Saturday afternoon more than 200 people gathered to remember the man who for 10 years anchored KPFA radio’s morning newscast. By listeners and by co-workers, Chris Bruney was alternately described as a trusted morning companion and a talented newscaster who brought warmth and depth to his broadcasts. 

A Berkeley resident since his days as a student at Cal, Bruney died July 8 of a heart attack while sitting behind the wheel of his car at Grand and Telegraph avenues in Oakland. He was 44. 

Surrounded by signs proclaiming “Shut Down the War Profiteers!” and “Yes On M—We Support Safe & Affordable Housing,” a cross-section of East Bay activists and journalists filled the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists for the memorial service. Young men and women sat side by side with elderly Gray Panther-types, all gathered to celebrate Burney’s life.  

Kellia Rameres, who anchors KPFA’s graveyard shift, remembered Bruney fondly. Speaking at length on his long, curly black hair, black leather jacket and tight blue jeans, Rameres painted a picture of a man far too young to be the subject of a memorial service.  

“He’ll be sorely missed,” said Philip Maldari, co-host of KPFA’s “The Morning Show,” in a tribute to Bruney broadcast July 9. “Getting to the station before 5 o’clock in the morning, putting together an incredible newscast at a time of day most of us can’t even open our eyes much less try to understand what’s happening in the world.” 

“The response from listeners was immediate and very heartfelt,” noted Aileen Alfandery, KPFA’s morning news co-host. “People were shocked because Chris was their trusted companion in the morning. They woke up to his voice, they brushed their teeth with his voice, they were fighting the commute. So they felt a very personal sense of loss when they heard the news about Chris.” 

At the service Alfandery read from a few of the scores of calls and e-mails received by the station.  

“A man I never knew died yesterday, and I am heartbroken. I heard his voice in my room for two years, yet if I had passed him on the street, I would not know who he was,” wrote Jennifer G. 

Jolayne C. e-mailed: “Those of us that you can’t see … feel as if you are part of our family. We listen every day to what and how you say things to us. When we no longer hear your voice, our lives are changed.” 

Like so many of the KPFA family, newscaster Larry Bensky has been at the station for several decades and worked with Burney for the last 10 years. 

“He was a wonderful man,” Bensky said after the service. “I think anybody that was here today got a sense of the depth and complexity and warmth and talent that he had. He’ll always be missed, and he’ll always be in our minds. 

“We live in such a trans-substantial media, where our presence is electronically ephemeral … it’s there and then it’s gone, or can be gone,” said Bensky. “It’s a very humbling feeling to contemplate that kind of thing. [Just like life] only more so.” 

“It’s a huge loss,” Alfandery said of how Burney’s death will affect the KPFA news operation. “Not only to the KPFA family and our listeners, but very practically speaking, we have lost a 10-year veteran, morning newscaster.”  

In recent years KPFA has been criticized for lack of staff diversity and for the stranglehold longtime staffers exert on programming at the station. Burney, as an African-American, represented an audible voice for diversity during the morning prime-time drive slot.  

“KPFA, throughout the station, has always been committed to affirmative action, and if you look around and see the diversity of our reporters and our on-air persons, you’ll see that it’s always a consideration,” said Alfandery. “There’s such a tiny little space in the media for progressive and alternative viewpoints, there’s a lot of pressure on the very few outlets that there are, and KPFA definitely feels that pressure. And [there’s] a lot of varying viewpoints about how we go about serving that progressive commitment. So I don’t think it’s any surprise that people would feel very passionate about how best to do that, and will be very explicit about their passionate feelings. We will be looking to hire somebody to follow on in Chris’ footsteps, who’ll have their own style, but have the same dedication to news and progressive journalism that Chris did.” 

“That’s something that Chris would have insisted on,” said newscaster Max Pringle. “Keep the diversity in that position. It’s important to us as a radio station to reach out to the various Bay Area communities. The person that is sitting in for him now, Kelly Denson, is an African-American woman … I think they’ll insist on keeping that diversity.” 

Chris’s mother and father, Joseph and Elaine Burney, came from Southern California for the memorial service.  

“I was very surprised that he was this well known and loved in the area,” said Mr. Burney. “You know, we live in Anaheim—KPFA is an FM station, we don’t get it over there. We never knew that he lived this life, that he was so well loved. We were quite pleasantly surprised about that.” 

TUESDAY, JULY 15 

Free Emergency Prepared- 

ness Class on Disaster First Aid, for anyone who lives or works in Berkeley, from 9 a.m. to noon at 997 Cedar St., be- 

tween 8th and 9th Sts. Register on-line at www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/fire/oes or call 981-5506. 

Peach/Stone Fruit Tasting at the Farmers’ Market, Derby St. at MLK, Jr. Way. 548-3333.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 525-3565. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. B. K. Bose will speak on “Yoga for Health” at 10:30 a.m. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 16 

Twilight Tour: Magnificent Monocots Anthony Garza talks about interesting and unusual grasses and succulents, at 5:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Registration required. 643-2755. 

Aquatic Park Natural Habitat and Lagoon Water Quality Study by Laurel Marcus & Associates, will be discussed at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Public comments welcome! For information call 981-6437. 

South Berkeley Mural Project Community members in South Berkeley are coming together to create a neighborhood mural on the side of the Grove Liquor Store on the corner of Ashby Ave. and MLK, Jr. Way. Meet at 7 p.m. at Epic Arts Studios at 1923 Ashby Ave. For further information on ways to get involved call 644-2204. 

Free Lead-Safe Painting and Remodeling Class Learn how to detect and remedy lead hazards and conduct lead-safe re- 

novations for your older home, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Temes- 

cal Branch Library, 5205 Tele- 

graph Ave, North Oakland. For information or to register call the Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program at 567-8280.  

Free Feldenkrais ATM Classes for adults 55 and older at 10:30 and 11:45 a.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut at Rose. For information call 848-5143. 527-5332. 

Community Dances, traditional English and American dances, 8 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. Cost is $9. 233-5065. www.bacds.org 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters meets at 7:15 a.m. at Hide-A-Way Café, 6430 Telegraph Ave. For information call Fred Garvey, 925-682-1111, ext. 164. 

THURSDAY, JULY 17 

EBMUD Water Tunnel Construction Project Informational Meeting at 7 p.m. at Chabot Canyon Racquet Club, 7040 Chabot Rd, Oakland. 287-1301. 

Friends of Strawberry Creek will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the West Berkeley Public Library Community Room, 1125 University Ave., across from the Adult School. To confirm call 987-0668 or janet@earthlink.net or jennifemaryphd@hotmail.com or 848-7128. 

Berkeley Liberation Radio 104.1 FM meets at 7 p.m. at the Long Haul Info Shop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 595-0190.  

Lawyers in the Library, at 6 p.m. in the Claremont Branch, Benvenue at Ashby, 981-6280. 

FRIDAY, JULY 18 

Cirque Noir Benefit for ACCI Gallery, a silent and live auction from 6 to 10 p.m. at ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $20 per person, $30 per couple. Reservations suggested, 843-2527. 

So How’d You Become an Activist, with Tony Serra and Mary Ann Tenuto at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Donation $5. Wheel- 

chair accessible. 415-927-1645. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 496-6000, ext. 135. www.bpf.org 

Bastille Day Waltz Ball, lessons at 7 p.m., dancing with the Baguette Quartette at 9 p.m. at the International House, 2299 Piedmont. Cost is $20 at the door. 650-326-6265. www.fridaynightwaltz.com 

SATURDAY, JULY 19 

Berkeley Bay Trail Grand Opening Ceremony, at 11 a.m. at the southwest corner of University Ave. and West Frontage Rd., at the base of the pedestrian overpass. For information call Lisa Caronna, director of Parks, Recreation and Waterfront at 981-6700. 

YMCA Day 100th anniversary of the Berkeley/Albany YMCA. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with entertainment and health screening at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Center St. at MLK, Jr. Way. 548-3333.  

Drawing in the Garden Art Class with Rita Petit. Drawing with paper and pencil. Peralta Community Garden, Hopkins and Peralta. No charge, donations gratefully accepted. 665-8466.  

Free Gardening Class on Blooming Perennials and Shrubs, with Aerin Moore, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-1992. www.magicgardens.com 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Earthquake Retrofitting, for anyone who lives or works in Berkeley, from 9 a.m. to noon at 812 Page St. Register on-line at www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes or by calling 981-5506. 

“Supressed Histories, Priestesses,” a slideshow by Max Dashu at 7:30 p.m. at Redwood Gardens Community Room, 2951 Derby St. Cost is $10-$15. Wheelchair accessible. 654-9298. 

Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine Open House with Dr. Andrew Karozos at 1:30 p.m. Open house begins at 10 a.m. at 2550 Shattuck Ave. Registration required. 666-8248.  

SUNDAY, JULY 20 

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk, facilitated by Singer/ 

Songwriter/Activist Margie Adam, 2 p.m., North Berkeley Senior Center. Join Margie and a growing number of people who have found that walking the labyrinth, individually and in community, offers a powerful way to ground and focus healing and peace and justice work in the world. Free. Wheelchair accessible. Sponsored by the East Bay Labyrinth Project. 526-7377. 

Summer Sunday at the Peralta Community Garden Café, live music, poetry and refreshments, from 2 to 5 p.m. Since the Community Garden Café will be operated as a non-commercial grassroots effort it is dependent on volunteers and donations for performers and refreshments. Suggestions for programs and performers are welcome. Please contact Karl Linn at 841-3757. 

Lee Nichol on “Thought, Symbol, and Space” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

Top of the Bay Family Day, Sand Sculpting Forget the beach, head for the hills to create the sand castle of your dreams, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Professional sand sculptor Kirk Rademaker hosts this hands-on outdoor workshop. For all ages. Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. 643-5961. www. 

lawrencehallofscience.org/news/  

Eckhart Tolle Talks on Video Free gatherings, at 7:30 p.m. to hear the words of the author of “The Power of Now” at the Feldenkrais Ctr., 830 Bancroft Way. 547-2024. EdShorelin@aol.com 

MONDAY, JULY 21 

Berkeley Partners for Parks meets at 7:30 p.m. at the Corporation Yard’s meeting room, 1326 Allston Way. mail@bpfp.org, www.bpfp.org 

Berkeley CopWatch meets at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

ONGOING 

Marine Biology Classes for students age 8 to 10, Tues., July 15 to Fri., July 18, 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Shorebird Nature Center, 160 University Ave., at the Marina. Cost is $45. For information call 644-8623. www.cityofberkeley.info/marina  

Summer Fun Camps for Children and Teens, from age five and up, are offered at Berkeley recreation centers and include such activities as arts and crafts, swimming and tennis lessons, yoga, organized sports and games, and field trips. Program runs through August 22, Mon. - Fri., 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The fee, including lunch and snack, is $77 per week for Berkeley residents. Pick up applications at the Camps Office, 2016 Center St. 981-5150. 

Echo Lake Youth Camp for ages 6 - 12 at Echo Lake, near South Lake Tahoe. One week sessions are offered through August 22. Cost is $235 per session. For registration information please visit the Camps Office at 2016 Center St., or call 981-5150. 

Free Energy Conservation Retrofits for Berkeley Residents CA Youth Energy Services is a nonprofit sponsored by the City of Berkeley that trains and employs high school students to provide conservation retrofits. Work includes weatherstripping, replacing lightbulbs with CFLs, cleaning refrigerator coils, replacing faucet aerators and showerheads with low-flow devices, installing earthquake preparedness measures, and a comprehensive audit. Available to home owners and renters. Call for an appointment, 428-2357. 

Free Quit Smoking Class on six Monday evenings, from 6 to 8 p.m., starting July 14th, at the South Berkeley Senior Center. To register contact the Berkeley Tobacco Prevention Program, 981-5330 or QuitNow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

National HIV Testing Month The City of Berkeley offers free HIV testing. Drop in Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Wednesdays 6 to 8:30 p.m., during July, at 830 University Ave. at 6th St. For other days and times call the HIV Testing Information Line at 981-5380.  

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tuesday, July 15, at 7 p.m. in City Council hambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tuesday, July 15 at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. ww.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/housingauthority 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wednesday, July 16, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. ww.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/humane 

Commission on Aging meets Wednesday, July 16, meets at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Lisa Ploss, 981-5200. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/aging 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wednesday, July 16, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/welfare 

Design Review Committee meets Thursday, July 17, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/designreview  

Fair Political Practices Commission meets Thursday, July 17, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Prasanna Rasaih, 981-6950.  

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/faircampaign 

Transportation Commission meets Thursday, July 17, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/transportation  

STRAWBERRY CREEK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I moved to Berkeley a year and a half ago and have been happy here, especially because of the beautiful, natural setting. I live at Strawberry Creek Lodge, which is a private senior housing project near University Avenue. One of the amenities which makes living in a small studio apartment more than tolerable is Strawberry Creek, which flows along the rear boundary of our property.  

Our rear garden is a treasure, with large trees and the sound of flowing water. Recently we have had a wonderful restoration of the creek bank habitat, featuring native shrubs and plants. A variety of birds inhabit the thickets along the creek and one day I saw a heron flying over our buildings. A few yards downstream is the city of Berkeley’s Strawberry Creek park. Here the creek continues to be daylighted and provides a natural feature in a valuable recreational space, with a footbridge over the creek and facilities for picnics. 

But, alas, there are also problems with the creek. One is water quality. The water is not safe, even for pets, and we do not know what pathogens may be flowing past our garden from leaking sewer lines and the University campus upstream.  

A potentially more dramatic danger from the creek is posed by the winter rains. The creek flows through a culvert which ends at the upstream end of our garden. Sections of the culvert, built a century ago of non-reinforced concrete, have already collapsed. To our east, this culvert passes under several houses, and still further upstream, Strawberry Creek flows underground behind the Civic Center. When the rains come, we fear that this may be the year when the flood waters will undercut the bank and cause a collapse, either of the end of North Valley Street, or perhaps one of the houses that were built over the creek to our east. The city of Berkeley has thus far avoided responsibility for repairing the culvert while the neighbors and their insurers continue to seek a solution. 

If LBNL is allowed to pave a valley which is part of Strawberry Creek’s drainage, and remove trees and carve away a hillside next to the creek, what will happen when the rains come? Answer: The water that would have been held by the soil in the valley and the trees on the hillside will hurtle down into Berkeley, hastening the collapse of the culvert, deepening the creek bed and undercutting the urban infrastructure along its course. And the water will be burdened with more dirt and more contaminants, making it a threat to humans, animals and birds. 

It is ironic that at the same time that citizens of Berkeley have been organizing to improve and restore the creeks that flow through the city, LBNL has been planning to literally wash out these efforts by destroying a part of the drainage basin upstream.  

Jane Eiseley 

• 

CONSIDER ENVIRONMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am concerned about the recent proposal by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) to create a parking lot by completely filling in a beautiful wildlife corridor valley with live oaks and an active creek with 2,000 truckloads of earth from the excavation of another site. The proposal for this variance is part of an old long-range building plan, not the current plan that is under way.  

There are, some LBNL employees suggest, other sites that could be used for the office building—if they can be cleaned up. However, it is possible that they may be so contaminated that it would be safer to let them decay in place rather than remove them.  

I think any proposal from LBNL should consider the whole range of planned construction. It should also evaluate the impact on wildlife in the corridor and establish whether it is safe to continue construction on this site in a landslide area with limited access near an earthquake fault. 

Kathy Sawyer 

Oakland 

• 

HYPOCRITES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Where are those Republicans who demanded Bill Clinton’s impeachment because he lied? His lies were about a personal indiscretion that hurt no one but  

his own family. Bush’s lies have caused the deaths of over 6,000 people, with American lives still being lost every day, and no exit strategy in sight.  

Billions and billions of our hard-earned, tax-payer dollars are being wasted because Bush swore to the American people and to the United Nations that the threat of weapons of mass destruction was imminent in Iraq. Those Republicans who defend Bush now should be exposed as shameful hypocrites and accessories to the crimes of the Bush administration. 

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont 

• 

STICK TO FACTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I didn’t care for the tone of Becky O’Malley’s July 8 editorial “Four Myths About Berkeley.” When is Berkeley’s civic discourse going to rise above rabble-rousing sarcasm and rash exaggeration and pay some attention to actual facts? 

For example, take Myth 1. Yes, Berkeley was once a suburban place, and when it was a new suburb, just as elsewhere in California, the new development process was heavily influenced by profit-taking on the part of land owners and speculators. That’s a one-time situation. We’re built now, there are no farmers left who can cash out and retire rich. Now Berkeley is an old suburb, and like all the other old suburbs in California and elsewhere, it is left with the problems of finding its soul and maintaining its infrastructure. 

And no, the 1970’s Traffic Management Plan did not transform the “urban grid pattern” into “quiet cul-de-sacs served by fast through streets which move autos around quickly.” What it did was to raise NIMBYism to an art form and balkanize the city. Like most after-the-fact redesign efforts, it took something that wasn’t working and made a mess of it. In the modern suburbs, those fast through streets are routed past back yards and lined with high, sound-deadening walls that also do a good job of keeping children and pets away from the traffic. In Berkeley, they were created out of built-up residential streets, and that’s what they still are, with heavy traffic running past people’s front yards with no protection whatever. Where they work as fast through streets, the fast traffic is detrimental to the life of the neighborhood; when they don’t, the congestion is just as bad for the neighborhood, plus it’s miserable for the travelers. 

As much as anything, I think that Berkeley needs more simple civility. We need street travelers—drivers, bicyclists, skateboarders, pedestrians, wheelchair users—to always remember that their obituaries aren’t going to include their personal best time to get across town. We need planning advocates and city commissioners who understand that nobody has all the answers, but anyone may have some of them. We need discussions where people listen and learn, and when the right answer is “no,” acknowledge the fact and sit down. We need to remember not to defend high-flown theories to the death and instead try to act pragmatically. 

And, we need responsible local journalism that promotes discourse rather than deadlock. Is that the Daily Planet? 

David A. Coolidge 

• 

OFF THE MARK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

“Four Myths About Berkeley,” (July 8-10 edition) is so divorced from reality in one of its arguments that it calls into question the logic and thrust of the entire editorial. 

I refer to the rant about Berkeley’s allegedly limited culture, which Ms. O’Malley compares to that of Lubbock. The same issue that featured Ms. O’Malley’s imperious but wacky conclusion also contained a full page Arts Calendar and a four-page section devoted to local authors as well as an impressive list of Berkeley’s book sellers.  

These items alone reflect Berkeley’s vibrant civil society and active artistic life, and they contradict Ms. O’Malley’s dismissal of this city’s culture. She is so off the mark that she makes suspect her argumentation on other issues. 

Stanley Lubman 

• 

HOUSING MANAGEMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

On this coming Tuesday’s Consent Calendar, the City Council as Housing Authority is being asked to approve a contract which will turn management of the city’s 75 public housing units over to Affordable Housing Associates (AHA) for the whopping sum of $425,000 per year. 

This amounts to nearly $475 per unit per month and covers simple, routine maintenance, finding tenants for vacant units, monitoring leases and “maintaining positive relations with the tenants and the Public Housing Resident Council.” In a letter to the Housing Authority just last month, the Resident Council protested the shifting of management duties “to a company [AHA] that has proven to be less than desirable.” They also point out the inferior workmanship and lack of accountability for maintenance that AHA has done in the past on the public housing units. 

The Resident Council is a HUD-mandated board elected by the public housing residents to “be actively involved in HA’s decision-making process and give advice on matters such as modernization, security, maintenance, resident screening and selection,” and HUD strongly supports and encourages resident management of public housing. Berkeley’s Resident Council has shown its commitment and desire to work with the Housing Authority on management issues. To this end, they have applied for and been granted nonprofit status. The city manager has stated that “any input into changes concerning public housing operations shall be made only through the officially recognized Resident Council,” but their protests about 

transferring the management to AHA have gone unheard. 

I’m not sure how the city advertised this request for a property manager, but I’m sure that somewhere in Berkeley there is a property management team willing to work with the residents on the management of these units for a lot less money, and HUD supports such partnerships as long as the Resident Council remains the governing power of the partnership. Transferring the management to AHA or any entity which is not subject to public input or comment and which has no accountability may seem like an easy way to remove the Housing Authority’s administrative responsibilities, but it also removes any hope that the residents have for the dignity and respect that comes from self-determination. 

