enemy” William Wellman (1931). With short film “King for a Day” Roy Mack (1934). 

Saturday, July 29 

7:00 p.m. “The Hitch-Hiker” Ida Lupino (1953). 

8:30 p.m. “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” John Huston (1948). With short film “Jammin’ the Blues” Gjon Mili (1944). 

Sunday, July 30 - Jon Mirsalis on Piano 

5:30 p.m. “The Italian” Reginald Barker” (1914). With short films “The Adventures of Dollie” D.W. Griffith (1908), “Neighbors” Eddie Cline (1920), A Sleepless Night” Charles Bowers (date unknown [1933-41]).

THEATER

AURORA THEATRE 

“Split” by Mayo Simon, June 1 through July 2. A mordant clear-eyed view of an older couple's love affair. $25 to $28. Wednesday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822. 

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE 

“Closer” by Patrick Marber, through July 9. A funny, touching and unflinchingly honest examination of love and relationships set in contemporary London. $38 to $48.50. Tuesday, Thursday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Wednesday, 7 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; May 27, June 1, June 3, June 10, June 15, June 24, June 29 and July 8, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 845-4700 or (888) 4BRTTIX. 

CALIFORNIA 

SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 

“Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare, June 3 through June 24. The classic romantic comedy of mismatched lovers forced into a union. $21 to $38 general; $19 to $38 seniors; $10 to $38 children. Wednesday and Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m.; June 13 and June 20, 7 p.m. June 24, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Bruns Memorial Amphitheatre, Shakespeare Festival Way/Gateway Exit on state Highway 24. (510) 548-9666 or www.calshakes.org 

LaVal’s Subterranean 

Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Yoni Barkan. The play will run from June 8 to July 8, Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. each night. 1834 Euclid Ave. (510) 234-6046. 

MUSIC VENUES

ASHKENAZ 

Clan Dyken, June 23, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Steve Lucky and The Rhumba Bums, June 24, 9:30 p.m. Lindy Hop Dance Lessons with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. $11. 

Hahbi'ru, June 25, 7:30 p.m. $10. 

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5099 or www.ashkenaz.com 

BLAKES 

An Evening with Groove Junkies, June 23. $5. 

Kofy Brown, Rous, June 24. $6. 

For age 18 and older. Music at 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. (510) 848-0886. 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

Eric Bogle, June 23. $16.50 to $17.50. 

The Limeliters, June 24. $16.50 to $17.50. 

John Dobby Boe and the avant jazz trio, June 25. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Music at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 548-1761 or (510) 762-BASS. 

LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER 

The Raquel Lopez Flamenco Dance Ensemble, June 23, 8:30 p.m. $18. 

Ritmo y Armonia, June 24, 9:30 p.m. $10. 

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

924 GILMAN ST. 

Damad, Good Clean Fun, Meatjack, Brain Blood Volume, June 24. 

$5. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510) 525-9926. 

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

Deke Dickerson and The Ecco-Fonics, Redmeat, June 23. $8. 

The Paladins, The Dusty 45's, June 24. $8. 

For age 21 and over. Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:45 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082. 

MUSEUMS

Berkeley Historical Society 

"Berkeley's Ethnic Heritage." May 7 through March 2001. The exhibit examines the rich cultural diversity of our city and the contributions of individuals and minority groups to our history and development. The exhibit look at the original native tribelets in the area and the immigrants who settled in Ocean View and displaced the Spanish/Mexican landowners. It also examines the influence of theUniversity of California, the San Francisco earthquake, and World War II on the population and culture of Berkeley, and subsequent efforts to overcome discrimination. Curated by Linda Rosen and the Berkeley Historical Society Exhibit Committee. Thursday through Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. Wheelchair accessible. Admission free. 

Berkeley Historical Society located in the Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street, Berkeley. 510-848-0181 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc 

UC BERKELEY ART 

MUSEUM 

“Master of Fine Art Graduate Exhibition,” May 20 through July 2. The 13th annual exhibit of work by candidates for the Master of Fine Arts degree. Artist Talk, May 21, 3 p.m. At Gallery 2. 

Rodin and His Contemporaries,” through August. An exhibit of 11 bronze maquettes on loan from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in Los Angeles. The bronzes range in style from the artist's classically inspired “Torso of a Woman” to the anguish of “The Martyr.” Some of the maquettes were cast during Rodin’s lifetime, others have been cast fairly recently under the aegis of the Musee Rodin which alone is authorized to cast his sculptures posthumously. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students ages 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 1 1 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-0808. 

HALL OF HEALTH  

2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level), Berkeley 

A hands-on community health education museum and science center sponsored by Children's Hospital Oakland and Alta Bates Medical Center. 

“Your Cellular Self and Cancer Prevention,” ongoing. An exhibit on understanding how cells become cancerous and how to detect and prevent cancer. 

Free. For children ages 3 to 12 and their parents. 

(510) 549-1564 

LAWRENCE HALL 

OF SCIENCE 

“Experiment Gallery,” through Sept. 10. Step inside a giant laboratory and experiment with concepts surrounding sound, light, mechanics, electricity, and weather. 

“Math Rules!” ongoing exhibit. A math exhibit of hands-on problem-solving stations, each with a different mathematical challenge. Make mathematical ice-cream cones, use blocks to build three dimensional structures, make dodecagon pies from a variety of mathematical shapes and stretch mathematical thinking. 

$6 general; $4 seniors, students and children ages 7 to 18; $2 children ages 3 to 6; free children under age 3. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, University of California, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

PHOEBE HEARST MUSEUM 

Kroeber Hall, UC Berkeley 

“Modern Treasures from Ancient Iran,” through Oct. 29. This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran as illustrated in bronze and pottery vessels, and textiles. 

“Pana O’ahu: Sacred Stones – Sacred Places,” through July 16. An exhibit of photographs by Jan Becket and Joseph Singer. 

“Phoebe Hearst Museum-Approaching a Century of Anthropology,” a sampling of the vast collections of the museum, its mission, history, and current research, with selections from ancient Egypt, ancient Peru, California Indians, Asia (India), and Africa. 

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” Ishi, the last Yahi Indian of California, spent the final years of his life, 1911 to 1916, living at the museum, working with anthropologists to record his culture, demonstrating technological skills, and retelling Yahi myths, tales, and songs. 

Wednesday through Sunday 10 am -4:30 pm; Thursday until 9 pm (Sept-May) 

(510) 643-7648 

HABITOT CHILDREN’S MUSEUM 

Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

A museum especially for children age 7 and younger. Highlights include “WaterWorks,” an area with some unusual water toys, an Infant Tree for babies, a garden especially for toddlers, a child-scale grocery store and cafe, and a costume shop and stage for junior thespians. The museum also features a toy lending library. 

Admission is $4 for adults; $6 child age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child.  

Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

(510) 647-1111 

JUDAH L. MAGNES 

MUSEUM 

2911 Russell St., Berkeley 

“Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season,” through May 2002.  

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch. Through Nov. 4: “Spring and Summer.” 

Free. Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

(510) 549-6950. 

GALLERIES

A.C.C.I. GALLERY 

“Abstract Expressions,” through July 1. A group show featuring Rita Flanagan, Carolyn Careis, Heather Hutchinson, Muriel Paley, and Naomi Policoff. 

Free. Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1652 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-2527. 

GRADUATE THEOLOGICAL UNION 

“On Common Ground.” through June 23. This exhibit is a portrait of faith-based communities in Los Angeles. 

Free. Monday through Thursday, 8:30 am. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 7 p.m. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd., Berkeley. (510) 649-2541. 

KALA INSTITUTE 

“Markings/Imprints,” through July 28. The 2000 Kala Art Institute Fellowship Awards Exhibitions, Part I, featuring works by Susan Belau, Liliana Lobo Ferreira, and Jamie Morgan. 

Free. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Workshop Media Center Gallery, 1060 Heinz Ave., Berkeley. (510) 549-2977. 

NEW PIECES GALLERY 

“Progressions: the Quilt as Art,” through June 29. An exhibit of quilts by Jill Le Croisette. 

“Go We to the Revels Masked,” through June 29. An exhibit of dolls by Elise Peeples. 

Free. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave., Berkeley. (510) 527-6779. 

TRAYWICK GALLERY 

Rachel Davis, Samantha Fisher, Benicia Gantner, Cherith Rose, June 21 through July 22. An exhibit of new work by the four artists. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1316 10th St., Berkeley. (510) 527-1214. 

Calendar items should be submitted at least one week before the opening of a new exhibit or performance. 

Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to clarify any information.

Business and property owners and city officials offered mixed opinions about the value of retaining zoning quotas for restaurants and hair salons on Telegraph Avenue during a planning meeting Wednesday. 

They were contributing their viewpoints to the economic development section of the Southside Plan that must be approved by the city and UC Berkeley and is slated to be used by the city and the university in future actions. 

The Southside area, as defined by the plan, extends south from Bancroft Way to a half block south of Dwight Way and from one half block east of Prospect Street to one half block west of Fulton Street. 

In the Telegraph Avenue commercial district – which extends from the University’s Sather Gate to Parker Street – a quota limits the number of restaurants to 78 establishments and hair salons to 10. That was the number of those establishments that operate in the district in 1988 when the quotas were put into place. 

Dave Fogarty, community development project coordinator, explained the origins of the quotas, which prevent new restaurants and hair salons from opening in the district unless they purchase permit rights from an existing restaurant or salon. 

Fogarty said that exceeding the quota is difficult because it requires a zoning variance with legal findings related to the structures of buildings. He said he was able to help one restaurateur obtain a variance because the building had an overhanging awning that sheltered loiterers. The prospective owner argued he could afford to remove the awning. 

In the Elmwood, Solano and North Shattuck retail districts, prospective restaurant owners can exceed quotas and obtain use permits with findings if they prove they meet a unique need and are not detrimental to the districts. 

The suggested policy change for quotas mentioned in the Southside Plan is to “allow for the mix of businesses in the Telegraph retail district to be more responsive to market demands.” 

Such a change would make Telegraph more like Solano, Elmwood and North Shattuck. 

Betsy Morris, a community development consultant and member of the Planning Commission, said it could be possible to make the “fifth block” of Telegraph, between Dwight Way and Parker Street, more flexible with a use permit or the block could be exempted from quotas. 

The quotas came about in the early 1980s, Fogarty said, when chain stores such as The Gap and Orange Julius opened up and elicited protectionist feelings from independent business owners. 

Commercial rent controls were instituted because merchants feared they would be priced out of the market, but the state ruled such restrictions illegal and a quota system took the place of rent controls. 

Quotas were instituted to prevent more restaurants from proliferating, said Fogarty. 

“It was felt they would take over,” he said. 

Currently there are three zoning categories for restaurants in the Telegraph Retail District: carryout food service, 19 establishments; quick service restaurants, 30; and full service restaurants, 29. 

Dana Ellsworth, a major Telegraph Avenue property owner and board president of the Telegraph Avenue Business Improvement District, would like to abolish the quotas. 

Quotas force down quality in restaurants, she contends. Restaurant owners have to pay from $60,000 to $100,000 to buy the permit rights from another owner. 

When they do that, Ellsworth said, they can’t afford to hang an attractive sign, redesign the kitchen to the needs of their own ethnic cuisine or change the decor left over from the former owner. 

Additionally the existing situation with sought-after permits allows a bad restaurant to stay in business because the ability to sell the permit increases its value, said Ellsworth. 

Vacant spaces remain empty unless businesses other than restaurants or hair salons become new tenants, and restaurants and hair salons are charged higher rents than other businesses in the district, she said. 

“Consumers should get an open market choice,” said Ellsworth. 

Hair dresser Alan Batt, who said he had worked for more than 10 years in Telegraph Avenue salons, said he wants to own his own shop to serve his clients in the heart of the district, but is unable to obtain a use permit. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington, whose district includes Telegraph, said he favors retaining the quotas because he believes maintain the small business, unique character of Telegraph Avenue. Without the quotas the big chains would come in, he said, and “Telegraph would lose its specialness.” 

Roland Peterson, executive director of the Telegraph Avenue Business Improvement District, argued that the buildings on Telegraph Avenue are too small to interest big box chains. 

Worthington said if the zoning laws on the quotas are changed, it’s more likely that a restaurant chain would consider tearing down several storefronts to build its own. 

He also mentioned “myths” about sales figures computed for sale tax purposes being down in the mid-1990s, a factor that could lead toward opening up the market to more restaurants by eliminating quotas. 

He also said that sales figures used for computing sales tax for the UC Berkeley bookstores are now reported with downtown sales numbers, instead of with Telegraph’s and that reduces sales figures. 

The Telegraph Area Association took a brief survey of its constituents that include merchants, residents and students and found a mixed reaction to the quotas and that some respondents were unaware quotas existed. 

The association did not take a position for or against the quotas, said Gianna Ranuzzzi, the TAA’s community coordinator. She recommended more education about quotas.

Last week Kala Art Institute of Berkeley announced the winners of this year’s Fellowship awards. 

Three of the eight honorees – Suh Hee Jae, Heather Sparks and Lee Walton – are from San Francisco. 

The Honorable Mention/First Place Alternate award was given to Sam Brown of Oakland and the Second Place Alternate was presented to Hilary Chartrand of San Francisco. 

Other award winners were Sara Gibson of Providence, R.I., Cynthia Mott of Ft. Collins, Colo., Ursula Neubauer of Amsterdam, Netherlands, Pakamas Suwannipa of Chonburi, Thailand, and Marci Tackett of Olympia, Wash. 

Kala Art Institute annually awards six to eight artist who work in printmaking, book arts and electronic media with the Fellowship awards. Recipients have full use of Kala’s 8,500 square foot extensively equipped print and electronic media facility for a six-month period. 

The value of this fellowship is estimated at $5,000 per person. 

Work produced during the residency will be featured in a special Fellowship exhibition held in 2001.

Developer is missing real issue on San Pablo

Patrick Kennedy was quoted in the June 12 Daily Planet as saying opponents to his proposed development at 2700 San Pablo were “citizen vigilantes whose real motive is fighting the low income housing units proposed for the building.” Nothing could be farther from the truth! Every opponent I have spoken to is all for affordable housing and thinks Kennedy’s plan of five affordable units out of 48 total units is far too little. Our opposition is to the mass and density of the building. We would be most pleased to see a 30-unit, all-affordable building. I regret that Patrick Kennedy must resort to name calling to avoid the real issue. 

Bob Kubik 

Berkeley 

Zero-Emission Vehicles will help environment

I was glad to hear that Bay Area residents are so concerned about environmental issues, and air quality in particular (Daily Planet, June 22). Currently, 95 percent of California residents live in areas where air quality failed to meet federal health standards last year, so air pollution is certainly a major problem statewide, and especially the Bay Area. Most of that pollution is due to automobiles (we’re adding 1.5 million new cars every year), so the only realistic long-term solution is to ensure that future cars pollute less. 

California’s Zero-Emission Vehicle program pollutes the development of hybrid, electric, and other clean-technology cars by requiring that 10 percent of new cars sold must be zero- (or near-zero) emission vehicles by 2003. Unfortunately, this program has been handcuffed in the past by automakers and the oil industry, whose lobbying got requirements for 1998 lifted, and the thing is threatening to happen again this year. Gov. Davis ought to support this 10 percent requirement in order to provide a long-term solution to the problem of air quality. 

Alan Keefer 

CALPIRG field manager 

Berkeley 

As expected, the Berkeley Unified School Board voted Wednesday night to place a school bond and a special tax measure on the November ballot. 

“We need to have good facilities for our students, we need to keep them safe and maintain them well, and that’s why we need to do this,” Director Ted Schultz said during deliberations. 

The board unanimously endorsed sending the two ballot measures to the voters. One is a $116.5 million school bond, which would pay for construction of new classrooms and upgrades of existing structures around the district. The other measure is a special tax that would provide an ongoing source of revenue for maintenance needs at school sites. That tax would charged homeowners 4.5 cents per square foot, and commercial properties would be charged 6.75 cents per square foot. 

The two items will return to the board, most likely at the next meeting, with official ballot language attached. All measures for the fall ballot must be delivered to the county by August, and Berkeley Unified School District officials say they want to get the items in well before the deadline. 

Several board members said they were willing to place both measures on the ballot because of the strong support indicated in a survey conducted by Santa Monica-based GLS Research. GLS found that nearly 80 percent of Berkeley voters surveyed would be willing to support a $125 million bond, and about 70 percent would support a special tax. 

If both measures appeared on the ballot, 47 percent would support both, 12 percent would vote against both, 21 would support only the bond, and 9 percent would support only the tax. 

Current state law requires a two-thirds approval for any bond or tax measure. 

The survey of 600 randomly selected registered voters was conducted May 29 through June 1, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. 

The proposed bond and tax are both below the levels supported in that survey, officials noted. 

The staff report presented to the school board included a list of proposed projects around the BUSD, but Manager of Facilities Planning Lew Jones reminded directors that the list is by no means a final documentation of how the money would be used. 

“This report is intended to give an overview of the costing methods of how we developed the numbers, not an attempt to determine the course of action by the school board,” he said. 

That appeared to reassure Board Vice President Terry Doran, who was concerned that the public might believe the board had already decided the details of how all of the $116.5 million from the bond and the $3.8 million annually from the special tax would be used. 

“I just want to make sure that in the language we finally adopt – because I’m 100 percent committed to working for this bond issue and tax – that it is neutral in terms of what we may do in any specific project,” he said. 

Of particular concern to board members were two projects cited in the report: allocation of funds for the Derby Street property at Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and demolition of the King Child Development Center facility. 

The former remains a politically hot topic in town – the board wants to close one block of Derby so a regulation baseball field can be built, but the City Council may be unwilling to support that plan – and the latter would get rid of a building that at least one board member believes can be renovated and retrofitted. 

Jones told the board that the ballot language will be written in such a way that it doesn’t commit the district to a specific course of action before an environmental study is initiated or completed.

The Shotgun Players will present a theatrical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s coming-of-age epic, “The Jungle Book” on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. The play, adapted by King Middle School teacher Richard J. Silberg, will feature giant puppets, live music and theatrical acrobatics by Bay Area performers. 

Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students and seniors and $5 for children under 12. For tickets and information, call 655-0813 or visit www.shotgunplayers.com.

