Construction means some destruction 

Within a month of the groundbreaking for the first new building on the Berkeley High Campus in almost 40 years, the destruction of about three dozen trees by contractors has sparked cries of “ecocide” and prompted calls for a closer examination of the building plans. 

“This could have been prevented. That building could have been configured in a way that would have saved those trees,” said former parks commissioner Lisa Stephens. 

The empty lots on the east side of the Berkeley High campus was littered with tree limbs Tuesday. Mangled trunks are all that is left of pines, sycamore and magnolia trees. 

“It’s really a shock when you see all the trees they’ve cut down,” said Councilmember Dona Spring. 

Longtime Berkeley and KPFA radio personality Larry Bensky said he was riding his bike past the campus Sunday on the way to host his weekly radio show, when “out of the side of my eye I saw this lunar landscape. I couldn’t imagine what had happened.” 

“This sets a bad example for the students,” Bensky said. “Somebody has to speak up for trees, because they’re extremely valuable and part of what we treasure about this planet.” 

Karen Sarlo, public information officer for the Berkeley Unified School District, said the district makes an effort to protect trees with historic or aesthetic value and that the 34 trees removed in this case were deemed to have neither. Only four of the trees were really large, Sarlo said. 

“The district does everything that it can to preserve trees,” Sarlo said, pointing to past projects where an effort was made to build around “significant” trees.  

But Anthony Bruce of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Organization said a number of magnolia trees that were destroyed had historic value because they were originally planted as part of a landscaped plaza on Shattuck Avenue and were moved to the campus to make way for a BART station in the sixties. 

Stephens and others said the Berkeley Unified School District never gave the public an opportunity to fully review the plans and suggest changes. 

“It isn’t just about the trees,” said Stephens. “It’s the way they do business. It was very difficult for people to get information about the planning or to have any input at all.” 

Lesley Emmington, a spokesperson for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, agreed. 

“The problem is that there’s never been a public process to look at the effects of this building,” Emmington said.  

Beyond the loss of the trees, Emmington said there were concerns that the modern appearance of the planned building may clash with the historic appearance of the nearby Civic Center, or that that the new building will be placed in such a way as to block access to the Community Theater, making an important public space far less inviting than it is today. 

Emmington, whose children attend Berkeley High School, said even the students have been kept out of the loop. 

Sarlo conceded that it might have eased concerns if an effort had been made to notify people of the planned tree demolition. In the future, she said, she will send out bulletins every two weeks to update students, teachers and the public of upcoming construction work. 

But Sarlo said the process of planning the building has been long, deliberate and inclusive. 

“You don’t just decide to build a building and then build it,” Sarlo said. “There are layers and layers of people who look at (the plans).”  

After the passage of a bond measure in 1992 to get money for the new building, the school district hired neutral observers to mediate public meetings aimed at accumulating input for the new building, Sarlo said. Notification of the meetings were mailed to people who lived near the school, to the press and other organizations, Sarlo said.  

Furthermore, said Sarlo, the plans were discussed and modified at several School Board meetings before they were finally approved. Concerned members of the public could have given their input at those meetings, for which the agendas were posted in advance on the school district web site, Sarlo said. 

Sarlo said during the planning process for the building most of the debate revolved around the pressing issues of classroom needs, building safety and amenities. 

“I’ll bet nobody asked about the trees,” Sarlo said. 

The 18-acre Berkeley High campus is “very small for 3,200 students,” she said, pointing to a state standard that recommends a high school with 3,500 students should be built in an area no smaller than 70 acres. The size of the Berkeley High campus hasn’t change in 100 years, Sarlo said, even while growing enrollment and a law requiring reduced class sizes have fueled demand for more classrooms.  

The new 64,000-square-feet building is part of a 15-year, $92.6 million plan for improvements to the high school campus. It will house much needed classrooms, administrative offices, a student union, a food complex and a new library and media center, Sarlo said. The Berkeley High library and administrative offices have been housed in temporary space or portable classrooms since a fire destroyed one of the school’s buildings last year, Sarlo said. 

“It really altered the campus,” Sarlo said. “Whatever free space we did have it’s now portables or construction.” 

Sarlo said the district values greenery and will work on a landscaping plan after more of the construction and renovation is planned and completed. 

“Until you know how the new buildings are going to look it’s difficult to do any type of landscape planning,” she said. 

Wednesday, Feb. 21

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit  

www.stagebridge.org 

Control Hypertension 

6:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center - Summit Campus 

Summit South Cafeteria Conference Room  

3100 Summit St.  

Oakland 

Bessanderson McNeil, MPH, and the Ethnic Health Institute, will help attendees take control of their lives. Free 

Call 204-3443 

Sacred Cinema  

7 - 9 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., Chapel Six 

Ken Peer has sought to explore sacred themes and to draw attention to the spiritual lives of individuals from the world’s great wisdom traditions. See three of his short films at this free screening.  

Call 649-2523 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m. 

Claremont Library  

2940 Benvenue  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Alzheimer’s Support Group  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

For families and caregivers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

Farm Fresh Choice  

7 - 9 p.m.  

Center for Ecoliteracy  

2522 San Pablo Ave.  

Topic of discussion will be the new “Farm Fresh Choice” project linking local farms with Berkeley residents, National Nutritional Month activities and developing a visual graphic of Berkeley’s ideal food system.  

665-6812 or visit  

www.berkeleyfood.org 

Human Welfare & Community Action Commission 

7 - 10 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St. (at Ashby)  

Review of the CM’s Preliminary Recommendations followed by deliberations and final recommendations.  

Telegraph Area Association  

Community Planning Committee Meeting 

9 a.m.  

TAA  

2509 Haste St.  

Telegraph Area Association  

Fund Development/Membership Committee 

3 p.m. 

2509 Haste St.  

Project budget update and funding plan for 2001-2.  

Thursday, Feb. 22

Free “Quit Smoking” Class 

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis (at Ashby)  

Cease your smoking with the help of this free class offered to Berkeley residents and employees. 

Call 644-6422 to enroll or e-mail quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Charles Ellick and host Louis Cuneo.  

644-0155 

Rivers of the World  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Pamela Michael, writer, educator and river conservationist, will highlight her new anthology “The Gift of Rivers: True Stories of Life on the Water,” showing slides of nearly 100 of the world’s great rivers. Free 527-4140 

Growl & Howl of Man & Woman 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Hillside Community Church  

1422 Navellier St.  

El Cerrito 

A series of Thursday evenings of conversation “engaging people in discovering the pleasures of an excellent discussion.” Bring your favorite gender assumptions and put them to the test. $10  

Agaves & Yuccas 

7 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden 

200 Centennial Drive 

Mary and Gary Irish, experts on these plants will show you where to find these dry garden plants and how to makes them grow happily.  

$15 Call 643-1924 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m.  

West Branch Berkeley Library  

1125 University Ave.  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Meditation Seminar 

6:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church  

2727 College Ave.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648 

Concluding Your Speech  

12:10 - 1:10 p.m.  

California Department of Health Services  

2151 Berkeley Way, Room 804  

State Health Toastmasters invites you to take the terror out of talking. 649-7750  

Lavendar Lunch  

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., Mudd 100 

Join GTU students David Dezern and Toni Tortorilla as they discuss some of the challenges and joys of being Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Transexual and active in today’s Roman Catholic Church. 849-8206 

Telegraph Area Association 

Economic Development  

Committee 

3:30 p.m. 

Sather Gate Garage Conference Room 

2431 Channing Way  

Updates on the Sather Gate Parking Advisory, PG&E, and the Southside Plan.  

Friday, Feb. 23

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Cosi Fan Tutte 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

An opera presented for free.  

Call 644-6107 

Impediments to Housing Expansion  

Noon  

Goldman School of Public Policy  

2607 Hearst Ave.  

Lawrence Gotlieb, vice president for Government and Public Affairs for KB Home in L.A. will discuss “The Housing Affordability Crisis: The Builder’s Perspective.”  

Call 665-6812 

Saturday, Feb. 24

Tibetan New Year’s Celebration 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Britta Hauenschild gives a flute concert followed by a festive dinner and New Year’s celebration. Proceeds support Nyingma Institute sacred art and education programs.  

$30 suggested donation  

Call 843-6812 

Celebrate Samuel H. Day, Jr.  

2 - 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

1924 Cedar St. (at Bonita)  

Longtime anti-nuclear activist and journalists, Day was the coordinator of the U.S. campaign to free Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu. Day died suddenly at his home in Madison, Wisconsin on Jan. 26.  

Call 548-3048 or visit www.nukewatch.org 

A Little Taste of Africa  

2 - 4 p.m. 

City of Franklin School  

1150 Virginia St.  

The City of Franklin PTA hosts this fundraiser for Black History Month. There will be performances by a West African Dance Troupe, music, poetry, authentic African dishes, a marketplace, and much more.  

$5  

Call 644-6260 

Love of Self, Family & Community 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

Celebrating the many talents of African-Americans, join the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project at its annual Black History Month Celebration for a day of music, dance, arts & crafts displays. Free dinner for all who attend.  

Call 644-6226 

Meditation Seminar 

1:30 p.m. 

Grace North Church  

2138 Cedar St.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648 

Teahouse Concert  

7 - 9 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., D’Autremont Dining Hall 

PACTS, along with PSR’s PANA Institute and the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry, co-sponsor this concert to celebrate and affirm Asian and Pacific Islander Gay, Lesbian. Bisexual and Transgender people of faith and their allies.  

$5 - $10  

Call 849-8244 

Sunday, Feb. 25

“Imperial San Francisco: 

Urban Power, Earthly Ruin” 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley History Center 

Veterans Memorial Building 

1931 Center St.  

Gary Brechin speaks on the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful San Francisco families. Free 

Call 848-0181 

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

“How are Pacific cities reshaping their cultural and environmental institutions to better serve the needs and enhance the present and future quality of life of all segments of their societies?” A series of ten seminars linking the Bay Area, Seattle, Portland, and other pacific cities.  

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Authors in the Library: Lois Silverstein 

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Writer and performer, Silverstein, will read selections from “Oh My Darling Daughter,” “Behind the Stove,” and a work-in-progress, “Family Matters.” Discussion and book signing will follow. Free.  

Call 848-0237 x127 

Planetary Temples 

8 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Employee Don Frew will show slides of teh ruined city of Harran. Free 

Call 848-8443 

Art Meets Science in Time  

2 - 3:30 p.m. 

Bancroft Hotel  

2680 Bancroft Way  

Professor Andrew Stewart of UC Berkeley and Gail M. Wright, a digital artist and lecturer at Mills College explore this subject through slide-illustrated discussions. In conjunction with the 0. Museum’s current exhibition “Telling Time.”  

Call 549-6950 

Harran: City of the Moon God 

8 - 10 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Donald Frew will present s, past and present, and will show slides from a recent visit. He will also discuss the likely treasure trove of texts from the ancient world that await discovery there. Free  

Call 848-8443 

High Blood Pressure Screenings 

9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Church by the Side of the Road  

2108 Russell St.  

Free blood pressure screenings, follow-up advice and other nutritional counseling. Sponsored by Alta Bates Medical Center.  

869-6763 

UC may have a conflict when it comes to biotech 

Editor: 

It must be a rough season for University of California’s apologists in their office of Community Relations.  

Not only do they have to explain UC’s refusal to grant the Depot for Creative Reuse a workable extension but now they have to rationalize spraying herbicide on Gill tract right next to an elementary school and their own family student housing. 

And of course they can’t admit that both decisions seem to correlate with UC’s deal with Novartis Corporation, a biotech conglomerate. Since the signing of this devil’s pact, UC has forged headlong toward a future of genetic engineering and chemical agriculture.  

In fact, shortly after the signing it attacked both student run programs teaching organic farming methods. 

So it’s hardly comforting when the College of Natural Resources which receives the money from Novartis Corporation “believes that there is no danger to the children” from the spraying of glysophate during school hours.  

In fact, it’s downright uncomfortable that the University of California has a financial interest in supporting rather than rigorously and unbiasedly testing this new and frightening technology of genetic engineering (that creates crops resistant to glysophate sprayings (among other frightening possibilities). 

Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the building from which UC is trying to evict our beloved Depot for Creative Reuse just happens to also be used for biotech research. Smell a florescent rat? 

Matt Azzel 

Berkeley 

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership Feb. 23: Subincision, 30 Second Fury, AKA Nothing, No Common Sense, Stalin’s War; Feb. 24: Slow Gherkin, Plus Ones, 78 RPMS, Merrick, Enemy You 525-9926  

Albatross Pub All music at 9 p.m. unless noted Feb. 21: Whiskey Brothers; Feb. 22: Keni “El Lebrijano”; Feb. 24: Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Feb. 27: Larry Stefl Jazz Trio; March 1: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo 843-2473 

Ashkenaz Feb. 21, 9 p.m.: Brenda Boykin & Home Cookin’, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; Feb. 22, 10 p.m.: Grateful Dead DJ Nite w/Digital Dave; Feb. 23, 9:30 p.m.: Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 24, 2 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Ashkenaz fourth annual dance-a-thon for 12 hours of nonstop dance music. 1370 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Feb. 23: Carlos Zialcita; Feb. 24: R.J. Mischo 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

Crowden School Sundays, 4 p.m.: Chamber music series sponsored by the school; Feb. 25, 8 p.m.: Cynthia & the Swing Set and the American Jubilee Dance Theatre. Free swing dance lesson, 7 p.m. New Orleans cajun and creole dinner to be served before dance lesson. $10 - $40 Benefits the Crowden School 1475 Rose St. (at Sacramento) 559-6910 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 25: Lauri Antonioli; March 4: Ray Obiedo; March 11: Stephanie Bruce Trio; March 18: Wayne Wallace Septet $6 - $12 2377 Shattuck Ave.  

Live Oak Concert Series All music at 7:30 p.m. March 4: Marie Carbone, harpsichord, plays music of Frescobaldi, Sweelinck, Froberger, and Weckmann; March 11: Stephen Bell, guitar, plays music of Bach, Villa-Lobos, Ponse, and Albeniz Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

Cal Performances Feb. 21, 23 & 24: In two separate programs the Netherlands Dans Theater I presents the work of former artistic director, Jiri Kylian $34 - $52 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu Feb. 25, 3 p.m.: Prazack Quartet $32; Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: Clerks’ Group performs music from the Burgundian Courts; March 4, 3 p.m.: Baritone Nathan Gunn sings Brahms, Wolf, and a selection of American songs $36;  

Cynthia and the Swing Set, Jubilee American Dance Theatre Feb. 24, 8 p.m. A benefit for the Crowden School and the Crowden Center for Music in the Community. Guests will also have the chance to win auction and raffle items. New Orleans Cajun and Creole dinner optional. Crowden School 1475 Rose. St. (at Sacramento) $10 - $40 559-6910  

Adam Cooper Memorial Torah Readers Fund Benefit Concert Feb. 25, 7 p.m. Frank London, composer and trumpet player with The Klezmatics and Adrienne Cooper will headline. $25 - $50 Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 925-944-0931 

“Dido and Aeneas” March 2, 8 p.m.; March 4, 2 p.m. A tale of English Baroque opera that follows the tale of Dido, queen of Corinth, as she is courted and won by Aeneas, conqueror and future founder of Rome. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

“Aywah!” March 2, 8 p.m. An evening of music and dance from Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Balkan Roma. Featuring Aywah! Dance Company. $13 - $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

Mozart Requiem Singalong March 3, 8 p.m. Bella Musica Chorus and Orchestra in their third annual presentation. $10 suggested donation St. Joseph the Worker Church 1640 West Addison 526-5393 

Young People’s Symphony Orchestra March 3, 8 p.m. A program featuring Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and a suite from Piston’s ballet “The Incredible Flutist” $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300  

“In Song and Struggle” March 4, 4 - 10 p.m. Copwatch presents the second annual event bringing together some of the best women artists from around the Bay Area and beyond in commemoration of International Women’s Day. Artists include Shelley Doty, Rebecca Riots, Rachel Garlin, and many others. $8 - $15 Ashkenaz 1317 San Pablo Ave. Call Copwatch, 548-0425  

Mingus Amungus & Allstar Jazz Jam March 4, 7 - 10 p.m. A benefit concert for 65 Cuba-bound Berkeley High students. $10 - $15 Florence Schwimley Little Theater 1930 Allston Way 587-3201  

“The Magic Flute” March 3 & 4, 8 p.m. Mozart’s most famous opera adapted by International House resident Kalinka Cichon and presented by a multicultural cast. $5 International House Auditorium 2299 Piedmont Ave. (at Bancroft) e-mail for tix: kalinka@cichon.com  

Young Emerging Artists March 6, 7 - 8 p.m. John McCarthy will direct students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Prepatory Division through a performance of works by Sov, Barber and others. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

Canto Para Una Semilla March 9, 8 p.m. La Pena Community Chorus present an homage to Violeta Parra. This is a benefit for Berkeley High School’s CAS program. $10 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Country Joe McDonald March 9 & 10, 8 - 10 p.m. McDonald will play a solo acoustic set of old & new songs and a tribute to Woody Guthrie. $20 Live Oak Theater 1301 Shattuck Ave. (at Berryman) www.countryjoe.com  

“Mystic Journey” March 10, 8 p.m. Suzanne Teng and Mystic Journey are a unique contemporary world music ensemble, based in Los Angeles, making their Bay Area debut. $15 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

Maria Marquez in Concert March 10, 8:30 p.m. A special evening of Marquez’s songs from her latest CD, “Eleven Love Stories.” $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Theater 

“Fall” by Bridget Carpenter Through March 11. $15.99 - $51. Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2025 Addison St. 647-2949, www. berkeleyrep.org 

“The Road to Mecca” by Athol Fugard Through Feb. 24, Friday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Feb. 22, 8 p.m. $10 Live Oak Theatre 1301 Shattuck 528-5620 

“Nightingale” presented by Central Works Theater Through March 4, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 24 & Saturday, March 3, 5 p.m. $8 - $14 LaVal’s Subterranean 1834 Euclid Ave. 558-1381 

“Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” by Frank MacGuinness Through March 17, Thursday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 8:30 p.m. The story of three men - an Irishman, an Englishman and an American held in a prison in Lebanon. $10 - $15 8th St. Studio Theatre 2525 Eighth St. (at Dwight) 655-0813 

“A New Brain” by William Finn March 2 - 18, Fridays & Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Watch as Gordon Schwinn, in the face of a life-threatening brain tumor, composes a farewell concert in which all the important figures in his life make show-stopping appearances. Presented by BareStage Productions $8 - $12 Choral Rehearsal Hall, Lower Level of Caesar Chavez Student Center UC Berkeley 642-3880  

“Glory Box” by Tim Miller March 9, 8 p.m. In this one-time performance, Miller explores the themes of same-sex marriage and binational gay/lesbian immigration rights. $15 Zellerbach Playhouse UC Berkeley 601-8932 or www.ticketweb.com  

Films 

“Magnetic North” Six programs of experimental Canadian video from the past 30 years that range from documentary to conceptual art. In all, 40 tapes from 46 artists will be shown on six Wednesday evenings. Through Feb. 28. $7. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft (at Bowditch) 642-1412  

“Toto Recall” A 15-film retrospective honoring Italy’s comic genius. Through Feb. 24 Weekend days only, Friday - Sunday. $7 for one film, $8.50 for double bills. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-1412 

“A.K.A. Dominga” A video documentary film following the personal journey of one woman uncovering her history 18 years after surviving the Rio Negro Massacre in Guatemala. March 1, 7:30 p.m. La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 x15 

“Tragos” Antero Alli’s vision of a future where the desire to escape from the government and media thought-control drives people underground. March 8, 7 & 9:30 p.m. $7 Live Oak Theatre 1301 Shattuck Ave. 464-4640 

Exhibits 

Berkeley Historical Society “Berkeley’s Ethnic Heritage.” An overview of the rich cultural diversity of the city and the contribution of individuals and minority groups to it’s history and development. Thursday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Free. 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

“Consecrations: Spirits in the Time of AIDS,” Through Feb. 24. An exhibit seeking to expand the understanding of HIV and AIDS and the people affected by them. Wednesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Pro Arts Gallery 461 Ninth St., Oakland. 763-9425  

“Race & Femininity” Acrylic Paintings of Corinne Innis Paying homage to her subconscious, Innis uses rich colors in her acrylic paintings. Through Feb. 26; Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, 1 - 7 p.m. and by appointment. Women’s Cancer Resource Center 3023 Shattuck Ave. 548-9286 x307  

“Trees With Frosting” Stevie Famulari decorates landscapes with sugar and frosting, making her artwork edible and changeable by viewers. This particular display will remain for two months. Through February. Skapades Hair Salon 1971 Shattuck Ave. 251-8080 or steviesart@hotmail.com 

“Dorchester Days,” the photographs of Eugene Richards is a collection of pictures portraying the poverty, racial tension, crime and violence prevalent in Richards’ hometown of Dorchester, Massachusetts in the 1970s. Through April 6. UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism 121 North Gate Hall #5860 642-3383 

“Still Life & Landscapes” The work of Pamela Markmann Through March 24, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Red Oak Gallery 1891 Solano Ave. 527-3387 

“Kick Back,” the Department of Art Practice of UC Berkeley spring faculty show Through March 2 Worth Ryder Gallery Kroeber Hall UC Berkeley Call 642-2582 

“Unequal Funding: Photographs of Children in Schools that Get Less” An exhibit of black & white photographs by documentary photographer Chris Pilaro. Through March 16, Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery 2235 Fifth St. 644-1400 

“Contemporary Photogravure” Printing from hand-inked plates etched from a film positive, a unique exhibition of photographs with luxurious tones. Through March 30, Tuesday - Friday, Noon - 5 p.m. or by appointment Kala Art Institute 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 

“Musee des Hommages,” Masterworks by Guy Colwell Faithful copies of several artists from the pasts, including Titian’s “The Venus of Urbino,” Cezanne’s “Still Life,” Picasso’s “Woman at a Mirror,” and Boticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours 2028 Ninth St. (at Addison) 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

“Evolution,” No problem quilters exhibit their soft-cloth sculptures. New Pieces is the only gallery that exclusively exhibits quilts in the Bay Area. Through March 1, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday Noon - 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave. 527-6779 

Amanda Haas, New Paintings and Olivia Kuser, Recent Landscapes Through March 24, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Opening reception Feb. 14, 6 - 8 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth St. 527-1214 

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 23: Becky Thompson reads “Mothering Without a Compass: White Mother’s Love, Black Son’s Courage” 398 Colusa Ave. Kensington 559-9184. www.boadeciasbooks.com 

Cody’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 21: Poetry of Gillian Conoley & Kathleen Fraser; Feb. 22: Alison Gopnik describes “The Scientist in the Crib: What Early Learning Tells Us About the Mind”; Feb. 23: Carol Field reads “Mangoes and Quince”; Feb. 25: Poetry of Martha Rhodes, Linda Dyer & Joy Manesiotis; Feb. 26: Terry McMillan reads from “A Day Late and a Dollar Short”; Feb. 28: Poetry of Sandra Gilbert & Wendy Barker 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27: Barbara Wagner, co-founder of Lost Frontiers, gives a slide presentation and talk about “Pakistan & the Lost Tribes of teh Hindu Kush”; Feb. 28: Travel writer Christopher Baker will read and talk about his 7000 miles motorcycle odyssey through Cuba as chronicled in his book “Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba” 1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 843-3533  

“Strong Women - Writers & Heroes of Literature” Fridays Through June, 2001, 1 - 3 p.m. Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program. North Berkeley Senior Center 1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 549-2970  

Duomo Reading Series and Open Mic. Thursdays, 6:30 - 9 p.m. Feb. 22: Charles Ellick; March 1: Eliza Shefler; March 8: Judy Wells; March 15: Elanor Watson-Gove; March 22: Anna Mae Stanley; March 29: Georgia Popoff; April 5: Barbara Minton; April 12: Alice Rogoff; April 19: Garrett Murphy; April 26: Ray Skjelbred. Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

Lunch Poems First Thursday of each month, 12:10 - 12:50 p.m. March 1: Aleida Rodrigues; April 5: Galway Kinnell; May 3: Student Reading Morrison Room, Doe Library UC Berkeley 642-0137 

Class Dismissed Poetry Posse March 2, 7:30 p.m. Afro-Haitian dancers, Dance Production dancers, the BHS poetry slammers, an opening a capella number and a few surprises. A benefit for a Berkeley High school student trip to Cuba. $5 - $10 Little Theater Berkeley High School 2246 Milvia St.  

Bamboo Ridge Writers Reading March 4, 4 p.m. Five authors published in the book, “Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry & Prose.” Bamboo Ridge publishes literature which nurtures the voices of Hawaii and celebrates its literary tradition. Eastwind Books of Berkeley 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

Anita Barrows March 4, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Barrows will read from her poem “A Record” inspired by an exhibit done in Theresienstadt and her translation of Rosa Luxenburg’s letters. Free Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237 

Women’s Word March 14, 7:30 p.m. An evening of women’s word honoring International Women’s month and featuring Avotcja, Straight Out Scribes, Tureeda & Kira Allen. Hosted by Joyce Young. Open mic will follow. $4 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Tours 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

Berkeley City Club Tours 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. 848-7800  

The fourth Sunday of every month, Noon - 4 p.m. $2  

Golden Gate Live Steamers Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Lomas Cantadas Drive at the south end of Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. 486-0623  

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size. Trains run Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., weather permitting.  

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Centennial Drive, behind Memorial Stadium, a mile below the Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley. 643-2755 or www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden/  

The gardens have displays of exotic and native plants. Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 p.m. $3 general; $2 seniors; $1 children; free on Thursday. Daily, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. 

Lectures 

Berkeley Historical Society Slide Lecture & Booksigning Series Sundays, 3 - 5 p.m. $10 donation requested Feb. 25: “Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin,” Gray Brechin will discuss the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful early families; March 11: Director of Berkeley’s International House, Joe Lurie, will show a video and dicuss the history and struggle to open the I-House 70 years ago; March 18: “Topaz Moon,” Kimi Kodani Hill will discuss artist Chiura Obata’s family and the WWII Japanese relocation camps. Berkeley Historical Center Veterans Memorial Building 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research Seminars Noon seminars are brown bag Feb. 22, 4 p.m.: Sam Kernell of UC San Diego, will present a seminar on “State Electoral Institutions and the Impact of Presidental Elections on Party Control of Congress, 1840 - 1940.” March 7, 4 p.m.: Akhil Reed Amar will discuss his book “The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction.” March 12, Noon: Catherine Hafer of Ohio State will discuss “The Political Economy of Emerging Property Rights.” April 23, 4 p.m.: Mary Dudziach of USC will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” Feb. 30, Noon: Daniel Diermeier of Northwestern University will discuss “Mass Political Action.” 119 Moses Hall UC Berkeley 642-4608  

“Great Decisions” Foreign Policy Association Lectures Series Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - Noon, Through April 3; An annual program featuring specialists in the field of national foreign policy, many from University of California. Goal is to inform the public on major policy issues and receive feedback from the public. $5 per session, $35 entire series for single person, $60 entire series for couple. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 526-2925 

Daniel Ellsberg, former defense analyst who many say helped end the Vietnam War by leaking the top-secret Pentagon Papers, told a group of 35 people Tuesday that he still has a secret or two.  

The 69-year-old Ellsberg spoke about the reasons he decided to leak the Pentagon Papers, sharply criticized Ralph Nader for costing former Vice President Al Gore the election and spoke of his continued willingness to risk prison again for the sake of truth telling. 

The Berkeley resident was the featured speaker at the Pacific School of Religion’s Real Deal Seminar, which will feature a series of speakers through early May. The seminars are free and open to the public. 

In 1971 Ellsberg, who was a defense analyst with the Rand Corporation, was catapulted into the International spotlight when he leaked a 7,000-page document detailing the United States’ military role in Indochina to the New York Times, the Washington Post and 15 other newspapers.  

The top secret documents, known as the Pentagon Papers, contained evidence of historical patterns of public deception used by government officials to prolong and escalate the war in Vietnam. One example was the 1964 fabrication of an North Vietnamese PT boat attack on the U.S. Destroyer Maddox in the Tonkin Gulf.  

President Lyndon Johnson went on national television the same day of the phony attack and cited it as the reason for a drastic escalation of air strikes in North Vietnam. 

Ellsberg told the group he was philosophically inspired by the writings of Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Joan Bondurant but said he was motivated to leak the top-secret document by anti-war protesters who were burning their draft cards and going to prison rather than fight in a war they believed to be immoral. 

“I don’t regard myself as a hero but I have many heroes and among them are the 20 year olds who had gone to prison or escaped to Canada,” said Ellsberg, who describes himself as a pacifist. 

After Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press, he turned himself in to the FBI and was charged with 12 felonies for which he faced a possible 115 years in prison. 

“I expected to be sent to jail for the rest of my life,” said Ellsberg who admits he wasn’t thrilled with the idea but knew in his heart it was the right thing to do. “I knew the action would be helpful in shortening the war.” 

Four months after portions of the Pentagon Papers were published, the White House “plumbers” unit - named for role of plugging information leaks for President Richard Nixon’s administration - burglarized Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office in an attempt to steal his files to publicly embarrass and discredit him. The Washington Post discovered a year later that Nixon advisor John Ehrlichman had ordered the burglary. Ehrlichman would later serve 18 months in prison for obstruction of justice. 

In May, 1973, a federal judge dropped all the charges against Ellsberg. 

“I didn’t break any law,” he said. “If I lived in almost any other country, I probably would have been put away for life or worse because most other countries have secrecy laws.” 

Ellsberg said Congress tried to adopt a military secrecy law in October as part of the International Appropriations Act. President Bill Clinton vetoed the secrecy portion of the act before it was approved. 

Ellsberg said it is likely military secrecy laws will be enacted under the Bush Administration. He said if that happens he would gladly risk going back to prison. “I have a few secrets left I would gladly divulge to test the law,” he said. “I’ll give ’em another crack at me. Let’s go to the Supreme Court.” 

Ellsberg said truth telling is critical in today’s environment of toxins and advanced war technology. He said he felt a special kinship with Jeffrey Wigand, a scientist who worked for the tobacco company Williams and Brown. Wigand divulged thousands of pages of documents detailing the tobacco company’s knowledge of the carcinogenic nature of its product. 

Wigand’s story was dramatized in the 1999 movie “The Insider.” 

Ellsberg, who clearly becomes passionate when he discusses politics, minced few words when speaking about presidential candidate and consumer advocate Ralph Nader. Ellsberg blames Nader for Vice President Al Gore’s loss in the presidential elections in November. 

He admits he is no fan of Gore’s but believes the country and the planet would be better served by him than President George Bush. 

“I’m the first to say that both the Republicans and Democrats are wrong but to say there’s no difference between the two parties is either a brazen lie or a statement so divorced from reality it’s psychotic.” 

Nader campaigned on a platform that claimed both Bush and Gore were puppets for the same corporate entities and were nearly identical in political philosophy. Nader won approximately 100,000 voted in Florida, the state that decided the election. 

Ellsberg lives half the year in Berkeley and half in Washington, D.C. He is completing his memoirs and continues to be politically active. 

For more information about the Real Deal Seminars call 849-8229

Bright purple signs along Bowditch Street and Hillegass Avenue declare the streets to be “bicycle boulevards.”  

But does decreeing it make it so? While parts of the quiet residential streets seemed a bicycle haven Tuesday, the intersection at busy Dwight Way, which runs straight through the boulevard could shatter a biker’s nerve. Although another purple placard signaled the bicycle boulevard crossing, drivers on Dwight rushed by, ignoring the sign along with the cyclists and pedestrians waiting  

to cross.  

“If they really wanted to do something for cyclists they’d close off the street,” said Manuel Vallee who cycled down Bowditch to campus midday. “Having pretty signs is just manipulation. It’s all for show.” 

Berkeley officials said they hope a series of bicycle boulevards, roads particularly amenable to cyclists, will increase bike traffic throughout the city. The first part of implementation, the signs decreeing the Hillegass/Bowditch bikeway, went up last week. Rochelle Wheeler, senior planner, said that the rest of the signs should be up by the end of the year. But everyone agrees it will take more than signs to create bicycle-safe streets. 

Quoting the most recent census, Sarah Syed, program coordinator of the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition said that only 10 percent of the people who live and work in Berkeley bike to work. She compared that to cities in Europe where up to 30 percent of the population bikes to work. The most recent data from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Task Force discovered Berkeley has four times the number of bicycle injuries compared to similarly-sized cities in California. 

Bicycle boulevards are supposed to resolve the paradox. On the boulevards cyclists and automobiles are supposed to exist on an equal footing, said David Campbell, president of Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition. “The intent would be that everyone shares the road equally,” he said. “The cyclist can ride down the middle of the lane and the car is expected to pass them as they would another car. The cyclist uses the street like anybody else uses the street.” 

Cyclist Vallee was not impressed with the idea that cars and bikes could share the road. “That’s already the case according to California law,” he said. Although laws for all streets are the same, Syed hoped the signs would create an impression that cars are “guests” on bike boulevards. 

The boulevards are based on Bryant Street, a Palo Alto street dedicated to cyclists. Former Palo Alto Councilmember Ellen Fletcher was instrumental in promoting that bike boulevard. She described it as a “tremendous success.” “It has the advantage of attracting novices because there’s less traffic,” she said. “And also the gung-ho cyclists.” 

An important part of making the Palo Alto system work was removing stop signs along the bike routes so that cyclists could ride straight through, while making it difficult for cars to do the same. Traffic calming devices to slow cars, and stop signs facing cross streets make the bike boulevard work, she said. 

In Berkeley, planners chose residential, quiet streets, already equipped with traffic calming barriers to serve as bike boulevards. In addition, planners will coordinate with neighbors to choose from a “tool-kit” of traffic calming devices to ensure that traffic along bike boulevards goes slow, even when stop signs are removed. “Generally the wider and straighter a street, the faster a car will go,” said Campbell of Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley. “A traffic circle actually creates vegetation in the middle of the street that tells the motorist and everybody else that they have to slow down.”  

Other pro-bicycle techniques include lights that change to green automatically for cyclists, such as the one at Martin Luther King Jr. and Channing ways, and a painted square at the front of an intersection, where bikes can wait in front of a line of cars, and make their turns first without weaving in and out of traffic. The city expects to spend $2 to $3 million dollars on the project, much of which will go for traffic lights. 

While one passerby who was driving said that slow traffic sounded like a good idea, Joseph Johnson Sr. laughed. “I think at first people are going to be a little frustrated,” he said.  

But automobile drivers aren’t the only ones that are going to have to be convinced about the new bicycle routes.  

Tangent rode his bike Tuesday on Telegraph Avenue – on the sidewalk. “I have little to no respect for bicycle laws,” he said. “I’ve been hit too many times by cars.” He said he didn’t think anything short of getting cars off the road would create a respectful relationship between riders and drivers.  

Bike boulevard advocates hope time will prove him wrong. “In it’s inception it was a very powerful vision,” said Jen Collins, program coordinator for the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley group. “While it’s definitely moving forward, it’s being gradually watered down.” She said plans for car-free streets, and boulevards with different colored pavement have been discarded; nonetheless, she believed that changing drivers’ mentality could make a difference.  

Tuesday afternoon, the ride along the bicycle boulevard was calm: no cars double parked in the middle of the street, no buses pulled over into the bike lane. One bicyclist rode in the center of the lane, experimenting with the sensation that the road belonged to bike and rider. A block over, on busy College Avenue, cars whizzed past and signs for four different buses pockmarked the side of the road. A purple sign encouraged cyclers to detour left onto the bicycle boulevard. The advice made sense.

Having won first place at the Pacific Coast Championships in Anaheim earlier this month, the Berkeley Ice Symmetrics precision ice skating team is hoping to win a medal at the National Skating Championships next month in Colorado Springs.  

Lise Faus, member of Ice Symmetrics, said the team’s performance in Anaheim “brought the house down.” 

“This is the first year the team has had such a positive response from judges and fans,” she said.  

Hetti Franczak, who has coached Ice Symmetrics since 1989, said the team was judged for the difficulty of its presentation. She said the Ice Symmetrics, which competed against two other teams in Anaheim, got a first place win from six out of seven judges, with the seventh giving them second place.  

The Ice Symmetrics precision skating team is made up of 20 women aged 21 to 52. Ice Symmetrics is a part of the Berkeley St. Moritz Figure Skating Club, which is made up of six precision skating teams and various figure skaters. 

Faus, like some of the other members of the team, used to skate for Walt Disney on Ice. Other women on the team skated for Ice Capades and the Charles Schultz Ice Production.  

Faus said she had to stop skating for Disney because of the wear and tear on her body. She said the lifestyle of performance skating is a lot of travel and living out of a suitcase. “It’s not an experience you want to live for very long.”  

Faus said she loves skating and finds the schedule of Ice Symmetrics practice sessions, two to three times a week, ideal. The team trains at Berkeley Iceland every Wednesday from 9 to 11 p.m. Sessions are open to public viewing.  

Franczak said precision skating is similar to synchronized swimming. “There’s a group of 20 skaters making patterns and formations on the ice.  

They incorporate footwork, arm movements, and head positions and it all has to be done in unison.  

They change patterns as fast as they can, making interesting variations of pattern - circles, lines, squares, and wheels.”  

Franczak said a wheel is created when you have a single line of skaters with the center skater being the pivot for the wheel.  

The skaters on the outside of the line skate faster than those on the inside. The pattern can be varied by adding additional lines called “spokes” to the wheel pattern, creating what looks like a bicycle wheel.  

Faus said the sport has grown in popularity over the past 20 years and said it’s rumored that precision skating will be featured as an event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.  

Faus said the women on the team are financing all the costs of competition, including costumes, airfare and hotel, out of their own pockets. “The team needs more ice time for practice and additional coaching fees to help bring out the talent these girls have.” 

Faus said the team is trying to raise money and find sponsorship.  

In light of the upcoming National Championships the St. Moritz Figure Skating Club is planning a fund-raising event at 7:30 p.m on March 5 at the Berkeley Iceland.  

Six precision skating teams will perform, including two teams which will join the Ice Symmetrics at the National Championships: Berkeley Blades Intermediate and Silver Stars Junior. Tickets for the gala are $5 and include dessert and coffee.

Man robs Wells Fargo bank, amount unknown 

A man claiming to be armed, robbed a Wells Fargo bank inside Andronico’s Market Tuesday. The incident happened about 3 p.m. at the store on University Avenue. Police said they do not know how much money the man was able to get. 

In a note passed to the teller the man claimed to have a gun and demanded money, said Lt. Russell Lopes of the Berkeley Police Department. Police were unable to confirm if the man was actually carrying a gun. 

Anyone with information about the robbery can call Berkeley Police at 981-5742. 

Superintendent search tops School Board agenda 

The Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education will hear a report on the search for a new superintendent at its regular board meeting today at 7:30 p.m. at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

Also on the agenda for tonight’s meeting is a report on the district’s food services and a report on the First Estimated Fiscal Year 2002 Budget.  

In public hearings the board will consider whether a credentialed teacher ought to be granted an emergency permit to teach outside of her subject area, and whether the Interim Superintendent ought to request permission from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to hire teachers without “appropriate” teaching credentials.  

First winners in Berkeley recycling, sorting contest 

Berkeley's trash-sifting, prize-giving recyclers have found their first winners in Susan and Roy Bogas, who were awarded $500 this week for correctly sorting their trash.  

The Cash for Trash Contest, first introduced in 1988, is being brought back this year by the Ecology Center, Berkeley's curbside recycler for 27 years. 

Officials first selected an address at random and sifted through that house or apartment building's trash last week. The trash wasn't up to snuff, however, and the $250 prize rolled over to this week. Prizes are awarded if the trash cache is found to be properly sorted, with recyclables in the proper places. If so, the residents of the house or apartment win $250. If not, the money rolls over until next week, when a new address is chosen and those residents can win the full $500. 

UC professor wins science award for genetics work  

University of California at Berkeley Genetics Professor Gerald M. Rubin has been awarded a prize for his fruit fly research by the National Association for the Advancement of Science. Rubin, who works in the university's Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, is being honored with the Newcomb Cleveland Prize for a review paper on the sequencing of the fruit fly genome published last year in Science.  

He was awarded the $5,000 prize, to be shared with about 100 co-authors of the paper, during the annual meeting of the National Association for the Advancement of Science held last weekend in San Francisco. 

— Staff, wire reports 

“The collaborative effort by academic and industry researchers was considered by our committee to represent a landmark event in the effort to understand the organization of the hereditary material at the finest structural level,” according to a statement by the science association. 

SAN FRANCISCO — A new civil rights suit accuses additional Oakland police officers of wrongdoing in “The Riders” case. 

The suit, filed last Friday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on behalf of nine people, alleges the officers stood by and did nothing while four other officers – known as “The Riders” – committed violations of the law. 

It is the latest suit filed against “The Riders” and those who allegedly permitted their activities. 

The suit also contains new charges that one member of “The Riders” – Frank Vazquez – framed people on drug charges in West Oakland as far back as 1998.  

Vazquez fled soon after charges against the officers surfaced. Authorities believe he may be in Mexico. 

In November, Vazquez and officers Clarence Mabanag, Jude Siapno and Matthew Hornung were charged with a total of 48 felonies and 12 misdemeanors for their alleged actions between June 13 and July 3 in which at least 10 people were victimized. 

At least 33 people have said they were beaten, kidnapped or falsely arrested on drug charges in West Oakland. 

Five officers have been accused of failing to intervene to stop the illegal conduct.  

Those include the officers’ supervisor, Sgt. Jerry Hayter, who has since been demoted, S. Amerding, James Gantt, A. McFarlane, and Martin Ziebarth. 

All five are named in the federal suit filed Friday.

SAN FRANCISCO — A low snowpack in the Sierra Nevada and little rainfall so far this winter could mean less water this summer for farmers, who would have to pump more from wells to irrigate their crops. 

While more rain and snow are predicted, the generally dry weather could raise irrigation costs substantially for farmers as they use electric pumps to reach deeper into aquifers for water. 

“It’s kind of a double whammy,” said Frances Squire, public affairs officer for the Westlands Water District in Fresno. “They’ll be forced to pump more, which means they’ll be using more electricity, which means they’ll place more strain on the grid.” 

The strain will be even worse if there is less water to power the state’s hydroelectric plants, further reducing irrigation supplies, said Randy McFarland, spokesman for the Friant Water Users Authority and Kings River Authority in the Central Valley. 

“With the power crisis, if there’s less water available, there will be less water to generate electricity,” McFarland said. “It’ll cost a lot more to operate pumps.” 

The rainy season lasts from November to March. So far, precipitation is about a third below normal, according to the Department of Water Resources’ chief hydrologist, Maury Roos. 

While he does not expect this year to be as dry as previous drought years in California, one state estimate has the chances of getting average rainfall this year at about one in 15, Roos said. 

If the year continues to be very dry, the Department of Water Resources could consider setting up a water bank as it has in drought years, buying water from people willing to sell. But “if that happens, it will probably be too expensive for farmers,” Roos said. 

A combination of wet weather this past weekend, more power plants returning to service and a holiday weekend that lowered electricity demands resulted in the state entering the workweek with its best forecast for power in more than five weeks. 

The state had been in a Stage 3 alert for more than a month, with reserves falling or threatening to fall below 1.5 percent. The Stage 3 alert was downgraded over the weekend. 

“This was a good weekend. And the wet weather that will continue through the week is good news” for hydroelectric supplies, said Patrick Dorinson, spokesman for the California Independent System Operator, the keeper of the state’s grid. 

Kip Brundage, who farms 1,000 acres of alfalfa and oats in Gilroy in Santa Clara County, worries that there won’t be enough runoff from the mountains to replenish underground water supplies. That means he’ll have to pump harder to get water from his 35 wells. He already pays up to $25,000 a month to run them. 

“My gut feeling is we’re going to see a substantial increase, probably in the 30 to 40 percent range,” he said. “It’s going to be devastating.” 

