Saturday, July 15

Light Search and Rescue 

9 a.m.-noon 

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar St. 

Free training classes to help families prepare for emergencies. The classes are open to Berkeley residents at least 18 years old, and will be taught by retired firefighters. They give hands-on training in how to put on a splint, extinguish a fire, use a fire hose, and more. 

510-644-8736 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m.-3 p.m. 

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

510-548-3333 

Kites 

12:30-3:30 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

Centennial Drive, below Grizzly Peak Blvd. 

Come to the LAWRENCE HALL for children’s kite making activities and Indonesian coffee. 

510-642-5132 

www.lawrence hall.berkeley.edu 

Sunday, July 16

People’s Park Rally 

1 p.m. 

People’s Park at Derby Street near Telegraph Avenue 

Emergency rally on the future of People’s Park and the 133rd anniversary of the strike of 1877. Speakers/performers include Gina Smith, Carol Denney, Thunder, Gerald Smith, Roger Wilkins, Folk This, Leon Stevens, Clifford Fred, Michael Diehl, Michael Delacour and more. 

510-841-7460 

Rent Board nominations 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Progressives will nominate a slate of candidates for the November election. 

“In Our Own Hands” 

2-4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

This film, part of the Sundays at the BRJCC Cinema series, features lively interviews and rare archival footage telling the story of a group of Jewish volunteers from Palestine who battled to become a fighting unit in the British army during World War II. A $2 donation is suggested. 

510-848-0237 

“Oliver!” 

3:00 p.m. 

Pacific Film Archive 

2575 Bancroft Way @ Bowditch 

This musical adaptation of Dickens’ Oliver Twist is recommended for children 8 and over. It recreates the journey of a young orphan from a paupers’ workhouse to the rough-and-tumble city life of London where he is introduced into a gang of thieves.  

Tickets $4.00 

510-642-5249 

Meditation Seminar 

2:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 

Experience the Awaking of the soul through mediation on the Inner Light and sound. This event is free of charge. Free. 

510-845-9648 

“Endangering the Species” 

4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Community Media 

Cable Channel 25 

“Endangering the Species” a video tells the story of homeless people from the perspective of a homeless producer, ASUC Art Student Ken Moshesh. 

Monday, July 17

Tai Chi Chih 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. WAY Jr. Way 

Come for Tai Chi Chih with Ben Levitan. 

510-644-6107 

Tuesday, July 18

Big Band/Show Tunes 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. WAY Jr. Way 

Come for live music with piano, trumpet and violin. 

510-644-6107 

“What is nice?” 

7-9 p.m. 

Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut Ave. 

Come for a free discussion and social group, open to everyone regardless of age, religion or view point. 

510-527-5332  

Wednesday, July 19

“Women Who Run With Words” 

7:30 p.m. 

Diesil Bookstore 

5433 College Ave, Oakland 

A writing workshop created by local poet Ruth Wynkoop, who will present a group reading of poetry and short prose.  

510-848-1069 

Ballroom Dance 

10 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. WAY Jr. Way 

Come for a practice session of ballroom dance. 

510-644-6107 

“Chinese Calligraphy” with Mrs. Jou 

1:00 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. WAY Jr. Way 

510-644-6107 

Thursday, July 20

“La Ciudad” 

7:00 p.m. 

Revolution Books 

2425 Channing Way 

“La Ciudad,” filmed in black and white, presents four stories about people from Latin America who have come to work and survive in New York City. A garment worker in a sweatshop, a homeless puppeteer and his daughter, a young man newly arrived from Puebla, Mexico who crashed a quincenera – sweet fifteen – party, and a group of day laborers hired to clean huge stacks of bricks for pennies. The actors in this film are immigrant workers who had a special stake in bringing these stories to light.

Councilmember Spring accused 

Last evening I witnessed a display of Berkeley politics at its worst and the brazen manner in which a public commission was lied to and misled by Councilwoman Dona Spring compels me to speak out. I happened to be attending the Commission on Disability meeting at the North Berkeley Senior Center and noticed that one of the topics was a recommendation to the city regarding the proposal to grant the Ashkenaz dance club $30,000 in public funds for accessibility improvements. I happened also to be present when this item was brought up at the City Council budget hearing several weeks before. A motion was made by Kriss Worthington and seconded by Betty Olds, that the Council not vote on the money for Ashkenaz until the Commission on Disability had a chance to make a recommendation.  

Dona Spring was at the Commission meeting last night, negating that vote of the City Council by spreading the story that the money for Ashkenaz was a done deal and had already been voted on. The Commission therefore, voted to go along with what they were misled into thinking was a fait accompli. If this had been done in the context of a trial, it would have been a clear case of jury tampering — but since it was done in a political setting there is little chance that Councilwoman Spring will be held to account. I just want her to know that there are citizens who are watching, and who are disgusted with this kind of deceitful behavior. 

Joe Cadora 

Berkeley 

Spring takes the stand 

I am responding to the letter by Mr. Cadora which accuses me of lying to the Commission on Disabilities about the Council’s approval of an allocation of $30,000 to the folk dance club Ashkenaz. In the future, it would be a good idea for Mr. Cadora to get his facts straight before hurling out slanderous accusations at people.  

The Council passed the proposed budget of Shirek, Maio, Spring and Worthington on June 27, 2000. In the approved budget, was the following allocation and language: “An allocation for improvements at Ashkenaz is being proposed for $30,000, to fund miscellaneous upgrades. Of this amount up to $15,000 in proposed ADA improvements is to be referred to the Commission on Disability.” As one of the authors of the budget, the intent of this language was to have the Commission give input into the accessibility design.  

The motion made several weeks earlier by Councilmember Worthington to refer the requested funding for Ashkenaz to the Commission on Disabilities was modified and superseded by this later motion which passed as a part of the fiscal year 2000-2001 budget. 

I sit by what I told the Commission about this matter that the $30,000 allocation was approved by the Council but not yet released pending input from the Commission on the accessibility issues. I dispute Mr. Cadora’s distorted portrayal. 

Dona Spring 

Berkeley City Councilmember

Berkeley's West Indies theater company ends a run today at the Eighth Street Studio Theater of Laurence Holder's two-character play “When the Chickens Came Home to Roost” – a story about the complex relationship between black activist leader Malcolm X and his Nation of Islam superior Elijah Muhammad. 

Running about an hour with no intermission, and performed by two recent Berkeley High School graduates, “When the Chickens Came Home to Roost” is set in late 1963, about a year and a half before the assassination of Malcolm X, whom it has been often rumored was killed on orders from Elijah Muhammad.  

In 1963, Malcolm X was a top subordinate to Elijah Muhammad in the Nation of Islam, and a rising star in the organization – a man whose personal appearances and radio speeches drew large audiences and attracted many people to the organization. 

At the opening of the play, Malcolm X (Sean Slater) arrives at the home of Elijah Muhammad (Daveed Diggs) to talk about paternity suits that have been filed against Elijah Muhammad by women who were former employees of the Nation of Islam. 

Although Elijah Muhammad does not want to discuss this issue, Malcolm X presses. He argues that Nation of Islam followers need an honest response to the problem, to keep the group's moral integrity high at a difficult time. According to the play, this contradicts Elijah Muhammad's style, which has been one of silence and stonewalling. 

As the play evolves, the differences in style, belief and relationship behaviors between the two men emerge. 

Malcolm X, it turns out, has many criticisms of Elijah Muhammad's autocratic leadership. Malcolm X, for example, wants more linkage between the Nation of Islam and the emerging 1963 civil rights movement than the isolationist Elijah Muhammad permits. 

At the same time, Malcolm X appreciates the work of Elijah Muhammad, regards Elijah Muhammad as having saved his life, and submits obediently, if reluctantly, to his orders. 

Elijah Muhammad reminds Malcolm X, “This is not a democracy. This is the Nation of Islam.” 

So one of the play's themes deals with the issue of autocratic power in the hands of a man whose work and vision has transformed the lives of many people. The play asks, to what extent is this autocratic power appropriate? When, rather, is it appropriate for people to speak their own minds? 

In this play, Elijah Muhammad sees the interaction with Malcolm X as a cat and mouse game between himself and a young upstart who is trying to usurp the organization. 

Malcolm X swears that it is not so. He swears obedience to Elijah Muhammad and the organization repeatedly. The ambiguity around this issue gives the play much of its drama. 

After the assassination of President Kennedy, which takes place during the course of the play, Elijah Muhammad instructs his mosque leaders not to speak with their congregations about the president's death. 

But Malcolm X has a hard time refraining from observations about violence in America and how the chickens are coming home to roost. 

West Indies has staged a good production of the play with a youthful cast. Slater's thoughtful performance captures the look and feel of Malcolm X X.  

Teenager Diggs is a little young to be playing the elderly Elijah Muhammad, but also turns in a creditable performance that has multiple layers. Two actors also self-directed the play. 

Less than year and a half after the 1963 time frame of this play, Malcolm X X was assassinated. There has been much speculation since then on who called the hit. 

“When the Chickens Came Home to Roost” runs one more weekend, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., through July 15, at Eighth Street Studio Theater, 2525 Eighth Street, Berkeley. $8 general, $5 students. For information, call 510-547-7884.

In an effort to make playgrounds safer for children, state legislation that became effective in the beginning of this year demands that all child play areas in the state - public and private - be inspected by Oct. 1. 

Rather than worry about what problems will show up from these inspections of local playgrounds, Berkeley staff mostly believes that the city’s playgrounds are already safe, thanks to recent restoration work. 

“Berkeley is probably in good shape because we had a committee that went around to playgrounds and made a priority list of what needed to be done,” said Lisa Stephens, parks and recreation commissioner. 

That committee consisted of city staff, members of the parks and recreation commission and community members. It was formed by Berkeley Partners for Parks, a citizen’s group that supports parks, and was authorized by the City Council in 1997. The committee members visited all public playgrounds in Berkeley and ranked the ones that needed the most work. The committee then prioritized the work to be done. With money allocated by the City Council over the last four years, almost all of the problem areas have been fixed, Stephens said. 

The city has 50 play areas in its 33 city parks, and making them safe is a top priority for the city, said Lisa Caronna, director of the parks and waterfront department. 

“We are working through rather vigorously on park construction,” Caronna said. 

The city has only eight more parks to work on. Those include Aquatic Park, the Prince Street Totlot and the La Loma Totlot, which are scheduled to be completed this year. 

Moore Iacofano Goltsman (MIG) and Play and Learning in Adaptable Environments (PLAE), two nationwide organizations that train public and private agencies in play area safety and injury protection, held a press conference Friday to discuss the new law. 

“Some of our playgrounds are very old. Fortunately most of the asphalt under those (playgrounds) has been replaced by safety surfaces, but there are still many playgrounds that have unsafe conditions,” said Tim Gilbert, project manager at MIG/PLAE. “What we are really trying to do is to bring the whole system up to current standards.” 

After studying each playground, Certified Playground Safety Inspectors will come up with a list of hazards.  

It is then up to the agency that operates the playground to make changes, reducing any possible dangers.  

Privately-operated sites will have until Jan. 1, 2003 to take care of all existing problems, while public play areas have no set date, but will be repaired as funding becomes available. 

Gilbert said that it would be hard to regulate every playground in the state to make sure they are all inspected and modified, but most organizations will follow these steps to avoid lawsuits. 

“There is no inspector that is going to come by and see if your playground has been inspected,” Gilbert said. “But there are enough legal challenges every day of children getting injured on playgrounds” so that the playgrounds will be made safe. 

The state law simply states that the organization that runs the playground has to have the inspection survey on file. 

The most common injuries occur when children fall off structures or get their clothing tangled on jagged edges. Children can also get stuck in small holes and gaps in the structures. 

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 200,000 children - 20,000 in California - are treated in hospitals each year as a result of playground-related injuries. This represents 575 injuries per day, a dramatic increase over the past two decades. This, Gilbert says, has been the reason for the call for legislation. 

“What people are going to do is take the results of the survey, which are going to be basically this big, long laundry list of everything that’s wrong with the playground, and then check it against the report of the injuries on that playground and start to prioritize,” Gilbert said. 

After 25 years of costly leased facilities, Berkeley’s Vista College appears headed to a home all its own. 

The Peralta Community College District trustees voted last week to accept a plan which guarantees a permanent, 145,000 square-foot building to be constructed at 2050 Center Street. The proposed building, which will house Vista’s classrooms, offices, laboratories and student services, is contingent on the passage of a $153.2 million bond issue, which will come before voters in November. 

“Everyone’s happy. It’s a really, really great thing,” said Peralta Community College District board member Susan Duncan. “Vista has always been in a sub-standard rental facility. The original bond issue in the 1960s ran out of money when they were building Laney (College), Merritt (College) and the College of Alameda and Vista got stuck in leases.” 

An architect, selected by a PCCD board committee, will be announced at the next board meeting, July 25. 

“We have $15 million in the bank to start the building and the passage of the bond issue we’re putting forward in November will give us the money we need to put up a first class, state-of-the-art facility,” Duncan said. “It has been the long-time desire of a number of people on the board to have a top quality atmosphere to help best serve the students.” 

Presently, Vista maintains lease agreements worth upwards of $800,000 per year with three private property owners in central Berkeley. The proposed building site, purchased this spring by the PCCD, is across the street from the existing structure. 

“The practicality of having a permanent building is clear. With such a high leasing cost the current situation isn’t cost effective,” said PCCD public relations director Shirley Figarino. “Basically, the board and the chancellor pledged to make this happen a few years ago and now they’re keeping their commitment.” 

The board’s action seems a fitting final chapter in Vista’s longtime quest to have its own campus. 

In addition to the main building on 2020 Milvia St., Vista has a science laboratory on 2061 Center St. and several classrooms at 207 Allston Way.  

For over 20 years Vista has also had an agreement with UC Berkeley for free classroom space Monday through Thursday nights, the only collaboration of its kind in the state between a community college and a major university. 

“At this point in time it’s all riding on the bond. In the measure are funds to pick up the remaining costs for the facility,” said Art Chen, director of facilities for the PCCD. “If the bond passes, we’re going into the ground. I think it’ll be a tremendous contribution.” 

Two of the UC Berkeley Young Musician Program alumnae present a joint recital featuring works by Bach, Mozart, Mahler, Puccini and Poulenc. Members of the YMP summer faculty Jeannine Anderson and Yerdue Caesar-Kaptoech are on to exciting things: Anderson is pursuing a masters degree in opera performance at New York’s Mannes School of Music, having finished her undergraduate work at the Oberlin conservatory, and Caesar-Kaptoech begins graduate study at the University of British Columbia in the fall. Tickets: $20 general, $10 students/seniors. For more information, call 642-2666.

Berkeley has stepped into the ring in the fight against big tobacco. 

Tuesday night the City Council unanimously passed a resolution asking local newspapers to voluntarily refrain from running tobacco ads, or to accompany them with an anti-smoking ad of equal size. 

The resolution, which passed 8-0 with Councilmember Diane Woolley abstaining, is intended to combat the tobacco companies advertising onslaught targeting teenagers. And it called for newspapers to prepare to fight any legal challenges advertisers may bring against them in any free-speech issues that rejecting to run the ads may create. 

The resolution will be sent to the managing editors of eight major papers: The Bay Times, the East Bay Express, Metro, The Oakland Tribune, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Weekly.  

Aware and concerned with any free speech issues, Mayor Shirley Dean said that it would be “voluntary and therefore constitutional.” Dean proposed the resolution. 

“I don’t agree that this is dictating to anyone,” she said. “It’s not the city telling newspapers what to do or interfering. I think that would be improper.” 

Dean cited a quote by Steve Falk, president of the San Francisco Newspaper Agency, given to the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday, saying that “it is a topic we would want to discuss, not just because the Berkeley City Council brought it up, but it is also a topic on the minds of our readers,” 

“I think that is important,” the Mayor said. “I’m just happy to open the discussion.” 

Councilmember Diane Wool ley, a former reporter and the only member of the council that abstained in the voting, said that though she doesn’t personally encourage smoking, she doesn’t think that government should get involved. Especially with such a small scope of newspapers, when magazines are preferred by tobacco advertisers. 

The discussion that led to the recommendation cited the $5.6 billion tobacco companies spend on ads in magazines with high youth readership, such as Sports Illustrated and People, but noted that some recent editions of the Bay Guardian have included 10 full page tobacco ads.  

“Here we have a selected group of newspapers being asked to give up tobacco ads,” Woolley said. “It would be different if we banned all tobacco ads across the country in all mediums.”  

“(The City Council) has a tendency to make a law about everything we don’t like,” she said. “We’re not supposed to legislate behavior.” 

The Mayor said it would affect the smaller weekly papers more than the major metros that don’t typically run tobacco ads.  

“I don’t know if anyone will give them up,” she said. “It would probably be difficult for a paper like the Weekly or the Bay Guardian to give up a lot of revenue.” 

Talk about a nicotine fit.  