Rick Young, the second-year Boalt Hall law student who has been protesting the university’s plans for construction of a three-story 1,000- to 1,400-car parking structure, will go to trial Aug. 4 on misdemeanor charges. 

District Attorney David Lim made an offer Wednesday morning for Young to plead guilty and receive one year probation. Young, who said he did not want to plead guilty and thought he could get a better offer, rejected the D.A.’s offer and will go to court Aug. 4 at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in Oakland at 9 a.m. 

In May, Young camped out on the lot on College Avenue as a protest. His goal was to do so until Chancellor Robert Berdahl agreed to meet with him. He was arrested May 19 for lodging in public and May 20 and 21 for trespassing. 

“I’m expecting this to be an educational experience,” Young said in a phone interview Thursday.

Rob Cunningham, who has served as editor of the Berkeley Daily Planet since its launch last year, will step down from his post on July 15, Publisher Arnold Lee announced today. Cunningham will be succeeded by Judith Scherr, who has worked as the newspaper’s lead reporter since May 1999. 

“Working as the Daily Planet’s editor has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience that’s given me a front-row seat to observe one of the most vibrant, exciting cities in the world,” Cunningham said. 

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned during my time here, it’s this: Berkeleyans are passionate people, and their passion is best seen in how zealously they get involved in community and neighborhood issues. Needless to say, that creates a wealth of stories for a newspaper to cover.” 

In addition to his responsibilities overseeing the Daily Planet’s newsroom, Cunningham has worked as the staff’s education reporter and chief photographer. He’s also been the primary designer of the news pages. 

“It goes without saying that we will miss Rob terribly,” Lee said. “He has been outstanding in terms of his leadership and extraordinary efforts in establishing the credibility and acceptance of the Berkeley Daily Planet. On a personal level, Rob is a truly wonderful person and friend. We all wish Rob the best in his ‘higher’ pursuits. 

“At the same time, we are incredibly fortunate and excited that we have an equally strong leader and editor in Judith Scherr. As anyone who reads the Daily Planet knows, Judith brings a unique combination of objective reporting skills and experience coupled with her deep understanding of the Berkeley community. All of us at the Daily Planet have enormous respect for Judith and are extremely excited about our continued growth under her direction.” 

Since its launch on April 7, 1999, the newspaper has more than doubled in the number of issues printed each day – from 5,000 to more than 10,000 – and the number of pages has nearly tripled – from eight pages per day to an average of 20 to 24 per day today. 

Prior to becoming editor of the Daily Planet, Cunningham had spent more than three years on the staff of the Turlock Journal, the daily newspaper in his hometown of Turlock in the Central Valley. His tenure include stints as a staff reporter, copy editor, city editor and managing editor. 

He’s a 1995 graduate of Evangel College in Springfield, Mo., where he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism and biblical studies, with a sociology minor. 

“A lot of my friends, when they heard I was moving to Berkeley, said I was the unlikeliest of editors for a city like this, and in some ways, they were right,” Cunningham said. “But I’ve learned that readers in Berkeley are as hungry for daily news about their community as readers in any other town.” 

After leaving the Daily Planet, Cunningham will spend several weeks on the road – “much needed vacation,” he says – and then will leave for a four-month stay in Athens, Greece, where he will work with some longtime friends who are missionaries. His responsibilities will include teaching a journalism class and a host of computer-related production assignments. He intends to return to California for a to-be-determined job, most likely working with a church in some capacity. 

Scherr has worked as a reporter for about 10 years, freelancing for two years while continuing to teach special education. She then worked for The Montclarion and the Contra Costa News Agency, followed by a year of free-lance reporting with the San Francisco Chronicle, City Search, the Berkeley Monthly, and Asian Week. 

A Berkeley resident for 26 years, Scherr is looking forward to expanding the paper’s coverage to yet untapped dimensions of the city, as the staff expands. 

“Berkeley is a planet rich with people from all over the globe,” she said. “Its citizens are active in so many spheres – they love their work, they fight for their neighborhoods, they care about their schools and parks. Their communities are religious, political, familial. When it all works, our community is beautiful. When it doesn’t, we hope the Daily Planet will be there to say why.” 

When Scherr shifts into the editor’s post, she will leave behind her full-time duties as the city reporter. She has but one regret in making the move: “I will miss those six-hour council meetings.”

Resources for Community Development, a Berkeley-based organization that builds affordable housing, is having a grand opening of Miramar Court and the Mariposa Apartments at Alameda Point, the former Alameda Naval Air Station on June 29 from 4-6 p.m. 

Representatives from several lawmakers’ offices will speak at the event. 

The development consists of 32 housing units for Navy personnel, which has been transformed into affordable housing for formerly homeless survivors of domestic violence and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Ah Paris – the city that has never heard of soap, deodorant, pooper-scoopers or artistic constraints. 

It’s because of the city’s rightful position as an artistic Mecca – and not because of the other three things, hopefully – that Berkeley Alternative High School art teacher Larry Stefl and his student Michiael Jamison are so jazzed about their upcoming trip to Paris. 

Stefl and Jamison are two of several local art teachers and students invited to participate in a two-week workshop and cultural exchange orchestrated by renowned painter and California College of Arts and Crafts professor Raymond Saunders. The high school students and teachers will work alongside Cité Université, Paris students taking a class taught by Saunders, who maintains studios in both Oakland and Paris. 

“We’ll have studio space, and for two weeks we’ll be working daily in the studio doing art, interacting, doing critiques, reviewing each others’ work, hanging out and, in the evenings, probably doing more informal kinds of exchanges,” says Stefl, an art and poetry teacher at BAHS for the past seven years. “A lot of it will be working independently, yet side-by-side. Michiael is going to be working with drawing, painting, different media, acrylic, charcoal and he’s going to take some unstretched canvases he can roll up.” 

Stefl said he selected Jamison, 15, for the trip because the junior-to-be is a good student, has shown a great deal of interest in art and is “able to follow directions, listen and take advantage of this opportunity. Just a very good kid.” 

In addition to studio time, Stefl hopes to make day trips to the multitude of Paris locales caught forever as the backdrops for some of the world’s great paintings. The art teacher is especially hoping to make the trek to Giverny, where Claude Monet drew the inspiration for his famed painting of water lilies. In addition, It would be criminal for art students to travel all the way to Paris and not make a trip to the city’s many museums. 

“We’re definitely going to utilize the museums,” says Stefl, who leaves with Jamison for Saunders’ class “Concept, a Visual Jazz Poem, Studo/Atelier, France as Site” on July 1. “I remember I was in Paris 17 years ago, and one of the highlights was seeing the impressionist paintings of Monet, Cezanne, Degas, Gauguin … To go see the masters firsthand, wow! As an artist, an art student, it’s so important to see the original masters.” 

In addition to seeing art and doing art Stefl and Jamison will be working with a number of artists invited to the cultural exchange by Saunders, including Oliver Jackson and “well-known unknown” artist and sculptor JoeSam, whose relief sculptures adorn Berkeley Alternative High School’s quad. 

Stefl smiles when he recalls an earlier meeting between Jamison and Jackson. When the student asked the artist what kinds of things he should bring to Paris, Jackson replied, “You don’t have to worry about bringing things, just be there and drink in the atmosphere.” 

“This could be a very exciting, life-changing opportunity for the people participating,” says Stefl. “It’ll be something the students never forget.” 

A Raymond Saunders painting is up for sale, with the intention of the profits funding the trip to France for local students and teachers. 

Those interested in obtaining the painting – which is valued at $25,000 – should contact Tamra Converse at (510) 763-6362.

Two incidents of vandalism occurred this week in the Safeway supermarket at 1444 Shattuck Ave. 

On Tuesday store employees found the head of a deer in the supermarket’s meat case. Berkeley Police Lt. Russell Lopes said Thursday a report on this incident is not available at the present time. 

On Wednesday, the store manager stepped into the freight elevator in the market’s underground garage sometime between noon and 1 p.m. 

She discovered that the control panel door had been removed and the wires had been cut, Lopes said. 

The manager did not know if the deer’s head had any connection with the malicious damage in the elevator, and the store manager did not mention any personnel problems.

For the majority of human civilization, calendars were more than glossy packages full of 365 sexy models, airplanes, kitty cats or pug dogs a year. Agricultural civilizations needed to know the separation of the seasons as a matter of life or death, and numerous cultures worldwide independently developed methods of charting the time of year. The most famed surviving solar calendar is Stonehenge in the North of England, where it’s often cold, moist and foggy. 

It’s also cold, moist and foggy on the Berkeley Marina, where plans are under way to construct a solar calendar at Cesar E. Chavez Park. Santiago Casal, a sociologist who has worked in both the academic and corporate worlds, says the idea for the Cesar Chavez Memorial Solar Calendar came to him almost two decades ago. 

“I was in Guatemala, at a place called Uaxactún, where you could align the solstices and equinoxes,” recalls Casal. “I was taken by how intricate the sun/moon/earth system was, and how I didn’t understand it at all. I’ve long been an admirer of Cesar Chavez, and this seemed perfect – something rooted in agriculture. Plus I always used to walk here (at the marina), particularly at sunrise, so it all came together.” 

In the last couple of years, Casal contacted scientists and educators about the educational benefits a working solar calendar would offer to local schoolchildren, and additionally talked to architects and designers. At sunset of the summer solstice on Tuesday, scientists, astronomers, architects and 30-odd other onlookers braved fog, cold and Wrigley Field-like winds for a solstice workshop on the calendar’s possible future site. 

The educational benefits of the workshop were very nearly dashed by persistent fog, but, fortunately for all, the fog burned off right as the sun set on the longest day of the year, and returned immediately thereafter. 

“There are two components (of the calendar’s construction) – physical construction and curriculum development,” says Alan Gould, planetarium director at the Lawrence Hall of Science. “The science of the seasons has cultural connections, especially considering Cesar Chavez and Hispanic culture, but really all cultures.” 

LHS instructor David Glaser led the group – which included a good number of children – through a number of activities explaining the astronomical explanations behind solstices and equinoxes. As the day ended, the crowd watched the sun set between a wooden fork Casal set up where a small gap in the future calendar’s walls would be. Similar gaps would mark the sun’s setting point for all other solstices and equinoxes. 

“The (wall) height on the sunrise side would be seven feet high to frame up against the East Bay hills,” says landscape architect Lisa Howard, who assisted John Northmore Roberts in his design of the baseball infield-sized calendar. 

“On the other side it would be lower. It would still give you the sense of being enclosed, but you would be able to look over the walls and see the Golden Gate Bridge and Mt. Tam.” 

The Berkeley City Council has reserved the site for the calendar, but Casal estimates that raising the roughly $500,000 needed for the project may take several years. Considering the marina’s former usage as a waste dump, careful construction practices may raise that figure. 

Labor unions, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Science Foundation, local governments and other public and private foundations are just a few of the places the calendar’s supporters will search for funding. 

“People will be able to come by any time of the day and experience the sun/moon/earth system,” says Casal. 

“And it will be a naked-eye observatory, so you will be in the same shoes as your ancestors.” 

Free computer class for seniors 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited; the class is offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Call ahead for a reservation. 

510-644-6109 

Berkeley State Health Toastmasters Club 

12:10-1:10 p.m. 

State Health Building, Eighth Floor, 2151 Berkeley Way 

Toastmasters International, a nonprofit educational organization, has been working for over 70 years to help people conquer their pre-speech jitters and improve communication skills. The local club meetings the second, third and fourth Thursdays of each month. 

510-649-7750; higgins_edie@hotmail.com 

Movie: Eddie Cantor Story 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Zoning Adjustment Board 

7 p.m. 

Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Among the items to be discussed is the matter of home occupations and accessory buildings and a review of a use permit for the property at 1616 LaVereda. 

“Tai Chi” 

Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

Jarl Forsman, a professional Tai Chi instructor, will speak during this week’s meeting of the City Commons Club. Social hour begins at 11:15 a.m. Luncheon is served from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Speaker starts promptly at 12:30 p.m. Lunch is $11 or $12.25; admission to the speech is $1, free for students. This is the final meeting for the summer. Regular Friday meetings will resume Sept. 8. 

510-848-3533 

Opera: Swan Lake 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Words in Collision: Summer Performance Art Series 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. (in Live Oak Park) 

The featured presentation will be “subtitled” with Susan Gervitz, Margaret Tedesco and company. Admission is $7 to $10. 

510-644-6893 

Bulgarian line dancing 

8 p.m. 

921 Kains, Albany 

The Albany Y Folkdancers and the San Francisco Mandala are sponsoring this Bulgarian line dance workshop by Nina Kavardjikova. Admission is $8. 

510-528-1100; Asha4results@Juno.com 

Disaster First Aid 

9 a.m.-noon 

Fire department’s Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 

This summer, Berkeley’s Office of Emergency Services will offer a set of free training classes to help families prepare for emergencies. The classes, open to Berkeley residents at least 18 years old, will be taught by retired firefighters. The classes give hands-on training in how to put on a splint, extinguish a fire, use a fire hose, and more. Call ahead to register. Future classes will be held on Light Search and Rescue (July 15) and Fire Suppression (Aug. 12). 

510-644-8736 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m.-3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

This weekend’s market will celebrate the summer solstice. Musical performances will be held throughout the four hours of the market. 

510-548-3333 

Jazz/Art at the Library 

3:30 p.m. 

Temporary Central Public Library, 2121 Allston Way 

This event is part of the summer program series in the library system. Lisa di Prima and the Donald Robinson Trio are the featured talents. 

510-644-6100 

Words in Collision: Summer Performance Art Series 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. (in Live Oak Park) 

The featured presentation will be “Out of the Q” by Dale Going. Admission is $7 to $10. 

510-644-6893 

Spay-Neuter Program 

People are encouraged to bring feral and stray cats to be sterilized and vaccinated. This program is sponsored by Fix Our Ferals. For ahead for location information, reservations and trap loans. 

510-433-9446 

Berkeley Hiking Club Mini-Hike 

8:30 a.m. meet at Shattuck Avenue and Berkeley Way 

Participants will travel to Mt. Tamalpais, where they will reconvene and meet leader at Rock Spring. There are about five miles on the leader’s choice of trails. 

415-388-1929 

Berkeley Hiking Club Main Hike 

8:30 a.m. meet at Shattuck Avenue and Berkeley Way 

Participants will travel to Point Reyes National Seashore, where they will reconvene and meet leader at Bear Valley Visitors’ Center at 9:30 a.m. Participants will make a seven-mile hike to Mt. Wittenburg. 

510-527-7754 

Hula Day: Family Sunday 

12:30-3:30 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive, above UC Berkeley campus 

Hula performances will be held at 1:30 p.m. Science activities run throughout the entire three-hour event. 

510-642-5132; www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

Poetry Flash 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. 

The featured poets this session will include Suzanne Lummis. 

510-845-7852; 510-525-5476

San Pablo project meets most of area’s concerns 

It is quite obvious that Mr. Howie Muir (Letters, June 15) has not been listening to presentations of the project at 2700 San Pablo Avenue but is more willingly to follow and promote community propaganda relating to this project. The second iteration of the project design had mechanical space of 560 square feet on the roof top area, which is considered the fifth floor, and was described as “penthouse elevator mechanical space.” The third iteration of the project design shifted the massing of the building away from the residential facade or west side of the project to the San Pablo Avenue façade. The shifting of the massing with a double-loaded corridor scheme pushed units up a fifth story while maintaining a four-story height. 

The project since its inception has in no way disguised or misrepresented development concepts. We are simply trying to help revitalize the street, where many properties are vacant or underused. The project will be a benefit to the surrounding community more than a determent. In saying that we have resolved 95 percent of what the neighbors object to is very clear from parking, traffic, too density near residential neighborhoods, small enclosed courtyard and environmental impacts. But then, perhaps we wouldn’t have to continue to explain project elements and curve Mr. Muir’s ignorance of this project’s design if he would listen more than he likes to speak. 

Gordon Choyce II 

Project manager, 2700 San Pablo Ave. 

Nuclear-related work does occur here in Berkeley 

Doug Finley (Letters, June 21) believes that the absence of classified research at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley means that “we know there’s nothing vaguely resembling nuclear weapons research going on in Berkeley.” 

Unfortunately his reasoning is flawed; the so-called Stockpile Stewardship program ($4.5 billion per year and rising) includes a significant amount of unclassified nuclear weapons research. 

Berkeley Lab is currently building one of the arms of the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility (DARHT) – a 3D X-ray camera which will allow weapons designers at Los Alamos Lab to film the implosion of the core of a nuclear bomb. 

Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley are both involved in the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) whose goal is to develop supercomputer simulations of the explosion of a nuclear bomb for weapons designers at Los Alamos, Livermore and Sandia Labs. 

The U.S. Government claims that Stockpile Stewardship is intended to maintain the safety and reliability of US nuclear weapons now that underground testing has been prohibited by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Leaving aside the incompatibility of this aim with the U.S.’s obligation to complete nuclear disarmament under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the fact that so-called “sub-critical” underground testing is still going on, and the refusal of Congress to ratify the CTBT anyway, the reality is that Stockpile Stewardship is a means to attract a new generation of scientists to build a new generation of weapons. 

And critical parts of this program are taking place right now in Berkeley. 

Julian Borrill 

Staff Scientist, Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley 

Board Member, Western States Legal Foundation 

One request for city in upcoming school bond vote 

In asking the electorate to approve the proposed school bond and maintenance tax, the city of Berkeley has an opportunity to practice truly enlightened government; namely, by posting the proposed budgets for the $116.5 million school bond and the twenty year, $3.8 million annual tax on the city’s Internet web site. Preferably, the web page would include a “frequently asked questions” section. I know I am asking a lot of my city, but then, so is it of us. 

A.C. Shen 

Berkeley 

Blame belongs to spay-neuter plan’s opponents 

In response to your June 20 story “Cat fight over city ordinance”: The spay neuter ordinance became layered and more costly to implement because of Councilmember Diane Woolley and the animal breeders who back her campaigns. The ordinance has been weakened and made more bureaucratic in deference to her objections and I doubt that she plans to vote for it in any form. To Woolley’s delight, the ordinance has become more difficult to pass because of purported costs involved. 