For farmers facing higher bills, options include concentrating crops on fewer acres or letting land lie fallow. The Westlands Water District in the Central Valley, which has 540,000 acres needing irrigation, will likely get a fraction of the water its contract with the government says it is entitled to receive — enough to irrigate just 66,300 acres. 

“We’re looking at a variety of options,” Squire said. “We’re starting to discuss land retirement.” 

Jason Peltier, manager of the Central Valley Project Water Association, which supplies water to one-third of all the irrigated land in the state – about 3 million acres – said the water situation didn’t have to be so dire. 

The Central Valley Project has predicted that some farmers it serves will get as little as 15 percent of the water their contract says they can receive.  

The state water project, which supplies about 1 million acres in the San Joaquin Valley, is estimating an allocation of about 20 percent. 

“What I take from it is absolute proof that our water management infrastructure is broken,” Peltier said. “The water condition overall is not disastrous, but that forecast is.” 

Peltier blamed increasing federal restrictions on pumping, designed to protect fish. 

“We’ve had an incredible string of wet years — six of the wettest we’ve seen,” he said. “Now when we move toward something more normal, we have a disaster looming, because of the constraints on the projects.” 

But Mike Thabault, an assistant field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Sacramento, disagreed. 

He said the service has an Environmental Water Account, which it uses to make sure there’s enough water if the service takes action to protect fish that could affect the amount of water available to users. 

“By far and away, environmental issues in the delta are not the only thing constraining water supply in California, and I don’t think it’s fair to characterize it that way,” he said. “I think we’ve done a tremendous amount of effort to insulate the water users from any additional effects from the environmental standards that have occurred.” 

A California man, sentenced under a “three strikes” law to 25 years to life in prison after stealing an umbrella and two bottles of liquor, lost a Supreme Court appeal Tuesday. 

The court turned down the man’s argument that his sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment. 

Justices David H. Souter and Stephen G. Breyer voted to grant review. Writing for the two, Souter said, “The issue is serious, the state courts have had adequate opportunity to consider it, and the stakes are substantial.” 

Stanley Durden was convicted in Los Angeles County for stealing two bottles of liquor and an umbrella from a supermarket in 1999. Because Durden had several prior convictions, the theft was prosecuted as a felony. 

Under California’s “three strikes” law, Durden was sentenced to 25 years to life based on his four previous convictions for robbery and attempted robbery. 

A California appeals court upheld the sentence, saying he was “a serious career criminal who has demonstrated repeatedly that he has no intention of abiding by the laws of this state.” The California Supreme Court denied review. 

In the appeal acted on Tuesday, Durden’s lawyers said the punishment was “grossly disproportional” to the crime. 

“The offense was minor, petty theft, but the punishment was enormous,” his lawyers said. Durden’s prior offenses were counted twice – first to raise the petty theft to a felony, and then to sentence him under the “three strikes” law, his lawyers said. 

Prosecutors said Durden had a “serious and unending record of violent crime” and “represents a dangerous menace to the people of California.” 

The case is Durden v. California, 00-6479. 

——— 

On the Net: For the state court ruling: http://www.courts.net and click on California. 

LOS ANGELES — The arrest of a veteran FBI agent on charges of spying for Russia recalls the arrest more than 16 years ago of Richard W. Miller, who became the first FBI agent to be convicted of espionage. 

Miller, who worked in the Los Angeles office, was ultimately convicted of trading secrets for sex with a Russian emigre and the promise of $65,000 in cash and gold. 

But the case against Robert Philip Hanssen, 56, who was arrested Sunday in Virginia, appears far different than the one against Miller, according to Miller’s attorney, Joel Levine. 

Hanssen appeared to have had more access to sensitive information than Miller did, Levine said Tuesday. 

“Miller’s access was very innocuous and in the long run it had a bearing on the case,” he said. 

Miller was arrested in October 1984 along with accomplices Svetlana Ogorodnikov and her husband, Nikolai Ogorodnikov. 

“He had an affair with (Svetlana Ogorodnikov), that’s a matter of record,” said Levine. “She was suspected of having links to the Soviet intelligence community.” 

Miller, 64, now lives in Utah, Levine said. He could not be reached for comment. 

The Ogorodnikovs each pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges after reaching agreements with federal prosecutors. 

Miller was tried three times. The first ended in a mistrial. 

At his second trial, in 1986, Miller was described by one of his attorneys as “an overweight Inspector Clouseau” who “bumbled and fumbled his way through the FBI for 20 years” and let “fantasies of James Bond” get the best of him. 

The prosecution described Miller as a man obsessed with money and women, making him “a classic target for KGB recruitment.” 

Miller was found guilty of espionage and bribery, but the conviction was overturned in 1989 because polygraph findings were admitted as evidence. 

SACRAMENTO — California’s Senate gave Gov. Gray Davis more leverage in his negotiations with utility companies Tuesday, approving legislation that would allow the state to buy or build power plants. 

The bill to create a public power authority, which still needs approval from the Assembly, could involve state officials much more deeply in the energy business. 

“With the passage of this bill ... I think we can say deregulation in the state of California is officially dead,” said Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside. 

Skyrocketing wholesale electricity prices, due to high natural gas prices and scarce supplies, have nearly driven the state’s two largest utilities to bankruptcy. 

Sen. John Burton, the bill’s author, says creating a power authority will give the state more control over the wholesale market. State-owned power plants could charge lower prices, and building new plants could increase supply, easing wholesale prices. 

Ratepayer advocate Nettie Hoge – who has long campaigned for public control of the state’s power industry – called it a significant, though still tentative step. 

“The power authority bill is a placeholder, in a way, to give us the flexibility to enter the business. It still depends on whether the state has the appetite to own assets,” said Hoge, executive director of The Utility Reform Network. 

Davis and state lawmakers are considering taking over the utilities’ transmission system, along with the responsibility of upgrading and maintaining the aging lines. The power authority would also have the authority to seize plants by eminent domain, a power the governor also has under an emergency order issued last month. 

Davis has said he’d rather negotiate a deal with the utilities for their transmission lines or other assets in return for helping the companies regain their creditworthiness. 

Sen. Steve Peace, the Chula Vista Democrat who was one of the primary authors of the state’s 1996 energy deregulation law, has avoided much of the current debate, and has sought to blame the energy crisis on federal regulators’ refusal to impose price caps on wholesale energy bills. 

But he spoke enthusiastically in favor of the public power bill on Tuesday, urging the governor to seize the state’s power plants, many of which are owned by Texas companies. 

“This is the only choice the kidnappers have given us,” Peace said. Either take control of the generation plants “or raise the Lone Star flag to the top of the Capitol and give up the ghost.” 

But if the state starts seizing plants, it could deter private companies from building more power generators in the state, having the opposite effect lawmakers were trying to achieve, said Jan Smutny-Jones, executive director of the Independent Energy Producers. 

“That’s the big concern I have – that as California starts to creep toward nationalizing their system, they’re going to drive away the very plants they need to attract,” he said. 

PG&E spokesman Ron Low declined to comment on the legislation. SoCal Edison representatives didn’t immediately return calls by The Associated Press seeking comment. 

Administration officials continued meeting with Edison and PG&E executives in San Francisco Tuesday, negotiating the governor’s plan to rescue the financially ailing utilities, said Steve Maviglio, spokesman for Davis. 

Davis has proposed buying the utilities’ transmission lines to give the companies an infusion of much-needed cash. 

The 24-14 vote on the bill by Burton, D-San Francisco, was split down party lines, with all Republican senators voting against the measure. The bill now goes to the Assembly. 

Another bill still in the Senate would give the governor the authority to negotiate the purchase of the utilities’ transmission lines – about 60 percent of the state’s power grid. The other 40 percent is owned by municipal districts and the federal government. 

California’s two largest utilities say they’ve lost nearly $13 billion due to high wholesale power prices, which the state’s 1996 utility deregulation law blocks them from recouping from customers. 

The state has already stepped in, committing $10 billion to purchase power for customers of Edison and PG&E. That and other fixes under consideration by Davis and lawmakers – including a state purchase of 26,000 miles of transmission lines – could cost consumers and taxpayers $20 billion, or roughly $590 for every California resident. 

The bulk of the money would come from bond sales to be repaid by utility customers over many years. 

Consumer advocates praised the power authority bill, saying the state should have moved toward the public power model five years ago instead of its “failed experiment” with deregulation, citing the much lower rates that municipal power customers have paid throughout the crisis. 

“The Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles and Sacramento Municipal Utility District, have proven that publicly owned power systems can be more efficient, more reliable and more affordable for consumers,” said Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. 

Also Tuesday, a federal court judge refused a power generator’s request to be paid for electricity sold to the two utilities through the nearly defunct California Power Exchange. 

Several power generators have sued the nonprofit exchange to prevent it from forcing them to pay for Edison and PG&E’s defaults. 

Under a federal tariff governing the exchange, if a buyer of power defaults on payments, every member of the exchange – including power sellers – must pay a portion of the debt. The two cash-strapped utilities have already defaulted on nearly $1 billion and will likely do the same on future payments. 

U.S. District Court Judge Carlos Moreno said he wants power companies and the exchange to agree to a standstill while FERC decides how money and debts will be allocated among exchange members. 

A hearing has been scheduled for Thursday to discuss an injunction that would bar the exchange from charging the power generators their share of the default and keep generators from receiving payments until FERC rules. 

SACRAMENTO — The California Senate voted Tuesday to delay Gov. Gray Davis’ high school graduation test for a year, saying students need more time to prepare for its tough questions, especially in algebra. 

“How many of you could pass a test on algebra even if you had it recently?” Sen. Betty Karnette, a former math teacher from Long Beach, asked her colleagues. 

Only a couple of hands were weakly raised. 

Current law requires the class of 2004 – today’s ninth-graders – to pass the rigorous new test to graduate.  

The test is scheduled to be given next month for the first time to ninth-graders who volunteer, on March 7 for reading and writing and on March 13 for math. 

The bill, sent to the Assembly by a 21-13 vote, would make the class of 2005, today’s eighth-graders, the first one that would have to pass it. 

The Democratic governor is opposed to postponing the test, saying he believes today’s ninth-graders will have taken enough tough courses to pass the test by their senior year. Students are allowed to take the test several times. 

Davis and lawmakers have provided additional funds to school districts for items such as new textbooks and teacher training “to ensure that students are prepared for the exam,” Davis spokeswoman Hilary McLean said Tuesday. 

The postponement bill, by Sen. Jack O’Connell, D-San Luis Obispo, was originally introduced for Davis, who wants to make next month’s test only a practice exam for ninth-graders. 

The 1999 law creating the test says ninth-graders who pass the test don’t have to take it again. Davis fears that means the 10th-graders who take the test in 2002, when the state will set an official passing score, will not be a valid cross-section of students. That could leave the state vulnerable to legal challenges. 

At this point, there is no mechanism in place to determine a passing score for students who take the test this year. 

O’Connell’s bill was amended in the Senate Education Committee last month to delay the entire test for one year to make it more likely to pass legal challenges. 

Court rulings in other states with similar high-stakes tests have said students cannot be tested on things they have not actually been taught. 

Algebra, which will be on the test at Davis’ insistence, is at the heart of the concern about the test. 

More than a third of students graduating from high school do not taken algebra now.  

However, a new law that took effect in January makes algebra a requirement for graduation in all districts, beginning with the class of 2004. 

“The big picture is will this measure withstand the legal challenges we believe are going to be filed?” asked O’Connell. “We want to have a fair and valid test.” 

Sen. Dede Alpert, D-Coronado, said when the original test bill was approved nearly two years ago, “all of us knew that the timeframe was going to be very tight.” 

A consulting company hired by the state to evaluate the development of the test last summer recommended delaying it for one or two years to give schools and students more time to prepare. 

However, Republican senators opposed delaying the test, saying the state needs to give it as soon as possible to see how well high school students are doing. 

“There’s absolutely no reason why we ought to relax any requirements,” said Sen. Ray Haynes, R-Riverside. 

The bill would also ban ninth-graders from taking the test after this year and would require the state to release some of the test questions each year so the public will know what the exam is like. 

On the Net: Read the bill, SB84, at http://www.sen.ca.gov 

Read about the high school test at 

http://www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/hsee

Because it is a slapstick comedy about a man who tortures his wife until she becomes subservient to his every whim, Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew” is a difficult play for modern audiences. 

When the play is produced, directors put much thought and energy into finding ways to reinterpret this problematic tale so that it is meaningful for modern audiences. 

UC Berkeley’s Department of Dramatic Art/Center for Theater Arts is taking a stab at it with a world premiere reworking of the story called “Shrew You!,” which opened Friday at Zellerbach Playhouse on the Cal campus. 

This gay reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s play, with S&M overtones, was adapted and directed by Reid Davis, and developed collaboratively through workshops and rehearsals with Cal actors. 

The end result is an impressive technical product. The company has come up with a lively, athletic production, using a commedia dell’arte-influenced playing style. The quality of the acting in this student production is terrific, and Davis’ direction and choreography are strong.  

But the evening gets lost in the murky uncertainties of “Shrew You’s” story. The play tries to cover too much ground, and force interpretations that aren’t in the script. It ends up feeling more like an academic exercise, or a theater class project, than a finished performance concept for a general audience. 

In “Shrew You!,” genders have been swapped in much of the casting. Men play women, and women play men.  

Three of the play’s key roles are performed by two actors each, one man and one woman. There are a male and female Kate the shrew, a male and female shrew-tamer Petruchio, and a male and female Grumio (Petruchio’s servant). 

The gay theme is set early. At the play’s beginning, Petruchio and his male friend Hortensio are shown having sex – rather wild, violent sex. Their love-making verges on a rape, of sorts, by Petruchio. 

By casting two Petruchios, two Kates and two Grumios, the company can put multiple versions of the same scene on stage at the same time. 

For example, one Kate and one Petruchio might play a given scene with wild sexual emphasis, while the other Kate and the other Petruchio might play the same scene quietly. 

Elsewhere, a scene might be played on a literal level by one actor, but with self-conscious awareness by a different actor. 

Although these techniques can provide meaningful discoveries for actors working on a script, for an audience “Shrew You!” ends up waffling around in its story and doesn’t manage to make a clear statement after three hours of playing time. 

Also, if you do not know the play beforehand, there are places where this production will be confusing. In some spots, the multiple casting devices are hard to follow. In other places, actors suddenly switch to entirely different characters without warning or explanation. Someone who doesn’t know the play will be baffled. 

Kate’s famous subservience speech at the play’s end, done tongue-in-cheek in this production, seems contrived and tacked on to the story, rather than emerging from what has happened before. 

And in “Shrew You!’s” final scene celebrating gay love, adaptor Davis has shoehorned into the story a twist that doesn’t fit well. The actors display much comic, stylized movement and skillful clowning in this production. Cal is turning out some terrific actors these days. 

There are many good performances – from Kate (Charise Green and Steven Kelly), Petruchio (Sarah Arlen and Brendan Wolfe), hobbling, raspy would-be lover Gremio (Angela Nahigian), servant Biondello (marionette-like Julia Cho), jilted gay lover Hortnesio (Danny Etcheverry), take-charge servant Tranio (J. Weekes) and others. 

For the most part, Davis’ staging is very tightly directed. 

There are extensive choreographic segments without dialogue, that are quite spectacular, such as a big fight scene at the opening of the play when Kate the shrew is introduced. Designer Raquel Barreto uses a mix of modern-day and period costuming. Sound designer Jake Rodriquez has provided effective musical backgrounds for many scenes – one particular Fellini-esque musical segment stands out–and elsewhere punctuated the action on stage with a variety of vaudeville sound effects. 

On February 23-24, in conjunction with this production, Cal will present two days of symposia open to the public on contemporary performance, literature and cultural studies.  

The February 24 performance of "Shrew You!" will be followed by a discussion of contemporary Shakespeare and performance.

SAN FRANCISCO — Napster Inc. offered $1 billion to the recording industry Tuesday to settle the copyright infringement suit that threatens to shut down the free Internet song-swapping service. 

Under the proposed settlement, $150 million would be paid each year for the first five years to the major record labels – Sony, Warner, BMG, EMI and Universal – with an additional $50 million allotted annually for independent labels. 

Napster CEO Hank Barry, flanked by company founder Shawn Fanning, described the urgency of reaching an agreement with the record companies that are suing Napster for copyright infringement. 

“We all ought to sit down and settle this case as fast as we can,” Barry said.  

“We’re saying this is something consumers really want. Let’s do something to keep it going.” 

Record labels urged Napster instead to accept a federal injunction ordering it to block copyright music from its service. 

“This path would be more productive than trying to engage in business negotiations through the media,” Hilary Rosen, president of the Recording Industry Association of America, said before Napster made its offer public. 

The offer was announced a week after a federal appeals court signaled the end is near for Napster’s free service, saying the music industry almost certainly will win its suit against the pioneering digital entertainment company. 

Under last week’s ruling from a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the company was ordered to stop the millions of people who use it as a clearinghouse to swap copyrighted music without charge and without restriction. 

Napster, whose lawyers have said such action would be virtually impossible, has vowed to appeal to the full appeals court. 

Napster has argued it is not to blame for how subscribers use copyrighted material, citing a 1984 case in which the Supreme Court refused to hold VCR manufacturers and videotape retailers liable for people copying movies. 

But the appeals court said no such protection extends to Napster because the company knew users were swapping copyrighted songs.  

The panel also said there was evidence of “massive, unauthorized downloading and uploading of plaintiffs’ copyrighted works – as many as 10,000 files per second by defendant’s own admission.” 

Napster’s popularity exploded in 1999 after Fanning released software that made it easy for personal computer users to locate and trade songs stored as computer files in the MP3 format, which compresses digital recordings without sacrificing quality. 

The five largest record labels sued as soon as Napster took off, saying it could rob them of billions of dollars in profits. 

Napster has scrambled to make agreements with former foes like Bertelsmann Inc., the parent company of the BMG music unit.  

The German media giant has promised much-needed capital if Napster switches to a subscription-based service that pays artists’ royalties. 

Bertelsmann executives were at the news conference Tuesday at which the Napster offer was revealed. 

On the Net: 

Napster: http://www.napster.com 

Recording industry: http://www.riaa.com

SAN JOSE — Intel Corp. said Tuesday it will delay raises, cut back on hiring and slash spending, joining other high-tech companies in belt-tightening amid a slowing economy and sluggish personal computer sales. 

The $34 billion chip making company hopes to save “hundreds of millions of dollars” with the cost-cutting measures, Intel spokesman Robert Manetta said. Layoffs are not part of the plan. 

“The goal is to cut back so we can continue in investments that can bring us through this slowdown,” he said. 

The company will limit hiring to only “critical positions” and pare its work force through attrition. The company’s attrition rate is typically in the single-digit range, Manetta said. 

The budget for research and development and capital spending will stay on target, but discretionary spending, such as overtime and travel expenses, will be reduced by 30 percent, the company said. 

Intel also will delay springtime raises until October – when company officials hope to see a bounceback in the economy and technology purchases, Manetta said. 

Senior-level employees won’t get their raises until the fall, while non-managerial employees likely will receive half of their 2001 raises in the spring and the other half in the fall, Manetta said. 

The Santa Clara-based company, which has a worldwide work force of 86,000, is the latest to pare expenses amid diminishing personal computer sales and a slowing economy. 

Last week, Motorola Inc. announced plans to eliminate as many as 4,000 jobs from its semiconductor operations by year’s end. 

Also last week, Dell Computer Corp. slashed 1,700 jobs, about 4 percent of its work force. Last month, Gateway announced plans to cut 10 percent of its work force and Hewlett-Packard Co. said it would cut 2 percent of its work force. 

Driven by the expansion of the Internet and demand for communications equipment, worldwide sales of semiconductors topped $200 billion in 2000, but record-setting sales were not expected to carry over into 2001 as the economy continues to slow and manufacturers report an excess of inventory, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. 

December sales were $17.9 billion, a 21.6 percent increase over 1999 but a 2.1 percent drop from November. The industry group said its 2001 forecast of 22 percent year-over-year growth probably will not be met. 

Intel shares closed down $2.94, or 8.5 percent, to $31.44 Tuesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, after Salomon Smith Barney analyst Jonathan Joseph said a semiconductor recovery in the second half of the year is “overly optimistic.” 

Shares dropped another 6 cents to $31.38 in after-hours trading. 

Intel’s cutbacks did not surprise industry analysts, but the fact that the tech titan did not discuss the cost-cutting measures during its earnings report last month may mean the industry’s outlook for the year remains bleak. 

“We’re seeing the belt tighten another notch. It’s slight, but it’s incrementally bad news for the overall sector,” said Dan Scovel of Needham & Scovel, Inc. “Something prompted them to do this; a sign of recovery may not be on the visible horizon at this point.” 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.intel.com 

NEW YORK — Skittish investors sold off technology stocks Tuesday, pushing the Nasdaq composite index down more than 100 points for the second trading session in a row and sending all three major market indicators into negative territory for the year. 

In light trading following the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend, the Nasdaq composite index tumbled. Tuesday’s loss built on the 5 percent fall the Nasdaq made on Friday, when it dropped more than 127 points. 

“There’s a bit more of the defensive flavor in the market today,” said Charles G. Crane, market strategist for Spears, Benzak, Salomon & Farrell. 

Since late last year, investors have been retreating to safer stocks, such as those in the health care and consumer product sectors. They’ve focused their selling on riskier tech stocks, where earnings have suffered the most as the economy has slowed. 

But Tuesday’s selling put all three of the three major market indicators in negative turf for the year. The Nasdaq has slipped the most, down 4.4 percent. The Dow is now off 0.6 percent, and the S&P 500 has lost 1.7 percent. 

“There seem to be new victims on the list every day,” Crane said particularly of the tech sector. 

Tuesday’s tech victims included telecommunications companies that suffered after analysts reduced their outlooks on their stocks. The downgrades affirmed investors’ fears that it will take a while for the long-battered tech sector to recover. 

Nextel Communications fell $3.13 after Salomon Smith Barney lowered its rating on the stock. The brokerage cited Nextel’s difficulties retaining customers. 

Investors were disappointed by fourth-quarter earnings results, but the reason for their selling now is that profits aren’t expected to pick up until at least the second half of the year, analysts said. 

“The anticipation of anything good happening is not there anymore and the selling continues,” said Gary Kaltbaum, technical analyst at J.W. Genesis. 

— The Associated Press 

Falling tech prices also brought the Dow lower. Intel tumbled $2.94 to $31.44, hurt as it said that decreased demand for computer chips was prompting it to enact a cost-cutting plan, which includes job cuts through attrition. 

The Dow’s losses were curbed somewhat by retailing stocks. Investors rewarded companies withstanding a slowing economy and slumping consumer confidence. 

Wal-Mart rose $1.04 to $53.40 after reporting fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street’s expectations by a penny. The discount retailer said quarterly earnings topped $2 billion for the first time. 

Another Dow retailer, Home Depot advanced $1.09 to $44.09 despite warning that it is still suffering soft sales and weak prices. Its fourth-quarter earnings met analysts’ lowered expectations. 

Declining issues outnumbered advancers slightly more than 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume was 1.33 billion shares, down from 1.48 billion on Friday. The market was closed Monday in observance of Presidents’ Day. 

The Russell 2000 index, which measures the performance of smaller company stocks, finished down 8.14 at 491.14. 

Overseas markets also were mostly lower. Britain’s FT-SE 100 index lost 1.9 percent, Germany’s DAX index declined 1.0 percent and France’s CAC-40 index fell 0.6 percent. But Japan’s Nikkei index rose 1.0 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com 

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com 

After a background report was bogged down for two years in various departments, the City Council tonight will finally ask staff to prepare a domestic partner ordinance for city contractors. 

The council first directed the city manager to prepare an Equal Benefits Ordinance report in March 1999. The report is finally complete and the council will likely ask that the ordinance be prepared for approval by April 17. The ordinance is expected to take effect by July 1. 

If adopted, the ordinance will require nearly all businesses that contract with the city to provide domestic partners benefits to their employees. Certain employers may be exempt if they don’t offer benefits to any employees or have city contracts under certain dollar amounts, according to the city manager’s report. 

The ordinance will require domestic partners receive the same benefits married employees do including bereavement leave and health and retirement benefits. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said both the progressive and moderate factions of the City Council worked hard to move the ordinance through the city bureaucracy but it was held up by former City Manager James Keene. 

“We had two councilmembers from each side write the recommendation but for some reason the former city manager squashed it for two years by sitting on it,” Worthington said. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a few months after Weldon Rucker was made acting city manager the report was finished.” 

Keene told the Daily Planet in January 2000, that the report was bogged down in the Finance Department. He also said critical aspects of the report would depend on the structure of the Living Wage  

Ordinance, which had not yet been completed. 

Berkeley’s Living Wage Ordinance was adopted June 27, 2000. 

A former member of the East Bay Lesbian Gay Democratic Club, Nancy Carleton worked with a number of organizations and individuals who lobbied the City Council to adopt the ordinance two years ago. 

“The City of Berkeley was the first city in the whole world to enact a domestic partners law for city employees,” Carleton said. “It took over two years to get this far but I’m happy it’s moving forward.” 

According to the report, there are only three cities in the country that require a domestic partners policy from its contractors: San Francisco was the first, followed by Seattle and Los Angeles. 

The employers who will be affected include for-profit businesses that have a contract for $25,000 or more with the city to provide services, carry out construction projects and supply goods. Nonprofit employers who provide the same services will be affected if they have a contract with the city for $100,000 or more.  

Businesses that lease public property will have to provide domestic partner benefits if their gross annual receipts are $350,000 or more. 

According to the report, domestic partners will include any couple which signs an affidavit of domestic partnership and registers it with a government body or their employer. 

Carleton said having health insurance can save lives in cases of sudden and severe illness. “This ordinance can have a real impact on people’s lives,” she said. “It’s not just cosmetic.” 

Tuesday, Feb. 20

“Great Decisions” -  

China & Taiwan 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. $5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Intelligent Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. 527-9772  

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m., 7 p.m. 

South Branch Berkeley Library  

1901 Russel St.  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Blood Pressure for Seniors 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

With Alice Meyers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

The “Real Deal” 

12:45 p.m.  

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd Building, Room 103 

Daniel Ellsberg changed history by leaking the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times. Join him for a discussion about what it means to act ethically and how one person’s actions can make a difference. Free 

849-8257  

Wednesday, Feb. 21

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Control Hypertension 

6:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center - Summit Campus 

Summit South Cafeteria Conference Room  

3100 Summit St.  

Oakland 

Bessanderson McNeil, MPH, and the Ethnic Health Institute, will help attendees take control of their lives. Free Call 204-3443 

Sacred Cinema  

7 - 9 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., Chapel Six 

Ken Peer has sought to explore sacred themes and to draw attention to the spiritual lives of individuals from the world’s great wisdom traditions. Call 649-2523 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m. 

Claremont Library  

2940 Benvenue  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Alzheimer’s Support Group  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

For families and caregivers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

Farm Fresh Choice  

7 - 9 p.m.  

Center for Ecoliteracy  

2522 San Pablo Ave.  

Topic of discussion will be the new “Farm Fresh Choice” project linking local farms with Berkeley residents, National Nutritional Month activities and developing a visual graphic of Berkeley’s ideal food system. 665-6812 or visit www.berkeleyfood.org 

Thursday, Feb. 22

Free “Quit Smoking” Class 

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis (at Ashby)  

Cease your smoking with the help of this free class offered to Berkeley residents and employees. 

Call 644-6422 to enroll or e-mail quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Charles Ellick and host Louis Cuneo. 644-0155 

Rivers of the World  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Pamela Michael, writer, educator and river conservationist, will highlight her new anthology “The Gift of Rivers: True Stories of Life on the Water.” Free Call 527-4140 

Growl & Howl of Man  

& Woman 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Hillside Community Church  

1422 Navellier St.  

El Cerrito 

A series of Thursday evenings of conversation. $10  

Agaves & Yuccas 

7 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden 

200 Centennial Drive 

Mary and Gary Irish, experts on these plants will show you where to find these dry garden plants and how to makes them grow happily.  

$15 Call 643-1924 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m.  

West Branch Berkeley Library  

1125 University Ave.  

Call 649-3943 

Meditation Seminar 

6:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church  

2727 College Ave.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation. Call 845-9648 

Concluding Your Speech  

12:10 - 1:10 p.m.  

California Department of Health Services  

2151 Berkeley Way, Room 804  

State Health Toastmasters invites you to take the terror out of talking. 649-7750  

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Friday, Feb. 23

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Cosi Fan Tutte 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

An opera presented for free.  

Call 644-6107 

Impediments to Housing Expansion  

Noon  

Goldman School of Public Policy  

2607 Hearst Ave.  

Lawrence Gotlieb, vice president for Government and Public Affairs for KB Home in L.A. will discuss “The Housing Affordability Crisis: The Builder’s Perspective.”  

Call 665-6812 

Saturday, Feb. 24

Tibetan New Year’s Celebration 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Britta Hauenschild gives a flute concert followed by a festive dinner and New Year’s celebration. Proceeds support Nyingma Institute sacred art and education programs.  

$30 suggested donation  

Call 843-6812 

Celebrate Samuel H. Day, Jr.  

2 - 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

1924 Cedar St. (at Bonita)  

Longtime anti-nuclear activist and journalists, Day was the coordinator of the U.S. campaign to free Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu. Day died suddenly at his home in Madison, Wisconsin on Jan. 26.  

Call 548-3048 or visit www.nukewatch.org 

A Little Taste of Africa  

2 - 4 p.m. 

City of Franklin School  

1150 Virginia St.  

The City of Franklin PTA hosts this fundraiser for Black History Month. There will be performances by a West African Dance Troupe, music, poetry, authentic African dishes, a marketplace, and much more.  

$5  

Call 644-6260 

Love of Self, Family & Community 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

Celebrating the many talents of African-Americans, join the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project at its annual Black History Month Celebration for a day of music, dance, arts & crafts displays. Free dinner for all who attend.  

Call 644-6226 

Meditation Seminar 

1:30 p.m. 

Grace North Church  

2138 Cedar St.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648 

Sunday, Feb. 25

“Imperial San Francisco: 

Urban Power, Earthly Ruin” 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley History Center 

Veterans Memorial Building 

1931 Center St.  

Gary Brechin speaks on the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful San Francisco families. Free 

Call 848-0181 

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

“How are Pacific cities reshaping their cultural and environmental institutions to better serve the needs and enhance the present and future quality of life of all segments of their societies?” A series of ten seminars linking the Bay Area, Seattle, Portland, and other pacific cities.  

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Authors in the Library: Lois Silverstein 

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Writer and performer, Silverstein, will read selections from “Oh My Darling Daughter,” “Behind the Stove,” and a work-in-progress, “Family Matters.” Discussion and book signing will follow. Free.  

Call 848-0237 x127 

Planetary Temples 

8 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Employee Don Frew will show slides of teh ruined city of Harran. Free 

Call 848-8443 

Art Meets Science in Time  

2 - 3:30 p.m. 

Bancroft Hotel  

2680 Bancroft Way  

Professor Andrew Stewart of UC Berkeley and Gail M. Wright, a digital artist and lecturer at Mills College explore this subject through slide-illustrated discussions. In conjunction with the 0. Museum’s current exhibition “Telling Time.”  

Call 549-6950 

Harran: City of the Moon God 

8 - 10 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Donald Frew will present s, past and present, and will show slides from a recent visit. He will also discuss the likely treasure trove of texts from the ancient world that await discovery there. Free  

Call 848-8443 

High Blood Pressure Screenings 

9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Church by the Side of the Road  

2108 Russell St.  

Free blood pressure screenings, follow-up advice and other nutritional counseling. Sponsored by Alta Bates Medical Center.  

869-6763 

YOKOSUKA, JAPAN – The uproar over the sinking of a Japanese fishing trawler by a U.S. nuclear submarine has overlooked the question of whether anyone could have survived inside the sunken vessel.  

This has been haunting the relatives of the four high schoolers and five men who were trapped below deck when the Ehime Maru went down. 

Certainly, the U.S. Navy did not act as quickly as the Russians did last year after an explosion scuttled the Russian submarine Kursk in Arctic waters.  

The international media and U.S. defense experts excoriated the Russian Navy and President Vladimir Putin for presuming that no one could have survived the blast. 

In fact, there were survivors inside the Kursk, but help came too late.  

It took a full day for the Russian Navy to send a submersible vessel to search for lost crewmen. 

Moscow's failure to act immediately was seen as proof of official arrogance and bureaucratic ineptitude – yet it took the U.S. Navy six times as long to dispatch a submersible to search for the Ehime Maru.  

Six days is a long time, considering the collision site is in warm waters and close to the huge base at Pearl Harbor.  

However unlikely it is that anyone could have held out in an air pocket at a depth of 1,500 feet, an expeditious probe would have been the only way to know for certain.  

Any slower effort was tantamount to a death sentence. 

Such negligence is permanently hardening Japanese attitudes toward the U.S. Navy and its Commander in Chief.  

The American naval establishment, for all its technical gadgetry, has shown itself no less evasive and self-serving than the officers of the Russian fleet. 

To make matters worse, the Ehime Maru sinking directly adds to a pile of grievances over sexual assaults against Okinawan women by American serviceman.  

Retired admiral Richard Macke runs the USS Missouri fund-raising campaign that invited the civilians who were at the controls aboard the Greenville.  

The admiral is all-too-familiar to the Japanese. 

After three Marines gang-raped an underaged girl in 1995, Macke insulted Okinawans further by saying that the sex offenders should have hired prostitutes instead of renting a car to kidnap the girl. 

The sinking of the Ehime Maru is casting a sharp light on a long-simmering issue for the Japanese public – their country's multibillion-dollar financial support for the U.S. naval bases in Japan.  

Consuming the lion's share of base funding, the Seventh Fleet's homeport in Yokosuka is mainly used to protect American interests in the Persian Gulf rather than to defend Japan. 

Simple economic logic shows that a recession-stuck Japan has better uses for taxpayers' money – prime real estate by the crystalline waters of Yokosuka Bay could be profitably developed for civilian purposes. 

This point is brought home at the bars here, many with signs reading “No Foreigners.”  

Of course, “foreigners” is a euphemism for U.S. servicemen. 

The seizure of nearby environmentally precious woodlands to build U.S. naval officers quarters a decade ago rankled middle-class opinion.  

Older residents remember how American sailors profited from the black market during the Occupation, and stories circulate blaming U.S. sailors for a about a spate of unsolved murders. 

At times, it seems that the only defense needed by Japan is against the outrages of a reckless U.S. military. 

Ambassador Tim Foley was quick to say that the Ehime Maru sinking will not affect the U.S.-Japan relationship – easy enough for a lame-duck political appointee to say. 

Assurances about maintaining the U.S.-Japan relationship are also coming from the creaky government of Prime Minister Yoshio Mori, whose popularity plummeted to new lows over his handling of the submarine crisis.  

The sinking of the Ehime Maru is just the sort of incident that can eventually lead to a strategic reassessment and a defense policy based on democratic sovereignty rather than humiliating dependency. 

The U.S.-Japan security alliance is not a happy marriage between a geisha and the barbarian, it has been one of the most dragged-out divorce cases in recent memory.  

The only question that remains is alimony, and in the Ehime Maru case, that means massive financial compensation for the unfortunate victims and surviving kin. 

PNS commentator Yoichi Clark Shimatsu is  

former editor of The Japan Times Weekly in Tokyo.

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership Feb. 23: Subincision, 30 Second Fury, AKA Nothing, No Common Sense, Stalin’s War; Feb. 24: Slow Gherkin, Plus Ones, 78 RPMS, Merrick, Enemy You 525-9926  

Albatross Pub All music at 9 p.m. unless noted Feb. 20: pickPocket ensemble; Feb. 21: Whiskey Brothers; Feb. 22: Keni “El Lebrijano”; Feb. 24: Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Feb. 27: Larry Stefl Jazz Trio; March 1: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo 843-2473 

Ashkenaz Feb. 20, 9 p.m.: Dan, Tom & Mary with traditional Balkan music, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; Feb. 21, 9 p.m.: Brenda Boykin & Home Cookin’, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; Feb. 22, 10 p.m.: Grateful Dead DJ Nite w/Digital Dave; Feb. 23, 9:30 p.m.: Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 24, 2 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Ashkenaz fourth annual dance-a-thon featuring Lavay Smith, African, Caribbean, reggae, Balkan, North African and cajun bands for 12 hours of nonstop dance music. 1370 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Feb. 23: Carlos Zialcita; Feb. 24: R.J. Mischo 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

Crowden School Sundays, 4 p.m.: Chamber music series sponsored by the school; Feb. 24, 8 p.m.: Cynthia & the Swing Set and the American Jubilee Dance Theatre. Free swing dance lesson, 7 p.m. New Orleans cajun and creole dinner to be served before dance lesson. $10 - $40 Benefits the Crowden School 1475 Rose St. (at Sacramento) 559-6910 

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 25: Lauri Antonioli; March 4: Ray Obiedo; March 11: Stephanie Bruce Trio; March 18: Wayne Wallace Septet $6 - $12 2377 Shattuck Ave.  

Live Oak Concert Series All music at 7:30 p.m. March 4: Marie Carbone, harpsichord, plays music of Frescobaldi, Sweelinck, Froberger, and Weckmann; March 11: Stephen Bell, guitar, plays music of Bach, Villa-Lobos, Ponse, and Albeniz Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

Cal Performances Feb. 20, 21, 23 & 24: In two separate programs the Netherlands Dans Theater I presents the work of former artistic director, Jiri Kylian $34 - $52 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu Feb. 11, 3 p.m.: Horacio Gutierrez $24 - $42; Feb. 25, 3 p.m.: Prazack Quartet $32; Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: Clerks’ Group performs music from the Burgundian Courts; March 4, 3 p.m.: Baritone Nathan Gunn sings Brahms, Wolf, and a selection of American songs $36; March 11, 3 & 7 p.m.: Burhan Ocal & The Istanbul Oriental Ensemble perform traditional Turkish music $24 Hertz Hall UC Berkeley 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra April 3, and June 21, 2001. All performances begin at 8 p.m. Single $19 - $35, Series $52 - $96. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley 841-2800  

Adam Cooper Memorial Torah Readers Fund Benefit Concert Feb. 25, 7 p.m. Frank London, composer and trumpet player with The Klezmatics and Adrienne Cooper will headline. $25 - $50 Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 925-944-0931 

“Dido and Aeneas” March 2, 8 p.m.; March 4, 2 p.m. A tale of English Baroque opera that follows the tale of Dido, queen of Corinth, as she is courted and won by Aeneas, conqueror and future founder of Rome. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

“Aywah!” March 2, 8 p.m. An evening of music and dance from Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Balkan Roma. Featuring Aywah! Dance Company. Guest singer Eva Primack. $13 - $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

Mozart Requiem Singalong March 3, 8 p.m. Bella Musica Chorus and Orchestra in their third annual presentation. Bring your own score or buy/borrow one of theirs. $10 suggested donation St. Joseph the Worker Church 1640 West Addison (at McGee) Call 526-5393 

Young People’s Symphony  

Orchestra March 3, 8 p.m. David Ramadanoff conducts the orchestra in a program featuring Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and a suite from Piston’s ballet “The Incredible Flutist” $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300  

“In Song and Struggle” March 4, 4 - 10 p.m. Copwatch presents the second annual event bringing together some of the best women artists from around the Bay Area and beyond in commemoration of International Women’s Day. Artists include Shelley Doty, Rebecca Riots, Rachel Garlin, and many others. $8 - $15 Ashkenaz 1317 San Pablo Ave. Call Copwatch, 548-0425  

Mingus Amungus & Allstar Jazz Jam March 4, 7 - 10 p.m. A benefit concert for 65 Cuba-bound Berkeley High students. $10 - $15 Florence Schwimley Little Theater 1930 Allston Way 587-3201  

“The Magic Flute” March 3 & 4, 8 p.m. Mozart’s most famous opera adapted by International House resident Kalinka Cichon and presented by a multicultural cast. $5 International House Auditorium 2299 Piedmont Ave. (at Bancroft) e-mail for tix: kalinka@cichon.com  

Young Emerging Artists March 6, 7 - 8 p.m. John McCarthy will direct students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Prepatory Division through a performance of works by Sov, Barber and others. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

Canto Para Una Semilla March 9, 8 p.m. La Peña Community Chorus present an homage to Violeta Parra. This is a benefit for Berkeley High School’s CAS program. $10 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Country Joe McDonald March 9 & 10, 8 - 10 p.m. McDonald will play a solo acoustic set of old & new songs and a tribute to Woody Guthrie. $20 Live Oak Theater 1301 Shattuck Ave. (at Berryman) www.countryjoe.com  

“Mystic Journey” March 10, 8 p.m. Suzanne Teng and Mystic Journey are a unique contemporary world music ensemble, based in Los Angeles, making their Bay Area debut. $15 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

Maria Marquez in Concert March 10, 8:30 p.m. A special evening of Marquez’s songs from her latest CD, “Eleven Love Stories.” $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Boadecia’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 23: Becky Thompson reads “Mothering Without a Compass: White Mother’s Love, Black Son’s Courage” 398 Colusa Ave. Kensington 559-9184. www.boadeciasbooks.com 

Cody’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 20: Becky Thompson discusses “Mothering Without a Compass: White Mother’s Love, Black Son’s Courage”; Feb. 21: Poetry of Gillian Conoley & Kathleen Fraser; Feb. 22: Alison Gopnik describes “The Scientist in the Crib: What Early Learning Tells Us About the Mind”; Feb. 23: Carol Field reads “Mangoes and Quince”; Feb. 25: Poetry of Martha Rhodes, Linda Dyer & Joy Manesiotis; Feb. 26: Terry McMillan reads from “A Day Late and a Dollar Short”; Feb. 28: Poetry of Sandra Gilbert & Wendy Barker 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852  

Easy Going Travel Shop  

& Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27: Barbara Wagner, co-founder of Lost Frontiers, gives a slide presentation and talk about “Pakistan & the Lost Tribes of teh Hindu Kush”; Feb. 28: Travel writer Christopher Baker will read and talk about his 7000 miles motorcycle odyssey through Cuba as chronicled in his book “Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba” 1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 843-3533  

“Strong Women - Writers & Heroes of Literature” Fridays Through June, 2001, 1 - 3 p.m. Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program. North Berkeley Senior Center 1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 549-2970  

Duomo Reading Series and Open Mic. Thursdays, 6:30 - 9 p.m. Feb. 22: Charles Ellick; March 1: Eliza Shefler; March 8: Judy Wells; March 15: Elanor Watson-Gove; March 22: Anna Mae Stanley; March 29: Georgia Popoff; April 5: Barbara Minton; April 12: Alice Rogoff; April 19: Garrett Murphy; April 26: Ray Skjelbred. Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

Lunch Poems First Thursday of each month, 12:10 - 12:50 p.m. March 1: Aleida Rodrigues; April 5: Galway Kinnell; May 3: Student Reading Morrison Room, Doe Library UC Berkeley 642-0137 

Class Dismissed Poetry Posse March 2, 7:30 p.m. Afro-Haitian dancers, Dance Production dancers, the BHS poetry slammers, an opening a capella number and a few surprises. A benefit for a Berkeley High school student trip to Cuba. $5 - $10 Little Theater Berkeley High School 2246 Milvia St.  

Bamboo Ridge Writers Reading March 4, 4 p.m. Five authors published in the book, “Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry & Prose.” Bamboo Ridge publishes literature which nurtures the voices of Hawaii and celebrates its literary tradition. Eastwind Books of Berkeley 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

Anita Barrows March 4, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Barrows will read from her poem “A Record” inspired by an exhibit done in Theresienstadt and her translation of Rosa Luxenburg’s letters. Free Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237 

Women’s Word March 14, 7:30 p.m. An evening of women’s word honoring International Women’s month and featuring Avotcja, Straight Out Scribes, Tureeda & Kira Allen. Hosted by Joyce Young. Open mic will follow. $4 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Tours 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

Berkeley City Club Tours 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. 848-7800  

The fourth Sunday of every month, Noon - 4 p.m. $2  

Golden Gate Live Steamers Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Lomas Cantadas Drive at the south end of Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. 486-0623  

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size. Trains run Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., weather permitting.  