A man arrested for felony robbery yesterday must have needed a smoke really badly after his run in with the Alameda County Sheriff’s department because Berkeley police arrested him after he threatened to kill a man sitting in front of the Barnes and Noble bookstore on Shattuck Avenue and Channing Way, if he didn’t hand over a cigarette, said Captain Bobby Miller of the Berkeley Police Department. 

He was previously involved in an argument aboard an AC Transit bus. AC Transit dispatched the Alameda County Sheriff after it was reported that the man had a gun. Miller said that the robber didn’t have a gun and didn’t know if the argument was over cigarettes.  

After the argument was settled and he was released, the suspect walked a block to Shattuck and Durant where he told a man that if he didn’t give him a cigarette that he would kill him. Miller said that it was technically robbery even though it was just a smoke that was taken. 

The robber then turned around and walked two blocks to the corner of Shattuck and Bancroft Way where police apprehended him while he was enjoying his cigarette. 

The Sheriff’s office has jurisdiction over the AC Transit, and Miller said that the two departments work in conjunction with one another if an incident arises on board a city bus.

Not quite sure whether to celebrate or to moan on the one year anniversary of the shut down by Pacifica, community radio station KPFA did a little of both Thursday. 

To mark the anniversary, KPFA hosted an all-day open house, free concerts and a late-afternoon commemorative picket at its Martin Luther King Jr. Way studio. 

“It’s really hard trying to figure out how to treat today,” said Susan Stone, KPFA director of Drama and Literature. “Are we simply marking the date, are we commemorating it or are we celebrating it? For some, celebration is kind of (strange) because it was a very gruesome day.” 

The whole ordeal began March 31, 1999 when KPFA General Manager Nicole Sawaya’s contract was terminated by Pacifica Executive Director Lynn Chadwick. Protesters gathered in front of the station in the following days and weeks and held demonstrations and rallies.  

On July 13, Pacifica locked up the station and began airing old tapes. 

“There is a lot of wear and tear psychologically on the station because there has been no settlement with Pacifica over the status of our general manager or settlement in apology or otherwise to Nicole Sawaya, whose termination still wrinkles all of us,” Stone said. 

KPFA aired special programming throughout the day, which included live performances from 10 a.m. to noon. A dozen different artists and groups each played five-to-10-minute sets, illustrating the station’s eclectic sound. 

Kokomon Clottey, the last performer was one of the musicians who had participated in the demonstrations a year ago. The drummer from Ghana, performing with his group the Rhythm Tribe said that celebrating community radio is important to him, which is why he chose to return for the anniversary. 

At noon, standard programming resumed with Living Room, hosted by Kris Welch, who revisited the events a year ago as heard on KPFA. She also played never-before-heard clips of demonstrators outside the station July 13, 1999, chanting “Free speech radio, we want our station back.”  

At 12:30 p.m., halfway through the program, Welch came out of the building and set up at a table on the sidewalk to finish her broadcast. A crowd gathered around to hear her discussions with guests, including Larry Bensky, who recapped his experiences from last year. 

“A year ago I was one of the folks listening at home and I got down here as fast as I could,” said Bensky, a longtime KPFA broadcaster who was fired by Pacifica April 9, 1999. 

Flashpoints, the show that was airing when host Dennis Bernstein was removed from the studio by armed security guards last July 13, also broadcast from the street from 5-6 p.m. 

People slowly showed up for the picket during mid afternoon, carrying signs that negatively depicted Pacifica’s corporate nature and demanding free speech for KPFA.  

“This continues to show the symbol of, hey, we are not going away, we want free speech radio,” KPFA Volunteer Tony McNair said. 

Rudy Posch of Los Altos showed up at about noon, wearing a hat that featured stickers promoting Ralph Nader for president, Food not Bombs and of course, KPFA. 

“It’s a very grassroots thing to do,” Posch said of his apparel. “I couldn’t afford to bring a TV, but it’s easy to make a hat.” 

KPFA’s intent of the day’s events was to recap its recent history, show how far it has come and look ahead. John Sheridan, intern on the Local Advisory Board, said that it was also a good time to promote the upcoming LAB elections. 

“Where we stand now is I would say we are in tremendous suspension because we are still operating somewhat effectively, though on reduced circumstances,” Stone said. “But we are waiting for Pacifica to own up to its mistakes and also to come clean with us about a collective vision that really speaks to what we need.” 

Staff writer Ian Buchanan contributed to this story. 

Friday, July 14

Conversational Yiddish 

1 p.m. 

Opera: “La Gioconda” 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Airport System Plan Update 

1:30 p.m. 

MetroCenter Auditorium, 101 Eighth St., Oakland 

The public will have a chance to make public comment on the Draft Final Plan at this time. Copies of the draft are available in the main libraries, on MTC’s website, www.mtc.ca.gov, or can be requested from MTC by calling ahead. 

510-464-7815 

Berkeley Folk Dancers Beginners’ Try Outs 

7:45-10:30 p.m. 

Live Oak Park Social Hall, 1301 Shattuck Ave. 

Cost for non-members is $5. 

510-525-3030 

aturday, July 15

Light Search and Rescue 

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. The next class will be held on 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 

510-548-3333 

Kites 

12:30-3:30 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

Centennial Drive, below Grizzly Peak Bld. 

Come to the LHS for children’s kite making activities and Indonesian coffee. 

510-642-5132 

www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

Sunday, July 16

People’s Park Rally 

1 p.m. 

People’s Park 

Emergency rally on the future of People’s Park and the 133rd anniversary of the United States’ great strike of 1877. Come hear Gina Smith, Carol Denney, Thunder, Gerald Smith, Roger Wilkins, Folk This, Leon Stevens, Clifford Fred, Michael Diehl, Michael Delacour and more. 

510-841-7460 

Rent Board nominations 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Progressives will nominate a slate of candidates for the November election. 

“In Our Own Hands” 

2-4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

This film, part of the Sundays at the BRJCC Cinema series, features lively interviews and rare archival footage telling the story of a group of Jewish volunteers from Palestine who battled to become a fighting unit in the British army during World War II. A $2 donation is suggested. 

510-848-0237 

“Oliver!” 

3:00 p.m. 

Pacific Film Archive 

2575 Bancroft Way @ Bowditch 

Recommend for ages 8 and up. This musical adaptation of Dickens’ Oliver Twist combines a superb cast, wonderful music and breathtaking choreography to recreate the journey of a young orphan from a paupers’ workhouse to the rough-and-tumble city life of London where he is introduced into a gang of thieves.  

Tickets $4.00 

510-642-5249 

Free Meditation Seminar 

2:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 

Experience the Awaking of the soul through mediation on the Inner Light and sound. This event is free of charge. 

510-845-9648 

“Endangering the Species” 

4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Community Media 

Cable Channel 25 

“Endangering the Species” a video tells the story of homeless people from the perspective of a homeless producer, ASUC Art Student Ken Moshesh. 

Monday, July 17

Tai Chi Chih 

1:00 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

Come for Tai Chi Chih with Ben Levitan 

510-644-6107 

Tuesday, July 18

Big Band/Show Tunes 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

Come for live music with saz, piano, trumpet and violin. 

510-644-6107 

“What is nice?” 

7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. 

Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut Ave. 

Come for a free discussion and social group, open to everyone. 

510-527-5332

For most of the last 14 months, as I’ve covered and observed the daily events of this community, I’ve kept my pen capped. I’ve refrained from writing a regular column, I’ve declined to openly share my opinions and I’ve held my tongue – most of the time. 

No more. 

Tomorrow marks the final issue in which my name will appear as editor, and I’ve had a little time this last week to think about all the people who have helped make my time here in a Berkeley just a little more, well, exciting. 

So, thanks to: 

• The Berkeley City Council, which provided the best entertainment every Tuesday evening it met. Each meeting also reminded me of my childhood – when my brother and I would bicker like the immature children that we were. 

• Mayor Shirley Dean, who helped remind me that a politician is a politician is a politician. 

• Councilmember Kriss Worthington, ditto. Actually, I’m still waiting for the week when his name doesn’t appear at least once in a local newspaper. 

• Councilmember Polly Armstrong, who often demonstrates more common sense than many of her colleagues – even if she doesn’t like it when Judith writes a column. 

• Sara Jane Olson, or Kathleen Ann Soliah, or whatever name you want to use, for giving our City Council something truly meaningful and significant to waste its time debating. 

• The Berkeley Police Department, for creating more barriers and obstacles to information than you’d expect in the alleged home of free speech. 

• People in the Finance Department who handle business licenses: ditto. 

• The City Council’s actions during closed-door sessions: ditto. 

• Staffers at the Berkeley Public Library branches, who proved that not every Berkeley bureaucracy is unfriendly and uncooperative. 

• El Cerrito, for its Target. 

• Oakland, for its 24-hour grocery stores. 

• UC Berkeley, which regularly demonstrates that even the most educated, most enlightening institutions can be bad neighbors. 

• Berkeley teachers, for not going on strike. 

• The school board, which only occasionally behaved like the City Council – and then woke up and came to its senses. 

• School district contract negotiators, who wanted the public to know the offers that were on the table. 

• Tom Bates, Yolanda Huang, Jered Lawson, Beebo Turman and many others, who helped me realize that organic food really isn’t that wild of an idea. 

• Lew Jones, for finally giving me that secret document with the secret information. 

• Cathy James, for helping Lew. 

• Karen Sarlo, for pretending she didn’t see Lew give me the document. 

• Jack McLaughlin, who just interviewed for the superintendent’s job with yet another school district. Just kidding – um, I think. 

• The Chronicle, the Examiner and Contra Costa Newspapers, for regularly demonstrating what’s wrong with the corporate media mentality. 

• Mary Frances Berry and Lynn Chadwick, ditto. 

• Chris Thompson, for all his free publicity through his “stories” on the Daily Planet. 

• Our other friends at the Express, for the stuffed “800-pound" gorilla. 

• The Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste, whose paranoia makes Howard Hughes look sane. 

• Judith Scherr, who will begin making daily trips to Tilden Park next week. 

• Arnold Lee and Ed Carse, for choosing Berkeley as the place to launch this newspaper. 

• Ron Mix, who gave me the chance to run a newspaper – twice. 

• Joe Eskenazi, for the mug and months of creatively written stories. 

• All my other co-workers, for enduring my odd humor and lame jokes. 

• Dave Bartram, Amy Stewart, Bill Rath and Dave Earl, who helped me keep my sanity. 

• Though she may never read this, Kathleen Ellis, for reminding me of the rejuvenating power of a single phone call. 

• My brother, for actually holding a conversation a few weeks ago that didn’t turn political or ideological. 

• My parents, for more than I could ever write in one column. 

Rob Cunningham, who has been editor of the Daily Planet since Day One, gets to keep his job for about another 24 hours.

THEATER 

ACTORS ENSEMBLE OF BERKELEY 

“Murder At The Vicarage” by Agatha Christie, July 14 through Aug. 12. Performance of the classic whodunnit. $10. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Aug. 10, 8 p.m. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 528-5620. 

CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 

“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, July 1 through July 22. Shakespeare probes the shadowy corners of the human psyche in this dark, compelling tragedy of vengeance, madness and murder most foul. 

$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.; July 11 and July 18, 7 p.m.; July 22, 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 

MUSIC VENUES 

ASHKENAZ 

Billy Dunn, July 12, 9 p.m. $8. 

Babatunde Olatunji, July 13, 9 p.m. $11. 

Tamazgha, July 14, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Kotoja, Akimbo, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Resin, Caesar Myles and Dreaded Truth, Rebecca Riots, Famous Last Words, Erika Luckett, Liz Anah, July 16, 4 p.m. $8 to $25. 

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

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

Dan Crary and Beppe Gambetta, July 12. $15.50 to $16.50. 

Bill Evans, Avram Siegel, Marty Cutler, July 13. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Juan-Carlos Formell, July 14. $14.50 to $15.50. 

The Laura Love Band, July 15. $17.50 to $18.50. 

Pat Donohue, July 16. $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 

War!, July 12, 7 p.m. $10. 

Jon Fromer and Friends, July 14, 8 p.m. $8 to $15. 

Ray Cepeda, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $10. 

Dya Singh, July 16, 8 p.m. $18. 

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

924 GILMAN ST. 

Attitude Adjustment, Wolfpack, Men's Recovery Project, Axiom, July 14. 

MU330, Alkaline Trio, Link 80, Venice Shoreline Chris, Blue Meanies, Lawrence Arms, Honor System, Dan Potthast, Mike Park, July 16, 4 p.m.  

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

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

Cadillac Angels, Rip Carson and the Twilight Trio, July 13. $5. 

Tempest, Azigza, July 14. $8. 

Plus Ones, The Cables, Luminar, The Fitsners, July 15.  

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. 

OPERA 

THE BERKELEY OPERA 

“Beatrice and Benedick” by Hector Berlioz, July 14 through July 23. A joyous evening of wit, deception and romance based on William Shakespeare’s comedy “Much Ado About Nothing.” Jonathan Khuner conducting. Sung in English. 

$16 to $30 general; $24 senio rs; $15 youths age 17 and under. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. (925) 798-1300 or www.juliamorgan.org 

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 

“Doug Aitken/MATRIX 185: Into the Sun,” July 9 through Sept. 3. An exhibit of works primarily in video and film, using the interplay of art and media to evoke deserted landscapes. Artist’s Talk, July 9, 3 p.m. Doug Aitken discusses his installation. In Gallery 1. 

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. 

“This is Your Heart!” ongoing. An in teractive exhibit on heart health. 

“Good Nutrition,” ongoing. This exhibit includes models for making balanced meals and an exercycle for calculating how calories are burned. 

“Draw Your Own Insides,” ongoing. Human-shaped chalkboards and models with removable organs allow visitors to explore the inside of their bodies. 

“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  

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. 

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. 

Controversy continues as city officials weigh just how to commemorate, celebrate or otherwise incorporate the West Berkeley Shellmound into the cultural context of the city. 

In February, following testimonials from local historians, UC Berkeley professors and Native American descendants, the 5,700 year-old shellmound, considered by experts among the oldest and largest of the 425 Native American mounds that once encircled San Francisco Bay, was designated a city landmark. However, the City Manager’s Office and two owners of the current property have filed an appeal before the Berkeley City Council to overturn the designation. 

“I object strenuously to the filing of an appeal on behalf of the city of Berkeley without consulting the City Council,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington. “Landmark designa toric district and can often be used as a way to promote an area. There are also certain tax benefits, so we’re actually lucky that Berkeley has so many landmarks.” 

The appeal will be considered at a public hearing at the Tuesday council meeting. 

“From a policy standpoint and a landmark standpoint, this is the first resource of this nature that we have acknowledged in this city. This kind of resource is very sensitive. Emeryville bulldozed theirs (the Emeryville Shellmound) and Berkeley wants to take a different approach to helping this community protect and commemorate what is a tremendous attribute,” said Mark Rhoades, who heads the city’s Zoning Division. “However, there is a public right of way that underlies the designation and right now there have been more questions raised than we have answers for. What does it mean when we need to re-pave a road or do other improvements? Our Public Works Department needs to be very careful and do everything that’s appropriate.” 

While city officials maintain that an appropriate commemoration of the shellmound is mandatory in any future development of the area, local preservationists feel slighted at the proposed removal of city landmark status. 

“The problem is that the city is afraid the landmark designation will prevent them from building and that they’ll need an archeologist to go in with them to make repairs. I don’t think that’s what is going to happen,” said Jakki Kehl, a Mutsun Ohlone Indian and the shellmound’s Native American advisor. “The landmark status is important because it adds awareness to the site. It humanizes the site.” 

A visit to the present site of the West Berkeley Shellmound, approximately at the corner of University Avenue and Second Street, reveals no hint of the ancient mound’s abundant historical and cultural significance. The shellmound, and whatever artifacts remain, is entirely under what is now the parking lot of Berkeley’s 110-year old Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto. 

“As a site, it’s been severely degraded. But it’s the only game in town and it’s irreplaceable. It’s a place to re-imagine how life was a place for appreciation and interpretation,” said Malcolm Margolin, author of The Ohlone Way: Indian life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area. “If this was a cemetery of Berkeley’s founding fathers, with the Shattucks or the Hastes, there would be a white picket fence around the whole thing. It would be cherished. Instead it’s Indian burials and so it has been treated like a trash heap. When there’s a difference of how you treat things. The word for it is racism.” 

Nearly five years of complaints aimed at Kragen Auto Parts at California Street and University Avenue were answered when the City Council voted 5-4 to uphold the Zoning Board’s recommendation that its permit be revoked. 

In April, the Zoning Board voted unanimously to repeal the 12-year-old store’s license after it found that Kragen violated several conditions the city imposed on it. Kragen’s challenge to the council failed after Councilmember Margaret Breland gave a strained “yes,” after asking the clerk to skip her when it was her turn to vote, waiting until the others had made their decisions. 