Rhiannon 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Reportage of rental housing news is always useful and of particular interest to disabled persons, working women (a term less obscene than working mother), families and senior citizens. May I add to the recent series a few related facts: 

1—The term “studio,” bottom line, is a euphemism for a room, usually with bath and food preparation provision. Indeed, it can be quite a small room. 

2—Section Eight, bless its heart, is the federal government provision for low-income persons to pay one-third of their income (e.g. wages, pension) while the feds subsidize the balance. Utilities in senior projects are included and seniors’ medical expenses are first deducted in computing rent he pays. 

3—At present there are many needy and worthy persons and families waiting to receive a chance at a Section Eight voucher. The next voucher lottery may not be held for two years (per housing director, July 8, 2003, City Council). Meantime, the Berkeley Housing Authority’s vouchers are gradually being dribbled away to project developer-managers (see, for example, July 15, 2003, and past agendas). 

4—The Berkeley Rent Board’s main function is rent stabilization. However, it also provides renters with some regulatory protections, only a few of which apply to Section Eight renters and the owners-managers of Section Eight buildings, projects, units. 

5—Senior citizen renters in Section Eight projects (and other senior  

housing) should be vigilant in resisting the controlling intrusive “senior home mentality,” which landlords and their quasi-professional staffs may wish to impose. 

Helen Rippier Wheeler

TUESDAY, JULY 15 

FILM 

Sarunas Bartas: “Few of Us” at 7:30 p.m at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tom Stone recounts his misadventures in “The Summer of My Greek Taverna,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Stephen Hall talks about difficult questions in “Merchants of Immortality: Chasing the Dream of Human Life Extension,“ at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Kurt Popke, Sue Owens Wright and Kathleen Antrim present their new suspense and mystery books at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

Berkeley Summer Poetry 7 to 9 p.m. at the Mediterranean Café, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 549-1128. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Cena de Despedida, a fare- 

well dinner for La Peña founder Hugo Brenni, with Chilean folk music, from 6 to 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. For reservations call 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Tom Rigney and Flambeau perform traditional Cajun and zydeco two-steps and waltzes at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Diana Castillo at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Smog and Joanna Newsom perform at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

The Dayna Stephens House Jam at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. 649-8744.  

www.thejazzhouse.org 

Duncan James, solo guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 16 

FILM 

Excess of Evil: “Incubus” at 7:30 p.m., with Producer An- 

thony M. Taylor in person, at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disa- 

bled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Gail Tsukiyama reads from “Dreaming Water” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Christopher M. Sterba discusses his new book, “Good Americans: Italian and Jewish Immigrants in the First World War,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam Battle of the Bay with host Charles Ellik at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

Roger Mitchell introduces his new series of books, “SUV Trails,” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

Tongues United open mic hosted by Brownfist Collective at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

An Evening with Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary at 7:30 p.m. at Downtown Oakland Unitarian Church, 685 14th St. near MLK. Concert and reception benefits One Heart for Kids, Streetcats Foundation and Teen-Anon. Tickets for this solo concert are limited. Student advance tickets are $14, regular advance tickets $19.50, special advance reception and concert tickets are $40. For ticket information email oneheartforkids@yahoo.com or call 464-4677.  

Brenda Boykin and Big Soul Country perform blues and jazz for West Coast swing at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jack Williams, folk fusion, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. 

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jules Broussard and Ned Boynton at 8 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

Growth of Alliance, Gorilla Math, Stiletta and KOI perform at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

THURSDAY, JULY 17 

FILM 

Aki Kaurismäki: “Juha” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808.  

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Kavita Daswani draws on her multi-cultural life in India and the United States in her first novel, “For Matrimonial Pur- 

poses,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Nicholas Howe, Professor of English at UC Berkeley, reads from his new book, “Across an Inland Sea: Writing in Place from Buffalo to Berlin,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Noon Concert with Los Soneros de la Bahia, traditional Mexican music and dance, at the Berkeley BART Station. Seating available. Sponsored by the Downtown Berkeley Association. 549-2230. 

Jamie Laval, celtic fiddler, performs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Landmark Music CD Listening Party, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Jupiter, 2181 Shattuck Ave.  

Ian Moore, Steve Turner and Marc Olsen perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $12. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

Keni el Lebrijano Flamenco Guitar at 8 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

FRIDAY, JULY 18 

CHILDREN 

Farm Friends Storytime at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

FILM 

“Down by Law” with Tom Waits in a noir comedy, directed by Jim Jarmusch, at 8:30 p.m. at the Long Haul, a reading room, library and community center in South Berkeley at 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. Free. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Restoration Pleasures: “La Maison du Mystère” Episodes 1-3 at 7:30 p.m., with Joel Adlen on piano, at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash at Cody’s with Alicia Suskin Ostriker and Jenny Factor at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Early Music Concert with period instruments. Works by J.S. Bach including the rarely performed Cantata BWV 210, “O, holder Tag, erwünsche Zeit.” This cantata will be performed by the Cordelia Ensemble directed by Trevor Stephenson. Isabelle Metwalli, soprano and Trevor Stephenson, harpsicord. At 8 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 5201 Park Blvd., Oakland. Suggested donation $10. 547-7974. 

Earl Zero, Soul Majestic and Prince Rastan present a night of classic Roots Reggae at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Quijerema, new Latin Ameri- 

cana music at 8 p.m., at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

www.lapena.org 

Norton Buffalo, harmonica and acoustic trio, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mark Hummel Quartet, harmonica virtuoso, performs at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10-$15. 845-5373.  

www.jazzschool.com 

Adrian’s Music Salon, with the Alexis Harte band and special guest Katherine Chase, perform folk and pop at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Suggested donation is $6 to $10 sliding scale. 649-8744.  

www.thejazzhouse.org 

Majority Rule, Del Cielo, Dear Diary I Seem to be Dead, Promise, and Takaru perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5, $1 if wearing prom clothes! 525-9926. 

Paul Cebar and the Milwaukeeans and Amelia perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Michael Bluestein Trio at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

Double Felix, BRAY, and Human Z perform at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886.  

www.blakesontelegraph.com 

SATURDAY, JULY 19 

CHILDREN 

Kids on the Block Puppet Show, promoting acceptance and understanding of physical and cultural differences at 2 p.m. at the Hall of Health, 2230 Shattuck Ave., lower level. Sug- 

gested donation $3. Children under 3 free. 549-1564. 

Folktales and Crafts at 11 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

FILM 

Restoration Pleasures: “La Maison du Mystère” Episodes 4-7 at 7:30 p.m., with Joel Adlen on piano, at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Arts Center Poetry Ensemble presents a Poetry Reading featuring James Schevill with Luis Garcia and Richard Denner. Reception and refreshments at 6:30 p.m., readings at 7 p.m., at the Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893. 

Poetry Flash at Cody’s with Joseph Di Prisco and Brian Young at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

African Drum Workshop with Wade Peterson. Beginners from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., experienced from 12:30 to 2 p.m., at The Jazz House. Cost is $15-$25, and advanced registration is encouraged. 533-5111.  

Elvis Costello and the Imposters at 8 p.m. at the Greek Theatre. 642-0212. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

Emeryville Taiko and Zan- 

Zylum Jazz Group at 8 p.m. at the Emeryville Taiko Dojo, 1601A 63rd St. Cost is $10. 655-6392. 

José Roberto Hernández presents Fiesta y Color de Latinoamérica at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

City Folk, contemporary folk trio, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Rube Waddell and Go Van Gogh perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

Jolie Holland, Sean Hayes, and Sam Edson, perform American country folk at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Suggested donation is $6 to $10 sliding scale. 649-8744.  

www.thejazzhouse.org 

Coto and Friends perform jazz and Afro-Cuban music at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Tickets are $10-$12. 845-5373.  

www.jazzschool.com 

Faraway Brothers, P-Funk Allstars, Dr. Masseuse, and The Spindles perform at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0866. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Native Elements, Warsaw Poland Brothers and Shrinkage at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Spencer Day at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

Born/Dead, Conga Fury, Chainsaw, Voetsek, Case of Emergency, Doppelganger perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JULY 20 

FILM 

“Animal Crackers,” filmed and produced by Berkeley artist Kamala Appel, explores the factual and fantasy lives of Bay Area wildlife. Premieres at 3 p.m. at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $5 at the door. For more information go to www.picturepubpizza.com 

Restoration Pleasures: “Sunrise” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Guided Tour of “Paul Kos: Everything Matters” at 2 p.m. at The Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu  

Zadie Smith introduces her new novel, “The Autograph Man,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

www.codysbooks.com 

Robert A. Rosenstone reads from “King of Odessa: A Novel of Isaac Babel,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Cafe Belle: Open Stage Bellydance, featuring dancers from several Bay Area companies and schools, at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. Fundraiser for Women’s Refuge of Berkeley for survivors of domestic violence. 525-5054.  

www.ashkenaz.com 

Sally Light, lyric soprano, in a benefit concert for the Mordechai Vanunu Campaign, at 3 p.m. at the Unitarian Fellowship Hall, corner of Cedar and Bonita. $10-$20 donation requested. 548-3048. 

Dan Joseph and John Ingle Duo, plus Christopher Williams, perform as part of the ACME Contemporary Composer’s Series at 8:15 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donations accepted. 649-8744.  

www.thejazzhouse.org 

Echo, Realistic perform at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Three Guitars, with Steve Erquiaga, Mimi Fox and Brian Pardo perform at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Faruk and Ali Sinan Erdemesel with Husmu Tusuz, Turkish Sufi and Gypsy music at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-176.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

MONDAY, JULY 21 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Cynthia Lee, Professor of Law at George Washington University, will discuss “Murder and the Reasonable Man: Passion and Fear in the Criminal Courtroom,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

James Gleick discusses his biography, “Isaac Newton,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Great Books Group meets at 7 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

Poetry Express, featuring Nathan from Berkeley Poetry Slam, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Shaman Trance Dance with DJ Amar and Isis Rising at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

AT THE THEATER 

Aurora Theater Company, “Thérèse Raquin,” by Emile Zola, directed by Tom Ross. A sinister tale set among the  

lower classes in nineteenth- 

century Parisian society. Runs through July 27, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $32 and $34. 843-4822.  

www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Opera, “Faust,” by Gounod, Jonathan Khuner music director, Ann Woodhead, stage director. July 18, 19, 25, and 26 at 8 p.m., July 20 and 27 at 2 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $38 adults, $33 seniors, $16 children, $10 students and are available from 925-798-1300. 

www.juliamorgan.org 

California Shakespeare Festival runs through October 22. Performances this year will be Julius Caesar, Arms and the Man, Measure for Measure, and Much Ado About Nothing. Please call for dates and times. The Bruns Amphitheater, Orinda. 548-9666.  

www.calshakes.org  

Central Works Theater Ensemble, “The Wyrd Sisters” directed by Jan Zvaifler. Through July 27, Thurs. - Sat. at 8 p.m. and Sun. at 5 p.m. No performance July 24. At the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $8-$20 sliding scale. For reservations call 558-1381. 

foolsFury, “Attempts on her Life,” by Martin Crimp, directed by Ben Yalom, July 18 and 19 at 8 p.m. at LaVal’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid at Hearst. Tickets are $20 general, $15 students, seniors. 1-866- 

GOT-FURY.  

www.foolsfury.org 

Woman’s Will Shakespeare Company, “The Rover,” a restoration comedy by Aphra Behn. July 19 and 20 in Live Oak Park. All performances are at 1 p.m. and are free. 420-0813.  

www.womanswill.org 

The San Francisco Bay Trail now stretches through Berkeley, completing the north-south connection between Albany and Emeryville. 

The newest addition to the Bay Trail is part of a plan to link the entire Bay Area waterfront, connecting 47 cities in nine counties around the Bay. 

In the East Bay, the trail is part of the Eastshore State Park. The new section forms part of an 8.5-mile walkway that passes through Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito and Richmond. 

On Monday afternoon, various bikers, joggers and skaters made their way along the new trail hugging the Berkeley coastline. John Wotkyns was one of them. He skated along the trail enjoying the mix of the warm afternoon and the bay breeze. He said he has already become a fan of the local portion of the Bay Trail. 

“I love it,” he said, pausing a moment during his afternoon jaunt. “It's a great addition. I'm very happy with it." 

Citizens for the Eastshore State Park, the City of Berkeley, and Bay Trail officials will hold a ceremony marking the opening of the new section of the trail on Saturday. The opening, which will be held at 11 a.m. at the southwest corner of University Avenue and West Frontage Road, will feature guided tours of the trail for all interested community members. 

The new section of the trail, which stretches from University Avenue to Ashby Avenue along the Bay, was completed late last month after two years of work by the City of Berkeley, the East Bay Regional Park District, the Eastshore State Park, and the California State Coastal Conservancy, as well as several advocacy organizations. The $4 million project was funded by the city with help from a federally aided California Department of Transportation grant. 

“Berkeley residents and visitors alike will benefit from the improved access to our waterfront and new recreational opportunities,” said City Manager Weldon Rucker. 

Though Saturday’s ceremony will mark the official opening of the trail, Berkeley residents have been using the new scenic path since its completion. The trail is designed primarily for pedestrians and bicycles, and sections of the path completed earlier — including those in Albany and Richmond — have been favorite sports for roller bladers, joggers and dog-walkers.  

In addition to being a recreational area, city and park officials hope the new section of the Bay Trail will aid those traveling from place to place by bike or on foot. In a press release, Lisa Caronna, the city’s director of parks, recreation and waterfront, said that the path would enhance safe access to the bay and offer alternatives to traveling by car. 

The Berkeley section of the trail connects to another recent waterfront project as well: the Bicycle-Pedestrian bridge that stretches over Interstate 80. A key feature of the new section of Bay Trail is its connection to that bridge, which will allow easy access from the Berkeley Aquatic Park to the waterfront. 

Scam artists placed two fraudulent advertisements in the Berkeley Daily Planet in late June and early July in an apparent bid to bilk readers out of money or personal financial information, said Daily Planet publisher Michael O’Malley. 

The ads used the names of two legitimate lending companies—E-LOAN, based in Dublin, Calif., and Nexity Bank, based in Birmingham, Ala.— but provided false phone numbers. 

The appearance of the ads has raised questions about the Daily Planet’s advertising policies and concerns about what might happen to readers who provided a credit card number, a social security number or other sensitive information to the alleged con artists. 

“Whatever private financial information they gave to people is probably either being used or sold to a thief,” said Gail Hillebrand, senior attorney with the Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports. 

Hillebrand said the paper should have known something was awry when the advertisers, identifying themselves as Greg Lee in the case of the false Nexity ad and Peter Grange in the case of the fake E-LOAN ad, used credit cards with other peoples’ names to buy the advertising space.  

O’Malley, who later discovered that the ads had been purchased with stolen credit card numbers, apologized for the fraudulent ads. But the publisher, who bought the paper from Big Foot Media in December, a month after it closed in the face of poor advertising revenue, said it would have been difficult to detect the fraud given that the alleged scam artists used the names of legitimate companies.  

O’Malley, who owns the paper with his wife, executive editor Becky O’Malley, also addressed concerns that the incident will shake reader or advertiser confidence in the newly reborn paper, which began publication in April. 

The decision to publish a story on the fraud, O’Malley said, “certainly indicates that we take this seriously.” He also pledged that the newspaper will be more vigilant in checking the legitimacy of the ads it runs in the future. 

“We’re going to be a lot more suspicious,” O’Malley said. 

The fake E-LOAN ad ran from June 13 to July 8 in the Daily Planet and the false Nexity ad ran from June 27 to July 8. Both were large ads that appeared in the classified section in the back of the tabloid-style paper. The Daily Planet notified the Berkeley Police Department and pulled the ads last week when it discovered the fraud, which cost the paper $1,530 in advertising space. 

O’Malley said he discovered last week that a similar fraudulent ad ran last fall when the Daily Planet was under different ownership. 

Cindy Russo, senior vice president of operations for Nexity Bank, said fraudulent ads using the bank’s name have appeared in a series of small newspapers in 10 to 15 states across the country, including California, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia since June. 

“These guys are well-organized,” she said. 

Russo said the con artists have stripped the company’s logo from its Web site and used her name and that of Nexity CEO Greg Lee to place the fraudulent pitches. She said Nexity has traced the two toll-free numbers listed in the fake ads to a pair of cell phones in Canada but that the two phone companies which operate the phones, Sprint Canada and Bell Canada, have declined to shut them off without a court order. 

Nexity, in the meantime, has contacted the FBI and Royal Canadian Police, among other agencies, but have seen little progress in the case. 

“Law enforcement up there is not real helpful,” she said, referring to Canadian authorities. “No one is being physically hurt, so it’s off the radar screen.” 

The FBI and Royal Canadian Police did not return calls for comment. But Rolando Berrelez, assistant director for the Federal Trade Commission’s midwest regional office in Chicago, Illinois, said con artists often set up shop in Canada or other foreign countries to evade law enforcement and cut costs. 

Russo said the con artists have been promising loans to callers, requesting two monthly payments through the Western Union courier company and then disappearing. She said she did not have any knowledge of widespread identity theft by the con artists, but noted that they have been paying for newspaper ads with stolen credit card information. 

The Daily Planet discovered that the Nexity ad in its paper was fraudulent when Ronda Gieryn, a business manager from Waltham, Mass., called last week to report that she had received a credit card bill for $2,400 worth of advertising services that she had not requested, O’Malley said. 

The fake E-LOAN ad was also purchased with a stolen credit card, O’Malley said. 

E-LOAN spokesperson Tiffany Kelley declined to discuss the case and E-LOAN attorneys did not return calls for comment. 

“This matter is under investigation and therefore we can’t comment on it,” Kelley said. 

One of the two numbers listed in the fake E-LOAN ad had a Canadian area code, from the Ottawa area, suggesting another scam based north of the border. 

Calls to the fake E-LOAN numbers listed on the Daily Planet ad turned up a voice mail message telling callers they had reached “E-LOANS” and asking them to leave a name and phone number. 

A call to one of the fake numbers listed on the Nexity Bank ad was answered by a man claiming to be Greg Lee — matching the name of Nexity’s actual CEO. But the man said he was a “third party consultant” who would accept loan applications and forward them to Nexity and other financial institutions. He said he would require an applicant’s name, address, social security number and other basic information to procure a loan. 

Jim Ewart, legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, said newspapers fall victim to all sorts of false advertising. While they face no legal liability, he said, newspapers can face a blow to their reputations. 

“They find themselves in the worst possible position because they want to protect their readers and their credibility,” he said. 

The Daily Planet is not the only local newspaper to run fake ads using the names of real financial institutions. Advertising account representative Fernando Laughlin of the East Bay Express said he ran a fraudulent Bank One ad for four weeks in May. Joyce Garmon, who heads the classified advertising department at the Oakland Tribune added that her newspaper ran a fraudulent Capitol One pitch several months ago. 

“It’s pretty prevalent,” said Garmon, noting that she has come across the scam many times in her 20 years in the newspaper business. 

Laughlin said the Express has begun asking for photocopies of the front and back of driver’s licenses and credit cards before processing a sale. The system, he said, prevented the weekly newspaper from running a Nexity Bank ad in June. 

But Laughlin said one problem is that sales representatives, working on commission, find it difficult to turn down lucrative ads proffered by scam artists who send mass faxes attempting to place costly, long-term ads. 

“Any sales rep who gets a fax like that is doing backflips,” he said. 

Steve Blackledge, legislative director of the California Public Interest Group said his organization’s research shows that the average victim of identity theft spends $1,000 and 175 hours clearing his name. 

“Newspapers need to make sure they are running advertisements from legitimate companies,” he said. 

Hillebrand said any readers who fell victim to the fake ads should change bank accounts if they provided account numbers, obtain a credit report to see if their credit cards have been misused and place a fraud alert on their credit reports. With a fraud alert in place, readers will receive a telephone call anytime there are attempts to open new lines of credit using their personal information.

