If you’ve driven on Interstate 80 and wondered about the scrawny statues in the waters off Emeryville and the Red Baron plane off the Berkeley coast, Tyler Hoare can explain. 

“As I was driving to Oakland I’d see these posts and thought they needed something on them,” said the Berkeley artist. With his 1975 San Francisco art show coming to a close and having no place to put up his work, he decided he would let the bay be his canvas. 

“I was bringing work back from the gallery and I knew I didn’t want to put them in storage,” Hoare said. “I figured if I put them on a post, a lot of people will see them and I’d have a lot of fun doing it.”  

Last weekend, Hoare was at it again. 

At age 62, with a full gray beard and loose fitting jeans and appearing as though he could hop a freight train as competently as he scales a wooden post, Hoare made his way to sea to replace his weather-worn statues. 

After his captain fastened the boat to the wooden posts off the East Bay shore, Hoare scaled the wood planks and hammered in his newest creations: three 6-foot, all white human statues made entirely of biodegradable cloth and wood. 

Although increasing frailty of the posts has forced him to opt for lightweight human statues, Hoare is most famous for a string of 14-foot long World War I-era planes that graced the wooden posts in the bay between Ashby and University avenues. 

To The Editor: 

As a Green Party member, Democratic Party operative Bill Mulholland’s remarks (Forum, Sept. 26) regarding Green Party gubernatorial candidate Peter Camejo display not only smug arrogance but an utterly breathtaking contempt for California’s voters. 

As Mulholland confirms, Governor Gray Davis refuses to appear in any formal debate with Camejo and Republican Bill Simon together on the same stage. Davis’ behavior stands in stark contrast to that of his fellow Democratic Party statewide candidates seeking the offices of Secretary of State, Controller and Insurance Commissioner. Unlike Davis, all three of these Democratic candidates have agreed to scheduled debates with their respective Green and Republican party counterparts. This fact alone speaks volumes about Davis’ calculated cynicism and disrespect for California’s voters.  

What is Davis afraid of? Can’t he defend his record before the voters with or without Camejo on the same stage? 

Despite what can only be described as a mainstream media blackout of Camejo’s day-to-day campaign events and policy positions, Camejo, nonetheless, has achieved a breakthrough in receiving a 9 percent statewide vote according to a recent poll (as reported by the Daily Planet). If the state-level Democratic Party of California tolerates this, it should be ashamed. To find out more information about Peter Camejo’s campaign, visit www.votecamejo.org 

Chris Kavanagh 

Berkeley

Wednesday, Oct. 9 

Berkeley Free Folk Festival Tour 

3 p.m. 

Meet at Malcom X School  

1731 Prince St. 

Join the Berkeley Free Folk Festival for a tour of possible festival locations. 

649-1423 

Free. 

Thursday, Oct. 10 

Public School Finance Discussion - League of Women Voters 

Noon to 2 p.m. 

Albany Public Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 

843-8824 

Free. 

Natural Building and Permaculture Slide Show 

7 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. near Dwight Way 

Slide show and presentation by Kat Steele and Erin Fisher. 

548-2220 x233 

Free 

Grandparent Support Group 

10 to 11:30 a.m. 

Malcom X Elementary Arts & Academics School, 1731 Prince St. Rm.105A 

644-6517 

Free. 

Come and Take a New Look at the Catholic Church 

7:30 to 9 p.m. 

Norton Hall at St. Mary Magdalen Parish, 2005 Berry St.  

For those feeling alienated from the Catholic Church, combined teams from four parishes offer this opportunity to ask questions and talk.  

653-8631 

Friday, Oct. 11 

Celebration of completion of the “Channing and Popai Liem Archival Collection” 

6 p.m. Reception 

7 p.m. Program begins 

Morrison Room, Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley 

UC Berkeley’s first Korean American archive has been completed. 

“Iraq and the Looming War” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 p.m. speaker 

City Commons Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

Professor Bruce E. Cain, PhD, department of political science at UC Berkeley will speak. 

526-2925 or 665-9020 

$11.50 or $12.50 luncheon 

$1 speaker only / students free 

Saturday, Oct. 12 

Indigenous Peoples Day 

7:30 a.m. 

Shellmound run to the Indigenous Peoples Day Pow Wow - 1st Annual Run 

615-0603 

Free 

Autumnal Equinox Picnic 

11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

“Big Leaf” field in Tilden Park 

East Bay Atheists host this day of fun, food, and games. 

652-8350 

$5 donation 

“Toward Realizing Our Dream: Overcoming the Obstacles to Korea’s Peaceful Reunification” 

1 p.m. 

Morrison Room, Bancroft Library  

UC Berkeley 

Congresswoman Barbara Lee speaks,  

followed by guest speakers and a reception. 

See Elephants Fly 

Noon to 5 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science,  

Centennial Drive above the UC Berkeley campus. 

A day of special activities and events about the Asian elephant and the Asian cultures where these beasts live. 

643-5961  

babcock@uclink4.berkeley.edu 

$8 adults. $6 youth 5-18. $4 for 3-4. 

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. 

Sunday, Oct. 13 

People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo Banquet  

1 p.m. 

Hs Lordship’s Restaurant, 199 Seawall Dr., Berkeley Marina 

531-1729 

$40 reservations required. 

Celebrate the Lives of Photographers Galen Avery Rowell and Barbara Cushman Rowell 

3 p.m. 

Berkeley Community Theater, 1930 Allston Way 

Speakers include Conrad Anker, Kathryn Fuller, Bob Hansen and more, with special messages from Tom Brokaw and novelist Barry Lopez 

644-8957 

October Swimfest 

1:30 to 3:30 p.m. 

Willard Pool, 2701 Telegraph Ave. 

Come out to swim, laugh, float and make a splash, while showing support for keeping Willard Pool open year-round. 

981-5150 

$4.20 general / $1.50 seniors and children 

Thursday, Oct. 10 

M Headphone w/ Lowrise 

8:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over. 

Saturday, Oct. 12 

Rilo Kiley (saddle creek) and Arlo (subpop) 

5:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over. 

Kira Allen 

6:30 p.m. Open mic sign-up 

7:00 p.m. Reading 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St.  

Presented by Rhythm & Muse 

527-9753 

Free / donations accepted 

Sunday, Oct. 13 

Jenna Mammina and Andre Bush 

4:30 p.m. 

Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St. 

Jazz standards, obscure cover tunes and original compositions. 

845-5373 

$10-$15. 

“Please Pay Attention” 

Tuesday, Oct. 8 through Oct. 25 

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall 

UC Art graduates feature drawings, video, etc. 

DepartmentofArtPractice 

"Balancing Acts" 

Through Oct. 10 

Gallery 555, 555 12th St., 

Oakland City Center 

Oakland's 'Third Thursday' art night  

features Ann Weber's works  

made of cardboard. 

http://www.oaklandcitycenter.com.  

Free. 

Ceramics - Opening Reception 

Through Nov. 17 

3 to 5 p.m. 

A New Leaf Gallery, 1286 Gilman St. 

525-7621 

Free. 

“Hunger: What will you do about it?”  

Through Oct. 30  

Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Civic Center Building 

2180 Milvia St., 5th floor 

Featuring 40 photographs  

by Berkeley artist David Bacon. 

834-3663, Ext. 338,  

uchanse@secondharvest.org 

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. 

“Recent Acquisitions” 

Oct. 13 through Dec. 14 

Thurs., Fri., and Sat., 1 to 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. 

848-0181 

Free. 

Misch Kohn - Celebrating  

60 Years of Printmaking 

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 

Nancy Salz 

Through Oct. 23, Tues.-Fri.,  

10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Barbara Anderson Gallery, 2243 Fifth St. 

848-3822 

Timoteo Ikoshy Montoya 

Through Nov. 1  

Reception Sept. 20, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Gathering Tribes Gallery  

1573 Solano Ave.  

Acrylic/air brush paintings  

by this Native American artist.  

528-9038 

Threads: Five artists who  

use stitching to convey ideas 

Oct. 6 through Dec. 15, Wed.-Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St. 

Information: www.berkeleyartcenter.org, 644-6893 

Free. 

Alarms and Excursions 

Nov. 15 through Dec. 22 

Aurora Theatre Company,  

2081 Addison St. 

Michael Frayn's comedy about  

the irony of modern technology. 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org for reservations 

$26 to $35. 

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar 

Through Oct. 12 

Thurs. through Sat. 8 p.m. 

LaVal’s Subterranean Theatre  

1834 Euclid Ave. 

234-6046 

$10. 

The House of Blue Leaves 

Through Oct. 20 

Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater  

2015 Addison St.  

647-2949 or 888-4BRTTIX 

$10-$54. 

Thursday, Oct. 10 

Daniel Wilkinson 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 

Wilkinson, author of “Silence on the Mountain” will present slide show. 

843-3533 

Free. 

Friday, Oct. 11 

Beth Glick-Rieman 

7:30 p.m. 

Boadacia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave.  

at Colusa Circle 

Glick-Rieman shares her findings on the status of women around the world, reading from her book, “Peace Train to Beijing and Beyond”. 

559-9184 

Free. 

Saturday, Oct. 12 

“Antarctica and the Breath of Seals” 

7:30 p.m. 

Boadacia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave.  

at Colusa Circle 

Lucy Jane Bledsoe presents a slide show based on travels in Antarctica. 

559-9184 

Free. 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Working for the Mouse 

Fantasy about playing at Disneyland. 

8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. 

La Val’s Subterranean Theater  

1834 Euclid 

464-4468 

$12 general, $7 students. 

Sunday, Oct. 27 

Benefit screening for “Bums’ Paradise”  

8 p.m. screening followed by party with live music from Marc Black / Funky Sex Gods 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

Film explores the story of the homeless men and women who turned the former Albany Landfill into a community. 

525-5054 

Sliding scale / All welcome. 

MINNEAPOLIS — Fifty-five thousand screaming fans on their feet, rocking the Metrodome and waving their Homer Hankies. Excellent pitching, timely hitting and a tense one-run game. 

The Minnesota Twins aren’t going to go away. 

They even grounded the high-flying Anaheim Angels, the team that broke all those offensive records last week against the New York Yankees. 

“Just so much energy, so much enthusiasm,” Joe Mays said after limiting Anaheim to four singles in eight innings and leading Minnesota to a 2-1 win Tuesday night in the opener of this improbable AL championship series. 

“Wow, that was just ... wow!” catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. 

The team that wasn’t supposed to make it to opening day isn’t a surprise anymore. Even Bud Selig knows that. After trying to kill off the team, the baseball commissioner showed up and saw Minnesota move within three wins of its first World Series in 11 years. 

“I’m glad he came out to give us some support,” Twins outfielder Torii Hunter said. “We won’t fault him for all of that that happened. Bud was just doing his job.” 

Signaling the time has come to forget the Yankees, Braves and other big spenders who have dominated the playoffs in recent years, the Twins showed just how dominant they are in the Metrodome, improving to 13-2 there in postseason play. Game 2 is in the dome Wednesday night, with Rick Reed pitching for the Twins against Ramon Ortiz. 

The Metrodome was festive and loud for its biggest baseball game since Oct. 27, 1991, when Jack Morris’ 10-inning shutout beat Atlanta 1-0 in Game 7 of the World Series. 

This was another tight one, with Anaheim’s Kevin Appier almost matching Mays. The Twins got just five hits and the Angels four, and the crowd was on its feet shouting during key points and throughout the ninth inning. 

“This is the game we play against Anaheim every time,” Pierzynski said. “One run, one way or the other, one pitch decides it. It’s exciting baseball. You can’t ask for much more as a fan or as a player.” 

Baseball owners had tried to fold the Twins along with the Montreal Expos last offseason, but were blocked by the Minnesota courts. Since then, the Twins have seemed intent on banging the gavel on all of baseball, wanting to force Selig to hand them the World Series trophy. 

“Contract-ula-tions Twins for a superb season/All the way for Bud’s sake” read one sign behind home plate. 

“I think the place had a lot of electricity in it. Obviously, the fans were into it,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “They looked like they were reacting to every pitch. I thought it was a great atmosphere.” 

Anaheim, too, is a surprise to be here. The Angels are seeking their first World Series appearance since joining the major leagues in 1961. 

Mays, hit hard by Oakland in Game 2 of the five-game division series, shut down the Angels, who hit .376 in their four-game victory over the four-time defending AL champion Yankees — the highest average by a team in any postseason series. 

“He had everything tonight,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He went right at the hitters and made them swing the bats.” 

Mays allowed only four hits and an unearned run caused by an error by shortstop Cristian Guzman. Mays, who threw 68 of 98 pitches for strikes, called it “the game of my career” and described the atmosphere as “overwhelming.” 

“There was just so much energy, so much enthusiasm in the crowd,” he said. “To go out there and give them a good game to watch — I think that gives them the reward.” 

Mays, who struck out three and walked none, came out after the eighth inning. He retired his final 13 batters but tightened up a little after the eighth and told his manager he wouldn’t mind if Eddie Guardado finished. 

“I would have given him the ball. He had the option to go back out there in the ninth,” Gardenhire said. 

Guardado struck out Darin Erstad leading off the ninth, then walked Tim Salmon. After Garret Anderson flied out, he threw a called third strike to Troy Glaus, who glared at plate umpire Ed Montague. 

“I asked him if it was down. He said ’No, it was a good pitch.’ I came back and looked at it on the film, and it was a good pitch,” Glaus said. “He was right.” 

Anaheim, whose .282 regular-season batting average led the major leagues, didn’t get a single leadoff man on and hit .129 (4-for-31). Last week, the Angels batted .361 against the Yankees with two-strike counts. They were 0-for-14 with two strikes against the Twins. 

“Everything was on the black,” said Adam Kennedy, who scored Anaheim’s only run. “We just didn’t pressure them tonight.” 

Appier, winless in four postseason appearances gave up two runs and five hits in five innings, but it wasn’t enough. 

Minnesota went ahead in the second when Hunter doubled, advanced on a wild pitch and came home on Pierzynski’s sacrifice fly. 

Anaheim tied it in the third on singles by Kennedy and David Eckstein, and the error by Guzman on a grounder by Erstad that stayed down on the slick artificial surface. Minnesota had the fewest errors in the major leagues during the regular season (74) and Anaheim (87) was second in the AL.

At least 3.000 cases of theft have occurred since December on Berkeley streets. That’s what city officials discovered last week when they reported missing and presumed stolen all of the bright orange flags intended for safety-wary pedestrians to brandish as they cross dangerous intersections. 

“You’d see them waving those flags like they’re a kid in a parade or something,” said Keith Tower, whose front door is only steps away from one of the city’s flag receptacles – now empty – at the corner of Russell Street and Claremont Avenue. 

The flags were put at intersections last year by city officials who hoped people would carry the flags across busy streets to alert cars of their presence and avoid accidents. But all over town, the flags have been thrown into trees, pitched into front yards and even taken home by children as playthings, city officials report. 

With nearly 3,000 flags missing from a total of four intersections, a second batch of 3,000 flags has been ordered and three additional flag-friendly intersections will be established. 

Traffic studies on Berkeley have shown conflicting reports on pedestrian safety, but one sobering fact is undeniable: Cars have injured 66 pedestrians this year and killed one, according to police. 

With the flag program the butt of many only-in-Berkeley jokes and with the city unable to keep the flags from being taken, many wonder why the program is being continued and even expanded. 

“I think it’s a little bit silly,” said Katy Bybel, manager of Elements clothing store, near the flag crossing point on College Avenue between Ashby Avenue and Russell Street. “It seems like people use [the flags] for fun and not because they make them feel safer.” 

The manager of the project says he will likely recommend that City Council shut down the program after the next set of flags disappears. 

“I see this as too labor-intensive,” said traffic engineer Reh-Lin Chen, referring to the fact that city crews must continually monitor and replenish the flags.  

At $6,000, not including labor and the second set of flags, Chen says that the flag project is a reasonable experiment, but is probably not cost-effective. 

The three new flag sites – University and Shattuck avenues; Shattuck Avenue between Cedar Street and Vine Street; and College Avenue and Russell Street – will be used to collect data on the effectiveness of the flags, he added.  

The city, though, is not pinning all its hopes on flags. A crosswalk with embedded, flashing lights is being planned at Ashby and Piedmont avenues, similar to one installed two years ago on Claremont Avenue at a cost of $25,000. The city also recently approved $50,000 for 25 intersections worth of signal lights that count down crossing time for pedestrians. 

In addition, Measure L on the November ballot calls for a 10-year property tax to pay for a slew of pedestrian safety devices, from old-fashioned traffic circles to high-tech lighted crosswalks. 

While officials are optimistic that the Measure L safety proposals will prove effective, the flags remain a subject of debate. 

“As a safety tool, I think it’s of slight value,” said Wendy Alfsen of the pedestrian advocacy group Berkeley Walk and Roll. Alfsen added that, at their best, the flags are somewhat useful educational tools. 

At their worst, the flags are nothing more than novelties. 

Children, like 2-year-old Ashlyn Aske, have been some of the most frequent flag users. “One time she wanted to keep the flag,” whispered Ashlyn’s mother, Tiffany. “We almost had a meltdown over that.” 

One parent who apparently was unwilling to deal with a potential meltdown let her child carry away one of the few remaining flags, according to a woman who did not want to give her name. 

The missing flags are among the least of law enforcement’s worries. The over-burdened police traffic division is primarily concerned with catching reckless drivers and parking meter vandals, said Sgt. Michael Holland of the Berkeley Police Department. 

In the last year, the eight-person traffic division has conducted seven pedestrian stings, handing out $104 tickets to more than 200 drivers who didn’t yield to undercover police officers in crosswalks. 

But the police can’t watch every intersection. So some people favor the flags because they let the pedestrians take a proactive about approach toward safety. 

Sierra Carter, who works at Bistro Liaon on the corner of Hearst and Shattuck avenues where flags were used, said she thinks the program is worthwhile, particularly for seniors and children.  

“Everyone’s in a hurry,” she said. “It’s horrible.” 

She admits, though, she never used the flags herself. When asked why, she smiled, realizing the irony of her explanation. 

“I guess I’m in too much of a hurry,” she said.

To the Editor: 

We would like to clarify the information in a letter written by a reader (Forum, Sept. 26). Mr. Tarses stated that chain coffee shops, like Starbucks and Peet’s, buy “green coffee” directly from growers and importers at an average price of 76 cents per pound. In actuality, as part of Starbucks long-standing commitment to farmers in origin countries, Starbucks pays on average $1.20 per pound, excluding freight, for the majority of our coffee. In addition, 74 percent of our green coffee has been purchased at outright prices in 2002, helping to ensure a stable price for farmers that is independent of the low prices in the coffee commodity markets. Also, in 2002, 59 percent of our coffee has been supplied directly from farms and co-ops, thereby eliminating “middlemen” and ensuring that farmers receive more of the purchase price we pay. 

As part of Starbucks commitment to origin countries, Starbucks purchases of organic, shade-grown, and Fair Trade certified coffees all contribute to greater social, economic and environmental sustainability of coffee production. 

Gerry Argue 

East Bay Regional Director 

Starbucks Coffee Company 

ST. LOUIS — Kirk Rueter’s smile just won’t go away. 

As a boy growing up across the Mississippi River rooting for the St. Louis Cardinals, he worshipped players like Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee. 

And now, the San Francisco Giants pitcher has to try to beat the team he favored for so long — albeit with different faces — in the biggest start of his life. And in the ballpark where his baseball obsession began. 

Rueter can barely keep up with the slew of ticket requests from his friends, a.k.a. “The Shed Boys,” and family. Even mere acquaintances are begging for a chance to see him play in his adopted hometown. 

Rueter has been running around frantically in the Giants’ clubhouse asking all his teammates for any extra tickets for Games 1 and 2 of the NL championship series Wednesday and Thursday at Busch Stadium. 

“I have to see how many friends I’ve got on the team,” he said. 

He’ll be on the mound for the opener of the best-of-seven series Wednesday against St. Louis right-hander Matt Morris. 

“It’s always good to be back,” said Rueter, who grew up about 45 miles to the east in Nashville, Ill., and now lives in nearby Hoyleton, Ill., a tiny town about 45 minutes from the stadium. 

“Just to get to sleep in my own bed and go see my shed and get to see all of the family and friends that I don’t get to see for eight months out of the year of the baseball season.” 

Ah yes, his shed. 

That would be “Woody’s Shed,” the place Rueter hangs with the “Shed Boys.” They throw big parties there. 

Giants manager Dusty Baker is convinced part of the reason Rueter pitches so well here is because of the Shed Boys. 

“He’s had a very good record, successful record here, and part of it was because the Shed Boys come to watch him,” Baker said. “I don’t know if you guys heard of the Shed Boys, but that’s a wooden shed that looks like a mansion. It’s a place where all of the sports stuff is. 

“All of the guys that go over to the shed, The Shed Boys, they come to watch him. And if he doesn’t pitch good, those Shed Boys give him stuff all winter.” 

The 31-year-old Rueter, a 14-game winner the past two seasons, is making his third career postseason start. He has been darn near dominant against the Cardinals. 

The left-hander has a 9-3 career record vs. St. Louis and an impressive 2.72 ERA. He’s been even better at Busch — 5-0 and 2.28.

Board of Education members Shirley Issel and Terry Doran traded jabs with four challengers over the school district’s financial management and high school reform efforts during a debate at Berkeley High School Monday night. 

Candidate Nancy Riddle, chief financial officer for Monster Cable of Brisbane, suggested that the board, which slashed millions last year and still faces a $3.9 million budget shortfall this year, has taken a haphazard approach to cuts. 

She said members must demand detailed budgets and a range of cost-cutting options rather than “highly summarized budgets” and a few recommendations for cuts from the superintendent’s office. 

Riddle also said the board needs to engage in long-term financial planning, rather than year-to-year cuts, if it hopes to get out of a constant cycle of financial crises. 

But Doran said the board has made important strides toward solving the district’s financial woes. 

“We are now, I believe, on the road to financial solvency,” he said, noting that the board has replaced most of the district’s top management in the past year and put a new data processing system in place that, he argued, will help the district erase the $3.9 million budget shortfall. 

Derick Miller, president of the PTA Council, an umbrella group for all the PTAs in the district, said the board should put an independent, internal auditor in place to watch the books. 

“We need good information,” he said. 

“I disagree that an [internal] auditor is going to help us,” Issel replied, arguing that annual audits by outside firms have pointed to district problems in the past. She said “capable leadership” on the board is the best way to steer the district out of its financial straits. 

The most pointed fiscal criticism came from physician and candidate Lance Montauk, who used a series of yard sticks to illustrate what he deemed out-of-whack spending priorities in the district. 

“I want to show you where these people have been spending your money,” he said, arguing that the district spends too much on administrative salaries and not enough on teachers and books. “I think it’s shameful.” 

Montauk also took a strong stand against Measure K, which will appear on the November ballot. Passage would increase school board members’ monthly salaries from $875 to $1,500. 

Supporters say the raise, which would come from city coffers, is long overdue and argue that board members could divert the increase to pay for a low-cost, likely part-time staffer. The board currently has no staff to conduct research or answer constituents’ calls. 

Montauk suggested that members do not deserve a raise given the current state of the district. 

Candidates also raised concerns about the shift from a seven- to a six-period day at the high school this year. Miller said the move has limited student choices and hasn’t saved the district a significant amount of money. 

“Making change without thinking carefully... is pretty stupid,” he said. “But we’ve been doing a lot of this lately.” 

Miller, who warned against the shift to a six-period day last year, called for greater community input in future budget-cutting decisions.  

District officials and school board members have long contended that last year was a special case because the district did not learn about the extent of its budget woes until January and had to move quickly on cuts. They say the public process will improve this year. 

The six candidates who took part in the Monday night debate, sponsored by the Berkeley High School Parent Teacher Student Association and the League of Women Voters, are vying for three slots on the five-member board. 

Candidate Sean Dugar, who graduated from Berkeley High last year, said he would bring youth to the board, appoint more community advisory committees and boost the high school’s ethnic studies programs. 

Contact reporter at 

scharfenberg@berkeleydailyplanet.net

To the Editor: 

I’m wondering about the City of Berkeley’s legal exposure because of the City Council’s refusal to turn on the already-installed traffic signals at the intersections of Stuart and Telegraph and Russell and Telegraph. These signals have been in place since before the start of school on August 28. There has been a contentious debate over the configuration of the traffic light sequences, and the City Council has decided that the signals will remain inoperative until the full deliberation process has been completed. 

In the meantime, scores of Willard Middle School children struggle to cross Telegraph Avenue each morning and each afternoon under very dangerous circumstances. The traffic is relentless, and many drivers are very aggressive and drive at excessive speeds. There is no question that the intersections could be made much safer for children and other pedestrians by turning on the traffic signals and using a temporary lighting sequence until the public decision-making process can agree on a permanent sequence. This is certainly the opinion of Peter Hillier, the city’s traffic engineer. 

Putting the decision-making process ahead of increased safety for children seems to me both a terrible mistake and morally wrong. I also believe that the City will be vulnerable to charges of gross negligence if a child or other pedestrian is injured or killed crossing either of those intersections. The City has the absolute capacity to make those intersections safer immediately and has deliberately chosen not to do so. 

My own son, Casey, was hit by a car eighteen months ago crossing Telegraph in a crosswalk on his way to Willard. He is in the eighth grade there this year, and he still has to cross Telegraph in fear. 

Bob Laird 

Berkeley 

To the Editor: 

I’m wondering about the City of Berkeley’s legal exposure because of the City Council’s refusal to turn on the already-installed traffic signals at the intersections of Stuart and Telegraph and Russell and Telegraph. These signals have been in place since before the start of school on August 28. There has been a contentious debate over the configuration of the traffic light sequences, and the City Council has decided that the signals will remain inoperative until the full deliberation process has been completed. 

In the meantime, scores of Willard Middle School children struggle to cross Telegraph Avenue each morning and each afternoon under very dangerous circumstances. The traffic is relentless, and many drivers are very aggressive and drive at excessive speeds. There is no question that the intersections could be made much safer for children and other pedestrians by turning on the traffic signals and using a temporary lighting sequence until the public decision-making process can agree on a permanent sequence. This is certainly the opinion of Peter Hillier, the city’s traffic engineer. 

Putting the decision-making process ahead of increased safety for children seems to me both a terrible mistake and morally wrong. I also believe that the City will be vulnerable to charges of gross negligence if a child or other pedestrian is injured or killed crossing either of those intersections. The City has the absolute capacity to make those intersections safer immediately and has deliberately chosen not to do so. 

My own son, Casey, was hit by a car eighteen months ago crossing Telegraph in a crosswalk on his way to Willard. He is in the eighth grade there this year, and he still has to cross Telegraph in fear. 

Bob Laird 

Berkeley 

MISSOULA — Troy Murphy had 16 points and 12 rebounds Tuesday night, leading Golden State past the Seattle SuperSonics 84-75 in the first exhibition game for new Warriors coach Mike Musselman. 

Mike Dunleavy, the Warriors’ No. 1 draft pick out of Duke, scored five points in 17 minutes as a reserve. Jason Richardson led the Warriors with 18 points while Desmond Mason paced the Sonics with 14. 

The 37-year-old Musselman is the youngest head coach in the NBA. The league’s second-youngest coach, is Seattle’s Nate McMillan, 38. 

The Sonics played without $60 million off-season acquisition Rashard Lewis, who strained his left shoulder in Monday night’s loss in Spokane, Wash. Lewis did not travel to Missoula. 

Golden State was without guard Bob Sura, who has a strained right calf. Seattle point guard Gary Payton had the night off. Kenny Anderson started in his place, scoring 8 points. 

Seattle tied it at 68-68 with 7:39 remaining, but Golden State pulled away at the foul line.

Lawyers for UC Berkeley pro-Palestinian activists filed suit in Alameda County Superior Court Monday, seeking to block the use of police reports and videos in student conduct hearings for 32 protesters who participated in the April 9 takeover of the university’s Wheeler Hall. 

The suit also alleges that UC Berkeley has violated several sections of the student code of conduct during the hearings, that could result in disciplinary action ranging up to expulsion. 

University lawyers call the suit baseless and premature and say they will fight it in court. Legal proceedings are scheduled to begin today. 

The 32 students were among 79 protesters who occupied Wheeler Hall in April, calling on the nine-campus University of California system to divest from Israel.  

The “Wheeler 79” faced criminal charges ranging from disturbing the peace to, in the case of one student, assaulting an officer. But the Alameda County District Attorney agreed to drop charges in June and issue a “factual finding of innocence” for all the accused. 

University officials decided to proceed, however, on a separate track, with student conduct charges against the 41 students involved in the takeover. Nine of the 41 accepted a one-semester “stayed suspension,” essentially probation, while the other 32 elected to go to hearings, according to the university.  

Students face penalties ranging up to expulsion, although the Office of Student Life has recommended nothing stiffer than suspension. 

The first hearing, for graduate student Roberto Hernandez, began last week, and university officials made use of police reports and videos.  

But student lawyers contend that the agreement reached with the district attorney, in the criminal proceeding, requires a sealing of all the defendants’ “records of arrest” – including the police reports and videos. As a result, they say, the reports and videos cannot be used in any setting, not even the student conduct hearings. 

However, Deputy District Attorney Stuart Hing, who approved the deal, said he never intended to sign an agreement that would inhibit the student conduct proceedings. 

Furthermore, UC Berkeley Assistant Chancellor for Legal Affairs Michael Smith, who is a lawyer, said the students’ attorneys are misreading the law. 

Smith said sealing any “records of arrest” simply means deleting any direct mention of arrest in the evidence. The university, in the midst of the Hernandez hearing last week, deleted any direct reference to his arrest in the police report and other documents. Smith, however, said other portions of an activist’s police report, describing the protester’s behavior, can remain as evidence. 

“That’s crap,” said defense attorney Dan Siegel, arguing that a police report and a video depicting students dragged away by police officers are clearly records of arrest. “If the university’s contention was correct, the law wouldn’t mean anything.” 

University attorney Jeff Blair acknowledged that there may be a “gray area” as to what constitutes a record of arrest, but said the student lawyers are going too far. 

“Their view is you have to light a match to every record that exists,” he said. 

Lawyers for the students are also claiming that the university has violated several sections of the student code of conduct: providing Hernandez with a belated notice of a change of venue for his hearing, refusing to grant the student an open hearing, providing an improper committee to hear the case and denying the defense’s right to a copy of the audio tape of the proceedings. 

Assistant Chancellor Smith said the students will be hard-pressed to show that shifting the site of the hearing two days before it began had any effect on the outcome. He also pointed to a section of the student code of conduct that allows the university to deny an open hearing to preserve order. Smith said the university had received word of student plans to disrupt the hearings. 

Siegel replied that it is inappropriate to speculate on a disruption before it happens. 

Blair, the university attorney, said the suit is premature. He said the defense, according to the law, must exhaust all “administrative remedies” before going to court. In other words, he said, the defense must give the university time to correct any of its alleged violations of the student code of conduct before taking the case to a judge.  

Blair also said the defense must let the hearings play out to determine whether any of the alleged violations actually had an impact on the outcomes. Only then, he said, could the defense pursue remedies in court. 

But Siegel said he will argue that some of the students’ rights, such as the right to a public hearing, cannot be remedied after the fact and that the judge should take immediate action to fix the problem. 

Students’ attorneys, in a more far-flung appeal, will also ask Superior Court judge James Richman to invalidate the hearings altogether since protesters were found innocent of similar criminal charges.  

But university lawyers say the student conduct hearings are completely separate from the criminal proceedings, with different standards of proof and cannot be compared. 

“I think that’s an arguable position,” Siegel acknowledged. “That’s something for a judge to decide.” 

To the Editor: 

Coming from Manhattan, I find nothing wrong with clustering tall buildings around BART stations. What is wrong is a City Council that ignores citizens and allows developers to defraud the city. 

In return for promises to save Gaia bookstore and provide 18 affordable units developers were permitted to exceed height limits. When the developer failed to provide the promised book store, and six of the affordable units, the City Council did nothing, and recently rewarded the developer by approving two new projects. 

The City Council has proven it is unwilling to address corruption, and it therefore should not be trusted with discretion. Measure P, the height initiative, remedies that. Opponents mistakenly claim it will prevent the construction of affordable housing. By this logic the absence of measure P until now means there should be plenty of affordable housing. Where is it?  

Under Measure P to add another floor one must provide the affordable units. A far better solution than doing nothing when developers fail to provide what they promise. 

Opponents mistakenly believe urban density reduces automobile traffic and preserves open space. Almost all of Manhattan’s two million residents use the subway instead of automobiles, yet millions of cars still clog Manhattan streets. The reason is simple: The more people living in a city, the more cultural activities, restaurants, services and shopping opportunities the city offers. These benefits draw people like a magnet. Those people come by cars. Eventually, people seeking proximity to those conveniences settle near by, increasing suburban sprawl. 

A serious commitment to preserve open space requires legally enforceable agreements to preserve land or the purchase and setting aside of land for that purpose. Anything less does nothing to protect open space. Urban density harms the environment by increasing automobile traffic and demands for water, electricity, sewer service and construction materials. 

Don’t let slogans about affordable housing and open space trick you into supporting development. Measure P protects us from corrupt processes by preventing abuse of discretion. Measure P expires in ten years, assuring ample time to craft legislation that guarantees affordable housing, open space and a fair and honest process. 

Elliot Cohen 

Berkeley 

KUWAIT — Two Kuwaiti gunmen in a pickup truck attacked U.S. forces during war games Tuesday on an island in the Persian Gulf, killing one Marine and wounding another before they were shot to death by U.S. troops. Kuwait called the assault a “terrorist act.” 

The Pentagon said the assailants pulled up to a group of Marines conducting urban assault training on Failaka, an uninhabited island off Kuwait’s coast, and opened fire with small arms. They then drove to another site, stopped and attacked again before being killed by Marines, the Pentagon said. 

Marines later found three AK-47s and ammunition inside the vehicle, according to a statement released in Washington by the Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet. It said the injured Marine was hit in the arm. 

In a brief statement, the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry condemned the attack and identified the assailants as Anas al-Kandari, born in 1981, and Jassem al-Hajiri, born in 1976. It said both were Kuwaiti civilians. 

U.S. intelligence has not determined if the attackers had any terrorist links, said an intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. 

An Interior Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the two men as fundamentalist Muslims. More than 30 of their friends and relatives were detained for questioning, he said. 

“The ministry announces that this is a terrorist act,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement. “It will not allow anyone to undermine the country’s security.” 

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Daniel Hetlage said the Marines returned to their ships shortly after the attack, but would resume exercises on the island Wednesday. 

Failaka Island, about 10 miles east of Kuwait City, was abandoned by its inhabitants when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, and Iraqi forces heavily mined it during their occupation. 

After a U.S.-led coalition liberated Kuwait in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the government compensated islanders for their property and resettled them on the mainland. The island has since been cleared of mines and many Kuwaitis fish there on weekends. Some former residents visit occasionally. 

The shooting attack was unprecedented in Kuwait, a Washington ally since the Gulf War. More than a decade later, most Kuwaitis remain supportive of the close relationship. 

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said the two Marines were taken to the Armed Forces Hospital in Kuwait City, where one of them died of his wounds. Their names were withheld until relatives were contacted. 

The military exercise, dubbed Eager Mace 2002, involves Kuwaitis at some stages. However, the Pentagon said the attack happened during an exercise that only involved U.S. forces. 

The war games started Oct. 1, after the amphibious transport ships USS Denver and USS Mount Vernon arrived in Kuwaiti waters and began unloading 1,000 Marines and their equipment. The men and women are from the 11th Marine Expeditionary unit based in Camp Pendleton, Calif. The vessels’ 900 sailors were also taking part in the maneuvers. 

The U.S. military has carried out exercises in Kuwait since the Gulf War as part of a defense agreement the small oil-rich state signed with Washington. The Pentagon has said the current war games were routine and not related to any possible war to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. 

Kuwait opposes any unilateral action against Iraq and fears retaliation with non-conventional weapons if the United States attacks Baghdad. However, it has said the United States could use its land for an attack if the war is sanctioned by the United Nations. 

City Council stepped back into the realm of foreign policy Tuesday, voting unanimously for President George W. Bush to seek a diplomatic solution to the current stand off with Iraq. 

Council’s vote proclaimed support for a House resolution introduced by U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, D-Oakland. House Concurrent Resolution 473 calls on the president to work with the United Nations to assure that Iraq complies with weapons inspections. 

Lee’s resolution failed in a congressional committee Monday. 

The Iraq issue has galvanized council, as members of the moderate faction who often refrain from delving into international issues joined the call for action. 

“A first strike by the United States may well lead to greater destabilization in the Middle East, erosion of relationships with our Muslim allies and a derailment of our efforts against terrorism,” wrote councilmembers Polly Armstrong and Miriam Hawley declaring their support for Lee’s resolution. Councilmembers Linda Maio and Maudelle Shirek introduced an identical resolution in support of Lee. 

Tuesday’s action marks the second time this session that council has unanimously opposed the Bush administration, 

On Sept. 10, council expressed its distaste for sections of the Patriot Act, which council members say violates numerous civil liberties. 

Contact reporter at 

matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net

OAKLAND — The first 88 federal baggage screeners at Oakland International Airport took their posts at 4 a.m. Tuesday. 

They will work in the airport’s north terminal as part of a phased-in transition that will likely last until Nov. 19, the deadline for which all screeners must be federal employees. A total of 220 screeners work at Oakland’s airport. 

The screeners, who were sworn in during a brief ceremony Monday, will earn between $28,000 and $42,000 annually. 

Veteran screeners who are U.S. citizens will start testing for the new federal positions in Oakland. 

The federalization of airport screeners was one of the earliest responses by Congress to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. So far, federal screeners have taken up their posts at 142 of 429 airports nationwide, said Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the federal Transportation Security Administration. 

Federal screeners also started Tuesday at airports in Los Angeles, Fresno and at John Wayne Airport in Orange County. 

San Francisco International is one of five airports nationwide that will use private screeners as part of a test to compare government screeners with their private-sector counterparts.

OAKLAND – An Oakland police sergeant testified in Alameda County Superior Court Monday that some of the aggressive stop-and-frisk tactics allegedly used by a group of former officers known as the 'Riders' were improper. 

Sgt. Anthony Banks Sr., a 20-year police department veteran, is testifying as a prosecution witness today in the Oakland courtroom of Judge Leo Dorado. Banks is assigned to the traffic enforcement section but worked previously in the training section as a coordinator of the Police Academy and Field Training Program. 

It was in that capacity, Banks testified Monday, that he got to know a young rookie named Keith Batt. 

Batt, 25, now a Pleasanton police officer, is a key prosecution witness in the trial of three former officers accused of criminal misconduct. 

His resignation from the Oakland Police Department on July 4, 2000, midway through his 10th shift on the force, led to an Internal Affairs investigation and the dismissal of the officers now on trial. 

Clarence “Chuck” Mabanag, 37, Matthew Hornung, 30, and Jude Siapno, 34, are charged with filing false police reports and conspiring to hide their transgressions over a two-week period in June and July 2000. 

They have pleaded innocent to the charges. 

A fourth defendant, Francisco “Frank” Vazquez, fled to avoid prosecution. 

Batt said that while working graveyard shifts patrolling the streets of west Oakland with the clique of former officers known as the Riders, he was instructed to falsify police reports and witnessed the men use unjustified force. 

Banks, a brawny and articulate motorcycle officer, recalled under direct examination today his first impression of Batt. 

“[Batt was] a little scrawny kid, real small,” Banks said.

STANFORD – Stanford University's Linear Accelerator Center last week celebrated 40 years of research into fundamental particle physics and synchotron radiation with a special anniversary event this month. 

More than 1,300 people, including SLAC staff, governmental representatives and research scientists from around the world, gathered Oct. 2 to commemorate the laboratory's accomplishments and contributions to science. 

Founded in 1962, the center is a national laboratory operated by Stanford for the U.S. Department of Energy. Its mission is to design, construct and operate state-of-the-art electron accelerators and related experimental facilities for use in high-energy physics and synchotron radiation research. 

These have been good years for SLAC and I am delighted that this great laboratory is positioning itself today for decades more of outstanding work at the very foundations of physical science,'' said the event's keynote speaker Jack Marburger, III, chief science adviser to President Bush and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. 

“ The comprehension in human terms, and the interpretation in human metaphors, of a decidedly unhuman universe is the ultimate justification for institutions such as SLAC. It is fitting that we celebrate them on occasions such as this.” 

The anniversary celebration included a series of speeches that highlighted the center's historic contributions to scientific research. 

“ Our 40th anniversary is a tremendous milestone for science,” said SLAC Director Jonathan Dorfan. 

“It's a day for looking back on our accomplishments while enthusiastically embracing the future and looking ahead to expanding our horizons,” he said.

OAKLAND – A Florida man accused of stalking a former college classmate over a nine-year period and burglarizing her home has been bound over for trial in Alameda County Superior Court. Daniel Barbalace, 27, of Boca Raton, was arrested Sept. 7 and is charged with one count of stalking and two counts of burglary. 

Barbalace has pleaded innocent to the charges. Deputy District Attorney Mark McCannon said that Barbalace was held to answer to the three counts following a preliminary examination that began Friday afternoon and concluded Monday. 

A preliminary hearing is held to determine if a person charged with a felony should be tried for the crime. Barbalace is scheduled to be arraigned on the information contained in the charges on Oct. 21. 

McCannon said that Barbalace and his alleged victim first met in 1993 as freshmen at a college in Rochester, N.Y. Since then, an alleged pattern of harassment and stalking emerged. 

Over the next nine years, Barbalace allegedly followed and harassed the victim in hope of establishing a romantic relationship, McCannon said. The woman repeatedly spurned his advances. 

Several years after college, the woman moved to the Bay Area.  

Barbalace tracked her down, McCannon said, finding out where she lived and worked. 

Then on Sept. 2, he flew in from Florida and contacted the woman on the street. He also allegedly broke into her residence and stole several items. 

Barbalace then flew back to Florida but returned to the Bay Area several days later and was arrested. 

LIVERMORE – The recent disappearance of a teenage Livermore girl took an ominous turn when her car was found engulfed in flames in the middle of the night outside a remote tavern in rural Alameda County, authorities said Monday. 

Firefighters were called just after 2 a.m. Monday to the Mountain House Bar on Grantline Road, where Jenna Simons' 1989 Ford Mustang was fully afire in the parking lot of the roadhouse, which was closed for the night. 

Simons, also known as Jenna Nannetti, is a 17-year-old emancipated minor who has been missing since Sunday night, when she told a relative in Livermore she was going to Concord. She has not been seen or heard from since. 

“It's very suspicious and we're very concerned for her safety,” Alameda County Sheriff's Lt. Kevin Hart said. 

Hart said Simons did not say whom she was going to see in Concord, and it is unknown if she ever got there. Despite her age, Simons was known at the tavern where her car was torched. 

“It's kind of a close-knit group of people that frequent that bar,” Hart said. 

The Mustang was completely destroyed in the fire and the authorities did not find anyone nearby. The cause of the fire has not been determined. 

Investigators from the sheriff's office and the Livermore Police Department have been conducting interviews and searches, but they don't have much to go on.

SAN FRANCISCO — A retired judge agreed Tuesday to mediate the dispute between the two men, each of whom claims to be the rightful owner of Barry Bonds’ record-setting 73rd home run ball. 

Lawyers for Alex Popov, the man who says he caught the ball, and Patrick Hayashi, the scrambling Giants fan who ended up with it, said retired Judge Coleman Fannin would oversee a settlement conference Wednesday. 

So far, little has been settled, and the ball remains in a safety deposit box pursuant to a court order. 

Hayashi said Monday the ball is his, and he’d like to sell it. Popov maintains he is the rightful owner and said he wants to keep it. 

Martin Triano, Popov’s lawyer, said if the issue is not resolved with Fannin’s aid Wednesday, they’ll head back to San Francisco Superior Court Thursday to explain why to Judge Ronald Quidachay. 

The case is Popov v. Hayashi, 400545.

Pot sold at drive-through 

SAN RAFAEL – A Vallejo man accused of selling marijuana from a KFC drive-through window appeared briefly in Marin County Superior Court. 

Carlos Lionel Ayala was arrested last month on suspicion of selling marijuana at a Mill Valley restaurant. When a customer ordered extra biscuits, he received two bags of pot, instead. The customer returned the bags, got his biscuits and called police. 

A restaurant manager said Monday that Ayala no longer works there. 

Ayala, 26, showed up for a felony arraignment, but Commissioner Greg Jilka informed him that no charges have been filed yet. 

Deputy District Attorney Judith Brown said she’s reviewing a report by the Marin County Major Crimes Task Force before making a decision. 

San Jose murder motive unknown 

SAN JOSE — Police are still unsure of the motive, but they now believe a San Jose man shot his wife and two children before turning the gun on himself. 

Luis Silveira, 40, his wife Sandra, 32, and their two children ages 1 and 2 were found shot to death in their East San Jose home Monday, San Jose police spokesman Sgt. Steve Dixon said Tuesday. 

Investigators are still interviewing family members and friends to determine what could have prompted the slayings. 

A gun found on the scene is being processed at the crime lab, Dixon said. 

Authorities believe the bodies had been there for at least 24 hours before being found. The two adults were found on the floor, and the boys were found in a crib and on a bed. 

Damages in South Bay fire greater than expected 

SAN JOSE — Losses at a shopping and apartment complex that suffered a disastrous fire two months ago could hit $90 million, the developer told investments analysts. 

Officials with Federal Realty Investment Trust, the firm building Santana Row, expect to file an insurance claim for $70 million to $90 million to cover the damage, lost revenue and other unspecified costs from the Aug. 19 blaze. 

The nine-building project has already received $1 million from insurance claims and expects an additional $15 million to $20 million in the next few weeks to help cover expenses. 

The total number of shops and restaurants expected to open next month is still unclear. 

LOS ANGELES— A group allied with Republican Bill Simon released two photos Tuesday purporting to show then-Lt. Gov. Gray Davis illegally accepting a campaign contribution, but the veracity of the photos was quickly questioned. 

The California Organization of Police and Sheriffs claimed the photos show Davis taking a check in his Capitol office, in violation of state law. 

But the man pictured holding a check at Davis’ side denied he ever set foot in Davis’ office and an Associated Press inspection found no resemblance between the existing lieutenant governor’s office — which has not moved or been significantly altered — and the room shown in the photos. 

Davis aides also strongly denied the charge. 

“This is a bogus charge, this is a trumped-up charge and this is not the lieutenant governor’s office,” said top Davis strategist Garry South. “There’s nothing in this office that was in the lieutenant governor’s office. Not the artwork, not the doors, not even the carpet. Bogus,” he said. 

South said Davis was not even in Sacramento when the photos were purportedly taken but at an event with then-Vice President Al Gore in Pacoima — a claim born out by a newspaper report from the time. 

Simon made the original accusation of illegal fund-raising by Davis on Monday, causing a stir after the gubernatorial candidates met for their first debate when he told a crowded press conference he had evidence. 

The evidence turned out to be a letter from COPS, one of his main backers, to the state’s political watchdog group, and the photos released Tuesday. 

At a campaign stop in North Hollywood on Tuesday afternoon, Simon at first stood by his claim. 

“Gray Davis and his staff are not dumb. They knew they were accepting a campaign check in a government office that was against the law,” he said in prepared remarks. 

Under questioning by reporters he backed down. 

“We’ll let the (Fair Political Practices Commission) decide. They make the findings. I’m not the tribunal here,” he said. 

The nearly identical photos are date-stamped Jan. 31, 1998, when Davis was running for his first term as governor. They show Davis in an office standing next to Al Angele, then executive director of COPS. Angele and Davis are both holding a corner of a $10,000 check COPS donated to Davis. 

Monty Holden, current executive director of COPS, which broke bitterly with Davis to back Simon, told reporters Tuesday that the office Angele and Davis are in is the lieutenant governor’s office at the Capitol. 

California law makes it a crime to deliver or receive a contribution in state office buildings. The statute of limitations is four years for criminal prosecutions and five years for fines by the Fair Political Practices Commission. 

“We believe Gov. Gray Davis has broken the law,” Holden said. 

Angele denied that the photos, which he said he hadn’t seen, were taken in Davis’ Capitol office. 

“I don’t have to see it to tell you it was not the lieutenant governor’s office. I’ve never been in the lieutenant governor’s office,” said Angele, now a Davis appointee to the state Board of Prison Terms.

The attorney for Yosemite killer Cary Stayner asked jurors Tuesday to look beyond ignorance and cause for vengeance by showing mercy and kindness to spare his life. 

“I’m pleading that we overcome the cruelty of Cary Stayner’s acts with understanding, mercy and love,” defense lawyer Marcia Morrissey said in her closing argument. “I’m pleading for a time when hatred and cruelty and revenge did not control our hearts.” 

She told the jury — which previously rejected her arguments by convicting Stayner of first-degree murder and finding him sane — that they stood between the past and the future in showing that crimes driven by mental illness deserved some leniency. 

The case went to the jury Tuesday morning to decide whether Stayner will receive a death sentence or life in prison. 

Stayner, 41, was convicted in August of murdering Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli, 15, and their Argentine friend Silvina Pelosso, 16, by the same jury that now must decide whether he will endure the same fate. 

The three were murdered in February 1999 while staying at a lodge just outside Yosemite National Park where Stayner worked as a handyman. 

He is already serving a life sentence for the murder of nature guide Joie Armstrong, 26, in July 1999. 

On Monday, Morrissey said a fatal combination of obsessive compulsive disorder and sexual disorders collided in 1999 when visions and voices Stayner had reported for years escalated to the point where he lost touch with reality. 

“The struggle to keep the images inside himself are being lost,” she said. 

But prosecutor George Williamson told jurors that Stayner was a predator, not a man driven by mental health problems. 

“There is no substantive or compelling evidence that when he committed these three murders he was mentally or emotionally screwed up,” Williamson said Monday in a packed courtroom that included Stayner’s mother and father and members of the victims’ families. “There is no evidence that he was so emotionally whacked out or under such mental foment that he didn’t know what he was doing.” 

Morrissey said Stayner led a peaceful, crime-free life for 37 years — until the four killings in a five-month period. She said the sensational kidnapping of Stayner’s younger brother and his molestation by an uncle should also be considered as factors to give him the lesser sentence. 

“It doesn’t excuse it, doesn’t make it nice,” Morrissey said. “It does mitigate it.” 

Williamson said Stayner’s entire defense was that he wanted jurors to feel sorry for him and “throw him a bone” of life behind bars. 

“Is his life so tragic that he’s deserving of your sympathy and forgiveness?” Williamson asked the jury, as he recounted the litany of sexual abuse and degradation forced upon the two teenage victims after Stayner strangled the elder Sund with a rope.

WASHINGTON – President Bush asked a federal court Tuesday to reopen West Coast ports and impose a cease-fire that would end a caustic 10-day labor lockout, which has cost the fragile economy as much as $1 billion a day. 

“This dispute between management and labor cannot be allowed to further harm the economy and force thousands of working Americans from their jobs,” Bush said in a hastily arranged announcement outside the Oval Office. 

Bush’s politically charged decision made him the first president in a quarter-century to intervene in a labor dispute under the Taft-Hartley Act. His speech, which was moved up 15 minutes, coincided with an announcement by the dockworkers’ union agreeing to an 11th-hour truce proposed by Labor Department officials to return to work for 30 days under terms of the expired contract. 

Shipping companies and terminal operators had not agreed to reopen the docks, however, after locking out workers 10 days ago. Their refusal forced the Bush administration to seek the court’s help. 