The ordinance started out as a simple low overhead ordinance that directly addressed the killing of cats and dogs at the Berkeley Shelter. Even this weakened and layered ordinance is still better than the status quo; at present we must all pay for the irresponsibility of a few who allow their animals to breed year after year swelling the numbers that end up at the shelter to be killed. 

Your article states that Woolley and the animal breeders care about the problem; not one of them has volunteered to work with the Berkeley volunteer rescue groups or has volunteered to be part of the repeating, onerous task of killing the animals at the shelter. The rescue groups are composed of “hands-on” people who proposed the original ordinance. At least two of the main advocates of this ordinance are people who constantly work with our most impoverished citizens; this is a quality of life issue for both people and animals. 

Shame of any councilmember who does not vote for the spay and neuter ordinance. 

Lindsay Vurek 

Berkeley 

Listen closely: Derby neighbors aren’t NIMBYs 

Re: Derby Street 

As Mr. Paul Seeman well knows, common usage of “hardball” denotes baseball played with a hard ball, which needs a large field, as opposed to “softball” which is played with a soft ball on a smaller field (Perspective, June 14). 

Many in my neighborhood want there to be a softball/soccer field on the site, leaving Derby Street open. The hardball team already has a place to play on a street that is already closed. 

It really frosts me the Mr. Seeman who lives on quiet Santa Barbara, in North Berkeley and is rich enough to own the two adjoining lots to assure his privacy, wants to tell our neighborhood, which is overflowing with traffic and has overflow parking from Iceland, The Bowl, The Tool Library, etc., how NIMBY we are. I don’t think so. We welcome these students, their parents, their grandparents, their aunts, their uncles, their cousins, their friends coming to Derby Street to watch their boys and girls play softball and soccer on a field which leaves our street open. 

Rosemary Vimont 

Berkeley

THEATER 

AURORA THEATRE 

“Split” by Mayo Simon, June 1 through July 2. A mordant clear-eyed view of an older couple's love affair. $25 to $28. Wednesday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822. 

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE 

“Closer” by Patrick Marber, through July 9. A funny, touching and unflinchingly honest examination of love and relationships set in contemporary London. $38 to $48.50. Tuesday, Thursday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Wednesday, 7 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; May 27, June 1, June 3, June 10, June 15, June 24, June 29 and July 8, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 845-4700 or (888) 4BRTTIX. 

CALIFORNIA 

SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 

“Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare, June 3 through June 24. The classic romantic comedy of mismatched lovers forced into a union. $21 to $38 general; $19 to $38 seniors; $10 to $38 children. Wednesday and Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m.; June 13 and June 20, 7 p.m. June 24, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Bruns Memorial Amphitheatre, Shakespeare Festival Way/Gateway Exit on state Highway 24. (510) 548-9666 or www.calshakes.org 

LaVal’s Subterranean 

Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Yoni Barkan. The play will run from June 8 to July 8, Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. each night. 1834 Euclid Ave. (510) 234-6046. 

MUSIC VENUES 

ASHKENAZ 

Grateful Dean DJ Night with Digital Dave, June 22, 10 p.m. $5. 

Clan Dyken, June 23, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Steve Lucky and The Rhumba Bums, June 24, 9:30 p.m. Lindy Hop Dance Lessons with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. $11. 

Hahbi'ru, June 25, 7:30 p.m. $10. 

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5099 or www.ashkenaz.com 

BLAKES 

Ripe, XODO, June 22. $4. 

An Evening with Groove Junkies, June 23. $5. 

Kofy Brown, Rous, June 24. $6. 

For age 18 and older. Music at 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. (510) 848-0886. 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

Kathi McDonald and Brian Auger, June 22. $15.50 to $16.50. 

Eric Bogle, June 23. $16.50 to $17.50. 

The Limeliters, June 24. $16.50 to $17.50. 

John Dobby Boe and the avant jazz trio, June 25. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Music at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 548-1761 or (510) 762-BASS. 

LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER 

The Raquel Lopez Flamenco Dance Ensemble, June 23, 8:30 p.m. $18. 

Ritmo y Armonia, June 24, 9:30 p.m. $10. 

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

924 GILMAN ST. 

Damad, Good Clean Fun, Meatjack, Brain Blood Volume, June 24. 

$5. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510) 525-9926. 

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

Randy Weeks, Jim Roll, June 22. $6. 

Deke Dickerson and The Ecco-Fonics, Redmeat, June 23. $8. 

The Paladins, The Dusty 45's, June 24. $8. 

For age 21 and over. Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:45 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082. 

MUSEUMS 

Berkeley Historical Society 

"Berkeley's Ethnic Heritage." May 7 through March 2001. The exhibit examines the rich cultural diversity of our city and the contributions of individuals and minority groups to our history and development. The exhibit look at the original native tribelets in the area and the immigrants who settled in Ocean View and displaced the Spanish/Mexican landowners. It also examines the influence of theUniversity of California, the San Francisco earthquake, and World War II on the population and culture of Berkeley, and subsequent efforts to overcome discrimination. Curated by Linda Rosen and the Berkeley Historical Society Exhibit Committee. Thursday through Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. Wheelchair accessible. Admission free. Berkeley Historical Society located in the Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street, Berkeley. 510-848-0181 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc 

UC BERKELEY ART 

MUSEUM 

“Master of Fine Art Graduate Exhibition,” May 20 through July 2. The 13th annual exhibit of work by candidates for the Master of Fine Arts degree. 

Rodin and His Contemporaries,” through August. An exhibit of 11 bronze maquettes on loan from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in Los Angeles. The bronzes range in style from the artist's classically inspired “Torso of a Woman” to the anguish of “The Martyr.”  

$6 general; $4 seniors and students ages 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 1 1 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-0808. 

HALL OF HEALTH  

2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level), Berkeley 

A hands-on community health education museum and science center sponsored by Children's Hospital Oakland and Alta Bates Medical Center. Free. For children ages 3 to 12 and their parents. 

(510) 549-1564 

LAWRENCE HALL 

OF SCIENCE 

“Experiment Gallery,” through Sept. 10. Step inside a giant laboratory and experiment with concepts surrounding sound, light, mechanics, electricity, and weather. 

$6 general; $4 seniors, students and children ages 7 to 18; $2 children ages 3 to 6; free children under age 3. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, University of California, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

PHOEBE HEARST MUSEUM 

Kroeber Hall, UC Berkeley 

“Modern Treasures from Ancient Iran,” through Oct. 29. This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran as illustrated in bronze and pottery vessels, and textiles. 

“Pana O’ahu: Sacred Stones – Sacred Places,” through July 16. An exhibit of photographs by Jan Becket and Joseph Singer. 

“Phoebe Hearst Museum-Approaching a Century of Anthropology,” a sampling of the vast collections of the museum, its mission, history, and current research, with selections from ancient Egypt, ancient Peru, California Indians, Asia (India), and Africa. 

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” Ishi, the last Yahi Indian of California, spent the final years of his life, 1911 to 1916, living at the museum, working with anthropologists to record his culture, demonstrating technological skills, and retelling Yahi myths, tales, and songs. 

Wednesday through Sunday 10 am -4:30 pm; Thursday until 9 pm (Sept-May) 

(510) 643-7648 

HABITOT CHILDREN’S MUSEUM 

Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

A museum especially for children age 7 and younger. 

Admission is $4 for adults; $6 child age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child.  

Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

(510) 647-1111 

JUDAH L. MAGNES 

MUSEUM 

2911 Russell St., Berkeley 

“Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season,” through May 2002.  

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch. Through Nov. 4: “Spring and Summer.” 

Free. Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

(510) 549-6950. 

To publicize an upcoming event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). Calendar items should be submitted at least one week before the opening of a new exhibit or performance. Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to clarify any information.

Jobs for youth and health services for low-income people are among the programs that made it to the proposed liberal/progressive budget presented at Tuesday night’s council session. The council will vote on the proposals next week. 

This year, the mayor opted out of the process. Generally Mayor Shirley Dean, part of a more moderate council block, submits proposals that are different from those recommended by the competing faction. 

Dean says at next week’s meeting, she will ask the council not to spend the $3 million that is available. Before allocating the funds, the council should set up a more rational funding process, she argued. 

There is little wiggle room for creative decision makers within the budget process. The city is at the halfway point in a two-year budget, with about $215 million budgeted for each of the two years. A little over half of the budget – about $114 million – goes for salaries and benefits for the city’s 1,600 employees. 

Most of the remaining funds are set aside for specific uses. The bond funds pay for the uses to which they are dedicated, such as remodeling the library, civic center and building the new police-fire building. Fees homeowners pay on their tax bills for sewers and refuse go for these services. Other funds are set aside specifically for street and sidewalk repair or to lease office space or equipment. 

In this fiscal year, which begins July 1, there is about $3 million in funds that has not been earmarked for specific uses. This is the only money that the council can spend. 

For the past several months various organizations have lined up at public hearings and written letters to the council, asking for funds for their causes. Agencies within the city have also requested funds. The result was a list of almost $19 million in requests. 

Maio said four of the five progressives – herself, Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek, Councilmember Dona Spring and Councilmember Kriss Worthington – met and sifted through the requests, eliminating some and reducing others. Councilmember Margaret Breland did not participate in the process, Maio said. If five councilmembers meet outside a formal meeting, they are in violation of the state’s open meeting laws. 

Among the bigger-ticket items proposed are: 

• $200,000 to match federal grant funds for which the city has applied, to meet the health needs of low income people. 

• $65,000 for dental services at school sites. 

• $305,000 toward making the City Council Chambers more accessible to people who use wheelchairs. In part, funds would be used to study whether it is best to build a new council chambers – one has been proposed at the site of the old police building on McKinley Street – or to upgrade the chambers in Old City Hall. 

• $180,000 for a summer jobs program. This is money which the city lost when the federal government restructured its summer jobs program. The state could fund this program, but that will not be known until the state budget is approved. 

• $118,000 for bicycle and pedestrian safety measures, which will be proposed by the Transportation Commission. 

• $185,000 for animal care, including staffing the shelter with a volunteer coordinator, a no/low-cost spay-neuter program, animal shelter improvements, animal adoption advertising and funds to Home at Last, for its animal rescue efforts. 

• $55,000 for the Telegraph Area Association. 

A number of the city manager’s requests became part of the proposed budget: 

• $400,000 to complete the city’s telephone system. 

• $500,000 to pay for the costs of the city’s Living Wage program. These are the estimated increase in costs that would be passed on to the city by businesses whose employees would earn higher wages mandated by the ordinance. 

• $40,000 for mandatory earthquake insurance. 

Among the requests that did not make it to the proposed budget are: 

• Funding costs exceeding the budget for the Aquatic Park play structure. The council recommended that the funds come from the city’s playground budget. 

• Funding apartment inspections for carbon monoxide was not funded. However, a fee-based program will be proposed. 

• Funds for sidewalk repairs and deferred maintenance, above the annual allocations for these services. 

• Funds for traffic signals in addition to those already in the budget. 

• Funding a new animal shelter. 

Maio said she and other liberal/progressives will look again at their proposal over the next week. They will take into consideration a request for funds by the Chaplaincy to the Homeless, which had neglected to submit a formal request for funds. They will also consider a request by Berkeley Trip, which sells reduced-rate bus and BART passes. The proposal funds the agency at half the level requested. The university matches the city’s funding. Representatives from Berkeley Trip said the agency will fold unless it gets full council funding. 

Maio and her colleagues plan to tweak their proposal. “It’s a first cut,” Maio said. 

To receive a copy of the proposed budget call Maio’s office at 644-6359. 

Most every year, around this time, the mayor and the liberal/progressive faction of the council each publish dueling versions of how to spend the few dollars left over from the city’s fixed costs. 

But not this year. 

Mayor Shirley Dean says she is refusing to play the game. She will not write an alternative to the liberal/progressive budget. 

“First we need organization; we need restraint,” said the mayor, in a phone interview Wednesday. “There’s an absence of going to make these decisions? We are funding programs we know nothing about. 

“Somebody has to be the voice of reason.” 

Councilmember Linda Maio, the primary author of the liberal/progressive budget, said that by taking herself outside the deliberations, Dean is able to “take political potshots at the progressives.” 

The mayor, however, called the lineup of requesting organizations a “feeding frenzy.” The council needs to know more precisely what its money is buying, she said. 

That is not to say that the needs are not great nor that the requests are not valid, Dean added. 

Dean challenged the liberal/progressive budget, claiming it ignored the city’s commitment to moving the Public Safety Building antenna tower. She said it included items that should not be funded at all, such as giving $4,000 to the West Berkeley Association of Industrial Companies. 

“We have the largest, richest companies getting $4,000,” Dean said, contending that the association could easily get the funds from its membership. 

Maio argued, however, that the West Berkeley association is just getting started and needs the city’s help. These industries are especially important because they are “targeted for displacement by dot com groups,” she said. 

Maio further contended that the mayor knows the value of most the recommended expenditures. She pointed in particular to the $35,000 set aside for meals for low-income seniors at Strawberry Lodge, the $62,000 that would go to double the arts grants budget, and the $70,000 dedicated to a volunteer coordinator for the animal shelter. 

The mayor need not question whether the money is well spent, Maio said. “Staff has an oversight role. We don’t just hand out money.”

The Berkeley Police Review Commission reviewed its concerns last week about the rule that allows the commission only 120 days to investigate complaints of misconduct against Berkeley Police Officers. 

The 120-day standard comes from a memorandum of understanding with the Berkeley Police Association, the union that represents police officers in Berkeley. 

If an officer is to be disciplined by either suspension or termination, that discipline must be imposed within 120 days from the date the complaint is filed with the city or the commission, said Barbara Attard, secretary of the commission. 

Commissioner David Ritchie and some other members of the PRC want to extend the four-month investigation period, originally set to coincide with the department’s own Internal Affairs investigation. The findings of the Internal Affairs are used in disciplining officers. 

The 120-day time frame surfaced in an earlier commission meeting attended by the city manager and the city attorney. The city officials discussed the possible effects of the June 1999 decision of the 4th District Court of Appeals in Caloca vs. the County of San Diego, which strengthens a police officer’s right to appeal a decision of misconduct. 

In Caloca the appeals court reversed the judgment of a trial court that denied four sheriffs the right to an administrative appeal in regard to the Public Safety Officers procedural Bill of Rights Act. 

City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque said the Caloca case opens the door for a cumbersome and therefore costly appeal process, and she suggested that the police chief no longer use the commission’s findings for any personnel-related purposes. 

She said the results of a PRC investigation are not used by the police chief for disciplining officers, but the chief might use them in considering promotions and assignments. The city manager holds the authority to determine discipline imposed on officers. 

The commission voted unanimously to request funding from City Council to obtain independent counsel to evaluate the extent of an appeal process. The commissioners seek to retain the impact their investigations currently have. 

Last week Ritchie, who is an attorney, said the 120-day limit no longer has any purpose in light of the city attorney’s statements, and in effect it constrains the commission’s investigations. 

“(The 120-day rule) was put in a number of years ago, and back then the assumption was we actually did have influence on discipline, and in order for our decision to have some impact the decision had to be available in a certain amount of time – 120 days,” Ritchie said. 

“The state penal code allows for a one-year rule. We would like to go for that.” 

Commissioner Lucienne Sanchez-Resnik said that if the commission asked to eliminate the 120-day rule, the request probably would have to go to City Council. 

Attard said the commission cases are reviewed by the city manager, and in theory the city manager could use them in discipline. The efficacy of the process could be lost if the commission ignores the 120-day time limit, she said. 

BART elevators will be closed for major repairs 

The downtown Berkeley BART station is one of four East Bay stations having its elevators rebuilt as a part of a $1.4 billion renovation program. 

Renovation of the elevators at the stations-the others are Lake Merritt, 19th Street in Oakland and Lafayette, with Glen Park renovation to begin Friday. The work is expected to last about 60 days, and will include replacement of doors, floors and some electrical components, according to a press release. 

BART officials suggest calling (510) 464-2278 for help with trip planning, and for local Paratransit services, call (510) 287-5040 or (800) 555-8085. 

BART will be providing free lift-equipped shuttle service between the Berkeley and Ashby stations for train connections while the work is under way. The shuttle will operate from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. 

Bulgarian line dancing workshop set for Friday 

ALBANY – The Albany Y Folkdancers and the San Francisco Mandala are sponsoring two Bulgarian line dance workshops by Nina Kavardjikova. One workshop is in Albany, Friday at 8 p.m., at 921 Kains, just south of Solano Avenue. Admission is $8. For more information, call 528-1100 or email Asha4results@Juno.com. 

Fire departments hold weekend training, drill 

East Bay fire departments will conduct a Mutual Response Area–Training/Drill in Tilden Park on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. It is part of the annual training conducted during the fire season and the second drill of the summer. 

Mutual response Areas (MRAs) were developed after the 1991 Oakland/Berkeley Hills Fire as one of the methods to quickly control wild fires. For this drill, the fire will be simulated only. The location of the drill will be at Equestrian Camp off Wildcat Canyon Road in Tilden Park. 

Gray Panthers discuss affordable housing 

Berkeley Gray Panthers will have a membership meeting on June 28 to discuss affordable housing entitled “Housing Rights? Where Will You Live Tomorrow?” The meeting will be held at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. at 1:30 p.m. It is open to the public. 

Scholarship awarded 

Joshua Walden of Berkeley received a $3,500 scholarship from the SBC Foundation for academic excellence last week. SBC scholarships are part of an annual awards program and are awarded to children of employees or retirees of Southwestern Bell, Ameritech, SNET, Pacific Bell, Nevada Bell, Cellular One and SBC Telecom. 

Walden will attend the University of California this fall and major in music. 

“Investing in these young students is an investment in our future,” Gloria Delgado, president of the SBC Foundation, said in a press release. 

“Education is a critical link in strengthening the communities in which we operate and our nation as a whole. We hope this educational scholarship will help Walden make a difference in the world.” 

– Daily Planet Staff

SAN FRANCISCO – On Sunday, BART will operate longer trains for the San Francisco Pride 2000 Parade in San Francisco. 

After the parade, BART personnel will be selling tickets at the Civic Center and Powell Street Stations in San Francisco for the homebound trip. BART urges people to buy round-trip tickets. 

For more information, call (510) 465-BART.

