The Bay Cruisers proved they were worthy of their name when they flew through the National Junior Wheelchair Track and Field Championships, capturing over a dozen medals, breaking nine national records and receiving the award for the best large team in the country. 

The Championships were held on the New Brunswick, N.J., campus of Rutgers University between July 21 and July 28. 

Berkeley’s own Lamile Perry led the way breaking records in the 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500-meter track events and one field event as well as picking up three additional gold medals. 

The team, sponsored by Berkeley-based Bay Area Outreach and Recreational Program, has competed in the wheelchair games since 1986 and has been coached by San Francisco resident Tim Orr since then.  

“The award shows how well each of our individual athletes did,” said Orr. “It shows how well rounded our team really is.” 

BORP was started in 1975 by a disabled UC Berkeley student named, Susan Sygall and her able-bodied friend Sue Belanger who fought for disabled access to the university’s physical education classes.  

Since then, the Berkeley-based non-profit has been dedicated to helping physically disabled people in the Bay Area take part in any activities that people without disabilities can.  

The program sponsors programs in tennis, basketball, kayaking, swimming, body conditioning and many more for both youth and adults. 

For more information on BORP call 849-4663 or visit their Web site at www.borp.org.

924 Gilman St. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Aug. 17: Blood Brothers, True North, The Cost, Red Light Sting, Betray The Species; Aug. 18: Dr. Know, The Sick, Society of Friends, Manchurian Candidates, Shut the F*ck Up; $5. 924 Gilman St. 525-9926. 

Ashkenaz Aug. 17: 9:30 p.m. Near East Far West. $12; Aug. 18: 9:30 p.m. Zydeco Flames. 8 p.m. dance lesson w/ Cheryl McBride. $11. Aug. 19: 8 p.m. Open Stage w/ Koko De La Isla, Ernesto Hernandaz, Jeff Hawkins. $8; Aug. 21: 9 p.m. Slavonkian Traveling Band. 8 p.m. dance lesson w/ Joyce Clyde. $10; Aug. 22: 9 p.m. Badenya Les Freres Coulibaly, $10; Aug. 23: 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Dead DJ Night with Digital Dave. $5; Aug. 24: 9:30 p.m. Caribbean All Stars $11; Aug. 25: 9 p.m. California Brazil Camp Benefit, $10; Aug. 26: 1 p.m. - 6 p.m. Middle Eastern Dance Workshops with Ma Shuga Mira Murijan and Nanna Candeleria. $45. 8 p.m. Harmonia, $10; Aug. 28: 9 p.m. Gerard Landry and the Lariats, $8; Aug. 29: 8 p.m. Earl White Oldtime Band, Bluegrass Intentions, plus clogging lessons. $10, Kids under 12 Free; Aug. 30: 9 p.m. Samite, Forward Kwenda, $10; Aug. 31: 9:30 p.m. Wawa and the Oneness Kingdom, The Calypsonians, $10; 1317 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054 www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Doors open at 8 p.m. Aug. 18: Craig Horton /CD Release; Aug. 25: Carlos Zialcita; Every Friday, 10 p.m. - 2 a.m., Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10; 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Freight & Salvage Coffee House Aug. 17: Mitch Greenhill & Mayne Smith, plus Spiral Bound, $16.50; Aug. 18: Mighty Prince Singers, Talk of Da Town, $17.50; Aug. 19: John Fahey Tribute Concert, $19.50; All shows 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jupiter Aug. 17: The Mind Club, Old school funk grooves with sonic swirls of acid jazz; Aug. 18: Blue & Tan; Aug. 21: Groove.org; Aug. 22: Stolen Bibles; Aug. 23: Beatdown w/ DJs Delon, Yamu, and Add1; Aug. 24: 5 Point Plan; Aug. 25: Mitch Marcus Quintet; Aug. 28: Big Lou and Polka Casserole; Aug. 29: Secession; Aug. 30: Beatdown with DJ’s Delon, Yamu and Add1; Aug. 31: Realistic CD Release Party; All music starts at 8:00 p.m. 843-7625 www.jupiterbeer.com  

La Note/Jazzschool Aug. 19: 4:30 p.m. Hazel Carter, 5:30 p.m. Bryan Girard & Friends, 6:30 p.m. T3 (Kirk Tamura Trio); Free. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373  

La Peña Cultural Center Aug. 17: 8:30 p.m. Music and dance performance by Jaranón y Bochinche, $12; Aug. 18: 8:30 p.m. Mission (roots hip hop), $8; Aug. 19: 3:30 p.m. Domingo de Rumba; Aug. 24: 8:30 p.m. Professor Terry’s Circus Band Extraordinary, $16; Aug. 25: 9:30 p.m., Edgardo Cambon’s Candela, $10, 8:15 p.m. Salsa dance class w/ Diego Vásquez, $13; In the Cafe, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

ACME Observatory Aug. 19: 8 p.m. Solo performance by Jason Kahn, Brown Bunny Ensemble. $9.99 suggested donation. TUVA Space, 3192 Adeline @ MLK Jr. Way. 649-8744 http://sfSound.org/acme.html 

Indigo Event Center Aug. 25: 4:20 p.m. Musicians for Medical Marijuana Benefit concert. Sound Tribe Sector 9, Lost at Last, The Mermen, Ten Ton Chicken, Scott Huckabay, Strawberry Alarmclock, Buzzy Linhart, plus special guests, $25. 1988 Broadway at 19th, Oakland. 869-5391 www.m4mm.org  

Third annual Berkeley World Music Festival Aug. 26: Noon - 6 p.m. Block party and carnival, Grupo Ilu Fun Fun, Petit La Croix, Samba Ngo, O-Maya, Fito Reinoso y Su Ritmo y Armonia. Durant Ave. between Telegraph Ave. and Bowditch. 

TUVA Space Aug. 25: 8 p.m. Vanessa Lowe and the Lowliflies, Ira Marlowe, Hoarhound. 3192 Adeline St. 655-9755 

“Frank Olivier’s Twisted Cabaret” Aug. 24 & 25, 8 p.m. Frank Olivier is joined by Uncle Paul Nathan and The Twisted Cabaret Band. All tickets $16. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 845-8542 www.juliamorgan.org 

“Loot” Through Aug. 25, Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m. Special Performance Aug. 20, 8 p.m. General Admission: $15, Students / Seniors: $10. La Val’s 1834 Euclid Avenue 655-0813 

“Murder Dressed in Satin” by Victor Lawhorn, ongoing. A mystery-comedy dinner show at The Madison about a murder at the home of Satin Moray, a club owner and self-proclaimed socialite with a scarlet past. Dinner is included in the price of the theater ticket. $47.50 Lake Merritt Hotel, 1800 Madison St., Oakland. 239-2252 www.acteva.com/go/havefun 

“Reefer Madness” Aug. 22, 23: 9 p.m. A new one-act theatre piece adapted from a 1936 government-funded film opens a critical eye to the control of our society. Performed by The Elemental Theatre Group La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Avenue. Wednesdays are “pay what you can,” Thursdays $5 - $10. 655-4150 

“Soul Harmony” Aug. 25: 5 - 7 p.m. A spirited one-woman show of history, culture, and entertainment. Written by Joy Holland, directed by Ava Coaxum. Presented at the Black Repertory Theater. 3201 Adeline St. $10 donation. 652-3399 

Films 

Pacific Film Archive Aug. 17: 7 p.m. Bonchi, 9:05 p.m. Money Talks; Aug. 18: 7 p.m. Ministry of Fear, 8:45 p.m. House by the River; Aug. 19: 3 p.m. National Velvet, 5:30 p.m. I Am Two, 7:15 I Am a Cat; Aug. 21: 7:30 p.m. The Direct Cinema Tradition; Aug. 22: 7:30 p.m. The Werewolf of Washington; Aug. 23: 7:30 p.m. Contempt; Aug. 24: 7 p.m. The Heart, 9:20 p.m. The Outcast; Aug. 25: 7 p.m. Moonfleet, 8:45 p.m. The Blue Gardenia; Aug. 26: 3 p.m. Duck Soup, 5:30 p.m. The Wanderers, 7:25 p.m. Dora-Heita; Aug. 28: 7:30 p.m. Doodling; Aug. 29: (free screenings) 7:30 p.m. The Horror of Party Beach, 9:15 p.m. The Crater Lake Monster; Aug. 31: 7 p.m. The Makioka Sisters, 9:35 p.m. A Woman’s Testament; Gen. Adm.. $7, The New PFA Theatre 2575 Bancroft Way 642-1412 

Exhibits 

“BACA National Juried Exhibition: Works on Paper” Through Aug. 31: Wed. - Sun. Noon - 5 p.m. Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893 

“Debbie Moore’s Autobiographical Paintings” Through Sep. 30 at Good Vibrations. Portraits of the artist’s sensual explorations spanning 25 years and reflecting changing ways of intimacy and body play. 2504 San Pablo Avenue 848-1985 

“The Decade of Change: 1900 - 1910” chronicles the transformation of the city of Berkeley in this 10 year period. Thursday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Through September. Berkeley History Center, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. Wheelchair accessible. 848-0181. Free.  

“A Fine Line” Through Aug. 24, Tuesday - Friday, noon - 5 p.m. or by appointment. An exhibition works by Kala Fellowship winners for the years 2000 and 2001. Kala Art Institute 1060 Heinz Avenue 549-2977 

“Geographies of My Heart” Collage paintings by Jennifer Colby through Aug. 24; Flora Lamson Hewlett Library 2400 Ridge Road 649-2541 

“MFA Survey Exhibition 2001” Third annual exhibition of works of recent graduates from Bay Area master of Fine Art programs. This year featuring artists working in three-dimentional media. Through Aug. 18 Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth Street 527-1214 

“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. Atelier 9 2028 Ninth St. (at Addison) 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

“New Visions: Introductions 2001” Through Aug. 18: Wed. - Sat.: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Juried by Artist- Curator Rene Yanez and Robbin Henderson, Executive Director of the Berkeley Art Center, the exhibition features works from some of California’s up-and-coming artists. Pro Arts 461 Ninth St., Oakland 763-9425 

“The Political Art of: Diego Marcial Rios” Through Sept. 20, Addison Street Window Gallery, 2018 Addison St. hdrios@msn.com 

“Sistahs: Ethnographic Ceramics” Through Aug. 22, Reception July 29 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Women’s Cancer Resource Center Gallery 3023 Shattuck Avenue 548-9286 ext. 307 

“Squared Triangle” Through Oct. 5. noon - 6 p.m. Reception for the artists, Aug. 18: 4 - 7 p.m. A minimal art exhibit featuring three Bay Area artists working in different mediums while achieving the same elegant simplicity. The Crucible, 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511 www.thecrucible.com 

“Ten Years Here” Exhibit celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Turn of the Century Fine Arts. Through Sept. 14, Sat & Sun 1-5 p.m. Reception Aug. 4 2:00 - 7:00 p.m. 2510 San Pablo Avenue 849-0950 

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books Aug. 17: Lynne Murray reads from her latest Josephine Fuller mystery “At Large”; Aug. 18: “Hell on Heels” tour with Daphne Gottlieb and Thea Hillman; Aug. 24: Andrea Gabbard discusses “Girl in the Curl: A Century of Women’s Surfing”; Aug. 25: Ann Bannon reads from her lesbian pulp classic “Beebo Brinker.” All events start at 7:30 p.m. and are free. 398 Colusa Avenue 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

Black Oak Books Aug. 19: “Wildest Alaska: Journeys of Great Peril in Lituya Bay” by Philip L. Fradkin; Aug. 21: June Jordan’s memoir “Soldier: A Poet’s Childhood”; Aug. 22: Ruth Daigon’s “Payday at the Triangle”; Aug. 23: Phil Cousineau’s “Once and Future Myths: The Power of Ancient Stories in Modern Times”; Aug. 27: Catherine Brady, Jean Herlund, Frances Payne Adler, and Marianne Villanueva and others to celebrate CALYX Book’s 25th Anniversary, “Cracking the Earth”; Aug. 28: Kent Nerburn reads from “Road Angels: Searching for Home on America’s Coast of Dreams”; Aug. 29: Sylvia Brownrigg reads from her new novel, “Pages For You”; All shows at 7:30 p.m. free of charge. 1491 Shattuck Avenue 486-0698 

Café de la Paz Poetry Nitro performance showcase with open mike. Aug. 20: Avotcja; 6:30 p.m. signup, 7 - 9 p.m. reading. 1600 Shattuck Ave. 843-0662 

Cody’s Books - Poetry Flash Aug. 22: Trane Devore and Shauna Hannibal; Aug. 29: The New Now Millennium Anthology Reading with Editor H. D. Moe; All are a $2 donation. Readings at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-0837 

Coffee Mill Poetry Series Aug. 21: Featured Readers: Victoria Joyce and Theresa Bamberger; Both 7-9 p.m. Free. 3363 Grand Ave., Oakland for info. 465-3935 or 526-5985, or Email: ksdgk@earthlink.net 

“Coffee Break Readings and Refreshments” Aug. 18, 4 to 5:15 p.m. Oakland Public Library-Rockridge Branch. Open-mic poems, monologues and dramatic scenes, presented by Opera Piccola. For ages 10 and up. 5366 College Ave. Free. 238-3134 ww.oaklandlibrary.org 

Spasso 7-9 p.m. Aug. 20 Arthur Weil, Reflections of the Moment, Poetry is for Sissies; Aug. 27 Kira Allen; Sept. 3 Theme: dignity of labor; Sept. 10 Sharron Jones-Reid, Fruit of the Spirit Poets, Acoustic Musicians, Comedians, Rappers, Performance Artists, Writers All Welcome is located at 6021 College Ave. Free admission. 

Tours 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Fridays 9:30 - 11:45 a.m. or by appointment. Call ahead to make reservations. Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

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

Museums 

Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm” An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and more. “Recycling Center” Lets the kids crank the conveyor belt to sort cans, plastic bottles and newspaper bundles into dumpster bins. $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. (closed Sundays, Memorial Day through Labor Day) Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

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 will close its exhibition galleries for renovation. It will reopen in early 2002. On View until Oct. 1 : “Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture.” “Sites Along the Nile: Rescuing Ancient Egypt.” “The Art of Research: Nelson Graburn and the Aesthetics of Inuit Sculpture.” “Tzintzuntzan, Mexico: Photographs by George Foster.” $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 or www.qal.berkeley.edu/~hearst/ 

Lawrence Hall of Science “Science in Toyland,” through Sept. 9. Exhibit uses toys to demonstrate scientific principles and to help develop children's thinking processes. Susan Cerny’s collection of over 200 tops from around the world. “Space Weather,” through Sept. 2. Learn about solar cycles, space weather, the cause of the Aurorae and recent discoveries made by leading astronomers. This interactive exhibit lets visitors access near real-time data from the Sun and space, view interactive videos and find out about a variety of solar activities. “Within the Human Brain,” ongoing. Visitors test their cranial nerves, play skeeball, master mazes, match musical tones and construct stories inside a simulated “rat cage” of learning experiments. “Saturday Night Stargazing,” First and third Saturdays each month. 8 - 10 p.m., LHS plaza. Space Weather Exhibit now - Sept. 2; now - Sept. 9 Science in Toyland; Saturdays 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. $7 for adults; $5 for children 5-18; $3 for children 3-4. 642-5132 

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. “How Big Is the Universe?” Aug. 1 through Aug. 24. Learn how to determine the distance of celestial objects, one of the purposes of the Hubble Space Telescope. Daily, 2:15 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, 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu 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  

Oakland Museum of California, A Legacy of Early California Paintings: The Shumate Collection, through Aug. 19; Every Worker is an Organizer: Farm Labor and the Resurgence of the United Farm Workers, through Aug. 26; Made in Oakland: The Furniture of Garry Knox Bennett, through Sept. 2; After the Storm: Bob Walker and the Art of Environmental Photography, through Sept. 16; Half Past Autumn: The Art of Gordon Parks, through Sept. 23; Rustler Ranch Mastodon Project, through June 30, 2002; Wednesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday, noon - 5 p.m., Closed Monday and Tuesday. $6 general; $4 youths (6-17), seniors and students with ID. Free for Museum members and children 5 and under. Free admission the second Sunday of the month. 10th & Oak Streets, Oakland. 238-2200 www.museum.org 

The UC Berkeley Art Museum is closed for renovations until the fall. 

Send arts events two weeks in advance to Calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.net, 2076 University, Berkeley 94704 or fax to 841-5694. 

The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter written by Councilmember Kriss Worthington to The Oakland Tribune responding to an Aug. 14 editorial in which the author called Worthington a “coward” and accused him of “advancing what seems to be a single agenda in a city widely known for its diversity.” 

An open letter to The Oakland Tribune: 

As a little kid I loved to go to the library and read newspapers and magazines from around the world. It opened my mind to many kinds of people in this beautiful world. 

My social studies teacher insisted I had to read The New York Times, a good and fun habit I still indulge in when time permits. Almost five years ago I was elected to the Berkeley City Council and apparently became newsworthy. In addition to devouring the written word, I began to answer reporters’ questions. 

During that time, I have had fun chatting with reporters from many Bay Area publications, including Tribune reporters William Brand, Cecily Burt, and Angela Hill. Sometimes they asked tough questions, and sometimes they quoted the other side too much for my taste, but we had an appropriate professional respect for each other. 

Imagine my surprise to have this relationship jolted by an editorial trashing me as a person worthy of being despised, insulting me by calling me names such as “despicable” and “coward,” and attributing quotes to me that were snippets strung together out of context! 

In addition to the personal insult, many have called or written to tell me that the editorial was insulting to the entire lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community because of the ferociousness and because it suggests that if I care about gay issues I have “a singular agenda.” 

To people who know me from my work on housing, health care, education, and organizing against racism, sexism, ageism, and prejudice against the disabled community, it comes as a surprise to be told that I have a singular agenda. 

The lesbian/ gay community is part of the whole fabric of our society. 

We walk side by side with our sisters and brothers in movements for racial justice. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our sisters for choice and against sexism. 

I don’t want just to complain. I want to propose positive steps you can take. To send a clear message to the entire community that you truly do not condone anti-gay policy, I propose that you consider the following ideas; 

1. I request that you issue a clarification/correction/retraction (whatever you choose to call it) to correct the mistaken impressions you may have created in people’s minds by attributing a caricature of an opinion and a cartoon of an agenda to me, rather than taking the time to research what I actually said and did. 

2. Write a timely strong editorial unequivocally in favor of the Boy Scouts of America dropping its official policy of anti-gay discrimination, so we can use the current controversy for positive good. 

3. As an early step in that direction, please join us in encouraging the local Diablo Silverado Council to adopt a strongly written statement in opposition to the national policy of anti-gay discrimination. 

4. The Tribune should provide domestic partner benefits to all its employees. This is being done by many outstanding cities and corporations throughout the country. 

5. In addition, I request that you issue an apology not to me personally, but to the lgbt community for insulting our simple efforts to raise questions about anti-gay discrimination. 

I welcome the opportunity to meet with the editorial board to clarify the facts and to discuss these proposals face-to-face in an atmosphere of mutual respect. 

Let’s work together to take one more step in America’s journey towards fairness and justice for all. 

Kriss Worthington 

Berkeley City Council member

Friday, Aug. 17

Candle Lighting Service 

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

San Pablo Park 

Russell and Mabel streets 

A candle lighting service for friends and loved ones in Berkeley and surrounding areas who have passed on. Free food (barbecue), drinks, table games, softball and entertainment. 653-3808 

Therapy for Trans Partners  

6 - 7:30 p.m.  

Pacific Center for Human Growth  

2712 Telegraph Ave.  

A group open to partners of those in transition or considering transition. Intake process required. Meeting Fridays through Aug. 17. $8 - $35 sliding scale per session 548-8283 x534 

Project Underground’s  

5th Birthday Party 

6 - 9 p.m. 

On the roof of Project Underground's Office  

1916A Martin Luther King Jr. Way  

Entertainment, food, drinks, childcare, raffle prizes and more. Everyone is invited to celebrate the organization’s success. $20 donation, nobody will be turned away due to lack of funds. 705-8981 www.moles.org 

Opus Q Auditions 

3 - 5/ p.m. 

The University Lutheran Chapel 

2425 College Ave. 

Opus Q - The East Bay Men’s Chorale is preparing for its first full season. Gay men and their allies are invited to audition for the world’s newest GALA ensemble. 664-0260 www.opus-q.com  

Even Stronger Women 

1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Free weekly cultural discussion class. This week: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. 549-1879 

Commission on Aging 

Transportation Subcommittee 

3 - 5 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Public forum/ meeting to discuss transportation issues. 644-6050 

Saturday, Aug. 18

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

Center Street @ Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

12th Annual Cajun & More Festival. Live music by: Motor Dude Zydeco, Johnny Harper’s Carnival, Creole Belles, Sauce Picuante. Food, crafts fair, micro-breweries, and free Cajun dance lessons with Pattie Whitehurst. Free event open to the public. 548-3333 www.ecologycenter.org 

The Pyramid Outdoor Cinema 

7 p.m. 

Pyramid Alehouse 

901 Gilman St. 

The Outdoor Cinema features cult classics projected on a large screen in the open-air brewery parking lot. This week, Grease. Movies show every Saturday through Sept. 22. $5 donation. 206-682-8322 x237 www.pyramidbrew.com 

KPFA Meeting for the Disabled Community 

1 - 4 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

A community meeting with KPFA’s Listener Advisory Board to voice concerns regarding the station’s coverage of disability issues. 707-795-2890 

Sunday, Aug. 19

Hands-On Bicycle  

Repair Clinics  

11 a.m. - Noon  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

All you need to bring is your bike. Tools are provided. Free  

527-4140 

Tibetan Culture 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Stephanie Hoffman on “Preserving the Tibetan Literary Heritage.” Free. 

843-6812 

West Berkeley Market 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

University Ave., between 3rd and 4th Streets  

Family-oriented weekly market. Crafts, music, produce, and specialty foods. This Sunday is International Family Day. 654-6346 www.westberkeley.com 

Opus Q Auditions 

4 - 6 p.m. 

The University Lutheran Chapel 

2425 College Ave. 

Gay men and their allies are invited to audition for the world’s newest GALA ensemble. 664-0260 www.opus-q.com 

The Bungalow - Tradition and Transformation 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Instructed by architect/contractor Barry Wagner. $35. 

525-7610 

Monday, Aug. 20

Ad Astrea Reading Series and Open Mic Night 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Spasso Coffee House 

6021 College Ave. 

Featured readers followed by open mic. Open to the public and free. 

428-1818 www.hitx.com 

Tuesday, Aug. 21

Intelligent Conversation  

7 - 9 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

A discussion group open to all, regardless of age, religion, viewpoint, etc. This time the discussion will center on fears and phobias: getting and overcoming them. Informally led by Robert Berend, who founded similar groups in L.A., Menlo Park, and Prague. Bring light snacks/drinks to share. Free. 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. 525-3565 

— compiled by Guy Poole 

Free Early Music Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Small group sings madrigals and other voice harmony every Tuesday morning. 655-8863 

Berkeley Fibromyalgia Support Group 

12 - 2 p.m. every 3rd Tuesday 

Alta Bates Medical Center  

Maffly Auditorium - Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way 

Rap session. 601-0550 www.arthritis.org 

Slide Show: Birds in the Garden 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

A discussion follows. 644-6107 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/hhs/commsvc/seniors.htm 

Wednesday, Aug. 22

Magic Mike 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

UC Berkeley 

Part of the Lawrence Hall of Science Wednesday FUN-days. Bay Area favorite Magic Mike with theatrical illusions and electric comedy. Museum admission $3 - $7. 

642-5132 

Lecture on Parkinson’s Disease 

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Ashby Campus 

Conference Room 3 

2450 Ashby Ave. 

Learn about the latest treatments for Parkinson’s disease. Free and open to the public. 869-6737 

Thursday, Aug. 23

Salsa Dance Classes 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Classes every Thursday with live percussionists, light refreshments, DJ playing Latin music. $10 or $15 for two. 237-9874 

New “Classroom Matters” Open House 

6 - 9 p.m. 

2512 9th St., Suite #3 

A Berkeley based educational center that provides tutors, mentors and support services, will hold an open house at their new location.  

540-8646 www.classroommatters.com  

Lecture-Program on the Armenian Opera “Arshak II” 

7:30 p.m. 

North Branch Berkeley Public Library 

1170 The Alameda 

Dr. Clifford Cranna will present a lecture-program on the world premiere of the Armenian opera Arshak II, the tale of Armenia’s fourth century warrior king. 649-3913 www.infopeople.org/bpl/ 

Kensington 55+ Activity Center 

9 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Social Hall of Arlington Community Church 

52 Arlington Ave. 

Conversation, Apple II computer instruction, massage therapy, German conversation group, meditation and relaxation techniques, watercolor art class, tea and coffee. Special 11 a.m. program: Holistic Health, Jan Stecher leads in Rosen Movement. 526-9146  

Friday, Aug. 24 

Yiddish Conversation Group 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

644-6107 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/hhs/commsvc/seniors.htm 

Even Stronger Women 

1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Free weekly cultural discussion class. This week: Poetry. 549-1879 

Basic Electrical Theory and National Electrical Code 

7 - 10 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Instructed by “Code Check” author/retired city of Oakland building inspector Redwood Kardon. $35. 525-7610 

Saturday, Aug. 25 

The Pyramid Outdoor Cinema 

7 p.m. 

Pyramid Alehouse 

901 Gilman St. 

The Outdoor Cinema features cult classics projected on a large screen in the open-air brewery parking lot. This week, The Shining. Movies show every Saturday through Sept. 22. $5 donation. 206-682-8322 x237 www.pyramidbrew.com 

Copwatch: Know Your Rights Training 

11 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Copwatch Office 

2022 Blake St. 

Learn what your rights are when dealing with the police. Learn how to monitor the police safely.  

548-0425 

Astrojax Playday 

1 - 4 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

UC Berkeley 

Astrojax is part yo-yo, part juggling balls and a lasso. The inventor, theoretical physicist Larry Show, will give a demonstration and instruction. Museum admission $3 - $7. 642-5132 

Cerrito Creek Work Party 

10 a.m. 

Meet at Creekside Park (south end of Belmont Street), El Cerrito 

Join Friends of Five Creeks in removing brush to make a new trail along Cerrito Creek. Bring work gloves and clippers if you have them.  

848-9358, f5creeks@aol.com, www.fivecreeks.org. 

Travel Careers Class 

8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 

Vista Community College 

2020 Milvia St. 

Vista’s annual one-day class for the public on careers in the travel industry. A full-day seminar. $5.50 981-2931 www.vistacollege.edu 

Sunday, Aug. 26 

Healing 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Sylvie Gretchen on “Healing Mind.” Free. 

843-6812 

West Berkeley Market 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

University Ave., between 3rd and 4th Streets  

Family-oriented weekly market. Crafts, music, produce, and specialty foods. 654-6346 

3rd Annual Berkeley World Music Festival 

noon - 6 p.m. 

Durant Ave., between Telegraph and Bowditch 

Carnival and block party festival with World Music bands, performers and dancers. 649-9500 www.taasite.org 

Monday, Aug. 27 

East Bay Heritage Quilters 

7:30 p.m. 

First Unitarian Church 

1 Lawson Road-Moeser Lane @ Arlington, Kensington 

Lecture: On the Road to Quiltmaking, a Personal Journey  

Non-members $3. 834-3706 

Tuesday, Aug. 28 

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. 525-3565 

Free Early Music Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Small group sings madrigals and other voice harmony every Tuesday morning. 655-8863 

Poetry Through Time II 

7 p.m. - 8 p.m. 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St. 

Bay Area poets Opal Palmer Adisa, Phyllis Koestenbaum, Reuven Goldfarb, and Martha Evans will read. A brief open reading will conclude the program. 549-6950 www.magnesmuseum.org 

Wednesday, Aug. 29 

Thursday, Aug. 30 

Salsa Dance Classes 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Classes every Thursday with live percussionists, light refreshments, DJ playing Latin music. $10 or $15 for two. 

237-9874 

Lost in the Wilderness 

7 p.m. 

REI 

1338 San Pablo Avenue 

Jason Flesher, a Search and Rescue member for almost 20 years, will share his nine rules for surviving in the wilderness. Free. 

527-4140 

Kensington 55+ Activity Center 

9 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Social Hall of Arlington Community Church 

52 Arlington Ave. 

Conversation, Apple II computer instruction, massage therapy, German conversation group, meditation and relaxation techniques, watercolor art class, tea and coffee. Special 11 a.m. program: Music, Hugh Kelly plays harmonica and leads sing-along. 526-9146 

Attic Conversions 

7 - 10 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Seminar taught by architect Andus Brandt. $35. 525-7610 

Friday, Aug. 31 

Start a Writing Group—and Keep It Going 

10 a.m. - noon 

North Branch Berkeley Public Library 

1170 The Alameda 

Dr. Kathy Briccetti will host a workshop on How to Start and Maintain a Writing Group. This free workshop requires pre-registration by Aug. 29th. 

644-6850 www.infopeople.org/bpl/ 

Even Stronger Women 

1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Free weekly cultural discussion class. This week: movie on Emma Goldman followed by discussion. 549-1879

By Wednesday at closing time, the City Clerk’s Office had received four proposals to redraw the boundary lines of the eight council districts in order to distribute the city’s population equally within each. 

Two of the proposals appear to be designed to create a large block of like-minded voters, another was incomplete and a fourth was inspired by the mathematical challenge of regrouping large numbers of residents while minimally moving boundary lines. 

The city is required to redraw the lines every 10 years based on the population numbers tabulated in the Decennial Census. According to the 2000 Census, Berkeley gained only 19 people in the last 10 years, but there were significant population shifts within the city. 

Based on the total population of 102,743, the city must redraw the district boundary lines so each district contains as close to 12,850 people as possible.  

The City Charter prohibits large variations in the shape and makeup of the districts by requiring boundary lines not be moved significantly from their original 1986 positions.  

The one plan that appears to meet that criteria was submitted by Michael O’Malley and David Blake who said they were challenged by the mathematical aspects of the project. The two men, who reluctantly agreed to be refereed to as math nerds, worked on the complex project by painstakingly adding up the residents of each block and then adjusting the lines by no more than one block from the existing lines. 

“We kept very close to the original lines,” O’Malley said. “In our plan there’s only two blocks that were not formerly on an existing boundary line.” 

Sitting at a local restaurant on Thursday, the table covered with maps, charts and Thai food, the two men were pouring over the other three redistricting proposals. 

“This proposal was done with a computer program,” Blake said with disdain and then, after some shuffling of documents and serving plates, held up a sheaf of well-handled yellow paper covered with pencil marks and eraser smudges. “You want to see our high-tech system?” 

Two of the other proposals were less focused on the mathematical challenges and sought instead to increase a political power base within certain districts.  

The Associated Students of the University of California submitted a plan that drastically altered the shape of districts 7 and 8. Josh Fryday, vice president of ASUC External Affairs, said the design sought to create a newly formed District 7, in which 71 percent of the voters would be under the age of 24. 

The ASUC members said their goal was to elect a student to the City Council who would represent them on issues of housing, transpiration and safety. 

Another group of 25 people most of whom belonged to either the Panoramic Hill Neighborhood Association or the Claremont–Elmwood Neighborhood Association, submitted a plan that increased the number of homeowners in District 8. 

In order to create the new district, the group moved District 8’s western boundary six blocks into the southern portion of District 7. The result is a fairly large deviation from the current boundary lines. 

“We thought this plan made the most sense to keep a neighborhood feel,” said Mary Ann McCamant. “The boundary we propose is made up of a lot of single-family homes and people who are fairly active in homeowners’ associations among which there is a lot of cross fertilization.” 

McCamant said issues the neighborhoods have in common are traffic on Ashby Avenue, impacts related to Alta Bates/Summit Medical Center and a controversial proposal for new lighting at Memorial Stadium on the UC Berkeley campus. 

Berkeley resident Elliot Cohen submitted an incomplete proposal. Cohen was not available for comment Thursday but he wrote on the submission form that “the deadline came faster than I thought!” He also offered to complete the proposal if he could be allowed more time. 

City Attorney Manuella Albuquerque issued an opinion on Thursday in which she said the predominant factor in deciding the city’s new boundary lines will be the requirement of the City Charter that the lines be minimally changed. 

She said in her opinion that the City Council can consider changing district lines to include communities of interest, but “they must do so only within the constraints imposed by the City Charter.”  

The City Council will hold public hearings on the redistricting proposals Sept. 13 and 25. A decision on the new district lines is expected Oct. 2.

The honeymoon is almost over for new Athletic Director Stephen Gladstone. Just two months on the job, he's been busy preparing the department for the coming year.  

But things will shift to an even higher gear when the fall sports season begins in a few weeks.  

In an interview with Berkeleyan writer Lyn Hunter, Gladstone talked about his goals for the department, philosophy for success and commitment to Berkeley's student athletes. Following are excerpts from that conversation. 

You're such a successful crew coach, winning numerous national championships both here and at Brown University. How did you get started in this line of work? 

A: I rowed in high school and at Syracuse University and loved it. While working on my English degree, I took a job at an investment firm overseas. I hated it. I thought: "Is this what life's going to be about?" But occasionally, we ask ourselves the right question. I asked myself where I was happiest and the answer was on the river. I couldn't make a living rowing since it isn't a professional sport, so I thought about coaching.  

Given your achievements in rowing, you obviously have a knack for getting athletes to perform at their highest level. What's your secret for success and how will you transfer this to the various sports programs now under your purview? 

Most athletes participating in high-level intercollegiate sports want to be successful, but some aren't sure how to do it. The challenge of coaching is not just the X’s and O’s, but understanding people, finding ways to reach them, to get them to trust you and their teammates. The coach has to make clear what's required and set a standard for the way athletes train, interact with one another and how they treat themselves. The coach is a guide to attaining success; they don't trick, cajole, control or hold hands. If you can get an athlete to accept this way, the synergy reinforces itself, creating not only a strong team, but a depth of connection that is very powerful. I think most of our coaches in the department are already on this path or are in various stages of development. When given permission, I'm happy to share my experiences of some 30 years in the trenches with them. But I don't want to push or lecture. I plan to have periodic roundtables with all the coaches so we can share with each other our successes and failures.  

What are your thoughts about athletes moving on to the pros before graduating? 

A: This is always going to be an issue when a collegiate athlete is performing at a high level. Look at John McEnroe and Tiger Woods.  

With a signature athlete, I can accept that they may go professional before graduating. What is not acceptable is to have athletes who aren't drafted spend two or three years with our program and still not graduate. It means we haven't fulfilled our mission. Our overall graduation rate is excellent, but in our revenue sports (football, basketball), the numbers aren't so good. This isn't unique to Berkeley, but it's something we want to improve. It's crucial for our coaches to work closely with advisers so that we can fully support our athletes and make sure they don't fall through the cracks.  

We will partner with Derek Van Rheenen, the new director of the Athletic Study Center, to help meet these goals. 

Last year, a Berkeley professor admitted giving two student athletes credit for courses they hadn't earned. 

How might you prevent this from happening again?  

A: The responsibility of honesty, of telling the truth, lies with the athletes, the coaches, the faculty and, on top of that, internally in my office. We all have to look very carefully at academic progress, and if at any time, something looks suspicious, it is incumbent upon us to dig deep to see what's going on.  

I hope to develop a system that allows us to monitor this progress with care so this doesn't happen again.  

Though this professor may have had good intentions, you don't help by not telling the truth. Saying it's OK to cheat is not a good message to give.  

There is growing concern across the country that collegiate sports have become too commercial, with program budgets spiraling out of control.  

What is your take on this issue? 

At Berkeley - and I believe it is this way at most public universities - we are required to be self-sufficient. We receive a minimal amount of money from the general campus budget. We believe there is an educational value to providing a broad athletics program on campus, but that requires money. Since it doesn't come from the university or the state, we rely on revenues from football and basketball games, which involve TV contracts, corporate sponsorships and advertising. You could argue that if our universities truly believe that sports is part of the academic mission, and not just a public relations tool, then why not help fund it? That's how the Ivy League schools do it. By not funding sports, universities are in some ways inviting commercialization of sports. 

What are some of your goals for the department over the next year? 

I would like to see endowments and annual giving increase for all our non-revenue teams. I want to see our teams performing at a higher level, particularly football. Tom (Holmoe, head coach) and his staff are aware of what they need to do. I also want our administrative and coaching staff on the same page, working together to create an atmosphere of support for each other. Improving these relationships will bring our programs forward. 

Our goal is not simply to put championship flags on the wall, but to understand and appreciate what went into getting that flag on the wall. We – administrators, coaches and athletes – can all get satisfaction from that.

Editor 

A letter came quietly through the mail August 7th which ended the appointment of one of the Commission on Disabilities' hardest working members, Karen Craig. 

The letter, from District 1 Councilmember Linda Maio, implied that her representative had caused or aggravated discord within the disabled community. 

The irony, from anyone's perspective, is that the letter came shortly after a meeting in which organizers and advisors for the Berkeley Folk Festival met publicly in an accessible location for the first time in the six year history of the festival, a meeting which the current director swore only months ago would never take place. 