“We needed to reopen the ports, and we needed both parties to agree,” said a White House official close to negotiations, who insisted the timing of Bush’s announcement was not changed to scuttle an agreement. “We only had one side agreeing.” 

The petition asked for an 80-day “cooling-off period” and was signed by five of Bush’s Cabinet secretaries. Bush wants the court to require work at the ports to “resume at a normal pace.” 

In papers filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the Justice Department said an injunction should be granted because “the president of the United States has determined that the labor standoff between the defendants ‘has resulted in a lockout that affects a substantial part of the maritime industry.”’ 

The Justice Department filing said “the result of the ongoing lockout has been the halting of virtually all trade handled by ILWU workers on the West Coast. ... The continuation of the ongoing lockout at the West Coast ports threatens to imperil both the national health and safety.” 

A court-ordered truce would keep the ports open during the crucial Christmas season, when retailers rely on imported goods to stock their shelves. 

“After a lot of discussions, we have been unable to bring the two parties together. Therefore, stronger action is required,” Bush said. “Because the operation of Western ports is vital to our economy and to our military, I have determined that the current situation imperils our national health and safety.” 

White House advisers welcomed the chance to deflect questions about Bush’s handling of the economy. Polls show a growing number of voters want Bush to spend more time talking about the economy than Iraq. His economic policies have either stalled in the Senate or have failed to jump-start the economy. Now he has an economic cause to promote. 

At the same time, Bush’s intervention was expected to energize organized labor, traditionally a Democratic ally, just four weeks before midterm elections. Democratic candidates depend on heavy turnout from union workers, and some presidential advisers fear Bush’s intervention will drive angry labor voters to the polls. 

“No president has ever been on this side of management this overtly,” said Richard Trumka, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. 

Bush encouraged the two sides to settle their differences before the cooling-off period. 

“I expect both sides to put the concerns of our national health and safety first and work in good faith to resolve their differences as quickly as possible,” Bush said with Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta at his side. 

Bush made his decision after an inquiry board hand-picked by the White House reported that the standoff was unlikely to end soon. “We have no confidence that the parties will resolve the West Coast ports dispute within a reasonable time,” the panel declared. 

After a fact-finding hearing in which it heard from the shipping companies and the union, the board said, “We believe that the seeds of distrust have been widely sown, poisoning the atmosphere of mutual trust and respect which could enable a resolution of seemingly intractable issues.” 

The administration was likely to prevail should it decide to ask a federal court to impose an 80-day truce, labor experts said. Just twice have courts denied such requests: in 1978, a court refused President Carter’s request for an 80-day cooling-off period in a coal miner’s strike, but ordered miners back to work under a temporary restraining order; in 1971, a court refused to intervene in a labor dispute involving 200 grain elevator employees. 

“I would think that particularly in a time of war, they would not have that hard of a time” convincing the court, said Scott Witlin, a labor lawyer in Los Angeles with the firm Proskauer Rose. 

Unions complained that the White House orchestrated the inquiry board’s determination by appointing and flying in members to San Francisco even before negotiations broke down, while officials publicly said they were reluctant to intervene. 

“I think it’s tough to say they were reluctant,” said Richard Trumka, secretary-treasurer for the AFL-CIO. 

Businesses nationwide have complained that they were starting to feel squeezed by the shutdown and pressed the White House to step in to help end the stalemate. 

Mitsubishi Motors Manufacturing of America announced Tuesday it was halting auto production because it had run out of engines and transmissions. Production was to be suspended at the start of the first shift Wednesday, although employees still were expected to report to work, spokesman Dan Irvin said. The plant in Normal, Ill., can produce 850 cars a day. 

The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping companies and terminal operators, locked out 10,500 members of the longshoremen’s union last week, claiming the dockworkers were engaging in a slowdown.

NEW YORK — The U.S. abortion rate dropped significantly during the second half of the 1990s, particularly among teenagers, and experts attribute the decline to better awareness of contraception and a fear of disease that has cut down on sexual activity. 

The rate fell 11 percent between 1994 and 2000, from about 24 abortions for every 1,000 women of childbearing age to 21, the nonprofit Alan Guttmacher Institute reported Tuesday. The rate among girls ages 15 to 18 declined a dramatic 39 percent, from 24 abortions per 1,000 girls to 15. 

At the same time, researchers were surprised by a sharp increase in abortions among poorer women, or those who earn less than twice the federal poverty level of about $17,000 for a family of four. 

“Their abortion rates were increasing while they were going down for everyone else,” said Rachel K. Jones, who led the study, which was based on questionnaires completed by more than 10,000 women who had abortions. 

Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, noted that the drop in abortions was accompanied by a decline in teen sex, teen pregnancies and teen births during the late 1990s. 

“This signals a deep and profound and robust change in adolescent sexual behavior in this country,” she said. “I think it’s cause for — I don’t know if ‘celebration’ is the right word — but certainly our full attention.” 

Analysts have credited a broad set of factors for those trends, including fear of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases and more open discussion with youngsters about sex. 

“People are really aware, and we talk more about abstinence and staying away from it altogether,” said Shannon Kilcoyne, 18, a high school senior from Greenville, S.C. Kilcoyne was not aware of the study, but said the findings about teenagers reflect concerns of sexual activity among her peers. 

“It’s more a fear of STDs,” she said. “People always talk about how you have to know someone well enough to find out their past history and who they’ve had sex with.” 

Researchers said more funding for teen pregnancy prevention programs has probably improved awareness and access to contraceptives. Similarly, they said that less money for family planning programs for poor women could be one factor for the increase in their abortion rate. 

For women below the poverty line, the abortion rate rose 25 percent. It climbed 23 percent among women making less than twice that level. 

“There have been more and more restrictions on funding for abortions and in some instances, family planning and contraceptive services,” said Kathryn Kolbert, a legal expert on reproductive rights at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center. 

The Guttmacher institute receives some funding from Planned Parenthood, but its abortion statistics are generally regarded by both anti-abortion groups and abortion-rights supporters as accurate. 

Laura Echevarria, a spokeswoman for the National Right to Life Committee, questioned whether the increase in the abortion rate among poor women had anything to do with a lack of access to contraceptives. 

“I’d like to see what their educational levels are, how many of them have access to educational material, how many of them understand childbirth,” she said. 

WASHINGTON— A House committee approved a bill Tuesday designed to reduce the threat of wildfires, but key Democrats withdrew their support and left prospects for wildfire legislation this year uncertain. 

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., joined Republicans last week in endorsing the legislation, which Republicans had hoped would help move the bill through the Democratic-controlled Senate, where other fire-treatment plans have stalemated in partisan battles. 

But after intense negotiations Tuesday, Miller and DeFazio backed out. They said the proposal was too sweeping. 

Rep. Scott McInnis, R-Colo., the bill’s sponsor, said he believes he is close to agreement with his Democratic colleagues and committed himself to continuing negotiations. 

“We came very close to an agreement. I hope at some point we will be able to get that,” McInnis said. 

Drought and overgrown forests led to one of the most severe fire seasons on record this year, with more than 6.5 million acres charred. 

House and Senate Republicans have joined President Bush in demanding speeded-up projects to cut excess trees that fuel wildfires. Democrats and environmentalists argue their proposals undermine environmental protections and would benefit timber companies. 

McInnis’ proposal would seek to expedite logging in overgrown forests by streamlining environmental studies, requiring the government to look at fewer alternatives, and tightening deadlines for administrative and judicial appeals. Seventy percent of the forest treatment projects would have to be focused on areas where the federal land abuts homes or water supplies. 

After the bill was put into writing, the Democrats grew uneasy about some of its provisions. 

Miller said he was unsatisfied with how the bill defined acreage where the expedited review would apply, and he wanted more public involvement. DeFazio said drafts of the bill still did not include language he wanted that would protect old-growth trees and clarify the judicial appeals process. 

All sides said they would continue negotiations, but time is running out on the congressional session. 

“I don’t think this thing is over yet,” said Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., adding that Wednesday would be critical for the future of the fire legislation.

SEATTLE — Say you’re so hooked to your mouse, keyboard and computer monitor you can hardly tear yourself away from your terminal. 

You don’t have to. You can wear your computer. 

Thad Starner, a computer science professor at Georgia Tech, has been walking around with his for nearly 10 years. 

“Most people who stand in line at the airport are just waiting there, bored. I’m writing the next chapter of my book or reading e-mail,” Starner said Tuesday at the International Symposium on Wearable Computers at the University of Washington. 

Starner’s gear, which costs about $4,500, includes a micro-optical monitor hooked to his glasses, a cell phone-shaped keyboard he straps to the back of his hand and a small black bag that holds a 1 1/2-pound computer more powerful than many desktop models. 

“We’re going through another computer revolution,” said Starner, who, as a student, founded the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Wearable Computing Project in 1993 and is now part owner of Charmed Technology Wireless Eyewear, based in Santa Monica, Calif. “Just like the change from the mainframe to the minicomputer and ... the minicomputer to the PC, we’re going to have a switch to wearable, which is going to completely change the way people think about computing.” 

One company, San Jose, Calif.-based Infineon Technologies, has designed a jacket with a built-in MP3 player controlled by voice recognition and a flexible keyboard sewn into the sleeve. 

Another — Microvision, Inc., based in Bothell northeast of Seattle — markets a personal display system called Nomad. It’s a headset with a two-dimensional display window that hangs in front of one eye. 

Surgeons are beginning to use it during image-guided operations like hip replacements. Normally, they’d have to turn their heads to watch a television monitor showing them where they’re supposed to cut. When they wear a Nomad, the images they need to see are right in front of their eyes, superimposed on the patient. 

Some small-plane pilots use the devices so they can keep their eyes on the sky and their gauges at the same time. 

“They’re retailing at $10,000, which obviously you and I can’t buy,” Microvision spokesman Matt Nichols said. “But with volume, you’ve got a product where the components are only $40 or $50.” 

The sixth annual symposium, sponsored by the Institute of Electoral and Electronic Engineers, runs through Thursday. 

Tuesday’s lineup included a fashion show where models showed off MP3-wired jackets, arm-mounted keyboards, jackets that monitor your heart rate and various head-mounted display systems. 

Some concepts aren’t yet ready for the marketplace, but to wearable computer gurus, ideas can be as exciting as actual products. 

Imagine, for example, a system that would help firefighters storming into a smoky building pinpoint the source of the blaze by linking up with electronic heat sensors installed throughout the building. 

Or, say, a battalion chief with a computerized display of a burning building’s layout guiding firefighters as they rush through hallways. 

“He says, ’No. 3, you need to go there,’ and No. 3 sees an arrow telling him where to go,” said Tom Furness, director of the UW’s Human Interaction Technology Lab. 

Sounds sci-fi, but Furness said it’s no pipe dream. 

“It’s really mainly a repackaging of a lot of technology that already exists” Furness said. 

With the prevalence of cell phones, personal digital assistants and global positioning systems, some argue the only challenge left is figuring out how to sew them all into shirts and pants. 

“Wearable computing is inevitable,” said Mark Billinghurst, director of the Human Interface Technology Laboratory in New Zealand and chairman of this year’s conference. “Over the last decade, we’ve seen computers migrate from the desk side to the desk top, then to the lap and to the hand. It won’t be long before the computing power of today’s handhelds will be embedded into clothing.” 

LOS ANGELES — Two new lawsuits have been filed against tobacco giant Philip Morris and other defendants just days after a jury ordered the cigarette maker to pay a cancer-stricken Newport Beach woman a record $28 billion in punitive damages. 

The lawsuits, filed late Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court and made public Tuesday, also named R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, The Liggett Group and the Council for Tobacco Research as defendants. 

The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants “knowingly and willingly” participated in the making of tobacco products they “knew to be dangerous and hazardous.” 

One lawsuit was filed by Anna Bonner, a Los Angeles woman who said she began smoking at 16. Bonner said she developed lung cancer that spread to her brain after smoking mostly Marlboro cigarettes. 

The other lawsuit was filed by Cynthia Green on behalf of her late husband, Mack Green, who she said started smoking as a 9-year-old boy. He preferred Benson & Hedges cigarettes, developed lung cancer and died in May 2000, she said. 

“The company takes every case very seriously and we’ll defend them very vigorously, but we’ll need to take a look at it before we provide any analysis on it,” said Michael York, a litigation spokesman for Philip Morris. 

Telephone calls to R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson and The Liggett Group were not immediately returned. 

Last week a Superior Court jury awarded former smoker Betty Bullock, 64, of Newport Beach, $28 billion in punitive damages in her lawsuit against Philip Morris. The same jury the previous month had award Bullock $750,000 in economic damages and $100,000 for pain and suffering. 

Bullock started smoking when she was 17 and was diagnosed last year with lung cancer that has since spread to her liver. 

Philip Morris has said it will ask a court to set aside or reduce the punitive damages. 

Before Friday’s record verdict, the largest jury award to an individual against a tobacco company was $3 billion won in June 2001 against Philip Morris by Richard Boeken, a former heroin addict with cancer who died in January 2002. That judgment was later reduced to $100 million and is being appealed. 

On Monday Merrill Lynch downgraded its outlook for Philip Morris from “buy” to “neutral” in response to the California jury award and the current trend of litigation against the industry. 

Smokers who light up outside public buildings would be subject to $100 fines if City Council passes a tough, new anti-smoking ordinance. 

The measure, which council will consider tonight, would prohibit smoking within 20 feet of any doorway or air intake vent on a public building, such as offices or shops. Smokers would still be allowed to walk past a public building with a lit cigarette, but could not stop and smoke near a doorway. 

The new measure was put forth by Mayor Shirley Dean in February and is returning to council after study by city staff. 

For the rule to take effect, building owners would have to post a “no-smoking” sign at all doorways and air vents to alert smokers of the rule. 

Proponents say the measure, which is similar to ones passed in 23 states and several other Bay Area cities, will protect non-smoking office workers from harmful secondhand smoke. 

“As smokers cluster around doorways the secondhand smoke is sucked back into the building through the doors and vents,” said Marcia Brown-Machen, director of Berkeley’s Tobacco Prevention Program. “Exposure to secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of death in the United States,” she said, noting that it has been connected to heart disease, cancer and respiratory problems. 

Smokers have mixed opinions about the pending ordinance. 

“I’m for it,” said Mark Howard who was puffing away outside the office tower at 2150 Shattuck Ave. “I don’t want to subject my smoke to someone else.” 

On the other side of the spectrum Ray Dornkus, president of the California chapter of smoker’s rights organization Fighting Ordinances That Restrict Smoking, expressed contempt for the proposal. 

“They’re trying to push us into the street,” he said, adding that once a worker is outside, car exhaust presents a far greater health risk than secondhand smoke.  

Dornkus also wondered what smokers were supposed to do during the rainy season. On many buildings, the only shelter for smoking is in the doorway, he said. 

If the ordinance is approved, it would add an extra layer to Berkeley’s already stringent anti-smoking codes. All city-owned buildings currently prohibit smoking within 15 feet of doorways, and smoking is prohibited at outdoor work sites and restaurant patios. 

Although the measure spells out escalating fines for multiple offenders, Alex Schneider, director of environmental health, said he does not expect the city to actively enforce the measure. 

“We’re going to rely on people obeying the signs,” he said, noting that a lack of staff prevents strict city enforcement. 

Businesses would be punished for not posting “no-smoking” signs provided by the city, he said, but as long as the sign is posted, only the smoker would be liable for punishment. 

City Council must approve the measure twice, at separate meetings, before it is adopted.

To the Editor: 

In this election, only Gov. Gray Davis is hiding from the voters. Every other Democrat running for statewide office has agreed to debate all candidates running against them. As Green Party candidate for insurance commissioner, I debated my Democrat, Republican and Libertarian opponents on Bill Rosendahl's television show Sept. 17. Being willing to debate has nothing to do with what party you're from. Being willing to debate speaks to whether or not you respect the democratic process and the voters of California. A recent poll showed 69 percent of California voters want Peter Camejo in debates with Bill Simon and Davis. Davis's refusal to debate shows he has nothing but contempt for California voters. 

David Sheidlower 

Insurance Commissioner 

Candidate, 

Green Party of California 

Oakland

Wednesday, Oct. 9 

Berkeley Free Folk Festival Tour 

3 p.m. 

Meet at Malcom X School  

1731 Prince St. 

Join the Berkeley Free Folk Festival for a tour of possible festival locations. 

649-1423 

Free. 

Thursday, Oct. 10 

Public School Finance Discussion - League of Women Voters 

Noon to 2 p.m. 

Albany Public Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 

843-8824 

Free. 

Natural Building and Permaculture Slide Show 

7 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. near Dwight Way 

Slide show and presentation by Kat Steele and Erin Fisher. 

548-2220 x233 

Free 

Grandparent Support Group 

10 to 11:30 a.m. 

Malcom X Elementary Arts & Academics School, 1731 Prince St. Rm.105A 

644-6517 

Free. 

Come and Take a New Look at the Catholic Church 

7:30 to 9 p.m. 

Norton Hall at St. Mary Magdalen Parish, 2005 Berry St.  

For those feeling alienated from the Catholic Church, combined teams from four parishes offer this opportunity to ask questions and talk.  

653-8631 

Friday, Oct. 11 

Celebration of completion of the “Channing and Popai Liem Archival Collection” 

6 p.m. Reception 

7 p.m. Program begins 

Morrison Room, Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley 

UC Berkeley’s first Korean American archive has been completed. 

“Iraq and the Looming War” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 p.m. speaker 

City Commons Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

Professor Bruce E. Cain, PhD, department of political science at UC Berkeley will speak. 

526-2925 or 665-9020 

$11.50 or $12.50 luncheon 

$1 speaker only / students free 

Saturday, Oct. 12 

Indigenous Peoples Day 

7:30 a.m. 

Shellmound run to the Indigenous Peoples Day Pow Wow - 1st Annual Run 

615-0603 

Free 

Autumnal Equinox Picnic 

11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

“Big Leaf” field in Tilden Park 

East Bay Atheists host this day of fun, food, and games. 

652-8350 

$5 donation 

“Toward Realizing Our Dream: Overcoming the Obstacles to Korea’s Peaceful Reunification” 

1 p.m. 

Morrison Room, Bancroft Library  

UC Berkeley 

Congresswoman Barbara Lee speaks,  

followed by guest speakers and a reception. 

See Elephants Fly 

Noon to 5 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science,  

Centennial Drive above the UC Berkeley campus. 

A day of special activities and events about the Asian elephant and the Asian cultures where these beasts live. 

643-5961  

babcock@uclink4.berkeley.edu 

$8 adults. $6 youth 5-18. $4 for 3-4. 

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. 

Thursday, Oct. 10 

M Headphone w/ Lowrise 

8:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over. 

Saturday, Oct. 12 

Rilo Kiley (saddle creek) and Arlo (subpop) 

5:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over. 

Kira Allen 

6:30 p.m. Open mic sign-up 

7:00 p.m. Reading 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St.  

Presented by Rhythm & Muse 

527-9753 

Free / donations accepted 

Sunday, Oct. 13 

Jenna Mammina and Andre Bush 

4:30 p.m. 

Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St. 

Jazz standards, obscure cover tunes and original compositions. 

845-5373 

$10-$15. 

“Please Pay Attention” 

Tuesday, Oct. 8 through Oct. 25 

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall 

UC Art graduates feature drawings, video, etc. 

DepartmentofArtPractice 

"Balancing Acts" 

Through Oct. 10 

Gallery 555, 555 12th St., 

Oakland City Center 

Oakland's 'Third Thursday' art night  

features Ann Weber's works  

made of cardboard. 

http://www.oaklandcitycenter.com.  

Free. 

Ceramics - Opening Reception 

Through Nov. 17 

3 to 5 p.m. 

A New Leaf Gallery, 1286 Gilman St. 

525-7621 

Free. 

“Hunger: What will you do about it?”  

Through Oct. 30  

Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Civic Center Building 

2180 Milvia St., 5th floor 

Featuring 40 photographs  

by Berkeley artist David Bacon. 

834-3663, Ext. 338,  

uchanse@secondharvest.org 

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. 

“Recent Acquisitions” 

Oct. 13 through Dec. 14 

Thurs., Fri., and Sat., 1 to 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. 

848-0181 

Free. 

Misch Kohn - Celebrating  

60 Years of Printmaking 

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 

Nancy Salz 

Through Oct. 23, Tues.-Fri.,  

10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Barbara Anderson Gallery, 2243 Fifth St. 

848-3822 

Timoteo Ikoshy Montoya 

Through Nov. 1  

Reception Sept. 20, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Gathering Tribes Gallery  

1573 Solano Ave.  

Acrylic/air brush paintings  

by this Native American artist.  

528-9038 

Threads: Five artists who  

use stitching to convey ideas 

Oct. 6 through Dec. 15, Wed.-Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St. 

Information: www.berkeleyartcenter.org, 644-6893 

Free. 

Alarms and Excursions 

Nov. 15 through Dec. 22 

Aurora Theatre Company,  

2081 Addison St. 

Michael Frayn's comedy about  

the irony of modern technology. 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org for reservations 

$26 to $35. 

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar 

Through Oct. 12 

Thurs. through Sat. 8 p.m. 

LaVal’s Subterranean Theatre  

1834 Euclid Ave. 

234-6046 

$10. 

The House of Blue Leaves 

Through Oct. 20 

Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater  

2015 Addison St.  

647-2949 or 888-4BRTTIX 

$10-$54. 

Tuesday, Oct. 8 

Daniel Wilkinson 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. 

Author Wilkinon and panelists from Global Exchange and Equal Exchange will discuss Guatemala, globalization, and book “Silence on the Mountain.” 

(617) 351-3243 

Thursday, Oct. 10 

Daniel Wilkinson 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 

Wilkinson, author of “Silence on the Mountain” will present slide show. 

843-3533 

Free. 

Friday, Oct. 11 

Beth Glick-Rieman 

7:30 p.m. 

Boadacia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave.  

at Colusa Circle 

Glick-Rieman shares her findings on the status of women around the world, reading from her book, “Peace Train to Beijing and Beyond”. 

559-9184 

Free. 

Saturday, Oct. 12 

“Antarctica and the Breath of Seals” 

7:30 p.m. 

Boadacia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave.  

at Colusa Circle 

Lucy Jane Bledsoe presents a slide show based on travels in Antarctica. 

559-9184 

Free. 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Working for the Mouse 

Fantasy about playing at Disneyland. 

8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. 

La Val’s Subterranean Theater  

1834 Euclid 

464-4468 

$12 general, $7 students. 

Sunday, Oct. 27 

Benefit screening for “Bums’ Paradise”  

8 p.m. screening followed by party with live music from Marc Black / Funky Sex Gods 

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 

Film explores the story of the homeless men and women who turned the former Albany Landfill into a community. 

525-5054 

Sliding scale / All welcome.

OAKLAND – The Oakland Athletics were supposed to put it all together this October. Instead, everything fell apart in six days — and now one of baseball’s sweetest success stories has turned sour. 

Billy Beane, the general manager who has built an improbable contender in Oakland, was left with mixed emotions as the A’s packed up for the winter Monday following their five-game division series loss to the Minnesota Twins. 

Beane felt pride in his players, who won 103 games and the AL West in a season that included an AL-record 20-game winning streak that captured the nation’s attention. Beane also felt frustration over the tiny differences in a five-game playoff series that turned their season into a failure — and he also felt anger at the fans who still won’t show up to support the young, dynamic A’s. 

Lackluster crowds watched Oakland lose two of its three playoff games at the Coliseum, and everyone in the organization noticed — from owner Steve Schott, who didn’t get as much playoff revenue as he’d hoped, to the players who didn’t get the same home-field advantage enjoyed by Minnesota. 

“It’s disappointing that not more people came out,” Beane said. “We accomplished some great historical things here. Not to have that support is disappointing. You almost think they’re spoiled.” 

But the A’s were angry at everybody following their ouster. A young, tremendously talented roster hasn’t produced any postseason success after three outstanding regular seasons, and it’s starting to wear on them. 

“It’s a weird feeling. You play so long and spend every day together, and then everyone says goodbye,” said first baseman Scott Hatteberg, who was told his contract option for next season will be picked up. “That’s part of it. You never really get used to it. It’s a depressing feeling.” 

The A’s lost 5-4 to Minnesota in the deciding game, sending them home after the playoffs’ first round again. The Yankees eliminated the A’s in each of the previous two seasons — both times in five games. 

With their peerless starting rotation and a young lineup with several quality players, the A’s still have one of the finest collections of young talent in the game — but except for two division titles in the past three seasons, they don’t have anything to show for it. 

“You can’t prepare for the playoffs,” Beane said. “There’s a certain randomness there. The point is to get there. That’s what you prepare for. 

“Look, we only spent $40 million, and we won 100 games. You have to have a sense of perspective going into the playoffs that randomness is going to play a part.” 

The season ended with a one-run loss — the same margin by which Oakland won so often this season. A’s closer Billy Koch gave up three runs in the ninth inning, making Mark Ellis’ dramatic three-run homer too small to help. 

“This was our best opportunity in the last three years,” manager Art Howe said. “We’ve been so close, and that’s what makes it so disappointing. (But) as long as we can keep the nucleus together and just make little tweaks, I’ll be surprised if we don’t contend every year.” 

But as the players cleaned out their Coliseum lockers on Monday, there was plenty of uncertainty about the future. 

David Justice and Randy Velarde are expected to retire — and Velarde actually left the locker room with a fishing pole on his shoulder. Several other players will get significant pay raises next season, and Beane will once again be forced to work his magic to keep a small-market, small-budget team in contention with baseball’s big spenders. 

Miguel Tejada, the MVP candidate who collapsed into a 3-for-21 slump in the playoffs, has just one year remaining on his contract. He wants to sign a long-term deal, and he said he would take less than market value to stay. 

“They’ve told me they’re going to try to work something out,” Tejada said. “I want to make sure my family is happy. That’s what I care about. It’s not all about money. I can live comfortably. I have friends here, and I don’t want to lose that.” 

Manager Art Howe expects to be back, but Ken Macha — Howe’s bench coach and right-hand man — is expected to land a managing jobs with the Brewers, Tigers, Cubs or Mets. 

The Boston Red Sox also are expected to ask permission to speak with Beane about a job in their organization, but Schott scoffed at the notion that he would allow one of baseball’s top minds to leave while he’s under a lengthy contract extension. 

“If they want Billy Beane, I want their whole team and some cash,” Schott said. “That’s all tongue-in-cheek, (but) Billy has a daughter here on the West Coast that he’s totally devoted to. I don’t think anything will move him.” 

Beane sounds torn about his future – and a bit tired of all the extra work it takes to win in Oakland. 

“I’m under contract. I really can’t comment about that,” Beane said. “I love these guys, but realistically, we share a facility with a football team. We drew 30,000 for the playoffs. We’re killing ourselves to get here. What more can we do to get that support? 

“It wears on you that you put out a product, but you can’t do more to improve it.”

Tony Award-winning producer Jonathan Reinis is weighing a full-scale performing arts center at the unoccupied UC Theatre on the 2000 block of University Avenue in downtown Berkeley. 

“I think it would be a great asset to the city,” said Reinis, a 35-year resident of Berkeley who currently operates “Theatre on the Square” in San Francisco. 

Reinis, whose 20-year lease on “Theatre on the Square” will expire at the end of the year, said he wants to turn his attention to Berkeley where he envisions a completely remodeled UC Theatre that would play host to drama, dance, symphony, opera and film. 

Reinis cautioned that the idea is “very preliminary” and said he has not yet worked through the financial details. But he said he has the resources to contribute to the multi-million dollar seismic retrofit that the vacant theater requires before it can be put back into use. 

City Councilmember Linda Maio said she met with Reinis at the city manager’s office last week to discuss the possibility of public funding for a new performing arts center. 

“We still need to look and see how it works financially,” Maio cautioned. “But I think it’s quite possible.” 

Maio said she is “delighted” with the idea of a full-scale performing arts facility in Berkeley. 

The 1,300-seat theater, long beloved as a repertory cinema, closed its doors in March 2001 in the face of economic difficulties. 

In recent months, theater owner Pacific Bay Investments has proposed dividing up the space into several small performance spaces for use by local cultural groups. 

But UC Theatre managing partner Igal Sarfaty said he has put the plan on hold while Reinis explores the performing arts center idea. 

“We’d like to see how serious he is,” Sarfaty said. “If not, we will see what we’re going to do.” 

Reinis’ wife, Hillary, said it is too early to say whether Reinis would enter into a partnership with Pacific Bay Investments or buy the theater outright. 

The Berkeley Symphony, which currently holds concerts at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall and the Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Roda venue, has expressed interest in a performing arts center for months. 

But Katherine Barker-Henwood, executive director of the symphony, said her organization does not have the resources to upgrade the UC Theatre on its own. 

Reinis, who is leaving San Francisco because of a hefty rent hike, said the UC Theatre requires new seats, a new stage, an expanded lobby, and a better electrical system, among other things. 

A fully-functioning performing arts center, he said, would bring Berkeley up to par with the rest of the state. 

“Every major city in the state of California has a performing arts center,” he said. “It’s kind of unusual that a city like Berkeley, a tremendous supporter of the arts, doesn’t have its own performing arts center.” 

Reinis said he is “very excited” about the possibility of bringing such a facility to his home town.

To the Editor: 

Letter writer John Koenigshofer (Forum, Sept. 20) wrongly vilifies Tom Bates and makes unsubstantiated generalizations. He suggests that Berkeley has emerged from a “Dark Age” when the city was “in the hands of progressives.” 

Perhaps Mr. Koenigshofer is unaware that progressives have had a working majority on the City Council for 18 of the last 20 years, including the last six years. The improvements he cites – the new library, a vibrant downtown, the Interstate 80 pedestrian bridge, etc. – would not have occurred without the leadership and wholehearted support of progressive council members.  

If there has been a “dark age” in Berkeley, it was during the two years when Mayor Shirley Dean had a majority on the City Council. The damage done has still not been fully repaired. In my neighborhood, the Berkeley Inn site at Telegraph Avenue and Haste Street remains a vacant lot because Dean, along with Councilmember Polly Armstrong, worked to kill a mixed use project for the site which was supported by neighborhood residents and area merchants alike. Across town on Rose Street, a blighted building remains because Dean killed a proposal to build housing for people with AIDS there.  

While the mayor worked to kill affordable housing projects, she also embraced inappropriate development. In my neighborhood, she and her council allies approved a Hollywood Video store with no traffic mitigations for Shattuck Avenue and Derby Street. Fortunately, we fought back and the site is today occupied by Reel Video, which agreed to mitigations that have shielded the neighborhood from the substantial traffic generated by this popular business. 

Jerry Miller 

Berkeley

ALAMEDA – The Oakland Raiders are piling up points, as if they’re simply daring other teams to try to keep up. 

All this without offensive genius Jon Gruden calling the shots. 

With a cast of old-timers and their former rising-star coach gone to Tampa Bay, the Raiders are the only undefeated team left in the NFL. 

And if everything goes as planned at winless St. Louis, Oakland will be 5-0 on Sunday, the day Jerry Rice celebrates his 40th birthday. 

“It’s beautiful,” tight end Roland Williams said. “When you see an offense work and execute and score points, it’s a beautiful thing. We’re still looking for that Utopia, which is scoring every time we touch the ball. 

“We still have to get better. But God bless the Raiders. We’re entertaining people, we have hardworking guys and Hall of Famers who are doing unbelievable things.” 

One thing to consider, though: The Raiders haven’t played an AFC West opponent, and the teams they have beaten are a combined 5-13. 

Still, it’s hard to argue with Oakland’s impressive numbers. The Raiders have the NFL’s top offense, averaging 461.5 yards per game, and they are outscoring opponents 162-90. 

Quarterback Rich Gannon has three of the top seven passing games in the league this season — his 403-yard day at Pittsburgh on Sept. 15 ranks fourth behind two performances by Buffalo’s Drew Bledsoe and one by Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady of New England. 

Aside from the big stats, they’re first in first downs per game and third-down efficiency. They lead in punt-return average and they’re plus-7 in turnovers, another NFL best. 

They’re second in yards per play, first in points per game. 

Had enough yet? First-year coach Bill Callahan hasn’t. 

“I’m just realistic,” he said. “Being in this league for eight years, I’ve seen teams go up and down, start fast, start slow. I just temper it right now. I’m just at the point I want our team to understand we have a lot of work to do. 

“If we continue to prepare hard, work hard and do the things we’re capable of doing, I think success takes care of itself.” 

Under Callahan, this team already looks a lot more like the Raiders of old. He has opened up the playbook and is anything but predictable — a stark difference from the conservative Gruden. 

Most of the Raiders have never seen such offensive volume in their careers, and this is an old group. Rice will be 40, Rod Woodson is 37 and Gannon, Tim Brown and Bill Romanowski are 36. 

The successful start surely has owner Al Davis smiling; he’s in love with the long pass and strong-armed quarterbacks who can heave a football halfway down the field, or even further. Gruden went away from that during his tenure. 

Callahan insists it’s much too early to be thinking Super Bowl in the Bay area. 

For one thing, the Raiders are as beat up as they’ve been all season. Callahan listed 11 injured players Monday, seven of whom were hurt in Sunday’s 49-31 win at Buffalo. Many are questionable for this weekend’s game against the Rams (0-5). The injuries range from turf toe, to groin strains to knee sprains. That has Callahan shuffling his lineup and even considering adding players to the roster. 

Then, there’s the issue of kicker Sebastian Janikowski, who’s in trouble with the law yet again. Janikowski was charged with driving under the influence after he was stopped for speeding in Oakland early Wednesday and failed a sobriety test. 

With all that, center Adam Treu believes the Raiders will get past it all. 

“I have no answers,” he said. “This is the big league so to speak. Guys here have to prepare and take personal accountability to play up to standards. We’re definitely lucky and blessed to have the capable backups we have.” 

The Raiders are taking a cautious approach to their fast start. Last year, they went 4-5 after winning six of their first seven games. 

“It is a concern because last year we didn’t finish as strong down the stretch,” said Callahan, the offensive coordinator under Gruden. “Looking at the schedule and the divisional matchups we face late in the year, it’s going to be key that we play very hard and that we’re fresh for that run.”

Green Party candidate for governor Peter Camejo was barred from attending a gubernatorial debate Monday at the insistence of Gov. Gray Davis, Camejo’s campaign manager Tyler Snortum-Phelps said. 

Camejo, who was put on the guest list of Republican candidate Bob Simon, was refused entry by debate officials when Davis said he would not participate if Camejo was allowed inside the building, according to Snortum-Phelps. 

“[Camejo] went up to the front desk with his guest pass, but they kept saying ‘you’re not invited,’” Phelps said. 

The debate, sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, was steeped in controversy due to the newspaper’s decision to exclude the Green candidate. The two major party candidates tussled over the snub, Camejo said, with Simon encouraging his participation and Davis rejecting it. Both candidates thought the Green candidate could take liberal votes away from Davis, Camejo said. 

Simon previously said he would not participate in the debate if Camejo were not allowed to attend, but he ultimately decided to participate.

To the Editor: 

It is time to set the record straight. Tom Bates is campaigning around Berkeley claiming that his wife Loni Hancock is responsible for things that the mayor did, like starting the Downtown Arts and Theater District. He says his wife secured the Vans auto shop building on Addison Street so that the Berkeley Repertory Theater could expand. None of what Bates is saying is true. The real story is that in August of 1990, the Rent Board was trying to get the elderly owner of the Vans building to register his numerous rental units throughout the city. Berkeley Rep wanted to expand and asked the then Mayor Hancock for assistance in obtaining the building. However, the owner of Vans disliked and distrusted Hancock and her cohorts so much that he refused to negotiate with her. 

The only person the owner was willing to talk to was Betty Olds, whom he considered to be fair and who served on the Rent Board at the time. Betty was able to put together a deal for the transfer of the Vans property and the registration of his rental units in exchange for a partial waiver of penalties. However, when the final deal went to the Rent Board for a vote, the majority would not vote for it. They didn’t want to waive any of the penalties against the elderly owner. In the final hour, Florence McDonald had the foresight and vision to see that approving this deal was in the best interests of the city and she changed her vote, which allowed the deal to be approved. If it had been left up to Hancock, Vans would not house the Berkeley Rep today and the Arts District never would have been created.  

Kathy deVries 

Inez Watts 

Berkeley

Pro-Palestinian activists criticized UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl for signing his name to a full-page advertisement in the New York Times Monday that called for an end to intimidation of Jewish students on college campuses. The ad made no specific reference to the protection of Arabs or Muslims. 

But university spokesperson Marie Felde said Berdahl has repeatedly spoken out against intimidation of Arabs, Muslims and other groups.  

Felde also pointed to generic language at the end of the ad, an open letter signed by about 305 university presidents, condemning intimidation of “any group, person or cause.” 

“His support of this letter was based on the final paragraphs of the letter,” she said. “There was no intent to be selective.” 

But Chris Cantor, an activist with Students for Justice in Palestine, noted that a few university presidents refused to sign the letter because it did not include Arabs, and attacked the chancellor for attaching his name to the ad. 

“We find it really interesting that Berdahl would [sign] an ad that targets violence and intimidation against Jewish students, but makes absolutely no mention of violence and intimidation against Arabs,” he said. 

Many Jewish students, by contrast, welcomed the ad. 

“It’s about time,” said student and City Council candidate Micki Weinberg. “There have been more than a few anti-Semitic acts on campus and very little dialogue.”  

Weinberg pointed to a pair of incidents from the spring semester – an attack on two Orthodox Jews near the university’s Clark Kerr campus and vandalism of Berkeley Hillel, a center of Jewish cultural life. 

“The people who have been attacked are Jews,” he said. “To deny that is outright wrong.” 

Presidents from six colleges and universities, including Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, Brandeis University in Massachusetts and Howard University in Washington D.C., initiated the letter in recent weeks. 

The American Jewish Committee, a New York-based non-profit, facilitated circulation of the letter and paid for the ad. 

The letter calls for “an intimidation-free campus” and raises concerns about mounting harassment of Jewish students. 

“We are concerned that recent examples of classroom and on-campus debate have crossed the line into intimidation and hatred, neither of which have any place on university campuses,” the letter reads. 

“In the past few months, students who are Jewish or supporters of Israel’s right to exist – Zionists – have received death threats and threats of violence,” the piece continues. “These practices and others, directed against any person, group or cause, will not be tolerated on campus.” 

Students for Justice in Palestine member Amy Aisen said the message didn’t go far enough.  

“The principle of the ad is great, that we’re supporting peace on campus,” said Aisen. “It’s just unfortunate that only one group of students have been singled out [for protection].”

To the Editor: 

UC Berkeley faculty members who support the divestment from Israel reveal their intellectual and moral flabbiness. Students who look to faculty as role models should be disappointed. Their teachers blatantly ignore that the complicated Middle East situation involves two peoples – Israelis and Palestinians. Yet these academics cast aside academic “fairness” and eagerly point out only Israel's flaws while keeping silent about Palestinian behaviors such as their overwhelming support for continued bombers. 

Choosing to single out only Israel from all the nations in the world tells a lot about the biases of the pro-divestment people. 

June Brott 

Oakland

Berkeley police say they are responding to neighborhood complaints of rampant prostitution on San Pablo Avenue. But merchants say police efforts have made no impact. 

On Sept. 27 the department’s special enforcement unit performed a sting operation, arresting 11 prostitutes for offering sex to undercover officers on San Pablo Avenue, between Ashby Avenue and Dwight Way. 

So far this year, police have conducted four such stings on San Pablo that have resulted in the arrest of 44 prostitutes, according to Police Information Officer Mary Kusmiss. 

San Pablo Avenue has long been plagued by prostitution because it offers sex workers heavy car traffic and provides easy access to isolated areas in west Berkeley that are conducive to illicit sex. 

During the past few months, merchants and residents have complained that prostitution has gotten worse. 

“Every day it’s a steady stream of women flagging down cars,” said Jack Fox, a local business owner, in an August interview. 

Fox said he was happy to learn of last month’s sting, but added that police tactics have not yet succeeded in ridding the avenue of prostitutes. 

“Obviously 11 [arrests] is an impact, but it just goes to show you how many there are,” said Fox, who last Monday, said he counted 16 prostitutes walking by his shop during business hours. 

Fox said he wants more frequent stings, but police say they are taking a more balanced approach to rooting out prostitution. 

“Stings are a more concerted effort to compliment what is happening on a day-to-day basis,” Kusmiss said. She said beat officers are regularly able to spot prostitutes and arrest them either for violating probation or a “stay away” order. 

In September, San Pablo Avenue beat officers arrested four women on prostitute charges, Kusmiss said. 

She added that a police team had recently made several arrests by patrolling popular spots for prostitutes to conduct their business. 

“Prostitution is in the department’s consciousness. We’ll continue to work on it.” Kusmiss said.

To the Editor:  

I gratefully commend and support Representative Nancy Pelosi's opposition to Dick Cheney and George W. Bush's war for oil and empire. In contrast, it amazes me how Representative Richard Gephardt can call himself a “democratic leader” when he has just bent over and endorsed war against Iraq. Gephardt has broken the channel for responsible people to communicate their opposition to the war. If both Democrats and Republicans support Bush's war, how will voters be able to express opposition?  

Sure, Saddam Hussein is a bad man. If he is building weapons of mass destruction, as are half a dozen other despot-ruled countries, the United Nations inspectors will find out soon enough. So, why attack Iraq? Could it be for their oil? Why now? Could it be the election? Why divert resources from fighting al-Qaida? Could it be to maintain public fear and stifle opposition? Why divert resources from repairing our economy? Could it be that many of the crooks have ties to the White House?  

Rep. Pelosi should keep asking these questions. Answering them may turn our country away from Bush's destructive course.  

Bruce Joffe  

Piedmont

CINCINNATI – President Bush, seeking support for war against Iraq, called Saddam Hussein a “murderous tyrant” Monday night and said he may be plotting to attack the United States with biological and chemical weapons. 

Bush also said Saddam could be within a year of developing a nuclear weapon, and he declared, “Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof – the smoking gun – that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.” 

“I am not willing to stake one American life on trusting Saddam Hussein,” the president said. 

His address opened a week of debate in Congress over resolutions giving the president authority to wage war against Iraq. The House and Senate planned votes for Thursday, and the Bush-backed resolution was expected to pass by wide margins. 

Facing skepticism at home and abroad, Bush portrayed an apocalyptic struggle between good an evil, saying the threat posed by Saddam could dwarf the damage done in the Sept. 11 attacks. He said Iraq must be the next front in the war on terrorism. 

“There is no refuge from our responsibilities,” Bush said. If it comes to war, “We will prevail.” 

Citing U.S. intelligence, Bush said Saddam and his “nuclear holy warriors” are building a weapons program that could produce a nuclear weapon in less than a year. U.S. intelligence agencies issued a report last week estimating 2010. 

“If we allow that to happen, a terrible line would be crossed,” the president told civic group leaders at the Cincinnati Museum Center. 

As he spoke, new polls revealed lingering unease among voters about going to war, particularly if casualties were high or fighting distracted attention from America’s sagging economy. Democrats criticized Bush’s insistence upon confronting Iraq alone if the United Nations failed to act. 

“The administration has failed to make a case for a unilateral and pre-emptive strike on Iraq,” Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said in Washington. “The administration’s stated policy of ’regime change’ is counterproductive to efforts to disarm Iraq and restore stability to the region.” 

About 1,000 protesters gathered outside the building where Bush spoke, police said. Tafari McDade, 11, held a white posterboard on which he had drawn the twin towers of the World Trade center. “We shouldn’t go to war,” he said. “I came down here with my mom to tell people that.”

OAKLAND – Federal Transportation Security Administration security screeners will be deployed at Oakland International Airport this week following a similar move last week when the federally-trained workers took over security in a Mineta San Jose International Airport terminal and Los Angeles International Airport. 

Fred Lau, Oakland Airport’s TSA federal security director, and Airport General Manager William Wade is expected to announce the deployment to the passenger checkpoint in Terminal 1 during a news conference this morning. About 90 new federal security screeners were sworn in during a ceremony Monday. 

The new federal screeners have gone through 44 hours of classroom training and 60 hours of on-the-job training. Last week, TSA officials said the newly trained screeners are being brought in to enhance security measures already in place, with a national security standard that did not exist before. 

Acting Federal Security Director Mark Pooler explained that current screeners will be guaranteed screening jobs if they pass a TSA-sponsored assessment of their skills. 

“TSA is committed that all screeners will be guaranteed a position if they pass the assessment,” he said. 

TSA is responsible for civil aviation security in the U.S. Tuesday’s deployment of federal screeners at Oakland Airport is part of the agency’s efforts to establish federal security operations in commercial airports across the country under the terms of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001.

A gay and lesbian community center was the victim of a hate crime Sunday night, when a vandal wrote the word “fag” and drew a swastika on its outdoor bulletin board. 

The incident at The Pacific Center for Human Growth on the 2700 block of Telegraph Avenue is the 22nd hate crime reported in Berkeley this year, said Police Information Officer Mary Kusmiss.  

Berkeley has seen a sharp rise in hate related crimes since Sept. 11, 2001 Kusmiss said. 

Sunday’s message was written with a black permanent marker on papers attached to the bulletin board that hung from the center’s front porch. No one at the center was immediately available for comment. 

Police ask anyone who witnessed the crime to call the city’s Hate Crimes Hotline at 981-5968.

SAN FRANCISCO – As the U.S. Congress wrestles with the president’s bid for military authority to strike Iraq, San Francisco supervisors Monday voted to say no to such action at this time. 

Supervisor Mark Leno’s resolution, which passed 8-2, calls such a prospect “premature” since the United Nations Security Council has yet to deliberate on its stance. 

The resolution states that the City and County of San Francisco urges the U.S. Congress to oppose military action “until the latest Iraqi offer to permit weapons inspections takes its course, the Bush administration obtains the cooperation of key allies in Europe and the Middle East, the U.N. Security Council authorizes military action under international law, and until the administration presents compelling evidence of an imminent threat to the United States.” 

Leno noted that U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, has been privy to classified security briefings because of her leadership position in the House of Representatives and commented recently that she has not been persuaded that the Middle Eastern nation poses a nuclear threat to the United States. 

Supervisors Gavin Newsom and Tony Hall voted in the minority Monday, while Supervisors Tom Ammiano and Aaron Peskin were listed as cosponsors.

n Assault with deadly weapon 

Police arrested Jonathan Bagget, 19, in connection with two assaults on fraternity brothers at approximately 12:40 a.m. on the 2300 block of Piedmont Avenue Sunday. According to police, Bagget then threw an unopened beer can at the victim. The can struck the victim on his nose, causing the victim to fall. The victim’s fraternity brother then chased Bagget. However, Bagget found a shovel laying on the street and hit the other fraternity member on his left arm. Neither victim sustained a serious injury. Bagget was leaving a fraternity party where he was drinking, police say, which is in violation of a current UC Berkeley moratorium on serving alcohol at fraternity parties. 

n Armed Robbery 

A liquor store on the 1400 block of San Pablo Avenue was robbed at gun point at about 2:05 p.m. Friday. According to police the suspect brandished a black semi automatic handgun and told the clerk to open the register. The clerk complied and the suspect made off with approximately $450.

Recently a Berkeley resident expressed concern to us that the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) that she wanted to install to save energy had mercury in it, and this mercury would do more to harm the environment than the incandescent lamp she would replace. (Mercury is used in all fluorescent lamps to start them.) 

While it is true that fluorescent lamps have a very, very small amount of mercury in them (about 1/1000th of an ounce – smaller than the period at the end of this sentence), a regular incandescent light bulb actually releases much more mercury into the environment.  

The biggest source of mercury contamination is the mercury released through coal-fired power plants. Emissions from coal-fired power plants release approximately 46,300 kilograms of methylmercury a year, according to the EPA. CFLs use less energy and therefore reduce mercury emissions from coal plants. Replacing 1 billion incandescent lamps in the U.S. with CFLs could reduce mercury emissions by nearly 10 million grams. 

How can a light switched on in Berkeley affect a coal-burning power plant in Arizona? Berkeley’s power grid is connected to the national electrical grid. The flip of a switch here calls on all power plants, including coal plants, to produce more power to supply the grid. 

Over the life of one 27-watt CFL (about 10,000 hours of operation) it will consume 270 kWh (costing you about $40), resulting in a total of 8 mg mercury (~4mg from the bulb and ~4 mg from electricity production – half of this mercury is contained safely inside the lamp). Over that same 10,000 hours, a 100-watt incandescent bulb will consume 1,000 kWh (costing you about $150 for energy – and you will need to buy ten of these, since they only last about 1,000 hours each). A portion of that energy will be generated from coal which will release 17.6 mg mercury over hundreds of square miles.  

Coal is the major fossil fuel used to generate electricity, in both the eastern and western United States. (The US fuel mix for electricity production is 56 percent coal, 9 percent natural gas, 4 percent oil, and 31 percent non-fossil fuels – hydroelectric, geothermal, solar, wind and cogeneration.) The smokestacks of these coal-burning power plants release “chemical vapors (of) known carcinogens such as mercury, heavy metals (arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, nickel), dioxin, furans and PCBs,” according to environmental coalition Power Scorecard TM. An inventory of mercury emissions conducted by EPA in 1993 found that one-third of all mercury air emissions comes from coal burning electric power plants.  

The mercury from smokestacks becomes airborne, spreading over hundreds, even thousands of miles before being deposited into waterways, pastureland and soil. Cows or cattle on pastureland hundreds of miles away take in mercury and heavy metals while grazing.  

In the water, mercury can be absorbed  

by anything from plankton to whales. Mercury is a bioaccumulator, meaning that it is deposited and retained in the fatty tissues of animals, including humans, and excreted very slowly. The higher up on the food chain you eat, the more likely it is that you will intake some amount of mercury. Methylmercury accumulates appreciably in fish. Tuna and swordfish are well known incubators of mercury.  

Mercury is linked with a number of serious health problems, including both neurological and developmental problems in humans. The EPA has issued warnings for pregnant women and young children against eating more than two servings of tuna or swordfish per week. According to the EPA, “children born of women exposed to relatively high levels of methylmercury during pregnancy have exhibited a variety of developmental neurological abnormalities, including delayed onset of walking and talking, cerebral palsy, and reduced neurological test scores. Far lower exposures during pregnancy have resulted in delays and deficits in learning abilities in the children.”  

Replacing your incandescent bulbs with CFLs will not only reduce the release of toxins into the environment, it will lower the lighting portion of your electric bill by ~75%. If you replace twenty 75-watt incandescent bulbs with 20-watt CFLs, you would save 1,100 watts for every hour that the lamps burned. At five hours per day per lamp, this would mean over 2,000 kWh, or about $300 back in your pocket every year. 

A new type of CFL- Cold Cathode Fluorescent Light (CCFL) – is being developed. CCFL’s bulbs are even more efficient, produce less heat, and are smaller and more compact. They are also projected to last much longer than conventional CFL’s bulbs and ballasts. CCFLs may be available for sale in the near future. 

Compact fluorescent lamps can be purchased in a variety of places, and at reasonable prices. The Ecology Center and Berkeley Farmer’s Markets sell them for between $5 and $7 each through the Berkeley Conservation and Energy (BC&E) program. Some CFLs on the market still have magnetic ballasts, meaning that they will flicker. Look for good-quality lamps that have the Department of Energy’s “EnergyStar” logo on them to assure good color and an electronic ballast, which produces an even light with no flicker. (This is what the Ecology Center carries.) As for wattage, you should replace an existing incandescent bulb with a CFL with approximately _ the wattage to maintain the same light levels. So, a 60-watt bulb can be replaced by a 15-watt CFL; a 75-watt by a 20-watt CFL, etc. 