Drug arrests made 

A search warrant was served at 8:30 a.m. Friday on residents in an Oakland home by the Berkeley Special Enforcement Unit. The warrant was issued based on information that the suspects living there had been selling drugs in several Berkeley locations. During the search police found one wrapped piece of rock cocaine inside a Newport cigarette box. Clarence Brown, 44, and Freddie Lee Christian, 42, were arrested on charges of possession of a controlled substance. 

DUI alleged in crash 

Following a collision at Harmon and King streets, at 6:16 p.m. Friday in which the driver of the vehicle ran into a stop sign, police officers observed that the driver had bloodshot and watery eyes. The driver also failed the Field Sobriety Test, according to police reports. Gilberto Echeveste, 20, a Berkeley resident, was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and for not having a valid driver’s license. 

Verbal fight escalates 

Two men seated in front of a cafe at 2475 Telegraph Ave. were conversing about 5:15 p.m. Monday when a man they did not know came up to their table and started yelling at one of them. 

The cafe customers stood up to the interloper and told him they wanted to be left alone, but he refused to leave. The man who was the target of the yelling put his hands on the shoulders of the man who instigated the confrontation and tried to push him away from the table, but the interloper bit his hand. The man with the injured hand notified a police officer that he wanted to make a citizen’s arrest. Albin Woodey, 29, was arrested on a charge of battery. 

– Daily Planet Staff

Four young men were arrested for allegedly defacing two buildings with black spray paint about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. 

The graffiti was sprayed on two walls, one on the building at 2100 Milvia St., and the other at 2118 Milvia St., according to police reports. A security guard observed them, but did not try to stop them at first, but then noticed a police officer and flagged him down, said Capt. Bobby Miller of the Berkeley Police Department. 

The officer stopped two suspects on Addison Street near Grant Street and one of them was carrying a can of black spray paint. The security guard identified them as two of the four spray painters. Marcus Durant, 22, was arrested on charges of malicious damage by spray painting. The second suspect arrested is a juvenile. The two other suspects were not arrested.

A family fight erupted about 10 p.m. Monday on the 1200 block of Ninth Street when a woman’s two daughters visited her and her partner. 

Police Capt. Bobby Miller said the daughters, whose father previously had been married to their mother, called their mother but they found their telephone call phone was blocked. 

When they went to their mother’s home to investigate, they were confronted by their mother’s male friend. The confrontation escalated into an argument, said Miller, and one of the daughters went into the kitchen and picked up a butcher knife and swung it at the man several times over his head. He managed to pick up a pillow and ward off blows to his head, and then she threw the knife at him but missed. He sustained cuts on his left forearm and on one knee but was not seriously injured. Myrina Drummer, 18, was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.

Berkeley Community Media is finally able to send its old equipment the way of carbon paper, floppy disks, wooden tennis racquets and 1,200-baud modems. In a long-awaited move, Berkeley-TV Channel 25 has landed a bevy of new cameras and computers, making the painstaking process of linear editing a thing of the past. 

“You can take film from VHS or digital cameras, upload the information into the computer, and edit it any which way you want,” explains BCM Access Coordinator John Dalton of the Final Cut Pro program running on one of the station’s two new Macintosh G4 computers. “With linear editing once you laid down your video you couldn’t insert something in the middle without doing everything over. Now you can cut and paste, jump around, add special effects, lighting, graphic information, even animations of some sort. You can move around the information on the hard drive, and the finished project streams out onto a video tape. This is a giant step for us.” 

In addition to the sleek new computers, B-TV also boasts four new digital camcorders, each a fraction of the size and weight of the station’s old VHS fare. In addition to being tiny enough to store in a cargo pants pocket, the digital cameras take higher quality pictures, are easier to use, and, being digital after all, spawn tapes that don’t degenerate in quality with each successive copying. 

While the new technology will certainly make it easier for the station to undertake its everyday activities, Executive Director Brian Scott is hoping to vastly expand BCM’s role. To start with, he’d like another couple of channels to broadcast on. 

“Right now we show City Council meetings, Berkeley Unified School District meetings and Rent Stabilization Board Meetings,” says Scott. “What I’d like to see is the station not only showing those meetings but also the Zoning Committee, the Planning Commission and other city organizations that would be able to have shows. And I’d also like to see a monthly program communicating to the public what’s taken place in the previous two or three council meetings so people can get a clear idea of what’s going in their government. 

“I’d like to get a second channel for government access,” continues Scott. “Right now it’s very frustrating trying to program the station around meetings that come every other week, sometimes once a month, sometimes not at all. We can’t really get any consistent programming.” 

With government television on its own channel, B-TV would dive into aggressive outreach into local schools, nonprofits and the community-at-large with the goal of generating a third channel within a year. 

“The public, education and government – each entity needs a separate voice,” says Scott. “It’s an overused phrase, but we have to bridge the digital divide. We have to bring people in rather than waiting for people sitting at home to get out of their chairs and come out to us. The more information you give people, the better.” 

Some of Scott’s most intriguing outreach plans focus on Berkeley’s schools. School events such as elections, plays and Berkeley High jazz band concerts could all be filmed and broadcast on BCM’s education channel. Students could participate in shows emphasizing their schoolwork. Scott uses Longfellow Middle School’s web design class as an example, pointing out that the students could put on a weekly call-in show highlighting their homework.  

Scott’s expansion plans would not be free, however. BCM’s programming is run by a mammoth computer known as the Head End, a massive juxtaposition of computers and 13 VCRs programmed with B-TV’s schedule. In addition to aiming for an upgrade from analogue to digital Head Ends, two new channels would require two new devices. 

BCM is funded by the city, which in turn receives money from AT&T via franchise taxes collected from cable television users. BCM’s franchise agreement with AT&T signed in the early 1990s stated that the cable provider might reconsider the amount of funding it pays toward community access television if it benefited from any additional technology. Scott hopes AT&T’s diversification and growth since the early ’90s translate into more funding. 

“It comes down to if AT&T is making more money now, then the city should be making more money now,” says Scott. “Once we open up that accessibility more people will come in here.”

Chinese Club Dragon Boat Celebration 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Jazz/Art at the Library 

4 p.m. 

North Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1170 The Alameda 

This event is part of the summer program series in the library system. Lisa di Prima and the Donald Robinson Trio are the featured talents. 

510-644-6850 

Baby Bounce and Toddler Tales 

7 p.m. 

West Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1125 University Ave. 

This storytime program is designed for families with children up to 3 years old. The free, participatory program features a half hour of multicultural songs, rhymes, lap jogs and stories to give very young children a lively introduction to the magic of books. Parents also will enjoy the new stories, rediscover old favorites and learn new songs and games to share. 

510-644-6870 

BUSD School Board meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Board/Council Chambers, Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Agenda items include approving the budget for the 2000-2001 fiscal year, moving ahead with a school bond and tax measure for the November ballot, and hearing a report from the Berkeley High Diversity Project on race/ethnicity and discipline at the school. 

Poetry Flash 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. 

The featured poets this session will be Stefanie Marlis and Judith Taylor. 

510-845-7852; 510-525-5476 

Upcoming Poetry Flash @ Cody's readings feature poetry by: 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra 

8 p.m. 

Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley campus 

Program Four, June 21, 8 p.m. 

Kent Nagano will conduct the fourth and final concert of the season, featuring works by Berio, Mozart, and Bruckner. Tickets $19 to $35 general; $10 students. 

510-841-2800 

Free computer class for seniors 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited; the class is offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Call ahead for a reservation. 

510-644-6109 

Berkeley State Health Toastmasters Club 

12:10-1:10 p.m. 

State Health Building, Eighth Floor, 2151 Berkeley Way 

Toastmasters International, a nonprofit educational organization, has been working for over 70 years to help people conquer their pre-speech jitters and improve communication skills. The local club meetings the second, third and fourth Thursdays of each month. 

510-649-7750; higgins_edie@hotmail.com 

Movie: Eddie Cantor Story 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Zoning Adjustment Board 

7 p.m. 

Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Among the items to be discussed is the matter of home occupations and accessory buildings and a review of a use permit for the property at 1616 LaVereda. 

“Tai Chi” 

Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

Jarl Forsman, a professional Tai Chi instructor, will speak during this week’s meeting of the City Commons Club. Social hour begins at 11:15 a.m. Luncheon is served from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Speaker starts promptly at 12:30 p.m. Lunch is $11 or $12.25; admission to the speech is $1, free for students. This is the final meeting for the summer. Regular Friday meetings will resume Sept. 8. 

510-848-3533 

Opera: Swan Lake 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Words in Collision: Summer Performance Art Series 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. (in Live Oak Park) 

The featured presentation will be “subtitled” with Susan Gervitz, Margaret Tedesco and company. Admission is $7 to $10. 

510-644-6893 

Disaster First Aid 

9 a.m.-noon 

Fire department’s Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 

This summer, Berkeley’s Office of Emergency Services will offer a set of free training classes to help families prepare for emergencies. The classes, open to Berkeley residents at least 18 years old, will be taught by retired firefighters. The classes give hands-on training in how to put on a splint, extinguish a fire, use a fire hose, and more. Call ahead to register. Future classes will be held on Light Search and Rescue (July 15) and Fire Suppression (Aug. 12). 

510-644-8736 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m.-3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

This weekend’s market will celebrate the summer solstice. Musical performances will be held throughout the four hours of the market. 

510-548-3333 

Jazz/Art at the Library 

3:30 p.m. 

Temporary Central Public Library, 2121 Allston Way 

This event is part of the summer program series in the library system. Lisa di Prima and the Donald Robinson Trio are the featured talents. 

510-644-6100 

Spay-Neuter Program 

People are encouraged to bring feral and stray cats to be sterilized and vaccinated. This program is sponsored by Fix Our Ferals. For ahead for location information, reservations and trap loans. 

510-433-9446 

Poetry Flash 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. 

The featured poets this session will include Suzanne Lummis. 

510-845-7852; 510-525-5476

Nuclear research not conducted in Berkeley 

It’s misleading just to run a photo of the sign modified to “Nuclear Weapons Research Zone” without correction (Daily Planet, June 20). It’s even more misleading to run your headline “How nuke free?” above it and caption without attribution “...contend that contrary to the city’s policy, nuclear research continues to be conducted within city limits” below. As a matter of actual fact, we know there’s nothing vaguely resembling nuclear weapons research going on in Berkeley because the very last classified program at Lawrence Berkeley Lab ended in the early ‘70s, and there was none on the UCB campus for decades before that. 

Most people confuse LBL with Lawrence Livermore Lab, which is of course operated by UC and where they do design weapons. For those who haven’t noticed, that’s a different operation in a different city. 

I always took those “Nuclear Free Zone” signs to mean “this city is certified to contain no atomic nuclei,” a wonderful illustration of the anti-scientific ignorance of those responsible for them. 

Doug Finley 

San Pablo 

Don’t resort to public ridicule of city officials 

The letter that Lucienne Sanchez-Resnik writes mocking Councilwoman Olds proposal to ban the use of cell phones by bicyclists drips of ridicule and contempt. (Letters, June 12). Though she assumes that it was Olds’ proposal that drew all the media attention, I believe that it is responses like hers that makes the media say, “there Berkeley goes again!” And as for her husband, Hank, who also wrote a letter, I really expected more. Mr. Resnik has well-developed intellectual and rhetorical skills and is fully capable of debating the issue on its merits. It is therefore even more disappointing when he chooses to level personal attacks, (“she’s out of her mind”) followed by the intriguing and far-fetched idea that she is engaged in a “deliberate and malicious attack on bicyclists.” (What is malicious about trying to improve bicycle safety?) Public officials are vulnerable when they put forth new ideas. We owe them the courtesy of responding to the content of their proposals with thoughtful and respectful dialogue. 

Mr. and Mrs. Resnik have done their community a disservice by stooping to name-calling and ridicule. Our youth need good examples of how to engage in civil discourse on civic issues. Thankfully, the school board strives to set such an example. 

When leaders in our community, like the Resniks, go public with their differences, I would hope that they could vent at home, and use the public venue to engage in productive and respectful dialogue. 

Shirley Issel 

BUSD School Board Director 

EcoHouse seeks residents’ support in raising funds 

Thank you for the excellent article, “An Ecological Neighborhood”, written by your staff journalist, Marilyn Claessens, which appeared in your June 17-18, weekend issue. It is amazing how rapidly the popularity of the Daily Planet has spread in the Berkeley community. When I tried to pick up another copy of the Planet on Saturday evening, I found that quite a few of your boxes were already empty. 

Your consistent reporting on the EcoHouse, and the Peralta, Northside, and Karl Linn Community Art Garden Commons, which also feature ecofriendly technologies, has done much to broaden support by Berkeley’s citizens, government, and business community. 

The response to this past weekend’s article was especially rewarding. People were eager to find out how they could contribute to our fund-drive to own the building outright. There are very few properties in our community that are commonly owned by citizens, making this purchase a precious opportunity. Owning the building will allow us to provide affordable educational and material services to the public and will help maintain the EcoHouse itself. With broad community support, we are confident we can raise the $240,000 to repay our lenders by spring of 2001. 

At present Berkeley’s Ecology Center is our fiscal agent until our application for nonprofit status has been approved. Please make checks payable to Ecology Center-EcoHouse. Your fully tax-deductible gifts will make EcoHouse a reality, offering incalculable long-term benefits not only for the Bay Area, but for the environment of our planet. 

Karl Linn 

President, 

Berkeley EcoHouse

THEATER 

AURORA THEATRE 

“Split” by Mayo Simon, June 1 through July 2. A mordant clear-eyed view of an older couple's love affair. $25 to $28. Wednesday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822. 

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE 

“Closer” by Patrick Marber, through July 9. A funny, touching and unflinchingly honest examination of love and relationships set in contemporary London. $38 to $48.50. Tuesday, Thursday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Wednesday, 7 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; May 27, June 1, June 3, June 10, June 15, June 24, June 29 and July 8, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 845-4700 or (888) 4BRTTIX. 

CALIFORNIA 

SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 

“Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare, June 3 through June 24. The classic romantic comedy of mismatched lovers forced into a union. $21 to $38 general; $19 to $38 seniors; $10 to $38 children. Wednesday and Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m.; June 13 and June 20, 7 p.m. June 24, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Bruns Memorial Amphitheatre, Shakespeare Festival Way/Gateway Exit on state Highway 24. (510) 548-9666 or www.calshakes.org 

LaVal’s Subterranean 

Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Yoni Barkan. The play will run from June 8 to July 8, Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. each night. 1834 Euclid Ave. (510) 234-6046. 

MUSIC VENUES 

ASHKENAZ 

The Poullard-Thompson Cajun Trio, June 21, 9 p.m. Cajun dance lesson with Patti Whithurst at 8 p.m. $8. 

Grateful Dean DJ Night with Digital Dave, June 22, 10 p.m. $5. 

Clan Dyken, June 23, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Steve Lucky and The Rhumba Bums, June 24, 9:30 p.m. Lindy Hop Dance Lessons with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. $11. 

Hahbi'ru, June 25, 7:30 p.m. $10. 

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5099 or www.ashkenaz.com 

BLAKES 

“Third World,” June 21. With UC Buu, DJ Add, Jah Bonz, Big Willie. $5. 

Ripe, XODO, June 22. $4. 

An Evening with Groove Junkies, June 23. $5. 

Kofy Brown, Rous, June 24. $6. 

For age 18 and older. Music at 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. (510) 848-0886. 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

Urban Acoustic Dude, June 21. $12.50 to $13.50. 

Kathi McDonald and Brian Auger, June 22. $15.50 to $16.50. 

Eric Bogle, June 23. $16.50 to $17.50. 

The Limeliters, June 24. $16.50 to $17.50. 

Music at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 548-1761 or (510) 762-BASS. 

LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER 

Jim Page, June 21, 7:30 p.m. $5 to $15. 

The Raquel Lopez Flamenco Dance Ensemble, June 23, 8:30 p.m. $18. 

Ritmo y Armonia, June 24, 9:30 p.m. $10. 

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

924 GILMAN ST. 

Damad, Good Clean Fun, Meatjack, Brain Blood Volume, June 24. 

$5. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510) 525-9926. 

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

Ceili Dance featuring Brian Theriault and Friends, June 21. 8 p.m. 

Randy Weeks, Jim Roll, June 22. $6. 

Deke Dickerson and The Ecco-Fonics, Redmeat, June 23. $8. 

The Paladins, The Dusty 45's, June 24. $8. 

For age 21 and over. Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:45 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082. 

MUSEUMS 

Berkeley Historical Society 

"Berkeley's Ethnic Heritage." May 7 through March 2001. The exhibit examines the rich cultural diversity of our city and the contributions of individuals and minority groups to our history and development. Thursday through Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. Wheelchair accessible. Admission free. Berkeley Historical Society located in the Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street, Berkeley. 510-848-0181; www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc 

UC BERKELEY ART 

MUSEUM 

“Master of Fine Art Graduate Exhibition,” May 20 through July 2. The 13th annual exhibit of work by candidates for the Master of Fine Arts degree. Artist Talk, May 21, 3 p.m. At Gallery 2. 

Rodin and His Contemporaries,” through August. An exhibit of 11 bronze maquettes on loan from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in Los Angeles. The bronzes range in style from the artist's classically inspired “Torso of a Woman” to the anguish of “The Martyr.” Some of the maquettes were cast during Rodin’s lifetime, others have been cast fairly recently under the aegis of the Musee Rodin which alone is authorized to cast his sculptures posthumously. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students ages 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 1 1 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-0808. 

HALL OF HEALTH  

2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level), Berkeley 

A hands-on community health education museum and science center sponsored by Children's Hospital Oakland and Alta Bates Medical Center. 

“Your Cellular Self and Cancer Prevention,” ongoing. An exhibit on understanding how cells become cancerous and how to detect and prevent cancer. 

Free. For children ages 3 to 12 and their parents. 

(510) 549-1564 

LAWRENCE HALL 

OF SCIENCE 

“Experiment Gallery,” through Sept. 10. Step inside a giant laboratory and experiment with concepts surrounding sound, light, mechanics, electricity, and weather. 

“Math Rules!” ongoing exhibit. A math exhibit of hands-on problem-solving stations, each with a different mathematical challenge. Make mathematical ice-cream cones, use blocks to build three dimensional structures, make dodecagon pies from a variety of mathematical shapes and stretch mathematical thinking. 