In favor of the revocation were Mayor Shirley Dean, Councilmembers Breland, Linda Maio, Dona Spring and Kriss Worthington. Opposed were Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek, Councilmembers Polly Armstrong, Betty Olds and Diane Woolley.  

Kragen faced the council in the same matter two years ago and escaped with conditions it had to agree to, in order to stay in business, such as steam-cleaning oil and other fluids from the parking lot, picking up litter and sweeping. Kragen appealed in court, but lost.  

Spring said that after multiple notices it was a “constant problem getting compliance from Kragen.” She noted that it was as an expensive and time-consuming affair dealing with the company and that the message sent was that they could defy the city. 

“We have spent $100,000 to $150,000 trying to get compliance from them,” she said. “How many more meetings do we need to have?”  

“When does our Zoning Board mean what it says?” she said. “If we don’t pass (the recommendation), it will send a message that you can ignore the city. We have to apply the law equally.” 

Armstrong called revocation “one more example of the gentrification of Berkeley.” 

“If they close, there will be no more low-cost auto parts store,” she said. “And I don’t want to see jobs go away, especially entry-level jobs for our young people. The feeling is that we’re not acting like a real city.” 

Armstrong added that the building will probably become “another yuppie restaurant.”  

In the midst of the quarrel with the city, Kragen obtained the Grand Auto Supply store at University Avenue and Martin Luther King Way. Mayor Dean said that the location, however, is planned to be redeveloped, so Kragen is currently searching for another location on University. 

And the council can’t impose any conditions on the University Avenue and Martin Luther King Way-location or any new location unless neighbors comlain about the business. The mayor said that leaves her with hopes that Kragen can clean up its act and be responsible. 

“This gives them an opportunity to say, ‘We’ve learned our lesson’ and do what’s right,” she said. “It seems whatever they do, people will say they have concerns, so they have to step up to the plate.” 

Calls to Kragen attorney William Segesta were not returned. 

With only a few weeks to go before its summer break, the City Council delayed a measure on Tuesday that would begin the process of analyzing and perhaps restructuring the Housing Authority Board.  

The item placed on the consent calendar by Mayor Shirley Dean, asks the city manager to analyze whether the housing authority, which oversees low income housing, should be a five-member board made up entirely of public housing residents, or made up of two landlords and three residents. 

The question will be discussed in two weeks by the existing housing authority, made up of the nine members of the City Council and two resident representatives. 

Prior to the meeting Councilmember Kriss Worthington expressed disapproval of the process by which the recommendation was put on the table. He criticized the mayor’s motive for placing it on the consent calendar and suggested that the item be discussed by the existing housing authority to avoid “disenfranchising people.” 

“The Mayor knows we’ve been talking about making improvements. She’s trying to push it through to take credit for the work,” Worthington said. 

“The Mayor wants to play politics and beat her breast and say I did it, I’m the one.” 

Dean, however, said that the purpose of the recommendations was simply to begin a process by which the housing authority can begin to evaluate itself. 

The change in procedure and membership of the board could have long-lasting effects on several issues relative to the housing authority. “What we want is to have residents take more responsibility for what the authority does. That means in terms of (federal) grants for self-sufficiency, maintenance for the units, etc. This would increase the level of resident responsibility and participation,” Dean said. In addition it could increase the availability of units and the number of housing vouchers. It may in fact make more landlords willing to accept the Section 8 vouchers, according to Dean.  

The housing authority “is made up of the City Council, wealthy people who don’t know what the low-income and elderly have to deal with, and then they’ve got me and Pinkie propped up on the end,” said Helen Wheeler. Wheeler, a low-income senior, and Pinkie Payne are the current resident representatives on the BHA.  

It is written in the City Charter that the housing authority meet every month, but currently it is meeting only every six months, according to Wheeler. 

“It is an acceptable idea in principle and concept, the details need some discussion,” Wheeler said. The wording of the document according to Wheeler, showed that the mayor may not be up to task when it comes to the specifics of the way the housing authority works. “And I regret that I was not consulted before it was placed on the consent calendar,” she added. Wheeler was in fact unaware of Dean’s proposal until hours before the City Council convened. 

The item also recommended that the city manager evaluate how other cities have structured and managed their housing authorities. In addition, it asked that the city manager obtain comments on this proposal from the interested parties and return to the City Council with a detailed report within the next six months. 

According to Dean, there is nothing currently written into the charter that mandates that the housing authority keep its current makeup. As HUD has changed and as more vouchers are offered and more issues come up, the housing authority should be able to adapt to handle those issues, according to Dean. 

The BHA will meet July 25th before breaking for the summer.

3,700 to 800 A.D.: Native peoples deposit tons of sand, gravel, rock, shellfish remains and other materials into mounded “hills.”  

1902: Under the supervision of John C. Merriam, UC archeologist E.L. Furlong conducts a limited excavation, unearthing 265 artifacts which were deposited in the Museum of Anthropology. Soon after, the El Dorado Oil Works was built on and around the mound. 

1910: The shellmound is listed on an inventory, compiled by N.C. Nelson, of 425 similar mounds that encircle the Bay.  

1930s: The WPA provides federal money to fund construction of the Bay Bridge, the Eastshore Highway, the University Avenue Overpass and the culverting of the creeks into underground pipes. Spenger’s Fish Market converts its market into a large restaurant and parking lot, signaling the final flattening of the West Berkeley Shellmound. 

1950-1954: When a building is demolished UC Berkeley archeologists seize the opportunity to excavate the site further. Amongst many layers of shells, bones and stone tools about 92 human bodies were found, half of which were infants. 

1961: Amidst public outcry to halt a proposed industrial park in west Berkeley, an archeology graduate student at UC Berkeley reminds residents of the shellmound’s presence underground. 

February 7, 2000: The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve the designation of the shellmound as a city landmark. Among the criteria for approval, the commission noted, “the West Berkeley Shellmound is most highly significant to native descendants as a sacred burial ground and it is recognized that this historical resource has yielded and is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.” 

Tuesday: A public hearing before the Berkeley City Council will be held to consider an appeal filed by the city and Richard and Darlene Devecchi, to overturn the landmark designation. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on the second floor of the Old City Hall at 2134 Martin Luther King Way in Berkeley. 

Compiled by Charles McDermid

While many of her classmates are on vacation or back in their hometowns this summer, Teresa Rodriguez remains in class at the University of California, Berkeley, wrapping up a double major in English and physical anthropology.  

In August, Rodriguez not only will receive her degrees, but a $500 thank-you gift from the campus.  

With California higher education facing a so-called “tidal wave” in student enrollment during the next 10 years, UC Berkeley is offering for the first time this summer a $500 rebate to any student who graduates at the end of this year’s Summer Sessions. Campus officials hope the Graduating Seniors Rebate Program, a campus incentive to increase summer enrollment, will make room for more students in the fall.  

“The rebate offer was a clear incentive for me to finish school in the summer. Prior to now, I didn’t even know you could graduate in the summer,” said Rodriguez. “Thanks to my ‘reward,’ I will visit a couple of graduate schools where I plan to apply next year. Believe me, I couldn’t do this without the $500.”  

The popularity of Summer Sessions, which runs through August 11, has been increasing by about 8 to 10 percent for the last six or seven years. This summer, some 9,400 UC Berkeley students – about 40 percent of the undergraduate population – are in campus classrooms. Of this group, 316 students have applied for the graduation rebate.  

Penders is pleased with the response to the rebate. “Three hundred was our target,” he said.  

Another new incentive to attending Summer Sessions is a change in the eligibility requirement for the Low Income Grant Program.  

Last summer, students who received less than $1,000 a year in family support for their education were eligible.  

This year, the amount of family support was raised to less than $3,000 a year, increasing the pool of eligible students for the program.

This is something that is precious 

This is something that is ours 

This is something that we paid for 

This is something that we believe in 

This is something that we intend to keep 

Alice Walker, speaking at a rally in support of KPFA and documented in the film “KPFA on the Air” 

One year ago today thousands of listeners tuned in to KPFA radio’s most listened-to broadcast – the evening news. 

Co-anchor Mark Mericle was leading with a story on problems in the health care system when cries for help came from somewhere in the background. 

“I have belongings here…I’m nervous. I’m afraid you’re going to hurt me.” The call was more distinct as Mericle directed his microphone toward Dennis Bernstein, the host of the listener-sponsored station’s drive-time news magazine, who was being dragged by armed security guards from the room adjacent to where the news was being broadcast. 

Mericle helped get Bernstein’s calls onto the air and reported what was happening. Soon an interim station manager cut off the broadcast, ordered programmers to leave the building and began playing taped speeches on the air. He called police and ordered a citizen’s arrest of everyone who remained in the building. 

Meanwhile hundreds of listeners poured into the streets in front and beside the station and as many as could get in, joined the KPFA staff sitting inside the building on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

This drama and the subsequent three-week lockout of KPFA programmers showed the proportions to which tensions between listener-sponsors of KPFA and its governing board, the Pacifica Foundation had grown. 

Why did people pour into the streets that day, with hundreds camping out each night in front of the station during the lock-out, with 10,000 marching on July 31? 

What was the passion, the commitment, the love they felt for something as mundane as a radio station? 

A new film, produced by Veronica Selver and Sharon Wood, attempts to answer the question in a one-hour documentary they call “KPFA on the air.” 

The film, to be screened at UC Theater on July 28 and on PBS’s Point of View in September, brings to life the depth and breadth of the roots of the 51-year-old station. 

The documentary goes back to the creation of the listener-sponsored station by pacifist Lew Hill, who saw KPFA as a focal point for dialogue. 

“There were ideas that were just waiting to be pulled out,” says Hill’s widow, Joy Hill, speaking in the film.  

These ideas would be shared over the airwaves and would be diverse and contradictory. 

They would include voices as divergent as Lawrence Ferlengetti, and Edward Teller. One could hear William Mandel speaking at the House Committee on un-American Activities as well as Republican Casper Weinberger, former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.  

The diversity of ideas, over the years, has created sharp rifts within the station staff and volunteer programmers. Larry Bensky, now a station volunteer after having been removed from his paid post last year by the former Pacifica Executive Director Lynn Chadwick, recalls the time during which he was station manager and groups of people were fighting each other for a spot on the air. 

“It was not the voice of fringe forces, but open to fringe forces,” Bensky says. 

Still, listeners found the station was in the forefront, broadcasting news of the free speech movement in 1964 and the anti-Vietnam War movement that followed. 

The station has never confined itself to politics. Its musical offerings have ranged over the years from recorded bird calls, to live Mozart, rap and world music. 

KPFA listeners are as diverse as the people who program at the station, so it is not surprising that they have, at various times, led movements to reform the station from outside. 

The filmmakers touch on the protests of 1995, when Soviet expert Bill Mandel and others were taken off the air.  

“We listen to KPFA, why don’t you listen to us?” was the listeners’ cry.  

“Everyone wants a piece (of the station),” was the response of Pat Scott, KPFA station manager at the time. 

Despite ongoing struggles around programming within the station, there was tremendous unity and support behind Nicole Sawaya, popular station manager whose contract Chadwick terminated March 31. 

In fact, many people say it was Sawaya’s talent that managed to get the diverse voices working together at the station. 

The story of what happened after Sawaya was terminated, programmers fired or pulled off the air, the station locked down and reopened; the legal battles to bring democracy to the national governance of the station, with financial accountability available to all; the internal movement to bring younger voices to the station and to bring the diverse voices of people of color; the triumph of democratization of the local advisory board, currently under way – are all stories to be told. 

Perhaps the story will be told in “KPFA on the air” Part II. 

“KPFA on the air,” along with the films’ producers and KPFA staff, will be at the UC Theater, 2036 University Ave., 7:30 p.m. July 28. 

It will be broadcast on PBS’s POV in September.

Thursday, July 13

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. 

510-649-7750; higgins_edie@hotmail.com 

Movie: “In a Class of its Own” 

1 p.m. 

Prostate support group 

3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Community Health Commission Meeting 

6:45-9:30 p.m. 

Public Health Division, 2344 Sixth St. 

Items on the agenda include review of written subcommittee report on Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, and the HHS Budget update as well as the topic of medical marijuana and pesticides. 

510-644-6500 

Zoning Adjustments Board Agenda 

7 p.m. 

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

The board will discuss current business/committee appointments. Concerns relating to individual addresses are going to be brought forward. 

510-705-8111 

Friday, July 14

Conversational Yiddish 

1 p.m. 

Opera: “La Gioconda” 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Public Meeting on the Regional Airport System Plan Update 

1:30 p.m. 

MetroCenter Auditorium, 101 Eighth St., Oakland 

The public will have a chance to make public comment on the Draft Final Plan at this time. Copies of the draft are available in the main libraries, on MTC’s website, www.mtc.ca.gov, or can be requested from MTC by calling ahead. 

510-464-7815 

Berkeley Folk Dancers Beginners’ Try Outs 

7:45-10:30 p.m. 

Live Oak Park Social Hall, 1301 Shattuck Ave. 

Cost for non-members is $5. 

510-525-3030 

Saturday, July 15 

Light Search and Rescue 

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. The next class will be held on 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 

510-548-3333 

Sunday, July 16

People’s Park Rally 

1 p.m. 

People’s Park 

Emergency rally on the future of People’s Park and the 133rd anniversary of the US’s greatest strike of 1877. Come here Gina Smith, Carol Denney, Thunder, Gerald Smith, Roger Wilkins, Folk This, Leon Stevens, Clifford Fred, Michael Diehl, Michael Delacour and more. 

510-841-7460

THEATER 

ACTORS ENSEMBLE OF BERKELEY 

“Murder At The Vicarage” by Agatha Christie, July 14 through Aug. 12. Performance of the classic whodunnit. $10. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Aug. 10, 8 p.m. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 528-5620. 

CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 

“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, July 1 through July 22. Shakespeare probes the shadowy corners of the human psyche in this dark, compelling tragedy of vengeance, madness and murder most foul. $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.; July 11 and July 18, 7 p.m.; July 22, 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 

MUSIC VENUES 

ASHKENAZ 

Tamazgha, July 14, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Kotoja, Akimbo, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Resin, Caesar Myles and Dreaded Truth, Rebecca Riots, Famous Last Words, Erika Luckett, Liz Anah, July 16, 4 p.m. $8 to $25. 

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

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

Juan-Carlos Formell, July 14. $14.50 to $15.50. 

The Laura Love Band, July 15. $17.50 to $18.50. 

Pat Donohue, July 16. $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 

Jon Fromer and Friends, July 14, 8 p.m. $8 to $15. 

Ray Cepeda, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $10. 

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

924 GILMAN ST. 

Attitude Adjustment, Wolfpack, Men's Recovery Project, Axiom, July 14. 

MU330, Alkaline Trio, Link 80, Venice Shoreline Chris, Blue Meanies, Lawrence Arms, Honor System, Dan Potthast, Mike Park, July 16, 4 p.m.  

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

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

Tempest, Azigza, July 14. $8. 

Plus Ones, The Cables, Luminar, The Fitsners, July 15.  

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. 

OPERA 

THE BERKELEY OPERA 

“Beatrice and Benedick” by Hector Berlioz, July 14 through July 23. A joyous evening of wit, deception and romance based on William Shakespeare’s comedy “Much Ado About Nothing.” Jonathan Khuner conducting. Sung in English. $16 to $30 general; $24 senio rs; $15 youths age 17 and under. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. (925) 798-1300 or www.juliamorgan.org 

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 

GALLERIES  

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. 

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.

Reform possible, even on Credit Union Board 

Thank you for your coverage of the recent board of directors election for the Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union. Two of the three candidates running on the “Save Our Credit Union” slate were elected: Jackie de Bose and Naomi Rose. We had to work within the available structures, including the need to personally gather about 150 signatures per candidate, but as a result of our determination and vision, we were able to achieve the first level of our goals. 

For the Daily Planet reader who is already a member of the CCFCU, we see this as a very heartening sign, and we encourage you to become involved in your own way. Our election to the board proves that the system does work, if you use it. 

Our platform was based on reforming financial procedures and democratizing the communications process between board directors, members and staff, as well as holding to the cooperative vision. The work had begun, but is not over. As the saying goes “I will tell you no lies, I will claim no easy victories. The struggle continues.” We were initially contacted, along with running mate IfeTayo Bonner-Payne, by CCFCU Director Carole Kennerly because of questionable financial procedures. Since then, these have been substantiated by the latest report of the National Credit Union Association (NCUA) Examiner. 

You will be hearing from us in the CCFCU quarterly newsletter, which is sent to all members and available in the lobby of the Credit Union, as well. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 510-540-1076 (Jackie de Bose) or 510-923-1363 (Naomi Rose). 

Naomi Rose 

Director-elect, Cooperative Center 

Federal Credit Union Board 

Article not accurate on park’s early history 

Dan Greenman’s comments in his article, “Colorful history to People’s Park,” on page 3 of your July 11 issue, misrepresents the early history of the park. He says that the University initially purchased this block in 1957, before bulldozing it. In fact, however, the University exercised eminent domain to condemn the entire block, and then bulldozed it. Later, in court, the University admitted that it did not have any specific purpose in mind for the property when it condemned it, which made the University’s action a violation of state law. Of course by then an entire block of homes had been destroyed. 