Pro-affirmative action groups cried tears of joy when the Supreme Court upheld diversity as a compelling state interest, and there was a collective sigh of relief signifying that all those years of appeals, debates and rallies on frosty Michigan winter days had come to a glorious end. But it may not be over yet. Ward Connerly is back. 

For Connerly, today is 1978 all over again. Bakke upheld affirmative action, but the maverick dissenting California regent created a grassroots movement for a state ballot initiative to ban race-based admissions in all California schools. The question got on the ballot, and the people voted against affirmative action. 

Connerly’s Sacramento-based American Civil Rights Coalition can appear to be a segregationist juggernaut with its proven record of being unfazed with the Bakke decision and ultimately killing the only successful integration system the University of California ever had. 

“The Court may have allowed racial preferences with their decision, but they did not mandate them,” Connerly said when he announced his plan to begin a signature drive in Michigan. “The people still rule in this country, not robed justices.” 

But while he has a big victory under its belt, must pro-affirmative action and progressive groups worry that history will repeat itself, leaving the Grutter decision as a dead letter? Will Ward Connerly have his way? The situation is much different now for Connerly than it was over two decades ago. It’s 2003 and it’s Michigan, not California, where the political landscape is, as some have put it, bi-polar. 

The Michigan Republican Party is uninterested in helping Connerly’s effort. “We don’t think it’s valuable to keep stirring the pot on this issue,” Greg McNeilly, spokesman for the Michigan Republican Party told the Detroit News. “Public policy should be focused on healing the racial divide, and that’s not something accomplished by Mr. Connerly’s initiative.” 

Michigan Republicans walk a fine line. Because the state is equally divided between right and left, an alienation of minority voters would cost Bush 18 electoral votes in 2004, which could very well hand the Democratic candidate a presidential victory. 

And corporate America, another necessary ally, will probably not get involved. Though big business has always found themselves aligned with conservative financial interests, dozens of Fortune 500 companies filed friend-of-the-court briefs in favor of Michigan’s policies citing a need for a diverse work force. Therefore, it seems unlikely Connerly will woo many corporate firms into his movement. 

Then there’s another problem Connerly faces: those pesky activists. Shanta Driver, the spokesperson for the student interveners in both Grutter and Gratz, said, “Acting now is the key to victory. We can defeat Ward Connerly’s anti-affirmative action ballot proposition before it ever gets off the ground, but only if we act decisively now. Any business, institution, or individual that funds the attack on civil rights will face a consumer boycott and pickets organized by the youth of the new civil rights movement.” 

Is this something Connerly and the ACRC should take seriously? Can student activists really get in his way? 

Yes, in fact, two student groups at the University of Michigan—Students Supporting Affirmative Action and the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary—were instrumental in bringing thousands of students to rally outside the Supreme Court and bringing the issue to the forefront of campus debate for as long as the cases have been going through the appeals process. 

If there is one thing Michigan student activists are not known for, it’s being quiet. So if Connerly wants to go through with this, he’s not going to go without a fight.  

Connerly, once the champion of social conservatives, finds himself friendless in the contemporary affirmative action affair. Perhaps his 15 minutes of political fame are over, sealed with a protest in Ann Arbor this week and Dear John letter from the GOP. 

The possibility for a state ballot initiative banning affirmative action in Michigan is very real, but at this point in time, it’s a pipe dream.  

Ari Paul is a freelance writer based in Ann Arbor, Mich.

City Council will weigh an emergency loan for eight Berkeley child care programs Tuesday night, vote on changes in the city’s rental housing safety program and consider taking the first steps toward an ordinance prohibiting the “unauthorized removal” of free newspapers. 

The push for an ordinance has its roots in Mayor Tom Bates’ theft of about 1,000 copies of the Daily Californian, UC Berkeley’s student newspaper, the day before the Nov. 5 mayoral election. The publication had endorsed Bates’ opponent, then-mayor Shirley Dean. 

Bates admitted to stealing the papers in December, apologized, plead guilty to petty theft and paid a $100 fine. The mayor also pledged to speak about the incident in the Berkeley schools and said he would push for a local ordinance outlawing the practice. 

City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque has raised doubts about the validity of a Berkeley law on the issue. 

“I had explained to the mayor that if he had been prosecuted under the state theft statute, that would suggest it was already a crime under state law and generally it is illegal for local government to write a criminal statute that duplicates state law,” Albuquerque said. 

The city attorney referred Bates to the Alameda County District Attorney’s office which told the mayor it would not make a determination until after the passage of an ordinance. 

Bates had indicated that he will ask City Council Tuesday to provide City Manager Weldon Rucker with a copy of a San Francisco ordinance stating, in part, that the “unauthorized removal” of free newspapers infringes on “the public’s right to express and exchange diverse ideas and opinions.” The San Francisco ordinance would serve as a guide in the development of a similar Berkeley measure. 

The mayor’s office, in an emergency measure inserted Friday, is also calling for Rucker to work with eight local child care programs that face delays in state funding for low-income children as a result of the budget stalemate in Sacramento. 

Julie Sinai, senior aide to Bates, said the city is considering emergency bridge loans or advances on municipal grants to the programs — six of which are actual child care centers and two of which provide vouchers for low-income kids. Sinai said the delays will affect funding for 288 Berkeley children. 

“The anxiety level of my staff, the parents, the children...it’s a total disruption,” said Beatriz Leyva-Cutler, executive director of Bay Area Hispanic Institute for Advancement, or BAHIA, which operates two of the affected child care centers, serving 135 children. She said the impact of the delay has been powerful. “If the city comes through with this loan for us, that would certainly be our saving grace.” 

Leyva-Cutler said the institute would normally receive a quarterly payment of $151,000 from the state in early July, part of a $474,000 annual payment. Without the funding in place, the center is refinancing one of its buildings, drawing on parent donations of food and even staging a car wash to raise cash. 

“It would simply be unconscionable to allow hundreds of children to suddenly lose their child care,” said Bates, in a statement. “Parents would have to miss work, employees would be laid off, and children would be left home alone.” 

City Council will also consider a pair of changes to its rental housing safety program. The program, approved in August 2001 after a rash of devastating house fires, has three basic components — educating tenants and owners on safety issues, annual certification by owners that their units meet safety requirements, and periodic city inspections of apartments. 

Last week, the city’s housing staff presented the council with a change in the certification provision. Property owners who find no safety violations, under the new policy, would no longer have to certify the safety of their units to the city. Council, which voted 7-2 to accept a “first reading” of the new measure last week, will vote on final approval Tuesday. 

Zoning Adjustments Board member Andy Katz, who helped create the rental housing safety program in 2001, said the change would eliminate an important safeguard for tenants. 

“Before, landlords were affirming under penalty of perjury that the unit was safe to live in,” he said. 

But Berkeley housing director Steve Barton said the requirement has created reams of paper work that keeps the program’s small staff from conducting the more important work of inspections. 

City Council will also consider reducing the fees that property owners must pay to subsidize the program. Landlords reacted strongly to a new fee structure put in place in May that shifted the financial burden for the program from the city to property owners. 

Council is also expected to approve a $50,000 study of the monetary value of the police, fire, sewer and other services it provides for UC Berkeley. Under a 15-year agreement that expires in 2005, the university pays the city about $500,000 annually for those services, a figure that Rucker’s chief of staff Arrietta Chakos has labeled “woefully inadequate.”  

The study, to be conducted by Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. in Berkeley, would provide the city with data to use in negotiations on a new 15-year deal to expire in 2020.

Gunshots disrupt party 

Gunshots broke up a large southwest Berkeley party early Saturday morning, but did not appear to injure anyone, police said. 

Police received a flurry of 911 calls after gunshots broke out at about 2:04 a.m. at a party on the 1400 block of Fairview Street, according to Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Officer Mary Kusmiss. 

“Neighbors told police that they heard some commotion and yelling and possible bottles breaking and then heard pops, or loud bangs,” Kusmiss said. 

Fourteen police officers responded to the call and many fled the party as police arrived. While none of the witnesses who spoke to police saw the shootings, several indicated that a group of Asian men in their early-20s in a compact, gray or light-colored car may have fired the shots, according to police. 

Two of the officers on the scene found about six shell casings from a “larger caliber semi-automatic weapon” on the block, Kusmiss said. 

The case is still under investigation and there are no confirmed victims of the shooting. Kusmiss said investigators are reasonably certain that the shooting was unconnected to the apparent border feud between drug dealers in North Oakland and South Berkeley that erupted in mid-June but has been quiet for the last three weeks. 

Kusmiss said the description of the alleged shooters, as well as other factors she would not name because they might jeopardize the investigation, led to the conclusion that the party shooting was unrelated. 

Alleged burglar arrested 

A 23 year-old Alameda man was arrested Sunday evening on suspicion of two “hot prowl” burglaries in Berkeley, police said. 

A hot prowl burglary, in police lingo, is a burglary that takes place when the victim is at home. 

A 28 year-old Berkeley man entered his home on the 2400 block of Blake Street at about 6:42 p.m. and found a man walking down the stairs with a backpack in his hands and two sets of headphones around his neck. 

The resident told the thief to drop the backpack, which he did, dashing out the front door shortly thereafter, Kusmiss said. When a police officer arrived to take a report from the resident, he heard talk on police radio of another hot prowl burglary at 7:10 p.m. 

A 30 year-old woman on the 2300 block of Ellsworth Street said she grew concerned when she heard her dog Wendel barking in her bedroom. 

When she went to quiet her dog, she found a window open, a screen removed and a chair on the ground outside, next to the window, according to police. When Wendel continued to bark in the direction of the bed, she suspected that a thief might be in the area and yelled for him to leave. 

“All of a sudden, she saw a male suspect jump over her bed, as he had apparently been hiding behind it,” Kusmiss said. 

The resident grabbed the front of the suspect’s shirt and tussled with him, but he broke free and escaped through the front door. 

A patrol lieutenant later found a man who fit the description of the burglar in People’s Park, and the two victims positively identified 23 year-old Billy Ray Jennings. 

Jennings was booked for two counts of burglary and a parole violation. 

“Good work by those astute residents,” said Kusmiss. “And thanks to the dog.”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been trying to silence Berkeley’s pirate radio broadcasters for 10 years. The broadcasters continue to broadcast, but they say it’s getting harder. 

“[The FCC] is starting to pick on people who have property, who have something to lose,” said labor activist Michael Delacour, who quit Berkeley Liberation Radio (104.1 FM) last year after being threatened by the FCC with a fine of up to $100,000. 

“I was afraid they were threatening my retirement,” said Delacour, 65, who receives a pension from the Boilermakers’ Union. 

A current broadcaster—“Captain Fred”—said the ranks of Berkeley Liberation Radio have thinned and that some local pirate stations—such as Queer Kids Radio and Vulcan Radio, an anarchist music station—went off the air entirely after getting an FCC letter. 

“Typically, what happens is they get a letter called a notice of liability and a letter threatening dire consequences if they don’t go off the air,” Captain Fred said. Another broadcaster—“DJ Advocacy”—added: “Usually, for most people, that’s all the warning they need.” 

DJ Advocacy said broadcasters use pseudonyms because, “Basically, the FCC doesn’t know who we are. They didn’t know where to send the letter to, so they sent it to Delacour.” 

The May 6, 2002, letter to Delacour, five-time Peace and Freedom Party candidate for mayor and Berkeley’s best known usual suspect, reads: 

“[The FCC] has received complaints from residents ... concerning interference to reception of FM broadcast signals ... investigation revealed that you lease space at Skyline Studios ... and that that space is used by the illegal radio station known as Berkeley Liberation Radio ... You are hereby officially advised that operation of radio transmitting equipment without a valid license ... may subject the operator to penalties of a maximum criminal fine of $100,000 and/or one-year imprisonment, a civil forfeiture up to $11,000 or seizure of the equipment for the first offense.” 

When shown the letter, the Berkeley civil liberties lawyer David Beauvais said, “They’re intending to chill people out with it. That’s the point.” 

The radio station is breaking the law, he said, and the FCC is enforcing it. “It’s a civil disobedience kind of thing, and when you do civil disobedience, you’ve got to take your lumps,” Beauvais said. 

The FCC made good on its “seizure of the equipment” threat Dec. 11, storming the Berkeley Liberation Radio station at 2427 Telegraph Ave. at 55 Street. The pirate station now operates in another location. 

The station has no paid employees and costs $600 a month for rent and $20 for a phone, according to Captain Fred. 

What is broadcast is virtually anything. Berkeley pirate broadcasters have aired a Marxist interpretation of the news, regular readings of articles from the local newspapers, shows on animal rights, parenting, bicycle liberation and the experiences of gay Afro-Americans, articles by adult film actress Nina Hartley, programs by the Peace and Freedom Party and the Libertarian Party, and an on-air appearance by then-Mayor Shirley Dean. 

A lot of it is for enjoyment, Delacour said. “It’s a form of therapy. You can sit in a room and talk for a couple of hours without anyone interrupting. You can be the disc jockey you always dreamed of since you were a kid.” 

Tony McNair, a Berkeley homeless activist, was alone in the one-room station at 11 a.m., broadcasting the tape of a San Francisco anti-war rally. He said about a dozen men in blue jackets with FCC or U.S. Marshall written on them, came in carrying sledge hammers and a battering ram. 

“They yanked me out by the shirt and slammed me up against the wall and held guns pointed at my head,” McNair said. “They kept saying, ‘Who are the leaders? Who are the leaders?’” 

McNair said the raiding party turned off the station and removed all the equipment, including a computer and its records. He was let go an hour later, after an Oakland policeman ran a warrant check on him, he said. 

The station, though, was back on the air in four days and continues to broadcast. 

It now costs about $1,000 to fully equip a micropower station and the cost is about to plunge again, according to Free Radio Berkeley founder Stephen Dunifer. 

Barred by federal court order from broadcasting, Dunifer is collaborating with other transmitter engineers throughout the country to find ways to reduce equipment costs. 

“We’re ready to introduce a $100 kit that, with other equipment you can get at a hardware store, will let you broadcast four to six miles, which is really all you need, for $500,” he said. 

“As long as equipment costs can be kept low, these raids are really not that effective. They cost a lot and there is the indirect cost that storm troopers coming in and stealing a microphone is not the best image the FCC wants to project in terms of free speech issues,” Dunifer said. 

Dunifer advocates flooding the country with so many micropower stations the government will be powerless. “If it becomes popular enough, mainstream enough, the FCC could face having to go into a rest home to stop an 80-year-old woman from broadcasting Glenn Miller,” he said. 

Because they come and go so often, it’s hard to estimate how many unlicensed stations operate in the country. Dunifer estimates hundreds. One Web site lists 21 by name in California, including six in the Bay Area. The FCC regularly reports shutting down about 200 a year. 

Broadcaster Suzan Rodriguez, using her real name—“I don’t care who knows who I am”—said prior to her regular Friday morning show on Berkeley Liberation Radio, “We’re not going to just roll over.” 

“Micro-radio is the last platform for the people to have a voice in a country where the government is bent on gagging our voices. Dissent is the American way. Our country was founded on dissent,” she said. 

Meanwhile, it’s not certain the FCC has rid itself of Delacour. 

“Actually, I made a bad decision,” he said about quitting the station. “I had other things going on, like fighting an eviction, but I wish I’d stayed with it and not chickened out.”

The months-long battle over the fate of the property development at 3045 Shattuck Avenue may be resolved July 24, when the Zoning Adjustment Board is scheduled to hear arguments from owner Christina Sun and the property’s neighbors. 

The board decided Thursday to proceed with a public hearing, voting to hear more evidence before deciding on whether or not to declare the project a public nuisance and force Sun to demolish the unit or scale down the three-story, mixed-use project. 

The controversy has pitted Sun against her neighbors, who say the size and design of the proposed building, which is located in a commercial area in South Berkeley, conflicts with the character of the nearby residentially zoned neighborhood. They have argued that the city has grounds to stop the project and call for a public hearing, claiming that Sun intends to convert a two-story single-family dwelling unit into a group-living accommodation, a change of use that would require a use permit and public hearing. 

Following repeated complaints from neighbors about Sun’s intended use — and culminating in testimony from a former tenant of Sun that suggested the residence was used as a group living accommodation in the past — the planning department issued a stop work order on the project, stating that Sun provided “incomplete information” on a building permit application. 

On that application, submitted to the planning department in March, Sun stated that the building was a single-family residence and would remain so after the proposed renovations were made. Neighbors have insisted that the size and design of the proposed buildings indicate that she in fact intends to rent out the rooms to separate individuals, which they say would qualify it as a group-living accommodation. 

Unable to resolve the issue, the Planning Department referred the matter to the Zoning Adjustment Board, which will decide if Sun violated the zoning code by providing false information on her application regarding the question of use. If the board finds that she did, then it can declare the property a public nuisance and order Sun to start from scratch, which means that she will have to undergo a public hearing. 

Although neighbors have tried for about five months to get the city to call a public hearing based on other factors — including rear yard space, height, size and parking — the board is only being asked to decide whether or not the unit was used as a group-living accommodation or a single-family dwelling unit at the time she applied for the building permit.  

Neighbors will likely present evidence that former tenants signed separate lease agreements and paid for their utilities and other expenses separately. Their evidence includes statements made by a former tenant, who testified before City Council last month and told city staff members that he signed a separate lease and paid for his utilities apart from other tenants in the building. Project opponents will also try to show that Sun is proposing to use the building as a group-living accommodation in the future, pointing to her plan to build six bedrooms and several additional rooms that can be converted into bedrooms. They also say the plans indicate that there is no master bedroom and that the rooms can be easily converted into kitchens, two of many factors in the plans that they say suggests use as a group-living accommodation. 

Rena Rickles, the neighbors’ attorney, said in a recent interview that the board should have no problem deciding on the issue. “The floor plans make it clear to anybody that this could be nothing other than some kind of group living/border house/multiple dwelling unit,” she said.  

But Sun said that she was never told her floor plans were a problem when she submitted the floor plans to get her permit. “It is unfair for them to change their minds after the permit has already been issued, when they initially said it was okay,” she said. 

Sun said that she signed a deed restriction to ensure that the building would only be used a single family dwelling unit. Sun also said she will present statements from two other tenants proving that the building was used by a household, indicating that the tenants shared water, power and house phone bills and shared household items, and therefore qualified as a single family dwelling unit. 

Sun said she is “terrified” by the prospect of having to start the process all over again, and said if the city forces her to scale down her project to two stories, she would not be able to afford it. 

“It would cost a half a million dollars,” she said, adding that she has already spent about $500,000 of the total $700,000 cost of the project. Sun, who said she mortgaged her home on Carleton Street to pay for the 3045 Shattuck development, said she believes her opponents will try to stall the project long enough to make it financially unfeasible for her to continue. 

“They are trying to bankrupt me by stalling this as long as possible,” she said. “I think at the next hearing they will bring up all these other issues and try and convince the board to continue the hearing. But then the board goes on recess until the end of August. It might not even decide until October.” 

By that time, Sun said, she will be financially broke. 

The zoning ordinance defines a group-living accommodation as a building that is designed for accommodating residential use by persons not living together as a household. A household is defined as an entity made up of one or more persons and usually characterized by those maintaining the same rental agreement and sharing living expenses, such as rent, food costs, and utilities. By contrast, a single-family dwelling unit is defined as that which is occupied by one household, no matter how many individuals are within that household.

Africa was in big trouble before President Bush’s recent five-day trip to the continent, and of course it still is now. But Bush could have done more. A few platitudes about the crime of slavery, the devastation of AIDS and other diseases, doublespeak on a possible U.S. peacekeeping force in Liberia and the saber-rattle of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe did nothing to point the way toward solutions to Africa’s colossal problems.  

A United Nations report issued the same week of Bush’s visit found that 20 African countries ranked dead last on a list of economic development rates for the world’s nations. At their present rates of growth, it will take these nations a century to achieve universal primary education, and 150 years to cut poverty in half and child mortality by two-thirds.  

