When workers in New York declared the first Labor Day in 1882, they dedicated it to the economic and social achievements of American workers and celebrated it with parades and speeches. But today, for many retail and restaurant workers, Labor Day will be just another business day. 

“People love to shop on Labor Day, so we’ll be pretty slammed,” said Amy Stephens as she pawed through a pile of vintage clothing Friday at Buffalo Exchange on Telegraph Avenue.  

Stephens, manager of the vintage clothing store, said the shop would keep its normal Monday hours and has even scheduled extra staff for the expected crowds. 

At the Crepevine on College Avenue it’s a similar story. The restaurant is doubling its wait staff to accommodate an anticipated extra demand. Saku Densmaa, a waitress, said that she didn’t really want to work on the holiday but has to. 

“I don’t get any extra pay, but it will be busier, so I’ll get more tips,” Densmaa said. Asked whether the day holds any significance for her, she wrinkled her nose and thought. “Not really,” she said. “Usually it’s just a day off.” 

At Cody’s bookstore, the registers will also be ringing. Store employee Tataya Goto said Labor Day is quite different from celebrations in his native Japan. There, he said, workers still parade and rally in the streets during their labor holiday. Goto, though, is working today. 

Some are happy to be at work. Vick ‘Sonny’ Sing, a shift manager at a 7-11 store on Telegraph Avenue has decided to stay behind the counter today, even though the store’s manager told him he could knock off with vacation pay. 

“I get time and a half, a bonus and a free lunch,” Sing said, smiling. “People who live around here will be out. On Telegraph, almost everything is open.” 

Proprietors who are closing shop today say it’s because of a lack of traffic. 

Sophie Mahdavi, who runs Euclid Flower Shop, a block north of the UC campus, said her business is greatly affected when the university is not in session. 

“Food and drink business is different,” she said. “People need to eat. They come out and get their coffee, but they rarely buy things. Flowers last only two days. I can lose a lot of money.” 

Across Euclid, Hummingbird Café is also closed. 

“We’ve tried to stay open on Labor Day in the past, but it wasn’t worth it,” Jamal Fafes, Hummingbird’s owner, said Friday. “Nobody is around. Nothing. We don’t even get 20 percent of our normal business.” 

Fafes’s decision to close on Labor Day isn’t purely economic, however. It’s a chance to take a rare vacation, he said. 

“The kids don’t want to work anyway, and I have a newborn child at home and would rather spend the day with him,” he said. 

At Brennan’s on Fourth Street, Kim Kenny was busy Saturday evening pouring pints for thirsty customers at the restaurant. “They’ve always been closed for Labor Day,” she said. “We’re union, but I don’t think that matters. It’s just standard policy.” 

A union member, Kenny stated pointedly that the holiday was created to honor workers. But she said, “it really doesn’t mean much to me. I don’t mind working. Our customers … really take care of us.” 

On the door of novelty houseware store Maison d’Etre in Rockridge, a sign advises passersby to “take a day off from Labor.”  

Fred Womack, the owner, has personal reasons for closing his store. 

“I take my holidays when I can. This store is open seven days a week, and I’m usually here at least five or six days,” he said. 

“If I stayed open I could probably make some money,” he added. 

But the statement came with a shrug, and Womack is opting instead to follow the advice on his sign.

To the Editor: 

Thank you for your articles on pedestrian events. My family has been very concerned about how dangerous our streets have become for everyone. People are driving more recklessly in city streets. Two pedestrians were killed by cars in our neighborhood in the past year. 

We look forward to voting for the pedestrian safety measure on Berkeley’s ballot in November – even though we will have to pay additional taxes of $25 annually for 10 years. This is a small amount to pay to make walking safer for everyone including seniors citizens, children and pets. 

Deborah Green, 

Berkeley

Monday, September 2 

Labor Day Potluck Picnic and Poetry Reading 

Hosted by Bay Area Poets Coalition 

Noon to 4 p.m. 

Live Oak Park, Walnut and Rose St. 

527-9905, poetalk@aol.com 

National Organization for Women Oakland/East Bay Chapter  

6:30 PM.  

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 6536 Telegraph Ave. 

Chapter’s monthly meeting. Speaker: Multicultural historian, Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, received 

the prestigious Valitutti Award for non-fiction.  

549-2970 

Free 

Tuesday, September 3 

The Listening Post 

11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

Wesley Student Center on Bancroft Way near Dana Dr. 

The Listening Post is a safe, non-judgmental, non-denominational place for students to talk about whatever may be on their minds, or weighing on their hearts. 

549-1244 

Free 

Opening of Classes, Berkeley City Ballet 

1800 Dwight Way  

First day of classes at BCB. Classes Monday through Friday for children 5 and up. Student performers are invited to audition annual Nutcracker performance.  

841-8913 

Thursday, September 5 

Nutrition Career Open House 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Institute of Educational Therapy, 706 Gilman St. 

Learn how to become a nutrition educator or consultant. 

558-1711 

Free 

Discussion: “Why We Call  

Ourselves Butch?” 

7 p.m. 

Boadecia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave. 

This group is for self-identified butch women. New members are welcome. 

559-9184 

Free 

Friday, September 6 

'The Winona LaDuke Reader'  

Lecture and Reception 

Presented by the American Indian Graduate Program 

5 p.m. Reception, 7 p.m. Lecture 

Native American environmental and Indigenous Rights activist and author of several books and articles, Winona LaDuke, will discuss the topics of her new book 'The Winona LaDuke Reader' as well as other current work. 

atalay@sscl.berkeleyl.edu 

Free 

Saturday, September 7 

Sick Plant Clinic 

9 a.m. to noon 

University of California Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. 

UC plant pathology and entomology experts will diagnose what ails your plant.  

643-2755 

Free 

Travel Careers Seminar 

8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 

Vista Community College, 2020 Milvia St., Room 306 

The day’s program will include travel industry speakers covering a variety of career possibilities: Cruise specialists, tour leaders, tour operators, adventure operators, home-based travel agents and more.  

981-2931 

$5.50 for California residents 

Sunday, September 8 

Lifelong Medical Care First Annual 5K Fun Run/Walk Fundraiser 

9 a.m. to noon 

West Berkeley 

Individual and team participation. Event includes a health fair, food, prizes, live music and free insurance eligibility screening. 

704-6010 

28th Annual Solano Avenue Stroll 

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Solano Avenue 

A mile-long block part featuring “Journey of a Thousand Cranes’ Parade” at 11 a.m.  

Free

Big plays and the breaks. Two things the Cal football team hasn’t gotten much of in the past few seasons. But on Saturday against Baylor, the Golden Bears got both in spades. 

Cal pulled off a trick play for a score on the game’s first play and scored back-to-back defensive touchdowns on the way to a 70-22 win over Baylor at Memorial Stadium, kicking off the Jeff Tedford era with the second-most points in school history. 

In a game filled with Cal highlights, none were more spectacular than senior linebacker Matt Nixon’s 102-yard interception return for the Bears’ fourth touchdown of the game. Baylor drove down to the Cal five-yard line, but when Baylor tight end Shane Williams got open on a crossing pattern near the goal line he bumped into an official just as quarterback Greg Cicero released a pass for him. Williams got his hands up late, and the ball bounced right into Nixon’s hands in the end zone. 

Nixon took off down the right sideline with fellow linebacker Calvin Hosey paving the way with a block on Cicero. Nixon was untouched until Baylor wide receiver Reggie Newhouse caught him 65 yards down the field. Newhouse dove in front of Nixon, who pulled off a hesitation move that left the speedy wideout grasping at air. After getting started again, Nixon rumbled the remaining yards with no one near him. 

“Linebackers aren’t supposed to run that far,” Nixon said after the game. “I was so tired, I just wanted to lay down and let the offense get back on the field.” 

But the Cal offense wouldn’t get onto the field for another few minutes, thanks to another interception return for a score by cornerback Jemeel Powell. He broke hard on Cicero’s next pass and took it out of receiver J.T. Thompson’s hands, then juked past Cicero for a 26-yard touchdown. That made the score 35-0, the most points ever by a Bears team in a single quarter and more points than the Bears mustered in a game last season. Cal tacked on two more touchdowns in the second quarter and took a 49-7 lead into the locker room. 

“To have 49 points in the first half is remarkable in any college game,” said Cal quarterback Kyle Boller, who threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns. “It’s like a high school score.” 

Baylor didn’t look much better than a high school team, stumbling through the contest with sloppy turnovers and poor execution. Cicero threw three interceptions in nine pass attempts before being yanked after Powell’s score, and replacement Aaron Karas wasn’t much better, throwing a pick and fumbling three times. The Bears looked like a team that had just met each other as confusion reigned on both offense and defense. But 10 touchdowns is nothing to scoff at, no matter who the opposition, and Cal wasn’t apologizing for their demolition of their Waco namesakes. 

“Nobody felt sorry for us last year. They just came out there to cut our throats,” Powell said of the 1-10 fiasco in 2001. “It feels good to be on the other side of that.” 

Tedford managed a compliment for Baylor, saying they were “well-coached,” but later admitted the lopsided win didn’t tell him a whole lot about the quality of his own team. 

“We’re going to play a lot tougher teams in the Pac-10, which I think is the most competitive conference in college football,” he said. “We’ve got a long, hard road ahead of us.” 

Tedford made an instant impression on the crowd of 27,185 with a trick play to start the game. On the first play from scrimmage, tailback Terrell Williams went in motion to the right, settling in behind two receivers. Boller threw an overhand lateral to the sophomore, who proceeded to heave the ball downfield to a wide-open David Gray, a true freshman wide receiver who lined up at tight end for the play. Gray was at midfield without a player within 25 yards and spun around to catch the ball. He nearly lost his balance making the catch, then stumbled while getting started toward the end zone. Last season, any Cal player in that situation undoubtedly would have fallen down, but not on Saturday. Gray recovered and went in for a 71-yard touchdown on his first college play. 

“I was like, ‘if I fall, I’m going to hang myself,’” Gray said. 

Tedford said the opening gambit was more than just a simple play-call. 

“We wanted to start things off with a bang and get the fans into it,” he said. “We’ve been planning that play for the last two weeks.” 

Tedford was certainly successful in winning the hearts of the Golden Bear faithful. Chants of “We love Tedford!” rang through the student section late in the game, along with “We want 70!” as their team drove toward its final score. True freshman Marcus O’Keith gave them what they wanted with a 2-yard run with four minutes remaining in the game.

The Pacifica Foundation radio network, slated to return to Berkeley this year after fleeing amid controversy two and a half years ago, may not be coming home as soon as thought. 

The foundation’s board of directors voted 7-4 by conference call Friday to postpone its return from Washington D.C. until the board can study how much the move will cost. Saturday’s decision overrides a March decision in which the board voted 7-2 in favor of returning to Berkeley. The board has 14 active members but several have missed recent votes. 

Berkeley was home to Pacifica, the operator of Berkeley-based radio station KPFA, for more than 50 years. However, in January 2000 the foundation moved to Washington when local listeners and staff became enraged about the board sacking popular KPFA employees and trying to moderate the station’s political views. 

In addition to KPFA, Pacifica also holds licenses of community stations in New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington. 

Although Saturday’s vote only delays the planned move to Berkeley until further discussion at the board’s next meeting Sept. 20, Berkeley activists worry that more is at stake. 

“I think some of them want to stop the move entirely,” said Robbie Osman, the host of a KPFA music show and member of Friends of Free Speech Radio, which has offered to help pay moving expenses for Pacifica’s return to Berkeley. 

Carol Spooner, the interim Pacifica board secretary, and a leader in the drive to relocate Pacifica to Berkeley, said the effort is hindered because the 14-member interim board has a disproportionate number of members from Washington. 

Six board members are from Washington, she said, and five of those members are on record opposing this year’s relocation to Berkeley. Board members from Los Angeles and Berkeley support returning Pacifica to its former home, but the Houston and New York delegations are undecided, she noted. 

The preponderance of Washington representatives stems from a court settlement reached last December that ended more than two years of infighting between two competing factions on the previous board. Both factions selected five members to the new board, and the five local stations each selected one member. The five board members selected by the previous board’s majority faction, which long battled KPFA, are all from Washington. 

Pacifica’s return to Berkeley appeared certain after the March vote. But two weeks ago, six board members asked for a conference call to suspend the move until further discussions regarding cost. 

KPFA/From Page 1 

Jabri Zakiya, the interim board treasurer and Washington-based board member, estimated that returning to Berkeley could cost Pacifica several hundred thousand dollars. Pacifica is presently about $1.1 million in debt, and some board members have questioned whether the foundation has sufficient funds to switch headquarters this year. 

But, Spooner said Zakiya’s estimates were “reckless and irresponsible.” She noted that he listed packing and moving expenses somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000, but that estimates from two shipping companies were both under $5,000.  

The issue of returning Pacifica to Berkeley may be opening a rift on the interim board. 

In addition to opposing the move on financial grounds, Washington-based board member Rob Robertson alleged that two supporters of relocation, Leslie Cagan and Pete Bramson, support the move to Berkeley because they are indebted to Berkeley-based Friends of Free Speech Radio (FFSR) for funding their lawsuits against the former board. 

Robinson also likened FFSR’s offer to raise money to pay for the move to a corporate donation to politicians. 

Spooner said debate about Pacifica’s future home threatens to damage the foundation. 

“We desperately need a chief financial officer, but we don’t know if the position will be for Berkeley or Washington,” she said. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington fears that keeping Pacifica in Washington, could limit the influence of Berkeley listeners. He noted that the legal victory that led to the dissolution of the prior board and the insertion of the interim board were based in California corporate law, which is kinder to worker-initiated lawsuits. 

Had Pacifica been licensed in Washington, Worthington said, it may have won the legal battles and proceeded with its plan to moderate KPFA. 

Contact reporter at matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net

To the Editor: 

It was very encouraging to read letters by Mayor Shirley Dean in support of playing fields (Forum, Aug. 28) and by windsurfer/kayaker Jim McGrath (Forum, Aug. 30) in support of water access. Finally, some voices of reason are being heard. 

But there is an interesting intersection of the sentiments expressed in the two letters that may not be immediately apparent: Water-borne recreation fulfills many of the same goals as playing fields, and can often do it more economically while serving a broader range of participants. Consider the cost of a single playing field: $2.2 million per field to develop and many tens of thousands every year to maintain. Compare to the cost of a dragon boat: $16,000 for a top-of-the-line model, and only a few thousand per year to maintain the support equipment. The surface of the water requires no grading, mowing, fencing or pest control. Both the field and the boat serve about 20 kids at a time. Similar economic advantages can be demonstrated to varying degrees for youth programs based on kayaks, windsurfers, rowing shells, small sailboats and outrigger canoes. 

Perhaps more important, water-based recreation offers new opportunities for the kind of young person who is not attracted to the culture of field sports. These kids are being bypassed by traditional school athletics programs, but their recreational needs are at least as acute. Boating in its various forms can open a new world of outdoor physical activity and team competition. 

Also lost on many park advocates is the relationship between non-motorized boating and environmental advocacy. These activities are a breeding ground for the future stewards of the Bay, and our shoreline will be in much better hands if we encourage, not limit, the ability of people to float on the waters of the Eastshore State Park rather than just look at them. This implies some structures, some docks, and some parking near the shoreline in various places – but it does not mean that the open space value or the natural setting of the park has to be significantly compromised. 

The Eastshore State Park is an urban waterfront, not a wilderness upland, and water access should be the defining theme. Let's not paint it with the wrong brush. 

Paul Kamen, 

Chairperson, Berkeley 

Waterfront Commission

What might sound like every student’s dream – a school day with fewer classes – turned out to be less than exciting to returning Berkeley High School students last week. The familiar seven-period schedule has been reduced to six, but the school day is no shorter. In fact, for some it’s longer. 

In addition to six new periods of 56 minutes, replacing seven 45-minute periods, many electives, like drama, art and journalism, are now offered only after and before school. 

“Kids are at school longer now, sometimes until 4:00 p.m.,” said Arose, a senior. 

The so-called “enhancement period” courses, taking place before and after the required “core” classes, are optional and open by student choice. 

“We call it a six-period day, but, in reality, it’s an eight-period day,” said Berkeley Parent-Teacher Association President Derick Miller. 

Instructional time in the new six-period day is roughly equivalent to that in the old seven period day, noted School Board Director Terry Doran. 

The schedule change at the high school is part of the school district’s plan to balance a $6 million deficit for the coming fiscal year. Superintendent Michele Lawrence announced last year that the school district faced a possible takeover by the state if it was unable to reduce costs.  

Lawrence said the schedule change will save the district $800,000. 

Students had mixed reactions to the change during their first three days of school. Some were less than thrilled about the schedule, which for some, made the day drag on. 

“They’ve made up a bunch of new rules, and the school day lasts longer,” said Danielle, a senior. 

Other students said they encountered scheduling problems in the first days of school, but did not think the switch to a six-period system was to blame. 

“This year is especially bad because they cut a bunch of classes and restructured the schedule,” said senior Rachel Most. “But it still feels pretty normal. I think there are problems like this every year.” 

Even though the new system went into effect without any unforeseen problems, some were not convinced it made for a better learning environment. 

“It’s more difficult to provide options if you’re restricted,” said Miller. “Having all the general classes in periods one through six and all the extra classes in periods zero and seven spreads everything out in an unnatural way.” 

School Board President Shirley Issel mentioned the elimination of “gaps,” periods in which a student does not have any scheduled classes, as one of the benefits of the new six-period system. Berkeley High School recently adopted a formal policy against schedule “gaps,” for security reasons, according to Doran. 

“There’s a requirement that students fill all gaps in their schedules first,” said Miller. “So if a student wants to take orchestra and AP science, which are offered in zero and seventh periods, he would have to fill all the gaps in between first.” 

In contrast, Issel pointed out that the system was beneficial in that it enhanced the amount of time teachers spend in front of students. 

“This allows us to put more emphasis on a common core, classes like English, history, science, and art,” said Issel. “There might be fewer classes but those that are offered will be better for all kids. It’s sort of a ‘less is more’ principle.” 

Doran said that 30 different “enhancement period” sections were available, with space for 900 students to enroll. Since many sections had not met their enrollment capacity, Doran believed that all students got the classes they wanted. 

“Most students were only taking classes for six of the seven periods, anyway,” he said. “Overall, the impact of the change was pretty minimal.”

To the Editor: 

I have worked with LA Wood for more than a year and a half on CEAC (Community Environmental Advisory Commission) both during his term as vice-chair and my own, and can speak with some experience to Mr. Wood's experience and qualifications to run for City Council in the 4th District. LA is a concerned, informed citizen. He shows a great deal of tenacity, care, and attention to detail in his dedication to community issues. He is an honest man, one who is willing to stand up for his beliefs, and who is committed to the citizens of Berkeley. When I heard that he was running for City Council, I was thrilled. LA has tackled social issues ranging the gambit of Berkeley politics, and I can whole-heartedly endorse him as an excellent choice for City Council. Members of the 4th District have the rare chance to vote for a person who displays both compassion and dedication when they cast their votes. If only every city in the nation were so lucky to have individuals who bring such a wide range of interests as well as unparalleled commitment, combined with a relentless desire to see the common good of every citizen brought to the table, this country would be a wealthier place. 

LA Wood represents the finest choice available to the vote for City Council in his district, and without a doubt I endorse his candidacy for this position. 

James Bianco,  

Berkeley

After handing out a proverbial carrot to student riders this August – in the form of lower bus rates for youth – AC Transit swung its stick at the rest of its estimated 235,000 patrons. 

System-wide fare hikes, including the 12 bus lines that traverse Berkeley, went into effect Sunday to help offset the transit agency’s $17.6 million budget deficit. The price of an adult fare, for ages 18 to 64, increased 15 cents to $1.50. Fares for seniors went up from 65 cents to 75 cents.  

The new rates make AC Transit buses some of the most expensive in the state. The national average adult rate for a one-way city bus trip is $1.09, according to the American Public Transit Association. 

“I knew it was changing today,” said Maria who was waiting for a bus on San Pablo Avenue. “I’m not happy about it, but at least I won’t be dropping any more dimes.” 

Subscribers to AC Transit’s 10-ride book and 31-day pass will experience less severe fare hikes. The price of a 10-ride book, now an electronic pass, will increase from $11.50 to $13. 

The discount rate will go up from $5.50 to $6.50. The 31-day pass for adults will increase just a dollar, from $49 to $50, while the same pass for seniors and the disabled will go up two dollars to $15. 

Commuters taking the bus across the bay are the most adversely affected. A single transbay ticket now costs $3, up from $2.50 and more expensive than a comparable BART ride which ranges from $2.50 to $2.70. The new 10-ride transbay pass is set at $26 for adults, while the 31-day pass costs $85. 

In addition, AC Transit rolled out its new one-day pass Sunday. Priced at $5 for adults and $2.50 for youth and seniors, the pass provides unlimited rides for any one day and is good from the time of purchase until 3 a.m. the following morning. 

Students, ages 5 to 17, who make up approximately a quarter of AC Transit riders are the big winners in the recent fare changes. A single student fare dropped from $1.35 to 75 cents Sunday. 

In August, AC Transit reduced the price of the student 31-day pass from $27 to $15. In addition, after months of pressure from student advocates, the agency offered free passes to the roughly 33,000 disadvantaged students who qualify for free lunch programs in Berkeley and other cities served by the transit agency. About 2,000 Berkeley students are expected to qualify for the two-year pilot program.  

The student fare reductions are a gamble for the agency in the throes of a budget crisis. Transit officials hope the reduced student monthly pass will entice 8,900 new riders, increasing revenues and subsidizing the free passes provided to disadvantaged students. 

A combination of declining sales tax revenues, state funding and fare returns during the recent economic downturn has landed the agency in a $17.6 million budget shortfall. 

To offset the deficit, AC Transit has also initiated a November ballot measure, which if passed, will net approximately $7.5 million for the agency by slapping a $24 tax on property holders from Richmond to Hayward. The ballot initiative must be approved by two-thirds of the electorate to take effect. 

If the ballot measure fails, transit officials warn that a service reduction is likely. The agency will cover its budget for the current fiscal year but “beyond that we’re in serious trouble financially,” said Jim Gleich, deputy general manager of AC Transit during an earlier interview. 

In 2000, voters passed Measure B, a sales tax hike to help fund the agency, but according to transit officials the expected $304 million in increased funding hasn’t materialized. 

“The economy, being stalled as it is, has caused sales tax revenues to be lower than what was projected a year or two ago,” said AC Transit spokesperson Mike Mills last July.

Doctor loses custody of hippo 

ESCONDIDO – A doctor who kept a rare pygmy hippopotamus in his back yard for a decade before it was seized by authorities defended his treatment of the animal and claimed critics were spreading lies about him. 

Arthur Stehly, 63, said he always kept a variety of unusual animals, including emus, ostriches, deer, goats, tortoises, pheasants and camels, while his 10 children were growing up. 

He said the hippo, which had a skin condition that caused it to bleed, was well-fed and happy. But the hippo did not like to use its 3-foot-deep pond in the winter, Stehly said Friday. 

“Then she would get scaly skin,” he said. “She would scratch it on the side and bleed a little, but it wasn’t bad.” 

No charges were filed against Stehly for keeping the animal. The hippo was seized eight months ago, but Stehly has not spoken about the incident until now. 

The 500-pound hippo, which has been kept at an animal rehabilitation center in Escondido, is being moved to Black Beauty Ranch, a refuge in Texas where it will have grass, shade trees and a large pool. 

Trip ends short 

SANTA CRUZ – A 67-year-old Montara man has given up his quest to float across the Pacific Ocean in his homemade raft – at least for now. 

Andrew Urbanczyk and his redwood raft were hauled into Santa Cruz Harbor on Friday. 

He was headed to Japan or Hawaii or wherever the winds would take him. He traveled with a cat and a couple dragonflies on his 40-by-20-foot, two-masted raft. “The Nord” was seven huge redwood logs lashed together with rope. 

Urbanczyk, a world-class sailor who has set records sailing solo across oceans, said he will try to make his trip again after he builds a smaller raft. 

Urbanczyk left Pillar Point Harbor near Half Moon Bay a week ago. He gave up his quest after circling around in nearly calm seas 60 miles off Santa Cruz. 

Cops cheat on promotion exam 

SANTA ANA – Results of a police promotion exam were tossed out after officials discovered that some of the 107 officers taking the test had an advance look at the questions. 

The City Attorney’s Office was investigating how the questions on an exam given to officers seeking promotions to corporal were leaked. 

After the city completes its probe, the case will be turned over to the department’s internal affairs division, Mario Carona, a spokesman for the Santa Ana Police Department, said Friday. 

Any officers who were found to have cheated could be fired, demoted or reprimanded, he said.

Arson suspected in grass fire 

VALLEJO — The Vallejo Fire Department says a three-alarm grassfire that scorched more than 50 acres near the Carquinez Bridge on Friday might be the result of arson. 

Fire spokesman Bill Tweedy says investigators are still probing the cause of the blaze, but it is suspicious in nature. 

The fire, which was reported shortly before 2 p.m. Friday, was fanned by 10-15 mph winds up a hillside above Interstate Highway 80 just north of the Carquinez Straights. 

There were no reported injuries but several structures were threatened at one point. 

Firefighters from Benicia, Crockett, Cordelia, American Canyon, Suisun City, Contra Costa County and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection assisted Vallejo fire crews in combating the fire. 

Rape treated as hate crime 

PALO ALTO— In an attack being called a hate crime a 15-year-old girl allegedly was raped at a drug store Friday. 

Palo Alto police said Sanjay Nair, 18, who is Hindu, allegedly made comments while raping the Muslim girl, leading police to label the attack a hate crime. 

The attack occurred in the basement bathroom of Longs Drug Store in Palo Alto. 

The girl was treated at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center before being released Saturday morning. 

A manager at the store said Nair had been suspended because he had reportedly sexually harassed the girl verbally. 

Nair is being held without bail in Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose on charges of false imprisonment, rape, hate crimes and sexual battery. 

