Students and community members gathered for a candlelight vigil Thursday night in UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza to mourn the loss of lives in Afghanistan and to urge a halt to the U.S. bombing.  

While the organizers said they extend their full sympathies to the victims of Sept. 11 attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., they said the U.S. government should not retaliate by waging war on innocent civilians.  

“We can best honor the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks by not forgetting the human rights of those in the United States and around the world,” Tram Nguyen of Amnesty International told the crowd of about 175. “We are also here to remind ourselves of a common humanity.” 

During the two-hour vigil, the crowd listened to half a dozen speakers from the sponsoring organizations, as well as traditional Afghan music, which painted a backdrop for the poignant stories of remembrance. 

Hatem Bazian, an Islamic scholar and frequent commentator on Middle Asian issues, was the featured speaker for the evening. He said the message of tonight’s vigil was to bring attention to the innocent lives that were being lost for no reason.  

“Those responsible should be brought to justice, but not through this process and through this mechanism that the United States has chosen, which is to bomb the poorest country in the world that has the lowest standard of living, that has been in the process of war for 21 years, so there is no infrastructure left to bomb and therefore one wonders what these bombs are destroying other than life,” he said.  

Taliban officials have claimed as many as 1,500 civilian casualties since the air 

strikes began, however U.S. military officials have insisted that the Taliban is 

grossly exaggerating those numbers. International journalists have been unable to independently verify any casualty numbers from either side. 

Nguyen invited several candle-holding participants to sign a petition which will be sent to President George W. Bush.  

“The petition urges him along with his cabinet members and the government to make sure that all human rights are being protected in the military operations in Afghanistan,” she said.  

Although many in the crowd said they wanted an end to the bombing, the petition itself made no call to stop the air strikes. 

“The people of Afghanistan are dying, a nation is dying,” said a student from the Afghan Student Association. “We mourn for the victims of this tragedy, the loss of life, for the sorrow and for their grief. We are here tonight because of our respect for humanity and appreciation of the value of life,” she said.  

The vigil was sponsored by Afghan Students Association, Society of Afghan Professionals and the UC Berkeley chapter of Amnesty International. 

Today

Special Seminar in  

Constitutional Jurisprudence: Thoughts on the 2000  

Presidential Election 

Noon 

Institute of Governmental Studies 

UC Berkeley, 119 Moses Hall 

Robert Post, UCB, “Sustaining the Premise of Legality: Learning to Live with Bush v. Gore.” 642-4608 

City Commons Club  

Luncheon 

12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley City Club 

2315 Durant Ave. 

Ameena Janadali, Cofounder of the Islamic Networks Group, presents “Women of Islam.” $1 admission; 11:45 a.m. lunch, $12.25. 848-3533 

Human Nature 

8:30 p.m. 

Metaversal Lightcraft 

1708 University Ave. 

Join the X-plicit Players as they visit the wilderness of Human Nature, explore intimate but un-named ways of being together, awaken senses old and new, and participate in rituals of Group Body. $15. 848-1985 wwwxplicitplayers.com 

Bikes Not Bombs at Berkeley Critical Mass 

5:30 p.m. 

Constitution Plaza 

Downtown Berkeley BART 

Join a group of bicyclists riding in protest of the oil war. 

Even Stronger Women : Arts, History, Literature 

1:15 - 3:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

This week: Autobiographies. Free. 232-1351 

PC Users Group Meeting 

7 p.m. 

Vista College, Room 303 

2020 Milvia St. 

Monthly meeting will feature a presentation by Jan Fagerholm and will focus on new Linux features. 

Saturday, Nov. 10

Community Conversation on  

Confronting Racism 

9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Rosa Parks Elementary School  

920 Allston Way 

“Finding Common Ground for Building a Stronger Community.” Advance registration required; lunch and child care provided, no fees. 898-7625 

Celebrate Music on Telegraph 

2 - 4 p.m.  

Sather Gate Mall 

Shoppers and visitors to the cultural heart and soul of Berkeley will be treated to the joyful sound of music throughout the holiday season. Joe Chellman Quartet performs, sponsored by the Telegraph Area Association. 486-2366 

Chaparral House Discovers  

Artist in Residence 

2 p.m. - 4 p.m. 

Chaparral House  

1309 Allston Way 

Reception and exhibit of works by artist and resident Helen F. McCulloch. 848-8774 

Sunday, Nov. 11

Celebrate Music on Telegraph 

2 - 4 p.m.  

Blackberry Ginger 

2520 Durant Ave. 

Shoppers and visitors to the cultural heart and soul of Berkeley will be treated to the joyful sound of music throughout the holiday season. Aaron Greenblatt Duo performs, sponsored by the Telegraph Area Association. 486-2366 

Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto  

Celebrates Veteran’s Day 

11 a.m. - 11 p.m. 

Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto 

1919 Fourth St.  

Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto celebrates by offering veterans a complimentary entree with each entree purchased. Please bring your discharge papers. 845-7771 

Family Concert 

4 p.m. 

Malcolm X School 

1731 Prince St. 

The Community Women’s Orchestra presents orchestral music based on folk tunes. $5. 653-1616  

The Cornelius Cardew Choir 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

1275 Walnut St. 

Directed by Tom Bickley and presented by The Berkeley Arts Center and ACME Observatory Contemporary Performance Series. The Choir will be performing paragraph 7 of The Great Learning (1969) by Cornelius Cardew and Sonic Choreographies (2001) by Kathy Kennedy. $10. 

Racism, Hate Crimes, and Stereotypes in Our Back Yard 

11:15 a.m. 

Fellowship of Humanity 

411 28th St., Oakland 

Presented by Sonya Kaleel. 451-5818 HumanistHall@yahoo.com 

United Genders of the Universe 

7 p.m. 

Pacific Center 

2712 Telegraph Ave. 

An all ages genderqueer group for anyone who views gender as having more than 2 options. 548-8283  

Multimodal Adventure in Ecuador 

7:30 p.m. 

Long Haul/Infoshop 

3124 Shattuck Ave. 

Bicycle activist Jason Meggs gives a presentation of his recent 

multimodal adventures in Ecuador, including trepidations in oil country,riding on tops of buses, and car-free islands. Spoken with video andother media. Vegan dinner only $3-5 donation. 540-0751 

Monday, Nov. 12

Muhammad Nazar on Aceh 

6:30 - 9 p.m. 

1552 Sacramento St. 

Political activist Muhammad Nazar was taken into police custody in November, 2000 after leading a peaceful demonstration of over one million people in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Amnesty International recognized Nazar as a prisoner of conscience. He was released in October and is currently on his first US speaking tour. Free. 527-6162 jagdes@igc.org 

Tuesday, Nov. 13

Flu Shots 

10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Senior Center 

2727 College Ave. 

The City of Berkeley Health Department will administer flu shots to individuals 60 years old or over and to those with specific chronic diseases. $2 donation. 644-6500 

Muhammad Nazar on Aceh 

10 a.m. - noon 

UC Berkeley 

2223 Fulton St. 

6th Floor Conference Rm. 

Political activist Muhammad Nazar was taken into police custody in November, 2000 after leading a peaceful demonstration of over one million people in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Amnesty International recognized Nazar as a prisoner of conscience. He was released in October and is currently on his first US speaking tour. Free. 642-3609 

– Compiled by Guy Poole 

The Berkeley Daily Planet received this letter addressed to Berkeley Mayor Shirely Dean and the City Council: 

I am writing to tell you that, as a New Yorker who has been touched by this tragedy, I fully support the vote of the Berkeley council to send a letter to federal authorities to ask them to stop bombing Afghanistan. 

I do not believe that was our only option, our best option, or an action that will be fruitful in the long run for any of us. 

Although during my frequent visits to the Bay Area in the past I have usually stayed in “the city,” I have always been sure to come to Berkeley. I enjoy the atmosphere and always end up making copious purchases from local merchants. I assure you that I will continue to do so in the future; in fact your city’s bravery in opposing this needless, and doubtlessly fruitless, war only makes this more likely. 

Spencer Thompson 

Brooklyn 

In a warehouse off San Pablo Avenue, stacks of silk-wrapped bundles reach nearly to the ceiling. Wrapped in scarves of red, yellow and saffron – traditional colors in Tibetan Buddhism – sacred texts are being prepared for shipment halfway around the world.  

A young woman deftly rolls a long rectangular book in a square of silk, neatly folding in the corners and tying it up with a ribbon. Nearby, two volunteers brush red dye across the books’ exterior edges, while others methodically stack and assemble the texts. 

For months now, a small group of volunteers has worked quietly and persistently on the Yeshe De project (named for an esteemed 9th-century Tibetan translator), assembling more than 150,000 books. The texts, cherished ancient Buddhist prayers and commentaries, will be distributed along with prayer wheels and sacred images to Tibetan clergy and laity at the 12th World Peace Ceremony, to be held in India this coming January.  

Although the immense effort is now in its final crunch, with shipment scheduled for the last week in November, no one seems stressed or short-tempered. “Watch your breath,” reads a sign in English, Portuguese and Vietnamese, posted over one of the worktables. 

Most of the volunteers are students at the Nyingma Institute, a Tibetan Buddhist center in Berkeley where people can live and work for periods of 6 to 18 months. But there are others as well – ordinary citizens who stop in for a few hours each week.  

“Around the time of our shipping, this place is like a magnet; we get all kinds of people,” says Stephanie Hoffmann, Yeshe De coordinator. “Our oldest volunteer is 80 years old.  

“Last week we had a group of 15-year-olds, students from a private high school in Oakland and from Berkeley High School. I asked them if they could choose one word to describe the experience of working here, and they said ‘Peace.’ Or ‘patience.’ Or ‘happiness.’” 

The work is repetitive but oddly satisfying.  

The workshop shares quarters with Dharma Publishing in the former Heinz Ketchup factory building on San Pablo, where colorful prayer flags now fly over the Spanish style stone walls and tiled roof. Since the Nyingma Institute was founded by Tarthang Tulku, a Tibetan lama who came to the United States in 1968, one of Dharma Publishing’s missions has been to preserve and replicate sacred Buddhist writings – thousands were lost or destroyed after the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1959.  

“Imagine all the books in all the libraries in the West being destroyed, and you get an idea of the size of it,” said Jack Petranker, a senior editor.  

Tibetan Buddhists see themselves as the keepers of the original Buddhist tradition, which came to Tibet from India beginning in the 7th century. During the next several centuries, Tibetan scholars carefully translated the earliest Sanskrit writings on the Buddha’s teachings into their own language. Beginning in the 1970s, Tarthang Tulku has led an effort to recover thousands of these sacred texts so they can be reprinted and distributed to the Tibetan community in exile in India, Nepal and Bhutan. Some of the books also find their way back to the few remaining monasteries in Tibet.  

In 1989, Tarthang Tulku organized the first World Peace Ceremony in Bodh Gaya, India. About 500 Tibetan Buddhists attended that first ceremony and, with tears of joy, received copies of texts that they had feared lost forever. This year, between 6,000 and 7,000 Buddhists are expected to gather for the 10-day gathering in mid-January. 

“It’s a very overwhelming experience,” says Petranker, who went to Bodh Gaya for the ceremony several years ago. “You have thousands of monks and nuns chanting together from morning till night. There are hundreds of people circumambulating the site, so you’re kind of caught up in this wheel of humanity.” 

While a primary goal of the ceremony is to distribute religious books and artifacts, thereby helping to preserve the endangered Tibetan culture, Buddhists believe the annual gathering has a broader significance. Not only does it help preserve the endangered Tibetan Buddhist culture, but supporters also say the effort helps generate a powerful spiritual force that blesses the entire world.  

Bodh Gaya, site of the Buddha’s enlightenment, is considered by Buddhists to be the center of the cosmos.  

“When all these people get together to pray for world peace, to chant special prayers, in the most powerful place in the world, you have an incredible vortex of energy.” said Petranker. “What we’re doing here is for the benefit of all people. It’s immediately for the benefit of the Tibetans, giving them back their culture. But in the long run, it helps us all.” 

To volunteer, call the Yeshe De office at 845-1710. For more information on the Nyingma Institute and its programs, visit the website at nyingmainstitute.org 

924 Gilman St. Nov. 9: Hoods, Punishment, Lords of Light Speed, Necktie Party; Nov. 10: Sunday’s Best, Mock Orange, Elizabeth Elmore, Fighting Jacks, Benton Falls; Nov. 16: Pitch Black, The Blottos, Miracle Chosuke, 240; Nov. 17: Carry On, All Bets Off, Limp Wrist, Labrats, Thought Riot; Nov. 18: 5 p.m., Mad Caddies, Monkey, Fabulous Disaster, Over It; Nov. 23: The Stitches, Starvations, Neon King Kong, Kill Devil Hills, Problem; Nov. 24: Tilt, Missing Link, Cry Baby Cry; Nov. 30: Shitlist, Atrocious Madness, Fuerza X, Catheter, S Bitch, Delta Force; All shows start a 8 p.m. unless noted; Most are $5; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926 

The Albatross Pub Nov. 7: Whiskey Brothers (Old Time & Bluegrass); Nov. 13: Mad & Eddie Duran Jazz Duo; Nov. 15: Keni “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Nov. 21: Whiskey Brothers (Old Time & Bluegrass); Nov. 22: Keni “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Nov. 24: Tipsy House Irish Band. All shows start at 9 p.m., 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 

Anna’s Nov. 9: Anna and Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 10: Robin Gregory and Si Perkoff, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet; Nov. 11: Choro Time; Nov. 12: Renegade Sidemen with Calvin Keys; Nov. 13: Singers’ Open Mic #2; Nov. 14: Bob Shoen Jazz Quintet; Nov. 15: Jazz Singers’ Collective; Nov. 16: Anna & Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 17: Vicki Burns & Felice York, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet; All shows 8 p.m. unless noted. Free. 1901 University Ave., 849-2662 

Blake’s Nov. 9: Delfino, Boomshanka, $5; Nov. 10: Kofy Brown, J. Dogs, $7; Nov.11: Psychotica, $5; Nov. 12: All Star Jam Featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Nov. 13: The Photon Band, Ian Moore, $4; Nov. 14: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free. All shows 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886 

Cal Performances Nov 8: 8 p.m. Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance, $18 - $30; Nov. 10: 7 p.m. & Nov. 11: 3 p.m., The 2001 Festival, $20 - $32; Nov. 29: Les Arts Florissants, $24 - $46; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph. 642-0212 tickets@calperfs. berkeley.edu 

Eli’s Mile High Club Every Friday, 10 p.m. Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10 Doors open at 8 p.m. unless noted. 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Freight & Salvage Nov. 9: The Harmony Sisters with Alice Gerrard, Jeanie McLerie & Irene Herrmann $16.50 - $17.50; Nov 10: Barry & Alice Olivier $16.50 - $17.50; Nov. 11: Austin Lounge Lizards $16.50 - $17.50. All Shows 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jupiter Nov. 9: Xroads; Nov. 10: Post Junk Trio; Nov. 14: Wayside; Nov. 15: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 16: 5 Point Plan; Nov. 17: Corner Pocket; Nov. 21: Starchild; All shows 8 p.m. and free. 2821 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625/ www.jupiter.com 

MusicSources Nov. 18 Harpsichordist Gilbert Martinez. Both shows 5 p.m. $15-18. 1000 The Alameda 528-1685 

“Benefit for Buzzy Linhart” Nov. 9: 7:45 p.m., A number of Bay Area performers wil join together to raise the spirit of disabled singer-songwriter Buzzy Linhart. All ages show, $10. Black Box Gallery, 1928 Telegraph Ave. 451-1932 www. buzzylinhart.com 

“Philharmonia Baroque” Nov. 10: 8 p.m.; Nov. 11: 7:30 p.m., “Optimism and Sacrifice”; $34-$50. First Congregational Church, Dana St. and Durant Ave. 415-392-4400 www.philharmonia.org 

“Berkeley Repertory Theatre Presents Anthony Rapp and His Band” Nov. 13: 8 p.m. Anthony Rapp, currently starring in Berkeley Rep’s “Nocturne,” performs with his three-piece band. $12 - $25. Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., 647-2949 

“Oakland Symphony Chorus and the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra”, presents a joint concert. Nov. 17: 8 p.m.; Nov. 18: 4 p.m.; $15. First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. 465-4199 www.oakland-sym-chorus.org 

“me/you...us/them” Nov. 8 through Nov. 10: Thur - Sat 8 p.m., matinee on Sat. 2:30 p.m. Three one-acts that look at interpersonal, as well as societal relationships from the perspective of the disabled. $10 - $25. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

“Nocturne” Through Nov. 11: Tues./Thurs./Sat. 8 p.m., Weds. & Sun. 7 p.m., matinee on Thurs./Sat./Sun. 2 p.m. Mark Brokaw directs Anthony Rapp in One-Man Show. Written by Adam Rapp. $38 - $54. Berkeley Repertory’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep. org 

“Tomas Carrasco of Chicano Secret Service” Nov. 15: 4 p.m. Performance by member of L.A.-based sketch comedy troupe that uses humor to tackle hot-button racial and political issues. Free. Durham Studio Theater, UC Berkeley 

“Works in the Works 2001” Through Nov. 18: 7:30. East Bay performance series presents a different program each evening. Nov. 3: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; St. Mary’s College Dance Company; Marin Academy. Nov. 4: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; Somi Hongo; Dana Lee Lawton; Seely Quest; Cristina Riberio; Nadia Adame of AXIS Dance Company. $8. Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St., 644-1788 

“Nicholas Nickleby” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. The Young Actors Workshop presents a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby. $10 adults, $8 students and seniors. Performing Arts Center of Contra Costa College, corner of El Portal Dr. and Castro St., San Pablo 235-7800 ext. 4274 

“Lost Cause” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. Three space travelers stranded on a forgotten colony, find themselves in the middle of a bloody civil war, and have to decide between what’s right, what’s possible, and what will save their lives. Written by Jefferson Area, directed by Sarah O’Connell. $7-12. La Val’s Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Ave. 464-4468 www.impacttheatre.com 

“Travesties” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., and Thurs., Nov. 15, 8 p.m. A witty fantasy about James Joyce meeting Lenin in Zurich during World War I. Written by Tom Stoppard, Directed by Mikel Clifford. $10. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck. 528-5620 

Cal Performances Nov. 7: 8 p.m., “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” more than 30 singers, dancers, and musicians present a musical synthesis of the authentic Roma styles. $18 - $30; Nov. 8: 11 a.m., SchoolTime Performance, “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” $3 per student or chaperone, in advance only; Nov. 8: 8 p.m., “Orquesta Aragón,” $18 - $30; Nov. 11: 3 p.m., Recital - Angelika Kirschschlager, Bo Skovhus, and Donald Runnicles. “Wolf/ Die Italienisches Liederbuch,” $45; Nov. 16 - 17: 8 p.m., “La Guerra d’Amore,” director and choreographer, René Jacobs, conductor, Ensemble Concerto Vocale. Modern dance and early music from German choreographer Joachim Schlömer, $34 - $52; Nov. 30 - Dec. 2: Fri. - Sat.8 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m., The Suzuki Company presents a staged interpretation of the Greek classic, “Dionysus”, $30 - $46; UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall. 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Macbeth” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m. Presented by the Albany High School Theater Ensemble. $7 adults, $5 students and seniors. Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. 559-6550 x4125 theaterensemble@hotmail.com 

“Saint Joan” Through Dec. 2: Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., 7 p.m. George Bernard Shaw’s epic of a young girl determined to drive the English out of France with only her faith to support her. Directed by Barbara Oliver. $26-35. Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St. 843-4822 www.auroratheatre.org 

“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 

“Brave Brood” Nov. 8 - Dec. 16 Robert O’Hara directs Robert O’Hara’s searing tale of money, desperation, and the fight for survival. $20. Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. 883-0305 www.transparenttheater.org 

“Much Ado About Nothing” Nov. 20 through Jan. 8: Check theater for specific dates and times. Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy chronicles a handful of soldiers returning from a winning battle to be greeted by a gaggle of giddy maidens. Directed by Brian Kulick. $10 - $54. Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org 

Films 

Pacific Film Archive Theater Nov. 5: 7 p.m., Profit and Nothing But!; Nov. 6: 7:30 p.m., Dog Star Man; Nov. 7: 7 :30 p.m., Animal Attraction; Nov. 7 p.m., Exilée, Museum Theater; Nov. 9: 7:30 p.m., Friends in High Places; 9:15 p.m., Soldiers in the Army of God; Nov. 10: 7 p.m., Prefab People; 9 p.m., The Outsider; Nov. 11: 3:30 p.m., Born at Home and The Team on B-6; 5:40 p.m., The Creators of Shopping Worlds; Nov. 16: 7:30 p.m., Autumn Almanac; Nov. 17 & 18: 1 p.m., Satantango; Nov. 21: 7 :30 p.m., Macbeth; Nov. 30: 7:30 p.m., Werckmeister Harmonies; 2575 Bancroft Way, 642-1124 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“La Lesbian Film Festival” Nov. 9 - 11. La Peña Cultural Center presents La Lesbian at La Peña: A Lesbian Performance and Film Series. $8 Fine Arts Cinema 2451 Shattuck 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

Exhibits  

“50 Years of Photography in Japan 1951 - 2001” Through Nov. 5: An exhibition from The Yomiuri Shimbun, the world’s largest daily newspaper with a national morning circulation of 10,300,000. Photographs of work, love, community, culture and disasters of Japan as seen by Japanese news photographers. Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. U.C. Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism, North Gate Hall, Hearst and Euclid. Free. 642-3383 

“Architects of the Information Age” Through Nov. 10: A solo exhibit showcasing the works of Ezra Li Eismont. Works included in the exhibition are mixed media paintings on panel and assemblage works on paper and canvas. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ardency Gallery, 709 Broadway, Oakland 836-0831 

“Art Benefit for the Gabriel Sussman Rodriguez Education Fund” Nov. 11 - Nov. 16: Over 60 artists have donated work for this tribute to the memory of Wendy Sussman, a painter and professor of art practice and UC Berkeley, and contribute to the education of her son. Sun. - Fri. 1 - 6 p.m. Worth Ryder Gallery, Kroeber hall, UC Berkeley 415-665-6131 

“Jesus, This is Your Life - Stories and Pictures by Kids” Through Nov. 16: California children, ages four through twelve, from diverse backgrounds present original artwork, accompanied by a story written by the artist. “Cleve Gray, Holocaust Drawings” Oct. 15 through Jan. 25: 21 works on paper inviting the viewer to consider the atrocity of the Holocaust in ways unattainable through words or text. Mon. - Thur. 8:30 a.m. -10 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541. 

“Changing the World, Building New Lives: 1970s photographs of Lesbians, Feminists, Union Women, Disability Activists and their Supporters” Through Nov. 17: An exhibit of black and white photographs by Oakland photographer Cathy Cade, who captured the interrelationships of the different struggles for justice and social change. Gallery Hours, Mon. - Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St. Free. 644-1400 cathycade@mindspring.com 

“In Through the Outdoors” Through Nov. 24: Featuring seven artists who work in photography and related media including sculpture and video, this exhibit addresses the shift in values and contemporary concerns about the natural world that surrounds us. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery, 1316 Tenth St. www.traywick.com 

“2001 James D. Phelan Art Awards in Printmaking” Honorees: Bridget Henry, David Kelso, and Margaret Van Patten. Through Nov. 30 Tues. - Fri. noon - 5 p.m., other times by appointment. Kala Art Institue, 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 www.kala.org 

“Furniture Art” Through Dec. 7: An exhibit of metal and wood furniture that revisits furniture not only as art but as craft. 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. The Current Gallery at the Crucible, 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511 www.thecrucible.org 

“The Paintings of Bethany Anne Ayers and Sculpture of Alexander Cheves” Nov. 15 through Dec. 15: Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ardency Gallery, 709 roadway, Oakland. 836-0831 gallery709@aol.com 

“The Whole World’s Watching: Peace and Social Justice Movements of the 1960s and 1970s” Through Dec. 16: A documentary photo exhibition which examines the rich history of the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Wed. - Sun., noon - 5 p.m. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., Live Oak Park. Free. 644-6893 

GTU Exhibit: “Holocaust Series” by Cleve Gray Through Jan. 25: Comprised of 21 works on paper that constitute “a catharsis... for all of humanity.” Mon. - Thurs. 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. noon - 7 p.m.; Free. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541 www.gtu.edu 

“The Art History Museum of Berkeley” 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 Botticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours. Atelier 9 2028 Ninth St. 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books Nov. 9: Lauren Dockett will read from her latest book, “The Deepest Blue: How Women Face and Overcome Depression.”; All events start at 7:30 p.m. unless noted otherwise. All events are free. 398 Colusa Ave. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

Cody’s on Telegraph Ave. Nov. 7: 5:30 p.m. Rimpoche Nawang Gehlek talks about “Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation”, 7:30 p.m. Rea Armantrout & Brenda Hillman read their poetry, $2; Nov. 8 7:30 p.m. Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz present “Kafka Americana”; Nov. 9: 7:30 p.m. Sue Hubbell thinks about “Shrinking the Cat: Genetic Engineering Before We Knew About Genes”; Nov. 11: 7:30 p.m. Mary Leader, Alice Jones & Susan Kolodny read their poetry, $2; Nov. 12: 7:30 p.m. Rabih Alameddine reads from “I, The Divine”; Nov. 13: 7:30 p.m. John Barth reads from “Coming Soon!!!”, Nov. 18: Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux from the Poetry Society of America read,$5; Nov. 28: 7:30 p.m. David Meltzer and contributors read from his newly revised and re-released collection of interviews with Bay Area Beat Poets; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore Nov. 7: Jill Fredston reads from “Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic’s Edge”; Nov. 8: Harry Pariser discusses “Explore Costa Rica”; Nov. 14: Gregory Crouch talks about “Enduring Patagonia.” All shows 7:30 p.m.; 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533 

Eastwind Books of Berkeley Nov. 10: 4 p.m. Ruthanne Lum McCunn reads from her novel “Moon Pearl”; Nov. 18: 4 p.m. Noel Alumit, M.G. Sorongon, and Marianne Villanueva read from their contributions to the anthology “Tilting the Continent: Southeast Asian American Literature”; 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

UC Berkeley Nov. 8: 7 p.m., Reading and book signing with Osha Gray Davidson, author of “Fire In The Turtle House: The Green Sea Turtle and the Fate of the Ocean.” Mulford Bldg., Rm. 132. 848-0110 www.publicaffairsbooks.com/books/fire.html 

“Rhythm and Muse” Nov. 10: 6:30 p.m. This event is supported by Poet’s and Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation. Open mic evening open to all writers and performers. Features poet/musician Avotcja. Free. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893 

“Berkeley’s World” Nov. 10 & 17: 8 p.m. Staged reading of a new play about five Berkeley emigres who form a career support group through an ad placed in the East Bay Express but find they can’t stand each other. Written by Andrea Mock. Free. Speakeasy Theatre, 2016 7th St. 841-9441 

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 Sun., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sun., 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; Nov. 3: Tales from the Enchanted Forest, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.; Nov. 9: Living with the Earth; Nov. 17: Recycle that Stuff; $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Mon. and Wed., 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tues. and Fri., 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thur., 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

Oakland Museum of California Through Nov. 25: Pasajes y Encuentros: Ofrendas for the Days of the Dead, highlights three thematic “passageways” that connect the dead with the living: tradition, humor and spirit. $6 adults, $4 seniors and students, free for children under 5. Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sun. noon - 5 p.m., 10th St., Oakland, 888-625-6873/ www.museumca.org 

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 foot 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. Mon. through Fri., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sat. and Sun., 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.  

University of California Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive has reopened after its summerlong seismic retrofit. “Martin Puryear: Sculpture of the 1990s” through Jan. 13; “The Dream of the Audience: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951 - 1982)” through Dec. 16; “Face of Buddha: Sculpture from India, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia” ongoing rotation through 2003; “Matrix 194: Jessica Bronson, Heaps, layers, and curls” Sept. 16 through Nov. 11; “Matrix 192: Ceal Floyer 37’4”” Sept. 16 through Nov. 11; Wed., Fri., Sat., Sun. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Thur. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., PFA Theater, 2575 Bancroft Way; Museum Galleries 2626 Bancroft Way; 642-0808 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Lawrence Hall of Science “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. 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. 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  

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

At halftime of the battle of ACCAL undefeateds on Thursday night, the score was knotted at 7-7. Favored Pinole Valley had run into an inspired Berkeley defense, managing to roll up just 124 yards. Spartan tailback DeAndre MacFarland, averaging nearly 200 rushing yards per game coming in, had just 20 yards on the ground. An upset looked possible, if not probable. Then the roof fell in. 

MacFarland ran for 144 second-half yards and three touchdowns after halftime, leading the Spartans to a 35-14 win and a second straight ACCAL championship. Berkeley’s defense, missing two key starters, was unable to stop the big play in the second half, as MacFarland had scoring runs of 50, 23 and 32 yards. 

“We just didn’t have enough players, and we got tired,” said Berkeley running back Germaine Baird, who rushed for 90 yards and a score. “The big plays got us spooked.” 

The ’Jackets were still within a touchdown after Baird’s spectacular 15-yard run made the score 21-14 late in the third quarter. On the first play of the fourth quarter, MacFarland was stood up and appeared to fumble, with Berkeley recovering. But the officials ruled the play was dead when MacFarland stopped moving forward, and the Spartans retained possession and drove for another score to put the game away. 

“If we had gotten the ball back there, it would’ve turned the game around,” Berkeley linebacker Akeem Brown said. “It would’ve been a straight dog-fight.” 

For his part, MacFarland seemed impressed by the Berkeley defense that held him to his lowest first-half rushing total of the season. 

“Their defense was real good in the first half,” he said. “They had me every time I ran the ball. But my coaches told me at halftime to bounce outside instead of going inside, and that worked.” 

Berkeley looked jumpy at the beginning of the game. Already down 7-0 when they got the ball, the ’Jackets were pushed back 40 yards in penalties on their opening drive. But they shook it off and punched the ball into the end zone to tie the game on Mario Mejia’s four-yard toss sweep. It was Mejia’s fourth carry of the year, all for touchdowns. 

The Spartans almost scored just before halftime, as they drove down to the Berkeley 5 with two minutes left. But Berkeley defensive tackle Robert Hunter-Ford stripped the ball from MacFarland at the goal line and Juleeun Jacobs recovered to preserve the tie going into the locker room. 

The ’Jackets had 10 players declared ineligible for the game due to academics, including four starters. That forced several players into new positions with only a short week of practice. 

“We’ve had good players out there, but we just lacked continuity,” Berkeley head coach Matt Bissell said. “They just didn’t know their new positions very well.” 

Several Berkeley players turned in late assignments after grades had been issued and said their teachers were willing to change their grades, but the administration wouldn’t allow some changes. One player thought he had dropped a class to start the year, but a mixup within the counseling department resulted in a failing grade rather than a drop. Adding to the problem was the unusual Thursday night game. A Berkeley coach said if the game had been a day later, almost all of the ineligible players would have been off probation and available. 

The Berkeley players were visibly upset that their teammates were sitting on the sidelines in street clothes in the most important game of the year. Several of them expressed anger with the Berkeley administration. 

“The administration screwed us over completely,” lineman Matt Toma said. “They really showed us no support at all coming into a huge game.” 

With the loss, Berkeley will have to apply for an at-large bid to the North Coast Section 4A playoffs. But with just eight total spots, at-large bids are hard to come by, especially for a team that finished the regular season at just 5-4 overall. But the ’Jackets hope their impressive non-league schedule, which included powerhouses James Logan, Foothill and Dos Palos, will play in their favor. 

“It would be great if we got in (to the playoffs), but the scores we lost by will probably keep us out,” Toma said. 

Bissell didn’t hold out a lot of hope either, but said he will attend the seeding meeting on Sunday and fight for his team. 

“Our kids deserve at least a shot, because they played their hearts out,” he said. “We had an incredibly tough pre-season schedule, and we could have had a much better record with some cream puffs in there. We haven’t lost to anyone we shouldn’t have.”

UC Berkeley shows city its newest plans for the 

University Village project 

UC Berkeley is several years into its plan to rebuild the aging University Village complex in Albany. Aged buildings, constructed to house shipyard workers during World War II, have been torn down and new apartment buildings erected in their place. Other buildings, built in the ’60s, are slated for similar upgrades. 

The construction of new buildings at the village provoked a fair amount of protest from residents, who feared that rental rates at the traditionally low-cost complex would rise dramatically. 

But it appears that the next phase of redevelopment at the village will not see any dramatic opposition – just a sigh from local activists who had hoped for something more. 

The UC unveiled its new plans for the village Monday at the Albany City Council meeting. Their proposal, which is still in its very early stages, would involve the construction of commercial buildings and more apartments along San Pablo Avenue and Buchanan Street. 

The presentation to the Albany City Council only conveyed the broadest strokes of the plan. The university has yet to begin the process of seeking developers for the site, and has no drawings or plans for specific buildings.However, UC officials promise to save some of the large eucalyptus trees that stand on the San Pablo side of the parcel, possibly to create a public park. 

The area of the Village in question is the last remaining portion of the old Gill Tract – a 15-acre parcel – that is still devoted to agriculture. When UC bought the land from a horticulturist in 1929, the entire 100-acre parcel was a thriving East Bay nursery. 

The UC plan is in tune with current efforts, at both the city and county levels, to reduce traffic and encourage human-scale development along San Pablo Avenue.  

The city of Albany, which revised its general plan several years ago to address the question of redevelopment at the village, calls for precisely the kind of development that the UC is now proposing the avenue. 

“We’re all looking at mixed-use development – commercial space, offices and residential units,” said Ann Cheney, Albany’s director of community development. “It’s part of an attempt to encourage people to get out of their cars and walk as much as possible.” 

In all probability, the UC announcement marks the definitive end to a plan, long supported by food activists, to turn the remaining Gill Tract into a center for urban agricultural research. 

In 1997, the Bay Area Coalition for Urban Agriculture, an ad hoc group composed of several well-known Berkeley groups, issued a proposal to develop a world-class center for urban agriculture on the tract. 

Last year, BACUA held a series of meetings with UC officials to discuss the proposal. Members of the organization said Thursday that at the time, they thought they were on the verge of reaching an agreement. But halfway through the discussions, they said, it became apparent that the university had no intention of building the center. 

Josh Miner, a former BACUA organizer, said that he suspected that the university was dealing with them in bad faith. 

“There was a pretty dedicated group of people trying to work with the university on this issue, and their energy was – I think, intentionally – misdirected by the university,” he said. 

Terrel Brand, a member of the BACUA steering committee, said Thursday that the Gill Tract was of historical importance in the movement for organic farming and alternative methods of pest control. Brand said that until the mid ’80s, it housed the UC’s Division of Biological Control, which was a pioneer in the field of Integrated Pest Management. 

“The research at the Gill Tract was focused on completely non-chemical methods of pest control,” he said. “It’s a really important site for the development of IPM.” 

“For the university to just dismiss this resource is just sad,” said Miner. 

Though the Albany general plan does call for some preservation of open space in the area, it appears unlikely that the space required for a urban agriculture research facility will be left.  

The Berkeley Daily Planet receieved this letter addressed to Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean and the City Council: 

I urge you to amend Policy T–35 in the draft General Plan to both maintain the existing public parking supply and allow for an immediate parking and public transit study to accurately assess the needs of downtown community organizations, cultural facilities, businesses and all Berkeley residents for short–term parking in the downtown area.  

Please find attached a letter regarding this issue that I will be submitting to the City Clerk at tonight's public hearing. 

Thank you for your attention and support. 

Jack Gardner 

Berkeley 

Good news! Many seniors report they experience more joy, greater affection, and better sex now, in their later years, than they had earlier in their lives.  

This finding comes to us courtesy of OLDER COUPLES: NEW COUPLINGS, Finding and Keeping Love in Later Life, by local authors Edith Ankersmit Kemp, L.C.S.W. and Jerrold E. Kemp, Ed.D. 

They say the lessons learned during a long life can result in maturity and a heightened appreciation for the importance of spending time with and enjoying romantic partners. Age is not a barrier to sexual satisfaction. 

The authors frankly discuss disadvantages of senior romances as well. As partners age, there is an increasing probability one will end up being the other’s long-term caretaker. If elders marry, they could well be headed for a short amount of romantic time together, followed by a long, painful, difficult and expensive caretaking responsibility. Additionally, it is hard to be sure which potential elder partners would even be willing take on that role.  

The 15 relationships showcased in OLDER COUPLES: NEW COUPLINGS demonstrate that romantic opportunities can offer either bliss or pain at any age.  

The authors describe one senior couple who begin sleeping together. Then the man goes on a short trip, meets a wealthy woman, and he jumps at the chance to dump his lover and marry the wealthy woman. This man then betrays the wealthy wife with his former lover. (Sounds like a catch, doesn’t he?) So then, there’s the divorce, and the man returns to the first woman, and now he wants to marry her. (She goes for it!)  

The Kemps don’t make many value judgments. They point out hasty marriages are more common in later years.  

Personally, I like my self-help books to make value judgements, give advice, be the result of thorough and well-thought-out statistical studies and research…and then I want to be offered constructive conclusions about human nature and patterns of experience. 

Plenty of people, though, might prefer the Kemps’ anecdotal approach, which basically reads like a report on 15 couples, filled in with what feels like journal entries and generic commentary. When addressing the plight of senior women for whom the chances of finding a mate are downright depressing – there are 20 eligible bachelorettes for every bachelor – the authors describe their own experience rather than providing a specific targeted course of action an “outnumbered” woman can take.  

The authors do offer useful general advice on various ways to meet romantic senior partners, however, along with some supplemental information, such as the USDA Daily Food Guide Pyramid.  

It is a pleasure to read descriptions such as “her pleasantly wrinkled face” even if grammatical errors, redundancies and word imprecision do mar the reading experience. 

The strength of OLDER COUPLES: NEW COUPLINGS lies in its emphasis on the senior romantic experience – a subject area largely neglected by most popular relationship gurus.

The growing movement to create distinct “small schools” within Berkeley High School got a boost Wednesday night as the school board held its first wide-ranging public discussion on a formal policy. 

“We feel like we’re in a whole new era now, because a year ago it was hard to get it on the agenda at all,” said Rick Ayres, coordinator of the Communication Arts and Sciences, a small school at Berkeley High. Ayres is also a leader of the small schools movement. 

Berkeley High currently has four theme-oriented schools, launched by parents and teachers as part of a national movement to alleviate large-school problems, such as racial segregation and student anonymity. Parents cite better and more intimate interactions with teachers and other students as advantages of small schools.  

However, board support was thin on Wednesday for fully abandoning the current “comprehensive” high school model. Most small schools advocates favor creating eight to 12 largely autonomous learning communities of 250 to 400 students. Only Board President Terry Doran supports a full conversion to small schools. 

“I just don’t believe our comprehensive traditional model at Berkeley High School is capable of addressing the broad issues that are confronting urban education,” Doran said in a recent interview. 

The other four board members questioned how far to go with the new policy, and how fast. Another major goal of the movement — board approval of a draft policy by early December, to meet grant deadlines — appeared uncertain. 

“I really don’t know at this point how it’s going to unwind,” said board Director Ted Schulz on Thursday. 

The board spent most of Wednesday’s conversation discussing language in the six-page, 10-section policy draft. For example, whether 70 percent of each school’s students should be required to “meet or exceed the school’s identified student outcomes” for the school to continue the following year. 

“That 70 percent makes me nervous,” said Board Director Ted Schulz, adding that he didn’t see it as an effective means toward the more important goal of continued academic improvement.  

The question of small-school choice, by both students and teachers, also came under the microscope.  

“I don’t think it’s good to have solutions which split up the community,” said board Vice President Shirley Issel. 

Schulz said he wanted small-schools to begin in 10th grade because the district had just launched a ninth-grade retention program. The program, Critical Pathways, is designed to identify low-achieving students before they enter school and support them with tutoring and extra classes. 

Doran has argued that the small schools model would provide the individual attention that Critical Pathways is meant to compensate for. 

The adoption of a new policy will require the board to agree on and commit to detailed guidelines for individuals small schools’ purpose and core principles, accountability mechanisms, admissions criteria, community governance structures and financing. 

Tensions were on display at Wednesday’s meeting between a revved-up community movement and a board responsible for crossing every “t” and dotting every “i” on the new policy. Fidgeting reached a crescendo among the 44 people in attendance as the board put off public comment for the first two hours. 

“There are a lot of people who want to speak,” Larry Bilick, a Common Ground small school parent, interrupted as the clock neared 9 p.m. “We have a time schedule, you know.” 

When the board members agreed to continue their discussion, Superintendent Michelle Lawrence noted that any policy the board adopted would be subject to public comment at two more board meetings. 

The most common message among speakers was that the community groups were far ahead of the board in weighing the issues and even setting out policy plans. A “sample policy” document with twice the volume of the board’s draft policy has been posted on the Berkeley Small Schools website (www.berkeleysmallschools.org).  

“What I would hope you would do is really respect the work that’s been laid down,” said Chico Mario, a Berkeley High parent. 

“There’s no way we’re going to fail ... if we are all doing it together,” said Michael Miller, a parent active in the small-schools movement and the chair of Parents and Children of African Descent, which advocates for improvement of the school’s performance among minority students. 

Ayres called on the board to simply be done with the existing large-school model. 

“[Small schools] depend on the insane work of a few people who want to do it,” he said. If they have to continue competing for resources with a still-intact comprehensive school, he added, “they’ll either be reabsorbed, or they’ll go charter and leave.” 

The small schools supporters hope to apply for two major seed grants that would help enable full implementation for 2003-2004: $500,000 from the federal Department of Education, and $700,000 from the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools. 

The move toward board approval of a small-schools policy comes as Berkeley High struggles to renew its accreditation next fall with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. 

“The plate is fairly full,” said Lawrence, but she acknowledged the community’s frustrations and tentatively agreed to identify and visit another district that had already successfully made the switch. 

The majority of the board members remain hesitant to jettison the options and variety of a large high school. Issel, the most vocal skeptic, has expressed pointed concern over both WASC and the nature of the grassroots effort behind small schools. 

“I frankly don’t see that we’re having a collaborative consensus-building discussion,” she said. “There’s a lack of collaboration and an effort underway to ram an agenda down the throat of a community that will end up splitting [it] into camps of those for and those against. ... I do not see the gathering of petitions and the generating of a political campaign on behalf of small schools to have anything to do with sound educational planning, and I think it’s a highly questionable use of public funds.”

The Berkeley Daily Planet received this letter addressed to Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean and the City Council: 

I am writing to commend you on your brave, balanced and compassionate resolution. Like U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, courageous voices such as yours make me proud to live in Berkeley. It is most important that people of conscience and compassion stand up now despite the frenzy of war and vengeance the country is engulfed in. 

Thank you again for your resolution. 

Tom Moseley 

Berkeley

Buzzy Linhart will play peace party 

Veteran folk rock performer Buzzy Linhart is taking the stage again.  

Sitting up in a hospital bed in a front room of his southwest Berkeley home, Linhart focuses his corn flower blue eyes on a guitar string as he winds it through the head stock of an electric guitar in preparation for tonight’s benefit and peace party in his honor. 

The 112-year-old house Linhart lives in is bustling with activity. Linhart’s son, Xeno Rasmusson, makes last minute arrangements for the benefit and friends, including musician Jen-X, gather among the pianos, guitars and keyboards in Linhart’s living room to help get ready for the event. 

“I like the idea of a peace party,” Linhart says. “So many people are overwrought with all that’s going on it will be nice just to get together and relax.” 

Linhart, 58, walks with great difficulty and relies mostly on a wheelchair to get around. He sits up in his bed fielding phone calls from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, between discussing his music career and taking deep pulls of vaporized marijuana, which helps to relieve symptoms of wide-angle glaucoma and emphysema.  

The benefit and peace party will take place tonight at the Black Box Gallery in Oakland. The party will include musical performances from a variety of well-known musicians, the poetry of Bay Area Poet Allen Cohen accompanied on piano by George Michalski. Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who has known Linhart for over 20 years, will address partygoers. 

Linhart, who was a musical prodigy, has been a major figure in the folk rock since 1963 when song writer and musician Fred Neil gave him an introduction to the folk rock scene in New York. Through the 60s, Linhart played with The Seventh Sons, a highly respected band that performed widely along the Eastern Seaboard.  

In 1965, the New York Times credited the multi-talented Linhart as the first American to combine Western rock with East Indian raga music. Linhart’s visionary music made him the founding father of free-form radio and a major player in the Greenwich Village folk-rock movement that included artists like Bob Dylan. 

Linhart has performed on hundreds of recordings with artists like Jimi Hendrix, Stephen Stills, Richie Havens, Harry Nilsson and Patti LaBelle. And his songs have been sung by Carly Simon and Bette Midler among others. 

Linhart, also a film actor, holds a special place in film history. He was the first actor to display full frontal nudity while playing the role of a hitchhiker in the non-X-rated film 1972 movie “The Groove Tube.” Linhart also composed the music for the film. 

“It was an exquisite moment in comic film history,” he said with his typical good-natured smile. “I’m really quite proud of it.” 

Linhart has been contending with health problems since an 1982 automobile accident in Trumansburg, New York. He suffered serious damage to his knees and ribs. Linhart had no insurance and was unable to receive proper medical attention.  

“Several years later I had surgery on my knees that left them worse off than they were before,” he said.  

Not long after the accident, Linhart was unable to play music and found himself homeless. In 1989 Linhart hooked up with Wavy Gravy who talked him into coming to Berkeley where he has lived ever since.  

Linhart is on the Board of Directors of Musicians For Medical Marijuana and has been strong local advocate for medical marijuana. 

“My vision would be totally gone by now if I didn’t use medical marijuana,” said Linhart, who was an anti-drug activist after he stopped using drugs, alcohol and cigarettes in 1968. “There are thousands of people using prescription drops that lose their vision because they don’t chose medical marijuana.” 

In September, 1998 the Berkeley Police wrongfully arrested Linhart for cultivating 13 medical marijuana plants. Linhart sued the city and received an out of court settlement of $30,000.  

Linhart recently returned from New York where he played several gigs and is planning to perform with Eric Burdon and Robby Kreiger. Linhart is also currently working out the details of a performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.  

The Benefit and Peace Party will be held at the Black Box Gallery at 1928 Telegraph Ave. in Oakland starting at 7 p.m. There is a sliding scale door charge. For more information call (510) 451-1932. 

For more information about Linhart’s career and music go to www.buzzylinhart.com

The Berkeley Daily Planet receieved this letter addressed to Councilmember Dona Spring: 

Thank you for leading the way to the Berkeley City Council’s action on Afghanistan. It gives me great strength to know that clearer heads can still prevail. 

I believe the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce leaves much to be desired. 

It still rankles that the chamber rounded up flagrantly-fragrant fragrance industry folks to fight the request of Berkeley citizens, disabled by synthetic scents, asking for fragrance-free accommodation for Berkeley city meetings. (Berkeley reworded the proffered, sensible, kindly- and clearly-stated wording of its Commission on Disability, in favor of obfuscating words developed with the fragrance industry. The industry that is not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration!, and which formulates a scent using tens to hundreds of chemicals from its repertoire of 3,000 to 5,000 inadequately or untested chemicals. And our government and health “experts” have the audacity to wonder why rates of asthma and other chronic illnesses soar. But this is another book.) 

As far as I’m concerned the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce still stinks ... but now in a different way. To even imagine them going against the Council’s Action on Afghanistan, well, it's mind-boggling. But then to realize they’ve actually gone before the media — which is no longer a news source, but just another series of corporations trying to outsell some other corporation through sensationalism — well, it goes from mind-boggling to numbing to infuriating. 

And it proves to me once again, that what President George W. Bush reportedly said at least twice has to be taken with more than just a grain of salt. 

“If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator.” – George W. Bush, December 18, 2000 

“A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there’s no question about it.” – George W. Bush, July 26, 2001 

It seems to me that the president of the United States has gotten the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce right there in lock-step with him. 

And all the while, whether we wish to unite behind him or not, we are still Americans and we are still allowed by law, if not the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, to have and express another view. And that should bring commerce into Berkeley! 

The Berkeley Chamber of Commerce certainly did its best to guarantee a drop in business in Berkeley by going to the media as it did, stating that they expected a drop in business, as a result of this 5-4 vote, with it’s Oh, me! Oh, My! whine about being the chamber in Berkeley.  

What in the world did they expect the media to do with that? Of course, the media is going to put it out there for the world to see and to join in lockstep with BCC’s predictions. Of course, the media will go into Oakland to find a visitor seeking his five seconds of fame by stating he’d not shop in Berkeley. 

Now, had the BBC stated that it was a 5-4 vote stating the Council’s actions are to ... 

“Condemn the mass murder of thousands of people on Sept. 11, 2001, and express our profound grief at the atrocities last month that killed thousands of innocent people in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania, and acknowledge, honor, and support the heroic rescue efforts on the part of dedicated police and fire departments, and the city, state, and federal governments; and “ask our representatives to help break the cycle of violence, bringing the bombing to a conclusion as soon as possible. ...” 

And of course the chamber, fully expected the commerce of Berkeley to flourish in such an atmosphere, the results may well have been quite different. In fact, I’ll wager, the vote never would have made it to the news. 

George W. Bush has no sense of history for history has shown that war begets war. Reportedly Mr. Bush stated this in the first Presidential debate: 

“The reason we start a war is to fight a war, win a war, thereby causing no more war!” 

I am proud that Berkeley City Council — even by a squeaky-tight vote — does have a sense of history and has demonstrated a reverence for life around this small planet. And Councilmember Spring, I thank you! 

Barbara Wilkie 

Berkeley

Fredrica Drotos gasped when she saw the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapse before her on television. She watched rescue workers treat victims and search for survivors and wondered if she could have done the same.  

“If something like that happens or if a natural disaster occurs here, I don’t want to be standing on the side unable to help myself or others,” said Drotos, 40. “I hate feeling useless. I want to know how to help.”  

Now she does.  

Like hundreds of Berkeley residents, Drotos has completed a city-sponsored Community Emergency Response Training course.  

Established in 1989 after the Loma Prieta earthquake, the program, which falls under the city’s Office of Emergency Services, provides free emergency training to anyone, ages 18 or older, who lives or works in Berkeley.  

Courses are available in Disaster First Aid, Light Search and Rescue, Fire Suppression, Disaster Mental Health, Shelter Operations, Earthquake Retrofitting and Basic Personal Preparedness. Classes are usually held on Saturdays and can last anywhere from two to seven hours  

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, program coordinator Dory Ehrlich said there has been an increase in enrollment, though she did not have class-size figures available.  

“Preparedness is not something people usually think about when things are going well,” said Ehrlich. “But I think Sept. 11 made people aware of their vulnerability and the importance of being prepared. Our classes have been more popular ever since.”  

Although the terrorist attacks have not sparked a change to the curriculum, Ehrlich said all of the courses provide basic information on what to do in any emergency situation.  

“If a disaster strikes, the police, firefighters and hospitals will be overwhelmed,” said Ehrlich. “So we’re teaching people how to take care of themselves and their neighbors, to be self-sufficient for five to seven days until professional help can arrive.”  

Drotos, who signed up for the disaster first aid class prior to Sept. 11 at the encouragement of her neighborhood association in Panoramic Hill, said her main reason for enrolling was earthquakes – not terror.  

“The Hayward Fault runs right through Memorial Stadium and along lower Panoramic Way,” she said. “If an earthquake hits and makes the road fall, how are ambulances and fire trucks going to get to us? Residents have to be prepared.”  

Drotos’s instructor Stan Sprague, a retired Berkeley firefighter, said that he teaches students how to perform triage, establish airways, control bleeding, recognize shock, make splints and treat burns.  

“I learned how to assess situations – how to help as many people as possible with the least amount of resources,” said Drotos. “I feel much more confident now about what to do in a crisis.”  

“We spend a lot of time discussing ways to improvise,” said Sprague. “You need flexibility of the mind in a disaster situation. For instance, I show them how to open an airway by demonstrating on someone lying down on a table, but in a real situation you might not have a flat surface available.”  

Sprague said his biggest frustration with the program is course length.  

“I would like to teach CPR, but there’s just not enough time in three hours,” he said.  

Although several cities offer emergency training programs to residents, Ehrlich said Berkeley is unique in that it allows people to take as many or as few courses as they wish. She also said the city offers basic personal preparedness talks in the neighborhoods and to schools, businesses and religious groups. It conducted 48 presentations last year alone. 

“I want to take more classes now,” said Drotos. “I’d like to learn CPR and just keep reinforcing my knowledge. Because these are things you don’t do everyday, I feel like I need to continually refresh myself and let them really sink in my brain.” 

Ehrlich said the program was suspended in the mid-1990s because of funding problems but then revitalized in 1999 at the urging of city officials. Since then, the city has trained upward of a thousand people in 67 courses.  

The most recent session of classes ended in October, but another will start in January.  

Classes this month will be reserved exclusively for city employees. Ehrlich said they are already full with more than 20 people signed up for each.  

“People really get turned on to this stuff,” Sprague said. “Knowing what to do in a disaster is such a valuable skill. It saves lives.”

Only one year into its mission, NASA’s High Energy Transport Explorer satellite just earned its keep. 

Scientists have finished analyzing the data from a Sept. 21 gamma ray burst that HETE detected, and found a rare thing. Thanks to the satellite’s tip-off, several observers were able to see the visible-light afterglow of the burst. 

Gamma-ray bursts have been one of the hottest mysteries in astronomy for 20 years now. They are flashes of extremely high-energy radiation that come speeding at us from the farthest reaches of the universe. One burst may emit, in less than a minute, more energy than our sun will during its entire life. They pop up randomly, like flashbulbs in a distant galaxy, then disappear in a matter of seconds and never come from the same spot again. Although they happen every day, no one knows how, why or even really where these mysterious beacons occur. 

Each burst also produces an afterglow, a longer burst of lower-energy radiation – such as visible or infrared light or radio waves. The visible light may be seen for up to six days after the gamma-ray burst, and radio signals may persist as long as a month. 

But catching the afterglow may be more a matter of luck than skill. Bursts have been observed for over 20 years, but only about 30 afterglows have been seen. Most of those were in the past two years, using new satellites and technology. If it’s foggy, rainy, daylight, or just a bad time at your telescope, or if you don’t look in exactly the right spot, you’re out of luck. 

Even if conditions are right at your telescope, the bursts come from so far away the visible light could be blocked by dust in space before it ever gets here, or may be shifted down the spectrum into the infrared where astronomers may not look. 

The HETE satellite was launched in October 2000 specifically to study gamma-ray bursts. When HETE detects a burst, which means it was pointed in the right direction at the right time to see one go off, it transmits the data to a ground station. The station then sends out an automated alert to astronomers around the world. Anyone can subscribe to the alerts and try to observe the afterglow. 

After the burst on September 21st, several observers found the visible and radio afterglows. LOTIS, a robotic telescope operated by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, found it within a day, followed by a telescope in Arizona, the Mt. Palomar observatory near Los Angeles, and the Very Large Array radio telescope in New Mexico. 

This burst came from about five billion light-years away, in the constellation Lacerta. That large region of space is densely populated with stars, so it was hard to pick the visible burst out of its bright background. 

“I don’t think anybody had a lot of hope that they were actually going to find anything, because the region was so large,” said Dr. Kevin Hurley of UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory, a HETE collaborator.  

The challenging conditions made the researchers that much more pleased with their luck, and with HETE’s performance. 

There are two major competing theories to explain gamma-ray bursts. One is that they are caused by the death of a super-massive star, producing an explosion up to ten times larger than average supernovas. The other theory is they mark the collision of two ultra-dense neutron stars, or maybe a neutron star and a black hole. Two objects so massive smashing together would produce incredible amounts of energy. 

Detecting the afterglow is an important step in understanding what causes the bursts. Scientists are interested in bursts because they come from very young galaxies that seem normal in every other way. Learning more about them may help us understand what our own galaxy was like when it was young.  

With more data, scientists may even be able to tell how old the universe was when galaxies first began to form. 

Studying gamma-ray bursts and their afterglows also gives astronomers exciting glimpses into the insides of distant galaxies.  

“You can think of it as shining a flashlight through the galaxy to detect what the galaxy is made of, what elements it contains, the density around the exploding object,” Hurley said. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Ballot measures that would launch a municipal utility to replace Pacific Gas and Electric Co. as the city’s power provider remained virtually deadlocked Thursday, though a major credit-rating agency already was predicting “decades” of legal battles ahead between the utility and its challengers. 

Thousands of absentee and provisional ballots remained uncounted. 

Some ballots that were mailed in were taken to an auditorium near city hall as part of a plan to protect against any potential anthrax threats. No threats were received, but Department of Elections Director Tammy Haygood said the decision had been made “some time ago.” 

Board of Supervisors President Tom Ammiano and both campaigns still were searching for answers as to why some absentee ballots remained unguarded by law enforcement on Election Night, and why elections officials still had not finished counting. 

“I don’t know why they can’t just count them in overtime and get this over with, because there’s such an emotional and political investment,” Ammiano said. “There’s the tarnish of votes being moved to another building, so there’s a lot of anxiety and irritability over this issue.” 