Much of the blame for the famine, disease, poverty and corruption that seem endemic to many African countries can be dumped squarely on the backs of a long parade of African dictators, despots and demagogues. While the five carefully handpicked nations that Bush visited have stable, functioning democracies, and, with the exception of Nigeria, have relatively good human rights records, they are aberrations. Africa’s dictators have killed, maimed and terrorized their citizens, rigged or rejected free elections and systematically looted their countries’ treasuries while living in palatial splendor. Their greed and dictatorial rule have locked their nations into destructive and near permanent cycles of poverty, war, disease and dependency that have become Africa’s trademark.  

Meanwhile, Africa’s military rulers have squandered millions of their countries’ meager funds on sophisticated weapons, mostly to keep themselves in power. They have turned the Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and now Liberia into killing fields.  

Then there’s the AIDS epidemic. Nearly 70 percent of the estimated 36 million persons worldwide afflicted with AIDS/HIV are in sub-Sahara Africa. In South Africa, more than 10 percent of the total population has HIV/AIDS. Only a tiny fraction of those with the disease have any hope of getting the potential life-sustaining anti-retroviral drugs. While Bush’s pledge of $15 billion to fight AIDS and other diseases in Africa and the Caribbean is much needed, Congress has yet to cough up the money. The first dollars will not flow until Oct. 1, the start of the next fiscal year. By then, thousands more Africans could be dead from the disease. Bush, and the African leaders who wined and dined him, made no mention of the stalled AIDS funding.  

Also, Bush is asking for $5 billion to fund his proposed Millennium Challenge Account to spur development in poor nations. The hitch is that Congress must approve the funds, and even if it does, the money is not exclusively earmarked for African nations. Bush made no mention of this initiative during his Africa visit, nor gave any indication that the United States would drastically raise the amount of foreign aid it gives to Africa. Nor did Bush call on Japan and the wealthier European nations to increase their aid to Africa. According to the U.N. report, these nations could and should double their foreign aid to spur African development.  

If Bush offered nothing new to African nations during his visit, why did he go? The continent is of vital potential economic and strategic importance to the United States. It contains a vast portion of the world’s copper, bauxite, chrome, uranium, gold and petroleum supplies. The growing list of pro-U.S. African client states provide President Bush with reliable political allies in his war against terrorism and the fight against Muslim fundamentalism, as well as potential military bases.  

Africa was also the perfect public forum the president could use to self-promote and evangelize against AIDS. This spruced up his image as the “compassionate conservative.” Furthermore, Bush hoped his Africa foray would play well with African American voters. It didn’t. In a BlackAmericaWeb.com poll taken during Bush’s trip, nearly 90 percent of respondents said they still oppose his policies.  

African nations remain firmly locked in the grip of terrible poverty, disease, war and autocratic rule. The United States and wealthy nations can help lift that grip by massively increasing investment in African agriculture, transportation, manufacturing and technology; restructuring Africa’s crushing debt; encouraging greater regional integration and cooperation; condemning African nations’ disastrous military arms race; and, most important, challenging African nations to establish real democratic rule. Bush’s visit offered little hope that any of this will happen.  

Earl Ofari Hutchinson (Ehutchi344@aol.com) is a political columnist and the author of “The Crisis in Black and Black,” published by Middle Passage Press.

After a smash success last summer with “Attempts on Her Life,” the foolsFURY company has been invited to take the production to the Humboldt/Blue Lake Dell’Arte EdgeFest on July 27. On the way there, they’ve stopped for a brief run at LaVal’s Subterranean—really brief: They’re packing up and leaving after the coming weekend. It’s not really clear why they’re doing such a hit-and-run act in Berkeley, but if we raise enough fuss, maybe we could get them to come back. 

It would be worth it. “Attempts on Her Life” is a fascinating and entertaining piece of theater. This is not to say that it’s totally comprehensible. For one thing, it’s not about attempts to kill a woman. It’s funny (there’s some other stuff in it, but it’s really quite funny much of the time) and a great evening’s experience. Afterward you may spend some time trying to figure out what on earth it was all about, but the nice thing is that you’ll still have had a good time.  

And it probably isn’t exactly wrong for a play to leave you thinking it over after you leave. 

Ben Yalom, the company’s artistic director, says quite accurately, “While our work at foolsFURY sometimes gets characterized as ‘avant-garde’ or ‘experimental,’ we’ve always been highly dedicated to the idea that a strong narrative and accessible storytelling are essential, whatever else we may be doing on stage.” 

Would that all “avant-garde” groups were equally dedicated! 

Some of the play’s publicity has miscalled the title “17 Attempts on Her Life.” It’s not what the renowned British playwright, Martin Crimp, intended but it would make the course of the action a little more comprehensible. There are 17 separate segments in which the extraordinarily talented ensemble portray different, unnamed characters who discuss and attempt to establish the identity of a woman, Annie. However—and it’s a big “however”—her attributes and behavior are entirely different in each segment. There could be endless speculation about their problem—in one scenario, she’s actually an expensive brand of a new car. In others, you could argue that they’re attempting to create a fictional character for a film. But taking the segments one by one is probably the easiest way to deal with the issue. That’s how it’s played, and it works. 

What sticks in your mind and leaves you chewing on the play, however, is the underlying cohesiveness of the plot. If this were simply 17 totally separate playlets, it would be a far easier production to forget.  

FoolsFURY is dedicated to a new mode of acting called “physical theater.” As demonstrated in this production, it is a flow of movement which is almost dance-like as the actors change from one remarkable pose to another. Director Yalom gives his ensemble credit for working out the complex set of movements which are so beautifully, and effectively, designed. Remarkably enough, their complex work appeared to be flawless. However, dwelling on this important aspect of the production must not leave the impression that this is a performance of mime. The movements are intimately and effectively related to the dialog.  

Although all six actors participate in most of the movement, only four are identified as members of the ensemble:  

Lindsay Anderson, Rod Hipskind, Stephen Jacob and Csilla Horvath. Two others are defined as “performers”: Jessica Jelliffe and Alexander Lewis who perhaps do less movement and more straight acting than do members of the ensemble proper. Be that as it may, it’s a very strong cast. Since each of the actors portrays many different characters in the course of the evening, it is impossible to identify exactly who does what.  

If people are going to insist on doing post-modern work—and it looks like it’s here to stay—it would be a vast improvement if they’d follow foolsFURY’S lead and find materials that work on enough levels to keep the audience involved. It makes a significant difference.  

The Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA) presents Summer Noon Concerts 2003, a unique series of nine free concerts, Thursdays at noon in June & July, beginning June 5th. From Rhythm & Blues to Brazilian capoeira, these concerts at the Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza (Shattuck Ave. at Center St.) are a showcase of the culturally rich performing arts in Berkeley. This outdoor summer celebration of Berkeley-based musicians & dancers is just a small sampling of the performing arts happening nightly in clubs, cafes, schools, theaters and concert halls in Downtown Berkeley. 

On Thursday, June 5th, our concert series opens with Rhonda Benin and Soulful Strut performing some of the best in R & B, with a splash of jazz and a solid helping of the blues. Soulful Strut appears regularly at many Bay Area nightspots such Enricos Sidewalk Café and Restaurant. 

On Thursday, July 31st, our concert series closes with SoVoSó, a highly visual and imaginative a capella ensemble that sings a compelling mix of jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, world, pop, and improvisational music. The ensemble is made up of former members of Bobby McFerrin’s Voicestra, and McFerrin says, “SoVoSó is tight, soulful, and a whole lotta fun.” 

This event is easily accessible by transit and there is one hour free parking daily from 9 am to 5 pm in Center Street Garage. Seating will be available. 

For a complete schedule of entertainers for the Downtown Berkeley Summer Noon Concerts 2003 visit the Downtown Berkeley Association website at www.downtownberkeley.org

The television cameras were rolling, a photographer snapped away and all eyes were on Anthony Candela. But Candela, speaking before City Council Tuesday night, didn’t see any of it. 

Candela, a national program associate for the American Foundation for the Blind, is himself blind. But that didn’t stop him from making his way to the podium Tuesday night, as the news cameras rolled, to officially proclaim Berkeley the second most “livable” city in the nation for the blind and visually-impaired. 

Candela listed a number of reasons for the honor— jobs for the blind are plentiful, public transportation and post offices are accessible, walking is safe and there are a host of recreation opportunities for those who can’t see. 

But Candela, who has lived in Berkeley for three-and-a-half years, said the city’s culture —its acceptance of the blind and disabled in general— is the most important benefit. 

“The sense of feeling an integrated part of Berkeley, a feeling of normalcy,” he said. “The openness and welcome feeling ranked very highly.” 

The foundation, based in New York City, originally announced the country’s six most livable communities in mid-April and has been staging events around the country to draw attention to the issue. 

The media blitz has paid dividends. A press conference hailing New York City as the fourth most livable city in the nation for the blind made its way into the pages of the July 7 edition of the New Yorker magazine. 

The foundation, established in 1921, selected the winners based on a set of 250 surveys filled out by blind and visually-impaired citizens across the country, laying out the factors that made a city “livable” and nominating municipalities for the honor. 

A panel of 17 experts, after culling through the surveys, named Charlotte, NC the top city, followed by Berkeley, then Kalamazoo, MI, New York City and Lacrosse, WI and Louisville, KY, tied for fifth place. 

“I believe the only difference between Berkeley and Charlotte that mattered was cost of living. Members of City Council, Mayor [Tom] Bates, I hope you will do something to get Berkeley to number one,” said Candela, to laughs. 

“We’re really, really honored that you have bestowed this award on us,” said Bates, accepting a plaque from Candela. “The people here care.” 

The city has a history of disability activism. Berkeley’s Center for Independent Living, established in 1972, was the first such center in the world — providing services and advocacy for the disabled, spinning off a number of other local organizations and helping mold new attitudes toward the disabled among the general public. 

The city has continued to make strides in recent years. After talks with local advocates for the blind, five local banks, beginning in the fall of 1999, installed the nation’s first talking automated teller machines, with earpiece hook-ups for privacy, along Shattuck Avenue. 

There are now 8,000 such machines around the country and thousands more on the way, according to attorney Linda Dardarian of the Oakland firm of Goldstein Demchak Baller Borgen & Dardarian, which helped negotiate the Shattuck Avenue changes. 

But the city is not perfect. Candela said Berkeley needs to do a better job of maintaining sidewalks and cutting back foliage that intrude on walkways. 

Still, Laura Oftedahl, a blind consultant who moved to Berkeley three years ago, praised the city Tuesday night for its talking voting machines and accessible banking and said she doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon. 

“This is the first place where I’ve walked into a grocery store and they come up to me and offer help,” she said. “I feel good about myself living in Berkeley...I don’t have to explain myself.” 

FRIDAY, JULY 11 

Berkeley Critical Mass Bike Ride meets at the Berkeley BART the second Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 496-6000, ext. 135. www.bpf.org 

SATURDAY, JULY 12 

Women’s Freedom Fair, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in MLK Jr. Civic Center Park. There will be women from many different organizations representing freedom in different ways. There will be food and beverage vendors, activities, music. www.womensfreedomfair.org 

SF Mime Troupe addresses militarism and empire in “Vero- 

nique of the Mounties in Operation Frozen Freedom” at 2 p.m. in Cedar Rose Park. www.sfmt.org 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Disaster Mental Health, for anyone who lives or works in Berkeley, from 9 a.m. to noon at 997 Cedar St., between 8th and 9th Sts. Register at www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/fire/oes or call 981-5506. 

Educator’s Academy: Rock ‘n’ Roll at Wildcat Creek  

from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. Explore a streambed, gather stones and discover their origins. Concepts and activities will match K-5 California Earth Science Content Standards. $45 for Berkeley residents, $51 for non-residents. For information call 636-1684. tnarea@ebparks.org 

Peach/Stone Fruit Tasting at the Farmers’ Market, Center St. at MLK, Jr. Way. Demonstra- 

tions with Becky Smith of Frog Hollow Farm. 548-3333.  

Compost Critters What do you get if you put lunchtime leftovers, leaves, and creepy crawlers together? A chance to explore our compost, meet our worms and even take some home! From 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Free. 525-2233.  

Farms in Berkeley? A walk to visit innovative community gardens in North Berkeley and part of the Ohlone Greenway. From 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Accessible by public transit. Reservations required, call 415-255-3233. http://greenbelt.org/getinvol 

ved/outings/green_reservation 

Summer Gardening with East Bay Native Plants, a class in restoration gardening using plants adapted to our climate. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at a local garden with Lyn Talkovsky, an East Bay landscape gardener and Glen Schneider who is writing a Natural History Field Guide to the East Bay. Pre-registration is required, cost is $15 Ecology Center members, $25 general, low-income spots by arrangement. 548-2220 ext. 233. erc@ecologycenter.org  

California Wildflower Show A profusion of native flowers gathered in the field, brought into the museum and sorted, identified and labeled by botanists. Oakland Museum of CA, 1000 Oak St, at 10th St, Oakland. Admission is $6, $4 seniors and youth. 238-2200.  

SUNDAY, JULY 13 

Sixth Annual Bay to Barkers Dog Walk and Festival, at the Berkeley Marina, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Benefits the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society. Contests, prizes, demonstrations, vendors and other events for canines and humans. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., walk begins at 10 a.m. 845-7735.  

SF Mime Troupe addresses militarism and empire in “Veroni- 

que of the Mounties in Operation Frozen Freedom” at 2 p.m. in Cedar Rose Park. www.sfmt.org 

UC Berkeley Walking Tour with architectural historian Sally Woodbridge. Meet at the Campanile at 11 a.m. Cost is $5, re- 

gistration required. 642-9828. 

California Wildflower Show See listing for July 12.  

MONDAY, JULY 14 

September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows will show and speak about their video “Civilian Casualties,” the story of civilian deaths in Afghan 

istan as seen by four Americans who lost family members on September 11. At 7 p.m. at Grand Lake Neighborhood Center, 530 Lake Park Ave, Oakland, between Grandlake and Lakeshore, under 580. Wheelchair accessible. Suggested donation $1. Sponsored by East Bay Communities Against the War, 658-8994. 

What’s Wrong with Geneti- 

cally Engineered Food and Crops Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative Meeting and Potluck. Drinks and utensils supplied. David Henson, director of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, will speak on the strange things happening with genetically engineered foods. At 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. Wheelchair accessible. 883-9096.  

Home Owners Support Group Learn about window in- 

stallation and energy conservation at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Gray Panthers, 1403 Addison St. 548-9696. graypanthersberk@aol.com 

TUESDAY, JULY 15 

Free Emergency Prepared- 

ness Class on Disaster First Aid, for anyone who lives or works in Berkeley, from 9 a.m. to noon at 997 Cedar St., be- 

tween 8th and 9th Sts. Register on-line at www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/fire/oes or call 981-5506. 

Peach/Stone Fruit Tasting at the Farmers’ Market, Derby St. at MLK, Jr. Way. 548-3333.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 525-3565. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. B. K. Bose will speak on Yoga for Health at 10:30 a.m. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 16 

Twilight Tour: Magnificent Monocots Anthony Garza talks about interesting and unusual grasses and succulents, at 5:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. 

Aquatic Park Natural Habitat and Lagoon Water Quality Study by Laurel Marcus & Associates, will be discussed on Wednesday, July 16 at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Public comments welcome! For information call Brad Ricards, 981-6437. 

South Berkeley Mural Project Community members in South Berkeley are coming together to create a neighborhood mural on the side of the Grove Liquor Store on the corner of Ashby Ave. and MLK, Jr. Way. Meet at 7 p.m. at Epic Arts Studios at 1923 Ashby Ave. For further information on ways to get involved call 644-2204. 

Free Lead-Safe Painting and Remodeling Class Learn how to detect and remedy lead hazards and conduct lead-safe re- 

novations for your older home, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Temes- 

cal Branch Library, 5205 Tele- 

graph Ave, North Oakland. For information or to register call the Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program at 567-8280.  

Community Dances, traditional English and American dances, 8 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. Cost is $9. 233-5065. www.bacds.org 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters meets at 7:15 a.m. at Hide-A-Way Café, 6430 Telegraph Ave. For information call Fred Garvey, 925-682-1111, ext. 164. 

THURSDAY, JULY 17 

EBMUD Water Tunnel Construction Project Informational Meeting at 7 p.m. at Chabot Canyon Racquet Club, 7040 Chabot Rd, Oakland. 287-1301. 

Berkeley Liberation Radio 104.1 FM meets at 7 p.m. at the Long Haul Info Shop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 595-0190.  

Lawyers in the Library, at 6 p.m. in the Claremont Branch, Benvenue at Ashby, 981-6280. 

ONGOING 

Marine Biology Classes for students age 8 to 10, from Tues., July 15 to Fri., July 18, 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Shorebird Nature Center, 160 University Ave, at the Marina. Cost is $45. For information call 644-8623. www.cityofberkeley.info/marina  

Summer Fun Camps for Children and Teens, from age five and up are offered at Berkeley recreation centers and include such activities as arts and crafts, swimming and tennis lessons, yoga, organized sports and games, and field trips. The Summer Fun Camp Program runs through August 22, Mon. - Fri., 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The fee, including lunch and snack, is $77 per week for Berkeley residents. Pick up applications at the Camps Office, 2016 Center St. 981-5150. 

Echo Lake Youth Camp for ages 6 - 12 at Echo Lake, near South Lake Tahoe. One week sessions are offered through August 22. Cost is $235 per session. For registration information please visit the Camps Office at 2016 Center St., or call 981-5150. 

Summer Science Weeks: Mammals and Birds Pick apart an owl pellet, prepare a mammal baby announcement, and discover your home range. For ages 9 to 12 years. Monday, July 14 – Friday, July 18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, at Tilden Nature Area. Cost is $150 for Berkeley residents, $166 for non-residents. Financial assistance is available. Registration required. For information call 636-1684.  

Free Energy Conservation Retrofits for Berkeley Residents CA Youth Energy Services is a nonprofit sponsored by the City of Berkeley that trains and employs high school students to provide conservation retrofits. Work includes weatherstripping, replacing lightbulbs with CFLs, cleaning refrigerator coils, replacing faucet aerators and showerheads with low-flow devices, installing earthquake preparedness measures, and a comprehensive audit. Available to home owners and renters. Call for an appointment, 428-2357. 

Alameda County Hazardous Waste Drop-Off from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 11-12 at Alameda County Household Hazardous Waste, 2100 E. 7th St., Oakland.Take advantage of this opportunity to safely dispose of paint, stain, varnish, thinner and adhesives; auto products; household batteries, cleaners and sprays; and garden products. Please do NOT bring asbestos, medical waste, most compressed gasses, CRTs and TVs, computers & electronic equipment. Call 1-877-STOPWASTE or visit stopwaste.org/ 

fsrecycle. For information on what to do with other items, call 800-606-6606, or visit http://householdhazwaste.org/oakland 

Free Quit Smoking Class on six Monday evenings, from 6 to 8 p.m., starting July 14th, at the South Berkeley Senior Center. To register or for more information contact the Berkeley Tobacco Prevention Program, 981-5330 or QuitNow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

National HIV Testing Month The City of Berkeley offers free HIV testing. Drop in Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Wednesdays 6 to 8:30 p.m., during July, at 830 University Ave. at 6th St. For other days and times call the HIV Testing Information Line at 981-5380.  

CITY MEETINGS 

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Monday, July 14, 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Gisele Sorensen, 981-7419. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/landmarks 

Public Housing Resident Advisory Board meets on Monday, July 14, at 4 p.m. at 1901 Fairview St. Angellique DeCoud, 981-5475. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/publichousing 

City Council meets Tuesday, July 15, at 7 p.m. in City Council hambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tuesday, July 15 at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. ww.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/housingauthority 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wednesday, July 16, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/humane 

Commission on Aging meets Wednesday, July 16, meets at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Lisa Ploss, 981-5200. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/aging 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wednesday, July 16, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/welfare 

Design Review Committee meets Thursday, July 17, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/designreview  

Fair Political Practices Commission meets Thursday, July 17, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Prasanna Rasaih, 981-6950.  

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/faircampaign 

Transportation Commission meets Thursday, July 17, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/transportation

CULTURE APLENTY  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

You statement about the cultural offerings of the University of California would be laughable if it weren’t so sadly mistaken. As a regular subscriber to Cal Performances I have seen this year The Bolshoi Ballet, Mikael Baryshnikov, and numerous world class performances. Last year I saw Yo Yo Ma, the New York City Ballet, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and other performances too numerous to mention here. These “traveling attractions” are hardly institutional fare and would be seen in neither Bloomington nor Lubbock. Obviously you were trying to make a point (which seems to be that you love Paris) but your statements regarding cultural offerings at the University of California are ludicrous. (I do not represent UC Berkeley). 