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Centennial Drive, behind Memorial Stadium, a mile below the Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley. 643-2755 or www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden/  

The gardens have displays of exotic and native plants. Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 p.m. $3 general; $2 seniors; $1 children; free on Thursday. Daily, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. 

Lectures 

Berkeley Historical Society Slide Lecture & Booksigning Series Sundays, 3 - 5 p.m. $10 donation requested Feb. 25: “Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin,” Gray Brechin will discuss the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful early families; March 11: Director of Berkeley’s International House, Joe Lurie, will show a video and dicuss the history and struggle to open the I-House 70 years ago; March 18: “Topaz Moon,” Kimi Kodani Hill will discuss artist Chiura Obata’s family and the WWII Japanese relocation camps. Berkeley Historical Center Veterans Memorial Building 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research Seminars Noon seminars are brown bag Feb. 22, 4 p.m.: Sam Kernell of UC San Diego, will present a seminar on “State Electoral Institutions and the Impact of Presidental Elections on Party Control of Congress, 1840 - 1940.” March 7, 4 p.m.: Akhil Reed Amar will discuss his book “The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction.” March 12, Noon: Catherine Hafer of Ohio State will discuss “The Political Economy of Emerging Property Rights.” April 23, 4 p.m.: Mary Dudziach of USC will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” Feb. 30, Noon: Daniel Diermeier of Northwestern University will discuss “Mass Political Action.” 119 Moses Hall UC Berkeley 642-4608  

“Great Decisions” Foreign Policy Association Lectures Series Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - Noon, Through April 3; An annual program featuring specialists in the field of national foreign policy, many from University of California. Goal is to inform the public on major policy issues and receive feedback from the public. $5 per session, $35 entire series for single person, $60 entire series for couple. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 526-2925 

Ruth Acty Oral History Feb. 18, 3 - 6 p.m. In honor of Black History Month, Therese Pipe will present the history of Acty, who became the first African American teacher in the Berkeley Unified School District in 1943. Berkeley Historical Society Veterans Memorial Building 1931 Center St. Admission free 848-0181 

OAKLAND — Two Oakland filmmakers are once more in the running for Oscars in the Feature Documentary category. 

Both filmmakers live in Oakland, and their production company, Iris Films, is based in Berkeley. 

“Long Night's Journey Into Day,” by Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffmann, looks at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, which tried to bring together the victims and perpetrators of crimes during apartheid. 

The movie profiles the cases of Amy Biehl, an American Fullbright scholar killed in South Africa; the police murders of anti-apartheid activists, including those known as the Cradock Four; and the bombing of a Durban bar. 

The story is put together from many points of view, including those of victims, their oppressors, journalists and commissioners, and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu. 

“The personal toll that apartheid has taken on individuals on both sides of these amnesty hearings is quite extraordinary,” Hoffmann said. This is the second nomination for Reid and Hoffman, who each received 1994 Oscar nods for films they directed separately – Reid for “Straight from the Heart,” and Hoffman for “Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter.” 

“Long Night's Journey Into Day” received the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and the Peace Film Prize at the Berlin Film Festival.

The Eastshore State Park, recently purchased by the state, contains 1,800 acres of land and water that stretches along the shoreline from Richmond to Oakland. Tonight the council will consider approval of a series of meetings in preparation for a general plan for the park. A separate planning meeting is also being held tonight by the East Bay Regional Parks District at 7 p.m. at Hs Lordships Restaurant at the Berkeley Marina. The first public workshop is scheduled for March.

Has Proposition 21 criminalized youth in Berkeley? Some councilmembers want the Youth Commission to take a hard look at the results of the state law that makes it easier to try teens as adults. They want to know its specific impact in Berkeley. 

During a discussion on an item that would have prohibited skateboarding at some public events, councilmembers began questioning the impact of the law on young people, said Councilmember Mim Hawley.  

“(Councilmember) Maudelle (Shirek) said she wanted to look carefully and not criminalize young people,” she said.  

The proposed ban, eventually rewritten without criminal penalties, was sparked by merchants’ concern that young people on skateboards disrupt outdoor events where pedestrians take over the streets. 

The majority of voters in both Berkeley and Alameda County opposed Proposition 21, the law which strengthens penalties against youth involved in crime. It passed statewide in the March 1999 election. 

Consideration of the skateboard prohibition then sparked the larger debate about whether Berkeley laws have caused young people to be tried as adults under Proposition 21. Hawley and Councilmember Maudelle Shirek placed a resolution on tonight’s agenda requesting that their fellow councilmembers ask the Youth Commission to prepare an investigative report on the impact of Proposition 21 on juveniles and juvenile crime in Berkeley and to determine whether there have been any recently-passed city ordinances that have had an unintended negative effect on young people. 

Two members of the Youth Commission reached by the Daily Planet, both strongly opposed to Proposition 21, say they would welcome the council turning the project over to the commission. Neither know youth who had been tried as adults. 

“The council should ask for our opinion and take it seriously,” said Commissioner Will Lerner, also editor of the Berkeley High Jacket. 

Commissioner Nick Rizzo describes himself as a “middle class white kid” whom the police don’t bother, but, like Lerner, he said it is important for the commission to take a look at the outcome of the proposition. 

The results of the study would be presented at a community forum that would include special outreach to Berkeley High School students. 

Pat Kuhi, a member of the local League of Women Voters and program director for Juvenile Justice for the statewide LWV, said collecting the data is critical. “There is very little tracking of juveniles in the justice system,” she said, adding that she does not know of any local youth who has been tried as an adult. 

The LWV opposed the proposition when it was on the ballot and has signed on as plaintiff in a case being brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California in an attempt to get the law thrown out. The suit claims the proposition addresses three separate issues, when, legally, it should address only one. It includes juvenile justice, adult crime and extended death penalties for adults, she said. 

She also pointed to a recent victory in a San Diego court, when it was established that a juvenile judge would determine whether a suspect is tried as a juvenile or as an adult. This reversed the section of Proposition 21 that mandated that the District Attorney would make the call. Kuhi said she fears the reversal might be challenged and it could go back to court.

The Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste, the community watch dog group concerned with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Tritium Labeling Facility, is calling for a workshop to examine a city consultant’s report on possible tritium releases at the labs during a major fire. 

The city scheduled the workshop. However, said Gene Bernardi of the CMTC, the session was to include scientists form the LBNL. Bernardi said the labs’ scientists would sway the others and that what the community needs is to have a discussion and analysis of the report that excludes the labs. 

She said she believes that the item will be withdrawn at tonight’s council meeting and that the Community Environmental Advisory Commission will take up the issue at its special meeting on Thursday. There is currently a presentation to the City Council of the report by the consultant scheduled at 5:30 p.m. on March 27 

Added protection for tenants 

Councilmembers Dona Spring and Linda Maio are urgently calling for the city attorney to draft an ordinance offering increased protection to tenants being evicted under California’s Ellis Act.  

The Ellis Act is a 1986 state law that allows landlords to circumvent local rent control laws and evict all of their tenants at one time and withdraw from the rental business.  

According to the written recommendation, the councilmembers are asking that a new ordinance be drawn up quickly because due to the high cost of housing “property owners who want to maximize their profits are evicting many tenants.” 

The councilmembers want the city attorney to examine the possibility of requiring landlords to own property for three to five years before evicting tenants under the Ellis Act.  

Protection down under 

The Planning and Development Department is asking the City Council take steps to develop explicit rules for the preservation of subterranean archeological resources such as the West Berkeley Shellmound. 

The staff report is asking the council to forward possible amendments to the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance to the Landmarks Preservation Commission for its input. 

According to a staff report, the lack of explicit direction for the protection of archeological resources became evident when the designation of the shellmound as a city landmark was appealed.  

The report says the need for a new ordinance has become urgent because there is currently an application pending for development within the Shellmound area and there are more expected. 

Tonight’s City Council meeting will be held in the City Council Chambers at 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way at 7 p.m. The meeting will also be broadcast on KPFB Radio 89.3 and Cable B-TV (Channel 25). 

SAN DIEGO — The leadership of the American Bar Association voted Monday to recommend ending “zero tolerance” school discipline policies and stopping the government’s use of secret evidence in most immigration cases. 

The zero tolerance policies – which can mandate expulsion or referral to juvenile or criminal court “without regard to the circumstances or nature of the offense or the student’s history” – are unfair and inappropriate for many children, advocates said. 

“Zero tolerance has become a one-size-fits-all solution to all the problems that schools confront,” said a report accompanying the resolution adopted by the policy-making House of Delegates of the 400,000-member lawyers’ organization. “It has redefined students as criminals, with unfortunate consequences.” 

The ABA resolution, approved without a roll call vote on the closing day of the group’s winter meeting, has no legal effect, but advocates hope it will prompt schools to re-evaluate such policies maintained by many of the nation’s approximately 14,000 school districts.  

The policies typically cover weapons, drugs or violence in school. 

Those who oppose zero tolerance say the rules have gone too far, with occasionally ridiculous results. 

One example in the ABA report: A 12-year-old referred to Louisiana police for telling classmates in the lunch line, “I’m going to get you,” if they ate all the potatoes before it was his turn. 

Supporters of zero tolerance rules say they help keep schools safe, and that parents and law enforcement generally support them. 

The ABA’s House of Delegates also agreed to several recommendations for changing immigration law. Again, the ABA positions — these also taken without a recorded vote — have no legal bearing, but the organization likely would back them up with lobbying efforts in Congress. 

The group approved recommending changes to a 1996 anti-terrorism law that has made it far easier for the Immigration and Naturalization Service to use secret evidence against noncitizens. The INS typically has done so in cases of suspected terrorism, citing the potential damage to national security if the evidence became public. 

The ABA policy opposes secret evidence in most immigration cases. An exception would let the government supply unclassified summaries in “extraordinary cases where there are legitimate national security concerns.” 

A report accompanying the recommendation cites the case of a Palestinian academic jailed for three years in Florida without trial. Mazen Al-Najjar was released in December without ever seeing the evidence behind the government’s allegation that he was a front for Islamic terrorists. 

Legislation introduced in Congress’ last session would have repealed portions of the 1996 law, but the measures did not pass before the session ended. 

The ABA also approved a proposal calling for government-funded lawyers to represent unaccompanied children during immigration proceedings and a Justice Department office to handle the special needs of children at all stages of the immigration process. 

The group also supported another recommendation that will ally the ABA with immigrant women seeking asylum in the United States on grounds that they may face sexual persecution in their home country. 

The Justice Department already has proposed rule changes making it easier for women to make that claim. 

——— 

On the Net: 

American Bar Association: http://www.abanet.org/ 

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge has appointed a mediator in the case between the recording industry and Napster, the free Internet song-swapping service. 

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ordered the two sides to meet even before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Napster last week, said Russell Frackman, an attorney representing recording companies. 

Patel appointed retired federal Judge Eugene Lynch as mediator, Frackman said. He attended a meeting with lawyers from Napster and other plaintiffs at which Lynch explored potential mediation. 

On Feb. 12, a three-judge panel ruled that Napster enables millions of Web users to trade pirated music over the Internet in a wholesale violation of record label copyrights. The judges sent the case back to Patel, asking her to focus more narrowly her July injunction ordering Napster to shut down. Courts were closed Monday and Patel could not be reached for comment.  

With Napster admitting its music free-for-all cannot continue in its current form, record labels would be well positioned during any mediation. 

“It was always our position with Judge Lynch (that) the only thing that could be mediated were damages for past infringements and the form of injunctive relief going forward,” Frackman said.  

“Any business resolution that Napster might be interested in would have to be discussed ... with individual record companies.” 

Napster attorney Lawrence Pulgram referred questions to a public relations company hired by the company. Calls to the company were not returned; a spokeswoman from another firm hired by Napster declined comment. 

Support is growing for the local KPFA community in its struggle to retain its grassroots ideals of free speech and autonomy as the Berkeley City Council this week came out against a proposal by parent company Pacifica Radio Network to change its by-laws.  

Such a change, City Councilmember Kriss Worthington said, would mean a dangerous shift in power from the people who built free-speech radio more than 50 years ago. 

“Drastic revisions to the by-laws really consolidates power in a few hands — including the power to sell stations,” Worthington said.  

Last week, the City Council voted 7-0 in favor of a resolution that both supported KPFA staff members for their contribution to the community and opposed any change in Pacifica’s by-laws. Councilmembers Betty Olds and Polly Armstrong abstained from voting.  

The KPFA/Pacifica Radio Network conflict arose in July 1999 after Pacifica officials did not renew a popular KPFA general manager’s contract and directed staff not to talk about the situation. Programmers and radio hosts protested, leading to a lock-out at the station and a three-day protest in the streets during which more than 50 people were arrested. Although the station re-opened later that month, there is still tension between station supporters and Pacifica. At the time, the City Council passed a number of resolutions supporting the station and its listeners. 

At its national board meeting this March, Pacifica has proposed to revise its by-laws in several ways. The changes would enable Pacifica to whittle its board from 19 to as few as five which allows key decisions to be made by as few as three board members; reduce the minimum vote for removal of a board member from two-thirds to 51 percent; ban local advisory board members from serving on the national board; reduce meeting notice time to as little as 24 hours; allow Pacifica executives to serve on the board; and permit the sale of Pacifica assets. 

These proposed changes coupled with recent staff firings and lockouts at WBAI – Pacifica’s New York affiliate – prompted Worthington to take action.  

“We got involved when there were serious problems with KPFA in Berkeley,” Worthington said. “And the WBAI situation is eerily reminiscent of what happened at KPFA. It once again puts it into crisis mode because these are such extreme actions.” 

Worthington is meeting with state Assemblywoman Dion Aroner (D-Berkeley) this week to gain additional support for local KPFA listeners. 

That’s the type of action that may be necessary to fend off the Pacifica establishment that “would rather censor, intimidate and fire rather than come to solution,” according to KPFA disc jockey Robbie Osman. 

Although Osman said Pacifica officials deny they will make any decision on their by-laws in March, he also warns that they could be lying.  

Calls to Pacifica Radio Network were not returned. 

Still, Osman appreciates the community support that the Berkeley City Council has given the station and its supporters in the past.  

“KPFA is very closely tied to the whole Northern California community, particularly in Berkeley. And that’s the glory of KPFA,” he said. “That’s the reason that 10 to 15 million people got off their duffs and protested the closure of KPFA and [Pacifica] started playing country and western music. It says a lot.”

Monday, Feb. 19

Affordable Housing Advocacy Project Open Forum 

2 - 4 p.m.  

Strawberry Creek Lodge  

1320 Addison St.  

This months topic will be vouchers - what is happening to the section eight program and what you need to know about it. AHAP is a project of Housing Rights, in partnership with Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency, the national Housing Law Project and the City of Berkeley.  

Call 1-800-773-2110 

Healing Power of the Mind 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists  

1606 Bonita St.  

Tulku Thondup will teach from his new book, “Boundless Healing”, which offers simple meditation techniques based on Buddhist principles. Tickets are available at Shambhala Booksellers and at Walden Pond Books.  

$10 

Call 433-9928 

Tuesday, Feb. 20

“Great Decisions” - China & Taiwan 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Intelligent  

Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. This evenings discussion topic is different cultural, ethnic and religious values.  

Call 527-9772  

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

John Henry, Steel-Driving  

Puppet 

3:30 p.m. 

South Branch Berkeley Library  

1901 Russel St.  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Blood Pressure for Seniors 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

With Alice Meyers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

The “Real Deal” 

12:45 p.m.  

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd Building, Room 103 

Daniel Ellsberg changed history by leaking the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times. Join him for a discussion about what it means to act ethically and how one person’s actions can make a difference. Free 

849-8257  

Wednesday, Feb. 21

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Control Hypertension 

6:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center - Summit Campus 

Summit South Cafeteria Conference Room  

3100 Summit St.  

Oakland 

Bessanderson McNeil, MPH, and the Ethnic Health Institute, will help attendees take control of their lives. Free 

Call 204-3443 

Sacred Cinema  

7 - 9 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., Chapel Six 

Ken Peer has sought to explore sacred themes and to draw attention to the spiritual lives of individuals from the world’s great wisdom traditions. See three of his short films at this free screening.  

Call 649-2523 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m. 

Claremont Library  

2940 Benvenue  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Alzheimer’s Support Group  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

For families and caregivers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

Farm Fresh Choice  

7 - 9 p.m.  

Center for Ecoliteracy  

2522 San Pablo Ave.  

Topic of discussion will be the new “Farm Fresh Choice” project linking local farms with Berkeley residents, National Nutritional Month activities and developing a visual graphic of Berkeley’s ideal food system.  

665-6812 or visit www.berkeleyfood.org 

Thursday, Feb. 22

Free “Quit Smoking” Class 

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis (at Ashby)  

Cease your smoking with the help of this free class offered to Berkeley residents and employees. 

Call 644-6422 to enroll or e-mail quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Charles Ellick and host Louis Cuneo.  

644-0155 

Rivers of the World  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Pamela Michael, writer, educator and river conservationist, will highlight her new anthology “The Gift of Rivers: True Stories of Life on the Water,” showing slides of nearly 100 of the world’s great rivers. Free 

Call 527-4140 

Growl & Howl of Man & Woman 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Hillside Community Church  

1422 Navellier St.  

El Cerrito 

A series of Thursday evenings of conversation “engaging people in discovering the pleasures of an excellent discussion.” Bring your favorite gender assumptions and put them to the test.  

$10  

Agaves & Yuccas 

7 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden 

200 Centennial Drive 

Mary and Gary Irish, experts on these plants will show you where to find these dry garden plants and how to makes them grow happily.  

$15 

Call 643-1924 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m.  

West Branch Berkeley Library  

1125 University Ave.  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Meditation Seminar 

6:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church  

2727 College Ave.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648

Alternatives to private automobiles are needed  

Editor: 

I am writing in response to two letters you published on february 2 that opposed Richard Register’s ideas of car-free and denser housing. 

These people say that housing without parking will make parking encroach on our public spaces. What do they think is happening already? Looking at the amount of pavement in our cities for parking, freeways, roads, gas stations. Hasn’t the automobile already done enough damage to public spaces of those of us who choose not to drive. They are just wanting to protect what they have as drivers!  

Isn’t it time that we look for an alternative? We should at least try car-free housing, for if we don’t, we can be assured our problems will only get worse. 

They also complain about the poor bus system and no way to get from point A to B. The bus system won’t get better until there are more riders (which will come with increased density) and more funding (pennies on the dollar of what cars receive). 

And why not lobby the city of Berkeley to create a car sharing program. It’s done very successfully all over Europe and in some U.S. cities as well. We could have a check out right in downtown. That way people could get rid of there cars and free up public space. 

The private automobile is not the answer our traffic woes and poor urban planning. Although it is a painful process, increased density and fewer cars create an infrastructure that well funded public transit can serve. 

David Ceaser 

Berkeley 

College district ‘Thank you’ is a waste of money 

Editor: 

Recently, this household received a letter from Ronald J. Temple, Chancellor of the Peralta Community College District that offered his most sincere thanks for our vote of confidence that resulted in the passage of his tax bond measure. The cost of sending his thank you letter to the two voters in this household, printed I might say, on quite lovely stationery, was 15 1/2 cents postage plus unknown costs for production and the like. Perhaps, he and some of his staff “who are now ready to move ahead in providing the very best educational services to our community” were energized by volunteering their time after hours to stuff and address envelopes. May I suggest to the Chancellor that an educational service he might consider providing to the thousands of us in his district who bring him so much pride, is revealing the dollar cost of his thank you note I trust he would not do so, however, by sending yet another letter to every voter in his district. 

Bruce McMurray 

Berkeley 

We need more power plants in California  

Editor: 

Forgive me for sounding a little concerned but California would greatly benefit from the addition of SEVERAL more new power plants that are much more environmentally friendly than the others built in the past. Just don't build your nuclear power plants on the San Andreas Fault line like the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. 

We need to take action now because 10 to 20 years down the road from now, you will probably see an increase in electrically-powered light rail, especially high-speed light rail trains that will carry commuters fromacross the state to heavilly populated areas such as the SF Bay Area and Los Angeles for employment, at speeds to up to 200 miles per hour. This would be a great idea to reduce the traffic gridlock already present at the Altamont Pass / Livermore area.  

Other slow and possible phase-outs may include petroleum powered vehicles (except for tractor trailers). If this is the case, and my theory holds true, we may be very well be in a electrical crisis again should this notion becomes popular amongst California residents.  

All in all, we need power plants. Like it or not, if we want lower prices, then we are going to have to build our own power plants in California. However, I am not sure about the idea of a state-run power plant because we are going to pay for it with a heavy increase in taxes.  

David Gee 

Alameda 

Media should let go of Clinton’s leg 

Editor: 

Why is the news media, including your paper, giving so much attention to the Republican pit bulls who don't want to let go of Clinton's leg? Yes, he may have come close to committing the crime of accepting a bribe for helping a guy who is very, very rich. But a far greater crime is being ignored, namely, the theft of our election by political partisans who have corrupted the very foundation of our Democracy by not counting all the ballots. 

You can't slough off this imbalance of attention as "yesterday' news" when, every day, the White House is being occupied by the person who received fewer votes and who is working to transfer more public funds to that small constituency of people who are already very, very rich. 

You are covering the wrong crime story. 

Bruce Joffe 

Oakland 

Politicians just giving lip service to affordable housing 

Editor: 

Regarding the article “Council sets aside funds for affordable housing units”: Doing the math, 9.6 million dollars for 26 “affordable units” is approximately $331,034 per apartment. (9.6 million is the estimate - the reality could be more than that, and we are only talking about construction costs, not the cost of managing the property!) Considering that in west Contra Costa County, three-bedroom houses are selling for less than that, maybe we should look more carefully at the costs.  

The council members voted unanimously in favor of it, because voting against it would be political suicide in Berkeley. It seems that the economics of housing don't really matter as long as the politicians are perceived as being “pro affordable housing”.  

I am not against affordable housing, I’m against the city throwing large quantities of the taxpayers dollars at what appears to be a boondoggle lining the pockets of a few developers and builders. Perhaps the city should consider instead giving cost of living grants to people earning less than the median income.  

Surely a grant of $331,034 would make it possible for a low income family to find an apartment in today's market. Or perhaps instead of just 29 units, we could find a way to build 290 with that money.  

Doug Smith 

Berkeley

Bears fall to Stanford for ninth straight time 

Minutes before Saturday’s game at Haas Pavilion, the Stanford Tree was prancing around the court, riling up the packed house of Cal fans. As the mascot left the floor, the top of the tree fell off. That was just about the last thing that went wrong for the Cardinal on the day. 

Combining stifling defense with sharpshooting accuracy, the No. 2 Cardinal (23-1 overall, 11-1 Pac-10) pummeled the Bears 88-56, once again showed why they are the class of the Pac-10, if not the nation. Casey Jacobsen scored a game-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and was one of four Cardinal players to score in double figures. Third-string point guard Tony Gioavcchini piled up eight assists in just 15 minutes. 

Stanford dominated nearly every aspect of the game. They shot 61.8 percent from the floor and 8-of-14 from behind the three-point line, outrebounded the Bears 41-21 and held the Bears to 38.9 percent shooting, their lowest mark in 19 games. The Cardinal also dealt out 23 assists in the game, their second-most this year. The shooting percentage and rebounds were season highs. 

“We played well, that’s the bottom line,” Stanford head coach Mike Montgomery said. “We came out and were hitting on all cylinders.” 

Montgomery’s players agreed with him. Senior shooting guard Ryan Mendez called it “our best effort all year,” and point guard Mike McDonald said, “this was our best effort all year. We knew we need to make a statement, to separate ourselves from the pack.” 

They certainly separated themselves from the Bears, running out to an 11-point lead after 10 minutes. It took them just eight more minutes to extend their lead to 20 points, which they held until halftime, going into the locker room with a 44-24 lead. 

The Bears never got closer than 18 points in the second half, as the Cardinal continued to pound away. They were up by 31 with 11 minutes left before throttling back, running down the shot clock and enjoying their continued dominance over their Bay Area rivals. 

The victory was the ninth straight for Stanford over Cal, and was the worst beating they have ever handed the Bears in Berkeley. The three Cardinal seniors (Mendez, McDonald and Jarron Collins) have never lost to Cal, the first class that can boast such a feat. 

For Cal senior Sean Lampley, of course, the opposite is true. He will end his Cal career without beating Stanford, and he was obviously pained by that fact after the game. 

“I really wanted a win tonight,” said Lampley, who shot just 4-of-14 from the floor. “It’s a little disheartening to have never beaten them.” 

Lampley struggled against the Cardinal defense, which was designed to keep him from getting quality shots. He committed six turnovers and pulled down just three rebounds. While he led the Bears with 15 points, he clearly felt he didn’t do the job. 

“For this team to play well, I have to play well,” he said. “I’m not saying the whole game was my fault, but I showed no leadership and we lost by 30. My shot wasn’t falling, but I should have done other things; rebound, assists, defense. I didn’t do them.” 

Cal head coach Ben Braun took some of the load from Lampley’s shoulders, saying his star was double-teamed most of the night. 

“Sean can beat one Collins, but not two,” Braun said, referring to the giant twins who harrassed Lampley for much of the game. The Collinses each pulled down eight rebounds and took turns guarding Cal’s leading scorer. But whenever Lampley got by one twin, the other would come in for help. 

“We just wanted to stop him outside the paint and make him take hard shots,” Jarron Collins said.

The glassy-winged sharpshooter is a flying hopping pest slowly moving through California from the central valley. Scientists, agriculturists, and politicians are in a war to stop it. Meanwhile, environmental and health activists are gearing up to stop the scientists and agriculturists.  

On Saturday, a panel of advocates spoke at the Ecology Center on San Pablo Avenue, and presented their case against the methods used to kill the glassy-winged sharpshooter. They hope to organize Alameda County residents to prevent pesticide spraying before an infestation is declared here.  

The insect carries a bacteria from plants along rivers and streams. The bacteria causes Pierce’s disease which damages a plant by interfering with how it absorbs water. 

When it chomps on grapevines that produce California wine, the bacteria is introduced into the vines. The vineyards that succumb to the disease wither and the wine is not made.  

The state of California has declared a state of emergency, demanding that produce coming from infected areas be carefully inspected and infestations be controlled. Areas in Fresno, the Sacramento Valley, and Contra Costa County, among others, have been sprayed with pesticides to kill the critters in areas around vineyards. 

“What you’ve got is a bureaucratic juggernaut going across the straight following the glassy-winged sharpshooter,” said Blume. 

The activists main complaint is government’s use of pesticides to kill the bugs. Sevin is the pesticide that has been used in some communities, such as Fresno and Sacramento. The San Francisco based Pesticide Action Network of North America lists it as a “bad actor pesticide,” or a pesticide that is particularly harmful. The active ingredient, carbaryl, is a neuro-toxin that can cause detrimental effects on chemically sensitive and immuno-compromised individuals, for example people with Parksinsons, asthma, AIDS, or cancer.  

Linda McElver is founder of the Canaries Foundation for chemically sensitive individuals, a condition where even a small exposure to harmful chemicals can cause a major physical reaction. She visited Brentwood, a community in east Contra Costa County that was sprayed, and said exposure to the chemicals provoked nausea, slurring of speech, “like having rubber bands on your tongue” and difficulty thinking. But, despite the health impacts McElver described, she said that in many counties there is no way to stop the spraying, even on private property.  

But she has advocated another solution.  

“There are a million chemically sensitive people in California,” she said. “If the president doesn’t listen, a dollar a person can start a lawsuit.” 

Jessica Hamburger, project coordinator for the Pesticide Action Network said that pesticide use was a shortsighted fix for a long term problem.  

“Because it only takes a small number of insects to infect the vine, it’s different from an insect that eats plants,” she said. “With this if you kill 95 percent it can still infect huge amounts of plants. They’re going to be there in large enough numbers to transmit the disease. In the long term you’re going to need to find a way to prevent or cure Pierce’s disease.” 

Farmer Blume thinks he knows the way — go organic. He said that many vintners plant grapevines in inferior soil, in part because “stressed” grapes may produce tastier wine. But, he said, that also makes the vines weaker and more susceptible to Pierce’s disease. “If we get enough organic activity in the soil, the soil goes from being bacteria dominated to being fungus dominated.”  

He said that the fungus’ can then overcome the bacteria that produces Pierce’s.  

Panelists admitted that no hard research has proven organic vines are less susceptible to Pierce’s disease.  

Although panelists argued against pesticide use as the most urgent measure to consider, they also criticized long-term plans to stop the sharpshooter. 

Blume censured UC scientist’s plans to genetically modify grape vines to make them resistant to Pierce’s, saying that any kind of genetic modification can produce unexpected and dangerous results.  

“It’s like hitting metal with a hammer versus hitting a dog with a hammer,” he said, noting that the dog won’t react to getting hit with a hammer in the same way twice. “Biology learns and changes,” he said. “This dang bug is really sharp, it really knows how to adjust.” 

Although Gov. Gray Davis has declared a state of emergency, each county can determine their own mechanisms for implementing the statewide plan. Sonoma County officials included a provision that no aerial spraying of pesticides be used, and Santa Cruz County officials said people have the right not to be sprayed.  

Maxina Ventura, founder of East Bay pesticide alert, said that Alameda County officials have already submitted their glassy winged sharp-shooter work plan to the state department of food and agriculture, though this could not be confirmed. 

Brooke Casey, who has been involved in no-spray campaigns in Sonoma, attended Saturday’s meeting. 

“I think it’s really scary that we don’t learn about these things unless we hear them from the right people,” she said. “It’s really important for me as an activist to see things as a person and in my own backyard. It’s not just an intellectual understanding of pesticides, I can feel it.”

’Jackets give up goal in 75th minute, get booted from NCS 

The Berkeley High girls’ soccer team ended its season on a sour note Saturday night, falling to Amador Valley 1-0 at home in the first round of the North Coast Section playoffs. 

Although the rain-soaked game was scoreless after 75 minutes of play, the visiting Dons clearly had the run of play for most of the evening. The Yellowjackets didn’t get their first shot on the Amador Valley goal until the 73rd minute, a breakaway that forward Annie Borton hit right at goalkeeper Heather Hartman. A minute later, Amador Valley midfielder Rose Zapata hit a long pass for forward Stevie Kernan, the Dons’ leading scorer. Kernan took two dribbles to evade the last Berkeley defender, then hit a low shot past Berkeley’s Sara Corrigan-Gibbs to give her team the win. 

Kernan had blown a breakaway chance in the first half, shooting right at Corrigan-Gibbs. The Berkeley goalkeeper made five saves in the game, including a diving save on a Tina Sutoris shot just before halftime. 

“Our team defense was really good, and Sara did an amazing job for us today,” Berkeley coach Suzanne Sillett said. “I’m really proud of the way they played. We prepared all week for them, and I think we met the challenge they brought to us.” 

The Dons outshot Berkeley eight to one in the game, and the ’Jackets struggled to string together passes to move the ball up the field. They were forced to resort to launching long balls to forwards Borton and Maura Fitzgerald, who were consistently beaten to the ball by the Amador Valley defenders. 

“We struggled with possessing the ball, but I don’t think we were overmatched in team speed,” Sillett said. 

The Amador Valley coach, Rachel Schmidt, praised her defense for shutting down the Berkeley attack. 

“We’re fairly big in the backline, so we’re strong in the air,” Schmidt said. “But we do have some really quick backs who are fast to react, so we were able to keep the back of the field clean.” 

The Yellowjackets finished first in the ACCAL this year, their first in the league since switching from the EBAL, where the Dons finished third this season. Sillett said that while the ACCAL might not be as tough as Berkeley’s old league, she still feels her team proved itself as a contender. 

“The ACCAL is an easier league than the EBAL, but I think we met our goals this year, and we proved to all the teams on the other side of the hill that we’re a quality team,” she said.

The City Council will consider an amendment to the Berkeley Municipal Code to allow bicyclists to lock their bikes to parking meters. 

“We want to make it easier for bicyclists to ride their bikes and most other cities don’t have this law,” Councilmember Kriss Worthington said. “It doesn’t make sense to continue to have it on the books.” 

According to the Berkeley Municipal Code, the ordinance states, “No person shall park any bicycle or motorized bicycle against parking meters.” 

Worthington said that the chief of police and the city manager currently don’t enforce the ordinance and it would send a supportive message to people who are considering riding their bicycles to work. 

“Without proper bicycle parking this ordinance discourages the use of bicycles as a mode of transportation,” the recommendation says. 

Many of the merchants in District 7 support the amendment because, as Worthington said, “many of their customers ride bicycles, and the more welcome bicyclists are, the better.”  

Merchants generally support bike parking, said Senior Planner Rochelle Wheeler. The city has installed over a 100 bicycle racks around Berkeley in the last several years, she said, mostly at the request of merchants. 

“We install them in front of businesses that request them.” she said. “They like the racks because the bikes are parked in a more organized fashion.”  

There are two types of racks. One is called the Wave Rack and has room for nine bikes, the other is the U-rack which has room for two bikes, Wheeler said. 

Wheeler said that Hillegrass and Bowditch avenues have just been marked with a series of purple signs declaring it a Bike Boulevard. She said six other streets will be designated as bike boulevards in months to come.  

Both the parking meter ordinance amendment and the street marking may not mean a whole lot, according to Worthington, but he said, “making Berkeley bicycle friendly is series of little steps.”

Split squad beats Texas and Oklahoma 

Austin, Tex. – The Cal Varsity Rugby squad ran up a 78-5 win over Texas Sunday and then, for good measure, defeated Oklahoma 104-0 .  

The Bears made a quick trip to Austin for the doubleheader, leaving Berkeley Saturday morning and returning Sunday night. For their opponents, however, the trip could not end quickly enough as the Bears ran in 28 tries in the two matches.  

Cal’s head coach Jack Clark mixed first and second-side players into both line-ups, but Texas will remember the Bears’ Shaun Paga in particular. The No. 8 ran in six tries.  

Against Oklahoma, individual honors went to fullback Dave Guest who also scored six tries. He assumed kicking duties for the team as well, and his 12 conversions gave him a personal tally of 54 points on the day.

Irish playwright Frank McGuinness’ existential prison drama "Someone to Watch over Me" snagged a 1993 Tony Award nomination for its New York production — and the play’s Berkeley opening Saturday by Shotgun Players at Eighth Street Studio was eagerly anticipated by local theater-goers. 

Shotgun’s production, however, turns out to be a disappointing, lightweight affair — far from the company’s best work. 

Playwright McGuinness’ rambling, episodic work tells the story of three men of differing nationalities locked up in a bleak prison cell somewhere. Who they are, where they are, who has locked them up, and the reasons for their incarceration remain unclear for a while, as the story slowly unfolds. 

Bound by chains in a dirty, bleak, corner of the Eighth Street Studio, with their hands manacled and their body movements restricted to a few feet, American Adam (Richard J. Silberg), Irishman Edward (Clive Worsley) and Englishman Michael (Kevin Karrick), banter, argue and befriend each other. They try to keep their sanity in a deprived environment in which they don’t know if it’s night or day. 

This play is sort of a generic hostage and imprisonment story. The details of the politics are vague. 

After a while, it turns out that the men are incarcerated somewhere in Lebanon, innocent bystanders who were scooped off the street at gunpoint on different days, one at a time, as part as an on-going hostage-taking ploy. 

The prisoners talk about religion, politics, sex, poetry, music, families at home, suicide, football, cigarettes and beer. They learn that laughing annoys their captors. They sing for courage. 

To pass the time, the three occasionally play theater games, acting out imaginary scenarios like serving each other elaborate non-existent cocktails, or replaying a famous Wimbledon tennis match. 

Though playwright McGuiness has come up with a good idea for a play, its execution doesn’t live up to the concept. He has written a wordy, drifting, story that has almost no story evolution.  

This prison cell feels more like an invented Hollywood cliché prison than a real place. 

A script with these kinds of limitations needs a strong staging to make it all work. Surprisingly, Shotgun’s team under the direction of Patrick Dooley does not deliver the goods. 

This is a static production. You never feel the prisoners’ fear. As they go through their histrionics, the actors sound more like taunting school teens than terrified men on the brink of death. The subtext of conflict, terror and fear that the play needs to fly just isn’t there. 

As American doctor Adam, Richard J. Silberg does not manage to create a believable character. Adam does not seem genuinely affected by his incarceration. His mad scene, for one, comes off hammy and superficial. 

The evening’s strongest acting comes from Kevin Karrick, as widowed twitty Oxbridge English teacher Michael, when he opens up about his life in the final lap of the play, breaking down over the loss of his dead wife. Finally, there is a real emotional connection. 

With this scene, for the first time in the show one of the actors takes control of the theater and the audience. The production picks up from this point on, though it’s already close to the evening’s end. 

Karrick’s later fantasy story about driving his car through the sky over England and seeing places in the countryside he knows well is also powerful and magical. 

But other than these two moments from Karrick, this seems like a sloppy production. Generally, it’s hard to feel why the actors are interacting with each other in a given scene. From an acting point of view, the motivations and connections just aren’t there on the deep level that a play like this needs in order to work. 

In some ways, this feels like a hastily put-together production. For one, the chains that clamp each actor to a small space on the stage aren’t made much use of dramatically in the performances. 

It’s as though the actors didn’t have these binding physical restrictions to work with until the eleventh hour, and didn’t have time to find much meaningful business to do with them. 

"Someone to Watch over Me" seems like it should be a good play for Berkeley. Its themes are important. As Irishman Edward says, "Save us from all who believe they’re right." 

Hopefully we’ll see a strong production of this play sometime down the road. 

"Someone to Watch over Me," presented by Shotgun Players at the Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth Street, Berkeley. The play is performed Thursday through Sunday to March 17. Call 655-0813 or go to www.shotgunplayers.org. 

Many Bay area public transit agencies are planning scaled-back service for the President's Day holiday on Monday. 

BART spokeswoman Vicki Wills said trains will operate Monday, Feb. 19 on a Saturday schedule on all five lines from 6 a.m. to midnight.  

The BART administration office will be closed. More information is available by calling the toll free number listed in local telephone directories. 

Caltrain will run on a special holiday schedule, according to spokeswoman Rita Haskin. She said only 62 trains will run between San Francisco and San Jose on Feb. 19, with four trains serving Gilroy.  

Normally, 78 trains operate on weekdays. The modified holiday schedule is posted at stations and on trains, and can be found at www.caltrain.com. Passengers needing information can also call (800) 660-4287 or (650) 508-6448 for TDD. 

AC Transit will operate on a Sunday/Holiday schedule on Monday. Transbay service will operate throughout the three-day weekend only on lines A, C, F, N/NL and O, and the AC Transit ticket office in San Francisco's Transbay terminal will be closed throughout the weekend.  

More information is available toll free at 817-1717 or online at www.transitinfo.org/AC. 

Golden Gate transit and ferry service will also operate a Sunday/Holiday schedule on President's Day Monday. More information about service schedules and fares is available at the Golden Gate Transit web site, which is located at www.goldengate.org, or by phone at (415) 455-2000 in Marin County, (707) 541-2000 in Sonoma County and (415) 923-2000 in San Francisco. 

Santa Clara Valley buses, express buses, shuttles and light rail will operate on a regular weekday schedule on Presidents Day. VTA's Downtown Customer Service Center and the Customer Service Call Center will also operate on regular weekday hours, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., respectively. For more on transit schedules and other information, contact VTA Customer Service at(408) 321-2300.

Battle over golf course 

OAKLAND (AP) – A public golf course in the Oakland hills that has offered 78-years of affordable golf to Bay area residents now is at the center of a tug-of-war between residents and the city manager. 

City officials led by City Manager Robert Bobb have spent the last two years working on a $15 million deal with a high-powered private company to transform the 251-acre Lake Chabot Golf Course into a world-class, money-making venture. 

They argue that a makeover for the golf course will help revitalize Oakland’s image as it strives to attract corporate CEOs and high-tech businesses to the area. The city is working out the details with La Quinta-based KSL Recreation Corp., whcih has promised to put at least $12.5 million into the renovation. 

Opponents – who number in the hundreds – say the venture would transform the course – with its rolling hills and panoramic vistas of Lake Chabot and the San Francisco Bay – into an expensive playground for the wealthy. 

Greens fees range from $9 to $23. Under the proposed renovation, the fees would range from $45 to $135. 

Caltrain ridership up 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – More commuters are ditching their cars and instead hopping on Caltrain to get to work. 

Ridership is up almost 12 percent along the entire Caltrain line, and up more than 50 percent in the communities south of Silicon Valley said Caltrain spokeswoman Rita Haskin. 

Haskin said long commutes on Highway 101 have prompted the ridership increase. But Caltrain could become a victim of its own success, she added. 

The current system – which runs from San Francisco to San Jose and Gilroy – will soon run out of capacity if demand continues to increase. 

Power companies hope charity work will help 

HAYWARD (AP) – Power plant makers Calpine and Bechtel corporations are hoping to trade perks for the chance to build power plants in several Bay area cities. 

The companies hope funding city programs will boost community support for power plant construction. 

Calpine and Bechtel hope to donate $30 million in benefits to the city of Hayward and discount what the city pays for power. The money would go to education, parks and library programs. 

In exchange, the companies would spend $400 million to build a 600-megawatt, natural gas-fired facility across the street from Hayward’s sewage treatment plant. 

Jerry Lahr with the Association of Bay area governments said the state’s power crisis has made more cities more receptive to hosting power plants. 

Calpine and Bechtel are also offering perks for plants in Tracy and Pittsburg in hopes to build 

But the offers don’t always work. 

San Jose’s city council rejected a plant despite Calpine’s offer of millions in rate discounts.

SACRAMENTO – California taxpayers and utility customers will pay more than $20 billion to end the state’s energy crisis, under proposals by the governor and Legislature. 

Negotiations were to begin Monday on Gov. Gray Davis’ proposal to buy 26,000 miles of transmission lines – about 60 percent of the state’s total – from three investor-owned utilities. 

But direct state spending would be only a small part of the cost of solving the power crunch. The bulk would come from billions of dollars in bond sales, to be repaid by utility customers over many years. 

“It’s hard to quantify without getting sick to your stomach,” said consumer activist Harvey Rosenfield. 

Even without those costs, by this time next year Edison and PG&E customers can expect to pay at least 19 percent more for electricity than before the crisis peaked. An emergency rate increase averaging 9 percent is expected to be made permanent, and the state’s 1996 deregulation law allows a 10 percent hike in March 2002. 

“One way or the other it’s money coming out of taxpayers’ pocket,” said Rosenfield, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. “Either it’s coming out of their pocketbook in the form of higher rates, or it’s coming out of the state treasury, where it could be used for education, tax cuts or other worthwhile programs.” 

Among the costs: 

–$10 billion worth of bonds to cover the price of buying power for two nearly bankrupt utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison. Interest costs will add an estimated $7.5 billion to the bill. Some of the money raised by the bond sale – not expected to be conducted until May – would repay the state for the approximately $1 billion a month in tax money it currently is spending to keep the lights on. 

–$4.5 billion to $9 billion to buy transmission lines from Edison, PG&E and San Diego Gas & Electric. The purchase – and at least $1 billion in upgrades to the inadequate power grid – would come from bonds that customers would repay through their electricity bills. 

–$1 billion or more in direct state spending for a conservation and energy efficiency program. 

–An unspecified amount to buy “conservation easements” to protect 165,000 acres of undeveloped land in watersheds that feed hydroelectric plants. 

– A state-backed bond issue, proposed by the governor, to help Edison and PG&E pay an undecided amount of the $12 billion-plus in debts they have run up since the crisis began. 