Traffic police out on Labor Day 

Bay Area law enforcement authorities said today they have arrested 277 people for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs so far this Labor Day weekend during their coordinated anti-drunken driving campaign, called Bay Area AVOID.

SACRAMENTO – Lawmakers passed a two-months-late budget early Sunday morning and approved a last-minute array of bills ranging from construction defects to driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants as the Legislature ended its 2002 session. 

The $99 billion budget closed a $23.6 billion deficit through a combination of spending cuts and new revenues — which legislative leaders took great pains to not call new taxes — and required Gov. Gray Davis to make $750 million in cuts from government operations, not programs. 

Four Republicans joined 50 Assembly Democrats in voting 54-26 to pass the budget, but that vote was put on hold pending Senate action on a related constitutional amendment proposal on infrastructure spending. 

But one long-debated and heavily lobbied issue — limits on companies’ abilities to sell customer’s financial information — died in the session’s final minutes, as its Senate sponsor, Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Daly City, persuaded the Senate to kill a version of her original bill amended by the Assembly earlier in the evening. 

The Senate adjourned at 12:26 a.m. Sunday, and the Assembly followed at 1:31 a.m. 

Legislators also approved bills Saturday that let insurance companies offer discounts for some customers, but a state Senate committee struck down a bill that aimed to keep Hollywood film projects in California by giving incentives to production companies. 

A “right-to-repair” bill under negotiation for nearly a decade was sent to the governor Saturday, after homebuilders and lawyers compromised on ground rules for fixing construction defects in single-family homes and attached condominiums. 

The bill by Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, gives homebuilders the chance to fix problems before lawsuits are filed. It also lets homeowners sue for problems such as sagging roofs and faulty chimneys before they cause damage instead of after. 

Proponents said it will help jump start the condominium construction market and will result in more affordable housing in a state with one of the nation’s lowest homeowner rates. 

Legislators hope the measure will keep unhappy home buyers out of court and return insurers to a construction industry they have largely abandoned in the last decade. 

The Senate’s 33-6 vote sent the bill to Gov. Gray Davis. 

During the afternoon, Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson said he had reached a deal with Assembly Republicans to pass a $99 billion state budget, two months late and just hours before the Legislature was set to end its session. 

Four Assembly Republicans supported the budget, giving the majority Democrats the two-thirds majority they needed to pass it. The final vote was 54-26 with Republicans Dick Dickerson, Mike Briggs, David Kelley and Keith Richman joining all 50 Democrats to support it. 

The budget features about $2 billion in cuts and directs Davis to cut about $750 million from government operations, not programs, on top of $7 billion in cuts already proposed in May. It would cut 1,000 state jobs by the end of next fiscal year and encourage longtime state employees to retire by sweetening the state retirement package. 

The plan also would effectively reduce the minimum amount of money the state must spend on K-12 schools by $700 million. 

It also includes a semantically appealing solution to the issue of tax increases: About $2 billion in measures that add new money to the state treasury. Lawmakers have called these “revenue enhancements” to avoid calling them tax increases and appeal to Republicans and their constituents. 

But the deal abandons some major tax increase plans put forth by Davis — an increase in the state vehicle license fee back to 1998 levels and an increase on the state excise tax for cigarettes. 

Other bills approved by the Senate Saturday included a measure inspired by the recent Enron and WorldCom bankruptcies. 

A bill by Assemblyman Kevin Shelley, D-San Francisco, and Assemblywoman Barbara Matthews, D-Tracy, would require companies to disclose more information about their directors and officers to the public, including their compensation, stock options and fraud convictions. 

It would also force a company to reveal any bankruptcy filings and violations of federal security and state laws, as well as establish a restitution fund to assist victims of corporate fraud. 

The Senate also voted 30-0 to approve a bill to let insurance companies discount rates for customers who maintain coverage, even if they switch insurers. 

Consumer advocates said it would result in higher costs for previously uninsured motorists, and vowed to sue to overturn the bill if it is signed by the governor.

SACRAMENTO – California consumers will not gain any new financial privacy protections this year, despite three different attempts to pass such a bill on the last day of the legislative session. 

A turbulent debate over the issue culminated on the Assembly floor Saturday, as lawmakers first killed a bill by Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Daly City, that would have allowed consumers to prohibit companies from sharing their financial information. That bill was then amended, passed the Assembly and then slaughtered in the Senate, after Speier called the new version a “sham.” 

The Assembly narrowly voted 34-36 Saturday afternoon to kill Speier’s original bill, which was the strictest of the three measures. 

Shortly afterward, Assemblyman John Dutra, D-Fremont, proposed amendments to the bill, which were backed by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans who opposed the previous version. The amendments would give customers the ability to prohibit companies from sharing their financial information with non-affiliate companies, while Speier’s version would have applied to affiliate companies as well. 

Dutra said the bill still would have been the strongest privacy law in the country and could have been much stronger if the two had worked together. 

“Keep in mind, mine got 49 votes (in the Assembly). Hers got 34 (votes),” Dutra said. “Regardless of what she said about how much more beneficial it would have been, it’s not beneficial if you can’t enact it into law.” 

Speier and consumer activists said the amendments weakened the bill to the point it would not offer consumers enough protection. 

Dutra previously had plans to introduce an entirely new bill but reportedly had trouble finding a Senate author, forcing him to “hijack” Speier’s bill without her approval. With Speier retained as the bill’s author, she attempted to remove the bill from the floor, only to have supporters of the new bill counter with a vote to override her request. 

The bill passed the Assembly in a 49-12 vote. 

Speier, however, promised to “take it up and kill it after exposing it for what it is.” She was successful: The bill got just one vote.

OAKLAND – There will be no baseball strike. But fans were sweating it out until news of a settlement came Friday. 

As the Oakland Raiders were putting the Arizona Cardinals to sleep Thursday, ushers, security guards and vendors at the Coliseum nervously looked at their watches. At 9 p.m., they were supposed to learn if they would be working for the rest of the season. The baseball season, that is. 

Their fate was being decided by a cabal of millionaire owners and players, amid the threat of a players strike, in a closed meeting room in New York. 

The 9 p.m. deadline passed with no word. But Friday, the news came and it was good. No strike, and a chance for the Oakland A’s to extend their 15-game winning streak.  

But in a town known for its proud blue-collar fan base the bitterness that built before the decision will not likely evaporate soon. 

“This is about greed. It’s all about greed,” said one Coliseum usher who declined to give his name. “The average American doesn’t make a dime compared to what these guys make.”  

“This job provides about 15 to 20 percent of my family’s income,” he added, noting that if a strike would have occurred, he would have had troubles. 

A few fans also spoke candidly about the situation as they enjoyed $7 beers at the stadium.  

“You know what, just three to four years ago I started getting back into baseball since the last strike in ’94 which pissed me off,” said Luis Duenas, adding that his anger level was approaching what it was eight years ago. 

Fans will have the opportunity to reconcile their anger this weekend when the A’s host the Minnesota Twins. 

To the Editor: 

I am appalled from Kenneth E. Scudder's playing the “My hate crime is worse than yours,” game, (Forum, Aug. 29). The burning of a church is awful, and is to be condemned. By no means does this make the vandalism of Berkeley Hillel “insignificant.” When a brick was thrown through the Hillel window and the trash cans were defaced with anti-Jewish slogans, the Jewish community was shaken. Students were afraid to be identified as Jewish, greater security precautions were taken. The greater Jewish community was also made a target when someone attempted to burn down a synagogue in Oakland. It would be dangerous and absurd to get caught up in comparing hate crimes and dismissing those who we deem “insignificant.” Let's all be mature adults and deal with hate crimes as crimes against all cultured humanity. By differentiating crimes according to the victim's ethnicity we become no better than the people who commit these crimes. 

Tzurit Buskila 

Berkeley

The H. J. Heinz Building is located on San Pablo Avenue just north of Ashby Avenue. Its Mediterranean-style facade is a prominent and distinctive feature on the streetscape of San Pablo Avenue. The building looks like an elegant school or office complex from the exterior, but behind the nicely detailed facade was once a real industrial/manufacturing building engaged in the production of 28 of the H. J. Heinz company's famous “57 Varieties.”  

The Cleveland-based Austin Company, a construction firm founded in 1878 that specialized in all phases of design and construction of industrial buildings, with architect Albert Kahn (l869-1942) built the Heinz Building between 1927 and 1928. It was the largest such firm in the world.  

What might have been a large and simply utilitarian building was designed to be beautiful and to also enhance its San Pablo Avenue location, which at the time was the main highway. Like Samuel Kress of the Kress Five and Dime stores, Howard C. Heinz (1877-1941), son of the founder Henry John Heinz (1844-1919), was an avid traveler and collector whose ivory and watch collections are in the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh.  

The one-to three-story building has beige concrete-stucco siding and a red tile roof and is richly decorated with Mediterranean motifs. The entire site is ten acres and the building is a wide U-shape facing west. Along San Pablo Avenue the two-block long building is symmetrical with a three-story central section containing a richly decorated arched entry with an open loggia above. Flanking the entry are two-story sections with courses of deeply recessed metal sash windows separated by flat engaged columns with decorative capitals. The two-story sections are then flanked by one-story sections dived by square bays with hipped roofs and arched windows. At the corners are again, square bays with arched windows.  

The Berkeley Daily Gazette commented in 1927 that “Architecturally it will be one of the most beautiful industrial establishments in the West...an inspiration to the workers and an example for others.”  

The Heinz Company was founded in Pittsburgh in 1869, beginning with the production of horseradish; by 1896 it claimed to be producing the “57 Varieties” that the company used in its advertising. In 1947 the Heinz Company reported that the Berkeley plant was 28 of its 57 varieties, and employed seasonally between 200 and 1,000 workers. During tomato season the smell of cooking tomatoes filled the air. The plant closed in l956 and was moved to Tracy. It has been remodeled into a retail and office center. 

Susan Cerny is author of Berkeley Landmarks and writes this in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.  

In the wake of the Grateful Dead's brief reunion concert in Wisconsin last month, and with a pending winter mini tour, there could hardly be better timing for Dennis McNally's “Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead,” which the author will discuss at Cody's Wednesday. What sets the 600-page tome apart from other Dead bios is the author's background and his personal relationship with the band. 

“What makes my book different is that I have a doctorate in history,” said McNally, who earned his Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts. “The whole first half of the book is not just for Deadheads but really for anyone who's interested in a history of the sixties through the Grateful Dead.”  

Few are more qualified to tell it. McNally was hired by the band as publicist in 1984, and continues in that position today. His first book, a biography of Beat icon Jack Kerouac, convinced the band that he was the right man for the job. 

“Jerry revered and signified Kerouac very greatly,” said McNally. “He read my book and said, ‘If you understand that then you understand us, why don't you do us.’ I said, ‘Great idea.’ ” 

“The guy who encouraged me to do the Kerouac book turned me onto the Dead, so the two subjects were joined in my mind,” said McNally. “By the time I was well into the Kerouac project I had become a Dead Head, and I wanted to do these two books. It only took 29 years, but what the hell.” 

“The obvious connection is Neal Cassady, the man Jerry Garcia called ‘The furthest out guy I ever met,’ ” said McNally. Cassady was the model for Dean Moriarity of Kerouac's “On the Road,” and a fixture at Ken Kesey's mid-60s “Acid Tests,” where the Dead – then known as the Warlocks – began to find their feet as freeform psychedelic shamans.  

Guitarist Bob Weir expressed the familial bond that held the group together. “We're all siblings,” he said, “underlings to this guy Neal Cassady. He seemed to live in another dimension.” 

In the spirit of the Beats and the Dead, the book loops around its subject matter. “I don't think a linear book would explain the Grateful Dead very well,” said McNally. The book chronicles the life span of the band, and interjects interesting “Interludes” about band members, the road crew, promoters, and even parts of the set. Additionally, McNally creates composite images of what the band was like at a certain point in its metamorphosis such as with “Shakedown (10/78-10/80).”  

While bands thrive on the spirit and muse, there is the business side of the entertainment life: money, contracts and such. The Dead were never keen on tackling this part of a musicians' career and early on often left the work to others, which had disastrous results. 

“In addition to being the grand spiritual adventure that it was, [The Grateful Dead] was also a business,” McNally said. “And if you didn't make enough money to get to the next show, you were screwed. A Long Strange Trip delves into many of the particulars of arranging gigs. “Someone wanting to get into the music business could do worse than to read a few chapters of this book,” the author said. 

Longtime Berkeley residents will remember events from the book. McNally recalls the Dead playing in People's Park in 1969 when the dispute between students and the UC first came to an ugly and tragic head. Later in their career, the Dead regularly sold out the Greek Theater in Berkeley until the city, overwhelmed by camping Dead Heads with no tickets, banned the group from performing there in 1989. 

As a historian, McNally has certain feelings about the Grateful Dead's legacy. “They lived the American Dream, with their own attitude,” he said. “I really don't know how to express how unusual that is, but it's true. They did what no other band did, forged electric rock instruments with jazz improvisation. It'll go on forever in some ways.”  

As a friend of the band and self-confessed Dead Head, the band's personal meaning to McNally is deeper. “Mickey Hart said, 'We're not part of the entertainment business, we're part of the transportation business. We move minds.' They created a completely unique approach that I always will love.” 

McNally was effusive about the recent Grateful Dead concert stint in Wisconsin, which featured founding members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzman and Mickey Hart. “Frankly, the music sounded better than I expected it to. There's a lot of magic still there, a lot of wonderful juice in the relationship among those four guys.”  

McNally praised the musicians who were called in to round out the sound, particularly guitarist Jimmy Herring, who had to stand in Jerry's giant shoes. “He just played his butt off,” said McNally. “The band just locked down. Give these guys 10 nights back on the road and they're going to be monsters.” 

No matter the Dead’s future, McNally said, the brief weekend reunion signified a triumph. “I can't tell you who was happier, the band or audience. There was such obvious joy.”  

Saturday, August 31 

Blue on Breen, Ian Butler & Green Man Gruvin’ 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-1424 

$5 

Plan 9, Wormwood, Hit Me Back & Dystrophy 

8 p.m. 

924 Gillman St. 

525-9926 

$5 

Tuesday, September 3 

Bebelekov Family  

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

525-5024 or www.ashkenaz.com 

$8 door/ Free for 12 and under 

Red Mountain & White Trash 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$14.50 in advance, $15.50 at door 

Wednesday, September 4 

Carlos Oiveira & Ventos do Brasil 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$15.50 in advance, $16.50 at door 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau 

7:30 p.m. 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

$8 door/ Free for 12 and under 

Thursday, September 5 

Jimmy LaFave 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$16.50 in advance, $17.50 at door 

The Mekons 25th Anniversary Show 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-1424 

$15 

Friday, September 6 

Caribbean All-Stars CARIBBEAN ALLSTARS 

9:30 p.m. 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

$11 door/ Free for 12 and under 

Gehenna, Brainoil & Blown to Bits 

8 p.m. 

924 Gillman St. 

525-9926 

$5 

Tempest 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-1424 

$10 

Saturday, September 7 

Freedom Song Network’s Twentieth Birthday Benefit Concert 

8 p.m. 

La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 

$10 to 50 (sliding scale) 

Hirax, Phobia & Lack of Interest 

8 p.m. 

924 Gillman St. 

525-9926 

$5 

Mark Growden’s Electric Pinata, Amor 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-1424 

$6 

Rachel Garin CD Release Show 

8 p.m.  

The Freight and Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.thefreight.org 

$15.50 in advance/ $16.50 at the door 

Sunday, September 8 

Kulture Schock 

8:30 p.m. 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

$8 door/ Free for 12 and under 

Darryl Purpose 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$15.50 in advance, $16.50 at door 

Monday, September 9 

Kris Delmhorst, Noe Venable 

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$15.50 in advance, $16.50 at door 

BACA National Juried Exhibition 

Through Sept. 21, Wed.-Sun. Noon to 5 p.m. 

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

40 artists from across the U.S. including 28 Bay Area artists. 

644-6893 

Free 

"Before and After"  

Reception 4 to 6 p.m.  

Through Sept. 19  

Albany Community Center and Library Galley 1249 Marin Ave. 

Jim Hair's photographs of the San Diego Hells Angels motorcycle chapter from the 1970s.  

524-9283  

Images of Love and Courtship 

Through Sept. 15 

Gathering Tribes, 1573 Solano Ave. 

Ledger paintings by Michael Horse. 

528-9038 

Free 

"Balancing Acts" 

Through Oct. 10 

Gallery 555, 555 12th St. in Oakland City Center 

Oakland's 'Third Thursday' art night features Ann Weber's works made of cardboard. 

http://www.oaklandcitycenter.com.  

Free 

The Creation of People’s Park 

Through Aug. 31, Mon. - Thurs., 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fri. 9 to 5 p.m.; Sat. 1 to 5 p.m. Sun. 3 to 7 p.m. 

The Free Movement Speech Cafe, UC Berkeley campus 

A photo exhibition, with curator Harold Adler. 

hjadler@yahoo.com 

Free 

"New Work: Part 2, The 2001 Kala Fellowship Exhibition"  

Through Sept. 7, Tues.-Fri. Noon to 5:30 p.m., Sat. noon - 4:30 p.m. 

Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. 

Featuring 8 Kala Fellowship winners, printmaking 

549-2977  

“If These Walls Could Talk” 

Through Sept. 8 

Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California Campus (just below Grizzly Peak Blvd.) 

See how various civilizations built all kinds of structures from mud huts to giant skyscrapers at this building exhibit. 

642-5132 

Admission: $8 for adults; $6 for ages 5-18, seniors and disabled; $4 for children 3-4; Free for children under 3, LHS Members and full-time Berkeley students. 

"Poems Form/From the Six Directions" 

Through Sept. 15 

Pusod: Center for culture, Ecology & Bayan, 1808 Fifth St. 

A visual poetry exhibition and presentation of a wedding happening, a Filipino tradition. Poetry workshops presented by Eileen Tabios 7 to 9 p.m., Aug. 14, 21 and 28. 

883-1808 

Free 

“Virtually Real Oakland - The Magic, The Diversity and the Potholes” 

Through Sept. 21, Mon.-Fri. 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. 

Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St., Berkeley 

Exhibit by Ken Burson; digitally enhanced photos of Oakland. 

644-1400 

Free 

Richard Misrach, Berkeley Work 

Though Oct. 13 

UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, 2626 Bancroft Way 

On view in Gallery 2, presents two photographic series by this internationally recognized Berkeley-based artist.  

642-0808, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

$7, $5 BAM/PFA members, $4 UC Berkeley students 

Misch Kohn - Celebrating Sixty Years of Printmaking 

Sept. 12 through Oct. 16: Tues.-Fri., Noon to 5:30 p.m.; Sat., Noon to 4:30 p.m. 

Kala Arts Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. 

549-2977, kala@kala.org 

Threads: Five artists who use stitching to convey ideas 

October 6 through December 15, Wed.-Sun., Noon to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St. 

For more information: www.berkeleyartcenter.org, (510) 644-6893 

Free 

A Thousand and One Arabian Nights 

Through Sept. 28, Fri. - Sun. 8 p.m.; Sun. 4 p.m. 

Forest Meadows Outdoor Amphitheater, Grand Avenue at the Dominican University, San Raphael 

Marin Shakespeare Company’s presents this classic story with original Arabic music. 

415-499-4488 for tickets 

$12, youth; $20 senior; $22 general 

Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida 

Through Sept. 1, Sat. and Sun. at 5 p.m..  

John Hinkel Park, off The Arlington at Southampton Road in North Berkeley  

704-8210 for reservations or www.shotgunplayers.org  

Pay what you can 

Henry IV: The Impact Remix 

Aug. 30 through Sept. 8, Fri. and Sat. 8 p.m. and Sun. 7 p.m. 

Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St. 

Sept. 13 through 21, Fri. and Sat. 8 p.m. and Sun. 7 p.m. 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 

Impact theatre’s first Shakespeare production staring Rich Bolster as Prince Hal and Bill Boynton as Falstaff. 

464-4468, www.impacttheatre.com 

$15 general/$10 students 

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar 

Sept. 5 through Oct. 12 

Thurs. through Sat. 8 p.m. 

LaVal’s Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid 

234-6046 

$10 

Sunday, September 1 

Poetry at Cody’s on Telegraph 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave.  

Readings by James Schevill and William Minor. 

845-7852  

$2 

Saturday, September 7 

Bay Area Poets Coalition Open Reading 

3 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

West Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1125 University Ave. 

527-9905, poetalk@aol.com 

Free 

September 7, 12 

Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival 

Noon to 5 p.m. 

Civic Center Park, Center St. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Poetry readings, presentations by environmentalists, interactive events and more. 

526-9105  

Sunday, September 8 

Poetry Flash @ Cody’s 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave.  

Ivan Arguelles reads “Tri Loka and Carolyn Grassi read “Transparencies.” 

845-7852  

$2 

Saturday, September 7 

Vertical Pool presents Three Experimental Narrative Videos 

8 p.m. and 10 p.m. 

TUVA, 3192 Adeline St. 

A screening of “Requiem For a Friend”, “Inertia” and “Roadkill” by Antero Alli. Filmmaker will be present. 

464-4640 

$7 

Saturday, August 31 

Berkeley Youth Orchestra Auditions (Wind, Brass, Percussion) 

All day 

Laney College Music Dept.  

Fallon St., Oakland 

Berkeley Youth Orchestra will audition musicians aged 10-15 for the 2002-2003 season. 

For an application or more information call Penny Boys at 540-0812 or e-mail her at philiph@seismo.berkeley.edu 

Book Reading: “21st Century Manzanar” 

4 p.m. 

Eastwind Books, 2066 University Ave. 

Perry Minyake reads his debut novel, “21st Century Manzanar,” a dark portrait of an America gone wrong. 

548-2350 

Free 

Sunday, September 1  

Women's Magic Circle  

3:30 to 6:30 p.m.  

Each participant leads the circle through a short magic exercise, ancient or homemade. All traditions are welcome.  

595-5541 or wrpclub@aol.com for more information  

$20 for 6 month membership  

Monday, September 2 

Labor Day Potluck Picnic and Poetry Reading 

Hosted by Bay Area Poets Coalition 

Noon to 4 p.m. 

Live Oak Park, Walnut and Rose St. 

527-9905, poetalk@aol.com 

National Organization for Women Oakland/East Bay Chapter  

6:30 p.m.  

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 6536 Telegraph Ave. 

Chapter’s monthly meeting. Speaker: Multicultural historian, Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, received 

the prestigious Valitutti Award for non-fiction.  

549-2970 

Free 

Tuesday, September 3 

The Listening Post 

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Wesley Student Center on Bancroft Way near Dana Dr. 

The Listening Post is a safe, non-judgmental, non-denominational place for students to talk about whatever may be on their minds, or weighing on their hearts. 

549-1244 

Opening of Classes,  

Berkeley City Ballet 

1800 Dwight Way  

First day of classes at BCB. Classes Monday through Friday for children 5 and up. Student performers are invited to audition annual Nutcracker performance.  

841-8913 

Thursday, September 5 

Nutrition Career Open House 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Institute of Educational Therapy  

706 Gilman St. 

Learn how to become a nutrition educator or consultant. 

558-1711 

Free 

Discussion: “Why We Call Ourselves Butch?” 

7 p.m. 

Boadecia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave. 

This group is for self-identified butch women. New members are welcome. 

559-9184 

Free 

Friday, September 6 

'The Winona LaDuke Reader' Lecture and Reception 

Presented by the American Indian Graduate Program 

5 p.m. Reception, 7 p.m. Lecture 

Native American environmental and Indigenous Rights activist and author of several books and articles, Winona LaDuke, will discuss the topics of her new book 'The Winona LaDuke Reader' as well as other current work. 

atalay@sscl.berkeley.edu 

Free 

Saturday, September 7 

Sick Plant Clinic 

9 a.m. to noon 

University of California Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. 

UC plant pathology and entomology experts will diagnose what ails your plant.  

643-2755 

Free 

Travel Careers Seminar 

8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 

Vista Community College  

2020 Milvia St., Room 306 

The day’s program will include travel industry speakers covering a variety of career possibilities: Cruise specialists, tour leaders, tour operators, adventure operators, home-based travel agents and more.  

981-2931 

$5.50 for California residents 

Sunday, September 8 

Lifelong Medical Care First Annual 5K Fun Run/Walk Fundraiser 

9 a.m. to noon 

West Berkeley 

Individual and team participation. Event includes a health fair, food, prizes, live music and free insurance eligibility screening. 

704-6010 

28th Annual Solano Avenue Stroll 

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Solano Avenue 

A mile-long block part featuring “Journey of a Thousand Cranes’ Parade” at 11 a.m.  

527-5358 or www.solanostroll.org 

Free 

Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Free 

Prostate Cancer Lecture 

2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

Maffly Auditorium, Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way 

Understand the risk of prostate cancer and how to detect early symptoms from a survivor. 

869-6737 

Free 

Tuesday, September 10 

Michael Newdow: Lecture 

8 p.m. 

2050 Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley Campus 

Micahel Newdow is a Sacramento physician with a law degree whose case against the common procedure of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools fueled national uproar last summer.  

USE-SANE, sane@ocf.berkeley.edu, http://www.BerkeleySANE.org 

Free 

Thursday, September 12 

The 14th Small Business  

Development Trade Fair 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

The Pauley Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, near Telegraph Ave. and Bancroft Way, UC Berkeley 

The event will introduce small businesses to the UC Berkeley community and give campus departments a glimpse of the services and products small businesses have to offer.  

Caterina Rando discusses her new book Learn to Power Think: A Practical Guide to Positive and Effective Decision Making 

Boadecia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave. 

559-9184, www.bookpride.com 

Saturday, September 14 

Basic Personal Preparedness 

9 to 11 a.m. 

Fire Department Training Center, 997 Cedar St. 

Learn five critical steps to take care of yourself, your family and your home. Classes open to those 18 or older who live or work in Berkeley. 

981-5605, www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

Free 

It wasn’t the prettiest game, but the Cal women’s soccer team pulled out a 2-0 win over Ohio State to open the season on Friday at Edwards Stadium. 