Rocky Hill 

• 

NOT SO SMART  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Attention fellow citizens of Berkeley: Our quality of life is about to be compromised by those who feel that we can save open space in outlying communities by increasing the density of our fine city. The proponents of “smart growth” envision a city of people walking, riding bicycles, riding public transportation and not needing a car in their lives. As soon as a place exists like that in this country, I’ll be glad to live there; but when public transit is being reduced because of budget cuts and fares are increasing for AC Transit and BART, I see a problem. Walking is not safe in all neighborhoods, and bike riding can be a life-threatening activity in city traffic. Berkeley’s history of being unfriendly to business will continue to force people in their cars, as a majority of jobs are accessible only by car. 

Because Mayor Bates and City Council are pushing to provide homes for up to 40,000 more residents, this is not a good time for the school district's plan to close West Campus and build new structures that cannot be used as a school again. 

I too would like to see development of open space curtailed, but instead of allowing Berkeley to become more crowded than it already is, why not create a city fund that would donate money to The Nature Conservancy or The Trust for Public Land. Instead of sister cities, we could have “sister open-spaces”-- another great Berkeley first! (I'm joking, but if someone wants to run with it, count me in for $20.) 

Planning for the future of Berkeley should be much more than increasing the tax revenues for the city. More money doesn't fix all the woes of city life. Increases in the population also create needs for increases in city services, and soon the money is not enough, yet again. 

Art Adamson 

• 

MOCKING THE LAW 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Thanks to Angela Rowen for reporting the news of Sprint antennae on the roof of Cafe de la Paz at 1600 Shattuck Ave. Allowing the installation of antennae is yet another illegal action by the Planning Department. Most probably this plan has been approved by Mark Rhoades, who had been with the wireless industry before joining the Zoning Department. He makes his own laws when necessary. The so called mock antennae do not have a permit. Any structure to be erected should have a permit. 

What is happening to Berkeley? The Mayor steals copies of Daily Cal, the Planning Department allows Sprint to install antennae illegally before the public hearing is held, etc. Should Berkeley citizens break the laws and when caught claim that they were fatigued? The antennae are mock; so are the laws improvised by the Planning Department. If Mayor Tom Bates adheres to laws, then he must have Sprint remove the antennae. 

Afrida Free 

• 

UNSAFE SHELTERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If you are a bus rider in Berkeley who depends upon public transportation for shopping and for getting to places, you may have noticed the shiny new bus shelters in some locations in our city. It is said that 125 of these new shelters have been ordered from a company that donates, assembles, sets the shelters in place and pays our city “for the right of way.” 

If you don’t drive a car, have heavy packages to carry, and cannot afford or don’t qualify for the expensive Berkeley Taxi Scrip, you may need to occasionally relax at a bus stop.  

Recently, while waiting for a bus outside my favorite produce market, I sat down in a new shelter to rest my back, and slid down into and got stuck in a thirteen-inch gap between the seat and the back panel. Several complaints have been made of discomfort by bus riders while trying to sit in a new bus shelter in Berkeley. If a shelter has a back panel (not all of them do), why can it not be near enough to the seats to be safe? 

Surely, bus shelters could be tailored to the safety of users. 

Arlene Merryman 

• 

MEXICAN TUNNEL 

Dear Editor: 

Will you elaborate more on “True Threats at Home” (Daily Planet, June 13)? What is with the so-called Mexican Tunnel from Mexico to Canada? Is it the same thing as the International Highway from Mexico to Canada? The so-called Underground Railroad of the 1800s was not a literal railroad, as we well know, but, because of the secrecy involved in slave escape routes, the route got such a name. 

How does the so-called Mexican International Highway from Mexico to Canada compare with the Underground Railroad of Harriet Tubman’s day? Are the Hispanics encountering enough turmoil in their displacement to warrant enactment of such laws as the Fugitive Slave Law of the 1800s?  

With the influx of Latinos being made east of the Mississippi, are the Latinos considered to be more free in the U.S. than the Mexicans entering west of the Mississippi or south of the border? 

Estella Davis 

El Cerrito 

• 

RISING VACANCY RATE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was baffled by Robert R. Piper's claim (Daily Planet, July 4) that this region is on a long-term growth trend. For several months now, there have been articles in local newspapers about jobs and people leaving the Bay Area. 

With respect to growth, Berkeley is unique. The population reached 113,805 by 1950 and remained close to that figure through the 1970s. The population then dropped to about 103,000, with no reduction in housing units (in fact there was a net increase in units during each subsequent decade). 

The policy which caused Berkeley’s ample housing stock to be underutilized for two decades is now over. If developers and their entourage of trusting supporters would remove their heads from the sand long enough to look around, they might see signs of a growing vacancy rate, particularly in multi-unit buildings. Tenants who have choices generally prefer to live in smaller buildings with open space (without neighbors above, below and sharing their walls), and on quiet streets rather than “transit corridors.” 

When the cement and metal behemoth at Acton Street and University Avenue opens in August, I suggest that everyone keep an eye on whether it becomes fully occupied soon...or ever. If not, we must ponder the fate of the many similar buildings which have just broken ground. 

By the way, Dr. Piper, people love cities like San Francisco, Paris, London and Boston for their historic buildings which have been preserved, not for the holes left when landmarks are turned into rubble, nor for gigantic monuments wrapped in white plastic in the heart of downtown. 

Gale Garcia 

• 

EARNING AN EDUCATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I really do not understand the problem with instituting the exit exam. Well, sure, some (or a LOT) of people will fail it (even though it is geared to the sophomore/freshman level). 

So? So what? They fail. They have to repeat the grade. They have to go to adult school They have to go to a junior college. Is this any worse than giving them a diploma verifying that they are “competent” to go to college, and then having them go to a four-year college (such as CSUH) and having CSUH put up with remedial education? If they cannot qualify for a sophomore/freshman level of learning, they really do not deserve a diploma.  

A diploma should be earned. Some people just have to take longer to earn it. 

Paulina Miner 

• 

SHAMEFUL TAX CUT 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Regarding the recent tax cut: It is shameful. The tax breaks previously given to the super rich should have been repealed as a matter of simple social justice. 

I’ve seen estimates saying multi-millionaires will get $90,000 to each $100 “the poorest half of us get.” Extend that to four years, and you have a disparity of $360,000 to $400. And this is just the beginning: It goes on and on. If it stands, the super rich will become a permanent wealthy class such as has never previously existed in this country. Even subsidized farmers in the Middle West should rise up against it. 

When, by the way, will you list Jimmy Olson on the masthead? 

Phil McCardle

FRIDAY, JULY 11 

CHILDREN 

Stage Door Conservatory's “Kids OnStage” presents “The King’s Creampuffs,” a free mini-musical by Martha Swintz, at 7:30 p.m. at Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 527-5939. StageDoorCamp@aol.com 

FILM 

Aki Kaurismäki: “Drifting Clouds” at 7:30 p.m. and “Ariel” at 9:25 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Jane Gotesman introduces her new book of photographs, “Gameface: What does a Fe- 

male Athlete Look Like?” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Rafael Manriquez in a new CD release concert at 8 p.m., at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Rose Street House of Music fund-raiser concert for Irina Rivkin’s debut full-length CD, plus Rebecca Crump and special guests, at 8 p.m. at Rose Street House of Music, a grassroots musical community featuring women singer-songwriters, 1839 Rose St. Sliding scale donations, no one turned away for lack of funds. 594-4000 ext. 687. 

Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums with Ms. Carmen Getit and Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers perform East Coast swing and lindy hop at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $17. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jessica Lurie Ensemble, Crater and Japonize Elephants perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Blame Sally, singer/songwriter group at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Geoffrey Keezer, solo piano, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Kim Nalley at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

Shotwell, Grabass Charlestons, Billy Reese Peters, Tiltwheel perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

V Soul performs at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Suggested donation $10. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Solemite, KGB perform at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7.848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

SATURDAY, JULY 12 

FILM 

Aki Kaurismäki: “I Hired a Contract Killer” at 5:20 and 9 p.m. and “La Vie de Bohème” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michele Anna Jordan introduces her new book, “The BLT Cookbook: America’s Favorite Sandwich,” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alex de Grassi, guitar virtuoso, celebrates the release of his CD, “Now and Then: Folk Songs for the 21st Century,” at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Tickets are $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Wig Salad, Sangano, Naresh perform World Funk at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Fito Reynoso’s Ritmo y Armonía perform Afro-Cuban favorites at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Donald “Duck” Baily and the “Duck” Quactet perform improvisational jazz at 2 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $8-$15 sliding scale. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

The Lafleur et Basile Band and the Creole Belles perform traditional and original French Cajun music at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $14. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Pocket, 7th Direction and Spindrift perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Vince Lateano at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

Subincision, Link, The Effection, The Mona Reels, The Librarians perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5, $1 if wearing prom clothes! 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JULY 13 

FILM 

“Nasty Girl,” followed by Morley Safer’s taped interview with Anne Rosmus, the film’s Nasty Girl, who struggled to reveal the truth about the Third Reich in her Bavarian hometown, at 2 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. In German with English subtitles. Suggested donation $2. 848-0237. 

Aki Kaurismäki: “The Match Factory Girl” at 5:30 p.m. and “Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Guided Tour: “Paul Kos: Everything Matters” at 2 p.m. at The Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu  

MATRIX/Anna Von Mertens, artist’s talk and reception at 3 p.m. at The Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Vicki Noble discusses her study of the double goddess, a Neo- 

lithic and Stone Age icon, “The Double Goddess: Women Sharing Power,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Zine Reading at 7:30 p.m. at the Long Haul, a reading room, library and community center in South Berkeley located at 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. All events are free. Vegan dinner available for $3-$5. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Poetry Flash at Cody’s with Ruth Daigon and Andrena Zawinski at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jazz at Coventry Grove with pianist Benny Green, a musical afternoon at a private residence in Kensington. Tax-deductible donation of $125 benefits the Jazzschool. For more information, or to register, call 845-5373.  

Carol Elizabeth Jones and Laurel Bliss, old-time folk and bluegrass duo, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freight- 

andsalvage.org 

Five Year Space Effort, Moziac, Feral Moan perform Rock at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Dave Ellis Quintet performs pop, blues and funk at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Tickets are $10-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

MONDAY, JULY 14 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ivan Richard considers his early life in a Buddhist monastery 

in “Silence and Noise,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Gregory Mone reads from his new novel, “The Wages of Genius,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Gender Studies Book Group discusses “Don’t Bet on the Prince,” by Jack Zipes, at 7 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

Poetry Express, featuring Shailja Patel, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave.  

TUESDAY, JULY 15 

FILM 

Sarunas Bartas: “Few of Us” at 7:30 p.m at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tom Stone recounts his misadventures in “The Summer of My Greek Taverna,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Stephen Hall talks about difficult questions in “Merchants of Immortality: Chasing the Dream of Human Life Extension,“ at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Kurt Popke, Sue Owens Wright and Kathleen Antrim present their new suspense and mystery books at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

Berkeley Summer Poetry 7 to 9 p.m. at the Mediterranean Cafe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 549-1128. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Cena de Despedida, a fare- 

well dinner for La Peña founder Hugo Brenni, with Chilean folk music, from 6 to 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. For reservations call 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Tom Rigney and Flambeau perform traditional Cajun and zydeco two-steps and waltzes at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Diana Castillo at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Smog and Joanna Newsom perform at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10 . 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

The Dayna Stephens House Jam at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. 649-8744.  

www.thejazzhouse.org 

Duncan James, solo guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 16 

FILM 

Excess of Evil: “Incubus” at 7:30 p.m., with Producer An- 

thony M. Taylor in person, at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Gail Tsukiyama reads from “Dreaming Water” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Christopher M. Sterba discusses his new book, “Good Americans: Italian and Jewish Immigrants in the First World War,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam Battle of the Bay with host Charles Ellik at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

Roger Mitchell introduces his new series of books, “SUV Trails,” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

Tongues United open mic hosted by Brownfist Collective at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

An Evening with Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary at 7:30 p.m. at Downtown Oakland Unitarian Church, 685 14th St. near MLK. Concert and reception benefits One Heart for Kids, Streetcats Foundation and Teen-Anon. Tickets for this solo concert are limited. Student advance tickets are $14, regular advance tickets $19.50, special advance reception and concert tickets are $40. For ticket information email oneheartforkids@ 

yahoo.com or call 464-4677.  

Brenda Boykin and Big Soul Country perform blues and jazz for West Coast swing at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jack Williams, folk fusion, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jules Broussard and Ned Boynton at 8 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

Growth of Alliance, Gorilla Math, Stiletta and KOI perform at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

THURSDAY, JULY 17 

FILM 

Aki Kaurismäki: “Juha” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4 members, UC students, $5 UC faculty, staff, seniors, disabled, youth, $8 adults. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Kavita Daswani draws on her multi-cultural life in India and the United States in her first novel, “For Matrimonial Purposes,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Nicholas Howe, Professor of English at UC Berkeley, reads from his new book, “Across an Inland Sea: Writing in Place from Buffalo to Berlin,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Noon Concert with Los Soneros de la Bahia, traditional Mexican music and dance, at the Berkeley BART Station. Seating available. Sponsored by the Downtown Berkeley Association. 549-2230. 

Jamie Laval, celtic fiddler, performs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Ian Moore, Steve Turner and Marc Olsen perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $12. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

Keni el Lebrijano Flamenco Guitar at 8 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810. 

AT THE THEATER 

Aurora Theater Company, “Thérèse Raquin,” by Emile Zola, directed by Tom Ross. A sinister tale set among the lo- 

wer classes in nineteenth-century Parisian society. Runs through July 27, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $32 and $34. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

California Shakespeare Festival runs through October 22. Performances this year will be Julius Caesar, Arms and the Man, Measure for Measure, and Much Ado About Nothing. Please call for dates and times. The Bruns Amphitheater, Orinda. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org  

Central Works Theater Ensemble, “The Wyrd Sisters” directed by Jan Zvaifler. Through July 27, Thurs. - Sat. at 8 p.m. and Sun. at 5 p.m. No performance July 24. At the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $8-$20 sliding scale. For reservations call 558-1381. 

foolsFury, “Attempts on her Life,” by Martin Crimp, directed by Ben Yalom, July 11, 12, 18 and 19 at 8 p.m. at LaVal’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid at Hearst. Tickets are $20 general, $15 students, seniors. 1-866- 

GOT-FURY. www.foolsfury.org 

SF Mime Troupe, “Veronique of the Mounties in Operation Frozen Freedom” addresses militarism and empire July 12 and 13, at 2 p.m. in Cedar Rose Park. www.sfmt.org 

Woman’s Will Shakespeare Company, “The Rover,” a restoration comedy by Aphra Behn. July 12 and 13 in John Hinkle Park and July 19 and 20 in Live Oak Park. All performan- 

ces are at 1 p.m. and are free. 420-0813. www.womanswill.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

ACCI Gallery, “Barococo” ceramics by Tony Natsoulas. Exhibition runs until July 14. Gallery hours are Mon. - Thurs. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sat. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 1652 Shattuck Ave.  

843-2527. www.accigallery.com 

Addison Street Windows, “Windows” An all-media exhibit by San Francisco Women Artists, through August 11. 2018 Addison St. 658-0585. For information on the artists call 524-8538.  

The Ames Gallery, “Conversations with Myself” Works by Barry Simons. Paintings and collages incorporating the artist’s original poetry. By appointment or chance. Exhibition runs until August 15. 2661 Cedar St. 845-4949. www.amesgallery.com  

Berkeley Art Center, “Unbound and Under Covers,” Visual writing: spoken word performances and book exhibition runs to July 27. Cura- 

ted by Jaime Robles. Work and performance by Indigo Som, Meredith Stricker, Dale Going and Marie Carbone, Susan King and Lisa Kokin. Berkeley Art Center in Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org  

Berkeley Historical Society, “Focus on Berkeley” A photo- 

graphy exhibit by the Berkeley Camera Club, Berkeley High School students and community photographers in celebration of the City’s 125th Anniversary. Exhibition runs until Sept. 13. Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. Sponsored by the Berkeley Historical Society,  

848-0181.  

Kala Art Institute, Kala Fellowship Exhibition, Part I The Kala Fellowships are awarded annually to eight innovative artists working in printmaking, book arts, video and digital media. Part I features the work of May Chan, Taro Hattori, Amanda Knowles and Andrew Mamo. Runs until July 31. Call for gallery hours.1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977. www.kala.org  

A New Leaf Gallery, “Four Elements of Sculpture: Fire, Air, Water and Earth,” Exhibition runs to August 31. 1286 Gilman St. Call for gallery hours. 527-7621.  

www.sculpturesite.com 

Photolab Gallery, “Images from the Ballroom Series” by Andy Stewart. Black and white photographs on exhibit until July 19. Gallery hours are Mon. - Fri. 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., sat. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 2235 Fifth St. 644-1400.  

www.photolaboratory.com  

Red Oak Realty Gallery, Prints by Barbara de Groot. Exhibition runs until July 26. 1891 Solano Ave. 848-3965. 

Slater/Marinoff & Co., “All Animal Art” Forty photographers and artists have donated works to help fund the spay-neuter and food costs of the Milo Foundation’s work in finding new homes for abandoned dogs and cats. Exhibition runs until August 31. Hours are Mon. - Sat. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sun. 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. 1823 Fourth St. 548-2001.

There are few modern aspirants to Berthold Brecht's throne of thorns, the proudly avowed political, comic opera. This is both a matter of pride and of concern to Berkeley's Ed Holmes, a 17-year member of San Francisco Mime Troupe. 

As it has since 1963, the Mime Troupe will perform for free in local parks this Saturday and Sunday, July 12 and 13, at Cedar Rose Park in Berkeley.  

“I’m a physical comedian,” said Holmes. “I like to satirize the powers that be and the Mime Troupe is the only company that does it. That's the combination—left wing, physical comedy and outdoor theater. It's magic. I've done normal theater but it just doesn't compare." 

Even the process of writing an opera unfolds uniquely with the Mime Troupe, although the story line usually develops from the news of the day. The current show, “Veronica of the Mounties,” explores (loosely) America's obsessive and militant fixation with national security through armed conflict. 

As each enemy nation is defeated a new one leaps out of the shadows until even Canada becomes a reasonable suspect (in fiction mirroring reality, such a scenario was actually explored several months ago by a nationally circulated conservative magazine published out of Washington, D.C.). 

“Basically, everybody sits in on the meetings and we throw things out,” Holmes said. “Because it’s a collective process it has to go through everybody’s brain a couple of times, so it’s very slow. It’s a pain in the ass but I like it that way. It's chaos. It's theater.  

“We go from zero to an opening in two months, which is idiotic and sometimes it shows. Our opening days are real rough—sets are falling apart, costumes aren't there, people don't know their lines yet because their lines just got changed that day. So it's a real crude process. There are people who come to our opening day show just to see us spin out, to see the crashes, to see the flaming fireballs of missed cues. Then they'll come and see it at the end. In a month it gets tight. It becomes a well-oiled comedy and satire machine. We had 3,000 people on opening day in Dolores Park. It's like an event for a lot of people. How to spend a patriotic Fourth of July? Political satire.” 

When Holmes first joined the Mime Troupe, there were 15 members. Today there are eight. The collective is looking for new and younger members. 

“There's a four to one schlep-to-show ratio in the Troupe; for every one hour of show on stage, performing, you have four hours of loading and unloading. We get these young people in and they trade us their backs and we trade them our Mime minds, we teach them the style,” he said. “They're burning with political passion. They want to do theater but they can't live in San Francisco. It's too expensive to hang out and work themselves into the Troupe. So the collective is shrinking and getting older because there's no young blood coming in.” 

Holmes plays three different characters in Veronica: Vice President Dick Cheney, General Preston, and a homeless war veteran. 