Karen Craig did not speak much at this July meeting. What she did was harder. She invited parties to a six year long conflict to meet under the umbrella of a Commission on Disabilities subcommittee so that participants could meet in a neutral atmosphere. She helped craft an agenda that accommodated all parties, she chaired the meeting and kept the tenor of the comments gentle, full of jokes, and on schedule. 

And she got fired. The buzz out of City Hall is that even associating with those who raise critical concerns about disability issues rocks the boat that some city council members would prefer to float quietly through community waters. Staff who support this quieter course talk about “incremental” changes over time, time which six years has yet to dent in the case of the folk festival. 

The meeting did not resolve anything. Nobody made demands, nobody made promises. People listened, or did a good job of seeming to listen. People who ordinarily argue for the “intimacy” of small venues had a good chance to hear the impact of “intimacy” on people, disabled and otherwise, who need space to maneuver, tune instruments, jam, or chat with friends without disrupting the show. People who favor relocation had a chance to consider the wealth of relocation options available in the community and the wealth of decisions that go into making such a choice. Karen Craig made sure that all participants were treated respectfully, and unlike in past years, no one was singled out as a “troublemaker” or made a scapegoat. 

And she got fired. 

Karen Craig can point to many years of difficult work on behalf of the disabled community, all the more difficult in a world where sometimes one literally can't get through the door. Years of proposals, motions, letters, wording and rewording policy to try to include all community concerns are the best testimony to the legacy of her commitment. This work will not end with the termination of her appointment to the Commission, it will just be a little bit harder to do. 

The Commission on Disabilities and the Berkeley community will certainly get the message that Karen Craig’s “activism” cost her the position. But the real factor may not have been her “activism” but rather her willingness to set that activism aside and let real dialogue happen, thus making real change possible. To those in the City of Berkeley who wish only quiet, election-friendly, ineffective waters, people with a commitment to change and an ability to bring together others in discord are potentially dangerous, for their approach is revolutionary. 

Carol Denney  

Berkeley

Initial analysis of the 2001 Stanford 9 test scores, released this week, revealed little change from last year’s scores among Berkeley students. 

The 10-hour SAT9 exam tests students in math, reading and language skills and compares achievement for students in grades two through 11 throughout the state. 

Chris Lim, associate superintendent of instruction for the Berkeley Unified School District, cautioned against evaluating students too heavily based on these results. 

“I think it’s just one assessment of several you should be using,” said Lim. 

She stressed the importance of a variety of evaluation tools, including portfolios, class performance, project work, critical thinking and writing skills. 

Still, Lim was encouraged by the Berkeley students’ math results, which were slightly higher than the reading and language scores.  

She credited teachers’ use of other assessment tools during the school year that guides them in their evaluation of whether the students are meeting the state content standards. “(These tests) help to determine what the kids are learning and then it impacts what you’re teaching, so it is a closed cycle,” Lim said. 

The SAT9 test is part of Gov. Gray Davis’ efforts to hold schools accountable for meeting statewide education standards. Schools that perform well are eligible to receive monetary awards, while schools that perform poorly face sanctions.  

Several Berkeley teachers protested the monetary awards they received for last year’s positive test results, calling them “bribes,” and voluntarily gave their awards away. 

The test scores may reveal more patterns once administrators can further analyze differences between groups of students, said Lim.  

Some of the groups Lim plans to compare are male and female students; students who are economically disadvantaged and those who are not; and students who are receiving special education services and those who are not.

In the four years she has been working at Project Underground, a Berkeley-based nonprofit organization that fights against abusive gold mine and oil exploitation, Catherine Baldi has seen the organization grow.  

She has seen the staff increase to nine. She has seen the budget swell. And she has even seen a few communities come out victorious in what she characterizes as their battle against corporate interests. 

Created in 1996 in reaction to the murder of an environmental activist in Nigeria, Project Underground started as one of the few organizations trying to raise awareness around the human rights implications of environmental issues all around the world, according to Baldi. 

“It started out of the need to build a bridge between the human rights and the environmental movements and the indigenous rights movement,” said Baldi, who is Project Underground’s information coordinator. “We’ve evolved into an organization that has a very strong presence in the environmental movement and has the expertise about oil and mining impacts.” 

This expertise, Baldi explained, allows Project Underground to expose these problems and educate communities all over the world on the environmental consequences of oil and mine exploitation. At the beginning, she said, the organization spent much time doing “direct action,” such as demonstrations. But now Project Underground focuses more on supporting the communities by providing them with technical, legal, and scientific assistance.  

“We have built much more accountability through our campaigns,” said Baldi. “We do more of the direct support work and less direct action. We’re kind of a resource transfer organization.”  

Project Underground also works locally, taking advantage of its proximity to the U.S. government and international financial institutions. It uses different kinds of public pressure to get the corporations to stop their operations. 

One of Project Underground’s first campaigns, Baldi recalled, was against a Louisiana-based company called Freeport McRoRan. This corporation operates the world’s largest gold mine in Indonesia and is accused by Project Underground of protecting its profitability at any human and environmental cost. 

Project Underground’s public pressure, Baldi said, led other organizations to join the anti-Freeport McRoRan campaign and consequently, the company admitted human rights observers into the area. 

This is among the accomplishments that have given Project Underground the credibility it needed to grow quickly. In five years, its staff has doubled and its budget is almost four times what it used to be. During fiscal year 1997-1998, the organization counted on no more than $175, 000. This year, it received $800, 000 from private donors and foundations, such as the Richard and Rohda Goldman Fund or the Global Environment Project Institute. This financial support will allow the organization to keep working on its three current campaigns. It will also permit it to pursue other projects, including the creation of a North American network of activists and communities and the development of a database. 

Project Underground will celebrate its fifth anniversary with a fund-raiser Friday from 6 to 9 p.m., at its offices at 1916A Martin Luther King Jr. Way. French-Senegalese singer Henry Pierre will perform, as will a group of Native American drummers called The Young Eagle Singers. There will Guatemalan food, a raffle and childcare. For more information, call 705-8981 or go to: http://www.moles.org 

Grant will help rebuild Tilden Park carousel 

The East Bay Regional Park District will be receiving a $197,000 grant to restore the deteriorating machinery of the Tilden Park carousel.  

The grant was approved by the California Coastal Conservancy and made available through Proposition 12 - the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 - passed by California voters last year.  

The 1911 carousel receives over 150,000 visitors each year, making it one of the park district’s most popular attractions. Restoration of key mechanical parts is necessary if the carousel is to continue operating.  

UC Berkeley students  

mentor Vista students 

When Kathleen Jones-West transferred from Vista Community College to UC Berkeley in 1998 to complete her college degree, she dreamed of helping others make the same jump. 

This fall, her dream will materialize when four Vista graduates arrive at UC Berkeley as transfer students - the first products of a unique mentoring program started by Jones-West. And, the program is scheduled to expand to four other community colleges. 

For the past two years, the Vista students have been befriended and encouraged by UC Berkeley student mentors who have worked to make the campus a familiar and possible goal. Many Vista students do not plan to continue on for a four-year degree, or they may feel that the campus - only three blocks away - is unreachable. “Coming to UC Berkeley has been a goal since I was 12 years old,” said Adam Ebrahim of Fresno, who will enter as a transfer student this fall. For years, despite having the drive to reach his goal, Ebrahim nevertheless said that UC Berkeley was “largely unapproachable.” 

“I'd been working so hard for so long, I didn't have a realistic idea of how to proceed,” said Ebrahim.  

Teaming up with a UC Berkeley mentor was “absolutely great,” he said. “He walked around with me. I met people. I became very comfortable.” 

Ebrahim said his mentor also helped him focus his work so that he could avoid wasting academic time. 

Comments like these are music to the ears of Jones-West, who, though she has passed control of the program to others, still gets calls from students who tell her she has changed their lives. Jones-West is currently a second year graduate student in UC Berkeley's School of Social Welfare. 

Her “Starting Point” program, meanwhile, has been adopted by UC Berkeley as a regular part of its curriculum and is set to expand from Vista College to San Francisco City College this year, followed later by Contra Costa and Chabot community colleges.  

So far, about 100 UC Berkeley students have been trained as mentors.  

Volunteers sought to help with annual Solano Stroll 

Volunteers are wanted to help with the Solano Avenue Stroll, Sept. 9. People will be asked to put up posters and act as parade monitors. Those interested can call 527-5358 or go to www.solanostroll.org 

Online system helps track academic progress 

UC Berkeley is launching a new online system that lets undergraduate students monitor their academic progress on the Web by providing current information about courses needed to meet major, UC, and campus requirements. With the Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS), students can track their completed requirements, see which have not been completed, and consider possible courses to take in the future. 

“The Degree Audit Reporting System is the next step in the campus-wide effort to provide students with online tools to use during their academic careers at Cal. Tele-BEARS and Info-BEARS provide students with registration information, Bear Facts lets them view transcripts and change personal information, and now DARS enables them to monitor their progress through their academic career at UC Berkeley,” says Registrar Susanna Castillo-Robson. 

DARS is available to UC Berkeley undergraduates beginning in the fall. 

The Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS) automatically creates reports that reflect a student’s progress toward completing a degree in his or her declared major, taking into account not only completed UCB course work, but transfer courses and courses in progress. Students order DARS reports  

by accessing the system  

through Bear Facts (bearfacts.berkeley.edu) and clicking the DARS link on the home page. 

After providing the requested information, students receive a report via e-mail within 24 hours.

LOS ANGELES — Groups pushing to make Juneteenth a national holiday are meeting in Southern California to get the word out about the historic day commemorating an end to slavery. 

The fourth annual National Juneteenth Convention and Expo will take place in Ontario on Friday and Saturday. 

The convention will serve to “educate the country of the significance of Juneteenth,” said Ronald Myers, founder of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation.  

“The agenda will include a discussion of how to respond to the Bush administration’s lack of participation and support for Juneteenth.” 

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day a Union Army general went to Galveston, Texas, to inform the last slaves there that they were free – more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. 

Last June, President Bush issued a greeting observing the day and encouraging “all Americans to learn more about the role of African-Americans in U.S. history,” but convention organizers say they want more. 

Ken Liasius, a spokesman for the White House Office of Public Liaison, said there is nothing Bush can do without action from Congress. 

Juneteenth is observed in about 200 cities nationwide and is an official holiday in Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Delaware, Idaho and Alaska. Dozens of other states have legislators who have either introduced or plan to introduce resolutions or bills acknowledging Juneteenth, Myers said, adding that California is on the list. 

Assemblyman John Longville, D-Rialto, plans to introduce a resolution recognizing Juneteenth when the Legislature meets later this month.  

He said he also will sponsor a bill next year to make Juneteenth an official unpaid holiday. 

“It is a significant date that has gotten a lot of attention over the years,” he said. “Over the last decade more people have become aware ... at first it wasn’t widely appreciated. 

Although it is important for individual states to recognize the day, Myers said, his group’s main push is to make it a national holiday. 

“Our nation needs healing from all that slavery has inflicted on generations of Americans,” he said.  

“Surely, as the former governor of Texas, where it has been observed as a paid state holiday since 1980, you would think President Bush is aware of the importance of Juneteenth.”

SACRAMENTO — Higher electricity rates and state-funded rebates on energy efficient appliances have helped Californians conserve power this summer. But the main reason for that may be due more to the weather than Gov. Gray Davis. 

“We have had a break with the weather, which has been to our advantage,” said Susanna Garfield, spokeswoman for the California Energy Commission. “A third of our electricity use in the summer during peak demand times is from air conditioners.” 

California, the nation’s most populous state, has one of the lowest per-capita rates for energy use, second only to Rhode Island. 

That’s no surprise to Robert Sanford, an appliance salesman at the Marin City Best Buy, who said customers at his store now ask about appliances’ energy use. Six months ago, “it wasn’t even something anyone looked at. 

“People are looking at these for the long haul now. They want to know the energy savings,” he said. 

In other states, people “think we’re sitting out here in our hot tubs,” Garfield said. “But per capita, we’re very efficient.”  

Conservation has happened for several reasons, experts say, including education programs, rebates on power bills and energy-efficient appliances and higher electricity bills. 

State-funded programs “may have had more of a symbolic effect” than a practical one, said Severin Borenstein, director of the University of California Energy Institute at Berkeley. 

Borenstein said all the programs have contributed to the savings – and the corresponding lack of blackouts, but “the leading effect has been Mother Nature. We have had phenomenal weather.” 

Also, the perceived threat of higher electric bills has likely encouraged conservation, although recent rate increases were aimed at large power users, such as commercial customers, Borenstein said. 

“Flex Your Power,” the state’s education campaign, encourages residents to shift their energy-thirsty appliance use to the evenings when the danger of blackouts has passed. 

“Consumers we’ve talked to have made changes,” Garfield said.  

“They are shifting their use – running the dishwasher later, doing laundry at night.” 

Though not all customers are using less, shifting use to off-peak times helps flatten out the peaks in energy use that can bring blackouts, she said.  

The biggest incentive the state has offered is money – rebates for upgrading to energy-efficient appliances and on electricity bills, which state regulators recently increased. 

State energy officials have paid out $60 million to utility customers in rebates as part of Davis’ 20/20 summer conservation plan, which offers a 20 percent rebate for cutting electricity use by 20 percent. 

Nearly a third of PG&E and Edison customers qualified for the rebates in July, and about 38 percent of San Diego-area customers saw some relief on their bills. 

Other state-sponsored efforts encourage long-term drops in energy consumption, from handing out compact fluorescent light bulbs and rebates for most any energy-saving gadget from insulation to energy-efficient air conditioners.  

The state has set aside $50 million in rebates for upgrading to energy-efficient appliances to supplement rebate programs already underway by utilities. 

Sales of any appliance with the Energy Star label has tripled since last year at Cherin’s Appliance in San Francisco, said Lou Cherin. 

“Everyone is energy conscious now,” said Cherin, whose sons own the appliance store. “And there are substantial rebates. The rebates bring the price down dramatically.” 

Upgrading appliances saves a lot of power, without forcing people to make a lifestyle change, Garfield said. A new Energy Star-labeled refrigerator uses half the electricity of a 10-year-old one, she said. 

The rebates have spurred a run on new refrigerators, said San Diego Gas & Electric Co. spokeswoman Jennifer Andrews, with that utility giving out 20,000 rebates of up to $200 for any new energy-efficient appliances. 

In the last five months, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has received 52,000 rebate appliances for refrigerators, compared to 11,700 during the same period the year before, said PG&E spokeswoman Christy Dennis. More than 15,000 PG&E customers have upgraded washing machines, compared to half that amount the year before. 

More than 47,000 Edison customers have applied for rebates on appliances, said Gil Alexander, a utility spokesman. 

——— 

On the Net: 

The California Energy Commission: http://www.energy.ca.gov 

SAN FRANCISCO — Two major grocery chains have pulled a type of imported jelly candy from thousands of supermarkets nationwide after public health officials here warned they were linked to the choking deaths of two children. 

Grocery chain Albertson’s said Thursday the gel candies, sold under the names Fruit Poppers and Gel-ly Drop, will be removed nationwide from all its 2,500 stores.  

Albertson’s first pulled the candies from 195 stores in Northern California on Wednesday. 

“We want to better understand what the health risks are before we put them on our shelves again,” said Stacia Levenfeld, an Albertson’s spokeswoman.  

“The FDA has not given us any indication if these are safe or not.” 

Safeway pulled Jelly Yum brand candies from 200 of its Northern California stores last week. A company spokesman said the chain does not carry the candies in any other region. 

The gel candies, the size of a coffee creamer, are individually packed in small, soft plastic cups and sold in bulk in plastic jars. The brightly colored candies have become popular over the last two years among American kids after they met with success in Asia. The sweet gel usually comes with a piece of fruit inside a shell of conjac jelly that health officials in Hong Kong, Seattle, Ottawa — and most recently the San Francisco Bay Area — have warned does not readily dissolve in the mouth. Some jars carry a labels warning that the candies are not safe for children under age 6, others age 3. 

The candy is linked to the deaths of Deven Joncich, 3, of Morgan Hill in November and Michelle Enrile, 12, of San Jose last month. In both cases, rescue workers said they couldn’t dislodge the sticky gel from the children’s throats. 

The Santa Clara County Department of Public Health at a news conference Wednesday warned the public about the candy, recommending that it be cut in pieces before it’s given to small children. 

“We decided to do something after the death of Michelle on July 30 and after learning of another death in Seattle,” said Joy Alexiou of the county Health Department. “We want to  

make sure parents read those warning labels.”  

A warning label says the candy is unsafe for children under 6 years old. 

Health department officials in King County, Wash., posted a similar advisory on their Web site last summer after a child died from choking on gel candies. 

Around the world, more than a dozen deaths are tied to the candy.  

Most are in Asia, where the candy originated in 1995. In Japan, the candy has gotten the nickname “deadly mouthful.” 

Taiwan-based Sheng Hsiang Jen Foods Co., the manufacturer of the gel candies blamed for the two deaths in the Bay Area, maintains the candy is safe.  

“Whether it was a mini-fruity gel, a piece of meat, a hot dog, or any hard candy, the result could have been the same,” a company statement said. 

An FDA official said the agency is aware of the situation and continues to look into the two California deaths. But when the FDA will comment on the issue is unclear.

SACRAMENTO — Firefighters battling the largest fire in Northern California contained it Thursday morning, while residents living near another fire were allowed to return to their homes as that blaze also wound down by evening, officials said. 

About 50 miles north of Susanville, the Observation fire claimed 67,700 acres, said Jeff Fontana, a spokesman for the Susanville Interagency Fire Center. The more than 900 firefighters and personnel involved in the $2.7 million effort contained it Thursday morning. 

Crews were being demobilized and sent home, and Gov. Gray Davis hailed them and the other “brave men and women” fighting that and three other fires. 

Meanwhile, all lanes of Interstate 80 that had been closed by the fire near Emigrant Gap were open Thursday.  

That fire had shut down parts of that major freeway for three straight days. 

A fire about 13 miles east of the town of Likely in Lassen County had claimed 33,101 acres as of Thursday evening. Firefighters continued working through sweltering conditions, although winds had died down, said Hilary Ford, a Modoc National Forest information officer. 

The Blue fire, which was 45 percent contained as of Thursday, had posed a threat to Eagleville, a small community of about 100 people and Jess Valley, with its 50 residents, but then headed in a different direction, said Wayne Chandler, a fire information officer for the Modoc National Forest. 

More than 1,576 firefighters and personnel, 47 fire engines, and eight helicopters responded to the Blue fire. Full containment was expected Wednesday. The cost of the fire was estimated at $1.2 million. 

Firefighters were clearing foliage Thursday after getting ahead of a blaze in the Mendocino National Forest that had grown to 14,705 acres. 

Winds remained calm, which is “good news,” said Rick Barton, fire spokesman. 

Barton said indirect line construction was completed and firefighters had begun a burn out operation Thursday evening. 

The fire has destroyed 10 homes and 16 outbuildings and 11 firefighters have received minor injuries since the blaze began Aug. 8 near Stonyford in Colusa County. 

More than 1,583 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, state forestry department and local fire departments were fighting the Trough blaze, which was 64 percent contained as of Thursday evening.  

Full containment was expected Monday. The cost of the fire was estimated at more than $8.4 million. 

Some residents were allowed to return to their cabins after 6 p.m. Thursday after being evacuated because of a fire in the steep forest near a remote spot near Emigrant Gap, about 70 miles northeast of Sacramento. 

The fire had claimed 2,462 acres as of that evening. 

Residents in the Yuba Gap area and Emigrant Gap area, as well as about 150 campers in nearby campgrounds, had been evacuated earlier in the week. 

More than 1,155 firefighters had contained 90 percent of the blaze by Thursday evening, with full containment projected by 6 p.m. Friday, said Andy Williams, a Tahoe National Forest information officer. 

Williams said crews there were winding down and either being sent home or to assist at other fires. 

Three firefighters suffered heat stress and one suffered a minor eye injury, officials said. 

Using aircraft to drop water, firefighters kept the fire from spreading north of the freeway, the main highway between Northern California and states to the east. 

Officials said the fire was reported Sunday afternoon by a lookout on Saddleback Mountain near Downieville, about 25 miles north of the fire. Its cause is still under investigation. 

— 

On the Net: 

Read about fires at http://www.cdf.ca.gov 

VALLEJO — The death of a woman who suffered bleeding in the brain after riding a spinning teacup-style ride at Six Flags Marine World has officials wondering if such rides should be more closely studied. 

Authorities are now investigating the death of the 42-year-old, who last month was this summer’s second fatality involving a brain injury at a Six Flags theme park in the state. 

“In a matter of weeks, we have seen two of them,” said Dean Fryer, spokesman for the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health. “That raises the question, ’Has this been going on and nobody’s known or tracked it?’ I don’t have an answer.” 

Fryer said he has no evidence that the woman had a pre-existing medical condition or that the bleeding that occurred on her brain resulted from riding the Monkey Business ride. The attraction was reopened after it was found to have no mechanical problems. 

“We don’t have jurisdiction to investigate anything other than mechanical operations,” Fryer said. “Our jurisdiction is to look at the operations of the ride to ensure it is safe and operated in a safe manner and according to the manufacturer’s specifications.” 

Jeff Jouett, park spokesman, said he doesn’t believe the death was ride-related. 

On July 21, the woman said her head hurt and she was lightheaded and numb on her left side after riding the attraction twice. Park medical officials treated her on site, and she was transported to an area hospital where she died after two days. 

The park and the state did not know of the woman’s death until this month. 

No autopsy was performed on the woman’s body. 

In June, a woman died from heart disease related to hypertension after riding a roller coaster. Pearl Santos, 28, had a ruptured brain aneurysm. An autopsy showed that the stress of riding the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita was the probable culprit. 

More study into brain-related injuries associated with theme-park rides has been requested by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. 

WASHINGTON — Federal officials routinely discriminate against religious groups when handing out grant money, taking constitutional concerns about the separation of church and state too far, the White House contended in a report Thursday. 

Head Start centers shouldn’t be forced to remove religious signs from walls, the report says, and housing regulations shouldn’t bar organizations dubbed “primarily religious” from participating in community development programs. 

The report, based on data from five federal departments, reiterates many of the points White House officials have made for months as they campaign to direct more government money to religious groups. 

Until now, that campaign has focused on getting Congress to pass legislation opening government’s doors wider to churches, synagogues and other “faith-based organizations.” With this report, the White House is arguing that federal agencies have the power under current law but often act as if they don’t. 

“It is not Congress but these overly restrictive agency rules that are repressive, restrictive and which actively undermine the established civil rights of these groups,” the report concludes. 

The report repeatedly asserts that it is unconstitutional for these agencies to discriminate against religious organizations, although that point is widely debated and far from settled. 

For many years, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to give taxpayer dollars to “pervasively sectarian” organizations, to keep government from establishing religion or intruding upon it. 

In recent years, the court has opened the door to funding of some religious groups, but so far the court has stopped short of abandoning its earlier, more restrictive rulings. 

Asked about this debate, Bush domestic policy adviser John Bridgeland said that’s why legislation is needed — to make it clear that religious groups can get the money. In the meantime, he said, departments may suggest policy changes. 

President Bush, who ordered the report, suggested regulatory action might be coming. 

“We now see exactly what kind of obstacles stand in the way of a more compassionate America,” he said in a statement. “We look forward to addressing these inequities through legislation, administrative action and education.” 

Titled “Unlevel Playing Field,” the report includes information from five agencies – Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, Justice and Housing and Urban Development – each of which searched for institutional barriers that prevent religious and community-based groups from taking part in government programs. 

Some agencies, the report says, put religious groups into two categories: “too religious” and “secular enough.” Where participation is not banned outright, it says, religious organizations often face an “unwelcoming environment.” 

Civil liberties groups responded that established law is being followed. 

“What they call barriers, most people would call the Constitution of the United States,” said the Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. “Highly trained, nonpartisan government employees are trying to obey the Constitution as written, not the fanciful interpretation the White House wishes for.” 

The broader question — whether religious groups should be allowed to offer more programs with government money — has been the subject of a six-month debate in Congress. Legislation approved by the House would make it clear that such groups may compete for grants without putting aside their own religious character. The matter is pending in the Senate. 

The report also concluded: 

—It is hard to measure precisely how much federal money religious groups now get, though anecdotally it appears they get very little. That is partly because they choose not to apply for it, fearing they will be forced to strip away their religious character. 

—Federal officials have largely ignored “charitable choice” laws, which open government welfare, drug treatment and community development programs. They have done little to help states and local governments comply with the new rules. 

—Very little is done to measure how well the groups that get the bulk of government money actually perform, meaning there’s little rationale for giving the same groups the big contracts every year. 

—Cumbersome regulations and requirements make it hard for smaller organizations — both religious and secular — to participate in federal programs. 

WASHINGTON — People could log onto their home computers instead of going to the federal courthouse to get information on many cases under a plan to put records on the Internet. 

A panel of judges stopped short of directing that all cases be available online, however, taking a tentative step into the Internet age with civil cases first. Records would be edited to remove personal information that could be used by cyber criminals. 

Recommendations that were released Wednesday follow two years of work and could become the standard not only for all federal courts but some state judiciaries. 

A committee of 14 judges said records of criminal cases should not be put on the Internet for now because “information could then be very easily used to intimidate, harass and possibly harm victims, defendants and their families.” They said the policy should be reviewed within two years. 

“I’m encouraged they haven’t slammed the door on criminal cases. They apparently want to take a go-slow approach, which may be the best thing,” said Tom Newton, attorney for the California Newspaper Publishers Association 

With privacy advocates on one side and media groups on the other, judicial leaders are walking a tightrope as they decide how to make records available not only by paper at courthouses but also online. 

News associations argue that all public records should be treated the same and should be accessible through the Internet, which provides quick availability. Opponents contend those records can include private things like financial information and medical records. 

Court officials would doctor Social Security numbers, dates of birth and minor children’s names in online records, under the plan. 

“I’m pleasantly surprised,” said Chris Hoofnagle, attorney for the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Rights Information Center. “There’s clearly a recognition and sensitivity to privacy issues.” 

Paul McMasters, First Amendment ombudsman at the Freedom Forum in Arlington, Va., was disappointed. 

“Just when the information age promises to make those criminal records truly public, this committee is suggesting they really shouldn’t be that public after all,” he said. 

The Judicial Conference of the United States, which sets policy for courts, meets Sept. 11 and will consider the recommendations by the Committee on Court Administration and Case Management. 

“The federal courts are not required to provide electronic access to case files ... nevertheless, the federal courts recognize that the public should share in the benefits of information technology, including more efficient access to court case files,” the committee said in its report. 

The committee said Congress should change bankruptcy laws to allow judges to seal those cases to protect privacy. Hoofnagle said bankruptcy records are an easy source for people to get personal information to use for identity theft. 

The report proposed keeping off the Internet cases involving Social Security challenges, like those filed by injured workers. The Social Security Administration asked for an exemption, and the committee agreed that those are “of little or no legitimate use to anyone not a party to the case.” 

The Justice Department had expressed concerns about criminal cases being available on the Internet. 

Federal courts around the country are handling Internet access differently. The committee said policies should be the same nationwide. 

The committee said people who go online to get federal court documents should have to register with a government-run records system, which charges a fee. 

——— 

On the Net: 

U.S. Courts privacy debate: http://www.privacy.uscourts.gov/ 

WASHINGTON — More people are being killed by pollution from cars, trucks and other sources than by traffic crashes, researchers estimate in a report that says cleaning up would prolong the lives of thousands of people. 

The researchers, in a study in the journal Science, said that cutting greenhouse gases in just four major cities — Sao Paulo, Brazil; Mexico City; Santiago, Chile and New York City — could save 64,000 lives over the next 20 years. 

Greenhouse gases, principally carbon dioxide or ozone, are those pollutants that tend to trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere or to affect solar radiation. 

The gases have been blamed for causing global warming, but the study’s lead author, Devra Lee Davis, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School in Pittsburgh, said the effects are not just long-term. 

“The message in our study is that there are real and immediate health benefits” in reducing greenhouse gases, she said. 

She said that burning of fossils fuels, such as gasoline in cars or coal in power plants, can create air pollutants such as ozone, airborne particles small enough to be inhaled, carbon dioxide and other gases. The pollutants, said Davis, can cause people to die prematurely from asthma, breathing disorders and heart disease. 

“It is our best estimate that more people are being killed by air pollution ... than from traffic crashes,” said Davis. “There are more than a thousand studies from 20 countries all showing that you can predict a certain death rate based on the amount of pollution.” 

Some experts, however, say that the direct connection between air pollution and death is not that clear, even in cities. 

Dr. Russell V. Luepker, a cardiologist and professor at the University of Minnesota, said that air pollution is not recognized as a significant cause of heart disease in the United States. 

“It is not a major factor in developing heart disease, but it does play a role in acute episodes that can kill you,” said Luepker, an expert designated by the American Heart Association as a spokesman. “More people either come to emergency rooms or die of heart disease during pollution episodes,” but the pollution did not start the disease, he said. 

Dr. Marian Frieri, a professor of medicine and an asthma expert at State University of New York at Stony Brook, said that air pollution can contribute to asthma inflammation but is only one factor on top of another condition. 

Davis and four co-authors said that adopting greenhouse-gas abatement technologies now available could prevent thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis and save millions of days of restricted or lost work. 

“We’re not talking about Buck Rogers-like, futuristic technologies,” Davis said. 

She said although the study concentrated on just four cities that have a combined population of 45 million, the conclusions probably could be applied to cities worldwide. The data are consistent with a World Health Organization study that estimated that air pollution would cause about 8 million deaths worldwide by 2020, she said. 

Dr. Jonathan Patz of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said the study by Davis and her co-authors draws “an important conclusion.” 

“It shows that there are significant health benefits to be had from reducing emissions from the burning of fossil fuels,” he said. 

Carbon dioxide and other gases from the burning of coal and oil have been blamed by many researchers for warming of the climate. Some have predicted long-term and varied global effects, including such phenomena as melting glaciers, rising sea levels and recurring weather extremes. 

——— 

On the Net: 

Global warming: http://www.ipcc.ch 

AUSTIN — The successful last-minute attempt to spare the life of convicted killer Napoleon Beazley included two unusual twists: the judge who presided over Beazley’s trial asked the governor to stop the execution, and one of his own appeals lawyers admitted doing a poor job. 

Beazley was 17 when he killed John Luttig, the father of a federal judge who has ties to three U.S. Supreme Court justices. The case has divided the Supreme Court and renewed criticism of states that apply the death penalty to teenagers. 

A state appeals court stopped the execution four hours before Beazley was to die by injection on Wednesday so it could review his case.  

Just before the court ordered the delay, Beazley’s trial judge, Cynthia Kent, faxed a letter to Gov. Rick Perry asking him to commute Beazley’s sentence to life in prison. 

Although the trial was free of error, the judge wrote, Beazley’s life should be spared because of his age at the time of the murder.  

In Texas, juries decide whether convicted killers should be executed. 

Perry said Thursday he was aware of the judge’s letter but wouldn’t say what he would do. Perry can grant a 30-day reprieve from execution, but can’t order a commutation without the recommendation of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, which already voted to proceed with the execution. 

Smith County District Attorney Jack Skeen Jr., said he opposes the surprise request and would “strongly urge” Perry against commuting the sentence.  

Kent didn’t immediately return a call for comment Thursday and her staff said the judge wouldn’t comment on a pending case. 

The judge’s letter is “very unusual,” said Rob Owen, an adjunct professor at the University of Texas law school and director of the school’s capital punishment clinic.  

Owen said he had never heard of a judge writing such a letter in a capital murder case. 

“She has grown to agree that while he deserved to be punished, he was not the most dangerous criminal who deserved to be executed,” Owen said. 

Also rare, Owen said, was a sworn statement from one of Beazley’s appeals attorneys, blaming himself for mistakes in his case.  

Although claims of inadequate counsel are common on direct appeal, it is unusual for an appeals attorney to criticize himself later, Owen said. 

Robin Norris, who represented Beazley in one of his rounds of appeals, has submitted a sworn statement admitting his investigation and preparation of the case were incomplete.  

He also said he didn’t research or brief the issues regarding Beazley’s age. 

Norris also said his caseload was too heavy because he was handling several other death penalty cases at the same time. 

“I feel a good case can be made for my responsibility for the shortcomings of my investigator,” Norris said.  

“If I’m not going to be responsible, nobody will be.” 

Beazley would be the 19th U.S. prisoner to die since 1976 for a murder committed by a person younger than 18.  

He would be the 10th in Texas, where he was among 31 death row inmates who were 17 at the time of their crime. 

Beazley, a high school class president and star athlete who also had dealt drugs and carried firearms, killed Luttig as he and his wife were returning home to Tyler.

DETROIT — A study released Thursday said hands-free devices for cell phones do not appreciably reduce driver distraction, suggesting laws mandating the use of such devices may be ineffective. 

The study, conducted by University of Utah researchers, concluded distractions are caused by concentration on the conversation, rather than dialing or holding the phone. 

“It’s not where the hands are, but where the head is,” said Chuck Hurley of the Itasca, Ill.-based National Safety Council, which reported the study in the August/September issue of its publication Injury Insights. 

The study involved 64 participants in a simulated driving environment. Participants who were talking on their cell phones missed twice as many simulated traffic signals and took longer to react to those signals they did detect. There was no significant difference, however, between drivers using hands-free devices and those using hand-held phones. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that driver distraction – including talking, eating, reading or even changing radio stations – is involved in 20 percent to 30 percent of all crashes. 

The president of the trade group representing the cell phone industry did not dispute the study’s findings but echoed the safety council’s call for drivers to use phones and other electronic devices responsibly. 

“Any activity a driver engages in, besides the task of driving, has the potential to distract,” Tom Wheeler, president and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, said in a statement. 

In June, New York became the first state to pass a ban on using cell phones while driving. At least a dozen localities and 23 foreign countries have established bans, and at least 39 states are considering similar laws. An estimated 119 million Americans use cell phones. 

Concern over new potential driver distractions is growing as automakers make available new on-board devices that make it possible, for instance, to send and receive e-mail, check appointments and ask for directions. 

——— 

On the Net: 

National Safety Council: http://www.nsc.org 

Grinding a slug under the heel of your boot and then selecting flora to tenderly cultivate. Methodically exterminating generations of snails and then constructing your very own greenhouse.  

Covering some earth with a patio while transforming another space into a pond which you carefully nurture and refer to as a “womb chamber.” 

Welcome to “gardening.”  

“My garden is all about balance, about choices,” writes Simone Martel, who spent important moments of her childhood alone with her black cat, Sylvia in a garden in the Berkeley Hills.  

As a teenager, Martel found herself wandering through the four acre Blake Estate, a manifestly cultivated garden in Kensington which is open to the public on weekdays, and within which the president of the University of California resides.  

While Martel herself was in college, she married and moved into a home in the Berkeley flats. Martel’s book, “The Expectant Gardener,” recently published by Berkeley’s Creative Arts Book Company, chronicles Martel’s 10 years in this house, where she made the journey from novice gardener to expert amateur horticulturist.  

Martel documents this journey plant by plant and year by year – from the daffodils which bloom in the first warm days of February, to the tomato plants which bear fruit into November.  

Every plant has its own strength and meaning, such as the trailing lobelia on her front porch which still have the power to make her mother wince.  

Martel points out that where some people see a flower, she now perceives a process; she finds herself marveling at how a few dusty seedlings can turn into eight foot hollyhocks, and an almond shaped tuber becomes a big blooming dahlia.  

She also finds herself feeling prejudiced against some plants, while favoring others. She characterizes plant varieties as “banal” or “placid.” 

Martel’s heading toward that pivotal moment in which she will “garden” her own life and have her first child. 

“Mother Nature” isn’t so compliant as Martel would like.  

Martel warily deals with the weeds which flourish in every month of the year, and her personal ambitions – such as for white oleander (Nerium oleander) are periodically destroyed by climactic changes or the invading seeds from neighboring gardens. 

Sometimes Martel herself becomes fickle: planting, then ripping out, flower varieties; landscaping with native shrubs, then adding exotics.  

The chores never seem to end and Martel is meticulous and obsessed.  

She moves through scores of gardening tomes and catalogs; gets personal about the “wonders of mulch” and takes issue with the bias against conventional lawns. (She likes a little lawn.) 

What I like best in “The Expectant Gardener,” is Martel’s analogy between a garden and life.  

We hear that “A hard frost strikes about once every five years. When it does, only the toughest, most established hibiscus, bougainvillea, and other tropical plants survive.”  

We learn about how much difference “time” makes – the passing years help some plants to mature and grow comfortable. We learn that when a plant bolts it grows quickly, makes seeds, and dies prematurely. In hot weather; for example, lettuce sometimes bolts and becomes too bitter to eat. 

But my favorite bit of wisdom is this: “Gardening had taught me that time passes, seasons go by, things change. If you wait too long, sometimes it’s too late.” 

After 10 years of gardening Simone Martel concludes that nature is uncontrollable. When it is time, Martel harvests her garlic chives and one day she goes into labor. She asks herself: “Why do we make gardens? Why on earth do we bother?” 