And when it comes time to recycle that CFL, contact the Alameda County Household Hazardous Waste Program, located at 2100 East 7th St., Oakland (west of the freeway). Call 670-6460 for current operating hours. 

For more information, visit the Energy Office’s website at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ENERGY or email energy@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Clarification: In response to the last PowerPlay column regarding Berkeley’s Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance (RECO), we’ve received a number of questions about the origins of the ordinance. It was enacted 25 years ago in 1987, and has succeeded in helping to reduce home energy expenses for Berkeley residents. In the past five years alone, more than 5,000 homes underwent RECO improvements, saving the average homeowner about $450 per year in energy costs.

Man killed by Caltrain 

PALO ALTO – Caltrain officials report that a man was struck and killed by a northbound train this morning, and the accident will likely affect train service throughout the morning. 

Caltrain spokeswoman Jayme Maltbie said the accident occurred at about 8:10 a.m. when a trespasser on the tracks was struck and killed at the Churchill Crossing in Palo Alto. The victim has not yet been identified. 

Maltbie said that six trains were stopped in the Palo Alto area at 9:15 a.m. as a result of the fatality and it may take some time before service can be restored to its normal schedule as the investigation continues. 

Family slain in San Jose 

SAN JOSE – San Jose police said two adults and two toddlers were found shot to death in their home in east San Jose Monday afternoon. 

The San Jose Police Department said a person of unknown relation discovered the family in the house at 88 Melrose Ave. and called police at 1:15 p.m. Monday. 

San Jose Police Officer Joseph Deras officers were still trying to confirm the identities of the four victims, which include a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old and an adult male. 

He said the victims may have been dead for over 24 hours before being discovered. 

“There’s an outside possibility this is a murder suicide but there could also be a suspect still outstanding,’’ Deras said. 

One man was detained, although it is not known why. Also, the grandmother of one of the victims was extremely upset and was removed from the scene by an ambulance Monday afternoon. Deras said a handgun was recovered near one of the bodies. 

Officers had been in contact with the family over the weekend. The reason for the visits was not known. 

Sat Hernandez, a neighbor, said the Portuguese family was quiet and kept to themselves. 

“The street is very quiet and peaceful. I’ve been really comfortable here for the past 22 years. I’ve never had one problem with one neighbor,’’ Hernandez said. 

Woman sues Taco Bell, claims food poisoning 

NAPA – A woman who said she was sickened by food from a Taco Bell in Napa is suing the chain seeking more than $25,000 for lost wages, medical care and compensation. 

Diana Franklin is one of nearly 100 area residents who complained to the Napa County Department of Environmental Management about food poisoning from the Taco Bell. The complaints centered on food served on Mother’s Day weekend at the chain’s Jefferson Street location. 

A department investigation placed the blame on workers who handled food with their bare hands, spreading a virus. 

The lawsuit called the food handling negligent.

LOS ANGELES – The family of one of the women who died in the crash of Greyhound bus after its driver was stabbed by a passenger has sued the transit company. 

The wrongful death lawsuit against Greyhound was filed late Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court by the family of Rosa Barrera, 61, of Santa Rosa. The lawsuit claims that Greyhound provided lax security by allowing accused killer Arturo Tapai Martinez, 27, to board the bus. 

Martinez has pleaded innocent to two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. 

Witnesses said Martinez stabbed the driver, Abel Hernandez, 50, in the neck with a pair of scissors. The alleged attack caused a crash killed Barrera and Rebecca Alice Good, 64, of Phoenix. 

Fifty-one people were on the bus heading from Los Angeles to San Francisco when it flipped on its side following the attack and slid into a cotton field off Interstate 5, about 70 miles from Fresno. The crash left 27 people hospitalized. 

The lawsuit by the Barrera family also named bus driver Hernandez, who survived the attack, and Martinez as defendants and said Greyhound should have been on guard against such an assault. 

Plaintiff’s attorney Kent Henderson alleged that Greyhound had been put “on notice” about security problems after an Oct. 3, 2001, attack in Tennessee by a passenger who slashed a Greyhound driver’s throat with a box cutter. The attack caused a crash that led to the deaths of seven people. 

Kim Plaskett, a spokesman for Dallas-based Greyhound, declined to comment on the lawsuit. 

“We have not seen any such lawsuit and we can’t discuss any litigation anyway,” she said.

WASHINGTON – President Bush moved Monday toward reopening crippled West Coast ports, creating a special board of inquiry to determine the impact of a labor dispute that has brought shipping trade there to a virtual halt and is costing the economy up to $2 billion a day. 

The move came hours after contract negotiations between workers and management collapsed. Port operators and manufacturers’ groups applauded the move, but the longshoremen accused the administration of trying to break the union. The workers have been locked out, without pay, by management. 

In an executive order, Bush gave the board of inquiry one day to report back to him, and he was expected to ask the courts to order a resumption of work for 80 days. Though the administration promised an unbiased examination of the lockout, Bush appeared to have made up his mind that it was hurting national security and the economy. Senior administration officials said it was virtually certain Bush will seek the “cooling-off period.” 

“A continuation of this lockout, if permitted to continue, will imperil the national health and safety,” Bush wrote in his executive order. 

“Ordinary Americans are being seriously harmed by this dispute,” Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said. “Family farmers and ranchers are being devastated by the shutdown. Millions, if not billions of dollars of American produce, meat and poultry are rotting in containers on the docks and on idled trucks and rail cars.” The lockout has already caused layoffs, and could prompt thousands more, her department said. 

The department also warned the lockout could hurt national security, because the armed forces and defense contractors rely on commercial ships that use West Coast ports. 

The formation of the board of inquiry — a step taken only rarely by presidents — is required under the Taft-Hartley Act before the president can order management to let the workers back in. Bush’s next step would be to make his case in federal court, with Attorney General John Ashcroft asking for a ruling that the dispute is hurting entire industries and jeopardizing national health or safety. 

Chao said that if an injunction is granted by the court, the ports could be reopened in a matter of one or two days. 

But historically, cooling-off periods have failed to permanently end labor disputes. 

Labor Department Solicitor Eugene Scalia told reporters that there had been 11 coast-wide dock work stoppages since the Taft-Hartley Act was passed in 1947 and in all of those cases, the president sought injunctions after convening a board of inquiry. 

In at least eight of those instances, the 80-day cooling-off period failed to resolve the dispute and the work stoppage resumed once it was over. 

“Experience shows that this simply delays the settlement process,” said Michael LeRoy, professor of labor and industrial relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “It does not end the dispute by any means. Typically what happens is the parties go back to their corners and stew.” 

Just before the 80 days end, “they rush back to the table more angry than they were 80 days before,” he said. 

But a cooling-off period would keep the ports open during the crucial Christmas season, in which retailers are relying on imported goods to stock their shelves. The tradeoff for the Bush administration, LeRoy said, is that a mandatory cooling-off period could energize organized labor — traditionally a Democratic ally — just before midterm elections. 

Jimmy Carter was the last president to seek to use Taft-Hartley to end a work stoppage in the coal industry in 1978. The court refused to order the 80-day cooling off period but did order miners back to work under a temporary restraining order. Bush is the first president to invoke Taft-Hartley during a lockout, as opposed to a strike, LeRoy said. 

The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping companies and terminal operators, has locked out 10,500 members of the longshoremen’s union, claiming the dockworkers engaged in a slowdown late last month. 

The association ordered the unpaid lockout until the union agrees to extend a contract that expired July 1. The main disputes are over pensions and other benefits, and whether jobs created by new technology will be unionized. 

PMA President Joseph Miniace praised Bush’s move. “The ports are going to be open soon and this crisis we are in will be over,” he said. 

But James Spinosa, president of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union International, said, “The government, along with the corporate world, are trying to break unions,” he said. 

Labor talks broke off in San Francisco late Sunday night after the union rejected the latest contract proposal. 

The White House estimated the lockout, which entered its second week Sunday, is costing the economy up to $1 billion a day. Robert Parry, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said it is costing $2 billion a day. Bush’s decision came on a day when a CBS-New York Times poll suggested two-thirds of Americans believe he should be spending more time on the economy. 

The number of cargo vessels stranded at West Coast docks or backing up at anchor points has risen to 200. Dozens more were still en route from Asia. Already, storage facilities at beef, pork and poultry processing facilities across the country are full — crammed with produce that can’t be exported. 

Bush named to the board of inquiry former Sen. Bill Brock, R-Tenn., a former U.S. trade representative and labor secretary; Patrick Hardin, a professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law and one-time National Labor Relations Board official; and Dennis R. Nolan, a professor at the University of South Carolina law school and vice president of the National Academy of Arbitrators.

SAN JOSE – A jury that will soon decide the fate of Yosemite killer Cary Stayner was told Monday the former handyman deserves the same fate as his three victims. 

Wrapping up the penalty phase of a murder trial that’s lasted more than three months, prosecutor George Williamson urged jurors to return a death verdict and forever remove a man he characterized as an opportunistic sexual predator who has no real remorse for his crimes. 

“There are two questions,” said Williamson. “Does this defendant truly deserve punishment different than what he did to the victims? Did he ever accord them a modicum of due process?” 

Defense lawyer Marcia Morrissey said Stayner’s crimes were horrible and ghastly, but that he didn’t deserve a punishment reserved for the “worst of the worst” killers. 

She said life in prison without parole was punishment enough for a man described by friends and relatives as decent, quiet and gentle. 

“You must determine if Mr. Stayner is so bad, so beyond redemption that the death penalty be imposed,” Morrissey said. “You have to decide how Mr. Stayner will die ... with a set date and time or when God takes him.” 

Stayner, 41, was convicted in August of murdering Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli, 15, and their Argentine friend Silvina Pelosso, 16, by the same jury that now must decide whether he lives or dies. 

The three were murdered in February 1999 while staying at a lodge just outside Yosemite National Park where Stayner worked as a handyman. 

He is already serving a life sentence for the murder of nature guide Joie Armstrong, 26, in July 1999. 

In a closing argument that lasted all afternoon and will resume Tuesday, Morrissey relied on extensive testimony of Stayner’s mental illnesses to explain the killings and as a reason to spare his life. 

Morrissey said a fatal combination of obsessive compulsive disorder and sexual disorders collided in 1999 when visions and voices Stayner had reported for years escalated to the point where he lost touch with reality. 

“The struggle to keep the images inside himself are being lost,” she said. 

Jurors have twice rejected the mental disorder defense by convicting Stayner of first-degree murder and finding that he was sane when he killed. Penalty phase deliberations are expected to begin Tuesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court. 

Williamson told jurors that Stayner was a predator, not a man driven by mental health problems. 

“There is no substantive or compelling evidence that when he committed these three murders he was mentally or emotionally screwed up,” Williamson said in a packed courtroom that included Stayner’s mother and father and members of the victims’ families. “There is no evidence that he was so emotionally whacked out or under such mental foment that he didn’t know what he was doing.” 

Morrissey said Stayner led a peaceful, crime-free life for 37 years — until the four killings in a five month period. She acknowledged that the crimes were terrible, but she asked jurors not to get carried away with a tide of anger and vengeance. 

She said the sensational kidnapping of Stayner’s younger brother and his molestation by an uncle should also be considered as factors to give him the lesser sentence. 

“It doesn’t excuse it, doesn’t make it nice,” Morrissey said. “It does mitigate it.” 

Williamson said Stayner’s entire defense was that he wanted jurors to feel sorry for him and “throw him a bone” of life behind bars. 

“Is his life so tragic that he’s deserving of your sympathy and forgiveness?” Williamson asked the jury, as he recounted the litany of sexual abuse and degradation forced upon the two teenage victims after Stayner strangled the elder Sund with a rope.

CLEARLAKE – Lake Konocti is nestled in the center of the rolling, golden Konocti Hills north of Napa, renowned around the world for its fishing, wineries, entertainment and the cleanest air in the state. 

Never heard of it? 

That’s because it doesn’t exist — yet. But the Lake County Board of Supervisors is doing its own California dreamin’, hoping to turn a cloudy green lake and an area with a reputation for crime and grime into the next Napa Valley. 

The countryside around Clear Lake really does have some of the cleanest air in California. The lake, however, is another matter — it’s plagued by algae blooms and an invasive water weed and, sometimes, an overpowering stench. 

Some people avoid swimming in the green, brackish waters altogether. But the lake is not the only problem. Parts of surrounding Lake County are littered with old mobile homes, abandoned vehicles and trash. 

To help emphasize the county’s good points with tourists, county supervisors hired a consultant to develop a marketing strategy. Chandler, Brooks & Donahoe, based in Olympia, Wash., came back with a makeover plan involving a countywide cleanup — and a new regional identity. 

Instead of the bland and not entirely accurate Clear Lake, supervisors are considering Lake Konocti. They would refer to the region not as Lake County but as Konocti Hills or Konocti Hills Country. 

“Most people don’t go to counties, they go to destinations,” Supervisor Anthony Farrington explained. 

Lake County supervisors will discuss this plan on Tuesday, and give their staff guidance on what to do next. The name change could appear on the ballot next year. 

Some residents see Clearlake, the city at the southeast end of the lake, as an adolescent with a bad attitude. The waterfront there is dotted with “resorts” of dilapidated trailers with peeling paint and spots of mold. It’s the biggest city in the county, with more than 13,100 residents, and has a reputation for crime. 

Lakeport, with 4,800 people living on the northwestern edge, is the well-groomed big brother — it’s solidly middle class, with a waterfront park with large shade trees, a gazebo, and vast lawns that flow down to floating docks. Lakeport’s main thoroughfare is lined with shops in Old West style buildings. 

More than 40,300 other Lake County residents live in unincorporated areas of the county, which has begun strictly enforcing codes, trying to remove substandard units, especially along scenic corridors. 

John Mallard, a Clearlake resident since 1975, said he has already noticed, and while he appreciates the cleanup, he’s not sure another name change is a good solution. 

“They changed the name of the town, and it went downhill from there,” he said. It used to be called Clearlake Highlands before it was incorporated as a city in 1980. 

But the city administrator for Clearlake points out that while the city “went downhill” when tourists stopped coming — choosing instead to visit Lake Tahoe when a road to the famed lake was improved — the city tried to turn that around the last few years. But some may not have realized that yet. 

“This place has really cleaned itself up,” city administrator David Lane said. “But the reputation is still there.” 

The county has a natural beauty that should attract tourists, and is just a two-hour drive from San Francisco and Sacramento, along roads with stunning vistas of oak-studded hills and vineyards. 

Free of the traffic, noise and high housing costs that burden the Bay Area, the county has recreational opportunities galore — hiking, mountain biking and a lake teeming with bass. 

It’s largely agricultural, specializing in pears and now wine grapes, and is home to a geothermal power plant. In the past, many county residents worked in a nearby gold mining operation, and the county tried, unsuccessfully, to attract high-tech businesses. 

Tourism is already a major business for the county, but Lake County officials are hoping to get people who are passing through to stay longer and spend money, and to turn it into a destination for those looking for a vacation spot. 

“If we get more visitors and get them to stay longer, it will improve the economy of the county,” said Matt Perry, chief deputy administrative officer for Lake County. “By doing these things, we’re hoping people who have had negative experiences will come back to the revitalized areas.”

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Sunday fined a former Petaluma optical company almost $35,000 for hazardous waste storage and record keeping violations. 

EPA inspectors cited Scientific Optical Laboratory of Australia International for storing hazardous waste without a permit, failing to label containers properly, and for not keeping training records or an updated hazardous waste contingency plan. 

The violations were discovered at the company’s Petaluma facility in 2000. The company has since shut down the facility and relocated it to Mexico.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – An American and two Britons won this year’s Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for discoveries about how genes regulate organ growth and a process of programmed cell suicide. Their findings shed light on the development of many illnesses, including AIDS and strokes. 

Britons Sydney Brenner, 75, and John E. Sulston, 60, and American H. Robert Horvitz, 55, shared the prize, worth about $1 million. 

Working with tiny worms, the laureates identified key genes regulating organ development and programmed cell death, a necessary process for pruning excess cells. Many cancer treatment strategies are now aimed at stimulating the cell-death process to kill cancerous cells. 

Brenner, a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, is also the founder of the Molecular Sciences Institute in Berkeley. He showed that the tiny transparent worm C. elegans was useful for studying how cells specialize and organs develop. His work “laid the foundation for this year’s prize,” the awards committee said. 

Brenner also demonstrated that a chemical could produce specific genetic mutations in the worm, allowing different mutations to be linked to specific effects on organ development. 

Sulston, of the Sanger Center at England’s Cambridge University, discovered that certain cells in the developing worm are destined to die through programmed cell death. He described visible steps in the cell-death process and demonstrated the first mutations of genes that participate in that process, the committee said. 

Horvitz, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, identified the first two “death genes” in the worms and showed that humans have a gene similar to one of them, the awards committee said. Scientists now know that most genes controlling cell death in the worms have counterparts in humans. 

Sulston, reached in Cambridge, said he was “surprised and delighted” at winning the prize and emphasized the importance of the work by Brenner and Horvitz. All three had worked together in Cambridge in the 1970s. 

“Something we do need to keep in mind all the time is how much can come out of work that’s done to try to understand, in the broadest sense, and sharing that understanding with everybody else,” he said. 

Horvitz was notified by the Nobel committee while vacationing in the French Alps. 

“It was quite enjoyable to have champagne before lunch in France,” Horvitz said in a telephone call to a news conference at MIT on Monday. 

“I would find nothing more gratifying than to learn that one or more of my discoveries led specifically to pharmaceutical treatments and cures for human diseases,” he said. 

“That’s a dream. At this point, I think that dream is still tenable.” 

Information about programmed cell death has helped scientists understand how some viruses and bacteria invade human cells, the Nobel committee said. In conditions such as AIDS, stroke and heart attack, cells are lost because of excessive cell death. In other diseases like cancer, cell death is reduced, leading to the survival of cells that are normally destined to die. 

The award for medicine opened a week of Nobel Prizes that culminates Friday with the prestigious peace prize, the only one revealed in Oslo, Norway. 

The physics award will be announced Tuesday and the chemistry and economics awards Wednesday in the Swedish capital. 

As in years past, the date for the literature prize has not been set. But it always falls on a Thursday, usually the same week as the other awards. 

The award committees make their decisions in deep secrecy and candidates are not publicly revealed for 50 years. 

Alfred Nobel, the Swedish industrialist and inventor of dynamite, left only vague guidelines in his will establishing the prizes, first awarded in 1901. 

For the prize Monday, he simply stated the winner “shall have made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine.” 

The 18 lifetime members of the Swedish Academy who choose the literature laureate make their final decision at one of their weekly meetings, only setting the date early in the same week to keep the world guessing. 

Kaj Schueler, a literary editor at Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, predicted the academy’s choice would be a surprise since last year’s award went to perennial favorite V.S. Naipaul. 

“I also think it’s time for them to pick a poet,” Schueler said, declining to single out any names. “The last poet they had was the Polish writer Wislawa Szymborska in 1996. since they they’ve had playwrights and prose writers.” 

The only public hints are for the peace prize. 

The five-member awards committee never reveals the candidates, but sometimes those making the nominations announce their choices. 

With the world still reeling from last year’s Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and concerned about U.S. plans for a war in Iraq, no clear favorites have emerged. 

Among the nominees were Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has sought to unify his country after the hard-line Taliban was ousted by U.S.-led airstrikes, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the Salvation Army and the U.S. Peace Corps. 

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were nominated for leading the war against terrorism but were seen as unlikely winners in wake of their efforts to convince the world of the need to overthrow Saddam Hussein. 

The Nobel Assembly at the world-renowned Karolinska Institute, which selects the medicine prize winner, invites nominations from previous recipients, professors of medicine and other professionals worldwide before whittling down its choices in the fall. 

Last year’s winners were Leland H. Hartwell of the United States and R. Timothy Hunt and Paul M. Nurse from Britain, awarded for discovering key regulators of the process that lets cells divide, which is expected to lead to new cancer treatments. 

The awards always are presented on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death in 1896.

LOS ANGELES – The first retail zero-emissions car available in the United States will be delivered to the city by the end of the year by Honda, officials said Monday. 

The hydrogen-powered Honda FCX prototype will be used by city employees in a program designed to give the car manufacturer feedback on the clean-air vehicle, said Art Garner, a spokesman for American Honda Motor Co. in Torrance. 

After the first hydrogen Honda is delivered, four more will be made available for leasing by the city by the end of 2003, Garner said. 

“Air quality in the Los Angeles basin has steadily improved in recent years, thanks in part to the deployment of new environmental technologies,” Mayor James Hahn said in a statement. “Hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles hold great promise for future clean air vehicles and it’s important that Los Angeles play a leading role in development and early use of this technology.” 

The FCX — short for “fuel cell experimental” — is modeled on the EV Plus, a battery-powered car that Honda began leasing to U.S. customers in 1997. 

The FCX carries 41 gallons of hydrogen and has a range of 220 miles. Its top speed is 96 mph. 

The four-seat car has been certified as a zero-emission vehicle by the California Air Resources Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Garner said. 

City employees will use the vehicles on the job as regular pool cars and for commuting. 

Los Angeles officials and Honda are completing plans to secure a third-party that will provide fuel for the vehicles. 

The leasing agreement will be finalized by the end of the year and information on the program’s cost will be released then, said Hilda Delgado, a spokeswoman in the mayor’s office. 

Fuel-cell vehicles rely on hydrogen, combined with oxygen from the atmosphere, to produce electricity. They are as quiet as those vehicles that rely on batteries for power. Water and heat are the only waste products. 

“Los Angeles and Southern California have been leaders in seeking the new clean air technology,” Garner said. “So it’s kind of a natural fit.” 

Honda plans to lease about 30 fuel cell cars in California and Japan over the next two to three years.

SAN FRANCISCO – The American Civil Liberties Union charged Monday that San Francisco’s police department has done little to follow up on statistics showing that racial profiling may be a problem in the city.  

“The pattern of delay, deny, explain, and delay some more, has been the department’s consistent response to this issue,’’ wrote ACLU attorney Mark Schlosberg in his new report titled “A Department in Denial.’’  

After analyzing the police department’s data and finding that black motorists who are stopped by police are 3.3 times more likely to be searched than white drivers are – but less likely to subsequently demonstrate any “evidence of criminality’’ – Schlosberg said he met twice with police Chief Earl Sanders in June.  

But a follow-up report that Sanders promised within 90 days never materialized, according to the ACLU attorney. 

Monday a police spokesman said he was aware of the ACLU’s allegations but did not have a comment to make at this time.  

In May, Sanders, who soon afterward became San Francisco’s first black police chief, said he personally has not received many complaints in recent years about racial insensitivity and has made it his business to hand out his telephone number to minority community members. He acknowledged the issue is “extremely important’’ to people of color.  

Sanders also said racial profiling is against the department’s policies at that time.  

But the ACLU said the department needs to come up with a clear definition of what racial profiling is, as well as enact sanctions against officers and supervisors who engage in such discriminatory treatment and hire an independent auditor to monitor the situation.  

“This report clearly shows that the San Francisco Police Department is failing to take the issue of racial profiling seriously and is not complying with basic directives of the Police Commission that were mandated over three years ago. San Francisco deserves better,’’ said Schlosberg.  

The ACLU analysis, which covers a year’s worth of data from July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002, also found greater rates of searches among Hispanic motorists than whites. Although Hispanics were 2.6 times more likely to be searched, they also were less likely to later indicate “evidence of criminality’’ than white were.

Emeryville’s steady climb from dumping ground to consumer paradise is set to take a giant leap forward next month. 

Bay Street, a $400 million, one million-square-foot mega-development featuring a 16-screen movie theater, nine upscale restaurants, 65 specialty shops, a 250-room hotel and 300 housing units will begin opening over a three block radius north of Ikea, beside Interstate 80. 

When Bay Street is fully completed, developers say it will give Emeryville, known as a home to giant retailers and manufacturers, what it has always lacked – a vibrant pedestrian-friendly downtown. 

“This will be the anti-mall,” said Eric Hohmann, Vice President at Madison Marquette, developers of Bay Street. 

Designed to look and feel like an authentic city center, Bay Street will hide most of its 1,900 parking spaces from pedestrian view behind new urban-looking buildings. Residential units will fill the upper stories of these buildings. 

The Bay Street project highlights a growing shift in Emeryville away from unsightly big box retailers flanked by acres of parking lots to traditional urban development mixing residential and small commercial space. 

In addition to Bay Street, Emeryville is working on two nearby San Pablo Avenue developments also involving the mixed use formula. 

According to City Manager John Flores, Emeryville has had no choice but to welcome giant retailers into the city, beginning in the 1990’s. Since much of city’s available land was contaminated with industrial waste, no bank would finance local development projects, he said. 

“Big box chains were not what we wanted, but they were the only thing that could get around the financial blacklisting,” Flores explained. 

But the success of the chains during the past decade now gives Emeryville greater flexibility to pursue projects at its discretion. 

Tax revenues from profitable chain stores have funded new city development efforts. And banks, which have witnessed the expansion of retail in Emeryville, are now more willing to support smaller city projects. 

To get Bay Street off the ground, Emeryville first needed to clean up the land polluted with arsenic and lead by previous tenants Sherwin Williams Paint Company and Elementis, a pigment company. The city spent $12 million, which it eventually recouped from the polluters. 

Flores noted the $12 million city outlay would have been inconceivable without the tax revenue and financial reputation the city received from the big box retailers. 

“Now we have more control over our development projects and can take big risks to clean up sites,” Flores said. 

Although Bay Street satisfies the goal of developing shopping districts in residential neighborhoods, not everyone supports Emeryville’s idea of new urban development. 

“It is certainly better than big box development, but it creates a feeling of artificiality because it isn’t a real street that grows organically over time.” said Greg Van Mechelen of Berkeley-based Architects, Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility. 

He added that because most of the stores at Bay Street will be national or regional chains, Emeryville will not reap the same financial benefits from independent stores. Chain Stores, Van Mechlen said, send their profits to their corporate headquarters instead of reinvesting in the community like locally-owned shops. 

But Flores said that considering how far Emeryville has come from its industrial roots, it needs an urban kick start. 

“There was a human outcry to redevelop this town,” Flores said. “I think Bay Street is exactly what they were asking for.” 

Contact reporter at 

matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net

To the Editor: 

The streets of Berkeley are becoming less safe everyday for pedestrians. We have the highest pedestrian and bicycle injury rate for any other city our size in the state. Last spring an elderly women was killed in my central Berkeley neighborhood as she left church in the morning. A driver, probably frustrated with the gridlock on University Avenue tried to take a side street with a devastating result. As I walk, drive and ride my bike I encounter frustrated angry drivers and frightened pedestrians on a daily basis. 

I see very little effort by the city to make improvements. The little orange flags offered pedestrians trying to cross Ashby Avenue and University were completely ineffective. If it is our vision to close off all neighborhoods to crosstown traffic and funnel all the cars to a few main arteries then there also have to be incentives to take other modes of transportation and greater options for commuters. There also needs to be neighborhood shopping districts which are pedestrian friendly rather than car oriented. 

While at the Solano Stroll a few weeks ago I was wonderfully surprised to see the sidewalks bulbonts. They made walking really easy. Maybe more of these could be constructed in other small shopping districts as well to make the streets safer.  

Julie Guilfoy 

Berkeley

Monday, Oct. 7 

Free Homework Assistant  

at Young Adult Project 

Martin Luther King Youth  

Services Center 

1730 Oregon St.  

Young Adult Project (YAP) has a  

homework program for ages 7-13. A scheduled appointment is needed.  

Snacks and transportation are provided. Priority given to south and west  

Berkeley students.  

981-6670 

NOW Meeting 

6 p.m. 

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffee House, 6536 Telegraph Ave.  

Monthly meeting of the National Organization for Women. Lorraine Provost, executive director of the Alameda County Commission on the Status of Women will speak. 

287-8948 

School Board Candidates Night 

7 to 9 p.m. 

The Florence Schwimley Little Theaterat Berkeley High, Allston Way at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Candidates will speak and answer questions. Sponsored by the PTSA and the League of Women Voters 

BHSetree@HighSchoolEmail.com 

Berkeley Gray Panthers Home Owners Meeting 

3 p.m. 

Berkeley Gray Panthers Office, 1403 Addison St., behind Univesity Ave. at Andronico’s supermarket. 

Jane Kadosh will talk about real estate ethics. 

548-9696 

Wednesday, Oct. 9 

Berkeley Free Folk Festival Tour 

3 p.m. 

Meet at Malcom X School  

1731 Prince St. 

Join the Berkeley Free Folk Festival for a tour of possible festival locations. 

649-1423 

Free. 

Thursday, Oct. 10 

Public School Finance Discussion - League of Women Voters 

Noon to 2 p.m. 

Albany Public Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 

843-8824 

Free. 

Natural Building and Permaculture Slide Show 

7 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. near Dwight Way 

Slide show and presentation by Kat Steele and Erin Fisher. 

548-2220 x233 

Free 

Grandparent Support Group 

10 to 11:30 a.m. 

Malcom X Elementary Arts & Academics School, 1731 Prince St. Rm.105A 

644-6517 

Free. 

Come and Take a New Look at the Catholic Church 

7:30 to 9 p.m. 

Norton Hall at St. Mary Magdalen Parish, 2005 Berry St.  

For those feeling alienated from the Catholic Church, combined teams from four parishes offer this opportunity to ask questions and talk.  

653-8631 

Friday, Oct. 11 

Celebration of completion of the “Channing and Popai Liem Archival Collection” 

6 p.m. Reception 

7 p.m. Program begins 

Morrison Room, Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley 

UC Berkeley’s first Korean American archive has been completed. 

“Iraq and the Looming War” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 p.m. speaker 

City Commons Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

Professor Bruce E. Cain, PhD, department of political science at UC Berkeley will speak. 

526-2925 or 665-9020 

$11.50 or $12.50 luncheon 

$1 speaker only / students free 

Saturday, Oct. 12 

Indigenous Peoples Day 

7:30 a.m. 

Shellmound run to the Indigenous Peoples Day Pow Wow - 1st Annual Run 

615-0603 

Free. 

“Toward Realizing Our Dream: Overcoming the Obstacles to Korea’s Peaceful Reunification” 

1 p.m. 

Morrison Room, Bancroft Library  

UC Berkeley 

Congresswoman Barbara Lee speaks,  

followed by speakers and reception. 

See Elephants Fly 

Noon to 5 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science,  

Centennial Drive above the UC Berkeley campus. 

A day of special activities and events about the Asian elephant and the Asian cultures where these remarkable beasts live. 

643-5961  

babcock@uclink4.berkeley.edu 

$8 adults. $6 youth 5-18. $4 for 3-4. 

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. 

Sunday, Oct. 13 

People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo Banquet  

1 p.m. 

Hs Lordship’s Restaurant, 199 Seawall Dr., Berkeley Marina 

531-1729 

$40 reservations required. 

October Swimfest 

1:30 to 3:30 p.m. 

Willard Pool, 2701 Telegraph Ave. 

Come out to swim, laugh, float and make a splash, while showing support for keeping Willard Pool open year-round. 

981-5150 

$4.20 general / $1.50 seniors and children 

Tuesday, Oct. 15 

Fall Fruit Tasting 

Berkeley Farmers' Market 

2 to 7 p.m. 

Derby Street at Martin Luther King Jr. Way  

Free. 

Thursday, Oct. 17 

Speak Out: A Forum on Women’s Health Issues 

7 to 9 p.m. 

City Council Chambers 

Discuss issues such as domestic violence, disparities in health care, youth health issues, and alternative health care. 

981-5106 

Friday, Oct. 18 

“Ballot Issues for the Nov. 15 Election” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 p.m. speaker 

City Commons Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

A representative from the League of Women Voters will speak. 

526-2925 or 665-9020 

$11.50 or $12.50 luncheon 

$1 speaker only / students free 

Saturday, Oct. 19 

Ethics Forum 

6 to 9 p.m. 

Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 

Crew 24 invites all teen youth groups for a pizza potluck and conversation about the ethical decisions we face today. 

525-6058 

Bring a pizza to share. 

Monday, Oct. 7 

Holly Gwinn Graham, Joel Landy and Lynda Williams 

7:30 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage Coffee House  

1111 Addison St. 

Benefit concert for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.  

548-1761 

$15.50 in advance. $16.50 at the door. 

Thursday, Oct. 10 

M Headphone w/ Lowrise 

8:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over. 

Saturday, Oct. 12 

Rilo Kiley (saddle creek) and Arlo (subpop) 

5:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over. 

Kira Allen 

6:30 p.m. Open mic sign-up 

7:00 p.m. Reading 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St.  

Presented by Rhythm & Muse 

527-9753 

Free / donations accepted 

Sunday, Oct. 13 

Jenna Mammina and Andre Bush 

4:30 p.m. 

Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St. 

Jazz standards, obscure cover tunes and original compositions. 

845-5373 

$10-$15. 

Thursday, Oct. 17 

Four minute mile and the avenue of the stars. 

8:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over. 

“Please Pay Attention” 

Tuesday, Oct. 8 through Oct. 25 

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall 

UC Art graduates feature drawings, video, etc. 

DepartmentofArtPractice 

"Balancing Acts" 

Through Oct. 10 

Gallery 555, 555 12th St., 

Oakland City Center 

Oakland's 'Third Thursday' art night  

features Ann Weber's works  

made of cardboard. 

http://www.oaklandcitycenter.com.  

Free. 

Ceramics - Opening Reception 

Through Nov. 17 

3 to 5 p.m. 

A New Leaf Gallery, 1286 Gilman St. 

525-7621 

Free. 

“Hunger: What will you do about it?”  

Through Oct. 30  

Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Civic Center Building 

2180 Milvia St., 5th floor 

Featuring 40 photographs  

by Berkeley artist David Bacon. 

834-3663, Ext. 338,  

uchanse@secondharvest.org 

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  

60 Years of Printmaking 

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 

Nancy Salz 

Through Oct. 23, Tues.-Fri.,  

10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Barbara Anderson Gallery, 2243 Fifth St. 

848-3822 

Timoteo Ikoshy Montoya 

Through Nov. 1  

Reception Sept. 20, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Gathering Tribes Gallery  

1573 Solano Ave.  

Acrylic/air brush paintings  

by this Native American artist.  

528-9038 

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar 

Through Oct. 12 

Thurs. through Sat. 8 p.m. 

LaVal’s Subterranean Theatre  

1834 Euclid Ave. 

234-6046 

$10. 

The House of Blue Leaves 

Through Oct. 20 

Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater  

2015 Addison St.  

647-2949 or 888-4BRTTIX 

$10-$54. 

The Shape of Things 

Through Oct. 20 

Aurora Theatre Company  

2081 Addison St. 

Play by writer/director Neil LaBute's spins a morality tale of a young art student, his art major girlfriend, and the Pygmalion-like changes that bring into question how far one should go for love. 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org for reservations 

$26-$35. 

Escape From Happiness 

Through October 20 

Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley Campus 

UC Berkeley’s department of theater, dance, and performance studies presents this dark comedy exploring the interactions of a highly dysfunctional urban working-class family. 

www.ticketweb.com or (866) 468-3399 

http://theater.berkeley.edu 

$8-$14

SEATTLE – Kyle Boller waited his whole life to play such a great game. The way he saw it, the Washington Huskies just happened to be the team on the other side of the line. 

Boller threw for 266 yards and a career-high five touchdowns as Cal defeated No. 12 Washington 34-27 on Saturday, snapping a 19-game losing streak in the series. 

“I can honestly say this is the best game I’ve ever played, high school or college,” a jubilant Boller said. “It was the best feeling to look up in the stands afterward. I saw my mom jumping up and down. It was awesome.” 

The Golden Bears (4-2, 1-1 Pac-10) beat Washington (3-2, 0-1) for the first time since Nov. 9, 1976. They also ended a 17-game homefield winning streak by the Huskies. 

“We can say, ’It’s history. It’s over,”’ Boller said. “People will remember 2002 as the year the Golden Bears came in here, played a good game and won.” 

Boller was 13-of-24 without an interception, outdueling Washington’s Cody Pickett, the nation’s No. 2 passer. Pickett finished 35-of-59 for 399 yards, but he threw two interceptions. 

“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot,” Pickett said. “I threw two picks, and you can’t do that in the Pac-10.” 

After the final seconds ticked off, the Bears gathered in front of the Cal band in the southwest corner of Husky Stadium to salute a contingent of fans. The celebration carried into the visitors’ dressing room. 

“This does worlds for our confidence,” Bears defensive back Nnamdi Asomugha said. “Everybody saw us start 3-0, then they kind of forgot about us when we lost the next two. We feel we’re back.” 

The Huskies rallied to beat California the last three years, and they seemed ready to do it again. Pickett’s 1-yard TD run on an option play pulled Washington to 34-24 with 4:03 remaining. 

Greg Carothers recovered a fumble by Joe Igber on Cal’s ensuing series, and the Huskies reached the final margin on John Anderson’s fourth field goal of the day, a 37-yarder with 1:54 to play. 

“That was scary, how similar this game was to what’s happened before,” Boller said. “This time, our defense stepped up. We didn’t let anything get to us.” 

Cal’s Geoff McArthur recovered the ensuing onside kick, and the Bears ran out the clock. 

“I would have never dreamed in my wildest dreams that I would lose to Cal,” Washington guard Elliott Zajac said. “It was horrendous.” 

Pickett barely missed his third straight game with at least 400 yards. He was contained by a steady pass rush, and Cal’s defensive backs smothered Washington’s talented receivers. 

“Our main goal was to get hits on Pickett,” Asomugha said. “When you come at him, the D-line gets hits on the quarterback. When the D-line gets hits on the quarterback, that forces him into making bad plays.” 

Huskies fans surely would say the Cal backs were too close. The Golden Bears blanketed Washington receivers, and several times fans booed when officials failed to call pass interference after contact. 

“Our receivers are so great, they tried to press and get our guys off our routes,” said Washington’s Reggie Williams, who caught eight passes for 116 yards. “We just didn’t get calls when somebody’s ripping off your jersey.” 

Williams continued to complain about the officiating. 

“They’re probably all cockeyed, or they have cataracts or something,” he said. 

Pickett’s second interception, by Jemeel Powell at Washington’s 15-yard line early in the fourth quarter, set up Boller’s fifth TD. The Bears needed only three plays, as Boller found LaShaun Ward for a 2-yard scoring play and a 34-18 lead. 

California extended a 21-16 halftime lead to 27-16 early in the third period when Boller found Washington freshman cornerback Nate Robinson out of position and threw a 23-yard TD pass to a wide-open Tom Swoboda. 

“Boller is really a sleeper,” said Cal’s Vincent Strang, who caught a 55-yard scoring pass. “I don’t know if people realize how good he is.” 

Boller moved past Gale Gilbert for fourth place on Cal’s career passing list with 6,643 yards. 

He also became only the third quarterback to throw for five TDs against the Huskies. The last was Washington State’s Jack Thompson in 1976. Tom O’Connell of Illinois, in 1952, was the other. 

“All that matters is we won,” Boller said. “I could have thrown for 8 yards or 800 yards. I don’t even know how many yards I had. It’s just awesome to see everybody so happy. We just performed.” 

Chanting against the impending war in Iraq as they marched to the rhythms of drums and tambourines, about 350 mostly students made their way from People’s Park to the downtown BART station to a Sunday afternoon rally in San Francisco’s Union Square. Organizers estimated the San Francisco crowd at more than 5,000. 

The rally, called by the organization Not In Our Name, was one of a number of anti-war protests held around the country. Other major protests were held in New York City, Chicago, Portland, Ore. and Atlanta. 

The nationwide protesters were unified by a pledge read by singer Bonnie Raitt and activist Kevin Danaher of Global Exchange: “We believe that people of conscience must take responsibility for what their own governments do – we must first of all oppose the injustice that is done in our name.” 

Before taking her place at the podium, Raitt told the Daily Planet she had come to the rally to “express repulsion” at what looks like a unilateral move to war. 

The protest was UC Berkeley student Lauren Bennett’s first rally. “I don’t believe in war,” she said.  

Also in the crowd was school board member John Selawsky, who had participated in a number of protests against the Gulf War a decade ago. Then there was some excuse for war, he said – Iraq had invaded Kuwait. “Now we’re the aggressor. We’re flaunting international law.” 

Speakers at the rally drew links to other struggles. Yuri Kochiyama, 81, of Oakland, reminded people not to forget the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. “Sixty years ago, we went through what Arab Americans are going through today,” she said.  

Then Kochiyama turned to a local fight – the lockout of the International Longshoreman’s and Warehouse Union at the Port of Oakland. Kochiyama recalled how the ILWU had helped protest against apartheid, refusing to unload goods from South Africa. She called for anti-war demonstrators to support the union now as they face Bush administration threats to replace them with military personnel. 

“No war in Iraq. No troops on the dock,” the crowd chanted. 

Osama Qasem of the American Arab anti-discrimination committee made the link between the fight for a Palestinian homeland and the impending war in Iraq. “There’s a strategic alliance between Zionism and imperialism,” he said, underscoring that support for Palestinian statehood does not amount to a bias against Jews. “The Zionist establishment does not represent all the Jewish people of world.” 

Standing shoulder to shoulder in the blistering sun, the crowd cheered the announcement of the dozens of groups attending Sunday’s protest, including Vietnam Widows Against the War, Berkeley High School, Pax Christi from Burlingame, Oakland High School and Soccer Moms from Vacaville. 

To the Editor: 

Your reader, Rhiannon, who commented (Forum, Oct. 3) on the sports field joint powers authority (JPA) is misinformed as to its nature and purpose. The JPA is being formed because the California Department of Parks has indicated they need such an entity to develop and manage playing fields in the park. There are already some rather substantial existing financial resources for the development of the playing fields that do not involve the issuance of bonds. For example, the city of Albany is sitting on almost $1 million specifically set aside for this purpose and monies from Proposition 40 could also be used. The Berkeley City Council has not made any formal financial or legal commitment and will not be doing so until a host of issues have been resolved. 

Doug Fielding 

Association of Sports Field Users 

Berkeley 

St. Mary’s High junior Fred Hives ran back the opening kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown against McClymonds High on Saturday, giving the banged-up Panthers a ray of hope. But that was the last highlight for St. Mary’s, which was simply run over by the Warriors in a 42-6 drubbing. 

McClymonds (3-1) ran for 429 yards, including 205 on 26 carries by senior Darnell Henderson, and held the Panthers (1-3) to 37 total yards. With St. Mary’s missing starting linemen Leon Drummer and Jarrell Booker, a combined 570 pounds of beef, they couldn’t stop the Mack running game and struggled to keep the Warriors out of their backfield on offense. 

“We couldn’t run inside, we couldn’t run outside, and we couldn’t get time to pass,” St. Mary’s head coach Jay Lawson said. “[The Warriors] were faster, more physical and played with more heart and desire than us.” 

McClymonds head coach Alonzo Carter made his game plan clear right away, running the ball 24 times before attempting a pass. The Warriors threw the ball just four times in the game, but with the Panthers unable to stop the ground game, the didn’t have much reason to. 

“We knew [St. Mary’s] were missing guys, that they were undermanned,” Carter said. “I figured we could get away with running the ball consistently, and we did.” 

Henderson wasn’t the only Warrior running back to have an outstanding game. Senior Genado Vital had 99 yards on 14 carries, including two first-half touchdowns, and showed off a lightning-quick spin move that had the Panthers grasping for air several times. And when Henderson and Vital tired in the fourth quarter, Carter turned to fullback Dante Floyd, who pounded through the Panthers for 92 bruising yards. 

After surrendering touchdowns on McClymonds’ first two drives, with the Warriors running for 146 yards on 12 plays combined, the St. Mary’s defense stiffened a bit. The Panthers stopped both of McClymonds’ second-quarter drives, with lineman Nick Osborn making a big hit to stop Henderson on a 4th-and-1 deep in St. Mary’s territory just before halftime. 

But after forcing a turnover on downs on the opening drive of the second half, the Panthers started to crumble. Henderson ripped off a 57-yard touchdown on a counter play, then Floyd recovered a botched St. Mary’s handoff and ran it back 41 yards for a score. The Warriors tacked on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. 

Lawson expects to have Drummer and Booker back in time for Bay Shore Athletic League play in two weeks, but first will have to face Oakland Tech High on Friday, a game that could be just as tough as Saturday’s loss. The St. Mary’s coach said he’ll be happy to just keep his team healthy for league play. 

“I scheduled a tough preseason to get the team ready for league,” he said. “But now I’m just hoping not to get too beat up to win our league.”

After state regulators in August rejected Berkeley’s plan for producing its mandated share of affordable housing – a decision that could cost the city valuable state funds – city planners are insisting the state ruled incorrectly. 

“They were not looking at the bigger picture,” said Steve Barton, Berkeley housing director. “There are a lot of positive things about the Berkeley housing process.” 

Last month Barton issued Berkeley’s official response to the state rejection, arguing that the city’s housing plan, known as the housing element, meets state requirements and should be approved without alterations. 

State regulators failed the housing element because they claim too many obstacles exist in city codes for developers wishing to build housing. Berkeley is required by the state to plan for 1,269 new affordable housing units by the end of 2006, and the state’s rejection casts doubt on the city’s ability to do this. 

Linda Wheaton of the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) refused to comment on Berkeley’s response, but said the HCD would issue a decision by Nov. 26. 

Without a valid housing element Berkeley risks qualifying for state affordable housing grants and could find itself more vulnerable to lawsuits by developers who want to push though an unpopular project. 

Unlike many California cities which give precise specifications for building height, size and number of units for new developments, Berkeley gives few specific development guidelines. Instead, the city allows local decision makers and residents discretion in regulating and approving housing projects.  

In making the decision about the city’s housing element, state regulators heard arguments from local developers who claimed Berkeley residents had abused their voice in the city’s permitting process. Consequently, housing was being blocked and delayed, and the city would be unable to meet it’s state-mandated housing quota, they alleged. 

Developers explained that residents have been able to continually appeal rulings by the city’s Zoning Adjustment Board, because without precise development specifications, there is no clear basis for ZAB rulings. Such appeals can stall housing projects for years and place constraints on the development of new housing in Berkeley, developers said. 

Barton disagreed.  

He said that if the city implements detailed, but strict requirements for development, many housing projects that are currently approved, albeit after a lengthy period of debate, would never be permitted. 

“The very flexibility that HCD identifies as a constraint (because it can create uncertainty) also functions to remove constraints,” he wrote to the state. “It is understandable that developers would complain about the problems, but they fail to credit the positive benefits of the process.” 

Barton also argued that Berkeley had taken actions to mitigate the effects of its lengthy permit process for new developments. 

He noted that in 1990 the city created a housing trust fund to acquire and rehabilitate properties in return for a guarantee that the owners would maintain affordable rents. Additionally the city charges lower fees to housing developers for impacts to schools and infrastructure than most Bay Area cities, he said. 

Barton claimed that current development statistics support the case for maintaining Berkeley’s system. “We have a good pipeline of projects,” he said, adding that if one-half to two-thirds of the current projects are accepted, Berkeley will be on target to meet it’s affordable housing quota. 

Barton thinks this fact alone should persuade the state to accept Berkeley’s housing element, but state regulators are on record as wanting more from the city. 

If the city remains obstinate, the state would have the option to consider punishments. Barton mentioned that the state could conceivably prevent Berkeley from receiving money from a state housing bond which is on the ballot this November. 

“It’s ironic that the state says we don’t like barriers to affordable housing but then creates barriers [by not allowing Berkeley to apply for housing money],” he said. 

Contact reporter at matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net 

To the Editor: 

The UC professors who wrote in (Forum, Oct. 3) to defend the divest-from-Israel campaign display a shocking level of illogic. They say “Israel receives billions of dollars each year [in government aid] from the United States,” so “this is why our call for economic divestment is entirely appropriate.” 

Huh? The logical conclusion from the first point is to attack the foreign aid program, not UC investments in companies that do business in Israel. And, even that wouldn’t answer the charge, because the U.S. gives aid to many countries, including Arab ones, that are as or more guilty of abuses than Israel. The question remains: Why are they singling out Israel for divestment? 

Claude S. Fischer 

Berkeley 

OAKLAND – Not only are the Minnesota Twins here to stay, now they’re going home – to open a most unlikely AL championship series. 

Brad Radke pitched 6 2/3 dominant innings to beat Oakland again, and the Twins survived a late rally to top the Athletics 5-4 Sunday in the decisive Game 5 of their division series. 

The Twins made their first playoff appearance in 11 years despite a tiny payroll and baseball’s offseason plan to eliminate them. But facing consecutive elimination games, the Contraction Kids won 11-2 at the Metrodome on Saturday, then crossed half the continent to win the tense clincher about 30 hours later. 

Mark Ellis’ three-run homer with one out in the ninth inning brought the A’s within one, and Randy Velarde singled with two outs before Ray Durham fouled out to second baseman Denny Hocking. 

The Twins, who ran away with the AL Central, will face Anaheim in the ALCS beginning Tuesday night in Minnesota. The wild-card Angels shocked the four-time defending AL champion New York Yankees in the division series. 

Matthew LeCroy drove home one run and scored another as the Twins got two early runs to support Radke, who got two of Minnesota’s three wins in the series. The Twins simply outpitched the A’s, who won 103 games and the AL West with their peerless starting rotation. 

A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run homer against Billy Koch in the ninth to finally give Minnesota some breathing room and the Twins leaped out of their dugout to celebrate. They mobbed Pierzynski, their All-Star catcher, in front of the dugout. David Ortiz added an RBI double to make it 5-1. 

With consecutive victories against star Oakland pitchers Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder, the Twins stuck around while big spenders like the Yankees and Arizona went home early this October. 

Hocking also had a run-scoring single as Radke, who also won the series opener at the Coliseum on Tuesday, mesmerized the A’s and outpitched 19-game winner Mulder. 

LaTroy Hawkins dramatically struck out Miguel Tejada to end the eighth with a runner on, preserving a one-run lead. 

During spring training, there probably wasn’t a soul who would have predicted a meeting between the underfunded Twins and the overlooked Angels. 

Oakland hoped the series would turn on its outstanding starting pitching. Instead, Mulder and Barry Zito were good but not great, while Hudson was terrible in two starts. 

Radke, on the other hand, was phenomenal in his first postseason starts after eight seasons with Minnesota. He struck out four and didn’t walk a batter Sunday. 

Durham, who got three hits, had a solo homer in the third, but he was the only A’s player to get to second base against Radke, who left with a runner on in the seventh. J.C. Romero then got an easy grounder from Terrence Long, who went 3-for-18 in the series. 

But Long wasn’t the only lousy Oakland batter. Tejada, the A’s MVP candidate, went 0-for-4 – striking out against the hard-throwing Hawkins with two outs and a runner on base in the eighth – to finish 3-for-21 (.143) for the series. He also made several defensive blunders at shortstop, particularly in Oakland’s Game 4 loss. 

It was a disheartening end for the A’s, who had an AL-record 20-game winning streak on the way to their second division title in three seasons. They lost Game 5 of the division series for the third straight year. 

Oakland thought this would be the season when its young roster finally showed it was capable of great things. Instead, the A’s showed they’re still not capable of handling postseason pressure; their lineup managed just three runs in the final two games of the series after getting 20 in the first three games. 

Mulder, the powerful left-hander who won 40 games in the past two seasons, was battered from the start by the Twins, who hit just .252 against lefties in the regular season. 