Newcomers Carly Fuller and Tracy Hamm scored goals late in the second half for the Bears after senior striker Laura Schott was ejected from the game for drawing her second yellow card of the day. 

Fuller, a senior transfer from Duke, scored on a penalty kick in the 77th minute. Hamm, a freshman from Campolindo High in Moraga, gave the Bears an insurance goal eight minutes later, and goalkeeper Ashley Sulprizio made six saves on the way to a shutout in her first Cal game. 

Schott’s ejection rules her out of Sunday’s game against Purdue, so her run at the record books will be delayed for at least another week. Schott needs six goals to tie Joy Fawcett’s school record, and Fawcett’s record for total points is within reach as well. 

Both of Schott’s yellow cards were questionable. The first came when she collided with Ohio State goalkeeper Anna Mitchell going for a ball in the first half, and the second came when Schott plowed over a Buckeye defender in the 69th minute. Schott got the ball in that instance, but the referee judged her challenge to be overly zealous and tossed her from the match. 

Down a player, the Bears responded with their most inspired offense of the match. Midfielder Kim Yokers put Brittany Kirk behind the OSU defense almost immediately after the ejection, with Kirk sliding the ball just wide of the goal. Then defender Kim Stocklmeir played a beautiful long ball that Yokers corralled in the penalty area before being pushed down by Ohio State’s Jen Miller. Fuller slotted the ensuing penalty kick into the side netting for a 1-0 lead.  

Fuller, who was a starter at Duke for three years and took a few penalty kicks for the Blue Devils, volunteered to convert Yokers’ effort. 

“Coach (Kevin) Boyd just yelled over for somebody to take it,” Fuller said. “Kim was a little shaken up by the foul, so I just stepped up and took it.” 

The Buckeyes nearly evened the score moments later as forward Colleen Hoban got behind the Cal defense, but she hit her shot almost directly at Sulprizio, who dove to her left and held onto the ball. 

Hamm, a freshman winger from Campolindo High in Moraga, scored in the Bears’ exhibition game against University of San Francisco last week, and she continued her hot streak on Friday. She took a pass 15 yards outside the penalty area, dribbled past one defender and hit a spectacular shot to the left corner of the goal past a diving Mitchell. 

Boyd said he was expecting Hamm to simply play the ball deep to a corner of the field to run out the clock, but Hamm is confident enough in her abilities to make a gamble worthwhile. 

“I was just thinking that I only had to beat one person, and I thought I might as well try,” Hamm said. 

One of Cal’s fastest players, Hamm said she isn’t surprised by her quick adjustment to the college game. 

“I’ve been waiting to play at this level for so long,” she said. “My game is fast and strong, and that’s what the college game is about.” 

The Bears victory didn’t come without a price, however. Schott won’t be the only starter missing Sunday’s game, as Stocklmeir was part of a violent collision just before the final whistle and had to leave the game with an injured collarbone. The senior defender will have X-rays done on the injury this weekend.

A controversial plan to build a four-story apartment building with commercial space at 2700 San Pablo Ave. is facing yet another setback in a long line of snags the project has faced since it was proposed more than three years ago. 

This week neighbors Howie Muir, Julie Dickinson and Douglas Press filed a civil suit against the city of Berkeley in Alameda County Superior Court. According to the suit, the city did not comply with the California Environmental Quality Act and it violated state and zoning laws when it approved the project. 

The suit is the next step in the neighbor’s long fight. 

The proposal was approved on July 23 when the City Council denied an appeal by the neighbors who argued the building would be too tall and too dense for the area.  

The suit comes as City Council faces increasing pressure from state and local housing advocates to boost the city’s housing stock.  

The four-story project, proposed by developer Panoramic Interests and nonprofit developer Jubilee Restoration, calls for 35 residential units of which seven would be set aside for low-income and medium-income tenants. The project also proposes 52,000 square feet of commercial space. 

Since 1999 the proposal has been bouncing between the Department of Planning and Development, the Zoning Adjustments Board, Design Review Committee and City Council. 

The original plan called for 48 residential units and 5,500 square feet of commercial space. However, the developers withdrew the plan after the city’s Zoning Adjustments Board criticized it. Six month later the project was resubmitted in it’s current form.  

Muir says the city’s project review process, which ultimately approved the San Pablo development, does not function properly and that the city appears unwilling to fix it.  

“The city didn’t listen to the 400 residents who signed two different petitions opposing the size, density and height of this project,” Muir said. “The city ignored the [California Environmental Quality Act], its general plan and area plan to get the project built for it’s developer buddies.” 

Mayor Shirley Dean said she does not believe Muir’s allegations are true. She said the project was closely scrutinized by several city agencies and City Council. 

“I can only speak for myself, but I make it a habit to go over all the materials, including petitions, very carefully,” she said. “I believe we were very careful to make sure [state and city laws] were complied with,” she said. 

Dean also said Muir should be careful not to make insinuations that elected officials and city staff are somehow in bed with developers.  

Dean agreed, however, that some problems with the city’s review process exist, pointing to the suit’s filed date – three years after the project was first proposed – as evidence. 

“I don’t know what the basis of Mr. Muir’s suit is, but I am always hopeful that these matters can be worked out beforehand,” she said. “What’s the use of going through a long, grueling process, like we did on 2700 San Pablo, if it’s just going to end up in court?” 

President of Panoramic Interests, Patrick Kennedy, said the groundbreaking, which was scheduled for September, will have to be delayed yet again.  

“We already delayed the project for a year just to make sure all the ‘t’s were crossed and ‘i’s were dotted,” he said. 

Kennedy has been the city’s most prolific developer in the last 10 years, creating more than 300 housing units in a variety of projects including the Gaia building in downtown Berkeley.  

Battling tall and dense developments has become something of a campaign for Muir. He co-wrote the height initiative, a November ballot initiative that seeks to lower building height limits. Muir part of a lawsuit protesting the height and density of a proposal by developer Affordable Housing Associates that included 40 units of low-cost housing for seniors on Sacramento Street at Dwight Way. 

Ali Kashani, AHA’s executive director, said the approval process and lawsuit caused delays, adding to Berkeley’s critical housing shortage and costing tax payers money. 

“It took us three years to get the use permit for the Sacramento Street project,” Kashani said. “Now after going through all that, we have to take more time and spend more money to go through a legal action.”  

Muir argues that height limits are vital to maintaining the city’s character and says he is exercising his right to oppose the projects.  

“Anything less would mean a curtailing of public process and that’s ridiculous,” he said. 

To the Editor: 

Mayor Dean's plea for playing fields in the new Eastshore Park (Forum, Aug. 28) ended with an ominous, “Let's also reopen the discussion around the closing of Derby Street . . . (for) playing fields for Berkeley High students.” Yet again? Okay. I'll repeat the objections of residents living within the area bounded by the heavily-used Dwight, MLK Way, Ashby, and Shadduck/Adeline: 

n Closing Derby would mean that four of the eight east-west streets between Ashby and Dwight would be blocked at Shattuck/Adeline, causing still further congestion on Blake, Parker, Carleton, Stuart. (Russell, Oregon, and Ward are already blocked.) 

n Fire engines leaving the station at Derby and Shattuck to go west would use residential streets instead of Derby, which has no residential housing from Shattuck to MLK Way. This route would increase accident risk and emergency response time. 

n The proposed playing field is a “hardball” baseball field, requiring more land (hence a street closure) and high fences to protect surrounding people from the dense, hard, farther-traveling balls. Berkeley High practice fields are locked after school hours. This means locking up more than a city block for use by high school teams only and under the supervision of a coach – not an opportunity for “the joy of an informal game of touch football,” as Mayor Dean describes it. 

n Not only would the proposed field lock out our neighborhood children, it would bring in other high school teams for games, adding glaring lights, a blaring sound system, and more traffic. 

I recognize that this site is school property. Speaking or myself, I could support a fenced playing field without the closure of Derby Street, without an amplified sound system, with use open to neighborhood children after school hours, and finally, if it were locked at 10 or 11 p.m. to keep out transients. 

Dorothy Bryant 

Berkeley

When Cal has the ball 

Going to the air 

Cal’s wide receivers haven’t been able to run away from anyone in the last few seasons, but head coach Jeff Tedford plans to change that. The only player with proven breakaway speed for the Golden Bears is converted cornerback LaShaun Ward, who is battling a hamstring injury and has shaky hands. Quarterback Kyle Boller is more likely to find players open on crossing patterns, so look for more creativity with routes and overloading defensive zones from Tedford and offensive coordinator George Cortez. Baylor’s returning players accounted for just two picks last season. 

Tedford has vowed to incorporate the tight end into the Cal offense, but starter Tom Swoboda isn’t much of a pass-catcher. Backup Brandon Hall should be in the game in obvious passing situations. 

In the trenches 

Baylor’s left end A.C. Collier is a fierce pash rusher, so Cal right tackle Chris Murphy will have his hands full. Look for him to get help from right guard Jon Geisel (or David Hays, as Geisel is a game-time decision with a hamstring injury) and the Golden Bear tight ends. Tackle Mark Wilson and guard Scott Tercero have been working side-by-side for two years so they should provide a solid wall on the right side. 

The ground game 

Baylor has three 300-pounders in the middle of the line, so the straight-ahead running lanes may be clogged up for Cal’s Joe Igber and Terrell Williams. The linebackers are no great shakes, however, so if Igber and Williams can get past the first line of defense they could get some big gains. 

When Baylor has the ball 

Taking to the air 

Baylor quarterback Greg Cicero was just plain bad last season, throwing 13 interceptions and just six touchdowns. Backup Aaron Karas tossed just one less touchdown and only one pick, but Cicero remains the starter. The Bears should blitz to pressure Cicero and possible force some turnovers, something that was sorely lacking in Strawberry Canyon last season. Cicero’s main target will be Reggie Newhouse, who caught eight touchdowns last season, and Baylor will spread the field on occasion with extra receivers. 

In the trenches 

Baylor surrendered 27 sacks last year, not bad for a team that lives on the pass. But they have just two starters back, so Cal shouldn’t have much trouble mounting a pass rush. Rush end Tully Banta-Cain finished last season on a high note and could be a terror this season, and tackle Daniel Nwangwu has the quickness and agility to give Baylor problems on the inside.  

Stunts and blitzes could confuse the new Baylor offensive linemen, so keep an eye on outside linebackers Calvin Hosey and Matt Nixon. If they can make a few big plays, the Baylor offense will stall. 

The ground game 

Baylor had four running backs with nearly identical numbers last season and struggled to reach 100 yards on the ground per game. Tailback Jonathan Golden is the only returning back and should get the lion’s share of carries this year, but a team that averaged a miniscule 2.6 yards per carry shouldn’t strike fear in the hearts of Cal fans.

With budget cuts at Berkeley Unified School District meaning reduced staff, larger classes and sometimes demoralized teachers, Longfellow Middle School’s new principal Rebecca Cheung gave her staff a place to stash pessimism: a plastic Kodak film canister labeled, “My Container of Disbelief.” 

Cheung distributed the canisters to her teachers before the first day of school last week as a tangible reminder of a promise she asked her staff to make – think positively. However, even Cheung understands that the gesture may not be enough to contain the anxieties of a school that is still reeling from last year. 

“Longfellow had a pretty chaotic year last year,” said Cheung, referring to rampant staff infighting that compounded with the budget and program cuts.  

One teacher, who asked not to be named, recalled a conflict between a teacher and a volunteer that “involved profanities and throwing papers around.”  

But the biggest problem, according to the teacher, was that former principal William Dwyer had a difficult time controlling the staff. Dryer, who retired last year, could not be reached for comment. 

When district officials got word that students could sense bad feelings at the school, they grew concerned. 

To turn things around, Berkeley Superintendent Michele Lawrence brought in a new administration composed of Cheung, who at 28 is the school district’s youngest principal, and Gene Nakamura, a legendary veteran administrator who has 33 years of experience in the Berkeley school system. 

“She’s going to be a star,” Lawrence said of Cheung. “I believe through her leadership there will be a renaissance at Longfellow.” 

Cheung, a graduate of Julliard School of Music, spent six years in the Oakland school district and one year as principal of Berkeley’s Emerson Elementary. 

To cut costs at Longfellow, the district reduced the school day from seven to six periods, cut some classes and programs such as chorus and saved $402,000 by cutting six teachers. They also scrapped a bus system to trim $30,000 more. 

Meanwhile, enrollment at the school is up more than 50 students this year.  

Longfellow is not alone in its troubles. 

Districtwide, $9 million dollars has already been slashed from the budget, according to Lawrence. Most of the savings came from layoffs and the closure of a school, Franklin Elementary. Despite the closure, enrollment in the district is projected to hold steady, forcing class sizes to increase. 

“I’ve seen tough times,” said Lawrence, a former superintendent of Paramount Unified School District, a district near Los Angeles notorious for gang activity. “But last year was the toughest I’ve had in 20 years.” 

Nonetheless, many of the staff at Longfellow already sensed a change for the better. Teachers said the campus is cleaner and more peaceful. Several teachers have even written notes and e-mails to Lawrence thanking her for the school’s new administrators. 

“This is, I think, the best year I’ll ever have at this school and it’s because of the new administration,” said Tina Lewis, coordinator of Longfellow’s after-school program. “It’s a real visible difference.”  

At a school assembly for the eighth-grade class yesterday, Cheung seemed every bit the stern leader. 

“I don’t like to see anyone’s underwear and neither does Mr. Nakamura,” Cheung said, nodding to her vice principal. “That means ladies, I don’t want to see your belly buttons. And boys, keep those pants up.” 

After the assembly, she reflected on her no-nonsense demeanor while supervising a group of sixth-graders waiting in line for grilled cheese sandwiches and hot dogs in the cafeteria.  

“I’m not usually like that,” said Cheung, a former UC Berkeley music major. “But when I have to be, I am.” 

To the Editor: 

How to accommodate a million new Bay Area residents in the next 20 years seems like quite a problem. But is it the additional people who are the problem, or their cars . . . or the higher densities needed to make public transit a practical alternative? 

Driving a car is not a fundamental right. Elected officials can still pull the plug on public transit funding without violating the rights of anyone who is left stranded. But babies are still born with legs (not wheels) attached, so perhaps walking is the only mode of transportation we might claim as a natural or fundamental right. 

Many of us readily acknowledge that we’re forced to drive because the alternatives are inadequate. But the analysis always stops there. No one bothers to identify those guilty of the coercion. Once past that barrier it should be easy to identify the culprits. They’re local and county planners and elected officials who make the zoning and development decisions. They’ve put a disproportionate amount of our new urban and suburban growth in places that are accessible and functional for motorists only. 

For over half a century urban and suburban planning efforts have attempted to accommodate every auto the manufacturers can sell. And in that time we’ve never acknowledged whether the rights of those who’re forced to drive, or who are disenfranchised for lack of a car, might be more important than the property rights of the developers and land speculators. When considering our constitutional right to life, liberty and property we should remember that life comes first, liberty second, property third and cars kill. 

So let’s forget about subsidies and tax breaks to encourage transit – and pedestrian-oriented “smart growth.” Walking should be the basic transportation building block for all urban/suburban development. We’ll get all the smart growth we need if we just prohibit any development that forces us to depend on modes of transportation so dangerous that they require seat belts, air bags, crash helmets and personal liability insurance. And when the dust settles there might still be enough room so those who enjoy driving can take a circuitous five-mile route to get to the grocery store that’s just around the corner. 

Art Weber 

El Cerrito

NEW YORK — They saved a season and ended a streak by choosing to play rather than picket. 

With just hours to spare, baseball averted a strike Friday when negotiators pulled off a surprise by agreeing to a tentative labor contract. 

Commissioner Bud Selig called the deal “historic,” the first time since 1970 that players and owners accepted a new collective bargaining agreement without a work stoppage. 

“All streaks come to an end, and this was one that was overdue to come to an end,” union head Donald Fehr said. 

The deal that pulled baseball back from the brink penalizes big spending on player salaries and gives poorer teams a bigger share of the wealth. 

In return, the union received a guarantee that baseball won’t eliminate teams through the 2006 season. And for the first time, players agreed to mandatory, random testing for steroids. 

“It came down to us playing baseball or having our reputations and life ripped by the fans,” said Steve Kline, the St. Louis Cardinals’ player representative. 

“Baseball would have never been the same if we had walked out.” 

Perhaps that was why owners gained their most significant concessions since 1985 — maybe even since the start of free agency 26 years ago — with an agreement that runs until December 2006. 

“It’s not important today to talk about winning and losing,” Selig said. 

The commissioner and Fehr attended a morning bargaining session that wrapped up the deal, which averted the sport’s ninth work stoppage since 1972. The previous eight negotiations resulted in five strikes and three lockouts. 

“I think a lot of people thought they’d never live long enough to see these two parties come together with a very meaningful deal and do it without one game of work stoppage,” Selig said. 

Still, the pact has not been signed and parts weren’t even in writing. It was unclear when it would be ratified. 

The agreement was reached about 3 1/2 hours before the first game Friday, the deadline players set two weeks ago for a strike. But for most of the morning they weren’t sure whether they’d be packing bags or playing ball. 

“It was close. I was about to make my flight arrangements to go home,” Chicago Cubs outfielder Roosevelt Brown said as he arrived at Wrigley Field for that first game, against the Cardinals. 

A walkout threatened the final 31 days and 438 games of the regular season, and fans were angry at players and owners for their repeated quarrels over a business that generates $3.5 billion annually.

$5 Golden Gate toll sparks FasTrak signups 

Like last-minute Christmas shoppers, Bay area motorists rushed to sign up for FasTrak this week before the toll on the Golden Gate Bridge increases on Sunday. 

The toll goes from $3 to $5 but will cost FasTrak users only $4 – a $1 increase. 

More than 400 people signed up for FasTrak on Wednesday, more than the number of people who signed up for it during the last two weeks in August 2001, according to Mary Currie of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. 

Since FasTrak started in July 2000, 71,379 FasTrak accounts have been opened, Currie said. 

Boy tells court church counselor molested him  

FAIRFIELD — A Vacaville church counselor allegedly molested a 12-year-old boy three times at the Vacaville First Baptist Church, the boy testified in court. 

The boy testified Thursday in Solano County court that Richard Rearden, 34, molested him three times in 1999. He said the molestations happened on nights when the boy came for Bible study classes. 

The boy said it started when Rearden patted him on the crotch one day, and weeks later touched him inappropriately again as the boy stood in front of a church bathroom urinal. 

Eventually, the boy testified, Rearden took him to a private room in the church, stripped him of his pants and underwear, then tied his hands and legs to a chair before molesting him as the boy screamed repeatedly.

Nan Rohan’s passion for the age-old art of soaking and plaiting wheat into handsome designs runs deep into the soil of her Berkeley garden which produced successful wheat crops both this year and last.  

Beginning Aug. 30 the artist’s work will be on display for two months when her Spirit of the Grain wheat weaving exhibit opens at the Berkeley Travel Company opposite the Monterey Market at 1301 California St.  

Much like Rumpelstiltskin, who spun straw into gold in the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Rohan, who works as a graphic designer by day, magically transforms wheat stems into flaxen love knots, beads, horseshoes, harps, and treble clefs by night. It’s almost as if the practice has plaited a charmed strand into her life creating an added sense of purpose – increasing her inner harmony and even giving her the opportunity to communicate with Irish Poet Seamus Heaney, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995. 

Rohan contacted Heaney earlier this year after she picked one of his poetry collections while dusting and the pages opened at “The Harvest Bow,” his poem about a straw plaiter or wheat weaver. Interested in relaying the incident to him and curious to know the identity of the weaver, she wrote Heaney.  

Soon he replied with a handwritten note expressing his pleasure at having a wheat weaver read his poem. He told her that the straw plaiter in the poem was his father. 

The note has now been filed away in the modest north Berkeley home she shares with her husband Pat Rohan, where the artist’s love for the grain, first cultivated in the Fertile Crescent, is evident even from the street. Two golden swans crafted from wheat dangle from inside the living room window and a welcoming wreath of wheat heads and acorns decorates the brick-red front door.  

Seated inside at the dining room table, the silver-haired mother of three grown children wears Celtic knot earrings fashioned from braided wheat and a matching pin in her lapel. High on the wall behind her a collection of her weavings including a Mexican Corazon de Trigo (Heart of Wheat), a Welsh Fan, and a Mariee de Moisson (bride of the harvest) showcase spectacular wheat heads and form a fitting backdrop for a conversation about wheat weaving. 

To set her work in context, Rohan explains that for centuries grain-growing cultures around the world have woven wheat to preserve seed from the previous harvest so that it could be ploughed under in the spring of the following year. “The spirit of the wheat was thought to have been kept alive by saving the last wheat of the harvest and hanging the resulting plaited design in the house over the winter,” said the two-term past president of the California Wheat Weavers Guild.  

Seeds for her own backyard harvests came courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture which maintains a seed bank of older wheat varieties not commonly grown in California today. Rohan remembers hearing of this program, which furnishes free seed in return for information on the harvest, from fellow wheat weaving enthusiast Monica Spiller, whose interest lies in preserving wheat strains suitable for bread making. “The continuance of this program depends on feedback. If the USDA knows people are availing of the program, they will continue it,” said Rohan.  

Her drive to cultivate a personal stash of wheat for weaving has advantages. “Wheat weaving needs long stems. Modern wheat has been hybridized. Growers have bred out the longer stems because short wheat is easier for the farmer in that it withstands inclement and windy weather better,” she said.  

This reality makes her backyard harvest of French Chiddam, Pacific Bluestem, Sonora and Blue Beard wheat special indeed. When the crop ripened she carefully dried the wheat on the deck, tied the varieties together, stored them in plastic containers, and then used most of last year’s harvest to give weaving demonstrations at the California State Fair. “I was thrilled to be able to tell people who usually buy wheat from Kansas, North Dakota, Idaho, and Illinois that the wheat was grown in California,” said Rohan. 

With her first solo exhibit at the Berkeley Travel Company Rohan realizes a personal goal of bringing wheat weaving to the Berkeley public. The viewing hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.  

“The point of the exhibit is to let people know about the pleasures of weaving,” she said. 

Few glitches on
first day of class 

Teachers at John Muir Elementary School earned ‘As’ in heavy lifting and selflessness Tuesday after a leaky pipe flooded two classrooms and threatened to disrupt the first day of school. 

School staff who arrived intending to put the final touches on classrooms instead rolled up their pant legs and trekked through puddles to salvage supplies and furniture. They set up makeshift classrooms for kindergarten- and fourth-grade students whose rooms were drenched. 

“It was an incredible display of strength and perseverance,” said Principal Nancy Waters. “The entire staff worked on and off all day.” 

The teachers at John Muir were not the only ones working hard this week.  

As Berkeley’s 9,000 public school students strolled, grumbled and giggled their way back to classrooms Wednesday, teachers chalked up several classroom improvements that reflected their summer toil. 

At Rosa Parks Elementary School in west Berkeley, science teacher Nancy Bynes spent the first two weeks of her summer working with the school librarian and other teachers to integrate science curriculum into the classroom. 

Now, instead of teaching unrelated lessons, classroom teachers and librarians will join science lab work into regular classroom activities, such as book reports and vocabulary lists. 

“Before kids would come [to the lab] and have a great lesson on the anatomy of an earthworm, but if they didn’t hear about it again they’d forget it,” Bynes said. 

By reinforcing science labs during classroom lessons, students will better remember the information and more easily grasp new concepts, Bynes said. 

At Berkeley High School, the transition from a seven- to a six-class day led two science teachers, Kate Haber and Vern Spohn, to devote some of their summer to writing a new, advanced biology curriculum to compensate for reduced class time, co-principal Laura Leventer said. 

Several math teachers also worked this summer, to design a double period of algebra for students who were at risk of flunking the subject. 

“It’s crucial that students are given every opportunity to learn Algebra,” Leventer said. “They can’t be eligible to attend university unless they pass.” 

Parents at Rosa Parks said the devotion of many teachers had not gone unnoticed. 

“The teacher’s here [at Rosa Parks] are all amazing. Last year my daughter’s teacher took the time to visit the houses of all her students,” said Tom Killilea, whose daughter Marie started the second grade Wednesday. 

In addition to the wet welcome at John Muir, the whole district had it’s share of drama when a computer glitch accidentally dropped several middle school students from their classes. The error was remedied quickly, said Superintendent Michele Lawrence. 

“There was the normal first day of school chaos but overall, everyone was just terrific,” Lawrence said. 

Contact reporter at  

matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net

To the Editor: 

As the days shorten and nights lengthen, the darkening shadows grow longer. 

The darkening shadows of war and lies and greed and despoilage lengthen across the land. Bellicose shouts and acts of destruction will not save our economy from selfishness. Later, we'll arise from the dust our cities and wonder, “What were we thinking?” 

Bruce Joffe, 

Piedmont

LOS ANGELES — Harry Potter at Hogwarts, Frodo Baggins bound for Mordor, Hannibal Lecter in his nuthouse cell, Jean-Luc Picard on the bridge of the Enterprise, and James Bond in bed with Halle Berry. 

Who says there are no sure bets in Hollywood? 

Most fall films are uncertain commodities, but a handful have such built-in appeal, they can pretty much count their tickets before they’re sold: 

n “Red Dragon”: Anthony Hopkins does diabolical killer Lecter in his early asylum days in a prequel to “Silence of the Lambs” and “Hannibal.” Edward Norton stars as the FBI agent who captured Lecter and years later needs his help on a new case. 

Though it’s set years before the action of “Silence” and “Hannibal” and Hopkins is a decade older than when he first played the role, “he’s one of the greatest actors ever. If you’re looking at the wrinkles on his face, I’m not doing a very good job,” said “Red Dragon” director Brett Ratner. “In the first five minutes, you may say, ‘Yeah, he looks older,’ but then you get into the story. Anthony Hopkins is Hannibal. Whether he looks younger or older, he’s Hannibal Lecter.” 

n “Die Another Day”: Agent 007 (Pierce Brosnan) beats up on villains as he pursues a mega-weapon. Brosnan said he and Berry share one of the steamiest Bond love scenes ever and that the movie is ripe with fond allusions to earlier 007 flicks. 