The energy crunch eased a bit over the weekend. The California Independent System Operator in Folsom ended a 32-day run of Stage 3 alerts on Friday night, thanks to lower demand over the holiday weekend. The state’s power grid overseer continued a Stage 2 power alert Sunday. ISO spokesman Patrick Dorinson said electricity supplies were adequate through Monday. 

The electricity mess is the result of soaring wholesale costs for electricity, driven by a nationwide increase in the cost of the natural gas that fuels most power plants. PG&E and Edison say they are being driven to the brink of bankruptcy because California’s deregulation law bars them from raising rates high enough to cover the wholesale costs. 

The Democratic governor, whose plan to solve the crisis has yet to win support from the utilities or Republicans in the Legislature, says he wants to avoid rate hikes beyond those already approved. But many in the utility business and the Legislature – including some members of his own party – don’t think that will be possible. 

The utilities have argued the solution is to simply allow them to raise rates to cover their costs. 

But Davis and others say state involvement can achieve cost savings. 

For example, state Treasurer Phil Angelides said California can fix the power grid more cheaply than private business because it can finance construction with tax-exempt bonds. The lower interest rate would save $62 million a year on a $1 billion, 30-year bond issue to fix the grid, he said last week. 

Davis’ plan would require the utilities to sell electricity they generate within California to the state at cost, saving millions. It also would force the utilities’ parent corporations to refund $1 billion or more that were transferred from the subsidiaries when selling electricity was profitable.

SAN FRANCISCO – The state’s two largest investor-owned utilities have quietly abandoned a 32-year project to bury power lines around the state in their push to conserve cash. 

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Southern California Edison Co. have billed customers about $1.6 billion since 1968 to underground the electricity wires, intended to both improve views and to cut back on fire danger when high winds slap the lines together and produce sparks that have been linked to fires in wooded urban areas such as the Oakland hills. 

But the utilities say they can no longer afford to pay for the work in advance, as required by state law. PG&E said it will re-evaluate the situation in six months; SoCal Edison does not yet have a timetable; and San Diego Gas and Electric Co. also is considering halting the program. 

The work stall leaves more than 30 communities throughout the state with projects stopped midstream or indefinitely postponed, the San Jose Mercury News Reported. 

“It would be a shame if, as part of the energy crisis, California permanently loses programs which have as their main aim beautification of the built environment,” said Kevin Starr, state librarian and noted historian. “But it’s a very understandable byproduct of the crisis. When you have the present dysfunction, more than electricity is going to be at risk.” 

Throughout the state, only about 3,000 of the 170,000 miles of overhead lines have been converted. The project moves slowly because burying the lines costs $1 million per mile, with the cost spread over the entire ratepayer base. 

The utilities told state power regulators of their decision last month. Though the Public Utilities Commission has yet to approve the decision, it is not expected to force the utilities to resume undergrounding as the power crisis rolls onward. 

“This is the only responsible thing to do at this time,” said Staci Homrig, a spokeswoman for PG&E. “We intend to resume the projects as soon as we are financially able.”

Turn off the light when you leave a room. Put on a sweater. Turn off the computer if you’re done Web-surfing. Drain the waterbed. 

When it comes to saving energy, everybody has a suggestion. 

Does any of it make a difference? If Americans followed all the tips offered by energy experts, would their efforts prevent blackouts and keep the lid on monthly utility bills? And, would they be comfortable? 

Yes, experts say. The United States burns more energy per capita than any nation on Earth, including a quarter of the world’s oil, coal and natural gas output. 

By some estimates, we could reduce energy consumption by 30 percent in the next two decades without diminishing our lifestyle or productivity. 

Just don’t say “conservation.” It conjures up the dour image of Jimmy Carter’s cardigan, circa 1977. 

“We quit using the term,” said Doug Norland, economist for the Alliance to Save Energy, a Washington-based nonprofit group. “Now we say demand-side management.” 

Critics of government-mandated conservation programs say conservation rarely works over the long haul. That’s because people must change their habits and become consistently frugal over long periods. 

Conservation can work in a crisis. Empty skyscrapers blazed all night when many Californians didn’t quite believe their state was gripped by a power shortage. Rolling blackouts changed all that as ATMs and traffic lights blinked off, people were stuck in elevators and customers shopped by flashlight. 

Power shortages continue, but grid managers have avoided blackouts since Jan. 18, in part because demand is dipping at critical times, a sign that people now are trying. 

“Anything that reduces the overall load is going to be beneficial,” said Lynda Ziegler of Southern California Edison. 

On March 15, California will launch a $404 million conservation effort that Gov. Gray Davis said is “the most aggressive in America.” Among its provisions: Auto dealers and other retailers must reduce outdoor lighting or risk a $1,000 fine. 

Nobody has precise figures on how much electricity outdoor signs and parking lot lights consume. 

But Home Depot, with 140 stores in California, believes that its stores by themselves can save enough electricity each month to power 1,800 houses, spokesman Chuck Sifuentes said. 

The state’s effort also involves $170 million in financial incentives for businesses and homeowners who install energy-saving equipment and lighting. 

The program could pay for itself, eventually. According to a Rand Corp. study, in the 20 years before deregulation the $125 per capita that California spent on energy efficiency programs boosted the state’s economy up to $1,300 per capita. 

Efficiency measures such as tighter building codes, extra insulation and new appliances are designed to save a calculated amount of power, year after year. 

Buying new equipment and retrofitting businesses works, but it can be expensive. People rarely replace appliances until they fail, so energy savings must be extended over time. 

“My townhouse is 18 years old and recently I’ve bought a new heat pump, a stove and a refrigerator,” Norland said. “I’ve noticed a 30 percent decrease in my utility bill from a year ago.”

According to the U.S. Energy Department, the average family spends about $1,300 per year on home utilities. Energy experts recommend several steps to save money – and power: 

– Adjust the thermostat. You’ll save about 3 percent for each degree you turn down the thermostat in winter. A programmable thermostat enables you to crank the furnace only for the few hours that you’re active at home. Clean or replace the furnace filter regularly and have your furnace professionally inspected annually. Heating and cooling accounts for more than half of your energy budget. 

– Insulate your water heater and lower its thermostat to 120 degrees. Making hot water accounts for 14 percent of your energy budget. 

– Reduce appliance use. Unplug TVs and other electronics that have digital clocks and a “standby” mode that drinks power even when the equipment is idle. Use your computer’s sleep mode. Ditto for copiers. 

– Replace standard light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. For security, install timers on a few indoor lights and motion sensors outside. 

– Call your utility or state energy conservation office for a home energy audit. Add insulation to attics and crawl spaces. Caulk and weather-strip leaks around doors and windows.

Analysts say up-and-down movement of stock exchange bodes badly for a recovery 

NEW YORK — If this past week’s trading is any indication, a solid, lasting stock market recovery isn’t likely anytime soon. Wall Street is mired in what analysts call range trading — when a lot of volatility leads to no substantial change in the major market indexes. 

In range trading, “you just have a series of short-term moves up or down,” said Richard Dickson, a technical analyst with Scott & Stringfellow. 

Most analysts agree that the Dow Jones industrials and Standard & Poor 500 indexes have been stuck in a range for more than a year. 

The Dow has largely traded between 10,000 and 11,000 since May 1999, although it did move as high as 11,722 more than a year ago. The S&P stood at about 1,250 two years ago, not too far from its current level. 

There’s less consensus about the technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index, which has recovered from its 52-week low but is still vulnerable to significant drops. 

“As far as the Nasdaq, you continue to be in a brutal bear market. I think the action this week dispelled the notion that the downturn would be over anytime soon,” said Gary Kaltbaum, a technical analyst at JW Genesis. “If the Nasdaq doesn’t pull its bootstraps up at the levels its trading at now, I think there could be another leg down.” 

Several trends in the market might be contributing to the lack of sustainable advances or declines by many stocks. 

“This is really an indication of indecision on the part of investors. Neither buyers or sellers can take control of this market,” Dickson, the Scott & Stringfellow analyst, said. 

Lower corporate earnings and concern over the Federal Reserve’s ability and willingness to stimulate economic growth are helping to entrench the market. The Fed has lowered interest rates twice since the new year and recently indicated another cut is likely, although it might be smaller than Wall Street wants. 

“It is going to take some sort of catalyst to get investors off the sidelines and into the market,” said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. “Signs that the economy is turning around would be one catalyst. So would earnings that are a bit more robust.” 

Other possible incentives for investors could be a retroactive tax cut and a significant improvement in consumer confidence, he said. 

But this past week’s announcements from Nortel Networks and Hewlett-Packard suggesting that results for all of 2001 will be disappointing has Hogan less confident that the market will hear enough good news for a rally that lasts. 

Indeed, most analysts agree a full breakaway from range trading this year is unlikely, although some sectors such as energy and consumer staples might do better than others. 

“While the Dow and S&P will move up this year, they probably will not break out of the range we’ve seen the last two years,” said Marshall Acuff, equity strategist at Salomon Smith Barney. “The Nasdaq I don’t even see coming close to its high of 5,000.” 

Dickson, the Scott & Stringfellow analyst, recommends investors base stock buys on sector performance and operate on the expectation that they might have to unload stocks after a few years, rather than a longer period, as different sectors rally and fall. 

But, he said, “It’s the $64,000 question. Everyone wants to know what’s next and we don’t know.” 

For the week, the Dow gained 18.37, a 0.2 percent advance, to 10,799.82 after a 91.20 point loss Friday. 

Broader market indexes were down on the week. The Nasdaq composite index lost 45.59, or 1.8 percent, closing at 2,425.38 after falling 127.53 Friday. 

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index ended the week off 13.23, or 1.0 percent, at 1,301.53 after Friday’s loss of 25.08. 

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of smaller company stocks, rose 2.23, or 0.4 percent, for the week after losing 9.57 on Friday. It closed at 499.28. 

The Wilshire Associates Equity Index — which represents the combined market value of all New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq issues — ended the week at $12.029 trillion, off $95 billion from the previous week. A year ago the index stood at $13.386 trillion.

By Mary Barrett 

Daily Planet Correspondent 

The Rev. D. Mark Wilson, pastor of McGee Avenue Baptist Church, at the corner of Stuart Street and McGee Avenue in south Berkeley, is celebrating two milestones on Sunday: the eighth anniversary of his ministry at McGee Avenue Baptist and the completion of his doctorate in sociology from the University of Michigan. 

Just 40 years old, Pastor Wilson’s call to God’s work began in his childhood church in Oakland. When the choir director waved her arms to lead the singing, he, a small child in the front pew, imitated her. Church music and the drama of the ceremonies were transforming. By 14, Rev. Wilson had started preaching at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in west Oakland. His mother Bittie Cheeks-Austin, who raised six children alone, would have been a minister herself had there been any women allowed into the ministry then. It was she who kept her son focused on the idea that “with God you can accomplish any dream.” 

Music and drama were central to the Rev. Wilson’s life throughout his years at Skyline High School; he played cello, piano, and started a gospel choir that continues there today.  

He also was among the first African American class presidents. A white classmate had told him he could never win, but the Rev. Wilson knew he had positive relationships with all the different cliques from the “rah rahs” to the “thugs” to the “stoners” to the “nerds.” He knew the power of coalitions and he was easily elected. 

Always a serious student, Rev. Wilson graduated from Howard University with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, from Harvard University with a master’s in divinity, and from the University of Michigan with a doctorate in Sociology. 

There is nothing like an anniversary to force one to take a long hard look at oneself and see how things measure up. Pastor Wilson asks himself, “Is my life productive?” By any standard, the answer would be a resounding “Yes!” 

Parishioner Geneva Sumrall calls the Pastor “innovative and dynamic, a real people person.”  

City Councilmember Kriss Worthington enumerates Mark Wilson’s accomplishments.  

“He has been an activist on housing and homelessness. He strongly encourages African American businesses. He is very egalitarian and has urged women to be ordained and to preach. He has increased his efforts in bringing HIV information to African American churches all over Alameda County. Rev. Wilson has been involved with mental health agencies in fighting addictions and the church has expanded its meals program.” 

Nonetheless, last Sunday’s 8 a.m. sermon did not come easily to Pastor Mark. Two hours before the service, the sermon had still not be written. “It may seem strange,” the Pastor told the congregation, “It seems I have so much going for me. Even so, things can feel weak and weary. I feel like a shrub out in the wilderness – dry, parched. All the work I’m doing, does it amount to anything?” 

Then he reassures the congregation as he reassures himself. “God says ‘Don’t worry when I’m already pleased with you.” He begins a metaphor prompted by Jeremiah. “God doesn’t want us to be shrubs. Check out your roots. God wants us to be trees seeking water. Trees draw on their resources. Trees seek to shade the fearful. A tree whose leaves are green fulfills God’s call.” 

Pastor Mark is urging the congregation. “Tell your neighbor ‘I ain’t gonna be no shrub.’” Some of the parishioners raise timid fingers and shake them at each other: “I ain’t gonna be no shrub,” they say. 

“Check out your roots,” he said, “We’re trees who give fruit in season.” In repeating lines and rolling cadences, Rev. Wilson preaches to his congregation, giving his energy and hope generously to those attending. 

Kriss Worthington describes the reverend’s preaching as stunning. “Rev. Wilson has a driving passion and intensity that you expect and it’s combined with a lyrical elegance and intellectual depth and breadth.”  

Congregates say he is engaging at the same time he is instructive. His voice is like a well nuanced instrument. Joy seems to fill the church after his sermon. 

Rev. Wilson has boyish humor also. Before the service is over, he removes his minister’s robes and shows the congregation his T-shirt, a shirt he’s had for many years, of a Black Bart Simpson. “Here’s an angry boy,” he says. “He’s mad. No one watered his roots. No one taught him.” He laughs with the congregation. “Next week I’m going to wear the pants I wore years ago, my mother thought she’d thrown them out. I’m going to show you my ‘old time religion’ clothes.” 

The stole around Rev. Wilson’s neck is a multi-colored quilt that his parishioners pieced together for him. Everyone contributed small cloth squares. He wears the stole with pride. This congregation has been through a lot. Just a few years ago, Rev. Wilson’s privacy was shattered when the Oakland Tribune announced that he was gay. Rev. Wilson says, in turn, the newspaper did him a favor because he was challenged to take a stand. McGee Avenue Baptist was a progressive church when he came; they already had women deacons. It is also, Pastor Mark states, a very loving community. Through a series of meetings and discussions, a decision was made and the congregation voted 2-1 to keep Rev. Wilson as their minister. One person told the pastor, “I don’t agree with it but God has told me not to attack you or to leave this congregation.” Rev. Wilson says that because he was given the chance to stand and say what he needed to say, others were helped to stand and say what they needed to as well. 

Pastor Mark is an adjunct professor at the Pacific School of Religion and is motivated to share his knowledge with others. Yet he feels the most important part of his ministry is restoring relationships between people and God. “There’s a lot of hurt there for people who’ve been told they are not what they’re supposed to be, my work is to help those who are struggling to love themselves.” He himself struggled to accept the fact that he’d never be the “heterosexual pastor everyone wanted.” Quoting Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Wilson says, “...any religion that concerns itself with saving the soul without changing the social structures that scar the soul, that religion is moribund.”  

It’s the unexpected things, the surprises that he experiences in the ministry that keep him nurtured. He is excited to see members of the congregation find “their gifts.” There is a joy he receives in knowing he can help people come through struggle to places of peace. Once when he wondered what an older parishioner thought of him, her statement, “You sure are a good person” delighted him. 

Pastor Mark quotes Jeremiah, Chapter 20 as a summation of his call to the ministry. “If I say I will not mention him (God) or speak anymore in his name then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I grow weary with holding it in, and I can not.”  

The Berkeley community is richer from the presence of Pastor Wilson in its midst. 

A celebration service honoring Rev. Mark D. Wilson will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday at McGee Avenue Baptist Church, 1640 Stuart. 

Saturday, Feb. 17

“Go-Go-Go Greenbelt!” 

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Rockridge BART  

Oakland  

A bike tour on this ride into the rolling East Bay hills. A free ride sponsored by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call 415-255-3233 for reservations or visit www.greenbelt.org 

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

Poets and writers meet to critique each other’s work. “Members’ work tends to be dark, humorous, surreal, or strange.”  

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Valentine’s Dinner Dance  

Benefit Gala 

4:30 p.m. - 10 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship Unitarian Universalists hall  

1924 Cedar (at Bonita)  

Dance to the music of Toru Saitu & his band. Benefits BFUU.  

$10 donation  

Call 849-9508 

Free Puppet Show  

1:30 - 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health  

2230 Shattuck Ave., Lower Level  

The Kids on the Block, an award-winning puppet troupe that includes puppets of diverse cultures and puppets with medical conditions such as leukemia and spina bifida. Free 

Call 549-1564  

P.U.R.R.S. Pet Adoption Day 

Noon - 5 p.m. 

Pet Food Express  

1942 MLK Jr. Way  

Cats, kittens, rabbits, dogs and other pets in need of homes will be available for adoption.  

Call 444-3204 

Sunday, Feb. 18

Ruth Acty Oral History  

Reception 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society  

Veterans Memorial Building 

1931 Center St.  

In 1943 Miss Ruth Acty became the first African American teacher to be hired by the Berkeley Unified School District. She taught thousands of students until her retirement in 1985. Oral History Coordinator Therese Pipe interviewed Acty in 1993-94 for the Berkeley Historical Society. Free  

Waterfalls of Berkeley  

10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

North Berkeley BART  

Sacramento at Delaware  

On this urban waterfall hike, discover three waterfalls along rushing creeks hidden in Berkeley neighborhoods. A free hike sponsored by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call 415-255-3233 for reservations or visit www.greenbelt.org 

Kaleidoscope Performances  

2 p.m. 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts  

2640 College Ave. (at Derby)  

Yassir Chadley, traditional Moroccan musician and Sufi storyteller.  

$5 - $10  

Call 925-798-1300 

Healthful Building Materials 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Learn about healthful materials in this seminar conducted by environmental consultant Darrel DeBoer.  

$35 Call 525-7610 

Empowering Your Soul Through Meditation 

4 p.m. 

St. John’s Church  

2727 College Ave.  

635-2290 

Monday, Feb. 19

Affordable Housing Advocacy Project Open Forum 

2 - 4 p.m.  

Strawberry Creek Lodge  

1320 Addison St.  

This months topic will be vouchers - what is happening to the section eight program and what you need to know about it. AHAP is a project of Housing Rights, in partnership with Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency, the national Housing Law Project and the City of Berkeley. Call 1-800-773-2110 

Healing Power of the Mind 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists  

1606 Bonita St.  

Tulku Thondup will teach from his new book, “Boundless Healing”, which offers simple meditation techniques based on Buddhist principles. Tickets are available at Shambhala Booksellers and at Walden Pond Books.  

$10 Call 433-9928 

Tuesday, Feb. 20

“Great Decisions” - China  

& Taiwan 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club 

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. $5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Intelligent  

Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. This evenings discussion topic is different cultural, ethnic and religious values. Call 527-9772  

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m., 7 p.m. 

South Branch Berkeley Library  

1901 Russel St.  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Blood Pressure for Seniors 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

With Alice Meyers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

The “Real Deal” 

12:45 p.m.  

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave.  

Mudd Building, Room 103 

Daniel Ellsberg changed history by leaking the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times. Join him for a discussion about what it means to act ethically and how one person’s actions can make a difference. Free 

849-8257  

Wednesday, Feb. 21

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Call 444-4755 or  

visit www.stagebridge.org 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Control Hypertension 

6:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center - Summit Campus 

Summit South Cafeteria Conference Room  

3100 Summit St.  

Oakland 

Bessanderson McNeil, MPH, and the Ethnic Health Institute, will help attendees take control of their lives. Free 

Call 204-3443 

Sacred Cinema  

7 - 9 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., Chapel Six 

Ken Peer has sought to explore sacred themes and to draw attention to the spiritual lives of individuals from the world’s great wisdom traditions. See three of his short films at this free screening.  

Call 649-2523 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m. 

Claremont Library  

2940 Benvenue  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Alzheimer’s Support Group  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

For families and caregivers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

Farm Fresh Choice  

7 - 9 p.m.  

Center for Ecoliteracy  

2522 San Pablo Ave.  

Topic of discussion will be the new “Farm Fresh Choice” project linking local farms with Berkeley residents, National Nutritional Month activities and developing a visual graphic of Berkeley’s ideal food system.  

665-6812 or visit www.berkeleyfood.org 

Thursday, Feb. 22

Free “Quit Smoking” Class 

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis (at Ashby)  

Cease your smoking with the help of this free class offered to Berkeley residents and employees. 

Call 644-6422 to enroll or e-mail quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Charles Ellick and host Louis Cuneo.  

644-0155 

Rivers of the World  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Pamela Michael, writer, educator and river conservationist, will highlight her new anthology “The Gift of Rivers: True Stories of Life on the Water,” showing slides of nearly 100 of the world’s great rivers. Free 

Call 527-4140 

Growl & Howl of Man & Woman 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Hillside Community Church  

1422 Navellier St.  

El Cerrito 

A series of Thursday evenings of conversation “engaging people in discovering the pleasures of an excellent discussion.” Bring your favorite gender assumptions and put them to the test.  

$10  

Agaves & Yuccas 

7 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden 

200 Centennial Drive 

Mary and Gary Irish, experts on these plants will show you where to find these dry garden plants and how to makes them grow happily.  

$15 

Call 643-1924 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m.  

West Branch Berkeley Library  

1125 University Ave.  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Meditation Seminar 

6:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church  

2727 College Ave.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648 

Concluding Your Speech  

12:10 - 1:10 p.m.  

California Department of Health Services  

2151 Berkeley Way, Room 804  

State Health Toastmasters invites you to take the terror out of talking. 

649-7750  

Friday, Feb. 23

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Cosi Fan Tutte 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

An opera presented for free.  

Call 644-6107 

Impediments to Housing Expansion  

Noon  

Goldman School of Public Policy  

2607 Hearst Ave.  

Lawrence Gotlieb, vice president for Government and Public Affairs for KB Home in L.A. will discuss “The Housing Affordability Crisis: The Builder’s Perspective.”  

Call 665-6812 

Saturday, Feb. 24

Tibetan New Year’s Celebration 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Britta Hauenschild gives a flute concert followed by a festive dinner and New Year’s celebration. Proceeds support Nyingma Institute sacred art and education programs.  

$30 suggested donation  

Call 843-6812 

Celebrate Samuel H. Day, Jr.  

2 - 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

1924 Cedar St. (at Bonita)  

Longtime anti-nuclear activist and journalists, Day was the coordinator of the U.S. campaign to free Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu. Day died suddenly at his home in Madison, Wisconsin on Jan. 26.  

Call 548-3048 or visit www.nukewatch.org 

A Little Taste of Africa  

2 - 4 p.m. 

City of Franklin School  

1150 Virginia St.  

The City of Franklin PTA hosts this fundraiser for Black History Month. There will be performances by a West African Dance Troupe, music, poetry, authentic African dishes, a marketplace, and much more.  

$5  

Call 644-6260 

Love of Self, Family & Community 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

Celebrating the many talents of African-Americans, join the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project at its annual Black History Month Celebration for a day of music, dance, arts & crafts displays. Free dinner for all who attend.  

Call 644-6226 

Meditation Seminar 

1:30 p.m. 

Grace North Church  

2138 Cedar St.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648 

Sunday, Feb. 25

“Imperial San Francisco: 

Urban Power, Earthly Ruin” 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley History Center 

Veterans Memorial Building 

1931 Center St.  

Gary Brechin speaks on the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful San Francisco families. Free 

Call 848-0181 

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

“How are Pacific cities reshaping their cultural and environmental institutions to better serve the needs and enhance the present and future quality of life of all segments of their societies?” A series of ten seminars linking the Bay Area, Seattle, Portland, and other pacific cities.  

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Authors in the Library: Lois Silverstein 

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Writer and performer, Silverstein, will read selections from “Oh My Darling Daughter,” “Behind the Stove,” and a work-in-progress, “Family Matters.” Discussion and book signing will follow. Free.  

Call 848-0237 x127 

Planetary Temples 

8 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Employee Don Frew will show slides of teh ruined city of Harran. Free 

Call 848-8443 

Art Meets Science in Time  

2 - 3:30 p.m. 

Bancroft Hotel  

2680 Bancroft Way  

Professor Andrew Stewart of UC Berkeley and Gail M. Wright, a digital artist and lecturer at Mills College explore this subject through slide-illustrated discussions. In conjunction with the 0. Museum’s current exhibition “Telling Time.”  

Call 549-6950 

Harran: City of the Moon God 

8 - 10 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Donald Frew will present s, past and present, and will show slides from a recent visit. He will also discuss the likely treasure trove of texts from the ancient world that await discovery there. Free  

Call 848-8443 

High Blood Pressure Screenings 

9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Church by the Side of the Road  

2108 Russell St.  

Free blood pressure screenings, follow-up advice and other nutritional counseling. Sponsored by Alta Bates Medical Center.  

869-6763 

New UC Berkeley project dwarfs all the others  

By Jim Sharp 

With Memorial Stadium lights back on the drawing board and the ink barely dry on their Final EIRs for the Underhill Area Projects, the Oxford Tract SRB1 “surge” building, and the Goldman School of Public Policy Expansion, UC Berkeley’s Capital Projects team is launching a colossal encore – the Northeast Quadrant Science and Safety Projects.  

They will officially unveil this initiative in a “public scoping session” slated for Monday, February 26th, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.. The venue is Sibley Auditorium in the Bechtel Engineering Center in the northeast quadrant of the central campus (the third building due south of the Hearst & LeRoy intersection or, alternatively, the first building due north of “computer punchcard” Evans Hall).  

In all probability, the public will receive just one more opportunity – at a future Draft EIR hearing – to speak directly to UCB planners about the NEQSS Projects. 

Judging from the Initial Study, NEQSS will dwarf last year's spate of planned construction projects. If you live anywhere around the campus perimeter – especially near Hearst Avenue or Gayley Road – it's safe to say that you will be affected by this bundle of projects. Construction, which UCB hopes to begin in 2002, is expected to take three years.  

Specifically, the Initial Study tells us that...  

• The size of Stanley Hall (just across Gayley from the Greek Theater) will more than quadruple to 285,000 gross square feet (in the form of seven above-ground stories plus a two-story penthouse), 

• Old Davis Hall (just across Hearst from Soda Hall) will increase nearly 400 percent to 145,000 square feet. 

• Academic uses will be intensified at Cory and Soda Halls. Soda will be joined by a 33,000 square-foot Soda II expansion to the north (presumably replacing the existing sand volleyball court along Ridge Road at LeRoy).  

• The capacity of the Lower Hearst Parking Structure (Hearst between Euclid and Scenic) may be increased by 180 vehicles, necessitating removal of the tennis courts and skateboard facility atop the structure. 

• The historic Naval Architecture Building may be moved temporarily to accommodate construction at adjacent Davis Hall.  

To make way for the addition of 327,000 gross square feet of developed area on campus, UCB will be asking the Regents to amend its 1990 Long Range Development Plan. (By contrast, the block-wide, 48-foot-high SRB1 “surge” structure planned for the Oxford Tract will contain only 79,000 gross square feet.)  

Unfortunately, according to page iii of the Initial Study, this LRDP Amendment will not address planned enrollment increases per se, but only enrollment “at only a potential cumulative level”. Enrollment growth is being examined separately, we are informed, in a pending LRDP Update and LRDP Update EIR. 

Regardless of how UCB now enriches your life (or vice versa) – as donor, alum, employee, neighbor, student, sports fan, or whatever – the NEQSS Projects are likely to impact you in the years to come.  

So please consider attending and speaking at the scoping session if you can, or write something, or both – and please spread the word to others who'd be interested.  

Copies are available at UCB's Physical and Environmental Planning Office, 1936 University Avenue, Suite 300, or from Avi Rosenzweig at 643-0313,  

Jim Sharp is a Berkeley resident and University watchdog 

Media promotes bad information on race 

By Wray Buntine 

Modern Medicine started with Greek science, phonetic writing was invented by the Semites, and Egyptians were light skinned. All are misconceptions actively promoted by our modern media. 

The ancient Egyptians were primarily African for the earlier part of their history, as artifacts show. Yet Dreamworks’ “Prince of Egypt”, a typical child’s introduction to Egypt, portrays Egyptians as light skinned. 

The Egyptians used a phonetic alphabet called Hieratic for business, administration, science, and popular stories that is a clear ancestor of the Phoenician and in turn our Latin alphabet. Yet the New York Times Nov. 13 1999, discussing new archaeological finds, praises the enumerable benefits of the early Semitic “discovery” of a phonetic alphabet. They could have said the same about the African Egyptian’s discovery of a full thousand years earlier which the Semites themselves apparently borrowed. 

Moreover, these Egyptians wrote the first medical texts (at least in the Western Hemisphere) in their Hieratic script. 

Medical historians have reported that the Greeks set up their medical schools on Egyptian technology in Egypt, and that early Indo-European courts like the Persians boasted an Egyptian physician. Yet if you believe our children’s’ history books the Greeks are the sole founders of modern medicine. 

European scholars earlier this century first reported the African versions I discuss above, and it was only subsequently that people got to work to “cleanse” history of African influence, producing the three misconceptions I opened with. Your recent opinion piece last week on Black History Month is to be commended. History ghettos haven’t succeeded in repairing our society’s racist view of early western civilization and our media still promotes this racism. 

Wray Buntine is a Berkeley resident. 

Mingus Amungus, one of the Bay Area’s premier jazz bands, will headline a benefit concert March 4 in support of an educational trip to Cuba for 65 Berkeley High students.  

The trip is sponsored by Communication Arts and Sciences (CAS), a small school program within Berkeley High that emphasizes social justice, social responsibility and social change.  

Opening the concert will be an all-star jam featuring such renowned musicians, Dave Rokeach on drums and George Brooks on sax.  

Using the inspiration of Charles Mingus' music as a foundation, Mingus Amungus creates original compositions with hard-hitting be-bop, funk, and classical influences. The 7-piece BAMMIE award-winning band then sprinkles San Francisco's native hip-hop jazz flavor into the mix with a variety of lyricists, thereby bringing Mingus' work into a contemporary age. Mingus Amungus also incorporates Haitian, jazz improvisation, and West African dance into its repertoire, providing audiences with a powerful visual and musical experience.  

The band was founded in 1993 by Miles Perkins, a classically- trained bassist who has appeared with such artists as Peter Apelfbaum, Chico Freeman, Charles McPherson, Joshua Redman, Dianne Reeves and Carlos Santana. The charismatic bandleader is a graduate of Berkeley High and an alumnus of the world renowned Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble. 

Perkins and Mingus Amungus keyboardist Muziki Roberson will also join in the opening all-star jam. Roberson was formerly the keyboard player, music director and collective member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, with whom he toured Europe, Canada, Central America, and the United States.  

Aside from his expertise on the keyboard, Muziki is a talented composer in the jazz idiom. Drummer Dave Rokeach spent two years touring with Ray Charles, playing in both his big band and his smaller ensemble. Recently he has been appearing a great deal with Aretha Franklin. Rokeach is now a much sought after studio musician working primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

George Brooks, noted sax player in the popular Bay Area band “The Fundamentals,” has also played sax for Etta James, Larry Coryell, Albert Collins, Robben Ford and Zakir Hussain for a number of years.  

His solo efforts have taken him throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. 

The Cuba trip, organized by Global Exchange, will be a chance to study in-depth the way that Cuba has organized its education and health care systems, and to document findings through video and a Web site. The 12-day trip offers CAS students the opportunity to extend their studies to a neighboring country that organizes its government and society very differently from our own.  

They can apply their knowledge of social systems in the U.S. to make comparisons and to evaluate the different paths these two societies have taken.  

CAS students will meet Cuban students and organizations and together do community service projects.  

What: Mingus Amungus in a benefit concert w/ Allstar Jazz Jam opener.  

When: Sunday, March 4 from 7-10 p.m.  

Where: Florence Schwimley Little Theater,1930 Allston Way, Berkeley  

For tickets: Call (510) 587-3201; Tickets also available at Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley and at Walden Pond Bookstore,3316 Grand Ave., Oakland. price: $12 in advance, $15 at the door, $10 students 

On the net: http://www.geocities.com/cascubatrip/

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership 

Feb. 17: Lack of Interest, The Neighbors, Black Hands, Capitalist Casualties, Iron Lung; Feb. 18, 5 p.m.: Good Riddance, Missing 23rd, Fire Sermon, Lugosi, Anti Domestix; Feb. 23: Subincision, 30 Second Fury, AKA Nothing, No Common Sense, Stalin’s War; Feb. 24: Slow Gherkin, Plus Ones, 78 RPMS, Merrick, Enemy You 525-9926  

Albatross Pub All music at 9 p.m. unless noted Feb. 20: pickPocket esemble; Feb. 21: Whiskey Brothers; Feb. 22: Keni “El Lebrijano”; Feb. 24: Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Feb. 27: Larry Stefl Jazz Trio; March 1: Keni “El Lebrijano” 1822 San Pablo 843-2473 

Ashkenaz Feb. 17, 9:30 p.m.: Nectar w/Jai Uttal, Stephen Kent, Geoffrey Gordon; Feb. 18, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.: Youth Dance; Feb. 18, 8 p.m.: Gregory Joe Bledsoe and Source of Light; Feb. 20, 9 p.m.: Dan, Tom & Mary with traditional Balkan music, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; Feb. 21, 9 p.m.: Brenda Boykin & Home Cookin’, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; Feb. 22, 10 p.m.: Grateful Dead DJ Nite w/Digital Dave; Feb. 23, 9:30 p.m.: Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums, dance lesson at 8 p.m.; March 24, 2 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Ashkenaz fourth annual dance-a-thon featuring Lavay Smith, African, Caribbean, reggae, Balkan, North African and cajun bands for 12 hours of nonstop dance music. 1370 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Feb. 17: Ron Thompson; Feb. 23: Carlos Zialcita; Feb. 24: R.J. Mischo 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

Crowden School Sundays, 4 p.m.: Chamber music series sponsored by the school; Feb. 24, 8 p.m.: Cynthia & the Swing Set and the American Jubilee Dance Theatre. Free swing dance lesson, 7 p.m. New Orleans cajun and creole dinner to be served before dance lesson. $10 - $40 Benefits the Crowden School 1475 Rose St. (at Sacramento) 559-6910 

Tuva Space All shows at 7:45 p.m. Feb. 18: Saadet Turkoz seeks to evoke pictures and atmosphere by means of voice and music which transcend cultural boundaries. Saxophonist Eric Barber defies categorization; Feb. 19: Trio of Fred Frith, guitar, Pierre Tanguay, percussion, and Jean Derome, alto and bariton saxophones. $8 donation 3192 Adeline (at MLK Jr. Way) 649-8744  

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 18: Sheldon Brown Group; Feb. 25: Lauri Antonioli; March 4: Ray Obiedo; March 11: Stephanie Bruce Trio; March 18: Wayne Wallace Septet $6 - $12 2377 Shattuck Ave.  

Live Oak Concert Series All music at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 18: Jupiter String Quartet perform music of Purcell, Britten, and Schubert; March 4: Marie Carbone, harpsichord, plays music of Frescobaldi, Sweelinck, Froberger, and Weckmann; March 11: Stephen Bell, guitar, plays music of Bach, Villa-Lobos, Ponse, and Albeniz Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

Cal Performances Feb. 17, 8 p.m.: Balinese Orchestra Gamelan Sekar Jaya present “Kawit Legong: Prince Karna’s Dream,” $18 - $30.; Feb. 20, 21, 23 & 24: In two separate programs the Netherlands Dans Theater I presents the work of former artistic director, Jiri Kylian $34 - $52 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu Feb. 11, 3 p.m.: Horacio Gutierrez $24 - $42; Feb. 25, 3 p.m.: Prazack Quartet $32; Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: Clerks’ Group performs music from the Burgundian Courts; March 4, 3 p.m.: Baritone Nathan Gunn sings Brahms, Wolf, and a selection of American songs $36; March 11, 3 & 7 p.m.: Burhan Ocal & The Istanbul Oriental Ensemble perform traditional Turkish music $24 Hertz Hall UC Berkeley 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra April 3, and June 21, 2001. All performances begin at 8 p.m. Single $19 - $35, Series $52 - $96. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley 841-2800  

Percussions Du Guinee Feb. 16 & 17, 8 p.m. Feb. 18, 7 p.m. Internationally respected Guinean percussionists craft a performance simultaneously inspired by traditional music, yet modern in presentation. $20 - $25 925-798-1300 

Will Bernard & Motherbug and Ten Ton Chicken CD Release Party and Live Web Cast Feb. 17, 9 p.m. IMUSICAST Studios 5429 Telegraph Ave. (at 54th) Oakland $10  

Adam Cooper Memorial Torah Readers Fund Benefit Concert Feb. 25, 7 p.m. Frank London, composer and trumpet player with The Klezmatics and Adrienne Cooper will headline. $25 - $50 Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 925-944-0931 

“Dido and Aeneas” March 2, 8 p.m.; March 4, 2 p.m. A tale of English Baroque opera that follows the tale of Dido, queen of Corinth, as she is courted and won by Aeneas, conqueror and future founder of Rome. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

“Aywah!” March 2, 8 p.m. An evening of music and dance from Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Balkan Roma. $13 - $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

Mozart Requiem Singalong March 3, 8 p.m. Bella Musica Chorus and Orchestra in their third annual presentation. Bring your own score or buy/borrow one of theirs. $10 suggested donation St. Joseph the Worker Church 1640 West Addison (at McGee) Call 526-5393 

Young People’s Symphony Orchestra March 3, 8 p.m. David Ramadanoff conducts the orchestra in a program featuring Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and a suite from Piston’s ballet “The Incredible Flutist” $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300  

“In Song and Struggle” March 4, 4 - 10 p.m. Copwatch presents the second annual event bringing together some of the best women artists from around the Bay Area and beyond in commemoration of International Women’s Day. Artists include Shelley Doty, Rebecca Riots, Rachel Garlin, and many others. $8 - $15 Ashkenaz 1317 San Pablo Ave. Call Copwatch, 548-0425  

Mingus Amungus & Allstar Jazz Jam March 4, 7 - 10 p.m. A benefit concert for 65 Cuba-bound Berkeley High students. $10 - $15 Florence Schwimley Little Theater 1930 Allston Way 587-3201  

“The Magic Flute” March 3 & 4, 8 p.m. Mozart’s most famous opera adapted by International House resident Kalinka Cichon and presented by a multicultural cast. $5 International House Auditorium 2299 Piedmont Ave. (at Bancroft) e-mail for tix: kalinka@cichon.com  

Young Emerging Artists March 6, 7 - 8 p.m. John McCarthy will direct students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Prepatory Division through a performance of works by Sov, Barber and others. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

Canto Para Una Semilla March 9, 8 p.m. La Pena Community Chorus present an homage to Violeta Parra. This is a benefit for Berkeley High School’s CAS program. $10 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Country Joe McDonald March 9 & 10, 8 - 10 p.m. McDonald will play a solo acoustic set of old & new songs and a tribute to Woody Guthrie. $20 Live Oak Theater 1301 Shattuck Ave. (at Berryman) www.countryjoe.com  

“Mystic Journey” March 10, 8 p.m. Suzanne Teng and Mystic Journey are a unique contemporary world music ensemble, based in Los Angeles, making their Bay Area debut. $15 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

Maria Marquez in Concert March 10, 8:30 p.m. A special evening of Marquez’s songs from her latest CD, “Eleven Love Stories.” $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Theater 

“Fall” by Bridget Carpenter Through March 11. $15.99 - $51. Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2025 Addison St. 647-2949, www. berkeleyrep.org 

“The Road to Mecca” by Athol Fugard Through Feb. 24, Friday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Feb. 22, 8 p.m. $10 Live Oak Theatre 1301 Shattuck 528-5620 

“Nightingale” presented by Central Works Theater Through March 4, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 24 & Saturday, March 3, 5 p.m. $8 - $14 LaVal’s Subterranean 1834 Euclid Ave. 558-1381 

“Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” by Frank MacGuinness Through March 17, Thursday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 8:30 p.m. The story of three men - an Irishman, an Englishman and an American held in a prison in Lebanon. $10 - $15 8th St. Studio Theatre 2525 Eighth St. (at Dwight) 655-0813 

“A New Brain” by William Finn March 2 - 18, Fridays & Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Watch as Gordon Schwinn, in the face of a life-threatening brain tumor, composes a farewell concert in which all the important figures in his life make show-stopping appearances. Presented by BareStage Productions $8 - $12 Choral Rehearsal Hall, Lower Level of Caesar Chavez Student Center UC Berkeley 642-3880  

“Glory Box” by Tim Miller March 9, 8 p.m. In this one-time performance, Miller explores the themes of same-sex marriage and binational gay/lesbian immigration rights. $15 Zellerbach Playhouse UC Berkeley 601-8932 or www.ticketweb.com  

Films 

“Magnetic North” Six programs of experimental Canadian video from the past 30 years that range from documentary to conceptual art. In all, 40 tapes from 46 artists will be shown on six Wednesday evenings. Through Feb. 28. $7. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft (at Bowditch) 642-1412  

“Sherlock Jr.” With musical accompaniment by The Dactyles of Phrygia, performing on traditional and homemade instruments. Feb. 18, 3 & 7 p.m. $4 - $7 Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft (at Bowditch) 642-1412 

“Toto Recall” A 15-film retrospective honoring Italy’s comic genius. Through Feb. 24 Weekend days only, Friday - Sunday. $7 for one film, $8.50 for double bills. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-1412 

“A.K.A. Dominga” A video documentary film following the personal journey of one woman uncovering her history 18 years after surviving the Rio Negro Massacre in Guatemala. March 1, 7:30 p.m. La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 x15 

“Tragos” Antero Alli’s vision of a future where the desire to escape from the government and media thought-control drives people underground. March 8, 7 & 9:30 p.m. $7 Live Oak Theatre 1301 Shattuck Ave. 464-4640 

Exhibits 

Berkeley Historical Society “Berkeley’s Ethnic Heritage.” An overview of the rich cultural diversity of the city and the contribution of individuals and minority groups to it’s history and development. Thursday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Free. 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

“Consecrations: Spirits in the Time of AIDS,” Through Feb. 24. An exhibit seeking to expand the understanding of HIV and AIDS and the people affected by them. Wednesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Pro Arts Gallery 461 Ninth St., Oakland. 763-9425  

“Race & Femininity” Acrylic Paintings of Corinne Innis Paying homage to her subconscious, Innis uses rich colors in her acrylic paintings. Through Feb. 26; Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, 1 - 7 p.m. and by appointment. Women’s Cancer Resource Center 3023 Shattuck Ave. 548-9286 x307  

“Trees With Frosting” Stevie Famulari decorates landscapes with sugar and frosting, making her artwork edible and changeable by viewers. This particular display will remain for two months. Through February Skapades Hair Salon 1971 Shattuck Ave. 251-8080 or steviesart@hotmail.com 

“Dorchester Days,” the photographs of Eugene Richards is a collection of pictures portraying the poverty, racial tension, crime and violence prevalent in Richards’ hometown of Dorchester, Massachusetts in the 1970s. Through April 6. UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism 121 North Gate Hall #5860 642-3383 

“Still Life & Landscapes” The work of Pamela Markmann Through March 24, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Red Oak Gallery 1891 Solano Ave. 527-3387 

“Kick Back,” the Department of Art Practice of UC Berkeley spring faculty show Through March 2 Worth Ryder Gallery Kroeber Hall UC Berkeley Call 642-2582 

“Unequal Funding: Photographs of Children in Schools that Get Less” An exhibit of black & white photographs by documentary photographer Chris Pilaro. Through March 16, Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery 2235 Fifth St. 644-1400 

“Contemporary Photogravure” Printing from hand-inked plates etched from a film positive, a unique exhibition of photographs with luxurious tones. Through March 30, Tuesday - Friday, Noon - 5 p.m. or by appointment Kala Art Institute 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 

“Musee des Hommages,” Masterworks by Guy Colwell Faithful copies of several artists from the pasts, including Titian’s “The Venus of Urbino,” Cezanne’s “Still Life,” Picasso’s “Woman at a Mirror,” and Boticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours 2028 Ninth St. (at Addison) 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

“Evolution,” No problem quilters exhibit their soft-cloth sculptures. New Pieces is the only gallery that exclusively exhibits quilts in the Bay Area. Through March 1, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday Noon - 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave. 527-6779 

Amanda Haas, New Paintings and Olivia Kuser, Recent Landscapes Through March 24, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Opening reception Feb. 14, 6 - 8 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth St. 527-1214 

“Water From Your Spring” Artistic residency with composer Ann Millikan and painter Selena Engelhart Through Feb. 17, Wednesday - Sunday, Noon - 5 p.m. Free; Performance of Millikan’s music featuring the California E.A.R. Unit, plus guests: Feb. 17 & 18, 8 p.m. $15 - $20 Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park  

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 23: Becky Thompson reads “Mothering Without a Compass: White Mother’s Love, Black Son’s Courage” 398 Colusa Ave. Kensington 559-9184. www.boadeciasbooks.com 

Cody’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 20: Becky Thompson discusses “Mothering Without a Compass: White Mother’s Love, Black Son’s Courage”; Feb. 21: Poetry of Gillian Conoley & Kathleen Fraser; Feb. 22: Alison Gopnik describes “The Scientist in the Crib: What Early Learning Tells Us About the Mind”; Feb. 23: Carol Field reads “Mangoes and Quince”; Feb. 25: Poetry of Martha Rhodes, Linda Dyer & Joy Manesiotis; Feb. 26: Terry McMillan reads from “A Day Late and a Dollar Short”; Feb. 28: Poetry of Sandra Gilbert & Wendy Barker 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27: Barbara Wagner, co-founder of Lost Frontiers, gives a slide presentation and talk about “Pakistan & the Lost Tribes of teh Hindu Kush”; Feb. 28: Travel writer Christopher Baker will read and talk about his 7000 miles motorcycle odyssey through Cuba as chronicled in his book “Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba” 1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 843-3533  

“Strong Women - Writers & Heroes of Literature” Fridays Through June, 2001, 1 - 3 p.m. Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program. North Berkeley Senior Center 1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 549-2970  

Duomo Reading Series and Open Mic. Thursdays, 6:30 - 9 p.m. Feb. 22: Charles Ellick; March 1: Eliza Shefler; March 8: Judy Wells; March 15: Elanor Watson-Gove; March 22: Anna Mae Stanley; March 29: Georgia Popoff; April 5: Barbara Minton; April 12: Alice Rogoff; April 19: Garrett Murphy; April 26: Ray Skjelbred. Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

Lunch Poems First Thursday of each month, 12:10 - 12:50 p.m. March 1: Aleida Rodrigues; April 5: Galway Kinnell; May 3: Student Reading Morrison Room, Doe Library UC Berkeley 642-0137 

Class Dismissed Poetry Posse March 2, 7:30 p.m. Afro-Haitian dancers, Dance Production dancers, the BHS poetry slammers, an opening a capella number and a few surprises. A benefit for a Berkeley High school student trip to Cuba. $5 - $10 Little Theater Berkeley High School 2246 Milvia St.  