Mulder, pitching on three days’ rest, struck out nine in seven innings, but he also allowed nine hits and got into trouble in each of the first four innings. He stranded six runners during that span. 

Minnesota scored one run during a lengthy rally in the second inning. Hocking singled home LeCroy for his first postseason RBI, but Jacque Jones struck out with the bases loaded. 

The Twins added another run in the third when Cristian Guzman doubled and scored on LeCroy’s single. 

Radke was mostly dominant in the early innings, but Durham hit a solo homer in the third to keep it close. 

The crowd of 32,146 seemed smaller than either of the gatherings at the series’ previous mid-week games, with thousands of empty seats in the middle and upper decks, but it also was louder and more enthusiastic. Fans clapped thousands of the long noisemakers that made such a ruckus in Anaheim this weekend during the Angels’ two victories over the Yankees. 

Notes: Guzman, who homered against Mulder in Game 2, got two doubles – but he was easily thrown out at third base when he tried to stretch his double into a triple in the first inning. ... Former A’s star Carney Lansford threw out the first pitch. ... A’s catcher Ramon Hernandez went 0-for-2. He’s 1-for-27 in the past two postseasons. 

Velarde singled with two outs before Ray Durham fouled out to second baseman Denny Hocking. 

The Twins, who ran away with the AL Central, will face Anaheim in the ALCS beginning Tuesday night in Minnesota. The wild-card Angels shocked the four-time defending AL champion New York Yankees in the division series. 

Matthew LeCroy drove home one run and scored another as the Twins got two early runs to support Radke, who got two of Minnesota’s three wins in the series. The Twins simply outpitched the A’s, who won 103 games and the AL West with their peerless starting rotation. 

A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run homer against Billy Koch in the ninth to finally give Minnesota some breathing room and the Twins leaped out of their dugout to celebrate. They mobbed Pierzynski, their All-Star catcher, in front of the dugout. David Ortiz added an RBI double to make it 5-1. 

With consecutive victories against star Oakland pitchers Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder, the Twins stuck around while big spenders like the Yankees and Arizona went home early this October. 

Hocking also had a run-scoring single as Radke, who also won the series opener at the Coliseum on Tuesday, mesmerized the A’s and outpitched 19-game winner Mulder. 

LaTroy Hawkins dramatically struck out Miguel Tejada to end the eighth with a runner on, preserving a one-run lead. 

During spring training, there probably wasn’t a soul who would have predicted a meeting between the underfunded Twins and the overlooked Angels. 

Oakland hoped the series would turn on its outstanding starting pitching. Instead, Mulder and Barry Zito were good but not great, while Hudson was terrible in two starts. 

Radke, on the other hand, was phenomenal in his first postseason starts after eight seasons with Minnesota. He struck out four and didn’t walk a batter Sunday. 

Durham, who got three hits, had a solo homer in the third, but he was the only A’s player to get to second base against Radke, who left with a runner on in the seventh. J.C. Romero then got an easy grounder from Terrence Long, who went 3-for-18 in the series. 

But Long wasn’t the only lousy Oakland batter. Tejada, the A’s MVP candidate, went 0-for-4 – striking out against the hard-throwing Hawkins with two outs and a runner on base in the eighth – to finish 3-for-21 (.143) for the series. He also made several defensive blunders at shortstop, particularly in Oakland’s pivotal Game 4 loss. 

It was a disheartening end for the A’s, who had an AL-record 20-game winning streak on the way to their second division title in three seasons. They lost Game 5 of the division series for the third straight year. 

Mulder, the powerful left-hander who won 40 games in the past two seasons, was battered from the start by the Twins, who hit just .252 against lefties in the regular season. 

Mulder, pitching on three days’ rest, struck out nine in seven innings, but he also allowed nine hits and got into trouble in each of the first four innings. He stranded six runners during that span. 

Minnesota scored one run during a lengthy rally in the second inning. Hocking singled home LeCroy for his first postseason RBI, but Jacque Jones struck out with the bases loaded. 

The Twins added another run in the third when Cristian Guzman doubled and scored on LeCroy’s single. 

Radke was mostly dominant in the early innings, but Durham hit a solo homer in the third to keep it close. 

The crowd of 32,146 seemed smaller than either of the gatherings at the series’ previous mid-week games, with thousands of empty seats in the middle and upper decks, but it also was louder and more enthusiastic. Fans clapped thousands of the long noisemakers that made such a ruckus in Anaheim this weekend during the Angels’ two victories over the Yankees.

Forgive Board of Education candidate Lance Montauk if he is less than intimidated by the Berkeley Unified School District’s $3.9 million budget shortfall. 

Montauk, 54, an emergency room physician at several local hospitals, will face a host of difficult budget-cutting decisions if he is one of three candidates elected to the five-member board in November. But he has faced far worse in the prisons of California and Poland. 

In 1968, during the Vietnam War, Montauk created a disturbance at a draft center in Portland, Org. and spent several months in a federal prison in Lompoc, Calif. where he was under constant threat of sexual assault. 

“It was the first time I’d feared for my sexual well-being,” he said. “I learned a lot about what it [must be like] to be a woman.” 

In the early 1980s, after earning a law degree from UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall and working for Amnesty International in London, Montauk decided he wanted to be a doctor. His choice of medical school was a little out of the ordinary – the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, founded in 1365. 

After arriving in Poland, Montauk quickly became involved in the Solidarity movement, which opposed the Communist regime. 

“I felt that what was taking part around me was a once-in-a-lifetime event,” he said. “Like a fool, I took active part in it, even though I was a foreigner.” 

In the summer of 1982, he was arrested and quickly expelled from the country. Montauk had to fight to get his Polish wife and daughter out. 

“I’ve been willing to risk literally almost everything to defend what I consider fundamental political rights,” said Montauk. 

But the freedom fighter-turned-school-board-candidate is not your typical Berkeley activist. Montauk, despite his anti-war activity, is a registered Republican and his views on certain education issues set him apart from the other candidates. 

Montauk argues that the district does not spend enough money on teachers and books and doles out far too much for administrators’ salaries and programs like special education. 

Montauk, in an interview last week, said the district should consider dropping its most expensive special education students to save money and improve the overall system. 

“Let them sue us,” Montauk said, of special education parents. 

The candidate’s pronouncements do not sit well with Julia Epstein, of the Berkeley Special Education Parents Network. 

“All of our children need services. All of our children deserve an education,” she said. “We can’t put a price tag on that.” 

Montauk also recommended dropping district contracts with classified staff, like janitors and bus drivers, and contracting out as much of the work as possible. 

“I completely disagree with that concept,” said school board member Terry Doran, one of two incumbents running for re-election in November. “Outsourcing often means getting workers who [are paid] less than our employees. I don’t think that’s right.” 

Montauk sent his son and daughter to private school before they enrolled in Berkeley High School and moved on to Harvard and UC Berkeley. 

Montauk said he represents hundreds of parents who have passed on the kindergarten through eighth-grade schools in Berkeley. He argues that the school board has been “worse than miserable” in its efforts to improve the local schools and draw the highest-performing students back to the system. 

“Their priorities are just totally screwy,” said Montauk, arguing that the district needs to stop “running a series of social experiments” and return to the basics. 

If history is any guide, Montauk will have no problem arguing for his agenda if elected. 

Contact reporter at scharfenberg@berkeleydailyplanet.net

To the Editor: 

This is in response to Dan Peven’s letter (Forum, Sept. 30). He raises serious and legitimate concerns about the functioning of the Berkeley Unified School District – concerns which I share. 

I would be the first to admit that there has been historical mismanagement and lack of accountability in this school district. That does not, to me, in any way detract from my original argument: Public education funding in the state of California in the year 2002 is woefully inadequate. My concern is primarily for the Berkeley Unified School District, but it is also for all districts and all the schools within California. We all need to support efforts to improve our local schools and to simultaneously advocate for additional state funding for our schools. 

John Selawsky 

Berkeley School Board 

Berkeley 

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Phillip Buchanon helped Drew Bledsoe and the Buffalo Bills run out of late-game drama. 

Buchanon intercepted Bledsoe’s pass and returned it 81 yards for a touchdown with eight minutes left, sparking the Oakland Raiders’ 49-31 victory over the Bills on Sunday. 

Rich Gannon finished 23-of-38 for 357 yards while Charlie Garner had 94 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns. The Raiders improved to 4-0 for the sixth time in franchise history, and the first time since 1990. 

Bledsoe had a solid outing, finishing 32-for-53 for 417 yards, his second 400-yard passing game of the season and sixth of his career. Unfortunately, he also threw three interceptions, two of which led to Oakland scores, as the Bills dropped to 2-3. 

After becoming the first NFL team to play three overtime games in its first four outings, the Bills couldn’t produce another late victory. Their two previous losses had been decided by a total of 11 points — with one defeat coming on the first play of overtime — but this was their most lopsided loss of the season. 

Sunday’s game turned on Buchanon’s touchdown. 

With the Raiders clinging to a 35-31 lead, Buchanon stepped in front of Bledsoe’s pass toward Peerless Price and ran it back untouched up the left sideline. 

Buchanon, Oakland’s first-round pick in last April’s draft, has now scored twice this season; he returned a punt for a TD last week. 

Gannon then capped the victory on Oakland’s next possession, hitting Jerry Rice for a 20-yard touchdown pass, while Tory James, with his second interception of the game, snuffed out Buffalo’s last-gasp scoring drive, intercepting Bledsoe’s tipped pass in the end zone. 

The Oakland offense was prolific again, producing 495 yards. The team has 1,846 in four games. Including last week’s 52-25 win over Tennessee, the Raiders now are averaging nearly 41 points a game. 

The Bills haven’t been slouches either, entering the game with the NFL’s sixth-ranked offense. Bledsoe was the league leader in passing yards. 

The two teams lived up to their respective billings, particularly in a rollicking first half when they combined for 42 points — all on touchdowns — in a span of just under 15 minutes. 

The Raiders got on the board first when Gannon hit Jerry Porter on a 29-yard pass with 39 seconds left in the first quarter to cap a 75-yard drive. 

The teams then exchanged scoring drives, and Bledsoe needed only five plays to march Buffalo 98 yards to tie the game at 21 with 40 seconds remaining on Larry Centers’ 5-yard run. The drive included a 54-yard pass to Price, Bledsoe’s longest completion since joining the Bills in a trade from New England last April. 

Bledsoe’s 13-yard pass to Eric Moulds three plays into the third quarter marked his 173rd consecutive attempt without an interception, breaking a franchise record set by Jim Kelly in 1995. 

Bledsoe’s streak ended three attempts later, however, when Troy James stepped in front of a pass to Eric Moulds and ran it back 8 yards to Buffalo’s 37. That led to Zack Crockett’s 1-yard touchdown plunge, which briefly put Oakland up 29-24. 

Bledsoe also moved into 16th place in career completions (2,692) ahead of Steve Young, and into 16th place in career attempts (4,736), passing both John Hadl and Troy Aikman. 

Rice, coming off a 144-yard game, had a tough outing. He finished with four receptions for 77 yards, but he dropped four passes, including a Gannon attempt that slipped off his fingers at the Buffalo 20. 

After becoming the first NFL team to play three overtime games in its first four outings, the Bills couldn’t produce another late victory. Their two previous losses had been decided by a total of 11 points — with one defeat coming on the first play of overtime — but this was their most lopsided loss of the season. 

With the Raiders clinging to a 35-31 lead, Buchanon stepped in front of Bledsoe’s pass toward Peerless Price and ran it back untouched up the left sideline. 

Buchanon, Oakland’s first-round pick in last April’s draft, has now scored twice this season; he returned a punt for a TD last week. 

Gannon then capped the victory on Oakland’s next possession, hitting Jerry Rice for a 20-yard touchdown pass, while Tory James, with his second interception of the game, snuffed out Buffalo’s last-gasp scoring drive, intercepting Bledsoe’s tipped pass in the end zone. 

The Oakland offense was prolific again, producing 495 yards. The team has 1,846 in four games. Including last week’s 52-25 win over Tennessee, the Raiders now are averaging nearly 41 points a game. 

The Bills haven’t been slouches either, entering the game with the NFL’s sixth-ranked offense. Bledsoe was the league leader in passing yards. 

The two teams lived up to their respective billings, particularly in a rollicking first half when they combined for 42 points — all on touchdowns — in a span of just under 15 minutes. 

The Raiders got on the board first when Gannon hit Jerry Porter on a 29-yard pass with 39 seconds left in the first quarter to cap a 75-yard drive. 

The teams then exchanged scoring drives, and Bledsoe needed only five plays to march Buffalo 98 yards to tie the game at 21 with 40 seconds remaining on Larry Centers’ 5-yard run. The drive included a 54-yard pass to Price, Bledsoe’s longest completion since joining the Bills last April. 

Bledsoe’s 13-yard pass to Eric Moulds three plays into the third quarter marked his 173rd consecutive attempt without an interception, breaking a franchise record set by Jim Kelly in 1995. 

Bledsoe’s streak ended three attempts later, however, when Troy James stepped in front of a pass to Eric Moulds and ran it back 8 yards to Buffalo’s 37. That led to Zack Crockett’s 1-yard touchdown plunge, which briefly put Oakland up 29-24. 

Bledsoe also moved into 16th place in career completions (2,692) ahead of Steve Young, and into 16th place in career attempts (4,736). 

Rice, coming off a 144-yard game, had a tough outing. He finished with four receptions for 77 yards, but he dropped four passes.

Governor Gray Davis may pull out of a televised gubernatorial debate scheduled for tonight if Green Party candidate Peter Camejo is permitted to be a spectator, Camejo told supporters at a rally in Richmond Sunday. 

The debate is scheduled to include Davis and his Republican opponent Bill Simon, but according to Camejo, Davis is threatening not to attend if Simon doesn’t take the green candidate off the guest list. 

Camejo said he is feared by Davis because of comments he could make to the press, but has been encouraged to participate in the debate by Simon who hopes the green candidate will siphon votes from the governor. 

Camejo’s presence at the debate in Los Angeles, sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, has been an ongoing issue. 

According to Camejo, he was initially barred from the debate, so he asked Simon to put him on the guest list. The Times balked at the inclusion, but Simon threatened to pull out if Camejo wasn’t invited. 

Camejo said Davis refused to attend the first gubernatorial debate Sept. 17 because of the green candidate’s participation. In that debate, sponsored by New California Media and other organizations, Camejo and Simon were left to debate each other.  

Representatives from the Davis and Simon campaigns could not be reached for comment.

To the Editor: 

Regarding recent letters to the editor concerning “smart growth” and zoning restrictions... There is too often an assumption that our zoning decisions in Berkeley will have an impact on the housing market regionwide, which frankly doesn't make sense. The sun doesn’t orbit the earth, and Berkeley doesn't control the regional housing market. The Bay Area has a population of roughly 6.7 million; Berkeley’s population is roughly 100,000, which works out to about 1.5 percent of the regional total. In this context, the various assertions regarding the virtues of “infill” development take on a certain delusion of grandeur, as if that extra story or two will really make all the difference. I doubt it. I think we should hesitate to base our city's future on what amounts to a bunch of half-baked notions out of Planning 101. In reality, we don't know whether there'll be fewer tract homes built in Tracy if we relax our zoning regulations here, and we don't know whether any newly arrived residents will cooperate when it comes to commuting habits and there is no one who can prove otherwise. 

Housing prices skyrocketed in the last few years due to the influx of people and money during the dot-com era – a regionwide economic event – and they remain high largely because investors are now turning to real estate in lieu of the stock market – a nationwide economic event. It may be possible in theory to build enough housing to offset these trends, but in reality it would take an enormous investment in affordable housing throughout the entire Bay Area to make any real difference, and that doesn't seem likely. 

In sum, we're being asked to sacrifice for the supposedly greater good of smart growth, at the risk of overwhelming growth here in Berkeley, but with no actual assurance of any substantial gains in return. 

Darcy Morrison 

Berkeley

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba – As darkness falls on this remote prison camp, detainees begin chanting angrily and throwing objects against their cell walls. 

The protests die down only briefly with the Muslim call to prayer, a melancholy serenade that crackles over the loudspeakers. Snakes slither in the shadows and the waves of the Caribbean lap against the cliffs. 

Night and day have become blurred under the artificial glow of floodlights. Equally unclear is the future of the 598 men from 43 countries being held at Camp Delta a year after the United States began its war on terrorism. 

The carefully chosen location of the prison, a U.S. base on the eastern tip of communist Cuba reached by Continental and other chartered airlines, lends to the surrealism. 

Guantanamo has become a dead end of sorts as the war on terrorism moves into the shadows of Afghanistan, and the United States looks to extend the battle lines to Iraq. 

Since the first detainees were captured a year ago and brought here in January, none have been charged. U.S. courts have refused to consider their cases because they say the geography puts them out of their jurisdiction. Washington seems no closer to trying them. 

The limbo has taken its toll on the prisoners and those guarding them. 

Some detainees have acted out by breaking the rules, and more than 50 are in solitary confinement. Some have tried to commit suicide but the military refuses to give details. About 26 are taking antidepressants or anti-psychotic drugs. 

“As time goes on, anxiety levels go up, restlessness goes up,” said Col. John Perrone, in charge of Camp Delta. 

Officials have no explanation for the disappearance of one of the more than 1,000 guards who watch the detainees in nine-hour shifts. 

Ryan Foraker of Logan, Ohio, disappeared last month on his day off. His shorts, T-shirt and wallet were found near the ocean, but officials say the weather was calm the day he vanished. 

With no end in sight to the detention mission, base commander Capt. Robert Buehn said he’s preparing for the long haul and asked for enough money to support Guantanamo’s current population until at least 2005. 

The prison could eventually hold 2,000 detainees and the naval base population could swell well over the current 5,000 residents, which could require even more money, Buehn said. 

Legal experts and human rights activists continue to debate the legality of detaining the men without giving them access to lawyers, and whether the men should have prisoner-of-war status. 

“Senior government officials, including President Bush, have been less than respectful of the fundamental rule of the presumption of innocence, collectively labeling the group as hard-core ’terrorists,”’ said Vienna Colucci, of London-based Amnesty International. 

The U.S. government calls the detainees “unlawful combatants,” accusing them of ties to an illegitimate government and unrecognized militia — Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban regime or the al-Qaida network.

Testimony from former teenage prostitute Jill Leighton drove home the message about the abuses of prostitution at the “Speak-Out on Prostitution” Friday at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall. 

There was barely a dry eye among nearly 50 listeners as Leighton recounted her experiences as a 14-year-old runaway who said she was forced into prostitution to earn a living. Sexually abused from the age of five, Leighton was kicked out by her parents nine years later and found herself living in a cemetery until being lured into prostitution by a man who offered to help her, she explained. 

Stories like Leighton’s are far too common and need to be heard, said speakers at Friday’s event, most of whom were former prostitutes like Leighton. Organizer Angie Bortel explained that the point of the event was “to provide a forum for women in prostitution to speak out, not to denigrate women working in the sex industry.” 

The speak-out preceded observance of the International Day of No Prostitution Oct. 5. Events were planned in locations throughout the world including Australia, Russia, Nigeria, the Philippines and several cities in the United States  

Speaker Tracey Helton argued that poverty and prostitution go hand in hand, and that other issues are also invariably linked to the decision to sell sex. “You can’t talk about the sex industry without talking about racism and sexism,” she said. 

The speak-out was followed Saturday evening by a walking tour and protest of a prostitution-plagued area of San Francisco. 

Participants in Friday’s event included Shelter Against Violent Environments, Escape: The Prostitution Prevention Project, Standing Against Global Exploitation and the Gabriela Project, an organization fighting the international trafficking of Filipina women. 

The Boalt Hall Women’s Association and the Center for Race and Gender sponsored the speak-out. 

Contact reporter at 

melissa@berkeleydailyplanet.net

Two Sunday morning grass fires kept the Berkeley fire department busy at the cusp of high fire season. 

The first fire was reported at about 7 a.m. just off Centennial Drive, about a quarter mile east of Rim Road. The second was reported less than 30 minutes later off Keeler Street in Remillard Park. Both fires burned less than one eighth of an acre. 

Firefighters extinguished the blazes within 30 minutes, and neither threatened people or property, fire officials said. 

Investigators are still looking into the cause of the fires. Both have been labeled “suspicious,” meaning arson might have been involved. 

SAN LEANDRO – A San Leandro man was listed in serious condition Sunday after impaling his head on an iron gate spike in his front yard, a spokeswoman for Eden Medical Center said. 

David Renteria, 37, is in the intensive care unit with a penetrating wound to his neck and face, the spokeswoman said. 

The Alameda County Fire Department was called to Renteria's home at around 8 a.m. to find him kneeling in front of the 3-foot-high gate with a spike sticking about 8-inches into his head. 

The spike missed his jawbone but penetrated through his soft neck tissue to a point somewhere behind his right eye, said Battalion Chief Lennie Orr. 

Firefighters used bolt-cutters to slice away part of the gate before Renteria was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley with the spike in his head and part of the gate still attached. 

A short time later, though, doctors called firefighters back to the emergency room to cut away more of the gate because it was impeding Renteria’s breathing. 

“It was a very different kind of call for us,” Orr said. “We don't very often get called into hospital operating rooms.” 

Officials are still trying to figure out why the man fell onto the spiked gate, Battalion Chief Dave Lord said.

RICHMOND – The California Highway Patrol says it is looking for information surrounding a hit-and-run crash in Richmond last Sunday that left a Berkeley man dead. 

Robert Abe Spaulding, 56, was walking on the Regatta Boulevard off-ramp from Interstate Highway 580 at about 2:45 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 29 when he was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver. 

Investigators say they've identified the car involved – a burgundy Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, license plate 4EGX088 – but they still have not arrested a suspect driver in the case. 

Anyone with relevant information is asked to call the Oakland CHP Special Investigations Unit at (510) 450-3821.

n Bike theft 

A couple left a restaurant on the 2300 block of Shattuck Avenue Wednesday at which time they saw a man riding off with one of their bikes. According to police, a bike officer stopped the thief and returned the bike to its rightful owner. The thief was also found to be carrying heroin. 

n Asleep at the wheel 

A driver fell asleep in the left turn lane at San Pablo Avenue, while preparing to turn on Ashby Avenue. According to police drivers honked and hollered at the driver but he did not wake up. Police entered the car, where they found an unspecified amount of crack cocaine. The driver awoke and was arrested for being drunk in public and possession of crack cocaine. 

SACRAMENTO – California Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, an Oakland Democrat, has been appointed as the first woman and the first Asian-American majority leader of the Assembly. 

Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson announced late Friday he had selected Chan to the Assembly’s top leadership post. 

“Ms. Chan brings with her a wealth of experience I expect to tap extensively as we deal with the significant legislative challenges in the upcoming session,” Wesson said in a written statement. 

Chan will replace San Francisco Democrat Kevin Shelley, who is running for secretary of state. 

Chan, 53, was elected to the Assembly in November 2000 and served as Majority Whip during the 2001-02 session. Before her election to the Assembly, Chan served on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. 

“In my district, I represent everyone,” Chan told the San Jose Mercury News on Friday. “But I think the Asian-American community will be very proud and supportive of having representation at the highest level.” 

The majority leader is responsible for leading Assembly Democrats, overseeing fund-raising by the Democratic caucus and working with the majority floor leader to make sure sessions run smoothly. The post is key in a state where Democrats control both chambers of the Legislature and all but one statewide office. 

Chan is seeking re-election next month. She won in the 2000 election after then-incumbent Audie Bock switched party affiliation from Green Party to independent. 

In the Assembly, Chan has pressed legislation to promote affordable housing, study whether to tax junk foods and exempt Holocaust survivors from paying income tax on reparations. Last year Chan wrote a new law to encourage counties to build school partnerships by donating surplus computers to schools. 

She and Palo Alto Democrat Joe Simitian also successfully pushed manufacturers of antifreeze to add a bitter taste to protect children and pets from accidental poisoning. 

Chan was born in Boston to Chinese-American immigrant parents and graduated from Wellesley College. She earned a master’s degree in education policy analysis and administration at Stanford University.

SACRAMENTO – The Lytton Band of Pomo Indians that hopes to open California’s first urban casino aren’t legitimately a tribe, card rooms that oppose the competition argued in court papers Friday. 

The band plans to convert a San Pablo card room into a Las Vegas-style casino across the bay from San Francisco as early as Dec. 7, when the federal government is scheduled to take the card room property into trust for the tribe. 

Four Bay Area card rooms and several community allies on Friday asked a federal judge in Sacramento to stop the land transfer, arguing the tribe hasn’t followed all the legal steps necessary to prove that they are a legitimate tribe. 

Tribal spokesman Doug Elmets countered that the tribe is recognized by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

He noted the card rooms failed in their initial challenge before U.S. District Court Judge David F. Levi this summer. Levi rejected their efforts to throw out Proposition 1A, which authorized tribal casinos in March 2000. The card rooms are appealing that decision. 

“They’ve already lost one round and they are clearly grasping at straws,” Elmets said. 

The motion for a preliminary injunction lists other objections, all of which Elmets disputed. 

The card rooms say San Pablo-area communities were never party to an agreement between the band and Sonoma County officials and landowners in which the Lyttons said they would not conduct gambling in that county, their ancestral home. 

They also challenge the snippet of a 2000 federal law that would allow the tribe to take control of the land. That circumvents normal federal procedures, the motion alleges. The legal provision inserted by U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, was worded to prohibit the usual requirement for community comment and approval by the governor and federal Interior secretary before gambling can begin.

NOVATO – A priest who was on leave from the seminary where he has taught since 1997 was arrested for allegedly molesting a boy Marin County in 1984. 

The Rev. Milton T. Walsh was booked on two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 Thursday and was released on $100,000 bail. 

Walsh, 50, was placed on leave in August from St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park. 

He is accused of repeatedly fondling a 13-year-old boy in Novato. The boy told his parents who reported Walsh, who was an assistant pastor at Novato’s Our Lady of Loretto, to Archbishop John Quinn. 

Walsh was the pastor of St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco from 1989 to 1997, and was once chairman of the San Francisco Interfaith Council.

One dead, two injured in cliff fall 

MOSS BEACH – The U.S. Coast Guard reports that a woman is dead and a man and a child have been hospitalized following an accident in which a van tumbled over a cliff on the San Mateo County coast Sunday morning. 

Rescuers with the U.S. Coast Guard and the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office were summoned to Moss Beach at around 9:30 a.m. Sunday after the van containing a man, a woman, and a 4-year-old boy fell off the cliff and into the ocean. 

The Coast Guard used a helicopter to pull the victims from the water, one of whom was reportedly trapped in the vehicle. 

Authorities pronounced the woman dead at the scene. The man and the 4-year-old were taken by helicopter to Stanford Medical Center. Their condition is not immediately known. 

The Coast Guard says the incident is being treated as an accident at this point. No one from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office was immediately available for comment. 

New casino violates fire codes 

SANTA ROSA – Sonoma County’s top fire official cited leaders of the Dry Creek Rancheria for fire code violations at the tribe’s new casino, launching a legal battle that could determine whether local governments can enforce public safety laws on California tribal land. 

Fire Chief Vern Losh said Friday he sent notice to tribal leaders that he is seeking a warrant to inspect the casino, and cited tribal chairwoman Liz Elgin De-Rouen and casino manager Douglas Searle for several misdemeanors. 

County Attorney Steven Woodside has advised Losh he has jurisdiction over the River Rock Casino, which opened Sept. 14 on the Dry Creek Rancheria in the Alexander Valley. 

Tribal lawyers contend the rancheria is a sovereign nation over which county officials have no authority. The attorneys also said the casino is safe. 

Tribal law experts say Losh’s attempt to enforce local safety standards could force the courts to establish new guidelines in what is now a legal gray area. 

Tribes would lose a measure of independence over a range of activities if courts uphold Losh’s claim, said Charles Starr, a consultant to tribes on governance issues. 

Ballet company is back 

SAN JOSE – A year after the historic San Jose Symphony shut its doors, Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley is forming a new symphony that will play concerts in addition to ballets. 

The new 75-piece symphony will play four classical music concerts at San Jose’s Center for the Performing Arts and three pops-style concerts at the Flint Center in Cupertino, said Andrew Bales, the ballet’s executive director. 

The new Symphony San Jose Silicon Valley includes members from the shuttered symphony, which is expected to declare bankruptcy in the coming weeks. 

The effort’s success relies on funding, which has fallen as donations from corporations and individuals sagged along with the economy.

Triple murderer sent back to death row for third time 

BAKERSFIELD – A judge has sent triple murderer David Leslie Murtishaw back to death row for the third time. 

During sentencing on Friday, Kern County Superior Court Judge Roger Randall said the heinous nature of his crimes outweighed any personal problems Murtishaw has endured and the good behavior he has shown in prison. 

Murtishaw, 44, was originally convicted and placed on death row in 1979 for fatally shooting three University of Southern California film students north of Mojave on April 9, 1978. 

His conviction has always been affirmed. But his sentence was reversed twice by the state Supreme Court and a federal appeals court. It was the subject of a second retrial that ended last month. 

Study: Breaking up LA would hurt poor residents 

LOS ANGELES – Breaking up Los Angeles could hurt poor residents and workers by depriving them of laws and programs that protect them, according to a study released by an anti-poverty group. 

The study by the nonprofit Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and the University of California, Los Angeles Center for Labor Research said the secession movements in Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley would hurt the poor at a time when poverty is worsening in the city. 

Median household income fell 9 percent across the city in the 1990s. The report’s authors said laws in place that protect the poor, such as rent control and living wage ordinances, could be rolled back in either of the proposed breakaway cities. 

Police pull up $1 million of pot 

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE – Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies pulled up 1,000 marijuana plants worth an estimated $1 million in Angeles National Forest. 

The 4- to 6-foot high plants were eradicated Friday, a month after they had been spotted during a routine aerial patrol. 

A recent fire that closed the forest delayed efforts to rip out the illegal plantation. 

About 15,000 plants have been discovered in the forest this year. Among them were 500 reported by firefighters battling the recent Williams Fire. 

The fire burned 38,000 acres of trees and brush. 

LA to appeal court’s award in elderly subway tumble 

LOS ANGELES – The county transit agency said it will appeal the awarding of $1.4 million in damages to a 97-year-old woman who suffered serious injuries in a fall on a downtown subway platform. 

A judge ruled in favor of Yvonne Wilson last month. Wilson, who lives alone, fell in August 2000 while boarding a Red Line subway car. 

Judge Soussan G. Brugera found the Metropolitan Transportation Authority negligent and ordered restitution for pain and suffering. 

The MTA called the award outrageous and said it would appeal. The agency had earlier turned down an offer to settle the case for about $40,000. 

Seussian movie set draws interest from drivers 

MOORPARK – A set under construction for a movie version of the Dr. Seuss classic “The Cat in the Hat” is drawing stares from freeway commuters. 

The tidy village of narrow, 30-foot-high houses, each pink topped by a blue roof, is being built on six acres of a horse ranch. 

“I’ve gotten at least a dozen calls and e-mails from people asking about the new development that seemed to spring up overnight,” said Patrick Hunter, mayor of this city 29 miles west of Los Angeles. 

The set is expected to remain up until March, said Dan Price, Ventura County film permit coordinator. 

The movie is expected to be released next year. The Universal Pictures project stars Mike Myers. 

OCCIDENTAL – Despite overall population growth in this pastoral, wealthy Sonoma County community, the number of school-age children is dwindling, and its schools are going broke. 

Public schools derive funds based on the number of students they serve. Communities throughout the state that attract large numbers of rich and childless homeowners are facing similar budget crunches that force them to struggle to stay open for the children who remain as working-class families are pushed out by home prices that start near $300,000. 

School statistics show enrollment fell 13 percent in grades kindergarten through five and 9 percent in grades six through eight during the 2000/2001 school year. Officials estimate an additional 4 percent drop among younger pupils and a drop of nearly 15 percent for grades six through eight this school year. 

“From the perspective of public education, the per-capita income doesn’t make for up for the drop in the school-age population,” said Jane McDonough, the superintendent of the Harmony Union School District. 

Western Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, once was home to dairy farmers, hippies and agricultural workers. McDonough said such residents have been displaced largely by childless couples who are snapping up woodsy, 10-acre lots. 

As a result, Harmony Union has cut three full-time teachers, one administrative position and has restricted the schedules of remaining staff. McDonough added it might become necessary to close one of the district’s two schools and consolidate elementary and middle school classes onto one campus. 

McDonough said deficit spending on cash reserves should keep the schools running through 2005. After that, the district could boost its fund-raising, apply for more grants and possibly sell a decommissioned school to developers, she said. 

Jarold Warren, interim superintendent for the neighboring Sebastopol Union School District, said every West County school district is competing for students. 

Diana Rich, a mother with two sons enrolled in the Sebastopol Union School District, said she’s considered private school but wants her children to learn with a cross-section of the community. 

“We have great teachers and very involved parents here. But if you can’t get new little kids enrolled, you’re ultimately concerned about the survivability of the schools,” Rich said. “You’re uncomfortable contemplating the future.”

LOS ANGELES – The second week in the West Coast ports shutdown will cause a noticeable increase in plant closings, job losses and financial market turmoil, said analysts and businesses increasingly skeptical of an immediate resolution. 

Businesses that anticipated disruption and padded their operations with extra inventory are rapidly depleting supplies, while exporters of perishables have stretched their storage facilities to the limit. 

“It’s like draining a swamp. You start seeing all kinds of ugly creatures,” said Steven Cohen, a University of California, Berkeley professor of regional planning. 

In less than two weeks from now, manufacturing plants will be grinding to a halt all over the country, farmers will be up in arms, and Asian equity and currency markets could face a full blown crisis, he said. 

Already, storage facilities at beef, pork and poultry processing facilities across the country are full, crammed with produce that cannot be exported. With nowhere to move their product, plant operators will begin shutting down Monday and layoffs will follow almost immediately, said Mary Kay Thatcher, public policy director of the American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington, D.C. 

Between 20 percent and 30 percent of all U.S. agriculture products are exported, and a third of it goes to the Pacific rim, according to the Federation. 

Negotiators for the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping lines and terminal operators, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union entered a fourth day of talks Sunday. 

They were meeting in separate rooms in a hotel in San Francisco’s Chinatown, with a federal mediator shuttling between them. 

“I think this will be a very long day, and a significant day,” said PMA spokesman Steve Sugerman. 

He said the PMA would keep pushing for an extension of the old contract, which specifically forbids the kind of work slowdowns the PMA said prompted its lockout. The union has refused, holding out for a new three-year contract that would give them control over any jobs that come with new technology. 

Implementing labor-saving technology like electronic tracking devices puts only a small number of jobs at risk in the short term, but future jobs are at stake, as well as control of the flow of information at the ports. 

The PMA has always given the ILWU jurisdiction over new technology in the past, union negotiator Joseph Wenzl said Sunday. 

“The union feels we have offered a proposal that meets the employer in the middle,” he said. 

Both sides have agreed to resume shipping essential items to Alaska and Hawaii. They have also moved some cargo for the U.S. military, but there will be no more exceptions to the shutdown, Sugerman said. 

Shipping companies and terminal operators locked out 10,500 dockworkers Sept. 29. The number of cargo vessels stranded at the docks or backing up at anchor points has risen to about 200, with dozens more still en route from Asian ports. 

A growing number of industry groups are calling for White House intervention to reopen the ports, including the enactment of the Taft-Hartley Act, which would force an 80-day cooling off period. 

Wenzl said the PMA is behind efforts to bring the White House into the talks, a strategy that has made the negotiations more difficult. 

“Their plan has been to use their contacts in Washington, D.C., to put pressure on the union. That’s not collective bargaining.” 

President Bush has withheld direct comment on the situation. He had no plans to intervene on Sunday, said a U.S. Labor Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

For Steve Dunn, founder and president of Munchkin Inc., an importer of infant goods, an end to the port shutdown can’t come soon enough. 

Dunn already sent home nearly a fourth of his staff and expects to close down entirely in two weeks if the ports aren’t reopened. 

The Van Nuys, Calif.-based company imports 95 percent of its goods from China, including infant utensils, spill-proof cups and rubber ducks. One-third of its current inventory is stranded on the Pacific. 

Munchkin will use air freight this week to avoid short-shipping key customers, but this costs too much to continue for more than a few days, Dunn said. 

Like many observers, he expects President Bush to refrain from ordering an end to the lockout until the crises worsens. “If there’s more of a crisis, then he’s more of a savior,” Dunn said. 

Dockworkers and their employers, meanwhile, have the financial resources to continue their five-month labor dispute, said Cohen, who studied the economic impact of a port closure for the shippers’ association. 

“Both sides can sit there absorbing punishments,” he said. “They can easily take a month before they die. We can’t.”

LOS ANGELES – Mickey Mouse’s days at Disney could be numbered and Bugs Bunny might soon be wisecracking for someone other than Warner Bros. if an extension of copyright protection is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. 

On Wednesday, the court will hear the case that could plunge the earliest images of Disney’s mascot and other closely held creative property into the public domain as early as next year. 

If upheld, the precedent-setting challenge could cost movie studios and heirs of authors and composers millions of dollars in lost revenue as previously protected material becomes available free of charge. 

At issue is a 1998 law that extended copyright protection for new and existing works an additional 20 years, protecting movies, plays, books and music for a total of 70 years after the author’s death or for 95 years from publication for works created anonymously or for hire. 

The law was almost immediately challenged by Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig on behalf of Eric Eldred, who had been posting annotated and hyperlinked versions of the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James and others in the public domain on his Web site. 

The plaintiffs stunned many observers by persuading the Supreme Court to hear the case. 

“This is essentially a dispute about policy dressed up as a constitutional question,” The Walt Disney Co. said in a statement. 

The Copyright Term Extension Act was sponsored by late congressman Sonny Bono and quickly became known as the “Mickey Mouse Extension Act” because of the aggressive lobbying by Disney, whose earliest representations of its squeaky-voiced mascot were set to pass into the public domain in 2003. 

But the impact of the law extends far beyond corporations. Small music publishers, orchestras and even church choirs that can’t afford to pay high royalties to perform some pieces, said they suffer by having to wait an additional 20 years for copyrights to expire. 

Lessig claims Congress acted unconstitutionally by extending copyright protection 11 times over the past 40 years. The plaintiffs contend the Constitution grants Congress the right to grant copyright protection for a limited time and that the founding fathers intended for copyrights to expire so works could enter the public domain and spark new creative efforts. 

By extending copyright protection retroactively, largely in response to corporate pressure, Congress has in effect made copyright perpetual, the plaintiffs claim. 

The government and groups representing movie studios and record labels argue that the Constitution gives Congress, not the courts, the job of balancing the needs of copyright holders and the public. 

Backers of the extension also argue that the Internet and digital reproduction of movies and music threaten the economic viability of creating those works, thus requiring greater protection.

LOS ANGELES – Starting at midnight Monday passengers in two Los Angeles International Airport terminals will navigate security checkpoints manned by federally trained screeners. 

The first 450 federal screeners will work in Terminals 7 and 8, and another 1,150 passenger screeners by Nov. 19 will be phased in at other terminals. Four hundred federal baggage screeners also are expected to be on the job by Dec. 31, said David Stone, federal security director at LAX. 

The federal screeners will replace security personnel who worked for private companies at the nation’s airports. Congress ordered the change after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

Nationwide, 30,000 screeners are being hired and trained by the Transportation Security Administration. 

The federal screeners coming to work Monday at midnight have logged 44 hours of classroom training and will get another 60 hours of on-the-job training from a mobile screening team, Stone said.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE – The Air Force plans to launch two Scuds this year to hone its ability to shoot down the missiles, which are commonplace in the arsenals of many countries, including Iraq. 

The military denied the planned tests are in response to the situation with Iraq. 

Two of the 33-foot missiles recently arrived at this oceanside base, the Santa Barbara News-Press reported Saturday. 

The missiles will be launched over the Pacific Ocean sometime in the next few weeks as part of a $13 million test program, Lt. Col. Rick Lehner said. 

After launch, the Air Force will track the missiles and study their flight characteristics. They will be destroyed before they strike the water, Lehner said. 

That data will be used in developing an advanced version of the Patriot missile, which was used to shoot down larger, modified versions of the Scud launched by Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War, Lehner said. 

Scuds gained notoriety during the Gulf War, when Iraq fired 39 of the missiles on Israeli cities. Today, Iraq has up to a few dozen Scud-type, short-range ballistic missiles.

SACRAMENTO – During the past four years, California has screamed along a fiscal rollercoaster – enjoying record surpluses before taking a gut-wrenching plunge deeper into the red than ever before. 

Now, Gov. Gray Davis’ handling of the budget – from his management of the surplus in his first two years in office to his remedy for a $23.6 billion deficit this year – has become a key issue in his race against Republican financier Bill Simon. 

The winner on Nov. 5 will be faced with revenues that continue to sag and fallout from an economic bust that left states nationwide dealing with gaping budget holes. 

Davis took office in January 1999 and inherited a state budget overflowing with tax revenues from a booming economy. He and the Democrat-controlled Legislature – with Republican votes – doled out dollars to a variety of projects and boosted spending for education and the state’s health care program for poor children. 

Davis says he focused on one-time spending and improving state schools. But critics say he simply didn’t prepare enough for future problems and didn’t act quickly enough when those problems materialized. 

Revenues began to dip in 2001, as the national economy sagged and a collapse of Silicon Valley’s tech market severely wounded the state budget. 

Davis – already fighting a crippling energy crisis that weakened his popularity – struggled for the first time in office to win the two-thirds majority vote to approve his budget and signed the spending plan about a month late. Republicans lawmakers held back their votes because they objected to the budget’s quarter-cent sales tax increase and lack of sufficient cuts. 

After signing the 2001-02 budget, however, Davis was forced to call lawmakers into a special January session to cut another $2 billion. 

By this spring, California faced a $23.6 billion budget shortfall – amounting to roughly a fifth of the state’s general fund. 

Davis signed a $98.9 billion budget Sept. 5 – a record 67 days late – that used a combination of cuts, borrowing and increases to the state’s revenues, including the suspension of a tax break that allows businesses to write off losses, to fill the gap. 

But many, including the state’s nonpartisan legislative analyst, say California still could be strapped with multibillion-dollar deficits in the next half-decade. Davis already this year has asked state departments to prepare to cut another 20 percent next year. 

And, budget analysts say, Davis has exhausted the most politically palatable options and may be forced to call for massive cuts and tax increases in the coming year. 

“The budget itself relied heavily on one-time or limited term solutions,” said Brad Williams, senior economist for the Legislative Analysts’ Office. “While the solutions to this year’s budget did address the immediate shortfall, it didn’t add to a large degree the larger gap that we see.” 

Recent statewide polls show voters are displeased with Davis’ handling of the budget but, according to a Los Angeles Times poll released Tuesday, likely voters who gave Davis low marks on handling the state budget and the energy crisis felt he would still do a better job in those areas than Simon. 

Davis defends his handling of the budget. “We are at the mercy of major fluctuations in the stock markets,” he said. He also said he vetoed $7.5 billion in spending proposals in budgets sent to him by the Legislature on the past four years. 

The primary cause of the state’s budget shortfall, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, was a steep decline in revenues, largely from capital gains and taxes from stock options. The governor said he supported the creation of a commission to review possible remedies to the state budget’s ties to the fluctuating stock market. 

Options that have been recommended include: Lessening the state’s dependence on the stock market by lowering the capital gains tax and drawing more money from sales taxes and taxes on the property owned by businesses. 

Davis also points to the creation of 900,000 new jobs under his watch in California. 

“The economy is fundamentally sound and I think it will continue to be so,” Davis said in a written answer to an Associated Press questionnaire about various issues. 

Simon, for his part, has continued to criticize Davis’ handling of the budget. But he has provided few concrete details about what he would do. 

“The fact is this budget is not worth the paper it’s printed on. The budget is a fabrication. It’s neither balanced nor fiscally responsible,” Simon said after Davis signed the 2002-03 budget. Simon said the Davis budget relies too heavily on loans, fund shifts and transfers. 

But, Simon said, he would have signed the budget, too, if he had been in Davis’ position. 

Simon has said he opposes taxes and that future deficits should be addressed by reducing spending. 

During the primary campaign, he released a plan to close what was then estimated as a $12.5 billion deficit that included a 15 percent cut in state spending, a hiring freeze, elimination of new programs and cut in the capital gains tax from 9.3 percent to 5 percent. 

At the same time, however, Simon proposed a major program to build new highways and improve state infrastructure using some private firms. But he didn’t specify how to pay for it. 

Also, while criticizing Davis for not closing the $23.6 billion deficit, Simon did not release his own budget plan during the general election campaign. He said that was Davis’ job. 

Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and Republican challenger Bill Simon will face each other at the polls Nov. 5. Here is a look at their accomplishments and proposals on the budget and economy: 

Davis: 

• Signed a budget two months late that included $9 billion in spending cuts to help fill a record $23.6 billion budget deficit this fiscal year. Davis had said he did not anticipate any tax or fee increases but the budget raises about $2.4 billion in new money, which supporters called “revenue enhancements.”. 

• Says he invested heavily in education, transportation, health care and public safety during his first two years in office when the state was flush with cash from the economic boom. Attempted to focus on one-time investments to prevent strapping the state with ongoing obligations. 

Simon: 

• Criticizes the budget Davis signed as “neither balanced nor fiscally responsible,” contending it relies too heavily on loans, fund shifts and transfers. However he says that in Davis’ position he, too, would have signed the budget. 

• Released a plan during the primary to close a budget gap then estimated at $12.5 billion by cutting state spending 15 percent, instituting a hiring freeze, eliminating new programs and reducing the capital gains tax from 9.3 to 5 percent. 

• Did not release a budget plan during the general election to address the deficit, contending that was Davis’ job. 

• Opposes taxes and says future deficits will have to be addressed by reducing spending.

By Andres Cediel 

Special to the Daily Planet 

Animal rights activist Gary Yourofsky is proclaimed an international terrorist by some and savior by others. His most recent feat, which earned him six months in maximum security prison, was releasing 1,500 minks from a farm in Canada where they were being raised for fur. 

“I knew I would get out [of prison],” said Yourofsky, “but the animals never would.”  

Yourofsky is on a nationwide speaking tour as a lecturer for the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Yourofsky spoke to a group of two dozen students and activists at UC Berkeley on Tuesday, alleging cruelties within the meat industry, calling lab testing on animals unscientific and espousing veganism as the path to world peace. 

“I’m not an animal lover,” he explained. “I just loathe injustice.”  

Yourofsky’s grievance that 10 million adoptable animals are put to death every year is particularly relevant to Berkeley citizens, who will be voting on a ballot initiative this November to rebuild the city’s animal shelter. The current facility, built in the 1940s, is thought to be inhospitable to animals. It has sewage problems, a rodent infestation and is unable to provide proper isolation for sick animals, shelter officials say.  

Shelter volunteer and co-author of the initiative Jill Posener calls the shelter “Berkeley’s dirty little secret” and said that the facility was designed “to hold an animal for 24 hours and then kill it.”  

Yourofsky’s message was not directed at those working to save animals in poor conditions, but aimed at UC Berkeley professors uphill who use animals to advance their field of study. 

According to the university’s public relations office, more than 40,000 animals are housed on campus for research. Psychology professors who experiment on them receive millions of tax dollars to investigate such things as how the brain analyzes visual motion and the neural mechanisms of sound recognition. 

The Berkeley Organization for Animal Advocacy (BOAA) points out that these procedures involve attaching electrode pedestals to the brains of monkeys or zebra finches, and then paralyzing eye movement or subjecting the animal to eight to 16 hours of continuous audio stimulation. In both cases, once the experiment is complete, the animal is killed for brain examination. 

“When will we let go of these medieval practices?” Yourofsky asked. 

He added that, aside from the ethical contradictions, animal testing is not scientifically valid. There is no correlation between one species’ reaction to a stimulus and that of another species, Yourofsky contended. 

“I’m still waiting for the scientist who can show me the formula [showing this correlation],” he said. 

Richard C. Van Sluyters, professor of Optometry and chair of the Animal Care and Use Committee at the university, disagrees with Yourofsky’s assertion. 

“It would be ludicrous to suggest that there are no similarities,” he said. “You’d have to be a conspiracy theorist.” 

Van Sluyters points out that the medical field has relied on animal testing for the past 100 years, and that advances show clearly that testing is useful.  

In regard to the treatment of animals, the professor explained that labs undergo rigorous internal and governmental inspections to make sure they meet certain standards for testing. Just last week the U.S. Department of Agriculture cleared the university labs, Van Sluters said. 

Veterinarian Elliot Katz is more skeptical. 

“I realized that they [university scientists] were treating the animals in a crap manner,” said Katz, “because they knew that the experiments they were doing were crap anyway.” 

In the early 1980s, Katz became involved in animal rights when he organized a defense of Max Redfearn, a university veterinarian who was threatened with his job after refusing to sign USDA papers certifying that animals had been treated humanely. 

Katz, Yourofsky and others assert that there are more effective and humane alternatives to testing on live animals, such as computer models and videos. 

Members of BOAA have picked up on Katz’ work and have drafted resolutions calling for UC Berkeley to phase out animal testing. Both Berkeley City Council and UC Berkeley’s student government have officially supported the effort. 

To the Editor: 

Herb Caen once wrote that you can tell it is election season in Berkeley when the streets are being repaved. Many elections have been decided over potholes. Our mayor knew to head this one off and make sure the roads were smooth. That is really nice, but did we have to wait eight years for an election? 

Yard signs are popping up all over. Great sign of personal expression. But what about those signs on streetlights and telephone poles? Unnecessary visual sign blight has long been considered bad taste in Berkeley. An impersonal sign is not a sign of community support. It is just a sign of a campaign who paid someone to put up signs. Interesting that one of the culprits has been one of our most dogged environmental watchers. 

Don’t forget to vote Tuesday Nov. 5. Make a difference right here where you live. 

Carrie Olson 

Berkeley

The Studio Building, located at the corner of Shattuck and Allston Way was built in 1905, and was the tallest building in downtown until the Shattuck Hotel was completed in 1909. Both are five stories tall, while the majority of downtown’s early 20th Century masonry buildings are between three and four stories. In 1925 the Chamber of Commerce Building (now Wells Fargo Bank) was constructed at 11 stories and became Berkeley’s only “skyscraper” until 1970 when the Great Western Building was completed. The Chamber of Commerce had its offices on the top floor of the building, a perfect place to tout the charms of Berkeley’s location directly opposite the Golden Gate.  

The Studio Building is one of the early group of masonry buildings constructed to replace downtown’s pioneer, wood-frame commercial buildings. The building is distinctive because it is the only one with a tile mansard roof and rounded window bays. The first-floor storefront bays were built as a series of alternating rounded and pointed arches, some of which have been covered. Set into the tile floor at the entrance is a mosaic picture of a palette and paint brushes and the name “Studio Building.” 

The building was constructed by Frederick H. Dakin and built for his company which handled investments in gold mines and real estate. His son, Clarence Casebolt Dakin, and niece, Edna Deakin (one side of the family changed the spelling of their name), were practicing architects in Berkeley at the time of construction, but there is no record of who designed the building. Bricks used for the foundation were manufactured by Dakin in Stege, Calif. 

The Mason McDuffie Real Estate Company occupied the ground floor from 1905 until they built the building across the street in 1928. Many older pictures show the building with Mason McDuffie signs on it. 