At stake is the opportunity to create a municipal power agency that would buy PG&E’s transmission lines and power plants necessary for providing San Francisco with electricity, and to take over the utility’s 360,000 customers on its hometown turf. 

The bankrupt utility’s parent company spent more than $1 million trying to defeat Proposition F, which would expand the city’s public utilities commission into a department of water and power similar to Los Angeles DWP, and Measure I, which would create an independent municipal utility district similar to Sacramento MUD. 

Local interest in public power grew during the state’s power crisis, as LADWP and SMUD both managed to charge their customers up to 30 percent less for electricity than PG&E. 

Both measures would issue millions of dollars of bonds to buy any electricity they can’t generate, pay workers, buy the infrastructure and pay the cost of the expected legal battle with PG&E. 

New figures released Thursday by the San Francisco Department of Elections showed Proposition F leading by just 831 votes, and Measure I trailing by 2,958 votes, with all precincts reporting — but some absentee and provisional ballots still to be counted. 

Regardless of which way the votes eventually fall, California’s largest utility and its supporters said public power lacked an overwhelming mandate from voters, unlike a solar power measure that attracted 73 percent of voters. 

“With the apparent failure of the MUD, a very close vote on Proposition F and very low voter turnout, there is no strong sentiment in favor of municipalization in San Francisco,” PG&E said in a written statement. 

But Standard and Poor’s, a major credit rating agency, issued a statement Thursday morning presuming F would pass. S&P predicted a “protracted fight in the court system” would stall the city from launching its municipal utility. 

“Legal challenges against the vote may continue for decades” due to fears the absentee votes may have been tampered with, the release said. 

The utility denied a legal battle was already in the works Thursday. 

“It’s premature at this time to speculate,” said Jennifer Ramp, a PG&E spokeswoman, acknowleding the utility spent more than two decades fighting the creation of Sacramento’s MUD more than 50 years ago. 

Though backers of F&I still hope the uncounted votes swing toward public power, they reluctantly are looking at backup plans, Ammiano said. 

The Board of Supervisors also could implement a municipal utility by working with Mayor Willie Brown and the city’s Public Utilities Commission, though voters would lose the chance to elect the board that would run the utility. They instead would be appointed by the mayor. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.pge.com 

http://www.ci.sf.ca.us/elections 

SAN FRANCISCO — More than half a dozen Bay Area mayors met with Gov. Gray Davis on Thursday to discuss anti-terrorism coordination between state and local officials to keep the public informed about potential threats. 

Davis said an alert system similar to the one in place during the power crisis would be set up and used to alert citizens of potential danger. 

State Special Security Adviser George Vinson, named to that post last week by Davis, will be among those reviewing intelligence coming in from federal agencies and helping to determine what stage of alert, if any, would be issued, Davis said. 

“We discussed a range of measures that were taken from our concerns over bioterrorism to heavy trucks to airports to food safety to the safety of the water,” Davis said. “I think (the alerts are) a good idea. It puts us all on the same page.” 

Davis again defended his decision to put National Guard and California Highway Patrol officers on four California bridges last week. He said the security measures would remain indefinitely. 

“I have no reservations as to what I did,” he said. “I would do it again.” 

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who arranged the meeting, said he and the other mayors also backed Davis’ decision to heighten security and alert the public and let them make their own decisions. 

“It was clear that they would make the same judgment you would have attempted to make and have attempted to make, and that is to err on the side of public safety and security,” Brown said. 

Davis met with the mayors and other key security officials at Treasure Island before crossing the Bay Bridge and thanking and saluting personnel stationed on the Golden Gate Bridge. He shook hands with bridge workers there who thanked him for tightening security on the bridge where they spend most of their day. 

Davis said it is costing $400,000 to $1 million per day to maintain the security measures. 

“That is a lot of money, but in a $100 billion budget $300 or $400 million more is obviously a cost that we can bear,” Davis said. 

Richmond Mayor Rosemary Corbin proposed the alert idea, and Davis said he would work to establish the state criteria to define the various stages that would then likely be adopted at the local level. 

“We’re all dealing with a moving target, and we don’t know if tomorrow we will no longer be talking about a health threat or a blown up building,” Corbin said. “But when you get what the FBI tells you is a credible bit of information and you don’t pass it on, the idea that if something happens and you didn’t share that information is too awful.”

The State of California Office of Emergency Services have answered thousands of calls regarding anthrax, small pox, information regarding the handling of suspicious mail and other safety concerns.  

According to Kati Corsaut, chief of the Office of Emergency Services Joint Information Center, over two thousand callers have been assisted by operators since Oct. 19, when the Safety and Information Referral Line began operations at the request of Gov. Gray Davis. 

The non-emergency phone number has a recorded message in both English and Spanish with a number of options, including one to talk directly with an operator, to answer questions regarding terrorism.  

The toll-free number is 800-550-5234; for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people 800-550-5281 TYY; or additional information on terrorism and the State’s response can be found at the OES Web site: www.oes.ca.gov 

LONG BEACH — Student enrollment at California State University has reached a record 388,734 students this year, due in part to a slowing state economy, the chancellor said Thursday. 

The record enrollment reflects an increase of more than 20,000 students, or 5.5 percent, for the 2001 fall semester over last year. 

With the children of baby boomers reaching college age and the growing demand by high school students for a college education, the postsecondary education commission estimated an additional 130,000 students would enter the university system by the 2010. 

But with the state’s slowing economy sending people back to college, Chancellor Charles B. Reed said the tidal wave predicted by the commission has arrived early. 

“The tidal wave is not simply out on the horizon,” he said. “It has already washed over our beaches.” 

The news of the enrollment boom comes weeks after Reed told the 23-campus system’s board of trustees that Gov. Gray Davis’ projection of up to a $14 billion state budget deficit meant the CSU would have to cut its budget and should begin looking for ways to cut costs. Reed estimates the state’s economic downturn could last up to three years. 

“During the coming months, we will be working with the CSU presidents to set enrollment targets that both provide access for eligible students and take into account budgetary restraints,” he said. 

CSU’s enrollment survey found 19 of its 23 campuses reported increases. San Diego State topped the list with 34,171 students. 

The chancellor has given permission to several of the system’s hardest hit campuses to set enrollment guidelines, including giving priority to students who live in the area. 

For more than four years, trustees have taken steps to prepare for the latest influx of students, dubbed “Tidal Wave II.” 

CSU tightened its enrollment requirements for high school students and aligned its entrance requirements with the University of California. It also expanded its summer school and online class offerings.

SACRAMENTO — A teacher who burned a flag in front of sixth graders days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has been fired, Del Paso Heights school district authorities said. 

“He’s no longer on the payroll,” said Superintendent Carl Mack Jr. 

Officials placed teacher Kory Grant Clift, 25, on paid administrative leave Sept. 18 after they said he partially burned a flag and referred to the nation as the “United Snakes.” In October the district gave him a 30-day notice of termination. 

Clift is appealing his firing, but no hearing has been set. 

The teacher called it an example of “revolutionary teaching.” Clift, a second-year uncredentialed teacher, reportedly told his 30 students, “I can’t burn it all because that’s illegal.” He also told the students, “Babylon is burning,” according to the district. 

Clift later apologized for the flag burning, and said it remains his goal to teach. 

The U.S. Supreme Court has often ruled that flag burning is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

But Mack said he dismissed Clift for more than flag burning. Earlier this year Mack put Clift on administrative leave after he placed a child in a closet for disciplinary reasons. 

“It wasn’t based on just one incident,” Mack said. 

The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office declined to file criminal charges over the flag incident “because the students and the school were not placed at significant risk,” said supervising attorney Don Steed. 

Infamous Condit’s son files for state’s Modesto district 

FRESNO — The son of Rep. Gary Condit, who scuttled plans to run for state Assembly after his father became embroiled in the Chandra Levy scandal, reversed course Wednesday and decided to run for state Senate. 

Chad Condit filed a notice of intent to run for the 12th Senate District currently held by Sen. Dick Monteith, R-Modesto, who is running for the elder Condit’s Congressional seat, according to the Stanislaus County elections office. 

Condit, 34, recently quit his $110,000 a year job in the governor’s office to protest critical remarks Gov. Gray Davis made about his father. Davis, a close Condit ally and friend, said he was disappointed the congressman had not been more forthcoming in public about his relationship with Levy, a 24-year-old who disappeared in Washington, D.C., in May. 

In recent weeks, Chad Condit has been collecting signatures for his father’s re-election bid even though Rep. Condit has still not announced whether he will seek another term. 

Chad Condit could not immediately be reached for comment by The Associated Press. 

During his first remarks following his father’s first television interview, Chad Condit said he had abandoned his own political ambitions. 

“If this is what politics is about, I don’t know that I want any part in it,” he told CNN in August. 

In a stark illustration of how the Condit political machine has collapsed, local Democrats said Chad Condit was likely to face Rusty Areias, head of state parks, and a former Condit ally. 

Areias, 52, was a member of the Gang of Five that Gary Condit led in protest of Assembly Speaker Willie Brown when they were in state Legislature in the 1980s. 

Just six months ago, all this would have seemed improbable. The Condit machine, running strong for more than a decade, was realigning political seats to account for term limits and make room for the next generation. 

Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, a former Condit aide who could not seek re-election because of term limits, planned to run for the 12th Senate district carved out for him by state Democratic leaders. 

Chad Condit, a former aide to Cardoza, was expected to run for Cardoza’s vacant 26th district Assembly seat. 

Then Chandra Levy vanished and Rep. Condit’s political future was punctuated with a big question mark. He’s not a suspect in her disappearance, but he admitted having an extramarital affair with her, police sources have said. 

Cardoza, D-Atwater, and Monteith, who had said they wouldn’t challenge Condit, both announced they would run for the seat. 

With Cardoza running for Congress, a number of candidates have jumped at the chance to fill his seat and the Senate seat that had been tailor-made for him. 

“Everything’s been in flux around here,” said Tom Hallinan, a Democrat from Modesto who is running for Cardoza’s current office. “It’s been that kind of year: A strange confluence of events for everybody.” 

Other Democrats running for the 12th Senate District include Larry Morse, an assistant Merced County prosecutor, and Modesto lawyer Armando Flores. 

Former Assemblyman Peter Frusetta, a Tres Pinos rancher, leads the list of Republican candidates. Jeff Denham of Salinas filed a statement of intent along with Joseph L. Wright of Modesto, who works for Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif. 

Flores, 50, who filed papers at the same time as Chad Condit, said the clerk’s office was crowded with candidates trying to beat Wednesday’s deadline to declare for state office. 

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco physicians will be allowed to prescribe methadone to heroin addicts after the city gained an exemption to the typically strict state and federal laws that regulate the availability of methadone. 

The drug, which is one of few known to control heroin cravings, is usually available only in one-day doses at methadone clinics. With prescriptions, patients will have access to methadone on a more extended basis and should be able to get the drug at local pharmacies. 

San Francisco will get a federal grant worth about $1 million to set up the program. The grant was announced Oct. 29. City Supervisor Gavin Newsom, who was involved in drafting the legislation for it, said patients should be able to get methadone prescriptions from their doctors as early as this January. 

“The human suffering associated with heroin addiction will be mitigated, and the fiscal costs associated with this treatment will be lessened,” Newsom said. 

There are about 15,000 heroin addicts in San Francisco, and the grant is expected to provide treatment for all of them. Newsom said that some of the leading problems that San Francisco emergency rooms treat are flesh-eating viruses and other diseases associated with heroin use. 

He emphasized that he expects the new program to save the city money. 

“We will be able to quantify the money saved,” he said. “The economic impact of getting people off heroin is literally extraordinary. We will save lives.” 

He added that methadone clinics in San Francisco will remain open to meet demand.

LOS ANGELES — Ammunition used by duck hunters may become the newest weapon in the fight against terrorists on airliners. Bismuth Cartridge Co. has a bullet it says can bring down the bad guys but not the planes. 

Armed federal sky marshals protecting passengers aboard commercial aircraft may someday be forced to fire their weapons, leading to fears bullets could penetrate the fuselage. 

Bismuth bullets have the same stopping power and ballistic characteristics as lead, but disintegrate into the consistency of talcum powder when they hit a solid surface of some substance, like an airplane fuselage, concrete floor or metal target. 

“What was originally designed to aid duck hunters may now become one of the newest weapons in the worldwide fight against terrorism,” Bismuth President Ken Elliott said. “We feel this is the ideal ammunition for use in high-risk environments.” 

Bullets made of bismuth, a material similar in weight to lead, were developed in the early 1990s as an alternative to steel pellets after the federal government banned environmentally unfriendly lead shot for hunting water fowl. 

Publishing magnate Robert E. Peterson, an avid hunter, acquired the patents for making the shotgun shells and Bismuth started working on the pistol bullets about 18 months ago. A rifle bullet is also planned. 

Bismuth ammo is well-suited for close-quarters combat, like what could occur on a hijacked aircraft, Elliott said. The Immigration and Naturalization Service is currently testing it. 

Bismuth is conducting its own tests to refine the bullet to see whether it can be made to break apart even faster than it does now. It then plans to show it to the Federal Aviation Administration, which runs the air marshal program. 

“There are a number of issues and remedies that the civilian population has to offer the government. This is another that may work out and certainly (Bismuth) can follow the protocols for that,” FAA spokesman Jerry Snyder said. 

NEWPORT BEACH— The largest known gold bar from the California Gold Rush — a bread loaf-sized brick named Eureka — has been sold for a record $8 million, officials said Thursday. 

The ingot was bought by a collector described only as a “Forbes 400 business executive,” said Michael Cabrini, president of Monaco Financial, the Orange County-based rare coin company that handled the sale. 

The sale nearly doubled the record set previously for the sale of collectible money. In 1999, a single silver dollar sold for more than $4 million, said Donn Pearlman of the Professional Numismatists Guild. 

“They sold the artifact that was THE piece of numismatic history of the California Gold Rush,” he said. 

The bar was handmade in 1857 by California assayers Don Kellogg and August Humbert. Weighing nearly 80 pounds, the bar’s face was stamped with its 1857 value — $17,433.57. 

On Sept. 3, 1857, the bar was loaded onto the SS Central America in San Francisco. The “Ship of Gold” was bound for New York where the gold was to be turned into coins. 

Eight days later, the ship was damaged in a hurricane and sank Sept. 12 more than 140 miles east of Cape Hatteras, N.C., in 8,000 feet of water. More than 400 people died. 

The lost riches helped spark an economic depression that lasted three years. 

The gold sat on the ocean floor until 1986, when Thomas G. Thompson founded the Columbus-America Discovery Group to research and locate the shipwreck. The treasure was recovered, but a court fight with insurance companies kept the gold locked up. 

The treasure was later sold the California Gold Marketing Group, a group of private investors. The bar was part of a 16-month exhibit that included $20 million worth of gold items recovered from the shipwreck. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http//:www.shipofgoldfinfo.com 

http//:www.sscentralamerica.com 

PALO ALTO — As the chairman of Intel Corp., Andy Grove speaks freely and often about silicon wafers, microprocessors, profits and the history of computing. 

But he has refused to talk publicly about his own history — of living as a Jew in World War II, of taking a new identity as he hid from Nazis, of fleeing Soviet domination for a new life in America. 

“I didn’t feel like talking to strangers about it when they came to interview me about microprocessors, the Internet and stuff like that,” he says. “It was not an appropriate way to combine these things.” 

Grove ends his long public silence in a new memoir, “Swimming Across,” recounting stories of his youth amid the 20th century tragedy of Eastern Europe. 

Grove began writing with his grandchildren in mind after he was named Time magazine’s 1997 Man of the Year. 

“I’m getting old,” Grove, 65, says. “It dawned on me that by the time they are old enough to be interested and understand it, I will be too old to make too much sense.” 

True to Grove’s personality, the book speaks in logical tones. He doesn’t psychoanalyze and never connects the trauma of his youth with the business philosophy he made famous in another book, “Only the Paranoid Survive.” 

In fact, Grove’s legendary career at Intel, where he served 11 years as chief executive, receives only two sentences in the epilogue. 

But in an interview with The Associated Press, he said he approaches important business challenges with the same rational decision-making he used before fleeing Hungary 45 years ago. 

“As I think about the stories in the book, they are so much like me today, that I am more prone to conclude I was me at age 15,” he says. 

Still, it’s not difficult to see how paranoia might emerge from his early life. 

Grove, who was born Andras Grof in Budapest in 1936, begins his story with memories of driving his pedal-powered toy sports car as his parents watched search lights crisscross the sky over the Danube. 

It was his third birthday, Sept. 2, 1939 — the day after Hitler’s troops marched into Poland. 

He soon lost much of his hearing after a bout with Scarlet Fever. His father, a dairy operator, was conscripted into a Hungarian labor battalion. 

Though not religious, he and his mother faced persecution like other Jews when Germany occupied Hungary in 1944. 

At first, the changes were inconvenient, such as being forced to sit in the back of trams. Then Jews were not allowed to ride at all. Then he and his mother were moved to a “Star House.” They were forced to wear yellow Stars of David. Radios were confiscated. Neighbors were herded into German Army trucks. 

Shortly afterward, his mother obtained false papers and he took on a Christian identity as “Andras Malesevics,” her illegitimate child. He carefully memorized his story, and was especially careful when urinating, so as not to show he was circumcised. 

“I was deadly afraid of making a mistake,” he said. “I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen if I had made a mistake, but I had a feeling it would be awful.” 

After the Red Army reached Hungary, a semblance of normalcy returned, although Grove’s mother was raped by a soldier. After three years, his father appeared — a filthy, emaciated man in a ragged uniform. 

Grove discovered girls, opera and English as a teen. His poor hearing, which was only restored after five surgeries in the 1970s, made him an observant student, and he excelled in school. 

The book’s title stems from a story a teacher told his parents one night — that life is a big lake in which everyone starts swimming. “Not all of them will swim across,” the teacher said. “But one of them, I’m sure, will. That one is Grof.” 

As a chemistry major at the University of Budapest, Grove was not the most active revolutionary, but he joined in demonstrations that toppled the Communist regime. After the Soviet Army invaded, he decided it was time to leave his homeland, along with 200,000 others. 

“I was very conscious of people getting shot, that I could be one of them,” he says. 

With the help of the International Rescue Committee, which will receive proceeds from the book, Grove landed at a relative’s apartment in New York. He studied chemical engineering at the City College of New York, earned a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, and helped found Intel Corp. He never returned to Hungary. 

His mother, who eventually fled Hungary with Grove’s father, reviewed the manuscript of “Swimming Across.” She is now 94. At first she said nobody would be interested in the story, but then warmed to it. She allowed personal details of her life, such as the rape, to be used. 

“She basically said that was the least of it,” he said. 

Grove long thought he had escaped fear, uncertainty and insecurity when he left Hungary. Then the World Trade Center crumbled. He ran into fellow Hungarian emigre and Intel pioneer Les Vadasz shortly thereafter. 

“We looked at each other and he said to me, ’I didn’t think I was going to have to go through this kind of stuff again,”’ Grove said. “That captured my feeling as well.” 

TYLER, Texas — A jury has awarded about $485,000 in damages to a woman who said she was terminated as manager of Tyler’s Old Navy store because she was pregnant. 

Joanna Laxton sued San Francisco-based Gap Inc., doing business as Old Navy, in Tyler federal court for sex discrimination. After two days of testimony in U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith K. Guthrie’s courtroom this week, the jury agreed. 

Judge Guthrie said she would enter a final judgment in the case in early December. 

Jurors on Wednesday awarded Laxton $127,350 for past lost income and benefits, $57,000 for future lost income and benefits, $100,000 for mental anguish and $200,000 in punitive damages. 

Regional manager Karen Jones said Laxton was fired for a number of policy violations, among other things. 

ance and because of complaints from subordinates who said they were “abused and harassed.” 

Company representatives said their actions were “based entirely on legitimate, nondiscriminatory factors.” 

SANTA CLARA — Palm Inc.’s chief executive, Carl Yankowski, has resigned, the company said Thursday. 

Eric Benhamou, chairman of the Santa Clara-based handheld computer company, will take his place until a permanent replacement is named. 

Yankowski cited the company’s restructuring for his decision. Palm is in the final stages of forming a subsidiary that would focus on the Palm operating system and work independently from the hardware group that makes the handheld devices. 

“With Palm’s transition into two individual businesses almost complete, my role has changed, and it no longer matches my aspirations,” Yankowski said.  

“I leave confident that our separation and solutions strategies, combined with the new leadership at the helm of both businesses, will result in increased shareholder value. It has been an honor to lead Palm.” 

Yankowski did not announce his future plans. 

The announcement comes as Palm is suffering from slow sales and increased competition. The move to form a separate subsidiary, announced in late July, was designed to boost the Santa Clara-based company’s software business. 

Alan Kessler, the former head of Palm’s software group, resigned in mid-August, and David Nagel, the former chief technology officer of AT&T Corp. and president of AT&T Labs, was named the chief executive of the new Palm operating system subsidiary. 

Yankowski took the helm at Palm in December 1999. He was formerly a chief executive of Sony Electronics and Reebok International, and helped oversee the spin-off of Palm from its parent company, 3Com Corp. 

Benhamou, who is also chairman of 3Com, was the networking company’s chief executive from 1990 to 2000, during which time 3Com bought U.S. Robotics and its Palm handheld technology. 

Benhamou, who grew up in France, came to 3Com from Bridge Communications, a networking company he co-founded before it merged with 3Com. 

Palm shares lost 3 cents to $2.27 on the Nasdaq Stock Market before Yankowski’s announcement. The stock was up to $2.32 in the extended session. 

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On the Net: 

http://www.palm.com 

It will never cease to amaze us how difficult it has been to get the word out about how important it is to keep water away from a home’s foundation. Take gutters and downspouts for example. 

There’s no better way than using these to collect roof water and prevent it from dropping onto the ground next to the foundation. Believe it or not, in some places local codes don’t require gutters or downspouts. Fortunately, for some, surface-water management is taken very seriously. 

In many communities, strict rules are in place wherein gutters and downspouts not only are required, but also must be connected to an underground drainage system that transports collected water to a public-storm drain system. 

It gets even more complicated. These lawmakers require that watershed from these systems not cross over sidewalks. That’s right, the pipe has to go under the sidewalk. It can’t be exposed to daylight on your side of the sidewalk and run out to the street over a public walkway. We think these are good rules. 

Regardless, these rules are not enforced against existing homes. If you don’t have a gutter and downspout system, chances are you will never have to install one. You’ll do so only if you decide to on your own. As far as your rights are concerned, the latter is probably sweet music to your ears. On the other hand, as a homeowner it might cost tens of thousands of dollars to fix your home someday. Water can take its toll. 

If you have downspouts, at least you are properly collecting damaging roof water and funneling it into a management system that will possibly save you big-time heartache down the road. However, if you do have gutters and downspouts, and the water isn’t being collected into a drainage system, you might be in for it anyway. Collecting all of that water and letting it out near the foundation can be even worse than not having gutters and downspouts at all. Collecting all that water and letting it fall next to the foundation in massive quantities can destroy your home over time. 

You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars developing a fancy underground aqueduct. But you do need to pay special attention to what is happening to the water that your roof collects. 

If you have an average-size American home, your roof collects water from an area over 2,000 square feet in size. That’s a lot of collection area. Suddenly, all of that water ends up coming down through six or eight downspouts — altogether less than 2 square feet. Talk about a buildup of water. 

One thing you can do if you don’t have an underground water-delivery system is to extend the downspouts so that they don’t discharge water near your home. The experts tell us 3 feet is sufficient. We think that is a minimum distance. Twenty feet is probably better. 

A lot depends on the soil around your house. You might want to call a soils engineer in your area. Most will be able to answer over the phone. Besides an extension, you will also want something that will prevent the rushing water from eroding your landscape. Rivers move mountains and downspout discharge can literally move your landscape. 

The experts usually recommend that gravel or rocks be placed at the end of a discharge pipe to reduce the chance of erosion.  

With homes, a common practice is to use something called a splash block. Discharge water beats on the block, not the ground. Splash blocks are OK most of the time, but might be lacking during torrential downpours. 

What’s the answer? We both have underground drainage systems on our properties because we want our property to be there when we get old. But, if the thought of an underground system makes you pocketbook-nervous, you should at least install extensions on all downspouts that end within a foot or two of your foundation. 

How far should they be extended? As far as you can afford. And it doesn’t take anything fancy. Flexible plastic drain pipe, a section of downspout, metal, plastic or concrete sewer pipe. You choose. Whatever you do, choose at least one. 

For more home-improvement tips and information, visit our Web site at www.onthehouse.com. 

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Readers can mail questions to: On the House, APNewsFeatures, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020, or e-mail Careybro(at)onthehouse.com. To receive a copy of On the House booklets on plumbing, painting, heating/cooling or decks/patios, send a check or money order payable to The Associated Press for $6.95 per booklet and mail to: On the House, PO Box 1562, New York, NY 10016-1562, or through these online sites: www.onthehouse.com or apbookstore.com. 

Q: Olivia asks: Every time I run the dishwasher I’ve got to stand by the sink with a cup to bail the water out that comes up and drain it into the adjacent sink. If I don’t, the sink and dishwasher will overflow. The water comes up on the side of the sink where the garbage disposal is. We’ve never used the disposal because it’s been broken since we’ve moved here some weeks ago, but I’m not sure this should affect the way the dishwasher drains, should it? Also, the water never completely drains after running. There’s always a small pool in the dishwasher and a small collection in the sink that does not recede. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem? 

A: This is definitely one that you can fix. The sink is flooding because the disposal and its drain are clogged. Water leaves the dishwasher through a rubber hose that travels up under the sink to a device called an “air gap.” The air gap is a vent that equalizes air pressure so that the water can easily drain out of the dishwasher without air-pressure resistance. From the air gap a second hose travels into the disposal. Once in the disposal the water from the dishwasher is drained into the sewer system (the same place that the other side of the sink drains into). If the water has made it into your sink, it means that the lines to the disposal are working fine and that the drain from the disposal is clogged. Remove the disposal and the associated drain. Clear the drain, install a new disposal and you can start using that cup for drinking instead of bailing. 

By the way, you can eliminate the disposal, but it will probably cost less to replace it. There is a ring under the sink right at the drain that can be gripped with a small Phillips screwdriver. A quick tug and the disposal will fall out. And that’s all there is to it. 

Q: Tony asks: I am getting ready to stain my deck and would like a natural finish that will last as long as possible. What is the best product to use? 

A: We suggest that you use a high-quality penetrating oil finish. Oil restores the natural resins that give wood its natural beauty and prevents cracking, cupping and checking. Be sure that the oil finish contains a mildewcide and ultraviolet protection. Plan to spend about $20 to $25 per gallon. 

As with painting, the key to a lasting deck finish lies with the preparation. If the decking is new and is not kiln dried, allow the material to air dry for a few weeks since “green” lumber will prevent the finish from penetrating. If the decking has been in place for a while, it should be thoroughly scrubbed with TSP and rinsed with fresh water. A pressure washer can make easy work of the process. After washing the deck you might also consider using a deck brightener (wood bleach) to restore the natural color of the wood. Sanding might even be required if the deck has been neglected. 

Next, working in the shade during a cool time of day, apply a thin coat of the penetrating oil finish using a sheepskin pad or a short nap roller.  

Use a clean terry cloth rag to wipe off any excess, and don’t allow the material to puddle. Apply a second thin coat after the first has had the opportunity to be fully absorbed — usually after several hours or the following day. Be sure to apply plenty of finish to the cut ends of the decking. They are especially vulnerable to damage. 

Finally, a light touchup coat each year will make your deck the envy of the neighborhood. 

Q. Barbara asks: We have a crack forming on our cement fountain. It shows both inside and outside the bowl. It doesn’t leak yet. How can I seal it before we spring a leak? 

A. First, drain the water from the fountain. Use an old chisel along with a wire brush to remove any loose material along the length of the crack, wash with a mild detergent and rinse with fresh water. Once the concrete has dried, inject the crack at the inside of the fountain with epoxy filler. 

No action should be necessary at the exterior unless you wish to conceal the crack. If so, clean the outside as suggested above, and apply a latex caulk. Use a damp sponge to wipe away the excess caulking. 

Don’t look now, but a mild fall is about to give way to winter’s grip. 

With all the attention given to energy conservation in recent years, homeowners might have lulled themselves into a sense of complacency when it comes to saving money on energy, according to the Home Service Store. 

Step one in continued energy savings is a self-assessment by the homeowner of what remains to be done. Although memories of last winter might be a distant memory — except for the high heating bills most Americans paid — homeowners should ask themselves what improvements they should have made. Where did most of the icy drafts come from? Did interior windows fog up? Did the furnace run constantly? 

The assessment will lead to a to-do list of sorts. Some tasks which require outdoor work such as installation of storm windows or caulking should be done while the weather still is relatively mild. Some caulks shouldn’t be applied when temperatures fall near freezing. 

A common problem in many homes last year was roof leaks caused by ice dams. An ice dam is caused when snow on the roof melts at the shingle level during daytime temperatures then refreezes at night. According to John Karlesky of Lowes, a 700-store chain of home-improvement centers, hundreds or thousands of pounds of ice can accumulate over a period of days or weeks. The thawing action can seep under shingles and into the house. The accumulation can block gutters, too. Homeowners often try to chip away at the thick ice, but it’s dangerous duty — probably best left to professionals. 

A remedy for ice dams is to apply electrical heating tape to the first few feet above the gutters before the snow and ice get a chance to pile up. Heating experts at Lowes say the tape restricts the accumulation of ice. Homeowners can install the tape but experts caution roof climbers to be careful. Professional help for installation is available. 

It’s a good idea also to make sure the insulation in your attic is at the appropriate R-factor. Heat that escapes through the roof can exacerbate the ice-dam problem. 

Don’t forget exterior doors. If you don’t have a storm door, think again. Considerable heat is lost when cold winds pound your main entries. Storm doors are moderately priced in the $75 to $300 range, depending on quality. Installation should take no more than 2-3 hours, with a minimum of tools. 

Basement pipes and ducts need attention, too. If your basement ceiling is unfinished, your water pipes and heating ducts could use a layer of insulating foam or wrap. Products for just these jobs are available at any supply center. 

There’s one more step you can take while the weather is still warm: clean your windows. Dirt and grime that accumulates over dusty summer months can cut down on warming ambient light. If this coming winter is anything like last year, you’ll need all the warmth you can get.

Claims students should question argued theory 

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama is maintaining its distinction as the only state where biology textbooks include a sticker warning students that evolution is a “controversial theory” they should question. 

The State Board of Education voted without dissent Thursday to place the disclaimer on the front of 40,000 new biology textbooks to be used in the state’s public schools. 

The statement says in part that evolution is “a controversial theory. ... Instructional material associated with controversy should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.” 

The board included the same statement in course guidelines for science teachers. 

The state first put stickers on biology textbooks in 1996, but those books are being replaced with new editions next year. The new books will be used for the next six years. 

The school board’s vote came without any debate, far different from the initial decision to use the stickers. 

“Boy, that was a surprise,” board vice chairman Ethel Hall said. 

The decision was actively supported by the Christian Coalition and the Eagle Forum, groups that seek more religious activity in public schools. 

Joan Kendall, state education chairman for Eagle Forum, said the sticker is needed because biology textbooks contain outdated and disputed information about evolution. 

John Giles, state president of the Christian Coalition, said the board’s new sticker is not as strong as the old one, but he had been concerned the board was going to drop the sticker entirely. 

“The insert they approved does provoke the child to think through the process,” he said. 

At a 1995 board meeting to approve the original disclaimer, then-Gov. Fob James impersonated an ape to poke fun at Charles Darwin, whose works are the basis of evolutionary theory. 

That sticker contained questions students should ask about evolution, such as: “Why do major groups of plants and animals have no transitional forms in the fossil record?” 

Alabama’s use of the sticker to discredit evolution causes scientists to question the quality of its biology education, said Eric Meikle, outreach director of the National Center of Science Education. 

“It’s definitely a negative in people’s view of education in the state,” he said. 

The teaching of evolution, the theory that humans and other living beings evolved into their present form over millions of years, has been an issue in several states. But no other state has used a disclaimer sticker in textbooks statewide, Meikle said. 

The Alabama school board has approved several biology textbooks from different publishers, and local school boards select the books that are used in schools. The course is taught mostly in 10th grade.

OCEANO — A walk on the beach will become more difficult in spots up and down the Pacific Coast as federal authorities try to keep a bird smaller than a human fist from disappearing. 

Efforts to protect the snowy plover already have angered off-road vehicle users and other beachgoers shut out of some beaches along California’s Central Coast. Still more closings are being recommended in a draft recovery plan for the snowy plover that is open for public comment until mid-December. 

Federal biologists and environmentalists say people still will be able to enjoy California, Oregon and Washington beaches but say more restricted access and a host of other measures are needed to prevent the two-ounce bird’s population from collapsing. 

“There’s so little beach left that these guys can actually nest on,” said Babak Naficy, staff attorney for the Environmental Defense Center, a Central Coast environmental group seeking increased restrictions to protect the plover. “There’s not much time left for compromise ... because we’re down to the very, very brink.” 

Along the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington, development and recreation have caused the number of snowy plover nesting sites to plummet from 88 to 32 over the last 20 to 30 years, according to David Pereksta, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

The plover, a white, gray and black beachcomber, makes its nest out of a divot in the sand, confident that predators won’t spot the tiny, speckled eggs that blend in with pebbles, driftwood and seaweed. 

But that exposure also makes the nests susceptible to inadvertent destruction by beach walkers and off-roaders. 

“People don’t know what they look like. They could easily step on a bird or their eggs just because they’re so cryptic,” Pereksta said. 

The plover also nests from late spring to the end of September, the very time most people are drawn to the beach. 

Non-native European beachgrass and iceplant introduced decades ago to stabilize dunes also contribute to the bird’s struggles. Those species have taken over plover habitat and provide cover to skunks, foxes, feral cats and other animals that prey on plovers or their eggs. 

Snowy plovers along the coast from southern Washington to the tip of Mexico’s Baja California were listed as threatened in 1993. Although a threatened species is in less immediate peril than an endangered one, the two federal designations offer similar protections. 

Snowy plovers in other areas, including the Atlantic Coast and inland saline lakes, are not considered threatened. 

A 1999 report by researchers with the Point Reyes Bird Observatory estimated that 1,950 plovers exist in California, Oregon and Washington. Judging by a more recent partial survey of the coast, the current population is closer to half that, Pereksta said. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s recovery plan for the snowy plover aims to increase the bird’s population to an average of 3,000 over 10 years, with all but 250 of those birds in California and about 40 percent of them in three Central Coast counties: San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura. 

When final, the document will guide federal officials who are trying to boost plover numbers by removing predators, non-native plants and beachgoers from plover habitat. The recovery effort is expected to last until at least 2025 and cost more than $33 million. 

It recommends new public-access restrictions at about 15 locations, from Bandon State Park in Oregon to Navy installations in San Diego. 

Restrictions already are in place in some areas, including Vandenberg Air Force Base, where the entire beach was closed in late summer, and Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area. The Central Coast park is the only place in California where off-road vehicles can drive on the beach. 

At Oceano Dunes, off-road enthusiasts have lost about 160 acres — or 10 percent of their previous driving grounds — because of concerns over the snowy plover. Environmentalists want even more restrictions. 

“I see a way of life for my children about to come to an end,” said Jim Suty of San Jose, president of Friends of Oceano Dunes, a 10,000-member group trying to preserve beach access. 

Suty said the recovery plan offers an incomplete picture of the plover’s status because it doesn’t take into account a large coastal population that spends at least part of the year in Mexico. 

In addition to closings, the plan recommends several methods of improving plover habitat, including removing predators and non-native plants, erecting fences around nesting sites, restricting development, adding information signs and working harder to keep dogs and fireworks away from beaches. 

Recent visitors to Oceano Dunes said they’ve already had to cope with more than enough restrictions. 

Tim Harvey, a Pismo Beach electrical engineer who was kite-surfing at the beach, was careful to fly his kite over the water before getting on his board. The park bans flying kites over the beach during nesting season, but he doubted his hobby really bothers the birds. 

“If you’re going to allow four-wheel-drive vehicles, what’s a kite going to do?” Harvey asked. “It sounds to me like it’s a pretty stupid bird. Evolution happens for a reason.” 

LOS ANGELES — An overreaction by the U.S. government could cause the total cost of the terrorist attacks to exceed a trillion dollars, according to a report released Thursday by the Milken Institute. 

The report, titled “Assessing the Costs of Terrorism,” warned that many critical policy choices have yet to be made, with the most important being the extent of the military response, the methods used to obtain domestic security and the means to compensate industries and families affected by the attacks. 

If imprudent choices are made, according to economist and report author Peter Navarro, it could cost the country more than just the estimated billions of dollars in property damage and lost economic output. 

“The direct cost of the destruction of the property and aircraft represent a very small sliver of the overall cost,” he said Thursday night. “If we mishandle this crisis, it could cost us $2 trillion a year beginning in 2011.” 

That number was gained by the simple difference between an annual growth rate of 2 percent and a more robust 3.5 percent, he said. 

Whether this happens will be tied to current fiscal policy and actions relating to the nation’s recovery. In the report, Navarro warned government leaders to be cautious in their fiscal and monetary policies. 

“The clear danger is that we’ll panic and overstimulate the economy,” he said. “We could come out of the recession quickly, but that could trigger a roller coaster of recession and inflation.” 

Navarro said government leaders face a strategic choice of whether to divert resources from productive capital to protective capital, from spending money on building instead of surveillance. 

“As you try to drive the risk of terrorism down, the cost goes to infinity,” he said. 

Reining those costs in, he said, will be a matter of resisting the temptation to go overboard on safety measures. 

In the report, published in the current issue of the quarterly Milken Institute Review, Navarro said the government can choose to double the number of its sky marshals to 40,000 at a cost of $100 million or put two marshals on every plane, creating a bureaucracy many times the size of the FBI and costing $6 billion. 

He also urged policy leaders to consider the impact of increased airport security on passenger delays, which he said could cripple the airlines. 

“The backbone of the airlines is the business traveler,” he said. “When you add a considerable amount of time, you are raising the cost to the business. And, time is money.” 

The report also measured the costs of the attacks in such areas as property damage, increased airline security, lost economic output, subsequent bailouts of the airlines and reduced tax revenues. 

Navarro estimated that the death toll translates into an economic cost in the range of $40 billion, taking into account income scale and education of the thousands of people who died, as well the emotional pain and income loss suffered by their families. 

Property damage will exceed $10 billion and, in the days immediately following the attacks, $6.4 billion was lost in advertising, airline and hotel revenues, the report said. 

The Milken Institute is a nonprofit think tank focusing on four major issues, the global economy, capital markets and financial institutions, the role of education and human capital, and regional economics and demographics.

WASHINGTON — President Bush will announce an expanded role for National Guard troops at airports, possibly stationing them at boarding gates, administration officials said Thursday. 

An announcement was expected Friday at a White House ceremony honoring private-sector employers of guardsmen and reservists, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

The plan calls for a “dramatic increase” in troops at airports, one official said. 

Bush’s announcement, ahead of the busy holiday travel season, was intended to increase confidence in air travel while Congress works to finish an airline security bill, one source said. It will take months to put any changes into effect even once a compromise bill passes. 

Governors have used guard members at security checkpoints, where passengers and carry-on baggage are screened, as well as for general patrol duty at airports. 

One idea under review by the president would have guardsmen monitor passengers who have gone through security and are in the boarding process. 

Recent security lapses have shown that current measures are not foolproof: Last week at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, a gate search by airline employees of passenger who had gone through security found seven knives, a stun gun and tear gas. 

The president asked governors in September to station guardsmen for as long as six months at the nation’s 420 commercial airports, with the federal government to cover the cost. 

It was not immediately clear whether Bush would again ask the governors to call up troops or act on his own. 

The idea of using guardsmen to screen travelers drew a skeptical response from David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, an advocacy group. 

“I don’t know what part they have to play in the security process other than to have a show of force,” he said. 

Also Thursday, major airlines announced they have finished installing bars, latches and other equipment to strengthen cockpit doors — steps to prevent hijackers from getting into cockpits, as they did Sept. 11. 

“This is so crucial as we go into the holiday season,” said Carol Hallett, president of Air Transport Association, which represents the major airlines that carry 97 percent of passengers. “Americans across the board can have full confidence.” 

Draft General Plan examines anticipated impacts on downtown  

The City Council closed the final public hearing on the long-awaited Draft General Plan and, as expected, downtown public parking concerns dominated the evening. 

The council devoted the entire meeting to the Draft General Plan and heard comments from nearly 80 individuals, businesses, nonprofits and representatives from the city’s boards and commissions. 

After closing the hearing, the council was scheduled to ask planning staff for factual clarification on some policies, as well as request additional information on issues raised during the hearing. But because of the late hour, the council decided to submit their questions to staff in writing no later than next Tuesday. The council intends to approve the plan at its Dec. 18 meeting.  

The council heard comments about cooperative housing, free shuttles and the ability of the city’s antiquated sewer system’s questionable ability to handle a greater load if there is significant development. But by far, the most controversial issue on Tuesday night was a parking policy in the draft plan. 

The majority of speakers expressed concern about policy T-35-D, which calls for a two-year moratorium on parking studies downtown.  

Many of those who spoke in favor of downtown parking studies were people who worked in the downtown area, including Alan Miller, vice president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers and sents city of Berkeley employees. 

Representatives of the Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition and a variety of individuals, including a 77-year-old man who said he frequently rides his bike to the gym “to pump iron,” spoke in favor of the study moritorium. 

YMCA Director Fran Gallati said he is concerned that with the increasing numbers of theaters, music venues and schools in the downtown that a lack of available parking will discourage people from patronizing downtown businesses. Gallati said that not even studying the possibility of new public parking was “shortsighted.” 

“My job is to look out for the long-term health of the Y,” he said. “I think it would make sense to conduct a parking study simply to find out what the parking needs are in the downtown.” 

Councilmember Miriam Hawley agreed with the pro-parking speakers.  

“It seems the plan is not asking for a moratorium on parking, but a moratorium on thinking,” she said. 

Bicycle Friendly Berkeley organizer Sarah Syed argued that without the parking-study moratorium, the city would not be able to focus on implementing policies that would better utilize existing parking. 

“People who call for more parking don’t consider the increase in traffic,” she said. “The fact is that the city has to prioritized,” she said. “Every dollar that goes into a parking study is a dollar taken away from alternative transportation programs and pedestrian safety.” 

Syed added that deleting the policy would be a “slap in the face” of everybody who participated in the Draft General Plan development. 

The draft plan calls for a two-year moratorium on parking studies while the city tries to implement a variety of policies recommended in the Transportation Demand Management Study. The study, released in March, suggests reducing the number of all-day parkers thereby freeing up parking spaces for short-term parkers who are more likely to patronize restaurants, theaters and other downtown businesses. 

The TDM encourages long-term parkers, who are usually commuters who work in the downtown area, to take other means of transportation to work. The city has already instituted a free bus pass program, known as the Ecopass, for all city employees. And there are plans in the works that would expand that program to Berkeley Unified School District employees as well as larger businesses. 

The Draft General Plan, prepared by the Planning Commission, is a document of over 600 policies that will govern development, transportation and environmental strategies in Berkeley for the next 20 years. The document has been in the making for the last two-and-half years and it reflects the input of five city commissions, businesses, nonprofits and hundreds of individuals. 

But of the more than 600 policies the Planning Commission unanimously approved, there were two the commission could not agree on, rent control and parking. However the rent control issue was not mentioned during Tuesday’s meeting.  

Other issues that were brought up were arguments for and against increased building height limits in the downtown. The president of Ecocity Builders, Richard Register, argued for height increases that he said could free up developed land in other parts of town for public open space.  

Register suggested that building heights be increased to between nine and 11 stories. Currently seven stories is the maximum in the central part of downtown.  

Martha Nicoloff, a founding member of the Berkeley Party, a group of residents who are interested in city development issues, called for decreased height limits. She said she is working on a petition for the November ballot that would reduce height limits along San Pablo Avenue, in the downtown and in the Berkeley hills. 

Public Works Commissioner Linda Perry said the city should be mindful of the city’s “looming infrastructure problem” while approving the increased housing development in the Draft General Plan. “The city’s sewers, streets, sidewalks and public are locked in a death spiral,” she said, quoting a budget commission report. “I Know it sounds dramatic but it’s true.” 

Perry went on to say the city has accrued millions in deferred maintenance costs. 

Senior Planner Andrew Thomas said that a study of the city’s sewer system showed that it can handle a population up to approximately 130,000. He pointed out that in the 1970s the sewer system served 120,000 residents. The 2000 census results show that Berkeley has 102,000 residents.

Thursday, Nov. 8

Shakespeare and Canonicity 

4:10 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Geballe Room, The Townsend Center for the Humanities 

220 Stephens Hall 

Seminar and Discussion with Sir Frank Kermode, literary critic and Shakespeare scholar. 643-7413 www.grad.berkeley.edu/tanner 

Community Health Commission 

6:45 - 9:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St. 

New Business: Bioterrorism Presentation by Public Health staff. 644-6500 phd@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Women’s Cancer Resource  

Center Gallery Reception 

1- 3 p.m. 

WCRC Gallery 

3023 Shattuck Ave. 

Opening reception with the artists Rowena Halligan and Margaret Herscher. Exhibit runs through Dec. 13. 548-9286 

Long Term Care Coverage 

1 - 3 p.m. 

Herrick Campus 

Maffley Auditorium 

2001 Dwight Way  

Lecture outlining various options for long term care coverage. 869-6737 

Grandparent Support Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

Malcolm X School, Rm. 105A 

1731 Prince St. 

For grandparents or relatives raising their grandchildren and other relatives. 644-6517 

Town Hall Meeting on Standardized Testing 

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

Elihu Harris State Building Auditorium 

1515 Clay St.  

Assemblymember Dion Louise Aroner convenes this meeting to discuss the money and effort spent each year on standardized testing. 540-3660 

The Teaching of Gurdjieff,  

7 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Public Library 

2940 Benvenue 

A lecture by Kevin Langdon. Gurdjieff’s teaching puts into question all that we think we know about our own nature and the nature of the universe. Free. 524-0345 www.polymath-systems.com/phenomen/gurdj/index.html 

UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Forum on Nuclear Danger and Global Survival 

7 p.m. 

Boalt Hall, Booth Auditorium 

Exploration of nuclear weapons after Sept.11th in terms of terrorism, geopolitics and international responses. Open to the public. Questions for panelists may be e-mailed to: http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/nuclearform 

Baguette Quartette 

7:30 p.m. 

North Branch Berkeley Public Library 

1170 The Alameda 

Performance of music heard on street corners, cafes, and dance halls in Paris between 1920 and 1940. Free. 649-3913 TDD 548-1240 www.infopeople.org/bpl 

Latin Dance Class 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley/Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Salsa, Cha-cha, Merengue... $10, No partner necessary. All ages and levels welcome. 508-4616 

Journeys Along the Arctic’s  

Edge: A Rower’s Odyssey 

7 p.m. 

REI 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Join Jill Fredston for a slide presentation on their remarkable adventures rowing more than 20,000 miles along the shores of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway and Sweden. Free. 527-4140 

– Compiled by Guy Poole 

Editor: 

Once again I am amazed at the brilliance eminating from the home of one our “premier” institutions of higher learning. 

Stop the war? In favor of what? I hear all we care about is oil. In afghanistan? 

I hear our bombing is leading to poverty and starvation. Isn’t it true that only large amounts of foreign aid has kept them from starving for the last ten years and isn’t it also true that the majority of that aid has come from U.S. taxpayers. 

I hear one of your brilliant graduate students on CNN state that we are preventing them from advancing themselves through things like education. 

Isn’t this the country where women are not allowed an education, where women are not allowed a drivers license, where women are shot for being out after dark without their husbands? Isn’t this the country where T.V.s, VCRs and computers are forbidden. Isn’t this the country where men go to jail for an improper beard? Yes, I suppose the war will interfere with education in Afghanistan – and your point is? 

Are the people of Berkeley suggesting we have a rational discussion with these people? 

I am supposed to believe that the slaughter of 5,000 people is understandable because of the poverty of the region. Would the murder of your family, by the son of a wealthy citizen of Berkeley, be understandable because there are homeless people in California and if not would the elimination of such a murderer be a crime. 

Isn’t it amazing how easy it is to justify genocide when committed by non-wasps? 

Robert Colwell 

Coeur d’ Alene, Id.  

924 Gilman St. Nov. 9: Hoods, Punishment, Lords of Light Speed, Necktie Party; Nov. 10: Sunday’s Best, Mock Orange, Elizabeth Elmore, Fighting Jacks, Benton Falls; Nov. 16: Pitch Black, The Blottos, Miracle Chosuke, 240; Nov. 17: Carry On, All Bets Off, Limp Wrist, Labrats, Thought Riot; Nov. 18: 5 p.m., Mad Caddies, Monkey, Fabulous Disaster, Over It; Nov. 23: The Stitches, Starvations, Neon King Kong, Kill Devil Hills, Problem; Nov. 24: Tilt, Missing Link, Cry Baby Cry; Nov. 30: Shitlist, Atrocious Madness, Fuerza X, Catheter, S Bitch, Delta Force; All shows start a 8 p.m. unless noted; Most are $5; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926 

The Albatross Pub Nov. 8:. Keni “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Nov. 13: Mad & Eddie Duran Jazz Duo; Nov. 15: Keni “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Nov. 21: Whiskey Brothers (Old Time & Bluegrass); Nov. 22: Keni “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Nov. 24: Tipsy House Irish Band. All shows start at 9 p.m., 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 

Anna’s Nov. 8: Dreams Unltd; Nov. 9: Anna and Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 10: Robin Gregory and Si Perkoff, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet; Nov. 11: Choro Time; Nov. 12: Renegade Sidemen with Calvin Keys; Nov. 13: Singers’ Open Mic #2; Nov. 14: Bob Shoen Jazz Quintet; Nov. 15: Jazz Singers’ Collective; Nov. 16: Anna & Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 17: Vicki Burns & Felice York, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet; All shows 8 p.m. unless noted. Free. 1901 University Ave., 849-2662 

Blake’s Nov. 8: Ascension, $5; Nov. 9: Delfino, Boomshanka, $5; Nov. 10: Kofy Brown, J. Dogs, $7; Nov.11: Psychotica, $5; Nov. 12: All Star Jam Featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Nov. 13: The Photon Band, Ian Moore, $4; Nov. 14: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free. All shows 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886 

Cal Performances Nov 8: 8 p.m. Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance, $18 - $30; Nov. 10: 7 p.m. & Nov. 11: 3 p.m., The 2001 Festival, $20 - $32; Nov. 29: Les Arts Florissants, $24 - $46; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph. 642-0212 tickets@calperfs. berkeley.edu 

Eli’s Mile High Club Every Friday, 10 p.m. Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10 Doors open at 8 p.m. unless noted. 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Freight & Salvage Nov. 8: Ledward Ka’apana & Cyril Pahinui $17.50 - $18.50; Nov. 9: The Harmony Sisters with Alice Gerrard, Jeanie McLerie & Irene Herrmann $16.50 - $17.50; Nov 10: Barry & Alice Olivier $16.50 - $17.50; Nov. 11: Austin Lounge Lizards $16.50 - $17.50. All Shows 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note Nov. 4: 4:30 p.m. SoVoSo, $15; Nov. 11: 4:30 p.m. Dave Le Febvre Quintet, $12. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 

Jupiter Nov. 8: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 9: Xroads; Nov. 10: Post Junk Trio; Nov. 14: Wayside; Nov. 15: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 16: 5 Point Plan; Nov. 17: Corner Pocket; Nov. 21: Starchild; All shows 8 p.m. and free. 2821 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625/ www.jupiter.com 

MusicSources Nov. 18 Harpsichordist Gilbert Martinez. Both shows 5 p.m. $15-18. 1000 The Alameda 528-1685 

Rose Street House of Music Nov. 8: 7:30 p.m., Jenny Bird and Melissa Crabtree, $5 - $20. 594.4000 x.687 www.rosestreetmusic.com 

“Benefit for Buzzy Linhart” Nov. 9: 7:45 p.m., A number of Bay Area performers wil join together to raise the spirit of disabled singer-songwriter Buzzy Linhart. All ages show, $10. Black Box Gallery, 1928 Telegraph Ave. 451-1932 www.buzzylinhart.com 

“Philharmonia Baroque” Nov. 10: 8 p.m.; Nov. 11: 7:30 p.m., “Optimism and Sacrifice”; $34-$50. First Congregational Church, Dana St. and Durant Ave. 415-392-4400 www.philharmonia.org 

“Berkeley Repertory Theatre Presents Anthony Rapp and His Band” Nov. 13: 8 p.m. Anthony Rapp, currently starring in Berkeley Rep’s “Nocturne,” performs with his three-piece band. $12 - $25. Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., 647-2949 

“Oakland Symphony Chorus and the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra,” presents a joint concert. Nov. 17: 8 p.m.; Nov. 18: 4 p.m.; $15. First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. 465-4199 www.oakland-sym-chorus.org 

“me/you...us/them” Nov. 8 through Nov. 10: Thur - Sat 8 p.m., matinee on Sat. 2:30 p.m. Three one-acts that look at interpersonal, as well as societal relationships from the perspective of the disabled. $10 - $25. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

“Nocturne” Through Nov. 11: Tues./Thurs./Sat. 8 p.m., Weds. & Sun. 7 p.m., matinee on Thurs./Sat./Sun. 2 p.m. Mark Brokaw directs Anthony Rapp in One-Man Show. Written by Adam Rapp. $38 - $54. Berkeley Repertory’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep. org 

“Tomas Carrasco of Chicano Secret Service” Nov. 15: 4 p.m. Performance by member of L.A.-based sketch comedy troupe that uses humor to tackle hot-button racial and political issues. Free. Durham Studio Theater, UC Berkeley 

“Works in the Works 2001” Through Nov. 18: 7:30. East Bay performance series presents a different program each evening. Nov. 3: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; St. Mary’s College Dance Company; Marin Academy. Nov. 4: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; Somi Hongo; Dana Lee Lawton; Seely Quest; Cristina Riberio; Nadia Adame of AXIS Dance Company. $8. Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St., 644-1788 

“Nicholas Nickleby” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. The Young Actors Workshop presents a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby. $10 adults, $8 students and seniors. Performing Arts Center of Contra Costa College, corner of El Portal Dr. and Castro St., San Pablo 235-7800 ext. 4274 

“Lost Cause” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. Three space travelers stranded on a forgotten colony, find themselves in the middle of a bloody civil war, and have to decide between what’s right, what’s possible, and what will save their lives. Written by Jefferson Area, directed by Sarah O’Connell. $7-12. La Val’s Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Ave. 464-4468 www.impacttheatre.com 

“Travesties” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., and Thurs., Nov. 15, 8 p.m. A witty fantasy about James Joyce meeting Lenin in Zurich during World War I. Written by Tom Stoppard, Directed by Mikel Clifford. $10. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck. 528-5620 

Cal Performances Nov. 7: 8 p.m., “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” more than 30 singers, dancers, and musicians present a musical synthesis of the authentic Roma styles. $18 - $30; Nov. 8: 11 a.m., SchoolTime Performance, “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” $3 per student or chaperone, in advance only; Nov. 8: 8 p.m., “Orquesta Aragón,” $18 - $30; Nov. 11: 3 p.m., Recital - Angelika Kirschschlager, Bo Skovhus, and Donald Runnicles. “Wolf/ Die Italienisches Liederbuch,” $45; Nov. 16 - 17: 8 p.m., “La Guerra d’Amore,” director and choreographer, René Jacobs, conductor, Ensemble Concerto Vocale. Modern dance and early music from German choreographer Joachim Schlömer, $34 - $52; Nov. 30 - Dec. 2: Fri. - Sat.8 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m., The Suzuki Company presents a staged interpretation of the Greek classic, “Dionysus”, $30 - $46; UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall. 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Macbeth” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m. Presented by the Albany High School Theater Ensemble. $7 adults, $5 students and seniors. Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. 559-6550 x4125 theaterensemble@hotmail. com 

“Saint Joan” Through Dec. 2: Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., 7 p.m. George Bernard Shaw’s epic of a young girl determined to drive the English out of France with only her faith to support her. Directed by Barbara Oliver. $26-35. Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St. 843-4822 www.auroratheatre. org 

“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 

“Brave Brood” Nov. 8 - Dec. 16 Robert O’Hara directs Robert O’Hara’s searing tale of money, desperation, and the fight for survival. $20. Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. 883-0305 www.transparenttheater.org 

“Much Ado About Nothing” Nov. 20 through Jan. 8: Check theater for specific dates and times. Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy chronicles a handful of soldiers returning from a winning battle to be greeted by a gaggle of giddy maidens. Directed by Brian Kulick. $10 - $54. Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org 

Pacific Film Archive Theater Nov. 9: 7:30 p.m., Friends in High Places; 9:15 p.m., Soldiers in the Army of God; Nov. 10: 7 p.m., Prefab People; 9 p.m., The Outsider; Nov. 11: 3:30 p.m., Born at Home and The Team on B-6; 5:40 p.m., The Creators of Shopping Worlds; Nov. 16: 7:30 p.m., Autumn Almanac; Nov. 17 & 18: 1 p.m., Satantango; Nov. 21: 7 :30 p.m., Macbeth; Nov. 30: 7:30 p.m., Werckmeister Harmonies; 2575 Bancroft Way, 642-1124 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“La Lesbian Film Festival” Nov. 9 - 11. La Peña Cultural Center presents La Lesbian at La Peña: A Lesbian Performance and Film Series. $8 Fine Arts Cinema 2451 Shattuck 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

“50 Years of Photography in Japan 1951 - 2001” Through Nov. 5: An exhibition from The Yomiuri Shimbun, the world’s largest daily newspaper with a national morning circulation of 10,300,000. Photographs of work, love, community, culture and disasters of Japan as seen by Japanese news photographers. Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. U.C. Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism, North Gate Hall, Hearst and Euclid. Free. 642-3383 

“Architects of the Information Age” Through Nov. 10: A solo exhibit showcasing the works of Ezra Li Eismont. Works included in the exhibition are mixed media paintings on panel and assemblage works on paper and canvas. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ardency Gallery, 709 Broadway, Oakland 836-0831 

“Art Benefit for the Gabriel Sussman Rodriguez Education Fund” Nov. 11 - Nov. 16: Over 60 artists have donated work for this tribute to the memory of Wendy Sussman, a painter and professor of art practice and UC Berkeley, and contribute to the education of her son. Sun. - Fri. 1 - 6 p.m. Worth Ryder Gallery, Kroeber hall, UC Berkeley 415-665-6131 

“Jesus, This is Your Life - Stories and Pictures by Kids” Through Nov. 16: California children, ages four through twelve, from diverse backgrounds present original artwork, accompanied by a story written by the artist. “Cleve Gray, Holocaust Drawings” Oct. 15 through Jan. 25: 21 works on paper inviting the viewer to consider the atrocity of the Holocaust in ways unattainable through words or text. Mon. - Thur. 8:30 a.m. -10 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541. 