It seems plain that the time has come for the city to purchase People’s Park in order to assure its future as a park. The University’s incessant history of bad faith in this matter, as in so many others, makes this the more pressing. 

Jim Powell 

MacArthur Fellow 

People’s Park bought with innocent blood 

If the University of California plans to keep the People’s Park restroom clean, then I’m delighted; it’s certainly more than the City of Berkeley has done in 10 years. But raise money to buy the park? With all due respect to the fund-raisers, for some of us the park has been bought and paid for in blood. 

Carol Denney 

Berkeley 

Absence of proof not proof of absence 

In commenting on the recent report on tritium at LBNL, Shelly Rosenblum of the EPA was quoted (Daily Planet, July 11) as being pleased that there was “no evidence of immediate damage” from the radioactive water and steam released in the Berkeley hills. Yet the same report goes on to criticize the very methods used to gather such evidence. The number of radioactivity monitoring sites is “well below average” while the measuring computer programs were rendered “inaccurate.” The late great Carl Sagan was fond of the aphorism: “Absence of proof is not proof of absence.” That a scientist in Rosenblum’s position should ignore scientific reasoning shakes our faith in the EPA. 

A. C. Shen 

Berkeley 

DAHRT project seems weapons-related 

Regarding the front page article of your July 6 issue headed “LBNL unaffected by UC-BO dispute,” I would like to respond. 

I quote from your article: 

“’We’re not a weapons lab,’ said Lynn Yarris, speaking for LBNL. ‘We’re not involved in these security issues.’ 

“The University of California manages three contracts for the U.S. Department of Energy – one at Los Alamos, one at Livermore and a third in Berkeley. ‘Each contract is separate,’ Yarris said.” 

Now, I would like to quote from “Why Are We Still Researching Nuclear Weapons?” by the late Lillian Nurmela (expert on nuclear issues, long time worker with Western States Legal Foundation, and member of East Bay Women for Peace): 

“The University of California at Berkeley (LBNL) in collaboration with the DOE weapons lab at Los Alamos, New Mexico, is working on the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test facility (DAHRT). The DAHRT is basically an X-ray machine with two arms at right angles that will take very fast moving pictures of the explosion of plutonium pits. Plutonium pits are the core of nuclear weapons, and plutonium is the most deadly and longest live (over 200,000 years) material in the world. 

“The DOE plans to spend more than $1 billion on expanded facilities producing plutonium pits.” 

Dorothy Vance 

Berkeley 

Higher speeds are risky to all pedestrians 

As a pedestrian safety advocate, I tell everyone who will listen about the fact that on average, a 20 mph pedestrian/car collision will result in pedestrian death less than 10 percent of the time, while a 30 mph pedestrian/car collision will result in pedestrian death more than 50 percent of the time.  

The logic of the traffic engineer, that speed limits should be raised on Claremont, because most people are speeding anyway, is similar to the logic of the professor who raises all her students’ grades because everyone failed the final exam. It is the logic of giving up because you are not able to produce the desired results. 

For the professor to then go on to claim that the student’ level of understanding has been increased as a result of the grade curve would be ludicrous. The traffic engineer’s claim that safety or “traffic calming” is promoted by raining the speed limit is equally ludicrous. 

Thanks to the engineer, we can all press down a little harder on the gas pedal as wee speed our way down the mini-highway we call Claremont, between the exit ramp and the Hills or U.C. Berkeley. We won’t worry too much about neighborhood safety since the faster we go, the more we are promoting pedestrian safety. 

Meanwhile, the neighbors who voted for the speed limit increase and the traffic engineer (who all, no doubt, graduated from that same professor’s class) can all sleep soundly, knowing that they got an “A” in neighborhood traffic calming. 

Zac Wald, Executive Director, BayPeds,  

The Bay Area Pedestrian Education Group 

Enforcement is key to Claremont safety 

While it is difficult to improve on Betty Schwendinger’s reasoned response (Perspective, July 8) to Jason Meggs’ wide-ranging divisive attack on everyone that doesn’t see the infinite wisdom of Jason’s elusive dreams of Heaven on Earth if we would only change the lane configuration on Claremont, there is a change that has occurred in Jason’s vision that is worth mentioning and an important area of agreement. In prior visions, Jason has used Valencia Street in San Francisco as an example of how wonderful Claremont would be if Berkeley did as Jason dreamed. In actual interviews with 12 businesses on Valencia Street produced the following comments; that while they originally supported re-striping, 11 believed resulting conditions were very bad and the 12th said it was not working because of lack of police enforcement. They said accidents and congestion are now worse and the non-reported and near misses are higher than before. Apparently when reality conflicts with your vision, you just ignore reality.  

The strange thing is the area of agreement. Instead of dividing the community by attacking everyone, citizens, councilmembers and the police, why not strive for further increases in traffic enforcement? Jason makes the clear issue that Berkeley needs more traffic officers. Berkeley should make that a spending priority so that safety for all of Berkeley’s residents is improved. Human safety should be an area of universal agreement and efforts to provide for only a select portion of citizens will always be divisive.  

John Cecil and Dean Metzger 

Berkeley

Berkeley community radio station KPFA has come a long way in the last year. 

On July 13, 1999 the governing board of Pacifica Foundation, which holds the license to the listener-sponsored station, locked programmers out of the building, triggering weeks of demonstrations and dozens of arrests. Today KPFA celebrates the one-year anniversary of that day as it continues implementing a new election process for its Local Advisory Board. 

Traditionally self-appointing, the Local Advisory Board will elect its members for the first time this year. Last year’s crisis brought light to the undemocratic process of appointing the LAB and was an impetus for change, said Curt Gray, a member of the KPFA local board election committee.  

When community members complained that the 22-member LAB was too similar to the national board in its practice of appointing rather than electing its board, the LAB decided to democratize. 

“I think this is an important move to build stronger links between the radio station and the community,” said Tracy Rosenberg, administrative director of Media Alliance, a San Francisco media advocacy organization. 

Sherry Gendelman, chair of the LAB said that the events over the past year raised concerns in the community. The community’s voice was no longer being recognized by Pacifica and a local governing board internally selected had little accountability to the listeners. 

A number of advisory board members and subscribers decided that elections would be another way to influence Pacifica, in addition to demonstrating and getting arrested.  

“So they decided the (lab) needed to be restructured,” Gray added. 

Those advisory board members and station subscribers hope that the new election process will serve as a model for the National Governing Board of the Pacifica Foundation, which still appoints its members internally. 

“If there is a change in the members of the national governing board, then maybe they will take an interest in involving the community with an election,” Gendelman said. 

Two-thirds of the Local Board will be elected by subscribers and the other third by KPFA staff. Most of the staff is made up of unpaid volunteers from the community. 

The nomination process began June 24 and will continue through Aug. 9. The station will mail out ballots to KPFA voters on Aug. 25 and receive them a month later. To make the election valid, 10 percent of eligible voters (over 2,000 people) must return ballots.  

To be qualified to vote, people must have either fulfilled a pledge of at least $25 to KPFA, volunteered at KPFA for at least three hours in the last year or have been a KPFA staff member in the past year. Youth 20 years old or younger will be allowed to vote in this election only, in order to increase the number of voters. 

If the ballots are returned on time, the results will be announced in late September or October. Gray said delays could cause the process to be moved back, however. 

The election committee decided to use a proportional representation format for the election, an uncommon alternative election process. Under this method, voters will rank their top three candidates to fill the seven or eight open board seats. When counting the ballots, the committee will use a process that ensures half of the elected members to be women and half to be of minority groups. 

“This way we will represent and reflect all colors and interest groups humanly possible,” Gray said. “We are setting an example where the majority will not be able to silence the minority, which is how it usually works in this country.” 

Media Alliance is presenting a nomination forum Wednesday, July 19 from 7-9 p.m. at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, 814 Mission Street second floor. For election updates, the public can call 510-848-6767, extension 463. 

Timeline of station events 

KPFA’s conflict with its license-holder, Pacifica Foundation, came to a head March 31, when popular station manager Nicole Sawaya’s contract was not renewed. The conflict continues today. 

March 31, 1999 KPFA General Manager Nicole Sawaya is terminated. Eight hundred people gather in front of the station. 

April 9, 1999 Larry Bensky, 30-year award winning broadcaster, is fired after promising on air to discuss Sawaya’s firing on his Sunday Salon program.  

April 15, 1999 One thousand people demonstrate outside Pacifica’s offices in Berkeley. 

June 18, 1999 Robbie Osman, 22-year programmer is fired by Chadwick. Two days later KPFA goes off the air for the two hours of Osman’s program. 

June 21, 1999 After camping overnight in front of KPFA and Pacifica headquarters, 14 people are arrested. 

July 13, 1999 Acting KPFA manager Garland Ganter asks security guards to escort host Dennis Bernstein out of the station. Bernstein calls out that he is being removed. Hundreds gather in front of the station at night and more than 50 are arrested. Pacifica locks up station. 

July 27, 1999 Berkeley City council holds special session and calls for KPFA to return to community control. 

July 31, 1999 More than 10,000 people march in Berkeley in support of reopening the station, Berkeley’s largest march since the Vietnam protests. 

Aug. 5, 1999 The station reopens. 

Oct. 27, 1999 A dozen affiliates boycott the station for a day. Programming Director Dan Coughlin broadcasts the news and is taken off the air. 

May 17, 2000 KPFA Local Advisory Board votes to democratize itself. Plans to implement an election process begin. 

– Dan Greenman, 

Daily Planet Staff 

Three days after Pacifica security guards took over KPFA studios on July 13 of last year, amid histrionic protestations broadcast live over the airwaves, a quieter battle was pitched against the Pacifica Foundation in Alameda County Superior Court. 

On July 16, lawyers for 18 local advisory board members filed a long-anticipated complaint against Pacifica alleging violations of the California Corporations Code.  

A year later the tent cities and chanting protesters are gone.  

But the lawsuit, Adelson et al. vs. Pacifica, lives on. Lawyers for both sides say the legal fight, which could go to trial in the next six months, is just heating up.  

Meanwhile, a separate action brought by 12 KPFA listeners is awaiting word from the State Attorney General on whether the group has standing to proceed against Pacifica. That decision on could be made in a matter of weeks. 

Both actions are seeking to redress in the courts what could not be achieved by KPFA supporters through political demonstrations last summer. Plaintiffs want the court to remove Pacifica’s current board and reinstate bylaws that allowed local advisory boards to elect representatives to Pacifica’s national governing body. The governing board sets Pacifica policy on issues such as fund-raising and programming at five Pacifica-owned radio stations located in Los Angeles, Houston, New York, Berkeley and Washington, D.C. 

Plaintiffs in both cases charge the non-profit foundation with violating the word and spirit of its decades-old corporate charter. 

“Pacifica management has deviated significantly from the express charitable purpose of the foundation,” said Dan Bartley, a lawyer representing the KPFA listener group. “The only way you can get back to that purpose is to ensure that the listener-sponsors have a voice and that means bringing a modicum of democracy to the process of selecting board members for Pacifica,” he said. 

Pacifica counters that actions taken by the governing board leading up to last summer’s KPFA crisis did not violate the corporate charter. Specifically, the 54-year-old foundation maintains that local advisory boards never had a right to elect members to the national board.  

“You can’t lose what you never had,” Pacifica attorneys asserted in legal papers filed last month. The advisory boards “have never had the right to vote on the election of directors of Pacifica or on amendments to Pacifica’s bylaws,” Pacifica Attorney Dan Rapaport of Oakland’s Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean argued. Changes to Pacifica bylaws in February 1999, he told the court, did not take away any right held by the local advisory boards, “because they had no right to elect Board members to begin with.” 

In a brief interview with the Daily Planet, Rapaport referred all questions about the case to Pacifica’s Washington, D.C. office.  

Numerous calls placed to that office seeking comment were not returned.  

So far, each side has won a round in the pretrial bout. Earlier this year the local board, represented by Dan Siegel of the Oakland law firm Siegel & Yee, defeated Pacifica’s motion to dismiss their lawsuit. But on June 23, Superior Court judge James Richman agreed with Pacifica that the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction seeking immediate action on their claims should be denied.  

In papers opposing the injunction, Pacifica attorney Rapaport maintained that the board members’ lawsuit “is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to gain control of a three hundred million dollar public interest enterprise.” Rapaport argued that the plaintiffs were attempting to “place their hand-picked allies on Pacifica’s Board of Directors,” a move he likened to “letting the fox into the chicken coop.” 

In the separate action filed in November by KPFA listener-sponsors, Spooner vs. Pacifica, 12 would-be plaintiffs are waiting for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer’s office to decide if the group has standing to proceed in quid warranto, or on behalf of the public interest. Prior approval from the state is required before suing a non-profit corporation. 

The group says it was encouraged by a report issued two weeks ago by a state legislative committee blasting Pacifica’s practices during last summer’s 17-day lockout.  

“I don’t want to count our chickens but we are certainly optimistic,” said attorney Bartley about his clients’ chances of being granted standing to sue. “We plan to file and then move very quickly,” he added. Pacifica lawyers have opposed the KPFA listener group’s motion for leave to sue, arguing that the group should not be permitted to go forward.  

Ardent feelings underlie the KPFA listener action.  

“There are a lot of people like me who feel their lives were changed because of what they heard on KPFA,” said Carol Spooner, the lead plaintiff in the action, who says she has been a KPFA listener since 1961.  

“I feel strongly that [KPFA’s] alternative voice needs to be preserved for future generations,” she said. “When KPFA is really fulfilling its mission it is saying unthinkable things, things that really expand the boundaries of the dialogue.” Pacifica has tried to stifle that dialogue at its radio stations, she says. 

But the real issue remains election of members to the national board. In the past, two members from each of five Pacifica-owned radio stations sat on the governing board. But in February 1999, Pacifica changed its long-standing practice of permitting automatic election of members from the five local advisory boards.  

“The national administration has consistently distanced itself from the communities of the five radio networks,” said Sherry Gendelman, chair of the KPFA local advisory board and one of the plaintiffs in the board member lawsuit. “They have attempted to remove the community from community radio.”  

Pacifica strenuously disagrees. Attorney Rapaport contends in briefing papers that bylaw changes instituted in February of last year were necessary for the foundation to retain critical funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Pacifica says that funding was jeopardized by FCC regulations that required a strict division between the national governing board and the community advisory boards.  

“The ultimate irony of this case,” Rapaport told the court, is that the governing board that passed the now disputed amendments was comprised mainly of people elected from the local advisory boards. “The actions taken by the Pacifica Board that plaintiffs complain of, were taken by a Board that was composed of precisely the ratio of (local to national) directors that plaintiffs now seek to impose,” he wrote.  

But Gendelman views the matter otherwise.  

“The national governing board people are not radio people and they are not political people,” she told the Daily Planet. “If we are to grow we should find a way to be true to our mission, not turn into a station like (Pacifica’s KPFT in) Houston which plays canned music 24-hours a day,” she said. 

Adds attorney Bartley, “Pacifica management has essentially turned over the reins of the organization to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That is totally inconsistent with the principles of the founding fathers of Pacifica.”  

Seniors, the disabled and long-term renters in Berkeley will get protections from landlords who want to move into the apartments they are renting – if voters pass a measure in November that the City Council put on the ballot Tuesday night. 

The ballot measure, which passed 5-1, with three abstentions, fixed the age for a senior at 60 and defined a long-term resident as one who has lived in a unit for five years. If a tenant is removed, the length a landlord must occupy the unit was increased to 36 months. Under the present law, landlords have to stay in a residence for only 24 months to prove that they “live” there, after evicting its former tenant.  

Voting in favor of the motion was the liberal/progressive block: Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek and Councilmembers Dona Spring, Linda Maio, Kriss Worthington and Margaret Breland. Councilmember Betty Olds voted in opposition and Mayor Shirley Dean and Councilmembers Polly Armstrong and Diane Woolley abstained. 

The language was altered slightly from the proposed ballot measure to exempt owners of duplexes who have owned the property for five or more years and don’t have 10 percent ownership in any other property. But landlords may remove tenants who are protected under the measure for move-in reasons if they, or their relatives, happen to be over 60 years old or disabled. 

It is hoped that the measure will combat the worst-case scenarios caused by the Costa-Hawkins Act. Passed in 1995, it allows rent to rise to market-level when a tenant moves out.  

“This will protect the most vulnerable,” said Randy Silverman, chair of the city’s rent control board. “If we can stop a handful of people being forced out of their homes, and out of Berkeley, then it helps.” 

Silverman estimated that the new measure will stop “a few dozen” unjust evictions a year. 

As expected, the council bickered over the age limit and the level of owner protection. 

Olds proposed a substitute motion that set the protected age at 65 and exempted owners of five-unit buildings who have owned the building for over five years. 