“One of my favorite things to talk about when we first start a show every year is, we've got to have heads on sticks,” said Holmes. “It’s like that Utah Phillips quote: ‘The Earth isn’t dying, it's being murdered. And those who are doing it have names, addresses and faces.’ So that’s what I want to do. Let's put the heads up on the sticks and say who they are. We're doing these little fictional stories so you can see who is who.” 

Every year the Mime Troupe takes the show on the road, around the bay, across the country and at times, around the world.  

“I've been to Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines, Jerusalem, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Cuba, Nicaragua. God, where else?” Holmes recalled. “In a lot of places we've been to, like in Germany, everybody speaks English so there's been no problem, [but] we played audiences in Korea that didn't know English, but they loved our physical slapstick. They could follow our story. We were doing a story about the health care crisis in America, and we're doing it Commedia-style, with the masks and those old Italian clown characters. They loved it. It transcends language. Something about it, the physical character, gets across to anybody. Last year we went to Fresno. We played to 800 people in Fresno. Eight hundred people hungry for our kind of thing. That’s really encouraging.” 

The SF Mime Troupe presents Veronique of the Mounties, the latest in nearly a half century long tradition of political musical comedies, for free in a park near you. 

July 12, 13 (Sat, Sun) at CEDAR ROSE PARK, 1300 Rose Street, a block from Cedar & Chestnut, Berkeley 

July 26 (Sat) at MOSSWOOD PARK, MacArthur & Broadway, Oakland 

July 30 (Wed) at MONTCLAIR PARK, 6300 Moraga Ave., Montclair 

August 9, 10 (Sat, Sun) at LIVE OAK PARK, Shattuck & Berryman, Berkeley 

August 13, 14 (Weds, Thurs) LAKESIDE PARK at Lakeside Drive at Lake Merritt, Oakland 

August 23 (Sat)at PEOPLE1S PARK at Telegraph & Haste, Berkeley 

August 24 (Sun) at WILLARD PARK/HO CHI MINH at Hillegass & Derby, Berkeley 

Music at 6:30pm, Show at 7:00pm 

Call (415) 285-1717 for more information or visit the Mime Troupe on the web at http://www.sfmt.org. 

A former Berkeley political activist turned investigative journalist is under arrest in Indonesia. William “Billy” Nessen, who was filing reports for the San Francisco Chronicle and England’s Observer newspaper on the movement to establish a free state in the Aceh province of northern Indonesia, is being held by the country’s army. 

Nessen surrendered in the presence of U.S. officials earlier this week. He had been with guerrillas in the free-Aceh campaign, known as GAB, since last May’s crackdown on the rebels by the Indonesian government.  

Nessen had contacted the military and offered to turn himself in if he wasn’t killed, arrested or interrogated. But the country’s military commander in Aceh, Bambang Dharmono, has agreed only to ensure Nessen’s personal safety. Major General Endang Suwarya, head of the martial law administration in Aceh, has threatened to charge Nessen with spying— a death penalty offense.  

First active in the successful effort to get the UC system to divest from South Africa in the mid-1980s, Nessen, 46, went on to work for anti-nuclear weapons campaigns with the Livermore Action Group and for human rights in Central America. In the late 80s he received his masters from the Columbia School of Journalism. He has worked as a freelancer since graduating on stories such as East Timor’s recent successful battle for independence. 

Going from being an advocate for political change to covering those movements as a journalist was a natural transition for Nessen, say his former Berkeley activist colleagues. 

“It doesn’t surprise me that he would be traveling with the guerrillas,” said Michael Sherman, who first met Nessen during the anti-apartheid protests of the 1980s and now sits on Berkeley’s Peace and Justice Committee. “He was certainly sympathetic to the human rights situation that the people of Aceh were facing from the Indonesian army, which is notorious for human rights violations.” 

For his longtime friends in Berkeley, Nessen’s plight is a major concern. Another member of the Peace and Justice Commission, John Lavine, is helping to circulate a letter that calls for the release of Nessen and his safe passage out of Indonesia. Lavine is also encouraging people to call the Indonesian embassy in Washington, D.C. on Nessen’s behalf. If he’s not freed by the time the commission meets again in September, Lavine says the commission will recommend to the city council that they adopt a resolution calling for Nessen’s release. 

In addition to these local efforts, the Committee to Protect Journalists, faculty and staff at the Columbia School of Journalism, the San Francisco Local of the National 

Writer’s Union and Media Alliance are all demanding Nessen be let go. His parents are currently in Indonesia trying to work out a deal with the government. Nessen’s wife, Shadia Marhaban, is an Aceh rights activist and interpreter. She was not with him while he was reporting from Aceh province.  

Andrew Ross, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Executive Foreign and National Editor, said that while the paper is concerned about Nessen and supports all efforts to have him released, they haven’t had any contact with him since his last story on the conflict in December, 2002. 

“It would be difficult for us to take the lead because probably the Indonesian authorities might say ‘Well, who the hell are you?” said Ross. However, Ross did say that as far as the Chronicle was aware, Nessen was not working as a spy. 

“In all the dealings we’ve had with Bill that never came up,” says Ross. “We know that it is a little dodgy right now for journalists there and that the government is, shall we say, somewhat sensitive about Aceh. We’ve also written stories about how unpleasant the situation is in Aceh there now and how there have been allegations of human rights violations by the Indonesian authorities.”  

Nessen was reported to have been writing a book on the conflict. In several telephone interviews over the past few weeks from the jungle of Aceh over his satellite phone, Nessen had said that he feared for his life if the Indonesian Army caught him. The Army also made it clear that they wanted to question him about his relationship with GAB and the location of their camps, according to news reports. 

The efforts to free Nessen appear to be paying off. According to Lavine, Senator Richard Lugar, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has contacted the Indonesian government calling for Nessen’s release.  

As of now there is no evidence that Nessen is being mistreated. 

“The Indonesians have kept their word so far that he would not be harmed,” said Lin Neumann, the Asia representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists, who has discussed Nessen’s situation with the Indonesian military. “The next step is to allow him to leave the country as soon as possible.” 

That couldn’t happen soon enough for Sherman. “It’s a very, very scary situation for him and I’m very worried about him,” he said. “Let’s get this man home safe and sound.” 

Bush’s trip to Africa is being heralded by the U.S. media as if he is the Messiah who will solve all of Africa’s problems.  

Indeed it is a good gesture when a President decides to visit the continent which has never been the top agenda of the U.S. government. In fact, the United States has a historic obligation to Africa which it has failed to meet. 

For many of us, this is just another trip that is intended by the Republican administration to boost its image on compassionate conservatism and increase potential for re-election in November. We would like to believe that it is more than rhetoric, but the facts seem to prove otherwise. 

For real and substantive changes to be made in Africa, the U.S. needs to make a commitment to at least two areas: 

1. Debt cancellation 

Every year, the poorest African nations are forced to pay billions of dollars in debt servicing, paying the interest on bilateral and multilateral loans. How did this happen? Multinational institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, plus major commercial loans, have been used to buy allies in Africa. It did not matter to these countries or institutions that the leaders were not democratically elected or that the funds were not being used for development purposes. Continued lending with no accountability has resulted in enormous debts which are beyond the capability of most African governments to meet. A majority of African countries are paying more to servicing the debt than for their national health and education budgets combined. National organizations like Africa Action and the Jubilee USA Network have been calling for the total cancellation of what are considered illegitimate debts. South Africa is a good example. For decades, the White-minority led apartheid government took out loans to boost its military to suppress the majority voices of the country. Today’s democratically elected government of South Africa is burdened with apartheid debt which the IMF and the World Bank do not want to consider canceling. 

2. Funding to fight HIV/AIDS 

Africa is the epicenter of the AIDS pandemic. The entire continent has only 10% of the global population at some 800 million people. Yet 70% of people living with HIV and dying of AIDS are on the continent.  

We all saw the headlines following President Bush’s State of the Union address promising $15 billion over five years for fighting AIDS in Africa. Yet, the D.C.-based Washington Office on Africa states, “While $3 billion a year has been authorized by Congress, the president has requested no additional funds for this fiscal year and less than $2 billion for fiscal year 2004, including only $200 million, instead of $1 billion, for the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria. News reports say Republicans in the House of Representatives are planning to approve even less than the president’s low request.” 

On Thursday, July 19th, the House Appropriations Foreign Operations Subcommittee will propose the actual amount the U.S. will give to fight global AIDS in 2004. Advocates all over the U.S. are calling for the subcommittee to provide at least $3.5 billion, of which $1.7 should go to the Global Fund. 

There are many more issues of small arms and the “blood diamonds” which continue to fuel conflicts and divisions in Africa. Africa is not ridden with problems, as suggested by its image as presented in the media; it is also a continent rich with resources and positive changes and contributions that take place every day.  

The top headline topics that we see accompanying the Bush trip to Africa are Liberia and Zimbabwe. The discussions about these countries are reduced to leaders Charles Taylor and the controversial President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. But the problems of Africa are a whole lot more complex than just leadership. For real and substantive changes to be made, it is necessary to examine the deep history of injustice that has taken place over the past centuries and propose changes to current policies which continue to undermine Africa’s right to development. 

Bay Area residents are proud to have been part of the history of the anti-apartheid movement. Many thought it was not a struggle that could be won, but the support of people in the U.S., working closely with people in Africa toppled the apartheid regime. We can do this again with the AIDS issue — lest we look back and regret our inaction. 

Maudelle Shirek is Vice-Mayor of Berkeley. Nunu Kidane is a member of 

Priority Africa Network of Berkeley.

Artists and advocates for the arts plan to gather on the steps of city hall in San Francisco on Wednesday to protest the proposed gutting of the California Arts Commission, the state agency that gives about $17 million per year to artists and arts organizations throughout the state. 

Two Assembly bills now being considered to either cut funding to the agency— from about $18.2 million to about $750,000— or eliminate the agency altogether to help close the state’s $38 billion budget shortfall. 

Established 27 years ago during Governor Jerry Brown’s administration, the Arts Council largely funds local organizations that bring arts into the classroom. Last year, the agency gave a total of $1.5 million to arts organizations in Alameda County and about $426,000 to Contra Costa artists. Among the local grantees are the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, which got about $26,000 this year, the Berkeley Arts Magnet, which got about $11,000, and La Pena Cultural Center, which received $50,000. 

Eliminating the agency will also mean the loss of federal arts dollars: In order to receive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a state must have an arts agency to administer those funds. According to Arts Council spokesperson Adam Gottleib, about $1 million in NEA funds is funneled through the Arts Council. If California eliminates the council, it would be the first state in the country to eliminate its arts agency, Gottleib said. 

Patrick Dooley is the executive director of Shotgun Players, a Berkeley-based theater group that received about $4,000 this year from the council. He said the loss won’t break the organization’s back, but is still significant. “We only charge $10 per ticket,” Dooley said. “That means we have to sell a lot of tickets to make up for that $4000.” 

Although funding for the agency has dropped significantly in the last three years— from $30 million in 2000 to $17 million in 2002— artists and other advocates for the arts say the consequences of gutting the agency will reach beyond the loss of actual dollars.  

“The message it sends to people is that the arts are disposable, that they can just be removed. It’s pretty scary and shortsighted,” said Dooley, adding that the Berkeley city council and mayor’s decision to create an arts commission was important in promoting arts locally. “It sends a really strong signal to people about the importance of the arts.” 

Jennifer Easton is director of development and marketing for the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, a $1.2 million organization that received $5,600 this year for a program that brings orchestras into schools and allows students to attend free concerts.  

“If you zero out the California Arts Council, it sends out a message saying that the legislature doesn’t believe funding the arts is part of the government’s responsibility,” she said. Easton said eliminating the Arts Council would also mean the loss of economic activity generated by the arts, as well as the more subtle, indirect benefits of arts on the culture. “It makes smarter kids, more creative thinkers,” she said.

Spiraling workers’ compensation costs are threatening the city’s bottom line and raising questions about workplace safety, city officials said this week. 

In fiscal year 2003, which ended in June, the city paid at least $6.8 million in workers’ compensation costs, a 23 percent jump over the $5.5 million doled out in fiscal year 2002, according to a new report presented to City Council Tuesday night. 

“That’s a big number,” said Dave Hodgkins, acting deputy director of human resources. 

The problem is particularly acute for a city that, despite raising taxes and cutting services in recent months to close a $9 million deficit for fiscal year 2004, still faces an $8 to $10 million shortfall in 2005.  

City Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, who worked on safety issues during his career as a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, gave city staff a tongue-lashing on the economic and ethical dimensions of the issue Tuesday night. 

“We have a moral obligation as a city to provide a safe work environment,” said Wozniak. “I think the city manager needs to go to the head of public works and say ‘this is unacceptable, what are you going to do about it?’...I want to hear some urgency on this.” 

City Manager Weldon Rucker defended the city’s approach, noting that a new training program for supervisors, with a focus on prevention, is underway and that workers’ compensation has gained a more prominent place in the evaluation of managerial staff. 

“I am holding department heads accountable,” he said. 

According to a study by the Sacramento-based firm of Bickmore Risk Services, Berkeley has 47 percent higher costs than the average of several local cities and towns participating in the Bay Cities Joint Powers Insurance Authority, administered by Bickmore. 

Berkeley’s highest losses, as is typical for most cities, have come in the police, fire and public works departments, where workers face the most dangerous jobs. 

City officials, union leaders and everyday workers say they are unsure about what lies behind the soaring workers’ compensation rates. But the city has hired the Berkeley-based Lindy West and Associates to conduct the first full audit of the city’s system in years. 

In the meantime, a host of theories abound. Hodgkins said, for instance, that Berkeley provides a few services, like solid waste collection, that many municipalities do not— opening the door for more injuries. 

Rucker said there’s a larger cultural problem in the city’s ranks. 

“People have taken for granted the entitlement of workers’ comp,” he said. “There’s been a culture of, kind of, it’s OK to get hurt. No, it’s not OK to get hurt.” 

Hodgkins points to a unique provision in the city’s labor contracts that allows all workers to receive full pay for a year if they are out on workers’ compensation. State law requires a full year’s pay for sworn employees— police officers and firefighters— but does not require Berkeley to extend the provision to all its employees. 

John Burton, Jr., an economist and professor at Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations in New Jersey, said the contract language, which dates back at least 30 years, encourages workers to take advantage of the system and stay off the job longer than needed. 

“I don’t want to call that fraud, it’s simply a rational reaction,” he said. “I think you’re inviting a problem.” 

René Cardinaux, director of public works— which saw a 55 percent jump in employee hours lost this year, according to the new report— used stronger language. 

“It’s just like welfare or anything else,” said Cardinaux, who questions the 55 percent figure. “There’s not a solid citizen around who believes women and children don’t deserve government help...[But] you and I know these things get abused.” 

But workers and union officials said they don’t believe the policy is a major contributor to the city’s workers’ compensation costs. 

“I’ve heard of some people taking advantage, but to my knowledge, [I don’t know anyone] personally,” said Rolando Vargas, a city mechanic in the public works department. “The city’s been cracking down on that sort of thing.” 

Current contracts for non-sworn employees expire in the summer of 2008. Hodgkins declined to say whether the city would ask the unions to drop the full year’s pay provision from their next contracts. 

Eric Landes-Brenman, a senior management analyst who chairs the budget and negotiations committee for Public Employees Union, Local One, which represents 160 employees, was cool to the idea, noting that it was a “very contentious issue” in the last round of negotiations. 

But he said it would be premature to discuss the issue at length at this point, especially since city officials and labor leaders have been meeting for the last six months to come up with strategies for reducing workers’ compensation costs. 

Part of the talks have focused on ironing out the details of a separate contract provision that will provide employees with a one-time, one percent bonus if workers’ compensation costs decline. 

The city is also working to get more aggressive in its “return to work” policy, pushing injured workers to perform light duty until they heal. 

Ed Welch, director of the Workers’ Compensation Center at Michigan State University, said the key to a strong return to work policy is bringing back employees quickly. 

“In the first week or two, workers say they can’t wait to come back to work. They say the walls are closing in on them,” he said. “If you leave people at home for six weeks or six months, their whole attitude changes.” 

Return to work is also a powerful deterrent to fraud, Welch said. 

“If no matter what’s wrong with you, your [employer] is going to find work for you, there’s no reward for being a fraud,” he said. 

But Cardinaux said the policy doesn’t always work in the real world. Most public works jobs involve heavy manual labor and it can be difficult to find low-impact tasks for injured employees, he said. 

“I can only have them sweep the corporation yard for so many hours,” he said, adding that employees hired to do heavy lifting don’t necessarily have the skills to work on a computer or perform other office work. 

Another obstacle is employee perception of workplace safety. A survey conducted by Bickmore for the city found that, in an unusual twist, workers actually have greater confidence in the city’s safety precautions than managers. 

John, a skilled laborer who declined to give his last name, suggested that feeling was well-founded. 

“We all look out for each other,” he said, adding that his supervisors are responsive when workers raise safety concerns. 

Berkeley may have a bigger problem with workers’ compensation than its immediate neighbors. But the city is, by no means, the only employer facing skyrocketing workers’ compensation bills in California. Medical inflation and vague language in the state’s workers’ compensation law— inviting costly lawsuits— have lead to skyrocketing costs for business, nonprofits and government, Burton said. 

The state legislature is currently considering about 20 bills that would address the problem, through a variety of caps on medical costs and restrictions on services available to employees. Hans Hemann, chief of staff for State Assemblywoman Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley), said the legislature will have to walk a fine line between holding down costs for employers and providing full medical care for workers.  

In the meantime, medical bills continue to mount and worries continue to grow in Berkeley. Hodgkins said $1.1 million in overhead expenses means the city actually paid more than $6.8 million on workers’ compensation last year. The city, he said, is likely spending between eight and nine percent of its $95 million payroll on the program, creating serious financial headaches. 

City Councilmember Linda Maio said Tuesday that the city, which has an overall budget of about $280 million, is moving in the right direction with a new emphasis on prevention. But it must act decisively to address the problem, she suggested. 

“We really have to get in front of this,” Maio said.  

So. The media reports that the GOP offers the State of California a budget. The Democrats turn it down. Let’s see where some of the holes in that GOP proposal might be. Here are just a few. 

$3.4 million cut by eliminating teen-pregnancy prevention programs. This is nuts. For years we’ve known that for every dollar spent on pregnancy prevention, $3 was saved in future health care costs by the state. The amount of those savings in current dollars is $4.48. We know that teen pregnancy rates are lower than they have been in forty years! An investment of this amount equals future savings of $15.23 million! That means that something is working. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.  

The elimination of the Battered Women’s Shelter Program saves $21.8 million. It ends 24-hour crisis hotlines, emergency food, clothing and shelter for victims of domestic violence, counseling, emergency room services and legal assistance with temporary restraining orders. Cold-hearted Republicans apparently disregard the safety of endangered women and children. Do you remember reading lately about women and children in our area that were beaten or killed? It’s a horrible fact of life that fathers and partners brutalize women and children. This cut means they are also to be brutalized by the state.  

Eliminating the California Commission of the Status of Women eliminates a resource where women’s issues are researched, where educational outreach occurs and where remedies to problems facing women’s search for equality are procured. Are the Republicans saying they think women’s issues are unimportant? They are already getting far more value than what they pay for ($443,000) because volunteers throughout the state do so many of these duties.  

The Department of Fair Employment and Housing is another one of those things women have fought to establish and continue to use. Maybe drafters of the GOP budget consider fairness and equity passé. Women continue to need a place to turn to when discrimination in the workplace occurs or when housing is illegally denied them. Funds for enforcement of anti-discrimination laws are critical to women. 

The clearest thing I can tell from this GOP proposal is that Republicans are continuing their campaign of women-hating legislation. They don’t care about teen pregnancy, battered women, fairness in employment and housing, reproductive health care or even a commission to track women’s issues. They’d like to see women return to the kitchen of the 50’s, barefoot and pregnant and without recourse. Women have worked too hard for too long to be so demeaned by such mean-spiritedness. Proponents of this budget should hang their heads in shame. 