She answers: “You have to learn to cherish. You have to dare to take the risk, to bother, to care.” 

Sari Friedman is finishing her first novel and teaches writing at local community colleges. She can be reached at Literate2@Yahoo.Com

SAN FRANCISCO — Sinking along with the Internet economy that it covered, the Industry Standard will suspend publication next week and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to an internal company memo obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. 

The San Francisco-based weekly magazine’s 150 employees will receive the bad news Monday when they return from a week of forced vacation, according to sources familiar with the plan. About six employees will be retained to continue running the Standard’s Web site and report on the technology industry, the sources said. 

If it can reorganize its finances under the bankruptcy court’s supervision, the Standard hopes to revive the magazine, sources said. 

Boston-based International Data Group, the Standard’s majority owner, declined to comment Thursday. 

The memo from Standard Media International’s investors and board of directors blamed the 3-year-old magazine’s failure on a deep technology industry slump that has resulted in mass layoffs and drastic cutbacks. With few buyers in the market, companies reduced their advertising budgets, which hit the magazine hard. 

After raking in $140 million in revenue last year, the Standard is on a pace for $40 million this year, a drop-off of more than 70 percent, the memo said. 

“The company’s ’vital signs’ have been dropping precipitously in the face of a severe correction in the overall market,” the memo said. 

This year’s dramatic reversal in fortune came on the heels of an aggressive expansion last year that included a long-term lease for expensive office space that would accommodate more than 600 employees. The payroll climbed to about 400 workers last fall when advertising revenue began to fall, prompting management to begin backpedaling. 

Despite a series of cost-cutting measures adopted since the dot-com downturn, the Standard couldn’t shed enough expenses to stay alive, the memo said. 

In the past year, the Standard has lost more than $50 million, the memo said. After striking out in its last-ditch attempts to raise $10 million from venture capitalists and other investors this week, the Standard’s board decided to go the bankruptcy route, sources said. 

The bankruptcy petition will likely list more than $50 million in liabilities, sources said, a stunning reversal from early 2000 when the magazine was valued at $200 million during a $30 million round of financing from investors led by Flatiron Partners and Chase Capital Partners. 

Bulging with snazzy ads proclaiming how technology industry would change the world, the Standard became a benchmark for the dot-com industry. As it covered the rise of unprofitable Internet companies that became Wall Street darlings, the Standard joined in the celebration with fancy parties and elaborate technology conferences. 

With a staff of business journalists plucked from well-established publications around the country, the Standard became perhaps the best-known of the flashy magazine to crop up in the San Francisco Bay area. 

The Standard isn’t the first of its breed to cash in its chips. 

In June, Business 2.0’s parent company sold the magazine for a reported $68 million to AOL Time Warner, which transferred the name to its eCompany magazine. Other prominent New Economy magazine such as Red Herring and Upside have been dumping workers and searching for cash infusions. 

——— 

On The Net: 

http://www.thestandard.com 

WASHINGTON — A sharp drop in the cost of gasoline and other energy products helped drive down consumer prices in July by the largest amount in 15 years. 

There also was good news on two other fronts Thursday: Housing construction posted its best performance in 17 months and the number of workers filing jobless benefits declined, suggesting better days ahead for the slumping economy. 

“This is all great economic news,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Economy.com. “After all the gloom, which was getting thicker and thicker, there is a little break in the clouds and sunlight is poking through.” 

Even so, stock indexes were down slightly by midafternoon as investors focused more on companies’ profit and revenue warnings than on the broader economy. 

While Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues have plenty of room to cut interest rates further, given the tame inflation, economists are predicting that policy-makers will opt for a quarter-point reduction rather than a more aggressive half-point when they meet Tuesday. 

“I think it’s close to a slam dunk for a quarter-point cut,” said Tim O’Neill, chief economist for Bank of Montreal and Harris Bank. “The Fed doesn’t have the inflation monkey on its back. Housing is still amazing. Jobless claims are encouraging and manufacturing, which has been the weakest part of the economy, may be bottoming out.” 

To avert a recession, the Fed has cut interest rates six times this year, totaling 2.75 percentage points. One of the reasons the central bank has been able to act so aggressively is that inflation has been contained. 

So far this year, consumer prices have increased at an annual rate of 2.8 percent, compared with an increase of 3.4 percent for all of 2000. 

After edging up by 0.2 percent in June, the government’s most closely watched inflation gauge actually fell by 0.3 percent in July. It was the first drop this year in the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index and the best showing on inflation since a 0.4 percent decline in  

April 1986.  

The “core” rate of inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, moderated in July, rising by 0.2 percent, compared with a gain of 0.3 percent in June. 

A second report showed that the housing market continues to thrive. 

Housing construction rose by 2.8 percent in July to an annual rate of 1.67 million, the best performance since February 2000, the Commerce Department said. 

“We’re cruising along,” said David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders. Low interest rates and the fact that most Americans still have jobs have kept activity solid. 

A third report suggested that layoffs may be slowing. New claims for state unemployment insurance fell by a seasonally adjusted 8,000 to 380,000 last week. The more stable four-week moving average of claims also fell to 370,750, the lowest since early March. 

In the months ahead, economists believe inflation will remain well-behaved. Soaring energy prices, which caused consumer inflation to jump by 0.6 percent in January, have eased. Also, the slowdown has made it harder for companies to raise prices and many businesses are reluctant to make big increases in workers’ pay and benefits. 

A 5.6 percent plunge in energy prices accounted for much of the good inflation news for July. 

Gasoline prices fell by 11 percent in July. Nationwide average prices at the pump have tumbled since peaking May 18 at $1.76 a gallon. 

Natural gas prices, which posted a record decline in June, fell by 4.1 percent in July. Home-heating oil went down by 2.8 percent. 

After soaring by a record 3.8 percent in June, electricity prices eased in July, rising 0.6 percent. That probably is little comfort to California residents coping with a power crisis caused by shortage of electrical generating capacity. 

Clothing prices fell 0.6 percent and airline fares were down 0.2 percent. 

All these lower prices swamped higher prices for other goods. Food prices rose 0.3 percent in July. Prescription drug costs rose 0.6 percent and tobacco costs shot up 4.8 percent, the largest increase since September 1999. 

——— 

On the Net: 

CPI:http://www.bls.gov/ 

Jobless:http://www.ows.doleta.gov/news/news.asp 

Housing starts: http://www.census.gov/indicator/www/housing.html 

DALLAS — Nosebleeds can be a nuisance. Or something more serious. 

While some nosebleeds have transient causes, others may be caused by injury or high blood pressure, says Dr. J.R. Williams, assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center. 

“There is not just one fix-all,” he said. “It is important to determine which type of nosebleed you are having so it can be properly treated.” 

A nosebleed that starts from the front part of the nose and only exits one nostril probably is an anterior type – most often caused by lack of humidity. Other possible causes include chronic nose picking, sinus infection, or reactions to such medications as inhalants, aspirin, ibuprofen or anticoagulants. 

A posterior nosebleed comes from deep in the nose and flows down the back of the mouth and throat, even if the patient is upright. It could have been caused by by a sports- or accident-related injury, or the person could have high blood pressure. Either possibility calls for treatment. 

Williams has this advice for handling a nosebleed: 

“To stop a nosebleed, pinch the soft parts of the nose together, and slightly tilt the head back for five minutes. If bleeding has not stopped, gently blow the nose to evacuate all clots. Then spray a decongestant-nasal spray quickly into both nostrils, followed by another five minutes of pinch-pressure. Applying ice to the nose and cheeks may also help slow bleeding.” 

After bleeding slows, you may pack your nose lightly with tissue, first tipping the tissue with a bit of petroleum jelly. That will prevent the resumption of bleeding when the tissue is removed. 

“Resumed bleeding after the above fails at home should more than justify seeing a physician,” Williams said. 

Get to a doctor or emergency room if the bleeding cannot be stopped or recurs, if bleeding is rapid or blood loss is large, the person feels weak or faint, or if blood goes down the back of the throat instead of through a nostril. 

The emergency room doctor will first try to cauterize by applying silver nitrate to the bleeding site. If it can’t be controlled this way or if bleeding is too brisk, electrical cautery will be used. In severe cases, a radiologist may put a catheter into the affected blood vessel and insert gelfoam to control the bleeding. 

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Make a few changes in your life, and you could reduce or even eliminate the need for blood pressure medicine, advises the Mayo Clinic Health Letter. 

The newsletter echoes the advice you may hear from your doctor: 

• Lose it if you’re overweight. Even 7 to 10 pounds can help. 

• Exercise. Try to be physically active for 30 to 40 minutes each day. 

• Eat right. Choose foods with less fat, including low-fat dairy products. Eat more grains, fruits and vegetables. This will ensure adequate intakes of potassium and calcium, which may lower blood pressure. Using olive oil in cooking also may help. 

• Reduce sodium. Limit your intake of sodium to 2,000 to 3,000 milligrams a day. Sodium in salt causes fluid retention, which in turn can raise blood pressure. 

• Stop smoking. Nicotine can raise your blood pressure. 

• Limit alcohol. No more than 1 ounce of alcohol daily for men, half that amount for women. An ounce translates to 2 ounces of 100-proof liquor, 24 ounces of beer, or 10 ounces of wine. 

• Limit caffeine. Caffeine can raise blood pressure in some people. 

• Manage stress. Meditation, rhythmic exercises such as tai chi, or having a pet are good ways to help reduce stress. 

Charles Richardson tends his thriving garden of beans, tomatoes, peppers and corn in the side yard of his north Berkeley home. 

“Watching baseball on TV is like watching this corn grow – boring,” he says. “But playing competitive ball, now that’s exciting.” And he’s the man who knows. 

For five years, from 1946 until he was drafted, Charles Richardson played in the Negro Leagues, barnstorming through every state and into Mexico, Cuba and the Philippines. A tall, imposing man in his early 70s, Richardson was a talented southpaw in the 1940s. 

“Baseball was the game when I was a kid, the national sport; we all played it. You had to be good at baseball if you wanted to get any notoriety around here.” 

Richardson said he thought a black idol from Berkeley, Johnny Allen, would be the first African American to play in the major leagues. “Of course Jackie Robinson got that distinction. Johnny Allen was an outstanding athlete, born and raised in Berkeley. He and others from the Negro Leagues played in Bay View Park in Oakland and at San Pablo Park in Berkeley, during their off season. Fifteen hundred to 2,000 people would come out to watch those guys play.” 

Johnny Allen let Charles Richardson know that he was ready, at 16, to play league ball when Richardson, as if overnight, had come into a man’s strength. But his parents were against him leaving high school to go off with the barnstorming teams. 

“I had to vilify my father, made it seem like he never let me do anything, so he got mad and put me on punishment, and then I left. I felt very guilty about that for a long time.” 

Richardson was the oldest of 10 children and always felt needed as a youngster. Any money he made selling papers, shining shoes, delivering mail during World War II, went to help his family. The depression was just over and his parents needed every little bit of money they could get. 

“It’s a wonderful feeling to be needed. I feel sorry for kids today – nobody needs them.” 

Playing with the Ford Taggers, the San Francisco Cubs, the Sea Lions and the Oakland Larks, Richardson made $250 or $300 each month, sometimes more, good money for the times. Half of it he sent home. 

“It was a tough, tough way to earn a living though. Most places did not welcome black people. When we played in states like Wyoming, Montana, Utah, parts of California, we couldn’t get a hotel room, so we slept on the bus. A lot of places restaurants wouldn’t serve us so we made a diet off of lunch meats.” 

Richardson said playing in little towns was entertainment before TV. “We did the circuits, just like big bands and the circus. We played local teams. You had to win, but keep the game close and, at the same time, look good doing it. You had to be a good athlete to do that. We’d invariably win games, but in every little town, there’d be people on those teams who were outstanding. We had respect for those guys who could play.” 

Barnstorming meant playing two games a day, the second perhaps just a few miles down the road from the first, and playing every little town, it seemed, in the country. 

“The parks were like a drive-in movie. People would park their cars around the fences, there’d be just a small bleacher section. Most of the fans were white. Sometimes traveling, we’d not see another black person for six weeks.” 

Richardson played first base usually but, because the teams played nine games each week, and there were only 15 players, nearly everyone had to pitch. 

“I had never pitched as a kid, but I found out I had good stuff on the ball. I was a wild left-handed pitcher and frequently walked people. My arm would get exhausted. The greatest game I ever pitched, I didn’t walk anybody. I think we lost the game, but nobody walked!” 

Right after World War II, Richardson played in the Philippines. His was the first baseball team to go in after the war and they were treated like celebrities. Filipino fans packed the games. They treated the men with adulation, and Richardson, the very youngest player, remembers this experience fondly because he was treated not only like an equal, but like a very special man. 

Richardson had a chance to play with Jackie Robinson’s All Stars in 1948 which, Richardson says, sounds a lot better than it was. Robinson and another Dodger, Roy Campanella, would come out west and pick up local players to do exhibition games locally.  

“You didn’t get to travel all over the country with Robinson, just Oakland, San Francisco, Vallejo, maybe L.A. He had respect for us because we were good players. He was a nice guy who’d pick up the tab at dinner.” 

Everyone had dreams of making it to the major leagues after ‘47 when Jackie Robinson became a Brooklyn Dodger. Every black person in the United States became a Dodger fan in ‘47, Richardson believes. 

“To be truthful, I thought I was going to the majors, too. I was, we used to call it, ‘chesty.’ Some of the guys I played against, and with, weren’t considered to be as good a ball player as me and they made it. I thought it would be just a matter of time.”  

But, Richardson adds, it was also a matter of luck. 

“I was drafted into the army and went to the Korean War. I was gone for two years and when I came back the Black Leagues were being disbanded. They were playing to empty houses because of television. You could watch the Yankees for free on TV, why go out to see us?” 

Richardson was only 20 and felt sorry for himself. “I had been born in the wrong time,” he said. “But then I realized I’d had a chance to play with and against the best athletes of the time. I got to do exactly what I wanted to do, my dream was always to be a ball player. It was a wonderful thing for me.” 

He and his buddy, Pumpsie Green, the first black man to make the Boston Red Sox and the last team to integrate, worked out every day at the Berkeley YMCA. Richardson says he’s not a big baseball fan anymore, he can’t sit through a game on TV because it moves so slowly and all you see is spitting and scratching, but any time he goes out to a game, usually taking a bunch of kids with him, he’s glad he’s gone. And he has respect for today’s super stars.  

“That ball is this big (he shows a small circle with his hands) and it’s coming at you 96 miles an hour, you still have to hit it. You can take all the steroids in the world, but you still have to hit that damn ball.” 

After his baseball career was over, and his stint in the Korean War, Charles Richardson started working for the Berkeley Unified School District and went back to school part time. He graduated from Cal State Hayward with a degree in sociology. At work, he went from a custodial position to Coordinator of Student Support Services at West Campus and Berkeley High School. He worked 39 years for B.U.S.D., finishing his career as a Child Welfare and Attendance Officer.  

While in Korea, in the face of death, he realized how much he wanted to marry and have children. He and his wife Alice Richardson, who also devoted her work life to the Berkeley schools, have been married for 49 years and have three children. Charles III is a professional photographer living in New York City, Kim is an East Bay resident who works at the Surgery Center in Oakland, and Alison works at the University of San Francisco,as the director of student activities. 

In retirement, Richardson works for the Berkeley Police Department in a job designed to keep kids out of the Criminal Justice System. He’s a man who values the stability a strong community can provide to its youth. 

“I learned, playing ball, how to work hard at something. You work hard you improve. You might not be the best, but you’ll be better than you were.” 

He talks about a young, almost homeless boy he worked with. “I told his mother, send him to school, he’ll get breakfast maybe, and lunch. You’ll be able to look for work without him tagging along with you.”  

Richardson says things have changed since he was growing up and all the neighbors looked after all the kids. “Even Spud Murphy, the old wino, would warn us, ‘I’m a see your dad’ if we were hanging out, cutting school or smoking a cigarette.” 

“I’m like a neighbor,” he says, “looking out for the kids.” 

Charles Richardson is the neighbor we’d all like to have. 

Editor: 

Jerry Brown has consistently betrayed his avowed principles and the voter constituency that elected him as mayor of Oakland. Our best response might be to confine him for 30 days with nothing but food, water and a tape deck whereupon he would spend those days doing nothing but listen to “We the People,” the KPFA radio shows that gave him the podium to rant, rave and energize our left-leaning citizenry, desperate for some political vision and leadership. Yet, ironically and much to the chagrin of his audience and followers, Brown has finally showed the courage and perspective he so gallantly cried out for during his reign as radios’ greatest rhetorician. 

Anybody who has spent time trying to teach in many of our public schools knows how enervating the discipline problems have become. As a veteran of that system I can testify to the classroom mayhem and the consequent demands to maintain order that zap teachers of their energy and consequently… their rightful job… to teach children, not police them. 

While many of us are in denial about this deplorable situation or spin our tops, coming up with one ineffective remedy after another, Brown’s experiment with the Military Academy shows that he has grasped this unfortunate reality and is willing to take a giant step forward in prototyping a solution. Frankly, my experience suggests that not only do we need boot camp academies but perhaps the presence of the National Guard itself, in every problematic school. 

Back in the 1940’s and 50’s we had to deal with larger class sizes, and various other obstacles to effective education. But teachers weren’t burned out yelling, screaming chasing and reporting undisciplinable students. This was largely because public school children back then had the fear of failure appropriately ingrained into their mind’s eye and heart. There is nothing wrong with this fear of failure. When applied proportionately it helps us develop the skills to survive and hopefully contribute to our society and culture. Today that fear has taken a back seat in the classroom and has been relegated to the students who must, all too often, defy their peer groups and bear an “uncool,” “unhip” nerd-like image in order to get anything done. 

Brown’s Academy is a courageous recognition of these problems. We should all support Mayor Brown, the children and staff in this effort. My only question is: does it go far enough? 

Marc Winokur 

Oakland

924 Gilman St. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Aug. 17: Blood Brothers, True North, The Cost, Red Light Sting, Betray The Species; Aug. 18: Dr. Know, The Sick, Society of Friends, Manchurian Candidates, Shut the F*ck Up; $5. 924 Gilman St. 525-9926. 

Ashkenaz Aug. 16: 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Dead DJ Night with Digital Dave. $5; Aug. 17: 9:30 p.m. Near East Far West. $12; Aug. 18: 9:30 p.m. Zydeco Flames. 8 p.m. dance lesson w/ Cheryl McBride. $11. Aug. 19: 8 p.m. Open Stage w/ Koko De La Isla, Ernesto Hernandaz, Jeff Hawkins. $8; Aug. 21: 9 p.m. Slavonkian Traveling Band. 8 p.m. dance lesson w/ Joyce Clyde. $10; Aug. 22: 9 p.m. Badenya Les Freres Coulibaly, $10; Aug. 23: 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Dead DJ Night with Digital Dave. $5; Aug. 24: 9:30 p.m. Caribbean All Stars $11; 1317 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054 www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Doors open at 8 p.m. Aug. 18: Craig Horton /CD Release; Aug. 25: Carlos Zialcita; Every Friday, 10 p.m. - 2 a.m., Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10; 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Freight & Salvage Coffee House Aug. 16: David Jacobs-Strain and Joe Craven, $16.50; Aug. 17: Mitch Greenhill & Mayne Smith, plus Spiral Bound, $16.50; Aug. 18: Mighty Prince Singers, Talk of Da Town, $17.50; Aug. 19: John Fahey Tribute Concert, $19.50; All shows 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jupiter Aug. 16: Beatdown with DJ’s Delon, Yamu and Add1; Aug. 17: The Mind Club, Old school funk grooves with sonic swirls of acid jazz; Aug. 18: Blue & Tan; Aug. 21: Groove.org; Aug. 22: Stolen Bibles; Aug. 23: Beatdown w/ DJs Delon, Yamu, and Add1; Aug. 24: 5 Point Plan; Aug. 25: Mitch Marcus Quintet; Aug. 28: Big Lou and Polka Casserole; Aug. 29: Secession; Aug. 30: Beatdown with DJ’s Delon, Yamu and Add1; Aug. 31: Realistic CD Release Party; All music starts at 8:00 p.m. 843-7625 www.jupiterbeer.com  

La Note/Jazzschool Aug. 19: 4:30 p.m. Hazel Carter, 5:30 p.m. Bryan Girard & Friends, 6:30 p.m. T3 (Kirk Tamura Trio); Free. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373  

La Peña Cultural Center Aug. 17: 8:30 p.m. Music and dance performance by Jaranón y Bochinche, $12; Aug. 18: 8:30 p.m. Mission (roots hip hop), $8; Aug. 19: 3:30 p.m. Domingo de Rumba; Aug. 24: 8:30 p.m. Professor Terry’s Circus Band Extraordinary, $16; Aug. 25: 9:30 p.m., Edgardo Cambon’s Candela, $10, 8:15 p.m. Salsa dance class w/ Diego Vásquez, $13; In the Cafe, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

ACME Observatory Aug. 19: 8 p.m. Solo performance by Jason Kahn, Brown Bunny Ensemble. $9.99 suggested donation. TUVA Space, 3192 Adeline @ MLK Jr. Way. 649-8744 http://sfSound.org/acme.html 

Indigo Event Center Aug. 25: 4:20 p.m. Musicians for Medical Marijuana Benefit concert. Sound Tribe Sector 9, Lost at Last, The Mermen, Ten Ton Chicken, Scott Huckabay, Strawberry Alarmclock, Buzzy Linhart, plus special guests, $25. 1988 Broadway at 19th, Oakland. 869-5391 www.m4mm.org  

Third annual Berkeley World Music Festival Aug. 26: Noon - 6 p.m. Block party and carnival, Grupo Ilu Fun Fun, Petit La Croix, Samba Ngo, O-Maya, Fito Reinoso y Su Ritmo y Armonia. Durant Ave. between Telegraph Ave. and Bowditch. 

TUVA Space Aug. 25: 8 p.m. Vanessa Lowe and the Lowliflies, Ira Marlowe, Hoarhound. 3192 Adeline St. 655-9755 

“Frank Olivier’s Twisted Cabaret” Aug. 24 & 25, 8 p.m. Frank Olivier is joined by Uncle Paul Nathan and The Twisted Cabaret Band. All tickets $16. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 845-8542 www.juliamorgan.org 

“Loot” Through Aug. 25, Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m. Special Performance Aug. 20, 8 p.m. General Admission: $15, Students / Seniors: $10. La Val’s 1834 Euclid Avenue 655-0813 

“Murder Dressed in Satin” by Victor Lawhorn, ongoing. A mystery-comedy dinner show at The Madison about a murder at the home of Satin Moray, a club owner and self-proclaimed socialite with a scarlet past. Dinner is included in the price of the theater ticket. $47.50 Lake Merritt Hotel, 1800 Madison St., Oakland. 239-2252 www.acteva.com/go/havefun 

“Reefer Madness” Aug. 22, 23: 9 p.m. A new one-act theatre piece adapted from a 1936 government-funded film opens a critical eye to the control of our society. Performed by The Elemental Theatre Group La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Avenue. Wednesdays are “pay what you can,” Thursdays $5 - $10. 655-4150 

“Soul Harmony” Aug. 25: 5 - 7 p.m. A spirited one-woman show of history, culture, and entertainment. Written by Joy Holland, directed by Ava Coaxum. Presented at the Black Repertory Theater. 3201 Adeline St. $10 donation. 652-3399 

Pacific Film Archive Aug. 16: 7:30 p.m. Rancho Notorious; Aug. 17: 7 p.m. Bonchi, 9:05 p.m. Money Talks; Aug. 18: 7 p.m. Ministry of Fear, 8:45 p.m. House by the River; Aug. 19: 3 p.m. National Velvet, 5:30 p.m. I Am Two, 7:15 I Am a Cat; Aug. 21: 7:30 p.m. The Direct Cinema Tradition; Aug. 22: 7:30 p.m. The Werewolf of Washington; Aug. 23: 7:30 p.m. Contempt; Aug. 24: 7 p.m. The Heart, 9:20 p.m. The Outcast; Aug. 25: 7 p.m. Moonfleet, 8:45 p.m. The Blue Gardenia; Aug. 26: 3 p.m. Duck Soup, 5:30 p.m. The Wanderers, 7:25 p.m. Dora-Heita; Aug. 28: 7:30 p.m. DGen. Adm.. $7, The New PFA Theatre 2575 Bancroft Way 642-1412 

“BACA National Juried Exhibition: Works on Paper” Through Aug. 31: Wed. - Sun. Noon - 5 p.m. Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893 

“Debbie Moore’s Autobiographical Paintings” Through Sep. 30 at Good Vibrations. Portraits of the artist’s sensual explorations spanning 25 years and reflecting changing ways of intimacy and body play. 2504 San Pablo Avenue 848-1985 

“The Decade of Change: 1900 - 1910” chronicles the transformation of the city of Berkeley in this 10 year period. Thursday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Through September. Berkeley History Center, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. Wheelchair accessible. 848-0181. Free.  

“A Fine Line” Through Aug. 24, Tuesday - Friday, noon - 5 p.m. or by appointment. An exhibition works by Kala Fellowship winners for the years 2000 and 2001. Kala Art Institute 1060 Heinz Avenue 549-2977 

“Geographies of My Heart” Collage paintings by Jennifer Colby through Aug. 24; Flora Lamson Hewlett Library 2400 Ridge Road 649-2541 

“MFA Survey Exhibition 2001” Third annual exhibition of works of recent graduates from Bay Area master of Fine Art programs. This year featuring artists working in three-dimentional media. Through Aug. 18 Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery 1316 Tenth Street 527-1214 

“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. Atelier 9 2028 Ninth St. (at Addison) 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

“New Visions: Introductions 2001” Through Aug. 18: Wed. - Sat.: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Juried by Artist- Curator Rene Yanez and Robbin Henderson, Executive Director of the Berkeley Art Center, the exhibition features works from some of California’s up-and-coming artists. Pro Arts 461 Ninth St., Oakland 763-9425 

“The Political Art of: Diego Marcial Rios” Through Sept. 20, Addison Street Window Gallery, 2018 Addison St. hdrios@msn.com 

“Sistahs: Ethnographic Ceramics” Through Aug. 22, Reception July 29 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Women’s Cancer Resource Center Gallery 3023 Shattuck Avenue 548-9286 ext. 307 

“Squared Triangle” Through Oct. 5. noon - 6 p.m. Reception for the artists, Aug. 18: 4 - 7 p.m. A minimal art exhibit featuring three Bay Area artists working in different mediums while achieving the same elegant simplicity. The Crucible, 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511 www.thecrucible.com 

“Ten Years Here” Exhibit celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Turn of the Century Fine Arts. Through Sept. 14, Sat & Sun 1-5 p.m. Reception Aug. 4 2:00 - 7:00 p.m. 2510 San Pablo Avenue 849-0950 

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books Aug. 17: Lynne Murray reads from her latest Josephine Fuller mystery “At Large”; Aug. 18: “Hell on Heels” tour with Daphne Gottlieb and Thea Hillman; Aug. 24: Andrea Gabbard discusses “Girl in the Curl: A Century of Women’s Surfing”; Aug. 25: Ann Bannon reads from her lesbian pulp classic “Beebo Brinker.” All events start at 7:30 p.m. and are free. 398 Colusa Avenue 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

Black Oak Books Aug. 16: Mandy Aftel and her new book, “Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume”; Aug. 19: “Wildest Alaska: Journeys of Great Peril in Lituya Bay” by Philip L. Fradkin; Aug. 21: June Jordan’s memoir “Soldier: A Poet’s Childhood”; Aug. 22: Ruth Daigon’s “Payday at the Triangle”; Aug. 23: Phil Cousineau’s “Once and Future Myths: The Power of Ancient Stories in Modern Times”; Aug. 27: Catherine Brady, Jean Herlund, Frances Payne Adler, and Marianne Villanueva and others to celebrate CALYX Book’s 25th Anniversary, “Cracking the Earth”; Aug. 28: Kent Nerburn reads from “Road Angels: Searching for Home on America’s Coast of Dreams”; Aug. 29: Sylvia Brownrigg reads from her new novel, “Pages For You”; All shows at 7:30 p.m. free of charge. 1491 Shattuck Avenue 486-0698 

Café de la Paz Poetry Nitro performance showcase with open mike. Aug. 20: Avotcja; 6:30 p.m. signup, 7 - 9 p.m. reading. 1600 Shattuck Ave. 843-0662 

Cody’s Books - Poetry Flash Aug. 22: Trane Devore and Shauna Hannibal; Aug. 29: The New Now Millennium Anthology Reading with Editor H. D. Moe; All are a $2 donation. Readings at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-0837 

Coffee Mill Poetry Series Aug. 21: Featured Readers: Victoria Joyce and Theresa Bamberger; Both 7-9 p.m. Free. 3363 Grand Ave., Oakland for info. 465-3935 or 526-5985, or Email: ksdgk@earthlink.net 

“Coffee Break Readings and Refreshments,” Aug. 18, 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. Oakland Public Library-Rockridge Branch. Open-mic poems, monologues and dramatic scenes, presented by Opera Piccola. For ages 10 and up. 5366 College Ave. Free. 238-3134 ww.oaklandlibrary.org 

Tours 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Fridays 9:30 - 11:45 a.m. or by appointment. Call ahead to make reservations. Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

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

Museums 

Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm” An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and more. “Recycling Center” Lets the kids crank the conveyor belt to sort cans, plastic bottles and newspaper bundles into dumpster bins. $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. (closed Sundays, Memorial Day through Labor Day) Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

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 will close its exhibition galleries for renovation. It will reopen in early 2002. On View until Oct. 1 : “Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture.” “Sites Along the Nile: Rescuing Ancient Egypt.” “The Art of Research: Nelson Graburn and the Aesthetics of Inuit Sculpture.” “Tzintzuntzan, Mexico: Photographs by George Foster.” $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 or www.qal.berkeley.edu/~hearst/ 

Lawrence Hall of Science “Science in Toyland,” through Sept. 9. Exhibit uses toys to demonstrate scientific principles and to help develop children's thinking processes. Susan Cerny’s collection of over 200 tops from around the world. “Space Weather,” through Sept. 2. Learn about solar cycles, space weather, the cause of the Aurorae and recent discoveries made by leading astronomers. This interactive exhibit lets visitors access near real-time data from the Sun and space, view interactive videos and find out about a variety of solar activities. “Within the Human Brain,” ongoing. Visitors test their cranial nerves, play skeeball, master mazes, match musical tones and construct stories inside a simulated “rat cage” of learning experiments. “Saturday Night Stargazing,” First and third Saturdays each month. 8 - 10 p.m., LHS plaza. Space Weather Exhibit now - Sept. 2; now - Sept. 9 Science in Toyland; Saturdays 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. $7 for adults; $5 for children 5-18; $3 for children 3-4. 642-5132 

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. “How Big Is the Universe?” Aug. 1 through Aug. 24. Learn how to determine the distance of celestial objects, one of the purposes of the Hubble Space Telescope. Daily, 2:15 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, 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu 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  

Oakland Museum of California, A Legacy of Early California Paintings: The Shumate Collection, through Aug. 19; Every Worker is an Organizer: Farm Labor and the Resurgence of the United Farm Workers, through Aug. 26; Made in Oakland: The Furniture of Garry Knox Bennett, through Sept. 2; After the Storm: Bob Walker and the Art of Environmental Photography, through Sept. 16; Half Past Autumn: The Art of Gordon Parks, through Sept. 23; Rustler Ranch Mastodon Project, through June 30, 2002; Wednesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday, noon - 5 p.m., Closed Monday and Tuesday. $6 general; $4 youths (6-17), seniors and students with ID. Free for Museum members and children 5 and under. Free admission the second Sunday of the month. 10th & Oak Streets, Oakland. 238-2200 www.museum.org 

The UC Berkeley Art Museum is closed for renovations until the fall. 

Send arts events two weeks in advance to Calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.net, 2076 University, Berkeley 94704 or fax to 841-5694. 

Serena Chandler, a Berkeley High School senior, never dreamed she’d be in the chair she’d be seated in Wednesday night, when she would take her place as student director on the Board of Education. 

“My freshman and sophomore year, I never would have imagined myself here. I was totally unplugged from the school. I didn’t see the point of getting involved,” said Chandler, who was born and raised in Berkeley by her parents Patricia and Jeff Chandler. 

Now, as student director, she will be the voice of students in school board debates, a role she is taking over from Niles Xi’an Lichtenstein. 

Chandler doesn’t consider herself “political,” a word she associates with the boring politicians she sees on television who inspire her only to channel surf. Still, she embodies the saying that “all politics is personal.” 

“I’m not a big ‘political’ person, but I care about things that affect my people,” she said. 

Her interest in politics was sparked by local issues and her avid reading of books about the Black Panthers, Che Guevara and the Cuban Revolution, among others. 

“Political change is so interesting to me, with so much political oppression in the community. I just put my foot in and it caught me,” said Chandler. 

In the last year, she joined other students to protest the plan to build a youth jail in Dublin, as well as the new truancy policy proposed by BHS Principal Frank Lynch. Chandler credits the truancy debate with inspiring her to run for student director. 

“I wanted to have a greater voice in decision making,” she said. 

Chandler, together with a group of students, felt that the school’s plan to fail students who had a certain number of absences did not deal with the root causes of truancy. 

“It would have punished students instead of educating them,” she said. 

In a presentation before the school board in July, Chandler joined other members of the group Youth Together in proposing an alternative plan to combat truancy, which would provide students with greater support and guidance before punishing them for their absences. 

School board President Terry Doran’s interaction with Chandler convinced him that she is well prepared for her new position. Chandler and the other students impressed Doran with their desire to find solutions to the truancy problem, not just protest the plan. 

“As adults we sometimes forget how our policies will impact students in a concrete way. We may have a tendency to generalize. The student voice brings anything we do some perspective and concrete feedback from the student point of view, and we need that always. I really believe that Serena has the ability and desire to do that in an aggressive and positive way.” 

Among friends and family, Chandler has earned a reputation as a good listener and problem solver, qualities which they believe will help her meet her new responsibilities. 

“I think she’s willing to listen more than talk and do something about what she hears,” said Inga Arguta, 17, Chandler’s best friend. “Every single problem she hears about from a student, she’ll try to change it; if she can’t change it, she’ll try to reason with the student and administrators.” 

Nico Cary, 16, one of Chandler’s three brothers, agrees. 

“She lends an ear to anyone who needs to talk. She can get in that person’s dimension and help them out,” said Cary. 

Chandler has not yet decided what she wants to accomplish during her tenure. Instead, she believes her mission will be informed by student concerns and issues that emerge during the school year. 

“It makes me nervous, honestly, because I’ve never been in that type of setting. It will be a new learning experience. I can’t learn this in a book,” said Chandler before heading off to her first meeting. 

Thursday, Aug. 16

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. 869-2547 

Ancient Native Sites  

of the East Bay 

7:30 p.m. 

Room 160 Kroeber Hall, University of California Campus 

Christopher Dore will discuss “Space and Place at Two East Bay Shellmounds.” Jason Claiborne, archaeologist with Archeotec, Inc., will discuss his recent work and the delicate position of playing “archaeo-police” versus serving the client in a talk entitled “Insuring the Future of the Past.” $10 841-2242 

Salsa Dance Classes 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Classes every Thursday with live percussionists, light refreshments, DJ playing Latin music. $10 or $15 for two. 237-9874 

Kensington 55+ Activity Center 

9 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Social Hall of Arlington Community Church 

52 Arlington Ave. 

Conversation, Apple II computer instruction, massage therapy, German conversation group, meditation and relaxation techniques, watercolor art class, tea and coffee. Special 11 a.m. program: Travel, Jackie Hetman presents “A 17-Day Train Trip Through Namibia.” 526-9146. 

The Candy Cottage 

1:30 p.m. & 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health 

2230 Shattuck Ave. (Lower Level) 

“The Candy Cottage” is a short comedy written and performed by the Hall of Health staff, for children ages 3 to 12. The play provides information about eating healthy, the food pyramid, and what vitamins and minerals do for your body. The Hall of Health is a hands-on community health-education museum and science center sponsored by Children’s Hospital of Oakland. Free. 549-1564. 

Friday, Aug. 17

Candle Lighting Service 

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

San Pablo Park 

Russell and Mabel streets 

A candle lighting service for friends and loved ones in Berkeley and surrounding areas who have passed on. Free food (barbecue), drinks, table games, softball and entertainment. 653-3808 

Therapy for Trans Partners  

6 - 7:30 p.m.  

Pacific Center for Human Growth  

2712 Telegraph Ave. (at Derby)  

A group open to partners of those in transition or considering transition. Intake process required. Meeting Fridays through Aug. 17. $8 - $35 sliding scale per session 548-8283 x534 

Project Underground’s  

5th Birthday Party 

6 - 9 p.m. 