“This particular film for any Bond aficionado will be a connoisseur’s delight in terms of picking out lines used in other movies and paying certain homages to past films,” Brosnan said. “I don’t think it will disappoint when you have the beautiful Halle Berry coming out of the water” in a take on Ursula Andress in the first Bond movie, “Dr. No.” 

n “Star Trek: Nemesis”: Patrick Stewart and the Enterprise crew find a nasty new enemy on a peace mission to the Romulans. For those subscribing to the theory that even-numbered “Trek” films are the best, this is No. 10. 

“In two or three years (when an 11th “Trek” film is likely), I will pooh-pooh that theory, but for now, I’ll hold on to it dearly,” said producer Rick Berman. “This is probably the most action-packed and exciting, edgy and dark of the movies we have made. There’s startling and shocking elements to it, and I would say we’ve probably got the best ‘Star Trek’ villain we’ve ever had (British actor Tom Hardy).” 

As for the season’s main events, need we say more than “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”? 

Blessed with lead-in films last year that each took in more than $300 million domestically, “Chamber of Secrets” and “Two Towers” are set to disprove the old Hollywood notion that audiences need a two- or three-year breather between blockbuster sequels. 

“Conventional wisdom would be that 12 months is too close together to have a sequel,” said Mark Ordesky, an executive producer of the three “Lord of the Rings” films. “But what’s become evident with ours is that people are perceiving the films as what they are. Not sequels, but one giant, epic story told in three installments.” 

Since director Peter Jackson shot all three “Lord of the Rings” films simultaneously, fans can expect another dose of class and quality. 

It doesn’t hurt that J.R.R. Tolkien’s saga of Middle-earth and a hobbit named Frodo has almost 50 years of built-in fandom, and that Jackson left audiences salivating for part two with last year’s opening chapter, “The Fellowship of the Ring.” 

Likewise, 2001’s top moneymaker, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” has fans itching for the next big-screen adaptation from J.K. Rowling’s fantasy series about the boy wizard. 

“Chamber of Secrets” director Chris Columbus, who also made “Sorcerer’s Stone,” said audiences can expect another two-and-a-half-hour adventure as Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) fights fresh evil at Hogwarts school. 

Columbus found two big advantages this time. He could jump right in on the action, without the character set-up and scene-setting necessary in the first film. And he said “Chamber of Secrets” makes for a more visual tale — “I found it to be the most cinematic of all the books, except maybe ‘Goblet of Fire.”’ 

The action is buoyed by improved special effects, Columbus said, including a bigger and better round of quidditch, a game played on flying broomsticks, crafted by George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic effects house. 

Inevitable blockbusters, the only question about “Chamber of Secrets” and “Two Towers” is where they will stack up on a 2002 box-office chart that already has produced a $400 million sensation in “Spider-Man” and a $300 million smash in “Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones.”

Thursday, August 29 

The KGB, Solemite & The Penomenauts 

8 p.m. 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

525-5024 or www.ashkenaz.com 

$7 door/ Free for 12 and under 

The Unreal Band 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-1424 

$5 

Friday, August 30 

Capoeira Mandinga 

8 p.m. 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

525-5024 or www.ashkenaz.com 

$10 door/ Free for 12 and under 

Gipsy Kings 

8 p.m. 

Greek Theatre, UC Berkeley 

642-9988 

$32.50 to $70 

The Lab Rats, Damage Done,  

The First Step & Diehard Youth 

8 p.m. 

924 Gillman St. 

525-9926 

$5 

The Pre-teens, Hansi & Flair 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough 

3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-1424 

$5 

Saturday, August 31 

Blue on Breen, Ian Butler  

& Green Man Gruvin’ 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough  

3101 Shattuck Ave. 

841-1424 

$5 

Plan 9, Wormwood, Hit Me Back  

& Dystrophy 

8 p.m. 

924 Gillman St. 

525-9926 

$5 

BACA National Juried Exhibition 

Through Sept. 21, Wed.-Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

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

40 artists from across the U.S. including 28 Bay Area artists. 

644-6893 

Free 

"Before and After"  

Reception 4 to 6 p.m.  

Through Sept. 19  

Albany Community Center and Library Galley 1249 Marin Ave. 

Jim Hair's photographs of the San Diego Hells Angels motorcycle chapter from the 1970s.  

524-9283  

Freedom! Now! 

Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery & Headquarters 2055 Center St. 

Reception 6 to 8 p.m. 

Through Aug. 25, Tues. - Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

Commemorates the work of those who struggled for justice and freedom from government/state repression. 

841-2793 

Images of Love and Courtship 

Through Sept. 15 

Gathering Tribes, 1573 Solano Ave. 

Ledger paintings by Michael Horse. 

528-9038 

Free 

The Creation of People’s Park 

Through Aug. 31, Mon. - Thurs., 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fri. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sat. 1 to 5 p.m. Sun. 3 to 7 p.m. 

The Free Movement Speech Cafe, UC Berkeley campus 

A photo exhibition, with curator Harold Adler. 

hjadler@yahoo.com 

Free 

"New Work: Part 2, The 2001 Kala Fellowship Exhibition"  

Through Sept. 7, Tues.-Fri., noon to 5:30 p.m.; Sat., noon - 4:30 p.m. 

Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. 

Featuring 8 Kala Fellowship winners, printmaking 

549-2977  

“If These Walls Could Talk” 

Through Sept. 8 

Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California Campus (just below Grizzly Peak Blvd.) 

See how various civilizations built all kinds of structures from mud huts to giant skyscrapers at this building exhibit. 

642-5132 

Admission: $8 for adults; $6 for ages 5-18, seniors and disabled; $4 for children 3-4; Free for children under 3, LHS Members and full-time Berkeley students. 

"Poems Form/From the Six Directions" 

Through Sept. 15 

Pusod: Center for culture, Ecology & Bayan, 1808 Fifth St. 

A visual poetry exhibition and presentation of a wedding happening, a Filipino tradition.  

883-1808 

Free 

Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida 

Through Sept. 1, Sat. and Sun. 5 p.m. 

John Hinkel Park, off The Arlington at Southampton Road in North Berkeley  

704-8210 for reservations or www.shotgunplayers.org  

Donations accepted 

Henry IV: The Impact Remix 

Aug. 30 - Sept. 8, Fri. and Sat. 8 p.m. and Sun. 7 p.m. 

Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St. 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 

464-4468, www.impacttheatre.com 

$15 general/$10 students 

Thursday, August 29

2nd Annual LGBT Elders Conference 

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

First Unitarian Church  

685 14th St., Oakland 

Workshops and conference for LGBT elders to learn about senior services.  

705-8918 

$20 registration, no one denied for lack of funds 

Saturday, August 31

Berkeley Youth Orchestra Auditions (Wind, Brass, Percussion) 

All day 

Laney College Music Dept.,  

Fallon Street., Oakland 

Berkeley Youth Orchestra will audition musicians aged 10-15 for the 2002-2003 season. 

For an application or more information call Penny Boys at 540-0812 or e-mail her at philiph@seismo.berkeley.edu 

Book Reading:  

21st Century Manzanar 

4 p.m. 

Eastwind Books  

2066 University Ave. 

Perry Minyake reads his debut novel, 21st Century Manzanar, a dark portrait of an America gone wrong. 

548-2350 

Free 

Monday, September 2

Labor Day Potluck Picnic and Poetry Reading 

Hosted by Bay Area Poets Coalition 

Noon to 4 p.m., Live Oak Park 

Walnut and Rose streets. 

527-9905, poetalk@aol.com 

National Organization for Women Oakland/East Bay Chapter  

6:30 p.m.  

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 6536 Telegraph Ave.  

Chapter’s monthly meeting. Speaker: Multicultural historian, Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, received 

the prestigious Valitutti Award for non fiction.  

549-2970 

Free 

Thursday, September 5

Nutrition Career Open House 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Institute of Educational Therapy  

706 Gilman St. 

Learn how to become a nutrition educator or consultant. 

558-1711 for reservations and information 

Free 

Friday, September 6

'The Winona LaDuke Reader'  

lecture and reception 

Presented by the American Indian Graduate Program 

5 p.m. Reception, 7 p.m. Lecture 

Native American environmental and Indigenous Rights activist and author 

of several books and articles Winona LaDuke will discuss the topics of 

her new book 'The Winona LaDuke Reader' and other work. 

atalay@sscl.berkeley.edu 

Free 

Saturday, September 7

Travel Careers Seminar 

8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 

Vista Community College, 2020 Milvia St., Room 306 

The day’s program will include travel industry speakers covering a variety of career possibilities: Cruise specialists, tour leaders, tour operators, adventure operators, home-based travel agents and more.  

981-2931 

$5.50 for state residents 

Sunday, September 8

Lifelong Medical Care First Annual 5K Fun Run/Walk Fundraiser 

9 a.m. to noon 

West Berkeley 

Individual and team participation. Event includes a health fair, food, prizes, live music and free insurance eligibility screening. 

704-6010 

28th Annual Solano Avenue Stroll 

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Solano Avenue 

A mile-long block part featuring “Journey of a Thousand Cranes’ Parade” at 11 a.m.  

527-5358 or www.solanostroll.org 

Free 

Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Wednesday, September 11

Commemorating the tragedy of Sept. 11 

5:30 a.m., Justin Hermann Plaza,  

Market Street at the Embarcadero, San Francisco 

A day of remembrance with art, culture, spirit, politics, and words of hope 

Information: (415) 255-7296, www.initedforpeace.org 

Free 

Prostate Cancer Lecture 

2 to 3:30 p.m. 

Maffly Auditorium, Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way, Berkeley 

Understand the risk of prostate cancer and how to detect early symptoms from a survivor. 

869-6737 

Free 

Thursday, September 12

The 14th Small Business Development Trade Fair 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

The Pauley Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, near Telegraph Ave. and Bancroft Way, UC Berkeley 

The event will introduce small businesses to the UC Berkeley community and give campus departments a glimpse of the services and products small businesses have to offer.  

Caterina Rando discusses her new book Learn to Power Think: A practical Guide to Positive and Effective Decision Making 

Boadecia’s Books 

398 Colusa Ave. at Colusa Circla, Kensington/North Berkeley 

559-9184, www.bookpride.com 

Saturday, September 14

Basic Personal Preparedness 

9 to 11 a.m. 

Fire Department Training Center  

997 Cedar St. 

Learn five critical steps to take care of yourself, your family and your home. Classes open to those 18 or older who live or work in Berkeley. 

981-5605, www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

Free 

Heritage Day 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Fourth and University avenues 

International barbecue and beer festival 

Free 

Spin for the Stars Fund-raiser 

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Spieker Aquatics Complex, Recreational Sports Facility on UC Berkeley campus 

Noncompetitive swimming and stationary cycling event. Proceeds will help Cal STAR enhance its facilities and programs for the disabled. 

$20 registration fee, $35 for biathlon challenge  

West Berkeley Open Air Market 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

University Avenue between Third and Fourth streets 

West Berkeley celebrates Neighborhood Heritage Day with crafts, food, live music, art and family entertainment. 

841-8562 or sfbayshellmounds@yahoo.com 

Free 

Thursday, September 19

Sukkot Holiday Workshop 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

Join Dawn Kepler, director of Building Jewish Bridges, for hands-on crafts, food projects, creative sukkah decorations and tips for making your own sukkah (hut). 

848-0237 Ext. 127 

$10 BRJCC members/$12 public 

Saturday, September 21

BREAD and Roses Garden Party 

1 to 5 p.m. 

Peralta Community Garden, Berkeley 

Hopkins & Peralta, Wheelchair accessible  

BREAD's birthday party - five years of dismantling corporate rule through local currency. 

644-0376 

$12 advance, $15 door, low-income rate $10 

Coastal Cleanup Day 

10 a.m. 

Work at the outflow of Strawberry Creek to clean up the San Francisco Bay coastline. 

info@strawberrycreek.org  

or 848-4008 

Free 

Saturday, October 12

Indigenous People's Day Pow Wow, Indian Market & Fall Fruit Tasting 

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Free 

Tuesday, October 15

Fall Fruit Tasting 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

2 to 7 p.m. 

Derby Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way  

Free 

Saturday, October 26

Pumpkin Carving & Costume Making 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Free 

Sunday, October 27

Spirit Day 

11 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

Fourth and University avenues 

Construct altars in a day of reflection. 

Free 

Saturday December 7, 14, 21

Holiday Crafts Fair 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Free 

The Mersey Hot Shots, a Berkeley club soccer team, recently made the journey to Europe to take part in two of the world’s biggest soccer tournaments. The players kept a diary of their travels and experiences. Part 1 of the diary: 

Day 1 

What day is it? It is 10:30 pm and it’s still dusk outside! After traveling for 36 hours, we are exhausted. We’re at the Dana Cup in Hjorring, Denmark. We are staying in a classroom in a big brick building surrounded by 4 others. We had our first money exchange and questions about exchange rates. 

We were told that we are 1 of 125 teams to arrive just today! Throughout the Dana Cup, all 10,000 players from 820 teams will be eating together; over 4,000 meals per hour are served! 

Catherine Charpentier 

Day 2 

We found a good bakery for breakfast, which I will be revisiting. Other teams have come and the mugging has started. Tonight we had a practice and then went out for dinner. Then we played pool and raced cars. We’re going to shop tomorrow and spend all our money.  

Mei-Lin Ha 

Day 3 

After breakfast at a bakery, it was really exciting to find a store that sold fruit. It was pouring rain all day. It would have been nice except that we had to play two, count them, two scrimmages against a Washington, D.C. team and a team from Saudi Arabia. Then we had our first dinner in the Dana Cup cafeteria. There were so many different kids from all around the world all sizing each other up. Awesome. Then came opening ceremonies. This was the most fun I’ve had the whole trip. All the teams lined up and paraded around the town ending at the stadium where each team was announced and “danced” across the stage. Everyone got totally into it and we were dancing with the Ghana team. 

Hannah Grenfell 

Day 4 

Our first day of the Dana Cup. Walked to the cafeteria and had cereal and toast. Our first game of the day was against a Swedish team, which we lost 6-0. Our second game of the day was against a team from Norway, and we lost that one 1-0. Even though we were all tired from our two games, we decided to go to our first disco in Europe. We heard that there was one provided by the Dana Cup. Well, when you think disco, you think maybe a gym transformed or some sort of big building… wrong! It was a huge tent over a muddy field! After the little shock of our first “disco,” we got over it and had a great time. 

Grace Sampson 

Day 5 

Happy Birthday Hannah! Today we woke up at 7 a.m. for an early game. We lost both games, but we still are guaranteed another game in the B flight. 

We surprised Hannah with a birthday cake at dinner and everyone went out with her after dinner to celebrate her 18th birthday. 

Anya Schwin 

Day 6 

YES. Finally we won our first game 1-0 against a Norwegian team. It feels so good to finally win a game. We are all tired. Our bodies ache, our uniforms are filthy. The smell of our classroom is gross. Dirty jerseys, socks and shoes line the stairs. It’s hard to imagine we could be so disgustingly messy. We lost our second game and are out of the Dana Cup. Too bad.  

The rest of the week we’ll just soak up the experience of being here. Tomorrow we are going to watch a women’s Nigerian team play and our English (boy)friends play. It’s a mini-World Cup. The rest of our time here will be relaxing and fun, meeting new people from all over the world sharing one common interest… SOCCER! 

Lauren Lieberman 

Day 7 

This was the first day we were able to sleep in. It felt so good to finally get a good night of sleep. We went to the semi-final game for the under-19 girls to see the Nigerian team. They won 3-0. We were so impressed by their level of play that we went to see them in the final game this evening. Everyone who watched them seemed excited and moved by their victory when they won 3-0 again. You could tell how serious they took this tournament and how much they’d prepared themselves for it. Hopefully we were able to learn a few things by watching them to help us in our next tournament! 

Jessica Hanzo 

Day 8 

We went to the laundromat to wash all of our dirty clothes. It took a long time and cost a lot. We skipped eating in the cafeteria and ate lunch in town instead, then most of us went to watch a bunch of the final games. At night, half the team went to go hang out with some Camden boys we met and the other half went to the pool hall. It was a nice last day in Denmark. 

Elise McNamara 

Day 9 

We left Denmark, had a short stopover in Norway and now are on our way across the North Sea to England. I’ve never slept on a boat before and it wasn’t bad considering that our cabin, shared with four girls, was the size of my mother’s closet. Another setback was the motion sickness that a few of the girls struggled with. Despite these small things, the team had a fun time on the “color line” ferry. Between the teenage disco and the all-you-can-eat buffet, our trip from Denmark to Newcastle, England was great. The team looks forward to a successful tournament in England.  

Katie Lieberman 

Pick up next Thursday’s Daily Planet for Part 2 of the Mersey Hot Shots’ European diary.

UC Berkeley’s three-day strike took its greatest toll Wednesday as numerous classes were canceled after lecturers marched alongside clerical workers on the final day of their strike. 

Lecturers are nontenured professors who teach approximately one-quarter of the university’s classes – and like the striking secretaries, telephone operators and child care workers – the lecturers have been without a contract for more than a year and accuse the university of purposely stalling contract negotiations. 

Students said Wednesday that several graduate student instructors and tenured professors joined lecturers in canceling class to show sympathy for the striking workers. 

“I probably should have stayed home today,” said one student whose anthropology class was canceled due to the strike. 

On an otherwise sparsely populated campus at least 700 strikers were joined by elected officials and a strong contingent of students at a boisterous final campus rally outside California Hall. 

Berkeley mayoral candidate Tom Bates, a former UC Berkeley lecturer, drew cheers when he told strikers that his department could not have functioned without clerical workers. 

Bates’ opponent this November, incumbent Mayor Shirley Dean, lead strikers in the chant “negotiate now.” 

After appearing uninterested at the beginning of the strike Monday, most students now say they support the strikers. 

“People have started talking about it,” said Danilo Trisi, a graduate student. “From what I read, it seems that the college can offer them more.” 

After the rally, clericals said the strike had clearly demonstrated their importance to the university. 

“I don’t care what they say, I think they’re scared to death,” said Jude Bell, an administrative assistant for the art practice department. 

But Paul Schwartz, a university spokesperson, said the strike can’t change the fact that state budget cuts prevent the university from meeting the union’s salary demands. 

“We have given the unions everything we possibly can,” Schwartz said. “When the state is looking at a $23.5 billion budget deficit, I think we were lucky that the universities weren’t cut more.” 

The clericals, represented by the Coalition of University Employees, want a 15 percent raise over two years, but the university says it can only guarantee them 2 percent this year, and just another 1.5 percent next year if state funding remains stable. 

Lecturers, who say that on average they make less than local grade school teachers, want increased pay and job security. Presently, a lecturer can only get a contract that extends longer than one year after six years of continuous employment. And they can never receive a contract longer than three years. 

“I’ve worked here two years, but I didn’t find out until the final day of last semester if I’d have a job this fall,” said Stuart Tonnock, a lecturer in the school of education.  

University officials and union spokespeople continued to give conflicting accounts of the strike’s impact on university services and operations. 

University spokesperson Carol Hyman said that 60 percent of the clericals had crossed the picket line. She said that the clericals’ strike coupled with sympathy strikes by other unions hindered telephone service, slowed construction projects, prevented overnight mail deliveries and reduced available medical service. 

Students said Wednesday that the inconveniences caused by the strike added up. 

“For me this has been a pretty big deal,” said Ben Durie, a senior whose job at a university child care center was postponed due to striking child care workers. 

Yuri Pan said he went to the math department for advice about a class, but found that all of the counselors had refused to work out of respect for the clericals. 

Today, striking clericals and lecturers are expected to return to their jobs. Lucy Montanez didn’t envision any difficulty in working under the same contract after three days of picketing. 

“We all love what we do and we want to make this the best institution possible,” she said. 

University negotiators will meet with lecturers and a state-appointed mediator Sept. 5 and 6. There is no confirmed date for further negotiations between the clericals and the university. 

Officials for both unions said more strikes are possible if negotiations continue to falter. 

Contact reporter at  

matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net 

To the Editor: 

Devorah Liss’ letter (Aug. 26), deploring a previous letter which she finds insensitive to anti-Jewish vandalism simply perpetuates the churlish insensitivity of many Jewish Americans to Palestinians and Arab-Americans. 

Liss says a Passover bombing in Israel is the culmination of violence there, ignoring the thousands of Palestinians who have been killed by Israel in its brutal, illegal occupation. She frets about insignificant damage to Hillel, and is silent about the total destruction by arson of a large, beautiful Palestinian church in Los Altos Hills that will cost a million dollars to rebuild. And she speaks only of anti-Jewish “attacks,” not of the harassment of those who are or “look Arab.” Violence against these folks has caused San Francisco to distribute “We are not the enemy” posters. Perhaps they're needed in Berkeley as well.  

When Jewish Americans break with Israel once and for all and join in solidarity with Palestinian-Americans and other supporters of freedom for Palestine, there will be much greater moral clarity on this issue. 

Progressive whites, many of them Jews, helped lead the fight against South African apartheid; progressive Jews can do the same here in the worldwide struggle against the racist Israeli state. 

Kenneth E. Scudder,  

San Francisco 

There is no relief in sight for patients like Dee Strandvold who will lose an important resource when the Alta Bates Summit pain management clinic in Berkeley closes this year. 

Strandvold, who suffers chronic back pain, will be among the hundreds left searching for new treatment centers because of the clinic’s financial problems under umbrella organization Sutter Health. 

“ We can’t continue to provide a service when we can’t cover the cost of that care,” said Jill Gruen, spokesperson for Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. 

For patients like Strandvold the explanation doesn’t ease the pain. 

“If Medicare and Medi-Cal don’t pay enough, why must the disabled be the ones to pay?” Strandvold asked. 

State Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson have searched for ways to answer that question, but so far have been stymied in their efforts. 

“We’re really just trying to bring the parties to the table so that the patients don’t have to go so far when they close this place,” Perata representative Simeon Gant said. “We’re urging the pain clinic to at least inform [the patients] of their options.” 

Carson added that the county, while hoping to find a way to offer the missing service, is running into an ever-present hurdle in the health care industry – a lack of money. 

“There are not currently any plans in motion for [the county to reopen the clinic]. There just isn’t a funding source,” Carson said. “Those services are needed but even the hospitals are having to fight hard for those dollars.” 

County health Director Dave Kears has also been involved in trying to find a solution. Kears has requested that Alta Bates provide a profile of the program so that other agencies might try to replicate it but make the program pay for itself. 

Still, Kears acknowledged that the problem will probably get worse before it gets better. 

“As health costs rise and the difficulty in paying for those services continues, this will be reoccurring,” Kears said. 

Alta Bates clinic officially stopped accepting new patients July 15 and has been reducing its services ever since. 

“We have a devoted full time staff dedicated to contacting patients and working with appropriate referrals,” said Alta Bates’ Gruen. 

But this may not be good enough, patients say. 

“I don’t know what will happen now,” Strandvold said. “I fear that if the pain clinic dies, I won’t be far behind it. Before the Summit pain clinic, I was in so much pain. I used to grind my teeth so hard I would break off my molars in my sleep.”  

Strandvold and the “Painfighters”, a group of former patients organized to fight the clinic’s closing, will be holding a demonstration 11:30 a.m. Sept. 2 at the Summit South Pavilion, where the pain clinic is located.

To the Editor: 

How can Will Youman (letters, Aug. 21) honestly deny that hate graffiti on a Kosher restaurant, or bricks thrown through a Hillel center window, or assaults on Chasidic-garbed Jews are anything but anti-Semetic hate crimes. 

This denial is far more dangerous than the violent hate crimes themselves. As long as progressive communities like ours are steadfast in decrying hate crimes, the few perpetrators are marginalized and defused. But the recipe for disaster exists when the populace is willing to look the other way or to excuse the conduct as a fraternity prank or to blame the victims for “bringing it on themselves.” That is why Mr. Youman's glib legalisms are so much more dangerous than the brutal thugism that he seeks to protect. 

Hate crimes attack us all. Jews, gays, Arabs, hispanics, African-Americans – anyone who is attacked because of perceived differences –share the common enemy of intolerance and need the common protection of a community that will not abide it. If Mr. Youman doesn't understand this, he needs some lessons in law and morality. 

As a veteran anti-Semite and erudite law student, Mr. Youman understands the significance of denying that anti-Jewish violence qualifies as a hate crime, and blaming Jews themselves for being victims. He takes a page from Nazi Germany, whose propagandists were similarly adept at deflecting attention away from the abhorently racist nature of their conduct. 

If white-sheeted thugs assaulted African Americans on College and Bancroft, nobody would excuse it as a “wild partying fraternity prank.” Similarly, if an abortion clinic were vandalized and painted as a home of “baby killers,” only the most cynical apologist would claim that the message is too “ambiguous” to warrant condemnation. 

Mark I. Schickman, 

Berkeley 

president, Holocaust Center  

of Northern California 

When environmental activist Darryl Cherney returned home from vacation this week, he was delighted to hear that his legal victory over the FBI and Oakland Police Department had been confirmed by a federal judge. 

“We’re really pleased. The judge didn’t even alter, or even worse, reverse the verdict,” Cherney said. 

A 10-person jury in June awarded $4.4 million in damages to the activist and fellow plaintiff, the late Judi Bari, who alleged that the FBI and Oakland police had violated their civil rights by treating them as suspects in a 1990 East Bay car bombing. On Aug. 13, U.S District Court Judge Claudia Wilken made the jury’s decision official. 

The judge’s actions clear the way to legal challenges, for which both sides have recently begun planning in hopes of landing a more favorable settlement. 

“We’d like to see the judge reverse the decision or have the trial thrown out,” said Maria Bee, the Oakland deputy city attorney who defended the police department. 

On the flip side, Cherney wants to see more law enforcement agents charged and greater damages awarded. 

Neither side has formalized a challenge yet. 

Post-trial motions, which serve to question the court proceedings, are due within the month and are scheduled to be heard by Wilken on Nov. 1. Appeals can be filed only after the post-trail motions have been addressed. 