Oakland/East Bay NOW is striving to register new voters and to educate all voters on the pitfalls found in GOP priorities. On the national level, those GOP priorities include money for unending wars, tax cuts for the wealthy and elimination of environmental protection laws (among others) with simultaneous decreases in funding for health care, education and local budgets. Clearly that same disregard for women permeates the Republicans in the California Legislature. We give our thanks to those legislators who turned away this disastrous GOP proposal and offer our pledge to replace those who would not protect women and children.  

See you at the polls.  

Barbara Ellis is Past President of the Oakland/East Bay Chapter of the National Organization for Women. She lives with her husband in El Cerrito.

When Joy Moore began researching her idea for a farmers market in West and South Berkeley two years ago, she was dismayed, but not shocked, by what she learned. 

At a booth she set up at Ashby Avenue and Sacramento Street, it was nearly impossible to give away whole bags of organic pink lady apples. All a passerby had to do to get a free bag was to fill out a page-long survey about their eating habits that would help Moore tailor a farmer’s market to fit the needs of the community. But, Moore says, the ladies —whose crispy, sweet, and juicy scrumptiousness makes them the candy of the apple family— weren’t incentive enough. 

“People just aren’t conditioned to appreciate fresh, organic produce,” she said. “A lot of people have misconceptions about organic food. It has bugs, it doesn’t taste good, it doesn’t look right. It’s too expensive, it’s hippie food. It’s because we’ve been under the influence of conventional farming for 50 years.” 

Moore said her own prejudices about organic food were shattered four years ago when she had her first taste of an organically grown nectarine. “It was so juicy, so sweet, so perfect,” she said. “That’s when I rediscovered real food.” 

Ever since then, she has been a leading holistic nutrition advocate, getting the word out on a monthly show she hosts on KPFA and getting the food out through a program she runs through the Ecology Center. Farm Fresh Choice, which celebrated its second anniversary on Tuesday, brings organic produce, grown by black and Latino farmers, at below-retail price to the minority neighborhoods of South and West Berkeley, who otherwise have to travel outside their communities to find affordable organic produce and who often have not been educated as to its benefits. 

The aim is to get more minority and low-income communities, which suffer disproportionately from diet-related diseases like heart disease and diabetes, to change their eating habits. 

“The only grocery stores around here is Canned Foods, which doesn’t have fresh produce, and Andronico’s, which is too expensive,” Moore said. “This way, we bring it to the community and we can use it as a vehicle to educate people about the importance of eating fresh fruit and vegetables that are made without pesticides or hormones, and also to remind people about the source of their food.”  

In most community sustainable agriculture programs, participants pay a set price and pick up a pre-boxed assortment of organically and locally produced food. But Moore and other Farm Fresh Choice founders discovered through their surveys that the best model for Berkeley was to place the food in areas where residents had to go anyway, such as recreation centers and child care facilities. 

Farm Fresh Choice has booths set up at four community centers throughout the city on Tuesdays. The Young Adult Project on Oregon Street and the Bay Area Youth Alternative on Allston Way serve primarily African Americans. The Bay Area Hispanic Institute for Advancement on Virginia Street targets the Latino community in that neighborhood. 

The aggressive outreach approach seems to work. Martha Cueva is the site supervisor at BAHIA, a children’s center that includes about 120 families a year. She says she has seen the program’s impact on the families she serves. 

“We have introduced vegetables to a lot of these families, vegetables they are not familiar with because they don’t have them in their homeland,” Cueva said in an interview at the recent Farm Fresh Choice anniversary celebration at the BAHIA center. “They are learning how to use them, and they are learning about their nutritional value. And it has increased awareness of eating food with no pesticides and at the same time it supports local farmers.” 

Karina Serna, co-coordinator of the Farm Fresh Choice program and coordinator of the BAHIA site in particular , says she has seen the program’s impact in the two years since its inception. “There’s no one else bringing pesticide-free, organic produce to these neighborhoods,” she said. “And it is definitely making a change. A lot of these families are eating a lot more fruits and vegetables than they were two years ago.” 

Serna points to Carlos Guerrero, who is busy packing in a box full of healthy goodies, his small daughter buzzing around him. “Carlos is a perfect example,” Serna said. “He’s here every week.” Guerrero lives nearby, on California Street near Dwight Street. “It’s a good program,” he said. “I don’t have a chance to buy it at the store a lot of times.” 

Moore said what she most likes to see is the program’s encouragement of family involvement. “When we have the booths at youth centers, we see that the children will bring their parents over when they pick them up. So they’re shopping together, and hopefully cooking and eating together,” Moore said. “Food is the thing that connects us all. It’s the nexus where everything converges in the social justice movement.” 

City Council took steps Tuesday night to keep closer tabs on Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which has clashed with city officials and neighborhood activists in recent months over a pair of large, proposed construction projects that activists say will damage the environment. 

The council voted 6-2, with one abstention, to direct city staff to conduct preliminary analyses of all major planned development projects at the federal lab, which is operated by the University of California. Council also asked City Manager Weldon Rucker to appoint a member of his staff to serve as a liaison responsible for coordinating city and lab relations. 

Mayor Tom Bates, who put the item on the agenda, said before the meeting that it was prompted in part by a sense that the city was caught unaware this year by lab plans to build a six-story, 94,000 square foot molecular foundry in Strawberry Canyon. The $85 million foundry would be dedicated to the study of nanoscience, the manipulation of materials at the molecular level. 

City Councilmember Dona Spring also raised concerns Tuesday night about a recently announced lab proposal to build a separate, six-story office building and fill in part of a valley that includes Cafeteria Creek to make space for a 120-space parking lot. 

Terry Powell, community relations officer for the lab, said she was pleased with the council’s move to put a liaison in place. 

“I actually think it’s going to be helpful,” she said. “It will help us focus and provide information through one single point of contact.” 

Powell said the lab informed city planning staff last fall of its plans for the foundry, but the message did not seem to make its way to City Councilmembers. Having a designated liaison will help, she said. 

But City Councilmember Margaret Breland raised concerns Tuesday night about an-as-yet unnamed, overloaded staffer taking on the large job of monitoring lab activities. Bates and City Manager Weldon Rucker countered that the liaison would simply be a point of contact and would work with many others to do the work of analyzing planned lab projects. 

The council also squabbled over the scope of the measure. Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, a former senior scientist at the lab, argued that it should not cover projects planned for the portion of lab-owned land in neighboring Oakland. 

“I...think this is a bad precedent,” said Wozniak, arguing that the city should not be spending inordinate amounts of time studying projects in other jurisdictions. 

Bates joked that Berkeley studies projects all over the world, making reference to the council’s predilection for passing resolutions on international issues practice that has repeatedly won national press attention, not all of it flattering. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said it would be “foolhardy” to study only some of the projects at the lab. 

“Pollution knows no lines,” he said. “Radiation does not stop because there’s a ‘Nuclear Free Berkeley’ sign on the line.” 

In the end, Wozniak and Councilmember Betty Olds voted against the measure with Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek abstaining. 

Bay Area fish lovers could be risking their neurological health, as well as that of their unborn children, says a report released Thursday by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research organization based in Oakland and Washington, D.C. 

The group released the report at the Berkeley Pier, telling attendees that their study of six kinds of commonly eaten Bay fish shows that the level of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)— neurotoxic chemicals found in fire retardants contained in electronic devices, furniture, cars, and TV sets— has increased by as much as three times since 1997. The study shows that detected PBDE levels doubled in halibut and tripled in striped bass since samples were taken six years ago. 

PBDEs are similar to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), cancer-causing chemicals that were banned in 1977. Scientists say PBDEs cause permanent neurological and developmental damage including behavioral changes, delays in sensory-motor development, and deficits in hearing, learning and memory. Most at risk are developing fetuses, infants, young children, and people with hypothryroidism.  

“We don’t have to poison the bay or our bodies for fire safety,” said Sonya Lunder, EWG analyst and principal author of the study. Lunder says the level of PBDEs in people and animals in the bay is 60 percent higher than levels in Europe and Asia. 

The Senate is expected to vote on a bill proposed by Wilma Chan that would ban some types of PBDEs in consumer products in 2008, making California the first state to regulate the chemicals. The bill was passed by the Assembly in May.  

“The United States is the biggest maker and user of chemical flame retardants in the world, and California is the largest market in the nation,” Chan said. “It’s important that we act now to keep these toxins out of our bodies and our environment.”

The city Planning Commission voted unanimously Wednesday night on a plan charting the future of the area just south of the university campus. The vote was the culmination of five years of debate among city officials, neighborhood activists and UC Berkeley staff. 

“I’m delighted that we’ve taken this step and the city and the university were able to come to an agreement,” said Planning Commission chairperson Zelda Bronstein. 

Now the Southside Plan, which calls for greater development on the commercial corridors of Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue, while restricting growth in residential areas, must undergo a lengthy environmental impact review, or EIR. 

Berkeley senior planner Janet Homrighausen said the review will cost roughly $230,000, a hefty price tag for a city facing an $8-10 million deficit for the 2004-2005 budget year. 

The city has committed $115,000 to the EIR and is hoping to avoid paying for the rest by collaborating with the university and AC Transit, which is eyeing express bus service in the area and must complete an EIR of its own. 

After the environmental review is finished, the Southside Plan will go back to the Planning Commission before proceeding to City Council for final approval. The whole process is expected to take at least a year. 

--David Scharfenberg

The former planning director for the city of Fremont has been appointed Berkeley’s new Interim Director of Planning. 

Dan Marks, who served as Berkeley’s manager of current planning from 1995-1996, will replace Phil Kamlarz, who took over Planning Director Carol Barrett’s position on June 6. In his year with Berkeley, Marks helped to create the city’s permit tracking system. 

“Dan Marks is an innovative public servant with superb credentials,” City Manager Weldon Rucker said, adding that Marks “maintained an excellent working relationship with members of key city boards and commissions.” 

Kamlarz will return to his position in the city manager’s office when Marks assumes his position Aug. 4. 

Marks will serve as interim director until the city manager can hire a permanent director following a recruitment effort. 

--Angela Rowen

One of Berkeley’s leading homeless services organizations won an $83,500 grant last week to help bridge the “digital divide” separating the computer savvy well-to-do from the technologically-challenged poor. 

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS) will use the two-year grant, from the San Francisco-based Community Technology Foundation of California, to train its three-member community organizing team in on-line activism and teach basic computer skills to some of the 3,500 homeless people it serves every year. 

“We’re very excited to get [the grant] because we know that a lot of the information out there is happening on line and a lot of our clients don’t have access to it because they’re low-income,” said Sonja Fitz, grants and budget manager for BOSS. 

BOSS is one of nine Bay Area nonprofits and 31 groups statewide that received $1.9 million in funding this year from the Community Technology Foundation, a four year-old, independent foundation endowed by telecommunications giant SBC after its merger with Pacific Bell. The foundation “promotes social justice, access, and equity through community technology,” according to a release. 

-- David Scharfenberg

Before heading to the Edward Albee Foundation’s artist residency program in Montauk, New York, I stopped to visit my friend Marlene. Marlene pulled up stakes and moved from San Francisco to New York City several years ago. Not so remarkable, you may think. People do it all the time. Hell, New York may even be cheaper than San Francisco these days.  

But I want to give Marlene a pat on the back for doing what some people might not have the nerve to do. Sure, kids go back and forth from coast to coast all the time. New graduates show up for awhile and then move on. My 30-year-old friend Amy has moved between New York City and San Francisco a total of four times in the past eight years. My friend Carol escaped from her parent’s home in the New Jersey suburbs to the Bay Area a dozen times when she was in her early twenties and didn’t have a dime. But Marlene was fifty-nine years old when she moved to Manhattan. She’s not a kid anymore. She doesn’t couch surf, cocktail waitress or pick up odd jobs here and there. She isn’t in college. She doesn’t have tattoos, piercings, an MBA, or dotcom experience. She isn’t an artist and she’s not pursuing an acting career. She does not write screenplays. She didn’t know anybody in New York City when she relocated there. I think that takes guts. I’m proud of her. 

“It’s not such a big deal,” Marlene assures me as we sip herbal tea in her tiny apartment on Manhattan’s upper west side. “I had a sellable skill. I knew I’d find work in New York.” 

“Yes, but you did it alone, Marlene,” I argue. “You weren’t transferred here. You didn’t follow a husband or significant other. You weren’t guaranteed work before you came to New York. It would have been easier and safer to stay home in the Bay Area.” 

“You make it sound more challenging than it was, Suzy.” Marlene shrugs and butters her toast. “I had the finances to move here. Many folks don’t.” 

“Yes, of course you did, but you worked hard for that cash. It wasn’t inherited or given to you. It wasn’t somebody else’s money. You’re a self-made person and you should congratulate yourself. Not many people would do what you did.” 

“Court reporters make good money. We can get jobs anywhere. Want more tea?” 

“Marlene, you chose a smart profession. You’ve used it advantageously. I think it’s extraordinary that a woman of your age has started over in New York City. You’re an inspiration. You’re what the song is all about.” 

“What song?” 

“New York, New York. I wanna wake up in a city that never sleeps…” 

“Just wait ‘til you spend the night in this apartment. You won’t be sleeping much yourself.” 

It was true. The pipes in Marlene’s brownstone walk-up banged, clanked and let off steam all night long. Taxicab horns and police sirens filled the hours after midnight and the garbage collectors arrived early in the a.m.  

In the morning Marlene dressed for work as I lay snoozing. 

“I’m off to court,” Marlene said breathlessly as she wrapped a silk scarf around her neck and placed a straw hat over her graying curls. “I’ve laid keys on the dresser for you. Remember, there are five locks and all the keys turn to the left except for the silver one, which turns to the right. Good luck. It only took me a year to figure out how to get into this apartment. I hope you can get out.”  

She paused and smiled. “I’ll see you tonight for dinner.” Then she turned and skipped out of the apartment like a twenty year old. As she was leaving I heard her humming softly to herself, “If I can make it here, I’ll make it anywhere…” “You’ve already made it,” I called out after her, but it was too late. I was safely locked inside.  

Susan Parker is spending the month in Montauk, New York as the guest of the Edward F. Albee Foundation. For information on this artist residency program visit www.pipeline.com/~jtnyc/albeefdtn.html.

As Nigerians prepare to welcome President Bush into their capital on his whirlwind African tour this week, the United States, in contrast, remains inhospitable to many Nigerians.  

My husband, for example, is being kicked out of the United States, his home of seven years.  

Osita came here on a valid visa. He has a work permit, a driver’s license and a social security card—all legally issued. He has a wife, a son and a daughter— all U.S. citizens. He pays taxes and rent. He has never committed a crime or been unemployed. And although he’s Nigerian, he has never sent anyone e-mail claiming to be usurped royalty in need of a wire transfer.  

The agency formerly known as INS has even approved our six-year, two-child marriage. Yet, immigration law says Osita must go. And because the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) refuses to process our paperwork, if he goes, he won’t be able to come back.  

These days it’s easy to blame immigration troubles on terrorism fears. But, like those of many Africans, Osita’s problems started long before Sept. 11, 2001, and have continued long after. Is our government’s handling of people like Osita rooted in a much older American prejudice?  

Osita moved to San Francisco from Tokyo in 1996 on a fiancé visa and married his girlfriend, a naturalized U.S. citizen. To his surprise, she immediately spent all of his savings, and when his money ran out, she kicked him out of their apartment and withheld the INS interview notices that came in the mail, propelling him into deportation proceedings. Fearing persecution at the hands of Nigeria’s then-military-dictatorship— notorious for cruelty to Igbos like Osita— he filed for political asylum. He and his wife divorced.  

But then we met, fell in love, got married and had our first baby. Problem solved, right? Instant green card? Not quite. Under U.S. immigration law, an immigrant can’t adjust his or her status from one person’s fiancé petition (K-1 visa), however legal, to another person’s alien-spouse petition (I-130 form). So the court wants Osita to leave the country and apply for a new visa based on our marriage.  

Fair enough. If only he could return.  

The problem: Immigration courts and the BCIS don’t work together. Despite our approved marriage, Osita is still in deportation proceedings and will be booted any time the court sees fit. Meanwhile, BCIS is not processing our documents, a glitch that will leave Osita stranded in Nigeria if he’s forced to take a voluntary departure from the United States. And if he does not leave voluntarily? He’ll be deported and barred from re-entering the United States for 10 years. Our kids will be teenagers by then.  

BCIS is not sympathetic. At each of the semiannual, continued deportation hearings we’ve attended throughout our marriage, an INS/BCIS attorney has argued in favor of Osita’s deportation. When we requested another continuance at last month’s hearing, the lawyer actually said, “I don’t see why he should get special treatment.”  

Osita’s “special treatment”: It took four years and two children for INS to grant us an I-130 interview— an event that usually occurs within eight months of a wedding. We were sent to the Special Investigations Unit, a fear-inspiring division of INS reserved for cases in which fraud is presumed. (Osita is Nigerian, remember.) At the interview, we were approved in minutes.  

We then submitted a request to have Osita’s alien file sent to the U.S. Embassy in Lagos, a process that normally takes five months. If the file is waiting there when the judge orders Osita to leave the United States, he might make it back home in weeks. If it isn’t, he’ll be stuck in Nigeria, and our family will lose our income, our insurance and our home.  

It’s been 18 months, and the file has not moved. But the government cashed our check for the processing fee.  

Recently an aid to our congressman, George Miller, kindly made an inquiry on our behalf. BCIS told him our request to have Osita’s file transferred is inside said file, which is being held by the court and is inaccessible to BCIS. But the court is the entity both requiring Osita to leave the United States and asking BCIS to move the file. Catch 22.  

Osita hasn’t seen his mother, his brothers or his sisters in 13 years, since Japan gave him asylum in 1990. His sister died, and he missed the funeral. His brother got married, and he missed the wedding. His mother is now in her mid-70s in a country where the average life expectancy is 50.  

Most of Osita’s adult relatives, all of whom live in Nigeria, have been applying for U.S. visas for decades and have been turned down. The only exception is Osita’s sister-in-law. It took her only two months to get a visa and fly to Missouri to give birth to our nephew, the only one of Osita’s relatives I’ve met. Recently, she was offered a chance at a green card via the U.S. immigrant “diversity” program— again, an avenue all of the other relatives have tried and failed. What makes her special? She was born in Sweden.  

Karen Pojmann (pojmannova@aol.com) is a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

You folks will forgive me if I have trouble understanding Oakland City Council’s decision to try to sell Preservation Park. Maybe some of those folks with those nice Urban Planning Degrees from UC Berkeley will write me and make it all plain. Right now, it just don’t make sense to me.  

Preservation Park is one of downtown Oakland’s (few) success stories. It’s a bright little 2 1/2 acre enclave on 12th, just southwest of City Center. Twenty years ago, somebody in city government got the idea to make a historic neighborhood out of some run-down 19th century homes—some of them already there, some of them rolled in from other parts on trailers—paint them up like they used to look in the Roaring 20s, and set them aside for non-profits. The only thing “non-profit” about the deal was the organizations who now make their home there. Unlike some of Oakland’s other recent dabblings in downtown real estate (see Oakland, Fox and rink, skating), which have, at times, been a drain on the treasury, Preservation Park brings in something around between $400,000 and $500,000 in profits each year. Profits, children. Not gross rents.  

So why are we making plans to sell it?  

Because, we are told, the city is in desperate need of money to finance Mayor Brown’s uptown development project (brought to you by the folks from Forest City), part of the Mayor’s plan to bring in 10,000 brand new residents to revitalize Oakland’s downtown, a development that will cost the City of Oakland so much money that no one seems to be able to nail down an exact price. Something in the millions.  

On the surface, trading a half a million a year in proven profits for a development idea that may never get either in the ground or off the ground doesn’t sound like a wise investment.  

Actually it’s much worse, because the proposed sale of Preservation Park threatens to break up what really should be the future of Oakland’s downtown development. For that you have to look south of City Center, toward the estuary, rather than north towards uptown.  

Consider the pieces already in place.  

For all its faults, the second most successful piece of dowtown Oakland is Jack London Square. Off the tops of their heads, most people would rank the Square first, but for retail-housing-entertainment mix, that honor should almost certainly go to Chinatown, which booms night and day.  

In between the Jack London Square and Chinatown is one of downtown’s unexploited treasures: the Produce District.  