The studio part of the building was the fifth floor designed as artist studios and included a gallery. In December 1906, the first art exhibit was held; it was sponsored by Frederick Dakin, Mrs. John Galen Howard, and Mrs. William Keith. Exhibitors were Frederick Dakin’s brother, Edwin Deakin, William Keith, and Raymond Yelland. Building tenants included architect John Hudson Thomas and photographer Oscar Maurer. After the 1906 earthquake and fire Frederick H. Meyer moved his design studio from San Francisco to the Studio Building, where he founded the College of Arts and Crafts. Although the College moved after one year, the earliest instructors taught in this building and included Meyers, Perham W. Nahl, Isabelle Percy West, and Xavier Martinez. 

For many years the building was a hotel; it was restored in the late 1970s.  

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

ST. LOUIS – Author Salman Rushdie says his trips through airport security lines are slow again. 

At first, the author said he took the attention personally, remembering his years of hiding after his novel, “The Satanic Verses,” generated death threats from Muslims who found the work insulting to Islam. 

But Rushdie said he asked around and learned that he is being singled out because he’s a book-touring author with a perpetual one-way ticket. 

“It’s one of the problems of book touring,” he said Wednesday from Minneapolis, a stop on an American and Canadian book tour that brought him to St. Louis for an appearance at Washington University Thursday and another on Friday. The author was in Berkeley last month. 

And when he goes through airport security checks, he said, “I meticulously remove my shoes and inform them I do not have box cutters; I don’t plan on hijacking a plane any time soon.” 

The 55-year-old Rushdie, author of “The Moor’s Last Sigh,” “Shame” and “Midnight’s Children,” which won the Booker Prize, is currently promoting “Step Across This Line,” a book of essays that includes descriptions of his nine years of hiding because of a fatwa death edict. 

His visit to Washington University had been scheduled for last October, but university officials postponed it because local police said they could not provide adequate support for the event in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

Since Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s 1988 fatwa — or Islamic edict — against Rushdie was lifted by the Iranian government in 1998, the author has regained his freedom, moving to New York from London and traveling at will throughout the world. Rushdie was born Muslim but says he no longer practices the religion. 

“For almost four years I have had a pretty uneventful, security-free existence,” Rushdie said. 

In his new book, he gives advice to Americans about living with terrorism in a post-9/11 world. 

“The thing about fear is you’ve just got to get over it,” he said. “Living with danger is not going to stop you.”

Saturday, Oct. 5 

Day of Service  

10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  

Cal Corps Public Serice Center joins for a day of service projects in Berkeley. 

643-0306 

Free. 

Berkeley National Lab Open House 

10a.m. to 4 p.m. 

1 Cyclotron Rd. 

Live music, food, lectures, job fair, etc. 

495-2222 

Free. 

Leading Edge Technology Conferece 

9 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Haas School of Business, Arthur Andersen Auditorium, 2200 Piedmont Ave. 

594-748 for more info. 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour 

10 a.m. 

Call for meeting point information. 

Photographer Allen Stross will lead a tour of the various art institutions located near San Pablo Ave. and Ashby Ave. 

Call for reservations: 848-0181 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us./histsoc/ 

$10 donation 

Elmwood Neighborhood Fall Festival 

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

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

This “giant block party” includes Korean BBQ, tap dancing, Baroque organ recital,  

the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, and seminars on health and Japanese food. 

845-6830 

Free 

East Bay Solar Home Tour 

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Cedar Rose Park (first stop) 

Attendees collect a map to guide them  

on the self-guided tour—eight homes in Albany, Berkeley and Oakland in all. 

531-1184 

$15 per car. 

Sunday, Oct. 6 

Eckanka Worship Service 

10:30 to 11:30 a.m. 

East Bay ECK Center, 3052 Telegraph, near Whole Foods 

“How to Survive Spiritually in Our Times” 

549-2807 

“A Jewish Religious Perspective on the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict and Prospects for Peace” 

12 p.m. 

First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way 

Rabbi Michael Lerner will speak. 

848-3693 

War Tax Resistance Information  

and Support Gathering 

4 to 6:30 p.m. 

1305 Hopkins St., near Peralta. 

Join others who refuse to pay taxes for U.S. militarism at this monthly  

potluck supper. 

843-9877 

Free: bring food or drink to share. 

Monday, Oct. 7 

Free Homework Assistant  

at Young Adult Project 

Martin Luther King Youth  

Services Center 

1730 Oregon St.  

Young Adult Project (YAP) has a  

homework program for ages 7-13. A scheduled appointment is needed.  

Snacks and transportation are provided. Priority given to south and west  

Berkeley students.  

981-6670 

NOW Meeting 

6 p.m. 

Mama Bears Bookstore and Coffee House, 6536 Telegraph Ave.  

Monthly meeting of the National Organization for Women. Lorraine Provost, executive director of the Alameda County Commission on the Status of Women will speak. 

287-8948 

School Board Candidates Night 

7 to 9 p.m. 

The Florence Schwimley Little Theaterat Berkeley High, Allston Way at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Candidates will speak and answer questions. Sponsored by the PTSA and the League of Women Voters 

BHSetree@HighSchoolEmail.com 

Berkeley Gray Panthers Home Owners Meeting 

3 p.m. 

Berkeley Gray Panthers Office, 1403 Addison St., behind Univesity Ave. at Andronico’s supermarket. 

Jane Kadosh will talk about real estate ethics. 

548-9696 

Wednesday, Oct. 9 

Berkeley Free Folk Festival Tour 

3 p.m. 

Meet at Malcom X School  

1731 Prince St. 

Join the Berkeley Free Folk Festival for a tour of possible festival locations. 

649-1423 

Free. 

Thursday, Oct. 10 

Public School Finance Discussion - League of Women Voters 

Noon to 2 p.m. 

Albany Public Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 

843-8824 

Free. 

Natural Building and Permaculture Slide Show 

7 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. near Dwight Way 

Slide show and presentation by Kat Steele and Erin Fisher. 

548-2220 x233 

Free 

Grandparent Support Group 

10 to 11:30 a.m. 

Malcom X Elementary Arts & Academics School, 1731 Prince St. Rm.105A 

644-6517 

Free. 

Come and Take a New Look at the Catholic Church 

7:30 to 9 p.m. 

Norton Hall at St. Mary Magdalen Parish, 2005 Berry St.  

For those feeling alienated from the Catholic Church, combined teams from four parishes offer this opportunity to ask questions and talk.  

653-8631 

Friday, Oct. 11 

Celebration of completion of the “Channing and Popai Liem Archival Collection” 

6 p.m. Reception 

7 p.m. Program begins 

Morrison Room, Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley 

UC Berkeley’s first Korean American archive has been completed. 

“Iraq and the Looming War” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 p.m. speaker 

City Commons Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

Professor Bruce E. Cain, PhD, department of political science at UC Berkeley will speak. 

526-2925 or 665-9020 

$11.50 or $12.50 luncheon 

$1 speaker only / students free 

Saturday, Oct. 5 

Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers 

7:30 p.m. 

Ashkenaz 1317 San Pablo 

525-5054 

$11. 

Leon Bates 

7:30 p.m. 

Calvin Simmons Theatre, 10 10th St. 

Pianist Leon Bates offers works by Mozart, Brahms and Chopin. 

451-0775 or www.fourseasonsconcerts.com 

$25-$35. 

All Bets Off, Benumb and Uphill Battle 

8 p.m. 

924 Gilman St. 

525-9926 

$5. 

House Jacks  

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$16.50 in advance. $17.50 at door. 

Sunday, Oct. 6 

Joaquin Diaz 

7:30 p.m. 

Ashkenaz 1317 San Pablo 

525-5054 

$11. 

Jimmie Dale Gilmore  

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.com 

$17.50 in advance. $18.50 at door. 

African Children’s Choir 

9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. 

First Presbyterian Church, 2407 Dana St. 

These African children, ages 5 to 12, are staging a series of concerts across the U.S. as a gesture of hope towards victims of Sept. 11. 

Free 

Ledisi and the Braxton Brothers 

4:30 p.m. 

Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St. 

845-5373 

$10-15. 

Yaphet Kotto, The Fleshies  

and Lesser of Two 

8 p.m. 

924 Gilman St. 

525-9926 

$5. 

Monday, Oct. 7 

Holly Gwinn Graham, Joel Landy and Lynda Williams 

7:30 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage Coffee House  

1111 Addison St. 

Benefit concert for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.  

548-1761 

$15.50 in advance. $16.50 at the door. 

Thursday, Oct. 10 

M Headphone w/ Lowrise 

8:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over. 

Saturday, Oct. 12 

Rilo Kiley (saddle creek) and Arlo (subpop) 

5:30 p.m. 

Bear’s Lair Brewpub 

704-4492 

$5, 18 and over. 

Kira Allen 

6:30 p.m. Open mic sign-up 

7:00 p.m. Reading 

Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St.  

Presented by Rhythm & Muse 

527-9753 

Free / donations accepted 

Sunday, Oct. 13 

Jenna Mammina and Andre Bush 

4:30 p.m. 

Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St. 

Jazz standards, obscure cover tunes and original compositions. 

845-5373 

$10-$15. 

“Please Pay Attention” 

Tuesday, Oct. 8 through Oct. 25 

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall 

UC Art graduates feature drawings, video, etc. 

DepartmentofArtPractice 

"Balancing Acts" 

Through Oct. 10 

Gallery 555, 555 12th St., 

Oakland City Center 

Oakland's 'Third Thursday' art night  

features Ann Weber's works  

made of cardboard. 

http://www.oaklandcitycenter.com.  

Free. 

Ceramics - Opening Reception 

Through Nov. 17 

3 to 5 p.m. 

A New Leaf Gallery, 1286 Gilman St. 

525-7621 

Free. 

“Hunger: What will you do about it?”  

Through Oct. 30  

Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Civic Center Building 

2180 Milvia St., 5th floor 

Featuring 40 photographs  

by Berkeley artist David Bacon. 

834-3663, Ext. 338,  

uchanse@secondharvest.org 

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. 

Berkeley Ballet Theater’s Youth Company 

Sunday, Oct. 6 

2 p.m. 

Julia Morgan Center, 260 College Ave. 

The Youth Company has been selected to perform in an Austrian dance festival in 2003. This is a special performance to raise travel funds. 

843-4687 

$10 general / $5 under 14 

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar 

Through Oct. 12 

Thurs. through Sat. 8 p.m. 

LaVal’s Subterranean Theatre  

1834 Euclid Ave. 

234-6046 

$10. 

The House of Blue Leaves 

Through Oct. 20 

Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater  

2015 Addison St.  

647-2949 or 888-4BRTTIX 

$10-$54. 

The Shape of Things 

Through Oct. 20 

Aurora Theatre Company  

2081 Addison St. 

Play by writer/director Neil LaBute's spins a morality tale of a young art student, his art major girlfriend, and the Pygmalion-like changes that bring into question how far one should go for love. 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org for reservations 

$26-$35. 

Escape From Happiness 

Through October 20 

Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley Campus 

UC Berkeley’s department of theater, dance, and performance studies presents this dark comedy exploring the interactions of a highly dysfunctional urban working-class family. 

www.ticketweb.com or (866) 468-3399 

http://theater.berkeley.edu 

$8-$14 

The Berkeley High football team continued to steamroll its opposition on Friday night, demolishing De Anza High 33-6 in the league opener for both teams. 

Fullback Aaron Boatwright ran for 159 yards and quarterback Dessalines Gant threw for 152 yards and two touchdowns for the Yellowjackets, who have now outscored their opponents 131-27 on the season. 

The Berkeley defense also did its part, forcing five turnovers and holding the Dons scoreless until late in the fourth quarter. Safety Robert Young had two interceptions in 27 seconds in the first half, while Chris Watson settled for a single pick when his 100-yard interception return was called back on a Berkeley penalty. 

Berkeley’s special teams even pitched in with a touchdown, as Sean Young returned a punt 52 yards for his team’s only score of the second half. 

“I’m pretty satisfied with the way we played today,” said Berkeley head coach Matt Bissell. “We came out strong in the first half and never really let [De Anza] get in the game.” 

The Jackets opened the game with a remarkable 15-play touchdown drive that ate nearly eight minutes off the clock, with Antoine Cokes plunging over the goal line from a yard out. When safety Patrick Henderson picked off a pass on De Anza’s second play from scrimmage, it looked like another squash job for Berkeley. 

The De Anza defense and some untimely penalties stalled the ensuing drive at the 28-yard line, and kicker Terrell Elliott came on to try a long field goal. But the snap was over holder Jeff Spellman’s head, an apparent disaster. 

Spellman picked up the ball and scrambled away from two tacklers. With both teams converging on the ball, Berkeley tight end Robert Hunter-Ford rumbled down the field by himself. Spellman tossed a high pass towards Hunter-Ford, who made a twisting, leaping catch in the back of the end zone for a 13-0 Berkeley lead. 

“Everything doesn’t always go perfect,” said Spellman, who played most of the second half at quarterback in relief of Gant. “Sometimes you have to make something out of nothing.” 

The botched-kick-turned-touchdown seemed to break De Anza’s spirit, as Berkeley scored twice more before halftime. The Dons drove down to the Berkeley nine-yard line only to fumble the ball away, and the Jackets answered with a touchdown when Hunter-Ford came down with a jump ball in the end zone on a fourth-and-goal from the 19. Hunter-Ford used a bit of his rebounding technique learned on the basketball court to yank the ball away from two defenders for his third touchdwn catch of the year. 

Another De Anza turnover set the stage for Berkeley’s biggest play just before halftime. Robert Young tipped away a pass with 27 seonds left in the half and managed to grab the ball before it hit the turf. Although three straight penalties knocked the Jackets back to their own 28-yard line, they needed just one play to make up that yardage and more. Sean Young went in motion to the right and found himself uncovered on the sideline. Gant didn’t miss the opportunity, hitting Young in stride for an easy 72-yard touchdown. 

Gant was impressive in his first start as signal-caller, showing nice pocket presence and a cannon arm. The senior, who played in the second half of the two previous games, completed 5-of-10 passes. 

“I felt pretty comfortable. I know I made some mental mistakes that I’ll have to work on in practice,” Gant said. “but my offensive line gave me a lot of time, so it wasn’t too hard.” 

Bissell refused to name his starter for next week’s game against Encinal, although he did praise Gant’s performance. 

“I thought Dez played well, I was very happy with what he did tonight,” Bissell said. “But Jeff played well too. We’ll have to watch the tape and practice next week and make a decision.” 

ley nine-yard line only to fumble the ball away, and the Jackets answered with a touchdown when Hunter-Ford came down with a jump ball in the end zone on a fourth-and-goal from the 19. Hunter-Ford used a bit of his rebounding technique learned on the basketball court to yank the ball away from two defenders for his third touchdown catch of the year. 

Another De Anza turnover set the stage for Berkeley’s biggest play just before halftime. Robert Young tipped away a pass with 27 seonds left in the half and managed to grab the ball before it hit the turf. Although three straight penalties knocked the Jackets back to their own 28-yard line, they needed just one play to make up that yardage and more. Sean Young went in motion to the right and found himself uncovered on the sideline. Gant didn’t miss the opportunity, hitting Young in stride for an easy 72-yard touchdown. 

Gant was impressive in his first start as signal-caller, showing nice pocket presence and a cannon arm. The senior, who played in the second half of the two previous games in relief of Spellman, completed 5-of-10 passes. 

“I felt pretty comfortable. I know I made some mental mistakes that I’ll have to work on in practice,” Gant said. “but my offensive line gave me a lot of time, so it wasn’t too hard.” 

Bissell refused to name his starter for next week’s game against Encinal, although he did praise Gant’s performance. 

“I thought Dez played well, I was very happy with what he did tonight,” Bissell said. “But Jeff played well too. We’ll have to watch the tape and practice next week and make a decision.” 

Notes: Berkeley’s junior varsity team tied with De Anza, 12-12.

A state labor board has ordered UC Berkeley lecturers and clerical employees to defend the legality of a joint, late-August strike that led to class cancellations and other disruptions. 

If the campus employees can’t convince the Public Employment Relations Board that they were legally entitled to strike, the board could block future strikes and even impose fines. 

The board ordered meetings on the matter in response to university complaints about the Aug. 26-28 strike. 

Union and university officials will meet with PERB Regional Director Anita Martinez Nov. 14 to seek an informal resolution to the university’s legal concerns. If no agreement is reached, a formal hearing would follow with an official ruling by PERB. 

University officials hailed the PERB decision to hear their complaint as a victory. 

“It confirms the seriousness of the issue and clearly, to us, it signals that PERB wants to address these kinds of strike actions,” said University of California spokesperson Paul Schwartz. 

But union officials said they will be victorious in any PERB hearing. 

“It was, in fact, a legal strike and it will be determined to have been a legal strike,” said Margy Wilkinson, chief negotiator for the Coalition of University Employees, which represents 18,000 clerical workers in the nine-campus UC syCUE has been locked in contract negotiations with the university since last year, battling over wages and workplace safety. The next negotiating session is set for Oct. 10 and 11. 

The clerical and lecturers unions are not allowed to strike as a bargaining tactic, but can walk off the job if the university engages in any “unfair labor practices.”  

The unions have filed dozens of unfair labor practice charges against the university on a range of issues, including the university’s treatment of temporary employees, but has not received a PERB ruling on any of them. Nonetheless, Wilkinson said the filings form the basis for a valid strike. 

Schwartz, pointing to state law and past PERB rulings, said the unions cannot engage in a legal strike until they have exhausted the formal collective bargaining process, which includes state mediation among other measures. 

Robert Thompson, general counsel for PERB, said the case law is unclear. A series of PERB rulings in the 1980s would suggest that the unions cannot strike before exhausting the collective bargaining process, he said, but a mid-1980s California Supreme Court decision on a sanitation workers strike in Los Angeles County, granting public employees the general right to strike, may give ammunition to the unions. 

“That’s a pretty gray area,” he said. 

Thompson said the types of charges filed by the unions and the university in this case tend to fizzle out because the two sides reach a contract settlement before PERB rules on the charges and agree, as part of the settlement, to drop the charges. 

Michelle Squitieri, a union representative for the roughly 600 lecturers at UC Berkeley, said the university filed the illegal strike charge with PERB as an intimidation tactic, discouraging employees from future strikes. 

“This is not about intimidating employees,” Schwartz responded. “It’s about the unions honoring the collective bargaining process as stated in the law.” 

Contact reporter at scharfenberg@berkeleydailyplanet.netstem. 

To the Editor: 

Reading the pro-Dean letter in the (Daily Planet Forum, Sept. 23), I’m very pleased to see that someone, somewhere in Berkeley has a use for our current mayor, Shirley Dean.  

However, I’m personally wondering what good is a mayor who constantly puts down her own town, habitually siding against us with big business and corporate interests from outside of town, constantly trying to homogenize Berkeley in the image of the rest of the country, complaining that too many of her constituents are “stuck in the ‘60s,” encouraging other cities and businesses to boycott Berkeley for daring to speak out against war and injustice. 

How many times has Shirley coldly betrayed her constituents while claiming that she was really on our side? During the KPFA crisis, for example, after blatantly siding with her friend Lynn Chadwick and the rest of the Pacifica management (saying we needed to look on “both sides” of the issue and steadfastly refusing to support a hemorrhaging KPFA) she ended up pretending to be on our side when it became obvious how passionately Berkeley residents supported their community radio station.  

Wasn’t it Shirley Dean who advocated for a 500-car garage under Civic Center Park, while posing a few days ago for a photo at the annual Streams and Rivers celebration at the park, as if bringing hundreds more cars downtown would somehow help local creeks like Strawberry Creek, which runs right by the park?  

And wasn’t it the same Shirley Dean who “ostensibly promoting a hate-free environment in our city” pushed to hire the Anti-Defamation League “ a group convicted for its own hate crimes of spying and disinformation against tens of thousands of innocent US citizens” as our proposed “sensitivity trainer”?  

With moderates like this, who needs right-wing conservatives? 

Khalil Bendib,  

Berkeley 

Most movies bend over backward to explain everything to the audience; not so with “Bloody Sunday,” Paul Greengrass’ uncompromising recreation of Derry, Northern Ireland, on Jan. 30, 1972 — the day British soldiers shot 27 unarmed protesters, killing 13. 

The accents run thicker than Guinness, and everybody talks at the same time; the handheld camera stays right in the middle of the action, never pulling back for a god’s-eye view of the proceedings; and the pace is relentless. 

By placing you right in the thick of things, writer-director Greengrass elicits the frustration and confusion of the participants on both sides. There’s no time to catch your breath, no time to step back and reason through what’s going on. 

The movie begins by cutting between plans by Derry’s Catholics for a peaceful march and the British army’s plans to contain it. Led by their member of Parliament, Ivan Cooper (James Nesbitt), the people of Derry are marching for basic civil rights, protesting the mass internment without trial of suspected Irish Republican Army members. 

Greengrass portrays naivete on both sides leading up to the confrontation — Cooper’s belief that the march can go forward peacefully, and the army’s belief that it can arrest hundreds of young “hooligans” and send a proper message. The film is not without sympathy for the soldiers, who feel out of their depth as they try to contain, not engage, an unruly crowd. 

Violence erupts quickly and chaotically. Facing resistance as they try to forcibly alter the parade route, a few soldiers hear what sound like gunshots — we never learn for sure what they are. Fearing that the protesters are armed, they open fire and begin mowing them down. 

Nesbitt anchors “Bloody Sunday” with his forceful, ultimately heartbreaking performance as Cooper, a Protestant who sees his Catholic constituents enduring basic human injustice. Cooper begins the day as a cheerfully harried politician who sees himself as a disciple of Martin Luther King Jr. (The protesters even sing “We Shall Overcome.”) 

But he becomes grim and taciturn as he’s forced to console distraught families while digesting his personal failure to effect peaceful change. At the end of the day, he articulates his own helplessness, telling the British in a press conference: “You’ve destroyed the civil rights movement, and you’ve given the IRA the biggest victory it will ever have.” 

Other recognizable British and Irish actors pop up in pivotal supporting roles: Gerard McSorley, who specializes in stern, slippery Irish authority figures, has a sympathetic turn as Derry’s police superintendent. With a smattering of dialogue and a handful of wordless close-ups, he communicates the frustration of local authorities who know they could have done a better job preventing the violence. 

Greengrass’ just-the-facts approach falters when he attempts a Romeo-and-Juliet subplot, involving a Catholic lad trying to distance himself from the hooliganism in his past for the sake of his Protestant girlfriend. Since the movie provides no context, the romance has no depth; they’re just two pups in love. 

For its blow-by-blow account of a military operation gone wrong, “Bloody Sunday” could be called a “Black Hawk Down” for the Troubles. But as the stirring U2 song about the events in the film plays over the closing credits, it becomes an elegy not only for the Derry victims but for everyone who died in the senseless violence that followed. “Bloody Sunday” is tightly coiled, powerful and terribly sad.

MINNEAPOLIS – The Oakland Athletics found a great way to quiet that noisy Metrodome – hitting home runs, both in and out of the park. 

Ray Durham led off the game with a sinking liner that let him circle the bases and Scott Hatteberg followed with a drive over the right-field wall, sending the Oakland Athletics past the Minnesota Twins 6-3 Friday for a 2-1 lead in their AL division series. 

Backed by four home runs off Minnesota starter Rick Reed, Barry Zito struck out eight in six innings for the win. Ricardo Rincon pitched two scoreless innings in relief and Billy Koch closed for the save. 

The shots by Durham and Hatteberg marked the first time in postseason history a team has hit back-to-back homers to start a game. 

Torii Hunter had two of Minnesota’s eight hits and capped a game-tying, two-run rally in the fifth with an RBI single. The All-Star center fielder, however, also was the who let Durham’s liner skip under his glove. 

Jermaine Dye’s homer in the top of the sixth made it 4-3 Oakland, and the A’s bumped their lead back to three in the seventh against Johan Santana. 

Randy Velarde, pinch-hitting for Hatteberg, hit an RBI double to score Durham, and moved to third on the throw home. Velarde scored on Miguel Tejada’s sacrifice fly off Mike Jackson. 

Zito (1-0) gave up five hits, three runs and four walks. 

Reed (0-1) threw 100 pitches and surrendered six hits, four runs and two walks while striking out eight.

A November ballot measure to limit the height of Berkeley developments will lead to more traffic, dirtier air and less affordable housing, opponents of the initiative said at a televised debate Thursday. 

Supporters, however, claimed on public access television that the measure’s only consequences would be to make Berkeley a more livable and less crowded city. 

The height initiative, written by neighborhood advocates hoping to stop the proliferation of tall buildings in Berkeley, reduces allowable building heights along major traffic corridors, such as San Pablo Avenue, where the city has called for denser development. 

On San Pablo Avenue, allowable heights for buildings blending housing with commercial space would drop from four stories to two. Along parts of University, College and Shattuck avenues, building heights would drop by about one story. The exact limits would differ by area. 

Developers could apply to build an extra floor but would have to meet strict criteria showing that they’ve made efforts to maximize the number of living units. 

The initiative’s proponents Howie Muir and Norine Smith of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, argued that the height initiative was a reasonable response to the city’s zoning process which they say is corrupted by developers and city officials. 

Meanwhile, the measure’s detractors Matthew Raimi and Nancy Bickel said the measure is a draconian response that will endanger Berkeley’s ability to care for its residents. 

Height limits imposed on streets like San Pablo Avenue would discourage developers from building housing and helping clean up older, crime-ridden neighborhoods, Raimi maintained. 

Muir, who like Raimi lives near San Pablo Avenue, disagreed. He said developers will still profit from smaller developments and, consequently, developers would continue to build. 

On charges that height limits would reduce the city’s supply of affordable housing, Muir said that most city efforts to provide housing come from converting current housing stock into affordable units, not building new ones. 

The two sides clashed on the initiative’s environmental impact as well. 

Smith said Berkeley should not be forced to accept dense, urban development under the pretense that it will preserve open space outside the city. “The idea that we can save open space in Contra Costa County, if we build more housing here is just ludicrous,” she said, adding that cities there will determine that question, not Berkeley. 

Raimi countered that the initiative would have serious ecological consequences for Berkeley residents and others in the Bay Area. By discouraging local development, 83,000 acres of open space would be overrun with sprawl, he said. 

On traffic, Raimi argued that denser development on transit corridors, which the height initiative would block, prompts fewer people to drive, resulting in less air pollution and fewer cases of asthma. 

Smith countered that streets labeled as transit corridors have historically had poor public transit and that most people who moved into new development would still need to use their cars. 

Both sides insist that their position best reflects the interests of Berkeley voters. 

Contact reporter at matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net 

To the Editor: 

Our president’s practice of smoke and mirror politics is becoming outrageous and ridiculous. George W. Bush and his cabinet must feel that the American public, and our representatives, are obtuse and oblivious to their chicanery. 

I hear comments daily from people left incredulous by the latest plans of this political organization: Where is the proof that Iraq has deadly weapons?; Is it legal for America to hold Iraq’s oil reserves as a stick over Europe?; Are they doing anything about our failing health care system?; Can we morally open the last pristine wilderness in this country to oil exploration?; Why disband the National Human Research Protections Advisory Committee?; What is the rational of moving the Animal Welfare Act under Homeland Security?; Can the government take away our rights to contest logging in our National Forests?; Will anything be done about the cost of prescription drugs?; Is there any rational to constantly placating the anti-abortion movement?; How can the United States continually disregard the U.N.’s opinion? 

Bush and his compatriots are all wealthy enough that they will not personally feel the impacts of these decisions. They are also taking advantage of the fact that Americans are still grieving the events of last year, reeling from the economic impact of the fall of many industry giants and dotcoms, shocked by losses to their retirement funds, dismayed by rising healthcare costs and depressed by the looming possibility of war with Iraq. Bush’s cronies seem to feel that this is the perfect opportunity to pull the wool over America’s eyes. 

Melissa Brosnan 

Berkeley 

San Francisco Opera projects $7.7 million deficit 

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Opera has projected a $7.7 million deficit for the 2002 fiscal year. 

The downturn in the Bay Area’s economy and the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks resulted in poor ticket sales, said Elizabeth Connell Nielsen, a spokeswoman for the opera. 

“We estimated a reduction of approximately $2.5 million in single-ticket sales as a direct result of 9/11,” she said Thursday. 

Two-thirds of the opera company’s shows opened after the terrorist attacks between September and November. 

Connell Nielsen explained that the company’s September 2002 opening of the gala production of Saint Francois d’Assise has not contributed to the fiscal 2002 deficit since it opened after the fiscal year’s end in July. 

Unlike other forms of art, opera costs cannot be cut at the last minute, Connell Nielsen said. 

“Opera has fixed costs that are set four to five years in advance,” she said. 

The unexpected economic downturn also resulted in a dramatic drop in donations to the opera, she said. 

Gaiman wins ‘Spawn’ suit  

MADISON, Wis. – A federal jury has upheld writer Neil Gaiman’s claim that he co-authored two characters in the “Spawn” comic books. 

Following Thursday’s decision, arbitrators must decide how much money series creator Todd McFarlane owes Gaiman for co-creating the characters Medieval Spawn and Cogliostro in an early “Spawn” issue. 

They also will decide how much McFarlane must pay Gaiman for not crediting him with writing part of another “Spawn” issue. 

Gaiman, author of the novel “American Gods” and “Sandman” comic books, lives in Menomonie in central Wisconsin. 

His lawsuit in U.S. District Court claimed McFarlane used Cogliostro, Medieval Spawn, and another character Gaiman created, Angela, without his authorization. 

Gaiman’s lawsuit also alleged McFarlane made a wrongful claim to Miracleman, a character in a comic book series Gaiman co-wrote with Alan Moore. The jury agreed. 

Afterward, McFarlane and Gaiman obliged a young fan by autographing a collaborative issue of “Spawn” that had landed them in court. 

National Enquirer to publish celebrity books 

NEW YORK – Scandal is headed for your bookstore. The National Enquirer is starting a line of true crime and celebrity books, with works planned on the Kennedys, Michael Jackson, O.J. Simpson and other tabloid favorites. 

“When we do a story, we do an enormous amount of research and interviews that never make it into the paper,” said Val Virga, president of the newly formed book division of American Media Inc., parent company of The National Enquirer.

When Cal has the ball 

The ground game 

The Huskies have been stingy against the run, allowing under 100 yards per game and just 2.9 yards per carry. Their front seven is a bunch of overachievers who swarm to the ball. If they can keep Joe Igber from bouncing outside, the Huskies shouldn’t give up much on the ground. 

In the trenches 

Washington has one of the smaller defensive lines in the Pac-10, but end Kai Ellis is a pass-rushing terror. He is fast enough to get around most offensive tackles and strong enough to throw in a bull-rush on occasion. How the Bears contain Ellis will be the key to their offense. 

Taking to the air 

The Huskies don’t have great cornerbacks, but they do have good depth in their secondary. Kyle Boller should have plenty of open receivers this week and could hit for some big gains. Jon Makonnen showed signs of becoming a top receiver last week. 

When Washington has the ball 

The ground game 

For years a power in the running game, Washington has struggled for the last two seasons. They are averaging just 3.1 yards per carry, but the banged-up Cal linebacking corps doesn’t bode well. Tailback Rich Alexis is always a big-play threat. 

In the trenches 

As always, Washington has a massive offensive line. But that didn’t hurt Cal too much against Baylor or Michigan State, so maybe the Bears match up better against bigger opposition. It’s key that they get some push from the defensive tackles, so Lorenzo Alexander may get a longer look. 

Taking to the air 

Quarterback Cody Pickett has thrown for more than 300 yards in every game this season, so it could be more bombs away against a Cal secondary that looked vulnerable against Washington State last week. In fact, count on some big plays from wideout Reggie Williams, as big receivers have killed the Bears this year. 

Bites, attempted bites and legal skirmishes over evidence were at the heart of the second day of student conduct hearings for UC Berkeley pro-Palestinian protester Roberto Hernandez. 

University police officer Billy Brashear testified that Hernandez, one of 79 activists arrested in the April 9 takeover of the Wheeler Hall foyer, bit him on the hand during his arrest. 

“It hurt really bad,” said Brashear, who added that Hernandez admitted to the bite during a conversation several minutes after the arrest. 

But lawyers for Hernandez, who faces penalties ranging up to expulsion, emphasized during cross-examination that there is no evidence on police videos of the alleged bite or Hernandez’s alleged confession. 

They also noted that there are no photos of bite marks on Brashear’s skin. 

The officer said there were no marks because he was wearing thick leather gloves designed to protect against sharp objects. 

Hernandez faces five student conduct charges, ranging from disturbing the peace to assaulting an officer. His hearing began Monday and continued Friday. Testimony was not complete by Friday evening and is expected to continue sometime in the next three weeks. 

Hernandez, who has not yet testified, is the first of 32 students who will face conduct hearings. Nine students chose to skip hearings and accept a one-semester probation.  

The remaining 38 protesters who took part in the Wheeler Hall takeover, demanding that the nine-campus UC system divest from Israel, were not students. 

All 79 activists faced criminal charges in the wake of the protest, but the Alameda County District Attorney’s office dropped the charges in June. 

University police officer Ken Torres testified, before Brashear, that Hernandez attempted to bite him, pointing to a police video as evidence. 

The video shows Hernandez head moving toward Torres’s arm, but the view is blocked at the last moment. Defense attorneys contended that Hernandez’s head movement was simply an instinctive response to pain holds used by police officers during the arrest. 

“You don’t know that Mr. Hernandez attempted to bite you,” said defense attorney Noreen Farrell, addressing Torres. 

“From what I saw on the tape, I believe he did,” Torres responded. 

University officials and defense attorneys spent much of the hearing wrangling over an attempt by Hernandez to invalidate police videos, police reports and other key pieces of evidence. 

Hernandez’s lawyers contend that the Alameda County Superior Court, under the terms of the June deal to drop all criminal charges, sealed the videos and police reports on Hernandez and the other 78 protesters. That evidence, lawyers contend, cannot be used in student conduct hearings or in any other forum. 

Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Stuart Hing testified Friday that defense lawyers are misinterpreting the June agreement. 

“They’re trying to undo the agreement I agreed to,” Hing said. 

Defense lawyers said Hing is misinterpreting the agreement and they are pursuing the matter in court. 

Contact reporter at scharfenberg@berkeleydailyplanet.net

To the Editor:  

UC Berkeley is now holding hearings on the student demonstrators who disrupted a commemoration of the Holocaust last spring and took over Wheeler Hall. I urge the chancellor and the dean of student affairs to expel these students. 

Sanne DeWitt  

Berkeley 

No. 6 Cal ended No. 7 Wake Forest’s 10-game unbeaten streak with a 1-0 shutout Friday afternoon at Edwards Stadium. The Golden Bears improved to 7-2-1 with their third victory of the season over a top-10 program. The Demon Deacons dropped to 9-1-1.  

“Wake Forest is a very good team,” said Cal head coach Kevin Boyd. “They were undefeated coming in, and I anticipate that they’ll do very well in the ACC. Any time we can beat an out-of-region ranked team, and an ACC one at that, that’s a big win.”  

Senior midfielder Carly Fuller netted her latest game-winning goal against Wake Forest in the 69th minute. Cal freshman midfielder Jamie Mangiardi, who started her first collegiate game Friday, passed the ball to junior midfielder Kim Yokers, who found Fuller from about 15 yards out. Fuller’s shot rolled off the far post and into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the year.  

During Fuller’s freshman season at Duke, she scored the golden goal in a 3-2 win over the Deacons 30 seconds into overtime.  

“Carly is playing very well right now,” said Boyd. “Last weekend, she was probably our top performer. She had another great game today and got the goal.”  

Cal redshirt junior goalkeeper Sani Post recorded five saves to help the Bears preserve their fourth shutout of the season. The biggest of her saves came in the 86th minute when she snared Alena Thom’s diving header.  

The Bears had several good chances to score in the first half, including two quality shots from freshman forward Tracy Hamm in the 10th and 25th minutes, but Wake Forest goalkeeper Erin Regan came up with one of her seven saves.

Parent activist Cynthia Papermaster has bowed out of the Board of Education race, narrowing the field to six candidates for three open spots on the five-member panel. 

Papermaster declined to discuss the specific reasons for her decision but issued a three-sentence statement on the move. 

“I regret that I am unable to continue my candidacy for school board,” she said. “A number of factors contributed to this decision. I will continue to work to improve the Berkeley public schools and to advocate for parent participation in the education of our children.” 

Papermaster had placed the issue of parent participation at the center of her campaign.  

The six remaining candidates include incumbents Shirley Issel and Terry Doran and challengers Sean Dugar, Derick Miller, Lance Montauk and Nancy Riddle. Incumbent Ted Schultz, who would face re-election in November, decided months ago to retire at the end of his term.

To the Editor: 

A false fire alarm breaks the law, creates major disruption and may even place lives in jeopardy. But the “terrorism” label smacks of mindless hyperbole (reported in the Oct. 4 Daily Plant article “Staff ‘terrorized’ by false alarms”). Terrorism denotes an act of war. Berkeley High School co-principal Laura Leventer should know better. Equally irksome: I am old enough to remember an era when many men (and, regrettably, women) of my parents’ generation, would have snickered “feminine hysteria,” or worse. Ms. Leventer can certainly do better. 

Leroy W. Demery, Jr. 

former BHS math teacher 

Berkeley

NEW DELHI, India — Pakistan and India, nuclear-armed rivals who came to the brink of war only four months ago, staged tit-for-tat missile tests Friday, increasing tensions and raising fears of a renewed arms race. 

India’s government called Pakistan’s test a publicity stunt ahead of next week’s general elections, the first since a 1999 military coup. 

Pakistan’s information minister, Nisar Memon, said India was trying to “turn this into an arms race” by testing a sophisticated surface-to-air missile the same day Pakistan tested a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile. 

The two countries have had 1 million soldiers on alert along their 1,800-mile frontier for most of the year and were close to all-out conflict in June before the United States, Britain and Russia mounted a diplomatic campaign to curb the hostilities. 

Both India and Pakistan portrayed their tests as routine and noted they had told each other of the plans in advance to avoid any misunderstanding. 

India said it conducted two missile tests last week without fanfare or criticism, and Defense Minister George Fernandes said there was no reason for concern. 

“I don’t see any reason why we should be worried about Pakistan conducting tests,” Fernandes said Friday in Bombay. “They have their missiles and they are testing (them). We have our missiles and we also do tests. 

“To tackle the situation today we must have the same strength that our neighbors have,” he said.

OAKLAND — Four men taken off of a Phoenix-bound flight and questioned by FBI agents at Oakland International Airport were later released, authorities said. 

The FBI would only say early Friday that the men were released and the incident is under review. No other information, including the men’s identities, was immediately available. 

America West Flight 624 was inspected at Gate 4 and sent on its way about an hour later than scheduled Thursday, said airport spokeswoman Cyndy Johnson. 

The four men detained were ticketed for the flight and had boarded the airplane at the gate, Johnson confirmed. 

The airplane was a Boeing 737 with 83 ticketed passengers, including the four men removed by police and an air marshal, and five crew members, according to America West spokeswoman Patty Nowack. 

After the men were removed from the airplane, all the remaining passengers deboarded as well. The airplane was then inspected, the passengers reboarded, and the flight took off, Nowack said. 

The flight was delayed for about an hour because of the incident. It departed for Phoenix at about 6:30 p.m. and arrived safely at 8:17 p.m. 

Johnson said proper safety precautions were taken, though she did not know why the men piqued the interest of police and federal agents. 

“What this is demonstrating is that the security measures that are in place and have been at a heightened awareness since Sept. 11 are working,” Johnson said. 

ALAMEDA — The Blue & Gold Fleet has filed paperwork with the California Public Utilities Commission to end ferry service between Alameda, Oakland and several San Francisco piers starting in January. 

No other company offers daily commuter ferry service from the East Bay to San Francisco. 

The PUC filing last month came as contract negotiations between the City of Alameda and the Blue & Gold continued. 

Blue & Gold Fleet spokeswoman Marla Bryant said the company is losing money on the service, at least $250,000 over the last year. 

Ridership has fallen from a total of 540,000 boardings a year — from Alameda and Oakland to San Francisco — to about 445,000 total boardings last year, said Alameda’s ferry manager Ernest Sanchez.

n Car vandalism 

Vandals used peanut butter and soap to deface the car of a resident on the 2100 block of Blake Street Wednesday. According to police, the vandal used the sandwich food and cleaning material to write profane words on the victim’s Pontiac Grand Am. Police have no suspects. 

n Driving with drugs 

Police stopped a car on the corner of Dwight Way and McGee Avenue for a minor traffic violation at 7:30 p.m Wednesday. During a routine background check, the police officer was informed that the driver had an outstanding warrant for arrest. The driver was also found to have rock cocaine in his possession. Benjamin Dewitt, 27, was arrested for possession with intent to sell cocaine. 

SAN FRANCISCO – Tempers cooled a bit as the dockworkers union and shipping companies returned to negotiations under the careful watch of a federal mediator, even as the port shutdown threatened to further hamper industries across the nation. 

The standoff appeared to ease Thursday when both sides emerged from one of their sessions. 

“We’re working hard. We plan to be here for as long as it takes,” said dockworkers union president Jim Spinosa. “We’re here to get a contract, whatever it takes.” 

But in the absence of an accord, a group of manufacturers planned to meet with White House officials Friday to press for intervention, and one association of manufacturers was in constant contact with members of President Bush’s cabinet including Commerce Secretary Donald Evans. 

The Bush administration has been called on by some politicians to intervene and repoen the waterfront. The administration says it hopes the sides can settle their differences at the negotiating table. 

The stalemate caused by a bitter contract dispute has stopped all commercial shipping at 29 Pacific ports for nearly a week. 

Both sides hunkered down Thursday and prepared for more long talks to come. 

“We were told to bring our toothbrushes,” said Joseph Miniace, lead negotiator for the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping lines. 

The longer the association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union take to reach a settlement, the more the economic effects furrow through the wobbly U.S. economy. 

“Every hour is another hour of economic harm,” federal mediator Peter Hurtgen said before Thursday’s negotiations began at a hotel here. “I think we all feel the pressure.” 

Along the coast, 162 ships were either idle at the docks or have dropped anchor, according to the shipping association. Another 13 were due to arrive by Friday morning. 

Food is rotting in cargo holds, railroads have halted grain shipments from the Midwest and already one part-starved auto plant near San Francisco has closed since the meltdown over a contract dispute led to a port closure that began last Friday and resumed Sunday after an abbreviated reopening. 

The work stoppage is hurting companies such as Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Elope Inc., a hat wholesaler that usually does brisk business this time of year. 

“We’ve already lost the Halloween business. It’s Christmas I’m worried about now,” said company chief executive Kevin Johnson. “If this isn’t resolved in the next week, we’re dead in the water.” 

Having already hit the transportation and manufacturing sectors, the lockdown is now causing increased concern in the U.S. agriculture industry, as evidenced Thursday by a sharp drop in wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade. 

The economic impact of the work stoppage was accelerating and could be costing the U.S. economy $2 billion a day, said Robert Parry, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. 

Pressure continues to mount on President Bush to intervene under the Taft-Hartley Act. Under the act. A president can block a strike or lockout for 80 days if the dispute will “imperil the national health or safety.” First, though, an inquiry board would investigate the issue, which could take several days. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is among the lawmakers who have appealed for Bush to order the ports reopened under those powers. 

The last time the government intervened in a work stoppage under Taft-Hartley was 1978, when President Carter unsuccessfully tried to end a national coal strike. 

Meanwhile, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka urged Bush not to use Taft-Hartley. Over the summer, unions charged the White House with meddling in the talks, and the White House has since meticulously avoided the appearance of getting involved. 

Some business officials are concerned over the effect of a protracted ports shutdown. 

“I’m banking on the president stepping in to force the two sides to go back to work,” said Dennis Sheldon, senior vice president of Los Angeles-based clothing designer Guess Inc. “I’m convinced this is the number one domestic issue.”

LOS ANGELES – Even if the West Coast dock shutdown ends soon, many U.S. factories may have to shut down anyway because the parts they need will be caught in a huge backlog of cargo, business leaders said Friday. 

“It’s a foregone conclusion that assembly lines are going to close down,” said Robin Lanier, executive director of the West Coast Waterfront Coalition, which represents retailers and transportation companies that rely on the ports. 

Even if President Bush immediately invokes the Taft-Hartley Act and declares an 80-day cooling-off period, manufacturers will not be able to avoid interruptions on their assembly lines, she said. 

“The challenge is going to be the chaos and bedlam on the water as they try to pull things out,” said Michael Damer, spokesman for New United Motor Manufacturing near the port of Oakland, which has been idle since Wednesday, halting the assembly of Toyota and Pontiac cars and trucks. 

Household names in American manufacturing may run out of parts and be forced to shut down their assembly lines in the next few days, said Darren McKinney, spokesman for the National Association of Manufacturers. 

“They are running up against the wall very quickly,” he said. 

Nissan and Boeing were among the companies feeling the pinch from the shutdown that began Sunday at the nation’s 29 West Coast ports in Washington, Oregon and California. The shutdown is costing the U.S. economy an estimated $2 billion a day. 

Almost 200 ships laden with Asian cargo were left waiting along the coast, cutting off supplies for manufactures and retailers awaiting holiday goods. 

Union Pacific, the nation’s largest railroad, had 55 trains parked across the western United States, unable to move cargo. Grain shipments bound for export are sitting in warehouses and growers of perishable goods like apples and citrus worry that their harvests will not reach lucrative Asian markets. 

On Friday, dockworkers and management met for a second day with a federal mediator in an effort to reach a new contract before the weekend. 

Business groups pushed for government intervention and met Friday with officials at the White House. 

“We will make the case abundantly clear that an extended shutdown of the ports will have a catastrophic effect on the economy,” McKinney said.

SAN FRANCISCO – Spectrum Organic Products Inc. works so hard to ensure the food it sells is free from genetically modified organisms that it sends employees as far as France to purchase corn oil guaranteed to be untainted by biotechnology. 

These extra costs can be worthwhile because some consumers are willing to pay a premium for food labeled “GMO-free,” as Spectrum once stamped on its bottles of canola oil. 

But under pressure from the Food and Drug Administration, Spectrum changed the bottles’ labels. The FDA says it’s misleading to suggest that genetically modified ingredients are inferior. 

That stance has deepened a growing rift between food producers. While the FDA’s action angers the organic community, it delights the biotech and processed food industries. 

“We now struggle to find a way to maintain our commitment to consumers while acceding to FDA demands,” Neil Blomquist, president of Petaluma-based Spectrum, wrote in a letter to the FDA. 

Spectrum’s letter was responding to a November agency missive that questioned the technical accuracy of Spectrum’s “Verified Non-GMO” labels. 

The FDA letter noted that traditional selective breeding methods, where crops with ideal traits are bred together, can also be considered genetic modification. Five other companies received similar letters. None were threatened with action. 

The FDA says the labels may run counter to draft guidelines it published in January 2001 that also reject any requirement to label bioengineered foods as such. An FDA spokesman had no comment on the letters, saying the agency must first review public responses to the draft guidelines. 

“It’s pretty confusing,” said Blomquist. “There aren’t any regulations. There are only recommendations.” 

Still, Spectrum has reduced the information to small print on the back of the bottle: “Third-party verified, this oil is made from canola that was not genetically engineered.” 

Other organic companies receiving letters have reluctantly agreed to modify their labels — or do away with them completely. 

“We don’t agree the labels were misleading,” said James Kelly, chief executive of Van’s International Foods, which dropped its non-GMO label from its organic waffles this year. “But I have better things to spend my time on.” 

Two other producers are working with the FDA on label revisions. Many others continue to brand their products GMO-free. 

“It’s a marketing ploy that some organic companies are using,” said Stephanie Childs of the Grocery Manufacturers of America, which supports biotechnology. “It’s definitely misleading.” 

The FDA letters were sent in response to a complaint from the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, which broke ranks with its usual left-leaning allies when it came out in support of genetically engineered food. The center obtained copies of the FDA letters through a Freedom of Information Act request. 

Meanwhile, the organic lobby is clamoring for labels on foods with engineered ingredients. 

“It’s ridiculous that the FDA is spending its time going after these small companies,” said Simon Harris of the Berkeley, Calif.-based Organic Consumers Association. “The FDA should be more concerned with the other side of this debate.” 

A measure on the November ballot in Oregon would require such labels. A consortium of food and biotechnology companies raised $4.6 million through Sept. 20 to defeat it; pro-label proponents raised about $84,000. If the Oregon measure passes, it would be the first such law in the United States. 

Abroad, however, 19 countries require labeling and the European Union has since 1998 banned the sale of any new engineered products. 

The ban has angered U.S. exporters and hampered the growth of European agricultural biotech firms. The EU is expected to consider lifting the ban later this year, but may require labeling, which could be a boon to U.S. organic food companies who guarantee their products are biotechnology-free. 

Only about a dozen genetically engineered crops are approved for human consumption, including corn, soy and tomatoes. The crops are engineered to better resist pests and weed killers. The FDA says the ingredients are just as safe as those produced by conventional methods. 

U.S. officials have said the labeling could cost U.S. companies $4 billion a year. The Bush administration opposes mandatory labeling. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is set to implement new organic standards Oct. 21. 

If a product claims to be organic, it must have been produced without pesticides, genetic engineering, growth hormones and irradiation. Whether consumers will understand that an “organic” sticker means the product is biotechnology-free remains in doubt. 

“The consumer is pretty ignorant about this,” said Spectrum’s Blomquist.

SAN FRANCISCO – Gap Inc. on Thursday disclosed that Silicon Valley pioneer Steve Jobs resigned from its board of directors, just days after the struggling retailer switched chief executive officers. 

Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple Computer Inc., had been a Gap director since 1999 – the same year that Gap’s longtime leader, Millard “Mickey” Drexler, joined the personal computer maker’s board. 

Drexler retired as Gap’s CEO last week when the San Francisco-based company hired Paul Pressler to lead its efforts to reverse a 28-month sales slide. Pressler, hired away from Walt Disney Co., is expected to join Gap’s board. 

Jobs had served on Gap’s corporate governance committee – a watchdog position that has become more important amid a wave of business accounting scandals that have rattled investors. 

Gap said Jobs stepped down “to focus on other priorities.” Besides his duties at Cupertino-based Apple, Jobs also is CEO of Pixar Animation Studios, the maker of “Monsters Inc.” and several other hit movies. 

Jobs missed one-third of Gap’s board meetings last year, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Jobs and stock brokerage magnate Charles Schwab were the only Gap directors who didn’t attend at least 75 percent of the company’s board meetings last year, the SEC documents said. 

Gap pays its non-employee directors $36,000 annually, plus attendance bonuses. Jobs waived his Gap compensation last year. 

Gap filled the board opening created by Jobs’ departure with Penny Hughes, a former Coca-Cola Co. executive in Europe. 

Pressler and the Gap’s board are under pressure to heal the company’s ailing stock. The company’s shares fell 79 cents Thursday to close at $9.17 – down 34 percent so far this year and well below its record high of $53.75, reached before Gap’s sales slump began in May 2000.

SACRAMENTO — The newest thing to hit the underground club scene in California is a sweet, colorful little pill that can keep someone dancing all night long. 

But what may seem as harmless as candy is a new form of methamphetamine called ya ba, a Thai name meaning “crazy drug,” that is said to be significantly more powerful — and dangerous — than the current club drug of choice, Ecstasy. 

Last month, federal agents in Sacramento made the largest bust of ya ba smugglers since the drug first appeared in the United States three years ago. The arrests of 10 people in Sacramento for allegedly smuggling 75,000 pills from Thailand and Laos came after U.S. Customs seized 46 shipments of ya ba in Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Honolulu, which were destined for Sacramento addresses. 