“Changing the World, Building New Lives: 1970s photographs of Lesbians, Feminists, Union Women, Disability Activists and their Supporters” Through Nov. 17: An exhibit of black and white photographs by Oakland photographer Cathy Cade, who captured the interrelationships of the different struggles for justice and social change. Gallery Hours, Mon. - Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St. Free. 644-1400 cathycade@mindspring.com 

“In Through the Outdoors” Through Nov. 24: Featuring seven artists who work in photography and related media including sculpture and video, this exhibit addresses the shift in values and contemporary concerns about the natural world that surrounds us. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery, 1316 Tenth St. www.traywick.com 

“2001 James D. Phelan Art Awards in Printmaking” Honorees: Bridget Henry, David Kelso, and Margaret Van Patten. Through Nov. 30 Tues. - Fri. noon - 5 p.m., other times by appointment. Kala Art Institue, 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 www.kala.org 

“Furniture Art” Through Dec. 7: An exhibit of metal and wood furniture that revisits furniture not only as art but as craft. 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. The Current Gallery at the Crucible, 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511 www.thecrucible.org 

“The Paintings of Bethany Anne Ayers and Sculpture of Alexander Cheves” Nov. 15 through Dec. 15: Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ardency Gallery, 709 roadway, Oakland. 836-0831 gallery709@aol.com 

“The Whole World’s Watching: Peace and Social Justice Movements of the 1960s and 1970s” Through Dec. 16: A documentary photo exhibition which examines the rich history of the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Wed. - Sun., noon - 5 p.m. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., Live Oak Park. Free. 644-6893 

GTU Exhibit: “Holocaust Series” by Cleve Gray Through Jan. 25: Comprised of 21 works on paper that constitute “a catharsis... for all of humanity.” Mon. - Thurs. 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. noon - 7 p.m.; Free. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541 www.gtu.edu 

“The Art History Museum of Berkeley” 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 Botticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours. Atelier 9 2028 Ninth St. 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books Nov. 9: Lauren Dockett will read from her latest book, “The Deepest Blue: How Women Face and Overcome Depression.”; All events start at 7:30 p.m. unless noted otherwise. All events are free. 398 Colusa Ave. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

Cody’s on Telegraph Ave. Nov. 7: 5:30 p.m. Rimpoche Nawang Gehlek talks about “Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation”, 7:30 p.m. Rea Armantrout & Brenda Hillman read their poetry, $2; Nov. 8 7:30 p.m. Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz present “Kafka Americana”; Nov. 9: 7:30 p.m. Sue Hubbell thinks about “Shrinking the Cat: Genetic Engineering Before We Knew About Genes”; Nov. 11: 7:30 p.m. Mary Leader, Alice Jones & Susan Kolodny read their poetry, $2; Nov. 12: 7:30 p.m. Rabih Alameddine reads from “I, The Divine”; Nov. 13: 7:30 p.m. John Barth reads from “Coming Soon!!!”, Nov. 18: Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux from the Poetry Society of America read,$5; Nov. 28: 7:30 p.m. David Meltzer and contributors read from his newly revised and re-released collection of interviews with Bay Area Beat Poets; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore Nov. 7: Jill Fredston reads from “Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic’s Edge”; Nov. 8: Harry Pariser discusses “Explore Costa Rica”; Nov. 14: Gregory Crouch talks about “Enduring Patagonia.” All shows 7:30 p.m.; 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533 

Eastwind Books of Berkeley Nov. 10: 4 p.m. Ruthanne Lum McCunn reads from her novel “Moon Pearl”; Nov. 18: 4 p.m. Noel Alumit, M.G. Sorongon, and Marianne Villanueva read from their contributions to the anthology “Tilting the Continent: Southeast Asian American Literature”; 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

UC Berkeley Nov. 8: 7 p.m., Reading and book signing with Osha Gray Davidson, author of “Fire In The Turtle House: The Green Sea Turtle and the Fate of the Ocean.” Mulford Bldg., Rm. 132. 848-0110 www.publicaffairsbooks.com/books/fire.html 

“Rhythm and Muse” Nov. 10: 6:30 p.m. This event is supported by Poet’s and Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation. Open mic evening open to all writers and performers. Features poet/musician Avotcja. Free. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893 

“Berkeley’s World” Nov. 10 & 17: 8 p.m. Staged reading of a new play about five Berkeley emigres who form a career support group through an ad placed in the East Bay Express but find they can’t stand each other. Written by Andrea Mock. Free. Speakeasy Theatre, 2016 7th St. 841-9441 

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 Sun., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sun., 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; Nov. 3: Tales from the Enchanted Forest, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.; Nov. 9: Living with the Earth; Nov. 17: Recycle that Stuff; $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Mon. and Wed., 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tues. and Fri., 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thur., 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

Oakland Museum of California Through Nov. 25: Pasajes y Encuentros: Ofrendas for the Days of the Dead, highlights three thematic “passageways” that connect the dead with the living: tradition, humor and spirit. $6 adults, $4 seniors and students, free for children under 5. Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sun. noon - 5 p.m., 10th St., Oakland, 888-625-6873/ www.museumca.org 

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 foot 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. Mon. through Fri., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sat. and Sun., 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.  

University of California Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive has reopened after its summerlong seismic retrofit. “Martin Puryear: Sculpture of the 1990s” through Jan. 13; “The Dream of the Audience: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951 - 1982)” through Dec. 16; “Face of Buddha: Sculpture from India, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia” ongoing rotation through 2003; “Matrix 194: Jessica Bronson, Heaps, layers, and curls” Sept. 16 through Nov. 11; “Matrix 192: Ceal Floyer 37’4”” Sept. 16 through Nov. 11; Wed., Fri., Sat., Sun. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Thur. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., PFA Theater, 2575 Bancroft Way; Museum Galleries 2626 Bancroft Way; 642-0808 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Lawrence Hall of Science “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. 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. 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  

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

Let’s flash back to Sept. 21. The Berkeley High football team had just lost their third straight game to open the season, and had been outscored 121-12 in the three losses. If anyone had suggested that the ’Jackets would be playing for the ACCAL championship to end the season, they would have been laughed out of the stadium. 

But that’s exactly what has happened. Berkeley rebounded from their miserable start to win their next five games, only one of which has been close, and have run off four league wins with no losses. Their plethora of running backs have simply dominated, with five of them scoring at least three touchdowns apiece, and newcomer Raymond Pinkston has solidified the passing game from the quarterback position. The defense finally stopped giving up big plays, racking up two shutouts and giving up just 28 points in the last four games. 

But just as they get to the biggest test of their ACCAL season, a new obstacle has arisen: grades. The first round of grades was released this week, and a large group of players have eligibility problems. Although the Berkeley coaching staff is prohibited from commenting on players’ grades, as many as 13 players could be ineligible for tonight’s game, including up to seven starters. At least four of those starters are spending today working on getting grade changes into the computer system to get themselves in uniform. 

“We just have to live with it,” wide receiver Lee Franklin said. “I’m kind of disappointed in some guys who didn’t pick up their books, but we can’t dwell on it.” 

Some Berkeley players think the school’s administration is being overly harsh in their enforcement of grades. Several players turned in late homework after the grades were issued, and teachers were willing to improve their grades based on the new work. But unless the grades are entered into the computer system today, the administration considers them invalid for the game. 

“There’s so much negativity around here, coming from the administration, other students, just about everybody, it feels like everyone’s against us,” linebacker Akeem Brown said. “But we know what we have to do.” 

But the ’Jackets could be seriously handicapped in a game against an opponent that is heavily favored. Pinole Valley is undefeated in league play, just like the ’Jackets, and is favored coming into today’s game. The Spartans use a power running game to wear down opponents, as tailback DeAndre McFarland has rushed for 1,597 yards and 23 TDs behind a line that features three players who weigh in at more than 300 pounds. 

“McFarland is an amazing running back, and he’s torched some very good teams this year,” Berkeley head coach Matt Bissell said. “Their offensive line are just beaters. They just punish people.” 

The key to the game could be Berkeley defensive tackle Jamal Lucas-Johnson. The 300-pound junior has been out for four games with an ankle injury, and it’s not clear whether he will be able to play. If he can’t, it could be a long game for a Berkeley defensive line that can’t match Pinole Valley’s brawn. In addition, there could be as many as five new starters on defense due to eligibility problems. 

“We’re going to have a bunch of people playing that haven’t played that much, so I’m a little nervous,” senior Nick Schooler said. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep tonight.” 

Berkeley’s seniors insist they knew they league title would come down to the final game. The ’Jackets and Spartans ended last year in a three-way tie for the championship with El Cerrito, and Berkeley would love to take the title outright this season. 

“It’s just like a playoff atmosphere,” Franklin said. “We didn’t get it done last year, so we’ve got to leave everything on the field.”

Parents filled the Berkeley Community Theater’s backstage area Tuesday to air simmering frustrations about a special education system in schools criticized as unaccountable and resistant to their children’s needs. 

“We’ve never had such an opportunity,” said Ann McDonald Pacho, a member of Berkeley Special Education Parents Group, who helped organize the gathering. “The silence has been there for years.” 

Approximately 900 families have children with special education needs in Berkeley schools, she said, and about 90 parents came to the meeting. 

Standing for more than two hours, Superintendent Michelle Lawrence candidly acknowledged the organizational problems she inherited last summer when she took the district’s helm. She asked for the parents’ patience. 

“We can make this an American model if we can just get on the same page,” she said. 

Patience, however, was in short supply among the parents, many of whom trembled with emotion in recounting their battles to attain special education services for their children. 

Suzy Marzuola praised the deaf education program her son attends at John Muir Elementary, but in a complaint voiced by many, said the process of setting up an Individual Education Plan for him was “horrific” for its tone of “battle lines in the sand.” 

“We had to pay to make sure we were listened to,” she said. “It’s got to stop. Angry people is what it results in.” 

Also high on the list of parent complaints was staff accountability, with stories of chronically unreturned phone calls, months of inexplicable delays and staffers who arrive unprepared for IEP meetings. Parents were also upset that decisions about their children are being made without explanation. 

“People who never lay eyes on a child are making the decisions,” said parent Raychelle Lee. 

Diane Christensen asked for a “customer service policy.” 

“If you get a phone call from somebody,” she said, “you return it before three weeks go by.” 

David Nygren recommended that the district hire consultants to define job descriptions for everybody on staff to ensure greater accountability. He also accused the district of refusing to place his child in a special school because of cost concerns. 

Lawrence said she would look into having more evaluations, a process that sometimes involves union negotiations. But she admitted frankly: “The evaluation process of employees in this organization is practically non-existent.” 

Parents have asked that finances and programs for the special education system be audited. Lawrence said a financial audit had been requested and that state Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team — soon to step in to resolve the district’s financial crisis — would do its own audit. 

A program audit, however, has not yet been planned, she said. 

Several parents warmly praised individual special education teachers and the teaching staff as a whole during the evening, but noted they were overloaded with work.  

Terri Waller, a parent with a fourth-grader, was the lone voice asking for the creation of a staff position specifically to look-after those whose parents are not, for any reason, advocating their needs.  

“Kids without family structures are totally left out of this discussion,” she said.  

“There are more of those kids than all of the people here,” Waller continued. “A lot of those kids are not in the system at all.” 

Trying to lighten the mood after more than an hour of non-stop complaints, Lawrence, fighting a cold and clutching a handkerchief, made a rare public admission of how difficult her job is. She asked the parents to name the good things about the program.  

“I get so depressed,” she said with a smile. 

The parents obliged by calling out the names of half-a-dozen teachers. One applauded the Berkeley High School occupational therapists as a group. 

The good feelings were short-lived, however. Later, parent Raychelle Lee began naming names of administrative staff she considered problematic, and Lawrence stopped her cold. 

“You can tell me anything you want in private, but I don’t want people to be attacked in public.” 

At one especially tense moment, a teacher in the front row said loudly: “I haven’t been evaluated in 10 years.” 

Lawrence, looking wilted, paused, looked at the teacher and turned to the audience. 

“That’s right,” she said. “She may be great, and she may not be great. Or she may be both.” 

While avoiding a blanket statement of support for “full inclusion” of special education students into regular programs, the superintendent stated early in the meeting that she thought many problems in special education were the result of putting students in a separate administrative category.  

“The minute you group kids under the umbrella of Special Education Department, the ownership of responsibility for educating children with different needs becomes isolated,” she said. 

She referred back to this philosophy after Beth Fine, a Berkeley High parent, said the district had neglected to seek money for special education technology through a sub-program of the state’s Digital High School fund. 

“There shouldn’t be a grant written in this organization that doesn’t include special education,” Lawrence said. 

“Our organization is tightly linked,” she said at another point. “What happens with special education students also happens for regular students.”  

She proposed that special education teachers train regular teachers to share knowledge on issues common to both. 

Throughout the evening, Lawrence attempted to create a sense of unity in tackling the special-education problem.  

“We can no longer be an isolated group of individuals,” she said.  

But she tempered this message at every step with calls for a sober acceptance of the district’s murky financial situation. 

“We can have anything we want, but we can’t have everything we want,” she said twice. “Our community as a whole is not real good at accepting ‘no’ as an answer.” 

A parent rose in the audience and shot back: “People are not going to accept ‘no’ as an answer when we haven’t been given respectful treatment. There has to be a buildup of trust on both sides of the table.” 

Earlier in the evening, Lawrence constructed an outsider’s observation on the nature of Berkeley itself. She said she encounters a lot of “animosities and defensiveness,” — not only among special education staff and parents, but throughout the district’s many departments. 

“I’ve never been any place where so many people are so angry and so frustrated in every aspect I walk into,” Lawrence said. “Maybe Berkeley has its share of passionate people, but it seems there’s some dysfunction here. ... What I’m encountering is very different people who are on very different pages.”

Editor: 

I have just read on the BBC’s Internet site that certain people are calling for a boycott of businesses of the city of Berkeley because of the resolutions passed by the City Council about the bombing of Afghanistan. I read the motions passed and for what it’s worth, from the other side of the Atlantic in England the motions look in no way traitorous, disloyal, or in anyway threatening to the United States. 

On the contrary, they are intelligent, humane, far–sighted and dignified, and the council are doing a service to your nation by making such views public. I have written to the council in support of their position. 

What happened on Sept. 11 was an attack on freedom, democracy and the sanctity of human life, the bedrock of your society and mine. 

Only by truly protecting these values can we ultimately triumph against the evil people that launched the attacks.  

Actions taken by the United States and allies in response to Sept. 11 must always keep these values at the forefront, or we will have already lost the battle against those who attack us by degrading our lives and society ourselves. 

Freedom of thought and speech, a plurality of views, and universal respect for human life without reference to race, religion or color is what makes our society better than those who wish to destroy it. And America has always stood at the forefront of protecting those values. 

Here in England views on the war are mixed. They range from total support for unrestricted bombing, to a wish for all military intervention to end now. But what matters is that we are having a debate, and even our prime minister Tony Blair has now accepted that all views are valid, as the discussion and dissent shows our democracy is alive. 

I urge the people of Berkeley to keep up your brave stance. I hope that your city isn’t hit too hard economically by any ill-thought-out boycott in already–troubled times. But to be honest, your stand, coming from inside America itself, is worth more than any amount of money. By keeping the moral, human, and freedom-based core of America alive at this time is a gift for generations to come both at home and abroad. 

If that core is extinguished now, and a uniformity of opinion that eliminates all dissent and respect for life takes over, then America, and the world will be irrevocably stained and dehumanized for ever, whether we catch Osama bin Laden or not. 

Keep up the struggle, for your own nation, and the rest of us in the world. 

Toby Chopra 

London 

’Jackets now 26-0 in ACCAL, should host playoff game 

The Berkeley High girls’ volleyball team finished up the regular season with yet another ACCAL win on Wednesday, beating De Anza in straight games, 15-1, 15-5, 15-7. 

Berkeley is now 26-0 in its first two seasons in the league, and improved its overall record this season to 27-6. 

It was Senior Night on Wednesday, with a pregame ceremony honoring Desiree Guilliard-Young, Latisha Harris and Emily Friedman for their contributions to the program. Guillard-Young got some special attention, as she is now the school record-holder for career and single-season marks in kills, solo blocks and team blocks. The 6-foot-5 middle blocker will continue her career at Baylor University next year. 

Berkeley was missing two key players, Vanessa Williams and Ilana Barr, due to injury. 

De Anza (12-10, 10-4) proved to be a tough opponent for the depleted ’Jackets, putting up more resistance than the final score indicates. But they were simply overpowered by the Berkeley front line, with Guilliard-Young racking up 10 kills and three blocks and junior Amalia Jarvis, filling in at outside hitter, making nine kills and nine digs. 

The ’Jackets made it much harder on themselves by serving terribly. The committed 13 serving errors, making it tough to get a rally going. In fact, Berkeley didn’t have a run of more than three points the entire night. 

“If we ever get to a point where we’re not missing a million serves, we’ll be pretty good,” Berkeley head coach Justin Caraway said. 

Next up for the ’Jackets is the opening round of the North Coast Section playoffs, where they have lost in each of the last three seasons. With only eight teams making the cut in Division I, there are no easy wins on the horizon, but Caraway thinks his team can do some damage. 

“We match up pretty well with most of the other teams,” he said. “If we’re focused and understand that we can beat anyone out there, we can.” 

As a league champion, the ’Jackets should get a home game for their opening match on Tuesday. The only way they would have to go on the road is if they are going against another league champion that earns a higher seed. Caraway considers that unlikely, saying the ’Jackets should get a No. 3 or 4 seed, competing with James Logan and Castro Valley for a top spot. 

“We ought to be getting a home game to start,” he said. “Our league may not be as strong as some others, but we’ve beaten some good teams along the way.”

Berkeley’s Fire Department has purchased nerve gas antidotes for its paramedic teams, and emergency personnel will soon receive in-depth training on how to handle biological and chemical threats.  

Berkeley, like other cities around the country, has been receiving daily calls regarding suspicious white powders. They are all false alarms, including incidents where the powder has actually been laundry detergent spilled on a front porch, sheet rock dust or Q-tips sent to Alta Bates hospital in an envelope reading: “have anthrax.” 

“We’ve been getting five to seven suspicious envelopes brought to the department every day,” said Lt. Les Putnam, hazardous materials captain at the Berkeley Fire Department, who added that anthrax hype has put a strain on his department’s resources. 

Paramedic Supervisor Dion Williams attended a countywide training Friday to ensure Berkeley’s compliance with Alameda County standards for handling anthrax and other bio-terrorism threats. The county’s Health Department and Oakland Fire Department sponsored the seminar for supervisors of emergency medical workers. The supervisors are expected to train their departments by Dec. 1. 

At the training, Dr. Jim Pointer of the Health Department explained that anthrax bacteria actually has three strains: An inhaled form, a form that affects the skin and a gastrointestinal form. He said it may take days for those exposed to develop symptoms. People die from anthrax because their chest, including the heart, fills with blood.  

The training also covered other potential threats. Plagues, which killed millions of people in centuries past, still survives as a rare disease affecting a few Californians each year, Pointer said. 

Smallpox, which in 1980 was officially eradicated in the United States, still survives in some laboratories around the world and could be extremely contagious if re-released.  

Pointer emphasized he was sharing this information for training purposes only – not to alarm the public. There has been no news about these hazards actually manifesting themselves, Pointer said. 

“It’s simple preparedness,” he said. 

Pointer also presented some chilling facts about chemical weapons. Some are easily available to the public because they have a practical use. Cyanide, for example, is used in printing, photography and agriculture. There is an antidote to the poison, however, which Pointer said specialized medics on “hazmat” teams should carry. 

Other chemicals were specifically developed by military entities “to kill and maim others,” Pointer told trainees.  

These chemical agents are not available to the general public in the United States — only to authorized military personnel.  

Some chemicals, like Soman, bind to enzymes in the nervous system in a few minutes and patients cannot be treated afterwards. Victims exposed to other nerve gases can be treated more readily using antidotes injected into the blood stream. 

Using practice injection kits, Williams and others at the training pretended to shoot antidotes into their thighs, directly through their clothing.  

In the event of a real emergency, paramedics and emergency technicians would first inject themselves. 

“If we’re going to be effective in saving lives, we first have to save our own life,” said Bill Wittmer, special operations chief for the Oakland Fire Department. “If we become victims, we can’t serve the public.” 

Even prior to Sept. 11, Oakland had started developing a Metropolitan Medical Response system in the event of a terrorist attack. The city was one of 120 nationwide selected as grant recipients for such a program by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

This designation allowed Oakland to act as a conduit for Alameda County to accelerate training and ordering of emergency supplies after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. 

“We were able to cut through some red tape,” said Fanning.  

Oakland’s size and status allowed Berkeley and other cities to order supplies through the Oakland Fire Department. 

Berkeley has ordered kits, which include injectable antidotes for nerve gas agents — enough to cover all personnel on duty during any one shift, Putnam said.  

The Berkeley Fire Department does not plan to stock large numbers of antidote kits to inject civilians, however. The focus will be on ensuring that “rescuers can continue the job of rescuing people,” said Assistant Fire Chief David Orth. 

The antidote has limitations, Orth said, because it must be injected immediately after exposure. If nerve gas were released, there would probably be some casualties before rescuers could arrive on scene.  

“You can’t just stick anybody with it and be done with it,” Orth said of the antidote. “I don’t want to give people a false sense of security.” 

Berkeley will also add new protection devices to its rigs, including stronger suits and special respiration devices to use in case of anthrax exposure. 

The Oakland Fire Department serves a larger population and has ordered 2,100 antidote kits. About half of the kits are intended for treating the public in an emergency, said Dale Fanning, the terrorism preparedness coordinator for the Oakland Fire Department.  

Oakland has also ordered enough Cipro, the drug used to treat anthrax, to supply 10,000 people in the area for two days, Fanning said. After that, the city plans to rely on the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile to send more supplies by air. 

Orth said Berkeley has not ordered any stores of Cipro, but the city could request the drug or perhaps draw on Oakland’s supply if needed.  

“At this point, I haven’t heard Oakland say they’re not going to share it,” he said. 

American Medical Response, a private ambulance company serving most of Alameda County, also plans to train its 600 staff members on the emergency procedures. Jennifer Reed, field training coordinator, said to date, only supervisors carry nerve gas antidote kits.  

“It’s a problem if you’re exposed and your supervisor is five miles away,” she said. 

Reed said she wasn’t fazed by the in-depth information on potential biohazards, but by the easy access to such information. 

“You can get all this information off the (Centers for Disease Control) Web site,” she said. “The knowledge is out there if they want it.” 

“Just like burning buildings,” Williams said, “we don’t lie awake at night worried that a fire might break out. If we’re faced with it, we’ll handle it.” 

The Daily Planet received this letter to Mayor Shirley Dean and City Councilmembers: 

This letter is in support of the General Plan Section T 35 for improving parking in downtown Berkeley.  

Most people agree that the automobile creates unwanted congestion, pollution, road rage etc. and that something should be done about it. But we have not yet been moved to seriously consider alternatives as we continue to dream of the perfect parking place, preferably within 20 yards of our destination. 

Why don’t we use the creativity of the very arts community that is lobbying so aggressively for increased parking to rally our citizens to use alternate means of transportation. If only those people who cannot walk, ride bicycles or take public transportation were to use the existing garages, we would have no shortage of space. And for those who must drive we can work on making satellite parking attractive. 

For the last dozen years I have been working with artists in downtown Berkeley, organizing concerts, exhibitions and performances of every imaginable sort as director of the Berkeley Store Gallery and the Berkeley Arts Festival. I have a good idea of the kind of ingenuity, enthusiasm, playfulness and good will that abound here. With the support of the entire arts community we could put Berkeley on the map as a model for “How to Make Downtown More People Friendly and Learn to Love the Bus.” 

To kick off the campaign I propose a performance piece in which we conduct a survey of people on the treadmills at the YMCA to compare how many miles they have run with the miles they drove to get to the Y. 

Bonnie Hughes 

Berkeley 

Tom Holmoe is a lame duck. The Cal head coach announced his resignation, effective at the end of the current season, last weekend. He’s just playing out the string, probably fielding job offers from other coaches while trying to keep his team together. But what about the players he recruited to the program, the ones who are still fighting for playing time, for a possible NFL career, for pride? 

Apparently they just move on. 

“(Holmoe and I) are about as close as a coach and player can get,” cornerback Atari Callen said Tuesday. “But my emotions didn’t shift much when I heard. We knew it was coming, it was just a matter of when he was going to tell us.” 

Holmoe’s timing was well thought out, according to the coach. 

“The big question for me, when I thought about when I would make an announcement as to my resignation, I knew it was going to be at the end of the season but the timing was a difficult choice to make,” Holmoe said. “I figured that with three games to go they would be strong enough to want to make it through.” 

The Bears are winless this season. They host the USC Trojans on Saturday, their last home game, and are expected to draw their smallest attendance in years, even smaller than the crowd last weekend for the loss to Arizona that filled less than half the stadium.  

But Holmoe thinks his team can finish strong, and he’s not the only one. 

“We’ve got to get (Holmoe) a win before he leaves,” Callen said. “Some teams need some kind of tragedy to fire them up. Maybe this is what we need to get motivated and finally get a win.” 

USC head coach Pete Carroll is worried about just that. He and Holmoe are old friends, having coached together for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1990s, and Carroll thinks the announcement could actually free up Holmoe to be more daring in his final three games. 

“I know Tom is going through some hard times right now, but we have to be ready for anything,” Carroll said. “It’s got to be a relief to be able to concentrate on just getting through his last few games.”

The effort to amend the city’s Landmarks Preservation Ordinance has been on the table for nearly two years now, and it had been hoped that a special meeting Monday might bring the long process one step closer to fruition. 

Those hopes were dashed, however, when the Landmarks Preservation Commission decided to postpone the matter until next month, to allow more time to study the city attorney’s draft changes.  

The changes to the ordinance may end up giving the LPC additional powers – including the right to deny demolition of landmarked buildings, which is currently a power held by the Zoning Adjustments Board. They may also take some of the LPC’s powers away, by relegating some tasks to the city’s planning staff. 

In addition, the changes will help streamline certain aspects of the city’s process for new building developments, hopefully preventing confusing situations like those that arose in the debate about the Temple Beth El expansion. 

Commissioners will likely hold another special meeting sometime before the LPC’s next scheduled meeting in early December to discuss the issue. 

Staff members in the planning department and the city attorney’s office have been working on the proposed changes – which are designed to help the city conform with the state Permit Streamlining Act – since early 2000. 

The Permit Streamlining Act, which was passed in 1977 and modified several times since, mandates local agencies to either approve or deny proposed building projects within 90 days after an application is filed.  

In an early report to the LPC on the subject, some staffers wrote that the process for developers set up by the LPO often conflicts with the PSA, leaving city staff and commissions to scramble to make sure they adhere to both. 

In addition to amending the LPO, several complementary changes are being proposed for the city’s zoning ordinance. 

The LPC is taking a two-phase approach to changes. According to LPC member Jeffrey Eichenfield, the first phase, which the commission is studying now, involve “ordinance clean-up” – changes that are not controversial. 

Some commissioners expressed dismay that the LPC was not able to reach agreement on these changes Monday. 

“We made another stab at getting a ‘Phase One’ set of changes approved, and we hope to do that soon,” said Commissioner Becky O’Malley. 

Eichenfield said the part of the reason for the delay was the complexity of the legal language in which the amendments are written, and the fact that commissioners want to make certain that the changes did not dramatically change the city’s landmarking procedure. 

“Rewriting any ordinance is a difficult process,” he said. “We know our ordinance, we’ve been operating under it for 20 years, and we’re comfortable with it. 

“We’re getting a lot closer, but we’re just taking it section by section. It takes time.” 

One amendment proposed under “Phase One” would change the LPC’s procedures for dealing with proposed demolitions of designated city landmarks. 

“Currently, the LPC can suspend the demolition of a landmarked building for a year,” said O’Malley. “Under the new rule, it will simply have to deny the demolition, so that the developer can appeal the decision to the City Council right away.” 

Another provision would clarify the procedures the city takes when the LPC and the Zoning Adjustments Board take differing stands on an development, as happened in the debate over Temple Beth El’s expansion earlier this year. 

In that case, the LPC had denied the project while ZAB had approved it. Both decisions prompted separate appeals to the City Council – a complex situation that was resolved only when the temple and neighborhood groups reached a compromise. 

Once the “Phase One” recommendations are approved, they will be sent to the city council for a final vote. The commission will begin work on “Phase Two” comprised of more controversial items that will be resolved with the help of an outside consultant. 

Among the items proposed for “Phase Two” are a provision that would allow the LPC secretary, a member of the city planning staff, to approve certain minor changes or upkeep to landmarked buildings. 

The city has acquired a $25,000 grant from the state Office of Historic Preservation to study other cities’ landmark ordinances and prepare recommendations for changes to the LPO.

Editor: 

I am so proud of my city (Berkeley) standing up in the face of the lockstep jingoistic insanity going on in this country. Do most Americans “really” feel safer now that we’re bombing the living hell out of Afghan peasants? 

I hope so, indeed. 

As for me –– I feel glad that Berkeley is so far ahead of its time, looking so very many years into the future, when the rest of humanity catches up (if it survives) and learns that acting righteous and keeping one’s boot on the neck of those born by some chance in another place isn’t what gets us the most security. Or fulfillment either –– but at least the most militaristic minds of our nation can be happy for now as we wreak our holy vengeance, yes? 

In Truth, Justice –– and the “real” American Way. 

Mandeep S. Gill 

Palo Alto 

U.C. Berkeley grad student 

UC students led a demonstration at the Citibank branch on Shattuck Avenue Wednesday, to protest the bank’s involvement in the Three Gorges Dam project in China. 

They charge that Citibank’s parent corporation, Citigroup, has underwritten two bond issues for the China Development Bank, which is financing the project. 

“The dam will create cheaper power for Chinese people, but we think there are better ways to do that,” said Aaron Scheinwald of the California Public Interest Research Group. 

The International Rivers Network, a Berkeley-based non-governmental organization, estimates that the dam, which is scheduled to be completed in 2014, will flood 350 miles of the Yangtze River Valley, displace 1.9 million people and further threaten the Baiji River Dolphin, an endangered species. 

The demonstrators said that they passed out 150 informational flyers in 20 minutes, and were getting favorable responses from Citibank customers. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Two ballot measures that would allow the seizure Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s transmission lines and plants and provide energy through a public power agency hinged on thousands of uncounted ballots. 

The ballots were being held Wednesday as a precaution, in case any were infected with anthrax. 

Voters chose between two competing public power measures one day after PG&E announced a 243 percent increase in profits for the past quarter. The company has spent more than $1 million fighting the measures and trying to protect its assets, which came under fire after the state’s power crisis led to high energy prices and customers suffered through rolling blackouts. 

With thousands of ballots, including 5,500 absentee ballots left uncounted Wednesday, Proposition F was leading 56,008 votes to 53,760 votes, a 51-49 percent margin. The competing proposal, Measure I, was losing by the same 49-51 percent margin, with 52,524 votes for and 53,865 against. 

Proposition F would allow an elected board to declare eminent domain and buy the necessary PG&E infrastructure to serve the city, as well as transform the city utilities commission into a department of water and power similar to that of Los Angeles. 

Measure I would create an independent municipal utility district representing San Francisco and Brisbane with an elected board, similar to Sacramento’s, that also could buy PG&E power plants and transmission lines. 

Both agencies would issue bonds to raise the millions they would need to buy PG&E property, pay workers and buy any electricity they can’t generate. 

The absentee ballots were taken Tuesday to an auditorium instead of City Hall for fear that any possible anthrax contamination could close down the building. 

Election officials stressed they had received no threats about anthrax, but were just being cautious. 

State officials including Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, and S. David Freeman, chairman of the state’s Power Authority and a top adviser to Gov. Gray Davis, support public power. 

“Where in California have the lights been on and the prices been stable? In Sacramento and L.A.,” Freeman said at a news conference on the steps of City Hall last Friday. 

PG&E, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and myriad business groups called the public power measures too costly and too risky. The bankrupt utility’s parent, PG&E Corp., contributed most of the $1.4 million spent to defeat public power to avoid ripple effects elsewhere in the utility’s territory.

SAN FRANCISCO — While solar power won overwhelmingly in San Francisco’s elections, two ballot measures that would let the city seize Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s transmission lines, were still too close to call Wednesday. 

With all precincts reporting, solar-friendly Proposition B won with 73 percent of the vote. It allows the city to issue a $100 million revenue bond to build solar and wind power systems. Another solar measure, Proposition H, which allows city supervisors to issue future bonds for renewable energy projects without voter approval, received 55 percent support. 

With all of the precincts reporting, Jim Lazarus and Dennis Herrera will compete in a December runoff for city attorney. 

Susan Leal was elected treasurer with 86 percent of the votes. 

Proposition A received 73 percent of the vote, authorizing the San Francisco Community College District to borrow $195 million by issuing bonds. The money will be used to build new facilities, improve existing facilities, reduce class size and improve access to information technology. 

Proposition D, which requires voter approval before approving any project that would require filling in part of San Francisco Bay, passed with 75 percent of the vote.

FREMONT — Bay Area Rapid Transit officials and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority announced Wednesday a tentative deal to take BART south from Fremont to San Jose and Santa Clara. 

The transit route extension would cost an estimated $3.7 billion and take BART an additional 16 miles along the Silicon Valley Rapid Transit Corridor serving Milpitas, San Jose and Santa Clara with seven stations. The funding for the project is expected to come from VTA, the state of California and federal grants. 

BART director Thomas Blalock said BART taxpayers will be protected from spending funds to subsidize the system. 

The agreement also calls for the South Bay transit agency to pay $48 million per year to BART to cover the cost of running trains and maintaining the system, and to cover much of the cost of building the extension. The VTA runs Santa Clara County’s buses and light-rail system. 

The South Bay agency runs Santa Clara County’s buses and light-rail system. 

VTA and BART must ratify the agreement. The VTA board is expected to consider the agreement at a meeting on Nov. 9. The BART board will take up the agreement at a meeting on Nov. 13. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reached a settlement on Wednesday over a lawsuit that alleged racial harassment and retaliatory discharge. 

The terms of the settlement include the payment of $35,000 to Keith Bogard who was allegedly racial harassed by a resident of one of Catholic Charities’ facilities. Bogard left the employ of Catholic Charities over three years ago. 

Catholic Charities denies the allegations but has agreed to provide the equal employment opportunity training to employees as well as residents. 

SAN LEANDRO — Registered nurses approved a new collective bargaining agreement with the San Leandro Hospital, the California Nurses Association announced Wednesday. 

The new contract, which was reached Oct. 31 and approved by vote Tuesday, will provide for a 19.5 percent wage increase over three years and is retroactive to July 1, 2001. 

Under the new agreement, newly hired nurses and recent nursing school graduates will not be counted in determining staffing levels. 

A “Staff Nurse Availability List” will be maintained for use by the charge nurse when the number of RNs at work is considered inadequate for a shift on a unit, as part of the agreement. 

Fake teeth, devil horns will return next year 

Every September, a gaggle of ghoulish masks, devil horns and witches’ broomsticks invade the storefront at University and Shattuck avenues, turning it into a hub of Halloween fun. But come November, they disappear like apparitions in the night.  

With Halloween already a fading memory, Berkeley’s Halloween Headquarters has shut its doors and started its annual pilgrimage back home. The rows of Dracula capes and sexy nurse outfits will soon sit in warehouses. And the store’s 25 temporary employees will go their separate ways – until next year. 

“We take a week or so to pack up here and do inventory,” said store manager Melody Bounsall, 24. “Then, everyone goes back to their regular lives, and I return to the warehouse to reorganize.” 

With 11 temporary and two permanent stores scattered throughout Northern California, Too Much Fun/Halloween Headquarters is one of several chains making a profit from what Bounsall calls the largest-grossing American holiday except Christmas. The Dixon-based chain sells infant, children’s and adult costumes as well as masks, wigs, makeup, accessories, decorations and gags.  

District Manager Jon Waldrep said the business depends solely on Halloween sales for revenue, but success depends on year-round planning by a small team of permanent staff members. 

“We spend a lot of time researching what to buy,” said Waldrep. “We look at what TV shows or movies are popular. But it’s really hit or miss. Sometimes we’re right. And sometimes we’re wrong.” 

This year, the chain profited by guessing patriotism would be popular. But the team hasn’t always been so successful in predicting the public’s taste. 

Four years ago, for instance, Waldrep said the license for McDonald’s came out. 

“Everybody in the industry thought it was going to be the biggest thing,” he said. “There were Ronald McDonald costumes, burgers, fries, shakes. But it was a huge flop. Customers didn’t want them. And now we’re all still selling those costumes, trying to get rid of them.” 

While Waldrep said he periodically places custom orders with costume manufacturers, most of the chain’s stock comes from catalogs or trade shows. Every year, Halloween Headquarters’ staff attends industry shows in Chicago, New York and Las Vegas. 

“The Chicago show is the biggest,” said Waldrep. “There are thousands of people and hundreds of vendors. One week is barely enough time to see everything.” 

Despite the misses, Waldrep said the company is able to weather economic conditions. It continues to grow and is even considering opening a permanent store in Berkeley. 

“It’s a profitable business,” said Waldrep. “This year, we’re still up over last year despite recent events.”  

Bounsall said the Berkeley store, which sublets its storefront from Rite Aid every August to November, was able to sell more than $30,000 in merchandise on its best-selling days.  

“In September, our sales were mainly from Cal students buying costumes for frat parties or crazy pranks,” Bounsall said. “But we made the majority of our annual sales the week before Halloween.” 

Last year, Bounsall said the Berkeley store raked in $318,000 in total gross sales.  

“Halloween appeals to a wide range of people, and it’s becoming more and more sophisticated,” said Waldrep, explaining part of the chain’s success.  

“When I was a kid, I was a hobo seven years in a row. My mom would throw me some dirty clothes and that was my costume. But kids nowadays want to glow or light up, or they want blood gushing from their costumes.” 

Bounsall added that adults get into the holiday too.  

“It’s a good excuse to get dressed up for a day and just get crazy,” she said.  

But, perhaps the biggest Halloween fans are the 25 temporary Berkeley store’s employees.  

Andy Zevallos, who had been laid off from his job in the concrete industry, said he decided to work at Halloween Headquarters to earn extra money while fulfilling one of his passions: special effects makeup. 

“I was hired to do makeup on all the employees,” said the 25-year-old. “I like making people look as gory as possible. And I like working with full facial prosthetics of any kind.” 

Waldrep said while the chain cannot compete with the prices of big box retailers, such as Target, it relies on its entertaining atmosphere to attract customers.  

“Our stores have music, flashing lights and fog machines,” he said. “The employees dress up, and customers can try-on hats and beards or whatever. People can let go and play. It’s just a fun place to be.”

League of Women Voters presents forum on race relations Saturday 

How many people of another race or ethnicity do you know so well you can talk to them about issues of race in American society without worrying that hurt feelings and misunderstandings will result? 

Not too many? 

Ever wonder why these conversations are so hard? Ever think that maybe a community’s inability to discuss these issues openly could have a lasting negative impact? 

If so, you may want to be a part of a “community conversation” this Saturday, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Rosa Parks Elementary School.  

Entitled “Confronting Racism: Finding Common Ground for Building a Stronger Community,” the daylong meeting comes after months of planning by the Berkeley/Albany/Emeryville chapter of the League of Women Voters. 

Inspired by the vision of the chapter’s new education committee chairperson, Marissa Saunders, an African-American woman and one of only about 20 minorities in the chapter’s 400-plus membership, League leaders decided this summer the time has come to confront racism head on. 

Nancy Bickel, president of the chapter, said the league has a long history of fighting for racial equality, dating from its advocacy for school integration in the years leading up to Brown vs. Board of Education (1954).  

During the chapter’s annual meeting this spring, members reaffirmed this position by making the fight to close the racial achievement gap in local schools a top priority for the year.  

But, surveying the Berkeley community (and her own organization), Bickel was dismayed by what she saw. Too many groups, committees, governing boards, et cetera were not integrated, she said, and there was very little cross-racial collaboration to address racial inequalities in the areas of education, housing or healthcare.  

No wonder there has been so little progress, Bickel thought. 

“When we were young, we thought we’d be much further along,” said Bickel, 60, a League member since 1977. “I don’t see that the situation in Berkeley schools is any better than when my kids were in the schools, and they’re 33 and 34 now.” 

Increasing activism around race 

It’s been a frustration shared by many in Berkeley in recent years. Berkeley PTA leaders organized a community conversation in 1999 to examine the question of why minority parents weren’t more active in the organization – particularly when the performance of minority students in the system was clearly a pressing issue.  

Rev. D. Mark Wilson, Ph.D. of the McGee Avenue Baptist Church, was a facilitator at that meeting. He said many African-American participants left disappointed that the meeting had not led to any concrete action plans. There was a perception among some, he said, that you “come and share your frustration but you never see anything change.” 

Last year, a group of concerned African- American parents decided to go it alone and formed the group, Parents of Children of African Descent. But after a year of pressuring the school board to do more to help struggling minority students, PCAD members decided they still weren’t being heard.  

In January, they packed a school board meeting with supporters and demanded that the board provide money to implement their own intervention program. The board approved the program, Rebound, for 50 students failing multiple classes (almost all of them African-American). 

Others have been inspired by the PCAD example. They have begun to confront the school district’s problems in starkly racial terms, breaking with what they see as a reluctance in progressive Berkeley – the first city to voluntarily desegregate its schools in 1968 – to call it like it is. 

“There is a lot of surface easiness among people in the city in terms of interaction between the races,” said Father George Crespin of St. Joseph the Worker Church. “But, when you look at Berkeley High School, the end product of the education system, its very clear that the racial groups are highly defined and pretty much segregated.” 

This summer, Crespin helped organize a community meeting in which school district leaders were invited to St. Joseph. They were asked not to speak, but to listen as Latino parents and students told how they felt the system was failing them. 

“It’s a question, I think, that no one wants to take on head on,” Crespin said. “Something is not consistent. Whenever you’re in a conversation in the Berkeley community, very quickly people get nervous and don’t want to talk about what the racial implications (of something) might be.” 

The search for dialogue 

It was against this backdrop of increasing racial activism that Saunders seized the idea of a community conversation on racism. 

Like many, Saunders, a 33-year-old single parent, entered the world of Berkeley’s racial politics by way of the school district. When the district opened City of Franklin Elementary School in 1999, Saunders transferred her daughter, then a third-grader, to the new school.  

Soon, Saunders became very involved. She worked as the school’s site coordinator, became co-president of its fledgling PTA, and joined both a Franklin budget committee and a districtwide budget committee. 

But the more involved she became in school politics, the more frustrated Saunders became with how much that system seemed to be dominated by the voices and concerns of Berkeley’s white, affluent community. 

“What I’ve seen in the couple of years that I’ve been active is that it didn’t feel like I have a voice that was even going to be heard,” Saunders said in a recent interview. “No one that is part of that structure: none of them look like me, none of them act like me, none of them think like me, and none of them can represent me. And yet they continue to make decisions for me.” 

It also seemed to Saunders that her willingness to talk openly about her race concerns sometimes lead to her being further excluded from the process.  

Despite having won the strong backing of outgoing Berkeley PTA Council President Mark Coplan last year, Saunders was prevented, on a technicality, from running in the election that would determine his successor. It turned out City of Franklin PTA did not have a formal charter, which, according to PTA bylaws, meant its members could not run for office in the Berkeley PTA Council.  

Coplan, for one, was appalled to see relatively obscure bylaws take precedence over an attempt to diversify PTA leadership.  

“For us to be inclusive, we need to start the process of looking for new leadership way before the election,” he reflected in a recent interview. 

When Saunders became the League’s Education Committee chairperson, she decided to use her new position to push for what she felt was a long-overdue discussion of racism. She wasn’t sure what such a conversation would look like, but she didn’t let that stop her.  

“It’s just something that is needed, so it will work,” she remembers thinking. 

Planning a conversation on race 

Of course, there’s an ocean that lies between saying you’re going to have a conversation on race and actually having one. 

“We’re shaking ourselves up a bit, and we’re a little nervous about what’s going to happen,” Bickel said in a planning session last month. 

But, as it turns out, leading conversations on race has become something of a cottage industry in recent years. Police, corporations and universities around the nation have hosted the conversations to build a greater sense of inclusion in their respective communities. As recently as September, the city of Richmond hosted what it hopes will be the first in a series of annual Symposiums on Racial Harmony. More than 200 people turned out to talk about ways to improve communication between Richmond’s distinct racial and ethnic communities. 

Following the lead of other conversations on race, Bickel, Saunders and other planners for the Berkeley conversation hit on the solution of hiring professional mediators to oversee the daylong meeting. It will fall to these professionals to lay down clear ground rules and help ensure that people feel “safe” expressing their feelings on the sensitive topic of race. 

The lead facilitator, Roberto Almanzán, has a wealth of experience as a diversity consultant and seminar facilitator, where he’s worked with corporations, public agencies, educational institutions and nonprofits. In an interview last week, Almanzán said his own experience on a 1993 weekend retreat made him a believer that something as seemingly simple as a conversation on race can change a person’s life.  

Almanzán was one of six men – two Latino, two black and two white – invited on the retreat. Their discussion of race and racism was filmed and became the documentary film, “The Color of Fear.” 

“That’s a powerful experience: to feel that you’ve been heard and seen for who you really are,” Almanzán said. “I don’t think we can really get past the inequality and the sense that some people have about being discriminated against unless we have these conversations.” 

In communities, as in families, there is a tendency to sweep divisive issues under the rug, Almanzán said. But wounds not brought into the open will only resurface later in the form of anger, he added. 

Simone Young, a concerned Berkeley resident who will be one of 20 small group facilitators Saturday, put it this way: “You cannot solve a historical problem in one day, but you can open up some of the pain. ... And from that you might get some understanding.” 

For many Berkeley community leaders supporting the League’s effort, there is no time like the present to bring any festering racial tensions out into the open. Darryl Moore, who represents Berkeley on the Peralta Community College Board of Trustees, said if the Berkeley community doesn’t do more to reach out to minority groups and make them feel welcome, its cherished diversity could become a thing of the past. 

“Ten years from now, I guarantee if things keep going the way they are Berkeley will be less diverse,” Moore said, pointing to a recent wave of gentrification in west and south Berkeley. 

Those who want to participant in the league’s community conversation this Saturday must pre-register by calling 898-7625. Participants will divide into small groups and then into pairs to discuss their experiences with racism before being brought back into the larger group. At the end of the day, lead facilitators will talk about common themes that come out of the day’s conversations. Sandwiches and drinks will be provided for lunch. 

Turnout was reportedly low in most Bay Area off-year elections on Tuesday, but at one Berkeley school, it came close to 100 percent. 

The City of Franklin Microsociety Magnet School held its third annual election of student candidates to the posts of mayor, vice mayor and treasurer – part of the school’s goal of creating a miniature real-world community, complete with businesses and public services. 

“From my perspective,” said Principal Barbara Penny-James, “it’s too late to suddenly figure these things out in high school.” 

On Tuesday morning, children filed down to the front hall with their classes and, fidgeting, circled their choices at cardboard booths before slipping the ballots into a plastic ballot box. Sixth-graders served as election monitors, giving instructions to tiny kindergartners, but sometimes needing guidance themselves.  

“You have to tell them what to do and try not to look at their ballots,” Addie Holsing, the magnet school’s curriculum coordinator, firmly told the sixth-graders as they tried to shepherd the squiggling groups of younger voters into line. 

Caleb Kleppner of the Center for Voting and Democracy, a San Francisco nonprofit that works to increase voter participation, spoke to each of the classes about how the process works. The children all registered to vote ahead of time, and the candidates “campaigned” by giving speeches at last Friday’s school “town hall” assembly. They also had campaign managers. 

“These guys are wicked spin doctors,” Kleppner said. 

“Our work is about making the elections system more fair and involving more people in it, and it’s good to start young,” he said.  

Fifth-grader Laron Stanten wouldn’t say who he voted for, but said he had made up his mind after the candidates gave their speeches. 

“When they gave the speech, one said they’d get better food in the cafeteria, and the other said they would get more balls out in the courtyard,” Stanten said. 

His classmate, Jonathan Ponder, said: “I wanted honesty – they didn’t just make up lies to be elected.” 

“Sometimes they’re honest,” Stanten chimed in. “Sometimes.” 

City of Franklin recently won a second consecutive federal Magnet Schools grant, which allows it to continue a civics project that grounds its curriculum in the practical matters of adult life.  

Students are “sworn in” as Franklin citizens at the beginning of the school year. In field trips to the Berkeley City Council and mayor’s office, they have learned first-hand how a city is run. They create resumes and cover letters, buy products from each other with in-school currency (students’ own pictures grace the bills), and run a city council with representatives from each classroom. 

“It looks just like a group of adults,” said Irving Phillips, the district’s magnet schools program coordinator. “They’re talking about the same things.” 

The grant extension will allow the school to add a seventh grade next year, and an eighth grade the year after that, said Addie Holsing, the school’s curriculum coordinator. 

Holsing, a 40-year veteran of the Berkeley schools, said City of Franklin’s approach is partly rooted in education research showing a connection between brain development and the ability of children to integrate what they learn with real-life situations. 

“If there’s an articulated connection between the things they do, the learning goes up,” she said. “If you reflect on the strategies that you just used to successfully complete something, the brain reinforces it in the long-term memory.” 

After the November 2000 election, said Phillips, City of Franklin students “could not understand how a group of kids could run an election fair and square (but) the national government would mess up on counting their ballots and there would be a controversy over who got elected president.” 

Kleppner said the school’s experiment in putting children through a full-fledged version of the adult ritual of voting was “radical” considering future voting habits among children are normally most strongly influenced by whether their parents vote. 

“It shouldn’t be radical; it should be a given,” he said. “Every kid in our school system should learn about being an active member of society.” 

The winners were announced over the school loudspeakers at 12:40 p.m., the end of Tuesday’s abbreviated school day, with parents eagerly awaiting the news in the front office. Erin Williams, grade 6, will be sworn in as the new mayor in January. Jhamaria McCreary, grade 5, will be the new vice mayor and Elizabeth Smith, grade 4, the new treasurer. 

Marissa Saunders, the educational chair of the League of Women Voters’ Berkeley-Albany-Emeryville chapter and mother of Jhamaria McCreary, said her daughter had been awake all night with excitement. She was ready whether she won or lost, Saunders said. 

“She said she would be a little sad” if she didn’t get the office, “but that it would be okay.”

Wednesday, Nov. 7 

Commission on the Status of Women  

7:45 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

Sexual Harassment and Violence Against Women: The Mayor’s Special Study Group’s report on domestic violence; The Domestic Oversight Committee. 981-5106 hhs@ci.berkeley.ca.us  

Yoga for People with  

HIV/AIDS 

10:45 - 11:45 a.m. 

Center for AIDS Services 

5720 Shattuck Ave.  

Free Kundalini Yoga class for people with HIV/AIDS. Mats provided, you may bring a towel. Eating within an hour of class is not advised. Wear loose, comfortable clothing. Beginners and drop-ins welcome. 841-4339 

Advisory Council Meeting and  

Birthday Party 

10 a.m., 1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

Monthly birthday party follows the meeting and will feature Destiny, the Harpist, Community members are welcomed to meeting. 644-6107 

Know Your Rights Training 

7 p.m. 

Copwatch Office 

2022 Blake St. 

Free workshop to learn what your rights are and how to watch the police effectively and safely. 548-0425 

Prose Writers’ Workshop 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley/Richmond Jewish Community Center Library 

1414 Walnut St.  

From Op-ed to fiction, memoir to the feature article – a community writers' group to support and encourage a community of interests. Workshop format. Free. 524-3034 

“The Genocide Continuum —  

Peace Time Crimes and  

Everyday Violence” 

7 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion Chapel 

1798 Scenic Ave. 

A lecture by Dr. Nancy Scheper-Hughes, author of “Death Without Weeping: The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil.” 649-2440 

Special Board of Education Meeting 

6 p.m. 

District Administrative Offices 

Board Meeting Room 

2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

Workshop: The Board will discuss various aspects around the issues related to small schools. 

Shakespeare and Canonicity 

4:10 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Toll Room, Alumni House 

Public lecture and seminar by Sir Frank Kermode, literary critic and Shakespeare scholar. Lecture two: Change. 643-7413 www.grad.berkeley.edu/tanner 

Toddler Storytime 

7 p.m. 

West Berkeley Library 

1125 University Ave 

For families with children three years or younger, a program to expose the youngest readers to multicultural stories, songs and finger plays. 

Every Wednesday through Nov. 28. 

Over 60s Clinic 

7 p.m. 

3260 Sacramento, 2nd Floor 

South and West Berkeley Community Action Team Advisory Group (CATAG). 665-6809 

Thursday, Nov. 8 

Shakespeare and Canonicity 

4:10 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Geballe Room, The Townsend Center for the Humanities 

220 Stephens Hall 

Seminar and Discussion with Sir Frank Kermode, literary critic and Shakespeare scholar. 643-7413 www.grad.berkeley.edu/tanner 

Community Health Commission 

6:45 - 9:30 p.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center 

2939 Ellis St. 

New Business: Bioterrorism Presentation by Public Health staff. 644-6500 phd@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Women’s Cancer Resource  

Center Gallery Reception 

1- 3 p.m. 

WCRC Gallery 

3023 Shattuck Ave. 

Opening reception with the artists Rowena Halligan and Margaret Herscher. Exhibit runs through Dec. 13. 548-9286 

Long-Term Care Coverage 

1 - 3 p.m. 

Herrick Campus 

Maffley Auditorium 

2001 Dwight Way  

Lecture outlining various options for long-term care coverage. 869-6737 

– Compiled by Guy Poole 

Grandparent Support Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

Malcolm X School, Rm. 105A 

1731 Prince St. 

For grandparents or relatives raising their grandchildren and other relatives. 644-6517 

The Teaching of Gurdjieff,  

7 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Public Library 

2940 Benvenue 

A lecture by Kevin Langdon. Gurdjieff’s teaching puts into question all that we think we know about our own nature and the nature of the universe. Free. 524-0345 www.polymath-systems.com/phenomen/gurdj/index.html 

UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Forum on 

Nuclear Danger and Global Survival 

7 p.m. 

Boalt Hall, Booth Auditorium 

Exploration of nuclear weapons after Sept.11th in terms of terrorism, geopolitics and international responses. Open to the public. Questions for panelists may be e-mailed to: http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/nuclearform 

Baguette Quartette 

7:30 p.m. 

North Branch of the Berkeley Public Library 

1170 The Alameda 

Performance of music heard on street corners, cafes, and dance halls in Paris between 1920 and 1940. Free. 649-3913 TDD 548-1240 www.infopeople.org/bpl 

Latin Dance Class 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley/Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Salsa, Cha-cha, Merengue... $10, No partner necessary. All ages and levels welcome. 508-4616 

Journeys Along the Arctic’s  

Edge: A Rower’s Odyssey 

7 p.m. 