“Within the Human Brain,” ongoing installation. Visitors test their cranial nerves, play skeeball, master mazes, match musical tones and construct stories inside a simulated “rat cage” of learning experiments. 

“Laser: The Light Fantastic” ongoing exhibit. 

$6 general; $4 seniors, students and children ages 7 to 18; $2 children ages 3 to 6; free children under age 3. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, University of California, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

PHOEBE HEARST MUSEUM 

Kroeber Hall, UC Berkeley 

“Modern Treasures from Ancient Iran,” through Oct. 29. This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran as illustrated in bronze and pottery vessels, and textiles. 

“Pana O’ahu: Sacred Stones – Sacred Places,” through July 16. An exhibit of photographs by Jan Becket and Joseph Singer. 

“Phoebe Hearst Museum-Approaching a Century of Anthropology,” a sampling of the vast collections of the museum, its mission, history, and current research, with selections from ancient Egypt, ancient Peru, California Indians, Asia (India), and Africa. 

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” Ishi, the last Yahi Indian of California, spent the final years of his life, 1911 to 1916, living at the museum, working with anthropologists to record his culture, demonstrating technological skills, and retelling Yahi myths, tales, and songs. 

Wednesday through Sunday 10 am -4:30 pm; Thursday until 9 pm (Sept-May) 

(510) 643-7648 

HABITOT CHILDREN’S MUSEUM 

Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

A museum especially for children age 7 and younger. Highlights include “WaterWorks,” an area with some unusual water toys, an Infant Tree for babies, a garden especially for toddlers, a child-scale grocery store and cafe, and a costume shop and stage for junior thespians. The museum also features a toy lending library. 

Admission is $4 for adults; $6 child age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child.  

Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

(510) 647-1111 

JUDAH L. MAGNES 

MUSEUM 

2911 Russell St., Berkeley 

“Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season,” through May 2002.  

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch. Through Nov. 4: “Spring and Summer.” 

Free. Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

(510) 549-6950. 

GALLERIES  

A.C.C.I. GALLERY 

“Abstract Expressions,” through July 1. A group show featuring Rita Flanagan, Carolyn Careis, Heather Hutchinson, Muriel Paley, and Naomi Policoff. 

Free. Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1652 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-2527. 

GRADUATE THEOLOGICAL UNION 

“On Common Ground.” through June 23. This exhibit is a portrait of faith-based communities in Los Angeles. 

“Finding the Sacred Mountain,” through June 20. An exhibit of sumi-e and watercolors by Robert Kostka. 

Free. Monday through Thursday, 8:30 am. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 7 p.m. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd., Berkeley. (510) 649-2541. 

KALA INSTITUTE 

“Markings/Imprints,” through July 28. The 2000 Kala Art Institute Fellowship Awards Exhibitions, Part I, featuring works by Susan Belau, Liliana Lobo Ferreira, and Jamie Morgan. 

Free. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Workshop Media Center Gallery, 1060 Heinz Ave., Berkeley. (510) 549-2977. 

NEW PIECES GALLERY 

“Progressions: the Quilt as Art,” through June 29. An exhibit of quilts by Jill Le Croisette. 

“Go We to the Revels Masked,” through June 29. An exhibit of dolls by Elise Peeples. 

Free. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave., Berkeley. (510) 527-6779. 

TRAYWICK GALLERY 

Rachel Davis, Samantha Fisher, Benicia Gantner, Cherith Rose, June 21 through July 22. An exhibit of new work by the four artists. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1316 10th St., Berkeley. (510) 527-1214. 

To publicize an upcoming event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). 

Calendar items should be submitted at least one week before the opening of a new exhibit or performance. 

Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to clarify any information.

A proposal to place a $116.5 million school bond and a special maintenance tax on the November ballot will be considered tonight by the Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education. 

The bond would allocate funds for construction and renovation projects at several school sites, including Berkeley High, King and Willard middle schools, Franklin School and Berkeley Adult School. 

The special tax, meanwhile, is designed to ensure that the BUSD has enough money to keep its newly constructed and newly renovated buildings looking good – and safe for students and staff. 

Tonight’s recommendation follows a presentation two weeks ago by Paul Goodwin from Santa Monica-based GLS Research, which conducted a survey of Berkeley voters to determine the level of community support for a bond measure and/or a special tax. 

GLS found that nearly 80 percent of voters surveyed would be willing to support a $125 million bond, and about 70 percent would support a special tax. If both measures appeared on the ballot, 47 percent would support both, 12 percent would vote against both, 21 would support only the bond, and 9 percent would support only the tax. 

Current state law requires a two-thirds approval for any bond or tax measure. 

The survey of 600 randomly selected registered voters was conducted May 29 through June 1, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. 

That survey also attempted to gauge which potential BUSD projects were most important to voters. Building new classrooms ranked at the top, followed by repairing floors, walls, windows and roofs; replacing portable classrooms; improving seismic safety; and improving fire safety. 

At the bottom of the list – though not entirely without support – were building new athletic fields; improving gyms; improving the theater at BHS; and finally, provide a new administration building. 

“What we attempted to do was mesh what we see as the highest priorities for the district, with what the survey identified as the projects most supported by voters, which really are their highest priorities,” said Catherine James, associate superintendent for business services. 

Proposed tax 

According to the staff report prepared for tonight’s meeting, the special tax would yield more than $3.8 million annually for maintenance needs around the district. 

The BUSD currently spends about $2.4 million annually on maintenance personnel, supplies and equipment. A report prepared by a citizens advisory committee in April advocated significantly increasing allocations for maintenance, citing serious safety issues around the district and an overall trend toward facilities in disrepair. 

If approved by voters, the special tax would allow the BUSD to increase maintenance spending to around $4 million annually. In addition to the $3.8 million in revenue from the tax, the district projects income from the Hillside School site maintenance and food service maintenance. 

The tax would be based on the square footage of a home or business – residences at a rate of 4.5 cents per square foot, commercial at a rate of 6.75 cents per square foot. That means the owner of a 1,700-square-foot home would pay $76.50 per year. 

The staff recommendation calls for the special tax to last for 12 years. 

Proposed bond 

In 1992, Berkeley voters approved Measure A, a $158 million school bond measure that has funded a host of projects around the district. But in the eyes of school district leaders and other community members, many vital projects remain outstanding, creating the need for a new bond measure. 

The staff recommendation for $116.5 million comes in just below the $125 million mark that generated strong support in the GLS survey. 

Berkeley High would get the biggest chunk of funds from the bond: more than $28.1 million. About $19 million would be used to add classrooms and renovate space in the old gym complex, located along the east side of the campus. The city is already moving forward on a $3 million bond measure to pay for upgrading the warm water pool, part of the old gym complex. 

Other allocations for BHS would include about $7.6 million for improvements to other buildings and about $1.2 million for an improved campus communication system. 

If voters pass the bond in November, it means that more than $80 million will have been invested in construction and renovation projects at the high school over a 20-year period, said Lew Jones, manager of facilities planning. That’s more than most school districts would spend to build new high school campus. 

The staff recommendation calls for nearly $7.8 million to be used for projects at King Middle School. About $5 million would be designated for construction of a new cafeteria – exact details of where it would be built have yet to be determined – and the rest would finance modernization of the science building and the gymnasium. 

The BUSD will soon get under way with nearly $20 million in other improvements at King Middle, which will be funded through Measure A. The two wings of the main building will be seismically retrofitted, and electrical and technological systems also will be updated. 

Other proposed allocations from the school bond include: 

• Willard Middle School, $3.85 million for improvements 

• Franklin School site, $5.5 million for improvements 

• Berkeley Adult School, $8.15 million for improvements 

• Child Development facilities, $6.12 million for improvements 

• Sprinkler improvements around the district, $5.37 million 

The bond also would set aside about $1.1 million for improving “the property north of Derby Street,” an apparent indication that some staff members feel there is not enough community support to pursue construction of a regulation baseball field at the Derby-Martin Luther King Jr. Way site. That amount of money wouldn’t finance a baseball field but could pay for a softball-soccer field. Of course, the board still will have its say on what is done with that property. 

In their report, district officials said the school bond would be structured in such a way that the tax impact on a household wouldn’t exceed the current peak levels from the 1992 bond measure. That strategy was endorsed by the school board during its discussions earlier this month, and it would give bond supporters a key tool in their attempts to pass the bond this fall. It’s much easier, one could argue, to convince voters to OK a bond that won’t require them to pay higher taxes than they currently are paying, than a bond that will increase their tax burden. 

Tonight’s recommendations, if approved by the board, will be brought back at the first meeting in July, when the school board would likely formally place the measures on the November ballot. 

The deadline for getting ballot measures to the county doesn’t arrive until August, but the district wants to allow enough time for an effective campaign to emerge. 

School district employees cannot publicly advocate passage of either the bond or tax – at least, not while wearing a BUSD “hat.” They are allowed to campaign for or against any measure as a private citizen. 

The school board meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be held in Board/Council Chambers in Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

The meeting is scheduled to be broadcast on 89.3-FM, KPFB, and broadcast over Cable Channel 25, B-TV. 

A fire alarm that brought out a full assignment of firefighters to Berkeley High School Tuesday morning turned out to be a false alarm. 

Firefighters made a thorough check of all the floors of all the buildings on the campus, as did the school safety officers. They found no indication of a fire anywhere, said Assistant Fire Chief David Orth. 

He said the 911 report of a fire in “Building D” was a prank call made on a cellular telephone, and that it could have been made from anywhere – even right on the school campus. 

Orth said cellular phone calls to 911 are re-directed to the California Highway Patrol and then the CHP forwards them to the local jurisdictions. 

He said the Berkeley Fire Department received the call at 8:46 a.m. from the CHP and that they may have received the 911 call from someone relating the false alarm second hand. The California Highway Patrol told the Berkeley Fire Department that a fire was reported in the girls bathroom in Building D. 

But as Frank Brunetti, the district’s associate superintendent for business, noted, “We don’t have a Building D.” 

On Tuesday morning Orth said the department had considered the old heating plant by the Milvia entrance as a possible Building D, but he said such a designation would be discussed with school officials later in the day. 

At any rate, there is no girls bathroom in the old heating plant, which is scheduled to be razed to make way for new classroom structures on the east side of the high school campus. 

The Berkeley Fire Department deployed three engines, a ladder truck a duty chief and a staff person plus an engine and patrol unit with a pump from the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. 

“We did not want to take any chances,” said Orth. 

Berkeley’s three-decade history of standing up to countries whose policies are said to violate human rights took an abrupt turn Monday when the Supreme Court upheld a challenge to a Massachusetts law boycotting Burma. 

Based on that decision, City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque advised the city Tuesday to stop enforcing its purchasing restrictions on companies that do business with Burma. 

The high court’s 9-0 judgment overturned a 1996 Massachusetts law that barred the state from buying goods or services from companies doing business with Burma. By conducting a boycott, the state is unconstitutionally infringing on the federal government’s right to make foreign policy, the court said. 

It is at the discretion of the president to control economic sanctions against Burma, the judges wrote: “Although Congress put initial sanctions in place, it authorized the president to terminate the measures upon certifying that Burma has made progress in human rights and democracy, to impose new sanctions upon findings of repression, and, more importantly, to suspend sanctions in the interest of national security.” 

Berkeley began boycotting Burma in 1995, the first among numerous cities to do so. The boycott was in response to a call by Burma’s National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, which alleged human rights abuses by the country’s rulers. 

Berkeley’s first foray into the use of selective purchasing was in 1979, when it followed the lead of Madison, Wis., and began boycotting companies that did business with South Africa. 

Cities and other jurisdictions followed worldwide. Former Rep. Ron Dellums introduced the boycott on the national level. In a speech at the Oakland Coliseum, not long after his release from prison, former South African President Nelson Mandela thanked the people of the Bay Area for contributing to the fall of apartheid in his country, through their support of local boycotts. 

Albuquerque said that the court’s decision was tailored narrowly to the question of Burma, so it would not impact other selective purchasing decisions made by the city. The city has selective purchasing policies with regard to refusing to buy old growth redwood products and purchasing recycled paper. In the past, it has boycotted companies that did business with Nigeria and Indonesia. 

The court’s decision, however, raises the question of whether the successful challenge to the Massachusetts law could open floodgates for further challenges to local boycotts. 

Shannon Wolfe, who has studied the ruling for the San Francisco-based human rights group Global Exchange, said she believes it is possible that local governments can re-write their ordinances so that they would pass muster under the Supreme Court ruling. 

“The ruling may mean that we have to find a new, improved method of expressing our opinion on human rights issues,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington.

The Board of Directors of BCM is seeking applicants of diverse background and affiliation and with strong ties to community organizations and groups. 

Experience or expertise in management of small non-profit organizations or businesses and in personnel and financial management is welcome but not required. The responsibilities of Board members include attending monthly board meetings and serving actively on board committees for a term of at least one or two years. Applicants for elected or appointed positions should send a statement of relevant experience and/or interest to Allan C. Miller, Board Member at 2222 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley, CA 94704. Interested persons may also call Miller for more information at 510-848-7200. Applications must be received by July 8, 2000.

Fur could fly once again at tonight’s City Council meeting, when policy makers consider a law requiring cat and dog owners to either spay or neuter their animals or pay the piper for the privilege of not doing so. 

If the council approves the proposed ordinance, a public hearing on increased spay-neuter fees will follow. If the council turns down the ordinance, the public hearing to follow will address two related fees: voluntary embedding of a microchip for animal identification, $25, and spay/neuter deposits for animals that cannot be spayed or neutered at the time the animal is adopted. For dogs the deposits would be $75, and for cats, they would be $50. 

The proposed ordinance recommends a “carrot and stick” approach. It would charge people for the privilege of having unaltered animals and double charge them if their unaltered animals are found off leash where they shouldn’t be, or otherwise misbehaving. On the other hand, it would charge a very low fee for an altered dog license. 

Ordinance opponents, however, say the way to get pet owners to alter their animals is make the operation free or very low cost and making community education around the issue a priority. 

The ordinance, prepared by the city’s legal department, is based on recommendations approved by the council majority in February. It would: 

• Set the licensing fee for altered dogs at $7.50 annually and for unaltered dogs at $30. People with unaltered dogs with violations such as having been deemed vicious by animal services authorities or having been caught running at large, would be charged $60 for their license. 

• Exempt persons 65 years old and low-income individuals from paying license fees. 

• Create a cat license for unaltered cats, charging owners $30. Altered cats, or those which cannot otherwise reproduce, would not require licensing. 

• Make it an infraction to feed feral cats, unless the person feeding the animals is taking steps to get the animals altered. 

• Require that most unaltered animals adopted from rescue groups or from the animal shelter be altered before they are transferred. 

• Require that most unaltered impounded animals be altered and licensed before their release to the owner. 

• Create “fix-it” tickets. When an animal owner receives a citation for an animal running at large or a dangerous animal, citations can cost $100. The cost of the infraction will be forgiven if the pet owner gets the pet altered within 30 days of the infraction. 

• Enforce complaints against animals, such as allegations of vicious or barking dogs, on a complaint-driven basis. 

City staff estimates the cost to put the ordinance in place at $57,000 for the first year and $20,000 annually for subsequent years. Costs include an increased burden on the finance department to process the unaltered cat licenses and implement the multi-tiered dog-licensing structure. Finance department staff would also have to cross check dogs on the “bad” dog list – those with citations – with applicants for an unaltered license, answer numerous questions on the new fee structure and train personnel on the new fees. 

Councilmember Dona Spring, who supports the ordinance, says staff has overestimated the costs and has proposed a system that is more complex than necessary. Every applicant for the unaltered license should not have to be cross-checked with the city’s “bad dog” list, Spring said. Only the unaltered animals, picked up by animal control for various infractions, should be cross-checked for previous violations, she said. 

Spring underscored her support for the proposed law. 

“The ordinance will make people realize that there is a cost to the indiscriminate breeding of animals,” she said. “Our goal is to reduce the batches of puppies and kittens that come to the shelter.” 

Councilmember Diane Woolley opposes the ordinance, but says her goals are like Spring’s – to have animal owners breed their animals responsibly. 

But Woolley says the complex system of punishing pet owners is not the way to go. Rather, the city should focus its attention on educating, rather than punishing animal owners, she said. The program should be driven by incentives rather than negative disciple, Woolley said, arguing that spay and neutering programs should be free or very low fee. 

Woolley said she feared the program would be one more area where discrimination against people of color could come into play. 

“I hate to be institutionalizing another tool for discrimination,” Woolley said, contending further that the complexities and costs involved in the ordinance might dissuade people from licensing their pets at all. 

The city’s staff report on the ordinance concurs that the ordinance might not work as it should. 

“The degree of effectiveness of the proposed ordinance alone in reducing the number of unwanted and unclaimed animals, without a low-cost spay/neuter program, without increased animal license enforcement, and without public education is speculative,” it says.

===Tuesday, June 20 

Free computer class for seniors 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited; the class is offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Call ahead for a reservation. 

510-644-6109 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

510-548-3333 

Computer literacy course 

6-8 p.m. 

James Kenney Recreation Center, 1720 Eighth St. 

This free course will cover topics such as running Windows, File Management, connecting to and surfing the web, using E-mail, creating Web pages, JavaScript and a simple overview of programming. The course is oriented for adults. 

510-644-8511 

Berkeley Housing Authority 

7 p.m. 

City Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

The Berkeley City Council will meet as the Housing Authority, which includes two members in addition to the council, to address the lottery for Section 8 vouchers, a program to train public housing residents for grounds and maintenance positions, and reactivating the public housing resident advisory group. 

Berkeley City Council 

Following the Housing Authority meeting 

City Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

The council will meet to adopt items on its consent calendar and hold public hearings on a number of items, including revoking the use permit at Kragen Auto Parts, the Spay Neuter Ordinance and the budget. 

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips. 

510-531-8664 

Cesar Chavez Memorial Solar Calendar celebration 

7:30 p.m. 

Cesar Chavez Park (on the high ground, overlooking the bay, about 300 yards from Spinnaker Road) 

A group of community members are working to construct a solar calendar at Cesar Chavez Park. In addition to honoring the late Cesar Chavez, the project would educate local school children and the general public about the astronomical and cultural significance of the seasons. A solar calendar is an architectural device used to keep track of the seasons. The most famous is Stonehenge in England, they also were constructed by other ancient cultures around the world. This event is a workshop and update on the project. 