On the roof of Project Underground's Office  

1916A Martin Luther King Jr. Way  

(between Berkeley Way and Hearst)  

Entertainment, food, drinks, childcare, raffle prizes and more. Everyone is invited to celebrate the organization’s success. $20 donation, nobody will be turned away due to lack of funds. 705-8981 www.moles.org 

Opus Q Auditions 

3 - 5/ p.m. 

The University Lutheran Chapel 

2425 College Ave. 

Opus Q - The East Bay Men’s Chorale is preparing for its first full season. Gay men and their allies are invited to audition for the world’s newest GALA ensemble. 664-0260 www.opus-q.com  

Even Stronger Women 

1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Free weekly cultural discussion class. This week: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. 549-1879 

Commission on Aging 

Transportation Subcommittee 

3 - 5 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Public forum/ meeting to discuss transportation issues. 644-6050 

— compiled by Guy Poole 

Saturday, Aug. 18

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

Center Street @ Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

12th Annual Cajun & More Festival. Live music by: Motor Dude Zydeco, Johnny Harper’s Carnival, Creole Belles, Sauce Picuante. Food, crafts fair, micro-breweries, and free Cajun dance lessons with Pattie Whitehurst. Free event open to the public. 548-3333 www.ecologycenter.org 

The Pyramid Outdoor Cinema 

7 p.m. 

Pyramid Alehouse 

901 Gilman St. 

The Outdoor Cinema features cult classics projected on a large screen in the open-air brewery parking lot. This week, Grease. Movies show every Saturday through Sept. 22. $5 donation. 206-682-8322 x237 www.pyramidbrew.com 

KPFA Meeting for the Disabled Community 

1 - 4 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

A community meeting with KPFA’s Listener Advisory Board to voice concerns regarding the station’s coverage of disability issues.  

707-795-2890 

Sunday, Aug. 19

Hands-On Bicycle Repair Clinics  

11 a.m. - Noon  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Learn how to fix a flat from one of REI’s bike technicians. All you need to bring is your bike. Tools are provided. Free  

527-4140 

Tibetan Culture 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Stephanie Hoffman on “Preserving the Tibetan Literary Heritage.” Free. 

843-6812 

West Berkeley Market 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

University Ave., between 3rd and 4th Streets  

Family-oriented weekly market. Crafts, music, produce, and specialty foods. This Sunday is International Family Day. 654-6346 www.westberkeley.com 

Opus Q Auditions 

4 - 6 p.m. 

The University Lutheran Chapel 

2425 College Ave. 

Opus Q - The East Bay Men’s Chorale is preparing for its first full season. Gay men and their allies are invited to audition for the world’s newest GALA ensemble. 664-0260 www.opus-q.com 

The Bungalow - Tradition and Transformation 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Instructed by architect/contractor Barry Wagner. $35. 

525-7610 

Monday, Aug. 20

Tuesday, Aug. 21 

Intelligent Conversation  

7 - 9 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

A discussion group open to all, regardless of age, religion, viewpoint, etc. This time the discussion will center on fears and phobias: getting and overcoming them. Informally led by Robert Berend, who founded similar groups in L.A., Menlo Park, and Prague. Bring light snacks/drinks to share. Free. 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. 525-3565 

Free Early Music Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK) 

Small group sings madrigals and other voice harmony every Tuesday morning. 655-8863 

Berkeley Fibromyalgia Support Group 

12 - 2 p.m. every 3rd Tuesday 

Alta Bates Medical Center  

Maffly Auditorium - Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way 

Rap session. 601-0550 www.arthritis.org 

Slide Show: Birds in the Garden 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

A discussion follows. 644-6107 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/hhs/commsvc/seniors.htm 

Wednesday, Aug. 22

Magic Mike 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

UC Berkeley 

Part of the Lawrence Hall of Science Wednesday FUN-days. Bay Area favorite Magic Mike with theatrical illusions and electric comedy. Museum admission $3 - $7. 

642-5132 

Lecture on Parkinson’s Disease 

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Ashby Campus 

Conference Room 3 

2450 Ashby Ave. 

Learn about the latest treatments for Parkinson’s disease. Free and open to the public. 869-6737 

Thursday, Aug. 23 

Salsa Dance Classes 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Classes every Thursday with live percussionists, light refreshments, DJ playing Latin music. $10 or $15 for two. 237-9874 

New “Classroom Matters” Open House 

6 - 9 p.m. 

2512 9th St., Suite #3 

A Berkeley based educational center that provides tutors, mentors and support services, will hold an open house at their new location.  

540-8646 www.classroommatters.com  

Lecture-Program on the Armenian Opera “Arshak II” 

7:30 p.m. 

North Branch Berkeley Public Library 

1170 The Alameda (at Hopkins) 

Dr. Clifford Cranna will present a lecture-program on the world premiere of the Armenian opera Arshak II, the tale of Armenia’s fourth century warrior king. 649-3913 www.infopeople.org/bpl/ 

Kensington 55+ Activity Center 

9 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Social Hall of Arlington Community Church 

52 Arlington Ave. 

Conversation, Apple II computer instruction, massage therapy, German conversation group, meditation and relaxation techniques, watercolor art class, tea and coffee. Special 11 a.m. program: Holistic Health, Jan Stecher leads in Rosen Movement. 526-9146  

Friday, Aug. 24 

Yiddish Conversation Group 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

644-6107 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/hhs/commsvc/seniors.htm 

Even Stronger Women 

1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Free weekly cultural discussion class. This week: Poetry. 549-1879 

Basic Electrical Theory and National Electrical Code 

7 - 10 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Instructed by “Code Check” author/retired city of Oakland building inspector Redwood Kardon. $35. 525-7610 

Saturday, Aug. 25 

The Pyramid Outdoor Cinema 

7 p.m. 

Pyramid Alehouse 

901 Gilman St. 

The Outdoor Cinema features cult classics projected on a large screen in the open-air brewery parking lot. This week, The Shining. Movies show every Saturday through Sept. 22. $5 donation. 206-682-8322 x237 www.pyramidbrew.com 

Copwatch: Know Your Rights Training 

11 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Copwatch Office 

2022 Blake St. 

Learn what your rights are when dealing with the police. Learn how to monitor the police safely.  

548-0425 

Astrojax Playday 

1 - 4 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

UC Berkeley 

Astrojax is part yo-yo, part juggling balls and a lasso. The inventor, theoretical physicist Larry Show, will give a demonstration and instruction. Museum admission $3 - $7. 642-5132 

Cerrito Creek Work Party 

10 a.m. 

Meet at Creekside Park (south end of Belmont Street), El Cerrito 

Join Friends of Five Creeks in removing brush to make a new trail along Cerrito Creek. Bring work gloves and clippers if you have them.  

848-9358, f5creeks@aol.com, www.fivecreeks.org. 

Travel Careers Class 

8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 

Vista Community College 

2020 Milvia St. 

Vista’s annual one-day class for the public on careers in the travel industry. A full-day seminar. $5.50 981-2931 www.vistacollege.edu 

Sunday, Aug. 26 

Healing 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Sylvie Gretchen on “Healing Mind.” Free. 

843-6812 

West Berkeley Market 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

University Ave., between 3rd and 4th Streets  

Family-oriented weekly market. Crafts, music, produce, and specialty foods. 654-6346 

3rd Annual Berkeley World Music Festival 

noon - 6 p.m. 

Durant Ave., between Telegraph and Bowditch 

Carnival and block party festival with World Music bands, performers and dancers. 649-9500 www.taasite.org 

Monday, Aug. 27 

East Bay Heritage Quilters 

7:30 p.m. 

First Unitarian Church 

1 Lawson Road-Moeser Lane @ Arlington, Kensington 

Lecture: On the Road to Quiltmaking, a Personal Journey  

Non-members $3. 834-3706 

Tuesday, Aug. 28 

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. 525-3565 

Free Early Music Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK) 

Small group sings madrigals and other voice harmony every Tuesday morning. 655-8863 

Poetry Through Time II 

7 p.m. - 8 p.m. 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St. 

Bay Area poets Opal Palmer Adisa, Phyllis Koestenbaum, Reuven Goldfarb, and Martha Evans will read. A brief open reading will conclude the program. 549-6950 www.magnesmuseum.org 

Wednesday, Aug. 29 

Thursday, Aug. 30 

Salsa Dance Classes 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Classes every Thursday with live percussionists, light refreshments, DJ playing Latin music. $10 or $15 for two. 

237-9874 

Lost in the Wilderness 

7 p.m. 

REI 

1338 San Pablo Avenue 

Jason Flesher, a Search and Rescue member for almost 20 years, will share his nine rules for surviving in the wilderness. Free. 

527-4140 

Kensington 55+ Activity Center 

9 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Social Hall of Arlington Community Church 

52 Arlington Ave. 

Conversation, Apple II computer instruction, massage therapy, German conversation group, meditation and relaxation techniques, watercolor art class, tea and coffee. Special 11 a.m. program: Music, Hugh Kelly plays harmonica and leads sing-along. 526-9146 

Attic Conversions 

7 - 10 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Seminar taught by architect Andus Brandt. $35. 525-7610 

Friday, Aug. 31 

Start a Writing Group—and Keep It Going 

10 a.m. - noon 

North Branch Berkeley Public Library 

1170 The Alameda (at Hopkins) 

Dr. Kathy Briccetti will host a workshop on How to Start and Maintain a Writing Group. This free workshop requires pre-registration by Aug. 29th. 

644-6850 www.infopeople.org/bpl/ 

Even Stronger Women 

1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Free weekly cultural discussion class. This week: movie on Emma Goldman followed by discussion. 549-1879

I sometimes claim I was seven feet tall before I became mayor of Berkeley but got so short – under five feet – from everybody beating on me! Nothing brought that home to me more than the recent episode involving the Boy Scouts. In response, I am determined to carve something constructive out of the embarrassing happenings of last week. 

Last week was to be routine starting with greeting visitors from our sister city, Sakai. Instead, Berkeley became the center of an international storm of controversy. By now, you know the story. Thirty-eight Japanese boy and girl scouts accompanied by American Boy and Girl Scouts who were hosting the visitors were to meet with me in the Civic Center Building. Councilmember Kriss Worthington challenged the legality of the meeting, my presence as mayor at the meeting, and holding the meeting on public property. Councilmember Worthington said that because of their discriminatory policies, he didn’t want it to appear in any way that the city of Berkeley supported the Boy Scouts, and suggested that I should separate the group and meet only with the Girl Scouts.  

Boy Scouts of America have a national policy prohibiting membership to gays, but neither the Girl Scouts nor the scouts in Japan have such a policy. Local Boy Scout leaders and members have publicly stated their disagreement with the BSA national discrimination policy even though this has subjected them to strong criticism from others in scouting. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the BSA, as a private organization, can legally hold such a policy. Change must come from within, but while scout councils around the country, including San Diego and recently Boston, are joining the movement for change, it hasn’t been enough – yet. 

While our city attorney ruled that the original meeting as planned was entirely legal since no city funds were being used, I re-scheduled it to a private location because I didn’t want the Japanese children to be caught in the cross fire of the controversy over an American Boy Scout policy. Some say I should have pushed ahead with the meeting, including using the police and arresting anyone who protested, regardless of the consequences. I don’t think that would have been very wise in the face of the inevitable protest that would have confronted non-English speaking children visiting this country. My first responsibility was to protect the visiting foreign children whose parents were thousands of miles away. I also felt a duty to the Berkeley Boy Scouts and their parents who should be encouraged for the stand they have taken. Once in the middle of a protest, you can’t put the genie back into the bottle, so better safe than sorry, I re-scheduled the meeting. Ironically, because I acted to remove the children from the controversy, the Chronicle wrote an editorial criticizing me for not "leaving the kids out of it." You figure it out!  

The bright note is that I had my meeting, as mayor of Berkeley, with our Japanese visitors and all of us had a wonderful time – full of joy and friendship. Yes, American Boy and Girl Scouts were present with their families. Our meeting was held in El Sobrante, not because I or the scouts didn’t want it in Berkeley, but because the logistics of obtaining a hall on short notice that could accommodate 300 for potluck dinner didn’t work out for Berkeley. The Japanese leaders expressed their great appreciation for protecting the children, and I am pleased that the local Girl Scout organization also expressed its support for my position. Best of all was being with the many fine young people who had shared the previous week with one another.  

The criticism this subject has stirred up has caused embarrassment to our tolerant and caring community. Now we need to get down to the hard business of holding a constructive discussion of what we are going to do to change things. Scouting can provide experiences for children that teach them about the environment, foster teamwork, instill life-long values, and create lasting friendships. Scouting is important for both girls and boys. We need to end the damaging discrimination policies of the BSA. I have made a firm commitment to meet in September with representatives from our local Boy and Girl Scout organizations to develop a strategy that will contribute to this goal.  

East Bay Pride, the largest gay organization in the East Bay, announced Wednesday that it has severed its relationship with the Oakland Tribune because of a “homophobic” editorial attacking Councilmember Kriss Worthington. 

The editorial, which appeared on the front page of the Tribune’s Opinion Section on Tuesday, criticizes Worthington’s role in the cancellation of an annual visit by a group of Japanese scouts with Mayor Shirley Dean. The Tribune is owned by the Alameda Newspaper Group, which owns 10 other newspapers in the Bay Area including the Vallejo Times-Herald and the Marin Independent Journal. 

The editorial begins with a definition. “DESPICABLE: deserving to be despised, contemptible.” It then suggests that if readers want a visual image to accompany the definition, they could use a “mug shot of Berkeley Councilmember Kriss Worthington.” The piece also calls Worthington a “coward” and a “small-time politician.” 

Worthington, who is gay, said he simply raised questions about the annual event because the Japanese scouts were to be accompanied by members of the Mt. Diablo-Silverado Boy Scout Council of America, the same troop that was the subject of a widely-covered lawsuit when it kicked out Eagle Scout Tim Curran for being gay in 1980.  

Founder and director of EBP, Peter King, said the language used in the editorial was clearly homophobic and was more than an attack on Worthington. “That editorial said more about how the Oakland Tribune feels about gay rights than anything it had to say about Kriss Worthington,” King said. “The tone and phraseology in that editorial exposes the Tribune’s thinly veiled contempt for the gay community.” 

King said that words like “despicable,” “cowardly” and “contemptible” are traditionally used to describe gays. 

Nancy Conway, vice president and executive director of the Oakland Tribune, admitted the language was strong but insisted it was not meant to be homophobic. “We wouldn’t run something we thought was homophobic,” Conway said. “We had a good relationship with East Bay Pride and I regret this has escalated to this point.” 

Conway declined to say who wrote the piece and would only say it was one of the Tribune’s editorial writers. 

King said the decision to end the Tribune’s sponsorship was not made lightly because the paper was the largest sponsor of the Gay Pride Festival. 

“But in the end the decision was easy because the bottom line is our organization fundamentally represents a community that’s still struggling to gain rights against people that have a deep-seated prejudice,” King said. 

Kind added that shortly after sending out a press release about the cancellation of the Tribune’s sponsorship, EBP was contacted by two San Francisco newspapers offering to sponsor the festival. 

King said the EBP’s decision to cancel the Tribune’s sponsorship was not in support of Kriss Worthington, but was intended to make a stand for the larger gay community.  

“We are not only angry but we’re deeply disappointed and hurt because we thought these were our friends,” King said. “This was not an attack on Kriss Worthington, this was a homophobic attack on the gay community.” 

Worthington said he was surprised at the intensity of the editorial. “I’ve certainly never seen an attack that was so ferocious,” he said. “I would say it’s so beyond the pale that it was worse than the things the Berkeley City Council (members) usually say about each other.”  

Worthington said he was surprised at the editorial’s insinuation that as an elected official, he pursues only gay issues. “Anyone who goes to City Council meetings knows that I have fought hard for Latinos, Asians and African Americans, all of which are underrepresented on city commissions,” he said. “Gay issues are about 1 percent of what I work on.” 

Worthington added that in addition to the harshness of the attack, he was misquoted in the editorial. “They have me adopting an tiquated language,” he said about being quoted using the word ‘homosexual.’ “For them to fabricate a quote using old-fashioned language, which I never use, calls into question their journalistic integrity.” 

Conway said the Tribune sometimes likes to take strong stands on certain issues. “We run pieces that are controversial,” she said. “The editorial was not an attack on who Kriss Worthington is but we found faults with his methods and we stand by that.” 

King said Conway’s explanation was hard to believe and that the Oakland Tribune should apologize. “They clearly owe the gay community an apology and I would like to see a retraction and an editorial that is just as strongly worded denouncing the Boy Scouts of America’s anti-gay policy,” he said.

Residents driving at night are beginning to see lights flashing like lightening bugs all over Berkeley.  

The city’s Injury Prevention Program is sponsoring the sale of safety lights that make pedestrians, bikers and people using wheelchairs more visible in the dark. 

Thanks to the city initiative, Wheelchairs of Berkeley on Shattuck and Ashby avenues and the Berkeley Bike Cage in the downtown Berkeley BART station, started selling various kinds of flashing lights at discounted prices two weeks ago. People can buy up to three items for approximately half their price. Instead of paying $40 for a safety vest, they can buy it for $17. The flashing belt costs $8 instead of $22 and the arm/leg band $6 rather than $16. 

“People are getting them at the cost at which the vendor can purchase them,” said Dina Quan, director of the Injury Prevention Program, part of the Health and Human Services Department. Distribution of the safety lights are part of a five-year safety education campaign developed by the Health and Human Services Department as part of a city-wide effort to reduce Berkeley’s high rate of bicycle injuries.  

In March 2000, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Task Force reported that Berkeley had more than two times the rate of pedestrian and more than four times the rate of bicycle injuries compared with the state figures. “In comparison with 44 cities of a similar size in the state of California,” the report stated, “Berkeley ranks No. 1 in both pedestrian and bicyclist injury and death.” 

So the task force recommended a number of initiatives, including the provision of affordable safety equipment for pedestrians, bikers and wheelchair users. 

One of the main advantages of the program, Quan said, is that it benefits the disabled community. For years people with disabilities had asked the city to address their specific safety needs.  

“This was a big issue among folks on the Commission on Disability,” said Quan. The Injury Prevention Program got continuous feedback from the commission in the process of developing the program to make sure the city-sponsored lights would be most suited to wheelchairs. 

Unlike older safety lights, these products are not only reflective when a car shines its light on them, but include a small battery so they can cast light on their own. They can therefore be visible up to one mile away. Another advantage is that they can be attached to different parts of a wheelchair or a blind person’s cane.  

Wheelchair visibility lights are usually designed for the back of the chair. In some situations that is not enough to avoid accidents. Last November, for instance, Karen Craig, former member of the Commission on Disability, was hit by a car despite her back lights. The driver couldn’t see them. Since using the new flashing lights, Craig said she feels much safer. 

“I find it to be very effective,” she said. “When I cross the street now cars stop way before. They see me from far away.” 

The U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announced today that it has received nearly $2 million this year and expects to receive an additional $6 million over the next three years to participate in an advanced computing program. 

According to the lab, the money will be used to develop new tools and technologies for a $57 million Department of Energy program called Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing.  

Of the 51 programs funded nationwide, scientists at the Berkeley lab will lead six and be key partners in six others. 

Some of the programs the Berkeley lab will work on include developing software for terascale computing, which is the task of performing trillions of calculations per second, finding better, more efficient ways to use high-end computer systems and working on the Department of Energy Science Grid.  

The grid is a multi-laboratory project that links the high-end computers of several organizations to perform complicated calculations. 

Laboratory Director Charles Shank said, “Berkeley Lab is home to the world’s most powerful unclassified supercomputer as well as some of the world’s most advanced scientific research facilities.” 

He went on to say, “With these research projects now under way,  

The Department of Energy is poised to redefine how scientific research is conducted.”

NEW YORK — Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. is offering a free, one month supply of its prescription cholesterol drug Pravachol in a bid to capture patients who took a competing drug Bayer Corp. pulled from the market last week amid safety concerns. 

Full-page ads in at least three major newspapers Monday offered users of Bayer's drug Baycol a free 30 day supply of Pravachol. Patients must get their doctor to prescribe the drug for them to take advantage of the offer. 

Bayer removed Baycol from the market Aug. 8; the drug has been linked to 52 deaths. 

Merck & Co. took out a full page ad in last Friday's Wall Street Journal with a banner headline designed to alert Baycol users to its drug Zocor. But Bristol-Myers's more aggressive stance likely reflects that Pravachol is the company's biggest selling drug and has been losing market share to Zocor and market leader Lipitor, which is made by Pfizer Inc. 

Bristol-Myers' ads appeared in The New York Times, USA Today and The Philadelphia Inquirer, according to Bristol spokeswoman Bonnie Jacobs. She did not know if the campaign would continue. She declined to discuss other marketing strategies for Pravachol. 

On the Net: 

http://www.bms.com/landing/data/index.html 

http://www.merck.com/ 

http://www.pfizer.com

Editor: 

Re: Hank Resnik’s operatic claim that the “enormous...Gaia Building...has immediately become one of the best buildings anywhere in Berkeley,” and that “low-rise structures nearby should be bulldozed – or shipped out to Walnut Creek.” 

(Letters, Aug.11): Anyone who values Berkeley’s sense of place and its walkability should beware this destructive attitude, which I think Hank is deliberately exaggerating.  

To promote a healthy downtown that doesn’t choke on traffic, our task is clear: to carefully preserve, and reuse, our early-20th-century structures and streetscapes that were built around the needs of pedestrians, rail commuters, and bicyclists. The last thing we want to do is bury these assets under newly-built dark Satanic malls. 

For vivid examples of how preservation-based revitalization has benefited other American downtowns, check out Richard Moe and Carter Wilkie’s fascinating book, “Changing Places.” 

I had the privilege of serving with Hank for several years on the board of the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition, which Hank co-founded. I know Hank as one of the kindest, most open-hearted people in town – but I can’t agree with his take on the Gaia Building. The latter is a monstrous, Stalinist-style monument to civic corruption.  

Could we put the black shroud back on it? 

Shortly after I left BFBC’s board, BFBC accepted a $10,000 grant from the Gaia Building’s developer, Patrick Kennedy.  

I thought that was a bad idea: I feared the money would come with strings attached, and would compromise the credibility of what was then Berkeley’s leading bicycle-advocacy group.  

And indeed, you might say that the Gaia Building now looks about $10,000 more valuable to Hank than it does to me and to other neutral observers. 

Michael Katz 

Berkeley 

Wednesday, Aug. 15

Space Weather 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

UC Berkeley 

Part of the Lawrence Hall of Science Wednesday FUN-days. Explore the Space Weather exhibit, talk to NASA researchers, look for sun spots, make a sundial, cast sun prints. Museum admission $3 - $7. 642-5132 

Berkeley Communicator Toastmasters Club 

7:15 a.m. 

Vault Cafe 

3250 Adeline 

Learn to speak with confidence. Ongoing first and third Wednesdays each month. 527-2337 

Support Group for Family/Friends Caring for Older Adults 

4 - 5:30 p.m. - 3rd Wednesday of each month 

Alta Bates Medical Center  

Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way 

3rd floor, Room 3369B (elevator - B) 

The group will focus on the needs of the older adult with serious medical problems, psychiatric illnesses, substance abuse, and their caregivers. Free. 802-1725 

Dramatic Presentation based on Life Stories 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

A presentation based on the life stories of senior citizens who were interviewed at the Center by students of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. 644-6107 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/hhs/commsvc/seniors.htm 

Thursday, Aug. 16 

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 

Ancient Native Sites of the East Bay 

7:30 p.m. 

Room 160 Kroeber Hall, University of California Campus 

Christopher Dore will discuss “Space and Place at Two East Bay Shellmounds.” Jason Claiborne, archaeologist with Archeotec, Inc., will discuss his recent work and the delicate position of playing “archaeo-police” versus serving the client in a talk entitled “Insuring the Future of the Past.” $10 

841-2242 

Salsa Dance Classes 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Classes every Thursday with live percussionists, light refreshments, DJ playing Latin music. $10 or $15 for two.  

237-9874 

Kensington 55+ Activity Center 

9 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Social Hall of Arlington Community Church 

52 Arlington Ave. 

Conversation, Apple II computer instruction, massage therapy, German conversation group, meditation and relaxation techniques, watercolor art class, tea and coffee. Special 11 a.m. program: Travel, Jackie Hetman presents “A 17-Day Train Trip Through Namibia.” For more information call 526-9146 or 547-1969. 

The Candy Cottage 

1:30 p.m. & 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health 

2230 Shattuck Ave. (Lower Level) 

“The Candy Cottage” is a short comedy written and performed by the Hall of Health staff, for children ages 3 to 12. The play provides information about eating healthy, the food pyramid. Free. For more information call:  

549-1564. 

Friday, Aug. 17

Therapy for Trans Partners  

6 - 7:30 p.m.  

Pacific Center for Human Growth  

2712 Telegraph Ave. (at Derby)  

A group open to partners of those in transition or considering transition. The group is structured to be a safe place to receive support from peers and explore a variety of issues, including sexual orientation, coming out, feelings of isolation, among other topics. Intake process required. Meeting Fridays through Aug. 17.  

$8 - $35 sliding scale per session  

Call 548-8283 x534 or x522 

Opus Q Auditions 

3 - 5 p.m. 

The University Lutheran Chapel 

2425 College Ave. 

Opus Q - The East Bay Men’s Chorale is preparing for its first full season. Gay men and their allies are invited to audition for the world’s newest GALA ensemble. For more information: www.opus-q.com or call 664-0260. 

Even Stronger Women 

1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Free weekly cultural discussion class. This week: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. 549-1879 

Saturday, Aug. 18

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

Center Street @ Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

12th Annual Cajun & More Festival. Live music by: Motor Dude Zydeco, Johnny Harper’s Carnival, Creole Belles, Sauce Picuante. Food, crafts fair, micro-breweries, and free Cajun dance lessons with Pattie Whitehurst. Free event open to the public. 548-3333 www.ecologycenter.org 

The Pyramid Outdoor Cinema 

7 p.m. 

Pyramid Alehouse 

901 Gilman St. 

The Outdoor Cinema features cult classics projected on a large screen in the open-air brewery parking lot. This week, Grease. Movies show every Saturday through Sept. 22. $5 donation. 206-682-8322 x237 www.pyramidbrew.com 

Sunday, Aug. 19

Hands-On Bicycle  

Repair Clinics  

11 a.m. - Noon  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Learn how to fix a flat from one of REI’s bike technicians. All you need to bring is your bike. Tools are provided. Free  

527-4140 

Tibetan Culture 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Stephanie Hoffman on “Preserving the Tibetan Literary Heritage.” Free. 843-6812 

West Berkeley Market 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

University Ave., between 3rd and 4th Streets  

Family-oriented weekly market. Crafts, music, produce, and specialty foods. This Sunday is International Family Day. 654-6346 www.westberkeley.com 

Opus Q Auditions 

4 - 6 p.m. 

The University Lutheran Chapel 

2425 College Ave. 

Opus Q - The East Bay Men’s Chorale is preparing for its first full season. Gay men and their allies are invited to audition for the world’s newest GALA ensemble. For more information: www.opus-q.com or call 664-0260. 

The Bungalow - Tradition  

and Transformation 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Building Education Center 

812 Page St.  

Instructed by architect/contractor Barry Wagner. $35. 

525-7610 

— compiled by Guy Poole 

Monday, Aug. 20

Tuesday, Aug. 21 

Intelligent Conversation  

7 - 9 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

A discussion group open to all, regardless of age, religion, viewpoint, etc. This time the discussion will center on fears and phobias: getting and overcoming them. Informally led by Robert Berend, who founded similar groups in L.A., Menlo Park, and Prague. Bring light snacks/drinks to share. Free  

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 Don, 525-3565 

Free Early Music Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK) 

Small group sings madrigals and other voice harmony every Tuesday morning. 655-8863 

Berkeley Fibromyalgia Support Group 

12 - 2 p.m. every 3rd Tuesday 

Alta Bates Medical Center  

Maffly Auditorium - Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way 

Rap session. 601-0550 www.arthritis.org 

Free Computer Class for Seniors 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m. and 1 - 3 p.m.  

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited, call ahead for a reservation. 

644-6109 

Slide Show: Birds in the Garden 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

A discussion follows. 644-6107 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/hhs/commsvc/seniors.htm 

The Associated Students of the University of California held a news conference Tuesday after submitting a redistricting plan that could elect the first student to the City Council and shift the city’s balance of power in the progressives’ favor. 

“We have seen our electoral strength diluted with major pockets of our community divided among no less than five districts,” Vice President of External Affairs Josh Fryday said in a letter that accompanied the plan. “The division has limited the student voice on key issues from housing to transportation.” 

The plan, submitted by four representatives of the ASUC, calls for a major reconfiguration of districts 7 and 8. Under the plan both districts, which are to the south of campus, would be tilted 90 degrees to the east putting District 8 in the southeastern corner of the city and District 7 immediately to the south of campus.  

The result would be that 71 percent of the registered voters in District 7 would be under the age of 24, Fryday said. 

“For the first time we would be able to put a student on the City Council who would represent student issues such as housing, transportation and safety,” Fryday said, speaking on the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center steps. “When these issues came up, we would have someone backing students at all times.” 

The City Charter requires the boundaries of the eight districts be adjusted every 10 years so there are an equal number of residents in each. According to the 2000 Census, two districts showed a drop of nearly 3,000 residents. District 8 lost 1,600 people and District 7 lost 1,300. The charter requires the city adopt a redistricting plan that puts 12,850 residents in each district by the end of December. 

The City Clerk will be accepting redistricting plans from the public until 5 p.m. today. City staff will also submit a plan. The City Council will consider all submissions and is scheduled to hear public comment on redistricting plans on Sept. 13 and 25. The council is expected to adopt a redistricting plan on Oct. 2. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, the ASUC had submitted the only plan. 

The new configuration would have District 7 bounded by Hearst Avenue in the north, Oxford and Elllsworth streets to the west and Parker and Derby streets to the south. District 8 would be bounded to the north by Parker and Derby streets, to the west by Elllsworth Street and Shattuck Avenue and the City of Oakland to the south. The plan would absorb all of the sororities, fraternities and other student housing currently in District 8, into District 7. 

Working against the student plan is the City Charter, which mandates the districts not be significantly altered in shape. The students argue that the major reconfiguration they are calling for is allowed under the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, which makes it illegal to break up communities of interest such as seniors, Socioeconomic groups and, the ASUC argues, students. 

The plan would also shake up the political makeup of districts 7 and 8. Currently District 8, represented by Councilmember Polly Armstrong, is considered a moderate district. District 7, represented by Councilmember Kriss Worthington, is considered to be progressive. 

Both councilmembers handily won their districts in 1998. Worthington took 61 percent of the vote and Armstrong took 58 percent. 

If the ASUC plan is adopted, Worthington would suddenly reside in the more moderate District 8 and Armstrong’s district would be reconfigured to contain a larger portion of District 7, which is traditionally progressive.  

A possible result is that Worthington would have to face Armstrong in the 2002 council race. The two councilmembers are considered by most council watchers to be opposites politically and neither could be mistaken as timid. 

Worthington is running for the state Assembly in 2002 but said if he lost, he would look forward to campaigning against Armstrong in a newly formed District 8. 

“I think it would be a fascinating race,” said Worthington, who was observing the press conference. “It would certainly be an entertaining and colorful race given our history.” 

Later, during a telephone interview, Armstrong responded to Worthington’s comments simply by saying “I don’t find Mr. Worthington at all entertaining.” 

If Armstrong lost to Worthington or another progressive opponent, and assuming a student elected to the council would be progressive, the power balance on the council could shift left increasing the number of progressives on the council from five to six and reducing the moderates to three. 

Armstrong said she has served her district well and is not worried about any potential reconfiguration. “I’ve done a good job for the last six years and I would have to say I would do well in District 8 no matter what it looks likes,” she said. 

Armstrong said that people forget that a large percentage of her district is made up of students and that she worked hard for them to organize the Class Pass program, which allows students to ride AC Transit anywhere the system goes, once they pay a mandatory one-time fee of about $18 per semester.

Editor: 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington is not necessarily my favorite local politician, but Dennis Kuby (letters, Aug. 9) muddles history and points in a disturbing direction by recommending, however tongue-in-cheek, a form of modern ostracism for Worthington. 

Kuby says the ancient Athenians imposed exile on “politicians who abused their public office.” Not quite so, at least not always. Ostracism was employed against more than one citizen as a result of public envy, not misdeeds by the office holder.  

For instance, consider the Archon, Aristeides the Just, who was sent into exile not because of disreputable actions, but because the Athenians “entertained feelings of dislike toward all of more than common fame and reputation,” according to Plutarch. 

There’s a story (perhaps apocryphal) that when Aristeides asked a friend why he had voted to ostracize him, the reply was, “I got tired of hearing you called ‘the Just’.”  

(That should, however, be a cautionary story for Worthington who, in my experience, misses no occasion to mention how honest and honorable he is.) 

Athenian ostracism involved public gatherings where at least six thousand citizens had to vote to confirm.  

Might I gently suggest that those who wish Mr. Worthington sent into political retirement will have their opportunity by casting ballots in the upcoming Assembly primary and election rather than by throwing symbolic potsherds now? 

Kuby also proposes that Worthington be imprisoned.  

Here, again, history is misunderstood. The ancient Athenians did not impose confinement along with ostracism.  

The ostracized individual had to leave Athens for ten years, but could go pretty much anywhere and kept his property and rights as a citizen. Hardly the same as a cell on Alcratraz! 

Finally, we should ask whether, even here in the long self-styled “Athens of the West,” we would want to too closely follow the political practices of an early democracy that denied citizenship and the vote to all women and all non-native men, vigorously practiced and depended on slavery, and was frequently at war with, and overbearing towards, its neighbors? 

Steven Finacom 

Berkeley

The crisis within the Pacifica family of listener-sponsored radio stations may be coming to a head, as the morning news magazine produced by popular host Amy Goodman was canceled Tuesday and replaced, in much of the country, by a rerun of an old show. 

KPFA, Berkeley’s Pacifica station, however, ran the original show, sent directly to the station through high-speed cable lines. 

Amy Goodman, host of “Democracy Now!” has reportedly been in heated battle with Utrice Leid, interim station manager at the New York Pacifica station WBAI, having been relegated to a small cramped studio from where she has been asked to produce her shows. 

Tensions within Pacifica first became evident in Berkeley in 1999, when the Pacifica Foundation Board refused to renew the contract of a popular station manager. The crisis escalated as on-air programmers discussed the manager’s removal over the air, violating the Pacifica executive director’s gag order. Firings and bannings from the air waves ensued. Pacifica closed down the station and piped shows in from Texas and hundreds of people took to the streets in Berkeley, with one demonstration topping 10,000 people. 

Programmers returned to the air and KPFA no longer faces a gag order. However, the fight between activists and the Pacifica Foundation Board, which holds the license to the five stations around the country, has escalated and spread to other listener areas: Los Angeles, Houston, Texas, Washington, D.C., and New York.  

Activists are calling for full disclosure of the board’s expenditures, calling for a board representative of the listeners that is not self-perpetuating, and opposing what they see as the push to “dumb down” Pacifica programming in order to attract a wider audience. 

Goodman’s dispute with her bosses is one part of that fight, with her signing off the air each day, saying she is speaking from “the studios of the fired and the banned,” referring to the more-than-a-dozen WBAI paid and volunteer staff that have been removed from their jobs at the listener-sponsored station. 

Goodman reportedly produced Tuesday’s broadcast from a nearby community television station and sent it by cable to be “uplinked” to the satellite for broadcast, but WBAI managers refused the program. 

This came after a night of negotiations, during which Goodman was attempting to get placed back into a main studio, rather than broadcast from the cramped room which “dissident” Pacifica Board member Tomas Moran called “substandard.” 

Goodman’s decision not to broadcast her shows, whose topics range from political events in East Timor to racial strife in New York City, in the poor conditions of the small studio, comes on the heels of allegations of physical intimidation on the part of the WBAI interim manager, Moran said. 

Moran, who has been among the board minority taking the side of the activists, said he has been trying to contact interim Board Chair Ken Ford.  

“I want him to tell us how the executive director is dealing with this,” he said. “I’ve had no response from Ken Ford.” 

He also had no response from Ford to earlier e-mails immediately following Goodman’s allegations Friday of physical intimidation by Leid. According to KPFA Public Affairs Director Philip Maldari, Goodman said she came upon Leid going through the personal effects of one of the fired staffers. She told Leid to stop and when Leid didn’t, Goodman went and got a camera to photograph Leid going through the individual’s possessions. Leid allegedly took the camera from Goodman by force and pushed Goodman as well. 

The Daily Planet was unable to reach Goodman, Leid, Executive Director Bessie Wash, Pacifica’s pubic relations spokesperson Angela Jones, or Board Chair Ken Ford. Wash, however, posted a message on the Pacifica Web site Tuesday which reads: 

“We are disappointed that Amy Goodman has chosen not to host the award-winning Democracy Now! from the studios of WBAI. This is an unfortunate situation that serves only to deprive the show’s listeners of programming important to them. 