Bamboo Ridge Writers Reading March 4, 4 p.m. Five authors published in the book, “Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry & Prose.” Bamboo Ridge publishes literature which nurtures the voices of Hawaii and celebrates its literary tradition. Eastwind Books of Berkeley 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

Anita Barrows March 4, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Barrows will read from her poem “A Record” inspired by an exhibit done in Theresienstadt and her translation of Rosa Luxenburg’s letters. Free Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237 

Women’s Word March 14, 7:30 p.m. An evening of women’s word honoring International Women’s month and featuring Avotcja, Straight Out Scribes, Tureeda & Kira Allen. Hosted by Joyce Young. Open mic will follow. $4 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Tours 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

Berkeley City Club Tours 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. 848-7800  

The fourth Sunday of every month, Noon - 4 p.m. $2  

Golden Gate Live Steamers Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Lomas Cantadas Drive at the south end of Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. 486-0623  

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size. Trains run Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., weather permitting.  

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Centennial Drive, behind Memorial Stadium, a mile below the Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley. 643-2755 or www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden/  

The gardens have displays of exotic and native plants. Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 p.m. $3 general; $2 seniors; $1 children; free on Thursday. Daily, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. 

Lectures 

Berkeley Historical Society Slide Lecture & Booksigning Series Sundays, 3 - 5 p.m. $10 donation requested Feb. 25: “Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin,” Gray Brechin will discuss the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful early families; March 11: Director of Berkeley’s International House, Joe Lurie, will show a video and dicuss the history and struggle to open the I-House 70 years ago; March 18: “Topaz Moon,” Kimi Kodani Hill will discuss artist Chiura Obata’s family and the WWII Japanese relocation camps. Berkeley Historical Center Veterans Memorial Building 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research Seminars Noon seminars are brown bag Feb. 22, 4 p.m.: Sam Kernell of UC San Diego, will present a seminar on “State Electoral Institutions and the Impact of Presidental Elections on Party Control of Congress, 1840 - 1940.” March 7, 4 p.m.: Akhil Reed Amar will discuss his book “The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction.” March 12, Noon: Catherine Hafer of Ohio State will discuss “The Political Economy of Emerging Property Rights.” April 23, 4 p.m.: Mary Dudziach of USC will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” Feb. 30, Noon: Daniel Diermeier of Northwestern University will discuss “Mass Political Action.” 119 Moses Hall UC Berkeley 642-4608  

“Great Decisions” Foreign Policy Association Lectures Series Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - Noon, Through April 3; An annual program featuring specialists in the field of national foreign policy, many from University of California. Goal is to inform the public on major policy issues and receive feedback from the public. $5 per session, $35 entire series for single person, $60 entire series for couple. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 526-2925 

Ruth Acty Oral History Feb. 18, 3 - 6 p.m. In honor of Black History Month, Therese Pipe will present the history of Acty, who became the first African American teacher in the Berkeley Unified School District in 1943. Berkeley Historical Society Veterans Memorial Building 1931 Center St. Admission free 848-0181 

As always, the joint will be rockin’. As always, both teams will be fired up. But Saturday’s showdown between the Cal and Stanford men’s basketball teams at Haas Pavilion marks the return of national significance to a rivalry that has been all too one-sided for quite a while. 

For the first time in several years, the Bears will go into game against No. 2 Stanford with more on the line than pride. They are currently in fourth place in the Pac-10, with the hated Cardinal looming at the top of the standings. The Bears could cement a spot in the NCAA Tournament with a victory on Saturday, which would provide the one thing missing from their resume: a win over a top-10 opponent. 

The Bears’ biggest victory so far this season is the 29-point whipping they gave UCLA at Haas three weeks ago. That win has started to look increasingly impressive, as the Bruins have gone on to beat the then-No. 1 Cardinal and No. 8 Arizona. But Steve Lavin’s bunch have been wildly inconsistent, so beating them badly looks less important.  

Cal’s other “quality wins” have come against Georgia, South Florida and the bottom feeders of the Pac-10. For the Bears to lock up a spot in the tournament, they need at least one more big win, over Stanford, Arizona or either of the SoCal schools, and avoid any upsets from the bottom of the conference. 

The Bears head into Saturday’s matchup on a roll, having won six of their last seven games. Of course, the Cardinal have only lost one game all season. So who has the edge coming into the game? Cal head coach Ben Braun won’t say. 

“We had won some games heading into our last game (with Stanford, an 84-58 loss), and people said it’s a good time to be playing them,” Braun said. “I really think it’s about what you bring into the game and how you adjust during the game. I don’t think it matters what you did before.” 

The Bears will be playing in the friendly confines of Haas Pavilion, where they are 11-1 this season. If the crowd can duplicate the frenetic energy they displayed in the UCLA game, it could sway the momentum to the Bears.  

Then again, the Cardinal have played through pressure all year, pulling out close wins over Duke and USC. Point guard Michael McDonald has a stellar 2.6-1 assist-turnover ratio, and his calm demeanor has helped his team through several close games. Unless the Bears can pressure him into turnovers, it could be a long game for the Bears.

As an anticipated downturn in the economy looms, the City Council has put on the budget brakes until it can determine what city programs should have funding priority. 

The City Council Tuesday unanimously approved $679,500 for pending projects but agreed not to approve any new items until it set its priorities at budget workshops scheduled for March 3 and March 20. 

With the approval of the $679,500 in expenditures, the city is budgeted for about $1 million over the approved budget for fiscal your 2000-2001. The total budget for the year is expected to be $107.8 million. The city is expected to have enough surplus from fiscal year 2001 revenue to cover the $1 million overage. 

Mayor Shirley Dean said a slowdown in the economy means less spending. With fewer people buying homes, staying at hotels and eating at restaurants, city coffers will be harder to fill. 

“We’re OK,” Dean said. “We just have to be careful because things very well may be slowing down this year.”  

While the council agreed not to approve new budget items until it can set priorities, it did vote to fund new programs and projects that had been reviewed by the City Manager’s Office. 

The approved projects include $300,000 for Council Chambers upgrades, $22,000 for the Berkeley Guides who help with public safety downtown and $45,000 for the redesign of the Harrison Street Skate Park.  

Associate Management Analyst Rama Murty said in addition to the expected slowdown, the city was caught by the early retirement of an unknown number of fire department employees under the recently negotiated early retirement benefit. 

According to the mid-year financial summary, the early retirement will cost the city $690,600 over the original fire department budget of $1.8 million. The city is required by union agreement to pay departing officers uncollected vacation and sick pay, according to Murty. 

The fire department did not return phone calls to the Daily Planet before press time and it is unclear how many fire department employees are retiring or how much each retiree will collect from the city for vacation and sick pay. 

The mid-year financial summary estimates the city will collect an unexpected windfall revenue of $625,000 as an unintentional benefit from taxing increased utility costs. However those funds have already been set aside for an as yet undetermined energy-related program. “That money could go for mass purchases of energy efficient lighting or possibly to conservation education,” Dean said. 

Deputy City Manager Phil Kamlarz cautioned that the city has been spending money faster than it has been taking it in and now the City Council has to pay close attention to future program funding. “A lot of projects look good by themselves but now each one will have to be looked at next to all the other projects,” he said.  

Johnson scores 34, Corley 22 as Bears break 15-game skid 

STANFORD — Courtney Johnson scored 34 points and Kenya Corley had 22 as California snapped a 15-game losing streak against Stanford with an 82-73 victory over the Cardinal on Friday night. 

The Golden Bears (11-11 overall, 6-6 Pac-10) beat their archrivals for the first time since Feb. 12, 1993. The loss ended the Cardinal’s seven-game winning streak and knocked Stanford (14-8, 8-4) out of a first-place tie in the Pac-10. 

Cal won its fifth straight and stayed in strong contention for a postseason tournament under first-year coach Caren Horstmeyer. The Bears won at Maples Pavilion for the first time since 1986. 

Lindsey Yamasaki had 21 points and Sarah Dimson added 14 for the Cardinal, who missed 11 of their 14 3-point attempts and were outrebounded 44-34.

The Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter announced this week that the Berkeley Daily Planet is among 12 organizations and individuals to be honored next month with the James Madison Freedom of Information Awards.  

The annual awards honor those who have promoted and defended free speech and public access to government information. 

“Since its founding (almost) two years ago, the Berkeley Daily Planet has given continuous priority to coverage of violations and other abuses of state open-meeting and public-records laws in Berkeley city government,” says a SPJ press statement. 

“I’m extremely proud that our newspaper is receiving this honor,” said Daily Planet Publisher Arnold Lee. “It recognizes what the community has already told us: that our approach to high-quality community journalism is a valuable asset to our city.” 

Among the open government issues reported by the Daily Planet are: city councilmembers voting on issues just placed before them; the gagging by the former city manager of city staff, prohibiting them from talking to the press; the naming of an interim city manager behind closed doors; the prohibition of city councilmembers from joining on-line discussions; the prohibition of disabled commissioners from “attending” meetings via phone when they have last-minute problems prohibiting them from getting to the meetings.  

The James Madison Freedom of Information Awards, named for the creative force behind the First Amendment, honor local organizations and individuals who have fought for public access to government meetings and records, or have promoted the public’s right to know, publish, broadcast, and speak freely about issues of public concern. 

Winners include: 

• Prof. C. James Schmidt, San Jose State University, School of Library and Information Science. Schmidt was named winner of the Norwin S. Yoffie Career Achievement Award. A long-time advocate for freedom of information in libraries, Schmidt formerly headed the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee and Freedom to Read Foundation. Last year he served on the Child Online Protection Act Commission, which advised Congress on regulating the availability of “harmful to minors” content on public library computer terminals. 

• ACLU of Northern California. The SPG will honor the organization as “a leading defender of free speech and freedom of information, taking on major legal battles, public information campaigns, and legislative efforts to ensure the public’s basic rights under the First Amendment.” 

• Tanya Smith, of The Argus (Fremont). As a staff reporter at The Argus, Smith served as a watchdog of the Ohlone College Board of Trustees, reporting frequently on illegal closed sessions and other violations of California’s Ralph M. Brown Open Meeting Act. 

• Fredric Tulsky, San Jose Mercury News. Using documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Tulsky spent two years conducting the first-ever nationwide analysis of asylum decisions by federal immigration judges, revealing, in a series of special reports, widespread unfairness and inconsistency in their decision-making. 

• Stockton Record. In December, the Record published the results of an extensive survey of 

local government agencies it undertook to monitor compliance with the California Public Records Act. 

• Sonoma Index-Tribune. Throughout much of last year, the I-T fought Public Records Act denials and made innovative use of public records it did obtain in an ongoing investigation that exposed official secrecy and incompetence in the investigation of client-abuse incidents at the Sonoma Developmental Center. 

• Freedom Forum Pacific Coast Center, Félix Gutiérrez (Executive Director), Beverly Kees (Program Director). The Pacific Coast Center closed its doors in December after many years of serving as a meeting place and educational resource for the local First Amendment community, offering a variety of workshops, discussion forums, film screenings, and other programs to journalists, attorneys, and advocates of free expression. 

Winners will be honored at the Sixth Annual James Madison Freedom of Information Awards dinner on Tuesday, March 27 at the Fort Mason Officers Club in San Francisco. For ticket information call 415-487-2589. 

Cal piles up 18 hits before game called due to darkness 

LOS ANGELES – Led by the strong pitching of junior Trevor Hutchinson and an 18-hit attack, Cal defeated host Loyola Marymount, 14-6, Friday in Los Angeles. The Bears improve to 6-2 on the season, while the Lions fall to 7-4.  

Hutchinson (2-1) was outstanding, pitching six innings with seven hits, three earned runs, only one walk and a career-high 12 strikeouts. He now has 27 strikeouts and only two walks in 21 innings this season. The losing pitcher for LMU was starter C.J. Wilson, who gave up seven runs on nine hits, lasting just four innings. 

At the plate, Cal was led by junior second baseman Carson White, who went 4-for-5 with a triple and three RBI. Freshman Chris Grossman, freshman Conor Jackson , senior Clint Hoover , senior Rob Meyer and freshman Noah Jackson each had two hits and all drove in at least one run.  

The Bears kick-started their offense early, scoring four runs in the first inning and a run in the second inning. Cal went on to score five runs in the fifth inning, three runs in the seventh inning and a run in the eighth inning off of four Loyola pitchers. The game was called because of darkness with one out and a runner on first in the bottom of the eighth.  

Cal will next face Loyola Marymount in the second game of the three-game series on Saturday at 1 p.m.

To celebrate the inauguration of its new president, a panel came together at the Graduate Theological Union Thursday to discuss the interplay of modern economic forces and religion. 

Four theology professors, hailing from different universities and religious backgrounds, comprised the panel. The title of the discussion, “Religion, Power and New Economy,” gave the professors plenty of room to cover a range of topics, including corporatization, globalization, racism, and George W. Bush. 

The panel found that agreeing on a hard-and-fast definition of “new economy” was a tricky prospect. But whatever the new economy is, it does not bode favorably in the eyes of the professors, whose comments were well received by the crowd. 

“The new economy is anchored by technology and consumer conglomerates,” said Mary Elizabeth Hunt of Harvard Divinity School.  

These conglomerates are so large, she said, that they rival actual nations. Microsoft, for example, is economically the size of Spain, while Hewlett-Packard “rivals Greece.”  

On globalization, she said: “As my Latin American friends put it, globalization is really gobble-ization.” 

Nancy Martin of Chapman University said the new economy was more like “a form of global feudalism.”  

James Noel of the San Francisco Theological Seminary focused on the links among race relations, religion and the economy, tracing America's economic culture from its earliest slave-running days. 

“Both religion and the economy concern themselves with some form of power,” he said, adding that “through their religion, (black slaves) discovered another source of power and another locus” of human value. 

At the end of his talk, Noel concluded: “We have to ask, can a white supremacist state really allow blacks to have real power?”  

A hundred or so rapt listeners packed the semi-modern Pacific School of Religion Chapel, located on “Holy Hill” just north of the University of California at Berkeley campus.  

After the discussion ended, members of the Graduate Theological Union and others took shuttle buses to another Berkeley church to hear the GTU's new president, James Donahue, give his inauguration speech. 

The GTU consists of nine member schools or seminaries, of which the Pacific School of Religion is one. About 1,400 students, mostly Catholic and Protestant, study through the GTU, which since the early 1960s has “sponsored events designed to encourage interfaith and  

interdisciplinary dialogue.”  

A computer science professor of the University of California at Berkeley has created a computer program that takes the geometric wood sculptures of Missouri artist Brent Collins a step further. 

Carlos Sequin says he was inspired to develop the program, which uses the mathematics found in the curves of soap bubbles, after discovering Collins' sculptures, composed of intertwined arches and saddles, in the art journal Leonardo in 1992. 

Although Collins did not create his sculptures using mathematics, Sequin thought the figures could have been developed using the principles of the saddle-shaped surfaces that soap films form inside of wire hoops. 

Mathematicians study these shapes because the soap film naturally stretches itself to the smallest area it could occupy given the constraint of its borders. 

Sequin contacted Collins and told him that using this “minimal surface” principle, a computer program could be developed to envision more complex versions of the sculptor's art in less time than it took Collins to build the wire mesh and beeswax prototypes that guided his original sculptures. 

Sequin and his students created a computer software program that allows the user to experiment with the shapes. The program can then create blueprints of the shapes, and Collins can use those blueprints to from a new sculpture. 

The program has allowed Collins to expand his art into shapes that he could not have created using his traditional method. Sequin uses the program in his classes, and he has developed a machine that can be used to create small models in a couple of days. 

Collins and Sequin will appear at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco later today. Collins will talk about his art, while Sequin will demonstrate how the computer program works. 

LOS ANGELES — Studies of HIV-infected people in Los Angeles show disturbing trends in behavior that could lead to the rapid spread of the virus that causes AIDS, researchers said. 

The sexual behavior alarmed scientists and outreach workers who gathered Friday at an annual conference on statewide AIDS research. 

Researchers hope the studies will help explain January reports of rising HIV infection rates in San Francisco as well as in Sydney, Australia and Vancouver, Canada. 

One of the most disturbing studies involved 113 HIV-positive bisexual men in Los Angeles.  

It found that 54.5 percent failed to disclose their infection status to sex partners. Thirty-one percent reported having unprotected sex, according to the study of 113 men in Los Angeles. 

“The importance is that a number of sexual partners may not know they are at risk,” said Matt Mutchler, a researcher with AIDS Project Los Angeles. 

In another study of 53 men in Los Angeles County, 50 percent reported having had sex with an average of 28 partners in a public place during the previous six months. And 41 percent said they had unprotected sex in a public place. 

A 1997-98 study of 305 black men with HIV or AIDS found that 31 percent identified themselves as heterosexual even though they reported previously having sex with men. 

In another control group of 305 black men who were not HIV-infected, 16 percent said they were not homosexual but reported having had sex with men. 

The findings suggest that HIV prevention strategies should be widened to include that segment of black men who have complex sexual behaviors, said Amy Wohl, an HIV epidemiologist with the county Department of Health Services. 

Dr. George Lemp, director of the Universitywide AIDS Research Program, said the Los Angeles sex behavior studies show that prevention programs are not reaching HIV-infected people. 

“Prevention is either not being delivered or it’s not in high quality,” Lemp said. “They are getting the medication, but no one is helping them with the psycho-social and relationship issues. 

“There are people in care who have a lot of issues other than HIV. If you can address those issues, you may help them deal with the risk behavior.” 

Researchers said that some of the factors effecting the sexual behavior of HIV-positive people include alcohol and drug abuse, childhood sexual abuse, and the abandonment of caution in certain environments, such as bathhouses and all-night dance clubs.

SAN FRANCISCO — The city that symbolizes liberalism and sexual openness is about to extend its health insurance to cover sex-change operations for municipal employees. 

The Board of Supervisors and Mayor Willie Brown are expected to sign the measure within the next couple of weeks. It will extend up to $50,000 in benefits to city workers who want to switch their gender. 

San Francisco apparently would be the only governmental body in the nation to make sex-change benefits available. The state of Minnesota offered such benefits, but the program was phased out in 1998. The issue was discussed in Oregon, but a commission decided against it in 1999. 

The benefits would be available starting July 1, but employees would have to work for the city for at least one year before they would be eligible. In addition, the coverage would be capped at $50,000. The city’s Health Service System board approved the benefit earlier this month.  

The benefit would cover male-to-female surgery, which costs about $37,000, as well as female-to-male surgery, which runs about $77,000.  

It also would cover hormones and other procedures. 

In order to have any procedures performed, employees first must go through an extensive medical review process that takes up to six months, said Nathan Purkiss, legislative aide to Supervisor Mark Leno, a leading supporter of the measure and founder of the Transgender Civil Rights Implementation Task Force. 

“You can’t just choose to do this,” Purkiss said. 

City employee Cecilia Chung said the surgery is necessary for her. 

Chung flew to Bangkok in 1998 and paid $6,000 to become a woman. It was much cheaper than having the procedure performed in the United States, but there also was an increased risk. 

“Unfortunately, I had medical complications since then,” said Chung, 35, who works for the Department of Public Health. “I’ve been trying to get the problem corrected, but it’s not covered from my regular health insurance.” 

Chung said she will be first in line to take advantage of the new insurance. She’s also thrilled to be part of a community that’s finally accepted openly. 

But transgender advocates said the measure’s symbolism is more valuable than the benefits. 

“I think it’s really politically important to do that,” said Susan Stryker, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society of Northern California. “Transgender rights are often considered as a joke: ‘What are those wacky San Franciscans going to do next?”’ 

Stryker, who had male-to-female surgery 10 years ago, said San Francisco’s transgender community numbers about 15,000. 

“Now, over the last five years the movement has grown and we have made more allies,” Stryker said. “We’re not looked down at as freaks.” 

The term transgender covers a broad range of categories including cross-dressers, transvestites, transsexuals and those born with characteristics of both sexes. 

People wanting sex-change surgery would have to pay 15 percent out of pocket if they use a doctor in the city’s health network. If an out-of-network doctor is used, that goes up to 50 percent. 

Ammiano said the city has at least a dozen transgender employees. All 37,000 city employees’ health costs would increase about $1.70 a month under proposed plan changes that would include the sex-change benefit as well as items such as hearing aids and acupuncture. 

Claire Skiffington, chairwoman of the task force’s health committee, has had all of her sex-change procedures completed — and has been fighting for 4 1/2 years to give others coverage for such surgery. 

“They thought California was going to dip into the ocean because everyone on the East Coast is going to move out here to get transgender benefits,” she said. “I do not foresee any increase of additional transgender hires.” 

Conservation groups say Gov. Gray Davis has taken the first step toward protecting thousands of acres of utility-owned wildlands from possible sale to developers or timber companies. 

One element of Davis’ plan to rescue two cash-strapped utilities from their $13 billion debt prevents Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Southern California Edison Co. from selling land near their hydroelectric plants to help recoup their debts. 

“We’re concerned that if the lands remain in the ownership of the utilities they’ll be sold off or logged or otherwise destroyed to improve the utility’s situation,” said Steve Evans, conservation director with Sacramento-based Friends of the River. 

PG&E claims it owns around 160,000 acres and SoCal Edison owns at least 20,000 acres. Much of that land is in the Sierra Nevada and other environmentally sensitive areas, featuring streams, ancient forests and rivers. 

Davis on Friday announced a multibillion-dollar plan to help both utilities climb out of debt.  

The proposal calls for the state acquisition of the utilities’ transmission lines along with those of fellow investor-owned utility San Diego Gas & Electric. Davis says the plan can be financed without a rate increase for the utilities’ customers. 

Davis said the state would also obtain “conservation easements,” – which would ban logging or developing on watershed and other lands near hydroelectric facilities, though the utilities would continue to own the land. 

Once the state determined which tracts on which to purchase easements, a market value would be established for the development rights.  

Steve Maviglio, Davis’ spokesman, said the easements are just another bargaining chip to get value for backing up the utilities. 

The state would then own the development rights on those lands and, depending on the area, could establish wilderness areas or parks.  

Easements typically last forever, Maviglio said. He declined to disclose further details, such as how many acres would be protected or how much the easements would cost. 

PG&E and SoCal Edison declined to comment on the easement proposal. 

“Easements can be instrumental in ruling out some of the most worrisome scenarios,” said Nancy Ryan, an economist with Environmental Defense. 

Ryan said conservation groups still advocate state ownership of the lands.  

That would ensure that the public could still use the lands for recreation, and that state resources would play a larger role in the land’s upkeep, Ryan said. 

However, the properties bring in property tax money for many counties, including $1 million annually for Shasta County, home to two-thirds of the watershed lands. 

“If the state were to take over these facilities and these lands as has been discussed, that revenue stream would go away,” said Patrick Minturn, assistant public works director for Shasta County. 

Minturn said the utilities allow grazing and recreation on the land, which means jobs and tourism money flowing into rural communities.  

He said easements are unnecessary because of a recent bill passed by the Legislature requiring utilities to request permission from state power regulators before they sell any more land. 

High demand, high wholesale energy costs, transmission bottlenecks and a tight supply have all contributed to California’s power woes.  

Under the state’s 1996 deregulation law, PG&E and SoCal Edison cannot pass on their high costs to their customers, plunging them into debt.  

The utilities were also ordered to sell off their power plants to create more competition throughout the state. 

Conservation groups have pushed for protections for the past year or so and say they want the state to pitch in money to replace those lost tax dollars for those rural areas if the state owned the property. 

Some lawmakers had said they want PG&E and SoCal Edison to donate those lands to the state as part of whatever aid package the state produces to help them climb out from under their debt.  

No formal valuation of the land has been undertaken. 

PG&E has sold about 15,000 acres of land in 1996-97, showing that there is indeed a market for the utility lands. 

“Just the timber alone (was worth) half a billion dollars,” on PG&E’s land, said Nancy Ryan, an economist with Environmental Defense in Oakland.

SAN DIEGO — The 400,000-member American Bar Association is likely to back several changes in immigration law that advocates say would treat women, children and even accused terrorists more fairly. 

The leadership of the lawyers’ organization will vote Monday on recommendations that in granting asylum, the government consider whether a woman may face persecution in her home country because of her sex. 

The Justice Department has already proposed rule changes making it easier for women to make that claim, but advocates at the ABA want a change to the overarching Immigration and Nationality Act. 

The ABA is expected to vote Monday to recommend changes to a 1996 law that made it far easier for the Immigration and Naturalization Service to use secret evidence against noncitizens. The INS has typically done so in cases of suspected terrorism, citing the potential damage to national security if the evidence became public. 

Another recommendation would have the ABA support government-funded lawyers for unaccompanied children during immigration proceedings and a Justice Department office to handle the special needs of children at all stages of the immigration process. 

The ABA recommendations would have no direct legal effect, but the organization would likely back them up with lobbying efforts and friend-of-the-court briefs in relevant court cases. 

The Justice Department’s proposed rule change would allow victims of domestic violence to be considered members of a “social group,” one of five categories in U.S. immigration law along with religion, race, nationality and political beliefs. 

Lawyers advising the ABA on the matter say that may not go far enough, because agency rules do not carry the same weight as laws passed by Congress. 

They also want the “social group” to include women who fear genital mutilation, sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced abortion and other abuses. 

A Palestinian academic jailed for three years without trial is the latest example of what some lawyers call abuse of the government’s power to use secret evidence against noncitizens. 

Mazen Al-Najjar was released in December without ever seeing the evidence behind the government’s allegation that he was a front for Islamic terrorists. 

Secret evidence has long been used in terrorism, espionage and other sensitive cases. But in 1996, Congress passed an anti-terrorism law that made it far easier for the INS to use secret evidence to deport noncitizens. 

The courts, Congress and the executive branch all recognize the need to use classified information in immigration matters and to keep the evidence secret, said INS spokeswoman Karen Kraushaar. 

The policy before the ABA would oppose secret evidence in most immigration cases. An exception would allow the government to supply unclassified summaries in “extraordinary cases where there are legitimate national security concerns.” 

Legislation introduced in both houses during the last congressional session would have repealed portions of the 1996 law. The measures did not pass before the session ended. 

A spokeswoman for Rep. David Bonior, D-Mich., said he will reintroduce his measure, which was cosponsored by another Democrat and two Republicans, when Congress reconvenes later this month. 

There may be greater bipartisan support this time out. 

During his second campaign debate with Democratic candidate Al Gore, President Bush seemed to oppose the use of secret evidence as racially biased.

FOLSOM — An angry horde is demanding answers from state authorities about why eight beavers in Sacramento County have died. 

And the fifth-graders at Oak Chan Elementary School are getting some attention. 

State animal and water officials have agreed to test the water at a pond where the beavers lived and do autopsies on the animals. 

The students say they used to watch the beavers build their homes, but one day noticed that one of the animals had died. Students searching for survivors found seven more dead beavers. 

Students wrote to the state to ask for help in uncovering the reason behind the deaths. 

“I am 10 years old and I want the beaver and all the other animals to live. If you can come test the water quality to see what is killing the beaver, I would really appreciate it,” Julia Cross wrote. 

Researchers from the state Water Resources Control board were at the beavers’ pond Thursday to collect water samples, but Fish and Game experts say they suspect the beavers died from a virus. 

“They are a communal animal. If an infection is viral enough to kill one of them, it could very well have been passed on to all of them,” said Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Foy. 

But at least one student said he suspected foul play by people who didn’t like the beavers chewing trees. 

“I think we kind of cut in on them. People are complaining that they’re cutting down trees. But they were here first,” said Katie Burnett, 11.

LOS ANGELES — Prosecutors of a former Symbionese Liberation Army fugitive offered a new theory Friday about the origins of the 1970s revolutionary group, claiming it was formed to bomb police cars. 

They also said newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst will be depicted as “an accomplice witness” and an SLA member when she testifies against Sara Jane Olson. 

The statements came in a legal brief designed to bolster a request to use evidence of uncharged crimes against Olson. 

Los Angeles County prosecutors Michael Latin and Eleanor Hunter said the entire history of SLA activities – even those that took place before Olson was involved – is relevant to her prosecution. 

Olson, who was a fugitive for 25 years, is accused of attempting to murder police officers by placing pipe bombs under two Los Angeles police cars in 1975. The bombs didn’t explode. 

A pretrial hearing is scheduled in Superior Court on Feb. 23 and trial is scheduled for April 30. 

Olson has denied she belonged to the SLA, although she knew some of the members who were killed in a fiery shootout with Los Angeles police in 1974. 

In papers filed Friday, prosecutors reiterated their previous claims that the SLA’s history is relevant to the case, but they added a new twist. 

“Evidence of the SLA’s previous activities indicates that bombing police cars was a goal of the organization, perhaps one of the very reasons for its existence,” said their brief. “It appears that banks were robbed in order to finance the bombing of police cars.” 

Such attempts were made in San Francisco, Marin and Los Angeles, the prosecutors said. 

No such claims were made during Hearst’s 1975 bank robbery trial nor in other related trials of SLA defendants. 

“It seems they are rewriting history to try to justify their position,” said Olson lawyer Shawn Chapman. “There is nothing to support this. In 20,000 pages of discovery there is no reference to anything like that. Their saying these facts exist doesn’t make it so.” 

The prosecutors also said that Hearst, who was recently pardoned by President Clinton for her role in an SLA bank robbery, will be “an accomplice witness” whose testimony will need corroboration. 

New regulations give the U.S. Forest Service too much freedom to decide how to manage the nation’s forests, environmental groups say. 

The regulations, released by the Clinton administration in November, made forest health the top priority for governing more than 190 million acres of federal lands.  

They gave Forest Service officials the ability to limit logging, skiing, hiking and other activities if they determined the activities could permanently harm the ecosystem. 

The Western Environmental Law Center, which planned to file suit Friday on behalf of a dozen conservation groups, says the regulations are ambiguous and it worries the Forest Service will misuse them. 

“Our basic problem is that they give way too much discretion to the Forest Service, and we do not feel the Forest Service has earned any trust over the last 20 years,” said Marc Fink, a lawyer with the law center. “More discretion to us means more logging.” 

A Forest Service official declined to comment. 

When the regulations were announced, the Forest Service cheered them as a much-need commitment to forest health, as well as other uses for the forest, including logging. 

“We cannot do things that could put resources at risk,” said Agriculture Department Undersecretary Jim Lyons, who oversees the Forest Service.  

“Ecological sustainability is the foundation upon which future management decisions will be made.” 

The overhaul of the regulations had been in the works since the first Bush administration.  

It was the first time in almost two decades the Forest Service changed the rules implementing the National Forest Management Act of 1976, a law that governs activities in federal forests. 

Earlier this month, William Banzhaf, executive vice president of the Society of American Foresters, wrote Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, who has oversight of the Forest Service, recommending the department re-examine the new regulations. 

“If these regulations are not changed, protection of native plant, animal and fish species could become the dominant, if not the exclusive, purpose for the 191 million acres of the National Forest System,” Banzhaf wrote, arguing the new regulations break the law. 

The environmental groups planed to file suit in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California. 

Among the groups were the Idaho Sporting Congress, Cascadia Wildlife Project and Citizens for Better Forestry.

OBERLIN, Ohio — The Oberlin College student walked into her first art history class of the spring semester and did a quick head count: two men and 20 women. 

Too bad, thought Meg Spearman, a senior from Philadelphia. “The classes with more guys are more verbal,” she said. 

The dearth of men gets noticed outside class, too – there aren’t many guys around to date, she said. 

“That’s the joke on campus,” agreed Victoria Der, another senior at Oberlin. 

Oberlin, a historically liberal institution that pioneered coeducation with its founding in 1833, now finds itself discussing how to keep men interested in the school. 

Fifty-nine percent of Oberlin’s 2,905 students are women at a time when many colleges believe a close male-female ratio can create a livelier intellectual atmosphere and make a school more attractive socially to high school students who are thinking of applying. 

Harry Dawe, associate director of admissions at Oberlin, fueled the discussion last fall when he organized a national forum called “Are Our Boys at Risk?” 

In an era when recruiting of racial minorities and women is commonplace, Dawe calls the idea of affirmative action for men “the issue that dare not speak its name.” 

The growing percentage of women at the nation’s colleges and universities isn’t a recent phenomenon: Women have outnumbered men on U.S. campuses since 1978. Women now make up 55 percent of college enrollment – about 6.8 million women to 5.5 million men. 

How did men become such a minority? One theory is that teen-age boys are eager to join the working world. 

“Boys like to strut and make claims and tell everyone they are going to do something and then they don’t do it,” said Clifford Adelman, senior research analyst with the U.S. Education Department. 

The gender gap is more pronounced at liberal arts colleges, where women make up 61 percent of the enrollment, according to the American Council on Education. That may be because some liberal arts colleges lack the engineering and business programs that tend to attract men. 

The gender gap may be more apparent at small-town schools like Oberlin than at a sprawling state university with tens of thousands of students. 

Admissions director Paul Marthers said that Oberlin has a goal of keeping women’s enrollment at no more than 60 percent but that no unqualified male is accepted. Over the past three years, the male share of Oberlin acceptances has increased from 38 percent to 43 percent, in part because men have sometimes received a second look. 

Dawe said teen-age boys often develop more slowly than girls and may lack the high grades and SAT scores that catch the eye of admissions officers. Instead, Dawe said, he might look for an applicant’s passionate interest in some area, on the chance that the person might thrive in a college environment less structured than high school. 

“We’re looking for students who haven’t become intellectuals” yet, Dawe said. “If that means looking at boys differently, we’re going to do it.” 

The risks of letting the gender gap widen and female enrollment increase are clear. A school with too many women might become perceived as a women’s school and become less attractive to both men and women. 

“What if it goes to 65 percent? Sixty-five is OK,” Spearman said. “But if it was 80-20 – I wouldn’t want to come here.” 

The idea of recruiting men gets into some dangerous political territory. 

Nancy C. Dowling, a guidance counselor at Aurora High School in suburban Cleveland, said schools wouldn’t dare hang out the “Men Wanted” sign at college night activities. “I think there would be a lot of backlash from women’s groups,” she said. 

While Oberlin stops short of directly recruiting men, it tries to make sure its promotional materials do not turn guys off. When a science brochure was revised several years ago, its floral design was dropped because it seemed too feminine, Dawe said. 

At 2,000-student Dickinson College near Harrisburg, Pa., admissions counselors have gone further to bump up male enrollment, now only 39 percent. Gender has been a factor in deciding borderline applications in favor of men, said Robert Massa, a Dickinson vice president. 

“If all other things were equal, we admitted them,” Massa said. He estimated that such close calls amount to 5 percent of admission decisions. 

He said that if the gender gap became too big, “the college would become less desirable for good students of both genders,” Massa said. 

People “might say it’s preposterous for me to say white males add diversity,” he said, but the bottom line is trying to create a rich academic life for students. 

On the Net: 

Oberlin College: http://www.oberlin.edu 

Dickinson College: http://www.dickinson.edu 

American Council on Education: http://www.acenet.edu 

National Center for Education Statistics: http://www.nces.ed.gov 

SAN FRANCISCO — Napster proved that giving away music over the Internet is a breeze. But major record labels still aren’t willing to sell their top hits online, and dot-coms hoping to cash in on music downloads have business models fraught with uncertainty. 

Napster’s loss in appellate court this week means the end is near for its free-music giveaways, which rose to nearly 3 billion songs in January alone, according to Webnoize, a research firm that tracked the downloads. 

The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals “represents a clear victory for the creative content community and the legitimate online marketplace,” said Hilary Rosen, CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America. 

But delivering songs over the Internet won’t be a sure moneymaker until major record labels reach a consensus on new ways to sell distribution rights for popular music.  

without Napster keeping a pitchfork at their backside, they’re probably less motivated than before,” said Phil Leigh, an analyst with Raymond James & Associates. 

One of every 10 U.S. home computer users have tried out Napster for themselves, tapping into seemingly limitless directories of popular music available for free, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. 

Closing down this free-for-all won’t immediately turn all those Napster users into paying customers for EMusic.com, which bills itself as “the premier source for legitimate MP3s,” and pays artists a cut of the 99 cents it charges for each song download. 

One reason is that the major record labels – BMG, Warner, EMI, Sony and Universal – have refused to sell song rights to EMusic, so less than 10 percent of popular music can be found on the site. 

“The Big Five have the keys to the gate and to the kingdom. They control all of this,” said P.J. McNealy, who follows online music for the Gartner Group. 

Napster has shown the value in aggregating content from all major labels.  

What is needed is the online equivalent of a vast record store, where all sorts of music can be found, said McNealy. 

“Consumers don’t know music by label,” McNealy said. “If you want the new Britney Spears song do you go to Sony dot-com or EMI music dot-com?” 

Instead, Leigh and other analysts think the future lies in a universal licensing scheme that would allow online music aggregators to keep offering downloads while somehow compensating copyright holders. 

One prominent Napster user is U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, himself a musician who posts his own gospel tunes on the service. Hatch plans Senate hearings on this issue. 

Hatch warned that the appellate ruling, which favored an injunction ordering Napster to remove all copyright material, “may prove to be pyrrhic or short-sighted from a policy perspective,” since millions of MP3 fans will find other free sources for their music. 

Mitch Glazier, the RIAA’s top lobbyist in Washington, urged patience before the government intervenes. 

“Now that the market is cleared for legitimate music, we have to aggressively occupy the space. Music companies are dependent on secure technology, but there’s no dearth of commitment, both financial and otherwise,” Glazier said. 

Napster, meanwhile, hopes its alliance with German media giant Bertelsmann AG, which owns the BMG label, will help it turn loyal Napster users into paying subscribers later this year. 

The Redwood City.-based company announced Friday that a Bertelsmann subsidiary had developed the technological framework – but no working prototype yet – for a system that would prevent Napster users from pirating music by copying shared MP3 files onto CDs. 

“The real questions about Napster’s future are economic, not technical or legal,” Napster CEO Hank Barry said in a statement lauding the development. He called the move “further evidence of the seriousness of our effort to reach an agreement with the record companies that will keep Napster running, reliable and enjoyable.” 

Other players also are pursuing licensing deals with record labels. After spending between $150 million and $200 million – the exact amount has never been disclosed – settling copyright infringement suits, MP3.com now has permission to run MyMP3.com, which allows subscribers to keep digital copies of CDs they already own, and listen to them over any Web-enabled device. 

“I think people said ‘It’s the end of free music’ and that’s not the case at all,” Michael Robertson, chief executive of MP3.com, said in an interview this week.  

“It’s the end of all music for free. I believe that’s true.” 

Record labels claim they’ve lost hundreds of millions of dollars in profits since computer programmer Shawn Fanning unleashed the Napster software in May 1999 and they’re ill-disposed to make deals with dot-coms, Leigh said. 

On the Net: 

http://www.napster.com 

http://www.mp3.com

NEW YORK — Wall Street plunged back into pessimism Friday, sending stocks sharply lower after Nortel Networks, Dell Computer and Hewlett-Packard warned that business will slow further this year. A spike in inflation and military action in the Middle East increased the market’s woes. 

“The market just doesn’t like today at all,” said Dan Ascani, president and research director at Global Market Strategists in Gainesville, Ga. 

The market’s losses on Friday came largely from the technology sector after several big companies issued disappointing outlooks for the year. 

Nortel plunged $9.75, to finish at $20. After the market closed Thursday, the fiber optics maker cut its profit outlook and raised the number of its planned job cuts to 10,000.  

A bleak outlook also hurt Dell, which fell $1.50 to $23.50. Dell announced late Thursday it missed earnings expectations by 1 cent and that it will cut 1,700 jobs. 

— The Associated Press 

Although layoffs reduce costs, typically causing a stock price to pick back up, analysts said this round of job cuts made investors fearful about how much the economy is hurting. 

“When you have companies like Dell laying people off for the first time in 16 years, that marks a change in the trend of the economy,” Global Market’s Ascani said. 

The Dow’s tech losses were led by Hewlett-Packard, down $3.22 at $33.13. H-P also warned of challenging business conditions late Thursday. The computer maker’s losses spread to other Dow tech stocks, including Microsoft, down $1.63 at $57.19. 

“There’s a combustible combination of bad news out there,” said Alan Ackerman, executive vice president at Fahnestock & Co. 

The bad news brought back “a lot of caution and exhaustion for traders who are trying to figure out where to go in the market, especially before a long, holiday weekend,” Ackerman said. The market is closed Monday in observance of Washington’s Birthday. 

Friday’s losses were a dramatic retreat from the more optimistic approach investors had taken toward high-tech stocks in recent weeks. While Wall Street had tolerated individual companies’ reduced business forecasts, the news of three dismal outlooks at once rattled the market. 