“This started out as protection for seniors and the disabled,” Olds said. “Now it covers everyone.” 

Silverman noted that the scope is still very small, and said that he “felt it was important to protect all long-term renters.”  

“Only about 25 percent of renters in Berkeley qualify as long-term,” he said. 

Olds’ measure was defeated with Dean, Armstrong, Woolley and Olds voting in favor, Shirek voting in opposition and Breland, Maio, Worthington and Spring abstaining.  

Councilmember Polly Armstrong said that Olds’ proposal was “clear-cut, simple, applies to big landlords and doesn’t shut anyone out.” 

“It easily protects the class of people we are trying to protect,” she said. Armstrong abstained in the vote that passed the measure. 

She said that it would act as an incentive for landlords to rent to students, and short-term renters because they can raise the rent more often. Silverman said the incentive is already there because of Costa-Hawkins. 

“I wish we could come up with a broader scope, but it is impossible because of Costa-Hawkins,” Silverman said. 

He noted that the disparity is huge between units that are under rent control and those that aren’t. Silverman said the exemption should be limited to two-unit owners as opposed to five-unit owners to prevent investors from buying the smaller properties and jacking up the rent.  

The Berkeley City Council’s resolution to support former Symbionese Liberation Army member Sara Jane Olson was discussed passionately but a decision was put off until the council’s July 25 meeting.  

The measure calls on Los Angeles District Attorney to drop all charges against Olson and request that Governor Gray Davis pardon her. 

Before a vote could be taken, a motion to end the meeting was accepted by the body. City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque, citing the California Open Meeting Act, told councilmembers that continuing the discussion would be a violation and moved the measure to old business where it will reappear on the July 25 agenda. 

In her statements, Councilmember Polly Armstrong seemed to link Olson to the murder of Oakland African-American educator Marcus Foster, for which the Symbionese Liberation Army claimed responsibility in 1973. 

Armstrong refused to elaborate the alleged connection between Olson and Foster, whom she accidentally referred to as Marcus Garvey, and when spurred by Councilmember Kriss Worthington said, “I don’t have to answer, my statement stands by itself.” 

Worthington, who supports the resolution put forward by the Peace and Justice Commission, said Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti is using Olson’s case “as a way to get publicity and votes.” He added that Olson reportedly joined the SLA after Foster’s murder. 

The 53-year-old Olson was arrested after 23 years of living as a fugitive shortly after she was featured on television’s “America’s Most Wanted.” 

Formerly known as Kathleen Ann Soliah, Olson faces conspiracy charges in connection with an alleged attempt to bomb police cars in 1975 in retaliation for the deaths of six members of the SLA during a shoot-out with police.  

A wife and mother of three daughters, Olson was arrested in St. Paul, Minn. where, according to her resolution, she was a “productive, civic-minded member of her community.” She was released on a $1 million bail and returned home under the electronic-monitoring plan.

Despite the protests of preservationists and campus community neighbors, a preliminary investigation into the environmental consequences of UC Berkeley’s proposed expansion of the Goldman School of Public Policy has identified no significant long term impacts associated with the project. 

The Draft Environmental Impact Report, released last week by the school’s Physical and Environmental Planning Office, noted that while parking availability would decrease and traffic increase, there would be a “less than significant” adverse impact to the site’s historical and aesthetic resources. The report is now subject to a 45-day public review and comment period before final approval by the chancellor. The anticipated end for public debate is August 18.  

“The campus has every obligation to comply to the California Environmental Quality Act which maintains that the public has a right to comment on any determinations. The proposal won’t be approved until this process is completed,” said Jennifer Lawrence, principal planner of the Physical and Environmental Planning Office. “Our office will ultimately publish a final EIR in which we address all the comments we receive. At this point, as far as I know, we haven’t gotten any.” 

Proposed is a three-story, 11,000 square-foot building – complete with two lecture halls, 10 faculty offices, several small seminar rooms and space for one or more research centers – to be constructed adjacent to the existing Goldman School. The site is presently a 22-space parking lot on the corner of Le Roy and Hearst Avenues. 

“I’m very receptive to the expansion. I think that as an addition it is well thought out. When the university finally does something that is tasteful and respectful as this we ought to give them credit,” said Councilmember Betty Olds, whose jurisdiction includes the proposed development. “They did their homework on this one. However, I would very much be against any further additions up there.” 

Many residents of the adjoining community are hardly so adamant in their approval. 

“This is the last spot north of Hearst (Avenue) that is still open space. It’s a very fragile neighborhood on the interface zone and once again the school is being a difficult neighbor,” said Jim Sharp, a Berkeley resident who lives two-blocks from the proposed development. “If you go back 60 years, Hearst had fraternities, rooming houses and old buildings, now one by one they’ve all been eliminated and replaced. The city of Berkeley isn’t getting any bigger but the university is. It’s displacing the historical amenities of the town.” 

Sharp and 25 other community members voiced their concern at meetings when the plans for the expansion were unveiled in February.  

“The feeling is that when the Soda Building was built several years ago, that was too much. Neighbors already fell half-gobbled up, to add more adds insult to injury,” said Councilmember Dona Spring. “It’s been on hiatus for a few years but the philosophy of ‘if you get the money, we’ll build it’ is back. There is little thought about how that building will (affect) Berkeley. Continued expansion leads to (traffic) congestion and a deterioration of the quality of life.” 

School officials insist that all comments on the Draft EIR will be weighed for merit and that everything possible will be done to maintain the integrity of the site. 

“The Berkeley environment is tightly impacted. We’re basically sitting on top of each other,” said Lawrence. “We’re trying to be as sensitive as possible to neighbors and the environment.”  

Preservationists claim that the historical and architectural value of the existing building, erected in 1893 by renowned Bay Area architect Ernest Coxhead, will be compromised by the expansion. The building, formerly the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house, was acquired by the University in 1966 and designated Berkeley City Landmark #66 in 1982. According to Susan Cerny, author of Berkeley Landmarks, the building is among the Bay Area’s earliest and most important and influential buildings in the “First Bay Tradition.” An historic resources inventory conducted by the California Department of Parks and Recreation in 1979 says, “This whimsical building, like Coxhead other radical designs within the Bay Area idiom displays the same love of craftsmanship. The Beta Theta Pi house is an excellent example of the English Tudor revival style, both confident and eccentric in spirit.” 

The landmark is notable as one of few structures to survive the devastating North Berkeley Fire of 1923. The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association recognized the Goldman School with an award for the school’s renovation of the facility in 1998.  

“It’s a miracle that this building exists after 107 years. Placing another structure on the site, no matter how pretty the structure is, will compromise the original building, the site and the views of the building,” said Cerny. “But times have changed and foremost is that the building is preserved. It represents a different era when land was available and the population was low. The addition reflects the increased density and the popularity of the university.” 

Wednesday, July 12

West Berkeley Redevelopment Projects  

8 a.m.  

James Kenney Community Center, 1720 Eighth St. 

City staff will discuss the planned improvements in the area, including the Berkeley rail stop, Aquatic Park, bike routes, and streetscape work throughout the neighborhood. The meeting will be of specific interest to business owners and commercial/industrial property owners in and adjacent to the West Berkeley Redevelopment Project Area. 

Ice Cream Day 

Noon-2 p.m. 

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

This is part of the Summer Science Fundays series at the Hall. Children and parents will have the opportunity to make, taste and compare ice cream. Included with regular admission to the museum. 

510-642-5132 

Deaf Issues Subcommittee 

1 p.m. 

Public Works Administration Office, First Floor Conference Room, 2201 Dwight Way 

The subcommittee will review potential projects and will make a recommendation to the Commission on Disability for a subcommittee work plan for the coming year, as well as hear a presentation on the screening of newborns for hearing loss by Alta Bates and other hospitals. 

“Dealing with the Opposite Sex” 

1:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

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 

Thursday, July 13

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: “In a Class of its Own” 

1 p.m. 

Prostate support group 

3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Community Health Commission Meeting 

6:45-9:30 p.m. 

Public Health Division, 2344 Sixth St. 

Items on the agenda include review of written subcommittee report on Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, and the HHS Budget update as well as the topic of medical marijuana and pesticides. 

510-644-6500 

Zoning Adjustments Board Agenda 

7 p.m. 

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

The board will discuss current business/committee appointments. Also concerns relating to individual addresses are going to be brought forward. 

510-705-8111 

Friday, July 14

Conversational Yiddish 

1 p.m. 

Opera: “La Gioconda” 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Public Meeting on the Regional Airport System Plan Update 

1:30 p.m. 

MetroCenter Auditorium, 101 Eighth St., Oakland 

The public will have a chance to make public comment on the Draft Final Plan at this time. Copies of the draft are available in the main libraries, on MTC’s website, www.mtc.ca.gov, or can be requested from MTC by calling ahead. 

510-464-7815 

Berkeley Folk Dancers Beginners’ Try Outs 

7:45-10:30 p.m. 

Live Oak Park Social Hall, 1301 Shattuck Ave. 

Cost for non-members is $5. 

510-525-3030 

Saturday, July 15

Light Search and Rescue 

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. The next class will be held on 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 

510-548-3333 

Sunday, July 16

People’s Park Rally 

1 p.m. 

People’s Park 

Emergency rally on the future of People’s Park and the 133rd anniversary of the US’s greatest strike of 1877. Come here Gina Smith, Carol Denney, Thunder, Gerald Smith, Roger Wilkins, Folk This, Leon Stevens, Clifford Fred, Michael Diehl, Michael Delacour and more. 

510-841-7460 

Rent Board nominations 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Progressives will nominate a slate of candidates for the November election. 

“In Our Own Hands” 

2-4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

This film, part of the Sundays at the BRJCC Cinema series, features lively interviews and rare archival footage telling the story of a group of Jewish volunteers from Palestine who battled to become a fighting unit in the British army during World War II. A $2 donation is suggested. 

510-848-0237 

“Free Meditation Seminar” 

2:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 

Experience the Awaking of the soul through mediation on the Inner Light and sound. This event is free of charge. 

510-845-9648

THEATER 

ACTORS ENSEMBLE OF BERKELEY 

“Murder At The Vicarage” by Agatha Christie, July 14 through Aug. 12. Performance of the classic whodunnit. $10. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Aug. 10, 8 p.m. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 528-5620. 

CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 

“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, July 1 through July 22. Shakespeare probes the shadowy corners of the human psyche in this dark, compelling tragedy of vengeance, madness and murder most foul. 

$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.; July 11 and July 18, 7 p.m.; July 22, 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 

MUSIC VENUES 

ASHKENAZ 

Billy Dunn, July 12, 9 p.m. $8. 

Babatunde Olatunji, July 13, 9 p.m. $11. 

Tamazgha, July 14, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Kotoja, Akimbo, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Resin, Caesar Myles and Dreaded Truth, Rebecca Riots, Famous Last Words, Erika Luckett, Liz Anah, July 16, 4 p.m. $8 to $25. 

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

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

Dan Crary and Beppe Gambetta, July 12. $15.50 to $16.50. 

Bill Evans, Avram Siegel, Marty Cutler, July 13. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Juan-Carlos Formell, July 14. $14.50 to $15.50. 

The Laura Love Band, July 15. $17.50 to $18.50. 

Pat Donohue, July 16. $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 

War!, July 12, 7 p.m. $10. 

Jon Fromer and Friends, July 14, 8 p.m. $8 to $15. 

Ray Cepeda, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $10. 

Dya Singh, July 16, 8 p.m. $18. 

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

924 GILMAN ST. 

Attitude Adjustment, Wolfpack, Men's Recovery Project, Axiom, July 14. 

MU330, Alkaline Trio, Link 80, Venice Shoreline Chris, Blue Meanies, Lawrence Arms, Honor System, Dan Potthast, Mike Park, July 16, 4 p.m.  

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

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

Cadillac Angels, Rip Carson and the Twilight Trio, July 13. $5. 

Tempest, Azigza, July 14. $8. 

Plus Ones, The Cables, Luminar, The Fitsners, July 15.  

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. 

OPERA 

THE BERKELEY OPERA 

“Beatrice and Benedick” by Hector Berlioz, July 14 through July 23. A joyous evening of wit, deception and romance based on William Shakespeare’s comedy “Much Ado About Nothing.” Jonathan Khuner conducting. Sung in English. 

$16 to $30 general; $24 senio rs; $15 youths age 17 and under. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. (925) 798-1300 or www.juliamorgan.org 

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 

“Doug Aitken/MATRIX 185: Into the Sun,” July 9 through Sept. 3. An exhibit of works primarily in video and film, using the interplay of art and media to evoke deserted landscapes. Artist’s Talk, July 9, 3 p.m. Doug Aitken discusses his installation. In Gallery 1. 

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. 

“This is Your Heart!” ongoing. An in teractive exhibit on heart health. 

“Good Nutrition,” ongoing. This exhibit includes models for making balanced meals and an exercycle for calculating how calories are burned. 

“Draw Your Own Insides,” ongoing. Human-shaped chalkboards and models with removable organs allow visitors to explore the inside of their bodies. 

“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. 

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.

A lot has been written about the just-completed year at Berkeley High: the school’s rocky start, the near-revolt of students, the departure of yet another principal from a campus that many would describe as dysfunctional, the ongoing struggle to bridge the academic achievement gap. 

In the middle of it all for nine months was Meredith Maran, a local author who spent the year following the daily routines, the challenges, the travails and the accomplishments of three Berkeley High students. 

She’s no stranger to the campus: Her two sons attended Berkeley High, and she’s been writing about the school off and on for the last 14 years. Her first article, back in 1986, focused on a girl who wanted to take a female date to the prom, and Maran has written two previous books about her experiences at the high school. 

This time around, the author is a silent observer until the final chapter. Maran’s upcoming book, “Class Dismissed: A Year in the Life of an American High School, a Glimpse into the Heart of a Nation,” follows three BHS students through the 1999-2000 school year, three students who “beat the odds.” A bi-racial, African-American-identified super-achiever, who has cared for her younger brother since she was 10, on her way to UC Berkeley this fall. An affluent, white, half-Jewish son of a computer consultant mother and a drug-addicted father who died mysteriously last year – a teen who hangs out with the wealthiest, most privileged kids at Berkeley High. A football star who’s functionally illiterate but still dreams of being the first in his family to go to college, a student who fits and fights the stereotype of the African-American male athlete. 

“I wanted kids who both seemed to match and fly in the face of stereotypes,” Maran said during an interview last week in her North Oakland home, just a pebble’s throw away from Berkeley. “Ultimately, my goal with this book is to challenge readers to challenge their stereotypes.” 

Maran began working on the project last July, months before she had a contract from a book publisher. She called several BHS teachers she knew and asked for the names of students who might be appropriate “candidates” for this kind of book. By the time the school year began, that list was narrowed down to eight students, though one dropped out early in September. 

Once she got a book deal – from St. Martin’s Press, which will publish her work in October – Maran quickly realized that there was no way she could follow seven students for the whole year, or effectively capture their stories in one book. She and her assistant sat down and independently came up with the same list of three students to include in the book. 

While the stories of those three teens are the heart of the book, it’s Maran’s final chapter that is likely to generate public discussion. In her “afterword,” she offers five recommendations for improving public education in America – and here in Berkeley. 

• Abolish private schools. 

Private schools, Maran contends, are the “escape hatch” that allows society’s wealthiest and most privileged families to avoid public education, thereby maintaining inequity. 

• Make public schools more like private schools. 

“Everything parents pay for when they write a check to private schools is replicable in public schools, if America is willing to write the check,” she says. 

It’s a matter of how the country uses its resources, Maran said, advocating an exponential increase in per-pupil spending. She also recommends smaller high schools, ideally, of no more than 1,000 students; smaller classes, with no more than 20 students; and more counselors, who can be genuine allies with students. 

• Abolish segregated schools and segregated classes. 

Continued use of “neighborhood schools” around the country maintains uneven economic and social playing fields, Maran believes. She advocates adoption of plans similar to the one used by the Berkeley Unified School District, using busing and parent choice, even though the BUSD’s system could face legal challenges in the months ahead. 

• Pay teachers what they’re worth. 

Again, this is a question of how America uses its resources, Maran says. Should a teacher earn as much money as a sales clerk, or a prison guard, or an advertising executive, or a senator? 

• Get families into schools. 

While the other proposals may be too “ideological” for some people to accept in other parts of the country, particularly the first and third recommendations, this seems to be a universally accepted concept – yet it’s not universally practiced. 

In most schools, Maran says, families that come from more privileged backgrounds are more likely to get involved. They have the resources, the time and the motivation to work with the PTA – it’s actually PTSA at Berkeley High, for parents, teachers AND students – volunteer in the classroom and keep their kids accountable. 

That corresponds with more student involvement and often results in higher student achievement. 

“Kids who push themselves to the front of the line usually come from families already at the front of the line and who have taught their kid to do that,” she said. 