“While we maintain a policy that prevents us from publicly discussing internal disputes and personnel matters, we will continue to try to bridge any differences and find a suitable arrangement for those involved. Whatever our differences are, we feel that the devoted listeners of the show should not be penalized. Pacifica apologizes to the listeners of Democracy Now! and is committed to returning the show to the air as soon as possible.”  

Editor: 

I’m surprised that your editor’s story on the San Francisco Chronicle’s attack on Berkeley made no reference to its editorial cartoon (Aug. 9), which lists “To Stop Mumia’s Execution” among the sins of a City Council wearing a Mao cap. 

A hit man, Arnold Beverly, has confessed that he and another, Kenneth Freeman, now dead, were hired by the mob and corrupt police to kill, and did kill, Officer Faulkner, and that Mumia Abu-Jamal had nothing whatever to do with it. Beverly says that the contract was because Faulkner “interfered with the graft and payoffs made to allow illegal activity” such as prostitution, gambling and drugs. 

On July 19, Federal Judge William H. Yohn refused to allow Beverly to be deposed on the grounds that new evidence of Mumia’s “actual innocence” is not admissible!  

He cited the very recent Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, which requires that the facts of the case as determined by the state court “shall be presumed to be correct.” 

He also cited the 1993 U.S. Supreme Court in Herrara v Collins, ruling that a “potential claim for actual innocence...absent an independent constitutional violation, may not be the subject of a federal habeas petition.”  

This means that an innocent person may be executed if the Constitution was adhered to in procedure! 

On Beverly’s charge against the Philadelphia police, in 1995 six Philadelphia police officers pled guilty to charges of falsifying evidence and planting drugs. In an affidavit filed with Mumia’s new appeal in state court, former FBI paid informer Donald Hersing documents Philadelphia police involvement in protection rackets and payoffs, exactly as Beverly states. Alphonso Giordano, the ranking officer on the scene of Faulkner’s murder, and a key witness at Mumia’s preliminary hearing, was never called to the trial itself because of corruption charges hanging over his head, which later led to his resignation from the force. 

Mumia has been in prison for twenty years.  

That is longer than one serves for murder, unless deliberately intended beforehand, which the prosecution did not charge and which is a requirement for the death sentence.  

In any case, therefore, he should go free. 

Bill Mandel 

Oakland

State Sen. Don Perata unveiled legislation Tuesday that would hold gun manufacturers liable for what he called irresponsible design and marketing of their products. 

The legislation would repeal a section of California state law that shields gunmakers from product liability lawsuits, and would subject them to the same laws as manufacturers of other products, said Perata, speaking at the Eastmont Mall police substation in East Oakland. 

The announcement comes on the heels of a state Supreme Court ruling that the manufacturer of the guns used in the 101 California St. massacre could not be held legally responsible for the 1993 San Francisco shooting. 

The case was brought by the victims of Gian Luigi Ferri, who walked into the law offices of Pettit & Martin in July 1993, carrying two assault weapons and a pistol and opened fire. Ferri killed eight people and wounded six others before committing suicide. 

Perata’s bill, SB 682, would repeal Civil Code Section 1714, which the Supreme Court cited as the reason for its ruling. It would also introduce language that would hold gun makers responsible for the way  

they design, distribute and  

manufacture guns. 

“The way guns and ammunition are marketed and packaged has a lot to do with how they’re used and why they’re used lethally,” said Perata. 

Perata said gun manufacturer Navegar, which made the assault rifles Ferri used, marketed their product irresponsibly, by touting the gun’s fire power and fingerprint resistance.  

“Who wants to buy a gun that doesn’t show fingerprints?” asked Mike Barnes, president of the Brady Campaign to End Handgun Violence, who joined Perata at the press conference. “There’s only one kind of person that wants to buy that kind of gun.” 

Perata and Barnes were also joined by members of the Million Mom March, Alameda County Sheriff Charles Plummer, Oakland Police Chief Richard Word, and Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Chief Larry Todd, representing the California Police Chiefs Association. 

Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean, interviewed by phone Tuesday, said she supported Perata’s proposed legislation and others aimed at reducing gun violence, including a ban on assault rifles and small handguns known as Saturday Night Specials. 

“The more guns we get off the street, the better. This is a major public health problem for teenagers and young people,” Dean said. 

Holding gunmakers responsible would encourage them to install trigger locks and increase research on so-called “smart guns,” which can only be fired by their owners, said Dean. 

Representatives for gun owners and manufacturers deny that the California statute provides special protection for gun manufacturers. 

“That gunmakers can’t be sued under California law is wildly inaccurate,” said Jim Vogt, a lawyer with the Chicago law firm of Wildman, Harrold who is representing gun manufacturer Sturm, Ruger and Company, Inc., in the case brought against gun makers by 12 California counties. 

Gunmakers may, in fact, be sued under current legislation, said Vogt, but the case must show that injury was the result of a specific manufacturing defect. 

The current statute puts gunmakers on equal footing with other manufacturers in product liability cases, said Vogt. It was enacted in 1983 in response to a flurry of lawsuits against makers of Saturday Night Specials. 

Perata’s legislation would open gun manufacturers up to a different type of lawsuit, one that would argue the relative benefits and harm brought by guns, said Chuck Michel, a lawyer for the National Rifle Association and spokesman for the California Rifle and Pistol Association. Such lawsuits would be very costly to fight, Michel said. 

“They don’t have the pockets to litigate suits like that. They would be litigated to death,” said Michel. 

He also pointed out that gunmakers should not be held more accountable than automobile makers whose cars were driven by drunk drivers. 

City Councilmember Dona Spring disagreed. 

“Why should guns be held to this standard, and not knives or other things?” asked Spring. “Because they are so deadly at such a distance and are so pervasively used to do harm to people that the maiming, and killing and carnage needs to stop.” 

OAKLAND— Irwin Hansen, president and chief executive officer of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center said today that he will resign, effective September 1.  

Hansen stressed that the decision to leave the institution comes at the right time for the medical center and in his own career. 

Hansen said, “There’s never an ideal time to leave a job you love, but as a result of the hard work of the board, management and physician leadership, we’ve initiated a strategic plan for the future. We now have the road map in place to take the medical center to a new level. Despite the challenges that lay ahead, Alta Bates Summit will remain the premier health care organization in the East Bay.”  

The chair of the Alta Bates Summit board of trustees, Lawrence D. Fox, confirmed that the board had received and accepted the resignation. Warren Kirk currently Chief Operating Officer will assume responsibilities as interim CEO, Fox said. 

When Hansen arrived at Summit in 1993, the medical center was on the verge of bankruptcy following a bitter and divisive strike. His initial priorities were to stabilize the business, renew the medical center’s mission of community health, and find a financial partner to sustain the organization long term. Under Hansen’s leadership, Summit affiliated in 1999 with Sutter Health and merged with Berkeley’s Alta Bates Medical Center.  

Community and healthcare leaders expressed regret at Hansen’s announcement. “Irwin has taken a ‘tough love’ approach to healthcare in our community,” said State Senator Don Perata (D – Oakland). “He has a big heart but has always been a straight shooter. I’ve come to rely upon him as one of the most credible voices in the healthcare field. I hope he will continue to stay active here, continuing to advocate for our diverse ethnic, senior, and special needs communities.” 

“This news is extremely sad,” said Rose Ann De Moro, Executive Director of the California Nurses Association. “Irwin is one of the most sensitive CEOs with respect to health care, the community and the nursing profession. I personally will miss our positive working relationship.”  

“I have enjoyed the opportunity to get to know and work with Irwin over the past three years,” said Van Johnson, president and CEO of Sutter Health. “I have been impressed by his dedication to preserving vital community health care resources and by his vision for bringing Summit and Alta Bates Medical Centers together. Through Irwin’s leadership the medical center created a strong plan to take the organization to the next level,” Johnson added. 

“Irwin quickly demonstrated his commitment to creating a true partnership and community health. Irwin’s innovative approach was instrumental in the establishment the Ethnic Health Institute and the Health Ministry/Parish Nurse programs that are models for the entire country,” said Frank E. Staggers, Sr., M.D., president of the California Medical Association and an Alta Bates Summit physician.  

Hansen went on to acknowledge the outstanding team work demonstrated at Alta Bates Summit in the recent successes in quality care outcomes: The best hospital in the East Bay; Summit’s intensive care unit named one of the Top 100 ICUs in the U.S.; Alta Bates and Summit OB services among the best in the nation; Alta Bates’ outstanding heart attack outcomes; and Summit one of only three medical centers in California recognized for excellence in coronary artery bypass graft surgery clinical outcomes. 

“I’ve been running urban healthcare institutions non-stop for the past twenty years. While I love the work, it’s time for me to take this opportunity to pursue some things that I’ve put off for years,” Hansen said. “My first task will be to put 1,000 miles on my new bicycle. I’m looking forward to spending some time with my wife and daughters. I think it’s time for me to stop wearing a name tag around the house.”

An incident between a cyclist and a motorist raged out of control late Sunday night, leaving a man and his bike banged up. 

According to Lt. Russell Lopes, a bicyclist was riding north on Arlington Avenue around 11 p.m. when the passenger in a mid-1980s blue Jeep Cherokee yelled at him to “get the … off the road” as the auto whizzed past the bicycle. The bicyclist, angered by the remark, allegedly sped up to the car and followed it as it made a left on Yosemite Road. 

According to Lopes, when the driver of the Jeep realized that the biker was following him, he slammed on the brakes causing the bicyclist to swerve to avoid ramming into the car. The driver then allegedly sped up causing the cyclist to fall to the ground. According to Lt. Lopes, the driver then ran over the bike and then backed over it before driving to the next intersection, making a U-turn and running over the bike again. 

After the motorist ran over the cyclist’s bike the third time, the cyclist allegedly jumped onto the roof of the motorist’s car. The motorist then sped in reverse causing the cyclist to tumble off the roof and hood of the car before finally driving away. 

The bicyclist suffered cuts and bruises on his face and arms but refused medical attention. 

••• 

Two robberies at gunpoint were reported to the Berkeley Police Department over the past five days. 

Three female UC Berkeley students were robbed Saturday night near the corner of Bowditch and Haste streets, according to Lt. Lopes. 

According to Lopes, two men in their early 20s approached the victims while walking on Bowditch around 10 p.m. One of the suspects allegedly had a gun in his hand and was pointing it at the ground when he demanded that one of the women give him her bag. According to Lopes, once the victim handed her backpack over, the suspects ran off. There were no injuries. There are no suspects. 

Early Monday morning a couple in their early 20s were walking home on Dwight Way when two men between the ages of 18 and 25 approached them, according to Lopes. One of the men allegedly asked the victims if they knew what the time was before showing them a semi-automatic weapon and demanding their wallet and purse. According to Lt. Lopes the victims obliged and the suspects ran off. There were no injuries. There are no suspects. 

— compiled by Kenyatte Davis

The garden is now barren where ripe tomatoes, strawberry vines and corn stalks once grew, but educators at the Berkeley Alternative High School already have plans to replant the garden removed by the school district last week in an effort to control rodents in the area.  

Rats have infested the city-owned housing adjacent to the alternative school, prompting the city to call for a cleanup at the homes, the school and the neighboring King Child Development Center.  

But educators argue that the rodent abatement project should not have targeted the school garden. Removing debris in the area would have been sufficient, said Travis Smith, garden resource team leader who works with student gardens throughout the school district.  

Smith said garden produce showed no signs of rodent damage, countering the city’s contention that the garden was providing food for the rodents. 

“Removing the trash and wood stacks was a good first step. I think they would have found that, along with trapping (rodents) in the sewers, would have improved the (situation),” said Smith. 

In addition to the school garden, an abandoned garden at the preschool was also removed. Work crews also carted off an old dumpster, a stack of wood and a pile of mattresses used by homeless people. They also mowed down an unkempt grassy area between the schools and the homes. 

The cleanup was part of a citywide effort to eliminate harborage – debris and vegetation that creates shelter – for rodents. 

“In an effort to jump on the problem, we on the city side initiated a cleanup on city properties. And we called on our colleagues in the school district to look at their buildings and to remove any debris and anything that would harbor rodents,” said Arrietta Chakos, chief of staff in the City Manager’s Office. 

Berkeley Alternative High School Principal Alex Palau is satisfied that the school has addressed the city’s rodent concerns and plans to replant the garden once school begins. 

“We need to make sure that whatever concerns there are around rats are met. I think we’ve gone that extra step,” said Palau. “I think we’ve addressed their concerns and hopefully it’s a closed issue.” 

Communication between the city and the school could have been better, observed Palau, who pointed out how difficult it is to get in touch with school administrators and teachers in the summer months. 

When Palau learned of the city’s plan he arranged to meet with city officials at the school to discuss what should be done with the garden. So he and Smith were surprised to arrive at the school last week to find workers already beginning to remove the plants. 

Along with the plants, the cleanup crew planned to destroy the tiered wooden boxes that formed the structure of the garden. But, in what Palau and Smith characterize as a compromise deal, they took the plants but left behind the wooden structure. 

Although the garden is now barren, Smith is already busy growing plants for students to transplant to the garden. 

The garden is part of the district-wide Nutrition Network Program, which offers teachers and students hands-on opportunities to learn about nutrition and science. 

“There are some projects that are serving a greater purpose, and I think this is one of those projects. It serves a nutritional purpose and an educational one, and we’re going to hold onto it,” Palau said. 

Tuesday, Aug. 14

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

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

525-3565 

Writing and Resistance  

In A Culture of Amnesia 

6 - 7:45 p.m. 

La Peña Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Avenue 

Classroom #2 

Part of a workshop series on concepts and strategies for resistance through the spoken and written word, taught by Joyce E. Young. $12. 

849-2568 www.lapena.org 

Free Early Music Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Small group sings madrigals and other voice harmony every Tuesday.  

655-8863 

Free Computer Class for Seniors 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m. and 1 - 3 p.m.  

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited, call ahead for a reservation. 644-6109 

Auditions for Tom Stoppard’s “Travesties” 

7 p.m. 

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck (at Berryman) 

Held by the Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, there are parts for five men and three women ages 20 - 70. No appointment is needed; no remuneration. 

525-1620 www.actorsensembleofberkeley.com. 

The Candy Cottage 

1:30 p.m. & 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health 

2230 Shattuck Ave. (Lower Level) 

“The Candy Cottage” is a short comedy written and performed by the Hall of Health staff, for children ages 3 to 12. The play provides information about eating healthy, the food pyramid, and what vitamins and minerals do for your body. The Hall of Health is a hands-on community health-education museum and science center sponsored by Children’s Hospital of Oakland. Free. For more information call: 549-1564. 

Wednesday, Aug. 15

Space Weather 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

UC Berkeley 

Part of the Lawrence Hall of Science Wednesday FUN-days. Explore the Space Weather exhibit, talk to NASA researchers, look for sun spots, make a sundial, cast sun prints. Museum admission $3 - $7. 642-5132 

Berkeley Communicator Toastmasters Club 

7:15 a.m. 

Vault Cafe 

3250 Adeline 

Learn to speak with confidence. Ongoing first and third Wednesdays each month. 

527-2337 

Support Group for Family/Friends Caring for Older Adults 

4 - 5:30 p.m. - 3rd Wednesday of each month 

Alta Bates Medical Center  

Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way 

3rd floor, Room 3369B (elevator - B) 

The group will focus on the needs of the older adult with serious medical problems, psychiatric illnesses, substance abuse, and their caregivers. Free. 802-1725 

Dramatic Presentation based on Life Stories 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

A presentation based on the life stories of senior citizens who were interviewed at the Center by students of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. 644-6107 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/hhs/commsvc/seniors.htm 

Thursday, Aug. 16

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 

Ancient Native Sites of the East Bay 

7:30 p.m. 

Room 160 Kroeber Hall, University of California Campus 

Christopher Dore will discuss “Space and Place at Two East Bay Shellmounds.” Jason Claiborne, archaeologist with Archeotec, Inc., will discuss his recent work and the delicate position of playing “archaeo-police” versus serving the client in a talk entitled “Insuring the Future of the Past.” $10 

841-2242 

Salsa Dance Classes 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Classes every Thursday with live percussionists, light refreshments, DJ playing Latin music. $10 or $15 for two. 237-9874 

Kensington 55+ Activity Center 

9 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Social Hall of Arlington Community Church 

52 Arlington Ave. 

Conversation, Apple II computer instruction, massage therapy, German conversation group, meditation and relaxation techniques, watercolor art class, tea and coffee. Special 11 a.m. program: Travel, Jackie Hetman presents “A 17-Day Train Trip Through Namibia.” For more information call 526-9146 or 547-1969. 

The Candy Cottage 

1:30 p.m. & 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health 

2230 Shattuck Ave. (Lower Level) 

“The Candy Cottage” is a short comedy written and performed by the Hall of Health staff, for children ages 3 to 12. The play provides information about eating healthy, the food pyramid, and what vitamins and minerals do for your body. The Hall of Health is a hands-on community health-education museum and science center sponsored by Children’s Hospital of Oakland. Free. For more information call: 549-1564. 

Friday, Aug. 17

Therapy for Trans Partners  

6 - 7:30 p.m.  

Pacific Center for Human Growth  

2712 Telegraph Ave. (at Derby)  

A group open to partners of those in transition or considering transition. The group is structured to be a safe place to receive support from peers and explore a variety of issues, including sexual orientation, coming out, feelings of isolation, among other topics. Intake process required. Meeting Fridays through Aug. 17.  

$8 - $35 sliding scale per session  

Call 548-8283 x534 or x522 

Editor, 

I attended the Community Environmental Advisory Commission meeting where the toxins manager, Nabil Al-Hadithy, released the preliminary results of the Harrison Park air study. Nabil was criticized by one of the commissioners at the meeting for not releasing the preliminary report earlier.  

Now Doug Fielding (8/8/01) is criticizing him for releasing it at all.  

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. 

Nabil reported on the initial study results, and he also arranged a conference call with the report’s author so that commissioners could ask questions and make comments.  

Mr. Fielding was one of the major proponents of the Harrison field park so I can understand him being disappointed by the initial results, but the impulse to shoot the messenger is not a useful one.  

With regards to timing, Mr. Fielding does not seem to realize that this is a public safety issue. Analysis and response goes hand in hand with the measurements. Waiting, would make the study less useful, and if there is in fact a hazard, would be irresponsible. 

Mr. Fielding also attacked Nabil for the skate park debacle and general mismanagement. I have attended almost all the CEAC meetings for the last three years, and Mr. Fielding has not.  

Mr. Fielding shows no appreciation for the difficulties under which Nabil works. I have been consistently impressed by his responsiveness to commission and public requests.  

To the best of my knowledge he has performed his duties in a professional manner. I think the city of Berkeley is lucky to have him. 

Most of the more technical points Fielding raises were discussed at the last CEAC meeting. If he has anything more to add, I am sure Nabil and CEAC would be interesting in hearing it. 

Robert Clear 

Berkeley 

924 Gilman St. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Aug. 17: Blood Brothers, True North, The Cost, Red Light Sting, Betray The Species; Aug. 18: Dr. Know, The Sick, Society of Friends, Manchurian Candidates, Shut the F*ck Up; $5. 924 Gilman St. 525-9926. 

Ashkenaz Aug. 14: 9 p.m. Tom Rigney & Flambeau. 8 p.m. dance lesson w/ Patti Whitehurst. $8; Aug. 15: 9 p.m. Jerri Jheto. $10. Aug. 16: 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Dead DJ Night with Digital Dave. $5; Aug. 17: 9:30 p.m. Near East Far West. $12; Aug. 18: 9:30 p.m. Zydeco Flames. 8 p.m. dance lesson w/ Cheryl McBride. $11. Aug. 19: 8 p.m. Open Stage w/ Koko De La Isla, Ernesto Hernandaz, Jeff Hawkins. $8; Aug. 21: 9 p.m. Slavonkian Traveling Band. 8 p.m. dance lesson w/ Joyce Clyde. $10; Aug. 22: 9 p.m. Badenya Les Freres Coulibaly, $10; Aug. 23: 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Dead DJ Night with Digital Dave. $5; Aug. 24: 9:30 p.m. Caribbean All Stars $11; Aug. 25: 9 p.m. California Brazil Camp Benefit, $10; Aug. 26: 1 p.m. - 6 p.m. Middle Eastern Dance Workshops with Ma Shuga Mira Murijan and Nanna Candeleria. $45. 8 p.m. Harmonia, $10; Aug. 28: 9 p.m. Gerard Landry and the Lariats, $8; Aug. 29: 8 p.m. Earl White Oldtime Band, Bluegrass Intentions, $10; Aug. 30: 9 p.m. Samite, Forward Kwenda, $10; Aug. 31: 9:30 p.m. Wawa and the Oneness Kingdom, The Calypsonians, $10; 1317 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054 www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Doors open at 8 p.m. Aug. 18: Craig Horton /CD Release; Aug. 25: Carlos Zialcita; Every Friday, 10 p.m. - 2 a.m., Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10; 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Jupiter Aug. 15: Lithium House, electro/drum & bass styles with live jazz; Aug. 16: Beatdown with DJ’s Delon, Yamu and Add1; Aug. 17: The Mind Club, Old school funk grooves with sonic swirls of acid jazz; Aug. 18: Blue & Tan; Aug. 21: Groove.org; Aug. 22: Stolen Bibles All music starts at 8:00 p.m. www.jupiterbeer.com; or call the hotline: THE-ROCK. 843-7625  

La Note/Jazzschool Aug. 19: 4:30 p.m. Hazel Carter, 5:30 p.m. Bryan Girard & Friends, 6:30 p.m. T3 (Kirk Tamura Trio); Free. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373  

La Peña Cultural Center Aug. 17: 8:30 p.m. Music and dance performance by Jaranón y Bochinche, $12; Aug. 18: 8:30 p.m. Mission (roots hip hop), $8; Aug. 19: 3:30 p.m. Domingo de Rumba; Aug. 24: 8:30 p.m. Professor Terry’s Circus Band Extraordinary, $16; Aug. 25: 9:30 p.m., Edgardo Cambon’s Candela, $10, 8:15 p.m. Salsa dance class w/ Diego Vásquez, $13; In the Cafe, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Shattuck Down Low Lounge Every Tuesday: 9:30 p.m., Posh Tuesdays with DJ’s Yamu, Delon, Add1, and Tequila Willie. Shattuck at Allston. www.thebeatdownsound.com  

ACME Observatory Aug. 19: 8 p.m. Solo performance by Jason Kahn, Brown Bunny Ensemble. $9.99 suggested donation. TUVA Space, 3192 Adeline @ MLK Jr. Way. 649-8744 http://sfSound.org/acme.html 

Indigo Event Center Aug. 25: 4:20 p.m. Musicians for Medical Marijauna Benefit concert. Sound Tribe Sector 9, Lost at Last, The Mermen, Ten Ton Chicken, Scott Huckabay, Strawberry Alarmclock, Buzzy Linhart, plus special guests, $25. 1988 Broadway at 19th, Oakland. 869-5391 www.m4mm.org  

Third annual Berkeley World Music Festival Aug. 26: noon - 6 p.m. Block party and carnival, Grupo Ilu Fun Fun, Petit La Croix, Samba Ngo, O-Maya, Fito Reinoso y Su Ritmo y Armonia. Durant Ave. between Telegraph and Bowditch. 

TUVA Space Aug. 25: 8 p.m. Vanessa Lowe and the Lowliflies, Ira Marlowe, Hoarhound. 3192 Adeline St. 655-9755 

“Frank Olivier’s Twisted Cabaret” Aug. 24 & 25, 8 p.m. Frank Olivier is joined by Uncle Paul Nathan and The Twisted Cabaret Band. All tickets $16. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 College Ave. 845-8542 www.juliamorgan.org 

“Loot” Through Aug. 25, Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m. Special Performance Aug. 20, 8 p.m. General Admission: $15, Students / Seniors: $10 La Val’s 1834 Euclid Avenue 655-0813 

“Reefer Madness” Aug. 22, 23: 9 p.m. A new one-act theatre piece adapted from a 1936 government-funded film opens a critical eye to the control of our society. Performed by The Elemental Theatre Group La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Avenue. Wednesdays are “pay what you can,” Thursdays $5 - $10. Contact Zachary Rouse or Tisha Sloan for more info at 655-4150 

“Romeo & Juliet” Through Sep 2, Tuesdays – Thursdays. Bruns Memorial Amphitheater. Shakespeare’s classic about a young couple that meets, falls in love and dies in just five days. Adults: $22 - $41 youth (under 16): $12 - $41. 

“Murder Dressed in Satin” by Victor Lawhorn, ongoing. A mystery-comedy dinner show at The Madison about a murder at the home of Satin Moray, a club owner and self-proclaimed socialite with a scarlet past. Dinner is included in the price of the theater ticket. $47.50 Lake Merritt Hotel, 1800 Madison St., Oakland. 239-2252 www.acteva.com/go/havefun 

Pacific Film Archive Aug. 14: 7:30 p.m. Odds and Ends; Aug. 15: 7:30 p.m. Angel, Angel, Down We Go; Aug. 16: 7:30 p.m. Rancho Notorious; Aug. 17: 7 p.m. Bonchi, 9:05 p.m. Money Talks; Aug. 18: 7 p.m. Ministry of Fear, 8:45 p.m. House by the River; Aug. 19: 3 p.m. National Velvet, 5:30 p.m. I Am Two, 7:15 I Am a Cat; Aug. 21: 7:30 p.m. The Direct Cinema Tradition; Aug. 22: 7:30 p.m. The Werewolf of Washington; Aug. 23: 7:30 p.m. Contempt; Aug. 24: 7 p.m. The Heart, 9:20 p.m. The Outcast; Aug. 25: 7 p.m. Moonfleet, 8:45 p.m. The Blue Gardenia; Aug. 26: 3 p.m. Duck Soup, 5:30 p.m. The Wanderers, 7:25 p.m. Dora-Heita; Aug. 28: 7:30 p.m. Doodling; Aug. 29: (free screenings) 7:30 p.m. The Horror of Party Beach, 9:15 p.m. The Crater Lake Monster; Aug. 31: 7 p.m. The Makioka Sisters, 9:35 p.m. A Woman’s Testament; Gen. Adm.. $7, The New PFA Theatre 2575 Bancroft Way 642-1412 

Boadecia’s Books Aug. 17: Lynne Murray reads from her latest Josephine Fuller mystery “At Large”; Aug. 18: “Hell on Heels” tour with Daphne Gottlieb and Thea Hillman; Aug. 24: Andrea Gabbard discusses “Girl in the Curl: A Century of Women’s Surfing”; Aug. 25: Ann Bannon reads from her lesbian pulp classic “Beebo Brinker.” All events start at 7:30 p.m. and are free. 398 Colusa Avenue 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

Black Oak Books Aug. 15: Molly Giles reads from her debut novel “Iron Shoes”; Aug. 16: Mandy Aftel and her new book, “Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume”; Aug. 19: “Wildest Alaska: Journeys of Great Peril in Lituya Bay” by Philip L. Fradkin; Aug. 21: June Jordan’s memoir “Soldier: A Poet’s Childhood”; Aug. 22: Ruth Daigon’s “Payday at the Triangle”; Aug. 23: Phil Cousineau’s “Once and Future Myths: The Power of Ancient Stories in Modern Times”; Aug. 27: Catherine Brady, Jean Herlund, Frances Payne Adler, and Marianne Villanueva and others to celebrate CALYX Book’s 25th Anniversary, “Cracking the Earth”; Aug. 28: Kent Nerburn reads from “Road Angels: Searching for Home on America’s Coast of Dreams”; Aug. 29: Sylvia Brownrigg reads from her new novel, “Pages For You”; All shows at 7:30 p.m. free of charge. 1491 Shattuck Avenue 486-0698 

Café de la Paz Poetry Nitro performance showcase with open mike. Aug. 20: Avotcja; 6:30 p.m. signup, 7 - 9 p.m. reading. 1600 Shattuck Ave. 843-0662 

Cody’s Books Poetry Flash Aug. 15: Poet’s Dinner Contest Anthology Reading, David Alpaugh, Martha Bosworth, Tim Nuveen, Charlene Villella, read from their new anthology, Remembering, 25 years of first and grand prize-winning poems at the annual Poets Dinner Contest; Aug. 22: Trane Devore and Shauna Hannibal; Aug. 29: The New Now Millennium Anthology Reading with Editor H. D. Moe; All are a $2 donation. Readings at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-0837 

Coffee Mill Poetry Series Aug. 21: Featured Readers: Victoria Joyce and Therese Bamberger; Both 7-9 p.m. Free. 3363 Grand Ave., Oakland for info. 465-3935 or 526-5985, or Email: ksdgk@earthlink.net 

“Coffee Break Readings and Refreshments,” Aug. 18, 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. Oakland Publis Library-Rockridge Branch. Open-mic poems, monolouges and dramatic scenes, presented by Opera Piccola. For ages 10 and up. 5366 College Ave. Free. 238-3134 ww.oaklandlibrary.org 

Tours 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Fridays 9:30 - 11:45 a.m. or by appointment. Call ahead to make reservations. Free. University of California, Berkeley. 486-4387 

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

Museums 

Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm” An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and more. “Recycling Center” Lets the kids crank the conveyor belt to sort cans, plastic bottles and newspaper bundles into dumpster bins. $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. (closed Sundays, Memorial Day through Labor Day) Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

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 will close its exhibition galleries for renovation. It will reopen in early 2002. On View until Oct. 1 : “Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture.” “Sites Along the Nile: Rescuing Ancient Egypt.” “The Art of Research: Nelson Graburn and the Aesthetics of Inuit Sculpture.” “Tzintzuntzan, Mexico: Photographs by George Foster.” $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 or www.qal.berkeley.edu/~hearst/ 

Lawrence Hall of Science “Science in Toyland,” through Sept. 9. Exhibit uses toys to demonstrate scientific principles and to help develop children's thinking processes. Susan Cerny’s collection of over 200 tops from around the world. “Space Weather,” through Sept. 2. Learn about solar cycles, space weather, the cause of the Aurorae and recent discoveries made by leading astronomers. This interactive exhibit lets visitors access near real-time data from the Sun and space, view interactive videos and find out about a variety of solar activities. “Within the Human Brain,” ongoing. Visitors test their cranial nerves, play skeeball, master mazes, match musical tones and construct stories inside a simulated “rat cage” of learning experiments. “Saturday Night Stargazing,” First and third Saturdays each month. 8 - 10 p.m., LHS plaza. Space Weather Exhibit now - Sept. 2; now - Sept. 9 Science in Toyland; Saturdays 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. $7 for adults; $5 for children 5-18; $3 for children 3-4. 642-5132 

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. “How Big Is the Universe?” Aug. 1 through Aug. 24. Learn how to determine the distance of celestial objects, one of the purposes of the Hubble Space Telescope. Daily, 2:15 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, 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu 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  

Oakland Museum of California, A Legacy of Early California Paintings: The Shumate Collection, through Aug. 19; Every Worker is an Organizer: Farm Labor and the Resurgence of the United Farm Workers, through Aug. 26; Made in Oakland: The Furniture of Garry Knox Bennett, through Sept. 2; After the Storm: Bob Walker and the Art of Environmental Photography, through Sept. 16; Half Past Autumn: The Art of Gordon Parks, through Sept. 23; Rustler Ranch Mastodon Project, through June 30, 2002; Wednesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday, noon - 5 p.m., Closed Monday and Tuesday. $6 general; $4 youths (6-17), seniors and students with ID. Free for Museum members and children 5 and under. Free admission the second Sunday of the month. 10th & Oak Streets, Oakland. 238-2200 www.museum.org 

The UC Berkeley Art Museum is closed for renovations until the fall. 

Send arts events two weeks in advance to Calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.net, 2076 University, Berkeley 94704 or fax to 841-5694. 

The city’s newly remodeled Martin Luther King Civic Center Building is being fitted with monitoring equipment that will measure just how much the six-story building shakes, rattles and rolls during the next earthquake. 

“This will provide useful information to the (The United States Geological Survey); it will provide useful information to the entire earthquake design community and it will provide useful information to the city of Berkeley,” said Manager of Capital Projects John Rosenbrock. 

The USGS is currently installing a “motion accelerograph” system at the base of the building and in the ceiling of the fifth floor. The City Council unanimously approved the joint program between the city and the USGS on July 24. The city provides only for the wiring to connect the instruments and the USGS pays for the equipment, its installation and its maintenance. 

Rosenbrock said the city will be able to compare building movement to the anticipated displacement of the 74 state-of-the-art base isolators the Civic Center rests on. The isolators are designed to allow the building to sway up to 30 inches in any direction during an earthquake. The base of the building is surrounded by a moat that will allow the movement.  

The isolators were installed during the $38 million renovation that was completed in May. Public Works Director Rene Cardinaux said the isolators have been used to counteract bridge movement for many years, but they are still considered new technology in buildings. 

“No matter how well you design anything, there’s still a certain amount of theory involved,” Cardinaux said. “And you just can’t predict how the earth is going to move in an earthquake.” 

According to a July 24 report from the Department of Public Works, the monitoring equipment will be placed at the base of the buildings near the isolators and in the ceiling on the fifth floor. Rosenbrock said the information gathered from the fifth-floor monitors will be compared to information gathered at the base of the building. The difference in movement will help the evaluation of the base isolators’ efficiency. 

The information will be transmitted electronically to the USGS offices in Menlo Park where it will be recorded and analyzed. A viewing monitor will be available in the Civic Center lobby so the public can access the information as well.  

The seismic-monitoring equipment is expected to be operational no later then the end of September. 

Editor: 

This past week you ran an AP story of dark sky ordinances. One proposed ordinance has floated around Berkeley for the last two years.  

On April 17 the Parks and Recreation Commission requested that the City Council draft and adopt an appropriate “night time outdoor lighting” ordinance.  

The purposes are two fold, one to save electricity by having light illuminate the ground and not the sky, and secondly, to preserve the recreation of amateur astronomy.  

Yolanda Huang  

member, Parks & Recreation Commission  

SAN FRANCISCO — A California couple embroiled in a trans-Atlantic surrogate parent lawsuit has lined up another would-be family for twins that a British woman is carrying. 

Helen Beasley, now 25 weeks pregnant, sued Charles Wheeler and Martha Berman, alleging that the Berkeley couple backed out of a pregnancy deal and abandoned her after Beasley refused to abort one of the twins. 

On Sunday, the couple’s lawyer, Diane Michelsen, said another set of American parents has been found to take over the surrogacy contract. 

“There has been and continues to be a fully qualified couple who is ready, willing and able to immediately accept the custody of the children,” she said. 

Michelsen wouldn’t say why her clients don’t want the babies now, after going to all the trouble and expense of having the husband’s sperm and a donor egg implanted in a surrogate mother’s womb. 

“Family building is a very private matter,” she said. 

Michelsen also denied that anyone ordered Beasley, 26, to abort one of the twins. She said it was more of a “request,” as outlined in the contract, which called for a “selective reduction” if Beasley became pregnant with more than one baby. 

Beasley says they also had a verbal agreement that the abortion decision would be made before the 12th week of pregnancy. Beasley said she informed the couple that she was carrying twins about eight weeks into her pregnancy, and that it wasn’t until the end of the 13th week that they told her to abort one of the fetuses. 

Beasley refused, saying it would be too risky at that point. 

She also said she has no legal rights to the twins and will not be able to take care of them, but does not want Wheeler and Berman to have them. 

“I believe that these parents have made it expressly clear that they have not wanted these children,” Beasley told CNN Monday. 

Michelsen, who wouldn’t identify the adoptive couple, said there was “never any possibility” that the twins would be abandoned. She said Beasley’s attorney, Theresa Erickson, knew this but still chose to file a lawsuit. 

“It was all priorly agreed to and they were not willing to separate the children,” Michelsen told The Associated Press on Sunday. “If the children were to be gestated together, they wanted to keep the children together.” 

Beasley met Wheeler and Berman a year ago over the Internet on a Web site for surrogate parents. The couple agreed to pay her $19,000 to bear their child, according to court documents, and she underwent in-vitro fertilization in California in March. 

Erickson told The Associated Press that the couple has paid Beasley $1,000 of the promised sum. 

“They have abandoned these babies because they have abandoned Helen,” Erickson said. “All Helen wants is a couple to love them and take care of them.” 

Editor: 

Congratulations to Kriss Worthington for his tireless efforts to expose discrimination in all its ugly guises, most recently the Boy Scouts of America. 

There are other, perhaps more sinister, organizations operating openly in our Berkeley society which should be similarly exposed for blatant discriminatory policies.  

For instance, groups which oppose a woman’s right to choose, misleadingly referred to as Pro-Lifers, discriminate against women, which is also sexist. Fundamentalist Christians, Roman Catholics, and Mormons fit this profile. 

Why members of these and other discriminating organizations continue to be permitted to use Berkeley public facilities such as City Hall, its drinking fountains and bathrooms, should be disturbing to all Berkeley peoples. 

Here’s hoping Mr. Worthington will next turn his attentions to these other discriminatory groups, expose them too, and root them out. Go get ‘em Kriss! 

Stuart Sidells 

Berkele

The University of California, Berkeley business school dean who once served as President Clinton’s National Economic Adviser is leaving to head the London Business School. 