But investors’ skittishness extended beyond tech as they also bid down some stocks in less risky, so-called defensive sectors like pharmaceutical and consumer product issues. 

Merck fell 81 cents to $77.29, but Procter & Gamble rose 98 cents to $74.84. 

Investors also bid stocks lower on a Labor Department report that wholesale inflation rose 1.1 percent in January, the biggest jump in a decade. The spike could diminish the chances that the Federal Reserve Board will lower interest rates at its meeting next month. 

“It gave everyone the fear that the Fed will have to worry about inflation and won’t be able to ease rates as much,” Ascani said. 

The two cuts the Fed made in January are expected to help improve the sluggish economy and anemic corporate earnings in the second half of the year. But investors have been hoping for more reductions, although they were disappointed earlier this week when Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan indicated that future cuts will be less aggressive than the market had wanted. 

Word in the afternoon of a U.S. and British air attack over Iraq added to the selloff. The government said American and British planes struck Iraqi air defense sites in a mission to destroy threatening radar systems. 

Declining issues outnumbered advancers nearly 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was 1.48 billion shares, ahead of 1.39 billion Thursday. 

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of smaller company stocks, fell 9.57 to 499.28. It ended the week up 0.4 percent. 

Overseas markets also were lower. Japan’s Nikkei index fell 1.1 percent, Britain’s FT-SE 100 index lost 1.8 percent, Germany’s DAX index declined 2.3 percent and France’s CAC-40 index fell 1.9 percent. 

——— 

On the Net: 

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com 

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com 

Right now, Tami Pivnik is working as a temp in a San Francisco office, just one of many recent college graduates killing time until they find their true calling. But unlike most of the others, Pivnik won’t be spending much more time in an office anytime soon. She will soon be in the training camp of the Bay Area CyberRays, one of the teams in the fledgling Women’s United Soccer Association. 

Pivnik graduated from Cal in December with a degree in American studies after playing five seasons for the women’s soccer team. A midfielder as a freshman, Pivnik suffered an ankle injury that wiped out most of her 1997 season. Upon her return, head coach Kevin Boyd made her a defender. She started every game for the Bears at sweeper in both 1999 and 2000, helping the Bears to a 17-3-1 record and the second round of the NCAA Tournament in her final season. 

Pivnik has garnered several post-season honors, including being named third-team All-American by Soccer Buzz and second-team All-Pac-10. She was also named to All-Pac-10 academic teams in her final two seasons. 

Pivnik was selected by the CyberRays, who will play in San Jose’s Spartan Stadium, with the 31st pick of the supplemental collegiate draft two weeks ago. She heads off to the first training camp on March 1. 

Daily Planet: So how does it feel to be a professional athlete? 

Tami Pivnik: It’s kind of weird. I don’t feel any different yet, but I think once I go down there and play with the foreign players and the big-timers, I think I might feel a little different about it. But it feels great to get to do what you love to do for a living. 

DP: Will you find it intimidating to be playing with and against the best players in the world? 

TP: Honestly, not that much. I’ve played with a lot of the American players before. I think the foreign players will be a little strange at first, just breaking down the language and cultural barriers. I’m really excited to be on a team with two Brazilians (national team members Katia and Sissi). I know the women aren’t where the men are, but I’ve been a Brazil fan since I was a little girl, so I’m really excited about that. Obviously it’s a new level, so a lot of it will be confidence going in. But I think I can handle it, and I’m looking forward to it. 

DP: Did you ever picture yourself playing professionally when you came to Cal? 

TP: It really only became a valid opportunity in 1999. For the last two years, we’ve been making good progress, so me having a fifth year, it was perfect timing to go from the end of my career at Cal to go directly into the professional ranks. It worked out really well, but obviously I had no clue this would happen.  

I was asked by a public relations guy for the CyberRays right when I got drafted if this has been my dream, and I said “honestly, no. It’d be nice to say I’m living my dream, but it never really was.” 

Soccer’s always been a dream for me. I’ve had a great time, met some great people, traveled the world. It’s been amazing, and it’s what I love to do. 

DP: What would you be doing if the WUSA didn’t exist? 

TP: I don’t know; probably figuring out my life. I mean, I’m not sure, I’ve got such diverse interests. I could have gone straight into the Peace Corps, I could have done Teach for America (a government-sponsored inner-city teaching program). It would have probably been something like that right off the bat. But I didn’t really prepare for things like that because I knew this was coming. 

DP: Are you glad you were drafted by the local team? 

TP: I originally hoped to go to the east coast. But just the number of calls and e-mails that have come in about people being so excited about being able to see me play in the Bay Area, I can’t complain about having that kind of support. 

DP: Do you expect there to be a big Cal presence at some home games? 

TP: (Laughs) They better come out! I’m sure some of them will come to some games. 

DP: After your injury, did you ever consider giving up on playing? 

TP: I was talked to very seriously two summers ago about re-evaluating my goals physically. I was working with a physical therapist, and when he did a complete evaluation, they didn’t like so much how little cartilage I had in my knee. So he was just kind of giving me the big picture instead of short-term, which you concentrate on when you have a serious injury. You set certain goals for yourself to see if you can get through them, and he wanted to give me a broader view to let me know where I was at. And I thought about it for about an evening (laughs). But I woke up in the morning and said, “Yeah, I’m gonna play. If you won’t help me, I’ll find someone who will.” So he worked with me, and I got back on the field the next year. 

DP: What would you have done if you hadn’t been drafted? 

TP: Trying to figure out who I had to call the next day and where I was going to go try out this weekend. I was getting a little bit worried, because Maite (Zabala, former Cal goalie, picked No. 9 by the Atlanta Beat) and I were sitting there and I was a little surprised by some of the picks that went before me. We were sitting there like ‘I don’t know…’ But then Tony (DiCicco, the league’s acting commissioner) got up there and started talking about Cal Berkeley, and we looked at each other and knew I was the only one left, so I knew I was getting picked then. 

DP: Okay, the WUSA championship comes down to you vs. Maite on a penalty kick. Who wins? 

TP: Oh, me of course! (Laughs) I mean, hands down. I haven’t missed a penalty kick in years. Me! What am I supposed to say?

Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm.”An 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 more. $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. 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. Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

Judah L. Magnes Museum “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. “Second Annual Richard Nagler Competition for Excellence in Jewish Photography” Through Feb., 2001. Featuring the work of Claudia Nierman, Jason Francisco, Fleming Lunsford, and others. 2911 Russell St. 549-6950  

UC Berkeley Art Museum “The Mule Train: A Journey of Hope Remembered” through March 26. An exhibit of black and white photographs that capture the fears and faith of those who traveled from Marks, Mississippi to Washington, D.C. ,with mule-drawn wagons to attend the Poor People's Campaign in December, 1967; “Joe Brainard: A Retrospective,” Through May 27. The selections include 150 collages, assemblages, paintings, drawings, and book covers. Brainard’s art is characterized by its humor and exhuberant color, and by its combinations of media and subject matter; Muntadas - On Translation: The Audience, Through April 29. This conceptual artist and pioneer of video, installation, and Internet art presents three installations. $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. 642-0808. 

The Asian Galleries “Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery” A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection. “Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended. “Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended. “Three Towers of Han,” open-ended. $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 642-0808 

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 by 40-foot replica of the fearsome dinosaur made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. 

“Pteranodon” A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22-23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 642-1821 

UC Berkeley Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology “Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended. This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history.“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing.This exhibit documents the culture of the Yahi Indians of California as described and demonstrated from 1911 to 1916 by Ishi, the last surviving member of the tribe. $2 general; $1 seniors; $.50 children age 17 and under; free on Thursdays. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College Ave. 643-7648  

Holt Planetarium Programs are recommended for age 8 and up; children under age 6 will not be admitted. $2 in addition to regular museum admission. “Constellations Tonight” Ongoing. Using a simple star map, learn to identify the most prominent constellations for the season in the planetarium sky. Daily, 3:30 p.m. $7 general; $5 seniors, students, disabled, and youths age 7 to 18; $3 children age 3 to 5 ; free children age 2 and younger. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, UC Berkeley 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu  

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership 

Feb. 16: The Bananas, Pitch Black, Shotwell, Pirx the Pilot, Rock & Roll Adventure Kids; Feb. 17: Lack of Interest, The Neighbors, Black Hands, Capitalist Casualties, Iron Lung; Feb. 18, 5 p.m.: Good Riddance, Missing 23rd, Fire Sermon, Lugosi, Anti Domestix; Feb. 23: Subincision, 30 Second Fury, AKA Nothing, No Common Sense, Stalin’s War; Feb. 24: Slow Gherkin, Plus Ones, 78 RPMS, Merrick, Enemy You 525-9926  

Albatross Pub All music at 9 p.m. unless noted Feb. 20: pickPocket esemble; Feb. 21: Whiskey Brothers; Feb. 22: Keni “El Lebrijano”1822 San Pablo 843-2473 

Ashkenaz Feb. 16, 9:30 p.m.: Jeff Narell & the Bongo Beach Band, Pankind; Feb. 17, 9:30 p.m.: Nectar w/Jai Uttal, Stephen Kent, Geoffrey Gordon; Feb. 18, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.: Youth Dance; Feb. 18, 8 p.m.: Gregory Joe Bledsoe and Source of Light; March 24, 2 p.m. - 2 a.m.: Ashkenaz fourth annual dance-a-thon featuring Lavay Smith, African, Caribbean, reggae, Balkan, North African and cajun bands for 12 hours of nonstop dance music. 1370 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Feb. 16: Little Johnny & the Giants; Feb. 17: Ron Thompson 3629 MLK Jr. Way Oakland  

Crowden School Sundays, 4 p.m.: Chamber music series sponsored by the school; Feb. 24, 8 p.m.: Cynthia & the Swing Set and the American Jubilee Dance Theatre. Free swing dance lesson, 7 p.m. New Orleans cajun and creole dinner to be served before dance lesson. $10 - $40 Benefits the Crowden School 1475 Rose St. (at Sacramento) 559-6910 

Tuva Space All shows at 7:45 p.m. Feb. 18: Saadet Turkoz seeks to evoke pictures and atmosphere by means of voice and music which transcend cultural boundaries. Saxophonist Eric Barber defies categorization; Feb. 19: Trio of Fred Frith, guitar, Pierre Tanguay, percussion, and Jean Derome, alto and bariton saxophones. $8 donation 3192 Adeline (at MLK Jr. Way) 649-8744  

Jazzschool/La Note All music at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 18: Sheldon Brown Group; Feb. 25: Lauri Antonioli; March 4: Ray Obiedo; March 11: Stephanie Bruce Trio; March 18: Wayne Wallace Septet $6 - $12 2377 Shattuck Ave.  

Live Oak Concert Series All music at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 18: Jupiter String Quartet perform music of Purcell, Britten, and Schubert; March 4: Marie Carbone, harpsichord, plays music of Frescobaldi, Sweelinck, Froberger, and Weckmann; March 11: Stephen Bell, guitar, plays music of Bach, Villa-Lobos, Ponse, and Albeniz Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St.  

Cal Performances Feb. 16 & 17, 8 p.m.: Balinese Orchestra Gamelan Sekar Jaya present “Kawit Legong: Prince Karna’s Dream,” $18 - $30.; Feb. 20, 21, 23 & 24: In two separate programs the Netherlands Dans Theater I presents the work of former artistic director, Jiri Kylian $34 - $52 Zellerbach Hall UC Berkeley. 642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu Feb. 11, 3 p.m.: Horacio Gutierrez $24 - $42; Feb. 25, 3 p.m.: Prazack Quartet $32; Feb. 28, 8 p.m.: Clerks’ Group performs music from the Burgundian Courts; March 4, 3 p.m.: Baritone Nathan Gunn sings Brahms, Wolf, and a selection of American songs $36; March 11, 3 & 7 p.m.: Burhan Ocal & The Istanbul Oriental Ensemble perform traditional Turkish music $24 Hertz Hall UC Berkeley 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra April 3, and June 21, 2001. All performances begin at 8 p.m. Single $19 - $35, Series $52 - $96. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley 841-2800  

Percussions Du Guinee Feb. 16 & 17, 8 p.m. Feb. 18, 7 p.m. Internationally respected Guinean percussionists craft a performance simultaneously inspired by traditional music, yet modern in presentation. $20 - $25 925-798-1300 

Will Bernard & Motherbug and Ten Ton Chicken CD Release Party and Live Web Cast Feb. 17, 9 p.m. IMUSICAST Studios 5429 Telegraph Ave. (at 54th) Oakland $10  

Adam Cooper Memorial Torah Readers Fund Benefit Concert Feb. 25, 7 p.m. Frank London, composer and trumpet player with The Klezmatics and Adrienne Cooper will headline. $25 - $50 Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 925-944-0931 

“Dido and Aeneas” March 2, 8 p.m.; March 4, 2 p.m. A tale of English Baroque opera that follows the tale of Dido, queen of Corinth, as she is courted and won by Aeneas, conqueror and future founder of Rome. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

“Aywah!” March 2, 8 p.m. An evening of music and dance from Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Balkan Roma. Featuring Aywah! Dance Company. Guest singer Eva Primack. $13 - $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

Mozart Requiem Singalong March 3, 8 p.m. Bella Musica Chorus and Orchestra in their third annual presentation. Bring your own score or buy/borrow one of theirs. $10 suggested donation St. Joseph the Worker Church 1640 West Addison (at McGee) Call 526-5393 

Young People’s Symphony Orchestra March 3, 8 p.m. David Ramadanoff conducts the orchestra in a program featuring Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and a suite from Piston’s ballet “The Incredible Flutist” $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300  

“In Song and Struggle” March 4, 4 - 10 p.m. Copwatch presents the second annual event bringing together some of the best women artists from around the Bay Area and beyond in commemoration of International Women’s Day. Artists include Shelley Doty, Rebecca Riots, Rachel Garlin, and many others. Call Copwatch, 548-0425  

Young Emerging Artists March 6, 7 - 8 p.m. John McCarthy will direct students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Prepatory Division through a performance of works by Sov, Barber and others. $5 - $10 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. (at Derby) 925-798-1300 

Canto Para Una Semilla March 9, 8 p.m. La Pena Community Chorus present an homage to Violeta Parra. This is a benefit for Berkeley High School’s CAS program. $10 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

“Mystic Journey” March 10, 8 p.m. Suzanne Teng and Mystic Journey are a unique contemporary world music ensemble, based in Los Angeles, making their Bay Area debut. $15 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. Call 925-798-1300 

Maria Marquez in Concert March 10, 8:30 p.m. A special evening of Marquez’s songs from her latest CD, “Eleven Love Stories.” $15 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Theater 

“Fall” by Bridget Carpenter Through March 11. $15.99 - $51. Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2025 Addison St. 647-2949, www. berkeleyrep.org 

“The Road to Mecca” by Athol Fugard Through Feb. 24, Friday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Feb. 22, 8 p.m. $10 Live Oak Theatre 1301 Shattuck 528-5620 

“Nightingale” presented by Central Works Theater Through March 4, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 24 & Saturday, March 3, 5 p.m. $8 - $14 LaVal’s Subterranean 1834 Euclid Ave. 558-1381 

“Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” by Frank MacGuinness Through March 17, Thursday - Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 8:30 p.m. The story of three men - an Irishman, an Englishman and an American held in a prison in Lebanon. $10 - $15 8th St. Studio Theatre 2525 Eighth St. (at Dwight) 655-0813 

“A New Brain” by William Finn March 2 - 18, Fridays & Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Watch as Gordon Schwinn, in the face of a life-threatening brain tumor, composes a farewell concert in which all the important figures in his life make show-stopping appearances. Presented by BareStage Productions $8 - $12 Choral Rehearsal Hall, Lower Level of Caesar Chavez Student Center UC Berkeley 642-3880  

Films 

“Magnetic North” Six programs of experimental Canadian video from the past 30 years that range from documentary to conceptual art. In all, 40 tapes from 46 artists will be shown on six Wednesday evenings. Through Feb. 28. $7. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft (at Bowditch) 642-1412  

“Sherlock Jr.” With musical accompaniment by The Dactyles of Phrygia, performing on traditional and homemade instruments. Feb. 18, 3 & 7 p.m. $4 - $7 Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft (at Bowditch) 642-1412 

“Toto Recall” A 15-film retrospective honoring Italy’s comic genius. Through Feb. 24 Weekend days only, Friday - Sunday. $7 for one film, $8.50 for double bills. Pacific Film Archive 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-1412 

“A.K.A. Dominga” A video documentary film following the personal journey of one woman uncovering her history 18 years after surviving the Rio Negro Massacre in Guatemala. March 1, 7:30 p.m. La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 x15 

Exhibits 

Berkeley Historical Society “Berkeley’s Ethnic Heritage.” An overview of the rich cultural diversity of the city and the contribution of individuals and minority groups to it’s history and development. Thursday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Free. 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

“Consecrations: Spirits in the Time of AIDS,” Through Feb. 24. An exhibit seeking to expand the understanding of HIV and AIDS and the people affected by them. Wednesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Pro Arts Gallery 461 Ninth St., Oakland. 763-9425  

“Race & Femininity” Acrylic Paintings of Corinne Innis Paying homage to her subconscious, Innis uses rich colors in her acrylic paintings. Through Feb. 26; Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, 1 - 7 p.m. and by appointment. Women’s Cancer Resource Center 3023 Shattuck Ave. 548-9286 x307  

“Trees With Frosting” Stevie Famulari decorates landscapes with sugar and frosting, making her artwork edible and changeable by viewers. This particular display will remain for two months. Through February Skapades Hair Salon 1971 Shattuck Ave. 251-8080 or steviesart@hotmail.com 

“Dorchester Days,” the photographs of Eugene Richards is a collection of pictures portraying the poverty, racial tension, crime and violence prevalent in Richards’ hometown of Dorchester, Massachusetts in the 1970s. Through April 6. UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism 121 North Gate Hall #5860 642-3383 

“Still Life & Landscapes” The work of Pamela Markmann Through March 24, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Red Oak Gallery 1891 Solano Ave. 527-3387 

“Kick Back,” the Department of Art Practice of UC Berkeley spring faculty show Through March 2 Worth Ryder Gallery Kroeber Hall UC Berkeley Call 642-2582 

“Unequal Funding: Photographs of Children in Schools that Get Less” An exhibit of black & white photographs by documentary photographer Chris Pilaro. Through March 16, Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery 2235 Fifth St. 644-1400 

“Contemporary Photogravure” Printing from hand-inked plates etched from a film positive, a unique exhibition of photographs with luxurious tones. Through March 30, Tuesday - Friday, Noon - 5 p.m. or by appointment Kala Art Institute 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 

“Musee des Hommages,” Masterworks by Guy Colwell Faithful copies of several artists from the pasts, including Titian’s “The Venus of Urbino,” Cezanne’s “Still Life,” Picasso’s “Woman at a Mirror,” and Boticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours 2028 Ninth St. (at Addison) 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

“Evolution,” No problem quilters exhibit their soft-cloth sculptures. New Pieces is the only gallery that exclusively exhibits quilts in the Bay Area. Through March 1, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday Noon - 5 p.m. 1597 Solano Ave. 527-6779 

Amanda Haas, New Paintings and Olivia Kuser, Recent Landscapes Through March 24, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Opening reception Feb. 14, 6 - 8 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth St. 527-1214 

“Water From Your Spring” Artistic residency with composer Ann Millikan and painter Selena Engelhart Through Feb. 17, Wednesday - Sunday, Noon - 5 p.m. Free; Performance of Millikan’s music featuring the California E.A.R. Unit, plus guests: Feb. 17 & 18, 8 p.m. $15 - $20 Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park  

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 23: Becky Thompson reads “Mothering Without a Compass: White Mother’s Love, Black Son’s Courage” 398 Colusa Ave. Kensington 559-9184. www.boadeciasbooks.com 

Cody’s Books All events at 7:30 p.m., unless noted Feb. 20: Becky Thompson discusses “Mothering Without a Compass: White Mother’s Love, Black Son’s Courage”; Feb. 21: Poetry of Gillian Conoley & Kathleen Fraser; Feb. 22: Alison Gopnik describes “The Scientist in the Crib: What Early Learning Tells Us About the Mind”; Feb. 23: Carol Field reads “Mangoes and Quince”; Feb. 25: Poetry of Martha Rhodes, Linda Dyer & Joy Manesiotis; Feb. 26: Terry McMillan reads from “A Day Late and a Dollar Short”; Feb. 28: Poetry of Sandra Gilbert & Wendy Barker 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore All events at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27: Barbara Wagner, co-founder of Lost Frontiers, gives a slide presentation and talk about “Pakistan & the Lost Tribes of teh Hindu Kush”; Feb. 28: Travel writer Christopher Baker will read and talk about his 7000 miles motorcycle odyssey through Cuba as chronicled in his book “Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba” 1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 843-3533  

“Strong Women - Writers & Heroes of Literature” Fridays Through June, 2001, 1 - 3 p.m. Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program. North Berkeley Senior Center 1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 549-2970  

Duomo Reading Series and Open Mic. Thursdays, 6:30 - 9 p.m. Feb. 22: Charles Ellick; March 1: Eliza Shefler; March 8: Judy Wells; March 15: Elanor Watson-Gove; March 22: Anna Mae Stanley; March 29: Georgia Popoff; April 5: Barbara Minton; April 12: Alice Rogoff; April 19: Garrett Murphy; April 26: Ray Skjelbred. Cafe Firenze 2116 Shattuck Ave. 644-0155. 

Lunch Poems First Thursday of each month, 12:10 - 12:50 p.m. March 1: Aleida Rodrigues; April 5: Galway Kinnell; May 3: Student Reading Morrison Room, Doe Library UC Berkeley 642-0137 

Class Dismissed Poetry Posse March 2, 7:30 p.m. Afro-Haitian dancers, Dance Production dancers, the BHS poetry slammers, an opening a capella number and a few surprises. A benefit for a Berkeley High school student trip to Cuba. $5 - $10 Little Theater Berkeley High School 2246 Milvia St.  

Bamboo Ridge Writers Reading March 4, 4 p.m. Five authors published in the book, “Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry & Prose.” Bamboo Ridge publishes literature which nurtures the voices of Hawaii and celebrates its literary tradition. Eastwind Books of Berkeley 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

Anita Barrows March 4, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Barrows will read from her poem “A Record” inspired by an exhibit done in Theresienstadt and her translation of Rosa Luxenburg’s letters. Free Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237 

Women’s Word March 14, 7:30 p.m. An evening of women’s word honoring International Women’s month and featuring Avotcja, Straight Out Scribes, Tureeda & Kira Allen. Hosted by Joyce Young. Open mic will follow. $4 La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Tours 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

Berkeley City Club Tours 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. 848-7800  

The fourth Sunday of every month, Noon - 4 p.m. $2  

Golden Gate Live Steamers Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Lomas Cantadas Drive at the south end of Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. 486-0623  

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size. Trains run Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., weather permitting.  

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Centennial Drive, behind Memorial Stadium, a mile below the Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley. 643-2755 or www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden/  

The gardens have displays of exotic and native plants. Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 p.m. $3 general; $2 seniors; $1 children; free on Thursday. Daily, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. 

Lectures 

Berkeley Historical Society Slide Lecture & Booksigning Series Sundays, 3 - 5 p.m. $10 donation requested Feb. 25: “Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin,” Gray Brechin will discuss the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful early families; March 11: Director of Berkeley’s International House, Joe Lurie, will show a video and dicuss the history and struggle to open the I-House 70 years ago; March 18: “Topaz Moon,” Kimi Kodani Hill will discuss artist Chiura Obata’s family and the WWII Japanese relocation camps. Berkeley Historical Center Veterans Memorial Building 1931 Center St. 848-0181 

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research Seminars Noon seminars are brown bag Feb. 22, 4 p.m.: Sam Kernell of UC San Diego, will present a seminar on “State Electoral Institutions and the Impact of Presidental Elections on Party Control of Congress, 1840 - 1940.” March 7, 4 p.m.: Akhil Reed Amar will discuss his book “The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction.” March 12, Noon: Catherine Hafer of Ohio State will discuss “The Political Economy of Emerging Property Rights.” April 23, 4 p.m.: Mary Dudziach of USC will discuss “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy.” Feb. 30, Noon: Daniel Diermeier of Northwestern University will discuss “Mass Political Action.” 119 Moses Hall UC Berkeley 642-4608  

“Great Decisions” Foreign Policy Association Lectures Series Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - Noon, Through April 3; An annual program featuring specialists in the field of national foreign policy, many from University of California. Goal is to inform the public on major policy issues and receive feedback from the public. $5 per session, $35 entire series for single person, $60 entire series for couple. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave. 526-2925 

Ruth Acty Oral History Feb. 18, 3 - 6 p.m. In honor of Black History Month, Therese Pipe will present the history of Acty, who became the first African American teacher in the Berkeley Unified School District in 1943. Berkeley Historical Society Veterans Memorial Building 1931 Center St. Admission free 848-0181 

When talking about housing, consider transportation 

Editor:  

The SF Chronicle’s article (14 Feb) on the extremely limited vacancy rate for office space in Berkeley was a constructive piece that contributes to nurturing an informed debate on the future development of a Bay Area city, but I thought it missed touching on an important part of the subject: an effective and efficient transportation grid.  

Downtown Berkeley is attractive to offices, in part, because of BART, which can help get workers to work without facing the nightmares of driving.  

But the subjects of the story wanted to be within walking distance of the UC Berkeley campus – presumably because they did not perceive (or did not believe that others perceived) there to be a transportation system sufficient to serve their office were it located farther away.  

And not just elsewhere in Berkeley.  

Inevitably, a key element of desirability is access, and while the private transportation system (automobiles) is increasingly jammed, the public transportation system is groaning at limited capacity or with inefficient timetables and delays.  

Were those aspects to receive more conscientious local and regional address, a wider variety of options for office (and other) space might become accessible, feasible, and economically viable in those parts of Bay Area cities now poorly served and or with difficult access or parking. There is more to the story, and it is worth exploring. 

Howie Muir Berkeley

Friday, Feb. 16

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Saturday, Feb. 17

“Go-Go-Go Greenbelt!” 

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Rockridge BART  

Oakland  

A bike tour on this ride into the rolling East Bay hills. A free ride sponsored by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call 415-255-3233 for reservations or visit www.greenbelt.org 

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

Poets and writers meet to critique each other’s work. “Members’ work tends to be dark, humorous, surreal, or strange.”  

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Valentine’s Dinner Dance  

Benefit Gala 

4:30 p.m. - 10 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship Unitarian Universalists hall  

1924 Cedar (at Bonita)  

Dance to the music of Toru Saitu & his band. Benefits BFUU.  

$10 donation  

Call 849-9508 

Free Puppet Show  

1:30 - 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health  

2230 Shattuck Ave., Lower Level  

The Kids on the Block, an award-winning puppet troupe that includes puppets of diverse cultures and puppets with medical conditions such as leukemia and spina bifida. Free 

Call 549-1564  

P.U.R.R.S. Pet Adoption Day 

Noon - 5 p.m. 

Pet Food Express  

1942 MLK Jr. Way  

Cats, kittens, rabbits, dogs and other pets in need of homes will be available for adoption.  

Call 444-3204 

Sunday, Feb. 18

Ruth Acty Oral History  

Reception 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society  

Veterans Memorial Building 

1931 Center St.  

In 1943 Miss Ruth Acty became the first African American teacher to be hired by the Berkeley Unified School District. She taught thousands of students until her retirement in 1985. Oral History Coordinator Therese Pipe interviewed Acty in 1993-94 for the Berkeley Historical Society. Free  

Waterfalls of Berkeley  

10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

North Berkeley BART  

Sacramento at Delaware  

On this urban waterfall hike, discover three waterfalls along rushing creeks hidden in Berkeley neighborhoods. A free hike sponsored by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call 415-255-3233 for reservations or visit www.greenbelt.org 

Kaleidoscope Performances  

2 p.m. 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts  

2640 College Ave. (at Derby)  

Yassir Chadley, traditional Moroccan musician and Sufi storyteller.  

$5 - $10  

Call 925-798-1300 

Healthful Building Materials 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Learn about healthful materials in this seminar conducted by environmental consultant Darrel DeBoer.  

$35  

Call 525-7610 

Empowering Your Soul Through Meditation 

4 p.m. 

St. John’s Church  

2727 College Ave.  

Speakers will include Wm. Scotti, PhD and Linda Scotti RN, educators and diplomats from Washington DC. Free 635-2290 

Monday, Feb. 19

Affordable Housing Advocacy Project Open Forum 

2 - 4 p.m.  

Strawberry Creek Lodge  

1320 Addison St.  

This months topic will be vouchers - what is happening to the section eight program and what you need to know about it. AHAP is a project of Housing Rights, in partnership with Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency, the national Housing Law Project and the City of Berkeley.  

Call 1-800-773-2110 

Tuesday, Feb. 20

“Great Decisions” – China & Taiwan 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy. $5 single session 526-2925 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Intelligent Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. This evenings discussion topic is different cultural, ethnic and religious values.  

Call 527-9772  

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m. 

South Branch Berkeley Library  

1901 Russel St.  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

7 p.m. 

North Branch Berkeley Library  

1170 The Alameda 

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Blood Pressure for Seniors 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

With Alice Meyers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

Wednesday, Feb. 21

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Control Hypertension 

6:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center - Summit Campus 

Summit South Cafeteria Conference Room  

3100 Summit St.  

Oakland 

Bessanderson McNeil, MPH, and the Ethnic Health Institute, will help attendees take control of their lives. Free 

Call 204-3443 

Sacred Cinema  

7 - 9 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., Chapel Six 

Ken Peer has sought to explore sacred themes and to draw attention to the spiritual lives of individuals from the world’s great wisdom traditions. See three of his short films at this free screening.  

Call 649-2523 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m. 

Claremont Library  

2940 Benvenue  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Alzheimer’s Support Group  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

For families and caregivers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

Thursday, Feb. 22

Free “Quit Smoking” Class 

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis (at Ashby)  

Cease your smoking with the help of this free class offered to Berkeley residents and employees. 

Call 644-6422 to enroll or e-mail quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Charles Ellick and host Louis Cuneo.  

644-0155 

Rivers of the World  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Pamela Michael, writer, educator and river conservationist, will highlight her new anthology “The Gift of Rivers: True Stories of Life on the Water,” showing slides of nearly 100 of the world’s great rivers. Free 

Call 527-4140 

Growl & Howl of Man & Woman 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Hillside Community Church  

1422 Navellier St.  

El Cerrito 

A series of Thursday evenings of conversation “engaging people in discovering the pleasures of an excellent discussion.” Bring your favorite gender assumptions and put them to the test.  

$10  

Agaves & Yuccas 

7 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden 

200 Centennial Drive 

Mary and Gary Irish, experts on these plants will show you where to find these dry garden plants and how to makes them grow happily.  

$15 

Call 643-1924 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m.  

West Branch Berkeley Library  

1125 University Ave.  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Meditation Seminar 

6:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church  

2727 College Ave.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648 

Friday, Feb. 23

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Cosi Fan Tutte 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

An opera presented for free.  

Call 644-6107 

Saturday, Feb. 24

Tibetan New Year’s Celebration 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Britta Hauenschild gives a flute concert followed by a festive dinner and New Year’s celebration. Proceeds support Nyingma Institute sacred art and education programs.  

$30 suggested donation  

Call 843-6812 

Celebrate Samuel H. Day, Jr.  

2 - 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

1924 Cedar St. (at Bonita)  

Longtime anti-nuclear activist and journalists, Day was the coordinator of the U.S. campaign to free Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu. Day died suddenly at his home in Madison, Wisconsin on Jan. 26.  

Call 548-3048 or visit www.nukewatch.org 

A Little Taste of Africa  

2 - 4 p.m. 

City of Franklin School  

1150 Virginia St.  

The City of Franklin PTA hosts this fundraiser for Black History Month. There will be performances by a West African Dance Troupe, music, poetry, authentic African dishes, a marketplace, and much more.  

$5  

Call 644-6260 

Love of Self, Family & Community 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

MLK Youth Services Center  

1730 Oregon St.  

Celebrating the many talents of African-Americans, join the City of Berkeley’s Young Adult Project at its annual Black History Month Celebration for a day of music, dance, arts & crafts displays. Free dinner for all who attend.  

Call 644-6226 

Meditation Seminar 

1:30 p.m. 

Grace North Church  

2138 Cedar St.  

A free talk followed by practical instruction in meditation on inner light and sound. Sponsored by Know Thyself as Soul Foundation, a nonprofit corporation.  

Call 845-9648 

Sunday, Feb. 25

“Imperial San Francisco: 

Urban Power, Earthly Ruin” 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley History Center 

Veterans Memorial Building 

1931 Center St.  

Gary Brechin speaks on the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful San Francisco families. Free 

Call 848-0181 

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

“How are Pacific cities reshaping their cultural and environmental institutions to better serve the needs and enhance the present and future quality of life of all segments of their societies?” A series of ten seminars linking the Bay Area, Seattle, Portland, and other pacific cities.  

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Authors in the Library: Lois Silverstein 

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Writer and performer, Silverstein, will read selections from “Oh My Darling Daughter,” “Behind the Stove,” and a work-in-progress, “Family Matters.” Discussion and book signing will follow. Free.  

Call 848-0237 x127 

Planetary Temples 

8 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Employee Don Frew will show slides of teh ruined city of Harran. Free 

Call 848-8443 

Art Meets Science in Time  

2 - 3:30 p.m. 

Bancroft Hotel  

2680 Bancroft Way  

Professor Andrew Stewart of UC Berkeley and Gail M. Wright, a digital artist and lecturer at Mills College explore this subject through slide-illustrated discussions. In conjunction with the 0. Museum’s current exhibition “Telling Time.”  

Call 549-6950 

Harran: City of the Moon God 

8 - 10 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Donald Frew will present s, past and present, and will show slides from a recent visit. He will also discuss the likely treasure trove of texts from the ancient world that await discovery there. Free  

Call 848-8443 

High Blood Pressure Screenings 

9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Church by the Side of the Road  

2108 Russell St.  

Free blood pressure screenings, follow-up advice and other nutritional counseling. Sponsored by Alta Bates Medical Center.  

869-6763 

Monday, Feb. 26 

“Passages Into Aging” 

7:30 - 9:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Miriam Chaya Fields, co-producer and director, of Timbrels & Torahs, will lead in a discussion about celebrating the wisdom and inspiration of the elder years.  

$5 donation  

Call 549-9447 x110 

Black History Dance Celebration  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

The Imhotet Dancers will perform. Free 

Call 644-6107 

Tuesday, Feb. 27 

“Great Decisions” - Missile Defense  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

City Council Meeting 

8 p.m. 

Sheryl Walton of CAT will provide an overview of the CAT and its model to the City Council and Berkeley viewers.  

Farmers’ Market Fat Tuesday 

Mardi Gras Celebration  

1 p.m. - Dusk 

Derby St. at MLK Jr. Way 

With live performances by The Sons & Daughters of Orpheus and Wild Buds: West Coast Mardi Gras Band. Free and always wheelchair accessible.  

BHS Jazz Band  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

A Black History celebration performance. Free 

Call 644-6107 

Wednesday, Feb. 28  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Conversations in Commedia 

7:30 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave. (at Prince) 

Mime Troupe founder Ron Davis and icon clown Wavy Gravy give dialogues on satire.  

$6 - $8  

Call 849-2568 

Women in Interfaith Relationships  

9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Led by Dawn Kepler, this workshop will explore interfaith relationships on many levels, in relation to culture, religion, and gender. People of all backgrounds and orientations are invited to attend.  

$10 

848-0237 x127 

Planning Commission Public Hearing  

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

The commission is holding public hearings on the Planning Commission Draft General Plan. The commission requests that all written comments on the plan be submitted by March 1. 

Guide Dogs for the Blind 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

T. Duncan, a low vision speaker, will talk about guide dogs. Free  

Call 644-6107 

Thursday, March 1  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Eliza Shefler and host Dale Jensen.  

644-0155 

Berkeley Metaphysical Toastmasters Club  

6:15 - 7:30 p.m.  

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysics come together. Ongoing first and third Thursdays each month.  

Call 869-2547 

Cancer Support Group 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center 

Markstein Cancer Education & Prevention Center 

450 30th St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

Free support group for families, friends, and patients diagnosed with cancer.  

869-8833 to register  

Cycling Journey  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Leo Tenenblat and Jean Philippe Boubli set off on their mountain bikes from Lhasa, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal. They will share slides and stories of their 52-day adventure. Free 

Call 527-4140 

Friday, March 2  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Class Dismissed Poetry Posse 

7:30 p.m. 

Little Theater 

Berkeley High School  

2246 Milvia St.  

Afro-Haitian dancers, Dance Production dancers, the BHS poetry slammers, an opening a capella number and a few surprises. A benefit for a Berkeley High school student trip to Cuba.  

$5 - $10  

Colombia In Context  

9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

Bancroft Hotel  

2680 Bancroft Way  

UC Berkeley  

A conference bringing together leading experts from both Latin America and the U.S. to discuss both the roots of the current Colombian crisis, and the future effects of U.S. strategy on the region. There will be a break between Noon and 2 p.m. 

Visit www.clas.berkeley.edu/clas 

Saturday, March 3 

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

Poets and writers meet to critique each other’s work. “Members’ work tends to be dark, humorous, surreal, or strange.”  

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a non-profit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served bases on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least five years old and must be accompanies by an adult.  

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Berkeley Library  

2121 Allston Way  

Mary Miche, leader of Song Trek Music, will lead a sing-along that will send everyone home humming.  

Call 649-3913 

Sunday, March 4  

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a non-profit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served bases on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least five years old and must be accompanies by an adult.  

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Salsa Lesson and Dance Party  

6 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Professional instructors Mati Mizrachi and Ron Louie will lead you through the steps. Irsraeli food will be provided by Holy Land Restaurant.  

$10 

RSVP 237-9874 

Monday, March 5  

Your Legal Rights with HMOs 

6 - 7:30 p.m. 

YWCA Oakland  

1515 Webster St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

Presented by the Women’s Cancer Resource Center, UCSF Cancer Resource Center and the San Francisco Bar Volunteer Legal Services, this free workshop covers what your legal rights are and how to guard them.  

Call 415-885-3693 

Beginning Bicyclist Workshop  

7 - 9 p.m. 

YMCA  

2001 Allston Way  

Community Room 1, Main Floor  

Jason Meggs and Zed Lopez will teach you how to keep yourself and your bike safe and even how to use your bike for shopping. Free  

Call Jason Meggs, 549-RIDE 

Tuesday, March 6  

“Great Decisions” - U.S. & Iraq 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Intelligent Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. This evenings discussion topic is health, nutrition and science; bioengineering.  

Call 527-5332  

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

Wednesday, March 7  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Women in Interfaith Relationships  

9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Led by Dawn Kepler, this workshop will explore interfaith relationships on many levels, in relation to culture, religion, and gender. People of all backgrounds and orientations are invited to attend.  

$10 

848-0237 x127 

Thursday, March 8 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Judy Wells and host Dale Jensen.  

644-0155 

Trekking Northern India  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Professional wilderness guide Randy Pomeroy will take you on a journey from Ladakh to Rajasthan. Free 

Call 527-4140 

Friday, March 9  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Berkeley PC Users Group 

7 p.m. 

Vista College 

2020 Milvia St., Room 303 

E-Mail: meldancing@aol.com 

Europe on a Shoestring  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Scott Mcneely, co-author of the Lonely Planet book will share slides and information on some of his favorite adventures off the beaten path. Come learn about smart budget travel.  

Call 527-4140 

Saturday, March 10  

The Secrets of Sacred Cinema 

10 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave., Mudd 103 

Kevin Peer, a documentary film maker for the past 25 years, gives a two-day intensive for people interested in exploring documentary filmmaking. No equipment or prior experience required.  

$200 per person and registration is required 

Call 486-1480 

Narratives of Public Sector Reform: A Colloquium  

10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

223 Moses Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Mark Bevir of the department of Political Science of UC Berkeley, will present his paper on “Decentered Theory of Governance” and Rod Rhodes of the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne will present his paper, “Entering British Governance.” There will also be a session to discuss the broader issues their works raise.  

Greece Adventure 

1 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Linda Pearson of REI Adventures will introduce you to Greece in slides and discussion.  

Call 527-4140 

Sunday, March 11 

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

“How are Pacific cities reshaping their cultural and environmental institutions to better serve the needs and enhance the present and future quality of life of all segments of their societies?” A series of ten seminars linking the Bay Area, Seattle, Portland, and other pacific cities.  

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Myths & Realities of the International House  

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society  

1931 Center St.  

Director Joe Lurie will show a video and talk about the history and the struggle to open the International House.  

$10 donation  

Call 848-0181 

Walk on the Moon  

2 & 7 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

A mother and daughter explore their identities as they summer in the Catskills in 1969 amidst the news of Woodstock and the first lunar landing. Peer led discussion to follow film.  

$2 suggested donation  

Tuesday, March 13  

Berkeley Rep. Proscenium Opening 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Repertory Theater 

2015 Addison St.  

Featuring the premiere performance of “The Oresteia” by Aeschylus. Opening gala dinner held prior to performance. Performance will be at 8 p.m. 

Call 647-2949 

“Great Decisions” - International Health Crisis 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

Wednesday, March 14 

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Thursday, March 15  

Simplicity Forum 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Library 

Claremont Branch  

2940 Benveue Ave.  

Facilitated by Cecile Andrews, author of “Circles of Simplicty,” learn about this movement whose philosophy is “the examined life richly lived.” Work less, consume less, rush less, and build community with friends and family.  

Call 549-3509 or visit www.seedsofsimplicity.org  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Elanor Watson-Gove and host Mark States.  

644-0155 

Berkeley Metaphysical Toastmasters Club  

6:15 - 7:30 p.m.  

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysics come together. Ongoing first and third Thursdays each month.  

Call 869-2547 

Cancer Support Group 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center 

Markstein Cancer Education & Prevention Center 

450 30th St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

Free support group for families, friends, and patients diagnosed with cancer.  

869-8833 to register  

Myanmar: The Golden Kingdom  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Philip Hassrick of Lost Frontiers will introduce you to Myanmar’s unique history and culture.  

Call 527-4140 

Friday, March 16  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Saturday, March 17  

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

Poets and writers meet to critique each other’s work. “Members’ work tends to be dark, humorous, surreal, or strange.”  

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Sunday, March 18 

East Bay Men’s Chorus Rehearsal  

6:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Calling for gay and bisexual men and their allies and friends to join this choral ensemble directed by J.R. Foust. There is no obligation to join the chorus after the first rehearsal.  

Call to RSVP 664-0260 or e-mail eastbaymenschorus@yahoo.com 

“Parenting in the Second Half of Life” 

10:30 a.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Author Roberta Maisel will discuss ways parents and their grown children can get on a positive and guilt-free path.  

848-0237  

Tuesday, March 20 

“Great Decisions” - Mexico Reexamined  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Intelligent Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. This evenings discussion topic is death and dying in celebration of the Ides of March.  

Call 527-9772  

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

Wednesday, March 21  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Thursday, March 22  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Anna Mae Stanley and host Louis Cuneo.  

644-0155 

Trekking in Bhutan  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Ruth Ann Kocour and Elizabeth Rassiga will share slides of their 25-day journey along the Snow Leopard Trek to the sacred mountain Chomolhari and beyond. Free 

Call 527-4140 

Friday, March 23 

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Saturday, March 24 

Ashkenaz Dance-A-Thon 

2 p.m. - 2 a.m.  

Ashkenaz  

1370 San Pablo Ave.  

Join Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers along with African, Cajun, North African, Balkan, reggae, and Caribbean bands in this twelve hour dance music-fest. This is Ashkenaz big fundraiser for making improvements, including a new dance floor and ventilation system.  