The June verdict, which Cherney and supporters touted as a huge blow to law enforcement credibility, found three Oakland police officers and three FBI agents guilty of First and Fourth amendment rights violations. 

Illegal search, false arrest and conspiracy were among the charges made by Cherney and Bari following the 1990 explosion in Bari’s Subaru station wagon in Oakland which led to their arrest.  

Oakland police and the FBI claimed at the time that Cherney and Bari, members of politically active Earth First!, had accidentally detonated their own bomb. Oakland police said that FBI agents had believed the two were tied to domestic terrorism. 

Charges were never filed against the two, and instead the activists painted a government conspiracy against them and their environmental cause, which led to their successful suit this year. 

In the June verdict, only Cherney’s false arrest charge was not upheld by jurors. The 10-member panel was hung over the issue, which would normally require a retrial. But Cherney, who now lives in Humboldt County, said he would drop the charge as long as no surprises came up during the appeal process. 

- Contact @Kurtis@berkeleydailyplanet.net

To the Editor: 

The Daily Planet is doing a great job covering the clerical workers' strike at UC. The front page articles for the past two days have really sent the message that the workers are trying to get across.  

Congratulations to Daniel Freed for giving the readers a personal view of the clerical workers' motivation for the strike. As the daughter of an administrative assistant working at UC for 15 years or more, I know firsthand the struggles they have to face in trying to get paid and treated fairly. The clericals do many many important jobs at UC Berkeley. In effect, they run the university. Without their hard work and dedication, the school could not operate. I hope the new students and the chancellor and faculty realize that and start giving them the respect and financial compensation they rightly deserve. 

Acacia St. John, 

Oakland

$1 saves at least $20 million 

ELKHART, Ind. — Bayer Corp. is selling a former Alka-Seltzer factory for less than you would pay for a box of the fizzing tablets — $1. 

But whoever buys the building may need to stock up on the tablets, since its $6 million to $7 million a year in maintenance costs could give anyone a case of indigestion. 

For Elkhart Mayor Dave Miller, though, the news helped ease any concerns he had about the site. 

“Bayer’s willingness to essentially give the building to a qualified operator is probably the best news for the city of Elkhart,” Miller said. 

The building has 933,000 square feet of space and includes space for manufacturing, laboratories, offices. It also includes large refrigeration units that could be used for a company working with foods, said Joe Martin, senior vice president and general manager for Bayer Diagnostics. 

Bayer would save the cost of maintaining the building, as well as the $20 million it would cost to demolish. “So it’s really a win-win situation for everybody,” Martin said. 

It’s a prison,
not a country club 

CARSON CITY, Nev. — When some Nevada prison inmates who wanted to work on their golf game started to build a driving range, the state prison director got a bit teed off. 

Now it’s a baseball field. 

Prisons Director Jackie Crawford said convicts at the prison system’s 100-inmate Tonopah Conservation Camp got the idea for their own driving range after volunteering time to build one for the city of Tonopah. 

“Our inmates made a beautiful driving range for the city,” Crawford said when asked Friday about the convicts’ activity. “Then they said, ’Why not make our own?”’ 

Crawford quickly stopped such talk. 

“I can assure you that there are no golf courses at our prisons,” Crawford added. “Not under this director.” 

Softball’s another matter, she said, adding, “That’s something all the prisons should have. It helps expend energy.” 

‘Urban Warfare’ overseas
helps soldiers feel at home 

LOS ANGELES — Some 10,000 Navy submariners are skateboarding, racing cars and playing hockey — all thanks to a donation from the video game industry. 

Each of the Navy’s 72 subs has been given a video game console and about 20 top-selling games as part of the industry’s post-Sept. 11 effort to boost morale of soldiers fighting terrorism. 

The donation comes from members of the Interactive Digital Software Association, a trade group for the video game industry. Consoles donated include Microsoft’s X-Box, Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Nintendo’s GameCube. 

“While overseas on active duty, our troops can’t enjoy many of the things they relax with at home, so we decided to bring the games they love to them as our small way of saying ’thanks”’ said Doug Lowenstein, IDSA president. 

About 1,700 games were donated, including titles ranging from “Star Wars Rogue Leader” and “Delta Force Urban Warfare” to “Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3.” 

BERKELEY – A risk analysis by a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researcher and a University of Michigan physicist has turned up some unexpected results about the comparative safety of big and bulky SUVs. 

The study by lab Environmental Energy Technologies Division energy analyst Tom Wenzel and University of Michigan professor Marc Ross says most cars are safer than the average sports utility vehicle, and pickup trucks are “much less safe than all other types.” Minivans and import luxury cars have the safest records. 

The report, “An Analysis of Traffic Deaths by Vehicle Type and Model,” was prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy and is available for $12 from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy or through its web site at http://aceee.org. 

Ross and Wenzel reviewed government statistics on deaths each year for vehicles sold between 1995 and 1999. Their study is among the first to examine the “combined risk” of all drivers involved in a crash, and they also tracked the age, sex and driving style of the typical driver of each vehicle model. 

The study found that “sports cars as driven are extremely risky for their drivers, who tend to be young males, and minivans are extremely safe for their drivers, very few of whom are young males,” Wenzel and Ross. They found no evidence that the age and sex of the typical SUV driver increased the risk of the average SUV compared to the risk of the average midsize car or a safe smaller car model. 

The safest SUV, the Suburban, has at least a 40 percent higher combined risk than the three safest midsize and large cars, the Avalon, Camry, and Accord, the scientists say in their report.  

The analysis found the Chevy Suburban to be the safest SUV, but it was still nowhere near as safe as a Camry or an Accord, and the report says the wide range of risks between different subcompact and compact models is evidence that vehicle quality is a more important safety consideration than weight. 

“In looking at all vehicles, cars designed by Honda and Toyota consistently are safer, and weigh less, than comparable cars designed by domestic manufacturers,” Wenzel said. The study found that the safest small cars, the Volkswagen Jetta and Honda Civic, were twice as safe as the comparably sized Chevrolet Cavalier, Ford Escort, and Dodge Neon. 

“All the evidence in our study shows that vehicles can be and in fact are being made lighter and more fuel efficient without sacrificing safety,” Wenzel said. “The argument that lowering the weight of cars to achieve high fuel economy has resulted in excess deaths is unfounded.”

The Oakland Police Department reports that three shootings on Tuesday night within one hour have left one man dead and two in stable condition. 

Authorities say that officers responded to the 600 block of Louisiana Street at about 9:43 p.m. to find a male victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Medical authorities pronounced the man dead at the scene shortly afterward. 

Police units responded to reports of a shooting in the 1600 block of Seminary Avenue at about 9:14 p.m. A male victim was found suffering from a single gunshot wound to the torso and was taken to an area hospital in stable condition. 

The third shooting of the hour occurred in the 700 block of 105th Avenue just before 9:59 p.m. when a male adult was found suffering multiple gunshot wounds to the left arm after the suspect drove by in his car and shot the man. Medical units took the man to Highland Hospital where he was treated and said to be stable condition, said a police spokesman. 

Police say that the homicide unit is investigating the shooting at Louisiana Street. No suspects are currently in custody for any of the incidents.

The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority has won two court rulings in the past two days in disputes with the Golden State Warriors that could net the coliseum $23.5 million in back revenues – if the rulings stand up on appeal. 

In the first decision, a state appeals court in San Francisco on Tuesday upheld a 1999 arbitration award that requires the Warriors to pay the coliseum $17 million for premium seating revenues and other fees between 1997 and 1999. 

Coliseum authority lawyer Jon Streeter said interest since 1999 amounts to $4.5 million, making the total $21.5 million in that case. 

Streeter said that in a second ruling, an Alameda County Superior Court judge Tuesday confirmed another award in which a different arbitrator in January said the basketball team must pay $2 million for proceeds of a ticket surcharge over the past two years. 

The disputes began after the Warriors started playing in November 1997 in a new arena constructed in the coliseum, which was financed in part through taxpayer-guaranteed bonds. The premium seating revenues were intended to help retire the bond debt. 

Streeter said the double decisions are “a great thing for Oakland.” 

Lawyers and spokesmen for the Warriors were not immediately available for comment this afternoon. 

Both rulings could be appealed.

SAN JOSE – The developers of San Jose's Santana Row residential and retail complex have announced a new grand opening date for the mixed-use development that was devastated by fire earlier this month. 

Retailers in seven of Santana Row's buildings plan to be open for business on Nov. 7.  

Santana Row was originally slated to open on Sept. 19, one month to the day after the 11-alarm fire destroyed a number of residential units, a few retail shops and parking lots. 

Developers say they are working through the issues associated with the impact of the fire and have a goal to open as much of the retail space in the damaged building as soon as possible. 

“In light of last week's fire, the November 7 opening demonstrates our steadfast commitment to making Santana Row rewarding and successful for the community, our tenants and our shareholders,” said Steven Guttman, chairman and CEO of Federal Realty,  

“Words cannot express our appreciation for the outpouring of support from the city of San Jose, surrounding neighborhoods, merchants and future residents during the past week.” 

The damaged building contained 18 percent of the retail space and 940 retail parking spaces. 

Developers said all of the residential units in the building, which were still under construction and scheduled to be completed beginning in January 2003 were destroyed. 

One thing firefighters, law enforcement, city officials and Federal Realty representatives are all grateful for is that no one was killed or injured in the fire that was one of the largest in San Jose's history. 

“We are grateful that this fire didn't result in any loss of life and that it was contained to one building,'' Guttman said. 

The Maryland-based Federal Realty Investment Trust specializes in the ownership, management, development and redevelopment of shopping centers and street retail properties. The trust currently owns and operates about 15 million square feet of retail space in major metropolitan areas across the country. 

Santana Row was designed as a groundbreaking facility combining a vibrant and diverse mix of shopping, dining, entertainment and living. The completed complex was slated to include a state-of-the-art movie theater, a 213-room hotel, three-level executive villas, a farmer's market, landscaped parks and plazas, 36 retail shops, several restaurants and 246 townhomes, flats and lofts. 

So far officials have not determined the cause and have not tallied a damage estimate. A $5,000 reward has been offered for information about the cause of the fire. 

Gov. congratulates school district
for raising credentials 

OAKLAND— Gov. Gray Davis issued an official proclamation Wednesday to Oakland Unified School District for successfully reducing its number of emergency permit teachers by 64 percent last year. 

Davis credited the district’s participation in the Transition to Teaching pilot project for its decrease in teachers with emergency credentials. The program is part of Project Pipeline, a nonprofit group that operates the state-sponsored Northern California Teacher Recruitment Center. 

In the 2001-2002 school year the district reduced the number of emergency permit teachers from 257 to 93, said Margaret Fortune, the center’s director. 

When school opens Thursday, only 35 teachers with emergency credentials will show up for work, compared to 500 in 2000. 

Fortune said some teachers were eligible for credentials and just applied, and others put in the work needed to earn theirs. Teachers who did not pursue credentials were replaced. 

Defendants in SF killing
of senator’s son in court 

SAN FRANCISCO – After a three month delay, the preliminary hearing of evidence resumed Wednesday against two young men accused of killing a state senator's son during a San Francisco street robbery last fall. 

Hunter McPherson, 27, was shot on Potrero Hill's Mariposa Street on Nov. 17 while walking home with his girlfriend after a night of socializing with friends. The two men arrested a few weeks later are charged with committing a series of similar armed robberies that night, ending with the shooting death of one of their intended victims. 

One defendant, 22-year-old Dwayne Reed, had asked for and received a new attorney well into the preliminary hearing in May leading Superior Court Judge Ksenia Tsenin to grant postponements so that newly appointed attorney Cheryl Wallace could prepare.  

Several witnesses, including McPherson's girlfriend Alexa Savelle, had either pointed out a shooter that was different than who police expected or they were unable to identify either defendant as present at the scene. 

On Wednesday, homicide Inspector Thomas Cleary took the stand again to continue responding to defense questions about how officers identified Reed and his co-defendant, 18-year-old Clifton Terrell, as suspects.  

Still unanswered is whether one narcotics investigator involved – Officer Paul Lozada, who interviewed Reed in jail during late November – would respond to a defense subpoena issued while he was off duty on disability pay. The judge had threatened to issue a warrant if he didn't show up. 

US Commerce secretary gives
$6.4 million for tech uncubator  

HAYWARD – U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans Tuesday gave a $6.44 million check to a technology incubator housed in the former U.S. Navy base in Alameda, the largest economic development grant issued by the Bush administration so far. 

The award will go toward the construction of a home for the organization Advancing California's Emerging Technologies, which helps fledgling high-tech, biotech and environmental technology companies as they strive to become self-sufficient. 

A project of the California State University at Hayward, the incubator opened in 1998 and has "graduated'' seven companies which have created between 900 and 1,000 jobs and raised an estimated $150 million in venture capital. 

By its fifth year in operation, the new facility – scheduled to open in 2004 – will graduate 12 to 15 companies per year, add an estimated 6,000 new jobs to the Bay Area economy and attract $1 billion in investment.

SACRAMENTO — California will face a “perfect storm” if the lawmakers can’t pass a state spending plan by the end of the month, state Controller Kathleen Connell said. 

“There would be a series of rippling financial problems if the Legislature does not get a state budget passed,” Connell said. 

Starting on Sept. 1, the state will be unable to make payments for services that aren’t mandated by federal and state law, Connell said. Abortion services and state programs for the developmentally disabled are the latest programs in jeopardy. 

Those programs were protected under special legislation passed in 1998, which authorized the controller to continue cash payments through Aug. 31. 

Connell also announced that revenue was down for June, July and most likely August, meaning the state could face an additional $3 billion deficit that will have to be worked into this year’s or future budgets. 

In the worst-case scenario, the state would not have enough cash to meet financial obligations in October and November. If that’s the case, California will have to sell a “super-sized” revenue anticipation warrant, a short-term debt security, which could come with a high interest rate and bump up future financial obligations, Connell said. 

With just four days left until the end of the legislative session, Assembly Republicans said Wednesday they are still “miles apart” from Democrats in reaching a budget agreement.

LOS ANGELES — Bill Simon, who signed a pledge during the gubernatorial primary stating “domestic partnership” benefits belong exclusively to marriage, told a gay Republican group he supports domestic partnership laws if they’re not based on sexual orientation. 

The GOP gubernatorial candidate also said he would proclaim a Gay Pride Day, as past administrations have done, and promised to uphold a variety of gay-friendly laws and regulations. 

Simon’s responses to the Log Cabin Republicans questionnaire earlier this month prompted angry responses from some conservative backers Wednesday. 

Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, said he felt “misled and conned” by Simon and his campaign. 

“I spent months with Bill Simon touring Anglo and Hispanic churches where he vowed support for traditional values,” Sheldon said in a statement. “His responses on this questionnaire tells me otherwise.” 

The Campaign for California Families, which circulated the Marriage Protection Pledge that Simon signed, issued a press release titled “Bill Simon’s Gay Agenda” condemning the candidate’s responses as “shocking.”

Senate passes bill banning
imports of genetically
altered salmon 

SACRAMENTO — California’s fish farmers will have to wait at least until 2005 to begin growing genetically altered salmon if a bill passed Wednesday by the state Senate becomes law. 

The bill temporarily bans the so-called “superfish” from being introduced into California, requiring the state to decide by 2004 if the ban should become permanent. The Senate passed the bill 21-11, sending it back to the Assembly for agreement to Senate changes. 

The federal government is presently deciding if salmon should become the first altered animal or fish approved for human consumption. 

Many farmers and environmentalists worry that genetically enhanced salmon, which grow to full size in half the time of natural fish, could escape from farms in Washington state and prey on California’s native salmon. They cite studies by Purdue University that altered salmon could overpower natural species for food, mates and habitat. 

Growers dispute the notion, saying they only use sterile females. 

Consumer group says one
gas grade could curb prices 

SANTA MONICA — Californians could save billions of dollars if oil companies were forced to offer only a single grade of gasoline, a consumer group estimated Wednesday. 

A law requiring stations to offer only one grade of gas with an octane of 87 or 88 “would greatly reduce the ability of oil companies to create price spikes” by artificially lowering supplies of the most sought-after gas, said the study released by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. 

By eliminating underused premium and mid-grade varieties, the state could free storage space for a public fuel reserve that could be used to cushion higher future prices, according to the two-year study. 

“Rather than drill in the Arctic, let’s clean the pumps of the 50 percent of higher-octane fuel that is not used,” Jamie Court, executive director of the foundation, said in a statement. 

About 95 to 97 percent of California cars could use the single grade and motorists whose vehicles need higher octane could use additives, the study argued. 

Judge dismisses case filed
by former Mexican workers 

SAN FRANCISCO — In a blow to Mexican laborers who had hoped to claim money they said they were owed for working on American farms and railroads more than 50 years ago, a judge Wednesday granted requests by the United States and Mexican governments and Wells Fargo Bank to dismiss their case. 

The workers were among more than 300,000 Mexicans who came to the United States between 1942 and 1949 to harvest crops and maintain railroad tracks as guest workers. Called “braceros,” after the Spanish word for arm, they came under an agreement between the United States and Mexico aimed at filling labor shortages caused by World War II. 

Under the agreement, 10 percent of each worker’s wage was to be withheld and transferred, via U.S. and Mexican banks, to individual savings funds set up for each bracero. But many braceros said they never received that money when they returned to Mexico. 

SF’s Asian Art Museum
acquires 999 new works 

SAN FRANCISCO — The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is the proud owner of 999 new works of art for its growing collection, the museum announced Wednesday. 

The new works include more than 800 objects from the LLoyd Cotsen Bamboo Basket Collection. Costen also provided the museum with a research endowment. 

The remaining objects come from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Southeast Asian Art Collection. 

The Duke collection includes many rare paintings and decorative arts as well as Thai, Burmese and Cambodian sculptures. One of the Duke objects is an 11-foot-tall, 19th century gilded Burmese throne for a Buddha image. 

“We rearranged the entire gallery plan at our new facility to showcase some of the new objects from the Duke collection,” said chief curator Forrest McGill. “The pieces were so important and stunning that we had to give the a prominent place.” 

The Asian Art museum outgrew its home in Golden Gate Park and is set to reopen in a new facility at the city’s Civic Center in January. 

The museum’s collection now stands at more than 15,000 objects.

They were allegedly
aware that the company
booked false revenues 

Two former sales vice presidents of Critical Path Inc., a San Francisco high-tech company, were criminally charged with insider trading in federal court Tuesday. 

The charges in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against Jonathan Beck, 33, of San Francisco, and Kevin Clark, 37, of Pleasanton, follow guilty pleas by two other former executives earlier this year in a fraud investigation. 

In February, former President David Thatcher pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit securities fraud by booking false revenue during the third and fourth quarters of 2000 in order to meet predicted financial results. 

In April, former Vice President Timothy Ganley pleaded guilty to engaging in insider trading by selling stock in January 2001 at a time when he knew the company was executing illegitimate revenue deals and hiding expenses. 

Thatcher and Ganley have not yet been sentenced. 

In Tuesday's charges, Beck and Clark were also accused of insider trading by selling stock in January 2001 when they were allegedly aware that the company had been booking false revenues and that the fraud had not yet been revealed.  

Beck was accused of selling more than $600,000 in Critical Path stock and Clark was accused of selling more than $350,000 worth.  

The charges were filed by the U.S. Attorney's office. They carry a theoretical maximum sentence of 10 years in prison upon conviction, but the actual penalty, if the defendants are convicted, would be determined under federal sentencing guidelines. 

Critical Path restated its revenues in April 2001, saying it overstated income by about $10 million in each of the third and fourth quarters of 2000. The company's stock price fell from $116 per share in March 2000 to less than $4 per share on Feb. 15, 2001. 

The company, which provides e-mail and other communications services, has said the employment of all executives accused in the probe has been terminated and new management is in place. 

Also today, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil fraud and insider trading lawsuit against Clark and former Critical Path executive William Rinehart. The charges were settled at the same time the lawsuit was filed, the SEC said.

REDWOOD CITY— Bankrupt Napster Inc. on Thursday plans to seek a Delaware court’s approval of its proposed sale to Bertelsmann AG, which hopes to revive the silenced Internet music-sharing service. 

No other bidders emerged for Redwood City-based Napster after German-based Bertelsmann forced the company into bankruptcy in June. Bertelsmann values its bid for Napster at about $100 million, including debts that will be waived as part of the deal. 

Bertelsmann’s bid still faces a potential obstacle. The Music Publishers Association and the Recording Industry Association of America — two powerful trade groups that have fought Napster for years — have objected to the sale. 

Before federal courts ruled Napster’s online file-swapping service violated copyright laws, the service had attracted 60 million users and revolutionized the way people obtained music. 

Although Napster’s service has been idle since July 2001, millions of Web surfers still exchange music files on the Internet, much to the frustration of recording studios and artists who say they are being cheated out of sales and royalties. 

If its takeover bid wins court approval, Bertelsmann hopes to resurrect Napster as an industry-approved subscription service. 

Microsoft must respond to
Sun injunction request by Oct. 4 

BALTIMORE — Microsoft Corp. must respond by Oct. 4 to Sun Microsystems’ request for a federal court injunction that would require the software giant to integrate Sun’s Java programming into Windows, a spokeswoman for Sun reported Wednesday. 

U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz set a Dec. 3 hearing on Sun’s request for the preliminary injunction, in which Sun also asks that Microsoft be prevented from distributing Virtual Machine for Java in an unlicensed manner. 

Java is software used to run servers that run large computer networks. 

Oracle introduces new guide
to explain prices, policies 

REDWOOD SHORES — Hoping to quell criticism of its sales practices, slumping business software maker Oracle Corp. on Wednesday introduced a new customer guide that spells out its pricing policies. 

Redwood Shores-based Oracle characterized the 40-page guide as a breakthrough in an industry that often hammers out complex business deals in a freewheeling style similar to the back-and-forth negotiations of a used car lot.

University officials claim that at least 600 of the 1,800 striking UC Berkeley clerical workers crossed the picket line and went to work Monday, despite the start of a three-day strike. 

Such statistics lent credence to the university’s position that striking operators, library assistants and secretaries have not drastically impacted university operations. 

The clerical workers are trying to disrupt campus operations in an effort to draw attention to UC’s alleged unfair labor practices during a contentious contract negotiation process. 

Union officials, however, called the university’s numbers bogus, and said that two days into their strike they’ve put a tremendous amount of pressure on UC administrators to treat them better at the bargaining table. 

“I really question their figures,” said Amattulah Alaji-Sabrie, spokesperson for the Coalition of University Employees, which represents the clericals. “The university has realized the strength of our support and has orchestrated a campaign of misinformation.” 

Carol Hyman, university spokesperson, said UC Berkeley conducted an informal survey of several large departments at which 1,000 of the 1,800 striking clericals work. Of the 1,000 clericals covered, 600 had come to work, she said. 

Union officials said they had no estimate of how many members are working during the strike, but said they had more strikers on the picket lines Tuesday than on Monday and that their work stoppage has caused the university numerous headaches. 

The math department has been closed and the clericals and administrative assistants are out at Boalt Law School, Alaji-Sabrie said, adding that most construction sites remained unmanned and that union-driven delivery trucks were being turned away. 

Sympathy strikes have also hindered university operations, union officials said. 

Many graduate students have refused to work or teach classes during the strike, said Dan Lawson, president of Local 2865 of the United Auto Workers, which represents approximately 2,500 graduate student instructors. 

Snehal Shingavi, a graduate student instructor in the English department, said that he knew of at least 12 other graduate students who were refusing to teach classes during the strike. 

Fifty nurses represented by the California Nurses Association are also participating in a sympathy strike with the clericals. 

“We all suffer from the same delay tactics,” said Donna Nicholas of the nurses union. 

The nurses strike has forced the university to cancel medical appointments at the campus health center. A staff of doctors and management level nurses are still providing urgent and primary care. 

The university denied that any departments had completely shut down. Hyman said that although the math and anthropology offices were closed at certain times, nonunion staff remained at their jobs and returned telephone calls. 

“Each department has worked on its own plan to keep offices running. Obviously, some things are lagging, but managers and supervisors are picking up tasks,” she said. 

The clerical workers have been without a contract for 18 months and remain far from settling a salary increase. Clericals want a 15 percent raise over two years but the university system is offering only 3.5 percent. 

Wednesday’s strike will likely strain university resources even further. Six hundred university lecturers, who union officials say constitute 45 percent of university teachers (the university puts the number at 22 percent) will strike alongside the clericals. More than 300 classes are expected to be canceled during that one-day walkout. 

The lecturers, represented by the University Council-American Federation of Teachers, are nontenured professors whose primary responsibility is to teach, not research. 

According to union representative Michael Eisencher, the university has failed to support them financially and professionally. 

“Lecturers have the same qualifications as tenured professors, but they don’t get the same pay,” Eisencher said. 

The average lecturer makes $40,000, less than half the average salary for a tenured professor. 

Lecturers also have less job security. Presently, lecturers must accept one-year contracts. Only after six years are they eligible for three-year contracts. 

Many lecturers who have been without a contract for two years held classes Monday and Tuesday to inform students about their strike. 

“We’ve planned this to minimize the consequences for students,” said Jim Stockinger, a sociology lecturer. 

Creating playing fields in Berkeley has proven to be a drama with no end in sight. As the issue unfolds, everyone in our community loses over our inability to fulfill the simple, basic need for more playing fields for our young people. Our city is dense and small, but people, young and old alike, have a real need for stretching their bodies in the joy of an informal game of touch football, for girls breaking from old stereotypes by functioning as a soccer team, or for having a hard-fought competition between high school baseball teams. After years of studies and meetings, people are still saying in public hearings that playing fields are needed, but put them somewhere else. Berkeley clearly does not have fields of dreams, but rather can only offer inadequate dreams of fields.  

It is time for this picture to change. We cannot continue to ignore the facts:  

n Berkeley is 80 percent below national norms for recreational space. 

n Has less than 3 percent of its land area in city parks. 

n Playing field space is about one-fifth that of the average for U.S. cities of our size. 

n Turns away about 500 children every year from outreach sports programs for lack of space. 

n Is projected to turn away nearly 900 youth and 300 adults by 2005 for lack of space. 

n High school and UC campus both lack adequate playing fields. 

n Public and private sports organizations, including programs which serve disadvantaged youth, must compete with Berkeley High and UC Berkeley for use of field space. 