Laura Tyson, dean of the Haas School of Business, announced plans Monday to resign by Dec. 31. She was appointed dean in 1998 and is the only woman currently leading a major business school in the United States. 

“Laura Tyson has shown wonderful leadership as dean of the Haas School. She has led the school to new levels of prominence and fostered an innovative learning environment that will continue to greatly benefit today’s business students. We wish her the best in her new position and I am delighted that she sees a return to Berkeley in her future plans,” said Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl. 

Berdahl announced that professor Benjamin Hermalin, who has been serving as associate dean for academic affairs and chair of the faculty at the Haas School since 1999, has been appointed interim dean. Hermalin, 39, is the Willis H. Booth Professor of Banking and Finance and has been with the Haas School since 1988. He has a joint appointment with the Department of Economics and is a co-founder and director of the private online academic publishing company Bepress. 

The campus will undertake a national search for the permanent deanship, said the chancellor. 

Tyson, 54, will be on leave from her faculty position at UC Berkeley and said she plans to return to the campus at some point in the future. She has been a professor at the Haas School since 1990 and at the campus since 1977. 

“I have been offered the possibility of fulfilling a long-held dream of spending a few years in London and doing so in a way that I believe will enhance my skills as a professor and university administrator,” Tyson said in her communications with her Haas School faculty colleagues. 

Tyson said the London appointment will provide her with a perfect vantage point from which to study the globalization of business.  

She became known for her research in international economics, including her widely acclaimed book, “Who’s Bashing Whom - Trade Conflict in High Technology Industries.” 

Before becoming dean of the Haas School, Tyson served from January 1993 through December 1996 in the Clinton Administration, where she was a key architect of the President’s domestic and international economic policy agenda during his first term in office.  

Between February 1995 and December 1996, she served as the President’s National Economic Adviser and was the highest ranking woman in the Clinton White House.  

During her tenure as Haas School dean, Tyson successfully negotiated an agreement with the university administration to grant the Haas School greater financial and operational autonomy.

Editor: 

Even when you are an M.D., prefacing your statements with “In fact” doesn’t make them factual. (Planet July 27) Grossman, after his review of six “studies of the Lawrence Berkeley Lab’s national Tritium Labeling Facility (NTLF), concluded all the physicists and health scientists involved were in unanimous agreement that the Tritium Lab is not poisoning anybody.  

All the physicists and health scientists authors, other than Franke and NIH, depend for their livelihood on the Dept.. of Energy which owns the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.  

Furthermore, all these “studies,” including Franke’s (not yet Finalized) are based solely on data provided by LBNL. 

Below I address some of the Grossman’s so-called facts: 

• City Consultant Bernard Franke’s draft study did not find that the Tritium inventory in trees and ground water is small. Franke stated: “Tritium in trees within a 200 meter radius from the NTLF stack was estimated by LBNL to be less than 1Ci.”  

First, this is an estimate by the body under scrutiny.  

Second, use of the numeral one and measurement in curies is misleading. One curie of Tritium is dangerous. The reason the amount of Tritium in vegetation and ground water is expressed in picocuries (of which there are a trillion in a curie) is because EPA’s maximum allowable standard for Tritium in drinking water is 20,000 picocuries per liter.  

The major criticism of Franke’s draft report is that he did not answer the question: what do the high levels of organically bound Tritium in vegetation (345,000pCi/K) and Tritium in rainfall (239,000 pCi/L) mean in terms of the Tritium concentration in the air and ground water?  

Hopefully, Franke’s final report will address this crucial question. 

• Is it a coincidence that the Berkeley Lab has curtailed NTLF’s tritiations and, therefore, Tritium emissions since the city of Berkeley on Dec. 24, 1996 wrote to the California Department of Health Services and asked them “to require an independent soil and vegetation testing for tritiated water vapor and organically bound Tritium at the site of the Lawrence Hall of Science...?” 

Why is it that the independent soil and vegetation testing has not yet taken place? Instead, the lab is doing self-testing of the soil, vegetation and air while NTLF operations are minimal. Their results will be forwarded to the U.S. EPA which the Lab expects will overturn it’s 1998 reassessment that found LBNL qualified as a Superfund Site because Tritium in air samples inside the Lawrence Hall of Science exceeded EPA’s cancer Risk Screening Concentrations. 

Gene Bernardi 

Berkeley 

SAN FRANCISCO — Nine advocates for affordable housing were cited Monday, two days after breaking into and taking over an abandoned city-owned building to draw attention to their cause. 

The squatters had turned on the electricity and had planned to turn on the water and start cleaning up the place if the school district, which owns the four-story building, had allowed them to stay. 

But Tony Irons, city architect and the school district’s chief operating officer, said he called police at 2 p.m. after the activists refused to leave. 

“It is an immediate and serious health hazard,” he said, adding that there was asbestos and lead throughout the building. “It’s really bad in there. It’s even off-limits to the maintenance staff.” 

Police cited the following: Diana Valentine, 27; Mara Raider, 30; Samuel Dodge, 25; Michael McCarron, 32; L.S. Wilson, 49; Ted Gullicksen, 48; James Hewitt, 30; Thomas Gomez, 37; and Jeffrey Giaquiento, 26. All were released without bail or fines, according to police spokesman Dewayne Tully. 

Four homeless people and four activists broke into the fence-enclosed building late Saturday, and another activist joined the group Monday.  

The historic building, built in 1910 as a school, was home to several city offices until it was damaged in the October, 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.  

It was declared unsafe soon after and has been vacant since. 

“Just because there is money available to take over the building and redo it, maybe there might be other properties much more suited to what they have in mind,” said school district spokeswoman Jackie Wright, who added there are currently “no announced plans for that property.” 

She also said “the district is taking extra precautions to make sure that property won’t be broken into again.” 

The occupation was designed to draw attention to homelessness and gain support for a new city ordinance proposed by San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly. 

The ordinance would identify unused and underused city-owned buildings for review by a committee, which would then assess their suitability for use as homeless shelters or service providers. 

“Homelessness is a crisis and it should be the thing that we look at first,” Daly said.  

“(The ordinance) directs that unless there’s an overriding local use or compelling reason why the property should not be turned over on a rental basis for use by the homeless.” 

San Francisco estimates about 5,400 homeless people live in the city of 777,000.  

Advocates put the total much higher. The city has fewer than 2,000 shelter beds, which are assigned by lottery. 

Gomez lived in Golden Gate Park before occupying the building. He said he’s trapped in a cycle of not being able to get a job because he has no place to live and not being able to find a place to live because he doesn’t have a job. 

“To be employed, it helps to have a place to shower, a place to shave, a place to cook,” he said Monday morning from an open second-floor window before the arrests.  

“Most of the homeless people who are able-bodied do grunt labor ... usually for very little money and you still don’t have a place to stay.” 

Advocates agree many of the newly homeless are the working poor. 

“People are making what used to be a living wage and finding that it’s not enough to rent in San Francisco,” said Gullicksen of San Francisco-based Homes Not Jails, which organized the occupation.  

“The shelters are full of people who can’t afford to rent.” 

Monthly rents in San Francisco currently range from about $1,800 to $3,500 for a one-bedroom apartment. 

San Francisco’s Real Estate Department has no estimate of how many city-owned buildings are currently vacant, according to spokesman Steve Legnitto. 

“The city tries to use every facility that we have,” Legnitto said.  

“The only reason we don’t use it is if it’s in need of repair. If it’s in need of repair, we use it for storage. The public perception of what is not being used may be completely different from the truth.” 

But housing advocates like Gullicksen look at a vacant building and see shelter for needy people. 

“The politicians see property in San Francisco as too valuable to just give away. They’ll keep it vacant for 10 years rather than let homeless people fix it up and live here,” he said.  

“Even if we can stay here a month and provide housing for 100 people for one month, we’ve done more than most.”

Editor: 

Our efforts to close down the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories does not warrant Prof. Grossman’s letter of 27 July.  

Please inform our medical doctor and professor that Dr. Lawrence did not know of the radioactivity he was handling, so it rendered him and his staff sterile.  

If Lawrence didn’t know this, one wonders what does Dr. Grossman not know? 

George Kauffman 

Berkeley

SACRAMENTO — Desert dwellers could get a break if California is hit by rolling power blackouts later this summer. 

Gov. Gray Davis said Monday he had signed a bill that requires the Public Utilities Commission to consider the potentially harmful effect of extremely high temperatures when considering where to allow rolling blackouts. 

The measure was introduced by Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert, who represents much of the Southern California desert. 

The law already requires the PUC to set priorities among utility customers for service. The commission has exempted facilities providing essential public services from rolling blackouts. 

Other customers on the same electricity grid circuits as those police offices, fire departments, hospitals and government agencies needed for national defense are also exempt. 

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

As the economy weakens, the word is being spread to consumers from all directions, including Washington and the business community: If you care about the economy get out and spend. 

Spend now, save later. Spend your tax rebate. Your help is needed. 

All perhaps understandable in the short term, since reluctance to spend might hasten a recession, but it is strikingly at odds with another imperative. 

The latter, very much in the news only months ago, is that the consumer must save. Savings will be needed, consumers were warned, for tuition, medical care, retirement and, yes, for economic growth. You can’t blame consumers for thinking they’re being torn in different directions. 

The ironies are many. For one, were they not taxed the funds that are now being rebated, they might have been able to save more for the future. And now that they are urged to spend, they will, of course, be taxed again. 

They will be taxed at the gasoline pump. They will pay sales taxes at the local retailer. They will pay taxes on the interest earned in savings accounts. And on dividends earned, even though dividends may already have been taxed at the corporate level (and passed on in consumer prices). 

While these taxes may help pay the cost of running government, and might help the economy in the short term, they do little to resolve the long-term problem of low savings, a condition that is growing worse. Earlier this year, with the savings rate barely above zero, a study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found fewer Americans saving for retirement, and fewer even able to determine what they’ll need. 

First, income taxes are levied when earned. Though already taxed, what’s put away may be taxed as interest on savings. If invested in companies (that have already paid corporate taxes), the dividends earned might be taxed. When sold, taxes may be owed on stocks. And in the end, there may be estate taxes. Amid all this, of course, may be sales taxes. 

Whatever the reasons, and whether for the short term, such as finding a way out of the slump — or the longer term, such as saving for the future — there exists a serious economic dilemma. 

The most optimistic outcome, one based in a sort of Rube Goldberg conception, is that consumer spending will jump-start the economy into growth, enabling people to earn more, and then save more for the future. 

In short, there could be a happy ending. But short-term or long-term, you can be sure that taxes will play a role, significant and perpetual. 

John Cunniff is a business analyst  

for The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Chevron Corp. and Texaco Inc. have signed a consent order with the Federal Trade Commission, outlining the terms they expect to meet in order to gain regulatory approval for their merger. 

In a filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, the two companies also said their shareholders would vote on the merger on Oct. 9 – by which time they hope to have received regulatory clearance for the deal. 

Texaco, based in White Plains, N.Y., said it anticipates divesting its U.S. refining and marketing affiliates, certain natural gas processing and transportation facilities and some of its jet fuel marketing businesses. 

“However, we cannot assure (shareholders) that the FTC will accept the terms of the consent order agreement, or that it will not seek to impose other conditions or otherwise challenge the merger,” the company said in its filing. Texaco spokesman Paul Weeditz would not say whether the company had found buyers for any of these assets. 

Texaco refines crude oil in the United States under two separate affiliates, Equilon Enterprises and Motiva Enterprises. 

Texaco owns a 44 percent interest in Equilon, with the rest belonging to Shell Oil Co. Texaco and Shell each own one-third of Motiva; the rest is owned by Star Enterprises, a joint venture between Texaco and the Saudi Refining Co.  

“Texaco has been negotiating with Shell and Saudi Refining concerning a possible purchase of Texaco’s interests in Equilon and Motiva. However, no agreement has been reached,” the company said in its filing. 

Shell and Texaco reportedly have been wrangling over a price. 

San Francisco-based Chevron agreed to buy Texaco in October 2000 in a deal now worth about $38 billion. Under the terms of the deal, Chevron will be renamed ChevronTexaco Corp. Holders of Texaco stock will receive 0.77 shares of ChevronTexaco for each share of Texaco they own. 

European regulators have already granted their approval. 

On Monday, shares of Texaco were down 24 cents to $69.40 on the New York Stock Exchange, while Chevron’s shares fell 6 cents to $91.69. 

——— 

http://www.chevron.com 

http://www.texaco.com 

SAN FRANCISCO — Emery Worldwide Airlines agreed to ground its 37-plane fleet Monday after the Federal Aviation Administration confronted the cargo carrier with more than 100 apparent violations of government safety regulations. 

The suspension runs the next 30 days, but Emery Worldwide’s planes probably won’t fly for two to four months, said FAA spokesman Les Dorr Jr. 

In the mean time, Emery, which delivers freight to 200 countries, will stay in business by using airplanes flown by Wichita, Kan.-based Ryan Aviation and other contractors. 

With its planes on the ground, Emery said it will furlough about 800 of its 1,100 employees. The airline’s main hub is in Dayton, Ohio. It also operates nine regional hubs in: Los Angeles; the Sacramento area; Dallas; Chicago; Atlanta; Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Charlotte, N.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Orlando, Fla. 

Emery, owned by Palo Alto-based CNF Transportation Inc., had been under FAA scrutiny since January 2000. 

In February 2000, an Emery DC-8 crashed after taking off from Mather Field near Sacramento, killing the three-member crew. Monday’s suspension prompted the National Transportation Board to postpone Aug. 22-23 hearings on the Mather Field crash. 

Emery specializes in delivering freight weighing at least 70 pounds and accounted for nearly half of CNF’s $5.6 billion in revenue last year. The company lags well behind the leading rapid shipping service, FedEx, which had revenue of $19.6 billion last year. 

Both Emery and its contractor, Ryan, are named in a whistle-blowers’ lawsuit alleging that the carriers have been forcing their pilots to fly unsafe planes for years so freight deliveries arrive on schedule. 

In a 1997 complaint filed in an Ohio federal court, attorneys for former Ryan pilots Eugenia Smith and Carlton R. McLain allege that Emery and Ryan “fly a fleet of aging aircraft which require substantial maintenance and often suffer equipment failure. Some of the aircraft are severely corroded.” 

The case is still open, and most of the documents produced so far remain under court seal, said Ann Lugbill, a Cincinnati attorney representing McLain and Smith, who were fired by Ryan in 1996 and 1997, respectively. 

Ryan and Emery have denied the allegations in the whistle-blowers’ suit, which seeks a 25 percent cut of any civil penalties and damages that the government receives from the carriers. 

Regulators decided to crack down on Emery after concluding the airline’s management was unlikely to address widespread safety problems. 

“The FAA is not in the business of putting an air carrier on the ground,” Dorr said. “We only do it when it gets to the point where a carrier can’t find and fix their own problems.” 

Dorr said Monday’s action represented the FAA’s largest suspension of a carrier’s fleet since the government grounded ValuJet in 1996 following a crash that killed 110 people in Florida Everglades. 

Emery regards the FAA’s action as “unnecessary and unwarranted,” said CNF spokeswoman Nancy Colvert. 

“We knew we had issues with the FAA, but we really thought we had remedied most of these things,” she said. 

CNF’s stock fell $1.19 to close at $30.31 in Monday trading on the New York Stock Exchange. 

The suspension is expected to drive up CNF’s expenses substantially during the next few weeks as Emery pays contractors for air freight. 

But the crackdown could be a plus if it pushes the company to improve its safety procedures or results in a decision to cut long-term costs, said industry analyst John Barnes of Deutsche Banc Alex Brown. 

In announcing the suspension, the FAA cited Emery for making improper and inadequate repairs to “mechanical irregularities” that had been flagged by the airline’s pilots. The FAA said Emery also made unapproved alterations to its aircraft and chastised Emery for inadequate record keeping and failing to follow the policies in its manuals. 

Monday’s suspension represented the latest setback for Emery, which suffered an operating loss of $377 million on revenue of $1.1 billion during the first six months of this year. At the same point last year, Emery registered an operating profit of $20 million on revenue of $1.2 billion. 

This year’s first-half loss stemmed mostly from a $340.5 million charge Emery took to reduce its operating fleet from 54 to 37 planes. Emery attributed the cutbacks to the slowing economy and the loss of contracts to handle priority and express mail for the U. S. Postal Service. 

Emery lost the contracts to Federal Express in January, triggering a federal lawsuit against the Postal Service. In March, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims upheld the Federal Express contract, but Emery is appealing. 

Emery generated an operating profit of $28 million on revenue of $229 million from the express mail contract last year, according to CNF’s annual report. 

Emery is continuing to deliver express mail for the Postal Service in the eastern United States until Aug. 26. The carrier already had contracted with other airlines to handle the express mail delivery before Monday’s suspension, Colvert said. 

——— 

On The Net: 

http://www.cnf.com 

http://www.faa.gov 

Karen Rose, who serves on Berkeley’s Commission on Disabilities and is blind, tests an audio voting system that may soon replace punch cards in this county. The system, already tested in March ,would make it easier for the blind to vote without help. At right is Deborah Seiler, of Global Electronic Voting Systems, the company that designed the machine.

Monday, Aug. 13

Auditions for Tom Stoppard’s “Travesties” 

7 p.m. 

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck 

Held by the Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, there are parts for five men and three women age 20 - 70. No appointment is needed. No remuneration.  

525-1620 www.actorsensembleofberkeley.com. 

Section 8 Resident Council Meeting 

5:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

East Bay Community Law Center 

3122 Shattuck Ave. 

Section 8 recipients and concerned citizens can tell the Resident Council their concerns about the program.  

Free Seminar on Ayurveda 

1 - 2 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

The basic principles of Ayurveda for maintaining health and balance. 644-6107 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/hhs/commsvc/seniors.htm 

Tuesday, Aug. 14

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

Share slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 525-3565 

Writing and Resistance  

In A Culture of Amnesia 

6 - 7:45 p.m. 

La Peña Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Avenue 

Classroom #2 

Part of a workshop series on concepts and strategies for resistance through the spoken and written word, taught by Joyce E. Young. $12. 

849-2568 www.lapena.org 

Free Early Music Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Small group sings madrigals and other voice harmony every Tuesday. 655-8863 

Free Computer Class for Seniors 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m. and 1 - 3 p.m.  

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited, call ahead for a reservation. 

644-6109 

Auditions for Tom Stoppard’s “Travesties” 

7 p.m. 

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck (at Berryman) 

Held by the Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, there are parts for five men and three women ages 20 - 70. No appointment is needed; no remuneration. 

525-1620 www.actorsensembleofberkeley.com. 

The Candy Cottage 

1:30 p.m. & 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health 

2230 Shattuck Ave. (Lower Level) 

“The Candy Cottage” is a short comedy written and performed by the Hall of Health staff, for children ages 3 to 12. The play provides information about eating healthy, the food pyramid, and what vitamins and minerals do for your body. The Hall of Health is a hands-on community health-education museum and science center sponsored by Children’s Hospital of Oakland. Free. For more information call: 549-1564. 

Wednesday, Aug. 15

Space Weather 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

UC Berkeley 

Part of the Lawrence Hall of Science Wednesday FUN-days. Explore the Space Weather exhibit, talk to NASA researchers, look for sun spots, make a sundial, cast sun prints. Museum admission $3 - $7. 642-5132 

Berkeley Communicator Toastmasters Club 

7:15 a.m. 

Vault Cafe 

3250 Adeline 

Learn to speak with confidence. Ongoing first and third Wednesdays each month. 527-2337 

Support Group for Family/Friends Caring for Older Adults 

4 - 5:30 p.m. - 3rd Wednesday of each month 

Alta Bates Medical Center  

Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way 

3rd floor, Room 3369B The group will focus on the needs of the older adult with serious medical problems, psychiatric illnesses, substance abuse, and their caregivers. Free. 802-1725 

Dramatic Presentation based on Life Stories 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave.  

A presentation based on the life stories of senior citizens who were interviewed at the Center by students of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. 644-6107 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/hhs/commsvc/seniors.htm 

— compiled by Guy Poole 

As the information and communications technology revolution rolls along, we have become accustomed to people talking to their computers, asking for information on electronic data bases, having conversations with robot voices on the telephone.  

Speech-recognition systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and a plethora of new smart gadgets for homes, offices, even cars, are coming on the market. 

And more are on the way. Despite the current hard times in the high-tech industries, billions are being invested in the development of future speech-recognition devices – many of which most of us could probably do without, and some of which will really make the operation of many kinds of machines easier and more efficient. 

And while we get used to people talking to their computers, other new technologies are moving in the direction of making it easier for people to talk to one another – even when they don't speak the same language. 

This is a line of technological development that obviously has great social implications as well as profit potential, and people have been working at it for some time.  

Various software programs for translating written text into other languages have been on the market for years, although most of them – as disappointed owners have discovered – leave a lot to be desired. 

Translating the spoken word is an even steeper challenge. As anybody knows who has ever read a literal transcript of a conversation, people rarely speak in clear and complete sentences.  

They repeat phrases, skip over things, change direction, throw words in the general direction of a meaning and hope the listener will understand. And the listener – if he or she speaks the same language with approximately the same accent, and is paying attention – usually does.  

But it’s asking a bit much of a machine, even a smart one, to turn a spoken language into clear sentences and translate that smoothly into another language.  

The best way devised so far to get simultaneous translation is to hire a human being who is fluent in both languages – and even that is far from perfect. 

But serious research into simultaneous electronic translation has been underway for a decade or so, under the leadership of an international network of universities and private laboratories – the Consortium for Speech Translation Advanced Research (C-STAR).  

With member organizations in the United States, Europe and Asia, C-STAR is dedicated to developing a technology that will enable linguistically challenged tourists to travel with “wearable translators” that could ask questions and get answers from the natives, or make it possible for an international group to hold an electronic meeting in several different languages – sort of a multilingual conference call. 

The first translating machines could handle only carefully-worded statements within a limited vocabulary and subject area.  

But the technology is improving steadily, to the point that the current prototype systems can handle spontaneous speech in vocabularies of 100,000 words, translating into a number of different languages.  

Not long ago the Consortium put on a demonstration video conference linking six countries, in which participants not only heard their statements successfully translated into other languages, but were also able to watch computer-animated projections of the faces of speakers in other countries, lips moving in synchronization with the translated language. 

Impressive progress, but the technology still has a long way to go, and is hardly likely ever to be able to translate rapid colloquial speech without difficulty. 

Nevertheless, even a moderately reliable speech-translation system would have a multitude of uses beyond those envisioned so far by the consortium researchers – for example, although the wearable translators are an obvious plus for tourists, future-minded law enforcement agencies are already talking about how useful they might be to peace officers in multicultural communities.  

And the technology also suggests the science-fictionish but inspiring notion that people might someday be able to hold global town meetings on a grand scale, connected as never before.

924 Gilman St. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Aug. 17: Blood Brothers, True North, The Cost, Red Light Sting, Betray The Species; Aug. 18: Dr. Know, The Sick, Society of Friends, Manchurian Candidates, Shut the F*ck Up; $5. 924 Gilman St. 525-9926. 

Ashkenaz Aug. 14: 9 p.m. Tom Rigney & Flambeau. 8 p.m. dance lesson w/ Patti Whitehurst. $8; Aug. 15: 9 p.m. Jerri Jheto. $10. Aug. 16: 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Dead DJ Night with Digital Dave. $5; Aug. 17: 9:30 p.m. Near East Far West. $12; Aug. 18: 9:30 p.m. Zydeco Flames. 8 p.m. dance lesson w/ Cheryl McBride. $11. Aug. 19: 8 p.m. Open Stage w/ Koko De La Isla, Ernesto Hernandaz, Jeff Hawkins. $8; Aug. 21: 9 p.m. Slavonkian Traveling Band. 8 p.m. dance lesson w/ Joyce Clyde. $10. 1317 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054 www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Doors open at 8 p.m. Aug. 18: Craig Horton /CD Release; Aug. 25: Carlos Zialcita; Every Friday, 10 p.m. - 2 a.m., Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10; 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Jupiter Aug. 15: Lithium House, electro/drum & bass styles with live jazz; Aug. 16: Beatdown with DJ’s Delon, Yamu and Add1; Aug. 17: The Mind Club, Old school funk grooves with sonic swirls of acid jazz; Aug. 18: Blue & Tan, Bassist Vicki Grossi brings in the crew for elctro-acid-jazz funk stylings; All music starts at 8:00 p.m. www.jupiterbeer.com; or call the hotline: THE-ROCK. 843-7625  

La Note/Jazzschool Aug. 19: 4:30 p.m. Hazel Carter, 5:30 p.m. Bryan Girard & Friends, 6:30 p.m. T3 (Kirk Tamura Trio); Free. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373  

La Peña Cultural Center Aug. 17: 8:30 p.m. Music and dance performance by Jaranón y Bochinche, $12; Aug. 18: 8:30 p.m. Mission (roots hip hop), $8; Aug. 19: 3:30 p.m. Domingo de Rumba; Aug. 24: 8:30 p.m. Professor Terry’s Circus Band Extraordinary, $16; Aug. 25: 9:30 p.m., Edgardo Cambon’s Candela, $10, 8:15 p.m. Salsa dance class w/ Diego Vásquez, $13; In the Cafe, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Shattuck Down Low Lounge Every Tuesday: 9:30 p.m., Posh Tuesdays with DJ’s Yamu, Delon, Add1, and Tequila Willie. Shattuck at Allston. www.thebeatdownsound.com  

Third annual Berkeley World Music Festival Aug. 26: noon - 6 p.m. Block party and carnival, Grupo Ilu Fun Fun, Petit La Croix, Samba Ngo, O-Maya, Fito Reinoso y Su Ritmo y Armonia. Durant Ave. between Telegraph and Bowditch. 

ACME Observatory Aug. 19: 8 p.m. Solo performance by Jason Kahn, Brown Bunny Ensemble. $9.99 suggested donation. TUVA Space, 3192 Adeline @ MLK Jr. Way. 649-8744 http://sfSound.org/acme.html 

“Loot” Through Aug. 25, Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m. Special Performance Aug. 20, 8 p.m. General Admission: $15, Students / Seniors: $10 La Val’s 1834 Euclid Avenue 655-0813 

“Reefer Madness” Aug. 22, 23: 9 p.m. A new one-act theatre piece adapted from a 1936 government-funded film opens a critical eye to the control of our society. Performed by The Elemental Theatre Group La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Avenue. Wednesdays are “pay what you can,” Thursdays $5 - $10. Contact Zachary Rouse or Tisha Sloan for more info at 655-4150 

“Romeo & Juliet” Through Sep 2, Tuesdays – Thursdays. Bruns Memorial Amphitheater. Shakespeare’s classic about a young couple that meets, falls in love and dies in just five days. Adults: $22 - $41 youth (under 16): $12 - $41. 

Pacific Film Archive Aug. 14: 7:30 p.m. Odds and Ends; Aug. 15: 7:30 p.m. Angel, Angel, Down We Go; Aug. 16: 7:30 p.m. Rancho Notorious; Aug. 17: 7 p.m. Bonchi, 9:05 p.m. Money Talks; Aug. 18: 7 p.m. Ministry of Fear, 8:45 p.m. House by the River; Aug. 19: 3 p.m. National Velvet, 5:30 p.m. I Am Two, 7:15 I Am a Cat; Aug. 21: 7:30 p.m. The Direct Cinema Tradition; Aug. 22: 7:30 p.m. The Werewolf of Washington; Aug. 23: 7:30 p.m. Contempt; Aug. 24: 7 p.m. The Heart, 9:20 p.m. The Outcast; Aug. 25: 7 p.m. Moonfleet, 8:45 p.m. The Blue Gardenia; Aug. 26: 3 p.m. Duck Soup, 5:30 p.m. The Wanderers, 7:25 p.m. Dora-Heita; Aug. 28: 7:30 p.m. Doodling; Aug. 29: (free screenings) 7:30 p.m. The Horror of Party Beach, 9:15 p.m. The Crater Lake Monster; Aug. 31: 7 p.m. The Makioka Sisters, 9:35 p.m. A Woman’s Testament; Gen. Adm.. $7, The New PFA Theatre 2575 Bancroft Way 642-1412 

Send arts events two weeks in advance to Calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.net, 2076 University, Berkeley 94704 or fax to 841-5694. 

Plans for a “closed campus” for Berkeley High freshman have been postponed indefinitely, Berkeley schools Superintendent Michele Lawrence said Friday. 

Or, better put, an absence of plans for a “closed campus” has led the new superintendent to put the idea on hold. 

“We weren’t ready to my satisfaction to manage holding all those kids at lunch hour,” Lawrence said. “There were just too many loose end for us to move forward and implement this.” 

This spring, Berkeley High Principal Frank Lynch proposed closing the campus for freshman this year and sophomores in 2002, a move he hoped would reduce truancy at the school by eliminating the temptation for young students to linger in downtown Berkeley after their lunch period. 

Most school board members lent their support to the plan, at least in theory. But there were doubts at the time that the plan could really be implemented this fall, as Lynch had proposed. 

School board members wanted to know how the plan would be enforced. Would high school staff man each school exit at the beginning of lunch hour to make sure no freshman slipped out? How would they been able to spot a few dozen freshmen in a mass exodus of some 3,000 students? 

Lynch suggested at the time that all students could be required to carry identification cards. But this raised questions for some about how long it would take to check all the students I.D. cards as they left campus. Some pointed out that a 45-minute lunch period is already scarcely enough time for students to line up at a downtown restaurant, gobble down their food and walk back to their fifth period class. 

Perhaps even more worrisome to school board members was the question of how 800 freshman would be fed if they remained on campus. Currently, the schools only lunch facility is a take out buffet in the entrance hall of the Community Theater building. Even if that facility could be expanded to handle 800 students a day, which many doubt, there is no seating available for indoor dining. 

If asked to stay on campus during lunch period, most freshmen would probably hang out in the school’s courtyard. Many fear that 800 students hanging out with no place to go could present a volatile situation at Berkeley High, requiring a great deal of supervision from High School staff. 

Lunch period is when students traditionally let off steam, they say, something that would be difficult to do in a cramped courtyard with few places to sit. 

Finally, Lawrence pointed out Friday, there needs to be a plan for what to do with the kids on rainy days.  

Lawrence said she supports the idea of a closed campus for freshman, not merely because it cuts back on truancy, but also because it builds a greater sense of community when all the members of a class eat in the same place day after day. Teachers could even used the lunch period for some school enrichment activities under such a model, she added. 

But, given the constraints of Berkeley High’s small campus, it will take time to come up with a viable plan, Lawrence said.  

Lynch said in an interview early last week that demolition of the B building would soon be underway. That should free up more space for students to hang out during the lunch hour, he said, making a closed campus plan more practical for the second semester. 

Editor: 

Take a number. One clerk. The line is forty deep. 

The 1 pound limit on mailing packages in mailboxes (if you can find one) is designed to benefit the competition and/or scare customers away from the long lines at the post office. 

Certainly, there are those of us who notice the similarity of the United States Postal Service and the post office of third world countries, e.g. India. I moved to Berkeley from San Diego to audit classes during the summer session at Cal. I filed a temporary address change, yet it took three weeks before my mail was forwarded. The substation at Telegraph and Durant near the campus had no M-bags (for mailing books overseas). The address tag from the domestic bag was sent back to me, together with a notice that if the bag didn't turn up in a search, that I would again hear from them (to get my postage back). The toll-free number has scores of offerings, including the direct line for your local substation, but they leave the telephone in its cradle.  

Dick Cheney’s friends pay the postage on throwaway advertisements that clutter our mailboxes, and drain the coffers of the United States Postal Service. Checks from the federal government assuage both deep cuts – that resulting from the difference between the popular and the electoral vote – and that of the direct-mail advertising that accompanies the checks. Cheney’s friends not only have reduced progressive taxes on income, they also skim the cream from the increased flat taxes on services to the public, e.g. the cost of postage.  

Richard Thompson 

Berkeley

With the blessings of the City Council, the Berkeley Unified School District has begun the initial design phases for the rehabilitation of the two warm water pools at Berkeley High School. 

The two indoor, Olympic-size pools have been used for adult programs for seniors, the disabled and those recovering from injuries for the last 20 years. 

The 71-year-old pools have fallen into disrepair and in November, voters approved Measure R, which provided $3 million to completely modernize the pools at the same time the BUSD carries out a $19.5 million gym renovation, which was funded by the November approval of Measure AA. 

On July 24, the City Council approved an agreement that gives the school district the authority to oversee the initial design phases of the project. Since then, the district has signed a contract with the Walnut Creek architectural firm of Akol and Yoshii to draw up the initial project plans. 

“Getting Measure R passed and now having the project in the hands of the architect are two tremendous steps,” said Fred Lupke, who was co-chair of the Measure R campaign. 

Lupke said once initial renderings are complete, the final details will be worked out for both projects, then submitted to the California State Architect for approval. All projects that are carried out on school property must be reviewed and approved by the state, a process that adds between six and nine months to the project, according to a July 24 city manager report. 

Under the agreement the council approved on July 24, the school district will contract, according to their normal policies, with all consultants during the design phase of the project. The city will then reimburse the school district at about 12 percent of the total design costs.  

Once the designs are approved by the state architect, the search will begin for a contractor.  

“It’s very important we find the right contractor,” said Councilmember Dona Spring. “We have very little wiggle room with the money available to complete the project.” 

Spring said the city doesn’t want to find itself in a situation like the Central Library renovation, which has gone over budget and is now months over due. 

Some of the improvements that will be made to the pool include installing a new water filtration system, adding a modern ventilation system and constructing shower and dressing areas designed for community use. An important part of the design of the pool facilities will be accessibility for the disabled.  

If all goes according to plan, construction should run between May 2003 and November 2004.

Twelve years ago, Janet Byron moved to Berkeley to attend UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism. 

Four years ago, Byron bought a home on Allston Way that featured a creek running through the backyard. 

Eight months ago, Byron founded Friends of Strawberry Creek, a community activism group interested in restoring the creek, improving the quality of its water, daylighting the creek wherever possible and educating the community about how their lifestyles affect the creek. 

Now, Byron’s monthly meetings have grown to include an average fellowship of 20 concerned Berkeley residents and her e-mail list has grown to 150 names and addresses. 

“I’ve really been gratified by the interest that people have shown,” said Byron. “People were just waiting for someone to take a leadership role. People in Berkeley really love Strawberry Creek.” 

Beyond organizing the group’s monthly meetings, Byron has sent out e-mail updates at least once a month, many of which have included important information for people who live near Strawberry Creek. 

“When there’s a spill, the city puts up signs at Strawberry Creek Park and on campus, but many people weren’t being informed,” said Byron. “We’re making sure people who live on the creek know when there’s a problem.” 

Byron has also arranged many work parties to clean up the creek. Earlier this year Byron started removing ivy from the portion of the creek that is on her property, and with the help of her fellow Friends of Strawberry Creek, the appearance and health of the creek in that area has vastly approved. 

“Before we started work, you couldn’t even see where the creek came out of the culvert,” said Byron. “Now people walking by just stop and look at the creek in front of my house.” 

The group has also been removing ivy and debris from the creek behind Strawberry Creek Lodge, a residence for low- to moderate-income senior citizens, since April. 

During a June work party, the group noticed a crumbling culvert on the lodge’s property, which, if gone unnoticed, could have become a serious threat to the residents of the lodge and their neighbors. 

“They’ve simply been fantastic. Without them we literally wouldn’t have known about the problems with the culvert,” said Lodge Administrator Lois O’Connell. “We don’t have the funds to pay people to come and do the work that they are doing. The first day they were out here they pulled a shopping cart out of the creek that had been an eyesore since before I can even remember.” 

The group has many events planned for the upcoming month. They will have work parties at Strawberry Creek Lodge on August 18 and September 8 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

On September 8, they will also set up a booth at the Watershed Poetry Festival. 

On September 10, the group will have another meeting to further discuss the possibility of daylighting Strawberry Creek downtown. The meeting will be held in the Green Room of Corporation Yard at 1326 Allston Way starting at 7:30 p.m. 

For information about Friends of Strawberry Creek and their meetings contact Janet Byron at bjanet@earthlink.net or at 848-4008.For information about the work parties contact Jane Kelly at jandtkelly@igc.org or 528-3949.

What are the Latino perceptions of success? How do Guatemala’s women organizations fight against social exclusion? Who are Silicon Valley’s new Vietnamese entrepreneurs?  

These are only a few of the research projects that about 100 students presented during the 9th Annual Western McNair Scholars Symposium that took place at UC Berkeley this weekend. 

The conference gathered together students from 18 western institutions offering the McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, a U.S Department of Education-sponsored program that allows underrepresented, low-income or first-generation college students across the country to initiate graduate studies. 

“The purpose of the program is to foster a process in which undergraduate students would go on to do significant studies that would help them go to graduate schools, and specifically doctorate programs,” said Harold Campbell, the program’s director at UC Berkeley.  

Participants of the conference, he added, could be the next generation of researchers and professors. 