So far, ya ba has appeared mainly in Southeast Asian communities around California, but law enforcement’s efforts have been hampered because “we’re talking about a pretty closed community, so it’s pretty hard to get information about that,” said Daniel Lane, the lead U.S. Customs official in Sacramento. 

Some drugs have started out in a niche market and gradually spread into the mainstream community. Oxycontin, a prescription painkiller that has also shown up on the underground club scene, first gained a following in poor, rural areas, gaining the nickname “hillbilly heroin.” 

An activist in Sacramento’s Southeast Asian community, who asked not to be named, said she first started hearing about ya ba three or fours years ago. Ya ba use has been “causing dysfunctional families,” she said, in the Mien, Hmong and Laotian communities, which have large concentrations in the Sacramento area. 

“We’ve reported it, but I think the federal authorities didn’t think it was that much of a problem,” she said. 

Will Glaspy, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said the drug has mostly remained in the Southeast Asian community. “Many of them are just keeping it to themselves. They’re not distributing it.” 

More recently, however, unidentified meth tablets have begun to show up at raves, which could be ya ba pills, Glaspy said, although they were simply categorized as methamphetamines. 

“The scary thing about these is that they are adding color to them and adding flavor, which could give the perception that these drugs are less dangerous than they really are,” he said. 

A potent mix of methamphetamine and caffeine, ya ba allows its users to stay awake for days. A meth high also brings hallucinogenic effects, during which users sometimes believe they have bugs crawling under their skin and scratch themselves violently to get them out. Other common side effects include increased heart rate, dehydration, paranoia and depression. 

Ya ba has become a vague label for any type of meth in pill form, although it specifically refers to the brand produced in Southeast Asia. Meth more commonly comes in powder form, allowing users to snort it through their nostrils or inhale its fumes when heated. 

In its pill form, ya ba is sometimes passed off at raves as Ecstasy, another popular stimulant, Glaspy said. But the added danger with meth compared to Ecstasy is that there is no set recipe for it, so its purity is often questionable. 

“One person who’s manufacturing ya ba could come up with something that’s a little different than the next guy,” Glaspy said. 

Ya ba is produced mainly in Burma by the United Wa State Army, a group of ethnic tribespeople allied with the country’s ruling junta and known to be one of the world’s largest and most well-armed drug-dealing organizations, law enforcement officials said. 

The pills are then smuggled across the border into Thailand by the millions. The drug has caused what officials have called a national epidemic, with the Thai Health Ministry estimating that as much as 5 percent of the population, or 3 million people, regularly use ya ba. 

When the drug first began showing up in Thailand more than 30 years ago, it was sold legally at gas stations, where truckers would pop a pill to stay alert through long-distance drives. The government declared it illegal in 1970, but the drug has since managed to enter all segments of Thai society, with reports of widespread drug use by manual laborers, college students and even five-year-old schoolchildren. 

The drug already has spread outside Southeast Asia, where ya ba has reportedly shown up on the underground club scene throughout Europe and Australia. 

In the United States, ya ba has shown up only in California, which is already the nation’s main meth maker. Mexican criminal groups still dominate the meth production, according to the DEA, although the Southeast Asian variety has been gaining ground. 

Sacramento was the scene of the first mainland seizure of ya ba in 1999, when police found a few hundred pills during an investigation of a local Southeast Asian gambling house. Before that, drug officials had only heard of ya ba from seizures in Guam and Hawaii, said Sacramento Police Department detective Thomas Little, who was involved in that investigation. 

The arrests in Sacramento last month stemmed from four different investigations, three involving attempts to mail boxes of ya ba into the country and one involving an attempt to smuggle both opium and ya ba in a shipment of furniture. 

But smugglers have gotten much more creative than that, Lane said. He’s seen ya ba stuffed into CD cases, chopsticks and even dead insects.

SACRAMENTO — Saying California grows by one new person every minute, a major land developer association is recommending significant state government reforms to prevent California from becoming unlivable within 20 to 40 years. 

Amid projections of 58 million residents by 2040, the Urban Land Institute is calling for the state to encourage more “smart growth,” an emerging theory of land development to put more people in less urban space with more transit and less loss of farmland. 

“No state framework is in place to facilitate smart growth planning and development,” says the report, titled “Putting the Pieces Together.” 

The 28-page document follows two years of meetings between major California land developers, urban planners, environmentalists, social justice advocates and local politicians. The first-of-its-kind effort nationally by the ULI, financed by Bank of America and the James Irvine Foundation, occasionally featured sparring between opposing groups and some conclusions about developing California that eluded agreement. 

Among major recommendations of the ULI report: 

— Giving state grants to growth-besieged city planning divisions to draw up smart growth visions for their neighborhoods. 

— Giving priority for state infrastructure funding to cities that rebuild downtowns and older neighborhoods, develop near transit routes and mix stores, houses and offices to reduce traffic. 

— Providing cities special redevelopment-style powers to steer more public investment to neighborhoods next to transit lines. 

The report, produced with the aim of spurring eventual state legislation, also seeks easier environmental reviews of infill projects, clearer rules for redeveloping old industrial sites and turning schools in more usable neighborhood centers. 

Greenlaw “Fritz” Grupe, a builder who co-chaired the two-year effort as head of the Stockton-based Grupe Company, said the combination of ideas will steer growth into areas where it doesn’t exist now and “reduce commute necessity, decrease air pollution and reduce the need for more highways.” 

“We’re definitely trying to get the state leaders to consider all these ideas,” said Gary Binger, who directs the ULI’s California Smart Growth Initiative. The initiative began two years ago to explore new solutions to growth that has created a housing shortage while lengthening commutes and paving over 50,000 acres of farmland yearly. 

Other builders behind the report include Bruce Karatz, chief of Los Angeles-based KB Homes and Gary Cusumano, president of Valencia-based Newhall Land and Farming Co. 

While the study says California needs to concentrate more development in less space, it concludes the state is “moving in the opposite direction,” with most growth in “largely suburban counties characterized by low-density development — such as Merced, Fresno, Sacramento, San Bernardino and Riverside.” 

The ULI, considered the progressive wing of a conservative development industry, is launching similar efforts to affect state policies in South Carolina and Florida, said the Washington, D.C.-based institute’s Michael Horst. 

At Bank of America, environmental initiatives chief Candace Skarlatos, said, “Smart growth is important to us. The growth of our economy depends on the growth of our community.” In 1995, the bank sponsored a report, “Beyond Sprawl,” on the threat to California’s economy and quality of life from low-density growth patterns. 

On the Net:  

Read the report at www.smartgrowth-california.uli.org. 

OAKLAND — After almost a one-year hiatus, a $1.4 billion plan to expand the Oakland International Airport is getting back on track with an agreement to be signed Tuesday by community groups, city officials and the Port of Oakland. 

The agreement means the port can continue working on a master plan for the airport expansion. 

Concerned about noise and the environment last November Alameda officials and neighborhood activists filed a suit that stopped the project. 

In that action, the state Supreme Court required the Port of Oakland to conduct new environmental impact reports of noise, toxic pollution and the impact of the project on a rare burrowing owl. 

The environmental impact report still needs to be approved, said assistant city manager for Alameda, Rob Wonder. But he added that the city has decided to drop some legal objections to the project. 

The project, scheduled to be completed by 2008, will include a new main terminal, a 6,000-space parking garage, 12 new gates and expanded cargo facilities.

LOS ANGELES — A Superior Court jury Friday awarded a record $28 billion in punitive damages to a former smoker who sued Philip Morris Inc. for fraud and negligence. 

The 12-member jury made the award to Betty Bullock, 64, of Newport Beach, who started smoking when she was 17 and was diagnosed last year with lung cancer that has since spread to her liver. 

Last month, the same jury awarded Bullock $750,000 in economic damages and $100,000 for pain and suffering. 

Before Friday’s verdict, the largest jury award to an individual against a tobacco company was $3 billion, won in June 2001 against Philip Morris U.S.A. by Richard Boeken, a former heroin addict with cancer who died in January of 2002. 

That $3 billion was later reduced by a Superior Court judge to $100 million. 

Both awards were won by Michael Piuze, a maverick Los Angeles attorney who had never before tried a tobacco case before Boeken’s. 

During Bullock’s trial, Philip Morris did not try to defend its past actions. Instead, the company turned the spotlight on Bullock and her decision to smoke. The strategy was a major shift from previous defense efforts. 

“If she had stopped smoking ... even in the 1980s, she would not have lung cancer today,” Peter Bleakley, the attorney representing Philip Morris, told jurors at the start of the trial in August. 

Piuze argued that Philip Morris concealed the dangers of cigarettes with a widespread disinformation campaign that began in the 1950s. 

“We will show what I believe is the largest fraud scheme ever perpetrated by corporations anywhere,” Piuze said in his opening presentation. 

Piuze used photographs of Bullock, cigarette ads from her teenage years and internal tobacco industry documents to lay out his contention that Philip Morris concealed the dangers of cigarettes with a widespread disinformation campaign that began in the 1950s. 

The defense denied such a campaign ever existed. 

“At this point, it’s really open season on the industry,” Daynard said. “Juries all around the country are sending a message that this conduct was not only totally inexcusable but that it was so outrageous there is no amount of money that would be enough to punish the people who perpetrated it,” said Richard Daynard, a law professor at Northeastern University in Boston and chairman of the Tobacco Products Liability Project. 

The Bullock case has drawn added interest because it follows a state Supreme Court ruling that grants cigarette makers a new window of immunity. The Aug. 5 decision said most statements and acts by the tobacco companies between 1988 and 1998 cannot be used as evidence against them because of a state law, which was later repealed.

SAN FRANCISCO — Environmentalists embroiled in a lawsuit against Pacific Lumber Co. asked a Humboldt County Superior Court judge on Friday to enforce two of his previous orders concerning the company’s logging. 

The motion was filed days after Pacific Lumber Co. sent Judge John Golden a letter telling him the company’s interpretation of the two previous motions. The judge responded that court procedure prohibited him from reading the letter. 

Golden’s first order was issued Aug. 29 and banned the timber company from logging land that did not have a valid timber harvest plan. A Sept. 27 order denied motions by Pacific Lumber and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to reconsider the initial order. The Sept. 27 order specifically exempted six of Pacific Lumber’s timber harvest plans from the order. 

The company has taken the position that the ban applies to all unapproved timber harvest plans, and it reiterated that in its letter.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – John Walker Lindh, whose discovery as a U.S.-born Taliban fighter startled the nation, received a 20-year sentence Friday after condemning Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network during a sobbing, halting plea for forgiveness. 

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III accepted the plea-agreement Lindh’s lawyers had negotiated with the government. During a drama-packed two-and-a-half hour proceeding, he told the young Californian, “You were willing to give your life for the Taliban but not for your country.” 

In a 20-minute statement, Lindh expressed remorse for joining the Taliban. “I understand why so many Americans were angry when I was first discovered in Afghanistan. I realize that many still are, but I hope that with time and understanding, their feelings will change.” 

Ellis acknowledged Lindh’s plea, but declared, “Forgiveness is separate from punishment.” He told a packed courtroom, which included Lindh’s parents, brother and sister, that many Americans will think his sentence was too lenient while others will believe it was too severe. 

U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty, asked if he thought Lindh’s statement was sincere, replied, “The information he provided was viewed by the court as an acceptance of responsibility and I’ll leave it at that.” 

Lindh’s tearful apology, during which he repeatedly stopped in mid-sentence to compose himself, contrasted with Richard Reid’s laughter as he pleaded guilty in Boston to attempting to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes. He also declared himself a follower of Osama bin Laden. 

Lindh, on the other hand, has consistently denied that he ever swore loyalty to bin Laden and his Al-Qaida network, even though he acknowledged having met him briefly at a military training camp in Afghanistan. He roundly condemned the terrorist leader in his statement. 

On a day of coast-to-coast developments on the terrorism front, government officials announced the arrests of four people in Oregon and Michigan on charges of conspiring to wage war on the United States and support al-Qaida. Attorney General John Ashcroft called it a “defining day” in the war against terrorism. 

Two other suspects were indicted and were being sought overseas. Five of the six named in an indictment are U.S. citizens, and prosecutors said that some of them took weapons training and then tried to travel to Afghanistan to join up with al-Qaida and the Taliban, but could not get into the country. 

At his sentencing in suburban Alexandria, Va., Lindh told the judge that “Bin Laden’s terrorist attacks are completely against Islam, completely contrary to the conventions of jihad and without any justification whatsoever.” 

“His grievances, whatever they may be, cannot be addressed by acts of injustice and violence against innocent people in America.” 

Both Reid and Lindh were apprehended late last year while the U.S. was pursing the war in Afghanistan. But even as the government prosecuted Lindh and Reid, neither emerged as more than foot soldiers in the terrorist ranks. 

Lindh was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan and was in the vicinity of a prison uprising where CIA agent Johnny “Mike” Spann was killed. Spann’s father, Johnny, told the judge Friday that Lindh was partly responsible for his son’s death. 

“My grandchildren would love to know their dad would be back in 20 years,” he said. “The punishment doesn’t fit the crime to me.” 

Ellis, however, said he never would have approved the plea agreement if the government had shown any evidence that Lindh was responsible for Spann’s death. Lindh told the judge, “I had no role in the death of Johnny Micheal Spann.” 

Lindh pleaded guilty last July to supplying services to the Taliban and carrying an explosive during commission of a felony. Each count carries a 10-year sentence. The government told Ellis last week that Lindh had fulfilled his agreement to cooperate, allowing prosecutors to drop more serious charges that could have brought a life sentence. 

As part of the plea agreement, neither Lindh nor his family can profit by selling his story. 

Lindh, wearing glasses and a standard-issue green jumpsuit, still has the close cropped hair style he adopted soon after being returning to America. His appearance remained a far contrast from the long-haired, bearded image that he projected on television after his capture — a picture that shocked Americans who discovered that one of their own had been fighting for the Taliban. 

“I want the court to know, and I want to American people to know,” Lindh said, “that had I realized then what I know now about the Taliban, I would never have joined them.” 

Lindh also told the court that he never understood jihad to mean anti-Americanism or terrorism and declared, “I condemn terrorism on every level unequivocally.” 

He said he went to Afghanistan and enlisted in the Taliban army because he believed it was “my religious duty to assist my fellow Muslims militarily in their jihad against the Northern Alliance,” the Taliban’s internal Afghan enemies who eventually fought alongside the United States. 

Government officials said Lindh and other al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners told U.S. interrogators the Sept. 11 hijackings were supposed to be the first of three increasingly severe attacks against Americans. Their claims have not been corroborated, government officials said. 

Ellis said he is troubled that there were two separate accounts of when Lindh heard rumors that 50 terrorists would be sent on suicide operations. The original indictment said Lindh heard that information before Sept. 11, but Lindh has contended he heard it after the attacks. 

Ellis suggested that Lindh address the discrepancy during the sentencing hearing, but he never did. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Bellows told the judge that Lindh is still being interrogated and when the interviews are completed, he will take a lie detector test.

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Police linked a sixth death to the sniper killings of five Maryland residents and said Friday the same high-powered rifle was used to kill at least four of the victims. 

Police were searching for two men — a shooter and a driver — in the slayings and investigating whether a seventh shooting outside a Virginia store was part of the same terrifying crime spree. 

“We implore him to surrender, stop this madness,” Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose said. 

The sixth victim, a 72-year-old Washington, D.C., pedestrian, was killed by the same weapon used to kill at least three of the Maryland victims, said Special Agent Michael Bouchard of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Forensic testing was still under way in the two other Maryland shootings. 

Bouchard also said ATF agents would examine evidence collected from the scene of a Friday afternoon shooting outside a crafts store in Fredericksburg, Va., 55 miles south of Rockville. A 43-year-old woman was shot in the back and in serious condition. 

Police were looking for two men in a white van with dark lettering, a description that came from a witness to one of the killings. Police pulled over white vans Friday and plastered orange stickers on the back to show the vehicles had been checked. Moose said investigators were chasing more than 500 leads. 

Each Maryland victim was felled by a single bullet, apparently from a high-powered rifle or handgun. Police said evidence indicated the killer was some distance away and used .223-caliber bullets. 

The search Friday went on amid a mix of fear and defiance among residents of the economically and culturally diverse slice of the suburban Washington county where most of the shootings occurred. 

All over Montgomery County, people did what they usually do on a Friday, but they moved slowly and quietly, glancing at trees, bushes and rooftops. Many said they were afraid but wouldn’t stop getting groceries, going to work or leaving their children with a baby sitter. 

“I had to shop. I need to eat. I can’t stay at home all day,” said Kira Leonova, who works at a bookstore near one of the slaying scenes. “I have to work and I have a family.” 

Dexter Evans, 20, scanned the traffic as he waited for a bus to Rockville, and he took a second look at every white truck. “You can’t even walk down the street without looking over your shoulder,” he said. 

Schools opened with extra police patrols and calls poured into 911 dispatchers about suspicious noises. 

The five Maryland victims died within five miles of one another during a 16-hour span Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. All were gunned down in broad daylight in very public places: two at gas stations, one outside a grocery, another outside a post office and the fifth as he mowed the grass at an auto dealership.

CHAUVIN, La. – The remnants of Hurricane Lili spun out of Louisiana and into the Ohio Valley on Friday, leaving behind a trail of muddy misery and tens of thousands of homes without power. 

Lili was a Category 4 hurricane packing 145-mph winds before it weakened substantially and hit land Thursday. It still left ripped-up roofing, felled trees, downed power lines, mud and debris along a coast already sodden by Tropical Storm Isidore a week earlier. 

The Insurance Information Institute in New York said claims from the storm could reach $600 million in all states affected, with most of the damage in Louisiana. State Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom said the storm dealt a heavy blow to Louisiana’s sugarcane, cotton and soybean crops. 

Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Allbaugh said he had no idea what Louisiana damage estimates were “other than in the millions.” Damage from Isidore’s flooding last week totaled $100 million. 

“We have assessment teams out right now,” Allbaugh said. “We will be here a long time.” 

Some 500,000 customers in Louisiana lost power during the storm, and 219,000 were still out Friday, state officials said. Utility officials said it could be several days before damage is repaired. 

Lili, blamed for a dozen deaths in the Caribbean, took no lives and caused few injuries along the Gulf Coast. But it swamped many low-lying areas in the bayou country southwest of New Orleans with a storm surge and 8 inches of rain. 

Water still covered the main road in Chauvin. Pirogues and other canoe-like boats remained the preferred means of transportation in nearby Montegut, though most of the water that poured in from a broken levee Thursday had receded. 

Kim Guy’s grandmother’s house in Chauvin was knocked off its concrete foundation — saved from floating into nearby Lake Boudreau by only a small oak tree. 

“I been living over here since I’ve been 5 years old,” the 38-year-old crabber said in the clipped Cajun French cadence of the area. “So we just deal with it. We just figure there’s nowhere else to go. Where are we going to go?” 

In Montegut, Jeremy and Dolores Koenig had a bass boat parked in front of their home, which was lifted off its foundation by the storm and dumped 50 feet away in the middle of a street. 

The couple said their insurance will leave them with about $3,000 and maybe ownership of the lot, but nowhere to live. 

Jeremy, a shrimper, said they will rebuild with a higher foundation. 

“I’m going to shrimp the rest of my life,” he said. “I just like being on the water.” 

In the Gulf of Mexico, the storm ripped one offshore drilling rig from its moorings, sending it drifting for 45 miles, and capsized another. No one was on the rigs, and the Coast Guard reported minimal oil damage. 

Lili destroyed all seven of the fishing nets Ray Trahan uses to catch mullet, a fish available for commercial harvest during a limited season in Louisiana. He hoped to replace the nets before the season opens later this month. 

“This is our livelihood,” he said, traipsing up Chauvin’s still-flooded main road as frogs and small fish skittered at his feet. 

“It’s all I know how to do. You’ve got to take the good with the bad.”

HONOLULU – Scientists have found the first evidence of coral bleaching in the Hawaiian Islands, providing a worrisome sign of more potential environmental damage from global warming. 

Coral bleaching happens when the algae that populate and build the coral die off. 

The bleaching was discovered around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, 10 mostly uninhabited islets and atolls that extend 1,200 miles northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands. The reefs are some of the most pristine in the world. 

Scientists said that the reefs will probably recover in a few weeks but that the condition should be watched closely. 

“It’s important not to overreact to the evidence of coral bleaching we’ve observed during this trip,” said Greta Aeby, a coral biologist with the state. “In severe cases, coral bleaching can cause mortality, but most mildly bleached colonies will recover in a few weeks.” 

Coral bleaching has increased worldwide over the past several decades, particularly in Florida. Some environmentalists have warned that coral reefs are headed for extinction. 

Short-term bleaching happens in higher water temperatures and often is linked to global warming. Pollution can also cause bleaching. 

Federal officials are working to establish a national marine sanctuary in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which have more than 70 percent of the nation’s coral reefs. They are home to endangered seals and a rich variety of other wildlife.

This weekend, Berkeley residents will get a rare glimpse into the mysterious fortress on a hill – Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. 

Members of the public attending the lab’s semi-annual, kid-friendly open house Saturday will, among other things, tour the Advanced Light Source, which emits ultraviolet and X-ray light a billion times brighter than the sun, visit an “electronic petting zoo,” where they can pull apart cell phones and fax machines and isolate salmon DNA in a test tube. 

“We’re trying to get people more familiar with what we do and why we do it, so people are less intimidated,” said Ron Kolb, head of public communications for the lab. 

Kolb said many locals confuse Lawrence Berkeley with nearby Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which focuses on national defense issues, or know about the lab only through its ongoing battle with community activists over emissions of tritium, a radioactive isotope.  

Federal research has deemed the emissions safe, lab officials say, but activists continue to raise concerns. 

The lab, founded in 1931, is administered by the federal government’s Department of Energy and the University of California and has an annual budget of $450 million. Scientists conduct research in 14 areas, ranging from life sciences and genomics to energy conservation and physics. 

The nanofabrication lab in the Center for X-Ray Optics, open to visitors on Saturday, builds microscopic devices that allow scientists to view infinitesimal particles like atoms or molecules. 

A chart on the wall shows that the devices are two to three times smaller than the grooves on an ant hair. 

“Going as small as possible is the goal here,” said Erik H. Anderson, director of the Center for X-Ray Optics. 

The nanofabrication lab is currently working with Hewlett-Packard to devise computer chip components the size of molecules in the never-ending search for faster machines. 

Visitors to the engineering division will watch a group of small, computer-controlled robots move in tandem and play with a ball.  

They’ll also get a glimpse at the division’s two rapid prototyping machines, which create small, plastic, detailed, three-dimensional models of devices designed on lab computers. 

One of the prototypes on display is a model of the Supernova Acceleration Probe, a satellite the lab hopes to launch in partnership with NASA to help determine the ultimate fate of the universe. 

Visitors to the Advanced Light Source will get a glimpse of one of the most powerful research tools on the planet, but they’ll also see the backdrop for a scene in the upcoming Universal Studios film “The Hulk.” 

The film, scheduled for a June 2003 release, will feature actor Eric Bana as the Hulk bursting through the dome of the Advanced Light Source, renamed the “Berkeley Nuclear Biotechnology Institute,” courtesy of the special effects wizardry of Industrial Light & Magic. 

“It was fun to have Hollywood here for a couple of days,” said Kolb. 

Now, the lab has its sights set on a community visit. The open house runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. On-site parking at Lawrence Berkeley, located behind the UC Berkeley campus, will be limited. Visitors are encouraged to board buses at the Downtown Berkeley BART station or at a series of UC Berkeley parking lots. Signs on Hearst Avenue will direct drivers to the appropriate lots. 

Contact reporter at 

scharfenberg@berkeleydailyplanet.net 

To the Editor: 

Chris Bagley's article “Web site to lose critic list” (Daily Planet, Oct. 1) is incomplete. Daniel Pipes, who publishes the “Campus Watch” blacklist (his “think tank” consists of himself) is a professional bigot. 

As far back as 1983, the Washington Post wrote (Dec. 11, 1983) that Pipes displays “a disturbing hostility to contemporary Muslims ... he professes respect for Muslims but is frequently contemptuous of them.” In The Weekly Standard (Jan. 22, 1996), Pipes called an anti-Muslim book “quite brilliant” and “startlingly novel,” adding that “This religion would seem to have nothing functional to offer.” (The National Catholic Reporter found the book, “Why I Am Not a Muslim,” to be “the literary equivalent of hate radio... literary warfare against Islam.”) Pipes expressed his distaste for Muslim immigrants who “wish to import the customs of the Middle East and South Asia” in the Los Angeles Times (July 22, 1999). Earlier he complained in the National Review (Nov. 19, 1990): “Western European societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene. ... All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most.” 

That's a small but representative sample of Pipes' rants. He even blamed Muslims, with no evidence whatever, for the Oklahoma City bombing (USA Today, May 2, 1995). A former director of Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies (and one of Pipes' instructors) wrote, “I have been appalled frequently by his polemical stance on almost everything to do with Islam, Muslims, or the Palestinian/Israeli issue. ...The irony is of course that Dr. Pipes and other radically and blindly pro-Zionist American Jews are much farther along the chauvinist and ultimately anti-American spectrum than are even radical American Muslims.” (Arabic-Info web posting, Sept. 10, 1999). 

Without putting Pipes into his slimy racist context, your reporter's line that Pipes “seeks to promote fair and open debate” is naive. For Cal's Israel Action Committee to front for him speaks volumes about them. 

Ken Scudder 

San Francisco 

A research center in the hills overlooking Berkeley and the UC campus is where lots of lofty mathematics is pondered. On Sunday the thinkers from the Mathematical Science Research Institute will come down the hill to a theater near you. 

During the CineMath Film Festival at the Pacific Film Archive Theater a collection of both popular and obscure films describing number theories and their inventors. 

Though some might dub CineMath “Cinegeek” for its apparent task of pointing out numerical equations that hold up emotional stories on the screen, math-challenged laypeople who struggle to compute tips for restaurant checks might be surprised to find out that mathematics has nothing to do with needing a calculator.  

“Math is not numbers,” said Dr. Keith Devlin, director of the Center for the Study of Language and Information at Stanford University. “Its is extracting patterns from the universe.” 

The festival presents the drama and fascination those patterns can bring to stories, like the tense black-and-white migraine “Pi” (1998), Peter Greenaway’s stylish serial murders in “Drowning By Numbers” (1988), the Argentinian high-concept thriller “Moebius” (1996), and a handful of documentaries and experimental works visualizing number theories and portraying the shadowy men behind the derivatives and algorithms.  

“Pi” involves dividing a circle’s circumference by its diameter: 3.141592653 … ad infinitum. Its infinite string of decimal places is a curious phenomenon, in that numbers cannot exactly express its value. The plot of “Pi” has the maniacally obsessive anti-hero jacking into his homemade mainframe computer to tap into the secrets of pi, which he believes holds the name of god. 

“It’s a belief that is about 3,000 years old,” said Devlin. The film takes strands of an ancient Hebrew myth that God’s name is hidden inside patterns of numbers and weaves them into hallucinogenic visions of theological purity. “This is not mathematics. It’s numerology,” said Devlin, adding that the “spurious” subject belongs in the New Age bookstore sections. 

However spurious its science, the film was never meant as a treatise on the essence of pi. At the time of the film’s release in 1998, director Aronofsky said “Pi really isn’t a math movie. The hardest math problem in the film is 41+3, and then we give you the answer about 10 seconds later. Most of the math in the movie is the mystical, mythical, bugged-out math you hear about at cocktail parties.” 

“First and foremost, we wanted ‘Pi’ to be a chase movie, a thriller,” Aronofsky continued. “We wanted it to be a 90-minute roller coaster ride that audiences could strap into and be filled with adrenaline.” 

The story of Max Cohen, caught between Mob hitmen and a dangerously aggressive cabal of Hassidic Jews, is a gripping one in part because his insane predilection for extreme math lifts the chase movie into a vaguely plausible intellectual realm. If you let yourself believe, the story scratches at the secret of the universe. 

Devlin said there is a case to be made for studying pi as a troubling definition of randomness. Although the numbers in its infinite decimal places have no pattern to them, the value of pi is not random because it is generated by a formula. Its inside that gap – between the rational and the random – where storytellers find their stuff. 

Of course, storytellers and filmmakers will give themselves scientific liberties to make compelling drama, but for hose who want to faithfully represent abstract mathematical ideas on screen the challenge is dreaming up ways to visualize it. Math theories don’t readily exist in the concrete world. You can’t point a movie camera at math theory.  

That’s the challenge across the board in all the films at Cinemath. The festival will screen experimental works directly addressing mathematical principles. On Tuesdays in October the PFA will screen avant-garde works attempting to represent through visuals and sound, theories, problems and patterns. 

Oakland-based filmmaker George Csicsery struggled with presenting mathematics in his documentary on the most prolific mathematician ever. “N is a Number” is a portrait of Paul Erdos, a nomadic intellectual who was purportedly responsible for over 1,000 published mathematical papers. 

Using animation Csicsery poses the Party Problem, in which all the different ways a small number of people can be connected is pondered. As the number of hypothetical people increase, the possibilities of connection increase at an outrageously exponential rate. Even with visual cues, it’s difficult to follow the logic of the problem. 

“What we were aiming for was not a full understanding,” said Csicsery, “but how quickly things get out of control.” Sitting in the small, cluttered office in his Piedmont home, the veteran journalist-filmmaker called himself a “sociological refugee.” He now has a small handful of projects making films about mathematicians, but in the past he has made films about hookers and romance novelists. 

“They’re actually similar,” he said about romance writers and mathematicians, “they both have managed to escape reality.” Paul Erdos, a house-guest intellectual with no fixed address bouncing around the world from conference to residency to lecture stint, was unencumbered by rent, departmental meetings, and research grants. He just kept flying around the world thinking about math. “He was successful in that he evading things that torment people.” 

The math in Csicsery’s film is minimal. “N is a Number” is about the people behind the theories. Erdos, who died in 1996 at age 83, was so prolific and so globally gregarious that he literally worked with everyone of any importance in the field of math. Csicsery chose his a subject because he was at the center of the mathematical community. Not only did he have a genius for number theory, but a bottomless cache of jokes and anecdotes of mathematicians past and present.  

“There is an interaction between life and ideals,” said Csicsery about the way Erdos chose to live. The film subtly suggests that Erdos’ freedom to think about abstract number theory enabled his peripatetic lifestyle. Mathematics allowed him to skirt real life, and live as closely as humanly possible inside his own castle in the air. 

Friday, Oct. 4 

Earth Traditions: Buddhism and Ecology 

7 p.m. to 9 p.m.  

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave.  

548-2220 

Free. 

Social Issues Roundtable 

12 p.m. to 1 p.m. 

202 Chavez Center - UC Berkeley 

Post Sept. 11 Srvice Surge 

643-0306 

Free. 

Service and Leadership Opportunities Fair 

12 p.m. to 3 p.m. 

Upper Sproul Plaza - UC Berkeley 

Get involved with 40 nonprofit agencies. 

643-0306 

Free. 

Peace Corp. Volunteer Returns 

Triple Rock Brewery “Happy Hour” 

5 p.m.  

1920 Shattuck Ave. 

(800)424-8580 

Free 

“The Complex Troika: Pakistan, Kashmir, India” 

11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 speaker. 

City Commons Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 

Professor Thomas R. Metcalf, PhD, of the department of history at UC Berkeley will speak. 

526-2925 or 665-9020 

$11.50 or $12.50 luncheon 

$1 speaker only / students free 

International Day of No Prostitution 

6 to 8 p.m. 

Boalt Hall, Booth Auditorium,  

UC Berkeley 

Bay Area rally and march  

against prostitution.  

358-2725 

Resist Oil & Mining 

6 to 10 p.m. 

The roof, 1916A Martin Luther King Jr. Way, at Berkeley Way 

Project Underground’s sixth birthday party and annual prize drawing.  

Entertainment, music, drinks, childcare. Wheelchair accessible. 

705-8981 or maistella@moles.org 

$15 suggested donation. 

Saturday, Oct. 5 

Day of Service  

10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  

Cal Corps Public Serice Center joins for a day of service projects in Berkeley. 

643-0306 

Free. 

Berkeley National Lab Open House 

10a.m. to 4 p.m. 

1 Cyclotron Rd. 

Live music, food, lectures, job fair, etc. 

495-2222 

Free. 

Leading Edge Technology Conferece 

9 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Haas School of Business, Arthur Andersen Auditorium, 2200 Piedmont Ave. 

594-748 for more info. 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour 

10 a.m. 

Call for meeting point information. 

Photographer Allen Stross will lead a tour of the various art institutions located near San Pablo Ave. and Ashby Ave. 

Call for reservations: 848-0181 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us./histsoc/ 

$10 donation 

Elmwood Neighborhood Fall Festival 

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

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

This “giant block party” includes Korean BBQ, tap dancing, Baroque organ recital,  

the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, and seminars on health and Japanese food. 

845-6830 

Free 

East Bay Solar Home Tour 

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Cedar Rose Park (first stop) 

Attendees collect a map to guide them  

on the self-guided tour—eight homes in Albany, Berkeley and Oakland in all. 

531-1184 

$15 per car. 

Sunday, Oct. 6 

Eckanka Worship Service 

10:30 to 11:30 a.m. 

East Bay ECK Center, 3052 Telegraph, near Whole Foods 

“How to Survive Spiritually in Our Times” 

549-2807 

“A Jewish Religious Perspective on the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict and Prospects for Peace” 

12 p.m. 

First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way 

Rabbi Michael Lerner will speak. 

848-3693 

War Tax Resistance Information  

and Support Gathering 

4 to 6:30 p.m. 

1305 Hopkins St., near Peralta. 

Join others who refuse to pay taxes for U.S. militarism at this monthly  

potluck supper. 

843-9877 

Free: bring food or drink to share. 

Saturday, Oct. 5 

Leon Bates 

7:30 p.m. 

Calvin Simmons Theatre, 10 10th St. 

Pianist Leon Bates offers works by Mozart, Brahms and Chopin. 

451-0775 or www.fourseasonsconcerts.com 

$25-$35. 

All Bets Off, Benumb and Uphill Battle 

8 p.m. 

924 Gilman St. 

525-9926 

$5. 

House Jacks  

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$16.50 in advance. $17.50 at door. 

Sunday, Oct. 6 

Jimmie Dale Gilmore  

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.com 

$17.50 in advance. $18.50 at door. 

African Children’s Choir 

9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. 

First Presbyterian Church, 2407 Dana St. 

These African children, ages 5 to 12, are staging a series of concerts across the U.S. as a gesture of hope towards victims of Sept. 11. 

Free 

Ledisi and the Braxton Brothers 

4:30 p.m. 

Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St. 

845-5373 

$10-15. 

Yaphet Kotto, The Fleshies  

and Lesser of Two 

8 p.m. 

924 Gilman St. 

525-9926 

$5. 

“Please Pay Attention” 

Tuesday, Oct. 8 through Oct. 25 

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall 

UC Art graduates feature drawings, video, etc. 

DepartmentofArtPractice 

"Balancing Acts" 

Through Oct. 10 

Gallery 555, 555 12th St., 

Oakland City Center 

Oakland's 'Third Thursday' art night  

features Ann Weber's works  

made of cardboard. 

http://www.oaklandcitycenter.com.  

Free. 

Ceramics - Opening Reception 

Through Nov. 17 

3 to 5 p.m. 

A New Leaf Gallery, 1286 Gilman St. 

525-7621 

Free. 

“Hunger: What will you do about it?”  

Through Oct. 30  

Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Civic Center Building 

2180 Milvia St., 5th floor 

Featuring 40 photographs  

by Berkeley artist David Bacon. 

834-3663, Ext. 338,  

uchanse@secondharvest.org 

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  

60 Years of Printmaking 

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 

Nancy Salz 

Through Oct. 23, Tues.-Fri.,  

10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Barbara Anderson Gallery, 2243 Fifth St. 

848-3822 

Timoteo Ikoshy Montoya 

Through Nov. 1  

Reception Sept. 20, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Gathering Tribes Gallery  

1573 Solano Ave.  

Acrylic/air brush paintings  

by this Native American artist.  

528-9038 

Threads: Five artists who  

use stitching to convey ideas 

Oct. 6 through Dec. 15, Wed.-Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St. 

Information: www.berkeleyartcenter.org, 644-6893 

Free. 

Berkeley Ballet Theater’s  

Youth Company 

Sunday, Oct. 6 

2 p.m. 

Julia Morgan Center, 260 College Ave. 

The Youth Company has been selected to perform in an Austrian dance festival in 2003. This is a special performance to raise travel funds. 

843-4687 

$10 general / $5 under 14 

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar 

Through Oct. 12 

Thurs. through Sat. 8 p.m. 

LaVal’s Subterranean Theatre  

1834 Euclid Ave. 

234-6046 

$10. 

The House of Blue Leaves 

Through Oct. 20 

Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater  

2015 Addison St.  

647-2949 or 888-4BRTTIX 

$10-$54. 

The Shape of Things 

Through Oct. 20 

Aurora Theatre Company  

2081 Addison St. 

Play by writer/director Neil LaBute's spins a morality tale of a young art student, his art major girlfriend, and the Pygmalion-like changes that bring into question how far one should go for love. 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org for reservations 

$26-$35. 

Escape From Happiness 

Through October 20 

Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley Campus 

UC Berkeley’s department of theater, dance, and performance studies presents this dark comedy exploring the interactions of a highly dysfunctional urban working-class family. 

www.ticketweb.com or (866) 468-3399 

http://theater.berkeley.edu 

$8-$14 

Friday, Oct. 4 

Rosemary Wells 

6:30 to 7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 

“Getting to Know You” - songbook signing and singing. 

559-9500 

Free. 

Katherine Forrest 

7:30 p.m. 

Boadecia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave. at Colusa Circle 

Reading from “Daughters of the Amber Moon” 

559-9184 

Free. 

Saturday, Oct. 5 

Jane Dyer 

2:30 to 5:30  

Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 

Book sigining. 

559-9500 

Free. 

“Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual African American Fiction” 

7:30 p.m. 

Boadecia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave. at Colusa Circle 

Led by co-editors Devon W. Carbado and Donald Wiese, and several of the book’s writers. 

559-9184 

Free. 

Poetry Reading 

3 to 5 p.m. 

West Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1125 University Ave. 

Held by the Bay Area Poets’ Coalition 

527-9905 

Sunday, October 6 

Bruce Feiler 

1 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

Feiler will discuss his book Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths. 

559-9500 for more info. 

Ledisi and The Braxton Brothers 

4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Jazz School, 2087 Addison St.  

845-5373 

$15. $12 students & seniors.  

$10 Jazz school students. 

Sunday, Oct. 6 

Cinemath Films 

Pacific Film Archive Theater 

5:30 p.m. 

2575 Bancroft Way 

642-1412 

$7 for one film. $ 8.50 for double bills. 

Monday, Oct. 7 

Documentary Film - “Of Rights and Wrongs: The Threat to America’s Freedoms” 

12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. 

UC Berkeley Law School Center for Social Justice - 100 Boalt Hall 

642-4474 

Free. 

Berkeley High quarterback Dessalines Gant will start tonight’s league opener against De Anza, head coach Matt Bissell said Thursday. 

Gant, a 6-foot-2 senior, replaces junior Jeff Spellman. Spellman led the team to wins over Liberty High and Kennedy (Richmond) High, but Gant’s superior athletic skills and improving mental game convinced Bissell and offensive coordinator Clarence Johnson that a change was in order. 

“Jeff played well, but we owe it to the team and Dez to see what he can do,” Bissell said. “We want to give Dez a chance just like we gave Jeff a chance.” 

Gant, who can throw the ball 65 yards, made a pitch for the job last week against Kennedy by throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass on his first play in the fourth quarter. Gant relieved Spellman in each of the first two games with the Jackets comfortably ahead. 

Gant, who played only briefly for the junior varsity as a sophomore, realized he had a chance to win the starting job after throwing two touchdowns against Pittsburg High in a preseason scrimmage. The Berkeley High coaches quickly began giving him more snaps in practice, and Johnson has been diligent in getting Gant ready to play with the league opener as a target date. 

“After the scrimmage, I could see it off in the distance,” he said. “I’ve been working hard to get in there.” 

Bissell said the move is not necessarily permanent, and Spellman will undoubtedly be chomping at the bit if Gant should struggle. Bissell complimented the Bishop O’Dowd transfer for his maturity in dealing with the demotion. 

“Jeff’s shown incredible character through this whole thing,” Bissell said. “I have to commend his ability to see the whole picture, what’s best for the team.” 

Tonight’s game kicks off at 7 p.m. at Berkeley High.

Mayor Shirley Dean’s proposal to replace the earthquake-prone Center Street garage with a new state-of-the-art automated one has raised some eyebrows here – and in Hoboken, N.J. 

In 1999 the New York City suburb was the first U.S. city to build a garage that uses computerized lifts to park cars and can pack in twice as many cars as a conventional garage. 

Today – $4 million over-budget and with a police investigation pending – Hoboken is awaiting the garage’s opening next week. 

“It’s been a debacle,” said Tom Jennemann, who has covered the garage issue for the Hoboken Reporter newspaper. “It has gone so badly that at the next City Council meeting, they are going to try to dissolve the parking authority.” 

Robotic parking is common in many European and Asian cities. The system uses machines to move cars. A driver deposits his car at a landing, where a lift moves it to an available parking space. To pick up a car, the owner types in a password, and the machine retrieves the car and sets it back on the landing. 

Dean first advocated robotic parking for the 420-space Center Street garage in 2000, but City Council voted down paying to study the idea. On Tuesday she repeated the idea during a debate with her main election rival, Tom Bates. 

“I said we should consider doing a study. If it doesn’t work we won’t build it,” Dean said. 

Dean said that she was unaware of the difficulties in Hoboken. She noted that the Center Street garage is seismically unsafe and that the $6 million price tag for a new conventional garage is about the cost of a new robotic garage. 

“[A robotic garage] is ideal when there is limited space and the cost of land is exorbitant,” said Peggy Zuignon, executive vice president of Robotic Parking Inc. (RBI), the only U.S.-based robotic parking company and designer of the Hoboken garage. 

Because a robotic garage does not need extra space to accommodate open car doors or tall drivers walking to their cars, it can fit twice as many cars in the same space as a conventional lot, Zuignon explained.  

Also, automated garages are not unsafe for drivers at night and can be designed to fit into the architectural style of the surrounding neighborhood, she said. 

RBI is currently in discussion with other U.S. cities about the possibility of building robotic garages, but Zuignon would not divulge the names of the cities. 

RBI does not accept blame for the Hoboken fiasco. 

“There have been a lot of local issues and Hoboken politics at play” said Zuignon. 

To build the garage, a contractor was employed to build a base structure for RBI to install its machines and computer software. However, according to Zuignon, the contractor, which has since declared bankruptcy, delayed its work by a year and when it finally finished, steel frames were not properly aligned for RBI to install its machines, causing further delays. 

In addition to the delays, Jennemann said RBI has failed to live up to the terms of the deal. “The garage will never function up to it’s promised specification,” he said.  

Hoboken officials were promised the new garage would retrieve cars in less than two minutes, but recent tests put retrieval at two minutes and twelve seconds, Jennemann said. 

Contact reporter at  

matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net

To the Editor: 

Thank you Nancy Bickel, your letter (Daily Planet Forum, Sept. 18) convinced me to support Measure P. When you stated that you admire Oakland, San Jose, Livermore, Fremont, and Mountain View for their growth strategies, you convinced me to vote for Measure P. I moved to Berkeley to get away from this kind of overcrowding. 

I would never want Berkeley to turn into one of these cities. If Nancy Bickel and Councilmember Linda Maio have these cities in mind when thinking about the future of Berkeley, I hope then can promote their ideas there and leave Berkeley alone. 

As Nancy Bickel stated, Berkeley downtown has become a vibrant, enjoyable place, but so is Shattuck and Vine and Fourth avenues. Neither of these location required new four and five story buildings to create a enjoyable place to visit. I wonder what Nancy Bickel thinks about the monstrous buildings on Sacramento. Are these buildings necessary to create a vibrant neighborhood? Are these neighborhoods in need of a sore thumb to liven them up? 

Angela Canepa 

Berkeley 

A wrong turn couldn’t stop Gabriela Rios-Sotelo from winning the first Bay Shore Athletic League cross country meet on Thursday, as the St. Mary’s High sophomore blew away the field and won by nearly a full minute at Crab Cove in Alameda. 

Rios-Sotelo led the pack from start to finish, so when she inadvertently added half a mile to the course by turning the wrong way at a junction, the other runners followed. The varsity girls ended up running 3 1/2 miles rather than the planned three, but it didn’t make much difference to Rios-Sotelo. 

“I can’t tell that kind of thing,” Rios-Sotelo said of the additional distance. “I just run until I hit the finish line.” 

Rios-Sotelo ended up winning the race in 23:36, 51 seconds ahead of teammate Emily Olson, who wasn’t even in sight when Rios-Sotelo crossed the finish line. There was a similar wait for the third-place finisher, St. Mary’s Nicole Shanahan. The Panthers took 10 of the top 12 places in the girls’ race. 

The boys’ race was a bit more competitive, but again it was Panthers finishing in the top two spots. Sophomore Tino Rodriguez won with a time of 17:32, with junior Scott Howard on his heels just a second behind. As the two came down the stretch, the pro-St. Mary’s crowd cheered for Howard to catch his younger teammate, but it wasn’t to be. 

“Everyone likes the underdog,” Howard said with a grin. “I’ll be happy if we just finish 1-2 every race.” 

Rodriguez, on the other hand, wants to make sure he finishes first, or at least ahead of Howard. 

“All the yelling gave me extra energy at the end,” he said. “I didn’t want my friend to come and beat me.” 

St. Joseph High nearly pulled off the upset of the defending champion Panthers, with touted freshman Neal Rodriguez finishing third and Andrew Wright coming in fourth. But St. Mary’s Gabe Texara edged out St. Patrick/St. Vincent’s Sean Daly for fifth place, and the Panthers wrapped up the race when a pack of four runners finished together in spots eight through 11. 

The Panthers are rebuilding following the graduation of Bridget Duffy and Rudy Vasquez, the duo who helped the St. Mary’s program reach new heights. But Rios-Sotelo benefitted from a year of Duffy mentoring and is actually running faster times than Duffy did as a sophomore. And while Rodriguez has stepped into Vasquez’s shoes as the boys’ front-runner, there may be another youngster waiting to snatch that title away: freshman Tommy Vasquez, Rudy’s little brother, finished eighth on Thursday in his first BSAL race.

Home movies aren’t supposed to be this cool: footage of Bob Dylan goofing around at Hamlet’s castle. The Beatles taking the stage in 1964. 

But for more than 30 years, drummer Mickey Jones had those and other 8 mm images sitting in his garage collecting dust. He says he never gave it much thought. Now he is releasing them for the first time. 

aJones said. “It adds a little bit more texture to the world of Bob Dylan photographs.” 

Jones, 61, took the movies during his career as a drummer, most famously backing Dylan during his 1966 world tour. It was on that tour that Dylan played electric rock for the first time, shocking many fans who saw it as selling out. (The band’s regular drummer, Levon Helm, apparently got sick of being booed during the U.S. leg of the tour and dropped out.) 

Historian C.P. Lee of the University of Salford in Manchester, England, said Jones’ films offer a fresh window on a cataclysmic period in both Dylan’s career and rock music. 

“To my way of thinking, it’s better than writing a diary,” said Lee, who has written books about Dylan on film and the 1966 tour. “If you’ve got a diary, you mediate it. If you’ve got a camera, it just shows what it shows.” 

The silent, full-color tapes include a dark-sunglass-wearing Dylan getting a private tour of Hamlet’s castle in Denmark, members of his band goofing off between gigs, and fans waiting outside hotels for a glimpse of their hero. 

In the past decade there has been a greater demand for rare footage, insider documentation and other rock ’n’ roll collectors items, said Pete Howard, a Dylan historian, and editor and publisher of ICE Magazine. 

“The whole landscape for releasing outtakes has moved into the mainstream,” Howard said. “Ten years ago this would have been a freaky release.” 

Dylan was unaware of the project and did not participate in it, said his spokesman Elliott Mintz. 

“He just has nothing to say about the project,” Mintz said. 

The Jones tapes show Dylan and his band — who would later become The Band — on stage, in hotel rooms, taxis and buses, and walking the streets of Europe. 

Dylan’s concerts in the spring of 1966 came on the heels of his infamous performance at the Newport Folk Festival in the summer of 1965, the first time he plugged in. By going electric, Dylan was largely abandoning the formula that had propelled him to fame. 

Jones, now a TV and film actor living in California, offers a firsthand account in voiceover of the booing, slow hand-clapping and foot-stomping that greeted Dylan each night from Hawaii to London. 

The drama reached a high point in Manchester, where an enraged audience member shouted “Judas!” at Dylan. The band responded with an in-your-face version of “Like a Rolling Stone,” highlighted by Jones’ cannon-fire-like drumming. 

The film images — along with Jones’ commentary on such things as haggling with Dylan over pay — are important and unprecedented pop culture documents, Howard said. 

Aside from snippets shown at a Dylan convention in England five years ago, the footage has not been seen by anyone besides Jones’ friends and family. 

At the urging of Joel Gilbert, who portrays Dylan in the cover band Highway 61 Revisited, Jones set about transferring the films to digital for sale on DVD and video. 

The 91-minute movie, titled ”1966 World Tour, The Home Movies,” is being sold only on Jones’ commercial Web site, http://www.1966tourhomemovies.com/ ($19.95 VHS, $24.95 DVD). 

Although Dylan is the focus, Jones includes footage of other famous people he met during his career, including the Beatles in never-before-seen shots on stage in Paris in 1964. 

Jones wasn’t the only one with a camera rolling during Dylan’s 1966 tour. Filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker shot a documentary called “Eat the Document” that has been shown sporadically in public but is not commercially available. 

Jones said he hopes his home movies, which show Pennebaker making his film, will motivate Dylan to release “Eat the Document.” 

A last minute effort by swimmers at the city’s Willard Pool to recruit more users will likely save it from a planned winter closure, city officials said Thursday. 

“I think there is a lot of energy for the community to rally with staff to make it [keeping Willard Pool open] a viable option,” said Lisa Caronna, director of the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront.  

The community pool at the intersection of Telegraph Avenue and Derby Street was set to close mid-November through mid-April as part of a city cost cutting measure. 

The city loses $47,000 keeping the pool open during winter months when usage is at its annual low, Caronna said. But plans to attract more winter swimmers to pay fees and help offset operating costs is reason to keep it open, she added. 

City Council is scheduled to decide the pool’s fate at its Oct. 15 meeting. 

Pool users have historically said that too few swimming programs and poor publicity are reasons for low winter turnout. 

But Wednesday, the recently formed Willard Swimmers Association [WSA] agreed to a deal with city officials in which swimmers will recruit residents for new pool programs and the city will provide instructors and advertising. 

“We’ve had interest in water aerobics, a masters [seniors] swim team and synchronized swimming,” said Karen Davis of the WSA. 

The pool controversy materialized in May when the parks department recommended closing both Willard Pool and West Campus Pool to help make $100,000 in required budget cuts.  

But last month, after vehement opposition from West Campus swimmers, the parks department offered a compromise plan that would keep West Campus open and close only Willard. 

City Council balked at the deal, however, and asked the parks department to consider ways to keep Willard open too. 