So, Maran offers several tangible ideas to encourage more parental participation: Require employers to give parents and guardians an hour off each week to volunteer in their children’s schools, a policy already in place in the U.S. military; provide child care, food and translations for evening events, and make sure information is distributed to all parents, which means not using e-mail until all families are online; turn high schools into community centers, where families can get the help they need to assist their students; and encourage community use of school facilities. 

And as Berkeley High prepares for yet another year of major transition – a new principal, three new vice principals, a fire-damaged B Building whose fate remains unclear – it’s likely you’ll find Maran around the campus, volunteering in the classroom and helping the school move ahead. 

“I just can’t leave that school alone,” she said. “It’s America. It’s a cliché to say Berkeley High is a microcosm of American, but it is".  

The City Council decided Tuesday to locate and count existing wells and aquifers. The unanimous vote means that the $15,000 allocated to the survey in last month’s budget can be spent. The question lingering on, however, is exactly how far the funds will go. 

“Fifteen thousand dollars will pay for the survey and maybe help us dig up one well,” said Nabil Al Hadithy, the hazardous materials supervisor of the Division of Toxics Management, who is in charge of implementing the survey. “We can’t do much more unless we find alternative sources of money to augment the survey.” 

According to the proposal authored by Councilmember Kriss Worthington and citizen activist L.A. Wood and supported by the Community Environmental Advisory Commission, the deep aquifer starts at the East Bay Hills and gets thicker and deeper to the west where it reaches depths greater than 300 feet. This deep aquifer is thought to be clean but insufficient to generate enough water for a municipality. This is the aquifer that was tapped by households during the early parts of the last century with hundreds of domestic wells. Many are still in existence. Over the years, the shallow aquifer has been impacted in Berkeley by leaking underground fuel tanks, leaking sewers and industrial pollutants. The amended plan states that Berkeley has no existing drinking water uses for the groundwater. 

The document goes further to state that the lack of drinking water wells in Berkeley may be used as a reason to deny polluters the state funds to clean up fuel releases from underground tanks. It is for this reason that the city has proposed to survey groundwater resources for possible uses, such as emergency municipal and domestic drinking water sources for irrigation of landscaping and gardens and for industrial and commercial use. 

Wood has played a key role in initiating dialogue about delving into groundwater resources. According to him, “round one” was addressing the containment zone policy – essentially the assertion that if contaminants are left in place, they will take care of themselves by the process of natural biodegration. Wood considers the well-water issue to be round two in this battle. 

“We have to fight for our environment, even in Berkeley we have to fight,” Wood added. 

Al Hadithy warns that with the existing funds the extent of what may be done is limited. He did say, however, that the potential of what could be done with wells is endless. They may be used to fight fires, irrigate land and perhaps even be used to augment the existing drinking water supply. 

Wood referred to the allocation of $15,000 with decidedly more optimism. 

“It is symbolic, but its not just symbolic,” he said. 

With the substantiation of the initial survey, matching funds from other sources may be achieved. 

“It will attempt to demystify well and well water in Berkeley by going out and surveying all known wells, characterizing them for construction and sampling them. It will help empower individuals. It is a chance for Berkeley to take charge of something that we have dominion over. The process of our regulatory standards will change based on this.” 

John Selawsky, environmental commission chair, has his own take on the situation, but agrees with Wood’s optimism. “Where there’s a will there’s a way,” he said.  

Selawsky added that it was up to Berkeley to move in the direction of a new way looking at water resources and working out an emergency water use plan for its existing groundwater. He also added that some changes in the wording that the water control board has been using to classify groundwater does seem to allude to the fact that Berkeley may be in fact “moving in that direction.” 

In 1910 there were 3,400 tapped wells in Berkeley. At that time the presence of wind mills and above-ground water sources were quite common. It was not until the 1920s and 1930s that households got into water contamination issues and started to rely on alternate sources of water. The existence of underground wells and aquifers, the quality of these sources and their yields is, therefore according to Wood, quite significant. 

It will serve to validate the assertion that the chemical industry, inclusive of which are gasoline stations, have been leaking petroleum and contaminating groundwater. Looking at “groundwater as a potential drinking water source” will also give the environmental activist another bartering chip when negotiating cleanup issues with the city and industry. 

According to L.A. Wood, the ground water issue is the biggest little environmental project around because understanding groundwater is fundamental to every environmental issue. 

“Everything will be impacted even the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and its sampling and environmental monitoring. Because now they won’t be able to hide behind the assertion that no one uses the groundwater,” Wood added. 

“People really have no idea just how far this meager little fifteen thousand dollars will go".  

An East Bay version of San Francisco’s famous Mediterranean sidewalk cafe Enrico’s was supposed to be the cornerstone eatery in Berkeley’s emerging downtown Arts District. 

Instead, there is a new alliance between the players at Enrico’s and Berkeley’s own Cesar. They are collaborating to create a new restaurant at 2100 Shattuck, which, like Enrico’s, figures to feature Mediterranean cuisine 

It will offer a “Parisian slant,” said Mark McLeod, co-founder of Enrico’s and a partner in the new restaurant, tentatively called “the 2100.” It’s planned to open by mid-November. 

McLeod, Enrico’s head chef David Stevenson teamed up with Richard Mazzera, Dennis LaPayaude and Steven Singer of Cesar, when McLeod’s turned the lease over to the new partnership, formally called Restaurant Holdings Inc. in June. McLeod said he got involved in a number of business ventures and couldn’t take on any more, so he decided to sell the lease to the new partnership. 

The “Parisian slant” will be more informal and “brassarie,” as opposed to “French high cuisine,” McCloud said. 

“It will all be done very informally, like a big party,” he said. “It won’t be a classical French restaurant with hushed tones and formal service.” 

Stevenson will oversee cuisine at the new establishment, but will continue to cook at Enrico’s. 

“Dave and I will still be involved in Enrico’s,” McLeod said. “And they (Mazzera, LaPayaude and Singer) will still be involved at Cesar’s.”  

The restaurant is planned to serve as a gateway to the city’s developing Arts District, which is currently in the works along Addison Street. The entire block will display art, from poetry underfoot on the sidewalk to visual art on the window’s of the Addison Street Garage. It will accompany the 600-plus seat expansion of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, which will serve as the Arts District anchor. 

McLeod said the new restaurant will be “moderately priced and serve a lot of different food.” A large bar and an indoor/outdoor patio seating for 40 will be nestled against the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Addison Street. But “you won’t be sitting on the sidewalk,” McLeod said. “You’re protected, but it feels like you’re outside.” 

On the inside, there will be an area where a jazz band will play from 8 p.m. until midnight. Downstairs a 40-seat private dining room is planned, which will also serve as a conference room.  

The Goldman School of Public Policy Expansion Draft Environmental Impact Report, released last week by the UC Berkeley’s Physical and Environmental Planning Office, says there are no significant and unavoidable long term impacts associated with this project. 

According to the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970, a significant impact is “…a substantial, or potentially substantial, adverse change in any of the physical conditions within the area affected by the project.” 

The siting of the proposed building, on the corner of Le Roy and Hearst Avenues, is adjacent to the former Beta Theta Pi fraternity house, a facility designed in 1893 by renowned architect Ernest Coxhead presently houses the Goldman School of Public Policy. 

The report says the expansion: 

• Would result in a less than significant adverse impact to the context of the historic resources.  

• Would present a less than significant alteration of the appearance of the site as seen from locations along Le Roy and Hearst Avenues. 

• Would slightly increase traffic delays at some intersections near the proposed project. 

• Would eliminate 22 parking spaces from the campus parking supply. 

• May increase transit use in the area. 

• Would significantly increase noise during construction in the short term. 

The complete Draft EIR report is available to the public at 300 A&E Building, just north of Sproul Hall on the UC Berkeley campus. A Public Hearing will be held on Wednesday, July 26 at 7 p.m. in the conference room of the GSPP at 2607 Hearst Ave. The public is invited to attend the hearing and offer comments.

Last week’s decision by UC Berkeley officials to end a maintenance agreement with the city for People’s Park has led to some controversy in the city and left community members questioning the park’s future. 

City officials say the decision is another of its recent disputes with the university, while UC officials insist they are just trying to save some money. 

“This is not part of any major plan for the park,” said Irene Hegarty, university director of community relations. “We have (simply) taken full responsibility to maintain the park. This was more cost effective for the university.” 

In 1991 the university leased portions of the park to the city and shared costs for park maintenance. When that lease agreement ran out in 1995, the University started a new contract where it paid the city to take care of maintenance. 

UC owns the land but has paid the city an annual fee of $195,000 to clean the bathrooms, maintain landscaping and coordinate youth programs. This year the city suggested increasing the contract to $248,000 to hire more staff. UC officials decided not to pay the fee and, instead, take over all maintenance duties when the four-year contract expired July 1. 

Hegarty said that the university has been mowing the grass and pruning the trees for the last four years. 

Councilmember Dona Spring considers the decision a “great disappointment.” 

“We had a peaceful contract for nine years with co-management of the park,” she said 

The city and university have clashed recently over land-use issues. In the last few months, controversy has arisen about a question of lighting at Memorial Stadium, traffic created by the Haas Pavilion, plans to build a parking structure and offices on the Underhill block and more. 

“It has all come to a breaking point and People’s Park is the nail in the coffin,” Spring said. 

The university said it will not change the use of the park – it will remain public and the community gardens will still exist. The city’s youth programs offered in the park are likely to end, however, as the university has stopped funding them. 

Spring said that the university has always wanted more of its students to use the park - in place of homeless people - and that it does not want to fund existing programs for the homeless. Spring also said that she had noticed first hand that litter had not been picked up in the park since the university took control and that the rest rooms were not furnished with toilet paper. 

“The University said it would maintain the park and so far it hasn’t stepped up to the plate and taken that responsibility,” Spring said. 

Hegarty said that UC does not want to kick the homeless out of People’s Park but that it would like to see more students using the space. Hegarty also said she was unaware of any maintenance problems in the park and that even during the years that the city maintained it, it went unkempt at times. 

Mayor Shirley Dean said she was disappointed with the decision and said that she would like to meet with Chancellor Robert Berdahl to mend relations with UC Berkeley. 

“I want to sit down with him and find some area of agreement,” she said. 

Lisa Stephens, a parks and recreation commissioner for the city, said that she was not in favor of the university terminating the contract. 

“One of the reasons why we’ve maintained peace over the years is because the city has been involved in the park’s maintenance,” she said. “It’s what the city does best. The university’s business is education.” 

Stephens has also been skeptical about what maintenance UC has taken over in the last two weeks. She said she received three reports last Thursday from homeless people that UC police officers threw out their possessions in the park, which she considers signs of deterioration in the relations between the university and community over People’s Park. University police deny the accusation.

Tuesday, July 11

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 

“Tell the Children: Letters to Miriam” 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Hear about the experiences of a physician during World War II and the Holocaust in Eastern Europe, with Dora Sorell. 

510-644-6107 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

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

510-548-3333 

City Council executive session 

5:30 p.m. 

1900 Addison St., Third Floor Conference Room 

Consider initiating validation action on Measure G bonds. 

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 Email, creating Web pages, JavaScript and a simple overview of programming. The course is oriented for adults. 

510-644-8511 

City Council meeting 

7 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 

Wednesday, July 12

West Berkeley Redevelopment Projects  

8 a.m.  

James Kenney Community Center, 1720 Eighth St. 

City staff will discuss the planned improvements in the area, including the Berkeley rail stop, Aquatic Park, bike routes, and streetscape work throughout the neighborhood. The meeting will be of specific interest to business owners and commercial/industrial property owners in and adjacent to the West Berkeley Redevelopment Project Area. 

Ice Cream Day 

Noon-2 p.m. 

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

This is part of the Summer Science Fundays series at the Hall. Children and parents will have the opportunity to make, taste and compare ice cream. Included with regular admission to the museum. 

510-642-5132 

Deaf Issues Subcommittee 

1 p.m. 

Public Works Administration Office, First Floor Conference Room, 2201 Dwight Way 

The subcommittee will review potential projects and will make a recommendation to the Commission on Disability for a subcommittee work plan for the coming year, as well as hear a presentation on the screening of newborns for hearing loss by Alta Bates and other hospitals. 

“Dealing with the Opposite Sex” 

1:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

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

Rent control hikes housing costs in Berkeley 

Housing costs have increased partially as the result of the regulations Ms. Stefanie Bernay (Perspective, July 8-9) enforces. Her Draconian system prevents leases with expiration dates.  

Landlords must protect themselves from the possibility of tenants who “homestead” units for decades locking rents at levels severely below market value and operating costs. Students are hurt most by this. If landlords could negotiate enforceable term leases (say one to four years) they could provide housing at lower rates knowing a rent increase could be had at leases end. Instead the rent board has supplanted the right and privilege of citizens to negotiate contracts with an Orwellian bureaucracy. 

Last year the rent board allowed a $6 monthly increase on controlled units. This absurd and punitive number further motivates landlords to push rents up when possible. We could have a reasonable system that allows a 3 or 4 percent annual increases commensurate with operating costs. 

Rent control has reduced the number of rental units in Berkeley. It adds to the housing shortage. We will not solve housing problems by punishing those who provide housing. 

Rent control privileges a small group while injuring the rest. The group it “helps” is random, not based on income or ability to pay. It is unfair, intrusive and reactionary. 

The rent board spends $2.5 million a year demonizing property owners and polarizing the community. Instead that money should be used to build housing and assist those who really need it. Ms. Bernay is part of the problem. 

John Koenigshofer 

Berkeley

It was a beautiful, sunny, blue sky afternoon Saturday in Berkeley’s Cedar Rose Park when the Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe opened the East Bay leg of its 38th annual season of free outdoor theater with a production of the company’s new musical play “Eating It,” a cautionary environmental science fiction tale about genetically modified agriculture, known in some circles as “frankenfood.” 

“Eating It” is set 200 years in the future on a blighted earth where rich people live in protective domes and no one has seen the sun, sky or trees for years. Mother Earth has been destroyed by a genetically altered “supercorn” that got out of control, cross-pollinating with other plants to destroy the world’s biosystem and create a global wasteland. 

“Eating It” addresses the conflict between using cutting-edge science and engineering to do good for people, but doing it in an overly hasty way that doesn’t allow a clear understanding of negative consequences that may exist down the road. 

So when elderly supercorn designer Dr. Isaac Albright (Michael Gene Sullivan) gets a chance to travel back in time, he is able to reconsider his earlier invention of supercorn. Will he be able to change the future? You’ll have to go see the show. 

The Mime Troupe’s all-Equity cast turns in the strong, satirical, broad commedia-type performances that the company is well-known for. The acting under Dan Chumley’s direction in this show seems especially strong. 

Because this is the Mime Troupe, the politics are not subtle, and they are predictably P.C. Locally, the Mime Troupe tends to preach to the choir, and the company found an appreciative audience in the Berkeley crowd that turned out Saturday. 

Time-traveling back to the year 2000, Dr. Albright finds his ambitious youthful self developing a supercorn to feed the world. 

His staff is under pressure to make supercorn a financial success, because an earlier biotech project failed. That project was an attempt to combine cow genes and corn genes to create self-buttered corn. 

Trying to avoid some of the negative associations that go along with the word “bio-engineering,” young Albright’s marketing people come up with the concept “neo-natural” to describe his new supercorn. In ads, they describe themselves as “people against starving children.” 

Soon anti-biotech protesters take to the street. Two folk-singing Canadian corn farmers (Amos Glick and Victor Toman) sing a very funny song “Savin’ Seeds.” They ask why do they now have to pay for seeds that nature used to provide for free. 

Riot cops bust up a protest outside an international food conference (referred to by protesters as an international greed conference). Remarks biotech CEO Bob Murtaugh (Ed Holmes), “Free speech. That’s why we invented tear gas.” 

“Eating It” hits several different themes. It’s about cutting research corners for profit, with bad consequences down the road. 

The play also debates whether you should make a product just because you have the technological and scientific knowledge and skill to do it. 

The story is further complicated by the fact that the biotech entrepreneurs are black. And Albright’s wife and research partner Synthia (Velina Brown) is actually the smarter scientist of the two, doing the key creative work, although her husband is happy to take the credit for it. 

Music is a great part of Mime Troupe shows and the actors all sing well. The show’s lyrics were written by Bruce Barthol, a Country Joe and the Fish alum and long-time Mime Troupe musician. The music is by Barthol and Jason Sherbundy. 

A young Dr. Albright sings a heartfelt song about making it as a biotech entrepreneur, “This is My Time.” Battling anti-biotech forces in “Servant of Science,” Synthia sings of an opponent “I am Galileo and she is the Church.” 

In “5 D’s,” Albright and biotech CEO Bob do a humorous rap about their marketing strategies. 

And as always, the play is preceded by a half-hour of great jazz by the Mime Troupe Band (Sherbundy, Alex Budman and Mark Latimer). So arrive early! 

“Eating It” plays at various outdoor locations throughout the Bay Area through Aug. 27. For schedule information, call 415-285-1717, or visit the web site (www.sfmt.org).