Grim facts indeed when research confirms over and over that participation in youth sports brings substantial benefit to both girls and boys. Active sports participation is one response to the epidemic of obesity now being reported. Youth participation in sports also encourages constructive interaction among young people of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds and strengthens an individual’s self-esteem, self-discipline and motivation for achievement. Most importantly, sports participation has been shown to improve attendance and performance in school. Current television ads are pointing out that the future careers of women are enhanced by opening up opportunities to young women traditionally discouraged from sports. 

These significant benefits should make people think when they read about the tragedy of so many young people becoming the victims and perpetrators of crime on our streets. I’m not saying that more playing fields is a magic cure. I am saying it is one of the things that a concerned community can do to help our young people find constructive outlets for their considerable energy.  

Today Berkeley has a rare opportunity to support playing fields in an appropriate place or places in the new Eastshore State Park. It is of the utmost import that wildlife in that special park be protected, that places be set aside for the quiet contemplation of nature and that places be created to learn about the wonders that we are so fortunate to have in our very own front yard. All of that must be done, but that doesn’t mean we must exclude a few playing fields. No question, these playing fields must be built and maintained without using pesticides.  

So, planners and citizens, how about supporting playing fields within the new park? We might start by looking at eliminating some of the huge parking lots that are planned. Let’s also re-open the discussion around the closing of Derby Street to address the crisis of the lack of playing fields for Berkeley High students.  

For everyone’s sake, let’s get together and turn our dreams of fields into some real fields of dreams. 

Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean

If the Cal football team is going to have success this season, the Bears will need a big contribution from senior cornerback Jemeel Powell. And if the Bears do show marked improvement, no one will better symbolize the ups and downs of the last four years than Powell. 

Powell’s Cal career began in earnest in 2000, when as a sophomore he showed tremendous skills as both a defensive back and punt returner. He intercepted a team-high four passes, including a third-overtime, game-clinching pick over huge UCLA wideout Brian Poli-Dixon. Against USC, he returned four punts for 138 yards, including an 83-yard touchdown, and grabbed an interception to help seal a win. He earned all-conference honors as both a cornerback and return man, and it seemed as if the Bears had at least one spot on the field covered for the next two years. 

But 2001 was a far cry from the glory of the previous season. Powell was nagged by groin and hamstring injuries all year, missing spring practice and four games. He also suffered a complete disintegration of his confidence after being burned early in the season and was eventually benched. 

“I hate to get beat, I just hate it,” Powell said Tuesday. “When it happens I’m real disappointed. I was getting down on myself, and wasn’t playing with the same intensity. Last year we were just getting smashed, and it takes away all your confidence.” 

During 2002 spring practice, Powell was the fourth option at cornerback, and it looked as if he would be an afterthought in the defensive scheme. But when fellow corners Atari Callen and Ray Carmel were ruled academically ineligible, it became apparent that Cal would be depending on Powell for more than just punt returns for the upcoming season. 

A starter once again, Powell has looked good in fall camp, blanketing receivers in defensive coordinator Bob Gregory’s new defense. It helps that Gregory’s scheme doesn’t leave defensive backs in one-on-one man coverage nearly as much as last season’s, which relieves some of the pressure to be perfect. Powell said it also helps that he is now allowed to vary his techniques from time to time to keep opponents off-balance. 

“When you do the same thing over and over and over, the opposition knows what to expect,” he said. “These coaches don’t restrict what I can do, and that makes a big difference.” 

With Powell and junior James Bethea the only cornerbacks with any college experience, they won’t be looking over their shoulders if they make a bad play. Two young safeties have been converted to corner to cover for the loss of Bethea and Carmel, but until they get up to speed, it’s Powell and Bethea for better or worse. 

Head coach Jeff Tedford knows what Powell has gone through the last two seasons; as Oregon’s offensive coordinator since 1999, he watched tape of Powell in preparation to play Cal. It was like watching two different players, and Tedford is glad to see the Powell of 2000 back in place. 

“I think Jemeel is back to his old form, I really do,” Tedford said. “The big key is if something bad happens, can he bounce back? You never go through a game without setbacks, so it’s up to him to react the right way.” 

The theme of this year’s Cal team is a new start, and Powell is no exception. He has nothing but praise for the new coaching staff, especially defensive backs coach J.D. Williams, who has been demanding of his new charges. He is especially tough on Powell, who Williams says has the potential to play in the NFL. 

Powell knows he’s down to his last chance, as are all of the Cal seniors. 

“A lot of us are nervous to get the season started,” Powell said. “If we lose this year, it’s not on the coaches. It’s on us as players, with no debate about it.” 

When asked for a prediction about what the upcoming season holds for the Bears, Powell was short and to the point. 

“I just don’t want what happened last year to happen again,” he said. “That’s the bottom line.”

While regional planners move forward with a strategy to accommodate 1 million new residents expected in the Bay Area 20 years from now, skeptics, including a handful of Berkeley residents, are saying to slow down instead. 

“They just assume you want to grow,” said Zelda Bronstein, a Berkeley planning commissioner. 

The Association of Bay Area Governments, which operates under state mandate, expects that population density will increase in Berkeley through the construction of more apartments along transit corridors. Planners say this will help accommodate an estimated 7,000 new residents by 2020. 

But anti-growth advocates say housing construction and job growth should be slowed to prevent an unsustainable increase in population. 

“The most effective way to limit population growth is to limit job creation,” said Stuart Flashman, an attorney representing a neighborhood group that recently stopped a proposed housing development on Hearst Street. 

“We should first decide how many people we can hold and then cap commercial development,” he said. 

Adding more people to population centers near public transportation puts undue pressure on cities like Berkeley, which are already too dense, said Flashman. 

“A six-story building in Berkeley might be better than a three-story one in Dublin, but it will still have an impact,” he noted. 

Flashman added that unfettered job growth could require Berkeley taxpayers to spend more on expanded transportation, sewage treatment plants and drinking water supplies. 

“Given the fact that we are right on an earthquake fault, this is going to be very expensive,” he said. 

Other cities have already tried limiting job growth to keep population stable. In 2000, Portland, Ore., gave tax breaks to Intel Corporation to slow job growth at its local facility. 

A similar move in Berkeley would probably not be as effective, many say. The city’s biggest employer, UC Berkeley, is run by the state, while many residents work in other cities, said Berkeley resident John McBride. 

“It’s a really interesting debate,” said Victoria Eisen, a principle planner for ABAG. “Either provide more housing or provide fewer jobs.” 

Eisen said that the anti-growth advocates were a minority and that most planners, politicians, neighborhood groups and environmentalists favor housing. 

“People don’t want to risk economic growth,” she said. 

The entire Bay Area, she said, would be harmed if Berkeley and other cities convenient to public transportation do not expand their housing stock.

SACRAMENTO – A bill that could help find out whether women’s athletic programs in California are meeting national requirements passed the Senate Tuesday. 

The bill, by Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach, would require the state to study middle school, high school and post-secondary athletic programs to ensure girls have equal access to school sports. 

Title IX, a federal law which passed in 1972, bans gender discrimination in public schools. Since it passed, the number of girls participating in high school sports has jumped from just 295,000 to more than 2.7 million, according to the National Women’s Law Center in Washington, D.C. 

The measure passed the Senate in a 27-5 vote and returns to the Assembly for a vote on Senate amendments. 

If AB2295 becomes law, a final report would be expected by 2004 and would include recommendations to improve compliance with the law. 

Earlier this month, the Assembly formed a committee to study the issue.

The Bay Area received some good news Tuesday when the U.S. Olympic Committee announced that San Francisco is one of two U.S. cities competing to host the 2012 Olympic games. 

On Nov. 3 the committee will choose between San Francisco and its competition: New York City. 

The announcement bodes well for Berkeley sports fans, says the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee (BASOC), because the Bay Area bid calls for indoor volleyball, beach volleyball and soccer to be played on the UC campus. 

“They loved Berkeley,” Winnicker said of the U.S. Olympic Committee. “What they loved was the whole mind, body and spirit attitude that is it at both [UC Berkeley and Stanford University]... great, world renowned universities. That’s really what the Olympic ideals are all about.” 

Haas Pavilion, which seats 12,000 people, would be used for indoor volleyball, both the preliminaries and the finals. Edwards Stadium, seating 22,000, would be used for beach volleyball finals. Memorial Stadium, seating 73,347, would host the preliminary soccer games.  

The Recreation Sports Facility, holding several large training gymnasiums, would also be used.  

Improvements to Berkeley’s sports venues are also in the plan and would be funded by BASOC. 

“I would think some renovations would be [appropriate],” said Bob Rose, UC Berkeley’s executive associate athletic director. “But, at this point, we’re not really sure what will be done.” 

Along with the immediate improvements to facilities, long-term benefits to transportation are expected. 

“Historically, the host sites have benefited greatly in a lot of different ways,” Rose said. “From an awareness standpoint, so many more people become aware [of your location]. The greatest benefits are seen over the span of many years.” 

Berkeley city officials have been concerned about the potential for traffic jams and increased congestion if San Francisco were to be named the site for the 2012 games. But Randy Rentschler, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, said the Bay Area could accommodate the influx of people. 

“The facilities here can handle it,” Rentschler said. “The people who live here are comfortable getting on public transit and understand it.” 

With nearly 80 percent of the sports facilities required for the 2012 Olympics already in place, Rentschler said that, unlike other cities that have recently hosted the games, this area would not have much else to build. 

“The Bay Area isn’t really building for the Olympics,” Rentschler said. “We’re building for the Bay Area and it also happens to be a great fit for the Olympics.” 

The Bay Area already has plans to add 50 miles of HOV lanes to the existing 275 miles, improve express bus service and continue BART service to San Jose. 

Along with Berkeley, Olympic events would be held in Oakland, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Jose and Palo Alto. The proposed Olympic Village, or headquarters, would be placed near Mountain View. 

San Francisco and New York edged out Houston and Washington D.C./Baltimore for final consideration for the 2012 games, the Olympic committee said today. 

If San Francisco is the final U.S. city to emerge, the Bay Area will then contend with Toronto; Rome; Paris; France; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Cape Town, South Africa. The final decision is slated to be made in 2005.

HOUSTON – UC, which is the lead plaintiff in the shareholder class action lawsuit against the Enron Corp. and Arthur Andersen, announced Tuesday that it has reached a tentative agreement with the international division of the accounting firm. 

The $40 million settlement – which still has to be approved by a number of principals and the courts – would drop Andersen Worldwide SC and all of its non-American members from the lawsuit and find them not liable of the allegations. 

The American-based portion of the accounting firm, Arthur Andersen LLP, and its subsidiaries would still remain in the suit, as would Enron. 

James E. Holt, an attorney for the University of California, said that the settlement represents one of the largest securities recoveries from an accounting firm. 

“This substantial settlement is a favorable result for the class in light of the limited role of the non-U.S. Andersen entities,” Holt said.  

“We regard this settlement as only a first step in obtaining recovery for the class, and will continue to pursue damages from the remaining defendants, most of whom had far deeper involvement in the Enron debacle than the overseas Andersen firms.” 

In February, a federal judge in Texas named the university system – whose pension fund took a $144.9 million hit from the collapse of the energy company – as the lead plaintiff in the suit filed by Enron shareholders against some of the company's executives and their accountants at Arthur Andersen. 

In an amended complaint filed in April, the university system named Andersen Worldwide and other international firms associated with the accounting firm as defendants in the lawsuit. Only the domestic Andersen LLP was Enron's auditor and signatory of financial statements. 

Andersen Worldwide denies any wrongdoing or liability in the Enron debacle. 

The settlement money will eventually be split among the members of the class, which is extensive and represents an estimated Enron loss of $25 billion. Of the money, $15 million would go to pay for the cost of the lawsuit, but not attorney's costs.

East Bay lawmakers gathered in Oakland Tuesday to kick off a new program designed to take students in Alameda and Contra Costa counties to and from school for free or at a discounted price. 

The new AC Transit school bus pass program will provide free transportation to students who qualify for reduced-priced school lunches.  

Some 30,000 students will benefit from the free bus pass program, but even those who do not qualify for a free pass are getting a break. 

In addition to the free pass program, AC Transit has nearly halved its price for a daily youth pass, from $27 to $15. A yearly bus pass will also be available at $150. 

It is the revenue generated by these discount price passes that will pay for the free passes. The program is currently structured as a two-year pilot program, but officials say they hope that enough money is generated to make the bus passes a permanent fixture. 

The passes – a sticker that must be affixed to a school-issued ID card – can be used at all times, but are primarily designed so students can take the bus to and from school. 

Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia said that many low-income students in his district have trouble coming up with enough money for bus fare, especially at the end of the month when money is traditionally tighter. 

“Parents were making difficult choices toward the end of the month – whether to buy food or buy bus fare,” Gioia said. “That's not fair, that's not the right thing to do.” 

He noted that the West County Unified School District was losing $900,000 a year in average daily attendance money because students who couldn't afford bus fare at the end of the month were staying home.

SACRAMENTO — The state Senate approved a bill Tuesday to require Bay Area drivers to participate in the more costly Smog Check II program, which supporters said would cut pollution that migrates to the Central Valley. 

The bill was among dozens the Legislature tackled Tuesday, including a measure expanding state wiretap laws to include suspected terrorists and a bill to require that 20 percent of the state’s energy needs be met with renewable energy such as solar and wind. 

The Assembly and the Senate each have hundreds of bills on which to vote before the legislative session ends Saturday. 

Written by Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, D-Atwater, the Smog Check II bill aims to crack down on millions of Bay Area motorists blamed for the wind-blown smog that travels to the Central Valley. 

The more costly tests could curb Central Valley air pollution by up to 10 percent, cutting down on Bay Area smog that blows through the Carquinez Straits and Altamont Pass, supporters said. 

During the brief time it complied with federal air quality standards, the Bay Area received an exemption from the tougher smog test. 

The bill will give both regions “an opportunity to address our mutual air challenges,” said Sen. Dick Monteith, R-Modesto. Monteith and Cardoza are facing each other in the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Gary Condit, D-Ceres. 

Critics argued it will cost Bay Area business owners more for new equipment and cost drivers there millions of dollars for the more expensive test. The newer test costs about $10 extra and puts some cars on a treadmill to check for nitrogen dioxide, a key element of ozone formation. 

The bill also exempts more cars statewide from the tougher smog test. Presently, cars less than four years old are exempt. The new law extends that exemption to cars less than six years old. 

The Senate voted 26-3 to approve the bill, sending it back to the Assembly for approval of Senate amendments. 

A bill to expand the use of wiretaps to include possible terrorism acts also passed the Senate Tuesday. By a 26-1 vote, the Senate sent the bill by Assemblyman Carl Washington, D-Paramount, back to the Assembly. If approved there, it will go to Gov. Gray Davis. 

Under current law, wiretaps can be applied to kidnapping, murder and bombing suspects. Washington’s bill would extend the use to include those suspected of building weapons of mass destruction and restrictive biological agents. 

The Assembly approved a bill requiring that 20 percent of the state’s energy be from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal. The bill, by Sen. Byron Sher, D-Stanford, gives utilities until 2017 to meet the requirement. 

Most of the state’s energy supply comes from natural gas, and supporters of Sher’s bill say spreading the state’s energy supply among other sources will increase reliability and price stability. 

The Assembly voted 49-13 to send the bill back to the Senate for concurrence in Assembly amendments. 

Also, the Assembly passed a bill requiring business executives to reveal corporate fraud or face possible fines of up to $100,000. 

The measure would fill some holes left in federal anti-fraud legislation passed in response to the collapse of Enron Corp. and related business scandals, supporters said. 

But opponents said the bill by Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Commerce, could create unfair pitfalls for corporate executives and discourage businesses from locating in California. 

The bill would authorize fines of up to $100,000 for corporate officers and directors and members of limited liability companies who fail to notify the attorney general within 15 days when they know about improper business activities that would harm investors. 

The company itself could be fined up to $1 million, and company managers responsible for financial transactions could be fined up to $50,000 for failing to make the required disclosures. 

Also, the bill requires the attorney general to set up a telephone hot line that employees could use to report possible violations of state or federal business laws or regulations or violations of fiduciary responsibility by corporations or limited liability companies. 

The 43-20 vote returned the bill to the Senate for a vote on Assembly amendments. Approval there would send the bill to the governor.

SAN JOSE — In the first financial results since closing its merger with Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. said third-quarter sales fell short of expectations though the integration of the companies remains on track. 

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company blamed the lower revenue on weak demand for technology by businesses and consumers, not problems in its corporate marriage. 

The merger with Houston-based Compaq closed on May 3 after a ferocious proxy battle. HP earned $420 million, or 14 cents per share — compared to $320 million, or 11 cents per share, by the companies a year ago. 

Revenue was $16.5 billion, down about 11 percent from $18.6 billion reported by the companies a year ago. 

Analysts were expecting a profit of 14 cents per share on sales of $16.7 billion, according to a survey by Thomson First Call. 

Even under the best economic conditions, large corporate mergers are never easy. In HP’s case, executives face not only the challenge of integrating products, accounting systems and employees but also weak demand for the computers, software and services the company sells to businesses and consumers. 

When the merger was announced almost a year ago, the companies said they would cut 15,000 positions, or 10 percent of the combined work force of 150,000. In June, executives predicted merger-related savings of $2.5 billion in 2003 and $3 billion by 2004. 

On Tuesday, the company said it has so far completed nearly 4,740 job cuts and is on track to trim 10,000 by the end of fiscal 2002.

THREE RIVERS — Authorities confiscated more than 20,000 plants from several marijuana gardens growing in Tulare County and Sequoia National Park. 

No arrests were made, the National Park Service said. 

Officers confiscated firearms, sleeping bags, tools and irrigation equipment from gardens growing in the East Fork drainage area of the Kaweah River. The plants had an estimated street value of $72 million. 

Pot growers used poisons, pesticides and cut into steep slopes to create the gardens and camps, the park service said. The growers were also poaching for food. 

Authorities are continuing to search the Sierra Nevada foothills for pot gardens by flying over mountain areas and conducting surveillance during the pot growing season that ends next month, said Lt. Donna Perry of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department.

Six hundred striking clerical workers could not keep hoards of UC Berkeley students from attending their first day of class Monday. 

The union chant, “UC Berkeley is a crime, please don’t cross the picket line,” fell on deaf ears as most students poured into campus to find nearly every class in session and professors ready and willing to teach. 

“They say don’t go to class, but I have to, otherwise, I’ll be unenrolled pretty fast,” said John Adams, a transfer student. 

Despite a fairly normal day of classes, the Coalition of University Employees, which represents the 2,300 striking telephone operators, secretaries, library assistants and clerical workers at UC Berkeley and the Office of the President in Oakland, pointed to effects of the strike. 

Child care services, medical services, deliveries and construction projects were all either halted or scaled back, said Michael-David Sasson, president of Local 3 of CUE.  

The clerical workers have been without a contract since January 2001. They are asking for a 15 percent raise over two years, but university officials say state budget cuts allow only 3.5 percent. 

“The numbers are driven by state funding, university spokesperson Paul Schwartz said. “If we got more funding we’d offer more.” 

But union officials charge that the university hasn’t tapped a $2.3 billion fund that could pay for raises. They also say that the university has negotiated in bad faith, citing a “take it or leave it offer” given to the union earlier this month.  

“We’re tired of the corporate mentality that has taken over UC,” Amatullah Alaji-Sabrie, a CUE spokesperson said. 

University officials, though, said their offers were fair. “We take the matter seriously and our proposals reflect that,” said Schwartz. 

On Wednesday, lecturers, who university officials say account for 22 percent of instructors, will strike alongside clericals, potentially forcing the cancellation of 300 classes. 

The lecturers have been without a contract for two years. They want better pay and more job security. “It’s unconscionable for a premier university to pay teachers with Ph.D.s less than elementary school teachers,” said Michael Eisencher of the University Council-American Federation of Teachers, which represents lecturers. 

Although a small, undetermined number of professors canceled classes Monday in deference to the strike, most who wanted to show support moved classes to off-campus sites. 

“We’ve scheduled 18 classes here today,” said Charlene Van Ness of the YWCA at 2600 Bancroft St., adding that the organization offered professors reduced rates for rooms as a measure to show solidarity with the strikers. 

Myrto Miliou, a graduate student teacher, taught architectural drawing class on a grass field outside the Berkeley Museum Pacific Film Archive. 

“We [some department teachers] talked about the strike and decided not to have classes on campus,” said Miliou. 

Students forced off-campus did not seem bothered by the move. 

“As long as I am supporting them it doesn’t matter,” said Aaron Choi, while waiting for his class to begin at the YWCA. 

Although most classes met as scheduled, the absence of clericals strained student services. 

Justin Portillo, an undergraduate student, said he was on the wait list for one class, but cannot find out if he is enrolled because of the strike. 

In addition, several departments, including mathematics and anthropology, did not answer telephone calls Monday. 

University spokesperson Carol Hyman, however, said the university was running fine. “Some offices have a lot of people out, but services have been covered.” 

Off the main campus, CUE found allies in other unions. 

The nurses union voted to stage a sympathy strike Monday, effectively shutting down the university medical center except for in emergency cases. 

The university has initiated legal action against the nurses, Hyman said. The university says the sympathy strike is illegal due to a “no strike” clause in their contract.  

Several unionized truck drivers also joined the effort by refusing to deliver to the medical center or to other university locations. 

Construction at the Underhill Parking Garage at Channing and Bowditch streets was among eight projects halted when picketers told unionized construction workers about the strike. Construction workers said they would not return to their jobs until Thursday.  

The three-day strike is slated to end Wednesday. Lectures are scheduled to resume negotiations with university officials and a state-appointed mediator during the first week of September. CUE is tentatively scheduled to return to the bargaining table Sept. 11-13. 

To the Editor: 

Community members have good reason to distrust the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in regard to the hauling of Bevatron debris through Berkeley streets to Richmond and Livermore landfills or the Nevada Test Site. 

If dangerous radioisotopes were not used, as lab officials say, why did the lab install 20-foot-thick concrete shields in the Bevatron to protect lab employees? What kind of radioactivity were induced in these concrete shields and their metal reinforcements? If the lab is so sure the debris is nonradioactive why do landfill operators have to sign that they will not recycle Bevatron metals? An environmental impact review is called for to reveal this information. 

Is it a coincidence that tritium (low-level radiation) was found at the Amito Reservoir, 1.5 miles from the lab’s tritium facility, above the Claremont Hotel in census tract 4001 (includes top of Panoramic Hill) and that the number of breast cancer cases in that census tract from 1988 to 1990 was 18 cases, more than twice the expected rate in the Bay Area? Yet the lab and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tell us those at the Lawrence Hall of Science only 360 feet (110 meters) away from the tritium stack, not to be concerned. 

The community needs comprehensive data on the Bevatron debris so an informed decision can be made regarding the advisability of hauling the waste on our streets and highways.  

Gene Bernardi  

Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste 

Tuesday, August 27

A House of Straw: a Natural Building Odyssey Slideshow 

7 to 9 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo 

Carolyn Roberts presents slides and talks about her experiences building her straw bale house. 

548-2220 Ext. 233 

Free 

Wednesday, August 28

Salvation Army Volunteers Meeting 

7:30 p.m. 

Salvation Army, 1535 University Ave. 

549-3400, del_zeiger@usw.salvationarmy.org 

Saturday, August 31

Berkeley Youth Orchestra Auditions (Wind, Brass, Percussion) 

All day 

Laney College Music Dept., Fallon St., Oakland 

Berkeley Youth Orchestra will audition musicians aged 10-15 for the 2002-2003 season. 

For an application or more information call Penny Boys at 540-0812 or e-mail her at philiph@seismo.kerkeley.edu 

Book Reading: “21st Century Manzanar” 

4 p.m. 

Eastwind Books, 2066 University Ave. 

Perry Minyake reads his debut novel, “21st Century Manzanar,” a dark portrait of an America gone wrong. 

548-2350 

Free 

Sunday, September 1

Women's Magic Circle  

3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.  

Each participant leads the circle through a short magic exercise, ancient or homemade. All traditions are welcome.  

595-5541 or wrpclub@aol.com for more information  

$20 for 6 month membership  

Monday, September 2

Labor Day Potluck Picnic  

and Poetry Reading 

Hosted by Bay Area Poets Coalition 

Noon to 4 p.m. 

Live Oak Park, Walnut and Rose St. 

527-9905, poetalk@aol.com 

National Organization for Women Oakland/East Bay Chapter  

6:30 PM.  

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 6536 Telegraph Ave. 

Chapter’s monthly meeting. Speaker: Multicultural historian, Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, received 

the prestigious Valitutti Award for non-fiction.  

549-2970 

Free 

Tuesday, September 3

Opening of Classes,  

Berkeley City Ballet 

1800 Dwight Way  

First day of classes at BCB. Classes Monday through Friday for children 5 and up. Student performers are invited to audition annual Nutcracker performance.  

(415) 905-4005 

Thursday, September 5

Nutrition Career Open House 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Institute of Educational Therapy, 706 Gilman St. 

Learn how to become a nutrition educator or consultant. 

558-1711 

Free 

Discussion: “Why We Call  

Ourselves Butch?” 

7 p.m. 

Boadecia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave. 

This group is for self-identified butch women. New members are welcome. 

559-9184 

Free 

Friday, September 6

'The Winona LaDuke Reader' 

Lecture and Reception 

Presented by the American Indian Graduate Program 

5 p.m. Reception, 7 p.m. Lecture 

Native American environmental and Indigenous Rights activist and author of several books and articles, Winona LaDuke, will discuss the topics of her new book 'The Winona LaDuke Reader' as well as other current work. 

atalay@sscl.berkeleyl.edu 

Free 

Saturday, September 7

Sick Plant Clinic 

9 a.m. to noon 

University of California Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. 

UC plant pathology and entomology experts will diagnose what ails your plant.  