REI 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Join Jill Fredston for a slide presentation on their remarkable adventures rowing more than 20,000 miles along the shores of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway and Sweden. Free. 527-4140 

City’s stealth redistricting 

Editor: 

Supporters of the gerrymandered redistricting plan that was recently approved by a 5–4 vote of the City Council seem determined to use fair means or foul to keep the plan a secret. They were a noisy and disruptive presence last Sunday afternoon at a Shattuck Avenue supermarket as they tried to interfere with a grass–roots effort to put the plan on the March ballot. In a desperate effort to keep the plan out of the hands of voters, they attempted to block access to the citizen volunteers who were circulating petitions for the ballot measure and to confuse the issue by berating the four council members who voted against the plan. 

From its conception, this redistricting plan has been kept away from the light of day. After two full public hearings on seven redistricting proposals that were submitted to the council, this plan was brought forth after the deadline for submitting proposals and only minutes before the final vote was taken. This is a plan that the public has never seen – it was not one of the proposals considered at either of the public hearings and it was not subjected to the pre–vote analysis that was applied to all other redistricting proposals. This is a plan that only three of the nine members of the City Council admit to having seen before its late appearance at the council – yet five voted in favor of it, allegedly sight-unseen!  

This stealth plan sets forth the rules by which we will vote in Berkeley for the next 10 years. We all deserve a chance to scrutinize this plan and vote it up or down. If its supporters truly believe it will serve Berkeley well, they have no reason to keep it hidden. I urge all Berkeley voters to sign a petition in the next few days to put the plan on the March ballot. 

Mim Hawley 

Council Member, District 5 

General Plan must include disaster planning 

Editor: 

Disaster planning should be a prime concern in the proposed General Plan. 

The Berkeley General Plan should require that all buildings open to the public have annual inspections by fully qualified and licensed building inspectors, with notations of any defects prominently and continuously posted in public view for all occupants and visitors.  

Safety laws on brick buildings, lift–slab and tilt–up buildings should be enforced consistently. Structures built in former wetlands areas with a high water table should be examined carefully. Any buildings which will not withstand a major earthquake should have an immediate deadline for demolition. 

Objects on city–owned property should be given particular attention.  

Tall trees in parking areas, public parks, and street medians should be examined for their ability to withstand a major earthquake. Any diseased tree should be removed within a limited period after notation of that disease. 

Trees on private property should be governed by a city–enforced Hazardous Tree Law, similar to that in Oakland. The sale of property should note the existence of a potentially hazardous tree along with the other problems that a property inspector has noticed. 

Utility poles in Berkeley should be inspected by the city, or ‘certified’ as safe during an earthquake by the utility. Any poles that fall over during a quake should have a mandatory penalty fee assessed by the city, recognizing that fallen trees, poles, and runaway cars that were improperly parked, will all be secondary emergencies after an earthquake. 

Self insurance by the city of Berkeley should be examined fully and publicly to determine whether it should be discontinued. Secret settlements should be abolished. Any city employee who has caused the city to lose a major lawsuit should be subject to termination. 

I suggest that the current draft of the new General Plan be rejected. 

Charles L. Smith 

Berkeley 

On patriotism and toilets 

Editor, 

Am I the only one who has noticed, or is at least upset by, BART’s recent announcement that they are closing their restrooms as a security precaution? There was no explanation given as to why terrorists would want to attack plumbing instead of trains, overheads or tunnels, and people, and I confess to being at a loss as to what the people at BART are thinking.  

I hadn’t realized that patriotism meant using the BART platform or station area as a toilet. (Relatively private areas already have been noticibly marked by those unwilling to hike the stairs to the restrooms, back in less troubled times.) Or perhaps we simply aren’t supposed to ride BART anymore. There would certainly be less security problems at BART if no one used it. Maybe we should shut all the toilets at the airports too. Heck, why stop there, let’s close all public toilets. A little hysteria after September 11 is understandable, but has BART thought to check with Public Health about the health and safety aspects of their decision? 

* * * 

On a completely unrelated topic, I wanted to note that Ms. Jenny Wenk (11/1/1) forgot to mention why it can be unsafe to get around by bicycle with a toddler of infant. It’s because of cars. Ms. Wenk is right that we need more parking – bike parking that is. Berkeley Bowl has an amazing amount of bike parking, but there have still been a couple of times when I have had to hunt for a spot. Downtown is much worse. Bike parking is especially bad if you have a trailer so that you can carry reasonably large items. My 15 year–old son hauls his French horn to school by trailer. We haul my 11 year–old daughter’s cello to school by trailer. Despite being in the demographic that Ms. Wenks asserts cannot be realistically expected to bike to the Berkeley Bowl, I have carried groceries, construction material, furniture, computers, and even cats to the vet; all by trailer. Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it. 

Robert Clear 

Berkeley 

Shopping by bike  

Editor: 

I totally agree with Harry Siitomen’s comments about shopping with a bike instead of a car. I too am 75 years old, female, and frequently pump iron at the 24 Hour Fitness facility that Harry visits. The checkout personnel are familiar with my bike shopping and often caution me not to get too much. I fill two panniers most of the time. 

I have taught older women to ride, and am willing to teach others. I would like Jenny Wenk to call me and I’d be happy to accompany her on a very safe ride (the parking lot of Golden Gate Fields). I have a bike rack on my car (yes, I have a car for just such purposes) and can pick her up. There is no charge for these lessons. 

I often ride to my Kaiser appointments from North Berkeley much to the surprise of my doctor. In addition to the cardio–vascular workout, it is still a lot of fun to ride a bike. 

Lucienne Sanchez–Resnik 

Berkeley 

No negotiations with terrorists 

The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter addressed to the City Council: 

Don’t you get it. You can’t deal with the Taliban. They’re crazed, radical, ideologists that have no respect for law or human life or truth. How do you deal with a person or organization or government who could do or condone the things done on September 11? Have you not learned how they treat their own citizenry? Have you not heard their illogical ranting and ravings? What in the world makes you think negotiations are feasible with the like. The whole world recognizes this. Your position is not noble but questionable of common sense and good taste.  

The United States was attacked. An act of war occurred on our soil. Perhaps if we had not turned the other cheek so many times previously, this would not have happened.  

I am appalled at your position.  

Mack Kitchens 

Kansas City, Missouri  

Save, not destroy civilization 

Editor:  

John McCain (Chronicle, 11/4) has this fantasy, along with many others, that “Only the complete destruction of international terrorism .........will spare America from further attack.”  

As long as humans, even such world “leaders,” are willing to die for VENGEANCE, (which many seem to consider “protection” ) EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US is at great risk; even John McCain. It is obvious that we cannot destroy every one of our “enemies” in this new kind of war, where it has been proven that even one “terrorist” can create mass destruction.  

We can only hope that the distinct POSSIBILITY of the further use of chemical, germ, or nuclear weapons, can prove sobering enough to save our civilization, before we destroy it. 

Gerta Farber 

Oakland 

Thanks for sticking out your ‘political necks’ 

Editor: 

I don’t often send e–mails to those in government who represent me to thank them. I am far more likely to send an e–mail when I disagree – in order to effect change. I also don’t often send letters to the editor. 

Actually, this is my first. Today however, I wanted to take time out to thank the Berkeley City Council members who recently voted to ask for a de-escalation of war in the Middle East as soon as possible. I realize that it was only a small statement at the end of a long resolution, but I wanted to thank those that stuck their “political necks out” to take a stand for what is right, regardless of the consequences. Thank you. 

David S. Caruso–Radin 

Berkeley, CA 

24 Gilman St. Nov. 9: Hoods, Punishment, Lords of Light Speed, Necktie Party; Nov. 10: Sunday’s Best, Mock Orange, Elizabeth Elmore, Fighting Jacks, Benton Falls; Nov. 16: Pitch Black, The Blottos, Miracle Chosuke, 240; Nov. 17: Carry On, All Bets Off, Limp Wrist, Labrats, Thought Riot; Nov. 18: 5 p.m., Mad Caddies, Monkey, Fabulous Disaster, Over It; Nov. 23: The Stitches, Starvations, Neon King Kong, Kill Devil Hills, Problem; Nov. 24: Tilt, Missing Link, Cry Baby Cry; Nov. 30: Shitlist, Atrocious Madness, Fuerza X, Catheter, S Bitch, Delta Force; All shows start a 8 p.m. unless noted; Most are $5; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926 

The Albatross Pub Nov. 7: Whiskey Brothers (Old Time & Bluegrass); Nov. 8:. Keni “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Nov. 13: Mad & Eddie Duran Jazz Duo; Nov. 15: Keni “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Nov. 21: Whiskey Brothers (Old Time & Bluegrass); Nov. 22: Keni “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Nov. 24: Tipsy House Irish Band. All shows start at 9 p.m., 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 

Anna’s Nov. 7: Bob Shoen Jazz Quintet; Nov. 8: Dreams Unltd; Nov. 9: Anna and Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 10: Robin Gregory and Si Perkoff, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet; Nov. 11: Choro Time; Nov. 12: Renegade Sidemen with Calvin Keys; Nov. 13: Singers’ Open Mic #2; Nov. 14: Bob Shoen Jazz Quintet; Nov. 15: Jazz Singers’ Collective; Nov. 16: Anna & Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 17: Vicki Burns & Felice York, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet; All shows 8 p.m. unless noted. Free. 1901 University Ave., 849-2662 

Blake’s Nov. 7: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free; Nov. 8: Ascension, $5; Nov. 9: Delfino, Boomshanka, $5; Nov. 10: Kofy Brown, J. Dogs, $7; Nov.11: Psychotica, $5; Nov. 12: All Star Jam Featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Nov. 13: The Photon Band, Ian Moore, $4; Nov. 14: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free. All shows 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886 

Cal Performances Nov 8: 8 p.m. Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance, $18 - $30; Nov. 10: 7 p.m. & Nov. 11: 3 p.m., The 2001 Festival, $20 - $32; Nov. 29: Les Arts Florissants, $24 - $46; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph. 642-0212 tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Eli’s Mile High Club Every Friday, 10 p.m. Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10 Doors open at 8 p.m. unless noted. 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Freight & Salvage Nov. 7: John Hoban $15.50 - $16.50; Nov. 8: Ledward Ka’apana & Cyril Pahinui $17.50 - $18.50; Nov. 9: The Harmony Sisters with Alice Gerrard, Jeanie McLerie & Irene Herrmann $16.50 - $17.50; Nov 10: Barry & Alice Olivier $16.50 - $17.50; Nov. 11: Austin Lounge Lizards $16.50 - $17.50. All Shows 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note Nov. 11: 4:30 p.m. Dave Le Febvre Quintet, $12. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 

Jupiter Nov. 7: Go Van Gogh; Nov. 8: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 9: Xroads; Nov. 10: Post Junk Trio; Nov. 14: Wayside; Nov. 15: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 16: 5 Point Plan; Nov. 17: Corner Pocket; Nov. 21: Starchild; All shows 8 p.m. and free. 2821 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625/ www.jupiter.com 

La Lesbian @ La Peña: Nov. 7: 8 p.m., I Love Lezzie, 20 member comedy troupe, $14; 320 45th St., Oakland 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

MusicSources Nov. 18 Harpsichordist Gilbert Martinez. Both shows 5 p.m. $15-18. 1000 The Alameda 528-1685 

Rose Street House of Music Nov. 8: 7:30 p.m., Jenny Bird and Melissa Crabtree, $5 - $20. 594.4000 x.687 www.rosestreetmusic.com 

“Benefit for Buzzy Linhart” Nov. 9: 7:45 p.m., A number of Bay Area performers wil join together to raise the spirit of disabled singer-songwriter Buzzy Linhart. All ages show, $10. Black Box Gallery, 1928 Telegraph Ave. 451-1932 www.buzzylinhart.com 

“Philharmonia Baroque” Nov. 10: 8 p.m.; Nov. 11: 7:30 p.m., “Optimism and Sacrifice”; $34-$50. First Congregational Church, Dana St. and Durant Ave. 415-392-4400 www.philharmonia.org 

“Berkeley Repertory Theatre Presents Anthony Rapp and His Band” Nov. 13: 8 p.m. Anthony Rapp, currently starring in Berkeley Rep’s “Nocturne,” performs with his three-piece band. $12 - $25. Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., 647-2949 

“Oakland Symphony Chorus and the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra”, presents a joint concert. Nov. 17: 8 p.m.; Nov. 18: 4 p.m.; $15. First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. 465-4199 www.oakland-sym-chorus.org 

“me/you...us/them” Nov. 8 through Nov. 10: Thur - Sat 8 p.m., matinee on Sat. 2:30 p.m. Three one-acts that look at interpersonal, as well as societal relationships from the perspective of the disabled. $10 - $25. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

“Nocturne” Through Nov. 11: Tues./Thurs./Sat. 8 p.m., Weds. & Sun. 7 p.m., matinee on Thurs./Sat./Sun. 2 p.m. Mark Brokaw directs Anthony Rapp in One-Man Show. Written by Adam Rapp. $38 - $54. Berkeley Repertory’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org 

“Tomas Carrasco of Chicano Secret Service” Nov. 15: 4 p.m. Performance by member of L.A.-based sketch comedy troupe that uses humor to tackle hot-button racial and political issues. Free. Durham Studio Theater, UC Berkeley 

“Works in the Works 2001” Through Nov. 18: 7:30. East Bay performance series presents a different program each evening. Nov. 3: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; St. Mary’s College Dance Company; Marin Academy. Nov. 4: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; Somi Hongo; Dana Lee Lawton; Seely Quest; Cristina Riberio; Nadia Adame of AXIS Dance Company. $8. Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St., 644-1788 

“Nicholas Nickleby” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. The Young Actors Workshop presents a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby. $10 adults, $8 students and seniors. Performing Arts Center of Contra Costa College, corner of El Portal Dr. and Castro St., San Pablo 235-7800 ext. 4274 

“Lost Cause” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. Three space travelers stranded on a forgotten colony, find themselves in the middle of a bloody civil war, and have to decide between what’s right, what’s possible, and what will save their lives. Written by Jefferson Area, directed by Sarah O’Connell. $7-12. La Val’s Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Ave. 464-4468 www.impacttheatre.com 

“Travesties” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., and Thurs., Nov. 15, 8 p.m. A witty fantasy about James Joyce meeting Lenin in Zurich during World War I. Written by Tom Stoppard, Directed by Mikel Clifford. $10. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck. 528-5620 

Cal Performances Nov. 7: 8 p.m., “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” more than 30 singers, dancers, and musicians present a musical synthesis of the authentic Roma styles. $18 - $30; Nov. 8: 11 a.m., SchoolTime Performance, “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” $3 per student or chaperone, in advance only; Nov. 8: 8 p.m., “Orquesta Aragón,” $18 - $30; Nov. 11: 3 p.m., Recital - Angelika Kirschschlager, Bo Skovhus, and Donald Runnicles. “Wolf/ Die Italienisches Liederbuch,” $45; Nov. 16 - 17: 8 p.m., “La Guerra d’Amore,” director and choreographer, René Jacobs, conductor, Ensemble Concerto Vocale. Modern dance and early music from German choreographer Joachim Schlömer, $34 - $52; Nov. 30 - Dec. 2: Fri. - Sat.8 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m., The Suzuki Company presents a staged interpretation of the Greek classic, “Dionysus”, $30 - $46; UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall. 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Macbeth” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m. Presented by the Albany High School Theater Ensemble. $7 adults, $5 students and seniors. Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. 559-6550 x4125 theaterensemble@hotmail. com 

“Saint Joan” Through Dec. 2: Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., 7 p.m. George Bernard Shaw’s epic of a young girl determined to drive the English out of France with only her faith to support her. Directed by Barbara Oliver. $26-35. Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St. 843-4822 www.auroratheatre.org 

“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 

“Brave Brood” Nov. 8 - Dec. 16 Robert O’Hara directs Robert O’Hara’s searing tale of money, desperation, and the fight for survival. $20. Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. 883-0305 www.transparenttheater.org 

“Much Ado About Nothing” Nov. 20 through Jan. 8: Check theater for specific dates and times. Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy chronicles a handful of soldiers returning from a winning battle to be greeted by a gaggle of giddy maidens. Directed by Brian Kulick. $10 - $54. Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org 

Films 

Pacific Film Archive Theater Nov. 5: 7 p.m., Profit and Nothing But!; Nov. 6: 7:30 p.m., Dog Star Man; Nov. 7: 7 :30 p.m., Animal Attraction; Nov. 7 p.m., Exilée, Museum Theater; Nov. 9: 7:30 p.m., Friends in High Places; 9:15 p.m., Soldiers in the Army of God; Nov. 10: 7 p.m., Prefab People; 9 p.m., The Outsider; Nov. 11: 3:30 p.m., Born at Home and The Team on B-6; 5:40 p.m., The Creators of Shopping Worlds; Nov. 16: 7:30 p.m., Autumn Almanac; Nov. 17 & 18: 1 p.m., Satantango; Nov. 21: 7 :30 p.m., Macbeth; Nov. 30: 7:30 p.m., Werckmeister Harmonies; 2575 Bancroft Way, 642-1124 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“La Lesbian Film Festival” Nov. 9 - 11. La Peña Cultural Center presents La Lesbian at La Peña: A Lesbian Performance and Film Series. $8 Fine Arts Cinema 2451 Shattuck 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

Exhibits  

“50 Years of Photography in Japan 1951 - 2001” Through Nov. 5: An exhibition from The Yomiuri Shimbun, the world’s largest daily newspaper with a national morning circulation of 10,300,000. Photographs of work, love, community, culture and disasters of Japan as seen by Japanese news photographers. Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. U.C. Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism, North Gate Hall, Hearst and Euclid. Free. 642-3383 

“Architects of the Information Age” Through Nov. 10: A solo exhibit showcasing the works of Ezra Li Eismont. Works included in the exhibition are mixed media paintings on panel and assemblage works on paper and canvas. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ardency Gallery, 709 Broadway, Oakland 836-0831 

“Art Benefit for the Gabriel Sussman Rodriguez Education Fund” Nov. 11 - Nov. 16: Over 60 artists have donated work for this tribute to the memory of Wendy Sussman, a painter and professor of art practice and UC Berkeley, and contribute to the education of her son. Sun. - Fri. 1 - 6 p.m. Worth Ryder Gallery, Kroeber hall, UC Berkeley 415-665-6131 

“Jesus, This is Your Life - Stories and Pictures by Kids” Through Nov. 16: California children, ages four through twelve, from diverse backgrounds present original artwork, accompanied by a story written by the artist. “Cleve Gray, Holocaust Drawings” Oct. 15 through Jan. 25: 21 works on paper inviting the viewer to consider the atrocity of the Holocaust in ways unattainable through words or text. Mon. - Thur. 8:30 a.m. -10 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541. 

“Changing the World, Building New Lives: 1970s photographs of Lesbians, Feminists, Union Women, Disability Activists and their Supporters” Through Nov. 17: An exhibit of black and white photographs by Oakland photographer Cathy Cade, who captured the interrelationships of the different struggles for justice and social change. Gallery Hours, Mon. - Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St. Free. 644-1400 cathycade@mindspring.com 

“In Through the Outdoors” Through Nov. 24: Featuring seven artists who work in photography and related media including sculpture and video, this exhibit addresses the shift in values and contemporary concerns about the natural world that surrounds us. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery, 1316 Tenth St. www.traywick.com 

“2001 James D. Phelan Art Awards in Printmaking” Honorees: Bridget Henry, David Kelso, and Margaret Van Patten. Through Nov. 30 Tues. - Fri. noon - 5 p.m., other times by appointment. Kala Art Institue, 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 www.kala.org 

“Furniture Art” Through Dec. 7: An exhibit of metal and wood furniture that revisits furniture not only as art but as craft. 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. The Current Gallery at the Crucible, 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511 www.thecrucible.org 

“The Paintings of Bethany Anne Ayers and Sculpture of Alexander Cheves” Nov. 15 through Dec. 15: Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ardency Gallery, 709 roadway, Oakland. 836-0831 gallery709@aol.com 

“The Whole World’s Watching: Peace and Social Justice Movements of the 1960s and 1970s” Through Dec. 16: A documentary photo exhibition which examines the rich history of the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Wed. - Sun., noon - 5 p.m. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., Live Oak Park. Free. 644-6893 

GTU Exhibit: “Holocaust Series” by Cleve Gray Through Jan. 25: Comprised of 21 works on paper that constitute “a catharsis... for all of humanity.” Mon. - Thurs. 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. noon - 7 p.m.; Free. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541 www.gtu.edu 

“The Art History Museum of Berkeley” 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 Botticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours. Atelier 9 2028 Ninth St. 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books Nov. 9: Lauren Dockett will read from her latest book, “The Deepest Blue: How Women Face and Overcome Depression.”; All events start at 7:30 p.m. unless noted otherwise. All events are free. 398 Colusa Ave. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

Cody’s on Telegraph Ave. Nov. 7: 5:30 p.m. Rimpoche Nawang Gehlek talks about “Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation”, 7:30 p.m. Rea Armantrout & Brenda Hillman read their poetry, $2; Nov. 8 7:30 p.m. Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz present “Kafka Americana”; Nov. 9: 7:30 p.m. Sue Hubbell thinks about “Shrinking the Cat: Genetic Engineering Before We Knew About Genes”; Nov. 11: 7:30 p.m. Mary Leader, Alice Jones & Susan Kolodny read their poetry, $2; Nov. 12: 7:30 p.m. Rabih Alameddine reads from “I, The Divine”; Nov. 13: 7:30 p.m. John Barth reads from “Coming Soon!!!”, Nov. 18: Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux from the Poetry Society of America read,$5; Nov. 28: 7:30 p.m. David Meltzer and contributors read from his newly revised and re-released collection of interviews with Bay Area Beat Poets; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore Nov. 7: Jill Fredston reads from “Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic’s Edge”; Nov. 8: Harry Pariser discusses “Explore Costa Rica”; Nov. 14: Gregory Crouch talks about “Enduring Patagonia.” All shows 7:30 p.m.; 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533 

Eastwind Books of Berkeley Nov. 10: 4 p.m. Ruthanne Lum McCunn reads from her novel “Moon Pearl”; Nov. 18: 4 p.m. Noel Alumit, M.G. Sorongon, and Marianne Villanueva read from their contributions to the anthology “Tilting the Continent: Southeast Asian American Literature”; 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

UC Berkeley Nov. 8: 7 p.m., Reading and book signing with Osha Gray Davidson, author of “Fire In The Turtle House: The Green Sea Turtle and the Fate of the Ocean.” Mulford Bldg., Rm. 132. 848-0110 www.publicaffairsbooks.com/books/fire.html 

“Rhythm and Muse” Nov. 10: 6:30 p.m. This event is supported by Poet’s and Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation. Open mic evening open to all writers and performers. Features poet/musician Avotcja. Free. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893 

“Berkeley’s World” Nov. 10 & 17: 8 p.m. Staged reading of a new play about five Berkeley emigres who form a career support group through an ad placed in the East Bay Express but find they can’t stand each other. Written by Andrea Mock. Free. Speakeasy Theatre, 2016 7th St. 841-9441 

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 Sun., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sun., 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; Nov. 3: Tales from the Enchanted Forest, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.; Nov. 9: Living with the Earth; Nov. 17: Recycle that Stuff; $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Mon. and Wed., 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tues. and Fri., 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thur., 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

Oakland Museum of California Through Nov. 25: Pasajes y Encuentros: Ofrendas for the Days of the Dead, highlights three thematic “passageways” that connect the dead with the living: tradition, humor and spirit. $6 adults, $4 seniors and students, free for children under 5. Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sun. noon - 5 p.m., 10th St., Oakland, 888-625-6873/ www.museumca.org 

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 foot 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. Mon. through Fri., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sat. and Sun., 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.  

University of California Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive has reopened after its summerlong seismic retrofit. “Martin Puryear: Sculpture of the 1990s” through Jan. 13; “The Dream of the Audience: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951 - 1982)” through Dec. 16; “Face of Buddha: Sculpture from India, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia” ongoing rotation through 2003; “Matrix 194: Jessica Bronson, Heaps, layers, and curls” Sept. 16 through Nov. 11; “Matrix 192: Ceal Floyer 37’4”” Sept. 16 through Nov. 11; Wed., Fri., Sat., Sun. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Thur. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., PFA Theater, 2575 Bancroft Way; Museum Galleries 2626 Bancroft Way; 642-0808 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Lawrence Hall of Science “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. 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. 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  

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

A task force, convened by the UC Berkeley chancellor, released an action plan last week, aimed at preventing riots and other criminal behavior that has occurred following student-organized dances at the Pauley Ballroom. 

The draft report, which still must receive approval by the task force and Chancellor Robert Berdahl, calls for a variety of measures including police barricades on Bancroft Way, reinforced security doors in the ballroom and enhanced lighting in Sproul Plaza. The report also suggests creating a “Good Neighbor” fund of $120,000 to repay local merchants for any losses due to campus events gone awry. 

“I’ve read the report and am generally happy with the suggestions,” said Daniel Del Grande, a task force member and business owner. “But there are still some issues that have to be worked out.” 

Del Grande, who owns the Bison Brewery on Telegraph Avenue, said one remaining issue is whether the university is going to offer financial restitution to businesses, property owners and individuals who suffered property damage during a recent looting spree in August. 

Berdahl has already flatly refused a request by Mayor Shirley Dean for reimbursement of approximately $5,000 to pay for clean-up and the 27 city police officers who responded to the incident. 

“With regards to compensating the city of Berkeley for related police costs, this is not something I will entertain,” Berdahl wrote in a Oct. 29 letter to Dean. 

Berdahl said the university would not consider compensation because it offers many benefits to the city, and that the university was “justified” in expecting assistance from the Berkeley Police Department during “disturbances.” 

Dean submitted a recommendation at the Oct. 30 City Council meeting to ask the city manager to develop a policy giving financial responsibility to the university for police costs during similar events that could occur in the future. But it was pulled from the consent calendar by Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek and will be addressed at a later date. 

The task force was convened after a widely-publicized, student-sponsored dance on campus at the Pauley Ballroom in August ended in a looting spree of businesses south of campus. According to police reports, about 200 of the 1,300 people who attended the dance participated in the looting. The damages to nearby businesses and property is estimated to be between $25,000 and $30,000.  

In addition, several people who attended the dance reportedly broke into a nearby residence and terrified four young women who lived there. 

Student organizers have repeatedly claimed that the college-age people who participated in the looting were not UC students.  

The incident was the second within one year, in which looting followed a campus dance. In October 2000, a large group of people who were unable to get into a Pauley Ballroom dance looted stores on Telegraph Avenue. According to the task force report, Southside merchants sustained over $100,000 in damages. After the October looting spree, the university assured the community that security measures had been put in place that would prevent such a thing from happening again. 

Immediately following the second looting spree in August, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl indefinitely cancelled student-organized dances and similar events on campus. 

After the October incident, the university administration assured the community that security measures had been put in place to prevent such a thing from happening again.  

In addition to the estimated $100,000 in physical upgrades to the campus and ballroom, the report suggests limiting the number of tickets sold for Pauley Ballroom events, not admitting anyone unless they have a student identification from a “higher educational institution,” requiring fliers, posters and other advertisements to indicate dances are not open to the public. 

Associated Student Vice President Josh Fryday said the recommendations are too restrictive and would inhibit some student organizations from raising money for philanthropic endeavors. 

Fryday said both looting incidents involved fraternities, which happened to be run by African American students, that don’t have frat houses to stage events in.  

“We are concerned that these policies will cut the throats of African American groups on campus,” he said.  

Fryday said the fraternities rely on the event proceeds to fund a variety of community volunteer work such as mentoring and tutoring programs. 

Assistant City Manager Jim Hynes, also a task force member, said that Fryday may have overstated the situation. 

“Josh’s comments about having their ‘throats cut’ is a little extreme,” Hynes said. “We found out that the money raised at these events averages about $3,000.” 

Hynes said the amount was not impossible to raise in other ways and that the university has agreed to work with the fraternities to develop alternative fundraising methods.  

Assuming Berdahl approves the report, the Office of Student Life, the ASUC and the UC Police Department would develop an action plan and create a timeline for implementation of the suggested security measures.  

Also, the report suggests rules and procedures be developed for the “Good Neighbor” fund and that no dances be scheduled until these procedures have been completed and approved by the chancellor. 

OAKLAND – Two pairs of defendants associated with the Lakireddy Bali Reddy case appeared in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Saundra Armstrong Tuesday charged with assisting Reddy in illegally bringing underage girls into the country for sex. 

Brothers Prasad and Vijay Lakireddy are charged with conspiracy to bring aliens into the United States illegally, importing aliens for immoral purposes and travel to engage in a sexual act with a juvenile. 

Vijay Lakireddy is additionally charged with visa fraud, and Prasad Lakireddy is charged with attempting to intimidate a witness. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

Reddy, a prominent Berkeley landlord and businessman, pleaded guilty to the charges against him in March, and was later sentenced to eight years in prison and fined $2 million. 

The case against the brothers now hinges on the question of the translators employed to convey the victims’ testimony in English.  

Last month, the federal government admitted that one of the translators, Uma Rao, encouraged four of the six victims to lie in their testimony against Prasad and Vijay Lakireddy, and that Rao had a relationship with the victims that was “separate and apart” from her professional role as a translator. 

The implication was that the translators took a familial interest in the victims, and coached them on their testimony in order to punish the Reddy family. Two of the victims say now that because of Rao, they did not tell the truth to investigators 

Attorneys for the Lakireddy brothers won major victories on Tuesday. Armstrong ruled that the federal government must interview the victims to determine the nature of the relationship, and determined that the defendants had evidence that suggested that another translator employed by the government, Nalini Shekhar, may have been biased against the Lakireddys. 

Attorney George Cotsirilos, who is representing Vijay Lakireddy, asked Judge Armstrong to hold a hearing in which the defendants could question the victims directly about their relationships with the translators in question. 

“We need to know: how many times did these people meet with the complainants?” he said. “Did they make telephone calls on their behalf, and to who? What was the nature of their relationship?” 

“If she was with them for four hours, that’s one thing. If she spent 400 with them, that’s something else.” 

Cotsirilos repeatedly charged the prosecution with “playing a shell game” with his requests for information regarding the translators. He said that an evidentiary hearing would assure that the defense would have access to the victims. 

U.S. Attorney Steven Corrigan, lead prosecutor, vehemently denied the charges. 

“We don’t have this information,” he said. “We can’t provide information we don’t have.” 

But while Armstrong agreed that the prosecution had no control over Rao, she said the victims could provide information on the nature of their relationship to them. She ordered the federal government to question them about specifics of the relationship and share that information with the defense. The prosecution and the defense were ordered to consult and reach agreement on a list of questions. 

Cotsirilos then said that he wanted the questions to also be directed to Shekhar, another translator employed in the case. He produced what he said were photographs of Shekhar at a demonstration outside Pasand Restaurant, owned by the Reddy family, in December 2000.  

“An interpreter is supposed to be someone who transmits information without bias,” he said. 

Corrigan again objected. 

“This is a fishing expedition,” he said. He said that even if she had a bias against the Lakireddys, whom he called “individuals that have committed crimes against minors,” it did not follow that she would have done anything improper in her role as translator. 

Armstrong eventually granted Cotsirilos’ motion to include Shekhar in the questioning. 

In another development, it was revealed that Rao had recently gone to India, and planned to be there for the immediate future – in order “to take care of her ailing mother and promote solar technology,” according to an attorney who appeared on her behalf. 

The attorney further said Rao was “at peril.” 

“If she is questioned, I have counseled her to assert her Fifth Amendment privilege unless she is offered immunity,” he said. 

Corrigan said that he was shocked to hear that Rao was no longer in the country. 

“This is the first that the government has heard that Ms. Rao has left for India,” he said. 

The next hearing in the case against the brothers will be held on Nov. 27, in Judge Armstrong’s courtroom. 

Two other members of the family, Jayaprakash Lakireddy, Reddy’s brother, and Annapurna Lakireddy, Jayaprakash’s wife, have pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit immigration fraud. They appeared in court Tuesday to iron out details of their plea-bargain agreement before their sentencing.  

Their attorney requested that some details in the plea-bargain be struck, as they were denied by the defendants and would not be challenged in court.  

Corrigan, who also appeared for the prosecution in this case, agreed to the changes. Jayaprakash and Annapurna Lakireddy are scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 29, 2002. 

Before the hearing, a few Berkeley residents picketed at the entrance to the courthouse with signs that read “The Lakireddys are the criminals, not the interpreters” and “How many Lakireddys does it take to screw Berkeley?” Among them were Marcia Poole, the Berkeley woman who first reported the elder Reddy to police, after an incident in one of his apartment buildings in which one of the victims in the case died of carbon monoxide poisoning. (The death was ruled accidental.) Diana Russell, a Mills College professor emeritus who has written widely on the sexual abuse of children, also demonstrated. 

Tahmeena Faryal said if she had obeyed the orders of the Taliban government, she would never have gone to school. Despite government warnings that all schools were “gateways to hell” for girls, she attended secret schools run by the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, known as RAWA. 

The young woman visited UC Berkeley on Monday using a fake name, in order to protect her and her family from Taliban retaliation. But death threats would not keep her from talking about the terrorist attacks that began long before Sept. 11, she said. 

“Their freedoms have been attacked for years, by the same hands,” Faryal said of the women struggling with her country’s fundamentalist government. “Were it not for Sept. 11, there would not have been any attention toward women in Afghanistan.” 

Faryal condemned both the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States as well as the abuse of women in Afghanistan – attacks including rape, public execution for females accused of infidelity, dismemberment and forced marriage.  

Faryal told stories of some Afghan women who committed suicide rather than being forced to marry Taliban “beasts.”  

She also showed a video of a public execution of a woman who had killed her abusive husband. This woman, was forced to kneel in the street in her burqa before being shot in the back of her head, was the mother of seven children. 

“Ninety percent of women now have mental and psychological problems,” Faryal said. “We can rebuild the towns, but it will take many decades to rebuild the people.” 

During her talk at a full-to-capacity Evans Hall lecture room, Faryal said despite her fear of the Taliban, she is also worried about the current bombing campaign and American collaboration with the Northern Alliance. She said while Osama bin Laden is still alive, despite weeks of bombing, children and civilians are being killed.  

Faryal said the people of Afghanistan are scared because the Northern Alliance has “also proved themselves as terrorists,” and should not be allowed to take power. 

“Terrorism and fundamentalism should be eliminated,” she said. “But even if Osama is killed, there are hundreds of Osamas in other countries.” 

In order to solve the current crisis, the RAWA Web site urges a peace-keeping mission in Afghanistan led by United Nations’ forces, the disarmament of all fundamentalist groups, and the installation of a government that keeps fundamentalists from using “the name of Islam to justify their madness.”  

Her organization also calls for the separation of church and state, and allowing women to make their own choices about whether to wear the hejab. 

A representative from Women in Black, a group of women who dress in black and stand silently in locations around the world to protest the Israeli occupation, spoke against the war before Faryal took the stage. Similarly, RAWA does not advocate violence.  

Faryal warned that many Taliban soldiers were orphaned in Afghanistan’s Soviet invasion, and grew up in religious schools where they were “brainwashed” to become fundamentalists, and taught to “hate women.” She said many are willing to die for the Taliban. 

Faryal now lives in exile in Pakistan, but recently visited Afghanistan in disguise to see what it had become.  

Audience members said they appreciated being able to hear from someone who has lived in the country. 

“I just feel there’s a lot of people speaking for Afghan women who aren’t Afghan women,” said Jason Oringer, a 34-year-old labor organizer. “We have trouble getting basic information out of the U.S. government. There’s a lot of censorship going on right now.” 

Oringer said he attended the event to hear an independent perspective. 

Faryal showed films capturing rare images of life in Afghanistan. In addition to the street execution, footage showed a palace and other huge buildings crumbling onto the streets. 

RAWA has plenty of horror stories, such as tales of women whose fingers have been cut off for wearing nail polish. But RAWA also tells about resistance to the Taliban.  

Faryal said one Afghan woman who had difficulty breathing lifted her veil in public and was caught. But the soldier who spotted her was alone and couldn’t do anything to her because he was surrounded by her friends. 

“She took off the burqa and threw it on his face,” Faryal said. “She even threatened to take off her clothes.”  

RAWA Web site: www.rawa.org

SAN FRANCISCO — San Franciscans overwhelmingly approved a $100 million bond issue on Tuesday that would make the fog-shrouded city the nation’s largest municipal producer of sun-generated electricity. 

Proposition B had 72 percent support with two thirds of the precincts reporting. The measure would allow the city to issue the revenue bond and build solar and wind power systems. Another solar measure, Proposition H, which would also allow the city to issue future bonds to fund public and private renewable energy projects without voter approval, had just 53 percent support. 

Proponents — including the Chamber of Commerce as well as homeowners, city officials — say that within a year, San Francisco would produce up to 20 megawatts of sun-driven electricity — more than any other city in the country — by placing solar panels on the rooftops of city-owned buildings and schools. 

The city could add as much as 50 additional megawatts over the next three years and almost double the country’s available supply of solar power, which currently stands at about 80 megawatts. A megawatt is enough electricity to power roughly 750 homes. 

“We’re going to turn the United States around in the solar race,” said Danny Kennedy, coordinator of Greenpeace’s clean energy campaign in California. “There will be market demand for U.S. manufacturers within the country.” 

An additional 30 megawatts would come from wind turbines placed elsewhere in the Bay area. 

Though nearly half of all solar panels in use around the world are made in the United States, domestic customers make up only 15 percent of the market in a country where electricity generated using fossil fuels typically comes cheap. 

Germany and Japan, whose governments heavily subsidize solar panel purchases, consume 55 percent of the world’s solar power. 

In sunny California, less than 5 percent of the state’s electricity comes from solar power, though residents have nearly used up millions of dollars in state rebates that slash the cost of installing solar panels almost by in half. 

Though San Francisco’s often overcast weather would reduce the amount of electricity generated, experts say the solar cells still will be an effective energy source. 

The push for renewable energy has gained steam nationwide since the events of Sept. 11 as some lawmakers urge independence from foreign oil and a diverse array of fuel sources. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., have introduced legislation to renew the federal tax credit for wind power and expand it to include solar, biomass, geothermal and other renewable energies. 

The revenue bond would help make solar’s cost more manageable. City Supervisor Mark Leno has said the more cities that push for more renewable energy, the quicker technology will improve and the more the price will drop. 

LOS ANGELES — A judge Tuesday let stand former Symbionese Liberation Army fugitive Sara Jane Olson’s guilty plea to possessing bombs with intent to murder policemen after questioning her about why she later insisted she was innocent. 

Olson was summoned by Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler because of her claims of innocence to reporters immediately after pleading last week. 

“I want to make it clear, your honor, I did not make that bomb,” Olson said. “I did not possess that bomb. I did not plant that bomb. But under the concept of aiding and abetting I do plead guilty.” 

“Because you are in fact guilty?” the judge asked. 

“Yes,” she said. 

Fidler began the hearing by demanding that Olson decide if she wanted to reaffirm her plea or continue to declare innocence outside court. 

“The guilty plea is not a waystation on the way to a press conference to claim one’s innocence,” the judge said. 

“The integrity of the criminal justice system requires that she make a choice,” he added. “She cannot have it both ways.” 

In the end the judge declared, “The court now finds the plea entered on Oct. 31 will stand. She is guilty as she has indicated under the concept of aiding and abetting.” 

Olson had been charged in a 1976 indictment with attempting to murder Los Angeles police officers in 1975 by planting bombs under police cars to avenge the deaths of six members of the radical SLA in a shootout with police in 1974. 

She was a fugitive until her arrest in Minnesota in 1999. After many trial delays, she entered her plea, saying the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks made a fair trial unlikely. 

Olson’s attorney, J. Tony Serra, explained to the judge that Olson decided to plead guilty under the concept of aiding and abetting. 

“What she meant is, ’I did not factually do that,”’ Serra said. 

“But she knows that without planting or making the bomb she can be guilty of possessing it ... we want to maintain the plea under the concept of aiding and abetting.” 

The judge then read to Olson the law as it applies to the crime and those who act as aiders and abetters, telling her that all conspirators are guilty whether or not they personally participate. 

“The act of one conspirator in furtherance of a crime is an act of all conspirators,” he said. 

“With that in mind, Ms. Olson, my question is, are you guilty of the crimes to which you pled guilty?” 

Olson hesitated and her lawyers asked for time to confer. After about 10 minutes they returned and she made her statement. 

Prosecutors and the defense continued to disagree over what her ultimate sentence may be. 

The judge said his only requirement was that Olson understand that she could receive a life term if a parole board should decide to extend her sentence. 

She said she understood it was not the present position of prosecutors that she should receive such a dire sentence. Her lawyers have said she is likely to receive five years and four months at her Dec. 7 sentencing. 

“And you want your plea to stand?” the judge asked again. Olson again hesitated, looked to her lawyers and shook her head affirmatively. 

“Is that yes?” asked the judge. 

“Yes,” Olson replied. 

The judge scheduled the hearing behind closed doors but instead held it in open court. The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times sent a letter of objection to the closure, but the judge never indicated if that was a factor in his change of plan. 

The plea sidestepped a trial in which prosecutors planned to bring in the history of SLA crimes, including those with no connection to Olson, in order to show her association with a violent group. 

Prosecutors planned to tie Olson to the bomb plot by showing she wrote a letter ordering fuses. They also intended to call Patty Hearst, the onetime SLA kidnap victim who became a member of the group, to testify that Olson was involved in the bombing plans. They also said they had Olson’s fingerprints from a San Francisco apartment where the bombs allegedly were constructed. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Gray Davis defended his decision to warn last week of potential rush-hour terrorist attacks against four California bridges, and said he has no intention of easing security on the spans. 

Even though the FBI said Tuesday the information that led Davis to issue the warnings was not credible, the governor said he was convinced he made the right move in disclosing the possible threats last Thursday. 

“My No. 1 job is to keep Californians safe,” Davis said at an economic conference in Los Angeles. “I believe I took the correct steps.” 

State officials remained on high alert, with California National Guard troops and highway patrol officers continuing to patrol the state’s major bridges Tuesday. 

“I’m going to err on the side of caution. I’m going to keep the National Guard and the California Highway Patrol on those bridges for the foreseeable future,” Davis said. 

“We will review the FBI’s updated assessment. It’s not uncommon for information to change from one day to the next. It may change again. We have those bridges as secure as they have ever been.” 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Norman Mineta, in Alameda on Tuesday to promote the Sea Marshals program that is helping to protect the nation’s ports, said California’s bridges remain “vulnerable assets.” 

“Regardless of whether the threat was bogus or not, they are vulnerable, critical infrastructure to all of us,” Mineta said. “There’s no deadline on vulnerability.” 

Two National Guard troops and a Humvee vehicle were posted around-the-clock Tuesday at each end of San Francisco’s Golden Gate and Bay bridges, the Vincent Thomas Bridge at the Port of Los Angeles and San Diego’s Coronado Bridge. 

“At this point, that’s what we’re doing — staying in place,” said National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Charles “Terry” Knight. 

The FBI said Tuesday in an advisory to law enforcement agencies that the threat to the bridges was not credible. 

National Guard specialists Lisette Renderos and Tangerine Gyi walked the Golden Gate Bridge and monitored pedestrians Tuesday, just as they have every day since Saturday. They said they were happy to hear of the FBI’s new advisory. 

“People can start leading their normal lives again without being afraid,” Renderos said. “I think they’ll be happy to find out that it’s not a big threat right now.” 

Davis announced last Thursday that federal officials had “credible evidence” that terrorists might be targeting the four California bridges during the following few days. 

The governor was sharply criticized for publicizing the threat, which the FBI said was uncorroborated and should have not been released to the public. 

Dane Golden, who rode his bicycle across the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, said he supported Davis’ decision to make the threats public. 

“The FBI wasn’t that good at determining credible threats in the first place, so how do they know?” Golden said. “I can’t say if I was the governor I would do anything different. I couldn’t blame him either way. He’s got to make these tough calls.” 

Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, attending a conference with Davis in Santa Monica, said he would not criticize Davis’ decision to warn about the threat. 

“What is needed is for state and federal governments to align their strategies in terms of responding to threats of terrorism,” Brown said Tuesday. 

A warning of an “uncorroborated” threat against West Coast suspension bridges was passed on last Wednesday to law enforcement nationwide as well as 1,700 members of InfraGard, a partnership between the FBI and private companies. Many of these companies then shared the information with their employees. 

But the public at large didn’t know about the threat until Davis made his announcement Thursday, saying it was based on “credible” information. That surprised federal officials, who nevertheless supported Davis’ decision to warn Californians. 

The initial warning was based on information provided by U.S. Customs officials, said Matthew McLaughlin, a spokesman for the FBI in Los Angeles. 

FBI agents conducting their own investigation determined there was no realistic threat to the bridges, he said. 

The California Highway Patrol will have the final say on when the National Guard can stand down from the bridges, said Eric Lamoureux, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. 

“We’ll continue to stay on a heightened state of alert in light of the other developments that authorities in Washington have announced,” he said. 

——— 

Associated Press writers Justin Pritchard in San Francisco, Seth Hettena in San Diego, Gary Gentile in Los Angeles, John Solomon in Washington, D.C., and Don Thompson and Alexa Haussler in Sacramento contributed to this report.

SAN FRANCISCO — A report released Tuesday shows that California HMOs fail to provide proper language access policies and procedures to those customers who are not fluent in English. 

The report entitled “California Health Plans and Language Access” is based on information collected by the Office of the Patient Advocate (OPA) from California health plans. Of 13 health plans that responded to the survey only four said they provided face to face interpreters; and only six have a written policy about how to provide services for patients who do not speak English fluently. 

Consumer advocates say that the need for language services and cultural sensitivity in health care is acute in California. 

The report was simultaneously released in Los Angeles and San Francisco by a coalition of statewide consumer rights advocates. 

SAN JOSE — People flying in and out of San Jose will have to know the way to Mineta. 

The City Council formally decided Tuesday to name the airport for Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, who was mayor of San Jose from 1971 to 1974 and a congressman from the area for 20 years. Mineta was the first Asian-American mayor of a large U.S. city. 

Current Mayor Ron Gonzales first proposed honoring Mineta with the airport name over the summer, but he said the decision seemed even more appropriate now, in light of Mineta’s post-Sept. 11 efforts to strengthen security at airports. 

The official name will be Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, though the baggage and ticketing code will remain “SJC.” 

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — San Jose expects to be the home of the world’s biggest outdoor Monopoly game board. 

The project, to be built in phases, is expected to cost $500,000, said Jill Cody, a superintendent for the city’s department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services. The first phase, a 30-by-30-foot replica of the Monopoly board itself, is scheduled to open for play in February. 

The civic group San Jose Beautiful had been trying for about nine years to secure funding, a location and licensing from the game’s maker. The process took a giant leap forward last month when the San Jose Redevelopment Agency, acting as banker, contributed $205,000 for construction costs. 

The enormous board will be located near Children’s Discovery Museum. The groundbreaking ceremony is set for Thursday in the Discovery Meadow. 

Visitors will be able to play the game can be played like the tabletop version that has sold more than 200 million copies since 1935. San Jose recreation supervisor Gina Aning described it as “shrinking yourself and putting yourself on the board.” 

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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Leonid Grin, a conductor without a performing orchestra, said Monday he wants to remain with the silenced San Jose Symphony and oversee a new concert schedule sometime early next year. 

“It’s not what I expected my 10th anniversary season to be,” said Grin, who returned to the Bay Area over the weekend. On the other hand, he said, “I think that it’s a wise decision to restructure.” 

Grin was in Europe last month when the financially drained symphony canceled performances and shut down operations to begin planning a complete reorganization. 

Faced with a $2.5 million deficit, the symphony shut down Oct. 18., dissolving its board of directors in an attempt to find new benefactors and board members by Feb. 1. Reimbursement to ticket holders for lost performances is still being worked out. 

Kristen Linfante, a violist who is one of the musicians serving on the transition team, said Grin’s trip to Europe had made it more difficult to assess his role. 

“I think we’re still establishing what’s going to be best for the orchestra when it comes back,” said Linfante. “I don’t think we’ve firmly established whether what’s right for the orchestra includes Leonid Grin or not.” 

WASHINGTON — Attorney General John Ashcroft gave federal drug agents the go-ahead Tuesday to take action against doctors who help terminally ill patients die, a move aimed at undercutting Oregon’s unique assisted-suicide law. 

The decision, outlined in a letter to Drug Enforcement Administration chief Asa Hutchinson, would allow the revocation of drug licenses of doctors who participate in an assisted suicide using a federally controlled substance. 

The state said it would ask a federal judge Wednesday to block Ashcroft’s order. But Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber predicted that few physicians, if any, would be willing to take the risk of helping a terminally ill patient died. 

“If I was practicing medicine today, I would be very concerned about the implications of being exposed to criminal prosecution” for prescribing life-ending drugs to the terminally ill, Kitzhaber said in an interview with The Associated Press. 

Ashcroft’s letter reverses a June 1998 order by his predecessor, Janet Reno, who barred agents from moving against doctors who used Oregon’s law. 

Ashcroft said assisted suicide is not a “legitimate medical purpose” for prescribing, dispensing or administering federally controlled substances. However, he said pain management is a valid medical use of controlled substances. 

Ashcroft based his decision on a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in May that said there is no exception in federal drug laws for the medical use of marijuana to ease pain from cancer, AIDS and other illnesses. 

The court didn’t change state laws allowing patients to use marijuana for medical reasons, but made the drug harder to obtain by denying patients the right to claim “medical necessity” as a reason to circumvent a 1970 law regulating controlled substances. 

Under Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act, doctors may provide — but not administer — a lethal prescription to terminally ill adult state residents. It requires that two doctors agree the patient has less than six months to live, has voluntarily chosen to die and is able to make health care decisions. 

At least 70 terminally ill people have ended their lives since the law took effect in 1997, according to the Oregon Health Division. All have done so with a federally controlled substance such as a barbiturate. 

Advocates for the Oregon law worried Ashcroft’s decision will limit medical professionals’ ability to treat pain because they will be less likely to prescribe large amounts of a medication to those who might need it. 

“The federal government has way overstepped its boundaries and has undermined good health care practices across the country, not just in Oregon,” said Scott Swenson, executive director of Oregon Death with Dignity. “What they have done is to federalize medicine.” 

In a 1998 letter to Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., Reno said she found no evidence the Controlled Substances Act law was intended to displace states as the primary regulators of the medical profession or override a state’s authority determine of what constitutes a legitimate medical practice. 

Since then, conservative, religious and anti-abortion groups have mounted a campaign to try to block the Oregon law. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., pushed a bill last session that would have done what Ashcroft ordered.  

The measure, stridently opposed by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., never reached the floor for a vote. 

Oregon voters twice approved physician-assisted suicide in referendums during the 1990s. The Supreme Court in June 1997 upheld bans on assisted suicide in New York and Washington state, but left it up to states to decide whether to allow the practice.

SACRAMENTO — The state Senate committee investigating possible price manipulation of California’s energy market questioned the CEO of the state’s power grid Tuesday about his call to end price caps last winter as the state neared possible rolling blackouts for the first time. 

Terry Winter, CEO of the Independent System Operator, said his goal last Dec. 8 was to keep the lights on in California, despite dwindling power supplies. 

The ISO entered its first Stage Three that night, when electricity reserves dropped to just more than 1 percent. Grid managers try to keep at least 7 percent in reserve. 

Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, the chairman of the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation in the Wholesale Energy Market, questioned why Winter filed a request with federal regulators to end a $250-per-megawatt price cap. 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the request, which “ultimately led to the total disaster we saw in California in January, February and March,” Dunn said. California had two days of rolling blackouts in January, then two more in March, and wholesale prices hit record highs during those months. 

Once the price cap was lifted, ISO grid operators say more energy became available, alleviating the threat of blackouts. 

The FERC filing was made without the knowledge of the ISO board, and Dunn said Winter “was clearly acting on his own and to us, at least as outsiders looking in, that seemed to be beyond the authority that he had.” 

During a break in the deposition at the state Capitol, Winter said as CEO of the grid he has “very broad authority to do what I think is necessary to keep the lights on, and that’s what I did.” 

He said he didn’t discuss the filing with Gov. Gray Davis’ office because “I thought I would get a big resounding, ’No, let’s discuss it for the next three weeks and decide what we’re going to do.”’ 

The crisis unfolded in about 36 hours, he said, and grid managers didn’t have time to enter long-term discussions about lifting the price caps, he said. 

Winter said there was no question that he was going to ask FERC to lift the caps “because I couldn’t keep the system working if we didn’t get relief.” 

FERC already had proposed lifting the price caps, and the ISO was asking them to impose that order immediately, said ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle. 

ISO management had made FERC filings previously without approval or knowledge of the board, which at that time consisted of more than two dozen members, including utility executives, marketers and power plant operators. 

The Senate committee has deposed about a dozen witnesses in the probe. Several, including Winter, have opted to open their deposition to the public. Others have been conducted in private. 

——— 

On the Net: 

The California Independent System Operator: http://www.caiso.com 

PALO ALTO — The family and foundation of Hewlett-Packard Co. co-founder William Hewlett said Tuesday they will vote their 5 percent stake against the proposed takeover of Compaq Computer Corp., revealing divisions that could threaten the $21 billion deal. 

Walter B. Hewlett, Hewlett’s son and a member of the HP board, said the company can create more value for shareholders without adding Compaq. Hewlett said the deal would give HP too much exposure to the struggling personal computer industry and dilute its profitable printer business. 

“Given the lack of stockholder benefits, I believe the extensive integration risks associated with this transaction are not worth taking,” Hewlett said in a statement on behalf of him, his sisters Eleanor Hewlett Gimon and Mary Hewlett Jaffe, and the family’s charitable foundation. 

It was not immediately clear how many other HP board members shared that position. Hewlett voted for the acquisition when the board originally gave chief executive Carly Fiorina the green light to pursue the deal. 

Potentially more important, the Packard family foundation — which owns 10 percent of HP’s stock — has not decided whether to support the deal. 

Robert Stephens, a son-in-law of HP co-founder David Packard and a member of the foundation’s board, said the organization has hired advisers to help determine its decision. 

“It has tremendous consequences for us,” Stephens said, adding that the Packards are not discussing the issue with the Hewletts. 

For many of the reasons Hewlett cited, the deal has been widely unpopular on Wall Street ever since it was announced on Labor Day, chopping the value of the deal down from the original $25 billion. 

Shares of HP jumped 17 percent, or $2.92, to close at $19.81 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. Compaq shares fell 5.5 percent, or 49 cents, to close at $8.50. 

“We were absolutely very pleased by today’s announcement,” said David Katz, president of Matrix Asset Advisors, which has large stakes in HP and Compaq and opposes the acquisition. “We think it opens the door for the board to reconsider the transaction.” 

Dates for shareholder votes on the deal have not been announced. HP said that it will register a prospectus about the proposed acquisition with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week and that the filing “will serve as the basis for thoughtful shareowner evaluation.” 

“While we regret very much the Hewlett family’s decision, we are not surprised,” the company said in a statement. “The HP board of directors and HP and Compaq remain fully committed to the merger and expect shareholder approval.” 

HP and Compaq declined to comment further. 

William Hewlett and David Packard founded HP in a Palo Alto garage in 1938 with $538 of their own money and built it into one of the world’s premier technology companies. Hewlett died in January; Packard died in 1996. 

Fiorina became the first outsider to lead the company when she was hired away from Lucent Technologies in 1999. Although she has come under intense criticism this year as HP’s profits and sales have fallen, the board had at least publicly appeared unified behind her strategy until Tuesday. 

“I think symbolically, it’s a blow to the deal and to the confidence of industry observers and other shareholders, many of whom take their cue from that pretty big stake,” said Eric Rocco, a Gartner Dataquest vice president who has studied the proposed acquisition. 

Merrill Lynch analyst Tom Kraemer noted that the acquisition would require a majority of shares voted — not of the total amount of shares outstanding. If the Hewletts and Packards together voted it down, “it could make it substantially more difficult for the merger to go through,” Kraemer wrote in a research note. 

Walter Hewlett said Compaq has too much exposure in lower-priced servers and in support services, and he believes HP is better off concentrating on higher-end servers and outsourcing and consulting. 

He added that the “merger would distract Hewlett-Packard management and the rest of the Hewlett-Packard employees from concentrating on areas in which Hewlett-Packard excels and should be expanding.” 

“The uncertainty created by the merger could cause existing and potential customers to delay orders or to purchase products from Hewlett-Packard’s competitors,” he said. 

Rocco of Gartner Dataquest said he agrees it would be very difficult to combine HP’s and Compaq’s massive organizations, but said it has the chance of being successful long term, in particular making HP better at providing high-tech services. 

“The management of both companies can make this work if given the opportunity,” he said. “Certainly there’s something to be said for trying to create the largest player in several segments of the (information-technology) industry, where size and scale does matter.” 

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AP Technology Writer May Wong contributed to this report. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.hp.com 

http://www.compaq.com 

LOS ANGELES — Ten years later, he is playing ball against guys half his age. He is running a small empire of theaters, coffeehouses and restaurants. And his smile — the one that launched a thousand ads — remains as wide as ever. 