32nd Anniversary Revue and Fund-raiser 

8 p.m. 

Freight and Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

This event will feature The House Jacks, Rebecca Riots, Dave Nachmanoff, Jenna Mammina, The Modern Hicks. Tickets $13.50 to $14.50. 

510-548-1761; 510-762-BASS 

=== Wednesday, June 21 

Jazz/Art at the Library 

4 p.m. 

North Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1170 The Alameda 

This event is part of the summer program series in the library system. Lisa di Prima and the Donald Robinson Trio are the featured talents. 

510-644-6850 

Baby Bounce and Toddler Tales 

7 p.m. 

West Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1125 University Ave. 

This storytime program is designed for families with children up to 3 years old. The free, participatory program features a half hour of multicultural songs, rhymes, lap jogs and stories to give very young children a lively introduction to the magic of books. 

510-644-6870 

BUSD School Board meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Board/Council Chambers, Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Poetry Flash 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. 

The featured poets this session will be Stefanie Marlis and Judith Taylor. 

510-845-7852; 510-525-5476 

Upcoming Poetry Flash @ Cody's readings feature poetry by: 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra 

8 p.m. 

Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley campus 

Program Four, June 21, 8 p.m. 

Kent Nagano will conduct the fourth and final concert of the season, featuring works by Berio, Mozart, and Bruckner. Tickets $19 to $35 general; $10 students. 

510-841-2800 

=== Thursday, June 22 

Free computer class for seniors 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited; the class is offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Call ahead for a reservation. 

510-644-6109 

=== Friday, June 23 

“Tai Chi” 

Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

Jarl Forsman, a professional Tai Chi instructor, will speak during this week’s meeting of the City Commons Club. Social hour begins at 11:15 a.m. Luncheon is served from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Speaker starts promptly at 12:30 p.m. Lunch is $11 or $12.25; admission to the speech is $1, free for students. This is the final meeting for the summer. Regular Friday meetings will resume Sept. 8. 

510-848-3533 

Words in Collision: Summer Performance Art Series 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. (in Live Oak Park) 

The featured presentation will be “subtitled” with Susan Gervitz, Margaret Tedesco and company. Admission is $7 to $10. 

510-644-6893 

=== Saturday, June 24 

Disaster First Aid 

9 a.m.-noon 

Fire department’s Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 

This summer, Berkeley’s Office of Emergency Services will offer a set of free training classes to help families prepare for emergencies. The classes, open to Berkeley residents at least 18 years old, will be taught by retired firefighters. The classes give hands-on training in how to put on a splint, extinguish a fire, use a fire hose, and more. Call ahead to register. Future classes will be held on Light Search and Rescue (July 15) and Fire Suppression (Aug. 12). 

510-644-8736 

--------------- 

To publicize an upcoming event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com, or berkeleydailyplanet@yahoo.com) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). Calendar items should be submitted at least four days in advance. Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to clarify any information.

There are times when half a loaf is definitely worse than none – especially when accepting half a loaf sets a very bad precedent. 

Just such a case is the upcoming November ballot proposition to lower the size of the majority vote needed to pass local school construction bonds from two-thirds to 55 percent. 

Why is 55 percent now being proposed? Because Proposition 26, the March primary election proposition to lower the standard from two-thirds to a simple majority, failed – but lost by only a 51.5-48.5 percent margin. The reasoning of backers like Gov. Gray Davis and the business leaders who pushed unsuccessfully for the change to simple majorities is no mystery: If a simple majority standard could get close to winning, they figure, lower the amount of change sought just a bit and a new proposition might very well pass. 

In short, they’re saying that half a loaf is better than none. In some ways that’s probably correct. Since 1997, fully 91 percent of all local school bond proposals have drawn more than majority support, but only 64 percent actually passed by winning the required two-thirds vote. Lower the bar to 55 percent and more than half the measures that failed would have passed. 

So a 55 percent majority would help some kids. It would accomplish much of what Proposition 26 sought to do: Build many new schools, add classrooms to others, modernize still more schools by wiring them for the Internet, repair leaky roofs, peeling paint and cracked asphalt. 

A 55 percent majority even draws the ire of most of the same people who fought so hard against Proposition 26. “It is astonishing,” say Jon Coupal and Joel Fox, president and president emeritus of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., in a tirade against the new plan, “that the governor would embrace a plan that, for all intents and purposes, is identical to the one the voters denied.” 

Of course, they contradict themselves, too. “The 5 percent difference in passing rates between 50 percent and 55 percent will hardly be noticed...,” they say. They are right on this one point, and that explains why Davis supports the new 55 percent plan. It would let local districts fix most of the schools in the worst need. 

Adds the Libertarian Party, another Proposition 26 foe, “To bring this back is nothing more than abuse of the initiative process.” Never mind that, like 26, the new proposition is not be an initiative, but will be placed on the ballot by Davis and the Legislature. 

But all this discussion misses the key point. A 55 percent standard institutionalizes the idea of a supermajority just as surely as a two-thirds requirement ever did. And the entire concept is fundamentally un-American. 

So in this case half a loaf – setting a standard easily met by most school bond proposals – is worse than no change at all. 

For if this idea becomes law, it will be decades before anyone even tries to get rid of the other two-thirds-vote bugaboos that continually haunt California government. 

For local school bonds, the two-thirds requirement goes back to the 1879 writing of the state Constitution. So does the two-thirds vote needed in the state Legislature for passage of the state budget. But the two-thirds vote required for passage of local general tax increases was set by the landmark 1978 Proposition 13. It was sort of an afterthought by Jarvis and Paul Gann, the proposition’s sponsors, who were far more interested in lowering property taxes. 

The idea of a two-thirds standard always aims to give minorities control over decisions. In the Legislature, it gives the minority party veto power over the yearly budget, allowing them more influence than their numbers often justify. 

When it comes to school bonds, the two-thirds standard allows a minority to veto the wishes of the majority – even a large majority. The fear behind this is that persons with no real estate will impose higher property taxes on homeowners. In reality, the two-thirds majority protects business and commercial property as much as it does homeowners. It keeps taxes on business property at rock-bottom levels even in times of extreme prosperity and record profits. 

Should these things exist in a society which decides almost everything else – including statewide votes on whether there should be majority rule on school bonds – by simple majorities of 50 percent-plus-one? In the federal Constitution, the only supermajorities ever required are for things like overriding vetoes and impeachments. These are much more serious business than passing school bonds.  

By a narrow margin, California voters opted last spring to restrain their own spending when it comes to local schools. But the vote was much closer than in 1993, the last time a similar attempt was made. Almost every political analyst opined afterward that the voters who came out in March were lopsidedly conservative-leaning, drawn by the Proposition 22 “defense of marriage” measure and by the fact there was a presidential contest on the Republican side while the Democratic outcome was a foregone conclusion. 

Knowing this, why should backers of a lower standard for school bond votes accept half a loaf, when they came so close to winning a full one last time out? The answer is they should not. 

The 55 percent proposal is a mistake, not only because it undershoots what can likely be won this fall, but also because it tacitly endorses the idea of supermajorities, and supermajorities are just plain wrong. 

Thomas Elias’ email address is tdelias@aol.com

Walker Evans is the Old Master photographer most frequently studied by young photographers today. Images from his 1936 series depicting three tenant farmer families in Alabama are in our history books and his architectural studies from that era are also familiar classics, but the whole range of his work is much broader, including a variety of experiments and enigmas. Now at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a vast exhibition surveying his work from his tentative beginnings in 1927 until his health failed in 1974. 

His best-known work was done with an 8 by 10 inch view camera on a tripod, a procedure requiring time and patience but one that allowed him to make subtle adjustments to get exactly the effect he wanted. When he photographed Allie May Borroughs, the wife of the share-cropper family he stayed with for several weeks, he placed her in front of the weather-beaten clapboards of their shack, looking directly at her as she stares into the camera. He made four negatives, with slight variations of expression. The one shown now has her head slightly tilted, her lips pursed, her eyes tightened and her brow wrinkled with a suggestion of concern. 

This is the image he chose to include in the book he and James Agee produced, “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men,” because the disturbing quality suits that purpose. A series of powerful photographs like this came first, without caption or explanation, and then the long and complex text by Agee describing the habitat of these people, their struggles and their determination to survive despite drought and the Depression. Photographs and text were conceived as equal partners in expression and the score of photographs here from that project will draw the visitor’s searching and sympathetic study, but remain inevitably incomplete without Agee’s text. 

While planning these carefully composed studies of the people and of their shacks Evans also made snapshots with a Leica, which served him almost as a sketch pad for his instantaneous perception; three are in the exhibition as more casual records of the families. They contribute importantly to what is the most complete statement on the human condition in all of Evans’ work, for this series is the only time he penetrated so deeply into the personalities of specific individuals. While working with Agee that was necessary, but otherwise Evans preferred to be a detached observer. 

In 1929, when he was growing dissatisfied with his attempts to be a writer, and coming to concentrate on photography, he borrowed a Leica and took it out into the streets of Manhattan, mostly to make tilted shots of skyscrapers and other scenery. He was trying his hand at the New Vision style from Germany, verging on abstraction. But in the midst of these he took one picture of a black woman wearing a fur-trimmed coat standing next to the steps leading up to the El; he called it, laconically, “42nd St., 1929.” 

It is a memorable early example of street photography, a kind of selective freezing of something from the passing scene, a technique he returned to frequently. Perhaps the best known example is the long series on people riding the New York subways, which he began in 1938; for these he hid his Leica under his overcoat and rigged a cable release through his sleeve, catching people unaware, lost in their thoughts. In 1946 in Detroit he held a Rolleiflex at waist level and snapped half-length shots of people passing by at the end of the working day for a spread in Fortune magazine entitled “Labor Anonymous.” This kind of work stimulated many photographers in more recent decades, beginning with his young friend Robert Frank. 

While the casual always intrigued Evans (and his followers) it is his manipulation of the permanent that is his own most enduring legacy. He went to Bethlehem, Penn., in 1935 to document the effect of the Depression and made a photograph in a graveyard that is deceptively simple. In the foreground is a large stone cross, in the middle ground a row of worker’s housing with not a soul in sight, and in the distance the smoke stacks of the steel mills with no smoke, for they are not operating. This photograph is a complete metaphor for the Depression. 

But the power of this famous photograph comes from the careful manipulation of the two-dimensional composition, isolating and juxtaposing the cross at the left, the housing at the right, and the steelworks above, all exactly parallel to the picture plane. This was achieved by using the maximum flexibility of the big view camera. The film had to be parallel to the cross and housing to maintain the planar composition, but to separate these essential features Evans had to move to the right of the cross and then shift the lens to the left as far as it would go. 

Careful inspection of the railing that separates the two houses at the right edge reveals that the camera was exactly opposite the door at the right edge of the picture. As a result of this distorted perspective we see the side of the cross as well as the front, and therefore it stands out more effectively as a solid object. Evans frequently used this trick in his architectural studies, especially to gain a frontal view of a facade and still show the lettering on a sign projecting straight out from the facade. 

Indeed lettering and signs or posters always fascinated Evans and were a central theme in his recording the vernacular in American life; sometimes there was irony in his selection or juxtaposition, sometimes humor, as in an early photograph of men loading on a truck an enormous illuminated sign reading DAMAGED. Sometimes it is simple delight in the commonplace, for he collected old signs, some of which are in the exhibition. In his last years, when he lacked the strength to handle the big camera and tripod, he took up the Polaroid SX70 as a quick way of collecting images and photographed many signs, even abstracting two or three letters to build up a sort of alphabet among these small color prints. He was a collector of images at heart, some direct, some enigmatic. There is always food for thought in what he selected as finished work. It may not be easy to explain but it always seems exactly right.

AURORA THEATRE 

“Split” by Mayo Simon, June 1 through July 2. A mordant clear-eyed view of an older couple's love affair. $25 to $28. Wednesday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822. 

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE 

“Closer” by Patrick Marber, through July 9. A funny, touching and unflinchingly honest examination of love and relationships set in contemporary London. $38 to $48.50. Tuesday, Thursday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Wednesday, 7 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; May 27, June 1, June 3, June 10, June 15, June 24, June 29 and July 8, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 845-4700 or (888) 4BRTTIX. 

CALIFORNIA 

SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 

“Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare, June 3 through June 24. The classic romantic comedy of mismatched lovers forced into a union. $21 to $38 general; $19 to $38 seniors; $10 to $38 children. Wednesday and Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m.; June 13 and June 20, 7 p.m. June 24, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Bruns Memorial Amphitheatre, Shakespeare Festival Way/Gateway Exit on state Highway 24. (510) 548-9666 or www.calshakes.org 

LaVal’s Subterranean 

Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Yoni Barkan. The play will run from June 8 to July 8, Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. each night. 1834 Euclid Ave. (510) 234-6046. 

A public hearing on the budget could bring out citizens for tonight’s full council agenda. 

Yet the same public will be unable to know what expenditures are recommended in the mayor and vice mayor’s competing budget proposals, both of which will be released at a time Tuesday that was still undetermined Monday evening. 

Each of the competing budgets will consider how to spend some $1 million-$3 million in available funds – $1 million if the budget follows the city manager’s itemized expenditures and $3 million if it does not. 

Agencies, organizations and city departments are all competing for the money for projects as diverse as paying the San Francisco Mime Troop to lead the How Berkeley Can You Be? parade (Berkeley’s X-plicit players march gratuit) or funding a jobs program for youth. The requests mount to more than $12 million. Decisions will be made next week. 

The proposed spay-neuter ordinance will be hotly debated. 

Also on the agenda is a public hearing on revoking Kragen Auto Parts’ use permit. The Zoning Adjustment Board is recommending that the business at 1600 University Ave. shut its doors, after failing to clean around its business and not stopping its patrons from working on cars nearby. The council will make its decision at a later meeting. 

Another hot topic is the search for a new city manager. The council may adopt a process for the search. Councilmember Linda Maio’s suggestions for the process, on the consent calendar agenda, had not been released by Monday evening. City Manager Jim Keene is leaving Berkeley in August to take a post in Tucson. 

One more item the council will likely not see until it’s time to vote on it, is a finalized copy of the city’s Living Wage Ordinance, which councilmembers approved in concept several weeks ago. This item also appears on the consent calendar. 

Another item on consent is raising the speed limit on Claremont Avenue from 25 mph to 30 mph. 

The council will also consider approving a 69-unit condominium project at 2136 Center St., a $700,000 contract for dock and restroom replacement at the Marina, and an ordinance that allows for the removal of oak trees which endanger life or property. 

The City Council meeting follows the Housing Authority meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The meetings are broadcast on KPFB, 89.3-FM and televised on B-TV, Cable Ch-25.

I read with interest your story about the move to raise the speed limit on Claremont Avenue. 

Several good points were made. Particularly by Dave Campbell. 

One not made though is that if the speed limit were increased now and the state bill AB 1885 were to pass what would be the effective outcome? It would be to protect people driving 40 MPH from speeding tickets. 

The timing is interesting. Could Armstrong’s initiative be a preemptive strike for the benefit of speeders? 

Eric Blossom 

Berkeley 

ASHKENAZ 

Nestinari, June 20, 9 p.m. Bulgarian dance lesson with Petur Iliev at 8 p.m. $8.  

The Poullard-Thompson Cajun Trio, June 21, 9 p.m. Cajun dance lesson with Patti Whithurst at 8 p.m. $8. 

Grateful Dean DJ Night with Digital Dave, June 22, 10 p.m. $5. 

Clan Dyken, June 23, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5099 or www.ashkenaz.com 

BLAKES 

Ascension, June 20. $5. 

“Third World,” June 21. With UC Buu, DJ Add, Jah Bonz, Big Willie. $5. 

Ripe, XODO, June 22. $4. 

An Evening with Groove Junkies, June 23. $5. 

For age 18 and older. Music at 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. (510) 848-0886. 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

“Freight 32nd Anniversary Revue and Fundraiser,” June 20. Featuring The House Jacks, Rebecca Riots, Dave Nachmanoff, Jenna Mammina, The Modern Hicks. $13.50 to $14.50. 

Urban Acoustic Dude, June 21. $12.50 to $13.50. 

Kathi McDonald and Brian Auger, June 22. $15.50 to $16.50. 

Eric Bogle, June 23. $16.50 to $17.50. 

Music at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 548-1761 or (510) 762-BASS. 

LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER 

Jim Page, June 21, 7:30 p.m. $5 to $15. 

The Raquel Lopez Flamenco Dance Ensemble, June 23, 8:30 p.m. $18. 

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

924 GILMAN ST. 

Damad, Good Clean Fun, Meatjack, Brain Blood Volume, June 24. 

$5. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510) 525-9926. 

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

Ceili Dance featuring Brian Theriault and Friends, June 21. 8 p.m. 

Randy Weeks, Jim Roll, June 22. $6. 

Deke Dickerson and The Ecco-Fonics, Redmeat, June 23. $8. 

For age 21 and over. Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:45 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082. 

Court dates are set for next month for Berkeley High graduate Keith Stephens, who was charged with two misdemeanors for his part in a June 1 brawl with two police officers. 

Stephens’ defense attorney Arthur Kennedy Mitchell of Oakland has filed a motion that will be heard July 18 in Judge Carol Brosnahan’s courtroom, and a pretrial motion is set for July 26. 

In his motion, the defense attorney is asking the judge for a court order to view the confidential personnel files of a police officer in the criminal case. In a request such as this, only the judge, the defense counsel and a court reporter are allowed to be present, said Deputy District Attorney David Lim. 

Lim said Stephens was charged with willfully and unlawfully using force and violence resulting in the infliction of injury upon a police officer engaged in the performance of duty and resisting, delaying and obstructing an officer. 

Defense Attorney John Burris, an associate of Mitchell, said he wants to know if the officers had any prior allegations against them for misconduct, excessive force or verbal abuse such as racial slurs. 

As for the pre-trial motion, Burris said, “for my end it’s under investigation. It seems outrageous on its face. It seems like a minor event, driving with expired plates, escalating into this kind of use of force.” 

According to the report of the Berkeley Police Department, Stephens made an unprovoked attack on officers Tim Gardner and Stan Libed when they left their patrol car to investigate the expired vehicle registration of his mother’s car. 