“I’m committed to keeping it open,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington, whose district includes the pool. “It’s a horrible message to send to close Willard and keep the others open.” 

Contact reporter at  

matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net 

To the editor: 

Local development policy both reflects and shapes the character of a city and its social values. This November, Berkeley voters have an important development issue on the ballot, Measure P. 

We should vote “No” on Measure P, exercising our belief in five social values.  

Affordable Housing: Economics tells us that limiting housing supply in a high-demand market will increase the cost. Measure P would increase the costs of market rate housing, which are already too high, and the costs of providing affordable housing, which is already extremely difficult to build. Berkeley should be a city for everyone, not just the rich. 

Affordable Education: Measure P would drive up rents, increasing the cost of getting an education at UC Berkeley. 

Stopping Urban Sprawl: As citizens of the Bay Area, we have a responsibility to stop urban sprawl. Measure P is a pro-sprawl initiative; through its NIMBYism, it asks that the next houses be built even further out.  

Public Transit: Many of us take public transit rather than drive. Many more of us would take it if it were more convenient. Public transit relies on density. We can't improve our public transit system if we halt development. 

Local business: Local, neighborhood businesses thrive on people living close. Squelching mixed-use development halts the ability of less affluent parts of Berkeley to bring in local businesses like food markets and family restaurants. It's destructive for affluent neighborhoods as well. Let's keep the local businesses and not drive to Emeryville. 

As environmentalists, affordable housing advocates, and believers in diverse neighborhoods, we should vote No on Measure P, 

Scott Klemmer 

Berkeley 

NEW YORK — As a ferry filled with brunchers and skyline-gazers cruised along the East River on a crystal-clear September Sunday, architecture critic Paul Goldberger drew his audience’s attention to a fire boat, spouting graceful arcs of spray. 

“Now, that’s architecture!” he mused into his microphone. 

Meanwhile, back on land, author Calvin Trillin was treating a lucky group to his favorite downtown culinary delights, with mozzarella in Little Italy and dim sum in Chinatown. Legal writer Jeffrey Toobin was showing his guests the inside of a criminal forensics lab, and art expert Simon Schama was guiding a tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

The “About Town” tours, all led by writers at The New Yorker, were new features this year of the annual New Yorker Festival, which ended Sunday. In its third year, the weekend festival seems to be gaining in popularity all the time. Some of the top events sold out within 15 minutes of online sales, frustrating those who didn’t log on fast enough. 

But fans of The New Yorker, who often speak of devouring the magazine cover to cover, had a wide array of events to devour in the same manner. 

For fiction-lovers, there were paired readings with the likes of Stephen King and Amy Tan, Ian Frazier and Steve Martin, E.L. Doctorow and Edna O’Brien, and Annie Proulx and George Saunders. 

For film-lovers, there was a sneak preview of the upcoming epic “Gangs of New York” by director Martin Scorsese, which he then described in a conversation with critic David Denby. 

There was also a riotous session with the British critic Anthony Lane, who in a lecture pondered the themes of sex and violence — “The Odd Couple.” Then, in a hilarious question-and-answer period, he covered everything from Noel Coward to Antonio Banderas to the wave of karate stars in movies to the unfortunate Midwestern mallworker who’d heard Lane’s impeccable British and somehow theorized he was from Brazil. 

Then there were this year’s late-night events, also a new feature, highlighted by a visit to the “Saturday Night Live” studios for a conversation between David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, and SNL creator Lorne Michaels, along with cast members Darrell Hammond, Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph. 

Michaels told the crowd about one of the first-ever skits on “SNL,” involving John Belushi in a bee suit at a bee hospital. A note soon came from the network: the bees didn’t work. (They did indeed make a comeback.) 

As Michaels described the sketch on Friday night, the crowd laughed, and Remnick commented: “It’s working now.” Michaels countered: “It was ahead of its time.” 

Sitting in the audience was a couple from the small town of Bakersville, N.C., who’d flown up to New York for the festival. Glenn Harling and Vicky Steele were also planning to attend a talk by historian Bernard Lewis, a specialist on Islam, and a conversation with the neurologist Oliver Sacks. 

“We were online at 9:02 a.m. the day tickets went on sale,” Steele said. “There’s only us and another couple in town that reads The New Yorker. We go through it cover to cover.” 

A spokesperson for the magazine, Jodi Bart, said 31 percent of this year’s 14,000 ticket buyers were from outside New York and its suburbs. They included festivalgoers from 28 states and several foreign countries. 

Most events were fairly intimate, but there were 1,100 people at one event, a tribute to the late poet Elizabeth Bishop, Bart said. 

The New Yorker festival was launched three years ago to mark the magazine’s 75th anniversary. It quickly became an annual event. 

For Ramona Rukavina, a consultant from Providence, Utah, this year’s festival was reason enough to fly across the country. Her main goal was to see an event with the actor and comedian Eddie Izzard, but she also needed a trip to ground zero and an infusion of New York-style culture. 

“I just can’t get enough of this place,” she said. 

——— 

On the Net: 

Festival: http://festival.newyorker.com/ 

The Berkeley High girls volleyball team rolled through yet another league opponent on Thursday, demolishing Pinole Valley in straight games, 15-1, 15-4, 15-0. 

Senior outside hitter Amalia Jarvis led the way for the Yellowjackets with 11 kills and eight digs. Senior Nadia Qabazard had eight aces on the day, with four of them coming as she served the Jackets to a 14-0 lead in the opening game. 

Berkeley head coach Justin Caraway was looking for a strong performance from his team after losing a game to Encinal High on Tuesday, the first game the Jackets have dropped in Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League play this season. That’s about as bad as it gets for Caraway’s team when it comes to league games, as Berkeley has yet to lose against an ACCAL foe in three years. 

Berkeley (7-6 overall, 4-0 ACCAL) had an excellent match from the service line, and Pinole Valley had nearly no offensive game as the Spartans struggled to simply get the ball back over the net. What serves they did return were slammed back at them by Jarvis and senior middle blocker Vanessa Williams, who had eight kills. 

“We ran a lot of offense off of free balls, and we even ran some off of digs, which is a step up for us,” Caraway said. “We still need to be better terminating the ball from certain positions.” 

Berkeley will get its final test of the season at the Castro Valley Tournament this weekend. The Jackets have struggled against top-shelf opposition this season, so the tournament will be a shot at winning against the types of teams they will face in the playoffs. Then it’s likely to be another romp through league play before things get serious again for the postseason.

A bomb threat and a string of at least 10 false fire alarms at Berkeley High School have disrupted classes and raised safety concerns in the last week. 

In connection with the false fire alarms, police have arrested six students, Berkeley police spokesperson Mary Kusmiss said. 

Police have no suspects in the bomb threat but they have clues from a telephone recording and from finger prints they lifted off a public phone.  

At 11:20 a.m. Tuesday a caller to the high school warned that the school would “blow up” at noon, Kusmiss said.  

The department’s 911 system traced the phone call to a pay phone in the basement of Berkeley High’s Florence Schwimley Little Theater, she said. 

Ten officers responded to the call and found no suspicious packages at the school. Administrators, in consultation with the police, decided not to evacuate. Police took fingerprints from the phone and, in reviewing the tape, determined that the caller was likely an Asian teenage male.  

A bomb threat is a felony and is punishable up to a year in prison for an adult, but a minor would likely face a lesser penalty, Kusmiss said. 

A false fire alarm is a misdemeanor and maximum punishment for an adult is six months in prison and a $1,000 fine. But Kusmiss said minors would likely face no more than probation.  

The school, though, plans to pursue expulsion in an undetermined number of cases. 

“Let’s face it, almost 100 percent of the students are here to learn,” said Berkeley High School dean of students Meg Matan, explaining the decision to seek expulsion. “They’re feeling frustrated, we’re feeling frustrated. ... We want to support the kids who are here.” 

The expulsion process is a lengthy one that ultimately requires Board of Education approval. 

Berkeley High co-principal Laura Leventer said the fire alarms began Sept. 26 and peaked Tuesday with six in one day. She said the alarms created a number of problems, including lost class time. 

“You’re missing your education which is, of course, very important,” Leventer said. 

Sophomore O.J. Denton said students were happy to get a break from class during the first few alarms, but quickly soured on them. 

“The first couple of times it was like, whatever,” Denton said. “Then I started getting frustrated.” 

Denton said the constant interruptions affected his ability to do classwork. 

Leventer added that repeated alarms were a safety concern for disabled and injured students who have trouble getting up and down stairs quickly. 

“Complacency is also an issue,” she said, arguing that if students and staff get used to false alarms, they might not react quickly in the case of a real emergency. 

Matan, the dean of students, said the high school has become more vigilant in the wake of the false alarms, maintaining a heavy adult presence, including some parent volunteers, at vulnerable fire alarms. 

“The parents have been hugely supportive,” she said. “They’ve been great.” 

Matan said the increased adult presence in the hallways has had a positive side effect – encouraging students to stay in class. 

“Something that was negative has turned out to be a positive thing,” she said. 

Superintendent Michele Lawrence added that the rash of fire alarms has prompted better communication with the police and fire departments, boosting long-term safety and security at the high school. 

Matan said one alarm sounded Thursday, but only in the midst of a staff training. It was the first day in a week that a pupil did not pull an alarm. 

Contact reporter at  

scharfenberg@berkeleydailyplanet.net

To the Editor: 

Ms. Joanne Orengo's opinion regarding the Sept. 21 bicycle accident and printed in the (Daily Planet Forum, Oct. 1) was based on false information. I forgive Ms. Orengo. I am the grandfather and have never blamed the police.  

Frank Thomas 

Concord 

Girls Tennis - St. Mary’s 6, Holy Names 1 

Maren Sagat, Kristen Maita and Doris Ng win singles matches for St. Mary’s, while the Panthers doubles teams all come out victorious as well. 

Girls Volleyball - Piedmont def. St. Mary’s 16-14, 13-15, 13-15, 15-6, 15-8

Berkeley High School administrators equated this week’s rash of false fire alarms with terrorism, in a student bulletin. 

“This is an act of terrorism and we will not stand for it,” the bulletin read.  

Berkeley High co-principal Laura Leventer said the sight of fire trucks for students and staff who endured previous fires at Berkeley High and in the Oakland hills is difficult. 

“I think it is [like terrorism] for anyone who lived through the ‘B’ Building fire and the Oakland Hills Fire,” she said. “They’re traumatized.” 

“I think that’s a little extreme,” said Berkeley High senior Nicholas Ware. “I think it’s a bunch of kids trying to have fun.” 

- David Scharfenberg 

BAGHDAD, Iraq — An Iraqi vice president offered a unique solution to the U.S.-Iraq standoff: a duel between George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein. 

Taha Yassin Ramadan said the duel could be held at a neutral site and with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan as the referee. 

Ramadan, wearing a green uniform and a black beret, made his remarks without giving any outward sign that he was joking although reporters who were present detected a note of irony in his voice. 

“A president against a president and vice president against a vice president and a duel takes place, if they are serious, and in this way we are saving the American and the Iraqi people,” Ramadan told the Associated Press Television Network. 

Iraq has two vice presidents, and Ramadan did not say whether he or Taha Muhie-eldin Marouf would take on Dick Cheney. 

At the White House, press secretary Ari Fleischer saw no humor in Ramadan’s remarks. 

“There can be no serious response to an irresponsible statement like that. I just want to point out that, in the past when Iraq had disputes, it invaded its neighbors. There were no duels, there were invasions. There was use of weapons of mass destruction and the military; that’s how Iraq settles its disputes,” Fleischer said. 

Ramadan also said that his government was not concerned by U.S. lawmakers’ support of a congressional resolution that would authorize President Bush to use military force against Iraq. 

“We pay no attention to this issue,” he said, adding that approving such a resolution “makes no difference” to Iraq. 

Ramadan criticized U.S. efforts to delay the return of U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq until the Security Council adopts tougher measures that would give the inspectors broad new powers to hunt for weapons of mass destruction and provide them with military backing. 

He said such efforts were aimed at “hampering the inspection process.” 

“They (the Americans) were surprised by the agreement reached by Iraq and the United Nations. So their reaction was unbalanced,” he said, referring to the deal in Vienna on Tuesday between Iraq and chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix. 

Under the agreement, Iraq agreed to an unconditional return of the inspectors under the existing U.N. Security Council resolutions and a 1998 agreement that put the so-called presidential sites — including Saddam’s palaces — off-limits to surprise visits. 

At the United Nations, the United States was pursuing a tough resolution that would end the exemption for those sites, give Iraq 30 days to compile an “accurate, full and complete” inventory of all aspects of its weapons programs — and provide U.N. inspectors military backing to carry out their search. 

But the three other veto-wielding members of the Security Council — Russia, China and France — have said they are not ready to authorize force before inspectors have time to test Iraq’s willingness to comply. 

OAKLAND – A leader in Oakland's Nation of Islam community again delayed entering a plea in Alameda County Superior Court Thursday to a charge that he allegedly molested a 13-year-old girl 20 years ago. 

Yusef Bey, 66, was not in the courtroom for proceeding.  

Andrew Dosa of Alameda, Bey's attorney, asked for, and was granted, the continuance by Judge Allan D. Hymer in Oakland. 

Bey is now scheduled to enter a plea on Oct. 17 at 9 a.m. Hymer asked that Bey be present on that date. 

One week ago, Bey appeared in court and was granted a delay in the arraignment A complaint filed Sept. 18 charges Bey with one felony count of committing a lewd act on a child under 14 in September 1981. He surrendered to police on Sept. 19 and immediately posted $50,000 bail, police said. 

According to police, a woman approached the authorities in early June to report that Bey had allegedly molested her about 20 years ago. She told police that she was 13 when she gave birth to a child allegedly fathered by Bey in June 1982. 

Police said DNA samples confirm that Bey is the child's father. Bey's attorney has declined to comment on the charges.

OAKLAND – The Oakland Police Department reports that three people were shot and injured in a gunfire exchange in east Oakland. 

Police arrived around 8 p.m. and found two women and one man all suffering from gunshot wounds, on the ground at the 2200 block of 96th Avenue. 

All three were taken to the hospital where one woman and one man are listed in critical but stable condition, police say. 

The second woman is in stable condition. Police were not able to disclose what hospital they were taken to but both San Leandro and Highland hospitals say they do not have any shooting victims from last night in critical condition. 

Police are on the scene investigating the possibility that a fourth person was involved in the shooting and fled the scene.

OAKLAND – The U.S. District Court is considering reducing the prison term of wealthy Berkeley landlord Lakireddy Bali Reddy. 

Reddy is serving his first of an eight year sentence for smuggling teenage girls from India into the United States for prostitution and cheap labor. Lawyers for Reddy say they are petitioning the court to shave nearly two years off his prison term because of new information revealed after his June 2001 sentencing. 

In October of 2001, federal prosecutors said court interpreter Uma Rao had encouraged four of the six victims to embellish testimony against other Reddy family members involved in the illegal immigration ring. 

Sept. 18 court papers filed by Reddy’s attorney Ted Cassman argue that Rao’s agenda to fabricate testimony is reason to trim Reddy’s sentence by 19 months. 

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken is expected to rule any day on Cassman’s request.  

Next month, Reddy’s son Vijay Lakireddy, who pleaded guilty to one count of visa fraud, is scheduled for sentencing. 

Reddy’s younger son, Prasad Lakireddy, still awaits trial on charges of illegally importing girls to the country for “immoral purposes.” 

Reddy’s brother and sister-in-law, Jayaprakash and Annapurna Lakireddy, each pleaded guilty to one count of visa fraud. Neither was sentenced to prison time. 

n Armed robbery 

A 20-year-old male was robbed at knife point at the corner of Dana and Blake streets Monday, police said. Two suspects approached the male, one suspect then put the knife to his stomach and demanded his wallet. The victim complied and was then ordered to run east on Blake Street and not look back.  

n Lions stolen 

Two concrete lion statues, each weighing 400 pounds, were stolen from an Asian restaurant on the 700 block of University Avenue Tuesday, police said. The statues are valued at $1,000. 

SAN FRANCISCO — A computerized system that will allow homeless people in San Francisco to reserve beds was launched Wednesday. 

Homeless people can checking in daily at five locations with computers linked to the new software and reserve beds at two of the city’s 11 shelters by entering their names and Social Security numbers into the system. 

Homeless advocates warn that the request for personal information will discourage people, especially illegal immigrants, from seeking help. 

But city officials believe the new system will enable San Francisco, for the first time, to see exactly how many people asked for which services and whether they received them. 

The city controller and the civil grand jury reported separately in May that San Francisco had no idea exactly how many people were homeless or how much was spent on services. The estimates range from 8,000 to 15,000 homeless and very poor people who rely on homeless services, and $104 million to $200 million spent on services annually. 

Cities in about 30 states have already installed the system, including San Diego and New York City.

SAN JOSE — A herd of 30 wild hogs have made their home in a condominium complex, where they are wrecking the landscape, multiplying and scaring people away. 

The California Department of Fish and Game said its not unusual for wild pigs, mountain lions and deer to move into human communities near open spaces. 

State officials said this years’ exceptionally dry conditions have made the irrigated lawns of the California Maison, a condominium complex at the edge of San Jose’s greenbelt, appealing to the pigs, some weighing as much as 400 pounds each. 

Officials said the pigs have poor vision and usually will try to avoid humans. However if they feel cornered, they may attack. 

The complex has set traps and caught five pigs. State officials do not allow hunting in or near the condominium. Officials think a good fence will be more effective for keeping the pigs away until rain starts again, when they hope the pigs will go back to the oak woodlands areas.

SAN FRANCISCO – A San Francisco supervisor's bid to speak out against a possible congressional resolution in favor of military action in Iraq was scheduled for a hearing Thursday at City Hall. 

Supervisor Mark Leno, who sits on the Health and Human Services Committee chaired by his colleague Chris Daly, introduced the proposed resolution on Sept. 23 and has obtained two co-sponsors.  

Thursday’s hearing falls on a day in which the U.S. Senate is debating a resolution authorizing the use of force overseas – a prospect that Leno's resolution calls “premature” since the United Nations Security Council has yet to deliberate on its stance. 

Leno notes that U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, has been privy to classified security briefings because of her leadership position in the House of Representatives and commented recently that she has not been persuaded that the Middle Eastern nation poses a nuclear threat to the United States. 

Oakland janitors cashed in  

on fraudulent overtime 

OAKLAND — Fraudulent time cards from janitors made the Oakland School District pay as much as $150,000 in overtime that did not exist, an investigation has found. 

Peter Haffner, the district’s director of custodial services, found enough discrepancies on 2001 time cards that the district hired an investigator. 

The investigation shows that some custodians, whose base salaries are in the low-$30,000s, nearly doubled them through overtime. Some custodians submitted two time cards at once, claiming to be working in two schools at the same time, or reported to have worked more than 24 hours in one day, or when they where on vacation. 

The janitors under scrutiny represent 10 percent of the custodians. The district plans to fire six of them as well as their supervisor. Twelve have been suspended with pay. 

Janitors historically account for the bulk of the district’s annual overtime budget, because they are often called to guard construction projects overnight and open buildings for after-school meetings. Last year, the district spent $3 million in custodial overtime. 

To avoid this mistake now custodians will need approval from Haffner before working overtime. 

No one has been charged with a crime, but the Oakland Police Department is reviewing the case with the possibility of seeking felony theft of public funds charges from the Alameda County district attorney. 

State opts not to euthanize tiger that attacked boy 

Officials with the California Department of Fish and Game have elected not to euthanize a young tiger that attacked a 6-year-old boy during a school assembly in Scotts Valley last month. 

The department recently wrapped up its investigation into the Sept. 20 incident at Baymonte Christian School and determined that the tiger poses no serious threat to people and should not be put to death.  

The youngster was briefly hospitalized with two cuts to his head, but the cause of those wounds is still in question. 

Police and school officials said at the time of the incident that the tiger bit and scratched the boy, but Anita Jackson, the tiger's owner and handler said it was her belt buckle that scratched the boy when she jumped in to protect him.  

The 18-month-old tiger had also been de-clawed, Jackson added, so it could not have scratched the child. 

While the tiger narrowly avoided being put down, its handlers have been asked by the Department of Fish and Game to put together a formal plan on how they will control it in the future. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Negotiators for dockworkers and shipping companies toned down their antagonistic rhetoric after spending most of Thursday with a federal mediator who is trying to end the West Coast port shutdown that has staggered industries across the United States. 

The stalemate caused by a bitter contract dispute has stopped all commercial shipping at 29 Pacific ports for nearly a week. But the standoff of the last few weeks seemed to have eased when dockworkers and the shipping companies emerged from one of their sessions. 

“We’re working hard. We plan to be here for as long as it takes,” said dockworkers union president Jim Spinosa. “We’re here to get a contract, whatever it takes.” 

Amid calls for emergency federal intervention to reopen the waterfront, the Bush administration continued to say it hopes the sides can settle their differences at the negotiating table. 

Both sides said they thought the talks would last a while. 

“We were told to bring our toothbrushes,” said Joseph Miniace, lead negotiator for the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping lines. 

But the longer the association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union take to reach a settlement, the more the economic effects furrow through the wobbly U.S. economy. 

“Every hour is another hour of economic harm,” federal mediator Peter Hurtgen said before Thursday’s negotiations began at a hotel here. “I think we all feel the pressure.” 

Along the coast, 162 ships were either idle at the docks or have dropped anchor, according to the shipping association. Another 13 were due to arrive by Friday morning. 

Food is rotting in cargo holds, railroads have halted grain shipments from the Midwest and already one part-starved auto plant near San Francisco has closed since the meltdown over a contract dispute led to a port closure that began last Friday and resumed Sunday after a six-hour attempted reopening. 

The lockout hit the transportation and manufacturing sectors first, and is now causing increased concern in the U.S. agriculture industry, as evidenced Thursday by a sharp drop in wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade. 

The economic impact of the work stoppage was accelerating and could be costing the U.S. economy $2 billion a day, said Robert Parry, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. 

That has led to mounting pressure on President Bush to intervene under the Taft-Hartley Act. Under the act, a president can block a strike or lockout for 80 days if the dispute will “imperil the national health or safety.” First, though, an inquiry board would investigate the issue, which could take several days. 

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Thursday the U.S. economy is at risk, but wouldn’t speculate on Taft-Hartley. 

“The administration continues to urge labor and management to come together to get an agreement because the longer this goes, the more harm it will do to the economy,” he said. “The president is routinely informed of the status.” 

The last time the government intervened in a work stoppage under Taft-Hartley was 1978, when President Carter unsuccessfully tried to end a national coal strike. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is among the lawmakers who have appealed for Bush to order the ports reopened under those powers. Such pleas were echoed by the National Association of Manufacturers and American Trucking Associations. 

Assembly probes impact of piracy  

on recording industry 

SACRAMENTO — A global music industry claiming to be under siege from widespread and growing online piracy took its case for new laws to curb free file sharing to the California Assembly on Thursday. 

Former music stars, emerging acts, songwriters and record industry executives spoke of a business increasingly reeling from a practice that’s become part of world Internet culture: downloading music without paying for it. 

“We must start by calling unauthorized ’file sharing’ what it is: illegal,” said Cary Sherman, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Recording Industry Association of America. 

Sherman and others, testifying before the Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media, cited reports of 2.6 billion illegal downloads a month and 130 million software downloads of KaZaA, a leading file sharer with 500 million files available. 

Steve Jobs resigns from Gap’s board 

SAN FRANCISCO — Gap Inc. on Thursday disclosed that Silicon Valley pioneer Steve Jobs resigned from its board of directors, just days after the struggling retailer switched chief executive officers. 

Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple Computer Inc., had been a Gap director since 1999 — the same year that Gap’s longtime leader, Millard “Mickey” Drexler, joined the personal computer maker’s board. 

Drexler retired as Gap’s CEO last week when the San Francisco-based company hired Paul Pressler to lead its efforts to reverse a 28-month sales slide. Pressler, hired away from Walt Disney Co., is expected to join Gap’s board. 

Jobs had served on Gap’s corporate governance committee — a watchdog position that has become more important amid a wave of business accounting scandals that have rattled investors. 

Gap said Jobs stepped down “to focus on other priorities.” Besides his duties at Cupertino-based Apple, Jobs also is CEO of Pixar Animation Studios, the maker of “Monsters Inc.” and several other hit movies. 

Jobs missed one-third of Gap’s board meetings last year, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Jobs and stock brokerage magnate Charles Schwab were the only Gap directors who didn’t attend at least 75 percent of the company’s board meetings last year, the SEC documents said. 

Gap pays its non-employee directors $36,000 annually, plus attendance bonuses. Jobs waived his Gap compensation last year. 

Gap filled the board opening created by Jobs’ departure with Penny Hughes, a former Coca-Cola Co. executive in Europe. 

Pressler and the Gap’s board are under pressure to heal the company’s ailing stock. The company’s shares fell 79 cents Thursday to close at $9.17 — down 34 percent so far this year and well below its record high of $53.75, reached before Gap’s sales slump began in May 2000. 

Analysts cited Wall Street’s demands for more vigilant directors for a recent change in Apple’s board of directors, too. Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison, a close friend of Jobs, resigned from Apple’s board last month to focus on other interests. 

Ellison never attended more than 75 percent of Apple’s board meetings during his any of his five years as a director. Apple hasn’t replaced Ellison on its board. 

——— 

On The Net: 

http://www.gapinc.com 

http://www.apple.com 

NEW YORK — The San Francisco Giants can remove a scoreboard sign featuring Enron Corp.’s tilted “E” logo from Pacific Bell Park, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled Thursday. 

Under the ruling, Enron has until Dec. 2 to find another company to sponsor the sign. The Giants can also look for a new sponsor for the center-field scoreboard sign for next season. 

The team is “experiencing negative reactions from their fans and the media due to the continued presence” of the 17-foot-by-33-foot “E” sign, the Giants said in a court filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. 

Financial terms of the 1998 sponsorship deal weren’t disclosed. But the Giants said Enron hasn’t made any payments due this year. 

In February, the Houston Astros baseball team paid $2.1 million to buy back the naming rights for its home stadium, then called Enron Field, from the fallen energy trader. Coca-Cola Co. agreed in June to spend more than $100 million over 28 years to rename the stadium Minute Maid Park. 

SACRAMENTO — California officials began selling nearly $12 billion in municipal bonds Thursday, by far the largest such issue in U.S. history. 

The bonds will repay the state treasury for last year’s energy crisis, though conditions have changed dramatically since electricity and natural gas prices have dropped and energy companies such as Enron Corp. have imploded. 

The fallout continues, however, for California’s depleted state budget, for state and federal regulators, and in the courts. 

“The California energy market has been stabilized and is much different and ... has been for some time,” state Treasurer Phil Angelides said during a conference call with potential investors nationwide, including those attending a J.P. Morgan Chase conference in New York City. J.P. Morgan Chase is handling the bond sale. 

He said the market was stabilized in part because of the state’s electricity purchases on behalf of three cash-strapped utilities, long-term energy contracts the state negotiated at the peak of the market and has since been renegotiating, contracts for new power plants and reduced consumer demand due to conservation efforts. 

The state’s cost for a megawatt of electricity has dropped to 10 percent of its cost at the height of the crisis, from about $298 in January 2001 to about $30 this year. 

But the break in the crisis came at a significant price for about 10 million California utility customers. Those customers of the three investor-owned utilities will be paying off the bonds with a portion of their bills, although their rates will not necessarily increase beyond rate hikes imposed last year. 

Bond advisers expressed concern the state could face the same energy supply crunch and resulting price spikes again, making it harder for the state to repay the bonds. That uncertainty helped lower the bond ratings, which in turn are expected to bring the state less favorable interest rates. 

But the state’s energy consultant, Navigant Consulting Inc., laid out four separate scenarios over 10 years, each including a natural gas price spike and other variations including a drought that would trim hydroelectricity, increased consumer demand and delays in building new power plants. 

In none of the scenarios would the state have to dip into the $1.8 billion reserve required by the bond guidelines, Navigant concluded. Though each scenario included a natural gas price spike, the consultant predicted sufficient natural gas supplies and a gradual increase in prices for the fuel that powers many existing and planned power plants. 

The bonds to be issued later this month and next were initially proposed for last year, but have been repeatedly delayed. The $98.9 billion budget signed by Gov. Gray Davis last month depends on money made by selling the bonds. 

The $11.95 billion in bonds will be issued for up to 20 years to repay $3.5 billion in bank loans and $6.5 billion in tax money that the state spent to buy electricity last year. The remainder covers the reserve and bond sale costs. 

The sale eclipses the largest previous bond sale, $3.4 billion by the Long Island Power Authority in 1998. 

State and bank officials plan to promote the sale with investor meetings in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco between Oct. 11 and Oct. 25, as well as with national ads in The Bond Buyer. 

——— 

On the Net: 

http://www.treasurer.ca.gov/ 

http://www.emuni.com/nav/newemunios.html 

OAKLAND – The U.S. Army has agreed to hand over the Oakland Army Base to the city of Oakland at no cost, city officials announced Thursday. 

In a written statement, Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown said, “after marathon discussions we are now in a position to complete the toxic clean-up and prepare the base for maritime and commercial use.” 

The city's application for the property transfer was submitted under a no-cost economic development conveyance law. The law, which expired this year, allowed recipients of former bases to direct resources into the development rather than purchase of the land. 

The city plans to redevelop the base to include new waterfront facilities and a signature “gateway” entrance to the city. 

“The mayor and City Council are interested in showcasing the waterfront and increasing public access, including a shoreline route for bikes and pedestrians,” executive director of the Oakland Base Reuse Authority Aliza Gallo said. 

It is estimated the new developments will create more than 8,000 jobs for the Bay Area.  

“We had to demonstrate our ability to plan and ensure a project which would create many job benefits,” said Gallo. 

A large part of the redevelopment will include the use of a $2.4 million federal grant to design and engineer a new infrastructure. In addition, Oakland will perform an environmental cleanup with $13 million in funding from the Army. 

“Our remediation action plan allowed conveyance of the property to the city sooner, saved the army a lot of money and provided a model for other remediation programs.” Gallo said. 

The Oakland Base Reuse Authority began a successful lease program on the base after it was closed in 1999. Approximately 70 tenants now occupy 3 million square feet of space. 

The complete package of documents transferring ownership will be ready for Gov. Gray Davis' approval by the end of the year. A transfer of the deed is expected next spring.

SAN JOSE — The mother of Yosemite killer Cary Stayner pleaded for his life Thursday, saying that he isn’t a monster and that his execution would not change anything. 

Kay Stayner said she has a hard time believing that the “ideal” child she raised — artistic, seldom in trouble and quiet — would grow up to be a killer. But it’s something she has come to accept with the four murder convictions that could send her son to death row. 

“If his dying would bring these people back that he killed, I’d say do it,” she said. “But executing Cary is not going to bring them back.” 

In what amounted to an emotional and public family reunion of sorts, Stayner’s parents and three sisters all appeared in court for the first time during the 12-week trial as the defense attempted to sway the jury that Stayner should be sentenced to life in prison without parole. 

Jurors will weigh testimony from Stayner’s family, friends and experts who said mental illness made him kill against evidence of the crimes. 

Stayner, 41, was convicted of murdering Carole Sund, 42, her daughter, Juli, 15, and their Argentine friend Silvina Pelosso, 16, while they were staying at the motel where he worked as a handyman outside Yosemite National Park in February 1999. 

He is already serving life in prison without parole for murdering park nature guide Joie Armstrong, 26, five months later. 

Evidence during the testimony by Stayner’s parents included enlarged photographs from happier times: their infant first son; a young boy lathered in calamine lotion after an encounter with mosquitoes or poison oak; and a smiling young pupil with crooked bangs. 

Stayner’s mother and sisters looked straight ahead as they testified, avoiding eye contact with the defendant as he bowed his head, occasionally wiping tears with his palms and blocking his ears with his hands. 

When his father, Delbert Stayner, took the stand, he grinned quickly at his son, nodded his head and said he had been a bad father at times. 

He was recovering from back surgery when his son was born in 1961 so he avoided picking him up. If the boy cried, Delbert would yell at him to stop, which only scared the infant. 

After his youngest son, Steven Stayner, was snatched off a Merced street in 1972, Delbert Stayner became obsessed with finding him, neglecting 11-year-old Cary and his three sisters. Family road trips were spent chasing far-flung leads from psychics, distributing fliers or digging in fields. 

“When he really needed his papa, I was too concerned about Stevie. I hardly ever talked to him,” Delbert Stayner said as he wept. “I was especially hard on Cary.” 

Kay Stayner, who has been referred to throughout the trial as an unemotional disciplinarian, broke down and cried as she recalled toll the seven-year disappearance of Steven took on the family. 

Her father, who suggested the disappearance of Steven was a good thing because she would only have to clothe four kids, had taught her not to cry. He said it would make her appear crazy like her mother and Kay Stayner brought that demeanor to her own house. 

The family rarely discussed Steven’s disappearance because it was troubling and they didn’t have answers. 

“I know it upset Cary because he felt responsible,” she said. “He was the big brother.” 

In 1989, nine years after Steven returned home a hero after escaping with another boy from their abductor, he was killed in a motorcycle crash. Kay Stayner said Cary Stayner, always a bit of a loner, retreated further. 

Delbert Stayner said they all broke down in tears when they first visited their son behind bars after his arrest in the killings. 

“It was terrible,” he said. “Cary said to me, ’Papa, I’m so sorry.”’ 

Both parents said they didn’t want their son to die, that they loved him and wanted him in their lives. 

“My son is sick right now, very sick,” Delbert Stayner said. “I’ve lost one son.” 

The Stayners said they have avoided the trial because their son asked them not to attend and because Kay Stayner works and the expense would be too great. But she said she wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to tell the jury that he’s a “wonderful human being.” 

“I want to be here to tell that he’s not the monster that people said he is,” she said. 

Defense lawyer Marcia Morrissey said the family’s show of affection for their son was symbolic of a change that has occurred in the last three years. 

“The parents who reacted so coldly when Steven was gone and the parents who appeared in court today are different people,” Morrissey said outside of court. 

Francis Carrington, who lost his daughter Carole Sund and granddaughter Juli to Stayner, said he respected the parents for fighting for their son’s life, but he said that Stayner didn’t deserve sympathy because he didn’t show any during his crimes.  

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco officials said Thursday they will work with a wireless telephone company to raise both awareness and cash for domestic violence victims, as well as hundreds of cell phones for their use. 

Mayor Willie Brown joined representatives of Verizon Wireless to describe the plan, which calls for the New Jersey-based company to donate 200 wireless phones with voicemail and prepaid minutes of calling time to the city's Commission and Department on the Status of Women. The local group will distribute the equipment to shelters. 

Through its HopeLine program, begun last year, Verizon collects used phones and refurbishes or sells them to help end the cycle of domestic violence. Any proceeds either go to victims or the agencies dedicated to helping them. 

Verizon representatives said they are also giving $40,000 to fund a public service announcement campaign on cable television in the city and place posters in buses for a month, as well as publish a resource guide for abuse victims. 

The program also calls for a direct mail campaign in late October to local companies to let people know the problem of domestic violence affects many employees and employers and includes a drive to collect old cell phones from city employees. 

"Domestic violence is a serious issue that affects women of all ages, races and socioeconomic backgrounds,'' the mayor said. "We, as San Francisco's family of city departments, nonprofit agencies and businesses, need to come together to raise awareness about this issue and work towards the eradication of domestic violence in all our communities.'' 

San Francisco's Environment Department is also getting involved in the partnership by working with Verizon to recycle phones in a way that keeps hazardous waste out of the city landfill. 

ALBANY – Community gardeners and a local architect are staging a last ditch effort to save a plot of Albany farm land from being toppled by a development. 

Officials at UC Berkeley are preparing to replace seven acres of agriculture land known as the Gill  

Tract with two little league baseball fields and a community center. The plan is part of a larger effort to redevelop the adjacent 77-acre University Village, a community for UC students with children, along San Pablo Avenue, between Monroe and Buchanan streets.  

But opponents of the university’s plan who support urban agriculture say the university’s goal can be met while preserving the historic farm land, which has been cultivated continuously since the 19th century. 

Carla Hyman, a designer with DSA Architects of Berkeley, said she has devised a way to provide playing fields without surrendering any farm land. This week, Hyman submitted her plan to the two development companies competing to build the project for UC Berkeley. 

UC planner Jeff Bond, who had not yet seen Hyman’s proposal, said he was open to ideas that will save the farm land, but was skeptical that it could be done. “If they can incorporate all of the issues that would be great,” Bond said. 

While the university’s proposal calls for playing fields on the Gill Tract, Hyman’s plan would put them south of the tract where unused greenhouses stand.  

University officials, though, said parking and traffic concerns make this land unsuitable for playing fields. The current plan here calls for “creative” uses to be determined by the developer. 

Agriculture supporters say the university is underplaying the importance of farming at the site. 

“The Gill Tract is just as much an asset to the community as baseball fields, housing or retail space,” Hyman argued. 

Urban Roots, a group formed to support urban agriculture, maintains that the Gill Tract, which is currently home to an experimental corn-growing project and a small community garden, is too valuable to plow over. 

“There is nothing else like the Gill Tract anywhere in urban California,” said Josh Miner, a graduate student at the college of natural resources, which operates the tract. “This is the only resource that could be used to study how to better grow and distribute food in urban areas.” 

But UC planners say urban agriculture is not a top concern. 

“The university is most interested in developing reasonably priced housing for students,” said Bond.  

The university’s plan calls for the construction of more than 330 new housing units to bring the total number of units at University Village to 722. An undetermined number of shops and restaurants are also part of the plan. 

Albany officials support the university’s plan. “The community wants to see the site preserved for open space and they see baseball fields as a way to preserve that,” said David Dowswell, Albany’s planning manager.

To the Editor: 

I have agreed to co-sponsor with Councilmember Miriam Hawley an item on the Berkeley City Council agenda for next Tuesday night asking our government to pursue a United Nations solution to the Iraq weapons issue. For eight years I have stood firmly against our City Council weighing in on international/foreign policy issues. It has always seemed to me that we had plenty of local problems to deal with and that my constituents did not elect me to represent them on international questions. 

Today the situation appears to me to be different. Our country is struggling with how to deal with a rogue country that may be a threat to us and to the world. There are those who urge immediate confrontation because we are the strongest country in the world and so we can and should act. As I travel about my district and the city I hear only people who are hoping for a different way of proceeding. Every voice I hear urges working through the UN, with other countries, to pressure Iraq to open its doors and its soul to weapons reduction and a move toward peace. Everyone to whom I speak eventually says, “What's the hurry?” We need to urge our government to slow down its push to war. Because we are the strongest country it is incumbent upon us also to be the most responsible ... setting an example of the civil and humane way for countries to behave. 

I believe that the people of Berkeley love America and that they are patriots to the core. They take seriously the role they play as the city that questions authority. Usually I disagree with the style and rhetoric that is used. Often we are reactive rather than thoughtful and I am embarrassed by what seems a childish approach. Nonetheless, I am always aware of how valuable it is for there to be a city that questions. I fear that we may have lost much of our gravitas in our rush to be the first and most outrageous voice on world issues in the last decades, but today I think our country needs our voice more than ever. I think it needs our voice and the voices of cities all across America to say slow down, walk softly. Let us explore every means possible to avoid war. The UN is our best hope for a measured outcome to this crisis. We must use it with patience. 

There is plenty of time for war and hopefully plenty of time for peace. 

Polly Armstrong 

Berkeley City Council 

By Brian Kluepfel 

Special to the Daily Planet 

While most Berkeley residents march to the beat of modern athletics – the pulse of a basketball in summer, the smack of shoulder pads on an autumn afternoon and the crack of a baseball bat in the spring – a corner of Acton Street maintains one of the world’s oldest sporting traditions, brought to America by English colonists in the 1600s and revived by 19th century Scottish immigrants. 

On a gentle patch of grass, ladies and gentleman of leisure participate in lawn bowling. The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club was founded here in 1929. 

Lawn bowling, also known as lawn bowls, dates to at least 1299 in England, and has its variants in Italy's bocce and French Provencal's petanque. Historians feel the sport originated with a game Roman soldiers played, tossing large stones at a smaller stone during their leisure time. 

In lawn bowling, points are scored by the player whose bowl is closest to the “jack,” a small, white ball which is rolled first. 

To bolster membership and promote the game, the Berkeley’s club recently hosted an open house. 

Club members, dressed in competition whites, demonstrated the intricacies of rolling a bowl – not a ball, because it’s not round – down a meticulously manicured green. The rules and etiquette of a game that was codified in 19th-century Scotland were laid out for guests, along with plates of vegetable dips and cookies. 

Although it once boasted more than 100 members, the club now numbers 55. One reason for lower membership club spokesperson Ted Crum gave is the high cost of joining. 

It’s an expensive proposition to maintain a bowling green, members say. The imported Australian grass-cutting machine costs $5,500. Further expenses include re-seeding the special Astoria.  

Bent grass each year, a biannual aerating of the green which means pulling out more than a million plugs of grass and back-filling with eight tons of sand and a specialized sprinkler system.  

The economics of bowling have always been an issue: King Henry VIII of England, himself a bowler, banned the sport among the lower classes in 1511. He also taxed private bowling greens 100 pounds, ensuring that only the well-to-do would play, and the rest of the kingdom would continue to produce bows and arrows.  

Another reason membership at the Berkeley club is dwindling, members say, is because the younger generation hasn’t taken up the game in any significant way. The most junior bowler in the Berkeley club is eight years old, but the majority of its members are well into their retirement years. 

Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson attended the open house and said some outreach programs would be a step in the right direction. “If you get high school and junior high kids down here, they’ll get hooked like they do on any other game. It’s fun,” said Carson.  

Carson, who grew up in the neighborhood and often passed the green on his way to play in Strawberry Creek, had never been to the club before. “As a kid in south Berkeley, this place was always mysterious. Now I know what’s going on here,” he said. He enjoyed his first lesson and game, although he refused to divulge his score.  

One thing Carson and the new bowlers picked up is a bit of the subculture’s jargon. If you “get good grass” at the West Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club, it only means one thing – you read the lawn and rolled your bowl well. And if you’re too “thin” or too “wide,” no one is commenting on your physique, only your most recent bowl. And when one speaks of “bias,” they are talking about the way a bowl is irregularly shaped, so that it curves back toward the center as it traverses the rink.  

One bias that seems to have been corrected in recent times is women’s participation. In America, lawn bowling has not always been a female sport. The American Women’s Lawn Bowls Association was not founded until 1969, and only two years ago merged with the men’s organization to form the United States Lawn Bowls Association. The USLBA comprises more than 130 clubs, including ones in Richmond, Oakland, San Francisco and Palo Alto.  

Although only a couple of younger generation folks showed up for the open house, the event did prove one old adage true: Only mad dogs and Englishman brave the midday sun. On one of Berkeley’s most scorching summer days, many players were from the British Isles.  

Frank Sugden is a semi-retired domestic from Essex, England, who now resides in Piedmont. He never took up the game back home, but now plays regularly. Why? “It’s just like any game,” he says. “You get a sense of satisfaction – especially when you win.” 

He notes that many of the clubs in England have a waiting list to join – a problem that certainly the Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club wishes it had.

Thursday, Oct. 3 

Nutrition Career Open House - Institution of Educational Therapy 

7 to 8:30 p.m. 

706 Gilman St.  

558-1711 

Free. 

Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Master 

Berekley Shambhala Center 

7 p,m. 

2288 Fulton St.  

(415)887-2820 for more info. 

Investing in the Future 

7:30 p.m. 

St. Mary Magdalen Church 

2005 Berryman St. 

Learn how to invest to meet more than your financial needs. 

Call to reserve space: (925) 417-6654 

Free. 

How to Defeat CommitmentPhobia:  

In Yourself or the One You Love 

7:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish  

Community Center, 1414 Walnut St.  

Learn a variety of strategies for those who are ambivalent about commitment. Taught by Susan Page.  

848-0237 Ext. 127 

$10 public. $8 BRJCC members. 

Friday, Oct. 4 

Peace Corp. Volunteer Returns 

Triple Rock Brewery “Happy Hour” 

5 p.m.  

1920 Shattuck Ave. 

(800)424-8580 

Free. 

International Day of No Prostitution 

6 to 8 p.m. 

Boalt Hall, Booth Auditorium,  

UC Berkeley 

Bay Area rally and march  

against prostitution.  

358-2725 

Resist Oil & Mining 

6 to 10 p.m. 

The roof, 1916A Martin Luther King Jr. Way, at Berkeley Way 

Project Underground’s sixth birthday party and annual prize drawing.  

Entertainment, music, drinks, childcare. Wheelchair accessible. 

705-8981 or maistella@moles.org 

$15 suggested donation. 

Saturday, Oct. 5 

Berkeley National Lab Open House 

10a.m. to 4 p.m. 

1 Cyclotron Rd. 

Live music, food, lectures, job fair, etc. 

495-2222 

Free. 

Leading Edge Technology Conferece 

9 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Haas School of Business, Arthur Andersen Auditorium, 2200 Piedmont Ave. 

594-748 for more info. 

East Bay Solar Home Tour 

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Cedar Rose Park (first stop) 

Attendees collect a map to guide them  

on the self-guided tour—eight homes in Albany, Berkeley and Oakland in all. 

531-1184 

$15 per car. 

Sunday, Oct. 6 

Eckanka Worship Service 

10:30 to 11:30 a.m. 

East Bay ECK Center, 3052 Telegraph, near Whole Foods 

“How to Survive Spiritually in Our Times” 

549-2807 

War Tax Resistance Information  

and Support Gathering 

4 to 6:30 p.m. 

1305 Hopkins St., near Peralta. 

Join others who refuse to pay taxes for U.S. militarism at this monthly  

potluck supper. 

843-9877 

Free: bring food or drink to share. 

Thursday, Oct. 3 

Pete & Joan Wernick featuring Dr. Banjo  

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.com 

$15.50 in advance. $16.50 at door. 

Figa Productions DJ Night 

9:30 p.m. 

The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. 

$7. $10 after 11 p.m. 21 and over. 

Saturday, Oct. 5 

Leon Bates 

7:30 p.m. 

Calvin Simmons Theatre, 10 10th St. 

Pianist Leon Bates offers works by Mozart, Brahms and Chopin. 

451-0775. www.fourseasonsconcerts.com 

$25-$35. 

All Bets Off, Benumb and Uphill Battle 

8 p.m. 

924 Gilman St. 

525-9926 

$5. 

House Jacks  

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 or www.freightandsalvage.com 

$16.50 in advance. $17.50 at door. 

Sunday, Oct. 6 

Jimmie Dale Gilmore  

8 p.m. 

Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. 

548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.com 

$17.50 in advance. $18.50 at door. 

Ledisi and the Braxton Brothers 

4:30 p.m. 

Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St. 

845-5373 

$10-15. 

Yaphet Kotto, The Fleshies  

and Lesser of Two 

8 p.m. 

924 Gilman St. 

525-9926 

$5. 

"Balancing Acts" 

Through Oct. 10 

Gallery 555, 555 12th St., 

Oakland City Center 

Oakland's 'Third Thursday' art night  

features Ann Weber's works  

made of cardboard. 

http://www.oaklandcitycenter.com.  

Free. 

“Hunger: What will you do about it?”  

Through Oct. 30  

Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Civic Center Building 

2180 Milvia St., 5th floor 

Featuring 40 photographs  

by Berkeley artist David Bacon. 

834-3663, Ext. 338,  

uchanse@secondharvest.org 

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. 

“Recent Acquisitions” 

Oct. 13 through Dec. 14 

Thurs., Fri., and Sat., 1 to 4 p.m. 

Berkeley Historical Society, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. 

848-0181 

Free. 

Misch Kohn - Celebrating  

60 Years of Printmaking 

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 

Nancy Salz 

Through Oct. 23, Tues.-Fri.,  

10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Barbara Anderson Gallery, 2243 Fifth St. 

848-3822 

Timoteo Ikoshy Montoya 

Through Nov. 1  

Reception Sept. 20, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Gathering Tribes Gallery  

1573 Solano Ave.  

Acrylic/air brush paintings  

by this Native American artist.  

528-9038 

Threads: Five artists who  

use stitching to convey ideas 

Oct. 6 through Dec. 15, Wed.-Sun., noon to 5 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St. 

Information: www.berkeleyartcenter.org, 644-6893 

Free. 

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar 

Through Oct. 12 

Thurs. through Sat. 8 p.m. 

LaVal’s Subterranean Theatre  

1834 Euclid Ave. 

234-6046 

$10. 

The House of Blue Leaves 

Through Oct. 20 

Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater  

2015 Addison St.  

647-2949 or 888-4BRTTIX 

$10-$54. 

The Shape of Things 

Through Oct. 20 

Aurora Theatre Company  

2081 Addison St. 

Play by writer/director Neil LaBute's spins a morality tale of a young art student, his art major girlfriend, and the Pygmalion-like changes that bring into question how far one should go for love. 

843-4822, www.auroratheater.org for reservations 

$26-$35. 

Ceramics - Opening Reception 

Through Nov. 17 

3 to 5 p.m. 

A New Leaf Gallery, 1286 Gilman St. 

525-7621 

Free. 

Thursday, Oct. 3 

Brenda Hillman 

12:10 p.m. 

Morrison Library in Doe Library, UCB 

UC Berkeley’s Lunch Poems Reading Series. Author’s six books include “Loose Sugar” and “Cascadia”. 

http://www.berkeley.edu/calendar/events 

Free. 

Nathaniel Mackay and Trane Devore 

6 p.m. 

Maud Fife Room,  

315 Wheeler Hall, UC Berkeley 

Part of Holloway Poetry Series for Fall 2002. 

jscape@socrates.berkeley.edu 

Free. 

Friday, Oct. 4 

Katherine Forrest 

7:30 p.m. 

Boadecia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave. at Colusa Circle 

Reading from “Daughters of the Amber Moon” 

559-9184 

Free. 

Saturday, Oct. 5 

“Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual African American Fiction” 

7:30 p.m. 

Boadecia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave. at Colusa Circle 

Led by co-editors Devon W. Carbado and Donald Wiese, and several of the book’s writers. 

559-9184 

Free. 

Sunday, October 6 

Ledisi and The Braxton Brothers 

4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Jazz School, 2087 Addison St.  

845-5373 

$15. $12 students & seniors.  

$10 Jazz school students. 

Tuesday, Oct. 8 

Daniel Wilkinson 

7:30 p.m. 

Cody’s Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave. 

Author Wilkinon and panelists from Global Exchange and Equal Exchange will discuss Guatemala, globalization, and book “Silence on the Mountain.” 

(617) 351-3243 

Thursday, Oct. 10 

Daniel Wilkinson 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 

Wilkinson, author of “Silence on the Mountain” will present slide show. 

843-3533 

Free. 

Friday, Oct. 11 

Beth Glick-Rieman 

7:30 p.m. 

Boadacia’s Books, 398 Colusa Ave.  

at Colusa Circle 

Glick-Rieman shares her findings on the status of women around the world, reading from her book, “Peace Train to Beijing and Beyond”. 

559-9184 

Free. 

Friday, Oct. 18 

Storyteller Nancy Schimmel 

Poets, singers, musicians and storytellers are invted. 

7:30 to 10 p.m. 

Fellowship Cafe, 1924 Cedar St. 

540-0898 

$5 to 10 donation. 

Sunday, Oct. 6 

Cinemath Films 

Pacific Film Archive Theater 

5:30 p.m. 