“I feel wonderful,” Magic Johnson said. “Everything is great, wonderful. I celebrate life and I live every day. Every day is a holiday for me. Nov. 7 won’t be any different.” 

Ten years ago — Nov. 7, 1991 — many thought that one of basketball’s most dazzling players had been handed a death sentence. 

He stood at a packed news conference at the Forum, the scene of his many triumphs with the Los Angeles Lakers, and announced he was retiring at 32 because he had the AIDS virus. 

Now, he takes AIDS drug cocktails — combinations of medications that have kept many people with the virus from developing full-blown AIDS — allowing him to focus on business, and not just the business of staying alive. 

“The medicine has done its thing. I think I’ve done my part,” he said last week. “And God has done his part. It’s mind over matter, too. I’ve never felt I would be sick or get sick. I thought I would be here.” 

The 6-foot-9 basketball star would change the face of AIDS around the world. 

“His announcement was huge, particularly for African-Americans,” said Phill Wilson, founder of the African-American AIDS Policy and Training Institute in Los Angeles. “The day he announced, my voice mail shut down because there were so many calls. His announcement showed AIDS was not just a white disease, not just a gay disease. And that was critical. He’s been a remarkable role model, as a human being, an African-American, a man living with the HIV.” 

At the time of Johnson’s announcement, many people did not understand the difference between being HIV positive and actually having AIDS. A decade ago, the typical length of time from infection to death was eight to 10 years. It was not until the mid-’90s that AIDS drug cocktails that suppress the virus came into wide use. 

Now 42, Johnson is a most busy man. Most of his time is spent in business, where through his Johnson Development Corp., he has worked to bring economic development to troubled urban areas by opening Magic Johnson Theaters, Starbucks coffeehouses and T.G.I. Fridays restaurants. 

Just last month, he added to his menu of business ventures with the purchase of the Fatburger restaurant chain. 

Hollywood super agent Michael Ovitz served as a mentor of sorts to Johnson during his playing days 

“I worked with him for years, I speak with him all the time. Years ago, I gave him a bunch of books and magazines to read, I set him up with some meetings. He was like a sponge,” Ovitz said. “The end results speak for themselves. Look at what he’s done.” 

Johnson — who believes he got the AIDS virus by having unprotected sex with women — exercises daily and still plays basketball. Last Friday, he led his all-star team of several former NBA players against his alma mater, Michigan State, in an exhibition game in Lansing. Johnson is also a vice president with the Lakers, for whom he coached briefly. 

And he is in excellent health, according to Dr. Michael Mellman, Johnson’s personal physician for the past 20 years. 

“There’s nothing experimental, nothing high-tech,” Mellman said of Johnson’s medication. “Anyone who can afford health care can afford what he’s doing. He’s as healthy as he looks.” 

As for the future, “we have no idea,” Mellman said. “AIDS and the virus have only been around a couple decades. Ten years ago, we didn’t know what to expect, so there were no expectations, only questions. I’ll take every 10 years he gets, and hope we don’t get surprised along the way.” 

The man who led the Lakers to five NBA titles in the 1980s made a basketball comeback in 1992, shortly after playing in the Olympics. Some of his Olympic teammates, most notably Karl Malone, expressed discomfort playing against him, so Johnson retired again before the season began. 

Years later, Malone said: “Maybe I shouldn’t have said that, but I meant what I said. You’re young, you don’t know a lot of information on it.” 

Johnson made another comeback during the second half of the 1995-96 season, then retired for the final time. At that stage, people knew much more about the virus and AIDS. 

Since then, Johnson has immersed himself in the business world and his family — his wife, Cookie, and three children. None has tested positive for the virus. 

Although not a major AIDS activist, Johnson contributes time and energy, serving as event chairman and master of ceremonies at a major fund-raiser in September. 

Hattie Babbitt, executive director of AIDS Action in Washington, was effusive in her praise of Johnson.  

But she also said Johnson appears so healthy and has such energy it gives the mistaken impression that the drugs are a cure. 

“They do have side effects, and they tend to lose their effectiveness. His healthy appearance may lead young people to incorrectly believe it doesn’t matter if they get infected,” Babbitt said. 

Johnson’s mother, Christine, said that after she learned her son was infected, she “asked the Lord to let him live to see his kids grow up.” 

“I believe he’s going to do that,” she said. “I believe the Lord is going to allow him to be around for a long time.”

Raymond Pinkston’s never been one to walk away from a challenge. That explains why he couldn’t wait to get back to the West Coast after a year of playing football in Detroit. 

“Talent-wise, we’re superior in all aspects of the game,” Pinkston said of California high school football players. “The anticipation I had before this season was unbearable.” 

Pinkston, 17, returned to Berkeley this summer and quickly filled the quarterback vacancy left by Mohammed Nitoto, who transferred to McClymonds. The 5-foot-11, 198-pound Pinkston quarterbacked the ’Jackets’ junior varsity team as a freshman before transferring to Albany High during his sophomore season and then to Detroit’s Loyola High last year. 

Even though the senior quarterback already knew several ’Jackets players from his freshman days, neither Pinkston nor his teammates knew exactly what to expect from Berkeley’s new offensive coordinator. 

This season the ’Jackets introduced an entirely new varsity coaching staff. And with the new coaches came a new and complex offense for Pinkston to run. 

“At first we didn’t really have any communication on offense,” Pinkston said. “Everybody was getting used to the system while learning about how each other played.” 

It’s taken a while for Berkeley to find its offensive rhythm. The ’Jackets scored just 12 points in their first three games this season. In the next four, the offense began clicking. Berkeley scored 32 points against El Cerrito, 48 versus Alameda and tallied 34 and 47, respectively, as it shut out Emery and Encinal.  

Individually, Pinkston caught fire in Berkeley’s four-game winning streak. Against El Cerrito he completed 8-of-13 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns. He tossed another three TDs against Alameda and fell just shy of 200 yards passing. Early in the next game against Emery, however, Pinkston injured his ankle and left the game after the first series. With Pinkston out, Berkeley relied heavily on its running game and didn’t complete a single pass during the rout of Emery. 

“We don’t throw as much as other teams,” said Matt Bissell, Berkeley’s head coach. “But when we do, we’re pretty effective and that’s attributed to Raymond.” 

After another solid performance against Encinal, Pinkston has completed nearly half of his passes this season for 793 yards and nine touchdowns while throwing just three interceptions. 

“He’s been incredible,” said Clarence Johnson, Berkeley offensive coordinator. “We feel extremely confident in him in games and he’s just gotten better and better.” 

Johnson, who has coached football for 15 years, said Pinkston is one of the few quarterbacks he’s coached who hasn’t had to have his throwing motion adjusted. Pinkston said he owes that to Cal camps he participated in as a younger player. It’s his footwork, Johnson added, that the coaches are working on improving. 

Pinkston said he lifts weights and adheres to a training program suited more for a running back than a quarterback. As a result, his upper body is stronger than a lot of play callers he competes against. That’s something that interests recruiters, including San Jose State and Eastern Michigan. Pinkston said he’s planning to attend college and wants to pursue a career in either physical therapy or law. As for football, he’ll lean towards whichever is “the biggest conference looking” at him. 

In addition to leading the offense on the football field, Pinkston also plays baseball and as a was named all-league for basketball in Detroit. When he’s not competing athletically, Pinkston plays bass for a jazz ensemble at Berkeley High. 

Although Berkeley’s offense continues to execute a little better each game, Pinkston and Berkeley coaches said that still more time is needed to iron out all the wrinkles. 

“We’re running a brand new system and it’s a situation where it will take time for players to settle into it,” Bissell said. “Usually it takes a couple years.” 

As Pinkston gains more experience, he’s becoming better at reading defenses and staying calm in pressure situations.  

“He’s letting things come to him as opposed to trying to do too much,” Bissell said. 

Before the season started, Berkeley looked deep into its schedule and immediately recognized that the match-up against Pinole Valley this week could determine its post-season prospects. Heading into the game undefeated, the ’Jackets are betting that their offense will deliver while their defense continues to stifle opponents. 

“Obviously we knew going into the season that if we wanted to go to the playoffs, the road went through Pinole,” Bissell said. 

The crucial contest might have arrived at the perfect time, just as Pinkston and the rest of Berkeley’s offense begins firing on all cylinders. 

“I believe that whoever makes the least mistakes will win,” Pinkston said. “We match them man for man. They’re a couple years ahead of us in their program, but I think we’ll be able to compete.”

City Council to hear discussion of parking, height limitations  

The City Council will devote its entire meeting tonight to the Draft General Plan, and it appears that parking and downtown height limits will be the major topics addressed during the public hearing. 

Once the hearing is closed, the council will hold three additional meetings to discuss the plan. Possible amendments are likely to be on the table. The council is required by state law to adopt the housing element of the plan by Dec. 31.  

The General Plan is a document that includes goals, objectives and policies, which govern land use, transportation and environmental management during a 20-year period. 

The 191-page draft plan, prepared by the Planning Commission, is the result of two-and-a-half years of public discussions and input from hundreds of Berkeley citizens and a variety of city commissions and boards.  

The council held its first hearing on the Draft General Plan last Tuesday. If the first group of speakers is any indication, the most controversial issues in the plan are a moratorium on parking studies in the downtown and height limits on buildings.. 

“Parking is shaping up to be the big issue,” said Senior Planner Andrew Thomas. “But I’ve also heard groups that want increased height limits have been gearing up as well.”  

YMCA Director Fran Gallati is concerned the Draft General Plan is too restrictive on the possibility of creating more public parking in the downtown area.  

Gallati said downtown is going through a renaissance with the expansion of the Berkeley Repertory Theater and the opening of the Aurora Theater. He said in the near future, the renovated Berkeley Central Library, the Freight and Salvage Coffee House as well as a variety of restaurants, cafes and art houses will be opening in the downtown areas increasing the need for parking.  

“The demand for parking in the downtown is going to increase,” Gallati said. “I don’t want to lose our ability to provide services because we were short sighted.” 

The draft plan calls for a two-year moratorium on parking studies while the city tries to implement a variety of policies recommended in the Transportation Demand Study. The study, released in March, suggests reducing the number of all-day parkers thereby freeing up parking spaces for short-term parkers who are more likely to patronize restaurants, theaters and other downtown businesses. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said during last Tuesday’s public hearing the claims of a parking shortage in the downtown area were exaggerated.  

“I challenge anybody to show me a time when all these spaces are filled, especially when the arts groups say they need them,” he said. 

In fact the Berkeley Daily Planet counted 79 empty spaces on the sixth floor of the Center Street Parking Garage at 12:45 p.m. Monday. 

Gallati argued it would take more than one day to make a meaningful assessment of the parking needs in the downtown area. He said parking congestion depends on events scheduled in the downtown area and added that there are 2,000 to 3,000 people who use the YMCA every day. He hears complaints about a lack of parking throughout the day, he said. 

“What I do know for sure is that we have a lot of people who drive, seniors, people with children and women who are concerned about safety,” he said.  

Gallati added that the YMCA does what it can to promote alternate transportation. He said there is a 20-space bike rack for employees and members are given a pamphlet that outlines bus stops, BART stations and bike routes to the downtown. 

Councilmember Dona Spring, who represents the downtown area, said she supports reducing all-day parking in existing spaces. To balance the draft plan’s policy on parking studies, she has submitted a amendment recommendation to council that would ensure no existing public parking downtown is lost. 

“I think the council wants parking to be available for business patrons in the downtown area,” she said. “The whole goal was to figure out how to get the commuters out of their cars so they are not filling up garages or feeding meters all day.” 

Another issue likely to be discussed is a call for increased height limitations in the downtown area.  

Ecocity Builders, a nonprofit agency dedicated to creating open space in urban areas by increasing residential density along transportation corridors, is asking for four amendments to the plan. To support the proposed amendments, the agency will submit a petition with more than 100 signatures from nonprofits, educational institutions and businesses, said Ecocity Builders President Richard Register. 

The draft plan sets a height limitation in the downtown area of no more than seven floors. If the Ecocity amendment is approved, it would allow 10- or 11-story buildings, Register said. 

According to Thomas, during the drafting of the General Plan, the Planning Commission avoided increasing height limits because the subject was so controversial. 

“The Planning Commission was faced with relentless public comment that was opposed to increased height limits,” he said. “It was very clear the opposition to it was very strong.” 

In fact, a group of residents calling itself the Berkeley Party, is in the final revision of a proposed Zoning Ordinance amendment that would lower the existing height limits. They are proposing limitations be reduced to between 28 and 35 feet along certain sections of San Pablo Avenue. Currently, the height limits are 50 feet.  

“There are single family homes just behind San Pablo Avenue,” said Berkeley Party member Carrie Olson. “Since many of us buy our homes to live the rest of our lives and don’t expect to have a 50-foot wall altering the quality of our lives.” 

Olson said the Zoning Ordinance amendment could be voted on in November 2002, provided they can gather the 4,000 signatures necessary to put it on the ballot. 

Planning Commission Chairperson Rob Wrenn said somewhere between the Ecocity amendment and the Berkeley Party amendment is what’s best for the city.  

“The Berkeley Party amendment goes against the public process,” he said. “Lowering the height limits along the San Pablo corridor would allow virtually no development.” 

The City Council meeting will be held tonight at 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. The meeting will also be broadcast live on the KPFA Radio, 89.3 and Cable B-TV, Channel 25.

Tuesday, Nov. 6

Brown bag seminar with Vernon Jordan  

noon  

223 Moses. UC Berkeley 

An informal brown-bag seminar with Vernon Jordan, Civil rights activist, Washington lawyer, and presidential advisor, "A Personal History in the Civil Rights Movement." Jordan will discuss the dangers he faced registering black voters in the South, his success in promoting workplace integration as president of the National Urban League, and his experiences as a personal advisor to President Clinton. 

Free. 

“The Future of Indonesia” 

4 - 5 p.m. 

International House 

Ida and Robert Sproul Room  

2299 Piedmont Ave. 

Center for Southeast Asia Studies Distinguished Visitor Series: Dr. Nurcholish Madjid, Rector of Paramadina Mulya University, Jakarta, Indonesia. 642-3609 http://www-ihouse.berkeley.edu 

Shakespeare and Canonicity 

4:10 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Toll Room, Alumni House 

Public lectures and seminar by Sir Frank Kermode, literary critic and Shakespeare scholar. Lecture one: Pleasure. 643-7413 www.grad. berkeley.edu/tanner 

Community Forum on Special  

Education 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Community Theater Stage 

1930 Allston Way 

Learn about the vision for special education at the BUSD with Superintendent Michelle Lawrence. Sponsored by the Berkeley Special Education Parents Group (BSPED). 843-9177 sandstep@earthlink.net. 

East Bay Mystery Readers  

Group 

7 p.m. 

Dark Carnival Bookstore 

3086 Claremont Avenue 

Informal gathering to discuss mysteries the first Tuesday of every month. This month's books are: Big Easy Backroad, Martin Hegwood; Resurrection Man, Charlotte MacLeod; and Last Seen in Massilia, Steven Saylor. You don't have to read the books to come. 654-7523 

Financial Planning for Older  

Adults 

11 a.m. 

St. John’s Senior Center 

2727 College Ave. 

Learn about long-term care insurance, local health care costs, and how to protect your assets. 845-6380 

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church 

941 The Alameda 

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

531-8664 

Creative Classes for Seniors 

9:30 a.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church 

2727 College Ave.  

Learn exercise, copper enameling, marquetry, weaving, water color painting, and more. Lunch and friendly conversation offered at a minimal charge. 845-6830 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

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

548-3333 

Small Schools Community Action Committee meeting  

7 - 9 p.m.  

Parent Resource Center 

Rm H105 on the Berkeley High School campus 

Wednesday, Nov. 7

Yoga for People with  

HIV/AIDS 

10:45 - 11:45 a.m. 

Center for AIDS Services 

5720 Shattuck Ave.  

Free Kundalini Yoga class for people with HIV/AIDS. Mats provided, you may bring a towel. Eating within an hour of class is not advised. Wear loose, comfortable clothing. Beginners and drop-ins welcome. 841-4339 

Advisory Council Meeting and  

Birthday Party 

10 a.m., 1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

Monthly birthday party follows the meeting and will feature Destiny, the Harpist, Community members are welcomed to meeting. 644-6107 

Know Your Rights Training 

7 p.m. 

Copwatch Office 

2022 Blake St. 

Free workshop to learn what your rights are and how to watch the police effectively and safely. 548-0425 

Prose Writers’ Workshop 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley/Richmond Jewish Community Center Library 

1414 Walnut St.  

From Op-ed to fiction, memoir to the feature article – a community writers' group to support and encourage a community of interests. Workshop format. Free. 524-3034 

“The Genocide Continuum —  

Peace Time Crimes and  

Everyday Violence” 

7 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion Chapel 

1798 Scenic Ave. 

A lecture by Dr. Nancy Scheper-Hughes, author of “Death Without Weeping: The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil.” 649-2440 

Shakespeare and Canonicity 

4:10 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Toll Room, Alumni House 

Public lecture and seminar by Sir Frank Kermode, literary critic and Shakespeare scholar. Lecture Two: Change. 643-7413 www.grad. berkeley.edu/tanner 

Toddler Storytime 

7 p.m. 

West Berkeley Library 

1125 University Ave 

For families with children three years or younger, a program to expose the youngest readers to multicultural stories, songs and finger plays. Every Wednesday through Nov. 28. 

Thursday, Nov. 8

Shakespeare and Canonicity 

4:10 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Geballe Room, The Townsend Center for the Humanities 

220 Stephens Hall 

Seminar and Discussion with Sir Frank Kermode, literary critic and Shakespeare scholar. 643-7413 www.grad.berkeley.edu/tanner 

Women’s Cancer Resource  

Center Gallery Reception 

1- 3 p.m. 

WCRC Gallery 

3023 Shattuck Ave. 

Opening reception with the artists Rowena Halligan and Margaret Herscher. Exhibit runs through Dec. 13. 548-9286 

Long-Term Care Coverage 

1 - 3 p.m. 

Herrick Campus 

Maffley Auditorium 

2001 Dwight Way  

Lecture outlining various options for long-term care coverage. 869-6737 

Grandparent Support Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

Malcolm X School, Rm. 105A 

1731 Prince St. 

For grandparents or relatives raising their grandchildren and other relatives. 644-6517 

The Teaching of Gurdjieff 

7 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Public Library 

2940 Benvenue 

A lecture by Kevin Langdon. Gurdjieff’s teaching puts into question all that we think we know about our own nature and the nature of the universe. Free. 524-0345 www.polymath-systems.com/phenomen/gurdj /index.html 

– Compiled by Guy Poole 

1414 Walnut St. 

Salsa, Cha-cha, Merengue... $10, No partner necessary. All ages and levels welcome. 508-4616 

Journeys Along the Arctic’s  

Edge: A Rower’s Odyssey 

7 p.m. 

REI 

1338 San Pablo Ave. 

Join Jill Fredston for a slide presentation on their remarkable adventures rowing more than 20,000 miles along the shores of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway and Sweden. Free. 527-4140 

Friday, Nov. 9

Special Seminar in  

Constitutional Jurisprudence: Thoughts on the 2000  

Presidential Election 

Noon 

Institute of Governmental Studies 

UC Berkeley, 119 Moses Hall 

Robert Post, UCB, “Sustaining the Premise of Legality: Learning to Live with Bush v. Gore.” 642-4608 

City Commons Club  

Luncheon 

12:30 p.m. 

Berkeley City Club 

2315 Durant Ave. 

Ameena Janadali, Cofounder of the Islamic Networks Group, presents “Women of Islam.” $1 admission; 11:45 a.m. lunch, $12.25. 848-3533 

Human Nature 

8:30 p.m. 

Metaversal Lightcraft 

1708 University Ave. 

Join the X-plicit Players as they visit the wilderness of Human Nature, explore intimate but un-named ways of being together, awaken senses old and new, and participate in rituals of Group Body. $15. 848-1985 wwwxplicitplayers.com 

PC Users Group Meeting 

7 p.m. 

Vista College, Room 303 

2020 Milvia St. 

Monthly meeting will feature a presentation by Jan Fagerholm and will focus on new Linux features. 

Editor: 

The “East Bay Coalition Against the War” has called for a demonstration tonight against the Madeline Albright forum in Berkeley. The announcement makes it clear that the intent is not only to present a political alternative, but to stop the forum. The organizers boast that a similar demonstration caused the Netanyahu forum to be canceled last year. 

They have selected stopalbright@yahoo.com as their email address. The issue is not whether the demonstrators are or are not “violent.” The issue is whether Berkeley citizens can accept a so-called left that feels it has the right to decide who the public is allowed to hear, and who the public will be prevented from hearing. 

The “East Bay Coalition Against the War” has a web site: http://www.geocities.com/eastbaycoalition/ At this web site they list “three points of unity: 1. Stop the war. 2. Stop racist scapegoating. 3. Defend civil liberties.” I’m sure that there are some good people active in the East Bay Coalition, but it’s apparent from this new demonstration that the group as a whole hasn’t the foggiest idea what civil liberties are, let alone any commitment to defending them. Their third point of unity is rhetoric without substance. 

The time is long past when this kind of garbage – trying to silence your political opponents every chance you get – can be regarded as acceptable. Even leaving aside the important democratic principles involved, it is downright suicidal for people who are opposed to American foreign policy – whether in the Middle East, Central Asia or elsewhere – to contribute to a public climate of political intolerance through their own actions. Suppose a few hundred idiots succeed in disrupting the Albright forum and perhaps getting it canceled. Don’t they realize that for every one of them there will be a hundred super-patriotic flag-wavers ready to disrupt every future anti-war demonstration? 

I recommend that people send email to stopalbright@yahoogroups.com and let them know that their planned action is both anti-democratic and politically dangerous in the current national war frenzy. 

David Friedman 

Berkeley 

924 Gilman St. Nov. 9: Hoods, Punishment, Lords of Light Speed, Necktie Party; Nov. 10: Sunday’s Best, Mock Orange, Elizabeth Elmore, Fighting Jacks, Benton Falls; Nov. 16: Pitch Black, The Blottos, Miracle Chosuke, 240; Nov. 17: Carry On, All Bets Off, Limp Wrist, Labrats, Thought Riot; All shows start a 8 p.m. unless noted; Most are $5; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926 

Anna’s Nov. 5: Rengade Sideman with Calvin Keys; Nov. 6: Singers’ Open Mic #1; Nov. 7: Bob Shoen Jazz Quintet; Nov. 8: Dreams Unltd; Nov. 9: Anna and Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 10: Robin Gregory and Si Perkoff, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet; Nov. 11: Choro Time; Nov. 12: Renegade Sidemen with Calvin Keys; Nov. 13: Singers’ Open Mic #2; Nov. 14: Bob Shoen Jazz Quintet; Nov. 15: Jazz Singers’ Collective; Nov. 16: Anna & Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 17: Vicki Burns & Felice York, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet; All shows 8 p.m. unless noted. Free. 1901 University Ave., 849-2662 

Blake’s Nov. 5: All Star Jam featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Nov. 6: Inner, Ama, $3; Nov. 7: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free; Nov. 8: Ascension, $5; Nov. 9: Delfino, Boomshanka, $5; Nov. 10: Kofy Brown, J. Dogs, $7; Nov.11: Psychotica, $5; Nov. 12: All Star Jam Featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Nov. 13: The Photon Band, Ian Moore, $4; Nov. 14: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free. All shows 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886 

Cal Performances Nov 8: 8 p.m. Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance, $18 - $30; Nov. 10: 7 p.m. & Nov. 11: 3 p.m., The 2001 Taiko Festival, $20 - $32; Nov. 29: Les Arts Florissants, $24 - $46; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph. 642-0212 tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Eli’s Mile High Club Every Friday, 10 p.m. Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10 Doors open at 8 p.m. unless noted. 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Freight & Salvage Nov. 7: John Hoban $15.50 - $16.50; Nov. 8: Ledward Ka’apana & Cyril Pahinui $17.50 - $18.50; Nov. 9: The Harmony Sisters with Alice Gerrard, Jeanie McLerie & Irene Herrmann $16.50 - $17.50; Nov 10: Barry & Alice Olivier $16.50 - $17.50; Nov. 11: Austin Lounge Lizards $16.50 - $17.50. All Shows 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note Nov. 11: 4:30 p.m. Dave Le Febvre Quintet, $12. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 

Jupiter Nov. 7: Go Van Gogh; Nov. 8: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 9: Xroads; Nov. 10: Post Junk Trio; Nov. 14: Wayside; Nov. 15: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 16: 5 Point Plan; Nov. 17: Corner Pocket; Nov. 21: Starchild; All shows 8 p.m. and free. 2821 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625/ www.jupiter.com 

La Lesbian @ La Peña: Nov. 7: 8 p.m., I Love Lezzie, 20 member comedy troupe, $14; 320 45th St., Oakland 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

MusicSources Nov. 18 Harpsichordist Gilbert Martinez. Both shows 5 p.m. $15-18. 1000 The Alameda 528-1685 

Rose Street House of Music Nov. 8: 7:30 p.m., Jenny Bird and Melissa Crabtree, $5 - $20. 594.4000 x.687 www.rosestreetmusic.com 

“Berkeley Repertory Theatre Presents Anthony Rapp and His Band” Nov. 13: 8 p.m. Anthony Rapp, currently starring in Berkeley Rep’s “Nocturne,” performs with his three-piece band. $12 - $25. Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., 647-2949 

“me/you...us/them” Nov. 8 through Nov. 10: Thur - Sat 8 p.m., matinee on Sat. 2:30 p.m. Three one-acts that look at interpersonal, as well as societal relationships from the perspective of the disabled. $10 - $25. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

“Nocturne” Through Nov. 11: Tues./Thurs./Sat. 8 p.m., Weds. & Sun. 7 p.m., matinee on Thurs./Sat./Sun. 2 p.m. Mark Brokaw directs Anthony Rapp in One-Man Show. Written by Adam Rapp. $38 - $54. Berkeley Repertory’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep. org 

“Tomas Carrasco of Chicano Secret Service” Nov. 15: 4 p.m. Performance by member of L.A.-based sketch comedy troupe that uses humor to tackle hot-button racial and political issues. Free. Durham Studio Theater, UC Berkeley 

“Works in the Works 2001” Through Nov. 18: 7:30. East Bay performance series presents a different program each evening. Nov. 3: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; St. Mary’s College Dance Company; Marin Academy. Nov. 4: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; Somi Hongo; Dana Lee Lawton; Seely Quest; Cristina Riberio; Nadia Adame of AXIS Dance Company. $8. Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St., 644-1788 

“Nicholas Nickleby” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. The Young Actors Workshop presents a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby. $10 adults, $8 students and seniors. Performing Arts Center of Contra Costa College, corner of El Portal Dr. and Castro St., San Pablo 235-7800 ext. 4274 

“Lost Cause” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. Three space travelers stranded on a forgotten colony, find themselves in the middle of a bloody civil war, and have to decide between what’s right, what’s possible, and what will save their lives. Written by Jefferson Area, directed by Sarah O’Connell. $7-12. La Val’s Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Ave. 464-4468 www.impacttheatre.com 

“Travesties” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., and Thurs., Nov. 15, 8 p.m. A witty fantasy about James Joyce meeting Lenin in Zurich during World War I. Written by Tom Stoppard, Directed by Mikel Clifford. $10. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck. 528-5620 

Cal Performances Nov. 7: 8 p.m., “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” more than 30 singers, dancers, and musicians present a musical synthesis of the authentic Roma styles. $18 - $30; Nov. 8: 11 a.m., SchoolTime Performance, “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” $3 per student or chaperone, in advance only; Nov. 8: 8 p.m., “Orquesta Aragón,” $18 - $30; Nov. 11: 3 p.m., Recital - Angelika Kirschschlager, Bo Skovhus, and Donald Runnicles. “Wolf/ Die Italienisches Liederbuch,” $45; Nov. 16 - 17: 8 p.m., “La Guerra d’Amore,” director and choreographer, René Jacobs, conductor, Ensemble Concerto Vocale. Modern dance and early music from German choreographer Joachim Schlömer, $34 - $52; Nov. 30 - Dec. 2: Fri. - Sat.8 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m., The Suzuki Company presents a staged interpretation of the Greek classic, “Dionysus”, $30 - $46; UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall. 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Macbeth” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m. Presented by the Albany High School Theater Ensemble. $7 adults, $5 students and seniors. Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. 559-6550 x4125 theaterensemble@hotmail.com 

“Saint Joan” Through Dec. 2: Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., 7 p.m. George Bernard Shaw’s epic of a young girl determined to drive the English out of France with only her faith to support her. Directed by Barbara Oliver. $26-35. Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St. 843-4822 www.auroratheatre.org 

“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 

“Brave Brood” Nov. 8 - Dec. 16 Robert O’Hara directs Robert O’Hara’s searing tale of money, desperation, and the fight for survival. $20. Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. 883-0305 www.transparenttheater.org 

“Much Ado About Nothing” Nov. 20 through Jan. 8: Check theater for specific dates and times. Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy chronicles a handful of soldiers returning from a winning battle to be greeted by a gaggle of giddy maidens. Directed by Brian Kulick. $10 - $54. Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org 

Films 

Pacific Film Archive Theater Nov. 5: 7 p.m., Profit and Nothing But!; Nov. 6: 7:30 p.m., Dog Star Man; Nov. 7: 7 :30 p.m., Animal Attraction; Nov. 7 p.m., Exilée, Museum Theater; Nov. 9: 7:30 p.m., Friends in High Places; 9:15 p.m., Soldiers in the Army of God; Nov. 10: 7 p.m., Prefab People; 9 p.m., The Outsider; Nov. 11: 3:30 p.m., Born at Home and The Team on B-6; 5:40 p.m., The Creators of Shopping Worlds; Nov. 16: 7:30 p.m., Autumn Almanac; Nov. 17 & 18: 1 p.m., Satantango; Nov. 21: 7 :30 p.m., Macbeth; Nov. 30: 7:30 p.m., Werckmeister Harmonies; 2575 Bancroft Way, 642-1124 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“La Lesbian Film Festival” Nov. 9 - 11. La Peña Cultural Center presents La Lesbian at La Peña: A Lesbian Performance and Film Series. $8 Fine Arts Cinema 2451 Shattuck 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

Exhibits  

“50 Years of Photography in Japan 1951 - 2001” Through Nov. 5: An exhibition from The Yomiuri Shimbun, the world’s largest daily newspaper with a national morning circulation of 10,300,000. Photographs of work, love, community, culture and disasters of Japan as seen by Japanese news photographers. Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. U.C. Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism, North Gate Hall, Hearst and Euclid. Free. 642-3383 

“Architects of the Information Age” Through Nov. 10: A solo exhibit showcasing the works of Ezra Li Eismont. Works included in the exhibition are mixed media paintings on panel and assemblage works on paper and canvas. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ardency Gallery, 709 Broadway, Oakland 836-0831 

“Art Benefit for the Gabriel Sussman Rodriguez Education Fund” Nov. 11 - Nov. 16: Over 60 artists have donated work for this tribute to the memory of Wendy Sussman, a painter and professor of art practice and UC Berkeley, and contribute to the education of her son. Sun. - Fri. 1 - 6 p.m. Worth Ryder Gallery, Kroeber hall, UC Berkeley 415-665-6131 

“Jesus, This is Your Life - Stories and Pictures by Kids” Through Nov. 16: California children, ages four through twelve, from diverse backgrounds present original artwork, accompanied by a story written by the artist. “Cleve Gray, Holocaust Drawings” Oct. 15 through Jan. 25: 21 works on paper inviting the viewer to consider the atrocity of the Holocaust in ways unattainable through words or text. Mon. - Thur. 8:30 a.m. -10 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541. 

“Changing the World, Building New Lives: 1970s photographs of Lesbians, Feminists, Union Women, Disability Activists and their Supporters” Through Nov. 17: An exhibit of black and white photographs by Oakland photographer Cathy Cade, who captured the interrelationships of the different struggles for justice and social change. Gallery Hours, Mon. - Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St. Free. 644-1400 cathycade@mindspring.com 

“In Through the Outdoors” Through Nov. 24: Featuring seven artists who work in photography and related media including sculpture and video, this exhibit addresses the shift in values and contemporary concerns about the natural world that surrounds us. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery, 1316 Tenth St. www.traywick.com 

“2001 James D. Phelan Art Awards in Printmaking” Honorees: Bridget Henry, David Kelso, and Margaret Van Patten. Through Nov. 30 Tues. - Fri. noon - 5 p.m., other times by appointment. Kala Art Institue, 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 www.kala.org 

“Furniture Art” Through Dec. 7: An exhibit of metal and wood furniture that revisits furniture not only as art but as craft. 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. The Current Gallery at the Crucible, 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511 www.thecrucible.org 

“The Paintings of Bethany Anne Ayers and Sculpture of Alexander Cheves” Nov. 15 through Dec. 15: Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ardency Gallery, 709 roadway, Oakland. 836-0831 gallery709@aol.com 

“The Whole World’s Watching: Peace and Social Justice Movements of the 1960s and 1970s” Through Dec. 16: A documentary photo exhibition which examines the rich history of the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Wed. - Sun., noon - 5 p.m. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., Live Oak Park. Free. 644-6893 

GTU Exhibit: “Holocaust Series” by Cleve Gray Through Jan. 25: Comprised of 21 works on paper that constitute “a catharsis... for all of humanity.” Mon. - Thurs. 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. noon - 7 p.m.; Free. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541 www.gtu.edu 

“The Art History Museum of Berkeley” 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 Botticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours. Atelier 9 2028 Ninth St. 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books Nov. 9: Lauren Dockett will read from her latest book, “The Deepest Blue: How Women Face and Overcome Depression.”; All events start at 7:30 p.m. unless noted otherwise. All events are free. 398 Colusa Ave. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

Cody’s on Telegraph Ave. Nov. 5: Jack Miles talks about “CHRIST: A Crisis in the Life of God”; Nov. 6: Royall Tyler presents his new translation of “The Tale of Genji”; Nov. 7: 5:30 p.m.: Rimpoche Nawang Gehlek talks about “Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation”; Nov. 8: Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz present “Kafka Americana”; Nov. 9: Sue Hubbell thinks about “Shrinking the Cat: Genetic Engineering Before We Knew About Genes”; Nov. 12: Rabih Alameddine reads from “I, The Divine”; Nov. 13: John Barth reads from “Coming Soon!!!” All shows at 7:30 p.m.; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore Nov. 7: Jill Fredston reads from “Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic’s Edge”; Nov. 8: Harry Pariser discusses “Explore Costa Rica”; Nov. 14: Gregory Crouch talks about “Enduring Patagonia.” All shows 7:30 p.m.; 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533 

Eastwind Books of Berkeley Nov. 10: 4 p.m. Ruthanne Lum McCunn reads from her novel “Moon Pearl”; Nov. 18: 4 p.m. Noel Alumit, M.G. Sorongon, and Marianne Villanueva read from their contributions to the anthology “Tilting the Continent: Southeast Asian American Literature”; 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

UC Berkeley Nov. 8: 7 p.m., Reading and book signing with Osha Gray Davidson, author of “Fire In The Turtle House: The Green Sea Turtle and the Fate of the Ocean.” Mulford Bldg., Rm. 132. 848-0110 www.publicaffairsbooks.com/books/fire.html 

“Rhythm and Muse” Nov. 10: 6:30 p.m. This event is supported by Poet’s and Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation. Open mic evening open to all writers and performers. Features poet/musician Avotcja. Free. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893 

“Berkeley’s World” Nov. 10 & 17: 8 p.m. Staged reading of a new play about five Berkeley emigres who form a career support group through an ad placed in the East Bay Express but find they can’t stand each other. Written by Andrea Mock. Free. Speakeasy Theatre, 2016 7th St. 841-9441 

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 Sun., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sun., 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; Nov. 3: Tales from the Enchanted Forest, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.; Nov. 9: Living with the Earth; Nov. 17: Recycle that Stuff; $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Mon. and Wed., 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tues. and Fri., 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thur., 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

Oakland Museum of California Through Nov. 25: Pasajes y Encuentros: Ofrendas for the Days of the Dead, highlights three thematic “passageways” that connect the dead with the living: tradition, humor and spirit. $6 adults, $4 seniors and students, free for children under 5. Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sun. noon - 5 p.m., 10th St., Oakland, 888-625-6873/ www.museumca.org 

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 foot 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. Mon. through Fri., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sat. and Sun., 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.  

University of California Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive has reopened after its summerlong seismic retrofit. “Martin Puryear: Sculpture of the 1990s” through Jan. 13; “The Dream of the Audience: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951 - 1982)” through Dec. 16; “Face of Buddha: Sculpture from India, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia” ongoing rotation through 2003; “Matrix 194: Jessica Bronson, Heaps, layers, and curls” Sept. 16 through Nov. 11; “Matrix 192: Ceal Floyer 37’4”” Sept. 16 through Nov. 11; Wed., Fri., Sat., Sun. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Thur. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., PFA Theater, 2575 Bancroft Way; Museum Galleries 2626 Bancroft Way; 642-0808 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Lawrence Hall of Science “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. 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. 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  

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

After two and a half years fighting Pacifica in the streets, the media and the courts, KPFA supporters say they have won the battle – a mediated agreement that will reconfigure the national Pacifica board. 

Still, there’s more to do before they can boast that they’ve won the war – including the reinstatement of Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now!” news program on Pacifica’s New York Station WBAI and the return of Larry Bensky to his paid position on the national Pacifica staff. 

“This is a major victory for us,” said attorney Dan Siegel, in a letter to the plaintiffs obtained by the Daily Planet. Siegel noted, however, that the agreement is yet to be put into writing formally and Pacifica’s insurance companies still have to sign off on the agreement, stipulating the amount of money they will pay for plaintiffs’ attorney fees.  

Mediators Sherry Gendelman and Tomas Moran both declined to comment on the settlement until it is finalized. 

In the mediated settlement between the Pacifica National Board and those who sued them – members of local advisory boards, members of listener groups and dissident board members – the parties agreed to set up an interim board of 19 people. According to the Siegel memo, the board is to consist of: 

• Six members appointed by plaintiffs. 

• Eight members appointed by defendants. 

• Five members, one each appointed by a local advisory board chair, which could include the chairs themselves. 

“Within one year, the interim board shall rewrite the bylaws and arrange for the election of a new national board,” Siegel writes, adding that the interim board will appoint its own officers, executive committee, search committee for new personnel and shall appoint interim national staff. 

In his commentary on the plan, Siegel said it was not clear what a judge might have decided, had the case gone to trial. There could have been a series of appeals, dragging the case on, he said.  

Some say the fight between KPFA staff and its listener-sponsors on the one hand and the Pacifica National Board on the other about three years ago, when then-station manager, Nicole Sawaya, began asking for detailed information on the station’s finances. 

Sawaya never did get her information, but instead, on March 31, 1999, did not get her contract renewed. At the time, then-executive director, Lynn Chadwick, said she could not reveal reasons for Sawaya’s dismissal.  

In response, programmers went on the air denouncing the ouster of the popular station manager. Pacifica management, in turn, went on the attack, instituting a gag order against talking on the air about Sawaya’s removal. 

Many programmers continued to talk about the issue and some, including Robbie Osman and Larry Bensky, were removed from the airwaves. In conjunction with the battle fought on the air, Camp KPFA sprouted in the street outside the station, with volunteers spending the night to “protect” the station. On the Pacifica side, security guards were hired to protect the building and a public relations firm was hired to explain the board’s actions. Pacifica eventually closed KPFA down and piped in music from off site. Community opposition grew to the point of a 10,000-person march through Berkeley, in support of reopening the station. 

The mediated victory is a fragile one, Siegel warned in his memo. According to his calculations, there will be a 10-9 majority, with those favoring the plaintiffs in the lawsuits in the majority. 

“This means that we can write bylaws that place control of Pacifica in the hands of its listeners and subscribers, insure that good staff is selected, solve the problems at WBAI, KPFA, etc, (and) engage enthusiastically in fund raising to save Pacifica....”  

Siegel cautioned, however, that given the slim majority, plaintiffs will have to get along and make sure “that minor disputes or personal fractions do not erode the unity of our forces.”

Editor: 

The new General Plan calls for holding back building more downtown parking until policies are in place to make better use of existing parking, and cause enough people to shift to public transit so that more parking is not so necessary. 

The alternative is to stupidly go on doing what has always been done, and encourage more and more cars coming to downtown. 

Of course, such regressive policy is fine if we all agree that the convenience of using a car is worth enduring traffic congestion, inching along, inhaling exhaust fumes, until we can pull into a blessed parking slot. 

The “parking lobby” is fixated on the notion that customers come only by car, and any attempt to relieve congestion by people shifting to public transit, is foolish and doomed to failure. 

It’s certainly true that most people prefer to get about by car, but polls consistently show that traffic congestion is thought to be the No. 1 urban evil. 

The Traffic Demand Management study found that the present supply of parking is poorly utilized. One reason is that people don’t know which lots have the free slots. Weekday commuters take up a huge amount of parking space by storing their cars all day. 

A bus can carry 30-40 people. At the typical one person per car, that’s a long line of cars not contributing to congestion. 

It’s all too easy to give in to the parking lobby. The big danger is that not only will an increase in available parking make congestion much worse, but the city will get focused on building the parking, and will forget about any effort to promote public transit. 

Should Berkeley call for a ban on parking, like it called for a ban on bombing? 

Of course not. Of course we should make use of cars for some trips. We will always need downtown parking for those trips, and for visitors. 

Here’s some good progressive policy for Berkeley: 1. Cut back the amount of all-day parking. Make those spaces available for short-term and visitor parking. 2. Shift a substantial number of people from driving alone in a car to riding a bus. Commuters should use transit if they work regular hours, don’t carry more than a briefcase of baggage and don’t use their car during the day. 3. Promote car-free shopping by establishing more downtown pedestrian malls. Establish package delivery services. 

Let’s see Berkeley get national attention, this time for doing something positive about our own traffic problem. 

Steve Geller  

Berkeley 

It has to be about the goofiest looking thing on the road. It’s got three wheels and one door, a steering wheel and a motorcycle license plate, and one person can zip up the HOV lane in it.  

The Sparrow, hatched at Corbin Motors in Hollister, is currently the most viable electric car you can buy. That’s not saying much, according to some. But investments in the company and “strategic alliances” with some heavy hitters hint that this little bird is about to fly into the big time.  

Anyone who’s spent much time on Berkeley’s streets has seen the little cars scooting around town.  

“We’ve got a lot of Sparrow drivers in Berkeley,” said Corbin Motors’ president Tom Corbin. “Probably because that area is a real center of environmental leadership.” 

Berkeley’s Transportation Commission secretary, Karen Haney-Owens says, “I live near the (Emeryville) dealer, and every time I go by, it looks like a garage full of Easter eggs.” 

About $15,000 gets you into the exclusive club of early adopters, owners of what Corbin calls his “proof of concept vehicle.”  

The concept, involving a short-range electric vehicle that qualifies as a motorcycle but drives like a car, would serve the needs of many commuters. “Look at all the cars in gridlocked traffic. SUVs, trucks, minivans, cars – what’s the common denominator?” asks Corbin. “One person per car!”  

Electric cars are nothing new, and the technology on this one is pretty basic – a bunch of batteries, a motor (a big version of what runs your coffee grinder). But other electric cars, like their gasoline powered counterparts, have always been multi-passenger affairs.  

“These things sell themselves driving up the carpool lane in rush-hour traffic,” says Anthony Luzi, Corbin’s Emeryville dealer.  

The Berkeley parking enforcement office confirms that the Sparrow can indeed legally park in motorcycle spaces. 

Add to that the facts that the Sparrow costs a buck or two to charge up overnight, and produces zero emissions, and you’ve got a green-commuter’s fantasy. So why doesn’t everybody own one? 

“It’s a beta-quality product at best,” said Steven Johnson, an East Bay Sparrow owner until his was destroyed in a crash (he was unharmed). Johnson says he will buy another vehicle from Corbin Motors, “but I’m holding out for the Sparrow II.” 

It’s not exactly a plug-and-play adventure, but Sparrow ownership is generally not a nightmare, either. Owners report mixed results. 

UC Berkeley Professor Vivek Subramanian bought an early Sparrow, No. 36, and says he has “basically had 100 percent up time,” and hasn’t had to tinker with his Sparrow at all. 

Subramanian asked the university to install a charging station in the parking lot where he and one other Sparrow driver park. The university happily obliged. The parking office says it will provide free electricity to any Cal faculty who drive electric cars. 

“I always get a good parking place,” says Subramanian. 

About 235 Sparrows have been sold since the first one was registered in July 1999. Of those, most have made the trip back to the factory for one major repair or another.  

Early Sparrows were plagued with trouble in an electrical component, the controller, which caused full power to be applied without warning on a few cars.  

Corbin has effectively recalled all the vehicles and retrofitted an improved controller on most, at no charge. But that brings up another gripe: customer service. “We can’t give the service turnarounds we should be able to. And some of the owners are cleaning our clocks,” says Corbin. 

Inside and out, a Sparrow has the something’s-still-missing feel of a kit car.  

“You can’t compare the Sparrow to a car from the “Big Three.” Those cars don’t fail. Sparrows do,” Corbin says.  

Think of it as the price of innovation. 

But not everybody wants to pay that price. “I just want a reliable vehicle. Before I buy another one, I want much, much, much greater reliability,” says Johnson. 

The problems are not news to Corbin. “We just got into the market too quickly,” Corbin admits. “But now that we’ve shown we can do it, we’ve got people lining up to help us bring it to the next level.”  

Corbin’s “people” are investors – the company’s private stock offering has raised some $9 million in two years – and parts suppliers. Of these, the latter are probably the most important. 

Most of the Sparrow’s components were designed and fabricated in-house. But it’s more efficient to use an $11 front suspension A-arm sourced from Nissan than to build your own for $115 a copy.  

“Now that we’ve shown that we can make a viable vehicle on our own, the hard way, vendors are willing to sell us the parts to really do it up right,” Corbin says.  

The animated 36-year-old executive stands close when he talks. His eyes sparkle. He just makes you want to believe all the confident rhetoric in his business plan. 

Corbin points to a full-scale mockup of the Sparrow II, the clean-sheet revision he says will shortly address all the issues troubling the first model, and without a trace of irony asks: “Remember Henry Ford?”  

Editor: 

In her letter (11/1/01), Jenny Wenk presents a novel theory to oppose the Planning Commission’s General Plan parking policy. She argues that demographic changes have increased the number of auto-dependent Berkeley residents. 

She asserts that children under 5 have to be driven and people over 65 have to drive. Unfortunately, she has misread the data.  

Ms. Wenk asserts the number of residents under 5 increased by 8 percent since 1990, while the number over 65 increased by 9 percent But, according to the Census, the number of children under 5 declined from 4,720 in 1990 to 4,109 in 2000, a decline of 13 percent. The number over 65 declined from 11,252 to 10,484 a decline of 7 percent. 

The Census undercounted the Berkeley population last year. The undercount overwhelmingly involved undergraduate students living in dorms. We know from Census and survey data that only about one-third of UC students in Berkeley have cars. It can be safely concluded that the car-dependent population of Berkeley has, if anything, declined since 1990. 

The assumption that people over 65 are auto-dependent is questionable. Seniors are less likely to own cars both because many can’t afford them and because some are not physically able to drive. Many depend on transit. 

Unfortunately, many bus stops don’t provide shelter or places to sit, and bus schedules are rarely posted. Many buses run too infrequently and move slowly in heavy traffic. If Ms. Wenk is interested in the mobility of people over 65, she should favor spending money to implement General Plan policies improving transit as well as for improving pedestrian safety, so that seniors can safely cross the street, instead of calling for wasting money on a parking study. 

Ms. Wenk suggests the Planning Commission expects everyone to ride bicycles to buy groceries. There is no such expectation in the General Plan draft. It does contain policies designed to encourage more people who commute to Downtown and the Southside to use transit or bicycles. We expect many people will continue to drive, but a relatively modest shift toward transit, bicycles and walking will ease traffic problems, reduce air pollution and reduce the demand for parking.  

Ms. Wenk wants a “parking needs study.” Other advocates of more parking want a “visitor access study.” The recently completed Southside/Downtown Transportation Demand Management Study already contains recommended actions designed to facilitate visitor access. But because the study does not call for more parking, Ms. Wenk and others want another study. 

But every dollar wasted on yet another study is $1 that can’t be spent implementing General Plan policies that would result in better utilization of existing parking resources, and that would reduce demand for parking by encouraging transit and bicycle use and by improving transit service. If another parking study is ever needed, it should, as the General Plan specifies, be done after such policies are implemented so that the impact of those policies on parking demand can be taken into account. 

We already have parking counts that show how much parking is available in downtown garages. The data shows ample parking on weekday evenings and on weekends. Weekdays, parking is tighter, but far from nonexistent. A 1997 weekday afternoon survey found 315 vacant spaces; a midday survey done in May last year found 815 available spaces. 

On-street metered spaces are often scarce. Some people don’t like to park in garages. The General Plan draft calls for better enforcement of parking regulations against meter-feeding so employees of local businesses don’t take up all the metered spaces. It’s not possible to add on-street spaces and it doesn’t make sense to add spaces in garages when there is unused capacity. 

Downtown Berkeley is urban. In urban places, you can’t expect to park in front of the place you are visiting. Expensive schemes such as tearing up Civic Center Park to build a giant underground parking garage won’t change that reality. 

Rob Wrenn, 

Planning Commission chair 

Hot water heating system efficient for residential and commercial use 

With all the concerns raised in recent times about national security and energy, and the reliance on foreign sources for oil and gas, there is a very bright light on the horizon – in fact, we wake up to it each morning. 

Solar power, both electrical power and solar heat, can do a great deal to reduce our reliance on traditional sources of energy in all kinds of emergencies, from man-made to natural disasters.  

According to the University of Central Florida’s Solar Energy Center, “... We import more than 50 percent of the petroleum products that we need to meet these demands (for energy) from foreign lands. Interruptions to our fuel supplies cause havoc within our economy… and threaten our national security.” 

Diversifying our energy sources through solar energy can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and creates more reliable energy in all types of emergencies. Solar and other renewable energy sources have the potential to stabilize our economy as well, since production and transportation costs will be less reliant on fluctuating energy prices and availability. 

The simplest, most cost-effective way to capture and use the sun’s energy is through a solar hot water collector, used in conjunction with your existing hot water heating system. A solar hot water heating system generally consists of tanks or panels mounted on the southern side of a roof, unshaded by trees or buildings.  

Water is piped up to a tank or collector, allowing the sun to heat it. The collector may be a simple tank painted black, or may be a more sophisticated (and therefore more efficient) flat plate collector, where the water is run through a series of black metal tubes. Since more surface area of the water is exposed to the sun, the water is heated faster.  

The top-of-the-line solar hot water systems are the flat plate evacuated tube systems. These have tubing mounted inside a vacuum space. The vacuum acts as insulation, reducing the amount of heat lost. These are the most efficient systems, reducing the amount of energy needed to heat water in a single family home to near zero in summer, and substantially lowering it even in winter – the amount will depend on the quantity of water used and the weather, and of course the size of the system. 

Once the sun heats the water, it is circulated back into the building’s water heating system. In a passive system, this is achieved naturally as the warm water rises and flows into the storage tank. This system has no moving parts. 

In an active system, a sensor determines when the water is warm enough to be pumped into the system. If the temperature is high enough, solar-warmed water is pumped into your regular water tank as the hot water is drawn down at the tap. Some systems are equipped with a small solar panel that works when the sun is out, warming the water. The water is sent to an insulated storage tank for later use. 

These systems can be used in both residential and commercial applications for hot tap water and for heating (if your building has a hot water heating system), and should be individually sized to meet the needs of the user. The size will depend on the number of residents, the number of appliances that use hot water, and the existing system. Conservation measures include using low-flow showerheads and aerators, and water-efficient appliances such as front-loading clothes washers and efficient dishwashers. The more efficient your home, the smaller (and less expensive) your system will be. 

Solar hot water heaters have no moving parts (although some systems have electric pumps as previously noted), and have a reputation for being very reliable as a whole, requiring minimal work to maintain the system. Residential systems can range from $3,500 to $6,000 installed.  

The payback period is affected by a number of factors, but in general is between eight and 12 years. Most systems are designed to last more than 20 years, and in fact Berkeley has several that are still functioning perfectly after more than 25 years. 

Just choosing a solar water heater with good ratings is not enough, though. These systems require a plumbing permit and licensed plumber to install. You may also need some structural work done if your roof or other location is not strong enough to support the weight of the size tank you require. Additionally, since Berkeley is subject to occasional freezes, the system should have proper insulation for any exposed pipe or point where water could freeze and expand, and rupture the system.  

Proper design, sizing, installation, and maintenance are critical to ensure efficient system performance. Consult a licensed professional for the right system for your needs, and make sure all work is properly inspected. 

If your area is frequented with winter frosts and freezes, you may want to consider a closed-loop system, where an antifreeze-type of liquid is circulated via pumps into a water storage tank. This will preheat your water without exposing it to freezing temperatures. 

If your system is properly sized, and remains undamaged through a seismic event, you could actually have hot or at least warm water available to you during an emergency. In the event of another period of unregulated soaring gas prices, it will prevent those tremendously high energy bills from emptying your bank account. Solar hot water is reliable and inexpensive all year round. 

For more information on solar hot water systems, visit the U.S. government Web site for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network at http://www.eren.doe.gov/erec/factsheets/watheath.html, as well as the University of Central Florida’s Solar Energy Center at http://www.fsec. ucf.edu/index.htm. You may also want to visit the Berkeley Energy Office’s web pages at http://www.ci.Berkeley. ca.us/energy. For permit information, contact Berkeley’s Permit Service Center at 2120 Milvia St., at the corner of Milvia and Center Street, or telephone: 883-6555. 

The next columns will discuss the basics of solar energy, generating your own electricity, and either storing it for emergency use, or selling your extra electricity back to your utility. 

Alice La Pierre is an energy analyst for the city of Berkeley. The Daily Planet runs Power Play on the first and third Tuesday of the month as a public service.

The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter addressed to the City Council: 

Thank you for your courageous council resolution regarding the events of Sept. 11 and the bombing of Afghanistan. Although not a resident of Berkeley, I think that you have represented your constituency well and showed resolve in defending your progressive stance amid great controversy.  

Don’t be intimidated by the threats and bluster of boycotts; to the future eye, you’ll look like one of the few sane voices in the storm of the times. I hope that more communities join you in requesting a quick end to the bombing. And meanwhile, I’ll be shopping and dining in Berkeley more regularly. 

Heidi Lypps 

Davis 

Editor: 

In these conflicting and difficult times we citizens and those whom we have elected to office must have the courage to stand up, speak with a clear voice, and seek the highest moral ground. As a nation and as a city we must continue to commit ourselves to greater social justice and democracy around the world. We must nurture a compassionate willingness to share our wealth, resources and intelligence with our own people and with the family of nations. 

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, as we feel profound sadness for those who have been lost, we must react not only with anger but also with compassion and understanding. If we do not, the whole world will condemn us and more pain and suffering will be inflicted on innocent people. 

I praise those Berkeley citizens and City Councilmembers who showed courage and leadership in seeking the high moral ground. It will be Councilmember Dona Spring’s legacy that in critical times like these, she didn’t jump on the bandwagon of cheap talk and popular rhetoric. She is like a bright banner waving up in our blue Berkeley skies. That’s the kind of leadership we so desperately need in our city and nation. 

Roger Van Ouytsel 

Berkeley 

SAN FRANCISCO — Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi condemned Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network Monday, distancing his actions from Palestinian movements for independence. 

“Our message to Osama bin Laden is that our cause is not up for grabs,” said Ashrawi, who is the spokeswoman for the Arab League. “He does not have the right to use it. 

“Ours is a cause that is justified and should not be hijacked by terrorists. It has nothing to do with the Osama bin Ladens or Talibans of this world,” Ashrawi said at an event organized by the Commonwealth Club of California. 

The Arab League issued an official statement yesterday from its gathering in Damascus, Syria, reproaching bin Laden and distinguishing his Al-Qaida organization from the viewpoints of Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East. 

Ashrawi began her speech by extending her condolences to Americans for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She noted that the much-publicized footage of Palestinians celebrating after the attacks wasn’t representative of the majority. 

“Those who acted that way didn’t understand the full impact of what had happened and perhaps thought that may be the U.S. will now understand the grief and pain of Palestinians,” Ashrawi said during the question-and-answer period following her speech. “But regardless of what they thought, their actions do not encapsulate the Palestinian reality. The footage misrepresents the Palestinian reality. Most Palestinians extended their mournings, as from one bereaved people to another.” 

Ashrawi spoke about the necessity to begin negotiations between Palestinians and the Israeli government to bring about peace in the region. She was critical of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israel’s actions in the Camp David negotiations and the United States’ foreign policy record in the Middle East. 

Leah Simon-Weisberg, a spokeswoman for a Jewish Voice for Peace, which had representatives present at the event, said her organization agreed with Ashrawi’s opinions on the asymmetry of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. 