Travel Careers Seminar 

8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 

Vista Community College, 2020 Milvia St., Room 306 

The day’s program will include travel industry speakers covering a variety of career possibilities: Cruise specialists, tour leaders, tour operators, adventure operators, home-based travel agents and more.  

981-2931 

$5.50 for California residents 

Sunday, September 8

Lifelong Medical Care First Annual 5K Fun Run/Walk Fundraiser 

9 a.m. to noon 

West Berkeley 

Individual and team participation. Event includes a health fair, food, prizes, live music and free insurance eligibility screening. 

704-6010 

28th Annual Solano Avenue Stroll 

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Solano Avenue 

A mile-long block part featuring “Journey of a Thousand Cranes’ Parade” at 11 a.m.  

527-5358 or www.solanostroll.org 

Free 

Watershed Environmental  

Poetry Festival 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Free 

Prostate Cancer Lecture 

2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

Maffly Auditorium, Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way 

Understand the risk of prostate cancer and how to detect early symptoms from a survivor. 

869-6737 

Free 

Thursday, September 12

The 14th Small Business  

Development Trade Fair 

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

The Pauley Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, near Telegraph Ave. and Bancroft Way, UC Berkeley 

The event will introduce small businesses to the UC Berkeley community and give campus departments a glimpse of the services and products small businesses have to offer.  

Caterina Rando discusses her new book Learn to Power Think: A Practical Guide to Positive and Effective Decision Making 

Boadecia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave. 

559-9184, www.bookpride.com 

Saturday, September 14

Basic Personal Preparedness 

9 to 11 a.m. 

Fire Department Training Center, 997 Cedar St. 

Learn five critical steps to take care of yourself, your family and your home. Classes open to those 18 or older who live or work in Berkeley. 

981-5605, www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

Heritage Day 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

4th and University Ave. 

International BBQ and beer festival 

Free 

Spin for the Stars Fund-raiser 

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Spieker Aquatics Complex, Recreational Sports Facility on UC Berkeley campus 

Noncompetitive swimming and stationary cycling event. Proceeds will help Cal STAR enhance its facilities and programs for the disabled. 

$20 registration fee, $35 for biathlon challenge  

West Berkeley Open Air Market 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

University Avenue between 3rd and 4th St. 

West Berkeley celebrates Neighborhood Heritage Day with crafts, food, live music, art and family entertainment. 

841-8562 or sfbayshellmounds@yahoo.com 

Free 

Sukkot Holiday Workshop 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

Join Dawn Kepler, director of Building Jewish Bridges, for hands-on crafts, food projects, creative sukkah decorations and tips for making your own sukkah (hut). 

848-0237 Ext. 127 

$10 BRJCC members/$12 public 

NEW YORK— Just four days before baseball players were scheduled to strike, the sides weighed their next moves Monday in the drawn-out negotiations for a new labor contract. 

Owners made small steps to the union in their latest offer Sunday, and it appeared the next move was up to the players’ association, which didn’t immediately respond to the new proposal. 

The sides met once Monday afternoon, and it was possible they would meet again at night, spokesmen for players and owners said. With the sides bickering over how to divide billions of dollars in the next four seasons, baseball remained faced with its ninth work stoppage since 1972 

“My sentiment hasn’t changed — I’m an optimist by nature,” New York Yankees player representative Mike Stanton said. “There are proposals from both sides and concessions from both sides. Albeit small, a concession is a concession.” 

Negotiators for players and owners were not available for comment after the day’s first session. 

Owners want vastly increased revenue sharing and a luxury tax to slow the spending of high-payroll teams. Players have agreed to revenue sharing increases, but proposed a lower level than management and asked to phase in the changes, which management opposes. 

On the luxury tax, owners want higher tax rates and lower thresholds than players. Owners regard the union’s proposal as ineffective and players think management’s plan would act like a salary cap. 

Owners increased the tax threshold Sunday from $102 million to $107 million in the first three years of the new contract and to $111 million in 2006. The portions of payrolls above that figure would be taxed, using the average annual value of 40-man rosters plus about $7.7 million per team in benefits. 

Players have proposed thresholds of $125 million next year, $135 million in 2004, $145 million in 2005 and no tax in the final season of the deal — another big point of contention. 

Owners gave proposed tax rates of 35-50 percent, depending on the number of times a team exceed the threshold, while players have proposed rates of 15-40 percent. 

As for revenue sharing, owners proposed that teams share 36 percent of their locally generated revenue, up from 20 percent this year. The teams’ previous plan was 37 percent, and the union moved up to 33.3 percent in its Saturday proposal. 

The owners’ plan would transfer $263 million annually from baseball’s richest teams to its poorest, using 2001 revenue figures for analysis. Because the union’s proposal phases in changes, the players’ proposal would transfer $172.3 million in 2003, $195.6 million in 2004, $219 million in 2005 and $242.3 million in 2006. 

On Monday 34-year-old Joe Spears stood among a group of UC Berkeley clerical workers protesting the school’s handling of labor negotiations. 

An employee in Memorial Stadium’s equipment room and a lifelong Golden Bears fan, Spears has worked for the university since his graduation from Berkeley High School in 1990. 

Despite the demonstration, he smiled warmly as he recounted signing on with the university’s staff with the hope of fulfilling a promise he made to his late father: “To be somebody.” But Spears said things have not worked out the way he had planned. 

“I feel like a guy from the slave days,” he said. 

UC Berkeley’s 1,800 clerical workers include telephone operators, secretaries and child care workers, who are pushing for a 15 percent pay raise. The university, strapped for cash amid state budget shortfalls, says it can only offer a 3.5 percent raise. The gap prompted a three-day workers strike which began Monday. 

Union officials with the Coalition of University Employees, representing clerical workers, said that none of the school’s clerical workers makes more than $50,000 a year. 

Spears makes less than half that. His monthly paycheck barely covers his financial obligations, let alone extras he would like to give his 7-year-old son. Spears lives with his mother. 

“We just want to live and have some dignity and not struggle. I’m struggling,” he said. 

Like Spears, other striking workers say their wages plus the high cost of living in the Bay Area have made financial security a nearly unattainable goal. 

Joan Gatten is a 62-year-old office manager in the university’s Doe Library who has worked at the school for 15 years. Though she raised her children in Berkeley, rising rents forced her to move to Pt. Richmond in 1982 where she found more affordable housing. The drawback, she said, is living with a housemate from time to time. 

“You really cannot live your own life, and as adults we should have the right to live alone,” she said. 

Gatten said that her entire paycheck goes toward rent, food and other necessities – leaving little or nothing to set aside as retirement savings. She dreams of splitting her retirement between her Pt. Richmond apartment and the Sierra Nevada foothills. But that scenario is unlikely. 

Catalina Estrada, who works in the university’s environmental resources department, also joined the picket lines Monday. 

“Most [costs in the Bay Area] are going up, and we are still getting paid the same,” said Estrada. “I can’t imagine how anybody could afford it if they have children. I am single and I can barely make it.” 

Besides working at the university, Estrada studies physical anthropology at Vista College. She said that making rent payments, paying for the BART ride between her shared El Cerrito apartment and to work in Berkeley and paying for college have made seeing and even talking to her family in southern California increasingly difficult. 

“Unfortunately, there are times I can’t go visit my family in LA because I don’t have the money. I have other expenses I really needed to take care of.”  

CUE representatives are scheduled to continue contract negotiations with university officials next month.

To the Editor: 

I couldn’t agree more with Diane Joy’s response in the Aug. 22 Daily Planet to Linda Maio’s proposal (Aug. 17) to neuter our raccoon population.  

We can’t even learn to live with each other, so we focus on our backyard neighbors who can’t read papers or attend meetings or speak for themselves. Raccoons, like possums and skunks, deer and coyotes, not to mention squirrels and birds, have miraculously learned to adapt to the domineering, often cruel, two-legged creatures who have taken over most of their natural turf. And we humans don’t seem willing to learn how to coexist with creatures we can’t own and control like “our” dogs and cats. (Feral cats and dogs, it should be noted, are not truly wild, but are the offspring of animals once “owned” by humans who failed to take responsibility for their domestic pets (read: property).  

That’s what it’s about, folks: coexistence – something we talk about righteously and work for tirelessly for in the arena of peace, human rights and social justice. Truth is, we are human–centric. It’s time we gave the same respect to the other creatures in our midst that pay the price every day for our predatory behavior (the automobile being No. 1 killer of animals) and unwillingness to coexist with all life on earth. 

Marianne Robinson, 

Berkeley

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Cory Lidle managed to regroup in time after his scoreless inning streak was snapped after 32 innings because of an unearned run. 

David Justice’s error helped end Lidle’s streak, but the Oakland Athletics still managed to win their 13th straight game, beating the Kansas City Royals 6-3 Monday night. 

“I lost my composure a little bit and I started overthrowing,” Lidle said. “I didn’t handle it very well.” 

Ramon Hernandez had three hits and drove in three runs as the A’s extended the longest streak in the majors this season. The winning streak is their longest since they set an Oakland record with a 14-game string in 1988. 

Hernandez had a two-run single in the Oakland’s four-run sixth. Jermaine Dye, who played with the Royals from 1997-2001 before being dealt to Oakland last July, and Ray Durham each added RBI singles. Dye, who had three hits, doubled home Miguel Tejada in the ninth for the final run. 

The second inning unearned run off Lidle (8-9) was the first he had allowed since the sixth inning on July 31 at Cleveland. 

“You never know how it is going to effect a pitcher when he has a streak going and it ends,” A’s manager Art Howe said. “I was a little concerned. It was important to get out of that inning with just one run scoring.” 

Michael Tucker opened the Kansas City second with a fly to left that glanced off Justice’s glove for a two-base error. Tucker advanced to third on Brent Mayne’s groundout, but was out in a rundown when he tried to score on Neifi Perez’s grounder to first baseman Scott Hatteberg. 

Perez went to second during the rundown and scored on Luis Ordaz’s single. Lidle’s scoreless inning streak is the second longest for a starter in Oakland history, surpassed only by Mike Torrez’s 37 shutout innings in 1976. 

“Ordaz hit a curveball,” Lidle said. “We didn’t have any information on him. We didn’t have any film.” 

Lidle, who has thrown a pair of one-hitters this season, limited the Royals to three singles over seven innings. He did not allow a hit after Raul Ibanez’s one-out single in the third. Lidle is 5-0 in August and has not allowed an earned run in 38 innings. 

“This is one of the best starting pitching groups we’re going to see the whole year,” Royals manager Tony Pena said. “They know how to pitch. Lidle threw the ball well. Tomorrow we face (Mark) Mulder and the next day (Barry) Zito.”

A two-alarm fire early Monday has left at least 60 residents, many of them seniors and disabled, without homes. 

The blaze broke out just after midnight at UA Homes, a 75-unit residential hotel at 1040 University Ave., near 10th Street. Firefighters suspect that a pile of clothes was accidentally lit on fire.  

The building’s old sprinkler system failed to contain the fire, they said, allowing flames to crawl into the walls and spread through the four-story structure. 

Three residents and one firefighter were injured during the four-hour fire fight, and were taken to Alta Bates Medical Center, according to the Berkeley Fire Department. The firefighter, who was being treated for smoke inhalation and a lacerated arm, remained hospitalized Monday evening. The firefighter’s name was not released. 

American Red Cross officials took displaced residents to an emergency shelter set up just blocks away, at Berkeley’s James Kenney Recreation Center on Eighth Street. 

Red Cross officials say that because of fire and water damage residents cannot return home for at least a month. 

“It’s a tragic day for these residents,” said Jaye Winkler, a Red Cross volunteer. “And most of these people are elderly, have severe disabilities, have ambulatory problems. It’s a a fairly fragile and vulnerable population.” 

On Monday afternoon, more than 40 residents who lost their homes gathered in the gym at James Kenney, where some caught naps on several dozen cots set up beneath basketball nets. Red Cross officials gave out food and clothing. 

“It looks like I’ll be starting all over,” said Mark Shimada. Shimada said his apartment was one of the hardest hit by the fire and that he is relying on the Red Cross to find him a place to stay until he can return to UA Homes. 

The fire department estimated that the damage exceeded $500,000, but that the building will be inhabitable again. 

In the meantime, Red Cross officials say the emergency shelter will remain open for three to five days. After that, other housing options such as the Red Cross service center in Oakland will be made available to those who can’t find new living quarters on their own. 

“Red Cross will assist these people as long as they need,” assured Winkler. “How we will be providing that assistance may change.” 

Caseworkers are scheduled to meet with displaced residents today to discuss temporary living arrangements. 

Firefighters believe the blaze was accidental. On Monday its cause was still being investigated. 

To the Editor: 

You never really miss something until it is gone. Just recently, I found this out the hard way. The complicated loss of peace and quiet. Change is sometimes a good thing, but going from having solitude to uncertainty in such a short time period is anything but. You see, I live in a nice home that is located directly on Ohlone Park. This means my backyard is lush green grass with the occasional napper under the trees. Just recently, I am coming face to face with the idea that my tranquil surroundings are being redesigned and fitted with noticeable play structures that will bring attention from children and cause much unneeded noise. It will be a new center of commotion, as if the park down the street does not supply enough entertainment for the young thrill seekers. I don’t think anyone wants me to explain the alternatives aside from my backyard, so I won’t but I will just say this. There has been limited things wrong with the park the way it is. More eye-catching structures are not necessary, they are virtually everywhere. I think the park is appreciated by anyone who has ever had a nice, relaxing visit there... and should remain so. Some people call me anti-kids, but really, I am one, so how does that fit? I just want a little peace- doesn’t everyone? 

Maxine Ziprin,  

Berkeley

Collins to have knee surgery 

ALAMEDA — Oakland Raiders starting right guard Mo Collins will undergo surgery this week to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. 

The surgery is scheduled for Wednesday in South Carolina, coach Bill Callahan said. Collins is from Charlotte, N.C., and his regular doctor will perform the surgery. 

The Raiders are hopeful Collins will return for a home game against Tennessee on Sept. 29. That would be the Raiders’ third game of the season and it follows their bye week. 

The 6-foot-4, 325-pound Collins, 25, played in Oakland’s 24-14 exhibition loss at Tennessee on Aug. 15, then missed practice all last week with what the team initially called a bruised knee. 

Collins was a first-round pick by the Raiders in 1998. He had a stress fracture in a leg last year and missed most of the season. 

Also, backup tight end Jeremy Brigham will miss Thursday’s exhibition finale against the Arizona Cardinals because of a strained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. 

Niners waive five more players 

SANTA CLARA — The San Francisco 49ers waived five players on Monday, including former XFL running back Saladin McCullough. 

It was the second straight failed trip to San Francisco’s training camp for McCullough, who couldn’t beat out Paul Smith or NFL Europe rushing champion Jamal Robertson for a backup job. 

The 49ers also cut receiver Jeremy McDaniel, claimed off waivers from Buffalo five days earlier. McDaniel caught 43 passes for 697 yards for the Bills in 2000. 

Offensive tackles Austin Lee and John Feugill and safety Brian Smith also were waived. 

A bullet for a wedgie 

LOWER SOUTHAMPTON, Pa. — A man accused of trying to kill a friend who gave him a “wedgie” will stand trial on an attempted murder charge, a judge ruled. 

Daniel Strouss, 19, was attending a Phish concert last year when Eric Kassoway sneaked up behind him and yanked up his underwear, according to testimony at a hearing Thursday. 

Strouss, of Richboro, held a grudge for months before shooting Kassoway on June 12, authorities said. 

On the night of the shooting, Strouss drove to Kassoway’s home and waited until Kassoway came home, then shot him in the arm and leg, authorities said. Kassoway nearly died from loss of blood. 

Strouss’ attorney, Al Cepparulo, said he did not dispute the prosecution’s version of events. 

“This is a tragedy for the victim. All I can say is my client is going through therapy,” he said last week. 

$1 for a police cruiser 

SPRINGFIELD, Fla. — This Florida Panhandle town is getting new police cars for only $1 each, but there’s a catch. The cars will be festooned with corporate sponsorship logos similar to those on race cars. 

City commissioners voted 4-0 Thursday to accept the deal with Charlotte, N.C.-based Government Acquisitions. The company hopes to provide a new squad car for each of Springfield’s 15 officers within the next three years. 

Government Acquisitions partner Ken Allison said advertising on cruisers destined for the Panama City suburb would be toned down. 

Police Chief Sam Slay said the city could save about $500,000 over the three-year span. 

“You are talking about $500,000 that can be spent other places in the city, and that’s what this program is for,” said Mayor Robert Walker. 

Slay wants the savings used to hire two more officers, but Commissioner Carl Curti said other departments may need the money. Slay said his department should get to use the money instead of being punished for saving it. 

Curti also was apprehensive about using the police car budget for other purposes. 

“These free cars may not always be free cars,” Curti said. 

Your age is Enronian 

HOUSTON — A company has created a birthday card inspired by Enron Corp. and its accounting scandals. 

The card by Tomato Cards, a line put out by Chicago-based Recycled Paper Greetings, features a smirking accountant sitting over an adding machine. 

“For your birthday, we hired Enron’s accountants to figure out just how old you are,” the card reads. 

“It’s very unusual to find a business being made fun of on a card,” said Marianne McDermott, executive vice president of the Greeting Card Association, a Washington, D.C.-based organization representing greeting card manufacturers.

To the Editor: 

I applaud the Park and Recreation and Waterfront commissions’ recommendations to council and East Bay Regional Park District (Aug. 23) to officially designate EastShore State Park as “park” and not “recreation area.”  

The “park” designation will protect the area from overdevelopment and will preserve habitat not only for ourselves but for future generations.  

Alas, the Bay Area is overpopulated. We no longer have the land to satisfy every recreational want, with other species paying the price for them. A higher priority must be preserving as much habitat as we can. 

I urge City Council to adopt the recommendations of its commissions and put aside political grandstanding.  

Maris Arnold, 

Berkeley  

Players poised and fans hushed, the jersey-clad teams from across the globe waited, motionless, for the signal to begin.  

Then, robots built by university engineering students from seven countries pushed, shoveled and rolled hockey pucks and rubber balls around the playing field.  

“If we hadn't won, it would have been totally worth it anyway, because it was really a lot of fun,” said “Mellow Yellow” member and Berkeley resident Martin Jonikis. 

But when the clock started, robots, not humans, roared across the Massachusetts Institute of Technology field, propelled by motors made for windshield wipers and electric screwdrivers, and built from piano hinges and PVC, wooden beams and steels rods, rubber bands and magnets. 

In the end, the “Mellow Yellow” team from the United States held gold aloft at this month’s 13th annual International Design Contest, also known as RoboCon. The contest is as much an exercise in teamwork as an engineering contest, said MIT professor Alexander Slocum, who has organized the event for the last eight years.

Today’s Highlight in History: 

On Aug. 27, 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa blew up; the resulting tidal waves in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait claimed some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra. 

On this date: 

In 1928, the Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in Paris, outlawing war and providing for the peaceful settlement of disputes. 

In 1945, American troops began landing in Japan following the surrender of the Japanese government in World War II. 

In 1962, the United States launched the Mariner II space probe, which flew past Venus the following December. 

In 1967, Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, was found dead in his London flat from an overdose of sleeping pills. 

In 1975, Haile Selassie, the last emperor of Ethiopia’s 3,000-year-old monarchy, died in Addis Ababa at age 83 almost a year after being overthrown. 

Ten years ago: President George H.W. Bush ordered federal troops to Florida for emergency relief after Hurricane Andrew struck. 

Five years ago: Former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy was charged with seeking and accepting more than $35,000 in trips, sports tickets and favors from companies that did business with his agency.  

One year ago: Israeli helicopters fired a pair of rockets through office windows and killed senior PLO leader Mustafa Zibri. Peru’s Congress voted to lift the constitutional immunity of former President Alberto Fujimori, so that prosecutors could charge him with crimes against humanity. 

Today’s Birthdays: Cajun-country singer Jimmy C. Newman is 75. Actor Tommy Sands is 65. Actor Paul Reubens is 50. For release Tuesday, Aug. 27 

Lawyers to present Stayner as
insane to avoid death penalty 

SAN JOSE — Yosemite killer Cary Stayner was convicted Monday of murdering three park tourists in a crime that spread terror through Central California and shattered the serene image of one of America’s most treasured places. 

The 41-year-old former motel handyman faces the death penalty because the murders were committed during other felonies such as burglary and attempted rape. He was convicted of three counts of first degree murder and a charge of kidnapping. 

Defense lawyers conceded that Stayner killed Carole Sund, 42, her daughter, Juli, 15, of Eureka, and Silvina Pelosso, 16, of Argentina in February 1999, but they said he was crazy and asked jurors to convict him of second-degree murder, a verdict that would have spared him a possible death sentence. 

Stayner confessed to killing the trio who were staying at the rustic motel where he worked as a handyman outside Yosemite National Park.  

The crime was unsolved for nearly six months until Stayner struck again, snatching Yosemite nature guide Joie Armstrong and beheading her near her cabin in the park in July 1999. He’s serving life in prison without chance of parole after pleading guilty in federal court to first-degree murder in Armstrong’s death. 

The sightseer case is being held in state court because the Sunds and Pelosso were slain outside the park. 

Stayner’s lawyers plan to present an insanity defense to try to spare his life. In the sanity phase, to begin Thursday, the defense will build on that foundation to try and prove that Stayner didn’t know that he was killing or didn’t know it was wrong. If that strategy fails, a third phase of the trial will be held to determine if he is sent to death row. 

As the verdict was read, Stayner did not appear to show any emotion. Outside of court, defense lawyer Marcia Morrissey said the sanity phase was a “different ball game.” 

Stayner told FBI interrogators that he had fantasized for months about sexually assaulting young girls and then killing them. On the night of Feb. 15, 1999, he said he saw “easy prey” through the open blinds of Room 509 at Cedar Lodge. 

He went to the room where he lived in the lodge, grabbed his killing “kit” that included duct tape, rope, a knife and a gun. He used a ruse to get in the room, pretending to check for a leak, and then pulled his gun, telling the three he was desperate and needed their car. 

Stayner strangled Carole Sund while the girls were bound and gagged in the bathroom. He dumped her body in their rental car trunk. 

He attempted to sexually assault both girls and have them perform sex acts on each other, but became frustrated when Pelosso wouldn’t comply. 

He strangled her while Juli was in the bathroom and put her body in the car trunk. He repeatedly tried to rape Juli, but was hindered by impotence. 

Early the next morning, Stayner drove Juli to Lake Don Pedro, a reservoir in the Sierra foothills, sexually assaulted her again, said he loved her and then slashed her throat. He covered her naked body with brush on a hillside and left.

SF leaders unveil new
anti-hate poster campaign 

SAN FRANCISCO – A coalition of San Francisco leaders unveiled a new anti-hate poster campaign Monday on the steps of the city's Hall of Justice. 

“With war heating up in the Middle East,” said District Attorney Terence Hallinan, “we're launching a pre-emptive strike against any backlash against Arab Americans, Muslims and people of color.” 

He noted that after the Sept. 11 attacks, reports of such hate crimes in a city that is generally known for diversity and tolerance shot up dramatically – to 28 in the following month and then gradually subsiding to two in January and none last month.  

“The one thing San Francisco will not tolerate is intolerance,” Hallinan said. 

The new posters, created with the help of Muslim and South Asian representatives, are set to go up in bus shelters and inside buses around the city. They show an array of American faces including a turbaned Sikh man and a young Muslim woman with a traditional head covering that are surrounded by the message, “We are not the enemy... We are your community.” 

Workers spread germs at Napa Taco Bell 

NAPA — Taco Bell workers spread germs that caused a rash of food poisonings among customers in May, according to a recently completed investigation. 

All workers must now wear gloves and use utensils to handle food. A manager also must watch when employees change gloves and wash their hands. 

The county Department of Environmental Management required the measures as part of its investigation into 94 food-poisoning complaints about Taco Bell’s Jefferson Street restaurant. 

The final investigative report confirmed that workers spread a virus that causes stomach flu-like symptoms through food handling. 

Ruben Oropeza, head code enforcer for environmental management, said Taco Bell made all of the recommended changes and more. 

“My inspector said, ‘This is the cleanest place in town,’ and even ate there after a follow-up inspection,” Oropeza said. 

Brisbane woman collects
$30.5 million from Super Lotto 

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO – The Brisbane woman who bought one of the four winning tickets in Saturday's $122 million Super Lotto Plus drawing came forward Monday to claim her share of the jackpot. 

Cindy Blair says she'll use the money to “travel, travel, travel,” according to lottery spokesman Louis Rios. 

“She wants to go to Europe,” Rios said, “but she hasn't made up her mind where in Europe she wants to go.” 

Rios said Blair is a young grandmother in her 40s, and she plans to buy a new house for her daughter, who lives in Rancho Cucamonga in Southern California. She is the sole holder of the winning ticket that she bought at Julie's Brisbane Liquors & Delicatessen at 45 Visitacion Ave. in Brisbane. 

Blair, who has lived in Brisbane for about two years, bought $20 worth of lottery tickets leading up to Saturday's jackpot, Rios said. 

Blair's split of the winnings works out to $30.5 million, which she will receive in 26 annual payments, the first of which will show up in two to three weeks. Her first check will be written out in the amount of $763,000 and the installments will increase every year until the last check arrives in the amount of $1.55 million. 

Saturday's Super Lotto Plus jackpot was the third largest ever, behind the $193 million paid out in February of this year and the $141 paid out in June 2001. 

Blair is unmarried, but she does have a boyfriend who was at her side when she arrived at the state lottery's San Francisco district office in South San Francisco. 

Blair works as the manager of a printing facility. She said she plans to quit her job.

SAN MATEO – Paul Wayne King, found guilty in March of a hate killing for sending a black man crumpling to the sidewalk with a blow to the head outside a Redwood City bar, was sentenced Monday to spend the rest of his life in prison. 

Judge Thomas Smith handed King, 39, a term of 46 years to life for an involuntary manslaughter conviction that was intensified under three-strikes sentencing guidelines. 