A preliminary technical report on radiological monitoring at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and its micro facilities nestled near the university campus, was released last week to fiercely divided reviews. 

The report conducted by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Heidleberg, Germany, was designed to investigate tritium emissions at the facility and, though it stated there was no evidence of immediate damage on the environment, watchdog community groups are still crying foul. 

The report indicated a need for expanded ambient air monitoring for tritium. 

“The number of monitoring sites at the lab is well below the (Department of Energy) average,” according to the report. 

Another concern, according to the report, is the flawed method of measuring the release of tritium. 

“Releases of tritium are often in short burst. This renders the computer program used to determine compliance … to be inaccurate,” the report states. 

Due to these factors there is a large margin of error in the conclusions drawn in the report, which is the first in a three-part contract.  

“It was a very unfortunate statement,” said Gene Bernardi of the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste, in response to the finding that “there was no evidence” to suggest that anyone had been exposed. “There was a lot said in that report, but the lab took that part and just ran with it,” Bernardi added. 

“The report said there is no evidence of damage. But there is also no evidence that it doesn’t cause any damage… When you are talking about cancer, you’re not talking about an immediate danger. It may take a generation to feel it.”  

High tritium emissions have been linked to low sperm count, cancer, sterility and mental retardation according to Bernardi. “What’s clear from this report is that you really can’t tell what the heck is going on.” 

The Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste has been advocating the closure of the lab. 

On the other side of the coin is the lab itself and the Environmental Protection Agency. “We were very pleased to see the words that there was no real damage,” said Shelly Rosenblum, environmental engineer for the EPA. It is an ongoing contract and we will continue to take further recommendations but “generally we are very pleased,” Rosenblum added. 

The lab’s Community Relations Officer Terry Powell said the lab has done ongoing monitoring since the 1970’s, and there have been no indicators that there are any significant damages. The existing monitors show that the lab is well below acceptable levels, she said.  

In addition to the discrepancy in interpreting the report is the issue of citizen representation, or the lack there of, on the Laboratory’s Environmental Sampling Project Task Force. The Task Force was established to involve a broad array of stakeholders in the review of and comment on a draft-sampling plan, according to Powell. 

“We were totally against the task force,” said Bernardi. “They were in total control of who would be on task force. Only two neighborhood groups were represented. Most of them are from regulatory agencies, not the community, and not at all from concerned citizens.” 

The list of complaints waged against the lab by Bernardi include manning its Task Force with people with conflicting interest, working in collusion with the EPA to cover up past, current and future problems at the facility and ignoring the concerns of citizens in an effort to appease big business. 

“The lab is managed by the university. The university is run by the regents who are very pro-corporate. Big business doesn’t like to be told they have to spend money on waste cleanup,” Bernardi said. 

“At Melvin Calvin facility they found Tritium in 54 percent of the samples. And that place is within 90 meters to a child day care facility in Girton Hall. Keeping it open in criminal really,” Bernardi said.  

Powell argued, however, that the EPA “is not at all in collusion with us. They’ve been double checking on us through their own split sample program. In both samples, the lab has been reporting very low emissions,” Powell said in reference to the allegation of collusion. “You should ask [Rosenblum] what he thinks about that, I don’t think he will like that very much.” 

“We take the whole issue very seriously. Safety to the public is a highest priority. To me, my family, my neighbors, it is very important. I consider it a personal responsibility to reduce hazards,” said Rosenblum in reference to the allegation that the EPA is making light of the potential threat of tritium. 

After hearing a bevy of complaints from the public and the press about the length of council meetings and the deferral of issues until later dates, City Auditor Ann-Marie Hogan and Councilmember Margaret Breland have recommended methods to control the madness in which the City Council conducts business. 

But Mayor Shirley Dean opposes Breland’s strategy, noting “critical differences” in their approaches. Dean has proposed a few amendments to complement Hogan’s plan, which may delay hopes to streamline the city government, adding to the irony. 

Hogan’s plan calls for items that are primarily ceremonial or advisory to be consent calendar items and all other council-initiated items to be placed on the action calendar. It also asks for action calendar items to be sent to staff 20 days before a council meeting for review. 

Herein lies the disagreement. 

Dean says that it would be “wasteful” for all action calendar items to be reviewed and suggests that council use a two-vote system to implement action items. 

The first vote would be preliminary and signify the council’s interest in an analysis of the item, which would be returned to council by staff within 30 days. Then the item would be up for the second and final vote. 

Both hope the recommendation, its amendments by Dean, and Breland’s proposal to limit the agenda items get addressed tonight on an agenda. 

Tonight’s agenda currently has 85 items on it. Dean said getting to the discussion “doesn’t seem likely.” 

“I hope they make these items a priority,” Hogan said. She wants the council to vote tonight so the rules would be implemented on Sept. 19, the first meeting after the council’s summer break. 

Breland’s recommendation, the first of the three, suggests that the council adopt a policy limiting the number of items each member is allowed to three. The recommendation would also mandate that no further items be allowed onto the agenda until the original items have been addressed. 

The current system allows members to put an unlimited number of items on the agenda. 

Breland said that Hogan’s plan “is more complicated and takes more action to implement.” 

She said, however, that the council can take from Hogan’s plan and add to hers. 

Hogan said that most councilmembers are in favor of Breland’s proposal, but Dean is opposed. 

“This is a way that the majority could control what the minority does,” Dean said. 

“If someone submitted three items, they could be removed and held on the calendar,” she said. “And they couldn’t submit any more until those were addressed. It can be used to stop people who are not part of the so-called council majority.” 

Despite all the differences, all three agree something should be done. Dean suggests a “clean-up meeting” some time during the month where the agenda can be completed, though there isn’t much support, she said. 

Dean and Hogan are also in agreement that it is important not to send the proposal to the Council Rules Subcommittee. Hogan’s report calls this “unrealistic” because the City Council is essentially a two-party system and the rules committee is divided between the two factions.

At tonight’s meeting, the City Council will chew over a big list of items, including an amendment to curb the circumstances in which a landlord can boot a tenant out and move in. 

The amendment would stop landlords from removing a tenant if any other comparable units they own become vacant. It would require that the landlord offer any available non-comparable unit to the tenant. In addition, it would extend the time period landlords or their relatives must live there from 24 to 36 months. 

Also it would forbid a landlord from evicting a tenant who is 60 years old or over or disabled. If the landlord is considered a large property owner, defined as one who owns 10 percent or more of the property, and the tenant has been living there for five years or more, the tenant cannot be evicted. But the landlord, who owns just one unit or is trying to place a relative who is 60 or older, can still evict the tenant. 

It would also allow tenants to recover attorney’s fees if they have won a wrongful evic case. The council, however, is likely to argue about the age of the tenant – is a senior 60, 62 or 65? They may also debate whether they should exempt a landlord who owns only a duplex and lives in one of the units. 

Also on tap is the decision to revoke the permit of Kragen Auto Parts, the culmination of a five-year-old battle between the store and its neighbors. 

Nearby residents of the business at California Street and University Avenue contend that Kragen allows customers to work on their cars outside the store, resulting in improper disposal of fluids and parts. In April, the Zoning Adjustments Board voted to revoke the 12-year-old business’s license. The city held a public hearing last month, and will make its decision tonight. 

The council will also consider: 

• The adoption of an ordinance to prohibit smoking in designated children’s play areas. 

• The recommendation to appoint Mayor Shirley Dean and Councilmember Dona Spring to negotiate issues concerning UC Berkeley’s proposed seismic replacement building on the Oxford Tract. 

• The recommendation to work toward passing a law which would exempt densely populated urban streets from “speed trap” laws. 

• Review of plans submitted by the Claremont Hotel for its proposed expansion. 

• The recommendation to direct the staff to pursue funding sources to obtain $800,000 to restore amenities that were eliminated from the I-80 overpass budget. 

• A request to the city manager to implement a stepped-up enforcement plan for the removal of litter, debris and abandoned furniture from private property. 

• The recommendation that the city manager analyze whether the Berkeley Housing Authority should continue to be composed of members of the City Council plus two Housing Authority tenants or be restructured. The analysis will include how other cities structure their Housing Authority. 

• The adoption of a resolution asking local newspapers either to voluntarily decrease or eliminate tobacco advertising or place a free public service anti-smoking advertisement that is equivalent and adjacent to each and every page of tobacco advertisement. And to forward a copy of the resolution to the managing editors of area newspapers. 

• A recommendation that the City Attorney forward copies of the draft “Medical Marijuana Ordinance,” and a copy of the Oakland ordinance to the Health Commission. 

• Refer the Toward Utility Reform Network comments to the Task Force on Undergrounding Utilities and its subcommittee. 

• Adoption of a resolution requesting the Los Angeles District Attorney to drop all charges against Sara Jane Olson AKA Kathleen Ann Soliah and ask Gov. Gray Davis to pardon her during her period of alleged activities with the Symbionese Liberation Army. 

• Instruct a letter to be sent to the San Francisco Water Quality Control Board and the State Water Resources Control Board requesting they maintain the highest possible uses of groundwater in the Berkeley sub-basin in the amended Water Quality Control Plan. 

The council will also vote whether or not to adopt a resolution to increase the contract with ELS Elbasani and Logan Architects by $71,500 to add interior design services to the Civic Center Building, which includes the design for a cafe. The current contract amount is $2.5 million. 

The council will go into closed session at 5:30 p.m. to discuss validation actions in connection with the expenditure of the Measure G bond funds for acquiring and improving the Cragmont reservoir and acquiring a site for and developing a joint hills fire station. 

The City Council meets in closed session, after a 10-minute public comment period, at 5:30 p.m. at 1900 Addison St. 

The council meets at 7 p.m. at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

Meetings are broadcast on KPFB, 89.3-FM and telecast on TV-25.

Students, shoppers and UC Berkeley employees had their Monday morning disrupted when fire alarms went off in the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union Building and Eshleman Hall, near the intersection of Telegraph and Bancroft Way. 

The fire alarms were not triggered by a fire, but by a broken fire sprinkler in the parking garage under Eshleman Hall. The broken sprinkler flooded a little section of the garage closest to Eshleman shortly after 11 a.m. 

“Yeah, I was down there clocking in, and then it (the alarm) started there and progressed up here (the ASUC),” said Juan SorIa, sales associate at Special Services and a junior at UC Berkeley. 

The sprinkler head was sheered off from its pipe as a California Overnight delivery truck tried to leave the garage after a delivery. The driver of the truck apparently thought that he would have enough vertical clearance to make it. He did not. 

“He got in and then he was backing out. The guy was bringing him out and the guy brought him into the pipe,” said Ken Robinson, service manager who was the attendant at the entrance of the parking garage. 

“The sprinkler head was down, but it was also too dark. When I hit it I stopped and got on top of my truck. On the back of my truck there’s like a little lip that hangs out, and so it caught the sprinkler and it popped off,” said Pete Gomez Jr., the California Overnight truck driver. 

The vertical clearance was marked at the entrance to the garage as being 11 feet 8 Inches, but there was another sign inside the garage stating that the clearance was 12 feet 8 inches. The California Overnight truck had a clearance of 12 feet 6 Inches marked on the side of the truck. 

The student union building was forced to evacuate, as well as the ASUC shops on the ground floor. Employees were told to sign off from their registers and escort their customers outside to weather the storm. 

“They are pretty good at it (getting people out). They just come through and tell you to sign off on your register and leave. You have to take whatever customer out with you, and you just wait out there,” said Beth Nelson, sales associate at Special Services and a junior at UC Berkeley. 

The UC Berkeley Extension English Language Program, which holds classes for student from around the world, had a class in the student union’s Pauley Ballroom that was forced to evacuate. The Communication Skills course was having its first day of class, when the alarm sounded. About 250 students were forced to leave and wait outside until the building was declared safe for them to return to. The alarm went off in the student union building as well because Eshleman Hall and the student union building are both on the same alarm circuit. 

Although the fire sprinklers had to be shut down in order to stop the flooding, the fire department said that they only had to shut down the parking garage sprinklers because they are on a separate line from the rest of Eshleman Hall and the student union. 

There are no official estimates on the amount of damage that was caused, and there is no indication as to who will end up footing the bill, but a maintenance official who was in the parking garage said that he thought that there would be about $2,000 in damage and that plumbers and fire alarm technicians would need to be called in.

Michael Sturtz, a Bay Area native, founded The Crucible in January 1999. After attending college and graduate school on the East Coast, he returned home with plans of opening a local arts studio and school like no other. 

“My family is here, my friends were here; there wasn’t a good arts school here for sculpture,” Sturtz said. “I went to School of the Art Institute of Chicago for two years of graduate school, and that experience – paying $36,000 for graduate school and I’m still paying it off – leaves me wondering what I got out of it.” 

Sturtz opened The Crucible – a crucible is a vessel used for melting a substance that requires a high degree of heat – to allow community members to teach others important and practical skills. Year round, The Crucible offers classes on the skills used in both manufacturing and in art. 

“We cater to the community,” studio manager and instructor Orion Fredericks said. The community helps us grow.” 

The Crucible originally rented 6,000 square feet of a warehouse on Murray Street, in Southwest Berkeley. Four months ago, the framing warehouse next door went out of business and moved out. The Crucible moved in, expanding its grounds to 22,000 square feet. 

The new space will allow The Crucible to offer more classes with larger enrollments, more intensive classes and room for more equipment, as well as performances. 

“This place is becoming more of a community space to use,” Fredericks said. 

It opened January 15, 1999 and taught over 300 students in its first year. Staff expects to serve nearly 500 students this year. 

“Staff is teaching the people of the community skills that the industry really needs,” Fredericks said.  

The city of Berkeley also recently gave The Crucible $42,000 to fund staff salaries and programming. Of that money, $10,000 went to fund summer programs and resources at The Crucible’s youth arts program. It also is offering an accredited class in foundry for the UC Berkeley Extension summer program. 

As Crucible staff members note, industry has removed the community aspect from South Berkeley. 

The Crucible is trying to give back by linking industry to the community. 

“Arts, industry and community; that’s part of our mission statement,” Fredericks said. 

“We bring that all together in this place, which is The Crucible – the mixing pot of those aspects. And we then turn around and offer it to the community.”

Monday, July 10

“Ask the Doctor” 

10:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Learn about ways to find and choose physicians, second opinions, treatment decisions and interacting with your doctor. 

510-644-6107 

City of Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Meeting 

7 p.m. 

2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Council Chambers, Second Floor 

The meeting will include a discussion and possible action on the City Council’s recommendation about the use of language for ballot initiatives protecting senior, the disabled and long term tenants from owner move-in evictions and the first reading of proposed amendments to change the initial review of requests for waivers of late registration penalties to a Hearing Examiner from a Board Commissioner. The meeting is broadcast live on KPFB 89.3-FM and televised on Cable Channel 25. 

Tuesday, July 11

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 

“Tell the Children: Letters to Miriam” 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Hear about the experiences of a physician during World War II and the Holocaust in Eastern Europe, with Dora Sorell. 

510-644-6107 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

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

510-548-3333 

City Council executive session 

5:30 p.m. 

1900 Addison St., Third Floor Conference Room 

Consider initiating validation action on Measure G bonds. 

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 Email, creating Web pages, JavaScript and a simple overview of programming. The course is oriented for adults. 

510-644-8511 

City Council meeting 

7 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 

Wednesday, July 12

West Berkeley Redevelopment Projects  

8 a.m.  

James Kenney Community Center, 1720 Eighth St. 

City staff will discuss the planned improvements in the area, including the Berkeley rail stop, Aquatic Park, bike routes, and streetscape work throughout the neighborhood. The meeting will be of specific interest to business owners and commercial/industrial property owners in and adjacent to the West Berkeley Redevelopment Project Area. 

Deaf Issues Subcommittee 

1 p.m. 

Public Works Administration Office, First Floor Conference Room, 2201 Dwight Way 

The subcommittee will review potential projects and will make a recommendation to the Commission on Disability for a subcommittee work plan for the coming year, as well as hear a presentation on the screening of newborns for hearing loss by Alta Bates and other hospitals. 

“Dealing with the Opposite Sex” 

1:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

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

Ignorance of U.S. history 

Twenty years ago this time, I was on a bicycle tour of England and France with my two youngest sons, John, then 16 and Mark, then 21, and just graduated from UCLA. The morning of July 4th, bright and sunny, found us on the outskirts of Cambridge, England, with the laboratory in which the first atom was first spilt on our left and an American national cemetery on our right. The following is an excerpt from our travel journal for that day. 

“Stopped at U.S. cemetery – mostly airmen from WWII; Superintendent Leland from Minn. had job since ’47, came back to states in ’54, not home, went back, had married British.” 

“Workers really scrubbed crosses – Schmidt, Bodenhoff, Edulstrin, Claude Lanphere from Kansas – 3000 still there, represented 40% of Original. Beautiful chapel, grounds, everything.” 