“The occupied and occupiers are not on an equal plane,” Simon-Weisberg said. “There are alternatives that work and still nothing comes up — towns are full of the military, people’s family members are injured, and there’s a constant humiliation and indignity the people have to face.” 

Ashrawi said that Islamic militant groups in Palestine don’t represent most Palestinians’ views. 

“We won’t be made subject to either a corrupt regime or Islamic fundamentalism,” she said. “There is a democratic majority and it needs to be given a voice.” 

But Ashrawi also said she didn’t consider Hamas or other jihad Palestinian organizations to be terrorist groups. 

“I do not agree with the military wings of those organizations, but I will engage with their political wings,” she said. 

. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t have political pluralism. I think people often pull out the convenient label of terrorism and label groups as terrorists.” 

Ashrawi also addressed fears about terrorism, especially for people of the San Francisco Bay area who may be anxious about threats to local bridges. 

“When you live with fear, insecurity and a sense of vulnerability, you have to develop defense mechanisms,” Ashrawi said. “I know how afraid Californians are about their bridges, and there is a fear of the unknown. That fear can be debilitating. But remember, the hardest thing for every terrorist to do is to break the spirit of their victims.” 

SAN FRANCISCO — California voters were headed to the polls Tuesday to consider a new school district and contemplate pushing California’s largest utility out of its hometown in favor of a publicly-owned power agency. 

Turnout was expected to be low, with local issues topping ballots and fears of terrorism on the minds of many. But several measures — such as an effort by the city of Carson to secede from the Los Angeles Unified School District — could spark similar movements elsewhere in the state, analysts said. 

In San Francisco, two measures promote seizing Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s transmission lines and power plants to create a publicly-owned utility. Advocates say it would mean cheaper electricity, though start-up costs could stall such promises by as many as 10 years, and legal battles from PG&E could stall it indefinitely. 

The state’s power woes piqued interest in public power as agencies in Los Angeles and Sacramento managed to keep electric rates up to 30 percent lower than PG&E. 

Proposition F would expand the city’s utilities commission and allow an elected board to decide whether to take the necessary PG&E infrastructure to generate and provide electricity. Measure I would create an independent municipal utility district with an elected board. 

Both agencies would issue bonds to raise the millions they would need to buy PG&E property, pay workers, and buy any electricity they can’t generate. Should both pass, the MUD has two years to get up and running. If it still is tangled in legal battles with PG&E, the city agency would prevail, backers said. 

PG&E has spent more than $1 million to fight the measures, calling them “too risky.”  

The utility could lose about 360,000 customers, and industry experts predict a power victory in San Francisco could spur other cities in PG&E’s territory, such as San Jose and Davis, to move forward with similar concepts. 

Elsewhere in the state: 

— Angered by low test scores, high dropout rates and other long-standing problems, a group of Carson residents wants to become the first region to split from the Los Angeles Unified School District in more than half a century. 

Voter approval of Measure D on Tuesday’s ballot would mark the first successful secession attempt from the LAUSD since Torrance left in 1948, and critics warn it could prompt more. 

— The 28,500 residents in the unincorporated Santa Barbara County community of Goleta decide whether to make the 5,400 acres into a city. Backers of Measure H want local control of neighborhoods and revenues and a voice in regional decisions. Opponents say the proposal leaves out 57,000 who hold a stake in the community’s future and is financially unsound. 

Voters also are electing mayors: 

— In the San Francisco suburb of Livermore, mayoral candidate Marshall Kamena, who served as mayor 20 years ago, has acknowledged he took Mayor Cathie Brown campaign sign and tossed it behind a pile of weeds behind the local veteran’s hall. Kamena says it was a misunderstanding and that he put Brown’s sign back. Incumbent Councilman John Stein said half of his 300 signs have been stolen this year, at $4.50 a pop. 

— The Santa Barbara ballot features seven candidates for mayor, including two City Council members, a former council member, a neighborhood activist, a surfer with no telephone, a self-described “thinker” and the ex-con who wants to establish a marijuana free trade zone. All mayoral candidates need to do to get on the ballot is file the signatures of 100 registered voters. 

— In San Mateo County, the top election official who counts the votes will have to tally those for his wife, who is seeking a Redwood City school board seat. Warren Slocum said he felt a bit anxious when his wife, Maria Diaz-Slocum, decided to run. He has declined to endorse her or campaign for her, even though he could, insisting he is treating her like any other candidate. Slocum recently said he no longer planned to run for Secretary of State. 

— A pair of measures could transform fog-enshrouded San Francisco into one of the nation’s largest producers of sun-generated electricity. Prop. B would allow the city to issue a $100 million revenue bond measure to fund solar and wind power. Prop. H would allow the Board of Supervisors to authorize revenue bonds for renewable energy and conservation projects without voter approval. 

— Also in San Francisco, Measure D would let voters reject construction projects that would fill in 100 acres or more of the Bay. Opponents say it could hurt tourism by slowing expansion of San Francisco International Airport. Supporters maintain the measure protects the bay’s health. 

SAN JOSE — Cisco Systems Inc. posted a first-quarter net loss of $268 million, beating Wall Street’s expectations, sending shares of the networking giant nearly 5 percent higher in after-hours trading. 

For the three months ended Oct. 27, Cisco lost 4 cents per share, compared with a profit of $798 million, or 11 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. 

Excluding one-time items — including a $858 million investment charge — the company earned $332 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with $1.4 billion, or 18 cents per share, a year ago. 

Analysts were expecting a profit of 2 cents a share, according to a survey by Thomson Financial/First Call. 

Revenue for the first quarter fell 32 percent, to $4.4 billion over a year ago, but increased 3 percent over the previous quarter’s $4.3 billion. Analysts were expecting first-quarter sales of $4.2 billion. 

Cisco, which makes routers and other devices that move traffic over the Internet and other data highways, suffered as businesses in general telecommunications companies specifically cut back spending. 

“Given the very challenging economic and capital spending environment, we were pleased to deliver a solid quarter with good linearity, sequential revenue growth and profitable market share gains,” said John Chambers, Cisco’s chief executive. 

Cisco, which makes routers and other devices that move traffic over the Internet and other data highways, suffered as businesses in general — and telecommunications companies specifically — cut back spending. 

The company posted its first-ever net loss in the third quarter last year and also laid off 8,500 employees. Before then, officials said it planned to hire 1,000 people a month. 

Shares moved up 85 cents to $18.75 in after-hours trading. Before the report was released, Cisco gained 64 cents to $17.90 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

SAN FRANCISCO — PG&E Corp. reported Monday that its third-quarter profit nearly tripled from a year ago, reflecting a steep drop in the energy costs of its bankrupt utility, Pacific Gas and Electric. 

The San Francisco-based company earned $771 million, or $2.12 per share, in the three months ended in September, up from $225 million, or 62 cents per share, for the same period last year. 

Pacific Gas and Electric’s dramatically lower energy costs powered the parent company’s profit surge. Management downplayed the significance of the third-quarter earnings gain, attributing it to different accounting methods used in the two periods. 

If not for the accounting change and other unusual items, PG&E Corp. said it would have earned $256 million, or 70 cents per share, a 3 percent increase from $248 million, or 68 cents per share, last year. 

The operating profit fell below the consensus estimate of 78 cents per share among analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call. 

The results still drew a positive response on Wall Street. 

PG&E Corp.’s shares rose 43 cents to close at $18.36 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. With the worst of the California energy crisis apparently over, the stock has climbed steadily from its 52-week low of $6.50, reached shortly after Pacific Gas and Electric’s April 6 bankruptcy filing. 

The utility hopes to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of next year, PG&E Corp. management told analysts during a conference call Monday. 

The reorganization plan calls for the utility to spin off its power generation business, including its hydroelectric dams and Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, so the company can borrow against the full value of the assets to help repay $13 billion in debt. 

State regulations limit how much can be borrowed against the hydroelectric dams and Diablo Canyon as long as they remain part of the utility. 

But PG&E Corp.’s healthy third-quarter profits showed the breakup probably isn’t necessary, said Nettie Hoge, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, which opposes PG&E’s reorganization plan. 

“They are not hurting as badly as they say they are,” Hoge said. “They shouldn’t be allowed to sell off the generating assets under a bankruptcy scheme.” 

PG&E management told analysts that the gap between the utility’s energy costs and energy revenue would probably continue to benefit the company next year, adding more cash to the $4.3 billion in its accounts as of Sept. 30. 

The company is confident its reorganization plan will be approved, although “there will be choppy waters ahead,” PG&E Corp. Chairman Robert Glynn warned in Monday’s conference call. A creditors committee, consisting mostly of wholesale power generators, supports the plan. 

The utility’s energy costs plunged 69 percent in the quarter, falling from $2.23 billion last year to $697 million this year. Meanwhile, a sweeping electricity rate increase imposed in June helped boost Pacific Gas and Electric’s revenue 16 percent to $2.94 billion. 

PG&E changed the way that it accounted for the difference between its wholesale power costs and incoming revenue late last year. 

With the utility’s retail rates frozen at a time its wholesale electricity costs were soaring, PG&E Corp. absorbed $5.2 billion in after-tax charges in the fourth quarter of 2000 and first quarter of this year to account for its unreimbursed power expenses. 

PG&E Corp. used the third-quarter windfall from lower power costs to offset $687 million in previously recognized losses. 

Through the first nine months of the year, PG&E Corp. earned $570 million, or $1.57 per share, a 24 percent decrease from $753 million, or $2.07 per share last year. The company’s revenue through nine months totaled $17.99 billion, down less than 1 percent from $18.15 billion a year ago. 

——— 

On The Net: 

http://www.pgecorp.com 

SAN JOSE — High-tech gadgets may be the focal point at Comdex, the nation’s largest technology trade show, but trusty laptops will not be welcome this year amid tightened security. 

On the Comdex Web site, organizers have asked attendees of next week’s event in Las Vegas to “please leave bags, briefcases, backpacks, laptops, etc. at home or in your hotel room.” 

No laptops at a computer trade show? 

“Yes, it’s going to be a zoo. It will be inconvenient, and it will cause some lines. But we’ve been advised that that’s what we should do for this event,” said Kim Myhre, president of Comdex Worldwide. 

Organizers expect up to 150,000 attendees — 50,000 fewer than last year. 

Citing the Sept. 11 attacks, organizers say security will be tighter than ever with the addition of metal detectors and bomb-sniffing dogs. Participants also will have to carry photo identification at all times. 

Attendees will be banned from bringing bags — including laptop cases and briefcases — on to the trade show floor as well as at all keynote speeches. If attendees must bring their laptops, the equipment will be allowed — but not with bags, organizers say. Purses and fanny packs will be allowed, but will be subject to security checks. 

Organizers say they will set up a secure area for attendees to check their bags outside the Las Vegas Convention Center. 

Bags distributed on the exhibit floor — to help attendees collect the plethora of booth giveaways and handouts — will be allowed on the premises, but once they are taken outside the convention center, they cannot be brought back in, organizers say. 

Exceptions for the no-bag rule will be made for exhibitors and members of the media. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.comdex.com 

BERKELEY — The majority of voters in Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s district support the president’s response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to a poll. 

Lee was the only member of Congress who opposed granting President Bush authority for the use of “all necessary and appropriate force” against terrorists and nations that harbor them. 

A poll by the Contra Costa Times and University of California-Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies indicates that voters in Lee’s district narrowly support military action in Afghanistan, including the use of ground troops. 

But the poll shows widespread support for the liberal Democratic congresswoman’s re-election. 

The survey of 605 registered voters in the 9th Congressional District — an Alameda County district dominated by Berkeley and Oakland — was conducted Oct. 26-28. It has a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points. The poll was conducted using the boundary adjustments from this year’s redistricting. 

OAKLAND — Fire season ended Monday in Alameda County, state and local fire officials said. 

“Thank God, finally, it’s here,” East Bay Regional Park District Fire Chief Dennis Rein said Sunday about the end of the fire season. 

The announcement was made jointly by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Alameda and Contra Costa County fire chiefs and the East Bay Regional Park District. 

Rein said the East Bay hills were dampened by rains last week and that the probability of hot dry weather, common in the fall months, is diminishing daily. 

SAN FRANCISCO — District Attorney Terence Hallinan asked the federal Drug Enforcement Administration on Monday to rethink its campaign against California doctors and medical cannabis providers. 

“I urge Administrator (Asa) Hutchinson to respect our city’s approach to medical marijuana, which has reduced crime, saved money and contributed to public well-being,” said Hallinan. “Any move to close the dispensaries will result in sick people trying to get marijuana from street vendors, whose product may or may not be safe. 

On Oct. 22, DEA agents searched the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center and seized computers, financial documents, 400 marijuana plants and medical records of some 3,000 current and former patients, said Scott Imler, resident of the resource center. 

The DEA seized thousands of records on Sept. 28 from the California Medical Research Center in El Dorado County in what was portrayed as an investigation into alleged marijuana distribution. The clinic owners deny selling marijuana or certificates to buy it. 

——— 

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — The majority of voters in Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s district support the president’s response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to a poll. 

Lee was the only member of Congress who opposed granting President Bush authority for the use of “all necessary and appropriate force” against terrorists and nations that harbor them. 

A poll by the Contra Costa Times and University of California-Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies indicates that voters in Lee’s district narrowly support military action in Afghanistan, including the use of ground troops. 

But the poll shows widespread support for the liberal Democratic congresswoman’s re-election. 

The survey of 605 registered voters in the 9th Congressional District — an Alameda County district dominated by Berkeley and Oakland — was conducted Oct. 26-28. It has a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points. The poll was conducted using the boundary adjustments from this year’s redistricting. 

——— 

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Fire season ended Monday in Alameda County, state and local fire officials said. 

“Thank God, finally, it’s here,” East Bay Regional Park District Fire Chief Dennis Rein said Sunday about the end of the fire season. 

The announcement was made jointly by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Alameda and Contra Costa County fire chiefs and the East Bay Regional Park District. 

Rein said the East Bay hills were dampened by rains last week and that the probability of hot dry weather, common in the fall months, is diminishing daily. 

SAN DIEGO — A Texas chemist who wrote a guidebook on illegal drugs was accused Monday of providing expertise and supplies to what authorities say was one of the largest and most sophisticated Ecstasy labs ever found in the United States. 

Hobart Huson, 33, of Humble, Texas, was arraigned Monday in federal court on a charge of conspiracy to manufacture Ecstasy. He pleaded innocent. 

Huson is one of 24 people charged with helping to set up and run an Ecstasy lab hidden inside an Internet pornography business in an office park in Escondido. 

Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration raided the lab last month. It was capable of producing 1.5 million Ecstasy pills per month, authorities said. 

Huson, under the pseudonym “Strike,” is the author of a guide for producing Ecstasy and is co-owner of The Science Alliance, a chemical supply company that allows customers to purchase its wares over the Internet. 

Ecstasy is also known as the “love drug” or “hug drug” for its ability to make users ultra-sensitive to visual and physical stimuli. 

Huson is accused of supplying chemicals for making Ecstasy along with technical expertise to the operators of the lab in Escondido, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Robinson said.He is also accused of introducing the lab’s operators to Thomas Lillius, a 33-year-old suspected Ecstasy chemist from Stockholm, Sweden, who remains at large. 

Huson’s attorney, Gus Saper of Houston, denies the allegations and said Science Alliance is a legitimate chemical supply company and that the book, Total Synthesis II, is intended for information only. 

The book, Saper said, includes a disclaimer that warns people of the legal and safety hazards of making Ecstasy. 

“My client just collected information from many difference sources and gathered it in one place,” Saper said. “That has probably angered some people.” 

A description of the book on Amazon.com calls Total Synthesis II “the most comprehensive and detailed book on the underground production of Ecstasy and amphetamines ever published.” 

After authorities raided an Ecstasy lab in Flagstaff, Ariz., earlier this year, Huson was charged with three counts of selling a precursor to drugs and one count of manufacturing dangerous drugs. 

The suspects in that case told authorities they bought chemicals for making Ecstasy from Science Alliance and learned how to make the drug by reading a book by Huson. 

Huson pleaded innocent in that and was free on $50,000 bail when he was charged in the California case. He remains in custody in San Diego.

SAN FRANCISCO — Police investigating as many as 30 firebombings of utility poles focused on a man with an apparent grudge against Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and searched his home without a warrant. 

They said they discovered a detonation cord similar to one used on a telephone pole, books on how to make and detonate bombs and large glass bottles containing unknown chemicals. 

The search was challenged by Mark Knights, who had agreed to waive his constitutional privacy rights as a condition of his early release from jail on a public intoxication conviction. 

The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments Tuesday in the case, which could determine whether the nation’s 4.4 million convicts on probation or parole can be forced to waive privacy rights when released early from jail or prison. 

California’s law, the nation’s strictest, demands that people on parole or probation waive their Fourth Amendment federal rights to be free from warrantless searches and seizures. Probation or parole generally lasts up to five years. 

Knights was suspected along with another man of conspiring to blow up the utility equipment in revenge for his electricity being turned off. 

A ruling upholding the 1998 search likely would usher in a wave of new state laws allowing warrantless searches of millions of convicts released early from jail or prison. 

“I would think the states would move in that direction,” said Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the conservative Criminal Justice Legal Foundation. 

A ruling invalidating the search would leave intact a nationwide hodgepodge of laws, none of which demand a complete waiver of privacy as does California. It would also mean that authorities could not use at trial what they found in Knights’ apartment in Napa, about 30 miles north of San Francisco. 

The case has attracted widespread interest from civil rights and get-tough-on-crime groups. 

The government, following customary practice, declined comment on the pending case. 

Knights’ attorney, Hilary Fox, said the case has wide-ranging implications for the public at large, not just those who have been freed early from their jail cells. 

That is because the government will ask the high court to uphold the search on grounds that an early release is a privilege, and that those not wishing to waive their privacy rights can remain incarcerated. 

If the high court agrees, lawmakers may begin conditioning other benefits on a waiver of constitutional rights, Fox said. 

“If you want to have a driver’s license, in exchange, will you agree to submit to searches in your car at any time?” Fox asked. “What about welfare benefits, government employment?” 

Warrantless searches at the homes of those on early release also infringe on the rights of people living with them, she said. 

Some community groups said that many felons on early release are violent criminals that need to be monitored by the police, and people living with them do so at their own risk. 

The Center for the Community Interest, an anti-crime group billing itself as the “common sense counter to the ACLU,” urged the court to uphold Knights’ search while limiting the loss of Fourth Amendment rights only to people released early from incarceration. 

“We don’t want the court to put a blank check out there for waivers to be placed on everybody, like for those wanting government services,” said Lyle Roberts, the center’s attorney. “We want this just in regard to supervising those released early.” 

The high court already has allowed warrantless searches in airports and a wide variety of other public places and situations. Certain transportation and safety workers are required to submit to drug tests. Public school authorities may search students’ lockers. 

The court also has ruled in the post-incarceration context before, deciding in a Wisconsin case that probation authorities could search someone released early from jail without a warrant. 

But that 1987 decision was based on the so-called “special needs” of probation departments to ensure that the probationer is abiding by the terms of his release and not, for example, using drugs or alcohol.  

The decision did not authorize police to search that same home without a warrant as a pretext to investigate criminal behavior. 

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco invalidated the search at Knights’ apartment last year. The court said the police needed a warrant, and that they illegally used Knights’ probation status as a “mere subterfuge” to search his home for criminal activity not associated with his probation terms. 

The case is United States v. Knights, 001260. 

SAN JOSE — Community college district trustees have rejected a plan that would have required a U.S. flag in each classroom on the two campuses they oversee. 

There was a heated debate over whether to mandate American flags in West Valley-Mission Community College District classrooms, but in the end trustees voted 5-1 last Thursday against the patriotic proposal. 

“I went in there thinking I could vote for this. I like the flag,” said Nancy Rucker, president of the Board of Trustees. “But all I was hearing were objections. That was my concern.” 

Some who attended the debate said requiring an American flag in each classroom would dilute the meaning of Old Glory, while others claimed it would create a divisive atmosphere on the Santa Clara County campuses. 

A voluntary plan to put flags into classrooms at Mission College and West Valley College was adopted by the trustees. Private donors will need to raise the money to purchase the flags, and it will be up to each instructor whether or not to fly the flag during his or her instructional periods. 

Don Wolfe was the trustee who led the effort to make the American flag mandatory at the two campuses, something he felt was important in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

One West Valley College student, Nicole Miller, died aboard the hijacked United Airlines plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. 

“It would be a reminder to our students, and an opportunity for them to more fully understand and appreciate what liberty is all about,” Wolfe said. 

Planet reporter’s three-year-old story makes TV news headlines 

OAKLAND — As late as Monday, access to potentially vulnerable areas of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was unguarded, a San Francisco Bay area television station reported. 

John Geluardi, a reporter with the Berkeley Daily Planet, told KTVU he followed a group of urban adventurers into sensitive areas of the bridge three years ago. They went into the abutments and even to the top of one tower, taking pictures of the inside of the bridge and of each other. 

On Monday, he went back to his access point with KTVU, and found it open with no security. 

“It dawned on all of us that it would be relatively easy to do a lot of damage to this bridge for a prankster or a terrorist,” he said regarding his trip into the bridge three years ago. 

Greg Bayol, of Caltrans, said it would be difficult for a terrorist to bring down the bridge, but said security will be tighter. 

“With the current state of affairs at all our bridges, that sort of thing will be watched a little closer,” he said. 

After Caltrans was notified of the opening Monday, it asked the California Highway Patrol to set up extra security. It said the opening won’t be sealed off, but other measures would be instituted to monitor it. 

On Thursday, Gov. Gray Davis warned of a possible terrorist threat to bridges in California, including the Bay Bridge.

The troops – more than 150 spilled off of the sidewalk and into the street – were called back to KPFA at noon on Sunday. 

They came to the Martin Luther King Jr. Way station empty handed, leaving their old, used picket signs, chant sheets and leaflets at home. 

They came ready to party – well, they called it: “pre-party.” 

As reported in the weekend Daily Planet, lawsuits filed by station staff, listeners and local advisory board members from four of the five listener-sponsored Pacifica stations went into mediation Thursday. The outcome is likely to return the network to a democratic model, with a least some of the national board members elected by listeners and representing the various listening areas. 

That’s what former Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry, a new Pacifica board member, disclosed on Friday. Those representing the plaintiffs in the consolidate lawsuit, including attorney Sherry Gendelman, who chairs the KPFA Local Advisory Board, said, however, that mediators were sworn to secrecy until the final agreement had been signed. 

Still, speakers said they wouldn’t be there and ready to “pre” party unless the outlook looked good. 

Feasting on cake, mounds of candy and soft drinks, the crowd listened to upbeat statements made by the visibly light-hearted speakers. 

“We’ll turn Pacifica back to its mission,” Gendelman told the cheering crowd. 

“It never occurred to (the Pacifica management) that we’d have the power to take it back,” said programmer Robbie Osman, who was taken off the air by the Pacifica management two years ago, as the fight to democratize the network grew. 

In the mood to celebrate, long-time programmer Kriss Welch recalled the cancellation of the station’s 50-year anniversary celebration, which was to have taken place soon after Pacifica management’s dismissal of popular station manager Nicole Sawaya in March of 1999. “I hope I can wear that black dress I bought,” she said. 

Some cautioned that the final agreement had not yet been signed and that the fight could break out all over again. But that did not worry KPFA activist Barbara Lubin. 

“If it doesn’t work out, we’ll go out and fight again,” she said.

Monday, Nov. 5

RAWA (Revolutionary  

Association of the Women of  

Afghanistan) Speaking Tour 

5:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley, Dwinelle Hall Room 155 

Tahmeena Faryal (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan) Presented by UC Berkeley Gender and Equity Resource Center and ASAP (Acting in Solidarity with Afghan People). http://www.berkeley.edu/map/maps/CD34.html 

A Current Update on the  

Peace Movement and  

Erosion of Civil Liberties in Japan 

7 p.m. 

Asian Resources Center Community Conference Room (1st floor) 

310 8th St., Oakland 

Come learn about what is going on in Japan, and about the rarely reported affairs of the Japan Peace Movement. Briefing from Japan: Koji Sakai, President, All Japan Postal Workers Union (Zentei) Osaka-Kobe Chapter. $5. 891-9045 x48 jprn@igc.org 

Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans  

YOGA  

6:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

Pacific Center 

2712 Telegraph 

Bring a mat or towel, eating within an hour of class is not advised, wear loose comfortable clothing. $10. Beginners and drop-ins welcome. 841-4339 

Tuesday, Nov. 6

"The Future of Indonesia" 

4 - 5 p.m. 

International House 

Ida and Robert Sproul Room  

2299 Piedmont Ave. 

Center for Southeast Asia Studies Distinguished Visitor Series: Dr. Nurcholish Madjid, Rector of Paramadina Mulya University, Jakarta, Indonesia. 642-3609 http://www-ihouse.berkeley.edu 

Shakespeare and Canonicity 

4:10 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Toll Room, Alumni House 

Public lectures and seminar by Sir Frank Kermode, literary critic and Shakespeare scholar. Lecture One: Pleasure. 643-7413 www.grad.berkeley.edu/tanner 

Community Forum on Special  

Education 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Community Theater Stage 

1930 Allston Way 

Learn about the vision for special education at the BUSD with Superintendent Michele Lawrence. Sponsored by the Berkeley Special Education Parents Group (BSPED). 843-9177 sandstep@earthlink.net. 

East Bay Mystery Readers  

Group 

7 p.m. 

Dark Carnival Bookstore 

3086 Claremont Avenue 

Informal gathering to discuss mysteries the first Tuesday of every 

month. This month's books are: Big Easy Backroad, Martin Hegwood; Resurrection Man, Charlotte MacLeod; and Last Seen in Massilia, Steven Saylor. You don't have to read the books to come. 654-7523 

Financial Planning for Older  

Adults 

11 a.m. 

St. John’s Senior Center 

2727 College Ave. 

Learn about long term care insurance, local health care costs, and how to protect your assets. 845-6380 

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church 

941 The Alameda 

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

531-8664 

Creative Classes for Seniors 

9:30 a.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church 

2727 College Ave.  

Learn exercise, copper enameling, marquetry, weaving, water color painting, and more. Lunch and friendly conversation offered at a minimal charge. 845-6830 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

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

548-3333 

Wednesday, Nov. 7

Yoga for People with  

HIV/AIDS 

10:45 - 11:45 a.m. 

Center for AIDS Services 

5720 Shattuck Ave.  

Free Kundalini Yoga class for people with HIV/AIDS. Mats provided, you may bring a towel. Eating within an hour of class is not advised. Wear loose, comfortable clothing. Beginners and drop-ins welcome. 841-4339 

Advisory Council Meeting and  

Birthday Party 

10 a.m., 1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

Monthly birthday party follows the meeting and will feature Destiny, the Harpist, Community members are welcomed to meeting. 644-6107 

Know Your Rights Training 

7 p.m. 

Copwatch Office 

2022 Blake St. 

Free workshop to learn what your rights are and how to watch the police effectively and safely. 548-0425 

Prose Writers’ Workshop 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley/Richmond Jewish Community Center Library 

1414 Walnut St.  

From Op-ed to fiction, memoir to the feature article - a community 

writers' group to support and encourage a community of interests. Workshop format. Free. 524-3034 

“The Genocide Continuum —  

Peace Time Crimes and  

Everyday Violence” 

7 p.m. 

Pacific School of Religion Chapel 

1798 Scenic Ave. 

A lecture by Dr. Nancy Scheper-Hughes, author of “Death Without Weeping: The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil.” 649-2440 

Shakespeare and Canonicity 

4:10 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Toll Room, Alumni House 

Public lecture and seminar by Sir Frank Kermode, literary critic and Shakespeare scholar. Lecture Two: Change. 643-7413 www.grad.berkeley.edu/tanner 

Toddler Storytime 

7 p.m. 

West Berkeley Library 

1125 University Ave 

For families with children three years or younger, a program to expose the youngest readers to multicultural stories, songs and finger plays. 

Every Wednesday through Nov 28. 

Community Forum on Special  

Education 

7 - 9 p.m. 

Berkeley Community Theater Stage 

1930 Allston Way 

With BUSD Superintendent Michele Lawrence. Learn about the vision for special education at the BUSD; ask questions and voice opinions 

Wheelchair accessible 

843-9177  

Thursday, Nov. 8

Shakespeare and Canonicity 

4:10 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

Geballe Room, The Townsend Center for the Humanities 

220 Stephens Hall 

Seminar and Discussion with Sir Frank Kermode, literary critic and Shakespeare scholar. 643-7413 www.grad.berkeley.edu/tanner 

Women’s Cancer Resource  

Center Gallery Reception 

1- 3 p.m. 

WCRC Gallery 

3023 Shattuck Ave. 

Opening reception with the artists Rowena Halligan and Margaret Herscher. Exhibit runs through Dec. 13. 548-9286 

Long Term Care Coverage 

1 - 3 p.m. 

Herrick Campus 

Maffley Auditorium 

2001 Dwight Way  

Lecture outlining various options for long term care coverage. 869-6737 

Grandparent Support Group 

10 - 11:30 a.m. 

Malcolm X School, Rm. 105A 

1731 Prince St. 

For grandparents or relatives raising their grandchildren and other relatives. 644-6517 

The Teaching of Gurdjieff,  

7 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Public Library 

2940 Benvenue 

A lecture by Kevin Langdon. Gurdjieff’s teaching puts into question all that we think we know about our own nature and the nature of the universe. Free. 524-0345 www.polymath-systems.com/phenomen/gurdj/index.html 

Latin Dance Class 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley/Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Salsa, Cha-cha, Merengue... $10, No partner necessary. All ages and levels welcome. 508-4616

Editor: 

As a participant in the City of Berkeley Planning Commission’s David Brower Building/Oxford Street lot development site sub-committee meetings and workshops, I would like to belatedly commend the sub-committee members for their professionalism and diligence during the lengthy public process, and also commend the Berkeley City Council’s unanimous vote to pass the sub-committee’s recommendations. 

Planning Commission Chairperson Rob Wrenn deserves special praise for his firm, even-handed approach toward all parties and interests involved during the sub-committee’s, at times, contentious process. 

I am confident that the Brower Building will confront Berkeley’s current affordable housing crisis head-on by providing at least 90 or more units of deeply affordable housing. This housing will provide for an array of modest income populations, including employees who work locally in Berkeley, families with children, students and seniors among others. 

The Brower Building’s planned 90 (plus) units will represent the largest amount of affordable units built on one site in 15 years, a tremendous public policy accomplishment for the City of Berkeley. 

The Brower Building will also incorporate the highest green/sustainability standards possible, including solar heating, locally available green building materials, roof top gardens, and pedestrian/bicycle/transit-friendly streetscape features. 

The Brower Building’s potential to be a world-class urban development represents one of the most exciting challenges for Berkeley’s highly respected non-profit development community. 

Finally, to respond to a Sept. 7 letter expressing concern about losing the open, street-level Oxford Street parking lot: All current Oxford lot parking spaces will be fully replaced with an “easy-in and out” underground public parking garage below the Brower Building. 

Chris Kavanagh 

Commissioner, Housing Advisory Commission

924 Gilman St. Nov. 9: Hoods, Punishment, Lords of Light Speed, Necktie Party; Nov. 10: Sunday’s Best, Mock Orange, Elizabeth Elmore, Fighting Jacks, Benton Falls; Nov. 16: Pitch Black, The Blottos, Miracle Chosuke, 240; Nov. 17: Carry On, All Bets Off, Limp Wrist, Labrats, Thought Riot; All shows start a 8 p.m. unless noted; Most are $5; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926 

Anna’s Nov. 5: Rengade Sideman with Calvin Keys; Nov. 6: Singers’ Open Mic #1; Nov. 7: Bob Shoen Jazz Quintet; Nov. 8: Dreams Unltd; Nov. 9: Anna and Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 10: Robin Gregory and Si Perkoff, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet; Nov. 11: Choro Time; Nov. 12: Renegade Sidemen with Calvin Keys; Nov. 13: Singers’ Open Mic #2; Nov. 14: Bob Shoen Jazz Quintet; Nov. 15: Jazz Singers’ Collective; Nov. 16: Anna & Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 17: Vicki Burns & Felice York, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet; All shows 8 p.m. unless noted. Free. 1901 University Ave., 849-2662 

Blake’s Nov. 5: All Star Jam featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Nov. 6: Inner, Ama, $3; Nov. 7: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free; Nov. 8: Ascension, $5; Nov. 9: Delfino, Boomshanka, $5; Nov. 10: Kofy Brown, J. Dogs, $7; Nov.11: Psychotica, $5; Nov. 12: All Star Jam Featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Nov. 13: The Photon Band, Ian Moore, $4; Nov. 14: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free. All shows 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886 

Cal Performances Nov 8: 8 p.m. Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance, $18 - $30; Nov. 10: 7 p.m. & Nov. 11: 3 p.m., The 2001 Taiko Festival, $20 - $32; Nov. 29: Les Arts Florissants, $24 - $46; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph. 642-0212 tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Eli’s Mile High Club Every Friday, 10 p.m. Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10 Doors open at 8 p.m. unless noted. 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Freight & Salvage Nov. 7: John Hoban $15.50 - $16.50; Nov. 8: Ledward Ka’apana & Cyril Pahinui $17.50 - $18.50; Nov. 9: The Harmony Sisters with Alice Gerrard, Jeanie McLerie & Irene Herrmann $16.50 - $17.50; Nov 10: Barry & Alice Olivier $16.50 - $17.50; Nov. 11: Austin Lounge Lizards $16.50 - $17.50. All Shows 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note Nov. 4: 4:30 p.m. SoVoSo, $15; Nov. 11: 4:30 p.m. Dave Le Febvre Quintet, $12. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 

Jupiter Nov. 7: Go Van Gogh; Nov. 8: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 9: Xroads; Nov. 10: Post Junk Trio; Nov. 14: Wayside; Nov. 15: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 16: 5 Point Plan; Nov. 17: Corner Pocket; Nov. 21: Starchild; All shows 8 p.m. and free. 2821 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625/ www.jupiter.com 

La Lesbian @ La Peña: Nov. 7: 8 p.m., I Love Lezzie, 20 member comedy troupe, $14; 320 45th St., Oakland 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

MusicSources Nov. 18 Harpsichordist Gilbert Martinez. Both shows 5 p.m. $15-18. 1000 The Alameda 528-1685 

Rose Street House of Music Nov. 8: 7:30 p.m., Jenny Bird and Melissa Crabtree, $5 - $20. 594.4000 x.687 www.rosestreetmusic.com 

“Berkeley Repertory Theatre Presents Anthony Rapp and His Band” Nov. 13: 8 p.m. Anthony Rapp, currently starring in Berkeley Rep’s “Nocturne,” performs with his three-piece band. $12 - $25. Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., 647-2949 

“me/you...us/them” Nov. 8 through Nov. 10: Thur - Sat 8 p.m., matinee on Sat. 2:30 p.m. Three one-acts that look at interpersonal, as well as societal relationships from the perspective of the disabled. $10 - $25. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

“Nocturne” Through Nov. 11: Tues./Thurs./Sat. 8 p.m., Weds. & Sun. 7 p.m., matinee on Thurs./Sat./Sun. 2 p.m. Mark Brokaw directs Anthony Rapp in One-Man Show. Written by Adam Rapp. $38 - $54. Berkeley Repertory’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org 

“Tomas Carrasco of Chicano Secret Service” Nov. 15: 4 p.m. Performance by member of L.A.-based sketch comedy troupe that uses humor to tackle hot-button racial and political issues. Free. Durham Studio Theater, UC Berkeley 

“Works in the Works 2001” Through Nov. 18: 7:30. East Bay performance series presents a different program each evening. Nov. 3: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; St. Mary’s College Dance Company; Marin Academy. Nov. 4: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; Somi Hongo; Dana Lee Lawton; Seely Quest; Cristina Riberio; Nadia Adame of AXIS Dance Company. $8. Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St., 644-1788 

“Travesties” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., and Thurs., Nov. 15, 8 p.m. A witty fantasy about James Joyce meeting Lenin in Zurich during World War I. Written by Tom Stoppard, Directed by Mikel Clifford. $10. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck. 528-5620 

“Nicholas Nickleby” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. The Young Actors Workshop presents a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby. $10 adults, $8 students and seniors. Performing Arts Center of Contra Costa College, corner of El Portal Dr. and Castro St., San Pablo 235-7800 ext. 4274 

“Lost Cause” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. Three space travelers stranded on a forgotten colony, find themselves in the middle of a bloody civil war, and have to decide between what’s right, what’s possible, and what will save their lives. Written by Jefferson Area, directed by Sarah O’Connell. $7-12. La Val’s Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Ave. 464-4468 www.impacttheatre.com 

Cal Performances Nov. 7: 8 p.m., “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” more than 30 singers, dancers, and musicians present a musical synthesis of the authentic Roma styles. $18 - $30; Nov. 8: 11 a.m., SchoolTime Performance, “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” $3 per student or chaperone, in advance only; Nov. 8: 8 p.m., “Orquesta Aragón,” $18 - $30; Nov. 11: 3 p.m., Recital - Angelika Kirschschlager, Bo Skovhus, and Donald Runnicles. “Wolf/ Die Italienisches Liederbuch,” $45; Nov. 16 - 17: 8 p.m., “La Guerra d’Amore,” director and choreographer, René Jacobs, conductor, Ensemble Concerto Vocale. Modern dance and early music from German choreographer Joachim Schlömer, $34 - $52; Nov. 30 - Dec. 2: Fri. - Sat.8 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m., The Suzuki Company presents a staged interpretation of the Greek classic, “Dionysus”, $30 - $46; UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall. 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Macbeth” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m. Presented by the Albany High School Theater Ensemble. $7 adults, $5 students and seniors. Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. 559-6550 x4125 theaterensemble@hotmail.com 

“Saint Joan” Through Dec. 2: Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., 7 p.m. George Bernard Shaw’s epic of a young girl determined to drive the English out of France with only her faith to support her. Directed by Barbara Oliver. $26-35. Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St. 843-4822 www.auroratheatre.org 

“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 

“Much Ado About Nothing” Nov. 20 through Jan. 8: Check theater for specific dates and times. Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy chronicles a handful of soldiers returning from a winning battle to be greeted by a gaggle of giddy maidens. Directed by Brian Kulick. $10 - $54. Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org

Cal football coach Tom Holmoe resigned Sunday, one day after a loss to Arizona gave the Golden Bears an 0-8 record and an 11-game losing streak dating back to last season. His resignation is effective after the 2001 season. 

Holmoe compiled a 15-37 record in five seasons at Cal. His best season was in a 1998, when his squad had a 5-6 record. In the end, too many losses did in the personable coach. 

“It was a great experience,” Holmoe said. “When I came in here five years ago as a head football coach, I had a plan to come in and build the program, build these young man into a team and into a group that would last for a long time. I had a plan to bring people along, not just the football players and coaches themselves, but the whole department and campus, to the point where we could continue on for a long, long time. I was not successful in that plan. The goals we had set did not come to fruition.” 

Holmoe added, “Any coach who’s in the business long enough knows he usually pays a price for a poor won-loss record, which we have, which falls on me.” 

When asked why he announced his resignation now instead of after the season, which has just three games to go, he said he wanted to take some pressure off his players and to give Cal more time to find its new coach.  

“I felt it was very important for the head football coach of this team to be with this team,” Holmoe said. “These are some very troubled times for our team. We’ve had a lot of different problems.” 

Holmoe said he will think about his future plans once his job at Cal is finally over. 

Athletic director Steve Gladstone didn’t want to talk about potential candidates but said he would like to wrap up the search by Christmas or Jan. 1. 

Gladstone did talk about his “empathy” for Holmoe and the football team’s struggles. 

“The decision was based on performance on the field, not the basic values that Tom has embodied and his staff has embodied and his players have embodied,” Gladstone said. “It is with respect and sadness that we accept Tom’s resignation.”

The Berkeley Unified School District will be one of three testing grounds for a federally funded research program aimed at changing mathematics instruction and improving retention of minority students through the college years. 

The National Science Foundation this week awarded a five-year, $11.5 million “Diversity in Mathematics” grant to the UC Berkeley School of Education and two other universities.  

UC Berkeley professors and graduate students will use the grant for hands-on work in local schools and will focus on the critical late-middle-school and junior-high school years that culminate in algebra instruction, said Alan Schoenfeld, an education professor and co-leader of the effort with Rogers Hall. 

Algebra, Schoenfeld said, is normally the last course junior-high students are required to take – and too many leave mathematics by the wayside afterward because of the way it is currently taught. 

“If you look at the kind of curricula that today’s parents went through, the dropout rate from mathematics from ninth grade on was better than 50 percent per year,” he said. “The dropout rates for underrepresented minorities were much higher.” 

In practical terms, the grant is to focus on training and staff development for mathematics educators who are already dealing with issues of minority achievement gaps. 

“We’re going to use the Web to create a collection of annotated Web-based lessons in mathematics, so teachers can see what works and what doesn’t,” Schoenfeld said.  

The project will build on a somewhat controversial effort that has been underway among educational scholars for several years, he said. Amidst a chronic shortage of high school graduates who are “quantitatively literate,” educators have tried to reorient mathematics education away from rote problem-solving toward a more conceptual and interactive approach – “not just doing calculations and doing answers, but figuring out situations and writing up explanations of them,” Schoenfeld said. 

He termed the conflict between the old and new approaches “the math wars.” On one side have been those advocating the new approach, while their opponents have resisted for fear that children would fail to learn the basics.  

“Now the data are finally starting to come in, and they say that kids who take the new curricula do as well on basic skills as the kids on the old curricula did, and they learn a lot more about concepts and problem solving,” Schoenfeld said.  

The main obstacle now in carrying out the changes, he said, has been a lack of both theoretical and practical training on a large enough scale to make it possible to put them into practice. 

“We need to get enough people excited about math teaching so that we have the people who can do this,” he said. “We need to develop the knowledge that will help them to teach the rapidly changing demographic population that we have.” 

The push for improved and expanded math instruction comes at a time when two trends are putting a squeeze on the field: within the next decade, Schoenfeld said, more than half of the country’s math teachers will be eligible for retirement. At the same time, the demographic changes in California’s population have made it especially urgent to chip at the traditional dividing line between what he called the “two tracks” of high school. 

“There was really college prep, and then everybody else got out as fast as they could,” he said. “What’s happened over the past decade or so have been various attempts to both make math more enfranchising and to broaden the pool of students who can make their way through mathematics,” Schoenfeld said. 

“We are attempting to rebuild the infrastructure of mathematics education research, to include a focus on professional development for both new and practicing teachers around diversity issues such as language, social class, gender and ethnicity,” said Hall. 

The other participants in the grant are the University of Wisconsin at Madison, in partnership with the Madison Metropolitan School District, and the UCLA Graduate School of Education, which will work with Los Angeles Unified School District schools. 

The money is not intended for purely theoretical research, Schoenfeld said. 

“There’s no such thing as pure research anymore,” he said. “The idea is we get out in the schools and we see what’s happening.” 

“There will be new research, a new generation of researchers and student leaders, and a well-articulated model of how we have gone about this,” Hall said. 

Berkeley school district administrators could not be reached Friday for comment on the grant project.

The Berkeley Daily Planet received this letter addressed to Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Diane Feinstein, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee. 

If you, as my elected representatives, do not elevate my cries for peace to a level where they can be heard above the call to arms, then who will speak for me? Your part in the unanimous decision to fund our next war will cost lives. And what then? 

After innocent people have died, after children have lost parents and friends, after parents have lost sons and daughters, after men and women have lost friends and loved ones,what will we have proven? 

What will we have won? And most importantly, what will be lost? 

Now is an opportunity to set an example for the world. Denounce the criminal acts that have taken place, and similar acts that take place on a daily basis in other parts of the world. Mourn for those who have lost their lives and for those who have lost loved ones to acts of violence both domestically and abroad. Bring the criminals to task for these violent acts and rewrite U.S. foreign policies that support ruling establishments that use terror and violence as means to achieve their ends. Put an end to the cycles of hatred, violence, and death that will only be perpetuated and further justified if the United States unleashes its military forces. 

You are my representatives – please represent me. 

Mitch Triplett 

Albany

In a game filled with big plays and very little defense, the St. Mary’s Panthers got a bunch of the former and just enough of the latter to take down St. Patrick’s, winning 42-34 on Saturday in Berkeley. 

The St. Mary’s win sets up a potential BSAL championship game against Piedmont on Friday. The Highlanders were undefeated in the league going into their game against Kennedy on Friday, but the game was suspended due to darkness with Piedmont in the lead. No decision has been made on the result of the game. 

The Panthers (5-4 overall, 3-1 BSAL) scored four long touchdowns against St. Patrick’s. Courtney Brown scored on an 89-yard kickoff return early in the game, then broke a short pass for a 51-yard touchdown later in the first quarter, and tailback Trestin George scored on runs of 57 and 64 yards sandwiching halftime. 

The Bruins (4-5, 2-2) were clearly hell-bent on stopping George, stacking nine men on the line of scrimmage for most of the game, leaving the Berkeley wide receivers with single coverage. Although St. Mary’s quarterback Steve Murphy had just 157 passing yards, he made them count, throwing for two scores and suffering through several drops by his receivers. 

“They were playing without a safety, so we threw the ball,” St. Mary’s head coach Jay Lawson said. “We told Trestin to be patient, that we’d need him later.” 

George left the game in the fourth quarter with a strained hamstring after a late hit by St. Patrick’s Will Dunlap, but managed to pick up 171 yards and three scores on just eight carries. 

“They couldn’t stop me on the field, so they targeted me,” George said. “They were doing anything to get me out of the game.” 

George lost the statistical battle with St. Patrick’s running back Justin Ewers, who ran for 259 yards on 36 carries. But Ewers gained 178 of those yards in the first half, and appeared to tire a bit as the second half wore on.  

“Ewers might have had better numbers today, but I’m all about winning games, and we got the win,” George said. 

The Bruins had one last gasp on their final drive, driving the ball down to the St. Mary’s 21 yard-line with 20 seconds left and down by eight points. But their complete lack of a passing game (just 18 yards in the air) did them in. Brown broke up a pass on first down, and St. Patrick’s quarterback Aaron Capapas threw the ball away under heavy pressure on the next play, leaving just six seconds on the clock. Capapas went down hard on the play and was forced to leave the game. 

With Dunlap at quarterback, the Bruins tried a little trickery, pitching the ball to Ewers for a throw. But St. Mary’s linebacker Chase Moore lived up to his name and contained Ewers, batting the ball out of his hands as the clock ran out. 

“I was just doing my job, keeping containment,” Moore said. “I didn’t want him to get that pass off.”

Newly reorganized agency in a race against time 

The Berkeley Housing Authority has steadily increased new Section 8 leases over the last six months, but the troubled agency is still in a race against time to avoid HUD sanctions and possible dissolution. 

Housing Director Stephen Barton presented the BHA Board with a report Tuesday that showed an increase of 17 Section 8 leases in July, August and September despite a loss of 32 leases over the same period. Until May, the agency had been losing an average of 11 leases a month. September was the fifth consecutive month the BHA has recorded a gain in leases which officials say is clear evidence that both new BHA Manager Rick Mattessich and a reorganization of the agency have reversed years of department inefficiency. 

While that is good news, the agency still faces the difficult task of either adding more than 300 new Section 8 leases by April (about 50 a month), or facing HUD funding sanctions and a possible take-over of the agency by the county. 

In addition to internal problems, the BHA has had difficulty increasing its inventory of Section 8 leases because of a shortage of available rental units and a very competitive housing market. 

Barton said that a newly compiled waiting list is the agency’s best hope of meeting the HUD goals. The BHA collected 3,500 new Section 8 housing applications last month and hopes to begin processing applicants this month. 

“My hope is that with the new waiting list we will have a higher rate of applicants who are already in housing,” Barton said. “That will create a win-win situation for tenants and with landlords who will be able to get market rents despite rent control.” 

In February, Barton presented a report to the 11-member Berkeley Housing Authority Board – the mayor, councilmembers and two tenant members, that described the city’s housing subsidy agency on the verge of collapse.  

According to the February report, poor organization had resulted in an agency that was so dysfunctional it was apparently unable to provide landlords with HUD-approved rent increases or process a waiting list of 1,500 people who had applied for Section 8 housing subsidies. 

The BHA had gone through four managers in as many years and had been losing an average of $250,000 a year, according to Barton. The agency projects a similar loss for fiscal year 2001-02. 

But since February, the BHA has been successful in reversing the agency’s most disturbing trend – the average loss of 11 Section 8 housing leases a month. 

HUD approved a BHA budget for up to 1,620 Section 8 leases. Currently there are 1,287 active leases. If the BHA is unable to use at least 95 percent of that budget, which is HUD will reduce funding to an agency that is already losing $250,000 a year. 

Barton said that the gains over the last three months are modest but that he is encouraged because July, August and September are usually very slow months. 

“These gains were made despite a summer slowdown in processing applicants on the Section 8 waiting list,” Barton said in a report to the BHA Board. “This slowdown is attributed to staff vacations, and an emphasis placed on public housing issues.” 

Editor: 

Shame, shame, shame on T. Lent who states following concerning the butchering of American men, women and children, “what goes around comes back around.”  

The terrorists were motivated by the promise of eternal paradise and a harem, suicide madmen without the basic pity of burning innocents alive. What had the children on the four aircraft and in the World Trade Center done to justify T. Lent’s saying in defense of these madmen, “How can we respond with love?”  

What a monstrous thought! These butchers must be stopped now. Finally, to compete T. Lent’s defense of his massacre and blaming the victims for the horror - Mr. Lent should join bin Laden in Afghanistan for he sees these madmen as justified. Shame on you. 

Harry Lieberman 

Berkeley

Each week, John Mackovic has seen Arizona make steady improvements during a difficult season. 

Tom Holmoe can’t say the same thing about an even tougher season at California. 

Jason Johnson passed for a career-best 315 yards and four touchdowns as Arizona snapped a 10-game conference losing streak with a 38-24 victory over winless Cal on Saturday. 

Cal’s nightmare season under Holmoe reached another low point with a listless loss to the Pac-10’s second-worst team. The Golden Bears (0-8, 0-6) made it reasonably close with three fourth-quarter touchdowns, but 112 yards in penalties and an untold number of dropped passes kept Cal on pace for the school’s first winless season since 1897. 

“We’re not very smart,” said Holmoe, who’s almost certain to be dismissed by new athletic director Steve Gladstone in a few weeks. “We’re forcing the issue on special teams, and we’re not good enough to overcome stupid penalties. We have guys who aren’t playing up to expectations.” 

In a meeting of the Pac-10’s bottom-dwellers, Bobby Wade caught TD passes of 50, 13 and 16 yards from Johnson, and Clarence Farmer ran for a career-best 165 yards and a score. With Johnson completing 19 of 28 passes, Arizona (4-5, 1-5) kept its long-shot bowl hopes alive. 

“We played a full game,” Mackovic said. “I was really glad that we played 60 minutes. At halftime, the score was a little bit lopsided, and I was concerned whether our guys would continue to stay after it.” 

The Wildcats had 474 yards of total offense while rolling to Mackovic’s first conference victory. Arizona scored 38 straight points after going scoreless in the first quarter. 

“Our team felt like we could have won any number of the games we’ve lost recently,” Johnson said. “All week, we’ve been talking about how we can finish this season right and still have a good feeling inside about ourselves.” 

Arizona was stung by last-second losses in its previous two games, but the Wildcats got a lead too big to lose against Cal, even after quarterback Kyle Boller rallied the Bears late. 

Cal led 3-0 on Mark Jensen’s 43-yard field goal, but Farmer got Arizona on the scoreboard with a 65-yard TD run through the heart of the Bears’ defense early in the second quarter. 

Johnson threw TD passes on the Wildcats’ next three drives, hitting Justin Levasseur for a 3-yard score and finding Wade twice. Arizona made a methodical drive in the closing moments of the half, with Johnson hitting Wade for a 13-yard TD with a second left. 

“We were able to get some balls over the top, and Jason was putting up catchable balls, like he always does,” said Wade, who finished with six catches for 118 yards. “We were surprised they came at us with man-to-man coverage, and we used it to our advantage.” 

In keeping with Holmoe’s plan to give playing time to more young players at the end of this lost season, freshman Reggie Robertson — a Tucson native — started at quarterback for the Bears. But Robertson completed just 5-of-14 passes and looked rattled by the Wildcats’ defense. 

“That’s the way things are supposed to go,” Arizona linebacker Lance Briggs said. “It’s fun to get a taste of it. It’s been increasing the last few weeks. We’re looking forward to these final few games.” 

Boller, who missed the previous two games with a back injury, took over and threw TD passes of 38 and 44 yards to LaShaun Ward in the fourth quarter. Terrell Williams also had a 2-yard TD run. 

“This team is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Holmoe said. ”(In) the second quarter, we were terrible, and as a coach, given the situation, you can’t help thinking, ’They’re cashing it in.’ But the end of the third and the fourth quarter was as good as we’ve played all year.” 

Not even picturesque weather and thousands of giveaway bobblehead dolls of Cal’s mascot, Oski, could attract more than a few thousand fans to Memorial Stadium. Even Arizona’s cheering section, normally filled with San Francisco Bay area alumni, had only a few hundred fans. 

Cal lost its 11th straight game dating back to last season, but there’s a flicker of hope: The Bears’ three remaining games include a trip to New Jersey to face Rutgers, which lost 80-7 to West Virginia on Saturday.

Two UC students were robbed by a group of armed criminals as they walked down Telegraph Avenue early Oct. 31, according to Lt. Cynthia Harris of the Berkeley Police Department. 

The victims were approaching the corner of Carleton Street at around 1:30 a.m. when they were approached by a suspect. The man allegedly pulled out a handgun and told the victims to stop and proceeded to search them. While he was doing so, two other individuals, one of them female, walked up and stripped one victim of his backpack, throwing it to the other.  

One suspect then told the victims to leave the area. The suspects then climbed into a dark-colored sedan which had pulled up to the corner and drove off. 

The suspect who carried the gun was described as an African-American man, 25 to 30 years old, weighing 180 to 190 pounds, wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans and a goatee. The female suspect was African-American, in her 20s, 5-feet, 6 inches tall and of thin build... 

Two juvenile girls were the victims of a Halloween prank that police treated as a potential assault case, according to Harris. 

The girls were trick-or-treating in the Elmwood district some time in the evening when an individual at one of the homes they visited threw white powder on them and announced he had given them anthrax.  

When the girls returned home, their mother called 911. Both the BPD and the Berkeley Fire Department responded to the call. Police went to the home of the adult suspect, spoke to him and took no further action. 

A group of juveniles put one of their peers in a choke-hold and robbed him in Civic Center Park, according to Harris. 

The victim, a Berkeley High student, was sitting on a bench in the park around noon when another student approached him from behind and allegedly wrapped his arm around the victim’s throat, throttling him. An undetermined number of other students then came up and started to go through the victim’s pockets, making off with $20 and the victim’s cell phone, Harris said.  

The robbery took place shortly before the BHS lunch period. 

A man was assaulted and robbed by a group of juveniles on the night of Oct. 31, according to Harris. 

The victim was on Derby Street, near the corner of McGee Avenue, when four young men, at least one of whom was wearing a mask, walked up to them. The young men surrounded the victim and told him to give them his wallet. After the victim complied, one of the suspects hit him over the head with a blunt object. 

The victim sustained lacerations to the head, and was transported to Highland Hospital. The officer that responded to the call found a discarded tire iron near the site of the robbery.  

The Berkeley Daily Planet received this letter addressed to Dale Sanford’s TV in Berkeley. 

As you may know, the Berkeley City Council recently passed a resolution asking that the bombing of Afghanistan be ended as soon as possible. There was talk in the press about a possible boycott of Berkeley businesses as a protest against this vote.  

We want you to know that we are choosing to buy a TV at this time for your business in Berkeley in order to support the Berkeley City Council and Berkeley businesses. We believe that it is important to stop the bombing now and to be able to protest government policies without fear of economic retaliation. 

Jim Barnard and  

Anna Graves 

Berkeley

Cal held off a feisty Bay Area-Pro Am Team, 61-55, in women’s basketball on Sunday afternoon at Haas Pavilion.  

The Bears’ first exhibition game was a showcase for several newcomers, the most impressive of which were freshman Kristin Iwanaga and junior Audrey Watler.  

The Bay Area Team, which featured former Golden Bear Eliza Sokolowska and was coached by former Cal assistant coach Ronalda Smitherman, kept the game close despite having four players foul out with only nine suited up.  

Ami Forney, the Bears only returning starter, was Cal’s best player on Sunday. The senior forward/center scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds after a slow start. Cal had a big edge in rebounds, 44-31, and had 25 offensive boards to just four for the Bay Area. Forney led Cal with six offensive boards.  

Forney shared time in the pivot with Olga Volkova, a Ukrainian center who’s the most intriguing of the newcomers. The 6-4 sophomore transfer from Merritt College has the size and strength to give Cal a major presence in the middle, but her slow recovery from a right ACL tear will hamper her for the foreseeable future. She played just seven minutes and didn’t score against the Bay Area.  

Iwanaga gives Cal the presence of a pure point guard, something the Bears have lacked in the last two seasons. Courtney Johnson played the position since 1999, but her natural position was shooting guard.  