Created in 1986 in honor of Robert E. McNair, a laser physicist at the NASA who died in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, the McNair Scholars Program exists in approximately 190 universities across the country and serves more than 4,000 students every year. To be eligible, students must enter one of the three categories of people the program is designed for, be sophomore or juniors, have a grade point average of at least 3.6 and show strong motivation in completing Ph.D. studies. Once admitted, students receive a $2,800 stipend for the year and are assigned a mentor who helps them produce a research paper on a topic related to their major. They also attend workshops and receive advice on how to successfully apply to graduate schools. 

“These are students who have traditionally been told, ‘This is not for you, you can’t do this,’” said Daphne Muse, program research coordinator at UC Berkeley, as she explained the benefits of the program. “[The program] serves as a kind of intellectual incubator where they can come and evolve into scholars.” 

Being assisted when they apply to graduate school, many scholars said, is one of the main strengths of the program. 

“They give you the resources and the information that a lot of students if they want to go to graduate work may not know,” said Nadia Leal, from UC San Diego. 

The program, others said, also gives scholars a concrete idea of what graduate studies would mean in terms of academic work. 

“With this program, it’s much clearer [to] me now that I love research,” said Carlos Almendarez, a 20-year-old scholar in history at UC Berkeley. “Now I understand what the graduate life and the life of a professor can be.” 

Another positive aspect of the program, said Le Ondra Clark, a psychology student at California State Polytechnic University in Petaluma, is that it gives students the opportunity to start getting known in their field of study. 

“It helps you get out and get your name out there, get your research out there” she said. “That’s really crucial to success in graduate schools.” 

Clark, whose presentation was a study of the body image of college students, also enjoyed being part of a smaller group of students within campus.  

Because they have similar aspirations, she said, her group developed a sense of family. 

“We all really click,” she said. “That’s not something that you really find in the general population. Normally you go to class and find only one or two people that are like you, that have similar goals.” 

The program in Berkeley has been quite successful. Four former scholars already received their Ph.D.. That’s good, Campbell said, because it can take up to seven years for a scholar to complete a doctorate coursework and the McNair program has only existed for nine years.  

“The results are favorable. People are moving through the pipeline” he said.  

To Muse, the best days are still to come.  

“I am totally convinced that out of this group of scholars we will get a Nobel laureate,” she said. “And that one of them will go on to become the chancellor of the UC system.”

LOS ANGELES — California officials are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in hopes of reversing a decision requiring the state to use what they consider a needlessly expensive and polluting gasoline additive. 

The lawsuit, filed late Friday afternoon in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, calls on the agency to waive rules that effectively will require ethanol to be added to most of the state’s gasoline. State officials announced the move in a conference call with reporters Sunday. 

Gov. Gray Davis has ordered that the only oxygenate available besides ethanol – MTBE – be phased out by January 2003 because it pollutes ground water.  

State officials argue that California can meet federal air-quality goals with non-oxygenated, reformulated gasoline. 

The EPA’s oxygenate requirement is “a straitjacket mandate that will drive up gas prices while increasing air pollution,” Davis said in a statement. “The potential for harm to Californians, both economically and environmentally, leaves me no choice but to fight back with guns blazing.” 

California produces 5 million to 7 million gallons of ethanol a year, a far cry from the estimated 600 million to 900 million gallons it would need to comply with the rules. That would make the state dependent on the Midwest, which grows the corn used to make most ethanol. 

Winston Hickox, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, said that because California’s ethanol needs represent a huge portion of the roughly 2 billion gallons expected to be produced this year, the chances are great that supply problems could send prices skyrocketing. 

According to state estimates, the ethanol switch could add as little as 2 or 3 cents to the price of a gallon of gasoline, but supply problems could send pump prices soaring 50 cents or more. 

In a wide-ranging interview Friday, school board member John Selawsky looks back on his first eight months on the job and shares some thoughts on current school topics, including budget difficulties, the new superintendent, reforms at the high school, and some notable program successes. 

For John Selawsky, who became the newest member of the Board of Education in December, working with kids has been a life-long passion. 

The son of a lawyer father and high school teacher mother, Selawsky, 49, was born in Brooklyn and raised in Northern New Jersey, where his parents moved when he was 6. 

While studying urban education at the University of Massachusetts in the 1970s, Selawsky spent his summers volunteering at an East Harlem community center summer camp, counseling and tutoring youth from a vibrant if low-income neighborhood. 

After a desperately cold winter in Vermont convinced him to seek warmer climes, Selawsky moved to San Francisco in 1981. He worked as a sixth grade teacher there until high city rents and the dream of a perfect home (with hardwood floors and a working fireplace) persuaded him and wife, Pam Webster, to hop across the Bay to Berkeley. They’ve lived on Blake Street, a few blocks from the Berkeley Alternative High School, ever since. 

Within in a few years of his arrival in Berkeley, Selawsky was back working with youth. He has volunteered four hours every week at the downtown Berkeley YMCA over the last 10 years. 

Both Selawsky and Webster became increasingly involved in local progressive politics. Webster sits on the board of the Berkeley Ecology Center and is currently serving on the city’s Community Environmental Advisory Commission. Selawsky is an active member of Berkeley Citizens’ Action and the Green Party, which threw its support behind his campaign for the school board in November. 

Selawsky’s involvement in school issues dates to the early ’90s, when his son Peter entered the Berkeley public school system at Oxford Elementary School. 

A published poet and freelance copy editor by trade, Selawsky said he had enough flexibility in his schedule to volunteer regularly at the school, whether it was to support classroom activities, found and lead a student gardening club, or help oversee a significant building project – remodeling the school’s library and classrooms. 

“That was a very exciting project, because Oxford is a much improved site because of that,” Selawsky said. 

Motivated by the belief that “if you improve the education for all kids, your own kid’s education will improve as well,” Selawsky deepened his involvement in school issues. With the encouragement of members of the Oxford school community, he joined one of the Berkeley school district’s most influential committees: the Berkeley Public Schools Excellence Project (BSEP) Planning and Oversight Committee. 

The BSEP parcel tax has raised millions of dollars each year since the late ’80s to reduce class size in Berkeley and contribute to school enrichment programs. The Planning and Oversight Committee oversees the annual BSEP budget. 

“I was snagged right away,” Selawsky said of his first several BSEP committee meetings. “They were really interesting meetings, and they still are. The level of discourse always amazes me – talking about the real issues that are important to our kids.” 

By the time Selawsky ran for the school board last year, he had established a name for himself in the city as someone who was deeply knowledgeable about school issues and committed to representing the Berkeley flatlands’ community he had called home for 13 years, said school board President Terry Doran. 

Being on the school board, said Selawsky, is “one of the most challenging and exciting things I’ve ever done in my life.” 

Selawsky cited the hiring of both Interim Superintendent Stephen Goldstone and, later, the new permanent superintendent, Michele Lawrence, as two of the most significant accomplishments of the school board during his tenure. 

“Getting the right superintendent is so important,” he said. “They really do set the tone for the whole district.” 

With the help of these two leaders, the school board has made enormous strides in identifying critical organizational problems that impede progress within the district on a whole host of issues, Selawsky said.  

With the first day of the new school year just weeks away, the district still has an unclear picture of its budget, Selawsky said – a fact that makes him nervous. 

“To be fiscally responsible:  

my No. 1 charge,” he said. Uncertainty about he district’s finances “makes us really fiscally conservative and really uncomfortable with going out and implementing a new program.” 

But Selawsky said reorganization of the district’s business office, begun under Goldstone and expanded now by Superintendent Lawrence, had the potential to clear up much of the confusion and get the district operating more smoothly by the end of the year. 

Selawsky said he was also impressed by how quickly Lawrence identified a need to improve communication in the district, between teacher, parents, students, school board members, committee members, community members and more. 

Too often in the past the Berkeley school district has operated like the “Russian Economy,” Selawsky said, with people frustrated by the slow-moving bureaucracy using back doors to get the programs they want funded and implemented. 

“What we have is an organization where someone goes out and plants a redwood tree right about where the tulips are growing,” said Selawsky. “There’s no communication. No one knows what’s been planted.” 

In the short term, Selawsky said the most important issue facing the school board this fall will be fulfilling the Western Association of Schools and Colleges committee’s list of improvements that must occur at the high school if the school is to maintain its accreditation. 

The school board must take more of a leadership role in setting clear and consistent expectations for the high school staff, so they in turn can create and implement policies for dealing with discipline, truancy, and the achievement gap, Selawsky said. 

In the long term, Selawsky said he believes the district needs to focus more of its resources on bolstering its middle school programs. The achievement gap which causes so much trouble at the high school begins long before the students ever get to the high school campus, he said. 

“Sixth, seventh and eighth grades are critical, because that’s where we start losing kids,” Selawsky said. He said one solution could be creating smaller classes for students during those critical years, and enhancing arts, music and other enrichment programs that contribute to making students more engaged in school.

Saturday, Aug. 11

Sixth Annual Reggae Worldbeat Festival  

Noon - 5 p.m.  

People’s Park  

Telegraph & Haste St.  

Featuring: Obeyjah & The Saints with the Village Culture Drummers, Dancehall King; Major P., Wawa Sylvestre and The Oneness Kingdom Band and many more.  

Free 

Religion and Public Life in Pacific and Asian North America 

8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

Cheit Hall, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business  

The conference goes through Aug. 11, and will focus on the relationship between the religious practices of Asian and Pacific Islander North Americans and public life. 849-8244 www.pana.psr.edu. 

Sunday, Aug. 12

Hands-On Bicycle Repair Clinics  

11 a.m. - Noon  

Recreational Equipment, Inc.  

1338 San Pablo Ave.  

Learn front and rear derailleur adjustments from one of REI’s bike technicians. Tools provided. Bring a bike. Free.  

527-4140 

Buddhist Architecture In the West 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Mark Henderson on “Building a Buddhist Temple.” Free. 

843-6812 

Steel Drums and Sand Castles 

1 - 3 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

UC Berkeley 

Kirk Rademaker teaches sand sculpting while Richmond Bloco entertains with steel drum music. Museum admission $3 - $7. 

642-5132 

West Berkeley Market 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

University Ave., between 3rd and 4th Streets  

Family-oriented weekly market. Crafts, music, produce, and specialty foods. 

654-6346 

Opus Q Auditions 

7 - 9 p.m. 

The University Lutheran Chapel 

2425 College Ave. 

Opus Q - The East Bay Men’s Chorale is preparing for its first full season. Gay men and their allies are invited to audition.  

664-0260 www.opus-q.com 

Monday, Aug. 13

Auditions for Tom Stoppard’s “Travesties” 

7 p.m. 

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck 

Held by the Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, there are parts for five men and three women age 20 - 70. No appointment is needed. No remuneration.  

525-1620 www.actorsensembleofberkeley.com. 

Section 8 Resident Council Meeting 

5:30 - 8:30 p.m. 

East Bay Community Law Center 

3122 Shattuck Ave. 

Section 8 recipients and concerned citizens can tell the Resident Council their concerns about the program.  

Free Seminar on Ayurveda 

1 - 2 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

The basic principles of Ayurveda for maintaining health and balance.  

644-6107 www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/hhs/commsvc/seniors.htm 

Tuesday, Aug. 14

Berkeley Camera Club  

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church  

941 The Alameda  

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

525-3565 

Writing and Resistance  

In A Culture of Amnesia 

6 - 7:45 p.m. 

La Peña Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Avenue 

Classroom #2 

Part of a workshop series on concepts and strategies for resistance through the spoken and written word, taught by Joyce E. Young. $12. 

849-2568 www.lapena.org 

Free Early Music Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Small group sings madrigals and other voice harmony every Tuesday.  

655-8863 

Free Computer Class for Seniors 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m. and 1 - 3 p.m.  

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited, call ahead for a reservation. 

644-6109 

Auditions for Tom Stoppard’s “Travesties” 

7 p.m. 

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck (at Berryman) 

Held by the Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, there are parts for five men and three women ages 20 - 70. No appointment is needed; no remuneration. 

525-1620 www.actorsensembleofberkeley.com. 

The Candy Cottage 

1:30 p.m. & 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health 

2230 Shattuck Ave. (Lower Level) 

“The Candy Cottage” is a short comedy written and performed by the Hall of Health staff, for children ages 3 to 12. The play provides information about eating healthy, the food pyramid, and what vitamins and minerals do for your body. The Hall of Health is a hands-on community health-education museum and science center sponsored by Children’s Hospital of Oakland. Free. For more information call: 549-1564. 

Wednesday, Aug. 15

Space Weather 

Noon - 2 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

UC Berkeley 

Part of the Lawrence Hall of Science Wednesday FUN-days. Explore the Space Weather exhibit, talk to NASA researchers, look for sun spots, make a sundial, cast sun prints. Museum admission $3 - $7. 

642-5132 

Berkeley Communicator Toastmasters Club 

7:15 a.m. 

Vault Cafe 

3250 Adeline 

Learn to speak with confidence. Ongoing first and third Wednesdays each month. 

527-2337 

Support Group for Family/Friends Caring for Older Adults 

4 - 5:30 p.m. - 3rd Wednesday of each month 

Alta Bates Medical Center  

Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way 

3rd floor, Room 3369B (elevator - B) 

The group will focus on the needs of the older adult with serious medical problems, psychiatric illnesses, substance abuse, and their caregivers. Free. 802-1725 

Dramatic Presentation based on Life Stories 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

A presentation based on the life stories of senior citizens who were interviewed at the Center by students of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.. 644-6107 or www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/hhs/commsvc/seniors.htm 

Editor, 

When my daughter Ashley and I sat in front of the Berkeley Bowl last March selling Girl Scout cookies, the most frequesntly asked question, aside from “Do you still have Thin Mints?” was, “Do Girl Scouts discriminate against gays?” 

We were proud to answer, “Girl Scouts just want to help, support and nurture girls in ANY way that they need it. Girl Scouts do not discriminate. They are truly there just to help girls.”  

And it’s true. The national Girl Scout organization’s motto is “Where Girls Grow Strong.” They have really helped my daughter in about a hundred different ways. They are a great organization. The Boy Scouts should take note. 

PS: Ashley sold 1,247 boxes of cookies, won a $350 gift certificate and a trip to Sacramento Water World where she saved a child from drowning, helped a concussion victim find paramedic help and returned a lost toddler to his mother. Her troop, 3982, is hoping to go to Sakai next year and sold 9,465 boxes to raise money in case they are chosen to go.  

PPS: You can buy cookies from her next year too! There are going to be two new flavors. 

Jane Stillwater 

Berkeley

Reefer Madness, a 1936 anti-marijuana film that became a cult classic in the 1970s, has been adapted for the stage by the Elements of Theatre Company. 

The low-budget anti-drug film, directed by Louis Gassier and written by Arthur Hoer, vividly portrayed the effects of the drug: uncontrollable laughter, wild parties, madness, violence and death. The film was produced under the guise of a tool to educate parents and communities on teen activities. 

By the 1970s the overwrought acting and dialogue made the film a cult comedy classic. 

The Elements of Theatre Company, a new Berkeley performance group committed to revisiting old theater, film and radio pieces in new ways, premiered its one-act adaptation at the La Pena Cultural Center last week. 

To set the mood for the show, the audience was invited to buy raffle tickets for ‘the wicked water pipe’ used on stage and was advised to smoke their ‘wacky tobaccy’ outside after the show. 

The energetic eight-member ensemble, each playing a number of roles, tried a variety of acting styles from slapstick to operetta to shock and amuse the audience. 

All the familiar characters were there and faithful to the original dialogue. Tisha Sloan, as narrator, opened the show by introducing the audience to the dangers of the drug craze. Her mocking presentation of the dated dialogue and Amy Konwerski’s imaginative costume, a stylized version of 1930s science fiction films, held great promise for the show. 

But the style and manner of presentation changed continuously throughout the 70-minute production distracting from any statement the company was trying to make. 

At one point the cast lined up facing the audience to deliver a conversation. Not looking at each other and deadpan, their delivery accentuated the ridiculousness of the dialogue. This worked well, was used once, then dropped. 

Later, in one of the party scenes, the cast gradually worked its way into song then moved to a parody of opera in another attempt to mock the script. 

But as the action became more melodramatic and operatic the style switched to vaudeville. 

The cast romped and played, mugged, willfully dropped in and out of character, and demonstrated a versatility and willingness to try anything. 

The sound, designed by Badger Kong, backed them up. It added dimension to the action on stage with frantic music, cheering crowds and the echo of gunshots. 

The two young innocents, Bill and Mary, played by Coby Fisher and Tisha Sloan, misconnected in the Romeo and Juliet scene. Using the two levels of the stage to add distance to the exchange, the actors camped the comic view of a film that took itself seriously, and created cartoon characters. 

The challenge of successfully taking on a cult classic fell short of the goals of the company: to change the way people view themselves and their world. 

Overall, the production needed more focus and a firmer hand from director Zachary Preston. 

This was the first time this group of actors worked together and given the short three-week rehearsal time, it looked like the company and the audience had fun.

924 Gilman St. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Aug. 11: Toys That Kill, Scared of Chakra, Soophie Nun Squad, Debris; Aug. 12: 5 p.m. Citizen Fish, J-Church, Eleventeen; Aug. 17: Blood Brothers, True North, The Cost, Red Light Sting, Betray The Species; Aug. 18: Dr. Know, The Sick, Society of Friends, Manchurian Candidates, Shut the F*ck Up; $5. 924 Gilman St. 525-9926. 

Anna’s Place Aug. 11 and every Saturday night 10:30 p.m. - midnight, Ducksan Distones. The following play at 8 p.m. – Aug. 8: “The Renegade Sidemen;” Aug. 7: open mic.1801 University Ave. 849-2662.  

AshkenazAug. 11: 9:30 p.m. Afro-Muzika, featuring Nene Tchakou and Shimita El Diego. 9 p.m. dance lesson with Comfort Mensah. $11; Aug. 12: 9 p.m. Benefit for the Berkeley High School Ki-Swahili Club featuring: Dyin 2 Live, Rebels, Little Larry Koont, Nico Love, DJ Boo. $10; Aug. 14: 9 p.m. Tom Rigney & Flambeau. 8 p.m. dance lesson w/ Patti Whitehurst. $8; Aug. 15: 9 p.m. Jerri Jheto. $10. Aug. 16: 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Dead DJ Night with Digital Dave. $5; Aug. 17: 9:30 p.m. Near East Far West. $12; Aug. 18: 9:30 p.m. Zydeco Flames. 8 p.m. dance lesson w/ Cheryl McBride. $11. Aug. 19: 8 p.m. Open Stage w/ Koko De La Isla, Ernesto Hernandaz, Jeff Hawkins. $8; Aug. 21: 9 p.m. Slavonkian Traveling Band. 8 p.m. dance lesson w/ Joyce Clyde. $10. 1317 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054 www.ashkenaz.com  

Eli’s Mile High Club Doors open at 8 p.m. Aug. 11: Jimmy Mamou; Aug. 18: Craig Horton /CD Release; Aug. 25: Carlos Zialcita; Every Friday, 10 p.m. - 2 a.m., Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10; 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Freight and Salvage Coffee House All music at 8 p.m. Aug. 11: Al Stewart. $16.50 - $19.50. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jupiter Aug. 11: J Dogs, funk-soul; Aug. 14: Chris Shot Group, folk-rock and soul combo; Aug. 15: Lithium House, electro/drum & bass styles with live jazz; Aug. 16: Beatdown with DJ’s Delon, Yamu and Add1; Aug. 17: The Mind Club, Old school funk grooves with sonic swirls of acid jazz; Aug. 18: Blue & Tan, Bassist Vicki Grossi brings in the crew for elctro-acid-jazz funk stylings; All music starts at 8:00 p.m. www.jupiterbeer.com; or call the hotline: THE-ROCK. 843-7625  

La Note/Jazzschool Aug. 12: 4:30 p.m. The Freedom Project, 5:30 Eli Sundelson Trio; Aug. 19: 4:30 p.m. Hazel Carter, 5:30 p.m. Bryan Girard & Friends, 6:30 p.m. T3 (Kirk Tamura Trio); Free. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373  

La Peña Cultural Center Aug. 11: 9:30 p.m. Fito Reynoso’s Ritmo y Armonia. $10, $13 for dance class starting at 8:15; Aug. 12: 5, 7:30 p.m. “Say Yo Business” Linda Tillery & The Cultural Heritage Choir. $18 in advance, $20 at the door; Aug. 17: 8:30 p.m. Music and dance performance by Jaranón y Bochinche, $12; Aug. 18: 8:30 p.m. Mission (roots hip hop), $8; Aug. 19: 3:30 p.m. Domingo de Rumba; Aug. 24: 8:30 p.m. Professor Terry’s Circus Band Extraordinary, $16; Aug. 25: 9:30 p.m., Edgardo Cambon’s Candela, $10, 8:15 p.m. Salsa dance class w/ Diego Vásquez, $13; In the Cafe, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568 

Shattuck Down Low Lounge Every Tuesday: 9:30 p.m., Posh Tuesdays with DJ’s Yamu, Delon, Add1, and Tequila Willie. Shattuck at Allston. www.thebeatdownsound.com  

Yoshi’s Through Aug. 12: Steve Turre Quintet, trombone and conch shell master in small group setting. Wednesday and Thursday, $18; Friday and Saturday, $22; Sunday matinee, $5 kids, $10 adults with one child, $18 general; Sunday, $22. Unless otherwise noted, music at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.; Sunday 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. 238-9200 www.yoshis.com 

Third Annual Berkeley World Music Festival Aug. 26: noon - 6 p.m. Block party and carnival, Grupo Ilu Fun Fun, Petit La Croix, Samba Ngo, O-Maya, Fito Reinoso y Su Ritmo y Armonia. Durant Ave. between Telegraph and Bowditch. 

ACME Observatory Aug. 19: 8 p.m. Solo performance by Jason Kahn, Brown Bunny Ensemble. $9.99 suggested donation. TUVA Space, 3192 Adeline @ MLK Jr. Way. 649-8744 http://sfSound.org/acme.html 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts Aug. 11, 12, 5 p.m. Campers from Stage Door Conservatory’s “On Broadway” program for grades 5-9 will perform Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. $12 adults, $8 kids. 2640 College Ave. 845-8542 ext. 302 

“The Great Sebastians” Through Aug. 11: Friday and Saturday evenings 8 p.m. Presented by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. A tale about a mind-reading act touring behind the Iron Curtain. A communist general believes the act and “invites” the Sebastians to his villa where the humor and excitement follows. $10. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck (at Berryman). For reservations call 528-5620 

“Iphegenia in Aulis” Through Aug. 12: Sat. and Sun. 5 p.m. Special dawn performance on Aug. 12 at 7 a.m. A free park performance by the Shotgun Players of Euripides’ play about choices and priorities. With a masked chorus, singing, dancing, and live music. Feel free to bring food and something soft to sit on. John Hinkel Park, Southhampton Place at Arlington Avenue (different locations July 7 and 8). 655-0813 

“Loot” Through Aug. 25, Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m. Special Performance Aug. 20, 8 p.m. General Admission: $15, Students / Seniors: $10 La Val’s 1834 Euclid Avenue 655-0813 

“Reefer Madness” Aug. 22, 23: 9 p.m. A new one-act theatre piece adapted from a 1936 government-funded film opens a critical eye to the control of our society. Performed by The Elemental Theatre Group La Pena Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Avenue. Wednesdays are “pay what you can,” Thursdays $5 - $10. Contact Zachary Rouse or Tisha Sloan for more info at 655-4150 

“Romeo & Juliet” Aug. 11 - Sep 2, Tuesdays – Thursdays. Bruns Memorial Amphitheater. Shakespeare’s classic about a young couple that meets, falls in love and dies in just five days. Adults: $22 - $41 youth (under 16): $12 - $41. 

“Barnum” Through Aug. 12. The story of legendary circusmaster P.T. Barnum, with plenty of musical theater and circus acrobatics. Splash Circus’ aspiring young circus artists will perform an hour before each show. $15 to $27. Friday through Sunday, 8 p.m. Joaquin Miller Park, 3300 Joaquin Miller Road, Oakland. 531-9597 www.woodminster.com 

“Roommates” Aug. 12: Max Apple’s true story of his immigrant grandfather who moved in with him when he was in college (in the 60’s). Peer led discussion following movie. $2 Suggested donation. Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 1414 Walnut Street 848-0237

A Berkeley hockey player has been selected as one of 10 kids across the country to receive scholarships to attend summer camps in Canada next week. 

Tom Sedaka, a goaltender for the Berkeley Bulldogs, was due to leave Saturday morning for Penticton, British Columbia for the Okanagan one-week goalie camp. 

Sedaka, 16, has played for the Bulldogs, based at Berkeley Iceland, since 1997. He is the only goaltender among the group selected by the National Hockey League’s Diversity Task Force for the camps, and is the only one attending Okanagan. Eight others are headed to Toronto for the Huron camp, while one is going to Mt. Vernon, N.Y., for the Turcotte camp. 

“It’s a very special opportunity for these kids,” said Melissa Fitzgerald, who runs the hockey program at Berkeley Iceland. “This is enormous, because it actually offers the kids a chance to get some really good training, and also to experience going to Canada and being in a boarding situation.” 

Sedaka will be training with some of the best goalies of his age in the country at Okanagan, which his coaches hope will make him a better player. 

“Tom needs training to go from current plateau to wherever he wants to get,” said Cyril Allen, one of the head coaches at Iceland. “Not having done it before, it will be a lot of hard work. But it’s a chance to see where he stands in the game.” 

The Diversity Task Force is charged with exposing hockey to kids who might not otherwise have a chance to experience the game. They run several programs for younger kids, but this is the first year they offered scholarships to high-school aged players. 

Fitzgerald was the one who nominated Sedaka for a scholarship, along with two other Bulldog players. She was pleasantly surprised when two of her players were chosen. William Clark of Alameda will train at the Huron camp. 

“The camp that Tom is going to is an outstanding goalie school. When I saw it on the list, I though it would be a great opportunity for us to have someone go to that particular camp,” she said. “We’re hoping Tom will come back looking even better than he does now.” 

Sedaka didn’t even know Fitzgerald had nominated him, and the scholarship came as a complete surprise to him. 

“The people from the NHL just called me out of the blue,” he said. “But it’s pretty cool that I get to go to this camp.” 

Sedaka will be playing with goalies who have been playing hockey their entire lives, but he only hit the ice four years ago when his family moved to Berkeley. At their previous home in southern California, he played roller hockey. 

“Tom was born to be a goalie,” said his mother, Sue. “He got a lesson at the local skate land and won an award for slap-shooting, but he wanted to be a goalie anyway. When we got up here and there was an ice rink right around the corner, that was it for him.” 

Sedaka, who will be a junior at Berkeley High this fall, also works at Iceland, helping younger players find equipment and on the ice. That committment to the program is part of the reason Fitzgerald decided to nominate him for a scholarship. 

“I looked at three things: kids who I thought had good talent at the sport and could benefit from training in different environment; kids who showed a committment to the sport and the program; and financially it would enable them to do something they might not normally have the opportunity to do,” she said. 

Allen said the camp would be a good chance for the player to decide if hockey is something he wants to pursue in college, given the hard work neccesary to play at a higher level against players who have played their entire lives. 

“When you want to develop quickly and raise your level of play, these types of intensive, short camps are definilty a stepping stone to more competitive play. I’d almost say they’re a prerequisite,” Allen said. 

“He has it in him, but whether he wants to do it is up to Tom. I don’t know if that’s his goal, but we want to give him the opportunity. I’m glad he was able to have this opportunity, and I’m glad he decided it was something he wanted to do.” 

Sedaka said he would like to play in college, but he’s not sure if that’s a realistic goal for someone who has only been playing the game for a few years. 

“It’d be nice to play in college,” he said. “I’d like to dedicate myself to hockey a little bit more.”

The Zoning Adjustments Board heard what one commissioner called the “initial skirmish” on the Alta Bates proposal to expand its Emergency Department by 3,500 square feet Thursday night. 

The Emergency Department expansion is one of five components included in the hospital’s proposed Master Plan. Hospital officials said the only plan being considered is the Emergency Department expansion and that the hospital was required to submit the entire Master Plan as the result of a 1997 court settlement. 

The settlement also required the hospital to complete a Draft Environmental Impact Report on all of the projects in the Master Plan, which was released in late July. The DEIR was prepared by EIP Associates of San Francisco.  

The ZAB heard public comments on the merits of a larger and better designed Emergency Department and neighbors presented the board with a list of questions about the Master Plan they thought weren’t addressed in the DEIR.  

The ZAB voted to continue the public hearing on the DEIR to a meeting scheduled for Sept. 13, when the ZAB is expected to either approve the DEIR or send it back to EIP Associates with a request for additional analysis. 

Members of the Inter-neighborhood Hospital Review Committee, which includes representatives from three neighborhood groups, say they want to support the expansion of the Emergency Department, but are worried the larger Master Plan does not effectively mitigate all of the environmental impacts.  

IHRC member Debbie LeVeen said her neighborhood group, the Bateman Neighborhood Association, wants to examine the 400-page DEIR thoroughly to make sure all the impacts are clearly identified, analyzed and mitigated before the ZAB approves the document, which will govern the Master Plan. 

“The EIR will set perimeters for future hospital development,” she said, “We want to make sure the limits on the plan’s impact are appropriately set on issues like parking, traffic congestion and noise.” 

Hospital officials say the only project in the Master Plan they are concerned with is the Emergency Department expansion. They said the current Emergency Department is too small, inefficient and poorly designed. They plan to increase the size of the department from 8,800 square feet to 12,300 square feet and add another entrance so paramedics, bringing in the critically sick and injured, would have a different entrance from patients arriving on foot.  

“The way it is now, the entrance creates an inefficient and dangerous bottleneck,” said Deborah Pitts, hospital public affairs manager. “Right now there’s one door for people coming in on a gurney and for folks coming in on foot and it doesn’t make sense.” 

Hospital spokesperson Carolyn Kemp said the Emergency Department was built in 1968 and designed to accommodate 12,000 people a year. Kemp said the department now handles 45,000 patients a year. 

She added the current design requires patients to give personal information to a triage nurse in close proximity to a guard station and waiting area. 

“The privacy and dignity that patients deserve is not afforded with the current design,” Kemp said.  

Other features the hospital would like to include in the new design are an appropriate grieving area, larger patient examination rooms and a driveway for the exclusive use of ambulances. 

In 1997 the city sued Alta Bates to get the hospital to halt what Councilmember Kriss Worthington called an “illegal” renovation. Responding to constituent complaints of noise and debris, Worthington took a tour of the hospital and discovered major remodeling work that the hospital had neglected to obtain city permits for. 

Berkeley sued Alta Bates and the hospital was ordered to pay the city $85,000, Worthington said. It was also directed to submit environmental impact reports for any future projects to expand or remodel the hospital. 

Zoning Adjustments Board Member David Blake said on Friday that the hospital is proposing a significant expansion and the concern about increased traffic and parking problems might be an appropriate one.  

“Thursday was only the initial skirmish,” Blake said. “The hospital will have to demonstrate to the neighborhood that a larger Emergency Department won’t mean increased traffic,” 

LaVeen said that even though IHRC wants to support the expansion they are concerned about a recently completed report, by Fehr and Peers. Transportation Consultants, that monitored the Emergency Room from June 1997 to April 2001. The report showed a 76 percent increase in emergency room activity, according to LaVeen. 

Blake asked hospital officials to provide the ZAB with a report analyzing the reasons for the increased use of the Emergency Department. 

Kemp said the expanded department will not increase the number of patients but would rather allow the hospital to better serve the current patient load. 

Alta Bates Charge Nurse Dolores Darling-Riordan told the ZAB that the expansion is not meant to entice more emergency patients to the hospital.  

“I honestly don’t believe that this is a case of ‘build it and they will come,’” she said. “The project will just allow the patients privacy, convenience and comfort. That’s what it’s all about.”  

The EIR can be reviewed at the libraries or purchased from the Planning Department for $30.

Editor, 

Unless the Senate acts to stop the oil companies, the last five percent of Alaska’s north slope “not” open for oil drilling will be destroyed. How did the people of this country let such an environmental disaster come so close to happening? If we are complacent, it could. 

Thomas Krassowski 

Los Gatos

Cal junior quarterback Kyle Boller has been listed a one of 30 candidates on the preseason watch list for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top quarterback.  

Boller enters his third year as a starter for the Bears this fall. After two years, he ranks 12th on Cal’s career list with 3,424 passing yards. Last season, he completed 163-of-349 passes for 2,121 yards and 15 touchdowns, ranking sixth in the Pac-10 with an average of 192.8 yards per game.  

The O’Brien committee, which is comprised of sportswriters and commentators from around the country, will select eight semifinalists the first week of November. The winner will be announced Dec. 6 during ESPN’s Home Depot College Football Awards Show.  

The O’Brien Award is named in honor of the late Davey O’Brien, an All-American and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at TCU who led the Horned Frogs to the 1938 national championship.

Touchscreens may replace punch cards  

As the Alameda County Board of Supervisors gets ready to vote on the purchase and financing of a countywide electronic voting system, the City Clerk’s Office will host a demonstration Sunday of the modern touchscreen machines that may soon replace punch card ballots.  

At the event, representatives of the Alameda County Registrar of Voters and of the equipment manufacturer, Global Election Systems, will answer questions from the public and receive feedback from the community. 

The demonstration, which will take place in the lobby of City Hall, 2180 Milvia St., 2-5 p.m. Sunday, was organized on the request of members of the disabled community. Although it would serve all voters, city officials and manufacturers say that the new electronic voting system would particularly benefit people with disabilities who often have to rely on an assistant or use absentee ballots to vote. 

About 3,000 people throughout the county had the opportunity to use similar electronic equipment during the early voting period last November, but reportedly few of them were disabled individuals.  

“We had some people with disabilities using this equipment last year,” said City Clerk Sherry Kelly. “But there are people who are not quite sure that they had the opportunity to test it, so the vendor is working with the county and offered to do a demonstration.” 

Scott Lupkin, a quadriplegic who supports the implementation of touchscreen voting equipment, explained why disabled people want to give their input before the Board of Supervisors votes on the issue next Tuesday. 

“There are ways computers are configured that are harder to use by disabled people,” said Lupkin. “The more disabled people say what the issues are, then the better (the county and the manufacturer) are going to understand what the needs are for properly configuring them.” 

The touchscreen voting equipment to be shown on Sunday is an improved version of the machines used in November. Installation is easier, the screens are more adaptable to people in wheelchairs, and the audio is improved. 

It presents different advantages over the punch card method, according to Deborah Seiler, director of customer relations at Global Election Systems. Such equipment, she said, allows the user to chose a language, prevents users from over-voting, and alerts them with a warning if they have not voted on all the possible selections. The machine, she added, has an adjustable screen angle so that people in wheelchairs can see it. It is highly responsive to the touch and makes it therefore easier for people with limited dexterity to use it. Finally, it has an audio feature designed specifically for visually impaired individuals, who can use a headset and a keypad to select their option. 

Like Lupkin and others in Berkeley, Karen Rose, a blind person and member of the Commission on Disability, is very supportive of a large-scale implementation of electronic voting. Thanks to that kind of system, she said, she could vote independently for the first time in her life last November. 

“Electronic voting gives blind people for the first time the same constitutional right as other people,” she said. “They would print ballots in Spanish and Chinese but not in English Braille so we were always asked to take someone with us to vote for us.” 

If the Board of Supervisors authorizes the county’s Registrar of Voters and the General Services Agency to negotiate a contract and financing plan with Global Election Systems, Tuesday, the county could have replaced its equipment by the primary gubernatorial elections in March 2002.  

So far there is no strong opposition. The City Council recently passed a recommendation asking the Board of Supervisors to approve the $12.1 million funding needed and committed to contribute with $20, 000 to $30, 000 per election. 

Rodney Brooks, Deputy Chief of staff to supervisor Keith Carson said he expected the funding to be approved.

Editor: 

I’m in favor of higher densities in Downtown Berkeley, more housing and density on transit corridors, and greater height limits than have generally been the case in high-density areas. But even I was a bit taken aback by the enormous bulk of the Gaia Building on Allston Way as it took shape behind a concealing screen for many months throughout the spring and early summer. It seemed completely out of scale and wrong for the setting. 

Now that the wraps are off and the Gaia Building is nearly finished, I understand what its designers and builders had in mind. In my view, it has immediately become one of the best buildings anywhere in Berkeley. It has a combination of gracefulness, color, and decorative novelty that no other downtown building can match. The tiles add interesting hues and patterns to what would otherwise be a bland exterior. The roof gardens are a delightful and visually surprising touch. The windows are elegant. The entire structure has a classical aura that blends well with some of the better buildings nearby such as the Shattuck Hotel. Congratulations to everyone who had a hand in this beautiful structure. 

The real problem now is some of the other buildings downtown. Let’s face it. The Gaia Building is a true asset for Berkeley. It helps to define downtown; it provides a distinctive sense of place. In contrast, some of the character-deficient low-rise structures nearby should be bulldozed – or shipped out to Walnut Creek where they belong. 