Stephens and members of his family, some of whom participated in the fight, say that the young man didn’t know a patrol car was behind him, got out of his mother’s car and was pushed back inside by Gardner. 

Outside the Berkeley courthouse Monday morning, Stephens talked of his plans to play football for San Francisco City College and become a Berkeley firefighter. 

“They just keep on setting dates,” he said. “Why can’t they just get it done now?”

In your June 19 edition, two bicycle activists (from North Berkeley, if I read my phone book correctly) argue against changing the posted speed limit on Claremont Ave. to help police officers enforce more speeding tickets. Their shared rationale is that the state legislature might soon pass a bill that would uphold more tickets under existing limits. 

The emphasis should be on might: The legislature might pass the law. If so, the governor might sign it. If so, it will take effect next January – and the city might take advantage of it some time in 2001. 

But during the intervening six months or longer, how many people might be injured by speeders on Claremont who would otherwise be cited? How many drivers might get habituated to speeding, when their attitude would otherwise be permanently adjusted by getting a single $100+ ticket? Isn’t preventing speeding and injuries worth the scant “1,000 bucks” required to change signs – especially since the city would recover its investment after writing just a few extra tickets? One would think that bike activists, especially, might support this proposal. One wonders what might be their real agenda in leaving Claremont Ave. pedestrians (and, for that matter, cyclists) hanging for another six months? 

Unlike activist Hank Resnik, I do “get to Claremont very often” (almost daily). Let me reassure him that the positive changes there recently shepherded by Councilmember Polly Armstrong – including bright fluorescent signage, and even flashing lights in crosswalks – have already reduced prevailing speeds noticeably. Also, increased enforcement is coming, expedited by neighbors’ complaints about truck traffic. The final piece of the puzzle is this proposal to change the posted speed limit. 

Let’s hope the City Council puts that essential piece in place on Tuesday. 

Tom Brown 

Berkeley

A.C.C.I. GALLERY 

“Abstract Expressions,” through July 1. A group show featuring Rita Flanagan, Carolyn Careis, Heather Hutchinson, Muriel Paley, and Naomi Policoff. 

Free. Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1652 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-2527. 

GRADUATE THEOLOGICAL UNION 

“On Common Ground.” through June 23. This exhibit is a portrait of faith-based communities in Los Angeles. 

“Finding the Sacred Mountain,” through June 20. An exhibit of sumi-e and watercolors by Robert Kostka. 

Free. Monday through Thursday, 8:30 am. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 7 p.m. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd., Berkeley. (510) 649-2541. 

KALA INSTITUTE 

“Markings/Imprints,” through July 28. The 2000 Kala Art Institute Fellowship Awards Exhibitions, Part I, featuring works by Susan Belau, Liliana Lobo Ferreira, and Jamie Morgan. 

Free. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Workshop Media Center Gallery, 1060 Heinz Ave., Berkeley. (510) 549-2977. 

NEW PIECES GALLERY 

“Progressions: the Quilt as Art,” through June 29. An exhibit of quilts by Jill Le Croisette. 

“Go We to the Revels Masked,” through June 29. An exhibit of dolls by Elise Peeples. 

Free. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave., Berkeley. (510) 527-6779. 

TRAYWICK GALLERY 

Rachel Davis, Samantha Fisher, Benicia Gantner, Cherith Rose, June 21 through July 22. An exhibit of new work by the four artists. 

Artist Reception, June 21, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. 

“nudge,” May 17 through June 18. An exhibit of new work by Terry Hoff. Reception, May 17, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Artist Talk, June 9, 10:30 a.m. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1316 10th St., Berkeley. (510) 527-1214. 

--------------- 

To publicize an upcoming event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). 

Calendar items should be submitted at least one week before the opening of a new exhibit or performance. 

Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to clarify any information.

Among the items on the council’s consent calendar for tonight is a 4 percent raise for non-union employees. 

These are people who are not members of unions and ranges from camp cooks to the city clerk. 

The rationale for the raises is that because union folks will be earning 4 percent in the coming year – their contracts are tied to the cost of living – then the non-union personnel ought to be treated similarly. 

This is what the 4 percent means to just a handful of the city’s top employees: 

• The chief of police, who now earns $127,080, will get a $5,082 raise, if the council approves the increase. 

• The fire chief, who gets $123,924, will get a $4,956 raise. 

• The deputy fire chief, who earns $117,924 will earn $4,716 more. 

• The city attorney, who earns $117,528, will earn $4,701 more. 

• The two deputy city managers, who each earn $116,472, will earn $4,658 more each. 

• The director of health and human services, who earns $114,504, will get an increase of $4,580. 

• The director of public works, who gets slightly less at $110,004, will get an increase of $4,400. 

• The director of finance gets $108,600 and will get $4,344 more. 

• The assistant city attorney gets $101,472 and will get $4,058 more. 

• The four new neighborhood liaison positions, which are yet to be filled, will get salary hikes as well. The position, formally called “assistant city manager,” is set at between $93,300 and $128,000, 4 percent higher than the vacant positions are now scheduled.

A man robbed the cash register in Walgreen’s Drug Store at 1050 Gilman St. about 9:50 p.m. Friday. 

The suspect walked in and told the clerk he wanted to buy a pack of Newport cigarettes. He paid with a $5 bill. When the clerk opened the cash register to return change to the suspect, he quickly reached into the cash drawer and grabbed all the $20 bills inside, an unknown amount, according to police reports. He ran out of the store and into a getaway car, a 1980s model white Toyota Celica, and rode off on 10th Street. 

The suspect is described as a 25-year-old African-American male, about 6 feet, 2 inches tall, weighing 190 pounds, wearing a baseball cap, green T-shirt and blue jeans.

With two blocks of Adeline Street closed to traffic, music echoing from both ends of the street and smoke from barbecues filling the summer air, Juneteenth was in full swing Sunday afternoon. 

Juneteenth is the oldest known national celebration of the last slaves being freed. It was June 19, 1865 that the Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with the news that the slaves had been emancipated. This weekend marked the 14th consecutive year that it was celebrated in Berkeley, making it the oldest Juneteenth Festival in the Bay Area. 

Between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., thousands of people celebrated Juneteenth by wandering along Adeline Street between Alcatraz and Ashby avenues while they were entertained by live music, good food, games and street vendors. 

The festival attracted many different people from the community, including Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean and members of the Golden State Warriors basketball team. 

At the north end of the Festival grounds, the Oaktown Jazz Workshops Stage was set up. Throughout the day, different musical acts performed, including the Berkeley High Jazz Combo and two bands from the Oaktown Jazz Workshops.  

At the other end of the street was a main stage, which attracted a slightly larger, older audience. It featured all sorts of bands, including the George Hubbard Big Belly Blues Band from Oakland. 

“It gets more joyous to play at this festival each time,” said Hubbard, who was performing at his third consecutive Juneteenth Festival. “Especially when you get to play on a stage in front of a large crowd like this.” 

Pete Escovedo was another musician to play at the large stage. Local Jazz pianist Ed Kelley and the Berkeley Steppers also performed on the stage. 

However, the two stages were not the only places where audiences took in music. Several bands and musicians set up along the street and played. 

Another feature of the Juneteenth Festival in Berkeley that always attracts an audience is the youth two-on-two basketball tournament, now in its sixth year. The tournament, affiliated with the Berkeley late-night basketball league and Athletes United for Peace, attracted a growing crowd throughout the day. 

“It is always nice out here,” said Doug Harris, executive director of Athletes United for Peace and the basketball tournament’s director. “It’s Father’s Day, so families come out here with their kids. This is like the annual Father’s Day part of our program. The kids really love it.” 

There were activities for children of all ages, including a giant Teaco Slide, a Fiesta Jump – an inflated room for kids to jump in – and many games offering prizes. 

There were a number of food tents specializing in barbecue and fried fish. Vendors also sold jewelry, clothing, artwork and other goods. 

The Adeline-Alcatraz Merchants Association established the Berkeley Juneteenth Festival in 1987, and it has grown every year since. There are over 20 cities in California alone celebrating Juneteenth this year. 

Monday, June 19 

Rent Stabilization Board 

7 p.m. 

Council Chambers, Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Tuesday, June 20 

Free computer class for seniors 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited; the class is offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Call ahead for a reservation. 

510-644-6109 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

510-548-3333 

Computer literacy course 

6-8 p.m. 

James Kenney Recreation Center, 1720 Eighth St. 

This free course will cover topics such as running Windows, File Management, connecting to and surfing the web, using E-mail, creating Web pages, JavaScript and a simple overview of programming. The course is oriented for adults. 

510-644-8511 

Berkeley Housing Authority 

7 p.m. 

Council Chambers, Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

City Council meeting 

7:10 p.m. 

Council Chambers, Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips. 

510-531-8664 

Cesar Chavez Memorial Solar Calendar celebration 

7:30 p.m. 

Cesar Chavez Park (on the high ground, overlooking the bay, about 300 yards south of Spinnaker Road) 

A group of community members are working to construct a solar calendar at Cesar Chavez Park. In addition to honoring the late Cesar Chavez, the project would educate local school children and the general public about the astronomical and cultural significance of the seasons. A solar calendar is an architectural device used to keep track of the seasons. The most famous is Stonehenge in England, they also were constructed by other ancient cultures around the world. This event is a workshop and update on the project. 

32nd Anniversary Revue and Fund-raiser 

8 p.m. 

Freight and Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

This event will feature The House Jacks, Rebecca Riots, Dave Nachmanoff, Jenna Mammina, The Modern Hicks. Tickets $13.50 to $14.50. 

510-548-1761; 510-762-BASS 

Wednesday, June 21 

Jazz/Art at the Library 

4 p.m. 

North Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1170 The Alameda 

This event is part of the summer program series in the library system. Lisa di Prima and the Donald Robinson Trio are the featured talents. 

510-644-6850 

Baby Bounce and Toddler Tales 

7 p.m. 

West Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1125 University Ave. 

This storytime program is designed for families with children up to 3 years old. The free, participatory program features a half hour of multicultural songs, rhymes, lap jogs and stories to give very young children a lively introduction to the magic of books. Parents also will enjoy the new stories, rediscover old favorites and learn new songs and games to share. 

510-644-6870 

BUSD School Board meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Board/Council Chambers, Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra 

8 p.m. 

Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley campus 

Program Four, June 21, 8 p.m. 

Kent Nagano will conduct the fourth and final concert of the season, featuring works by Berio, Mozart, and Bruckner. Tickets $19 to $35 general; $10 students. 

510-841-2800 

Thursday, June 22 

Free computer class for seniors 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Call ahead for a reservation. 

510-644-6109

SAN FRANCISCO – Last Planet Theatre is the Berkeley-based stage company that mounted the Wallace Shawn theater festival at last summer locally at the Julia Morgan Center. 

On Friday, the company opened its new production – “The Lament of the Wolf-Bat,” written and directed by Last Planet artistic director John Wilkins – at the Cell Space artists’ collective in San Francisco. 

Performed by 13 actors on a large stage, “The Lament of the Wolf-Bat” is a sprawling, dense, complicated and non-linear story that feels like a series of quickly changing dream vignettes. 

Set somewhere in America in 1847, play moves anachronistically in time and geography – including one scene in a Polish prison – telling the story of a young man named Andre who life is endangered by predatory wolf-bats seeking male victims who are virgins. 

The fact that Andre is married to a somewhat promiscuous woman named Eva confuses the issue as to whether he is a virgin or not. Many times watching this show I was not exactly sure what the play was about. 

Early in the story, Andre goes through a knifing ritual with a sultry woman. He then has visions of the prophet Moses, who materializes to give Andre guidance in his life. 

Andre’s brother Casey is a baseball nut. Casey dresses in modern-day baseball clothes, carries a baseball bat, and constantly talks baseball. 

At times, the baseball bat Casey carries is equated to the wolf-bat Andre fears. The play’s story has the quality of a dream, in which one kind of bat can become another kind of bat. 

Similarly, the concepts “desert” and “dessert” become interchangeable to drive the story line of a later scene. 

In his complicated mix of reality and internal vision, in danger of attack from wolf-bats, Andre is harnessed and tortured, figuratively and literally. 

Coming to his aid is a Polish assassin named Bereftski, who knew Andre’s imprisoned father in Poland in 1829, and who is obsessed with the Holocaust. 

In trying to figure out what this play is about, for a while it seemed that maybe the wolf-bat’s pursuit of Andre and other male virgins is some kind of 1847 metaphor for the emotional youth and inexperience of the new American psyche. 

Later, the play seemed to be about repressed Freudian sexual issues between men and women. 

In its final scene, however, “The Lament of the Wolf-Bat” makes a sharp hairpin turn, and suddenly becomes a routine domestic story, explaining away all of its earlier mystery. 

In an odd way, even though all the mystery is cleared up, this sudden denouement is actually disappointing. It seems to trivialize the earlier, denser story by revealing it as a fairly routine conflict over money and property – although the antagonist’s hatred and greed are never clearly explained. 

Ultimately, “Wolf-Bat’s” difficult journey doesn’t bring much in the way of insights or transformations. And running nearly two hours without an intermission, the show is a long haul. 

Playwright Wilkins has directed a vigorous production. Most of his actors do strong work. Cody Bayne shows some real versatility playing two distinct characters – Andre and Andre’s father. Sarah Neal is a playful, blood-thirsty, sexual wife Eva. 

Chris Pflueger creates an unctuous Minister Sinstra, an evil holy man who facilitates some of the story’s malevolent turns. Roger Loesch, as a smooth talking lawyer, serves as narrator for some of the scenes. 

Michael Leitch is an energetic baseball maniac Casey, and Matt Leshinskie an alternately enigmatic and compassionate Polish assassin Bereftski. 

Fight choreographer Michael Ditmore has staged a very good sword duel at the play’s climax. 

Watching “The Lament of the Wolf-Bat” is like listening to someone for two hours tell you about his long, complex, involuted dream. Although there are interesting moments, the dream’s power is much greater for the dreamer than for his audience. 

“The Lament of the Wolf-Bat” runs Thursday through Saturday, 8:30 p.m., at the Cell Space, 2050 Bryant (at 18th Street), San Francisco, through July 8. For tickets and information, call 510-845-2687, or visit the web site (www.lastplanettheatre.com).

How do you combat the speedsters racing down Claremont Avenue? Raise the speed limit, some say. 

That might seem contradictory to most rational folk. But there’s method in the proposal the City Council will face on Tuesday. 

A draft resolution recommends that the city raise the speed limit on Claremont Avenue from 25 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour. 

That is because the state controls traffic law. And the state law looks at how fast 85 percent of the people travel on a particular street and not at what speed is posted. On Claremont, 85 percent of the traffic move at 36 miles per hour. The police cannot enforce the 25 mph speed limit because the courts look at the actual speed people drive and say that Berkeley’s speed limit is unrealistic. 

“They’ll throw out the tickets,” said Councilmember Polly Armstrong, who is supporting the resolution. 

If the speed limit were raised to 30 mph, police will be able to enforce the speed at 10 miles above the limit, and cite people driving at 40 mph, says Traffic Engineer Reh-Lin Chen. 

So the enforcement would increase, even though the limit is set higher. 

The legal system considers Berkeley’s 25 mph zone a “speed trap,” Armstrong says, explaining the origins of the law. In the past, small towns in the south would set up speed traps to raise funds to run their cities. State law views Berkeley’s “unrealistic” posted speeds as a speed trap, she said. 

Calling the change “critical,” Armstrong concedes that raising the speed limit to get people to drive slower is “totally counterintuitive.” 

Dean Metzger, active with the Claremont-Elmwood Neighborhood Association, says raising the speed limit will put more pressure on the police to go after those who are truly speeding. 

“We need to catch the people going 40 miles an hour,” he said. 

Not everyone is happy at the thought of upping the speed limit. In fact, the Transportation Commission voted against the concept in December. Former Transportation Commissioner Hank Resnik said the heart of the problem lies in Claremont’s four-lane configuration. 

“It boils down to the fact that this is one of the few streets where (drivers) can go fast,” he said. 

The Transportation Commission, however, rejected a controversial proposal to create a two, rather than four-lane street. 

Resnik said raising the speed limit to cut the speed is heavily dependent on law enforcement. 

“Are we going to see stepped-up law enforcement?” he asked. And, if so, what other street will the officers be taken from? 

Dave Campbell, who heads the Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition, said a law wending its way through the state legislature – AB 1885 by Assemblymember Lou Correa, D-Orange County – will go a long way toward empowering cities to control traffic as they see fit. The cities will have the right to set speed limits, which the courts will enforce. 

The bill was approved by the full assembly 43 to 27 on May 18, and will go to the Senate Transportation Commission on Tuesday. 

“It will allow Berkeley to set a speed limit on Claremont,” he set, calling on lawmakers to hold off on the vote and save the $1,000 it will cost to replace the 25-mile-per-hour signs with the 30 mph signs. “The prudent course is to save 1,000 bucks. If the bill passes, all Berkeley has to do is send a police officer over there.”

MUSEUMS 

Berkeley Historical Society 

"Berkeley's Ethnic Heritage." May 7 through March 2001. The exhibit examines the rich cultural diversity of our city and the contributions of individuals and minority groups to our history and development. The exhibit look at the original native tribelets in the area and the immigrants who settled in Ocean View and displaced the Spanish/Mexican landowners. It also examines the influence of theUniversity of California, the San Francisco earthquake, and World War II on the population and culture of Berkeley, and subsequent efforts to overcome discrimination. Thursday through Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. Wheelchair accessible. Admission free. 

Berkeley Historical Society located in the Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street, Berkeley. 510-848-0181 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc 

UC BERKELEY ART 

MUSEUM 

“Master of Fine Art Graduate Exhibition,” May 20 through July 2. 

“Autour de Rodin: Auguste Rodin and His Contemporaries,” through August. An exhibit of 11 bronze maquettes on loan from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in Los Angeles. The bronzes range in style from the artist's classically inspired “Torso of a Woman” to the anguish of “The Martyr.” Some of the maquettes were cast during Rodin’s lifetime, others have been cast fairly recently under the aegis of the Musee Rodin which alone is authorized to cast his sculptures posthumously. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students ages 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 1 1 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-0808. 

HALL OF HEALTH  

2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level), Berkeley 

A hands-on community health education museum and science center sponsored by Children's Hospital Oakland and Alta Bates Medical Center. 