In the win Sunday, Iwanaga showed good court sense, running the fast break well and defending hard against opposing point guards. She scored nine points, dished out two assists, made three steals and had three rebounds. She was fearless when driving to the basket but was reluctant to shoot the outside shot. Cal head coach Caren Horstmeyer said her player was listening to her instruction to reverse the ball instead of looking for her own points, but the second-year coach still would like to see Iwanaga take some outside shots.  

“I’d like her to be a scorer as a point guard,” Horstmeyer said. “She’s smart enough. I’m just not sure that she knows what I want from her.”  

Watler, an undersized walk-on power forward at 5-10, brought energy and a solid overall performance to an otherwise ragged game. The transfer from Umpqua Community College in Oregon scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds.  

“(Watler) is a gamer and she’s aggressive, and she was the only one who could score over our 6-9 [male] practice player,” Horstmeyer said. “She is hungry to play. She’s an animal.”

Editor: 

I too love America. But I love the whole world more, because the whole world contains more of our beautifully diverse brothers and sisters, mountains and seas. We are ALL children of God. So many of us pray for the killing of innocents to stop, whether the person be brown or pink. Common sense tells us that when we stop using money here on planet Earth, and learn to share, peace will come naturally. May our hearts be filled with love for all living beings. 

Lydia Maupin 

Berkeley

It may not have had the draw of the California Bears football game on the other side of the campus, but for the cognoscenti, the regional finals of the Third Annual Siemens-Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition, held Saturday in the Pauley Ballroom, was an eight-way battle royale to savor. 

The only problem: who to root for? The competitors, the crème de la crème of the youth science scene west of the Rockies, had each spent years honing their projects, and only a soothsayer could tell whose work would end up having the greatest impact. 

How to compare Yanjia Zhang’s (Arcadia, Calif.) work on hematological stem cells with Anna Lonyai’s (Roland Heights, Calif.) revisions to the standard model of the upper-atmospheric ozone depletion? Or Theresa Barens’ (Scottsdale, Ariz.) discoveries in brain oncology with the innovate, low-cost hearing aid designed by Gabe Klapman (Santa Cruz) and Peter Lee (Carmel)? 

In the end, engineering trumped pure science on Saturday, with the awards for group and individual projects each going to high-tech tinkerers. 

Ryan Patterson of Grand Junction, Colo., took the honors in the individual category for his automated sign language interpreter. The design of the product was simplicity itself, though its engineering - which involved arrays of sensors and complex circuitry - was all but incomprehensible. 

Users of the Patterson interpreter, which is intended as a low-cost means for people who speak only sign language to communicate with non-speakers, slip on a specially outfitted glove, then hand a small LCD screen to the non-speaker. As the person signs with the gloved hand, the device automatically translates the language into written words, which appear on the screen. 

Patterson said that he got the idea after he saw two people, one deaf and the other sign-language illiterate, attempting to communicate in a restaurant. Later that same week, he read a story in a newspaper about schools hiring interpreters for deaf students. 

“These students don’t have a lot of privacy, because the interpreter has to go everywhere with them.” Patterson said. “Plus, this just seemed a more cost-effective method.” 

Patterson also wrote the software with which users of the interpreter “train” it to recognize their own particular signing styles. 

In the group category, sisters Hanna and Heather Craig of Anchorage, Alaska won with their ice-sled rescue robot, which they hope will some day be used to save people who fall through thin ice. 

The robot fills an important gap in the rescue technology, according to Hanna Craig. 

“When we researched this, we found out that there were specialized rescue robots designed for fires and for earthquakes,” she said. “But nothing for ice.” 

With the robot, rescuers will be able to reach victims of ice-catastrophes from a safe distance. An operator may pilot the device out to a floating person by means of a remote control and an on-board camera. The victim can grab the robot, and the rescuer can pull the person to safety by means of a tether carried by the robot. 

Fellow Alaskans Crystal Gefroh, Crystal Keaster and Heidi Eckman of Delta Junction impressed science fans with their three-year experiment involving lichen, cosmic radiation and the space shuttle. 

Several years ago, the team persuaded NASA to carry vials of lichen into orbit, so that they could determine the effect of cosmic rays on living organisms. After returning to Earth, the samples were compared with lichen they had kept in Alaska. 

The results were unfortunately inconclusive, but the experiment had twice taken them to Florida, first to watch their samples blast off and then to discuss the results with NASA scientists. 

The winners of the western regionals took home $3,000 in scholarship prizes, and will compete in the national finals in December.

The Cal men’s soccer team lost a heartbreaker on Sunday, falling in overtime to UCLA, 1-0, on a penalty kick. 

The teams were scoreless for 97 minutes when UCLA’s Ryan Futagaki swerved into the Cal box, taking a shot that just missed the goal. But Futagaki went down after taking the shot, and the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot, where Futagaki converted the kick seconds later to give the Bruins (8-6-4, 3-2-1) the victory. 

The Cal defenders were visibly upset by the call. 

“The ref pretty much handed them the game,” senior Leo Krupnik said. “What can you do?” 

The Bears (9-6-1, 2-3) had two chances to score in the overtime period despite being down to 10 players, as freshman midfielder Mike Munoz had been sent off after receiving his second yellow card in the 81st minute. 

Less than a minute into overtime, Cal’s Pat Fisher put a cross in front of the UCLA goal, where forward Austin Ripmaster was between two defenders. Ripmaster just missed the header as the ball bounced off of his chest and right to UCLA goalkeeper Zach Wells. 

“We have to execute in front of the frame,” Cal head coach Kevin Grimes said. “Both defenses played really well, but we did have a couple of chances.” 

The Bruins outshot Cal 11-7 in the game.

Lee: feds should take charge of baggage screening 

OAKLAND – U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, denounced the House of Representatives for rejecting legislation that would have made the federal government responsible for airport passenger and baggage screening.  

Rejecting a version of the Aviation Security Bill approved unanimously by the Senate earlier this week, the House instead approved, 286-139, its own bill also omitting provisions that would have federal agents do the screening at the nation's 137 largest airports and create a separate deputy secretary in the Department of Transportation to take responsibility for transportation security.  

“It is important that we provide the safest environment for both our aviation industry employees and the customers who have come to rely on airline travel, air cargo, aircraft recreation and tourism,” Lee said in a prepared statement. “...Congress failed to provide the appropriate resources to strengthen and implement expanded aviation security measures so that our airline industry can get back on track and our nation's economy as a whole can once again prosper.”  

Riordan skips San Jose debate 

SAN JOSE – Secretary of State Bill Jones and Los Angeles businessman Bill Simon showed up at a California Congress of Republicans debate, but former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan was conspicuously absent. 

The gubernatorial hopefuls, vying for the endorsement of the GOP group, each spoke for 20 minutes Saturday then answered questions from about 150 attendees. 

But Riordan said a scheduling conflict kept him from sharing the stage with Jones and Simon. He later addressed the Congress of Republicans alone. 

His absence drew a rebuke from Jones. 

“If you can’t get on the same platform as Bill Simon and Bill Jones, how are you going to beat Gray Davis?” 

All three criticized Davis’ handling of the energy crisis. 

Riordan, who’s expected to announce his candidacy Tuesday, focused on wooing Latinos and women. 

Jones emphasized his statewide political experience and discussed the need to rebuild roads, dams and other infrastructure. 

Simon focused on his experience as a businessman and working with charities and said the state needs to get private businesses more involved in solving California’s problems. 

Palestine official calls for Israeli withdrawal 

SAN FRANCISCO – An elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council says the way to peace in the Middle East is through Israeli withdrawal of Palestinian territories. 

Hanan Ashwari, also a spokeswoman for the Arab League, told the San Francisco Chronicle on Saturday that she’s glad to see President Bush being tougher with Israel. 

She says the Sept. 11 attacks showed that the U.S. needs an alliance with Arab countries. 

She also condemns what she calls Osama bin Laden’s exploitation of the Palestinian struggle. “We don’t want people killing in our names,” she said. 

Israel began pulling out of a West Bank town early Monday, more than two weeks after invading six towns following the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister. 

Golden Gate Bridge wedding goes ahead 

SAN FRANCISCO – Possible terrorist threats to the Golden Gate Bridge couldn’t stop one man with who had his heart set on one word – “yes.” 

That was the answer Saturday when Brian Koupal, 23, stood on the span overlooking the Pacific and asked Melissa Beever, 22, to marry him. “The bridge will be here forever,” Koupal said. “We knew nothing was going to happen. We will be able to come back to a spot and remember where it all happened.” 

The bridge has been under the close watch of the National Guard after FBI told law enforcement in Western states that the agency received uncorroborated information that West Coast bridges had been targeted by terrorists from Nov. 1 through Nov. 7. 

Golden Gate Bridge toll Lt. Ronald Reed said there were about 13,000 fewer vehicle crossings on Friday.

LOS ANGELES – California’s love affair with the car is rivaled only by its love affair with the airplane. 

From 1910, when the first international air meet was held just south of Los Angeles, to the 1947 flight of Howard Hughes’ “Spruce Goose,” to the design of the next-generation Joint Strike Fighter, California has played a key role in world aviation history. 

So a decision by the Boeing Co. to end production of its 717 passenger jetliner in Long Beach would have an impact far beyond the jobs lost. The Boeing 717 is the last passenger plane built in the state that produced one of the first, the historic DC-1 built by Douglas Aircraft in 1933 for TWA. 

“Since the 1910 Los Angeles County air meet, flight has been a central metaphor for Southern California,” said California state historian Kevin Starr. “It’s part of the DNA code of Southern California economically.” 

Boeing, which inherited the 100-seater airplane program when it acquired McDonnell Douglas in 1997, said last month it is considering scrapping the money-losing line. The company said it will decide the fate of the plane and 4,500 workers at the Long Beach factory that assembles it by the end of the year. 

To be sure, the disappearance of commercial airline manufacturing in the state would not signal the end of the aerospace industry here. Boeing still remains the largest private employer in California, and firms such as Northrop Grumman are hiring as they prepare to manufacture the Joint Strike Fighter, the richest defense contract in military history. 

California also remains a center of research and manufacturing for satellites, the space program and the military. 

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Lockheed Martin’s “Skunk Works” research park in Palmdale and the high technology companies in the Silicon Valley are all heirs to a tradition pioneered by such names as Glen Curtiss, Jack Northrop and Donald Douglas. 

Even if 717 production is halted, it might be years before current orders are filled and the last jet leaves the production line. Midwest Express recently placed an order for 20 717s to be delivered one per quarter starting in 2003. The contract also includes an option to order another 30 planes. 

“We’ve been assured by Boeing that they intend to fulfill the contract,” Lisa Bailey, a Midwest Express spokeswoman said. “What that means, I don’t know yet.” 

The end of the Boeing 717 would come at the end of a long decline in aerospace manufacturing jobs, especially in Southern California. 

“The lower end of the defense industry, the metal-bending part, has been leaving over the last 20-30 years,” said Joel Kotkin, a senior fellow at the Davenport Institute for Public Policy at Pepperdine University. 

That exodus reached a high point in the early 1990s, when the Los Angeles area lost more than 200,000 jobs as defense spending was cut. Since then, the area has diversified its economy and is much less dependent on military spending. 

On the commercial side, final production on major planes has been leaving the state for years. In the early 1980s, Lockheed shut down the Burbank assembly line that produced the big L-1011 TriStar airliners. 

The main body section for the Boeing 747, however, is still assembled in Hawthorne. 

The massive aircraft factory in Long Beach was built in 1940 by Douglas Aircraft to build warplanes. After Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas, the company phased out production of the MD11, MD80 and MD90. The last of the planes rolled off the assembly line earlier this year. 

Today, most of the complex is shuttered, except for those used for final assembly of the Boeing 717. A separate facility is used to assemble giant C-17 cargo planes. 

Analysts say it is more likely than not Boeing will scrap the 717. 

There are more than 60 of the planes operated by regional airlines for flights of between 300 to 500 miles. Earlier this year, Boeing announced the elimination of 1,200 jobs in Long Beach because of lower than expected orders. 

“For Boeing to make a public statement that they’re mulling the future of the aircraft, it’s a fairly strong statement about their intentions,” said Joseph Nadol, an analysts at J.P. Morgan. “It’s a good aircraft and it’s a hot segment. But demand hasn’t materialized as quickly as the company needs.” 

Boeing officials in California say they are awaiting the fate of the program as nervously as workers and city officials. 

“This is a new review and a new process,” said John Thom, a Boeing spokesman. “Down here, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that we can continue production and go on for years and years.” 

The Long Beach plant employs 4,500 workers on the commercial side, about 1,000 of which maintain a service department for older planes. It is not clear whether Boeing would close the plant or convert it to other uses. 

About 8,000 work in Long Beach, Palmdale and other plants building the C-17. That program may expand if the military orders more of the planes as expected. 

During World War II, the complex was camouflaged, as were similar plants in Santa Monica and elsewhere, by placing a mock rural village on the roof. Historical footnotes such as that make the fate of the program more poignant for Californians. 

“It’s like a death in the family,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.

SAN FRANCISCO – After stumbling through the dot-com debacle, Web browser pioneer Jim Clark is teaming up with old partner Jim Barksdale again, trying to recapture the success they enjoyed in their heyday at Netscape Communications. 

Clark and Barksdale are reuniting as the lead investors in Neoteris – a Greco-Roman word meaning “new territory.” The Sunnyvale start-up, which is being run by one of Clark’s most trusted lieutenants, says it can save companies money by giving their employees and suppliers access to corporate networks through Web browsers instead of more elaborate Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs. 

After spending 18 months developing its technology, Neoteris is unveiling its product line Monday. 

Neoteris is “a nice alternative to the supreme headaches you get from using VPNs,” Clark said during an interview last week. “This may not be a pioneering market, but it’s going to be an instant market that grows rapidly.” 

Neoteris CEO Kittu Kolluri, Clark’s business confidant for years, is convinced the idea may be good enough to merit another chapter in “The New New Thing” – a 1999 book devoted largely to Clark’s knack for turning technology breakthroughs into lucrative businesses. 

“There is no question in my mind that we are going to revolutionize the way people access their corporate networks,” said Kolluri, who has worked with Clark for more than a decade. 

Neoteris’ service is more likely to become a supplement to VPNs and other similar remote control services, such as Expertcity’s GoToMyPc.com and Symantec’s pcAnywhere, said Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with the Yankee Group. 

Clark, 57, gained his reputation as a serial entrepreneur by launching three prominent tech companies: 

Silicon Graphics, whose 3-D computer imaging technology changed movie making; Netscape, whose Web browser commercialized the Internet; and Healtheon, now known as WebMD, one of the first online medical portals. All grew into major businesses with at least $500 million in annual revenue and became prized investments on Wall Street before falling on hard times. 

The successes helped build Clark’s estimated personal fortune of $740 million, but he has been misfiring lately. Kibu.com, a teen Web site funded by Clark, folded in October 2000. Shortly after that, Clark resigned from WebMD’s board amid criticism of his role in the company. 

None of Clark’s investments in other Silicon Valley start-ups have panned out yet.  

With Shutterfly, Clark even briefly competed with Barksdale, who also financed a competing online photography site, Ofoto, sold to Eastman Kodak earlier this year. 

Connecting to a computer network through a VPN always seemed cumbersome to Clark, so he saw dollar signs when Kolluri showed him the Neoteris technology. 

Clark subsequently shared the idea with former Netscape CEO Barksdale and they agreed to invest a total of $5 million in Neoteris. The seed money is supposed to carry Neoteris and its 25 employees through the middle of next year when the company plans to raise more venture capital.

Looks like it’s time for a new belt 

Dear Tom and Ray: 

Today I was driving to work in a nasty rainstorm. As I was driving over the large puddles of water collecting on the roadway, something strange happened. The red "battery" light on my dashboard lit up, and I had a hard time steering my car around the curve ahead. Once I got over the puddle, the problem stopped -- at least until I hit the next puddle, when it happened again. I drive a 1990 Chevy Celebrity station wagon. Is this something I should worry about? – Vic 

TOM: Steering? Nah. That's not important, Vic. Steering has always been vastly overrated. 

RAY: Don't listen to him, Vic. Here's what's happening: You have a single belt that drives all of the accessories in your car. It's a called a serpentine belt, because it's, well, serpentine. It slinks all over the engine, around various pulleys, like a snake, and it replaces all of the individual belts that used to run the accessories. 

TOM: And when you drove through those puddles, that serpentine belt got wet and started to slip. And when it slipped, all of the accessories lost power, including the alternator (which is why the battery light came on) and the power-steering pump (which is why you had a hard time steering). 

RAY: After a few seconds on terra firma, the belt dried out enough to catch, and everything was fine again. 

TOM: My guess is that it might be time to replace your belt. It might be stretched or glazed, and all it took was a little water to push it over the edge and make it slip. 

RAY: If the belt was recently replaced, or if your mechanic inspects it and says it looks fine, then you might need a new belt tensioner -- which is supposed to automatically keep the belt at just the right tension so stuff like this doesn't happen. Good luck, Vic. And get it taken care of.  

No brake lights; leaping before you look 

Dear Tom and Ray: 

I read your response to some guy named Victor who wanted to know if it was OK to use the hand brake to stop his car. Though your response was technically and mechanically correct, it needed one more paragraph. You failed to mention that even though using the hand brake will stop his car, it will not activate the brake lights. So yes, while he is blissfully going around operating his car like a moron, everyone else on the road is endangered by him. His car might be coming to a stop, but the poor sot stuck behind him (and subsequently liable for rear-ending him in most states) won't know it and might well break this yahoo's neck. Please keep the rest of us drivers in mind when answering bozos like this. Thanks. – Mike 

RAY: You're right, Mike. What is it that Ann Landers says? 

TOM: I think it's "40 lashes with a wet hand-brake cable." 

A customer who knew too much 

Dear Tom and Ray: 

We have a '95 GMC Yukon. It has a slow electrical discharge that eventually causes the battery to go dead. Then my wife finds herself stranded. The battery has been replaced, so that's not the problem. The fuse box has been sequentially checked in order to isolate the leak. No leak has shown up. We have kids in college and can't handle a new car at this time. Can you suggest another approach to identifying the cause of this electrical leak? – Rich 

TOM: This is all your fault, Rich. I think you're living a lie. You don't have a current drain at all. 

RAY: I agree. I think this is a classic case of the customer who thinks he knows too much. We have some customers who come in and tell us what's wrong with their cars. They don't tell us what the car is doing; they skip that step and just tell us what to replace. And a lot of times they're wrong. 

TOM: You went to your mechanic, I presume, and asked him to figure out what's draining current from your battery. Only, you led him down the garden path, because we don't think anything is draining current from your battery. 

RAY: If you had simply told him your battery was dying intermittently, a good mechanic would have considered three possibilities: a bad battery, a current drain or a faulty charging system. You've eliminated the battery by replacing it. You've eliminated the current drain (assuming it was checked correctly) because you checked and found no drain. And that leaves what I consider to be the most likely source of the problem: a faulty charging system. 

TOM: Normally, the battery starts the car, and then the charging system takes over. The alternator (which is the key piece of the charging system) then provides all the electricity the car needs. It provides electricity to generate a spark for combustion, electricity to run all of your accessories (like your power windows, air conditioner and lights) and electricity to recharge the battery for your next start. 

RAY: But if the charging system isn't working correctly, everything will take its electricity from the battery. The battery never gets fully recharged, and eventually it dies and leaves your wife stranded. 

TOM: So here's what you do: Go back to your mechanic and apologize for lying to him and leading him astray. Tell him you'll always give him the symptoms in the future, and never try to solve the problem for him. Based on your description of an intermittent dead battery, he should test your charging system. And my guess is he'll find the problem there. Good luck, Rich.

Saturday, Nov. 3

Media “Wedge Kit” Training 

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

The goal of the Media Wedge Kit Training is to help participants create and insert dynamic, witty, and irresistible new language like a wedge into the mainstream media wall. $15 nonmembers, $10 members, nobody turned away for lack of funds, 548-2220 x233. 

Volunteers Needed 

Ongoing 

Help the Berkeley Public Library get ready for the opening of the new Central Library branch. Cover, clean, and dust book jackets in anticipation of their shelving in the new library. 649-3946  

Celebrate Music on Telegraph 

2 - 4 p.m. 

Julie’s Healthy Café 

2562 Bancroft Way 

Shoppers and visitors to the cultural heart and soul of Berkeley will be treated to the joyful sound of music throughout the holiday season. Robert Ewing Quartet performs, sponsored by the Telegraph Area Association. 486-2366 

Meet the Innovators of Tomorrow... Today 

8 a.m. - 12:40 p.m. 

Tilden Room, 5th Floor 

MLK Student Union 

UC Berkeley 

Hear students present their original research projects in science, mathematics, and technology for the Siemens Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition. (202)944-1940  

National Children’s Book Week 

10:30 a.m. 

Central Branch Public Library 

2121 Allston Way 

3 p.m. 

Claremont Branch Public Library 

2940 Benvenue Ave. 

Theatre company “Word for Word” in a children’s performance of two stories: “The Elephant’s Child” by Rudyard Kipling and “Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti” by Gerald McDermott. Geared for children 4 years and up. Free. 649-3943 www.infopeople.org/bpl. 

Community and Family Contra Dance 

7 p.m.  

Grace North Church 

Cedar and Walnut 

With music by Robin Flower and Libby McLaren, come play and dance. Easy dances for all ages. $10. 482-9479 

Gardening with East Bay  

Native Plants 

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Class held offsite 

An Ecology Center sustainable living class. A hands-on workshop in a local garden built from local native plants, restoration gardening, philosophy, ecology, design, local plant sources, and home propagation. Preregistration is required, 548-2220 x233. $15 nonmembers, $10 members, nobody turned away for lack of funds. 

Poetry Reading 

3 - 5 p.m. 

South Branch Public Library 

1901 Russell St. 

The Bay Area Poets Coalition hosts an open reading. 527-9905 poetalk@aol.com 

Our School 

3 - 5 p.m. 

St. John’s Community Center 

2727 College Ave. 

Informative event for prospective parents. Learn their approach to education, meet the director, tour the school, and meet parents. 704-0701 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a nonprofit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served basis on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least 5 years old and must be accompanied by an adult. Visit www.cal-sailing.org  

Sunday, Nov. 4

Re-Legitimizing Peace: 

Peace Making in the Middle East 

6 p.m. 

UC Berkeley 

International House Auditorium 

(Bancroft and Piedmont) 

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, will discuss her views on achieving peace in the Middle East and what role the United States ought to play. Free and open to the public. Center for Middle Eastern Studies, http://ias.berkeley.edu/cmes/text_only/ 

Celebrate Music on Telegraph 

2 - 4 p.m.  

The Village 

2556 Telegraph Ave. 

Shoppers and visitors to the cultural heart and soul of Berkeley will be treated to the joyful sound of music throughout the holiday season. Rhythm Kitchen performs, sponsored by the Telegraph Area Association. 486-2366 

Day of the Dead: Dia de los Muertos Celebration and Commemoration 

1 - 5 p.m. 

Rosa Parks Elementary School  

Multipurpose Room (Cafeteria) 

920 Allston Way 

Rosa Parks Elementary School invites the community to a multicultural event and exhibit featuring traditional altars; entertainment by Ballet Folklorico Juvenil de Berkeley and Cuahtli Mitotiani Mexica; and delicious traditional Mexican dishes. 237-2557 

“Sundays At Four” 

4 p.m. 

The Crowden School 

1474 Rose St. 

Benjamin Simon and Friends with sublime and ridiculous viola music. $10, under 18 violists free. 559-6910 

Free Sailboat Rides  

1 - 4 p.m. 

Cal Sailing Club 

Berkeley Marina 

The Cal Sailing Club, a nonprofit sailing and windsurfing cooperative, give free rides on a first come, first served basis on the first full weekend of each month. Wear warm clothes and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children must be at least 5 years old and must be accompanied by an adult.  

Visit www.cal-sailing.org 

Buddy Club Children Show 

1 - 2 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut Street 

Musical theater with Zun Zun. $7, $6 BRJCC members. 236-7469 

Family Musical Education 

3 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

1275 Walnut St. 

A child-centered presentation for the whole family by local classical musicians to learn about rhythm and meter. $10 per family. 527-6202 

Monday, Nov. 5

RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan) Speaking Tour 

5:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley, Dwinelle Hall Room 155 

Tahmeena Faryal (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan) Presented by UC Berkeley Gender and Equity Resource Center and ASAP 

(Acting in Solidarity with Afghan People). http://www.berkeley.edu/ map/maps/CD34.html 

Editor: 

In her Nov. 1 letter pushing for more auto parking in Berkeley, Jenny Wenk said of people ages 45-60 that “It’s unrealistic to expect them to ride bicycles to Safeway or the Berkeley Bowl.” 

Ms. Wenk is dead wrong. I’m 75 years old and do a weekly eight-mile bicycle round-trip to the Berkeley Bowl for my staples. With two panniers, a backpack and a rear rack, I routinely bring home four bags of groceries. And three days a week I bike to the 24-Hour Fitness to pump iron and enjoy the cardio equipment. 

Just because us geezers are old, it doesn’t mean we’re all necessarily decrepit. I gave up my car when I retired in 1986 because (1) it was too costly to retain on a reduced income, (2) it would mean one less exhaust pipe spewing carbon monoxide and other pollutants into our environment, and (3) riding a bike and walking are conducive to maintaining top health. 

So, Berkeleyans of all ages, if possible, junk those gas-guzzling monsters and hop on a bike. 

Harry Siitonen 

Berkeley

Beginning in the 1960s artists set up studios in modest-sized industrial buildings in West Berkeley.  

During the 1970s the trend gained momentum as industrial buildings became available due to departing manufacturing in West Berkeley. The rent was cheap and the spaces large. A person could splatter paint or clay in these abandoned manufacturing spaces and no one complained as long as the low rent was paid.  

By the mid 1980s, many of these low-income spaces were redeveloped or physically upgraded. With reinvestment, rents were increased and many artists were forced to move elsewhere, often to Emeryville or Oakland.  

Manasse Block Tannery is one of the manufacturing complexes that has taken on a new life as a live/work space. Although the complex of seven buildings has been adaptively reused, it remains one of the oldest intact industrial sites in west Berkeley. It is located on the north portion of the block bounded by Third, Fourth, Gilman and Camelia streets. The oldest buildings are on the south side of the property along Third Street and are heavy post-and-beam construction with six-over-six light windows and rustic overlapping wood siding.  

The Manasse Block Tannery was founded by August Manasse and Leo Block whose families had leather-related companies already established in Napa and Oakland. They moved to Berkeley in 1905 taking over a building built in 1898 by the Raymond Tannery. The business expanded and new buildings were added until 1956. The company tanned cowhides that had been dried, salted, and sorted elsewhere. The leather was mostly used for shoes. The tannery remained in business and was operated by members of the founding families until it was closed in 1985. 

The tanning of leather was hard and dirty work. It was graphically described by Philip Roth’s book, “American Pastoral” “...the vast vat rooms were dark as caves...a filthy, stinking place awash with water...” 

There are only a few manufacturing plants still operating in West Berkeley today. The most notable complexes that are still standing but converted to other uses include the Heinz Building, on San Pablo and Ashby, Durkee Famous Foods on Heinz Street, and the Kawneer Building on Eighth Street. Other complexes such as Colgate Palmolive Peet and Philadelphia Quartz have been demolished.  

Susan Cerny is author of “Berkeley Landmarks” and writes this series in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.

Marion Barry, former Washington, D.C. mayor and new Pacifica board member, came into the KPFA studios late Friday afternoon and declared to evening news reporter Mark Mericle the “war is over.” 

Barry and others representing the Pacifica National Board of Directors, which holds the licenses to five listener-sponsored radio stations around the country – including KPFA – had been in a 12-hour marathon mediation session Thursday with representatives of the plaintiffs of three lawsuits against the foundation. The suits claim the board has disregarded its own bylaws and acted in an undemocratic manner. 

Local Advisory Board Chair Sherry Gendelman, however, put a damper on Barry’s good news. Asked if the war was truly over, she quipped: “Maybe he’s talking about the war in Kosovo.” 

Mediators had been in negotiations for 12 hours.  

“At the end of the day, we do not have an acceptable agreement,” Gendelman said, explaining that because of a promise of confidentiality among the parties at the table, she could not go into detail.  

“The plaintiffs honored the (agreement) of confidentiality,” she said, taking aim at Barry who talked about the negotiations in the interview with Mericle. 

That interview, shared with the Daily Planet before it was to be aired on Friday’s 6 p.m. news on KPFA, was upbeat. 

“All parties are happy,” Barry said. Explaining the agreement, Barry said there would be a “transition of the board of directors to an elected board.” 

The transitional board would consist of some members of the present board, some people elected by the various stations’ local advisory boards and the plaintiffs in the lawsuits. 

Saturday, he said, there would be a wrap-up of the mediation in a telephone conference with Pacifica’s executive board members. 

Why did the board majority decide to go into mediation rather than waiting to go to trial in January? 

Barry pointed to $2 million the board had spent on the lawsuits. While he talked about the network’s worsening fiscal situation, he said: Pacifica’s “not bankrupt.” 

He noted, however: “We have a severe cash flow problem.” 

(One of the ongoing complaints of “dissident” board members – those in the minority some of whom are party to one of the lawsuits – has been a lack of access to the foundation’s financial information.) 

Barry also underscored that the board “was not even thinking of selling KPFA.”  

Ken Ford, the national board member who resigned Wednesday, was quoted recently by the San Francisco Examiner saying the sale of KPFA and New York station WBAI made good business sense. 

The KPFA interview ended on a high note.  

“Let’s work to support this foundation and this radio station,” Barry said.

Berkeley’s Aurora Theater opened its 10th season Thursday with a production of George Bernard Shaw’s “St. Joan” in the company’s brand new theater downtown on Addison Street, next to the Berkeley Rep. 

Most strikingly, the new space retains the basic look – and the U-shape, three-quarter seating – of the tiny, former Aurora space at the Berkeley City Club. The difference is that the new theater is two rows deeper, rising up around a slightly larger playing area. It also seats 150 people – nearly three times as many as before. 

Initially watching “St. Joan,” I missed the extreme intimacy of the old space, where all audience members were right on top of the action. But the seats are larger and more comfortable now, and it is rigged with better lighting and other tech equipment. It also has good air-conditioning.  

Shaw’s 1923 play about Joan of Arc propelled him toward the Nobel Prize for literature in 1925. 

“St. Joan” is a play about a religious visionary who takes up bloody participation in a political war against overwhelming odds, because God tells her to. It’s an unsettling story in light of recent events surrounding Sept. 11. 

Under artistic director Barbara Oliver, Aurora has given “St. Joan” an uneven production. Shaw’s script is a long, didactic play, divided into seven segments that are short playlets in their own rights. 

The staging quality of these individual playlets varies. Further, the full sequence of the segments hadn’t yet, by opening night, found its larger flow. 

Irish playwright Shaw loathed English playwright Shakespeare. Shaw’s play tells a different side of the war story from Shakespeare’s hyper-patriotic “Henry V” and its famous battle of Agincourt.  

In Shaw’s piece, Joan of Arc responds to Henry’s victories by trying to mobilize the French to kick the marauding English out of France. St. Catherine and St. Margaret give her advice. 

Eventually, Joan rallies the French Dauphin’s failing courage and motivates his fragmented supporters to victory. Then after victory, the country’s jealous political and religious institutions turn against Joan for attracting the hearts and minds of its citizens. 

The quality of the performances varies in this production. Emily Ackerman’s self-absorbed, manic Joan doesn’t capture the character’s charismatic effect on others. The magic doesn’t happen on stage between the players, which the script seems to call for. 

Paul Silverman is an intriguing Dauphin, heir to the French throne. Impish, bullied and withdrawing early on. But later, more arrogant from political success, his character progresses through an amusing arc of different forms of cowardice. 

Bay Area favorite L. Peter Callender is cast in two roles. Initially Callender plays a French battlefield commander stimulated to victory by his personal conflict with Joan. Later he is a fascinating, complex, sour visiting church inquisitor who is trapped in a crippled, painful body. He instigates devious political ploys at Joan’s excommunication trial. 

Soren Oliver has some chilling moments as the intelligent and dangerously single-minded English nobleman Warwick, trying to engineer Joan’s execution out of fear she will destabilize the establishment. 

Gabriel Sebastian Marin is striking in a smaller role as arrogant French courtier Bluebeard, sporting little blue chin whiskers. I found some confusion at times from the double-casting of selected actors in multiple roles in adjacent scenes. 

Truth be told, “St. Joan” is kind of a predictable, wooden melodrama. Joan’s inspiration from God and her repeated call to arms play many times over in the play, seemingly redundant. 

As director Oliver has staged the play, Joan’s injured and insistent self-defense at her trial seems out of character for one earlier transported by God. Here the politics of the hypocritical religious and political institutions make sense in the story, but the character of Joan does not. 

Much of Shaw’s story and many of his characters verge on simple political satire. This one-dimensional, satirical concept is mostly telegraphed in advance to the viewer, and then played out somewhat predictably, in the three-hour production. 

Like much of Shaw’s work, “St. Joan” is an interesting, but talky play – frequently a debate of ideas. But for me, the characters and stories were not humanized in this production as successfully as they were in the Aurora’s wonderful production last season of Shaw’s family-politics debate “The Philanderer.” 

924 Gilman St. Nov. 3: Cruevo, Nigel Peppercock, Impaled, Systematic Infection, Depressor; Nov. 9: Hoods, Punishment, Lords of Light Speed, Necktie Party; Nov. 10: Sunday’s Best, Mock Orange, Elizabeth Elmore, Fighting Jacks, Benton Falls; Nov. 16: Pitch Black, The Blottos, Miracle Chosuke, 240; Nov. 17: Carry On, All Bets Off, Limp Wrist, Labrats, Thought Riot; All shows start a 8 p.m. unless noted; Most are $5; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926 

The Albatross Pub Nov. 3: Dave Creamer Jazz Quartet; Both shows 9 p.m. 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 albatrosspub@mindspring. com  

Anna’s Nov. 3: Robin Gregory and Bill Bell, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Quartet; Nov. 4: Danubius; Nov. 5: Rengade Sideman with Calvin Keys; Nov. 6: Singers’ Open Mic #1; Nov. 7: Bob Shoen Jazz Quintet; Nov. 8: Dreams Unltd; Nov. 9: Anna and Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 10: Robin Gregory and Si Perkoff, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet; Nov. 11: Choro Time; Nov. 12: Renegade Sidemen with Calvin Keys; Nov. 13: Singers’ Open Mic #2; Nov. 14: Bob Shoen Jazz Quintet; Nov. 15: Jazz Singers’ Collective; Nov. 16: Anna & Hyler T. Jones, 10 p.m. Bluesman Hideo Date; Nov. 17: Vicki Burns & Felice York, 10 p.m. The Distones Jazz Sextet; All shows 8 p.m. unless noted. Free. 1901 University Ave., 849-2662 

Blake’s Nov. 3: Funk Monsters, Molasses, $5; Nov. 4: Lost Coast Band, Supercel, $3; Nov. 5: All Star Jam featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Nov. 6: Inner, Ama, $3; Nov. 7: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free; Nov. 8: Ascension, $5; Nov. 9: Delfino, Boomshanka, $5; Nov. 10: Kofy Brown, J. Dogs, $7; Nov.11: Psychotica, $5; Nov. 12: All Star Jam Featuring The Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee, $4; Nov. 13: The Photon Band, Ian Moore, $4; Nov. 14: Erotic City, DJ Maestro, $2, Hebro, free. All shows 9:30 p.m. 2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886 

Cal Performances Nov 8: 8 p.m. Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance, $18 - $30; Nov. 10: 7 p.m. & Nov. 11: 3 p.m., The 2001 Taiko Festival, $20 - $32; Nov. 29: Les Arts Florissants, $24 - $46; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph. 642-0212 tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Eli’s Mile High Club Every Friday, 10 p.m. Funky Fridays Conscious Dance Party with KPFA DJs Splif Skankin and Funky Man. $10 Doors open at 8 p.m. unless noted. 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. 655-6661 

Freight & Salvage Nov. 3: Barbara Higbie $17.50 - $18.50; Nov. 7: John Hoban $15.50 - $16.50; Nov. 8: Ledward Ka’apana & Cyril Pahinui $17.50 - $18.50; Nov. 9: The Harmony Sisters with Alice Gerrard, Jeanie McLerie & Irene Herrmann $16.50 - $17.50; Nov 10: Barry & Alice Olivier $16.50 - $17.50; Nov. 11: Austin Lounge Lizards $16.50 - $17.50. All Shows 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jazzschool/La Note Nov. 4: 4:30 p.m. SoVoSo, $15; Nov. 11: 4:30 p.m. Dave Le Febvre Quintet, $12. 2377 Shattuck Ave. 845-5373 

Jupiter Nov. 3: Solomon Grundy; Nov. 7: Go Van Gogh; Nov. 8: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 9: Xroads; Nov. 10: Post Junk Trio; Nov. 14: Wayside; Nov. 15: Joshi Marshal Project; Nov. 16: 5 Point Plan; Nov. 17: Corner Pocket; Nov. 21: Starchild; All shows 8 p.m. and free. 2821 Shattuck Ave. 843-7625/ www.jupiter.com 

La Lesbian @ La Peña: Nov. 4: 5 - 9 p.m., Salsa, merengue, cumbia from DJs Rosa Oviedo and Chata Gutierrez, $7; Nov. 7: 8 p.m., I Love Lezzie, 20 member comedy troupe, $14; 320 45th St., Oakland 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

MusicSources Nov. 18 Harpsichordist Gilbert Martinez. Both shows 5 p.m. $15-18. 1000 The Alameda 528-1685 

Rose Street House of Music Nov. 8: 7:30 p.m., Jenny Bird and Melissa Crabtree, $5 - $20. 594.4000 x.687 www.rosestreetmusic.com 

Cal Performances Nov. 2: 7 p.m., Sightlines, Pre-performance discussion with guest artists. 8 p.m., “Music Before 1850,” with Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr. $32. First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way, 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Distaff Singers Annual Benefit Concert” Nov. 3: 8 p.m., Distaff Singers 64th Annual Benefit Concert for the Ida Altenbach Scholarship Fund. $10. Oakland Mormon Interstake Auditorium, 4770 Lincoln Ave., 658-2921 

“Berkeley Repertory Theatre Presents Anthony Rapp and His Band” Nov. 13: 8 p.m. Anthony Rapp, currently starring in Berkeley Rep’s “Nocturne,” performs with his three-piece band. $12 - $25. Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., 647-2949 

“me/you...us/them” Nov. 8 through Nov. 10: Thur - Sat 8 p.m., matinee on Sat. 2:30 p.m. Three one-acts that look at interpersonal, as well as societal relationships from the perspective of the disabled. $10 - $25. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 925-798-1300 

“Nocturne” Through Nov. 11: Tues./Thurs./Sat. 8 p.m., Weds. & Sun. 7 p.m., matinee on Thurs./Sat./Sun. 2 p.m. Mark Brokaw directs Anthony Rapp in One-Man Show. Written by Adam Rapp. $38 - $54. Berkeley Repertory’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep. org 

“Tomas Carrasco of Chicano Secret Service” Nov. 15: 4 p.m. Performance by member of L.A.-based sketch comedy troupe that uses humor to tackle hot-button racial and political issues. Free. Durham Studio Theater, UC Berkeley 

“Works in the Works 2001” Through Nov. 18: 7:30. East Bay performance series presents a different program each evening. Nov. 3: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; St. Mary’s College Dance Company; Marin Academy. Nov. 4: Stefanie Renard and Britta Randlev; Somi Hongo; Dana Lee Lawton; Seely Quest; Cristina Riberio; Nadia Adame of AXIS Dance Company. $8. Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St., 644-1788 

“Nicholas Nickleby” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. The Young Actors Workshop presents a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby. $10 adults, $8 students and seniors. Performing Arts Center of Contra Costa College, corner of El Portal Dr. and Castro St., San Pablo 235-7800 ext. 4274 

“Lost Cause” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. Three space travelers stranded on a forgotten colony, find themselves in the middle of a bloody civil war, and have to decide between what’s right, what’s possible, and what will save their lives. Written by Jefferson Area, directed by Sarah O’Connell. $7-12. La Val’s Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Ave. 464-4468 www.impacttheatre.com 

“Travesties” Through Nov. 17: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., and Thurs., Nov. 15, 8 p.m. A witty fantasy about James Joyce meeting Lenin in Zurich during World War I. Written by Tom Stoppard, Directed by Mikel Clifford. $10. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck. 528-5620 

Cal Performances “The Car Man” Nov. 1: 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Nov. 2: 8 p.m.; Nov. 3: 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Choreographer and director Matthew Bourne and his company re-invent Bizet’s “Carmen,” spinning the tale of a mysterious drifter in a small mid-western town, who changes the lives of its inhabitants forever. $32 - $64; Nov. 7: 8 p.m., “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” more than 30 singers, dancers, and musicians present a musical synthesis of the authentic Roma styles. $18 - $30; Nov. 8: 11 a.m., SchoolTime Performance, “Gypsy Caravan 2: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance,” $3 per student or chaperone, in advance only; Nov. 8: 8 p.m., “Orquesta Aragón,” $18 - $30; Nov. 11: 3 p.m., Recital - Angelika Kirschschlager, Bo Skovhus, and Donald Runnicles. “Wolf/ Die Italienisches Liederbuch,” $45; Nov. 16 - 17: 8 p.m., “La Guerra d’Amore,” director and choreographer, René Jacobs, conductor, Ensemble Concerto Vocale. Modern dance and early music from German choreographer Joachim Schlömer, $34 - $52; Nov. 30 - Dec. 2: Fri. - Sat.8 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m., The Suzuki Company presents a staged interpretation of the Greek classic, “Dionysus”, $30 - $46; UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall. 642-9988/ www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Macbeth” Nov. 9 through Nov. 18: Fri. - Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m. Presented by the Albany High School Theater Ensemble. $7 adults, $5 students and seniors. Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. 559-6550 x4125 theaterensemble@hotmail.com 

“Saint Joan” Through Dec. 2: Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., 7 p.m. George Bernard Shaw’s epic of a young girl determined to drive the English out of France with only her faith to support her. Directed by Barbara Oliver. $26-35. Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St. 843-4822 www.auroratheatre.org 

“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 

“Brave Brood” Nov. 8 - Dec. 16 Robert O’Hara directs Robert O’Hara’s searing tale of money, desperation, and the fight for survival. $20. Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. 883-0305 www.transparenttheater.org 

“Much Ado About Nothing” Nov. 20 through Jan. 8: Check theater for specific dates and times. Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy chronicles a handful of soldiers returning from a winning battle to be greeted by a gaggle of giddy maidens. Directed by Brian Kulick. $10 - $54. Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org 

Dance 

“México Danza Brings the Splendor and Pageantry of the Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos to the Stage” Nov. 1: 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. Compania México Danza presents a cast of 20 enchanting dancers, adorned in festive costumes. $10 Calvin Simmons Theatre, Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, Ten 10th St., Oakland. 465-9312 www.danceforpower.org 

Films 

Pacific Film Archive Theater Nov. 1: 7:30 p.m., Leslie Thornton Artist Workshop; Nov. 2: 7 p.m., Strange Fruit; 8:45 p.m., Facing the Music; Nov. 3: 7 p.m., Damnation; 9:25 p.m., Family Nest; Nov. 4: 3:30 p.m., I Loved You... (Three Romances); 5:35 p.m., The Making of the Revolution; Nov. 5: 7 p.m., Profit and Nothing But!; Nov. 6: 7:30 p.m., Dog Star Man; Nov. 7: 7 :30 p.m., Animal Attraction; Nov. 7 p.m., Exilée, Museum Theater; Nov. 9: 7:30 p.m., Friends in High Places; 9:15 p.m., Soldiers in the Army of God; Nov. 10: 7 p.m., Prefab People; 9 p.m., The Outsider; Nov. 11: 3:30 p.m., Born at Home and The Team on B-6; 5:40 p.m., The Creators of Shopping Worlds; Nov. 16: 7:30 p.m., Autumn Almanac; Nov. 17 & 18: 1 p.m., Satantango; Nov. 21: 7 :30 p.m., Macbeth; Nov. 30: 7:30 p.m., Werckmeister Harmonies; 2575 Bancroft Way, 642-1124 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“The Search” Nov. 4: 2 - 4:30 p.m., 1948 drama of American soldier caring for a young concentration camp survivor in post-war Berlin, while the boy’s mother is desperately searching all Displaced Persons camps for him. $2 suggested donation. Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237 

“La Lesbian Film Festival” Nov. 9 - 11. La Peña Cultural Center presents La Lesbian at La Peña: A Lesbian Performance and Film Series. $8 Fine Arts Cinema 2451 Shattuck 654-6346 www.lapena.org 

Exhibits  

“Cut Plates and Bowls” Annabeth Rosen, “Just Jars” Sandy Simon Through Nov. 3; Saturdays 10 - 5 or by appointment. Trax Ceramic Gallery, 1306 3rd St. 526-0279. cone5@aol.com 

“50 Years of Photography in Japan 1951 - 2001” Through Nov. 5: An exhibition from The Yomiuri Shimbun, the world’s largest daily newspaper with a national morning circulation of 10,300,000. Photographs of work, love, community, culture and disasters of Japan as seen by Japanese news photographers. Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. U.C. Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism, North Gate Hall, Hearst and Euclid. Free. 642-3383 

“Architects of the Information Age” Through Nov. 10: A solo exhibit showcasing the works of Ezra Li Eismont. Works included in the exhibition are mixed media paintings on panel and assemblage works on paper and canvas. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ardency Gallery, 709 Broadway, Oakland 836-0831 

“Art Benefit for the Gabriel Sussman Rodriguez Education Fund” Nov. 11 - Nov. 16: Over 60 artists have donated work for this tribute to the memory of Wendy Sussman, a painter and professor of art practice and UC Berkeley, and contribute to the education of her son. Sun. - Fri. 1 - 6 p.m. Worth Ryder Gallery, Kroeber hall, UC Berkeley 415-665-6131 

“Jesus, This is Your Life - Stories and Pictures by Kids” Through Nov. 16: California children, ages four through twelve, from diverse backgrounds present original artwork, accompanied by a story written by the artist. “Cleve Gray, Holocaust Drawings” Oct. 15 through Jan. 25: 21 works on paper inviting the viewer to consider the atrocity of the Holocaust in ways unattainable through words or text. Mon. - Thur. 8:30 a.m. -10 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541. 

“Changing the World, Building New Lives: 1970s photographs of Lesbians, Feminists, Union Women, Disability Activists and their Supporters” Through Nov. 17: An exhibit of black and white photographs by Oakland photographer Cathy Cade, who captured the interrelationships of the different struggles for justice and social change. Gallery Hours, Mon. - Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St. Free. 644-1400 cathycade@mindspring.com 

“In Through the Outdoors” Through Nov. 24: Featuring seven artists who work in photography and related media including sculpture and video, this exhibit addresses the shift in values and contemporary concerns about the natural world that surrounds us. Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Traywick Gallery, 1316 Tenth St. www.traywick.com 

“2001 James D. Phelan Art Awards in Printmaking” Honorees: Bridget Henry, David Kelso, and Margaret Van Patten. Through Nov. 30 Tues. - Fri. noon - 5 p.m., other times by appointment. Kala Art Institue, 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977 www.kala.org 

“Furniture Art” Through Dec. 7: An exhibit of metal and wood furniture that revisits furniture not only as art but as craft. 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. The Current Gallery at the Crucible, 1036 Ashby Ave. 843-5511 www.thecrucible.org 

“The Paintings of Bethany Anne Ayers and Sculpture of Alexander Cheves” Nov. 15 through Dec. 15: Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ardency Gallery, 709 roadway, Oakland. 836-0831 gallery709@aol.com 

“The Whole World’s Watching: Peace and Social Justice Movements of the 1960s and 1970s” Through Dec. 16: A documentary photo exhibition which examines the rich history of the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Wed. - Sun., noon - 5 p.m. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., Live Oak Park. Free. 644-6893 

GTU Exhibit: “Holocaust Series” by Cleve Gray through Jan. 25: Comprised of 21 works on paper that constitute “a catharsis... for all of humanity.” Mon. - Thurs. 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. noon - 7 p.m.; Free. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2541 www.gtu.edu 

“The Art History Museum of Berkeley” 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 Botticelli’s “Primavera” Ongoing. Call ahead for hours. Atelier 9 2028 Ninth St. 841-4210 or visit www.atelier9.com 

Readings 

Boadecia’s Books Nov. 3: Editor Danya Ruttenberg and contributors Loolwa Khazzoom, Emily Wages, Billie Mandel will read their selections in the new anthology, “Yentl’s Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish Feminism.”; Nov. 9: Lauren Dockett will read from her latest book, “The Deepest Blue: How Women Face and Overcome Depression.”; All events start at 7:30 p.m. unless noted otherwise. All events are free. 398 Colusa Ave. 559-9184 www.bookpride.com 

Cody’s on Telegraph Ave. Nov. 1: Frederick Crews talks about “Postmodern Pooh”; Nov. 3: Ben Cheever looks at “Selling Ben Cheever: Back to Square One in a Service Economy (A Personal Odyssey)”; Nov. 5: Jack Miles talks about “CHRIST: A Crisis in the Life of God”; Nov. 6: Royall Tyler presents his new translation of “The Tale of Genji”; Nov. 7: 5:30 p.m.: Rimpoche Nawang Gehlek talks about “Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation”; Nov. 8: Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz present “Kafka Americana”; Nov. 9: Sue Hubbell thinks about “Shrinking the Cat: Genetic Engineering Before We Knew About Genes”; Nov. 12: Rabih Alameddine reads from “I, The Divine”; Nov. 13: John Barth reads from “Coming Soon!!!” All shows at 7:30 p.m.; 2454 Telegraph Ave. 845-7852 

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore Nov. 1: Travel in the Aftermath of September 11, 2001: An Evening with Prominent Bay Area Travel Experts; Nov. 7: Jill Fredston reads from “Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic’s Edge”; Nov. 8: Harry Pariser discusses “Explore Costa Rica”; Nov. 14: Gregory Crouch talks about “Enduring Patagonia.” All shows 7:30 p.m.; 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533 

Eastwind Books of Berkeley Nov. 10: 4 p.m. Ruthanne Lum McCunn reads from her novel “Moon Pearl”; Nov. 18: 4 p.m. Noel Alumit, M.G. Sorongon, and Marianne Villanueva read from their contributions to the anthology “Tilting the Continent: Southeast Asian American Literature”; 2066 University Ave. 548-2350 

UC Berkeley, Nov. 8: 7 p.m., Reading and book signing with Osha Gray Davidson, author of “Fire In The Turtle House: The Green Sea Turtle and the Fate of the Ocean.” Mulford Bldg., Rm. 132. 848-0110 www.publicaffairsbooks.com/books/fire.html 

“Rhythm and Muse” Nov. 10: 6:30 p.m. This event is supported by Poet’s and Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation. Open mic evening open to all writers and performers. Features poet/musician Avotcja. Free. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893 

“Berkeley’s World” Nov. 10 & 17: 8 p.m. Staged reading of a new play about five Berkeley emigres who form a career support group through an ad placed in the East Bay Express but find they can’t stand each other. Written by Andrea Mock. Free. Speakeasy Theatre, 2016 7th St. 841-9441 

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 Sun., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sun., 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; Nov. 3: Tales from the Enchanted Forest, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.; Nov. 9: Living with the Earth; Nov. 17: Recycle that Stuff; $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Mon. and Wed., 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tues. and Fri., 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thur., 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111 or www.habitot.org  

Oakland Museum of California through Nov. 25: Pasajes y Encuentros: Ofrendas for the Days of the Dead, highlights three thematic “passageways” that connect the dead with the living: tradition, humor and spirit. $6 adults, $4 seniors and students, free for children under 5. Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sun. noon - 5 p.m., 10th St., Oakland, 888-625-6873/ www.museumca.org 

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 foot 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. Mon. through Fri., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sat. and Sun., 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.  

University of California Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive has reopened after its summerlong seismic retrofit. “Martin Puryear: Sculpture of the 1990s” through Jan. 13; “The Dream of the Audience: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951 - 1982)” through Dec. 16; “Face of Buddha: Sculpture from India, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia” ongoing rotation through 2003; “Matrix 194: Jessica Bronson, Heaps, layers, and curls” Sept. 16 through Nov. 11; “Matrix 192: Ceal Floyer 37’4”” Sept. 16 through Nov. 11; Wed., Fri., Sat., Sun. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Thur. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., PFA Theater, 2575 Bancroft Way; Museum Galleries 2626 Bancroft Way; 642-0808 www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Lawrence Hall of Science “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. 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. 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  

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

Championship game with Pinole Valley set for Thursday 

The players on the Berkeley High football team admitted it all week: they were looking past Friday’s opponent, Richmond, to a potential showdown for the league title with Pinole Valley next Thursday. And on Friday, the Oilers put up little resistance to the ’Jackets’ dismissal, handing Berkeley an early lead and falling 68-14. 

Berkeley piled up 516 total yards, including 442 on the ground, while holding Richmond to just 147 yards, most of them well after the game had been decided. Six different Berkeley players scored touchdowns in the rout. 

“We feel pretty good about tonight’s game,” Berkeley head coach Matt Bissell said. “We did what we were supposed to do.” 

Berkeley is now 5-0 in league play, and Pinole Valley went into Friday night’s game against Alameda undefeated in the ACCAL as well. Assuming the heavily-favored Spartans won their game (the result was unavailable at press time), Thursday’s game at Berkeley High will decide the league title and an automatic berth in the North Coast Section playoffs. 

“We knew it would come down to us and Pinole all along,” said Berkeley’s Lee Franklin. “We started out rough (the ’Jackets were 0-3 to start the year), but we got it back on track.” 

Berkeley’s biggest challenge will be to slow down Spartan running back DeAndre McFarland, who is the fifth-leading rusher in Northern California, averaging more than 150 yards per game. 

“We plan on shutting (McFarland) down,” Berkeley linebacker Leonard Scarborough said. “Every time he gets over 150 yards, they win. So if we stop him, we’ll win it.” 

Berkeley’s defense certainly shut down the Richmond running game on Friday night, as the Oilers managed just 55 rushing yards in the game despite running a wishbone offense designed to pick up yards on the ground. Defensive tackle Robert Hunter-Ford set the tone early, stuffing the first two Oiler plays for a net of -7 yards. 

Hunter-Ford is playing tackle for the first time this year, having been moved inside when mammoth junior Jamal Lucas-Johnson went down with an ankle injury three games ago. The 300-pound Lucas-Johnson, who should be back for the Pinole Valley game, has been tutoring Hunter-Ford on interior play since his injury. 

“I can’t replace the big man. He’s taught me everything I know,” Hunter-Ford said. 

Friday night’s game turned into a laugher quickly. When their first drive died a quick death, the Oilers called on the punt team. But the snap was low, and Berkeley recovered the ball on the Richmond 14 yard-line. Three plays later, tailback Craig Hollis ran one in from four yards out, and the rout was on. 

The next Richmond drive resulted in another three-and-out, and this time the punt snap was good. But Scarborough broke through and blocked the punt, recovering the ball on the 1. Fullback Roger Mason plunged over the goal line for another Berkeley score on the next play.  

Berkeley would score two more touchdowns in the opening quarter to take a 27-0 lead, and the ’Jackets coaches began pulling their starters to rest up for next week’s big game. Quarterback Raymond Pinkston didn’t play in the second half, while starting tailback Germaine Baird sat after just nine rushes, although he did pile up 145 yards and two touchdowns. 

Second half highlights included two long touchdown runs by Mario Mejia, who has now scored all three times he has touched the ball this season, and a 36-yard reverse for a touchdown by speedy wideout Sean Young.

What is the difference between an office and a factory? 

The answer would seem to be self-evident, and, if forced to explain, one would probably speak of blue and white collars, the differing lengths of workers’ resumes or the amount of grime on their hands at the end of the day. 

However, it became evident at the Oct. 25 Zoning Adjustments Board meeting, that sometimes the distinction isn’t so clear.  

Publisher’s Group West, a Berkeley book distributor, asked the ZAB to approve its application to expand its current Fourth Street offices into a neighboring space, formerly occupied by the Tom Tom Clothing Company.  

PGW wished to move its subsidiary, Avalon Travel Publishing, into its building at 1716 Fourth St. Avalon, with 75 employees, is housed in Emeryville.  

The company asked ZAB for a variance from the strict codes that apply to the West Berkeley mixed-use/light industrial district, in which the building lies. The MU-LI codes prohibit conversion of manufacturing space into offices unless the ZAB determines that “exceptional or extraordinary circumstances” apply. 

The board eventually followed planning department staff’s recommendation and denied PGW’s request for a variance, but not without a great deal of agonizing over the state of the city’s historically important publishing industry and whether, in the end, book publishing is an office or a manufacturing use. 

MU-LI codes, which were developed after the city approved the West Berkeley Plan in 1993, specifically state that if publishers do not run their own printing press, they cannot occupy former industrial space. 