Hank Resnik 

Berkeley 

Ocean View’s first industries were the Pioneer Starch and Grist Mill, founded in 1855 by John Everding and A. Rammelsburg, and a lumber yard, founded in 1856 by Zimri Brewer Heywood and Captain James Jacobs. Jacobs and Heywood constructed the wharf in 1866. The wharf was located between Bristol (now Hearst) and Delaware streets. Freight was stored and shipped from the wharf and it also became a landing for a passenger steamer making four trips daily between Ocean View and San Francisco.  

After the University of California opened in 1873, a ferry service between Berkeley and San Francisco was established on a different pier owned by the Standard Soap Company. This pier was located at the foot of University Avenue. A horse-drawn streetcar service on University Avenue connected downtown with the new Berkeley ferry. This ferry had a short existence, however, and ceased operation in 1878. The Berkeley ferry service could not compete with the transcontinental railroad (which built a station at Third and Delaware streets in 1878 ) and with the branch railroad line on Shattuck Avenue established in 1876.These were faster routes to San Francisco by way of the Oakland ferry.  

Susan Cerny writes this series in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association 

Editor: 

Parm’ me folks, but the list of “Automatic Terminations” provided in the current City of Berkeley Commissioner’s Manual (pp. 13-14) doesn’t tally with Karen Craig’s sins as reported in the Planet’s Aug. 10 article, “Appointee removed from disabled commission.”  

Members of the new library building’s accessibility committee, on which she has been working, seemingly were not contacted for your “coverage.” Craig was recruited to the Commission on Disability. She has served successfully and congenially as vice chair, chair, and currently as outreach subcommittee chair.  

Many of the Commission’s and her achievements in behalf of disabled persons also enhance others’ lives, e.g. lobbying to get the STUFF off sidewalks and getting City policies enforced. She has negotiated with banks for double panel doors (now required on City buildings). She’s been working with restaurants on Braille menus. AC Transit has felt her influence, etc. What’s wrong with Karen? She’s a strong senior woman!  

Helen Rippier Wheeler 

Berkeley 

SAN FRANCISCO – The federal government has approved $4.25 million in grants to be used in the renovation of California parks and recreational facilities, including some in Berkeley. 

The National Parks Service will provide funding to 16 California cities, seven of them in the San Francisco Bay area. 

About $2 million in grants will go toward the beautification of city parks in Berkeley, San Francisco, Oakland, Daly City, Richmond, Seaside and Vallejo. 

Before receiving the grants, the cities must submit final applications to the National Parks Service within 120 days. 

The grants are part of the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Grants program established in 1978. The purpose of the program is to provide grants and technical assistance to economically distressed urban communities. 

To be eligible for a grant a community has to show a strong commitment to rehabilitating local parks and recreational facilities.

SAN FRANCISCO – The president of the air traffic controllers’ union at San Francisco International Airport admitted in an affidavit that he was the so-called “Robust Robber,” suspected of robbing up to nine banks, his attorney said Friday. 

“He’s blown it,” said his attorney Randy Pollock. 

Rick Lee Davis, 43, of San Francisco, who earned about $120,000, allegedly told detectives he robbed banks to fly his children to and from Hawaii to visit him and to pay child support. 

Davis was charged Tuesday with one bank robbery stemming from his arrest in Concord on Aug. 3. A federal judge set bail at $150,000 Friday. 

Pollock said Davis was depressed and remorseful for the circumstances that have landed him behind bars. 

“He’s lost his job. He’s lost his career,” she said. “He’ll never work for the federal government again. 

“This is not a happy time in his life,” she added. 

Pollock anticipated Davis would be released to a halfway house in San Francisco late Friday where Magistrate Judge Wayne Brazil ordered him to remain as his case goes through federal court. 

Davis appeared before Brazil in a red jail jumpsuit, his graying hair cut close and his demeanor reserved. The nickname “Robust Robber” came from the thief’s stocky build. Davis is heavyset and 5-foot-7. 

Davis was arrested after an off-duty Concord police officer noticed him handing a note to a teller at a Bank of America branch, raising suspicions because other bank robberies had been pulled off using the same method in recent months. 

After receiving the note “the teller’s eyes go wide and the teller just started shoveling money across the counter,” said Concord police detective Mike Finney. Davis was arrested as he exited the bank with $3,199. 

Although Davis’ attorney said the arrest would end her client’s career, Federal Aviation Administration western region spokesman Jerry Snyder confirmed that Davis still has his job. 

Brazil ordered two relatives and an acquaintance of Davis provide three signatures as part of the $150,000 bond requirement to guarantee Davis’ appearance in court for Aug. 21. 

“All these people are sticking their necks out for you, so it’s really important that you abide by the rules,” Brazil told Davis. 

Davis has been an employee of the FAA since 1986. He worked in Hawaii before moving to San Francisco, where he represents the tower’s 50 FAA employees with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. 

Last week, Davis spoke to about 300 people at the College of San Mateo during a hearing on SFO’s hotly debated plans to expand its runways by filling in a portion of San Francisco Bay. 

The FBI alleges Davis has robbed nine banks since Oct. 17, 2000, with the first eight in Fremont, Newark and Union City. About $60,000 was stolen from the banks in total. 

Davis could face 180 years in prison if convicted.

SAN JOSE – A 24-year-old man pleaded innocent Friday to involuntary manslaughter and child neglect charges brought against him after he left his infant son for three hours in a hot car, where the baby died. 

Brian Gilbert, 24, could face up to six years in prison if convicted in the death of his 5-month-old son, Kyle. He told police he simply forgot the boy was in the car while he was visiting relatives in San Jose on July 24. 

The temperature was in the 80s, but it was much hotter in the car with the windows up. 

Police said the relatives apparently believed Kyle was with his mother at the time, and never asked about the boy. Gilbert spent the afternoon watching cartoon videos with his brother-in-law before coming out of the house and finding Kyle dead in the car, investigators said. 

Gilbert remains free on $50,000 bail.

LOS ANGELES – In an attempt to unify its different ethnic communities, Asian-American groups unveiled a statewide redistricting plan that they hope will give them more political clout. 

The plan released Thursday is an unprecedented move for California’s many Asian ethnicities, which are increasingly joining forces to make their voices heard. They will have to compete for attention with Latino organizations that drew their own map, but both groups say their proposals are similar. 

At press conferences in Los Angeles and Oakland, members of the coalition of Asian Pacific Americans for Fair Redistricting said Asian-Americans have lost political power because Assembly boundaries drawn a decade ago split their communities into two and sometimes three pieces. 

“Because we are divided, finding legislative support and building community unity is difficult,” said Diane Poon, executive director of the Chinatown Service Center, representing a Los Angeles community that is split into two Assembly districts. 

The coalition’s proposal would bring together divided ethnic communities including Chinatown, Koreatown and Pilipinotown in Los Angeles and Orange County’s Little Saigon and Koreatown. In other areas, including Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco, the proposal would organize several Assembly districts around ethnic areas with common needs and concerns. 

Kwoh said the coalition prepared its map with months of cooperation with Latino, black, gay and lesbian and other groups, as well as legislative officials. 

The plan increases the number of districts with at least 30 percent Asian, Latino or black populations. It also would increase the number of “safe” Assembly districts — ones in which one major party has at least a 10 percent advantage over the other — from 42 to 46 for Democrats and from 13 to 14 for Republicans. 

The Asian population in California rose nearly 54 percent over the last decade, to nearly 4.4 million. But although they made up about 13 percent of the state in the 2000 Census, Asians hold only 3 percent — four of 120 — of the state’s legislative seats. 

Communities united by common interests “should not be divided, should not be fractured, and their votes should not be diluted,” said Stewart Kwoh, president and executive director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California. 

“If we don’t say anything, they will definitely divide our communities again, because they don’t even know where are communities of interest are most of the time,” Kwoh said. 

Two Hispanic advocacy groups — the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the William C. Velasquez Institute — released their own map last month, but Asian and Latino activists said the two plans have much in common. 

“Logistically it’s very difficult to do, because you have to work with so many different groups,” said Zachary Gonzalez, redistricting coordinator for the Velasquez Institute. “But as far as minority communities concerned, we’re all working toward the goal of fair and equal representation.” 

Thursday’s proposal reflects the growing power Asian-American groups are wielding in California politics, said Karin Mac Donald, director of the Statewide Database at the University of California, Berkeley, which collects and analyzes data used in redistricting. 

As rising numbers of Asian-Americans put more money and effort into political efforts, they could see “a little bit of the squeaky wheel syndrome,” Mac Donald said. “They didn’t have the funding or organization to do that before.” 

In working with the coalition, officials in Sacramento “have said they’re amazed by the level of participation in the Asian-American community,” Kwoh said. “Now the crucial question is whether they’ll listen.” 

The coalition will submit its proposal to the Legislature by Wednesday.

Justices block support removal on man in semiconscious state 

SAN FRANCISCO – The right to die does not extend to people who are unable to communicate or care for themselves, but are conscious and in a twilight state, the state Supreme Court has ruled. 

In a closely watched case, the court ruled Thursday 6-0 that a family is not free to end life support for an incapacitated loved one simply because he had said he would not want to live like a vegetable. 

Robert Wendland, severely injured in a 1993 auto accident, died last month from pneumonia at age 49, but the justices ruled on the case anyway to clarify unsettled law. 

In 1995, Rose Wendland directed doctors to pull her husband’s feeding tubes, saying she thought she was carrying out his wishes because he had twice commented about not wanting to live as a vegetable. 

But the woman’s request was blocked and has been embroiled in the courts ever since, reigniting debate over when loved ones can make such directives when no will or other written document verifies those wishes. 

“These two conversations (between the Wendlands) do not establish by clear and convincing evidence that the conservatee would desire to have his life-sustaining treatment terminated under the circumstances in which he now finds himself,” Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar wrote. 

The court cautioned, however, that it was not setting a broad standard when conservators could pull the plug on incapacitated loved ones. Instead, its decision affects only a narrow class of persons: those technically conscious who have not left formal written directions for health care. 

Doctors said Robert Wendland had some ability to think and to sometimes move in his hospital bed, but had no ability to communicate whether he wanted to live or die. 

Robert Wendland’s mother, Florence Wendland, had fought her daughter-in-law’s effort to remove life support. She claimed her son was not a vegetable and therefore the feeding tubes should not be pulled because those were not his wishes. 

“I didn’t want to see him starve to death. What would you do if it was your son, if somebody wanted to do that to your loved one?” Florence Wendland said. 

Rose Wendland said Thursday she only wanted to follow her husband’s desires. 

“His pain would be even greater with the decision that was made,” she said. “It was Robert’s wishes to never be in the state that he was in.” 

A group of 43 medical ethicists had urged the court to abide by the wife’s wishes. 

“The court has told us that, if you want to have a say in your end-of-life decision-making, you better put it in an advance, written directive,” said Jon B. Eisenberg, an attorney for the ethicists. “The problem here is: I don’t know how you do that in a manner that covers all of the possibilities.”

TOM: The column we wrote a few weeks back about the need to test older drivers for competence generated hundreds of letters. Surprisingly to us, most of them supported our position – although some did not. 

RAY: And a few of those were unprintable! 

TOM: But we'll share some of the letters we CAN print over the next couple of weeks. Here are the first few: 

Dear Tom and Ray: 

My daughter was killed by an older driver. Thank you for taking a stand on this issue. Tyler, who was 5 at the time, was killed by an older driver going the wrong way on the freeway. The older driver, who was 79 and driving a large car, escaped with minor injuries. That experience motivated me to ask the 1998 Minnesota Legislature to enact stricter guidelines for the licensing of older drivers through more frequent testing. The bill passed the House transportation committee; however, the chair of that committee refused to pass it on to the floor for a vote. She cited the added expense of testing older drivers as the reason for “killing” the bill. The real reason was just as you stated: Older drivers are a “third-rail issue,” and any politician who touches it will be toast. I suggest that you are wasting your breath by appealing to politicians to address this issue and, instead, should be appealing to families. To maintain the right to drive in Minnesota, all that is needed is the ability to pass an eye exam. 

Until more stringent testing is required, we as “family” must responsibly police ourselves. So my daughter’s death can have meaning, and to protect yourself and those you love, take an honest look at those close to you and help them to determine whether they are competent to safely operate a motor vehicle. Remember, the loss of one’s right to drive is nothing compared with the senseless loss of human life. In addition, I have a Web site devoted to this issue. I believe it is compelling and might be of use to you when responding to all of the angry mail you are about to receive. It is sites.netscape.net/markhuffington/homepage. Again, thank you for addressing the older-driver issue. — Mark Huffington 

RAY: You’re probably right about starting with people rather than with politicians, Mark. What was the famous line attributed to a politician? “There go my people. I am their leader. I must follow them!” 

••• 

Dear Tom and Ray: 

Driving is a privilege, not a right, and society should expect a minimum level of performance – and regularly test for it. My mother-in-law got her license in a drug store in the 1930s and has NEVER had a test. People say they have the right to drive. If we want to talk rights, I should have the right to go on the highway (or the sidewalk) without constant fear of being smashed by some 75-year-old widow who needs a booster seat to see the hood emblem on her Packard. Part of that problem comes from children who don't have the capability of dealing with the hard issues of aging. And if they can't, then our driver-licensing system had better, because in my mind, if that parent causes a preventable accident, injury or fatality, then everyone in the loop is an accomplice. Nah, you didn't touch a sensitive chord in this household – you stomped on it. Send me a petition. I’ll sign! Best regards. — Dennis 

TOM: Talking to a parent about giving up the keys is incredibly difficult. That's why we advocate driving tests for older people, which will catch problems with the parents of those who can't or won't have that tough conversation. We’ll have more letters about these issues in the coming weeks.

Small steps are the key to having a water garden in your yard 

POUND RIDGE – It’s a jump from Claude Monet’s lily pond in Giverny to a tub in your back yard, but in water gardening you’re wise to start meekly. 

Go at it in small steps if you’re entranced by water lilies and lotuses and dream of a miniature Giverny of your own. In time you may graduate to larger and beautifully designed creations. There’s much help out there from a thriving industry that has sprung up to meet the often quite complex needs of the water gardener. 

With no more hardware than a plastic tub, a pot, a faucet and a hose, I grew nice water lilies. That’s not to say I made no false steps. 

The first mistake was to order a lily too large for my container. As it grew, it looked grotesque, but to make matters worse, I had neglected to think of protection. I live in deer country and my lily had scarcely bloomed than I got up one morning to find the tub overturned and the plant mangled. 

Feeling foolish, I moved the tub inside the electrified wire fence of my vegetable garden. Then I bought hardy dwarf lilies from a nursery that specializes in water gardens. In due time, safe from predators, these bloomed in nice proportion to the size of the container and, however humbly, I glowed. 

But in the process, I also learned that you don’t just drop a water lily plant inside a tub of water and expect it to bloom. Actually, you need to plant the lily in a plastic pot of soil and position the pot in the tub. You keep the soil firm against the action of the water by spreading a layer of pebbles on top of the soil. At the start, and from time to time afterwards, you energize the maturing process by inserting special fertilizer tablets into the soil. 

Several lilies will bloom over a season and, if properly winterized, the plant will produce again the next year. 

A tub is not limited to lilies. Dwarf lotuses and other aquatic plants will grow there and it can also sport a goldfish or two. But beware of cats. They don’t mind getting wet to snatch a fish. 

Tiny electric pumps are available to create the image and sound of running water and help keep the surface clear of green scum that may form. One attraction of tubs is that they can be moved to various sites around your property. Some people like them on a corner of a deck or patio. Water lilies have been developed that will bloom in some shade, and not, as in the past, needing at least six hours of sunlight. 

Look under gardening in the Yellow Pages or go to the Web for providers of plants and materials. I visited a large nursery and saw wooden barrels, terra cotta and plastic tubs of various sizes and colors on display and also larger, pre-formed pools that would serve as the next step up in water gardening. A lovely stone-bordered water garden was also there to show what you might some day achieve if you did everything right. The nursery sold pumps, filters for cleaning the water, automatic refill valves, pool de-icers, lighting and many other gadgets and enhancements. 

Beyond the tub stage, to create a small, ornamental pond, you first have to dig a hole and take out all the rocks, roots and other abrasives. You can shape the hole to accommodate a pre-formed pool or design it to your own taste. In the latter case, you would need to install a flexible liner in the hole. A so-called fish grade EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) is recommended. Liners last 20 years. 

Fill the shell slowly with water, add finishing touches of terra cotta bricks, field stones or cobblestones along the rim and you’re ready to place lilies, lotuses, iris and grasses inside the pool.

SAN FRANCISCO – Stock in companies doing all types of stem cell research fell Friday as investors puzzled over the boundaries drawn by President Bush. 

In the short term, there’s a fear that Bush’s decision to limit federal funding to research involving existing stem cell lines – preventing the destruction of more human embryos in the name of science – may inhibit U.S. researchers. 

But an infusion of federal tax dollars also could encourage more scientists to join the field, and eventually, new scientific breakthroughs may force the government to reconsider its opposition to destroying more human embryos — and even cloning, executives of stem cell companies said. 

The company losing the most from Bush’s decision is Advanced Cell Technology, which wants to develop stem cells by cloning human embryos using the same technique that created Dolly the sheep. The president explicitly rejected this approach, which the House has voted to criminalize. That bill awaits Senate action. 

“I strongly oppose human cloning, as do most Americans. We recoil at the idea of growing human beings for spare body parts or creating life for our convenience,” Bush said. 

Michael West, CEO of Advanced Cell, a privately held company based in Worcester, Mass., sought to put a positive spin on Bush’s broadside against his work, which remains legal for now. 

He said federal funding involving existing stem cell lines should spur more research, and eventually lead scientists to embrace so-called therapeutic cloning for purely medical and not reproductive uses. 

“I’m thrilled, actually ... millions of lives are going to be saved,” West said Thursday night. “This is the birthday of regenerative medicine.” 

Embryonic cell lines, each deriving from a single embryo, have the ability to divide into an infinite number of biological blank slates. From there, after genetic manipulation they could evolve into differentiated cells and repair ailing hearts, livers, brains and other tissue. 

The one company that stands to benefit most from Bush’s decision is Menlo Park-based Geron Corp., which claims exclusive commercial rights to all the human embryonic stem cells for which the administration has authorized federal funding. 

Geron also claims it owns the sole license for the process used to obtain the stem cells, which are drawn from four-day-old embryos donated by fertility clinics. 

“We expect our stem cell lines to be the gold standard,” Geron CEO Thomas Okarma said Friday in a conference call. 

Despite its apparently strong legal position, Geron’s stock fell 99 cents to close at $13.95 in heavy trading Friday, giving up some of its sharp gains Thursday, when it rose $2.04 to $14.94. Companies working with adult stem cells – which do not derive from embryos and are considered to hold less medical promise – also were down sharply: StemCells Inc. plunged 25 percent, and Aastrom Biosciences Inc. fell 19 percent. 

The market reaction notwithstanding, Geron’s lawyers have put the company in an enviable position to capitalize on research involving existing stem cell lines. 

Geron provided most of the funding that enabled University of Wisconsin researcher James Thomson to first isolate human embryonic stem cells. In return, the company received exclusive commercial rights to the university’s stem cell patent. 

Okarma said Geron has been “very open” with the scientific community and can only benefit by sharing its research with others. But some other scientists say Geron’s demands are so onerous that they’ve been forced to look for stem cell sources overseas. 

Researchers wanting stem cells for purely academic purposes can buy them from the university for $5,000 an order. But anyone wanting to profit from this science must pay for a license, or material transfer agreement, from Geron. And Geron demands commercial rights from its licensees. 

Isivitch said U.S. researchers have obtained stem cells from his clinic. 

U.S. researchers also may look for supplies from stem cell lines maintained in Sweden, India, Singapore and Australia, where BresaGen Ltd., in Adelaide, has developed four stem cell lines. BresaGen also opened a U.S. laboratory in Athens, Ga. seven months ago. 

BresaGen Chief Scientific Officer Allan Robins said his company has been waiting to examine the impact of Bush’s decision before filling any of the dozens of requests from U.S. researchers for its stem cells. 

“Obviously, Geron is another consideration,” Robins said. “Geron does have some strong rights and we are going to have to deal with that.” 

Still, BresaGen shares trading on the Australian stock exchange closed up 13.3 percent on Friday. 

Geron hasn’t tried to enforce its stem cell rights yet, but chief financial officer David Greenwood said they’re prepared to if necessary. “U.S. patent laws govern here and U.S. (researchers) will be subject to that,” he warned Friday. 

The Bush administration also is exploring the impact of Geron’s patent position. 

“We still have some very important proprietary information to work through,” Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson said Friday. 

West, who founded Geron in 1991 and left in 1998 to buy Advanced Cell, said he once thought Geron “had locked up the embryonic stem cell market.” Now, he thinks there “are ways to get around Geron’s patent.”

LOS ANGELES – A judge rejected a record $3 billion damage award against tobacco giant Philip Morris as excessive, offering a dying smoker $100 million instead. 

Thursday’s ruling by Superior Court Judge Charles W. McCoy Jr. left both sides unhappy and the tobacco giant promising an appeal. 

McCoy denounced Philip Morris’ actions as “reprehensible in every sense of the word, both legal and moral.” 

The firm “refused to accept even a scintilla of responsibility for the harm it has done.” the judge wrote in a 27-page ruling. 

But the punitive damages a jury granted to Richard Boeken in June were far above the usual ratio, he ruled. 

In fact, it was the largest award in an individual lawsuit against a tobacco company. 

Boeken was given until Aug. 24 to agree in writing to accept $100 million or the judge said he will grant Philip Morris a retrial on the punitive damages. The judge upheld an additional $5.54 million in compensatory damages for Boeken’s medical expenses and lost earnings. 

Boeken’s attorney, Michael J. Piuze, said “we are grateful for having been afforded a fair trial” but disagreed with the judge’s decision to reduce punitive damages. 

“Philip Morris was fined one week’s earnings,” he said. “This is the same as a $1,000 fine against a $50,000-a-year wage earner. Philip Morris truly was not punished enough. The punishment did not fit the crime. 

“I think it would have been more productive for society to let the verdict stand,” he added. 

Philip Morris said the entire case would be appealed. 

“This case became an exercise in punishing an unpopular industry,” William S. Ohlemeyer, company vice president and associate general counsel, said in a statement. 

“Our appeal will request a complete reversal and retrial on multiple grounds, not the least of which was the passion and prejudice the jury displayed in reaching its verdict.” 

“It’s simply not believable that anyone living in America for the past 40 years could testify under oath that they were unaware of the risks of smoking.” 

Boeken, 56, of Topanga, has lung cancer that has spread to his brain. The lifelong smoker claimed in his lawsuit that he was the victim of a tobacco industry campaign that portrayed smoking as “cool” but concealed its dangers. 

A jury found the company guilty of negligence, misrepresentation, fraud and selling a defective product. 

McCoy strongly supported the jury’s motivation for the punitive award but found the sum “legally excessive.” The ratio of the punitive damages to compensatory damages was 540-1. The $100 million figure — four times what Philip Morris lawyers had recommended — would reduce the ratio to 18-1. 

McCoy also reprimanded Philip Morris for going to “extraordinary lengths to hide its own scientific information” about the health risks of smoking. 

“The record fully supports findings that Philip Morris knew by the late 1950s and early 1960s that the nicotine in cigarettes is highly addictive, that substances in cigarette tar cause lung cancer, and that no substantial medical or scientific doubt existed on these crucial facts,” the judge ruled. 

It was the second California case in which a judge reduced a damage award against Philip Morris. A $51.5 million award made to lung cancer victim Patricia Henley in 1999 by a San Francisco jury was later reduced to $26.5 million. The case is under appeal. 

Last year, another San Francisco jury awarded Leslie Whiteley $21.7 million in damages against Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Whiteley, who had lung cancer, has since died. That case also remains on appeal. 

In seeking a retrial of the Boeken case, the company argued that it will likely face similar cases and could not pay $3 billion to every plaintiff. 

Philip Morris also argued that the judge erred in refusing to allow the company to present evidence of Boeken’s past criminal convictions in order to challenge the credibility of his claims. 

In the 1970s Boeken was convicted of a felony involving stolen property and another one for possession of a small amount of heroin. 

In 1993, he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of aiding and abetting wire fraud involving a telephone boiler room operation that sold oil and gas properties from 1986 to 1988 in Wyoming. Boeken testified for the government in the prosecution of his former boss, pleaded guilty to the felony and was ordered to pay a fine and $50,000 restitution. 

McCoy ruled during the trial that Boeken’s criminal record was irrelevant to the tobacco lawsuit and could prejudice the jury. 

Boeken said he took up cigarettes at 13 and smoked at least two packs of Marlboros daily for more than 40 years.  

His attorney said Boeken was actaully able to kick heroin and alcohol, but renewed his smoking habit after trying to quit several times. 

Boeken was diagnosed in 1999 with lung cancer, which spread to his lymph nodes, back and brain. Boeken quit smoking for eight months after being diagnosed but later resumed smoking Marlboros.

SACRAMENTO – State energy officials and more than 580 retailers will team up next week to promote state-sponsored rebates for Californians buying Energy Star appliances. 

“Energy Efficient Appliance Week” starts Saturday, but $50 million in rebates will be available for as long as the fund lasts, state officials said Friday. 

Rebates on Energy Star refrigerators, dishwashers, room air conditioners and clothes washers and dryers will range from $50 to $200. 

Consumers will save even more by trimming their energy use, said Kathleen Hogan of the Energy Star division within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

Energy Star appliances are certified by the EPA to use at least 10 percent less energy than other appliances, saving resources and money, she said. 

For example, a replacing a 10-year-old clothes washer with an energy-efficient one can cut a family’s annual electricity bill by $90, said Hogan.

SAN FRANCISCO — Law enforcement officers are required to use “reasonable care” when making traffic stops, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday. 

The decision stems from a 1996 case in which four people were hurt after a pickup truck struck their car that a California Highway Patrol officer had ordered to stop in the median rather than on the right shoulder. 

The family sued the driver of the pickup, the driver of the car, the CHP and the officer who stopped them. 

A lower court dismissed the case, saying Officer Richard Hedgecock was not responsible for the crash that injured three young children and their father when the truck rear-ended the Toyota Camry. They were stopped in the median of six-lane state Highway 78 in San Diego County after a traffic stop. The driver had stepped out of the car and was unhurt. 

The CHP Officer Safety Manual specifically says “effective techniques should be used to ensure stopping on the right shoulder rather than in the median.” 

On the day of the accident, Michael Lugtu, the girls’ uncle, was driving the Camry about 85 mph in the far left lane. It was “dry, visibility was good and traffic was moderate to  

fairly heavy,” according to 

court documents. 

Hedgecock testified that CHP procedures gave him discretion whether to stop a driver in the median area or on the right shoulder.  

He said he thought stopping the vehicle in the median, which was 10 feet wide, was safer than the shoulder, which was about eight feet wide. 

The lower court agreed and dismissed the suit. 

“Hedgecock had no duty to stop plaintiffs on the right shoulder as a matter of law,” the court said. 

That decision was overturned Thursday by an appeals court, which reinstated the suit and said ”a law enforcement officer has a duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of those persons whom the officer stops. The case may now proceed. 

“There was insufficient justification under the present circumstances for Hedgecock to subject plaintiffs to the risks inherent in such a stop,” said Chief Justice Ronald M. George writing for the 4-1 court. 

In her dissent, Justice Janice R. Brown said the high court’s decision would likely cause more accidents than it prevents because it will reduce officers’ ability to use their own discretion and force them to make all traffic stops on the right shoulder, even when it may be safer to stop in the median.

A proposed legal settlement that could cost Ford Motor Co. as much as $1 billion prompted a judge Monday to postpone a class-action trial on allegations that faulty ignition switches caused millions of cars and trucks to stall. 

The proposed deal comes four months after the judge ordered Ford to recall as many as 2 million vehicles in California. If approved, it would expand the remedy to 5 million vehicles nationwide and replace the recall with a warranty allowing owners to be reimbursed for replacing ignition switches. 

A settlement would limit the financial exposure to Ford, already involved in a recall of tires on its Ford Explorers, which are being investigated in connection with more than 100 highway deaths. But Ford shares dropped 4.2 percent to $23.73 Monday by late afternoon. 

Analyst David Healy, with Burnham Securities Inc., blamed news of the ignition switch settlement as well as media reports about the Big Three automakers’ loss in market share and a decision by UBS Warburg to downgrade Ford stock from “hold” to “reduce.” 

“I like Ford long-term, but I have a hard time seeing it in the short term,” Healy said. “It’s a matter of 20/20 hindsight. I think Ford knew of the problem but should have taken care of it years ago.” 

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Michael E. Ballachey has said Ford misled government inspectors and was living in an “Alice and Wonderland” dreamland by denying that defective ignition switches were installed on 23 million vehicles. 

“I think this is basically a win for consumers,” Jeff Fazio, a lead attorney in the class-action case against Ford, said Sunday, before the judge imposed a gag order. “It could have been years before the cars were fixed, but with this it could come soon.” 

Ballachey met in his chambers Monday with attorneys for about 45 minutes and then emerged to make the only public comment he allowed: “We’ve had discussions on the progress of settlement talks. Those are ongoing,” he said. Ballachey also sealed the transcript of the closed-door meeting. 

He scheduled the next meeting with attorneys for Aug. 20, and delayed jury selection for a week, to Aug. 27. 

Earlier Monday, Ford issued a statement saying “the cost of $750 million to $1 billion currently being speculated about in the media are substantially overstated.” 

Fazio based the $1 billion figure on court records in which Ford has said it would cost $150 or more to replace each switch. 

Ford has already settled hundreds of wrongful death, injury and other lawsuits in connection with the stalling allegations. However, the Detroit automaker denies that the ignition devices are defective and cause the vehicles to stall. 

“All government data, 18 years’ worth, prove that our vehicles are as safe or safer than other vehicles,” the company said Monday, adding that investigations by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration found no safety defect. 

Ballachey, however, has said that evidence produced in the case shows that Ford repeatedly deceived regulators about problems with the switch. 

The suit challenged Ford’s placement of the thick film ignition (TFI) module, which regulates electric current to the spark plugs. In 300 models sold between 1983 and 1995, the module was mounted on the distributor near the engine block, where it was exposed to high temperatures. 

Ballachey, the nation’s only judge to order a vehicle recall, found last year that Ford was warned by an engineer that high temperatures would cause the device to fail and stall the engine. Ford’s own documents show the company confirmed the problem in internal studies, and could have moved the module to a cooler spot for an extra $4 per vehicle. 

Under Sunday’s announced agreement, Ford said it would replace the ignition devices on all Ford vehicles nationwide that have stalled and have no more than 100,000 miles, which is an estimated 500,000 to 650,000 vehicles in California and an estimated 5 million nationwide. 

The agreement also says Ford will extend all warranties to 100,000 miles for affected vehicles and pay to replace the ignition if it stalls and needs replacing before the new 100,000 mile warranty is up. 

“A lot of hard work has gone into reaching an agreement and we hope the judge supports it and brings this issue to a close,” said Kathleen Vokes, a Ford spokeswoman. 

Ballachey’s recall ruling was in the preliminary stages of the case, which was expected to go to trial later this month. 

Ballachey said Ford concealed the stalling information from federal safety regulators, who were studying hundreds of complaints about Ford vehicles stalling. The government found no safety problems with the modules, but a NHTSA official said the government would not have closed the case if Ford had given the agency key documents unveiled in the class-action case. 

“Had that information been in hand, I would not have closed either investigation without appropriate resolution,” said Michael B. Brownlee, the former director of the NHTSA’s defects investigative arm. 

Fazio said he wants to settle because, under the recall order, it could have taken years, if ever, before the vehicles would have been fixed. That is because Ford had said it would appeal the recall order, which affects all 1983-1995 Ford models in California. 

The automaker said judges do not have the same power as does the NHTSA to order a vehicle recall. Under the deal, the vehicles could be fixed or the cost of previous replacements could come as early as next year, Fazio said. 

The case is Howard vs. Ford, 763785-2. 

SAN FRANCISCO — A group of homeless advocates has taken over a vacant four-story downtown building to remind officials about the need for affordable housing in one of the country’s most expensive cities. 

“This building is an example of dozens of city properties which stand vacant while there are over 12,000 people who are homeless and while every year over 100 people die while living on the streets,” said Ted Gullicksen of San Francisco-based Homes Not Jails, who spoke from an open second-floor window. 

The building, currently owned by the San Francisco Unified School District, has been vacant since 1992. It formerly housed the High School of Commerce and the city’s Rent Board. 

Gullicksen and seven other people illegally moved into the vacant building late Saturday. The building has no electricity, water and little furniture, but after renovations it could house at least 100 people. 

“This building even in its current state ... is better shelter than what people can find in the streets,” Gullicksen said. 

Gullicksen asked the Board of Supervisors to adopt an ordinance, expected to be introduced Monday by supervisor Chris Daly, that would require every city agency to make a real estate inventory, determine which properties were vacant and turn them over to nonprofit housing developers. 

If the board passes the ordinance, it would be reviewed by a committee before going into effect. 

The Surplus City Property ordinance would require that vacant city property be first offered for homeless housing or services before it is sold. 

A federal law now requires that all excess federal property be offered as housing for homeless people before the it’s sold or offered anywhere else, according to Homes Not Jails. 

San Francisco has no such law even though fewer than 30 percent of residents can afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment. 

Gullicksen said his organization already has funding available that would allow them to begin the renovations.

Pudge, Izzy, Echo and Paris are ready for their close-ups. The feisty, furry rabbits are the pride and joy of the new Berkeley 4-H Club’s four charter members. Accompanied by their human handlers, on Thursday, the rabbits were getting ready to strut their stuff at the Monterey County fair today and the San Mateo County Fair on Saturday.  

Brandon Williams, 11, Meg Veitch, 10, Julia Larson, 10, and Joshua Dietel, 8, joined 4-H after participating in the rabbit club launched last school year by Betsy Sako, a farm and garden and science teacher at Le Conte Elementary School. The students met once a week after school to learn how to care for the growing group of rabbits housed in cages in the school’s garden. 

4-H, which stands for Hands, Heart, Head and Health, has its roots in agriculture, but sponsors a variety of youth development programs all across the country. 

In June, all four students experienced their first 4-H rabbit show at the Alameda County Fair. Meg Veitch tied for first in the first-year showmanship competition and ultimately took home the third place ribbon. “She put Berkeley on the map,” said Sako proudly. 

The students gathered at Le Conte School on Thursday to show off their rabbit-handling skills and help Sako prepare for their trips. They were dressed in the requisite 4-H uniform – all white clothing with green belts, ties and felt hats decorated with the 4-H four leaf clover. 

The students demonstrated how successful rabbits are not only beautiful, but healthy as well. The judges must see that the rabbits are neither too fat nor too thin, and that they are free from illness. 

Paris, a four-month Himalayan rabbit with white fur and brown ears and legs, has been dining on a fortified diet of oatmeal and rabbit pellets to get him into shape for this week’s county fairs. Unlike beauty contestants, Paris needs a little more meat on his bones to impress the judges. 

Joshua Dutiel, the proud owner of Paris, demonstrated how to tell if a rabbit is carrying too much or too little weight. He ran his hand down his back, feeling for the spinal cord. “You want to feel it, but not too much,” he instructed. 

Duchess, the oldest rabbit in the bunch, has developed that dreaded middle-aged spread, but Sako and the kids have her on a diet to get her back to a healthy weight. She won’t be shown this weekend, but Julia Larson, 10, used the rabbit to demonstrate her showmanship skills. She checked for ear mites, cuts, and other imperfections, but when she tried to check the rabbit’s teeth, Duchess pulled away. “She’s too ticklish in the teeth,” Larson said.  

“Make sure you pull her whiskers out of the way,” instructed Sako. “There, the second time is the charm,” Sako told her as the rabbit relaxed and bared her teeth. 

Showmanship ends with questions designed to test the kids’ knowledge about rabbit care. They vied for the chance to play judge for one another, asking questions such as “Why do you check their paws?” and “What causes snuffles?” 

“They’re really hard on each other,” said Sako, noting that they ask tougher questions than the real judges. “But once they are at the fair, they are all in it together, cheering one another on.” 

Fun with furry animals is obviously the big draw for these students. They cradled their small bundles gently and tried to keep up with the rabbits as they hopped around the garden on leashes. They also proudly displayed their ease with the other animals on the school farm – goats, chickens and ducks. Veitch and Larson emerged from the hen house with a brown egg, fresh and warm from Athena, a red and black hen. 

Mixed in with all the fun, Sako hopes the students will learn lasting lessons. Most important, caring for the animals teaches them responsibility and empathy for others, she said. It also helps kids overcome shyness, said Sako, who has noticed many students emerge from their shells as they care for the animals. Veitch and Larson are even starting their own “rabbit tree,” or breeding line. They plan to buy three Mini-Rex rabbits, known for their beautiful, soft fur, and begin their own business. 

Although the club originated at Le Conte School, all Berkeley children are welcome to join. All members must own their own rabbits. “It’s a real commitment,” said Sako. “We’re looking for kids who love rabbits and are willing to make a commitment to them.” 

Contact Betsy Sako at 644-6290 for more information.