$20 donation  

525-5054 or visit www.ashkenaz.com  

Sunday, March 25 

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

“How are Pacific cities reshaping their cultural and environmental institutions to better serve the needs and enhance the present and future quality of life of all segments of their societies?” A series of ten seminars linking the Bay Area, Seattle, Portland, and other pacific cities.  

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Tuesday, March 27 

“Great Decisions” - European Integration  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community

Frank Davis, president of the Black Property Owners Association, back left, and former City Councilmember James Sweeny, back right, presented Chief Dash Butler, middle, with a plaque for 30 years of distinguished and  

exemplary service on the Berkeley police force Thursday. Butler thanked  

the association for assisting the police department over the years to  

significantly reduce crime, especially violence, by making the police aware of criminal activity in the communities in which they own property.

As the March 1 deadline for public comment on the Planning Commission’s Draft General Plan draws near, some Berkeley residents are still criticizing the plan for not doing enough to reduce traffic congestion and control growth. 

“We don’t want to improve traffic flow on Ashby Avenue. We want to reduce traffic flow on Ashby Avenue,” said Ashby resident Becky O’Malley, criticizing the draft plan at a Planning Commission public hearing Wednesday night.  

A statement of community priorities intended to guide public decision making, the General Plan would replace the Berkeley Master Plan of 1977. The Planning Commission has taken public comment on the various iterations of the plan for the last year-and-a-half and hopes to submit its Draft General Plan to the City Council for consideration and adoption by May. 

The city released a Draft Environmental Impact Report detailing the potential environmental consequences of the Draft General Plan Wednesday. According to the report, prepared by LSA Associates, Inc., the traffic volume along Ashby Avenue during peak evening hours is among the highest in the city, with an average of more than 4,000 cars flowing past the Ashby and San Pablo avenues intersection in just one hour.  

The EIR predicts that, under the Draft General Plan, traffic at this intersection could increase by as much as 20 percent over the next 20 years. Many other intersections along Ashby could see increases in the 5-10 percent range during the  

same period.  

O’Malley said she and her neighbors already live with intolerable levels of noise and air pollution due to the street’s high traffic volume.  

According to the EIR, many other Berkeley streets that are already congested today would see traffic flows continue to grow under the Draft General Plan, including sections of Adeline Street, Alcatraz Avenue, Bancroft Way, Cedar Street, Dwight Way, Gilman Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Oxford Street. 

The city can mitigate this congestion with signal operation improvements, signal coordination, increased roadway capacity and programs that aim to reduce automobile travel in general, but the overall increase in traffic volume is all but inevitable, the report concludes. 

“This dismal EIR suggests that things are not going to get better and may very well get worse,” said Berkeley resident Gail Todd at the Wednesday night meeting.  

Andrew Thomas, a senior planner for the city, acknowledged at the outset of the hearing that Berkeley’s traffic situation “is going to get much, much worse” in the next 20 years. But Thomas said much of the increase would occur “whether you adopt this plan or not.” 

“A lot of it is regional traffic and there is not a lot you can do about it,” Thomas said after the meeting. Many commuters from neighboring cities use Berkeley streets to bypass congestion on the highways, Thomas explained. 

But O’Malley said this misses the point. The General Plan may not be responsible for increased traffic volume, she said, but it could do more to combat it. 

Todd said the Planning Commission should recommend removing some of the barriers installed in the seventies to divert traffic away from “residential” streets. Many of the larger streets the traffic is diverted onto are actually residential streets themselves, Todd said. 

“[The barriers] are creating little yuppie enclaves and the rest of us on these larger streets are supposed to deal with their garbage and pollution,” Todd said. 

Thomas said that elements of the Draft General Plan are aimed at reducing traffic congestion. The plan calls for increasing housing in the downtown area, for example, which Thomas said would allow more residents to walk to work, and more UC Berkeley students to walk to and from classes. 

“More and more people are driving to jobs or school because they can’t find housing, so traffic is getting worse,” Thomas said.  

But Berkeley resident and former Planning Commission member Clifford Fred said the draft plan calls for much of the new housing to be constructed by the university, thus seeming to endorse the its plan for enrollment expansion. Fred asked the Planning Commission to resist growth by the university. 

“Block after block, over the years, gets taken over (by the University),” Fred said. “What is needed is for the city to convince the university that it can’t keep growing in the city of Berkeley.” 

The Planning Commission will hold one more public hearing on both the Draft General Plan and the Environmental Impact Report at 7 p.m., Feb. 28, at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. The Draft General Plan can be viewed on the city’s web site at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us, and the EIR should be posted on the site soon. A limited number of hard copies of both plans are available for review at the Berkeley Planning and Development Office, 2120 Milvia Street, Suite 300, Berkeley, CA 94704. 

Written comments on the plans can be submitted to the Planning and Development Office, or electronically to athomas@ci.berkeley.ca.us. With general questions, call Karen Haney-Owens at 510-705-8137. 

The commission will review all public comment and draft amendments to the plans before submitting them to the City Council in May. 

“It’s going to be a big job over the next three months to wrap this up,” Thomas said. 

The City Council has taken a step toward creating 35 units of affordable housing by setting aside nearly $2 million for three developments. 

The council voted unanimously Tuesday to reserve money from the city’s Housing Trust Fund for the three projects. The approval of funds brings the city a significant step closer to providing more affordable housing in a environment of dwindling supply and skyrocketing rents. 

The Housing Trust Fund was established in 1992 to promote the development of affordable housing. 

It receives money from a variety of federal, state and local sources including the Federal Community Block Grant Program, city housing mitigation funds and the city’s general funds. 

According to Janet Kennedy, a senior coordinator for the housing department, developing affordable housing is extremely complicated because of its multitude of funding sources. “We call it the ‘Dagwood Sandwich’ approach to financing because of all the layers of funding that have to be approved,” she said. 

Kennedy said the council’s approval of funds for the projects was a critical step in a long process to construct the housing. 

The three developments are the University Neighborhood Apartments at 1725 University Ave., Hope Homes at 2418 Eighth St. and the Picante House at 711 Harrison St. 

The proposed housing at 1725 University Ave., which will be developed by Affordable Housing Associates, is the largest development with 29 units, all of which are dedicated to low-income housing. The council approved $1.4 million for the project. The city previously allocated $453,000, which helped the developer purchase the site. The total estimated cost of the project is $9.3 million.  

Kennedy said because the units will be entirely dedicated to affordable housing, the project will be eligible for state and federal tax breaks.  

All of the units will be available to tenants who earn below 60 percent of the Area Median Income or less. There will be 13 units designated for tenants at the 60 percent level, which is $32,460 annually for a family of two. A single unit will be for tenants at the 50 percent AMI level or $27,050 for a family of two. Another single unit will be designated for a tenants who earn 30 percent of the AMI or $16,230 for a family of two. 

The remaining 14 units are designated for tenants who qualify for Section 8 vouchers. Eleven of the units will be designated for disabled tenants. 

The University Avenue project had been controversial originally. There was a group of neighbors concerned the apartments were too large and would cause parking and traffic problems. A few worried the affordable housing would attract drug users. 

But Rob Browning and Jim Webber, who are neighbors of the proposed development and were originally against the project, told the City Council on Tuesday that they had changed their minds and now support affordable housing in the neighborhood.  

Housing Director Stephen Barton said the turnaround was largely due to the developer working with neighbors to address their concerns about the design of the buildings. 

Hope Homes at 2418 Eighth St. was granted $245,000 from HTF funds. The four-unit project is being developed by Jubilee Restoration. Three of the units will be adaptable for disabled accessibility and one will be completely handicapped accessible. 

The project will make two units available for tenants at the 60 percent AMI level, one for 30 percent AMI and the last for a Section 8-qualified tenant. 

The council approved $296,000 for the Picante House at 711 Harrison St., which will provide six bedrooms of transitional housing for homeless families. The project is being developed by BOSS, Inc. and will also include job training and children activity facilities. 

The city previously approved $304,000 for the project and with Tuesday’s approval Picante House will receive a total of $600,000. 

All three projects are still making their way through the city’s planning and approval process and, according to Kennedy, it is still too early to predict completion dates. 

“The approval of HTF funds is just one step in a long process.” Kennedy said. 

ALBANY — It’s Roundup time again on the old Gill Tract and Albany parents are riding herd on UC Berkeley. 

Tuesday morning, with 24-hours notice to the community, the university sprayed the herbicide Roundup (otherwise known by its chemical name, glyphosate) on the Gill Tract, the 15 acres or so on which UC Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources grows experimental crops. The tract is at Buchanan and Jackson streets in southwest Albany. Just across Jackson is Oceanview Elementary School. Albany Village, family housing for university students, is nearby. 

“They sprayed when the children were on the playground,” said Dorothea Dorenz, mother of a child who attends the K-5 grade school. 

Parents, who banned together under the name Albany Coalition for Environmental Health, have tried for two years to get the university to stop spraying. They have even offered to hand weed. 

Dorenz points out that “Albany schools and parks do not use Roundup.” And the city of Berkeley and its schools have a similar policy. 

Experts appear to disagree on the toxicity of the product, which is sold in local hardware stores. 

“Although glyphosate is not in the highest toxicity category for acute poisoning, it is a toxic formulation containing a mixture of other ingredients that can increase its potential toxicity,” said Dr. Marion Moses. director of the San Francisco-based Pesticide Education Center wrote last year. 

“Since children are more susceptible to toxic exposures than adults because of their larger skin surface for their size, a more rapid respiratory rate, and less mature immune and detoxification systems, we know they require greater protections,” she added. 

Quoting from the fall, 1998 Journal of Pesticide Reform, Albany Coalition for Environmental Health member Ellen Toomey wrote the university: “ Roundup is the third largest cause of pesticide-related illness in California, the most common cause of illness among landscape workers, and adds to air, soil and water pollution.” 

University experts sharply disagree, said Irene Hegarty, UC Berkeley director of community relations. “It’s not an extremely harmful substance. It dissipates in the soil,” she said. The College of Natural Resources believes that there is no danger to the children, she said. 

“Studies by the Extension Toxicology Network, a coalition of universities in five states that conducts independent research on pesticides and herbicides have found that Roundup has few if any toxic effects unless exceedingly large quantities are consumed,” says a statement from Hegarty’s office. 

Hegarty said the reason that the cities and schools don’t use Roundup resulted, not from scientific study, but from public concern.  

She agreed with the parents in a couple of areas, however: “We need to tighten up our noticing procedures,” she said. Parents had been promised a 48-hour notice of spraying. Hegarty noted that she had not received notice of the spraying. “The college is going to be in communication with the school district and the site,” she said. 

Also, Hegarty said she plans to talk to the university about spraying early in the morning or late in the day when children are not at school. 

That won’t be enough to satisfy Dorenz and other members of her organization. They point to a petition sent to the university last year signed by 350 people: “We demand that the University of California at Berkeley discontinue use immediately and refrain from using pesticides and herbicides from now on...” the petition said in part. 

The university has responded by minimizing its use of the chemical and spraying it close to the ground on windless days. It uses black plastic and other means to reduce the growth of weeds, Hegarty said.  

Still, despite condemnation of the spraying by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the Albany PTA Council, the Sierra Club, Pesticide Education Center, Californians for Pesticide Reform, Pesticide Watch, and Architects Designers Planners for Social Responsibility, the university continues its spray program. 

The first steps in an action plan to improve fire safety for University of California, Berkeley, students living in rental houses were taken last week by UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl and officials from Berkeley and Oakland.  

"A significant portion of Berkeley students live in private rental housing. We need to work together to find ways to educate our students about fire safety and intensify inspections and monitoring of these rentals," said Berdahl.  

Berdahl called the special meeting on Feb. 9 following last month's Oakland house fire that claimed the life of Bradley Evans, 23. The Jan. 28 fire was the second fire of the school year in which a UC Berkeley student died. Both fires occurred in single-family homes rented by students. "Safety is the number one concern in all of our cities. We need cooperation between property owners and tenants," said Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean. "One of the most effective ways we can act is through a strong program of education - knowing what to look for and contacting us when something is wrong."  

Others attending the meeting were Berkeley City Manager Weldon Rucker, Berkeley Fire Chief Reginald Garcia, Oakland Fire Marshal Leroy Griffin, UC Berkeley Fire Marshal Dennis Mueting and campus housing and student affairs officials.  

Among the actions agreed upon Friday were:  

• The campus, working with its housing office and student groups, will undertake a comprehensive fire safety education campaign aimed at ensuring that no student moves into a house that does not have a working smoke detector and working windows or other ways to easily exit in the event of a fire.  

• Students will be educated on where to place smoke detectors and which kinds are most effective. For example, those that have a 10-year battery that can not be raided for other uses are preferable, said the fire officials.  

• Students will be directed on how to contact local fire departments to seek inspections if they do not believe their rentals meet fire safety requirements.  

• City and campus fire officials also agreed to explore forming a joint effort with other nearby cities akin to the multi-agency fire safety committee formed after the Oakland Hills fire. It would be one way, they said, to keep fire safety in rental homes in the forefront of public attention.  

Also in attendance at the meeting was Jonas Jusay, a student at UC Irvine. He has been working to improve fire safety for students since August when a fire in a rented Berkeley house claimed the lives of his sister, Azalea, who was a Berkeley student, and his parents, Francisco and Florita Jusay, who were helping her move in. “When I learned of the latest fire, everything came back. I did not want to have that happen to anyone again,” he said.  

“There is a simple solution. The first thing I do now when I walk into a house is look for a smoke detector and an exit, a way to get out,” said Jusay.  

Fire officials said that in multi-family units, such as apartments and rooming houses, smoke detectors are required in every sleeping room and in the hallways, and that regular inspections are required. Single-family homes also require smoke detectors, but fire officials are not free to enter homes to inspect them unless requested to or when there is a complaint, they said.  

“We need to work more closely with the student population and the public to get out information on how to get assistance. If you call our office, we will come out and inspect for you,” said Garcia, the Berkeley fire chief.  

Smoke detectors were present in the recent Oakland fire, said officials, but investigators could not find them in the Berkeley house where some of the windows could not be opened, trapping the Jusay family inside. 

LONG BEACH — Two small planes from a flying club collided near the Long Beach harbor entrance Thursday, killing one person and leaving three missing in the Pacific Ocean. 

The body of a man age 40 to 50 was recovered from the 55-degree water, said Fire Department spokesman Bob Caldon. 

Two people were aboard each airplane, fire Capt. Mike Garcia said from aboard a boat participating in the search a half-mile outside the harbor. 

The planes were from the Long Beach Flying Club near Long Beach Airport, where employees and others began gathering after receiving word of the collision. 

“Everyone is devastated right now,” said Joe Gallegos, a flight instructor who spoke on behalf of the club, which has more than 20 aircraft. “We don’t know what happened. We are just grieving for the people who died tonight.” 

Gallegos said he knew the instructors on the planes but he did not identify them. 

He said the collision occurred in airspace frequently used for flight training. 

“A lot of flight schools use that area, not because it’s cleared airspace but it’s just convenient for a lot of the schools,” he said. 

Ed Twining, 44, a Huntington Beach pilot who has been receiving instrument training there for several months, said the planes were a Cessna 172 and a Cessna 152. 

The Coast Guard reported finding a piece of a tail from a Cessna 172 and the manuals from two Cessnas. 

Boat crews scanned the surface in an area about a mile in circumference just outside the harbor entrance and divers working in poor visibility marked an underwater debris field with buoys before the search was suspended because of darkness, Garcia said. Divers were to return there on Friday. 

Vincent Gaitan, 32, of East Los Angeles was fishing when heard a loud noise, thought it was a boat hitting the rocks, but then turned toward the ocean and saw smoke on the horizon. 

“I grabbed my binoculars and saw a trail of smoke about a mile out,” he said. “The smoke looked white but then it turned to black.” 

The collision was reported at 3:44 p.m. by the pilot of an Island Express helicopter, about a quarter-mile south of Queen’s Gate, the ship entrance to the harbor. 

Boats and helicopters from numerous agencies converged on the area, initially inside the breakwater and then focusing on an area outside the harbor. 

The planes may have been flying at an altitude of 1,000 feet to 1,500 feet, Caldon said. 

“On a day like this, where it’s clear and sunny, there’s a lot of air traffic,” he said.

SACRAMENTO — Jim Jay and his wife drove 90 minutes to the state Capitol where she joined about 150 other nursing home employees in a protest to demand higher pay.  

They hardly even saw any legislators. 

Most were behind closed doors, concentrating on the issue that has all but taken over the Legislature – California’s power crisis. 

“I was walking around the halls and I heard lots about power, but I have heard nothing about hospital workers and health care,” Jay said. 

California’s Legislature is facing several challenges this year – among them, health care, including a shortage of nurses and a lack of health care coverage for about 7 million residents, and insurance reforms in the wake of a scandal involving the former insurance commissioner. 

But “electricity has drowned out every other issue,” said Sara Nichols of the California Nurses Association.  

The power crisis hasn’t actually done much to delay the passage of any legislation in the nation’s most populous state, since the Legislature usually enacts the bulk of its bills in a burst of activity near the end of its year, in mid-September. 

But the effort to keep the lights on and prevent California’s two biggest utilities from sliding into ruin has interfered with the usual committee meetings, the drafting and introduction of bills, and the lobbying of legislators. 

Moreover, there is fear that solving the power crisis will leave little money for other projects. 

Nichols’ group, for example, wants money for hospital trauma care centers and emergency rooms, which are flooded with uninsured patients.  

The deadline for introducing bills for this legislative year, at least in a preliminary form, is Feb. 23.  

Bills can be introduced with the bare minimum of information, with the rest to be worked out later. 

But far fewer bills have been drafted at this point than in previous sessions. In 1999, 389 bills were introduced in the Senate a week before the deadline, compared with 209 this year.  

In the Assembly, 225 regular bills and 46 bills in the special session have been introduced. In 1999, 496 had been introduced by this time. 

“This has trumped all other issues in terms of attention, but members are proceeding apace on their legislation,” said Assemblyman Fred Keeley, a Democrat. “We have a bill introduction deadline in a few days. Members will do all of these things, but they will do it in an environment where their attention is on energy issues.” 

Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison have lost $12.7 billion and are on the verge of bankruptcy because of high wholesale prices for electricity and a deregulation law that prevents them from passing those costs on to customers.  

The state has so far committed itself to spending $2 billion to ease the crisis and could end up paying far more.  

Jan Emerson of the California Healthcare Association said her group hopes to get the Legislature to help offset the estimated $24 billion cost of retrofitting hospitals to withstand earthquakes. 

Harvey Rosenfield, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said he thought insurance would be the top issue in January after a scandal involving Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush’s handling of earthquake claims and his creation of nonprofit funds financed by insurance companies. Quackenbush resigned last year. 

“We wanted to promote some insurance legislation in the aftermath of the Quackenbush scandal. That’s been completely ignored,” he said. 

The Sierra Club said some of its environmental concerns are on the back burner as well. 

“There are serious forestry problems in this state,” regional director Carl Zichella said.  

“Rivers in Northern California are getting shallower, hotter and more polluted by sediment. The ability to support fish and water life is being seriously undermined by atrocious logging plans.”  

Ron Roach, spokesman for the California Taxpayers Association, said Gov. Gray Davis proposed a sales tax holiday last month, but Roach has heard next to nothing about it since.  

Roach said the as-yet-unseen cost of solving the power crisis could undermine plans for tax relief. 

“This crisis has sucked up the entire state’s attention and quite a bit of the state’s surplus,” Rosenfield agreed. “If this continues, there won’t be any money left for anything else.” 

On the Net: 

California Legislature: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov

WASHINGTON — Republicans brushed aside Democratic suggestions that President Bush’s efforts to build a more inclusive GOP would suffer if his administration failed to adjust the 2000 census to protect against an undercount of minorities. 

Preliminary estimates from a survey following the 2000 census showed it missed a smaller percentage of Americans in 2000 than in 1990.  

Republicans were especially heartened that estimates showed smaller percentages of uncounted blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and children – groups traditionally missed in a census. 

House Democrats, though, maintained Thursday that about 3 million people still could be left out.  

They want Bush to allow the Census Bureau’s acting director, William Barron, to make the final decision over whether the raw count should be statistically adjusted using “sampling.” 

It was unclear if Bush would block a decision by Barron over the Clinton-era sampling plan. Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, the third-ranking House Democrat said Thursday the decision will be a test the president’s effort to make the Republican Party more moderate and more inclusive. 

The stakes are high: The sampled numbers, if approved, could be used to remap political districts and redistribute over $185 billion in federal funds across the country. 

“I don’t think the Bush administration can have it both ways,” Frost said.  

“They can’t claim to be compassionate ... and then not have an adjustment.” 

Republicans dismissed Frost’s comment as political rhetoric. 

“This has nothing to do with the direction of the party in terms of making it more inclusive,” said John Feehery, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.  

“Our view is there’s no need for a sampling scheme at all because it’s the most accurate census in history.” 

Republicans, in general, contend that using sampling could create “virtual people” and would introduce more error into the improved census count. 

The net undercount for all Americans declined from 1.6 percent in 1990, to between 0.96 percent and 1.4 percent in 2000, according to the preliminary estimates based on a separate survey – which used sampling methods – conducted after the actual census. 

Those estimates also showed declines in the undercount percentages for minorities, though the undercounts for blacks and Hispanics were still higher than for whites. 

“Our system of democracy works at its best when all of our nation’s people are counted and accounted for,” said Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP’s Washington bureau.  

He supports using sampling for redistricting. 

But Chip Walker, spokesman for Rep. Dan Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Government Reform Committee’s census panel, sees sampling differently. 

Democrats have “always viewed the census as an opportunity for a political power-grab by creating millions of virtual people with their risky sampling scheme,” Walker said. 

Bush has said an actual “head count” yields the most accurate census.  

The White House has not announced a timetable for a decision, but some Republicans say Bush has told House GOP leaders he would block sampled data from being used for redistricting. All sides acknowledge the issue will eventually be decided in court.On the Net: 

The Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/

Countertop appliances will operate more efficiently and last longer with care and maintenance. Here are several common appliances and the care they need to give you better service. 

Toaster Oven 

Toaster ovens are heavily used appliances that are often inadequately maintained. Unplug the appliance, open its crumb tray and use a new, clean1/2-inch-wide paint brush to sweep crumbs and debris out of it. Next, check its plug, especially if the appliance is several years old, or older. To do this, run it through a toast cycle (empty) three times and check the plug and cord to see if they are hot. If they are, have the cord and plug replaced. 

Can Opener-Knife Sharpener 

Combination can opener-knife sharpeners give good service with a little maintenance. Inspect the can opener blade for food particles after using it, and clean it if necessary. Oil the blade shaft with one drop of Three-In-One Oil (the type in the red and white can). Examine the opener’s drive gear and clean it if you find bits of paper or food on it. Debris on the gear’s teeth causes the can to slip while it is being cut, and this results in a partially cut lid. Vacuum the slots in the knife sharpener with an upright vacuum crevice tool attachment, or a shop vacuum and crevice tool. You can also blow metal particles out of the slots using compressed air. 

Pressure Cooker 

A pressure cooker is a simple appliance, with few parts, but it still requires careful use and inspection to ensure that it works well and safely. Don’t cook foods in it that foam (such as pastas) because foam residue can plug the air vent. Similarly, check that the air vent tube is clear before using the appliance. Run a pipe cleaner through it to remove obstructions. The sealing ring and pressure plug should be washed regularly, to ensure they are free of residue, and the sealing ring groove should be gently scrubbed clean with a small brush. 

Coffee Maker 

A drip coffee maker, especially those used in hard-water areas, should be cleaned regularly using a coffee maker cleaner. Also, remove and wash the grounds basket immediately after each use to prevent coffee residue from leaving a film that hardens over time. This is especially important for drip coffee makers with an automatic shut-off assembly below the basket. With these machines, it’s important to rinse off the stopper or stopper-lever assembly, and operate it by hand to be sure it’s clean and free of residue that could cause it to stick. 

Blender 

The most common mistake that people make with blenders is that they run them on a recently washed counter that has puddles on it. These appliances have motor vents underneath the base. If you set them over a puddle they’ll pull in water along with the air stream, and this will ruin the motor. Otherwise, maintenance on these machines is simple. Keep the jar assembly and cap clean. If you wash the assembly by hand, assemble the appliance after it is washed and run it for a couple of minutes to spin water off the cutter. Finally, these machines are frequently used to make crushed ice. Check your owners manual for the correct procedure. Many manufacturers recommend adding a cup of water to the ice, and then adding ice in small batches until you have chopped all that you need. Crushing the full load of ice at one time is liable to damage the cutter and the motor. 

LONG BEACH — Two small planes from a flying club collided near the Long Beach harbor entrance Thursday, killing one person and leaving three missing in the Pacific Ocean. 

The body of a man age 40 to 50 was recovered from the 55-degree water, said Fire Department spokesman Bob Caldon. 

Two people were aboard each airplane, fire Capt. Mike Garcia said from aboard a boat participating in the search a half-mile outside the harbor. 

The planes were from the Long Beach Flying Club near Long Beach Airport, where employees and others began gathering after receiving word of the collision. 

“Everyone is devastated right now,” said Joe Gallegos, a flight instructor who spoke on behalf of the club, which has more than 20 aircraft. “We don’t know what happened. We are just grieving for the people who died tonight.” 

Gallegos said he knew the instructors on the planes but he did not identify them. 

He said the collision occurred in airspace frequently used for flight training. 

“A lot of flight schools use that area, not because it’s cleared airspace but it’s just convenient for a lot of the schools,” he said. 

Ed Twining, 44, a Huntington Beach pilot who has been receiving instrument training there for several months, said the planes were a Cessna 172 and a Cessna 152. 

The Coast Guard reported finding a piece of a tail from a Cessna 172 and the manuals from two Cessnas. 

Boat crews scanned the surface in an area about a mile in circumference just outside the harbor entrance and divers working in poor visibility marked an underwater debris field with buoys before the search was suspended because of darkness, Garcia said. Divers were to return there on Friday. 

Vincent Gaitan, 32, of East Los Angeles was fishing when heard a loud noise, thought it was a boat hitting the rocks, but then turned toward the ocean and saw smoke on the horizon. 

“I grabbed my binoculars and saw a trail of smoke about a mile out,” he said. “The smoke looked white but then it turned to black.” 

The collision was reported at 3:44 p.m. by the pilot of an Island Express helicopter, about a quarter-mile south of Queen’s Gate, the ship entrance to the harbor. 

Boats and helicopters from numerous agencies converged on the area, initially inside the breakwater and then focusing on an area outside the harbor. 

The planes may have been flying at an altitude of 1,000 feet to 1,500 feet, Caldon said. 

“On a day like this, where it’s clear and sunny, there’s a lot of air traffic,” he said.

POUND RIDGE, N.Y. — Garden catalogs now brightening our mailboxes bring hopes and dreams of spring and summer to the wintry scene. They also mirror the changing needs and styles of the American gardener. 

As the pages unfold with tempting displays of flowers and veggies, trends soon appear indicating, among other things, a continued swing toward smaller gardens and the popularity of short-cuts in cultivating them. Catalogs and Web sites affect more than 15 million households, whose occupants are expected to spend an average of $140 per household on mail order gardening products this year, industry sources estimate. 

Much attention is paid to container and patio growing and compact plants to fit those needs. And perhaps most noticeable is that more and more people want to cut time. Starting things from seeds is fulfilling, but the hard-pressed gardener is willing to skip that pleasure in favor of ordering ready-to-go plants. 

Naturally, you can order both plants and seeds and the catalogs are rich with seed offerings, both innovations and a lengthening list of heirlooms. As Shepherd’s Garden Seeds catalog puts it, “With each passing year, the pace of life just seems to ratchet up another notch. Whether it’s keeping up with the kids’ sports and other activities, longer days at the office or other demands on our time, all of us are having to do more in less time. As a result many of our customers have recently requested vegetable and herb plants to help them get their growing season started.” 

Accordingly, catalogs are featuring plants to be shipped at the proper time for planting in the customer’s growing area. Typical are offerings by Shepherd’s, 30 Irene St., Torrington, Conn., 06790; Tel. 860-482-3638; www.shepherdseeds.com. For $18.95 per package, you can get one each of six varieties of tomatoes; for $10.95, one each of three varieties of sweet peppers; same price for one each of three varieties of chilies or three basils or three eggplants. A collection of all these vegetables will cost $49.45. You also can get a small watermelon called “Tiger Baby” – three plants for $10.95. 

You’re paying a lot more than for seeds, which are in the range of $1.50-$2.50 per packet. If time is important to you, think how much of it you save. In my climate in southern New York, tomatoes are started from seeds indoors in mid-March, then usually transplanted to a larger pot, carefully nurtured all the while, and finally put in the garden in late May. Ordering plants would free us of work until they arrived at the end of May. 

I tried this out in my garden last year, ordering tomatoes, eggplants and peppers ready to go from Harris Seeds, 355 Paul Road, P.O. Box 24966, Rochester, N.Y., 14624; Tel. 800-514-4441; www.harrisseeds.com. The plants were small when they arrived, but they quickly took hold and my harvest was fine. I also had good results with a dwarf broccoli called “Small Miracle” shipped bareroot at planting time by the Piedmont Plant Company, 807 N. Washington St., Albany, Ga., 31702, Tel. 800-541-5185; www.piedmontplants.com. A bundle of 12 plants cost $7.95. Piedmont features a wide array of vegetables shipped bareroot.

About this time of year, you might demand more of your houseplants than just being green. Perhaps you would like some flowers and aroma – from a jasmine plant, for example. 

Gardenia is a familiar houseplant that has been called jasmine, although it’s unrelated to the jasmine genus. It can be a troublesome houseplant because of its tendency to drop flower buds before they open and because the plant’s leaves turn yellow if soil conditions are not just right. Scale insects are also very fond of this plant. 

A few true jasmines grow as shrubs in warm climates, but they do not look very happy or very pretty in pots indoors in winter. And not all bloom in winter, when their fragrance would be so welcome. 

A true jasmine commonly sold for winter flowering is poet’s jasmine, sometimes called winter jasmine. Poet’s jasmine makes a nice hanging basket plant, becoming a ball of fragrant, white blooms dense enough to almost hide the delicate leaves.  

Jasmines like moist soils, so add an extra dose of peat moss to their potting mix. Part shade is sufficient in summer, and a sunny window is best in winter. Poet’s jasmine is a particularly vigorous grower in summer, so it needs its trailing vines tucked into each other or a trellis or clipped back periodically. Don’t cut anything after midsummer, or you also will be removing potential flower buds.

NEW YORK — Terrified voices have been heard shouting “recession” in the already jittery economy – it doesn’t really matter who they are – and soon they had crowds running for the exits. 

The guilty list, if that’s what it is, might include Alan Greenspan of the Federal Reserve, the publishers of confidence surveys, and the purchasing managers who do the buying for industrial companies. 

It really doesn’t matter very much who shouted first – now everyone has recession on the brain. People are looking for gloomy omens of trouble rather than bright signs of success. 

Last week, the big topic was recession; everyone, so to speak, was talking about it. And the danger, Greenspan suggested, was that consumers would be drained not just of buying power, but of buying confidence, too. 

Subtle differences of interpretation can have great consequences. 

Yes, the surveys of consumer and business confidence showed declines, sharply in some instances, but it seemed to matter little that confidence levels remained historically high. And if might still surprise some people to realize that consumption spending actually climbed in December. 

The same phenomenon can be observed in homebuying, the very largest investment most families ever make. December new-home sales were at an annual rate of 975,000 units, very little changed from the best of times. 

An impression exists that technology, a hefty supporter of the economic boom, has now sunk into the doldrums. But according to Dataquest, which compiles industry statistics, December sales of powerful computer servers, as used in the Internet, soared 21 percent over the December 1999 pace. 

None of this proves that overall economic growth isn’t slowing, or that many companies aren’t laying off workers in massive numbers, especially in manufacturing, and that others aren’t distressed and fearful. Neither does it prove that the economy can’t fall into recession. 

It does mean that the bottom hasn’t fallen out, that the worst-case scenarios can’t yet produce the evidence, that recession isn’t a certainty, and that recessions, if they come, need not be deep and long. 

A slowdown, in fact, can be a remedy for an economy that is stressed and strained after an exhausting marathon run. 

The power shortages, for example, are perhaps an example of poor management, but they are also a consequence of a surge of economic growth that caught planners off guard. Who could have foreseen the boom in Silicon Valley? And during a slowdown, defenses can be raised. 

The Federal Reserve has all but promised immediate relief via lower short-term interest rates. Technological progress has kept inflation at bay. The Bush administration seems likely to obtain tax reductions. Good reasons to calm the excitement. 

John Cunniff is a business  

analyst for The Associated Press

PALO ALTO — First-quarter net earnings plunged 59 percent at Hewlett-Packard Co., but the high-tech bellwether still met Wall Street’s lowered expectations Thursday. 

“Clearly, this was a tough quarter and our results reflect that,” said Carly Fiorina, HP’s president, chief executive and chairwoman. The company also is at the mercy of worsening economic conditions, she said. 

In the three months ending Jan. 31, HP had net profits of $328 million, or 17 cents per share, down from $794 million, or 38 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose just 2 percent, to $11.9 billion. 

Excluding all extraordinary items, the computer and printer giant earned $727 million, or 37 cents per share, down 33 percent from $825 million, or 40 cents per share, a year ago. 

Analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial were expecting earnings of 37 cents per share this quarter – a figure that had been 5 cents per share higher until HP warned last month that the worldwide economic slowdown was hurting business more than expected. 

North American revenues dropped 6 percent, a trend Fiorina blamed on “continued deterioration in the U.S. economy and related weakness in consumer and business (information-technology) spending.” 

Specifically, demand was weak for HP’s desktop computers and printers, a trend felt throughout the industry. HP’s computing systems business, which includes PCs and servers, lost $19 million after earning $110 million in the first quarter of 2000. 

“I think of the big four (PC makers), they seem to have fared the worst,” said industry analyst Steve Kleynhans, a vice president at the Meta Group in Stamford, Conn. Part of that, he noted, is that the competition – Dell Computer Corp., IBM Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp. – were struggling at the beginning of 2000 and “spent the last year probably trying a little harder.” 

Shares of Hewlett-Packard, which is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, rose $1.96 to $36.35 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange, a gain of nearly 6 percent. After the earnings announcement, HP shares dropped to $34.50 in after-hours trading. 

While the “ongoing economic uncertainty” is most visible in this country, Fiorina said the company also could be hurt in markets that rely heavily on exports to the United States, such as Mexico.  

With that in mind, she said the company was not expecting a return to double-digit revenue growth this year. 

HP did not offer specific profit forecasts, though Chief Financial Officer Bob Wayman indicated that analysts should consider lowering their expectations. 

“Certainly, we are not comfortable with the guidance that is out there at this time,” he said. 

This was the first earnings report since HP fell a hefty dime per share short of Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter. That disappointing result led to tough questions about Fiorina’s strategy at the proud Silicon Valley institution. 

“They’ve had a lot of issues over the last six months,” Kleynhans said.  

“They don’t appear to have a really solid direction or brand as a company of exactly what they want to do, where they want to go. They seem to be a little shellshocked from the challenges they faced in the fourth quarter.” 

Other lingering challenges were apparent in the company’s first-quarter results. 

The company took a charge of $365 million, or 15 cents per share, because of losing investments in companies in emerging markets. HP also took a charge of $102 million, or 3 cents per share, when it cut 1,700 marketing jobs — a rare instance of layoffs in the company’s history. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.hp.com 

Two weeks ago, Berkeley girls’ basketball head coach Gene Nakamura pointed to Tuesday’s game against Alameda as a possible roadblock to an undefeated ACCAL season for his Lady Yellowjackets. He didn’t need to worry. 

The Lady ’Jackets took advantage of Alameda’s up-tempo offense, setting a season high for points with their 105-57 win. It was the first time Berkeley broke triple digits on the scoreboard this season. The closest they had come was their first meeting with the Lady Hornets, a 98-40 victory. 

Senior forward Robin Roberson led the ’Jackets with 27 points, one of four Berkeley players to break double digits. Roberson was on fire, making an assortment of layups and jumperson her way to shooting 13-of-16 from the floor.  

“Robin can fill the basket in so many different ways,” Nakamura said. “She was really going to the ball well tonight, and she posted up well too.” 

Teammate Angelita Hutton shook off a cold first half (3-of-12 shooting) to score 15 points, and center Sabrina Keys pitched in 10 points and eight boards. 

The surprise of the night was forward Kalyca Seabrook, who scored 12 points, her season high. The junior missed just one shot while pulling down five rebounds. 

“We weren’t really expecting to win the game, because Berkeley’s just a machine,” Alameda head coach Brad Thomas said. “But we shouldn’t give up 105 points to anyone.” 

Alameda’s only answer to the Berkeley fireworks was point guard Lucia Galindo, who scored 20 points despite fouling out of the game with three minutes left. The speedy sophomore, who didn’t play in the first meeting, penetrated at will against the Berkeley defense, getting several easy layups and drawing 10 fouls in the game. 

“(Galindo) did a good job, but we really weren’t D-ing her up consistently,” Nakamura said. 

The Hornets were looking to run right from the start, and the Berkeley players were more than willing to play an up-tempo game. After turnovers on their first three possessions, the ’Jackets quickly took control of the game. Roberson and point guard Danielle Milburn hit back-to-back three-pointers to put them up 8-5, and they never looked back. Roberson scored 11 points in the opening quarter, then made four more buckets in the first four minutes of the second period to give her team a 40-22 lead. Nakamura sat his starters for long stretches of the second quarter, but the ’Jackets still managed to climb to a 51-26 halftime lead. 

“They shouldn’t have tried to run on us, that’s just playing our kind of game,” Nakamura said. “If they want to run, we’ll run with them.” 

Hutton got going early in the second half, turning two steals into breakaway layups. When Galindo picked up her fourth foul on a Seabrook jumper late in the third quarter, she headed to the bench for a long stretch, taking the Alameda offense with her. But the ’Jackets had just 71 points going into the fourth quarter, and it seemed unlikely they would break 100 points. 

Galindo returned and hit two layups to pull her team within 40 points, but fouled out soon after. Berkeley freshman Joy White got hot late in the quarter, scoring nine points in less than four minutes, and forward Rebekah Payne made a layup with less than a minute left, making the score 100-57 and setting off a celebration by the Berkeley bench and fans. Forward Natasha Bailey hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to set the final score. 

“We played our normal offense, and we didn’t press in the second half,” Nakamura said. “It’s not like we were trying to run up the score.” 

“We’re not big enough, so we have to play run-and-gun,” Thomas said. “It was our bad defense more than how we played on offense.”

Thursday, Feb. 15

Simplicity Forum 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Library 

Claremont Branch  

2940 Benveue Ave.  

Facilitated by Cecile Andrews, author of “Circles of Simplicity,” learn about this movement whose philosophy is “the examined life richly lived.” 549-3509 or visit  

www.seedsofsimplicity.org  

Basics of PCs 

9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science  

UC Berkeley 

A class for adults that will cover file management, loading software, software management, downloading pages from the Web, and more. $30 - $35, registration required Call 642-5134  

Free “Quit Smoking” Class 

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis (at Ashby)  

Cease your smoking with the help of this free class offered to Berkeley residents and employees. 

Call 644-6422 to enroll or e-mail quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Natural Conversations 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Hillside Community Church  

1422 Navellier St.  

El Cerrito 

A series of Thursday evenings of conversation “engaging people in discovering the pleasures of an excellent discussion.” Focus on conversations in nature and explore what they are meant to convey. $10  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Kathleen Lynch and host Mark States.  

644-0155 

Climbing Mt. Shasta 

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Tim Keating of Sierra Wilderness Seminars will give a slide presentation on climbing and skiing this North California peak. 527-7377  

Berkeley Metaphysical Toastmasters Club  

6:15 - 7:30 p.m.  

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysics come together. Ongoing first and third Thursdays each month. Call 869-2547 

“Religion, Power & the New Economy”  

1:30 - 3 p.m. 

Chapel of the Great Commission  

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave.  

A panel discussion featuring distinguished GTU alumni/ae, in celebration of Dr. James A. Donahue’s inauguration as President of the GTU.  

Call 649-2400 

West CAT Meeting 

7 p.m. 

Liberty Hill Missionary Baptist Church  

997 University Ave.  

Review the racial and health disparities issues and see the model of the community capacity building.  

Rent Stabilization Board  

7 p.m. 

2134 MLK Jr. Way  

Council Chambers, Second Floor  

First reading of the proposal to amend Regulation 1206 to increase the statute of limitations for former tenants to file petitions with the Board from one year to three years.  

Take the Terror Out of Talking  

12:10 - 1:10 p.m. 

California Department of Health Services  

2151 Berkeley Way, Room 804  

Presented by the State Health Toastmasters, session two covers “successful conclusions.”  

Call 649-7750 

Searching for a  

Superintendent 

6:45 - 9 p.m. 

Longfellow Arts & Technology Magnet Middle School Theater 

1500 Derby (at Sacramento) 

An open community forum for all interested parents, staff, students and community members to provide input on the new superintendent search.  

That’s Not Fair! 

7:30 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave.  

This workshop for teachers and parents of preschool through third grade children will cover activism for young children. Teach kids to stand up for themselves and for others in the face of bias and unfairness. Call 653-7882 

Friday, Feb. 16

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Saturday, Feb. 17

“Go-Go-Go Greenbelt!” 

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Rockridge BART  

Oakland  

A bike tour on this ride into the rolling East Bay hills. A free ride sponsored by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call 415-255-3233 for reservations or visit www.greenbelt.org 

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

Poets and writers meet to critique each other’s work. “Members’ work tends to be dark, humorous, surreal, or strange.”  

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Valentine’s Dinner Dance Benefit Gala 

4:30 p.m. - 10 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship Unitarian Universalists hall  

1924 Cedar (at Bonita)  

Dance to the music of Toru Saitu & his band. Benefits BFUU.  

$10 donation  

Call 849-9508 

Free Puppet Show  

1:30 - 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health  

2230 Shattuck Ave., Lower Level  

The Kids on the Block, an award-winning puppet troupe that includes puppets of diverse cultures and puppets with medical conditions such as leukemia and spina bifida. Free 

Call 549-1564  

P.U.R.R.S. Pet Adoption Day 

Noon - 5 p.m. 

Pet Food Express  

1942 MLK Jr. Way  

Cats, kittens, rabbits, dogs and other pets in need of homes will be available for adoption.  

Call 444-3204 

Sunday, Feb. 18

Ruth Acty Oral History Reception 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society  

Veterans Memorial Building 

1931 Center St.  

In 1943 Miss Ruth Acty became the first African American teacher to be hired by the Berkeley Unified School District. She taught thousands of students until her retirement in 1985. Oral History Coordinator Therese Pipe interviewed Acty in 1993-94 for the Berkeley Historical Society. Free  

Waterfalls of Berkeley  

10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

North Berkeley BART  

Sacramento at Delaware  

On this urban waterfall hike, discover three waterfalls along rushing creeks hidden in Berkeley neighborhoods. A free hike sponsored by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call 415-255-3233 for reservations or visit www.greenbelt.org 

Kaleidoscope Performances  

2 p.m. 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts  

2640 College Ave. (at Derby)  

Yassir Chadley, traditional Moroccan musician and Sufi storyteller.  

$5 - $10  

Call 925-798-1300 

Healthful Building Materials 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Learn about healthful materials in this seminar conducted by environmental consultant Darrel DeBoer.  

$35  

Call 525-7610 

Tuesday, Feb. 20

“Great Decisions” - China & Taiwan 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Intelligent Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. This evenings discussion topic is different cultural, ethnic and religious values.  

Call 527-9772  

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m. 

South Branch Berkeley Library  

1901 Russel St.  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

7 p.m. 