However, PGW CEO Charlie Winton and Avalon CEO Bill Newlin argued that though the Avalon staff does nearly all its work on computers before electronically shipping it to the printers, they should be considered manufacturers. 

“Everyone on our staff feels very engaged in the making of books,” Newlin told the ZAB.  

He said his employees physically proof the galleys of books in development, handle and gauge potential materials and do other tasks that result in a physical product – the book. 

In a letter to city staff, the applicants took this defense a step farther. 

“The nature of book publishing is the creation of books,” they wrote. “The Standard Industrial Code has always considered the creation of books a manufacturing designation.” 

But according to the authors of the Standard Industrial Code, the U.S. Census Bureau, that has not been true since 1997, when the SIC was rewritten and standardized by the United States, Canada and Mexico. 

Under the North American Industry Classification System, which superseded the SIC, publishing without printing is classified as an “information” industry, which is itself a subset of the services sector. 

Upon learning this, ZAB member Carrie Sprague said Friday her only surprise was that the federal government has finally caught up with the West Berkeley Plan.  

“They’re sitting there at computers,” she said. “Of course it’s an office!” 

But Sprague, who voted against granting PGW’s variance, nonetheless said she shared the concerns of those who voted for the variance – that the city should be helping to retain publishing and other book-related companies, which have historically played a major role in the city’s economy and cultural life. 

“The activities that (PGW) undertakes are ones that we should encourage in the West Berkeley area,” said Carrie Olson, a member of the Landmarks Preservation Commission who substituted for ZAB member David Blake at the meeting.  

“Berkeley loves our books, and we should be supporting the publishers that bring us those books. Personally, I would rather see the heavy manufacturing move out of West Berkeley.” 

ZAB member Lawrence Capitelli agreed, and said the incorrect information in PGW’s letter to the city was relatively unimportant. 

“It wouldn’t have influenced my decision,” he said. “Publisher’s Group West is the kind of business we should encourage in the West Berkeley area. It’s been here for many years” 

“This an industry we want to support. We’re a center for publishing nationwide, far beyond our numbers.” 

Capitelli also said in light of the damage the ruling may inflict on the company, the city should review policies like the West Berkeley Plan.  

“The other thing I think we have to do is look at the changing nature of business,” he said. “I know there are many people committed to retaining blue-collar jobs, but I think we need to look at how many of those the city can realistically attract.” 

The issue of conversion of manufacturing spaces in the MU-LI district has been a major controversy of late. The Planning Commission is studying whether or not it will recommend a one-year ban on conversion to the City Council.  

Though Winton and Newlin could not be reached for comment after repeated calls to their offices, Winton has in the past promised to appeal the ZAB’s decision to the City Council – where, he said, he “is told” he has the votes to overturn the ruling.

The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter addressed to TV talk-show host Bill O’Reilly:  

I disagree with your opinion that (the Berkeley City Council) resolution is indicative of the “mindless nonsense from Berkeley for more than 40 years.”  

Thank God, there are a handful of Americans and elected officials that remember that this country was founded on the principals of free speech.  

I, along with the City Council of Berkeley, condemn the terrorists responsible for the mass killings of innocent people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. But it is properly the purview of the United Nations and international tribunals such as the World Court or International Criminal Court to bring the terrorists to justice.  

A long time ago, citizens of the United States decided we wanted formal trial by jury of peers vs. vigilante justice for all crimes in this country. There are several international legal avenues available to the United States for recompense. As of this writing we have decided not to use them. 

I hope that you and others in the media will editorialize on means other than killing impoverished mothers and children in Afghanistan to bring justice and healing to the world. 

Deborah Hirsch 

Alpharetta, Georgia 

Hirsh also writes to the Berkeley City Council: 

I commend you on your vote on Oct. 16, 2001 calling for “bringing the bombing (of Afghanistan) to a conclusion as soon as possible.” I also appreciate your condemning the mass murders of Sept. 11, 2001, which has been overlooked in the media.  

Your courage in the face of certain backlash, for instance death threats, is a tribute to true patriotism. You spoke for me when you passed this resolution.

Cal freshman forward/center Amit Tamir, whose eligibility was called into question because he played with professionals as a member of the Israeli National Team, will have to sit out just eight games this season. The decision came after a vote Thursday by the NCAA Division I Board of Directors. 

“I’m very happy for Amit,” said Cal head coach Ben Braun. “I’m extremely pleased that the Board of Directors supported the Management Council’s proposal to make a significant reduction in the number of games foreign players would have to miss. Anybody who is familiar with foreign players realizes that these players have done everything they could to secure their amateur status. Fortunately, the Board realized that. I’m not only happy for Amit, but for all players in his situation that wanted to pursue a college career.” 

According to the NCAA, the Board defeated a motion that would have overturned action taken Oct. 22-23 by the Management Council to set a new reinstatement policy for the Division I Student-Athlete Reinstatement Subcommittee as it considers violations of bylaws for student-athletes who competed on a “tier-one” professional team prior to initial eligibility, but are otherwise eligible under NCAA rules. The policy primarily affects international basketball student-athletes who have participated in international leagues. 

This action changes the existing policy of the reinstatement subcommittee, which specifies that student-athletes who participated in first-tier-level professional competition in a foreign country would be withheld from one intercollegiate game for each professional game played. 

As a member of the Israeli National Team, Tamir played a number of games both with and against professionals. Without Thursday’s decision, he likely would have had to sit out the entire season. Instead, Tamir will make his Cal debut Dec. 28 against Harvard in the first round of the Golden Bear Classic. 

“Amit has already worked his way into our rotation as one of our top players and will add to the depth on our front line,” said Braun. “He’s an older, more mature player that will help us considerably.” 

A 6-10, 250-pound post player, Tamir has already served a three-year commitment with the Israeli army before enrolling at Cal. The Jerusalem native led his high school team to the city championship, and he also represented Israel at the 1998 Under-22 European championships.

Every summer for the last few years, Rhoda Olkin had looked forward to a week at Berkeley’s family camp near Yosemite. It is a special time to share with her son.  

But when the child turned 10 years old, he no longer wanted to go.  

“I thought he didn’t want to be seen with me because of my disability,” said Olkin, who contracted polio when she was 1 year old and now uses crutches or a scooter to get around.  

“It turned out he just didn’t want to be seen with his mother,” she said. “ It was no longer cool to hang out with mom.”  

Olkin says she is one of 10 million parents nationwide with a disability. She has devoted much of her professional life to increasing awareness and knowledge of disabilities. Olkin is a professor of clinical psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alameda and a staff member at Through the Looking Glass, a Berkeley-based nonprofit organization that provides direct services, information and referral to families in which one or more members have a disability,  

She recently wrote a book: “What Psychotherapists Should Know About Disability” (Guilford Publications, Inc., 2001). Now, she is spearheading a survey to learn more about the experiences of disabled parents raising teenagers.  

“Parenting is tough work,” said 48 year-old Olkin, a single mother who shares custody of her 11-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son with her former spouse. “But parents with disabilities feel that they have to be better than other parents just to measure up.”  

Paul Preston, co-director of the National Resource Center for Parents with Disabilities at Through the Looking Glass, agreed and said parents with disabilities have special concerns.  

“A parent with a disability has the added issue of access to services,” Preston said. “If a school building is not wheelchair accessible, a parent can’t meet with her child’s teacher. If the school doesn’t provide an interpreter, a deaf parent can’t communicate.”  

At a recent back-to-school night, Olkin was appalled that the classrooms at her daughter’s middle school were not wheelchair accessible.  

“My daughter is at that age where she wants to be exactly like everyone else,” Olkin said. “So, I had a real internal struggle. What do I teach her? Do I stand up for myself? Or do I teach her to fit in? I don’t want her to be stigmatized by my disability.”  

In the end, Olkin wrote a letter to the school principal, and her daughter supported the decision.  

“I was really pleased that at the age of 11 she had a sense of justice,” Olkin said.  

“My kids see the bigger picture of things.”  

Olkin also said disabled parents feel guilty about how their condition affects their children.  

“When my son turned 14, I asked him to take out the garbage,” said Olkin. “ I worried that I was asking him because it was something I couldn’t do. I forgot that if I could do it, I’d ask him anyway.”  

According to Olkin, the three-year survey (conducted by Through the Looking Glass and funded exclusively through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education) is the first study to focus on disabled parents who have teenagers.  

“We wanted to find out what concerns parents and teenagers have so that we can develop programs to address these needs,” said Preston.  

“We wanted to hear their voices,” added Olkin, “and how they’ve incorporated disability into their lifestyles.”  

Olkin said the goal is to survey 300 to 500 parents and teenagers nationwide by September 2002. So far, the agency has surveyed between 60 and 80. And the response has been positive, she said.  

“People have been marvelous,” said Olkin. “No one asks the disabled about their experiences, but they want to talk about it. During the surveys, people talk to us longer than we thought they would.”  

Olkin, who trains therapists about disability issues, said that little information existed about disabled parenting when she was pregnant with her first child.  

“The only report I could find on a mother with polio focused on whether the mom had a healthy baby,” Olkin said. “There was nothing out there that could tell me about how pregnancy or childbirth would affect me.”  

After her son was born, Olkin, who used crutches since the age of 16, decided she needed a scooter.  

“I applied to the insurance company and they asked me all kinds of questions,” Olkin said. “Whether I could garden. Whether I could grocery shop. I could do all those things, but I couldn’t carry my child.”  

The insurance company denied Olkin’s request because as she explained, parenting was not considered an “activity of daily living.” But Olkin was relentless.  

“Three months later, I applied again and told them that I couldn’t grocery shop,” Olkin said. “And I got my scooter.”  

Olkin said one of her anxieties during those early years was the fear that her children would be taken away from her.  

“I was going to my car after grocery shopping and I had my 5-month old son, my crutches and my wagon,” she said, recounting a memory that still frightens her today. “A woman came up to me and asked if she could help. But instead of taking my crutches or helping me with my groceries, she took my baby out of my arms. I panicked. I really felt physically vulnerable.”  

Olkin’s fear is not ungrounded.  

According to a dissertation by Lisa Cohen, a California School of Professional Psychology at Alameda graduate and former student of Olkin’s, 10 to 15 percent of disabled parents surveyed had experienced active interference in their parenting, including pressure to have an abortion, tubiligation or excessive involvement by Child Protective Services.  

The fear of losing one’s children can persist even after the early childhood years, said Olkin. In divorce proceedings, Olkin said courts look favorably on able-bodied parents and that Through the Looking Glass receives four phone calls a week from disabled parents seeking assistance with custody issues.  

Though Olkin eventually got over her fears, she has faced many physical challenges since. One of the hardest tasks was getting her children into their car seats when they were younger.  

“Someone should really invent a car seat that is easy to get in,” she said. “As soon as my kids were old enough to crawl, I taught them how to crawl into those seats.”  

Although Olkin’s physical limitations made it difficult for her to keep up with her children’s energy levels, Olkin said there were benefits to her disability.  

“We developed our own pace for doing things,” she said. “We did a lot of projects at the table that focused on sharing and talking. Every year, for instance, we make Hanukkah decorations together. And because of that, we see a lot of our community projects around the house.”  

Olkin also said teenagers of disabled parents often display more tolerance toward others and have higher levels of empathy.  

“When we’re out on the street, my children are always pointing and saying there’s a curb cut here or there,” said Olkin. “They have different eyes without even knowing it. My son is particularly attuned to what’s going on with other people. He’ll notice when I’m using crutches in the house, which is something I don’t normally do, and acknowledge that I’m in more pain.”  

Olkin also thinks having a disabled parent can make children better problem solvers.  

“If there’s something my children really want to do but that I don’t have the energy for, they’ll figure out a way,” she said. “ If they want to go the mall, they’ll say you go to one store and we’ll go to the others.”  

But Olkin still has concerns about how her disability affects her children.  

“I worry about whether the kids feel like they need to protect me, or if they keep things from me because they think it will hurt my feelings,” said Olkin. “It’s not uncommon for children with disabilities to have parents who protect them. So it’s easy to think our kids are doing the same thing.”  

Olkin said the survey aims to examine unspoken issues like this as well as other challenges and benefits disabled parents and their teenagers face.  

The survey, conducted in writing or on the phone, can last anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour depending on format, disability and whether the respondent is a parent or teen. Teenagers are paid $5 for completing the survey. An online version will be available in three to four weeks.  

“The teenage years are difficult,” Olkin said, stressing the importance of having a support network of other disabled parents to lean on. “Teens are asserting their independence and testing limits.”  

But Olkin reminds disabled parents to maintain their perspective on the situation.  

“There are so many struggles that you have with your teens,” she said. “Many of them have nothing to do with the disability.”  

For more information about the survey contact Nancy Freed at Through the Looking Glass: 848-1112 ext. 174 or (800) 644-2666; TTY: (800) 

804-1616; or nfreed@lookingglass.org. 

Editor: 

Allegedly George Bush and the military have been given a “blank check” to stop terrorism. I wish someone would give ME a blank check. 

I am a low-income, single-parent mother who has put three out of four children through college and trust me when I say that I KNOW how to make an eagle scream  

You can bet your bippy that if I had three trillion dollars to play around with, terrorism would be a thing of the past – and it wouldn’t have taken me no four weeks of killing civilians in Afghanistan to do it! 

As a mother, I had to learn the hard way that the use of violence, humiliation and punishment is inefficient, ineffective and dangerous. 

Military might is COST-INEFFECTIVE. Punishment always leads to resistance. Humans all think alike. Adults are just kids that grew up. You want co-operation? You gotta use positive reinforcement! Ask any mom. Nothing else works. 

Jane Stillwater 

Berkeley 

After receiving several months of data from a year-long study at Harrison Soccer Fields, the Community Environmental Advisory Commission asked city staff to post notices of poor air quality around the popular field. 

The recommendation also asks the planning department to make sure parents have signed mandatory waivers before allowing their children to play at the field, located at Fifth and Harrison streets.  

Some commissioners thought the notices and waivers were critical because of the many youth soccer games at the field. According to the Alameda-Contra Costa Soccer League Web site, 137 soccer games are played at the field between Sept. 8 and Nov. 10. 

The commission approved the recommendation at its Thursday meeting by a vote of 6-1-2, with Commissioner Robert Clear voting in opposition and new Commissioner Sarah MacKusick and temporary Commissioner Dan Simon abstaining. Clear said he voted against the recommendation because he thought the commission did not have enough time to discuss the issue before voting. 

With Vice Chairperson LA Wood chairing the meeting while Chairperson Elmer Grossman is away, the commission requested the posting because preliminary results from an air study showed the level of Particulate Matter 10 exceeded state standards an average of five times a month since July 1, when the study began. The most recent test results show that during the first two weeks of October, the particulate matter level exceeded state standards four times. 

“I believe the city has an obligation to inform the public because Harrison Field was a very controversial project to begin with and the most controversial thing about it was its environmental quality,” Wood said. 

The sports facility was the site of another environmental controversy earlier this year when construction of the Harrison Field Skate Park, also located at Fifth and Harrison streets, was halted because of the discovery of the carcinogen Chromium 6 in groundwater during excavation of nine-foot deep skate bowls. Removing the groundwater, sealing the base of the bowls and redesigning the skate park added $365,000 to the city’s total cost of construction. 

Particulate matter is small airborne pieces of liquid or solid matter that originates from a variety of sources, but is most often associated with exhaust from automobiles, according to information posted on the Bay Area Air Quality Management Web site. 

The city contracted with Applied Measurement Science to conduct a one-year air study because of concerns about the widening of the Interstate 80 Freeway, which is adjacent to the field. In addition there are s several industrial manufacturing facilities and a waste transfer station nearby. 

The $40,000 contract was for a study that included Particulate Matter 10 (PM10), which are particles about 10 micrograms in size, and the even smaller Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5), which is 2.5 micrograms in size, or about one-seventh the width of a strand of hair, according to Bay Area Air Quality Management District spokesperson Ralph Borrmann. PM2.5 is considered by medical experts to be the more dangerous substance because its small size allows it to become deeply imbedded in the tissue of the lungs. 

So far Applied Measurement Science has been unable to produce any useable PM2.5 data because of equipment problems. But according to Hazardous Materials Supervisor Nabil Al-Hadithy, it is reasonable to assume that the PM2.5 has been exceeding the state Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended levels – .05 micrograms per cubic meter averaged over 24 hours.  

“The PM2.5 data could be available as early as next week,” he said. 

Al-Hadithy also cautioned it would be unwise to assume the preliminary test results mean there is an excessive health risk for people who use Harrison Soccer Field or live nearby.  

Dr. Eric Winegar, who is carrying out the study for AMS, said he will include a health risk assessment when the study is completed in June. 

“Generally speaking risk assessments are done over a long period of time,” he said. “Three to four months just isn’t enough.” 

Winegar said there was enough information to post notices at the field as long as they were not worded in an alarming way. 

The commission also asked the planning department to determine if soccer organizations that use the field have been fulfilling the requirement put into place with the site’s use permit, that parents sign a waiver. According to the use permit, parents and adults who use the field are required to sign a waiver stating they understand that field is in an industrial area and that traffic noises and odors in the area are “normal.” 

“I’ve asked to see these waivers, which Current Planning (a division of the planning department) is supposed to have on file,” Commissioner Wood said. “And I don’t think they exist.” 

For to-date test data from the Harrison Field air study go to www.airmeasurement.com/berkeley.html and for more information about particulate matter 10 go to www.baaqmd.gov/pie/pm10bacm.htm.

The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter written to the City Council: 

I live downtown. I walk to most things, including work. In the nearly eight years I have lived in downtown, I have seen it change dramatically from a place people avoided at night to a vibrant destination.  

Things happen all day in downtown Berkeley. It is more than commuters (whom the General Plan doesn’t like), downtown is shoppers, families, the regular “crazy locals”, the Berkeley High kids, Y members, seniors, diners, movie goers, theater goers, library users, and commuters. 

I’d like to see even more people use downtown, so the idea of greater density is a plus to my thinking. The idea of a parking moratorium, however, doesn’t sound like a good idea. Has anyone actually tried to park in downtown recently? The new time limited parking meters are already a major irritation for my friends when they visit. And, I cannot suggest that they take alternate transportation as many do not live near BART or AC Transit, and some are too fragile to bike. 

As I understand the grand vision of good intentions, more people will live downtown and they will supposedly receive incentives not to have cars (I suspect they will take the incentives and park in the neighborhoods). In this vision, the city with a derring-do rivaling that of the Flying Wallendas declares a moratorium on new parking just as the Kittredge garage comes down and Vista College takes its lot out of service to build its facilities. But the City Wallendas are fearless and want people out of cars. 

Something doesn’t line up here! Didn’t those of us who live in Berkeley agree to tax ourselves to improve downtown? Didn’t the Council give a loan or grant to Berkeley Rep to expand in order to develop the Arts District? Wasn’t the idea to encourage people to come to downtown? Did someone give BART and AC Transit pots of money? Did the Council fund a transit pass? Isn’t Cal planning on taking more students and thinking of a year round schedule? What have I missed? When did John Ashcroft approve the alternate transportation check points?  

After all is said and done, if the Council doesn’t change the General Plan, the grand vision of good intentions will make it impossible for current users of downtown services from doing anything but circling the area; viewing former garage sites; watching the parking Taliban issue tickets to the (un)lucky few parked at meters; and, if there is a space, parking in the neighborhoods.  

The boycott that didn’t happen in response to the Council’s Afghanistan resolution may just come about through frustration. 

Just as actions have consequences, so can overly zealous good intentions. And even the best of intentions. 

Bob Dixon 

Berkeley

What’s that? You want $200 off the rent? No problem. 

How about a free month’s rent if you sign a lease? Oh, and pets are OK too. 

Sound like a tenant’s dream? Maybe a reality in Idaho, or Wyoming, right? Never in the Bay Area, where sky-high rents are as famous as the Golden Gate Bridge.  

But Berkeley’s three largest housing referral services say they’ve witnessed a dramatic escalation of available rentals this season. During the last month, their phones have been ringing off the hook with landlords lowering prices.  

Vacancies are up more than 400 percent from last year, according to Allison Vogel, director of customer service at Homefinders, a Berkeley-based referral service.  

As of Oct. 24, Homefinders had 2,003 vacant East Bay listings, compared to 456 properties at this time last year. 

For months, no one’s dared to say the “R” word: Recession.  

Now, another phrase is perched on people’s lips: Renter’s market. 

“At our office, every other phone call is a landlord dropping their rent,” said Becky White, director of the UC Berkeley-based Cal Rentals. White said some landlords have to drop prices three or four times before a tenant moves in. 

“I’ve got a studio at Haste and Fulton, right near campus for $695,” said Leah Summers, director of customer service at eHousing, based in downtown Berkeley. “That’s ridiculous. It was a $1,000 unit a few months ago.” 

“It’s like, where did all the people go?,” said Vogel. “They must have left the Bay Area, because they’re not moving to the suburbs. Landlords in Walnut Creek can’t rent either.” 

Vogel and Summers can rattle-off a list of recent phone calls: landlords willing to cover rent until tenants are ready to move in; landlords lowering the deposit; landlords staunchly against pets calling to say they’ll allow a dog or cat this time around. 

“It’s a very unusual year. It’s unprecedented,” said Nancy Pfeffer, a research analyst with Cal Rentals. 

Pfeffer was staffing a table in UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza last Friday as part of a university-sponsored “Tenant’s Rights Week.” She said some students had approached her to report they had been able to find an apartment in just two days. 

For home-seekers like Maya Spaull, that’s good news. She said she’s been looking for a two-bedroom house for two weeks, and “there’s a lot available.”  

Spaull said she’s seen a few things she’s liked, but she and her roommate want “ an ideal place, with lots of amenities,” so they’ve decided to keep looking. “We turned one down,” she said nonchalantly.  

The landlord offered one month free, but it was a duplex, and Spaull wants a single family home. 

It’s certainly a world of difference from last year, when landlords were the ones turning people down. Jobs were plentiful, but competition for scarce housing was fierce. 

Now it’s the opposite, said Spaull, a recent college graduate.  

“I’m having a harder time finding a job than a place to live,” she said.  

October and November are typically slow months for rentals, said representatives from all three referral companies. But the volume of vacancies is much higher than in years past.  

White said she began to see signs of a slowdown as early as June. Some rents were dropping in August, which is typically peak season as students return for the school year.  

“Eighteen years in this job, and I’ve never seen that happen,” said White. 

San Francisco has seen the impact of a softening market for several months. Postings to a housing forum on the web-based craigslist.org indicate that prospective tenants are successfully negotiating lower rents. Some existing tenants have also been able to ward-off rent increases. 

But some landlords responding to an e-mail query about the East Bay market said they wouldn’t consider lowering rents. 

“I won’t lower my asking price,” said landlord Kesete Yohannes, who said his outlook on the economy was optimistic. He said he rented an apartment in North Oakland last month just three hours after placing an ad. The price was $850 for a one bedroom, $100 below average area rents for September according to eHousing’s Summers. 

Meanwhile, the student-run newspaper, The Daily Californian, received numerous calls from landlords wanting to change the asking price listed in advertisements. And Albany-based K&S properties, which has 50 vacancies in the East Bay, has run ads offering a month’s free rent for tenants who sign a lease. In September, they offered a $200 discount for renters. 

Indeed, many properties have languished on the market for months. Chun-Xian Sung has had a vacancy in large two-bedroom apartment in posh North Berkeley for three months. The previous tenants paid $2,200. He’s lowered the price to $1,800 and said he would be willing to negotiate the deposit and terms.  

But he can’t get the place rented. Every time he’s held an open house, only two people show up. The 91-year old Chinese immigrant is worried; rent from the eight-unit building supports him in his retirement.  

Sung has advertised with Homefinders, eHousing, and Cal Rentals. These agencies said their phones are ringing off the hook from landlords, but not necessarily from tenants, whose subscription fees sustain their businesses. 

When the market is glutted with vacancies, tenants are less likely to use listing agencies So they’re offering specials, too. Homefinders has a 30-percent discount through the end of the month; eHousing is offering $20 off its fee for apartment-seekers. 

“We want people to know they really don’t have to pay such high rents,” said Vogel of Homefinders. “I know people are nervous about the economy, and might be afraid to move. But it’s not a bad idea, you might find something cheaper out there.” 

“If it doesn’t work out here, maybe I’ll go to S.F.,” said Jeff Curland, checking the listings at eHousing. 

“The world is turning on its head,” Curland said. 

Editor: 

I’m all for stopping the bombing of Afghanistan during the Moslem month of Ramadan out of respect for our Moslem sisters and brothers. How ‘bout also showing respect to our Christian brothers and sisters by continuing the halt from December 2, the beginning of the Advent preparation for Christmas, to January 6, the end of the Christmas season? Both Mohammed and Jesus, I am sure, would be pleased. 

Also, I’m glad to see American Christians remaining cool and relaxed, in view of the anthrax scare, by keeping in mind those words of Jesus (Mt. 10:28). “Do not be afraid of those (e.g., terrorists) who can kill the body. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being.” 

Ian Johnson 

Albany

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gray Davis’ warning that the Golden Gate and three other California bridges could be on terrorists’ Friday rush-hour hit list has renewed a debate over whether such disclosures do more harm than good. 

Just making the warning, rightly or wrongly, accomplished a terrorist goal, the disruption of normal life, said George Vinson, the special security adviser Davis named Thursday.  

“This is exactly what terrorism is all about. They release information, they make threats, they want to create anxiety among people.” 

But Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said there’s no “universal blueprint” for deciding whether to publicize threats. Because federal investigators released information about the threats to various West Coast law enforcement agencies, the information might have become public without Davis. 

Robyn Pangi, a domestic preparedness specialist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., said the public has received too many mixed messages since the Sept. 11 attacks and the more recent anthrax incidents from officials including President Bush, Ridge and Davis. 

“You’ve got one person saying, ’Go along with your lives,’ another saying ’Don’t cross a bridge,”’ she said. “People want to know what’s going on, but when you’re not giving them any advice, it’s not doing them any good.” 

Announcements, however, can make the public more vigilant, said University of California, Irvine political scientist Mark P. Petracca, who defended Davis. 

“I think they have a moral obligation to let people know, even if it increases anxiety,” Petracca said. 

Bush, a Republican, backed the Democratic governor Friday as he promised continued cooperation between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies despite the FBI’s fears that Davis might have compromised its investigation. 

“Part of the homeland defense is active and strong communications so that governors and/or local authorities can harden targets, respond to uncorroborated evidence and to protect their people,” Bush said during a Rose Garden appearance. 

As Ridge mentioned, some of the information was already leaking out, said San Francisco Police Chief Fred Lau, adding that he was preparing to release the information himself Thursday after learning that East Coast corporations were already warning their western employees of the threat. 

Lau said he wanted to keep his announcement low key, because “we didn’t want to overreact and cause a panic.” 

Across the San Francisco Bay, Alameda County Sheriff Charles Plummer, Northern California’s liaison to state emergency officials, said Davis’ information was so nebulous that it just “scares people to death.” 

Davis on Friday again defended his decision, which he said was based on written warnings from three federal agencies. 

“This one was time-specific and location-specific and I felt it was appropriate to tell people what I was doing to prepare for that threat and to fully inform them,” Davis said at an economic summit press conference in Burbank. 

“We do have to find a way to balance the seemingly competing concerns of keeping people safe and restoring confidence so they can go about their lives. This is not an easy line to walk. There is no playbook to guide us,” Davis said. 

Despite the FBI’s concern for its investigation, disclosure could stop the attacks if terrorist know their plans are no longer secret, Davis said. 

“We don’t want to just clean up the dead and wounded, we want to prevent terrorism in the first place,” Davis told CNN’s “Larry King Live” Thursday night. 

Davis and California Highway Patrol Commissioner D.O. “Spike” Helmick said their listing of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridge, both in San Francisco, the Vincent Thomas Bridge at the Port of Los Angeles, and the San Diego Coronado Bridge as possible targets was only done to cite examples. 

They said they wanted to assure motorists extra care was taken and not to panic. 

Yet the governors of Washington and Oregon chose not to issue warnings, and Seattle’s mayor held a news conference to downplay the threat only after Davis’ announcement. 

The warning was sent Wednesday to law enforcement agencies not only in the three West Coast states, but to Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Montana and Idaho. 

On Friday, traffic flowed normally across San Francisco Bay Area bridges during the morning commute, amid noticeably higher security. Several commuters who decided not to alter their plans said Davis overreacted. 

But Bechtel Inc., the engineering company that built the Bay Bridge linking San Francisco with Oakland, gave its 1,200 San Francisco employees the option of working from home or taking time off for the next few business days after Davis’ warning. 

Officials should limit the number of announcements they make to avoid crying wolf and diminishing their future credibility, said Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat whose district includes the potential targets. 

“The purpose of terrorism is to instill fear,” said Pelosi, a top House Democrat and her party’s top member of the House intelligence committee. “They engage is disinformation and deception by throwing out more threats than they are capable of.” 

Despite Bush’s emphasis on constant communication, Plummer said California could be cut off from future warnings. 

“Do you think the FBI is going to tell the governor anything from now on?” Plummer asked. “I think he just burned his bridge.” 

SAN JOSE — Competitors complained Friday that Microsoft Corp.’s settlement with the federal government will do little to protect them or consumers from the software giant’s monopoly power. But they held out hope that state attorneys general could make the deal more restrictive. 

“My guess is that all Bill Gates could do was to suppress a big grin when he held his press conference this morning,” said Mitchell Kertzman, chief executive of Liberate Technologies, a rival provider of software for interactive TV. 

“This settlement doesn’t come close to matching the scope of the violations of antitrust law that Microsoft has been convicted of,” he added. “It was an inexplicably bad deal for the government.” 

Microsoft and the Justice Department presented the settlement to a federal judge Friday, saying it would end the antitrust case in a way that would help the sagging economy. 

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly agreed to review it and gave the 18 states involved in the case until Tuesday to decide whether to accept the plan. 

Several competitors called on the state attorneys general to insist on making changes to the settlement. Sun Microsystems Inc.’s general counsel, Michael Morris, said the Justice Department was “walking away from a case they had already won.” 

“This agreement allows a declared illegal monopolist to determine, at its sole discretion, what goes into the monopoly operating system in the future,” said Kelly Jo MacArthur, general counsel for RealNetworks Inc., which makes music and video software threatened by Windows Media Player. “This is a reward, not a remedy.” 

Paul T. Cappuccio, the general counsel for AOL Time Warner Inc., said the settlement “does too little to promote competition and protect consumers, and can too easily be evaded by a determined monopolist like Microsoft.” 

The state attorneys general had been pressing for stiffer penalties, but on Friday, several said progress had been made. 

“Those of us in New York these days believe that good things happen in extra innings,” said New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. “I think we’re now at the bottom of the ninth.” 

Several tech executives said the settlement was too focused on restricting Microsoft’s Windows monopoly, and not its broader business practices and new initiatives. 

“We’re quite disappointed. We believe there are a lot of issues that haven’t been addressed,” said Michael Mace, chief competitive officer of handheld computer maker Palm Inc., which makes an operating system that competes with one from Microsoft. 

For example, some rivals point out that Microsoft has kept secret key technical details of its Internet initiative, known as .NET, in hopes of making it the de facto standard system for Web transactions. Some competitors say .NET programs should be made to work with their own Web interfaces. 

IBM Corp., which makes business software that conceivably could benefit if .NET programs were opened up, wouldn’t comment. Neither would Oracle Corp., despite chief executive Larry Ellison’s fondness for needling Bill Gates, nor Internet giant Yahoo! Inc. 

One reason few large technology companies are willing to openly criticize Microsoft is that Microsoft is so far-reaching, even its competitors likely will need to work with it at some point. 

In fact, the industry has changed so much since the Clinton administration first sued Microsoft in 1997 — alleging that it unfairly forced PC makers to sell the Internet Explorer Web browser — that even formerly unabashed rivals now find themselves aligned with Microsoft. 

For example, Netscape Communications Corp. co-founder Marc Andreessen pointed out to The Associated Press in July that his current company, Web services firm Loudcloud Inc., “has a really close partnership with Microsoft.” Andreessen declined to comment Friday. 

——— 

AP Technology Writer May Wong contributed to this report. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.microsoft.com 

Coalition of competitors: http://www.procompetition.org 

SAN DIEGO — It took one of the world’s biggest gold-mining frauds to lead Yasin Al-Qadi, a Saudi businessman with suspected ties to Osama bin Laden’s terror network, to the board of a small California diamond mining firm. 

Bre-X Minerals Ltd., a Canadian mining firm once valued at $4.5 billion at its peak, collapsed in early 1997 when an independent survey revealed that its rich Indonesian gold deposit was a hoax. 

The Bre-X collapse caused mining stocks to dive, a market crunch that hit Global Diamond Resources Inc., a San Diego firm with mines in South Africa. Potential investors stopped buying Global Diamond, leaving the company with no way of financing a deal to tap a new mine in South Africa. 

“We were up a little creek,” recalled Johann de Villiers, Global Diamond’s chairman, an American citizen from South Africa who lives in San Diego. 

So, Global Diamond went looking for private investors, a search that led to Al-Qadi, one of 39 people and groups named by the U.S. Treasury Department Oct. 12 as providing financial help to bin Laden. 

The path between Al-Qadi and Global Diamond shows the challenge U.S. officials face in trying to untangle the complicated terrorist fund-raising network, experts said. Also, it illustrates how some accused of helping bin Laden can have legitimate activities while also allegedly backing terrorism. 

Global Diamond officials found the Saudi millionaire a charming, honorable businessman who filed the appropriate regulatory paperwork and provided essential financing. Behind the scenes, U.S. officials said, Al-Qadi ran a charity that financed terrorism. 

“That’s what makes it so difficult. It’s not about money laundering. A lot of this is clean money,” said Reyko Huang, a terrorism researcher at the Washington-based Center for Defense Information. “What makes it so difficult to track is all these things are happening behind the scenes.” 

With the help of a London-based investment firm, the company met in May 1997 with executives of the Bin Laden Group, a Saudi conglomerate. That December, the group invested $6 million in Global Diamond and installed three executives on the board. 

Owned by relatives of Osama bin Laden, the leader of the Al-Qaida terrorist organization, the Bin Laden Group has estimated revenues of $5 billion. It has also severed ties to Osama bin Laden, a man the Bush administration calls the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. No direct evidence has surfaced to tie the Saudi exile to the company. 

It’s uncertain if the Bin Laden Group knew of Al-Qadi’s alleged ties to Osama bin Laden. But it was through a Bin Laden Group executive that Al-Qadi joined the board, interviews and court records show. 

In 1998, despite the $6 million Bin Laden Group investment, Global Diamond still had financial problems. The board sought between $4 million and $10 million in new money, according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego in a lawsuit filed against Global Diamond. 

Abu-Bakr Mood, Global Diamond’s vice chairman and also a Bin Laden Group executive, lined up two investors willing to invest $3 million each. One was Al-Qadi. 

Treasury officials say Al-Qadi’s Saudi-based Muwafaq (“Blessed Relief”) Foundation has funneled money from Saudi businessmen to Al Qaida. 

Peter Carter-Ruck, Al-Qadi’s London-based lawyer, said his client was “horrified and shocked” that his name has been tied to bin Laden. Al-Qadi “has never been involved with, supported or provided funds for any terrorist or extremist activities,” Carter-Ruck said. 

Al-Qadi told The New York Times the allegation was “nonsense.” 

However, it’s not the first time Al-Qadi’s name has been attached to money that allegedly supported terrorist activity. The FBI claims in court documents that part of an $820,000 loan Al-Qadi made in 1991 to the Quranic Literacy Institute in Chicago went to Hamas, the militant Palestinian group. 

Steven Haney, Mood’s attorney, said his client knew little about Al-Qadi when he joined the Global Diamond and certainly nothing about any link to Osama bin Laden. Mood’s contact with Al-Qadi came through a Saudi business acquaintance, Ahmed Basodan. 

In December 1998, Al-Qadi agreed to buy 17 percent of Global Diamond, an investment that came through New Diamond Holdings, Al-Qadi’s shell company registered in the British Virgin Islands. Basodan and Al-Qadi joined Global Diamond’s board. 

Global Diamond records describe Al-Qadi as the chairman of the Saudi National Consulting Center and Qordoba Real Estate Co. based in Saudi Arabia. He also is listed as chairman of the Caravan Co., based in Turkey and a board member of both Himont Chemical of Pakistan and Kazakhstan’s Cariba Bank. 

In 1999, Haney said a Bin Laden Group representative forced Mood to resign from the Global Diamond board. Mood then sued the company, claiming the Bin Laden Group deprived him of his finder’s fee for attracting the $6 million investment. 

Mood claims the “Bin Laden Group controls and manages that company,” Haney said, an allegation de Villiers denies. 

Basodan and Al-Qadi have also split, de Villiers said. Basodan left the company’s board earlier this year. 

Al-Qadi remains on Global Diamond’s board, although the chances of him making any more investments in the company are dim. The Treasury Department froze Al-Qadi’s assets last month, something that de Villiers said will have little effect on his company. 

In 1999, Al-Qadi also invested $750,000 in a Canadian diamond exploration firm, MIT Ventures, which has mines in Ontario and Botswana, company records show. 

MIT Ventures’ attorney, William Schmidt, said its dealings with Al-Qadi went through Basodan. No one in the company has ever talked to Al-Qadi, he said. 

Schmidt and de Villiers said Global Diamond and MIT Ventures had no relationship, despite Al-Qadi’s investment in both. 

Other MIT Ventures investors include the Saudi multinational firm, Al Murjan Group, owned by the bin Mahfouz family. 

The Al Murjan Group was represented on the board by Dr. Abdullah Basodan, the uncle of Ahmed Basodan and a prominent Saudi businessman, Schmidt said. 

Sultan Khalid bin Mahfouz, chairman of the Al Murjan Group, is a former chairman of the Saudi National Commercial Bank, the nation’s largest, which was investigated in 1998 for allegedly transferring $3 million to Osama bin Laden, according to news reports. 

Mahfouz’s son, Abdul Rahman Khalid bin Mahfouz, was on the board of the Muwafaq Foundation. 

“They were interested in going into mining ventures,” Schmidt said of Al-Qadi. “This particular investment was part of their learning curve.” 

——— 

On the Net: 

Global Diamond, www.globaldiamond.com 

MIT Ventures, www.mitventures.com 

SAN JOSE — Competitors complained Friday that Microsoft Corp.’s settlement with the federal government will do little to protect them or consumers from the software giant’s monopoly power. But they held out hope that state attorneys general could make the deal more restrictive. 

Microsoft and the Justice Department presented the settlement to U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on Friday. She agreed to review it and gave the 18 states involved in the case until Tuesday to decide whether to accept the plan. 

Several competitors called on the state attorneys general to insist on making changes to the settlement. Sun Microsystems Inc.’s general counsel, Michael Morris, said the Justice Department was “walking away from a case they had already won.” 

Kelly Jo MacArthur, general counsel for RealNetworks Inc., which makes music and video software threatened by Windows Media Player called the settlement “a reward, not a remedy.” 

Paul T. Cappuccio, the general counsel for AOL Time Warner Inc., said the settlement “does too little to promote competition and protect consumers.” 

SAN FRANCISCO — Chalk up a legal victory for the computer geeks. 

A California appeals court ruled Thursday that using the Internet to publish software code that decrypts and copies DVD movies is protected by the First Amendment as an expression of free speech. 

The San Jose-based 6th District Court of Appeal found that Andrew Bunner’s published Web site, which links to software program called DeCSS, represented “pure speech” and was protected by the First Amendment. 

Thursday’s ruling by a three-judge panel overturns a lower court injunction that prevented the program from being published by the defendants, though it is still widely available on various Internet Web sites. 

SAN JOSE — A low-cost rural electricity system and solar-powered radios to bring AIDS education to people in Africa were among the projects that won the first Tech Museum of Innovation Awards. 

The $50,000 awards were given to five people and organizations Thursday night, selected from a field of 25. The awards recognize those who encourage the adoption of technological advances in health, education, environment, economic development and equality. 

The winners include Joseph DeRisi, an assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who worked at fighting malaria; the Audubon Center for Research and Endangered Species in New Orleans for reproduction technology to save threatened species. 

low-cost rural electricity systems; CZBioMed of Fayetteville, N.C., for making inexpensive prosthetic limbs; Freeplay Foundation in South Africa for wind-up and solar-powered radios distributed to spread education about AIDS to people in Africa. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.microsoft.com 

Coalition of competitors: http://www.procompetition.org 

http://www.thetech.org 

OAKLAND — Lew F. Galbraith Golf Course has become one of the most expensive public golf course-related projects in Bay Area history. 

Total costs are fast approaching $30 million, of which nearly $20 million comes from public funds. And the project is not scheduled to be finished until late next year or early 2003. 

On Tuesday, the Oakland Port Commission unanimously approved the last official permit to rebuild Galbraith, which will be renamed Metropolitan Golf Links and will be located near the Oakland International Airport. 

The latest series of costs at Galbraith stem from unexpected complications associated with building a new golf course on top of an old landfill. 

Harding ESE, a contractor hired by the port, originally was to be paid $5.9 million to prepare the land for the new golf course, but the company’s bill has jumped significantly in the past 15 months. Harding’s bill now stands at $7.4 million, raising the total costs of preparing the site for the golf course to $12.648 million. The port, a public agency and semiautonomous department of the city, will pay all those costs. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Richard C. Blum, the husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, has been appointed as Honorary Consul General of the new Mongolian Honorary Consulate General in San Francisco. 

Blum said his nomination came as a result of his interest in the Himalayan region. Blum is founder of the American Himalayan Foundation and also serves as honorary consul to the Kingdom of Nepal. 

The appointment was announced Wednesday in San Francisco by the Prime Minister of Mongolia, Nambar Enkhbayar. 

The main goal of the Honorary Consulate General will be to promote bilateral relations between Mongolia and the United States. 

Mongolia is a vast north Asian country. It peacefully abandoned its communist system in 1990 and has made the transition to a parliamentary democracy. The country’s development has been hampered by inadequate infrastructure, particularly in the energy, transportation, and communication sectors, according to the web site of the Embassy of Mongolia in Washington, D.C. 

The main Mongolian export products are mineral resources, metals, raw materials and consumer goods. The imports mainly comprise petroleum products, equipments and spare parts, vehicles, metals, chemicals, food and consumer goods.

SAN FRANCISCO — Parking spaces remained empty at the Golden Gate Bridge’s visitor center, even after the FBI said there was no credible information backing Gov. Gray Davis’ warnings last week that terrorists were potentially targeting it. 

Still, some who ventured across the bridge Tuesday said they stood by Davis’ decision and were not at all bothered by the heightened security. 

“The FBI wasn’t that good at determining credible threats the first time, so how do they know now?” said Dane Golden, while preparing to cross the bridge on his bicycle. “I can’t say if I was the governor I would do anything different. I couldn’t blame him either way. He’s got to make these tough calls.” 

Davis also defended his decision to warn of potential rush-hour terrorist attacks against four California bridges, and said he has no intention of easing security on the spans. 

“I wanted to treat Californians like adults to allow them to make the best judgment they could make, but to tell them that if they did use those bridges they would all have elaborate security,” Davis said at an economic conference in Los Angeles. “I believe I took the correct steps.” 

State officials remained on high alert, with California National Guard troops and highway patrol officers continuing to patrol the state’s major bridges Tuesday. Davis said he planned to keep them patrolling the bridge for the foreseeable future. 

“We will review the FBI’s updated assessment,” he said. “It’s not uncommon for information to change from one day to the next. It may change again. We have those bridges as secure as they have ever been.” 

National Guard specialists Lissette Renderos and Tangerine Gyi walked the Golden Gate Bridge and monitored pedestrians Tuesday, just as they have since Saturday. 

“If there’s anybody that would be thinking about doing something, they would definitely think it over,” Renderos said. “People can start leading their normal lives again without being afraid.” 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta on Tuesday said California’s bridges remain “vulnerable assets.” 

“Regardless of whether the threat was bogus or not, they are vulnerable, critical infrastructure to all of us,” Mineta said. 

Two National Guard troops and a Humvee vehicle were posted around-the-clock Tuesday at each end of San Francisco’s Golden Gate and Bay bridges, the Vincent Thomas Bridge at the Port of Los Angeles and San Diego’s Coronado Bridge. 

“At this point, that’s what we’re doing — staying in place,” said National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Charles “Terry” Knight. 

The California Highway Patrol will have the final say on when the National Guard can stand down from the bridges, said Eric Lamoureux, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. 

Davis announced last Thursday that federal officials had “credible evidence” that terrorists might be targeting the four California bridges during the following few days. 

The governor was sharply criticized for publicizing the threat, which the FBI said was uncorroborated and should have not been released to the public. 

On Tuesday, the FBI said in an advisory to law enforcement agencies that the threat to the bridges was not credible. 

But Bill Swift and his wife Ellen Painter didn’t mind the warnings. They flew to San Francisco from Jasper, Ga., as an act of patriotism in spite of the heightened security and the Sept. 11 attacks. 

“He’s the governor, but he is a person, too,” Painter said before walking across the bridge. “We’re a little scared but it didn’t stop us from coming.” 

A warning of an “uncorroborated” threat against West Coast suspension bridges was passed on last Wednesday to law enforcement nationwide as well as 1,700 members of InfraGard, a partnership between the FBI and private companies. Many of these companies then shared the information with their employees. 

The initial warning was based on information provided by U.S. Customs officials, said Matthew McLaughlin, a spokesman for the FBI in Los Angeles. 

FBI agents conducting their own investigation determined there was no realistic threat to the bridges, he said. 

But the public at large didn’t know about the threat until Davis made his announcement Thursday, saying it was based on “credible” information. That surprised federal officials, who nevertheless supported Davis’ decision to warn Californians. 

“Coming from him, I just didn’t believe it. He’s a potential presidential candidate and a showboater,” said Bill Freed, who frequently crosses the Vincent Thomas Bridge. “You don’t change your daily patterns on something as far-fetched as that, especially when you hear it from Gov. Gray Davis.” 

——— 

Associated Press writers Justin Pritchard in San Francisco, Seth Hettena in San Diego, Gary Gentile in Los Angeles, John Solomon in Washington, D.C., and Don Thompson and Alexa Haussler in Sacramento contributed to this report. 

LOS ANGELES — Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan officially entered the California governor’s race Tuesday, joining two other major contenders for the Republican nomination to try to unseat Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. 

“I’m running for governor for a very simple reason — I love California,” Riordan, 71, said at a red-white-and-blue rally at Olvera Street, the historical center of the city, a site chosen to emphasize the candidate’s commitment to diversity. 

Riordan was introduced by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who earlier this year contemplated his own run for the Republican nomination. 

“Dick is a man of action, and I can tell you all about action because I was the action hero,” Schwarzenegger said. 

A Field Poll in September showed Riordan roughly even with Davis but ahead of his two likely Republican rivals in the March primary. 

Riordan ignored his Republican opponents in his kickoff speech, instead sharply accusing Davis of plunging the budget into deficit and failing to deliver on education, health care, and energy. 

“A dark cloud has settled over our state,” Riordan said. “Why? Because we have a governor who cares more about building up his campaign war chest than preparing our state to face the challenges of the future.” 

The rally was the first stop on a two-day state tour that will take Riordan to the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento Wednesday. The second stop was a math and science charter school in San Diego, where students quizzed Riordan on issues including Davis’ decision to issue a warning last week about possible terrorist attacks on state bridges. 

The FBI concluded Tuesday that the intelligence behind the warning was not credible, but Riordan declined to question Davis’ decision. 

“He is the governor of this state and it would be wrong to undercut him in this crisis,” Riordan said. 

Riordan was mayor of the nation’s second-largest city for eight years until term limits prevented him from seeking a third term this year. 

A wealthy lawyer and venture capitalist who had never previously held public office, he focused on making the city more business friendly and its bureaucracy more businesslike. He was praised for helping elect reformers to the school board and for his response to the devastating 1994 Northridge earthquake, but criticized for rocky relations with the City Council and for failing to oversee meaningful police reforms. 

A social moderate who supports gun control and abortion, Riordan frequently backed Democratic candidates and employed Democrats as consultants and aides during his years in the nonpartisan mayor’s office. 

He has made about $1 million in donations and loans to Democratic campaigns over the past 20 years and about $660,000 to Republicans, according to spokeswoman Carolina Guevara. 

Republican opponent Secretary of State Bill Jones, a Fresno farmer, has seized on that record to raise questions about whether Riordan is a committed Republican. 

“Based on what I heard his comments to be it sounds like he’s pretty much ignoring the Republican primary, and I think that’s a mistake,” Jones said after Riordan’s announcement. “You can’t get to home plate without going around the bases, and I think he’s ignoring first base.” 

The third major Republican candidate is conservative Los Angeles businessman Bill Simon, whom Riordan encouraged to run before he decided to get in the race himself. 

Davis’ advisers have attacked Riordan as unprepared for statewide office, but the governor declined to engage him prematurely. 

“Look, it’s a free country, anyone can run for governor, but ultimately the public will have their say a year from now,” Davis said Monday. 

Prosecutors argue he planned to meet a boy for sex 

NEW YORK — A California man was sentenced Monday to 17 1/2 years in prison for a federal child pornography conviction after prosecutors broke legal ground by arguing he deserved a longer prison term because he planned to meet a boy for sex knowing he is HIV positive. 

John Weisser, 39, of Oakland, Calif., was sentenced after U.S. District Judge Richard Casey concluded he was “a predator who poses a significant risk to children.” 

Both prosecutors and the defense agreed that the case was the first in which a federal defendant was sentenced to a longer prison term because he planned to have sex with a child knowing he has HIV.  

He could have been sentenced to as little as five years and three months. 

The judge said Weisser deserved greater punishment than if he were HIV negative or unaware of his status. He said no condoms were found on Weisser or in his Manhattan hotel room when he was arrested April 27, 2000. 

In computer chat rooms, Weisser had indicated that he intended to leave his condoms at his California home when he flew to New York City to have sex with what he thought was a 12-year-old boy, the judge said. 

The boy actually was a fictional identity created by Secret Service agents. 

Weisser was convicted by a jury Oct. 23, 2000, of using the Internet to entice a child to engage in a sexual act, traveling with the intent to engage in sex with a child and transporting pornography. 

Prosecutors said child pornography charges resulted when agents found that Weisser had a compact disc with numerous images of child pornography. 

Weisser’s lawyer, Richard Lind, argued for leniency, saying no child was harmed. 

Editor: 

The wrathfulness of terrorism is causing unreasonable and unjustified deprivations to the disabled population of Berkeley by “shutting down” disabled persons parking privileges around the Berkeley city hall as a denial of reasonable access to city hall facilities or reasonable accommodations to the services, programs, or activities of city hall. 

This denial of access is “unjustified” or “bad judgment” or unreasonable or unconscionable as an illegal and unlawful act against disabled persons while the city officials enjoyed full parking rights in the comfort and convenience of the back area of city hall and closer that the blue disabled free zone parking areas. 

Ray Dobard 

Berkeley

Hotel honcho wants New York-style cleanup 

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco spends more than $200 million a year on its homeless, but money has not answered the problems connected to drugs, alcohol and mental illness that abound on the streets, a newspaper reported Sunday. 

The problem has gotten so bad, it’s not unusual to walk down the city’s sidewalks and see homeless doing drugs, urinating or defecating in the open. The city’s last count found about 2,000 living on the streets. 

“You walk down Market Street and step over comatose bodies, debris and human waste. It’s just not a pleasant experience,” Dave Myers of Cupertino told the San Francisco Chronicle. He and his wife used to regularly visit San Francisco, but now they go elsewhere. 

“It’s where people walk and take their kids,” he said. “It’s dirty and nasty and not healthy.” 

Despite spending about the same amount annually for the homeless as for San Francisco’s fire department, city officials admit the problem is not improving: There are about the same number of homeless on San Francisco’s streets today as 10 years ago. 

But homeless advocate George Smith, who heads the Mayor’s Commission on Homelessness, said San Francisco’s homeless are all concentrated in one area, and there are solutions to helping the homeless while also cleaning up the streets. 

“In San Francisco, it is in your face. All the shelters, social services programs, all systems of care are downtown and with the density downtown, you are going to see people,” said Smith, who spent five years living on the street. “Once we spread it out, it is going to have a whole different tone to it, a lot more people discussing it, a lot more people influencing what we do and a lot more people supporting what we do.” 

Unlike New York City, which cleaned up its streets by offering shelter every night to anyone who needed it, San Francisco took the long-term approach. Much of its money went toward full services for those who were accepted. 

“If you divert money from housing and put it into homeless shelters, then you have your homeless and indigent populations living in huge warehouses,” said Marc Trotz, director of the city Department of Public Health’s housing program. 

The last census in the city found 5,300 total homeless, including the 2,000 street people. The others were in hospitals, shelters, treatment centers or jail. 

San Francisco has about 1,700 emergency shelter beds, and most of those shelters do not serve the mentally ill or those exhibiting bizarre behavior, according to a draft city application this year for federal funds, the Chronicle found. 

Mayor Willie Brown declined to be interviewed by the Chronicle, but he recently said the city’s dirty streets and large visible homeless population are keeping tourists from visiting San Francisco. 

“It makes no sense to spend San Francisco taxpayers’ dollars to arrest and prosecute those whose only crime is poverty,” Brown said early in his term. 

But last month, after national media attention on the issue, Brown admitted: “Right now, you get a negative impression of the city.” 

In New York City, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani cleaned up the streets full of homeless a decade ago. He threatened to arrest those who did not go to shelters provided by the city — enough to hold nearly 27,000 people a night. 

They invested in outreach services that encouraged homeless to come to shelters and began citing homeless for nuisance crimes such as public urination to help get the mentally ill into treatment. 

Bob Begley, executive director of the Hotel Council of San Francisco, said it’s time for change here, too. 

“If New York can do it, why can’t San Francisco?” he said.

TEMPE, Ariz. - Two first period goals from each team was all that was scored as the Arizona State soccer team (9-8-1, 3-4-1) tied with 23rd-ranked California (11-5-2, 3-3-1), 1-1,on Sunday.  

First half goals from Cal’s Jordan Iantorno and ASU’s Marlina Fletcher were the teams could muster in 120 minutes of soccer. The goals were career firsts for both players.

Sunday, Nov. 4 

• 1 p.m.  

Islam in the balance 

Toward a Better Understanding of Islam and Its Followers 

Bill Graham Auditorium 

99 Grove St. at Larkin, San Francisco 

A one-day symposium that includes: Imam Hamza Yusuf Hanson, Rev. Cecil Williams, Hatem Bazian 

The event will include a performance by Hamza El Din. 

$5-10 – no one will be turned away for lack of funds. 

466-5205 www.islaminthebalance.org  

Tuesday, Nov. 6 

• 7 p.m. 

Dr. Hamid Mavani speaks on “Islam and Its Background” at a free lecture and discussion presented by the Berkeley Public Library. Dr. Mavani is the Religious Director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California, based in Oakland.  

The session is the first of a series of three events designed to inform the community about critical world issues. 

South Branch of the Berkeley Public Library 

1901 Russell St.  

644-6860. 

Friday, Nov. 9 

• noon 

2315 Durant Ave.  

Ameena Janadali, co-founder of the Islamic Networks Group, will speak on “Women of Islam, at the Berkeley City Club. 

Luncheon, $11-$12.25; speaker only, 12:30 p.m., $1 

Saturday, Nov. 10 

• Community Conversation: Confronting racism, finding common ground 

Rosa Parks School 

9:30- 3 p.m. 

920 Allston Way 

The event is sponsored by the local chapter of the League of Women Voters who say: “In the wake of the Sept. 11 tragedies, some of our fellow residents who may look Middle Eastern or Muslim have feared and some have experienced racist remarks or actions. This has strengthened our conviction that Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville need to confront all the different kinds of racism within our communities.” 

Sunday, Nov. 11 

• Understanding Islam 

First Unitarian Church 

14th and Castro Streets, Oakland  

2:30 - 5 p.m. 

The events of Sept. 11 and thereafter have added an element of urgency to the need for a concise educational program about Islam. The program will address whether religion itself is part of the cause of the current turmoil or whether, instead, religion is being invoked rhetorically as mythic clothing.  

Co-sponsored by the Oakland Coalition of Congregations and the People’s Nonviolent Response Coalition. 

Pre-registration is required: 433-9667 

• Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace (LMNOP) invites the public on weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland every Sunday at 3 p.m. 

Meet at the columns at the east end of the lake, between Grand and Lakeshore avenues. Near Grand Avenue exit off 580 freeway. Most well-known nearby landmark: Grand Lake Theater. 

Tuesday, Nov. 13 

7 p.m. 

Dr. Wali Ahmadi, associate professor in UC Berkeley’s near Eastern Studies Department, presents “The History of Afghanistan.” 

South Branch of the Berkeley Public Library 

1901 Russell St.  

644-6860. 

Tuesday, Nov. 20 

7 p.m. 

Ann Fagan Ginger, executive director of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute will speak on “Civil Liberties and Conflict Resolution.” 

South Branch of the Berkeley Public Library 

1901 Russell St.  

644-6860.