Free. For children ages 3 to 12 and their parents. 

(510) 549-1564 

LAWRENCE HALL 

OF SCIENCE 

“Experiment Gallery,” through Sept. 10. Step inside a giant laboratory and experiment with concepts surrounding sound, light, mechanics, electricity, and weather. 

“Math Rules!” ongoing exhibit. A math exhibit of hands-on problem-solving stations, each with a different mathematical challenge. Make mathematical ice-cream cones, use blocks to build three dimensional structures, make dodecagon pies from a variety of mathematical shapes and stretch mathematical thinking. 

“Within the Human Brain,” ongoing installation. Visitors test their cranial nerves, play skeeball, master mazes, match musical tones and construct stories inside a simulated “rat cage” of learning experiments. 

“Laser: The Light Fantastic” ongoing exhibit. 

$6 general; $4 seniors, students and children ages 7 to 18; $2 children ages 3 to 6; free children under age 3. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, University of California, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

PHOEBE HEARST MUSEUM 

Kroeber Hall, UC Berkeley 

“Modern Treasures from Ancient Iran,” through Oct. 29. This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran as illustrated in bronze and pottery vessels, and textiles. 

“Pana O’ahu: Sacred Stones – Sacred Places,” through July 16. An exhibit of photographs by Jan Becket and Joseph Singer. 

“Phoebe Hearst Museum-Approaching a Century of Anthropology,” a sampling of the vast collections of the museum, its mission, history, and current research, with selections from ancient Egypt, ancient Peru, California Indians, Asia (India), and Africa. 

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” Ishi, the last Yahi Indian of California, spent the final years of his life, 1911 to 1916, living at the museum, working with anthropologists to record his culture, demonstrating technological skills, and retelling Yahi myths, tales, and songs. 

Wednesday through Sunday 10 am -4:30 pm; Thursday until 9 pm (Sept-May) 

(510) 643-7648 

HABITOT CHILDREN’S MUSEUM 

Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

A museum especially for children age 7 and younger. Highlights include “WaterWorks,” an area with some unusual water toys, an Infant Tree for babies, a garden especially for toddlers, a child-scale grocery store and cafe, and a costume shop and stage for junior thespians. 

Admission is $4 for adults; $6 child age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child.  

Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

(510) 647-1111 

JUDAH L. MAGNES 

MUSEUM 

2911 Russell St., Berkeley 

“Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season,” through May 2002.  

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch. Through Nov. 4: “Spring and Summer.” 

Free. Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

(510) 549-6950. 

GALLERIES  

A.C.C.I. GALLERY 

“Abstract Expressions,” through July 1. A group show featuring Rita Flanagan, Carolyn Careis, Heather Hutchinson, Muriel Paley, and Naomi Policoff. 

Free. Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1652 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-2527. 

GRADUATE THEOLOGICAL UNION 

“On Common Ground.” through June 23. This exhibit is a portrait of faith-based communities in Los Angeles. “Finding the Sacred Mountain,” through June 20. An exhibit of sumi-e and watercolors by Robert Kostka. 

Free. Monday through Thursday, 8:30 am. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 7 p.m. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd., Berkeley. (510) 649-2541. 

KALA INSTITUTE 

“Markings/Imprints,” through July 28. The 2000 Kala Art Institute Fellowship Awards Exhibitions, Part I, featuring works by Susan Belau, Liliana Lobo Ferreira, and Jamie Morgan. 

Free. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Workshop Media Center Gallery, 1060 Heinz Ave., Berkeley. (510) 549-2977. 

NEW PIECES GALLERY 

“Progressions: the Quilt as Art,” through June 29. An exhibit of quilts by Jill Le Croisette. 

“Go We to the Revels Masked,” through June 29. An exhibit of dolls by Elise Peeples. 

Free. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave., Berkeley. (510) 527-6779. 

TRAYWICK GALLERY 

Rachel Davis, Samantha Fisher, Benicia Gantner, Cherith Rose, June 21 through July 22. An exhibit of new work by the four artists. 

Artist Reception, June 21, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. 

“nudge,” May 17 through June 18. An exhibit of new work by Terry Hoff. Reception, May 17, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Artist Talk, June 9, 10:30 a.m. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1316 10th St., Berkeley. (510) 527-1214. 

THEATER 

AURORA THEATRE 

“Split” by Mayo Simon, June 1 through July 2. A mordant clear-eyed view of an older couple's love affair. $25 to $28. Wednesday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822. 

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE 

“Closer” by Patrick Marber, through July 9. A funny, touching and unflinchingly honest examination of love and relationships set in contemporary London. $38 to $48.50. Tuesday, Thursday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Wednesday, 7 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; May 27, June 1, June 3, June 10, June 15, June 24, June 29 and July 8, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 845-4700 or (888) 4BRTTIX. 

CALIFORNIA 

SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 

“Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare, June 3 through June 24. The classic romantic comedy of mismatched lovers forced into a union. $21 to $38 general; $19 to $38 seniors; $10 to $38 children. Wednesday and Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m.; June 13 and June 20, 7 p.m. June 24, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Bruns Memorial Amphitheatre, Shakespeare Festival Way/Gateway Exit on state Highway 24. (510) 548-9666 or www.calshakes.org 

LaVal’s Subterranean 

Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Yoni Barkan. The play will run from June 8 to July 8, Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. each night. 1834 Euclid Ave. (510) 234-6046. 

MUSIC VENUES 

ASHKENAZ 

Nestinari, June 20, 9 p.m. Bulgarian dance lesson with Petur Iliev at 8 p.m. $8.  

The Poullard-Thompson Cajun Trio, June 21, 9 p.m. Cajun dance lesson with Patti Whithurst at 8 p.m. $8. 

Grateful Dean DJ Night with Digital Dave, June 22, 10 p.m. $5. 

Clan Dyken, June 23, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Steve Lucky and The Rhumba Bums, June 24, 9:30 p.m. Lindy Hop Dance Lessons with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. $11. 

Hahbi'ru, June 25, 7:30 p.m. $10. 

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5099 or www.ashkenaz.com 

BLAKES 

The Blue Monday Jam featuring The Steve Gannon Band, June 19. $3. 

Ascension, June 20. $5. 

“Third World,” June 21. With UC Buu, DJ Add, Jah Bonz, Big Willie. $5. 

Ripe, XODO, June 22. $4. 

An Evening with Groove Junkies, June 23. $5. 

Kofy Brown, Rous, June 24. $6. 

For age 18 and older. Music at 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. (510) 848-0886. 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

“Freight 32nd Anniversary Revue and Fundraiser,” June 20. Featuring The House Jacks, Rebecca Riots, Dave Nachmanoff, Jenna Mammina, The Modern Hicks. $13.50 to $14.50. 

Urban Acoustic Dude, June 21. $12.50 to $13.50. 

Kathi McDonald and Brian Auger, June 22. $15.50 to $16.50. 

Eric Bogle, June 23. $16.50 to $17.50. 

The Limeliters, June 24. $16.50 to $17.50. 

John Dobby Boe and the avant jazz trio, June 25. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Music at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 548-1761 or (510) 762-BASS. 

LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER 

Jim Page, June 21, 7:30 p.m. $5 to $15. 

The Raquel Lopez Flamenco Dance Ensemble, June 23, 8:30 p.m. $18. 

Ritmo y Armonia, June 24, 9:30 p.m. $10. 

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

924 GILMAN ST. 

Damad, Good Clean Fun, Meatjack, Brain Blood Volume, June 24. 

$5. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510) 525-9926. 

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

Ceili Dance featuring Brian Theriault and Friends, June 21. 8 p.m. 

Randy Weeks, Jim Roll, June 22. $6. 

Deke Dickerson and The Ecco-Fonics, Redmeat, June 23. $8. 

The Paladins, The Dusty 45's, June 24. $8. 

For age 21 and over. Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:45 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082. 

To publicize an upcoming event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). 

Calendar items should be submitted at least one week before the opening of a new exhibit or performance. Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to clarify any information.

Berkeley police are investigating two rape cases reported last week. 

The first reported rape took place on June 10 in Berkeley; the victim contacted police two days later. According to police reports the victim went to the house of a female friend before they went to a wedding together. The two women drank alcohol, and the victim said she took some type of medication which she couldn’t identify. 

They arrived at the wedding about 6 p.m., and the victim drank several glasses of wine and her memory of events after that are hazy, said Berkeley Police Capt. Bobby Miller. She recalled getting into the back seat of a car with a man and engaging in sexual intercourse with him. 

She also recalled an encounter with another man at the wedding party, but said she had negative feelings about him and walked away from him. 

The victim asked someone to call her boyfriend and ask him to pick her up at the party. At some point during the weekend, the victim’s boyfriend questioned her about the events at the wedding party, and he believed she was raped and insisted on calling police. The case has been assigned to the sex crime detail. 

The second rape was reported at 11 p.m. Thursday in Berkeley. The rape occurred inside the victim’s bedroom in the house where she is a tenant. Her bedroom door does not have a lock, said Miller. 

The woman was assaulted by another tenant who came into her room and bound her hands and feet and forced her to have sexual intercourse. He brandished a pocket knife and threatened to hurt her. In the attack she sustained some bruising on her face and on her body and she went to the hospital the next day for treatment. 

Miller said police have identified the suspect but have not yet made an arrest. The case remains under investigation.

Organizers of the Cesar Chavez Memorial Solar Calendar will hold a community informational workshop Tuesday evening on the Berkeley Marina site where the project will be built. 

The workshop coincides with the summer solstice, which – despite last week’s heat wave – marks the official start of summer. 

A solar calendar is an architectural device used to keep track of the seasons. The most famous one is Stonehenge in England, but other ancient cultures all over the world also constructed them. 

The local project calls for the construction a solar calendar at Cesar Chavez Park, on the north side of the Berkeley Marina. In addition to honoring the late Cesar Chavez, the purpose of the project is also to educate local school children and the general public about the astronomical and cultural significance of the seasons, organizers say. 

So far, the concept has been approved by the Berkeley City Council, which has set aside space for the calendar at Cesar Chavez Park, and by the Berkeley School Board, which approved its educational use in Berkeley public schools. 

Tuesday’s event will be held at 7:30 p.m. on the high ground overlooking the Bay. 

Police officers investigating a suspicious vehicle about 6:45 a.m. Sunday on the 1500 block of Stuart Street found the driver sitting in the car with the engine running. The car had been in a collision, said Capt. Bobby Miller of the Berkeley Police Department. 

The driver seemed groggy, and when an officer got her attention, she showed symptoms of alcohol and drug intoxication, Miller said. She failed to perform the Field Sobriety Test. According to police reports, a crack pipe was found in the driver’s seat along with several empty beer cans and bottles. The license plate on the car in which the suspect was driving belonged to another vehicle. 

Mieasha Scott, 31, a Berkeley resident was arrested on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, possession of a crack pipe and possession of stolen license plates.

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley completes its 43rd season with an Agatha Christie mystery, “Murder At the Vicarage,” a Miss Marple classic. 

Directed by Margaret Gudmundsson, it opens July 14 at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave. 

The play will be onstage Friday and Saturdays through Aug. 12, with one Thursday performance, Aug. 10. Admission is $10 with discounts for groups of 15 or more. For reservations, call 528-5620.

The Judah L. Magnes Museum presents “Women and Rituals,” a talk about old traditions, Tuesday, June 27 from 6-7:30 p.m. Rabbi Helen Cohn of San Francisco’s Congregation Emanu-El and Manni Liu, executive director of the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco will he on hand for the talk. The museum is located at 2911 Russell St.

Drop off hazardous waste

OAKLAND – Alameda County residents can safely and conveniently dispose hazardous household products such as points, cleaners, automotive products and pesticides at locations in Oakland, Hayward and Livermore. Each facility is open for drop-off on specific days, with no appointment necessary and no charge. 

The drop-off dates for the third quarter of 2000 are: 

Oakland (2100 East 7th Street): July 6, 7, 8, Aug. 10, 11, 12, Sept. 7, 8, 9. 

Hayward (2091 W. Winton Ave.): July 1, 22, 27, 28, 29, Aug. 3, 4, 5, 26, 31, Sept. 1, 2, 23, 28, 29, 30. 

Livermore (5584 La Ribera St.): July 13, 14, 15, Aug. 17, 18, 19, Sept. 14, 15, 16. 

The operating hours at each facility are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays. Residents are urged to call the Household Hazardous Waste Program at (800) 606-6606 to confirm hours of operation and any special handling requirements. For more information, residents may also call the Alameda County Recycling Hotline at 1-877-STOPWASTE. 

Children perform concert

The Kairos Youth Choir will host the East Bay Children’s Choral Festival Culminating Concert on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational Church at Channing Way and Dana Street. Tickets are $10. 

For more information call 559-6910. 

Authors’ series continues

The Jewish Learning Center Authors’ Series in the Library presents Robert Alter’s “The David Story” Sunday, July 9 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. For information, call 848-0237 ext. 236. 

Jewish history explored

The Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center presents “In Our Own Hands,” the hidden story of the Jewish Brigade in World War II, Sunday, July 15 at 2 p.m. There will be a peer-led discussion following the movie. There is a suggested donation of $2. JCC is located at 1414 Walnut St., call 848-0237 for information. 

Lupus workshop planned

SAN FRANCISCO – The Lupus Foundation of Northern California, also known as the Bay Area Lupus Foundation (BALF), is holding its first all-day educational class in San Francisco on Saturday, July 15. 

The educational class provides lupus patients with a better understanding of the disease, diagnostic procedures and lab tests, current treatment methods and how to communicate more effectively with their physician and family. 

To register or for more information, lupus patients or a family member can call Barbara Dangerfield in the afternoons at 415-282-3032.

A woman seated on the trunk of her car at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in a commercial parking lot at 2930 Sacramento St., was threatened by a driver who drove toward her car at high speed.  

Driving a red Mazda, the suspect drove into the parking lot, saw the victim, and made a U-turn. She sped toward the victim, narrowly missing her car. Then the suspect stopped, got out of her car and challenged the victim to a fight, which did not occur. 

The suspect returned to her car and drove away, said Lt. Russell Lopes of the Berkeley Police Department. He said the victim made no mention of knowing the suspect in her statement to police. 

Sandra Sharrell Watson was apprehended at Stanton and Russell streets and was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.

Daily Planet Staff 

A teach-in on the 50th anniversary of the War in Korea, entitled “The Forgotten War,” will be held Sunday from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Trinity United Methodist Church at 2362 Bancroft Way. 

It will reexamine the Korean War and seek ways of bringing peace and reunification to Korea. Korean survivors of the war – the Rev. Han Sang Eun and the Rev. Yoon Kil Sang – and U.S. veterans of the war – Paul Myers and Ralph Webb – will share memories of the war and discuss the impact the war had on their lives. 

Professor Kang Jeong-Koo of Dangkuk University in Seoul will address the origins of the Korean War, and Bay Area peace activist and Vietnam veteran Brian Wilson will also be on hand to report on his recent meetings in South Korea with village level committees to investigate Korean War atrocities. 

There will be a multimedia presentation with testimonies by survivors and children of survivors, a performance by the Korean Youth Cultural Center, poetry by Kim Myung Mi and a screening if the British Thames Television documentary, “Korea the Unknown War.” A candlelight vigil will be held at 9 p.m. at Sproul Plaza on the UC campus to commemorate the war. 

The teach-in is sponsored by the Teach-In Committee To End The War In Korea. 

For more information on the event, contact Philip Chung at 510-520-0739.

By Marilyn Claessens 

Daily Planet Staff 

Residents soon will be able to trim their trees or prune their rose bushes, or pull weeds and enjoy a city pickup of their throwaway greenery every other week. 

As of July 3, the Public Works Department will increase the collection of plant debris from once a month to every other week. The doubled pickups are not just seasonal, but for the entire year and future years. 

Residents have accumulated much more plant debris than the city could handle in once-monthly collections, said Debra Kaufman, recycling program manager. The amount of debris increases in the warm weather seasons. 

She said a good deal of the plant material that could have been recycled ended up in landfill with the garbage, because people were putting it in their garbage containers. 

“They’re allowed to do that, but now they have an opportunity for a second collection,” said Kaufman. 

“We have a pretty positive program. We won the 1999 Trash Cutters Award for the best organics recycling program in the state from the State of California Integrated Waste Management Board.” 

City Council decided last July to increase the pickups to meet the demand. A 3 percent rate increase was added to residents’ refuse bills about the same time, and two new vehicles were purchased to haul the plant debris to the solid waste site, at 1201 Second St. 

Landscapers and professional gardeners with large quantities of debris bring it to the site’s transfer station where it is weighed. The city allows a 30 percent discount from its regular rates for self-hauled plant debris, she said. 

All the plant debris residents dump in their plant carts is recycled, she said. It is taken to Modesto and composted. Some of that compost product returns to Berkeley and is used for vegetation next to public schools and for community gardens. 

The city’s compost material has helped produce fruit and vegetables for The Edible Schoolyard program at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. 

But the city encourages residents to do as much composting as they are able to do, said Kaufman. Large branches and other bulky plants need to go into the carts provided by the city. 

Berkeley has the highest rate of home composting in Alameda County, said Teresa Eade, program manager for the Alameda County Waste Management Authority and Recycling Board in San Leandro. 

More than 30 percent of single-family houses in Berkeley have a composting bin, she said. Composting is the best form of state-required waste diversion, she said, because the composted material saves energy in not being hauled or distributed. 

That’s a good response to the 10-year-old state waste management law that requires cities to cut waste by 50 percent by 2000, Eade said. 

Berkeley has a pilot program for collecting food waste from some businesses in town, Kaufman said. The commercial food wastes are added to the plant debris and composted. 

The odors from the wet fruit and vegetables from the businesses, such as the Monterey Market on Hopkins Street, are reduced because they are absorbed by the dry plants underneath, said Eade.

The Berkeley Adult School is hosting a workshop on the step-by-step process of completing a health proxy form, taught by Berkeley attorney Lynn Sherrell. 

The class will be offered Monday, June 26 and Monday, July 17 from 7-9 p.m. 

The cost is $12 plus a $2 materials fee. 

Berkeley Adult School is located at 1222 University Ave. and can be reached at 644-6784.