I read the responses to you inquiring photographer’s question, “What significance does the Fourth of July hold for you?” in your Sat., July 1, issue with concern. 

Whether the interviewees were born here or recently arrived, their acquaintance with U.S history seemed negligible. I wish that I could walk with them through a U.S. National Cemetery as I did with my own sons those 20 years ago. I suspect that those persons queries by your inquiring photographer never will appreciate that some one unrelated had to die for them. 

Bill Lutkenhouse 

Berkeley

ORINDA – California Shakespeare Festival opened a rich and vivid production last weekend of “Hamlet,” Shakespeare’s masterful meditation on the psychology and karma of revenge. 

Revenge plays were popular in Elizabethan England, and in “Hamlet” Shakespeare took the genre and pushed it many steps further. 

In the play, young Prince Hamlet plans revenge on the uncle who murdered Hamlet’s father the king, and married Hamlet’s mother the queen. 

Since Hamlet is a stand-out college philosophy student, he thinks deeply about the implications of his actions, as he proceeds with his plans for murder. 

Hamlet feels driven by karmic forces, even though revenge doesn’t make sense in the rational world and leads to the destruction of humanity. He admits at one point that he doesn’t know why he is doing this, but feels unable not to. Hamlet feels he is pursuing revenge because it is in the nature of human passion to do so. The play’s deconstruction of these forces takes the audience into a meta-world of consciousness beyond the grave. 

Director Karin Coonrod has created a wonderfully clear and imaginative staging of this very complex play. In a production running more than three hours, she has broken the evening into its five original discrete acts, with a short break between each act. 

These breaks give the audience a chance to reflect on the most recent segment, and its relationship to the play’s whole. The breaks help make the play’s story very clear. 

Designer P.K. Wish’s costumes give the production the look of 20th century Europe between the World Wars, but it is a world made slightly off-balance by surreal touches of costume color and design. The women, for example, wear bizarre, asymmetrical, big-butt hoop skirts. 

There is much fine acting in this production from a relatively small cast of 11, most of whom perform in multiple roles. Steven Skybell’s Hamlet is alternatively rational and obsessive. His Hamlet’s madness at first seems a pose, then a behavior that has organic roots. When Hamlet’s anger takes over, the madness is full-blown. 

Under Coonrod’s direction, Hamlet’s usually introspective soliloquies are addressed not to himself, but outward to the audience. This effective device connects the audience to both his suffering and to his fast-paced mind and thoughts.  

Suddenly spotlit, Hamlet speaks his famous “To be or not to be” speech from a seat in the back half of the audience, addressing those around him. Skybell’s is an exciting performance and serves the play very well. He passes through a range of emotions and experiences, but the character is believable, and easy to follow. 

There are many other strong performances. James Carpenter’s calculating and increasingly wary usurper Claudius is a real human adversary for Hamlet, and not just a figurehead enemy. 

Gerald Hiken milks much humor from windbag court advisor Polonius. 

Stacy Ross’ rejected fiancee Ophelia is intelligent and thoughtful, then increasingly frightened by the unpredictable Hamlet. 

When she loses her mind, she overcomes her inhibitions to speak, and paradoxically is most honest in her thoughts and actions. 

Karen Grassle’s Queen Gertrude has several faces – at first a blowzy Gracie Allen sort, then a shame-faced mother and, at times, a bold marital philanderer. 

Patrick Kerr stood out in several roles, especially as a humorous, deadpan serving man of few words to garrulous Polonius. 

Jonathan Haugen’s tightly wound Laertes stood chest-high in Ophelia’s grave fighting with Hamlet over who loved Ophelia the most – summing up the madness of human revenge. 

The noteworthy acting in this production is not just in the spoken word, but in many vivid and exciting reaction moments where characters have no lines. 

Whiteface musician Odile Lavault effectively wanders the stage playing melancholy squeezebox music. 

Cal Shakes’ fresh look at the world’s most famous play makes its themes, motifs, storylines and subplots all seem new, and opens up this complex revenge story for fresh consideration by 21st century audiences. 

“Hamlet” plays Tuesday through Sunday, through July 22, at Bruns Amphitheater, just off Highway 24 in Orinda, one mile east of the Caldecott Tunnel. There is plenty of free parking, and a free shuttle from the Orinda BART station. For tickets call 510-548-9666, or visit the web site (www.calshakes.org). Dress warmly.

Gakunju Kaigwa took up sculpture in his native Kenya in 1983. Since then he has turned dozens of pieces of wood into detailed figures of people, faces and animals. 

Along with 20 or so other industrial arts’ teachers, Kaigwa demonstrated his skills and artwork Saturday evening at the second annual Fire Arts Festival. The event was sponsored by The Crucible, a nonprofit industrial arts training center, located on Murray Street in Southwest Berkeley.  

The teachers began the event at 6 p.m. with 15 demonstrations of classes taught at The Crucible, including cement work, blacksmithing, flame-worked glass and woodcarving. 

A growing audience wandered throughout the recently expanded 22,000 square-foot warehouse, talking to the artists about their displayed pieces and getting tips about how to make their own artwork out of metal, wood or stone. 

On display in a room towards the back of the warehouse was an exhibit of sculptures for sale that were executed by Crucible artists. 

“The Fire Arts Festival is one of demonstration,” studio manager and instructor Orion Fredericks explained. 

The purpose of the Fire Arts Festival is to promote The Crucible’s programs and for its artists to display their work. Last year’s festival attracted 1,500 to 2,000 people, and faculty estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 people showed up for Saturday’s festival. 

At Fire Feast in January, a celebration of The Crucible’s first birthday, 3,000 people came and donated nearly $20,000 to the organization. 

This year’s Fire Arts Festival emphasized The Crucible’s growth to offer a larger variety of classes. 

“As we’re growing, we’re adding more and more,” executive director Michael Sturtz said. We’re going to have a whole glass facility for the next six months. We’ve just added things like wood carving, cement sculpture and jewelry.” 

“The Crucible is expanding a little bit from just metal,” said Berkeley artist Stan Huncilman, who is preparing to teach The Crucible’s first cement sculpture class. “I’m doing cement and you have Gakunju doing woodcarving, so the scope of work is getting larger. This class is going to be a fun challenge, people just have to be interested enough to take it.” 

Besides being just an open house for the public to learn about The Crucible’s programs and classes, the event was also stacked with entertainment. Performances – some musical, others involving The Crucible’s theme of fire – lasted until after 3 a.m. 

“So many people are interested in this idea, we are trying to bring them together and have a meeting place for that,” Sturtz said. “We are trying to bring the community together with all these events.”  

The Crucible’s next event is an outdoor film series titled Obsessive Creators on Sunday, July 15, put on in collaboration with Cricket Moon Cinema. 

Eight years ago, Berkeley votes approved a $158 million bond measure to pay for major improvements – seismic upgrades, renovations, reconstruction – at school sites throughout the community. 

This fall, they’ll be asked to continue their support for new classrooms and safer buildings through a $116.5 million school bond and a special tax that will finance maintenance needs in the Berkeley Unified School District. 

“Measure A (in 1992) was partly necessitated by the need to upgrade buildings which hadn’t been so well maintained over the last 10, 20 years of their life, prior to Measure A, and we shouldn’t want to see that history repeated,” Bruce Wicinas, a member of the Citizens Construction Advisory Committee, said during last week’s school board meeting. At that meeting, directors unanimously approved placing both measures on the November ballot. 

The $116.5 million school bond would pay for construction of new classrooms and upgrades of existing structures around the district. The special tax 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. 

According to a staff report presented last month, the special tax would yield more than $3.8 million annually for maintenance needs around the district. 

Right now, the BUSD spends about $2.4 million each year on maintenance personnel, supplies and equipment. A report prepared by the Facilities Maintenance and Security 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. 

“It’s important to have good teachers in the classroom, it’s important that their lights work, it’s important that the heat works, that the windows don’t leak, that they have the proper outlets to plug in their computers, that the floors are clean, the baskets are emptied, the toilets are clean, the playgrounds are safe,” Stephanie Allan, chair of the Facilities Maintenance and Security Advisory Committee, told the board last week. 

“It’s part of the whole fabric – you can’t separate it out.” 

The ballot language for the school bond will give the BUSD flexibility in how it would spend its $116.5 million, but it does specifically mention two campuses in need of classroom repair, improvements and expansion: Berkeley High and King Middle. 

Catherine James, associate superintendent for business services, told the board that the ballot language would allow the district to spend funds on a variety of capital projects, including such grounds improvements as gardens, playground equipment and athletic facilities. 

But it’s clear that the top priority is providing more classroom space at several sites, and upgrading schools that were unable to be funded through Measure A, including the Franklin School site and Berkeley Adult School. 

School board members, who had heard several presentations on the bond and tax from district staff and community members over the last few meetings, were optimistic that voters would approve both measures. 

“I believe we have the correct position on our side, we just have to get the word out so people really understand what we’re asking of this community and what the benefits will be to this community,” Board Vice President Terry Doran said during discussion on the tax measure. 

Director Ted Schultz, who worked for the passage of Measure A in 1992, said he was pleased with the way district staff was able to structure the proposed bond for this fall. The tax level would not pass the peak reached under Measure A. 

“These projects are needed, and we can do it without increasing people’s taxes, and that’s really a terrific deal, I think,” he said just before the board’s vote on the school bond. 

A survey conducted by Santa Monica-based GLS Research, presented to the school board last month, 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 nomination period for City of Berkeley elected offices to be voted on in the November election opens Monday, July 17, 2000.  

Anyone wishing to take out nomination papers for the offices of Council Districts 2, 3, 5 and 6, School Board Director, two positions, or Rent Stabilization Board Commissioner, four positions, may come to the City Clerk Department at 1900 Addison Street, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., or call 644-6480 to make an appointment. 

Nomination papers and related paperwork must be completed and filed with the City Clerk no later than 5 p.m., Friday, August 11, 2000.  

The filing period will be extended by five calendar days only for an office where the incumbent does not file by Aug. 11.  

Candidates must be City of Berkeley registered voters and Council District candidates must have resided within the district for a minimum of 30 days. 

All terms are for four years. 

***  

The Berkeley City Council will place a number of measures on the November 7, 2000 General Election Ballot. Anyone wishing to submit arguments for consideration in support or in opposition to any measure should contact the City Clerk Department, 1900 Addison Street, 644-6480, to receive an argument package.  

City Clerk Sherry Kelly has established the following as the argument period:  

• 8 a.m., Wednesday, July 26, 2000, argument period begins. 

• 12 p.m., Friday, August 4, 2000, argument period ends.  

• 4 p.m., Friday, August 4, 2000, rebuttal period begins.  

• 12 p.m., Friday, August 11, 2000, rebuttal period ends.

Gallery holds MFA exhibit 

Traywick Gallery in Berkeley has announced its annual Introduction exhibition, East Bay MFAs 2000, which opens July 26 and continues through Aug. 19.  

The exhibition features the work of three recent graduates from two of the East Bay’s Master of Fine Art programs and highlights the strong tradition of art education in the Bay Area. 

Barbara Campbell, a featured artist who graduated from UC Berkeley, paints large-scale landscapes from fragments of sites and objects she walks and drives by. Alissa Haller, a Mills College graduate, uses photography to document the empty spaces of new suburban development; interior details such as vacant corners and shelves of new houses, or street signs standing alone in grassy spaces. Tony Tredway, also of Mills College is a sculptor who uses ordinary objects and materials as sources for his spare, minimal work. 

There will be a reception for the artists on Wednesday, July 26 from 6-8 p.m. Traywick Gallery’s summer hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is located at 1316 10th Street. 

For more information, visit www.traywick.com. 

Residents can call if they smell odors 

Pacific Steel Casting (PSC) launched a tracking system to help improve its odor mitigation program last week. Neighbors of PSC are encouraged to call their 24-hour hotline number to report any odors believed to be originating from the PSC facilities. The hotline number is (510) 558-2256. 

Emergency class offered 

Berkeley’s Office of Emergency Services is offering free CERT classes (Community Emergency Response Training). The classes are open to anyone who lives or works in Berkeley and give basic, practical information and hands on training in the case of a disaster. 

The next class will be held July 15 on “Light Search and Rescue.” 

All classes are held at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar Street. For a class schedule or for more information, call the Office of Emergency Services at (510) 644-8736. 

People can also register online at the OES web site (www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html). 

Book event set 

SAN FRANCISCO – Northern California Independent Booksellers Association will sponsor Books by the Bay, the fifth annual outdoor book fair at Pier 32 in San Francisco, July 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The fair, free to the public, will feature 45 bookstore booths, 50 author readings and signings, a poetry hour and a children’s activity corner. 

For details, call (415) 927-3937 or visit www.booksbythebay.com.

Paul H. Mussen, a pioneer in child psychology and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley for 30 years, died July 7, at Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley after a long struggle with prostate cancer. He was 78.  

An early developmental psychologist, Mussen wrote the classic text, “Child Development and Personality,” 1956, used as a standard in the field for 30 years, making Mussen the top-selling author for Harper Textbooks for years.  

He was among an avant-garde who moved the field from stimulus-response theory to a focus on social interactions between parents and children. His books included the “Handbook of Child Psychology,” 1971, “The Psychological Development of the Child,” 1963, and “Rootsof Caring, Sharing and Helping,” 1977. 

During a distinguished career at UC Berkeley, from 1956-1986, Mussen received a number of honors, including the Fulbright Award in 1960 for research in Florence, Italy, and, in 1968, was selected as a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.  

At UC Berkeley, he served as director of the Institute of Human Development from 1971-80 and returned to serve as acting director in 1987.  

Mussen lectured and consulted at universities throughout Europe, Africa, Israel and the Middle East, India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia. 

Born March 21, 1922, in Paterson, N.J., Mussen grew up in Willimantic, Conn., and attended the University of Connecticut at Storrs until he received a scholarship to Stanford University in 1939. Joining the U.S. Navy in 1944, Mussen served as an ensign in NavalIntelligence in Washington, D.C, Hawaii, and San Francisco.  

He completed his doctorate in psychology at Yale University in 1949. He first taught at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, from 1949-51 and then at Ohio State University in Columbus until 1955, where he met and married Ethel Foladare, a graduate student who earned her doctorate from Ohio State.  

Mussen served as a member of the children’s advertising review unit of the Better Business Bureau for several years, upholding standards of writing and advertising on children’s television. He was president of the Western Psychological Association from 1973-74 and the American Psychological Association’s division of developmental psychology from 1977-78.  

Mussen is survived by his wife, Ethel; daughter, Michele, and her partner, Jim Hart, all of Berkeley; a son, Jim, daughter-in-law, Claudia, and grandson, Jacob, of New York; and a brother, Irwin, of Berkeley.  

Contributions in his memory may be made to the UCB-UCSF Joint Medical Program, Attention: Nina Green, 570 University Hall, Berkeley, 94720-1190, or to the Alta Bates Comprehensive Cancer Center, 2450 Ashby Ave, Berkeley, 94705-9989.

A suspect robbed the Bank of the West at 1480 Shattuck Ave. around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday with what was revealed to be an empty package he claimed to be a bomb. 

The man placed a small parcel on a teller’s window, handed the bank employee a note saying it was an explosive device and demanded an undisclosed amount of money. The teller gave the suspect cash before he escaped on foot and left the empty box, said Lt. Russell Lopes of the Berkeley Police Department. 

Lopes said the alleged robber was a medium built black male in his mid 30s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, wearing a black puffy jacket, black jeans and sunglasses. He was in and out of the bank within two or three minutes, headed south on Shattuck, then west on Vine Street, Lopes said. 

The bank was evacuated and police removed pedestrians and cars within a 300-foot radius of the building. Businesses on the west side of Shattuck from a block south of Vine to Rose Street were evacuated. Customers on the east side of Shattuck were evacuated, but owners and employees were not. 

A single member of the bomb squad entered the bank about 2:45 p.m. and set up X-ray and photographic equipment to determine the contents remotely. Since it was inconclusive what the contents were, police brought the box outside, placed it in the bank parking lot and attempted to open it with a detonation cord. By design, the cord triggered projectiles that would essentially implode the box and scatter its contents, Lopes said. 

Yelling “fire in the hole,” a member of the bomb squad fired the remote device, resulting in several small pops. Lopes said the pops came from the detonation device misfiring. 

The device misfired several times before it caused the box to open and reveal its contents. Lopes said it was empty, as he had expected. 

Police are checking the handwritten note for fingerprints and reviewing the security tape, but Lopes said it will “take some time to process it.” As of Wednesday night there were no suspects. 

Police had estimated that it would take up to five or six hours to clear the streets. It only took a couple of hours, however, but several people were stranded as a result of their cars being parked inside the blocked-off area. 

Standing behind the police barrier on Shattuck Avenue, Erin Crow of Oakland lamented parking her in the block-off area. 

Crow’s watch read 3:50 p.m. and she was worried: “My kid’s in Alameda and I have to pick him up at 4 p.m.”  

Staff reporter Dan Greenman