King, whose knuckles are tattooed with the letters “SWP,” which prosecutors said stands for “Supreme White Pride,” appeared calm at Monday's hearing, sharing only a grimace of resignation with his defense attorney Connie O'Brien when the judge issued his sentence. At the reading of his guilty verdict March 14, King wept lightly. 

On the night of Dec. 11, 1999, King, who had been released from jail just 18 hours before, lured his victim, Brad Davis, 52, outside the bar Shooters and then “sucker punched” him, the prosecution said, causing him to fall to the ground and hit his head on the pavement. Davis was found unconscious with his hands still in his pockets. 

He died six days later without regaining consciousness. 

Earlier that evening King was overheard complaining that Davis, a black man, was drinking with two white women in the bar. 

Just prior to the sentencing, prosecutor James Wade argued that King, who has been locked up for much of his adulthood, was exactly who the three-strikes law was intended for. 

“This is a violent man. This is a career criminal. This is a man that deserves the maximum,” Wade said. 

O'Brien presented two character witnesses before sentence was imposed. Steven Humrich, a construction contractor who employed King for a year as a laborer and later as a carpenter's helper, said he thought King was trustworthy and he would hire him again. 

“He came to work, he worked hard, he did his job and he went home,” he said. 

Humrich said he and his family had once brought King with them on a camping vacation. 

Judge Smith commended O'Brien on the defense she mounted for her client, and said he believed that King felt remorse. 

Outside the courtroom, Wade said he was pleased that King has been relegated to a lifetime of incarceration. 

“What he did was deplorable,” Wade said. 

Calif. must reduce its use
of water from Colo. River 

TWENTYNINE PALMS — The Mojave Desert might not leap to mind as a source of water in California, but until recently a project to pump water from beneath this cracked earth was considered a key to safeguarding the state against future droughts. 

Now, as the federal Bureau of Land Management is poised to give approval to the project, the plan is coming under increasing political fire. 

The project would store water from the Colorado River in an aquifer near Joshua Tree during wet years then tap that supply during dry years to quench the thirst of Southern California households. 

The BLM is the last federal agency that must sign off on the project and has indicated it’s likely to do so in the next several weeks after studying an environmental impact report. 

After that, the MWD will consider giving its final OK. But MWD board member Glenn Brown said Feinstein’s letter and other considerations are raising red flags. 

“It doesn’t look good,” he said. “There just isn’t as much water as they say there is.” 

Officials with Cadiz remain optimistic that their private-public partnership with the district will go through. The aqueducts and storage facility could cost $150 million to build and generate $1 billion in water sales over the next 50 years. 

“I believe this project will happen,” said Wendy Mitchell, spokeswoman for the agricultural firm. “We have a crisis coming at the end of the year.” 

Mitchell was referring to the Dec. 31 federal deadline for California to come up with a plan to reduce its use of water from the overtaxed Colorado River. California currently uses up to 800,000 acre-feet a year more than its allotment from the river. California currently uses up to 800,000 acre-feet a year more than its allotment from the river. That’s the amount consumed each year by 1.6 million households.

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gray Davis’ administration has shelved legislation designed to shape California’s future growth though financial rewards to cities that followed its vision. 

California growth analysts called it the first statewide growth management bill engineered by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research in nearly two decades. 

But local governments disliked bending to state planning visions to get grants and characterized the bill as state meddling. 

OPR Director Tal Finney said the legislation might have stirred more lawsuits than planning. 

The bill proposed that OPR write model “planning practices” to promote more infill development, transit, walkable neighborhoods and a mix of housing options.

Students shrug off latest
survey by Princeton Review 

ROLLA, Mo. — R.J. Agee says the University of Missouri-Rolla is a great place, no matter what you read about it. 

Citing “dungeon dorms,” bad food and poor community relations, The Princeton Review’s latest college survey says Agee and his classmates at the university should be the unhappiest students in the country. 

But many who attend the school, where 70 percent of the students study engineering, just scoff. 

“A lot of people don’t understand it. The facts have no basis. It’s a joke,” said Agee, a senior and the student council president. 

The review, which surveyed 100,000 students nationwide, placed Missouri-Rolla last in the quality of life ranking of its “Best 345 Colleges” guide — the bottom of the heap in a section called Purgatory. 

The publication said Missouri-Rolla also suffered from inaccessible professors and political apathy. The school took more lumps for its tiny size and supposedly bad food — it ranked 20th in the food ranking, making it the best of the bad. 

Many students say they’re content: Classes are rigorous, Internet access is top notch, and there’s free cable in every dorm room. Yahoo! once ranked it one of the nation’s most wired campuses.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The thieves who stole Amy Jo Sutterluety’s identity spent $70,000 in her name. They also took her time: a month to close 15 fraudulent accounts. 

Insurance policies to cover her out-of-pocket expenses for phone calls and legal battles didn’t exist back in 1998 — when she was victimized — though she wish they had. 

“Having been through it, I would say it’s well worth the $25 rider,” said Sutterluety, an associate professor at Baldwin-Wallace College. 

Still, experts have mixed feelings about the growing number of companies that offer such coverage. 

Travelers Insurance of Hartford, Conn., first offered an identity theft policy in 1999. Cincinnati Insurance Cos. and Columbus-based Grange Insurance are among those that since have added the coverage, usually as a rider to a homeowner’s policy.

Sony’s PlayStation 2 launches
online video game service 

LOS ANGELES — Gamers on Sony’s PlayStation 2 can now battle each other online with the release Tuesday of adapters that connect faraway players over the Internet. 

Players in North America who purchase the $39.99 connector can link to Sony’s network through a number of new games, including the military shoot-’em-up “SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs” and the football simulator “Madden NFL 2003.” 

The service is designed to expand the community of PlayStation 2 gamers beyond friends playing together on the same console, said Kaz Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment of America. 

“If you know you’re good, instead of beating up your friends all the time you can go out into the network and compete with others who are just as cocky as you are,” he joked. 

Sony hopes to ship about 400,000 of the adapters by the end of the year, Hirai said. About 11 million PlayStation 2 units have been sold in North America. 

Amid fierce competition between three major console manufacturers, Sony is first to roll out its online service. 

Microsoft’s Xbox plans to launch its own version in November. Although Nintendo’s GameCube has the capability for Internet connectivity, the company has no immediate plan to connect users online. 

Recording industry reports
further decline in CD sales 

LOS ANGELES — Compact disc music sales decreased 7 percent during the first half of the year, a further indication that online music sharing sites are hurting the recording industry, a trade group said Monday. 

The new figures, compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers, follow a 5.3 percent drop in CD shipments last year and 6 percent falloff in 2000, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. 

In addition to the sales data, the RIAA released a separate survey of Internet users’ music habits, which found that most consumers between the ages of 12 and 54 bought fewer CDs as they downloaded more tracks. 

Previous studies independent of the music industry have suggested that access to free music on the Web actually encourages consumers to experiment with new acts and by more CDs. 

“We find a striking connection between people who say they are downloading more and buying less,” said Geoff Garin, the pollster for Peter D. Hart Research Associates who conducted the survey of 860 consumers for the RIAA in May. 

Report: San Diego executives worked
as FBI informants 

SAN DIEGO — Local sporting good executives reportedly worked as undercover FBI informants in an investigation of global price-fixing by makers of carbon fiber, a crucial material in the U.S. defense industry. 

Executives at Horizon Sports Technologies said that for nearly two years they wore wires and recorded phone conversations with representatives of the carbon fiber companies, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Sunday. 

The strong, lightweight material is used in satellites, stealth aircraft and a wide range of other military equipment. It’s also used in graphite golf club shafts, bicycle frames and race cars.

State Legislature enters last week of session 

SACRAMENTO — Lawmakers started their last week of a two-year legislative session by approving bills Monday that include measures to require retailers to label genetically modified seafood and giving crime victims the right to money their assailants earn from selling the story of their crime. 

Hundreds of bills are still awaiting action before Saturday, when the session ends at midnight. Among the bills are measures to ensure family leave, strengthen financial privacy laws and approve a $99 billion state budget that’s already two months late. 

“There are more than 500 bills on file, so that means about 100 a day. That means we’re going to have to be cooking,” said Senate President Pro Tem John Burton. 

A frustrated Burton, D-San Francisco, earlier had admonished senators to “know what’s going on with your bills. It might make life easier, if we don’t want to be here at midnight.” 

There are about 700 bills still active in the Assembly, including the state’s 2002-2003 budget, which the Senate passed in June. 

Assembly OKs sales of needles
without prescriptions 

SACRAMENTO — The Assembly passed a bill on Monday allowing pharmacies to sell hypodermic needles to adults without a doctor’s prescription. 

The bill, by Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, said his legislation would reduce the number of cases of HIV and other diseases caused by the sharing of needles among drug addicts. 

“California is one of only six states nationwide that requires people to have a prescription to purchase a syringe,” said Assemblyman Joe Nation, D-San Rafael. “SB1785 would help save lives in our state.” 

Supporters say needle sharing is linked to 19 percent of all AIDS and half of all Hepatitis C cases. 

But Assemblywoman Lynne Leach, R-Walnut Creek, argued that the measure “encourages drug use.” 

“You are saying to people that ’we can’t stop you so we are going to help you (use drugs),” Leach said. 

The measure passed in a 42-24 vote. It now goes back to the Senate because of amendments made in the Assembly. 

Assembly passes bill bringing back
traditional June primary 

SACRAMENTO — The state Assembly narrowly passed a bill Monday to bring back California’s traditional June primary for state and congressional elections. 

But the state’s new March primary for presidential elections every four years will stay. 

The bill passed 41-13, by a single vote, after passionate exchanges on the Assembly floor about growing voter apathy and long campaigns between March and November since the state experimented with a March primary for the 1996 presidential and legislative elections. 

The California primary returned to June for the 1998 gubernatorial and legislative elections, and then to March for the 2000 presidential and legislative primary and 2002’s gubernatorial and legislative races. 

“The results have been, in my judgment, and that of many commentators, abysmal,” said Assemblyman Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto. 

Assembly defeats bill to ban insurers
from buying auto shops 

SACRAMENTO — The state Assembly defeated a bill Monday to prevent Illinois-based Allstate Insurance Co. from entering the California market with its 40-shop Sterling Auto Body Centers. 

The vote killed an earlier Senate attempt to block insurance companies from taking over auto repair shops in California. The bill, SB1648, received 24 favorable votes in the Assembly, short of 41 needed to pass. Twenty-two Assembly members voted against the bill. 

The legislation’s supporters argued that vertical integration of insurance companies and auto body shops will hurt consumers by leaving them without an advocate for quality repairs. 

Assemblyman Fred Keeley, D-Boulder Creek, warned his colleagues that insurance companies want “a larger and larger stake in a vertically integrated way” and that passing the bill would “prevent it from spreading like wildfire.” 

But opponents argued the bill would stifle competition, block willing investment in California and protect an existing auto repair industry they alleged is rife with fraud.

Assembly members disagree on how
to handle $23.6 billion deficit 

SACRAMENTO — The California Assembly is poised to make a third attempt Tuesday to approve an overdue state budget, but few are holding out hope that it will end the 57-day budget impasse. 

The vote is scheduled to come with five days left in the legislative session and intensifying pressure to approve a $99.1 billion spending plan that already is two months late. 

The state Capitol hummed Monday with dueling press briefings, speculation whether a budget will be passed before midnight Saturday and private exchanges of blame. 

But above the din, lawmakers appeared Monday to be exactly where they were on June 29 when state senators quickly and surgically passed a budget and lobbed it to their counterparts in the state Assembly. 

Nowhere. 

“We want a resolution of this budget as much, if not more than, the Democrats do but we don’t see it as happening real soon,” said Republican Assemblyman John Campbell, R-Irvine. “The long and short is that we are a long ways apart.” 

The sticking point seems simple. 

Republicans say they disagree with $3.7 billion in tax increases included in the plan originally sculpted by Gov. Gray Davis, who is faced with a $23.6 billion budget deficit in the same year he is seeking re-election against Republican Bill Simon. 

GOP members say they would prefer the Democrats cut from what they call bloated government programs. 

But that is where the simplicity ends. Democrats say their GOP colleagues have not spelled out what they would cut and insist that abandoning tax increases would mean carving dramatically into programs for the poor, elderly and children.

Gov. Bush says he will talk with
Muslim groups about threats 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Jeb Bush told Muslim leaders Monday the state will assess the safety of all Florida mosques and Islamic schools following the arrest of a doctor accused of plotting to blow up Islamic buildings. 

Officers with the state’s regional anti-terrorism task forces will visit each of the buildings by Tuesday, Bush and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Tim Moore told Muslim leaders during a conference call. 

“We’re here to provide a level of security,” Bush told the leaders. “It is a duty of the state government, and local government and federal government ... to protect people’s rights and to make sure they are not targeted because of their ethnicity, their nationality or their religion. Period. I take this very seriously.” 

NASA welcomes
’N Sync singer Lance Bass 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA welcomed its first celebrity space tourist on Monday: ’N Sync singer Lance Bass, who hopes to clinch a deal with the Russians soon and fly to the international space station in two months. 

The 23-year-old boy-band member began a full week of training at Johnson Space Center in Houston along with the rest of his crew, a Russian and a Belgian. All three flew in from Moscow over the weekend after training at the cosmonaut base in Star City, Russia. 

Johnson’s public affairs office fielded numerous calls about Bass’ presence, but it was not excessive and no groupies were reported outside the center gates, said spokesman John Ira Petty. 

NASA agreed to teach Bass about the basics of space flight — and the particulars of the U.S. side of the space station — even though his trip is still up in the air because of contract issues with the Russians. 

The three men are supposed to blast off from Kazakhstan on Oct. 28 in a Russian Soyuz capsule that will remain at the space station and serve as a fresh lifeboat. But Bass has yet to come to financial terms with the Russian Space Agency despite months of wrangling, and he’s yet to be endorsed by a panel of space station representatives. 

ACT to add an optional essay
to its college entrance exam 

The maker of the nation’s second-most widely used college entrance test, the ACT, said Monday it will include an optional essay on its exam which students can take depending on the admissions requirements of the colleges where they’re applying. 

The announcement comes less than two months after owners of the ACT’s rival, the SAT, said they would add a mandatory essay to that test. 

ACT Inc., headquartered in Iowa City, Iowa, said its decision was influenced by the expectation that the University of California system will later this year require a writing sample from prospective students. 

San Francisco Chronicle
to close PM Edition 

SAN FRANCISCO — Less than two years after its debut, the San Francisco Chronicle has decided to stop the presses on the newspaper’s afternoon edition. The last issue will be published Sept. 27. 

Chronicle publisher John Oppedahl made the announcement to staffers in a memo distributed last Friday and made public Monday on an Internet media news site. 

Oppedahl said the current “harsh economic reality cannot justify the continued costs” of publication. “The deep financial hole we’re in is something we must face, as we’ve been saying for some time.” 

About 8,000 copies of the afternoon edition are being sold daily, the newspaper said. The Chronicle’s morning circulation is 525,897 daily and 537,145 on Sunday, although Oppedahl told employees new circulation figures slated for release next month would reflect “significant gains.”

The gulf between rich and poor widened in California during the 1990s. 

New census data show that vast disparities persist in cities and rural California, while the economic leveling effect of sprawl helped some suburbs close the income gap. 

The numbers, which were collected at the height of the economic boom in 2000, show a state that got more golden for the wealthy while the working poor struggled to keep up. 

The income gap widened in 54 of the 58 counties, according to results released Tuesday from the census long form, which asked about one in six Californians to report their 1999 income as well as everything from their country of origin to whether their children are in preschool. 

Some regional wrinkles emerged from the data: 

n The income gap increased fastest in low-population counties in the Sierras and the state’s far north, including Alpine, Modoc and Siskiyou. Other areas of high inequality included southern San Joaquin Valley farm communities. 

n Cities remained centers of inequality. In Los Angeles, which encompasses both Pacific Palisades and Watts, the disparity between rich and poor was so extreme that it skewed the statewide average. San Francisco, Oakland and Fresno also all had a wider income gap than the state average. 

n The only four counties where the gap decreased were semi-rural, but on the cusp of a new surge in growth from the state’s population centers. The income gap was relatively low in the sprawl east of the Bay Area, north of Los Angeles and around Sacramento, where two-income families can be the norm. 

n California has the fourth highest disparity among the 25 states for which long-form data has been released this summer. 

Those conclusions are based on a statistical formula economists use to measure income disparity called the “Gini coefficient,” named after an Italian demographer. 

High immigration rates explain some of it — nearly 40 percent of California’s 33.9 million residents lives in a family headed by an immigrant, the Census Bureau has reported. 

During the 1990s, waves of low-wage workers from Mexico and Central America arrived along with highly skilled engineers and computer programmers from Asia, increasing the gap. 

During the 1990s, Reed said, the income of a family of four in the lowest quarter of wage earners fell from $28,600 to $27,200 in constant dollars, while a family of four in the highest quarter earned $90,600 as the decade began and $94,900 by its end. 

Though that gap closed slightly during the late 1990s, more recent economic woes have likely forced it wider again, Reed said. 

“This is very consistent with what we’ve seen over the last 20 years in California, which is the rising of the income gap due to the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer,” Reed said. 

Counties with a high median income tended to be more homogenous and thus have a relatively small gap, while counties with high poverty rates had higher inequality. Immigration and education levels appear to be less of an influence on the wage gap, Reed said. 

“The poor counties have diverse populations ranging from poor through rich, while the rich areas are more exclusive,” she said. 

The state is trying to close the gap by training the often transitory low-wage work force in skills that will help them move up the career ladder incrementally, according to Michael Bernick, director of the Employment Development Department. 

A certified nurse assistant earning $9 an hour who qualifies as a senior nurse assistant — but not a fully registered nurse — might earn about $10.50 an hour, he points out. 

Beyond earning more, a career-track nurse will tend to be a better worker, Bernick said. 

“It’s a consumer issue, a quality-of-service issue,” he said, “as well as an issue of income inequality.”

RENO, Nev. — Thousands of techies, old hippies, trippers and artists from around the world are on their way to the northern Nevada desert for the annual Burning Man counterculture festival. 

While the event known for its eclectic artwork, music and games began Monday, most participants aren’t expected to show up until later this week on the Black Rock Desert, 120 miles north of Reno near Gerlach. 

Billed as a celebration of art and radical self-expression, the 17th annual gathering is expected to draw 28,000 people from at least 40 states and 20 countries. 

“There’s a certain energy out here, everybody is having a blast. It’s Mardi Gras in the desert,” said Don Lawson Jr., a participant and store owner from nearby Empire. 

Lawson and others will let their hair down at the celebration that combines wilderness camping and offbeat art and music in a surreal 5-square-mile encampment known as Black Rock City. 

The weeklong festival on the ancient lake bed climaxes Saturday night with the ceremonial torching of a 70-foot-high wooden effigy of a man for whom the event is named. 

“We want participants to be safe and have an enjoyable experience out there,” said Dave Cooper of the Bureau of Land Management’s Winnemucca field office, which must approve a permit because the event is on public land. 

But he warned participants that drug laws again would be enforced. 

Last year, BLM rangers issued more than 100 citations to participants, mostly for marijuana possession. The agency also made a handful of arrests for possession of larger amounts of drugs. 

“We will enforce drug laws just as we would in any other community,” Cooper said. “They’re like any other community in that regard.” 

Burning Man spokeswoman Marian Goodell said information on drug laws has been included in the “Survival Guide” mailed to all ticket holders. 

“We have always urged people to recognize state and federal laws, which includes drugs,” she said. 

Burning Man creator Larry Harvey started the first festival at San Francisco’s Baker Beach in 1986 and moved to the Nevada desert in 1990. Billed as the ultimate celebration of radical self-expression and self-reliance, Burning Man features a crazy, anything-goes atmosphere. 

Participants are encouraged to participate by operating theme camps, such as the Costco Soulmate Trading Outlet where celebrants can line up dates. Other activities include body painting and dominatrix training. 

Participants wear every kind of costume imaginable — or nothing at all since clothing is optional. 

To combat dust storms that have plagued the event in recent years, organizers plan to water down streets in the tent city that even has its own air strip. 

Tickets for the event began at $130 and now cost $250.

OAKLAND— Transit officials are taking a look at a new mass transit system that would use small trams instead of trains and would look similar to a freeway with rest areas. 

Projections of low-cost construction and overwhelming convenience have seemed unrealistic in the past. But the idea has finally caught the attention of BART and the Port of Oakland. It would be used primarily around Oakland International Airport and as a feeder to BART for hard-to-reach locations such as Alameda. 

Based on a concept called Group Rapid Transit, the system involves dozens of electronically powered and computer-operated “trams” to take passengers direct to their destination. 

Instead of having one large train stop at many stations, the group rapid transit concept calls for many small trains stopping at few stations. 

“Some people look at (it) and say that is Jetsons-type stuff and we don’t need to waste money on that,” said Richard Lu, a senior analyst in BART’s research and development department. “It is so new that nobody wants to look foolish, but given the politics and demand out there for new connections, we thought that it was worthwhile to at least take a look.” 

The cost of construction has been estimated at $10 million a mile, compared with BART’s $100 million a mile. 

Alameda-based CyberTran Inc. developed and tested a prototype of a tram that can be used on the system. The firm also has developed computer models of how the system could work in the San Francisco Bay area.

LOS ANGELES — Your stocks turned out to be lemons? Think about investing in vintage vehicles, say collectors who point to skyrocketing values led by American muscle cars. But step into the classic car market carefully, the experts advise. 

“The key to collector cars is you can drive them and show them. You can’t do that with your portfolio,” said Mike Yager, who added five Corvettes this month to his stable of 55 sports cars. 

“It’s hard to take a stock certificate for a quarter-million shares of, let’s say AT&T, and say, ‘Hey, look what I’ve got.’ Nowadays, you’re embarrassed to own stock.” 

Vintage car auctions, shows and swap meets are thriving with baby boomer buyers. 

“I now own no stock and a lot of cars. A lot of people are investing in them,” said collector Craig Jackson, who still owns his first car — a 1957 Chevrolet — and keeps his eyes peeled for another investment in nostalgia. 

Museum quality vehicles demand millions, such as the $5.9 million 1962 Ferrari sold by RM Auctions this month in Monterey. At January’s Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle convertible sold for $172,800 and a customized 1957 Chevy Bel Air sold for $183,600. 

“It’s that whole baby boomer generation of cars and vintage hot rods that are coming on strong,” said Jackson, whose annual Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction is considered the nation’s premier collector-car event. 

Crowds swelled by 25 percent over last year and sales topped $26.9 million with a record 86 percent of vehicles on the block sold. One of those that didn’t sell was a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner, despite a top bid of $135,000. 

The owner’s betting he’ll get more later.

Today’s Highlight in History: 

On Aug. 29, 1944, 15,000 American troops marched down the Champs Elysees in Paris as the French capital celebrated its liberation from the Nazis. 

On this date: 

In 1943, responding to a clampdown by Nazi occupiers, Denmark managed to scuttle most of its naval ships. 

In 1957, South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond (then a Democrat) ended a filibuster against a civil rights bill after talking for more than 24 hours. 

In 1965, Gemini Five, carrying astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles (“Pete”) Conrad, splashed down in the Atlantic after eight days in space. 

In 1966, the Beatles concluded their fourth American tour with their last public concert. It was at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. 

Ten years ago: The U.N. Security Council agreed to send 3,000 more relief troops to Somalia to guard food shipments. About 13,000 people staged an anti-extremist rally in Rostock, Germany, even as right-wingers continued attacks on foreigners. 

Five years ago: Hooded men killed more than 300 people in an Algerian farm village in the worst carnage since an Islamic insurgency began.  

One year ago: George Rivas, the ringleader of the biggest prison breakout in Texas history, was sentenced to death for killing an Irving policeman, Aubrey Hawkins, while on the run. 

Today’s Birthdays: TV personality Robin Leach is 61. Singer Michael Jackson is 44. Actress Rebecca DeMornay is 40.

The foreign-born population in the nine Bay Area counties rose significantly in the 1990s, from about 20 percent in 1990 to almost 27.5 percent in 2000, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released today. 

Meanwhile, the overall population of the region – encompassing Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties – climbed to almost 6.8 million in 2000, from just over 6 million during the last decennial census. 

On the statewide level, the foreign-born population stood at 26.2 percent, according to the latest census, up from 21 percent in 1990. The population of the state was about 34 million. 

Most of the foreign-born residents of the Bay Area and the state as a whole were from Latin and Asian countries. 

In San Francisco, with a population of almost 777,000, the number of residents born outside the United States stood at 36.8 percent in the latest census figures, with 61 percent of those coming from Asian countries and 21 percent hailing from Latin counties. In addition, about 46 percent of the city's residents reported speaking a language other than English at home. 

In Santa Clara County, 34 percent of Santa Clara County's 1.7 million residents were foreign-born, with more than half coming from Asian counties and about a third from Latin countries. 

Furthermore, 45 percent of the county's residents reported speaking a language other than English in the home, up from 32 percent recorded during the last census. 

About 27 percent of Alameda County's 1.4 million residents were foreign-born, according to the new data, and about 37 percent reported speaking a foreign language in the home. 

In California, 39.5 percent of the population reports speaking a language other than English at home. 

The data released today were culled from responses to the 52-item census long-form questionnaire delivered to a 1-in-6 sample of 19 million households. 

The 484 population tables cover such subjects as marital status, grandparents as caregivers, language and ability to speak English, ancestry, place of birth, place of work, school enrollment, veteran status, occupation and poverty status.

OAKLAND – Homicide investigators said today that they have little to go on as they try to solve the city's 73rd homicide, which occurred at an apartment complex in the western side of the city Sunday night. 

Police spokesman George Phillips says residents at 680 24th St. called police at 11:57 p.m. Sunday and reported shots fired. When officers arrived they found that 58-year-old Brenda Williams, a resident of the apartment complex, had been shot and killed in the courtyard. She was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Police have no suspects in custody and do not know what led to the death. 

The killing is the 73rd in Oakland this year. There were 66 homicides in Oakland at this time last year.