North Branch Berkeley Library  

1170 The Alameda 

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Blood Pressure for Seniors 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

With Alice Meyers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

Wednesday, Feb. 21

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Control Hypertension 

6:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

Summit Medical Center - Summit Campus 

Summit South Cafeteria Conference Room  

3100 Summit St.  

Oakland 

Bessanderson McNeil, MPH, and the Ethnic Health Institute, will help attendees take control of their lives. Free 

Call 204-3443 

Sacred Cinema  

7 - 9 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion 

1798 Scenic Ave., Chapel Six 

Ken Peer has sought to explore sacred themes and to draw attention to the spiritual lives of individuals from the world’s great wisdom traditions. See three of his short films at this free screening.  

Call 649-2523 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m. 

Claremont Library  

2940 Benvenue  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Alzheimer’s Support Group  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

For families and caregivers. Free 

Call 644-6107 

Thursday, Feb. 22

Free “Quit Smoking” Class 

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis (at Ashby)  

Cease your smoking with the help of this free class offered to Berkeley residents and employees. 

Call 644-6422 to enroll or e-mail quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Charles Ellick and host Louis Cuneo.  

644-0155 

Rivers of the World  

7 p.m. 

Recreational Equipment, Inc. 

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Pamela Michael, writer, educator and river conservationist, will highlight her new anthology “The Gift of Rivers: True Stories of Life on the Water,” showing slides of nearly 100 of the world’s great rivers. Free 

Call 527-4140 

Growl & Howl of Man & Woman 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Hillside Community Church  

1422 Navellier St.  

El Cerrito 

A series of Thursday evenings of conversation “engaging people in discovering the pleasures of an excellent discussion.” Bring your favorite gender assumptions and put them to the test.  

$10  

Agaves & Yuccas 

7 p.m. 

UC Botanical Garden 

200 Centennial Drive 

Mary and Gary Irish, experts on these plants will show you where to find these dry garden plants and how to makes them grow happily.  

$15 

Call 643-1924 

John Henry, Steel-Driving Puppet 

3:30 p.m.  

West Branch Berkeley Library  

1125 University Ave.  

Loren and Dean Linnard, using a variety of rod and hand puppets, elaborate sets, and original songs and music, will tell the story of this legendary railroad man.  

Call 649-3943 

Friday, Feb. 23

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Cosi Fan Tutte 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

An opera presented for free.  

Call 644-6107 

Saturday, Feb. 24

Tibetan New Year’s Celebration 

6 - 9 p.m. 

Britta Hauenschild gives a flute concert followed by a festive dinner and New Year’s celebration. Proceeds support Nyingma Institute sacred art and education programs.  

$30 suggested donation  

Call 843-6812 

Celebrate Samuel H. Day, Jr.  

2 - 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

1924 Cedar St. (at Bonita)  

Longtime anti-nuclear activist and journalists, Day was the coordinator of the U.S. campaign to free Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu. Day died suddenly at his home in Madison, Wisconsin on Jan. 26.  

Call 548-3048 or visit www.nukewatch.org 

A Little Taste of Africa  

2 - 4 p.m. 

City of Franklin School  

1150 Virginia St.  

The City of Franklin PTA hosts this fundraiser for Black History Month. There will be performances by a West African Dance Troupe, music, poetry, authentic African dishes, a marketplace, and much more.  

$5  

Call 644-6260 

Sunday, Feb. 25  

“Imperial San Francisco: 

Urban Power, Earthly Ruin” 

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley History Center 

Veterans Memorial Building 

1931 Center St.  

Gary Brechin speaks on the impact and legacy of the Hearsts and other powerful San Francisco families. Free 

Call 848-0181 

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

“How are Pacific cities reshaping their cultural and environmental institutions to better serve the needs and enhance the present and future quality of life of all segments of their societies?” A series of ten seminars linking the Bay Area, Seattle, Portland, and other pacific cities.  

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Authors in the Library: Lois Silverstein 

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Writer and performer, Silverstein, will read selections from “Oh My Darling Daughter,” “Behind the Stove,” and a work-in-progress, “Family Matters.” Discussion and book signing will follow. Free.  

Call 848-0237 x127 

Planetary Temples 

8 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Employee Don Frew will show slides of teh ruined city of Harran. Free 

Call 848-8443 

Art Meets Science in Time  

2 - 3:30 p.m. 

Bancroft Hotel  

2680 Bancroft Way  

Professor Andrew Stewart of UC Berkeley and Gail M. Wright, a digital artist and lecturer at Mills College explore this subject through slide-illustrated discussions. In conjunction with the 0. Museum’s current exhibition “Telling Time.”  

Call 549-6950 

Harran: City of the Moon God 

8 - 10 p.m. 

Shambhala Booksellers  

2482 Telegraph Ave.  

Donald Frew will present s, past and present, and will show slides from a recent visit. He will also discuss the likely treasure trove of texts from the ancient world that await discovery there. Free  

Call 848-8443 

Monday, Feb. 26 

“Passages Into Aging” 

7:30 - 9:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Miriam Chaya Fields, co-producer and director, of Timbrels & Torahs, will lead in a discussion about celebrating the wisdom and inspiration of the elder years.  

$5 donation  

Call 549-9447 x110 

Black History Dance Celebration  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

The Imhotet Dancers will perform. Free 

Call 644-6107 

Tuesday, Feb. 27 

“Great Decisions” - Missile Defense  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

City Council Meeting 

8 p.m. 

Sheryl Walton of CAT will provide an overview of the CAT and its model to the City Council and Berkeley viewers.  

Farmers’ Market Fat Tuesday 

Mardi Gras Celebration  

1 p.m. - Dusk 

Derby St. at MLK Jr. Way 

With live performances by The Sons & Daughters of Orpheus and Wild Buds: West Coast Mardi Gras Band. Free and always wheelchair accessible.  

BHS Jazz Band  

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

A Black History celebration performance. Free 

Call 644-6107 

Wednesday, Feb. 28  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Conversations in Commedia 

7:30 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave. (at Prince) 

Mime Troupe founder Ron Davis and icon clown Wavy Gravy give dialogues on satire.  

$6 - $8  

Call 849-2568 

Women in Interfaith Relationships  

9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Led by Dawn Kepler, this workshop will explore interfaith relationships on many levels, in relation to culture, religion, and gender. People of all backgrounds and orientations are invited to attend.  

$10 

848-0237 x127 

Planning Commission Public Hearing  

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

The commission is holding public hearings on the Planning Commission Draft General Plan. The commission requests that all written comments on the plan be submitted by March 1. 

Guide Dogs for the Blind 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

T. Duncan, a low vision speaker, will talk about guide dogs. Free  

Call 644-6107 

Thursday, March 1  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Eliza Shefler and host Dale Jensen.  

644-0155 

Berkeley Metaphysical Toastmasters Club  

6:15 - 7:30 p.m.  

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysics come together. Ongoing first and third Thursdays each month.  

Call 869-2547 

Friday, March 2  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Class Dismissed Poetry Posse 

7:30 p.m. 

Little Theater 

Berkeley High School  

2246 Milvia St.  

Afro-Haitian dancers, Dance Production dancers, the BHS poetry slammers, an opening a capella number and a few surprises. A benefit for a Berkeley High school student trip to Cuba.  

$5 - $10  

Saturday, March 3 

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

Poets and writers meet to critique each other’s work. “Members’ work tends to be dark, humorous, surreal, or strange.”  

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a non-profit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served bases on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least five years old and must be accompanies by an adult.  

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Berkeley Library  

2121 Allston Way  

Mary Miche, leader of Song Trek Music, will lead a sing-along that will send everyone home humming.  

Call 649-3913 

Sunday, March 4  

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a non-profit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served bases on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least five years old and must be accompanies by an adult.  

Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Monday, March 5  

Your Legal Rights with HMOs 

6 - 7:30 p.m. 

YWCA Oakland  

1515 Webster St., Second Floor  

Oakland  

Presented by the Women’s Cancer Resource Center, UCSF Cancer Resource Center and the San Francisco Bar Volunteer Legal Services, this free workshop covers what your legal rights are and how to guard them.  

Call 415-885-3693 

Beginning Bicyclist Workshop  

7 - 9 p.m. 

YMCA  

2001 Allston Way  

Community Room 1, Main Floor  

Jason Meggs and Zed Lopez will teach you how to keep yourself and your bike safe and even how to use your bike for shopping. Free  

Call Jason Meggs, 549-RIDE 

Tuesday, March 6  

“Great Decisions” - U.S. & Iraq 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Intelligent Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. This evenings discussion topic is health, nutrition and science; bioengineering.  

Call 527-5332  

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

Wednesday, March 7  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Women in Interfaith Relationships  

9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Led by Dawn Kepler, this workshop will explore interfaith relationships on many levels, in relation to culture, religion, and gender. People of all backgrounds and orientations are invited to attend.  

$10 

848-0237 x127 

Thursday, March 8 

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Judy Wells and host Dale Jensen.  

644-0155 

Friday, March 9  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Berkeley PC Users Group 

7 p.m. 

Vista College 

2020 Milvia St., Room 303 

E-Mail: meldancing@aol.com 

Saturday, March 10  

The Secrets of Sacred Cinema 

10 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion  

1798 Scenic Ave., Mudd 103 

Kevin Peer, a documentary film maker for the past 25 years, gives a two-day intensive for people interested in exploring documentary filmmaking. No equipment or prior experience required.  

$200 per person and registration is required 

Call 486-1480 

Narratives of Public Sector Reform: A Colloquium  

10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

223 Moses Hall  

UC Berkeley  

Mark Bevir of the department of Political Science of UC Berkeley, will present his paper on “Decentered Theory of Governance” and Rod Rhodes of the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne will present his paper, “Entering British Governance.” There will also be a session to discuss the broader issues their works raise.  

Sunday, March 11 

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

“How are Pacific cities reshaping their cultural and environmental institutions to better serve the needs and enhance the present and future quality of life of all segments of their societies?” A series of ten seminars linking the Bay Area, Seattle, Portland, and other pacific cities.  

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Myths & Realities of the International House  

3 - 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society  

1931 Center St.  

Director Joe Lurie will show a video and talk about the history and the struggle to open the International House.  

$10 donation  

Call 848-0181 

Walk on the Moon  

2 & 7 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

A mother and daughter explore their identities as they summer in the Catskills in 1969 amidst the news of Woodstock and the first lunar landing. Peer led discussion to follow film.  

$2 suggested donation  

Tuesday, March 13  

Berkeley Rep. Proscenium Opening 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Repertory Theater 

2015 Addison St.  

Featuring the premiere performance of “The Oresteia” by Aeschylus. Opening gala dinner held prior to performance. Performance will be at 8 p.m. 

Call 647-2949 

“Great Decisions” - International Health Crisis 

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

Wednesday, March 14 

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Thursday, March 15  

Simplicity Forum 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Library 

Claremont Branch  

2940 Benveue Ave.  

Facilitated by Cecile Andrews, author of “Circles of Simplicity,” learn about this movement whose philosophy is “the examined life richly lived.” Work less, consume less, rush less, and build community with friends and family.  

Call 549-3509 or visit www.seedsofsimplicity.org  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Elanor Watson-Gove and host Mark States.  

644-0155 

Berkeley Metaphysical Toastmasters Club  

6:15 - 7:30 p.m.  

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysics come together. Ongoing first and third Thursdays each month.  

Call 869-2547 

Friday, March 16  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Saturday, March 17  

Rockridge Writers 

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Spasso Coffeehouse  

6021 College Ave.  

Poets and writers meet to critique each other’s work. “Members’ work tends to be dark, humorous, surreal, or strange.”  

e-mail: berkeleysappho@yahoo.com 

Sunday, March 18 

East Bay Men’s Chorus Rehearsal  

6:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Calling for gay and bisexual men and their allies and friends to join this choral ensemble directed by J.R. Foust. There is no obligation to join the chorus after the first rehearsal.  

Call to RSVP 664-0260 or e-mail eastbaymenschorus@yahoo.com 

Tuesday, March 20 

“Great Decisions” - Mexico Reexamined  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Intelligent Conversation  

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.  

Jewish Community Center  

1414 Walnut Ave. (at Rose)  

With no religious affiliation, this twice-monthly group, led informally by former UC Berkeley extension lecturer Robert Berent, seeks to bring people together to have interesting discussions on contemporary topics. This evenings discussion topic is death and dying in celebration of the Ides of March.  

Call 527-9772  

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

Wednesday, March 21  

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Thursday, March 22  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Anna Mae Stanley and host Louis Cuneo.  

644-0155 

Friday, March 23 

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly literature course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.  

Call 549-2970  

Saturday, March 24 

Ashkenaz Dance-A-Thon 

2 p.m. - 2 a.m.  

Ashkenaz  

1370 San Pablo Ave.  

Join Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers along with African, Cajun, North African, Balkan, reggae, and Caribbean bands in this twelve hour dance music-fest. This is Ashkenaz big fundraiser for making improvements, including a new dance floor and ventilation system.  

$20 donation  

525-5054 or visit www.ashkenaz.com  

Sunday, March 25 

Reimagining Pacific Cities  

6 - 8:30 p.m. 

New Pacific Studio  

1523 Hearst Ave.  

“How are Pacific cities reshaping their cultural and environmental institutions to better serve the needs and enhance the present and future quality of life of all segments of their societies?” A series of ten seminars linking the Bay Area, Seattle, Portland, and other pacific cities.  

$10 per meeting  

Call 849-0217 

Tuesday, March 27 

“Great Decisions” - European Integration  

10 a.m. - Noon  

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

The first in a series of eight weekly lectures with the goal of informing the public of current major policy issues. Many of the lectures are presented by specialists in their field and are often from the University of California. Feedback received at these lectures is held in high regard by those in the government responsible for national policy.  

$5 single session 

Call Berton Wilson, 526-2925 

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 

Call Wade, 531-8664 

Free! Early Music Group  

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)  

A small group who sing madrigals and other voice harmonies. Their objective: To enjoy making music and building musical skills.  

Call Ann 655-8863 or e-mail: ann@integratedarts.org 

Wednesday, March 28 

Stagebridge Free Acting & Storytelling 

Classes for Seniors 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

First Congregational Church  

2501 Harrison St.  

Oakland  

Call 444-4755 or visit www.stagebridge.org 

Conversations in Commedia 

7:30 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave. (at Prince) 

Mime Troupe/Reinhabitory Theatre legends Judy Goldhaft, Jane Lapiner and Peter Berg 

$6 - $8  

Call 849-2568 

Thursday, March 29  

Duomo Readings Open Mic.  

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

Cafe Firenze  

2116 Shattuck Ave.  

With featured poet Georgia Popoff and host Mark States.  

644-0155 

Friday, March 30 

Strong Women - Writers & 

Heroes of Literature 

1 - 3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center  

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Litera

The City Council heard a range of energy crisis solutions Tuesday including bill boycotts, utility assets seizure and creating a city-owned power company. One solution was a clear favorite – conservation. 

After hearing presentations from the city’s energy office and the Berkeley Energy Commission the City Council unanimously voted to refer all of the energy items on its agenda – 10 recommendations with 56 subcategories – to the city manager. But the message was clear: It’s time to conserve energy. 

City Energy Officer Neil De Snoo underscored the best way the city could get control over its energy is through conservation. “There are built-in financial incentives,” he said. “It’s the most responsible environmentally and we can do it right now.” 

Other solutions, such as a city-owned power company and a cooperative which would purchase energy on the behalf of residents, were discussed but put on a back burner because of the amount of time they would take to establish and uncertainty about benefits. 

De Snoo and BEC chair, Jeffrey Siegel, said municipalization of the city electrical system would depend on PG&E giving the city a good price for the poles and wires and the city’s ability to run the system in a more efficient manner than PG&E.  

In addition, the establishment of a city-owned utility could take years. De Snoo said Sacramento took 18 years to establish its municipal power company. 

Berkeley is luckier than most California cities because it has been on the conservation band wagon for two years. The city adopted the Resource Conservation and Global Warming Abatement Plan in January 1998. Councilmember Linda Maio said the plan was adopted to reduce pressure on natural resources. 

“We didn’t start this plan five years ago because we anticipated an energy crisis,” Maio said. “We started it because we wanted to be good citizens.” 

One example of the Abatement Plan is the city’s 126 intersections that are governed by traffic signals. De Snoo said in 1998 all of the red incandescent bulbs were changed to Low Emission Diodes, which require much less energy. LED green lights were recently made affordable by new technology and are now in the process of being installed throughout the city. The green lights should be changed over to LED lighting by early next year. The city has no plans to change the yellow lights because of insignificant burning time. 

De Snoo said the city is saving $70,000 a year just on the new LED red lights. The initial investment was $238,000, of which nearly half will be recuperated through a PG&E rebate program. 

Mayor Shirley Dean said that city government uses 12.3 million kilowatts hours per year. She said the city has been successful in reducing the annual cost of energy by 21 percent or $252,000 by implementing energy-conscious policies under the Abatement Plan. The city currently pays an average of $1.2 million a year for energy. 

Dean and Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek have recommended a 20 percent reduction across the board for government, business and households. 

“Conservation can be done,” she said, “I think the 20 percent reduction is an obtainable goal.” 

Dean added that the city can still do more to save energy. The library and the newly remodeled Civic Center are not yet benefiting from the city’s energy savings program through the Association of Bay Area Governments. The City of Berkeley receives a 40 percent discount through the program. 

Maio said the city’s immediate task is to get city businesses and residents to change their energy habits. “Fundamentally our challenge is to change behavior,” she said. “In a way the power industry is helping by providing us with a financial incentive.” 

De Snoo said one obstacle to household conservation is education and awareness. Maio asked the Energy Commission to quickly put together a comprehensive education plan. The plan will include a variety of energy saving methods ranging from home insulation to replacing old appliances, such as refrigerators and stoves with newly designed energy efficient models. 

Energy Commissioner Dave Williamson said the commission will develop a conservation program for city residents and possibly work with other agencies to distribute the information to individual households and community groups. 

“One thing we’ve spoken about is a joint project with the Community Energy Services Corporation and Ecohouse to distribute brochures and a mailer to educate residents about conservation,” he said. 

De Snoo said education and awareness is only part of the equation. He said that people living paycheck to paycheck will have will have to have a change of heart when it comes to weatherizing their homes and purchasing energy efficient appliances. 

“They have to understand that they’ll be paying more money up front but they’ll make money in the long term,” he said. 

Senior forward Louis Riordan scored a game high 20 points Tuesday night, including five 3-pointers, as Berkeley High defeated Alameda 66-50. 

The win pushed the Yellowjackets to a perfect 10-0 in the Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League and 19-5 overall, clinching the league title. The visiting Hornets dropped to 5-4 in the league and 12-11 overall. 

But for a team that has dominated the ACCAL this year, the ’Jackets found themselves outrebounded and outhustled for most of the game by a more intense Hornets team. Berkeley clung to a narrow lead throughout the first three quarters before stepping up its own intensity and outscoring Alameda 20-11 in the final period of play. 

“We were fortunate to have a scare like this and still be able to win the game,” said Berkeley Coach Mike Gragnani after the ’Jackets notched their 12th straight victory. “It didn’t cost us a loss to teach us something at this point in the season.” 

After jumping to an early 13-2 lead, Berkeley went cold from the field and missed several outside shots. Alameda capitalized on the long rebounds and cut the ’Jackets lead to eight points at the end of the first quarter. 

The Hornets maintained momentum early in the second period, scoring the first six points of the quarter and eventually grabbing their first lead since the game’s opening minute on a three-pointer by Quincy Scurry with 2:11 left in the half. Scurry scored seven of his 11 points in the quarter and Brian Brooks added another five. Two players scored all of Berkeley’s second quarter points: Riordan with eight and guard Ryan Davis adding four. 

“We came out really flat,” Riordan said of the team’s first half performance. “They were just beating us down the court and we had no intensity on defense.” 

Gragnani added that the ‘Jackets have played several games this season where they’ve built big leads before letting the other team back in the game. 

“We’ve been jumping on teams and then resting,” he said. “It’s just a sign of an inexperienced team.” 

In fact, only Riordan and senior guard Ramone Reed had any varsity experience prior to this season.  

“We’re in uncharted waters,” Gragnani added. “Most of our team’s never been in a situation like this before. They’ve got to respond to it and if we don’t, it’s going to cost us big down the stretch.” 

Sparking the ‘Jackets in the fourth quarter with eight points was guard Byron St. Jules. His key steal and layup with 6:32 remaining stretched the Berkeley lead to 50-41. Then the offense kicked in as the ‘Jackets scored 16 points in the final five minutes of the game. 

“We get the lead and then we don’t maintain the same intensity,” St. Jules said. “We should be playing fourth quarter ball all game.” 

Behind Riordan’s 20, Berkeley’s St. Jules finished with 14 points, Davis added 13 and post men Reed and Jahi Milton each tossed in six. 

Nine Berkeley High seniors were recognized prior to playing in their next to last regular season game as a ‘Jacket. Berkeley travels to Encinal on Feb. 20 before finishing its league play against El Cerrito at home on Feb. 23. 

The City Council adopted guidelines Tuesday to develop affordable housing on the Ashby BART parking lot and recommended that the housing be made available to city workers and teachers. 

The unanimous council approved a recommendation to consider whether building affordable housing on the west side of the parking lot would be feasible. Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek submitted the recommendation that cites Berkeley’s high housing costs, which creates a situation where most teachers and city workers can’t afford to live near their jobs. 

The parking lot is currently the site of the weekend Berkeley Fleamarket, which would have to be moved. 

Shirek said the median price of a home in Berkeley is $436,000, a purchase price that only 10 percent of the population can afford.  

“Most teachers and government workers are priced out of Berkeley’s housing market, leaving the people who provide vital services to our city locked out of living in and being part of our community,” according to the recommendation. 

Director of Housing Stephen Barton said the idea of building on the site is completely new. Staff will now be assigned to study the idea and meetings will be scheduled with BART officials to discuss the possibility. 

President of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers Barry Fike, told the council that he considers himself very lucky to own his grandmother’s former home in Berkeley, which he was able to purchase from his family at a reasonable price. “To be able to ride my bike to work every day all these years has been an incredible advantage,” he said. “I feel lucky to be able to contribute economically and emotionally to Berkeley.” 

Fike said that starting pay for teachers is $36,000 a year, which makes it impossible for them to purchase a home anywhere in the city. 

Shirek’s recommendation also said that affordable housing for Berkeley school and government workers would have added environmental benefits. “(Commuting) also exacerbates negative environmental and quality of life situations,” the recommendation says. “More cars are needed to reach work places. Traffic and parking have become nightmares for both residents and commuters.” 

Laura Schott, a sophomore forward who was the Cal womens’ soccer team’s leading scorer last season, has been invited to the U.S. Under-21 national team camp, to be held Feb. 18-25 in Chula Vista. 

Schott previously spent time with the Under-18 national team, but this will be her first chance to impress the U-21 coaches. 

U.S. women’s national team head coach April Heinrichs and Under-21 head coach Jillian Ellis intend to use this camp to choose the majority of the full U.S. women’s national team roster for a European tour that includes a friendly match against Italy in Rieti outside of Rome on March 7 and the 2001 Algarve Cup in Portugal, one of the world’s most competitive annual women’s international tournaments.  

Following the 2000 season, Schott became the first Golden Bear to be named an NSCAA first team All-American since U.S. national team member Joy (Biefeld) Fawcett was selected in 1989. She also was named a first team All-American by Soccer Buzz, an MVP by Soccer America and a first team All-Pac-10 selection after leading Cal to a 17-3-1 record and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. 

Schott finished the 2000 season as the Pac-10 leader for points (47), goals (23) and game-winning goals (9).

Some 20 Berkeley High Students weighed in Wednesday on one of the most critical questions facing the Berkeley Unified School District – what qualities should the new superintendent possess? 

The teens, most of whom who were from the Youth Commission and Youth Together, met after school in the Learning Center with the consultant leading the superintendent search, Jake Abbott from Leadership Alliance.  

The consensus appeared to be: we want someone very different from former Superintendent Jack McLaughlin. 

Diversity was high on the list of desired qualifications. McLughlin is Caucasian. 

Abbot, who lives in Walnut Creek, said he understood the students’ concern. “Look at California. It’s majority minority,” he said, noting that only a few school districts, such as Piedmont, have majority Caucasian students. 

He underscored that his consulting firm has access to minority applicants. 

The ability and desire to interact with  

students was also important to the students sitting around the table with the consultant. “I don’t know if McLaughlin did a good job of keeping openness between students and himself,” said one young man. “I don’t think he reached out,” said another.  

That means not only meeting with students, but attending events such as poetry slams and theater productions, they said. 

Several students said they felt the former superintendent was good at planning new buildings, but, said one: “I wouldn’t want a superintendent who is short-sighted on communication and good on construction.” 

The students also said the new superintendent should not only be in touch with the school, but also with the community. 

And the new superintendent needs to focus more on the high school, students said. 

“Jack McLaughlin did a good job on literacy and dual language immersion” in the elementary schools, said Niles Xi’an Lichtenstein, student representative to the school board. But the high school was not served as well as it ought to be, he said. 

In particular, the new superintendent should be familiar with running small schools within the larger school, which is the direction in which BHS is moving, he said. 

Abbott said he had met with 50 people during the day and for them, as well, a focus on Berkeley High is important. “The achievement gap is a big issue,” he said. 

The search will be concluded by the end of May and a new superintendent will be on board July 1, the consultant said. 

Abbott declined an interview with the Daily Planet. School Board President Terry Doran said, in the agreement with Leadership Associates, the board president would act as the spokesperson for the superintendent search team. The consultants are concerned with the process, Doran said. “They don’t want incorrect information to be put out (by having) diverse spokespoeple to talk to the press.” 

Doran said the search team met with a variety of groups Wednesday, including the District Advisory Committee, the head of the NAACP, former assemblymember Tom Bates and former mayor Loni Hancock, and the District Diversity Committee. Today he will be meeting with others, Doran said.  

Leadership Associates is holding a public meeting to get input on the superintendent search tonight at 6:45 p.m. at Longfellow Arts & Technology Magnet Middle School Theater, 1500 Derby St. Groups which want to meet separately with the consultants should call Queen Graham, 644-6147. 

LOS ANGELES — Authorities said Wednesday that they will reinvestigate a deadly 1975 bank robbery for links to the Symbionese Liberation Army, even as a former member is tried here for attempted murder. 

Efforts to revisit the long-dormant Northern California case were sparked by Los Angeles authorities, who are prosecuting Sara Jane Olson on charges of planting pipe bombs under Los Angeles police cars 25 years ago. 

The bombs didn’t go off. 

A Sacramento County sheriff’s spokesman said the key witness in both cases would be newspaper heiress Patty Hearst, convicted of armed bank robbery but recently pardoned by President Clinton. 

Hearst has identified Olson, who changed her name from Kathleen Soliah, as one of the robbers from the defunct revolutionary group who invaded a Carmichael bank. 

“My client, Sara Jane Olson, had nothing to do with the Carmichael bank robbery and murder,” said Shawn Chapman, Olson’s Los Angeles lawyer. “Patty Hearst is not a credible witness and will not be a credible witness in the Los Angeles or Carmichael prosecutions.” 

Myrna Opsahl, a 42-year-old mother of four, was killed while depositing her church collection money at the Crocker National Bank on April 21, 1975. 

Only one person – Olson’s brother, Steven Soliah – was ever charged in the case, and he was acquitted in a federal trial. 

Sacramento County prosecutors said last month that they wouldn’t charge anyone else in the case. But a Sheriff’s Department press statement implied that decision isn’t firm. 

Olson’s Los Angeles trial, scheduled for April 30, “will serve as a barometer to determine the quality of Patricia Hearst’s testimony, which is critical to the Sacramento prosecution efforts,” sheriff’s Sgt. James E. Lewis said. 

Olson’s lawyer said she is confident that her client will be proved innocent in both cases. 

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI will investigate the bank robbery. Lewis said investigators hope that new scientific testing procedures “will add new life to the investigation and make prosecution possible.” 

Among other things, shotgun pellets taken from Opsahl’s body will be tested to see if they are linked to ammunition seized from an SLA safehouse in San Francisco. 

Los Angeles prosecutors have said their research on the Los Angeles case uncovered unspecified new information about the bank robbery. 

“Prosecutors felt it was their duty to tell Sacramento about the new evidence,” said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney. 

However, she objected to a statement in the press statement that said there was an agreement between authorities in the two cities to have the Los Angeles case precede any attempts at prosecuting Olson in Sacramento. 

“That’s just not true and we’re personally aggrieved that this misinformation has been put out,” Gibbons said. 

Local prosecutors would be glad to assist in the Sacramento probe if they are asked, she added. 

NEW YORK — Investors regaining some of their confidence in high-tech stocks bid the sector higher Wednesday while lessening their reliance on safer blue chips. The result was a mixed session on Wall Street. 

Analysts said investors were still unsettled by congressional testimony Tuesday from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who indicated interest rate cuts will be less aggressive than the market wanted. But one potentially positive sign in Wednesday’s dealings was the fact that blue chips slipped while tech stocks advanced. 

Wednesday’s movement could indicate that investors are more comfortable committing to riskier high-tech issues, believing that the economy will improve sooner rather than later. 

“The Nasdaq is trying to make a bottom,” said Peter Canelo, U.S. investment strategist at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. 

However, it’s also possible investors won’t continue for long to favor tech over safer, so-called defensive sectors like drug and consumer stocks. The market has been alternating between riskier and safer stocks since late last year. 

“You are seeing this continuous interplay between the defensive and aggressive sectors,” Canelo said. 

Investors are weaving in and out of the Dow and Nasdaq for two key reasons, said Gregory Nie, technical analyst at First Union Securities.  

First, Wall Street isn’t ready to push the Dow past the psychologically significant 11,000 mark. Second, investors also aren’t sure when the economy will show enough improvement to justify riskier purchases in the tech sector. But because recent selloffs haven’t been major in either sector, Nie sees reason to hope the market will rally in a few weeks. 

“The market seems to be working on a higher lower than in January. And, if we are able to maintain that, that could be an important factor in a spring rally,” Nie said. 

The tech sector, which so far has suffered the weakest earnings in the slowing economy, was mostly higher Wednesday.  

— The Associated Press 

The tech advance could be seen among the Dow’s tech components – IBM rose $1.35 to $115.10 and Intel climbed $1.69 to $34.13. 

Among blue chips, Johnson & Johnson fell $1.25 to $95.65, and Procter & Gamble slipped 86 cents to $73.69. Both are Dow components. 

The retailing sector was mixed despite a government report Tuesday that consumer spending rose more strongly than expected in January. Home Depot ended down 59 cents at $45.72, but Federated Department Stores advanced 59 cents to finish at $44.81. 

Advancing issues matched decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 1.36 billion shares, up from 1.27 billion on Tuesday. 

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of smaller company stocks, inched up 0.92 to 503.49. 

——— 

On the Net: 

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com 

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com 

SAN FRANCISCO — A body was found in the wheel well of a US Airways jet at San Francisco International Airport, but authorities were not immediately sure how the man died or whether he was a stowaway. 

The man was discovered a few minutes after landing late Monday. His body was found by a mechanic checking a possible hydraulic leak on Flight 741, which originated at London’s Gatwick Airport. The flight stopped in Pittsburgh before landing in San Francisco at 8:45 p.m. 

The San Mateo County coroner’s office was awaiting information from England, and expected an identification might come by Wednesday morning. London authorities believe the man may be the same person who was arrested at Gatwick on Sunday for breaching security regulations. 

An individual fitting the dead man’s description was arrested after attempting to gain access to a plane at Gatwick on Sunday, police said. He was released on bail and police were preparing to fax the man’s fingerprints to California authorities. 

“We arrested a young Afro-Caribbean man at Gatwick on Sunday for breaching security,” Police Constable Kevin Clark said. “The man found on the jet matches his description, so it could be the same one. 

“It is quite unusual for people to try and get out of the U.K. Most try to get in,” Clark said. 

The mechanic found the man in the 767-200’s center wheel well, which is about 15 feet wide and 20 feet long, airport duty manager Mike Towle said, adding that he understood the dead man was neither an employee of US Airways nor a passenger listed for the flight. 

“I’ve been here 30 years. There’s been stowaways, but not like this,” Towle said. 

US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said it’s unknown where and when the man boarded the jet. Castelveter declined to say whether the airline had concerns about security at Gatwick while the issue was “still a police matter.” 

The San Mateo sheriff’s office and airline officials were investigating. The Federal Aviation Administration also had been notified. 

Stowing away in an airliner wheel well often is fatal. When the wheels retract, the area is enclosed, but it’s not pressurized, so there is limited oxygen and extremely cold temperatures. 

“If he thought he could survive a trip like that in that part of the airplane, he was sadly mistaken,” said San Francisco airport spokesman Ron Wilson. 

Attempts at such desperate activities persist, however. 

Last August, a man survived a freezing flight across the Pacific in the wheel well of an Air France jet that landed at the Los Angeles airport. The flight originated in Papeete, Tahiti. 

The following month, the body of a Russian stowaway was discovered in the wheel well of a KLM jet arriving in Amsterdam from Moscow. The 21-year-old man died from exposure. 

And in November, a Romanian man was discovered unconscious and suffering from hypothermia in the undercarriage of a Berlin-bound passenger jet that was forced to return to Munich after the pilot couldn’t retract the landing gear. 

“At higher altitudes you can get to almost minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit with no oxygen. So the chances of surviving something like that are totally remote,” Wilson said. 

NEW YORK — Could those deteriorating consumer confidence figures be a measure also of how spoiled Americans have become after a decade of plentiful credit, easy payments, lots of jobs and rising stocks? 

Or do they represent instead a sense of fear absorbed from repeated reminders that a recession threatens, that inflation is on the doorstep, that unemployment will soar and that foreclosures will rise? 

Have things really gotten that bad or is the public mood more the reflection of leadership – economic, political, business, media – that has dramatized the negative possibilities at the expense of the positive? 

Something doesn’t quite jibe. The jobless rate remains at one of the lowest rates ever, cars are being sold in near-record numbers, homebuying is strong and inflation still hasn’t roared. 

Even on-line shopping, which has provoked much of the negative commentary over the past year, rose in the final quarter of 2000 to $8.7 billion, a huge jump over the previous quarter’s $6.4 billion. 

These indicators and more suggest that many people still haven’t lost their confidence, but now the question becomes one of how long they can sustain their elevated expectations against the negative onslaught. 

Such musings are pertinent to understanding how quickly consumer psychology can flip from an attitude of everything-is-possible to one of anxiety and foreboding, as expressed in the consumer surveys. 

The flip, or potential flip, has so concerned Alan Greenspan that he has now conceded that the future depends on the consumer not being scared into retreat.  

But this is the same Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve, who so publicly expressed his own recession fears in January. 

And so, upcoming surveys may be much more significant than those of the past.  

Conceivably, they could reflect the attitude of leadership as much as those of consumers. It depends on leadership’s emphasis. That focus could be on efforts to enhance consumer buying power, including lower interest rates, a potential tax cut, the odds against recession, the still-low jobless rate despite highly publicized layoffs. 

The positive indicators might be weakening, but they still remain among the better all-time economic numbers. And the stock market’s numbers could fall even more, but the long-term indicators still remain bullish. 

All the weakening numbers represent a descent from dazzling highs and most of them would still have a long way to go before reaching 1993 lows, which at the time weren’t considered all that bad. 

They could go even lower; there could even be a serious recession. Who could promise there won’t be? But the surprise would be if there is one. 

Standard & Poor’s economist David Wyss puts the situation in context with his February U.S. Forecast Summary. The cushions that should soften the landing might be getting thinner, he says, but they’re still there. 

“Many of the original problems that damaged consumer confidence in the second half of 2000 are now declining,” he explains, observing that “the picture still looks more like 1995 than 1990.” 

In 1990 the economy was shrinking. In 1995 it was going into a great expansion. 

John Cunniff is a business analyst for The Associated Press

A computer science professor at Cal has created a computer program that takes the geometric wood sculptures of Missouri artist Brent Collins a step further. 

Carlos Sequin says he was inspired to develop the program, which uses the mathematics found in the curves of soap bubbles, after discovering Collins' sculptures, composed of intertwined arches and saddles, in the art journal Leonardo in 1992. 

Although Collins did not create his sculptures using mathematics, Sequin thought the figures could have been developed using the principles of the saddle-shaped surfaces that soap films form inside of wire hoops. 

Mathematicians study these shapes because the soap film naturally stretches itself to the smallest area it could occupy given the constraint of its borders. 

Sequin contacted Collins and told him that using this ``minimal surface'' principle, a computer program could be developed to envision more complex versions of the sculptor's art in less time than it took Collins to build the wire mesh and beeswax prototypes that guided his original sculptures. 

Sequin and his students created a computer software program that allows the user to experiment with the shapes. The program can then create blueprints of the shapes, and Collins can use those blueprints to from a new sculpture. 

The program has allowed Collins to expand his art into shapes that he could not have created using his traditional method. Sequin uses the program in his classes, and he has developed a machine that can be used to create small models in a couple of days. 

Collins and Sequin will appear at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco later today. Collins will talk about his art, while Sequin will demonstrate how the computer program works.

BERKELEY — In a development that could affect the way high school students in California and across the nation prepare for college, University of California President Richard C. Atkinson is recommending dropping the SAT I as an admission requirement. 

Atkinson planned to announce his recommendation in a speech to the American Council on Education Sunday. 

“Anyone involved in education should be concerned about how overemphasis on the SAT is distorting educational priorities and practices, how the test is perceived by many as unfair, and how it can have a devastating impact on the self esteem and aspirations of young students,” Atkinson said in a draft copy of the speech. 

Atkinson has already asked UC’s Academic Senate, which sets admission standards, to consider dropping the SAT I, along with taking a more comprehensive look at applicants. Dropping the SAT I would require approval by the UC Board of Regents and could not take effect before fall 2003. 

Atkinson joins a growing chorus of dissatisfaction with the SAT I, taken by more than a million graduating seniors last year, and his suggestion drew strong reaction. 

“To drop the SAT would be like deciding you’re going to drop grades,” said Gaston Caperton, president of the nonprofit College Board which owns the SAT. 

“It’s an important step in the right direction,” said Robert Schaeffer of FairTest, a Cambridge, Mass., group that advocates less emphasis on standardized tests and argues that a high SAT score may have more to do with money spent on pretest coaching than ability. “There will be strong pressure on other state college systems to follow California’s lead.” 

SAT critics say high school grades are better predictors of how students will do in college than their SAT scores. But others say the SAT is crucial to providing a national yardstick – all A’s, for instance, are not created equal. 

UC now uses the SAT I and SAT II, a three-part test more closely tied to subjects studied in high school. Atkinson is not suggesting eliminating the SAT II. 

UC officials have discussed dropping the SAT I before, although there’s been no formal push to do so. In December, a draft report originating from a conference on admissions recommended reforming or eliminating the SAT I or making it optional. 

“Whether or not this can be actually changed depends a lot on what the faculty says to the regents and how the regents themselves perceive it as affecting quality,” S. Sue Johnson, regents’ chairman, said Friday. 

One of the criticisms leveled against the SAT is that it is culturally biased and unfair to disadvantaged students. Diversity in admissions has been an issue at UC since 1995, when regents voted to drop affirmative action. Numbers of black and Hispanic students have fallen at top campuses since then. 

Caperton defended the SAT as “extremely fair. What is not fair is the education system in America which gives children unequal opportunities.” 

But Atkinson said an overemphasis on SAT I scores has created the “educational equivalent of a nuclear arms race,” that hurts all involved but poses a risk to any institution that opts out. 

Some colleges have already dropped the SAT as a requirement, including Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, which is in the first year of a five-year study of what happens when the SAT becomes optional. 

Even before the change, SAT scores hadn’t greatly influenced admissions, but dropping the requirement helped dispel “the growing perception that your life is determined by these scores that you get on a Saturday morning,” said Jane Brown, vice president for enrollment and college relations. 

Caperton speculated that some would interpret eliminating the SAT I as “dropping standards for an institution that’s recognized for its excellence.” 

But Jeff Rubenstein, assistant vice president of the Princeton Review and author of several books about test preparation, said Atkinson’s announcement may prove a rallying point. 

“People are finally beginning to realize the incredibly narrow scope of what this test measures which is completely out of proportion with the importance given to it by most people,” he said. 

On the Net: University of California, http://www.ucop.edu 

FairTest: http://www.fairtest.org 

College Board: http://collegeboard.org/ 

http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/commserv/sat 

FRESNO— The number of pesticide poisonings in California increased by 20 percent in 1999, according to a state report released Thursday. 

The most frequent cause of pesticide illnesses in 1999 were chemicals that drifted from fields or industrial areas. 

There were 1,201 “suspected or confirmed” reports of poisonings in 1999, up from 998 the year before, according to data compiled by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. 

Despite the rise from 1998, the 1999 totals were still low relative to past years. 

“Other than 1998, this is the lowest number of injuries since 1986 (when there were 1,030),” said department spokesman Glenn Brank. 

State officials aren’t sure why the number of poisonings has dropped in recent years, but speculate that a 11.7 million pound decline in pesticide use in 1998 and 1999 may be a factor. 

“In the context of more than 1 million pesticide applications in California every year, the number of injuries does not appear to be out of line,” Brank said. 

The single largest poisoning in 1999 was in the Tulare County farm town of Earlimart, when the toxic pesticide metam-sodium drifted from a neighboring potato field and forced 180 residents to evacuate. Dozens sought medical treatment. 

Wilbur-Ellis Co. agreed to pay $150,000 to settle the case. Half the money was paid as civil penalties and half for medical care of those sickened. 

More than 800 of the reported poisonings happened to people at work. Of those, 555 were agricultural workers. 

Environmentalists said the report covers a mere fraction of the total poisonings. 

“There is a pattern where poisoning seem to be part of business as usual,” said Monica Moore, co-founder of Pesticide Action Network. 

Moore added that state and county officials aren’t eager to fine the agricultural companies responsible for violations. 

The state gathers its information either from two sources: reports that doctors must file with county health or agricultural officials each time they treat pesticide poisoning victims, and worker compensation forms that stricken workers file with the state.

SAN JOSE — An Internet service provider whose customers lost high-speed access last week when Covad Communications Inc. cut the connection fired back Wednesday by suing Covad. 

Covad mainly sells high-speed digital subscriber lines to Internet service providers, which in turn sell them to businesses and residential users.  

Last week, Covad unplugged two service providers, DSLnetworks and Internet Express, for not paying millions of dollars of bills. 

The move left thousands of customers nationwide without DSL access. 

In its lawsuit, filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, DSLnetworks contends Covad has been calling, faxing and e-mailing many of its 3,500 affected customers and asking them to sign up for DSL service directly with Covad.  

In some cases, top Covad executives personally have been making the calls, said Dan Melmed, director of marketing at San Francisco-based DSLnetworks. 

That violates nondisclosure clauses in the customers’ service agreements, and also is “indicative of what Covad’s intentions were, which is to really take our customers away from us and take them directly,” Melmed said. 

The lawsuit asks that Covad be ordered to stop contacting DSLnetworks’ customers. 

Covad spokeswoman Suluh Lukoskie said the Santa Clara-based company had not been served with the lawsuit and would not comment. 

Covad also has been reaching out to customers of Internet Express, but that is allowed under an agreement the companies signed last year, said Barry Diamond, chief Executive of Internet Express.  

Still, he expects to join in a class-action lawsuit with other ISPs against Covad. 

Both Internet Express and DSLnetworks pointed out that they had set up payment plans with Covad when the service was cut off, and that their deals with other DSL providers still are going strong. 

DSL technology vastly increases the data capacity of ordinary copper telephone wires.  

But Covad and competing DSL companies have been stung by their complicated partnerships with Internet service providers, service disruptions and installation delays in many areas. 

On the Net: 

http://www.covad.com 

http://www.dslnetworks.com 

http://www.internetexpress.com