2575 Bancroft Way 

642-1412 

$7 for one film. $ 8.50 for double bills.

Twenty-six years. That’s how long it’s been since the Cal football team beat the Washington Huskies. 

Twenty-two years. That’s how long it’s been since the Cal football team won in the state of Washington. 

Seventeen games. That’s how many games Washington has won at Husky Stadium since last losing at home. 

To say history is against the Golden Bears heading into Saturday’s game against No. 12 Washington at Husky Stadium would be a bit of an understatement. 

But ask any of the participants, and they’ll say this year is different. Washington coach Rick Neuheisel sounded positively frightened of the rejuvenated Bears in a conference call on Tuesday. 

“Every game with Cal has been a dogfight,” he said. “We know we’re going to have to play a great football game to win.” 

That’s not all bluster from Neuheisel, who is in his fourth year in Seattle. The Huskies have extended their winning streak against the Bears with three straight come-from-behind wins, including last season’s game that Cal led 21-10 at halftime before falling 31-28. The year before that, Washington scored 23 points in just six minutes of the fourth quarter to post a 36-24 win in Seattle, a collapse that devastated the Bears and sent them into a 2-13 tailspin to end the woeful Tom Holmoe era. 

So to be honest, the Huskies just might have some higher power looking out for them when they face Cal. Or maybe they’ve just been a better team, not an unfair assessment considering the decade-long slump from which the Bears are trying to break free under Jeff Tedford. 

Tedford wasn’t aware of the Washington winning streak over his new team until Monday and said he wouldn’t be mentioning it to his players. Neuheisel pointed out that none of his players were even born when the streak started, and the Bears have just three players who were alive on Nov. 6, 1976 when their predecessors won 7-0 in Seattle. 

“We just have to prepare to win this year’s game,” Tedford said. “The streak really doesn’t have anything to do with anything.” 

Saturday could be the biggest game of the season for the Bears, and not just because of the history involved. A win would put the Bears at 4-2 with winnable games against conference foes Arizona, Arizona State and Stanford left on the schedule, meaning a winning record wouldn’t be out of the question. A loss would leave them with three straight defeats, not exactly the kind of pick-me-up players like midway through the season, especially players who have known little but losing in their college careers. 

Neuheisel certainly doesn’t want his team to have to make up a deficit this season. Although the Bears have allowed their last two opponents to come back in the second half, the Washington coach wants his team to be the first to get a fast start against Cal. 

“It’s important for us to give our fans something to get excited about early in the game,” Neuheisel said. “The way Cal’s been getting out of the gate, we don’t want them to do the same to us.” 

At least the Bears are no strangers to upsetting a ranked team on the road. Their win at Michigan State three weeks ago was the high point of the season thusfar, so a packed Husky Stadium shouldn’t be overly daunting. 

Cal wide receiver LaShaun Ward, who missed the 2000 trip to Seattle due to injury, said the Bears believe they can defeat the Washington hex. 

“We just have to go in confident,” Ward said. “I know we can go into their house, with all their hype and national ranking, and beat them.” 

Notes: Cal offensive guard Jon Geisel is questionable for Saturday’s game, as is linebacker Matt Nixon. Nixon sat out the Washington State game after spraining his knee in practice last week, while Geisel was forced to leave the game in the first half with a knee injury and did not return... Tedford said freshman wide receiver David Gray, who caught a 71-yard touchdown pass from tailback Terrell Williams on the Bears’ first play from scrimmage this season, will likely be a medical redshirt due to a shoulder injury. Tedford said linebacker Ryan Estes will also redshirt, although he is working on the scout team.

California does a poor job of preparing students for college but provides young people with an affordable higher education, according to a national study released Wednesday. 

“California is probably the top state [in the country] in terms of providing low-cost education,” said Mikyung Ryu, policy analyst for the San Jose-based National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, which published the report. “[Students] should be better prepared when they enter [college].” 

The center, in its “Measuring Up 2002” study, graded all 50 states on higher education in five separate categories: preparation, participation, affordability, completion and benefits. 

California received a C- in preparing pupils for higher education and an A in affordability, matching grades from the first “Measuring Up” study in 2000. 

California held steady on its participation grade – which measured, among other things, the number of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college – at a B+.  

Its completion grade, which included factors like the number of full-time college students graduating within six years of enrollment, jumped from a C to a C+. 

The benefits score, which measured voting patterns and income jumps for college graduates, moved from a B+ to an A-. 

The group based its preparation grade on 12 separate measures. California made progress in a few cases – the number of eighth-graders taking algebra, for instance, jumped from 21 percent in 2000 to 33 percent in 2002. But the state held steady or dropped in most other categories. 

The number of high school students taking at least one upper-level math course, for example, dipped from 36 percent in 2000 to 34 percent in 2002. 

“This is kind of an alarming result, because many other states are making progress on this measure,” said Ryu. 

Figures for Berkeley High School, in particular, were not available at press time. 

Ryu said the low cost of community college contributed heavily to California’s A for affordability. According to the center’s report, community college tuition in California amounts to only 3 percent of a low-income family’s average income, the lowest percentage in the nation. 

“A student can get a very, very good education, and fulfill all the requirements to go to any university, at extremely low prices,” said Terry Tricomi, spokesperson for Vista Community College in Berkeley. 

California residents can attend a community college full-time for roughly $300 per year under state regulations that govern every community college in California. 

The figures are not as strong when it comes to public, four-year colleges or universities. The average California family must devote 28 percent of its income to pay tuition, room and board for a public, four-year institution.  

Utah, by contrast, leads the way at 16 percent. 

But University of California spokesman Hanan Eisenman said residents get bang for their buck. 

“For the quality of UC’s education, there isn’t a better-priced education in the state,” he said. 

This year, the average fee for the nine-campus UC system, including tuition, is $3,859.  

Eisenman said the figure was $2,005 less than the average fees at four comparable universities – the University of Illinois, Michigan University, the University of Virginia and the State University of New York.

To the Editor: 

The president of Harvard University, Lawrence Summers, recently made public his views on a petition signed by professors at Harvard and MIT calling upon their universities to divest from corporations that do significant business with Israel. Lamenting that anti-Israeli views are increasingly finding support in progressive intellectual communities, Mr. Summers stated that such views have been “anti-Semitic in their effect if not their intent.”  

We, the undersigned, professors and lecturers at the University of California have signed a similar petition urging our institution to divest from Israel. But we reject the allegation that our opposition to state violence by the state of Israel in any way constitutes anti-Semitism, which, like all forms of racism, we unequivocally reject. 

Mr. Summers’ judgments, in their effect if not their intent, obscure the following fact. The State of Israel continues to violate the human rights of three million Palestinians in the occupied territories. Labeling gentiles as anti-Semitic for calling attention to this injustice is like accusing opponents of South African apartheid of being anti-Dutch. We among this list of signatories who are Jews feel an added responsibility to speak out against Mr. Summers' brand of slander, just as we feel responsible to denounce the daily atrocities committed by the Israeli government in the name of Jews. 

Mr. Summers enjoys support among those who claim that petitions such as ours are anti-Semitic because they single out Israel in a sea of many other countries also guilty of human rights abuses. To these, the ideological soul mates of Mr. Summers, we offer one final fact. Unlike most of these other countries, Israel receives billions of dollars each year from the United States. Israel, in fact, receives more U.S. aid than does any other nation. 

This is why our call for economic divestment from Israel is entirely appropriate. This is why the comments by Lawrence Summers and others of his stripe are shameful deceptions ... in their effect if not their intent.  

Rutie Adler, Hamid Algar,  

Daniel Boyarin, Julian Boyd, Michael Burawoy, Judith Butler, Michael Cassidy,  

Paula Chakravartty,  

Vasudha Dalmia,  

Susan Ervin-Tripp, Nancy Krusoe, Samer Madanat, Alaa Mansour, Glen Mimura, Michael Nagler, Joe Neilands, Lisa Rofel,  

Nancy Stoller, Dell Upton,  

Ling-Chi Wang, Linda Williams

Poet Brenda Hillman is scheduled to speak today at UC Berkeley’s Morrison Library. The author of six books, including “Loose Sugar” and “Cascadia,” Morrison uses language to explore the edges of consciousness, and examines the fine line between the sensual and the spiritual. 

Hillman teaches at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, and has received two Pushcart Prizes, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and the Delmore Schwartz Memorial Award for poetry. 

Hillman appears as part of Lunch Poems: A Noontime Poetry Reading Series, organized by professor Robert Hass of UC Berkeley. 

The readings are scheduled 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. the first Thursday of each month, at Doe Library, UC Berkeley. Free. 

Other poets to be featured this year will be Li-Young Lee on Nov. 7 and Mary Ruefle on Dec. 5.

OAKLAND – Mark Mulder didn’t see panic in his teammates’ eyes after the Oakland Athletics’ playoff run got off to a rough start. 

He saw a quiet maturity from three years of postseason experience – and a pride that wouldn’t allow the A’s to fall off the pace in the division series. 

David Justice’s bases-loaded triple highlighted Oakland’s 14-hit barrage, and Mulder pitched six strong innings as the A’s beat the Minnesota Twins 9-1 Wednesday to even the series at one game apiece. 

Eric Chavez had a three-run homer, and rookie Mark Ellis got three hits as Oakland emphatically replied to the Twins’ 7-5 comeback victory in Game 1 with a tremendous offensive game against Joe Mays (0-1) and the Twins’ bullpen. 

“Just looking at the guys in the locker room, you could tell everybody knew how important this game was,” said Mulder, who allowed five hits. 

Each of the first seven hitters in Oakland’s lineup got an extra-base hit as the A’s jumped to an 8-0 lead after four innings. Justice, the most prolific run-producer in playoff history, added three more RBIs to his record total during Oakland’s five-run fourth. 

“With our offense, we just look for certain guys to check in from time to time,” Chavez said. “Everybody knows our team is built on pitching. We’ve just got to ride their coattails as far as they’ll take us. Today, we were able to make it easier.” 

The Twins were on an emotional high after winning in their first playoff appearance in 11 years, but they were brought back to reality by the A’s dominant victory. Minnesota got just seven hits, scoring its only run on Cristian Guzman’s homer in the sixth. 

Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said he was embarrassed by his team’s effort, and his players agreed. 

“That wasn’t emotionally draining,” Doug Mientkiewicz said with a grimace. “That was, ’Please hurry up before they score 40 runs against us.”’ 

Mulder (1-0) – who went 19-7 and finished the season on a six-game winning streak – wasn’t overpowering, but he mostly stayed out of trouble while striking out three. He didn’t allow a runner to reach third base in the first five innings.

Both Mayor Shirley Dean and her chief rival in the November election former state Assemblyman Tom Bates declared support for putting cameras on traffic lights to catch speeders and red light runners. 

Their statements, made at a candidates debate Tuesday evening, come a week after city transportation head Peter Hillier announced his intention of bringing the camera idea before City Council next summer.  

Tuesday’s debate, sponsored by the Ecology Center and other environmental advocacy groups, focused primarily on land use and ecology issues.  

The candidates offered similar visions of a more environmentally-friendly Berkeley – liberated from its dependence on cars and with better public transportation, cleaner air, solar powered buildings and safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists. 

Bates went on to advocate for tougher measures regulating traffic flow. 

Calling cars “the biggest single [safety and environmental] problem we have in our town,” Bates said the city should build more street diversions to slow traffic. For some roads, Bates said he favored traffic circles and narrower streets as well. 

Dean disagreed with Bates’ diversion idea. She noted that Arlington Avenue has several twists, but many drivers continue to speed, “enjoying the turns and the screech of the wheel.” Dean hopes to fight fast traffic with four new traffic officers, and said they would pay for themselves with fines collected. 

The candidates also clashed about air pollution in west Berkeley. 

Bates said pollution near the Berkeley Transfer Station is so bad that he wonders whether it is safe for children to play at the nearby Harrison Park soccer fields. 

Recent city air monitoring tests have detected high and potentially dangerous levels of particulate matter near the fields. 

While Dean has called the construction of the fields one of her top achievements as mayor, Bates said the city should consider closing down the fields if the air quality worsens, and using new fields scheduled to be built at the Albany Plateau. 

Bates also criticized Mayor Dean for her response to health disparities reported among Berkeley neighborhoods. Noting a study taken several years ago that found west Berkeley residents, on average, die 20 years before residents of other neighborhoods, Bates said Dean has failed to provide the leadership or funds to address the disparity.  

Dean defended her record on dealing with the issue. She said the city has given a community action team $200,000 a year to formulate a plan to identify and solve the problem. The team is looking into a range of possibilities, from pollution to health care access. 

To aid in the improvement of air quality in west Berkeley, both candidates advocated switching the city’s sanitation trucks to cleaner bio-diesel fuel, and promoted environmentally-friendly fuels in other government vehicles. 

UC Berkeley also figured prominently into Tuesday’s debate. 

Bates criticized Dean for letting the university get away without paying its fair share of costs for city services. He said he would use his contacts in the state Legislature, including his wife Loni Hancock who is an Assemblywoman elect, to give the city stronger leverage in dealing with the university. 

Dean said she had not dropped any issues with the university and that the state Legislature would compel the university to pay it’s fair share no matter who is elected mayor. 

On many issues, the candidates laid out similar ideas with minor variations.  

Both Bates and Dean called for improved recycling programs, with Dean wanting the city to focus on reducing food waste, while Bates called for renewed efforts to improve recycling at small businesses. 

Both candidates advocated extending the city’s eco-pass, a free bus pass, to large private employers. Bates also proposed setting up a Web site for UC Berkeley employees to coordinate car pools. 

On parking, Bates said he would study the need for more downtown parking, while Dean called for rebuilding the earthquake-prone Center Street garage with robotic parking to create more parking spaces.

To the Editor: 

Whatever the merits are for moving or not moving Memorial Stadium on the UC campus, it might be interesting to hear the facts about the stadium and when it was built. 

Construction on Memorial Stadium was completed late in 1923 in time for the first football game held there on Nov. 24, 1923 – the Big Game between Cal and Stanford. It was the 29th Big Game and was won by Cal 9-0. The year 1923 was a rebuilding one for Cal after the graduation in 1922 of several members of coach Andy Smith's original Wonder Team of 1920-’22. 

Cal's record for the year of 1923 was 9-0-1. Not too bad for a rebuilding year. Cal's win in the 1923 Big Game evened the series at 12-12-5. Andy Smith coached at Cal through the 1925 season and died suddenly of pneumonia on Jan. 9, 1926, while vacationing in Philadelphia. He was 43. 

T. Brillhart 

Berkeley

NEW YORK — Is CNN Headline News down with it? 

The cable network is trying, judging from an effort emanating from its executive suite to think young. 

CNN Headline News general manager Rolando Santos told the San Francisco Chronicle this week that he’s looking to mix “the lingo of our people” — words like “whack” and “ill” — into newscasts to attract young people. 

And the New York Daily News on Wednesday quoted from an e-mail sent by a network manager to his headline writers, sending them a copy of a slang dictionary so they can be “as cutting edge” as possible. 

“Please use this guide to help all you homeys and honeys add a new flava to your tickers and dekkos,” the message said, referring to graphics on the Headline News screen. The list of phrases included “fly,” meaning sexually attractive.

Bay Area Rapid Transit was the way to go for the Twins. Most of the players and coaches opted for public transportation Tuesday, and it was a good thing.  

While most of them arrived plenty early to the Coliseum, club executives and other officials were running late because the team bus was held up in horrible traffic trying to cross San Francisco Bay. 

But a few players, including starting pitcher Brad Radke, weren’t so fortunate getting to the stadium – they got on the wrong BART train and ended up in Berkeley, about 10 miles to the north. But all the players made it to the Coliseum in time for the game.

For years day laborers like Victor Guevara have stood on the corner of Fourth and Hearst streets in west Berkeley hoping to get a days work in exchange for a day’s wages. But as the economy flattened and their numbers increased, so did complaints about their presence. 

Next month, Berkeley will become one of more than 10 cities in California that will address rather than ignore its unregulated labor market. 

“Pretending invisibility on this type of reality in our cities doesn’t solve anything,” said Father Rigoberto Caloca-Rivas, executive director of the Berkeley-based Multicultural Institute. 

Caloca-Rivas will work with city officials to relocate the workers to a pick up area west of Fourth Street on Hearst. The designation of the area, which will be equipped with toilets, is the first phase in the collaborative effort to help day laborers as well as satisfy loitering concerns of local businesses and residents. 

Also part of the first phase, Caloca-Rivas wants to create a plan to ensure that laborers are not financially abused by contractors. 

In the second phase, the institute will open a storefront labor center at an undetermined location where workers can wait for work. In preparation for this phase, the institute will offer English language classes, GED classes, job training and life skills courses. Finding and setting up a location will probably take six to nine months, Caloca-Rivas said. 

The program is funded by the city, donations and grants. 

Caloca-Rivas, who also runs a mentoring and tutoring program and a program that works to improve communication between parents and children, hopes to eventually organize workers in an independent “grassroots union model.”  

“The goal of our efforts,” he said “is self-organizing and sustainability on its own.”  

Day laborers have been organized in other cities, including neighboring Oakland as well as Los Angeles. While some of these programs have been organized with city support, others have been created after tough battles against city ordinances. 

Caloca-Rivas’ plan is one of the first to introduce an educational component into the labor program. 

The collaboration between Caloca-Rivas and the city of Berkeley began more than a year ago after a series of neighborhood complaints. The Berkeley Office of Economic Development and Health and Human Services responded by commissioning a study to learn more about the issue. 

A consultant reported back this summer, showing that the number of workers who come to Berkeley from Richmond, Oakland and other Bay Area cities has grown exponentially in recent years. 

The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates that there are three to four million undocumented immigrants in California. Berkeley officials say that many of the 80 to 200 men that gather on Hearst are undocumented. 

The city’s study also looked at day laborer programs in other cities. In Concord, a trailer with computers serves as a labor center. Laborers pay $1 per day in dues and organize themselves. In Glendale, solicitation is limited to the labor center, and day laborers pass out flyers to inform prospective employers of their services. 

Caloca-Rivas brought his proposal to the city last spring. 

“[The Multicultural Institute has] an excellent level of trust within the community, especially the Spanish speaking community,” said Delfina Geiken, Berkeley Worksource Employment Programs Administrator who is working on the project for the city “And that’s what we need … an agency that the laborers feel comfortable with.” 

In Berkeley, it was also crucial to find an agency that could engage merchants frustrated by the presence of the laborers. 

Warren White, President of Truitt and White Lumber Company said that laborers disrupt business and create sanitary and safety problems.  

“I’m not pointing fingers at the entire group,” said White. “I know it’s just a small number, but unfortunately that creates problems for the whole group.” 

Mary Sawatzki, an assistant manager at the Discovery Store at the corner of Fourth and Hearst, is concerned for her safety, but is also frustrated with the contractors. 

“[The contractors] are extraordinarily rude,” she said. “They think they have a right to block your driveway, take your parking spaces. They have no respect. They just want to get their cheap labor without benefits. To me it’s totally immoral.”  

For Victor Guervara, the pattern is work. 

“It is necessary,” says Guevara, who left his wife and three children two months ago. “I think everyone who comes here comes because it is necessary.”

To the Editor: 

I object to the City Council lending support to the formation of a Joint Powers Authority with Berkeley as a member since this type of written support implies a future commitment to the JPA, and there has been none of tbe public input required before formation. A Joint Powers Association is not “a mechanism for multiple agencies to jointly manage and operate a regional facility,” but a Marks-Roos bond pooling instrument which allows a group of municipalities to issue bonds without citizen input for the benefit of one or more of the members, and each member is then liable for the repayment of the full amount of the bond. Marks-Roos Community Facilities Districts (including JPAs) are formed for finance only and no provisions are made for the co-management or operation of these facilities. 

By sending this letter to the city of Albany, the council will be committing its support, not only financially but as a matter of policy, to the creation and financing of playing fields in the new Eastshore Park without the input of those who will be most affected: the citizens and tax(bond)payers of Berkeley. 

Rhiannon, Berkeley

With all due respect to Anthony Hopkins, the world did not need to see him play Hannibal Lecter a third time. 

The supposed allure of “Red Dragon” lies in seeing Hopkins star in all three movies as the cannibalistic criminal expert, with his impeccable manners and his propensity for serving up victims with “fava beans and a nice Chianti.” 

But right there — the fact that a snippet of dialogue from “The Silence of the Lambs” is so instantly recognizable more than a decade after the movie’s release — proves my point. 

Since that 1991 movie — Hopkins’ first as Lecter, which earned him a best-actor Oscar — the character has been mimicked and parodied so many times, he’s practically become a beloved comic figure. 

Then in 2001, amid massive anticipation, Hopkins reprised the role in “Hannibal,” Ridley Scott’s beautiful but blood-soaked adaptation of the third book in Thomas Harris’ series. 

Now, Hopkins has returned for the screen version of the first book, “Red Dragon.” But it’s hard to take him seriously as he stands in his cell and snarls at FBI investigator Will Graham, “You stink of fear under that cheap lotion.” 

We’ve seen him run this mind game on Clarice Starling. It’s too comfortable to cause chills. 

The world also didn’t need “Red Dragon” because it already existed; it came out in 1986 and was called “Manhunter.” 

Brian Cox played Lecter before the character became ingrained in the cultural consciousness, and his take on the role was fascinatingly different — charismatic like Hopkins, but with a more intense edge. His screen time was way too short — you wanted to see more of him. 

The thoroughly underappreciated “Manhunter” still holds up well today, even if writer-director Michael Mann’s “Miami Vice” aesthetic is a bit dated. As Will Graham, William Petersen (now of the hit TV show “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”) wears Crockett and Tubbs’ hand-me-downs, as a heavy synthesizer score drones with his every move. 

The substance of “Red Dragon” is the same as “Manhunter,” if the structure’s a bit different: Will (Edward Norton) is dragged from the sanctity of his Florida retirement to help look for a serial killer known as The Tooth Fairy, who has brutally slain two families in the South. 

Will reluctantly must return to Lecter, the former ally he helped put away for murder, for insight in understanding the killer’s mind. 

While “Hannibal” was gratuitously gory, “Red Dragon” strays too far in the opposite direction. It’s surprisingly tepid, considering that Brett Ratner of the “Rush Hour” movies is the director. And its villain (Ralph Fiennes) snivels and shrieks so much, he’s more funny than frightening. 

(We’re supposed to believe that years of abuse for a physical deformity made The Tooth Fairy homicidal, but even with a cleft lip, Fiennes is still a gorgeous man. Tom Noonan, who played the role in “Manhunter,” was truly creepy, in a silent, unforced way.) 

The rest of it feels simply familiar; “Silence of the Lambs” screenwriter Ted Tally is back, with several lines from Mann’s “Manhunter” script. (One of Lecter’s more memorable zingers: “You ever see blood in the moonlight? It appears quite black.”) 

Cinematographer Dante Spinotti returns from “Manhunter,” though he’s replaced Mann’s striking whites and pastels with such a bleak shade of gray, the whole movie may as well take place at FBI headquarters. 

Even Anthony Heald is back from “Lambs” as the uptight, scheming Dr. Chilton. Other members of the superb cast — including Emily Watson, Harvey Keitel and Mary-Louise Parker — seem to be going through the motions, and have proven themselves capable of far more. 

Philip Seymour Hoffman stands out, though, as a slimy tabloid reporter who’s hounded Will for years. 

And there is, undeniably, a chemistry to the sparring between Hopkins and Norton — with so much talent between them, how could there not be? 

“Just like old times, eh, Will?” Lecter asks from behind bars. 

It does — and hopefully, it’s for the last time. 

“Red Dragon,” a Universal Pictures release, is rated R for violence, grisly images, language, some nudity and sexuality. Running time: 126 minutes. Two stars out of four.

TRENTON, N.J. – Giving hope to Democrats scrambling to retain control of the Senate, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that the party can replace Sen. Robert Torricelli on the November ballot.  

Whether the decision will allow Democrats to replace Torricelli with former Sen. Frank Lautenberg remained to be seen. 

Republican officials have promised to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. There was no immediate response to the ruling from the GOP.  

The court cited previous rulings that said election law should be broadly interpreted to allow parties to put their candidates on the ballot, and most importantly, “to allow the voters a choice.” 

Allowing the Democrats to replace Torricelli, the justices said, was a move “in favor of a full and fair ballot choice for the voters of New Jersey.” 

The court fight over who will appear on the ballot is key: Democrats hold a single-seat majority in the Senate. 

The dispute erupted after Torricelli dropped out of the race Monday, saying his campaign had been overwhelmed by ethics questions. He was admonished over the summer by a Senate committee for allegedly taking lavish campaign gifts from a contributor to his 1996 campaign.  

Late Tuesday, top state Democrats settled on the 78-year-old Lautenberg as their substitute candidate. 

Republicans argued it is too close to Election Day to replace Torricelli and that Democrats shouldn't be allowed to dump a candidate who was trailing GOP nominee Douglas Forrester in the polls. 

Republican officials did say they planned to file a motion in federal court Thursday to block any move that would alter ballots already sent to military personnel and civilians overseas.  

The GOP also wants a federal judge to compel the state to immediately mail out any remaining absentee ballots, which have been held up under a state court order. 

The state's highest court said the state Democratic Party must pay for ballots to be reprinted. State election officials estimate it will cost about $800,000 to do that.  

For nearly three hours Wednesday, the seven justices — four Democrats, two Republicans and one independent — peppered lawyers, state election officials and even some third-party candidates with detailed questions.  

They questioned whether it was possible this late in the game to print and pay for new ballots, and whether it was fair to bend the rules to accommodate the Democrats' request.  

“Here we have a candidate, he's capable, he's able, he's just changed his mind about running,” Associate Justice Jaynee LaVecchia said.  

John Carbone, an attorney representing the county clerks, said time was critical.  

"If we go beyond Wednesday of next week, Tuesday of next week, it's not going to be doable no matter how deep the pockets,” Carbone said.  

Democratic lawyer Angelo J. Genova told the court that Torricelli is no longer the party's choice, and voters should not be forced to check his name and hope a replacement would be selected later.  

“I think he has effectively created a vacancy by his withdrawal. He's not a candidate. He's not a candidate for public office,” Genova said.  

Republicans pointed to state law, which says replacement candidates must be named 51 days before an election; Torricelli withdrew 36 days before Election Day.  

“I believe the statute should be enforced as it presently reads. We don't believe there are any extraordinary circumstances,” said Peter Sheridan, the lawyer Forrester.  

While Democrats waited for the court to act, they planned Lautenberg's campaign and negotiated the transfer of funds and operations from Torricelli's operation. A kickoff party was scheduled for Wednesday evening.  

Still, there are concerns that New Jersey's election would be decided in federal court, as Florida's was during the 2000 presidential race.

First-grader Tanyonika Scott and third-grader Andrea Smith of Malcolm X School were among brigades of students, parents, teachers and a few local politicians who set out on foot and bike from several meeting points in town to take part in the city’s second annual Walk to School Day Wednesday.  

Upon arriving at school they waved signs and filled the air with chatter while given yellow stickers that said “I walked.”  

The event is international but wasn’t adopted in the Bay Area until last year, to celebrate health, air quality improvements and the benefits of pedestrian safety.  

All Berkeley district schools were told of the event but the heaviest participation was in the elementary schools, especially Malcolm X and Washington.  

Pam Webster, coordinator of the event, said that it is important to get kids in the habit of walking. She hopes to make Walk to School Day a monthly event in Berkeley. 

“This is supposed to be a model today, not a one-time event,” Webster said. “In order for it to be part of the culture of our students, we need to reinforce it.” 

The state’s Department of Health Services sponsored the day to encourage better health, air quality improvements and less traffic.

A proposed fire station in the Berkeley hills won the support of the East Bay Regional Park District Tuesday. 

Although Berkeley City Council has already approved the station, the city is required to win support of the park district and the East Bay Municipal Utility District before it can move the project forward. 

East Bay MUD, which owns the land at 3000 Shasta Rd., where the new fire station is planned, is expected to approve sale of the land to the city on Nov. 12. 

Although Berkeley will run the new fire station, the park district will help staff the station during high fire hazard days.

FRESNO — A county judge gave the University of California approval Tuesday to begin construction on its new Merced campus, rejecting a suit by environmental groups. 

Judge William Ivey ruled in Merced County Superior Court that plans for the campus met state environmental requirements, clearing the way for construction to start on 100 acres later this month, said Patti Istas, a university spokeswoman. 

Environmental groups claimed university officials did not adequately evaluate the campus’ impact on air pollution, water quality and surrounding areas. 

“We don’t have the map or any type of understanding of what they want to put where,” said Lydia Miller of the San Joaquin Raptor Rescue Center. “They are basically saying, ’Just trust us and we’ll take care of it later.”’ 

Attorney Patience Milrod, who represented the center and two other environmental groups, said she would ask the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno on Wednesday to halt construction pending an appeal. 

Last month, Ivey allowed the university to demolish three Merced Hills Golf Club buildings to clear the way for building. 

Construction beyond the golf course depends on a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The agency is considering whether to allow the campus on wetlands where vernal pools are home to endangered fairy shrimp and serve as feeding grounds for migratory birds. 

While the controversy over the tiny shrimp has gained wide attention, Milrod said the university is ignoring the larger problem of showing there’s an ample water supply for a campus that will ultimately have 25,000 students. 

She said the university has not studied how it will deliver water to the campus and what impact it will have on a depleted aquifer or other environmental concerns, such as endangered species. 

“This is the most powerful research institution in the country, maybe in the world, and they can’t figure this out,” Milrod said. “I think it’s an insult to the people of this valley.” 

The first phase of the campus includes classrooms, libraries an office building and housing to be opened by Sept. 2004. About 1,000 students are projected to attend.

n Pedestrian safety sting 

Police said that 11 motorists were given citations for failing to yield to a pedestrian at a crosswalk during a sting at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Oregon Street Wednesday morning. The traffic operation was the eighth since July, police said. The operations have resulted in approximately 200 citations for failure to yield to a pedestrian. 

n Peeping tom 

A woman reported seeing the silhouette of a man outside her bedroom window on the 1500 block of Spruce Street at 10:50 p.m. Friday. According to police, the man ran from the window after the woman yelled. Immediately after the incident the woman saw an unfamiliar man sitting in an automobile outside her house. The vehicle is described as a dark blue Ford Bronco with a white top.

LOS ANGELES — Former New York City police commissioner William Bratton has been selected as the new chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, city officials said Wednesday. 

The announcement is expected Thursday, said City Council member Jack Weiss, who called it “a positive step forward for the city of Los Angeles.” 

Bratton beat out Oxnard chief Art Lopez and former Philadelphia chief John Timoney to lead a 9,000-officer force struggling with low morale and the aftermath of a corruption scandal. Crime is also rising in the city. 

Erwin Chemerinsky, a law professor at the University of Southern California who has been active in police reform movements, praised Bratton’s selection. 

“What the mayor has done is pick somebody who has a track record of success in turning around departments, in lowering crime rates and boosting morale of the troops,” Chemerinsky said. “If somebody can do it, this is the right person for the job.” 

Bratton, 54, was police commissioner in New York from 1994-1996 before resigning under pressure from then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani. 

Bratton was recognized for advocating community policing and reorganizing the New York department. The city’s crime rate declined sharply under his watch: Serious felonies dropped 33 percent and the murder rate was cut in half. Crime declined in other major cities, but not as much as in New York. 

Bratton also led the Boston Police Department and New York’s transit police. 

The search for a new chief started after the Police Commission voted 4-1 in April against giving Chief Bernard Parks a second five-year term. Parks, who failed to get Mayor James Hahn’s support, is now running for a seat on the City Council. 

Bratton’s selection is expected to be announced Thursday by Hahn in the San Fernando Valley, where a secession movement on the November ballot has been partly driven by concerns over rising crime. Hahn’s choice must be confirmed by the City Council. 

Parks suffered in the fallout of the scandal at the department’s Rampart division, where officers allegedly planted evidence, lied and in some cases shot innocent people. Charges against about 100 inmates were dropped as a result. 

Since November 2000, the LAPD has operated under a federal consent decree implemented after Justice Department lawyers found what they described as a pattern of civil rights violations dating back decades. 

The most notorious was the 1991 beating of black motorist Rodney King which led to devastating riots when the four white officers involved were acquitted of most charges. Parks was the second of two chiefs hired to salvage the department’s reputation. 

The last outsider to run the Los Angeles police was former Philadelphia police commissioner Willie Williams, who took over in 1992 and lasted for one five-year term that was widely viewed as a failure.

High fire danger prompts  

East Bay park closures 

A high fire danger warning issued by the National Weather Service Tuesday has prompted a number of East Bay Regional Park closures. 

Parks impacted by the warning include Tilden Park, Wildcat Canyon, Claremont Canyon, Sobrante Ridge, Sibley, Huckleberry, Temescal West Slope and trails and Briones.  

Citing strong winds and dry conditions, the Red Flag Warning, declared for much of Northern California, was expected to run through last night. 

For further information concerning closures contact the East Bay Regional Park Police at 881-1833. 

Labor study challenges  

Bay Area liberal image 

A new labor survey challenges the conventional wisdom that the Bay Area is more liberal than Southern California. 

When it comes to issues of economic inequality, Los Angeles-area residents surveyed for the State of California Labor 2002 report were more likely to support government-led solutions than Bay Area respondents to the poll. 

University of California at Berkeley sociologist and political scientist Margaret Weir, who contributed to the report, said those political leanings might be due to the large growth of low-wage jobs in the Los Angeles area during the 1990s. 

"We can speculate in two ways. One is in Southern California, the more pro-government stance ... is result of the higher proportion of low-income workers. Their presence is really beginning to change the political profile of Southern California,'' Weir said. "The other piece is the rise of Silicon Valley really helped promote more faith in market solutions.'' 

The political differences between California's two main urban centers "really surprised me when we first uncovered it,'' said Ruth Milkman, a UCLA sociology professor who also contributed to the report. 

Lawyer for tree-squatters  

has new plan to let them stay 

BRISBANE — A lawyer for the couple that San Mateo County officials want to remove from their home at the base of a 300-year-old tree says he has a new plan to allow them to stay. 

Burlingame lawyer Bill Johnston said Besh Serdahely and Thelma Caballero should be allowed to remain in their San Bruno Mountain County Park home where they’ve lived for 12 years and become permanent caretakers of the park in exchange for permission to continue living there. 

The county gave the couple an eviction notice after a review of property lines showed the hideaway county rather than state land. 

To allow the couple to stay, Johnston proposed in a letter to county officials that the county implement a program similar to that of the state park system’s Campground Host program.

SAN FRANCISCO — The economic impact of the work stoppage along the West Coast ports is accelerating, and could cost the economy $2 billion a day if it continues after Thursday, said Robert Parry, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. 

“If this gets resolved immediately, then I think the impact on the national economy is pretty minimal. But if shipments in and out of ports here are interrupted much longer, the drag on the economy would be more significant,” Parry told a gathering of security analysts on Wednesday. 

California’s high-tech industry has been spared somewhat, because “a lot of it is handled by airplane — that helps a little bit,” said Parry, who arrived at the $2 billion figure after consulting with research firms and other economists. 

Parry focused his speech on broader economic developments, predicting that growth will be uneven coming months, and that current interest rates should support an expansion in economic activity. 

“We’re now in the midst of an expansion that’s both modest and uneven” as growth lurches from growth to weakness on a quarterly basis, Parry said. 

“It’s likely that the economy’s growth rate will continue to bounce around in the last half of the year,” with a strong third quarter and slower advance in the fourth, Parry said. 

Parry is a nonvoting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates. In a meeting last week, the central bank left its overnight interest rate target steady at 1.75% and warned of the possibility of future economic weakness.

Port shutdown,  

by the numbers: 

n 29 ports affected in California, Washington and Oregon. 

n Employers estimate cost to the economy at $1 billion a day. 

(President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Robert Parry estimates $2 million if no resolution by Thursday.) 

n 10,500 union members 

n Full-time longshoremen earn an average $80,000 a year; the most experienced foremen average $167,000. 

The issues: 

n PMA wants to introduce new computers, sensors and scanners that would help track and move containers through the ports more quickly.  

The upgrades would eliminate some positions, although the PMA said no current employees would lose their jobs. 

The ILWU wants all jobs created by the new technology to be unionized; the PMA wants the right to control any new jobs result from new technology. 

n The ILWU wants to maintain 100 percent health coverage. The PMA initially sought to cut back benefits, saying costs had risen too quickly.  

It later agreed to maintain full coverage but tied the concessions to an agreement on technology.

Government accused Sega  

of workplace discrimination 

SAN FRANCISCO — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Sega of America Inc. on Wednesday, alleging it fired a dozen video game testers because they were Filipino. 

The commission, in a suit filed in San Francisco federal court, also said another four workers were dismissed because of their friendship with an employee who complained about discrimination. 

Gamemaker Sega, based in San Francisco, denied the charges. 

“We are an equal opportunity employer,” company spokeswoman Gwen Marker said. 

She said Sega would vigorously defend itself. 

The commission said it tried to settle the suit before it was filed but could not reach an agreement with Sega. 

“It is not often we see such a clear case of national-origin discrimination,” said Susan L. McDuffie, the commission’s San Francisco director. 

Legislators continue attacks  

on Proposition 51 

SACRAMENTO — California legislators continued their attacks Wednesday on Proposition 51, a groundbreaking ballot initiative targeting nearly $1 billion a year from the state budget for traffic relief projects, including many that benefit contributors to the initiative campaign. 

Repeating themes of three previous legislative hearings, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Steve Peace, D-El Cajon, labeled the initiative a threat to state finances and an affront to the democratic process. 

“Over time it perpetuates the practice of making tax and spend decisions through the initiative process,” he said. 

Representatives of the League of Women Voters of California and California Tax Reform Association also testified against the measure. State financial analysts said it will raise this year’s deficit by $420 million — and $1 billion a year afterward unless legislators raise taxes. 

The initiative, proposed by a 10,000-member California environmental coalition, the Planning and Conservation League, is on the Nov. 5 ballot. 

Ebay trying to sell  

collector-car unit Kruse 

SAN FRANCISCO — EBay Inc., in a further step to divest itself of non-Internet businesses, Wednesday said it is seeking a buyer for Kruse International, an eBay subsidiary that runs a series of collector car auctions across the country. 

The step follows San Jose-based eBay’s recent sale of its Butterfields auction house to English auctioneer Bonhams for an undisclosed price. 

Kevin Pursglove, an eBay spokesman, said Kruse management notified the group’s employees in Auburn, Ind., that eBay would look for a buyer for the subsidiary. Pursglove said Kruse helped eBay with the launch of its eBay Motors automobile auctions on the Internet, but the company wasn’t focused on expanding Kruse’s off-line auction events, more than 30 of which occur around the U.S. every year. 

“I think we eventually came to the conclusion that for Kruse to continue to grow, it’s best to have an owner that is dedicated solely to building that off-line business,” Pursglove said. 

EBay acquired Kruse in a stock deal in May 1999. At the time, eBay said the value of the Kruse acquisition and the acquisition of Billpoint Inc., an online payment processing company, were worth $275 million combined.

MOSCOW — President Bush’s call for greater pressure on Iraq won guarded support in Asia and Australia on Tuesday, but his threats failed to overcome widespread skepticism in Europe, where most nations are deeply concerned by the prospects of war. 

Iraq said Bush’s address Monday night aimed to justify an “illegitimate” attack on it. Iraqis and other Arabs said the speech showed Washington’s determination for war, but the Egyptian and Jordanian governments said they were pleased by Bush’s statement that war was not “imminent or unavoidable.” 

Britain was the exception in Europe to the prevailing lack of enthusiasm for Bush’s tough line. Prime Minister Tony Blair said he shared “the same analysis” of the threat posed by Iraq and that both countries wanted the United Nations to make clear its determination to disarm Iraq. 

Bush’s speech Monday night rounded up much of the administration’s case for an assault on Iraq, with Bush calling Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein a “murderous tyrant.” He said Saddam may be planning to attack the United States with biological or chemical weapons and could have a nuclear bomb in less than a year. 

Bush said he would “act with the full power of the United States military” against Saddam unless declare and destroy all of its weapons of mass destruction, end support for terrorism and cease persecution of its civilians. 

The speech was seen in part as an attempt to rally reluctant allies abroad. Russia and France, which like the United States hold veto powers on the U.N. Security Council, underlined that they still oppose Washington’s efforts for a U.N. resolution imposing strict demands on Baghdad for weapons inspectors and threatening use of force against Iraq. 

In Russia, Deputy Foreign Ministry Yuri Fedotov, although not reacting directly to Bush’s speech, told the Interfax news agency that the resolution proposed by the United States was disingenuous. 

LOS ANGELES – Trailing in the polls a month before Election Day, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon accused Gov. Gray Davis of auctioning his office for campaign contributions as the two faced off in their first debate Monday. 

Following the debate, Simon caused a stir when he said during a press conference that he has evidence Davis broke the law by accepting campaign donations in his state Capitol office. But Simon’s campaign quickly admitted they had no evidence — just the word of a law enforcement organization that has endorsed Simon and sparred with Davis. 

Davis campaign adviser Garry South called the accusation a “desperate” move and said the governor has operated within the law while collecting campaign contributions. 

Simon trails Davis in statewide polls in a race that has failed to excite voters. The men used the hour-long lunchtime debate to echo attacks they have made for months in television advertisements and press conferences. 

Simon blamed the incumbent governor for the state’s economic woes, while Davis questioned Simon’s stances on social issues, his business record and inexperience in political office. 

“Taxes have gone up, services have been cut, hopes have been crushed,” Simon said. 

Davis responded with a list of accomplishments of his administration in education, health care and transportation. “Despite tough challenges from energy and the national recession, we’ve made real progress in California.” 

And he accused Simon of failing to generate his own solutions, including for the state’s $23.6 billion budget deficit. 

“Welcome to the big time, Mr. Simon, people of this state expect governors to make the tough decisions, not run from them,” Davis said. 

Davis also sought to paint Simon as a “true-blue, think tank conservative who is out of step with California voters.” 

“It’s not the sincerity of Mr. Simon’s beliefs I question, it’s whether those beliefs are good for California,” Davis said. 

“In his heart he is pro-gun, in his heart he is anti-choice, and I am just the opposite,” he said. 

Davis — who is struggling to overcome slumping popularity since last year’s energy crisis — has attacked Simon on social issues since Simon’s victory in the March Republican primary. Simon’s campaign, meanwhile, has suffered a series of setbacks surrounding his family investment firm. 

Statewide polls show neither candidate is popular with voters. 

“My job is not to win a popularity contest, it’s to lead this state,” Davis said. 

Davis refused to rule out a midterm run for another office, including president, should he be re-elected. However, he said he would curtail his prodigious fund-raising if re-elected, because he “wouldn’t have the need to raise as much because I wouldn’t be running again.” 

Davis defended his veto of a bill that would have let undocumented immigrants get driver’s licenses, saying the measure sought by Hispanic lawmakers and groups was “massively flawed” because it wouldn’t bar criminals. 

That veto cost Davis the endorsement of the Legislature’s Latino caucus last week. Simon has said he would have vetoed the bill. 

Simon defended his opposition to a bill signed by Davis that will give employees paid family leave, saying it will hurt small businesses. He also said he would not have signed a bill targeting California auto emissions to reduce global warming in part because he said scientists have not agreed on the cause of the warming trend. 

Simon has complained that the noontime debate, sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, reached too small of an audience. He tried unsuccessfully to invite Green Party nominee Peter Camejo to the debate as his guest. 

Camejo protested his exclusion from outside the Los Angeles Times building. The newspaper said Camejo was excluded because he failed to gather the minimum 15 percent support of likely voters, which is the same standard previously used for presidential debates. Camejo received 4 percent of the likely vote in a poll last week by the Times. 

Meanwhile, the campaigns released new campaign finance statements Monday covering July 1 through Sept. 30. Simon reported raising $10.5 million, spending $11.1 million and ending the period with $4.3 million cash on hand. Davis said he raised $9.4 million, spent $20.2 million and had $21.3 million cash on hand.

CAIRO, Egypt – The Arab satellite station al-Jazeera broadcast an audiotape Sunday in which a male voice attributed to Osama bin Laden said the “youths of God” are planning more attacks against the United States. 

“By God, the youths of God are preparing for you things that would fill your hearts with terror and target your economic lifeline until you stop your oppression and aggression” against Muslims, said the voice in the audiotape. 

It wasn’t immediately clear when the tape was made. The short message was broadcast with a picture of bin Laden in the background. 

Bin Laden said his message was addressed to the American people, whom he urged to “understand the message of the New York and Washington attacks which came in response to some of your previous crimes.” 

“But those who follow the activities of the band of criminals in the White House, the Jewish agents, who are preparing for an attack on the Muslim world ... feel that you have not understood anything from the message of the two attacks,” he said. 

Qatar-based al-Jazeera has become known for its broadcast of audio and videotapes of al-Qaida leaders. Last month, it aired excerpts from a videotape in which a voice said to be bin Laden’s is heard naming the leaders of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers. 

Until then, bin Laden had not been heard from since shortly after the U.S.-led bombing campaign began in Afghanistan last October. 

An interview al-Jazeera said one of its correspondents conducted in June with two top al-Qaida fugitives was aired to correspond with the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Shortly afterward, U.S. officials announced one of the fugitives had been captured in Pakistan. 

American officials have called the network biased in its coverage of the war on terrorism, the Israeli-Arab conflict and U.S. Mideast policy. Al-Jazeera journalists say they strive to tell all sides of events from the Arab and Muslim point of view, and they have angered Arab governments as often as they have Washington. 

The satellite station, initially funded by the Qatari government, began operations in November 1996. It is editorially independent of the government, which has its own official station to broadcast its point of view.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Hailing a “defining day” in the fight against terrorism, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the arrests of four people in Oregon and Michigan on Friday on charges of conspiring to wage war on the United States and support al-Qaida. Two other suspects were being sought overseas. 

The arrests came on the same day a tearful John Walker Lindh was sentenced to 20 years in prison for fighting for the Taliban and a smirking Richard Reid declared himself a follower of Osama bin Laden as he pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives in his shoes. 

Ashcroft, announcing the arrests at a Washington news conference, said five of the six people named in the indictment are U.S. citizens and one is a former U.S. Army reservist. 

FBI officials said four of the suspects began weapons training days after the Sept. 11 attacks, and five tried unsuccessfully to get into Afghanistan to join up with al-Qaida and the Taliban in October, as U.S. forces began bombing parts of the country. 

The indictment said three of the suspects began physical training “to prepare to fight a jihad” in the summer of 2001, before Sept. 11. 

Ashcroft said one of those arrested, Jeffrey Leon Battle, joined the U.S. Army Reserves to obtain training in U.S. tactics and weapons. He said Battle, who was discharged in January while in Bangladesh, intended to use that experience against American soldiers in Afghanistan. 

Battle later “caused himself to be discharged” from the Army, Ashcroft said, without elaborating. 

Court papers identified the six as Battle, 32; Patrice Lumumba Ford, 31; Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal, 24; his brother Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal, 22; Habis Abdullah al Saoub, 37; and October Martinique Lewis, 25, the ex-wife of Battle. 

According to Ashcroft, five of the suspects set out for Afghanistan in October 2001 and tried to enter the country through China, but failed. 

Lewis stayed behind and wired money to Battle eight times “with the knowledge the money would be used to support his attempt to reach Afghanistan” to help al-Qaida and the Taliban, the attorney general said. 

Before leaving Oregon, al Saoub discarded a bag containing a Jordanian passport and a document titled “A Martyr’s Will,” according to the indictment. The will was addressed to someone prosecutors described as a mujahadeen, or warrior, but the indictment includes no other details. 

Battle, Ford and Lewis were arrested in Portland, and Muhammad Bilal was taken into custody in Michigan. He had been living with a sister in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn for about a month but has lived in Oregon. Ahmed Bilal and al Saoub were being sought outside the United States. 

Muhammad Bilal was held without bail after a court appearance in Detroit. Prosecutor Barbara McQuade said he had recently traveled to Hong Kong, China and Indonesia. 

Charges against the six include conspiracy to levy war against the United States, conspiracy to provide material support and resources to al-Qaida, conspiracy to contribute services to al-Qaida and the Taliban, and possessing firearms in furtherance of crimes of violence. 

Ford pleaded innocent to all charges during an arraignment in federal court in Portland. Arraignments for two others were postponed until Monday. 

“It’s all a mistake, it’s got to be,” said Ford’s father, Kent Ford. 

He said his son, named after the African resistance leader and first president of Congo, spent time in the mid-1990s as a foreign exchange student in Beijing, where he converted to Islam. Ford was an intern to the Portland mayor in 1998-99, Kent Ford said. 

He also studied that year at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies, in China, a joint program of Johns Hopkins University and the University of Nanjing, said Hopkins spokesman Dennis O’Shea. 

Ashcroft said the FBI is looking into whether other Portland-area residents may have also gone to Afghanistan with the same intention as those indicted. Authorities said the suspects received financial support for their travel from unknown sources in Oregon.

WASHINGTON - In a direct message to Iraqi troops, allied forces dropped thousands of leaflets over the southern no-fly zone in Iraq warning gunners to stop firing on U.S. and British patrol planes.  

Iraqi forces responded by firing on aircraft delivering the leaflets. 

That led allied forces to bomb an air defense operations center, U.S. Central Command officials said.  

The leaflet drop was the first known direct warning from the Pentagon to Iraq's military rank and file in the Bush administration's campaign to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.  

Defense officials said it was not directly related to another leaflet effort in which the Pentagon plans to warn Iraqi officers against firing chemical or biological weapons in the event of U.S. military action to remove Saddam.  

The allied retaliation brought to 46 the number of “strike days” reported this year by the coalition force that patrols zones set up to protect Iraqi minorities following the 1991 Gulf War. On some days, more than one area is bombed.  

Defense officials said coalition aircraft dropped 120,000 leaflets depicting a jet bombing a missile launcher and a radar site with the message: “Iraqi ADA (air defense artillery) Beware! Don't track or fire on coalition aircraft!”  

The back side of the leaflet had another message. “The destruction experienced by your colleagues in other air defense locations is a response to your continuing aggression toward planes of the coalition forces,” leaflets written in Arabic said.  

“No tracking or firing on these aircraft will be tolerated. You could be next,” said an English translation released by defense officials.  

“We were telling them ‘Don't shoot at us or we'll shoot back,’ ” said Navy Commander Frank Merriman, a spokesman for Central Command in Tampa, Fla. “And they were shooting at that ircraft that was dropping the leaflets.”  

He said a similar leaflet drop was done in October to try to halt the firing on patrol planes. That effort was not publicly disclosed until Thursday.  

Another defense official said Thursday's action was not related to any possible war with Iraq, portraying it as done periodically to remind Iraqi gunners that they target coalition planes at their peril.

WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans in Congress began closing ranks Wednesday behind a resolution giving President Bush broad authority to use military force against Iraq. 

Bush hailed the development and suggested war with Baghdad could become “unavoidable” if Saddam Hussein does not disarm. 

Full compliance with all U.N. Security Council demands “is the only choice and the time remaining for that choice is limited,” Bush said, standing with top congressional leaders in the Rose Garden. 

Bush struck a deal on the resolution with House leaders in the morning, and momentum quickly built behind it throughout the day. Leaders of both parties predicted passage, probably next week, by large margins. 

“Mr. President, we delivered for your father. We will deliver for you,” said Sen. John Warner of Virginia, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. In January 1991, Congress authorized the first President Bush to use force to reverse Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.