In recent years there have been all sorts of ideas to develop this area, most of which involve removing the fruit and vegetable vendors, some of which have even (oh, horror!) called for Hong Kong-style high-rise condominiums. Hopefully, the collapse of the dot-coms has collapsed that idea as well, because this is an area that could certainly be put to more creative use. With its open-air warehouse-style architecture, the Produce District potentially has the kind of feel to it that you get in, say, Old Sacramento or Monterey’s Cannery Row or (dare we hope?) the French Quarter. But let’s save that one for another, more imaginative time.  

What cuts off the nighttime Chinatown and Jack London Square crowds from drifting into the lower area of downtown (around Old Oakland and the Convention Center) is, of course, Government Row. That’s the dreary collection of state, county, and city service buildings (the police department, the jail, the coroner’s office, a couple of courthouses, et al.) that huddle around the 880 underpass near 7th Street between Broadway and Washington. Hard to get people to feel comfortable about walking around and spending their money when the only vendors are a couple of guys passing out cards for bail bondsmen.  

Move those services somewhere else, make lower Broadway into a pedestrian mall, and all of downtown opens up like a flood, all the way from the estuary to Jimmie’s Club on 17th and San Pablo Avenue.  

In later years, when we analyze the administration of Mayor Jerry Brown, I think we will understand its greatest mistake was its failure to tackle the Jack London Square/Chinatown/Downtown Connection in its first two years. That’s when money was still good, interest in Oakland was still high, Jerry Brown was still a national star, and he was still on good terms with the governor. Instead, all that political capital got spent on a couple of charter schools. It’s still where the future of downtown lies.  

In this context, as part of the link between Jack London Square/Chinatown and lower downtown, preserving Preservation Park in its present form suddenly takes on more importance. It’s one of the first areas you get to, walking north from the underpass on your way towards downtown. Try to make more money on it— as a private developer almost certainly would —and you might ruin it. Left just as it is though, with its grassy center court and park benches and fountain, or its banquet room or conference center at Nile Hall, the Park is the perfect little complement to an overall lower downtown development plan.  

Somewhere around Preservation Park— if it’s left as it is —we might even find a home for the long-neglected Jack London Museum, once housed at the now-demolished Jack London Village, and now existing only in our memory and in the promises of city officials to revive it “somewhere.” If that “somewhere” ends up being near Preservation Park, then, along with the Pardee Home on 11th and the African-American Museum on 14th near MLK, Oakland has the beginnings of a museum district. Wow! Another way to attract people downtown, making creative use of things already in place!  

Like I said, selling Preservation Park just don’t make no sense to me, especially in the context of downtown development. But then, don’t listen to me. I don’t have one of those degrees. And I don’t work at City Hall.  

Alleged crack dealer arrested 

A man with 44 individually-wrapped pieces of crack cocaine was arrested late Monday night in south Berkeley, police said. 

Officers from the police department’s Drug Task Force searched 33 year-old Berkeley resident Jerry Banks at 11:05 p.m. on the 1800 block of Fairview Street and found a crack pipe and several empty small bags in his pockets, according to department spokesperson Officer Mary Kusmiss. 

A search of the grass and bushes surrounding him turned up 15 grams of crack cocaine and three bags of marijuana, with a street value of roughly $450, Kusmiss said. 

“Dealers often hide their stashes nearby — they’ll put them in mailboxes, under the hood of a car, in the bushes,” she said. 

Banks was arrested on suspicion of possession for sales of a controlled substance and a felony probation violation, Kusmiss said. 

Berkeley Police leary of linking N. Oakland homicide to border feud 

Berkeley police said they are wary about linking a Tuesday morning murder in North Oakland to an apparent border feud between Oakland and Berkeley drug dealers. 

“According to our detectives, there may be some connection, but they’re just not certain,” said Kusmiss. 

Oakland police found Robert Perry, 19, outside his apartment building on the 500 block of 58th Street with multiple gunshot wounds at about 2 a.m. the morning of July 8. He was pronounced dead at Oakland’s Highland Hospital, the city’s 59th homicide victim of the year. 

Oakland police said they had no suspects Wednesday and issued no official motive in the slaying, but sent an advisory to North Oakland neighbors stating that the shooting might be linked to the ongoing feud. 

Community members who knew Perry said he was a “good kid,” according to an account in the Oakland Tribune, and expressed doubt that he would be involved in any kind of drug war. 

The apparent feud has included bursts of gunfire in Oakland and two brazen, daylight shootings in Berkeley on June 17 and June 18. There were no deaths in either shooting. 

Kusmiss said several known drug dealers appear to be involved, but she was still hesitant to say the feud was driven by drugs. 

“There is some type of feud going on — but what the catalyst is, we still don’t know,” she said.

The short version of this review is that everyone needs to drop everything and get out to Orinda to see California Shakespeare’s production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Arms and the Man.” 

It’s hilarious. As a matter of fact, it would be hard for even a truly devoted nit-picker to find any nits to pick in this piece of pure fun. This is one terrific production of a terrific comedy: a marvelous way to spend a summer’s evening.  

And no, it isn’t dated. It’s just funny. 

Shaw, a famously wordy playwright, restrained himself in this, his first play to be seen by the public. (An earlier one had exactly two performances for a private audience). There are no long speeches here, and the message, if any, seems to be that common sense is a big winner over high-falutin’ theatrics. 

This delightful piece of absurdity concerns itself with the actions of a rather bat-brained upper-class family during a romanticized version of a Balkan war. No one is going to get hurt in the war, mind you. They just get a chance to roam around doing dramatic things. As the play opens, Raina (terrifically played by Stacy Ross) is in rapture over the news that her fiancée has heroically led a charge against the Bulgarians, resulting in their flight. It turns out, of course, that the “hero” didn’t lead anything: His horse ran away with him.  

But that comes later. The immediate problem is that one of the Bulgarian soldiers in flight from the Serbs (Rainia’s side, remember?) climbs through the window into her bedroom. He turns out to be Captain Bluntschli, a professional soldier from Switzerland who simply signed on to the first army that happened to come by. He couldn’t care less about the high falutin’ romantic notions that the other characters claim are such a big deal. 

What with one thing and another, Rainia and her somewhat fluffy-headed mother (a skillful Domenique Lozano) decide to hide the refugee, a situation that is destined to cause endless amounts of trouble when her father, a Serbian Major, ( Brian Keith Russell is definitely papa ) shows up. Oh, and then there’s her Serbian fiancée, the hero home from the wars  

( Dan Hiatt struts most delightfully in the role). He wouldn’t be overly happy about the man in her bedroom, either. 

Down in the kitchen, the maid Louka (Delia MacDougall) and Nicola, the servant (Triney Sandoval, who doubles as a Russian Officer) do a great point-counterpoint to the goings on upstairs: They’re engaged but they both have more pressing goals than their marriage. There’s no question that the ambitious Nicola is going to get his own shop sooner or later—he prefers sooner—and Louka has her own ideas about how to improve her station in life. With their knowledge of the goings on upstairs, their futures look bright. 

Anthony Fusco seems to have been born to play the practical, business-like Captain Bluntschli. Despite his romantic appearance in Rainia’s life, this man’s solid contact with reality baffles the house full of drama kings and queens he’s entered so precipitously. But, as is always the case when such opposites contact, they find that he definitely has his uses.  

California Shakespeare brought Lillian Groag up from Los Angeles to direct this play and it would be nice to see a whole lot more of her work. She has done an extraordinary job. The cast, of course, could hardly be bettered and there is a tremendous use of the huge outdoor stage. She has even succeeded in turning the scene changes into one of the great delights of the evening. An hilarious troop of “chocolate soldiers” dance about the stage doing quite wonderful things that make you regret the fact that they don’t get to stay longer.  

Shaw was annoyed— or pretended to be— with the fact that the play was such a smashing success. He insisted that it really wasn’t supposed to be all that funny. But he was still willing to take the money he made and run: He quit his job as a drama critic. Obviously Shaw suffered terribly over the issue.  

If so, the poor man must be twirling in his grave. 

The deaths of two beautiful, intelligent young women would be tragic in any part of the world. However, the death of Ladan and Laleh Bijani, the Siamese twins whom doctors attempted to separate on July 8, carries an especially strong symbolic message for Iranians.  

The twins’ operation in Singapore was reported minute-by-minute in Iran, and mourning for their death was universal. The sisters seemed to embody the flowers they were named for— Laleh, the tulip, sweet and retiring; Ladan, the nasturtium, bold and spicy. Media attention made their personalities well known to the many who watched breathlessly through their operation.  

The public attraction in Iran went beyond personality. The sisters were seen as noble for risking their own lives for the chance to be free and independent. The idea of achieving freedom— spiritual and political— runs deep in Iranian life, and is frequently expressed as a “longing,” an almost palpable need.  

But it is not just the notion of risking one’s own life for freedom that is important in Iran. What really captured the Iranian imagination was the idea that one sister might be sacrificing herself for the other.  

The idea of sacrifice is deeply engrained in Iranian life. It is the highest ideal one can express toward another person— the ultimate expression of affection. Letters are signed with the closing, “May I be your sacrifice.” 

The idea that separation of the twins could result in the death of one for the sake of the other was seen as a tribute to the sisters’ nobility and strength of character. Iranians see the greatest sacrifice as that of Imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet Mohammad, who died in Kerbala in 680 A.D. at the hands of the enemies of the Shi’a Muslim community. All personal sacrifices— including the twins’— are ultimately related to the death of Imam Hussein.  

For young people in Iran today, such a sacrifice is being weighed daily as student protests rage against a government that many feel to be restrictive of personal freedom and ambition. Ladan and Laleh’s bravery is an inspiration to those young women and men.  

Then too, the reasons why the sisters sought independence were themselves an inspiration. Laleh wanted to pursue a career as a journalist. Ladan desired a career in law. For obvious reasons the sisters could not easily pursue the same course of study at the same time. Laleh acquiesced to her sister’s desire to study law, putting aside her dream of a degree in journalism and getting a law degree herself.  

What one almost forgets in this modern age is that for young Middle Eastern women in many nations, such careers were not possible a generation ago. Ladan and Laleh’s optimism and faith in themselves and their ability to pursue these careers were stunning. It should put many over-privileged Western young people to shame.  

The two sisters came from Firuzabad, a small town in Southern Iran. Born into a poor family, they were adopted by the family of a physician in Tehran, who raised them to be the exquisite young women they came to be. Despite their modest origins and physical limitations, they managed to have a full life— a fine education, many friends and relative good health. In their lives and achievements they showed that even with an astonishingly restricting handicap, they could achieve personal success. In so doing, they embodied the highest ideals of modern Iranian women.  

Their desire to undergo the dangerous operation flew in the face of the advice of their relatives and other authority figures, including Ayatollah Khomeini, who advised their father in 1976 not to allow the procedure, claiming it was contrary to the will of God. Thus their bravery was an assertion of their own ethical path, their own course. This is not the view that much of the world has of Iranian women, who are frequently portrayed as helpless victims of male hegemony.  

Ironically then, in death, Ladan and Laleh have given inspiration to many: hope to women who dare to pursue their own course in life; courage to those who contemplate self-sacrifice for the good of others; and support for all who have the courage of their own convictions, flying in the face of even the most formidable authority. Their story has quickly attained legendary status. It will not be soon forgotten.  

William O. Beeman is director of Middle East Studies at Brown University. He has conducted research in the Middle East for 30 years, and is author of “Language, Status and Power in Iran,” and the forthcoming book: “Double Demons: Cultural Impediments to U.S.-Iranian Understanding.”

Guerneville, the Russian River, and Armstrong Woods State Reserve in Sonoma County are perfect for a quick redwood forest fix, and less crowded than Muir Woods. 

Once known as “Stumptown,” Guerneville (pronounced “Gurnvil”) and the whole Russian River area west of Highway 101 have passed through several transitions, currently landing in an interesting, slightly cleaned-up state. In fact, a switch from septic to sewer systems was just approved three weeks ago, and one can still actually buy a “no flood” house here for under $400,000.  

Named “Guernewood Park” by George E. Guerne, an early entrepreneur and saw mill owner from Switzerland, Guerneville is the town center for the “Lower Russian River” community. The mill Guerne built with men named Heald (Healdsburg), Bagley, and Willits was where Fife’s Resort and Safeway now are located.  

As is true in much of California, the first recorded residents here were Pomo Indians. Russians settled at Fort Ross in 1812, and the Ridenhour and Korbel families arrived in the 1850s, the latter fleeing Hungary with a price on their heads. Korbel first cut trees in the valley where their vineyards grow today to plant tobacco, using the milled trees to make tobacco and cigar boxes.  

Cinnabar, used to make mercury, was discovered here in the 1870s. Redwood and other logging enlivened the economy, with lumber ferried along the deep Russian River from Guerneville to Duncans Mills on John King’s steamboats, which then carried the lumber down the Pacific Coast to build San Francisco’s Victorian homes. Later two railroads were built from San Rafael through Petaluma to Guerneville to transport the volume of wood. 

Floods and fires have decimated Guerneville over the last 150 years, but getaway railroad excursions from San Francisco and the Bay Area attracted visitors even during the Great Depression.  

After World War II, Guerneville and surrounding resort communities were so popular that the Big Bands such as Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman played on weekends, precursors to the Jazz and Blues Festivals of today. We just missed the Blues Festival, but the upcoming Jazz on the River (September 6-7) festival will feature Al Jareau and La Vay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers. (800-253-8800). 

In the 60s the Russian River suffered one of its downturns in popularity and income, both of which seem to ebb and flow like the river’s waters in winter. In the 80s a new generation of Berkeley and San Francisco residents restored the old family cabins and the resorts began to boom again.  

Tiny downtown Guerneville epitomizes its old and new generations, with a genuine red-and-gold-signed 5 and 10 with everything from needles, snaps and thread to kids’ floating mattresses, glue, sparkles, coloring books, crayons, and that old plastic pyrolace we used to braid into bracelets and skate key necklaces. 

Next door to each other are two restaurants whose décor, staff, and cuisines offer the old and the new — take your pick. Pat’s great greasy coffee shop with sloping vinyl booths, counter, wood paneling covered with old lumbering tools, and a real bar next door with local regulars hanging over their third screwdrivers by 11:00 a.m. Check out the old map of Russian River Fishing Holes from Jenner to Mirabel for some local lore.  

Right next door to Pat’s is Sparks with excellent all-organic vegan fare, co-owned by CIA-trained Chef Alex Bury. Originally located at Cotati’s Inn of the Beginning, Sparks’ name derives from Sonoma People for Animal Rights, one of Alex’s favorite organizations. Rainbow Cattle Co. bar doesn’t sell cattle, but is a great meeting place in the robust gay river scene. Fife’s Guest Ranch and Roadhouse Restaurant welcomes gays and straights for some of the best food on the river. Coffee Bazaar and Twice Told Books adjoin on Armstrong Woods Road, and have the best coffee, veggie chili, and Caesar salads in town. 

A favorite retreat 2.5 miles up Armstrong Woods Road from Guerneville is Armstrong Woods State Reserve, founded by Colonel James Boydston Armstrong, journalist, surveyor, lumberman, banker, and developer. In 1978 Armstrong gave 440 acres to his daughter Kate for “one dollar, love and affection,” to be preserved as an old growth redwood grove. Failing to get the state legislature to help his effort, even with Luther Burbank’s help, and intervening family property divisions and partial sale to Harrison M. LeBaron, Armstrong sold the property for $80,000 to the County of Sonoma in 1917, with the LeBaron and Armstrong families kicking in $5,000 each. In 1934 the State of California bought the grove as part of Sonoma Coast State Park to preserve the reserve’s ecological significance.  

There are nine walks, hikes, and rolls of all difficulties from under one mile to 10 miles on pavement to dirt trails. Maps are available in the visitor center. Enjoy 805 acres in Armstrong Reserve and another 5,683 acres in Austin Creek State Recreation Area north and above the Reserve, with camping at Bullfrog Pond ($12 per night) and a children’s treasure hunt. Admission to Armstrong is $4 per car, $3 for seniors, and an annual pass costs $67. 

Nearby Russian River beaches include Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville, complete with a snack shack selling $1.50 burgers, beer, and pink popcorn, to the quieter non-beer Monte Rio. Inner tube, canoe, kayak, and umbrella rentals range from $4 to $20. 

Kathleen Hill writes a series of six Hill Guides to the West Coast with her husband Gerald Hill, including Sonoma Valley—The Secret Wine Country from Globe-Pequot Press.

The Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA) presents Summer Noon Concerts 2003, a unique series of nine free concerts, Thursdays at noon in June & July, beginning June 5th. From Rhythm & Blues to Brazilian capoeira, these concerts at the Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza (Shattuck Ave. at Center St.) are a showcase of the culturally rich performing arts in Berkeley. This outdoor summer celebration of Berkeley-based musicians & dancers is just a small sampling of the performing arts happening nightly in clubs, cafes, schools, theaters and concert halls in Downtown Berkeley. 

On Thursday, June 5th, our concert series opens with Rhonda Benin and Soulful Strut performing some of the best in R & B, with a splash of jazz and a solid helping of the blues. Soulful Strut appears regularly at many Bay Area nightspots such Enricos Sidewalk Café and Restaurant. 

On Thursday, July 31st, our concert series closes with SoVoSó, a highly visual and imaginative a capella ensemble that sings a compelling mix of jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, world, pop, and improvisational music. The ensemble is made up of former members of Bobby McFerrin’s Voicestra, and McFerrin says, “SoVoSó is tight, soulful, and a whole lotta fun.” 

This event is easily accessible by transit and there is one hour free parking daily from 9 am to 5 pm in Center Street Garage. Seating will be available. 

For a complete schedule of entertainers for the Downtown Berkeley Summer Noon Concerts 2003 visit the Downtown Berkeley Association website at www.downtownberkeley.org

In the face of growing evidence that our bays and oceans are badly mismanaged on every level, selling seafood to informed and concerned diners is a task akin to a steelhead trout swimming up one of Berkeley’s culverted and polluted creeks to spawn. 

On Friday, Oliveto Café and Restaurant launched a three-day Oceanic Dinners program and hosted a brief seminar on the state of our local, coastal fisheries. The same day, the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research organization based in Oakland and Washington D.C., held a press conference at the Berkeley Marina to discuss a new report warning of the dangerous levels of carcinogenic compounds known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBEDs) found in San Francisco Bay fish. 

“There are no easy answers to these problems—the problems of over fishing, coastal development and pollution,” said Elizabeth Sturcken of the Alliance for Environmental Defense. Sturcken spoke at the Oceanic Dinners program at the College Avenue restaurant on Friday. “Fish play a critical role in our ocean ecosystem, and the ocean in turn sustains us in many ways. Without the ocean, basically, we would all be dead.” 

She said that not only does the ocean produce most of the oxygen in the world, it also absorbs most of the carbon dioxide. 

“And of course the oceans provide us with fish, a healthy and delicious form of food,” Sturcken said. “Fish are really a critical part of our coastal and ocean ecosystems. Data shows that the oceans and fisheries are really in a crisis. We have moved so far away from a healthy and abundant ecosystem that we’ve kind of forgotten what that really means anymore.” 

Despite growing concern about our coastal and oceanic environment and due to cyclic oceanic trends, decreased pollution compared to 30 years ago and new regulations limiting the fish harvest, the health of the local coastal ecosystem is better than it’s been in decades, with more fish and visibly healthier fish. Even as far north as Washington, the number of wild salmon returning to spawn is twice what it was in the 1930s. Sturcken put those numbers in perspective by noting that the number of salmon in those rivers in the 1930s was only 10 percent of the salmon population in the same rivers during the 1800s.  

While the fish may be more plentiful and more healthy, eating them is not necessarily so.  

“Mercury and heavy metals accumulate in animals at the top of the food chain,” said Sturcken. “There are a bunch of fish that have been labeled as ones to watch out for. That’s going to be swordfish and marlin and king mackerel and shark and tile fish.”  

Tom Worthington sells fish to many of the Bay Area’s finest restaurants through his company Monterey Fish Market. He also is concerned about the concentration of pollutants in all large fish. 

“The one thing I would say to you is vary your diet all the time,” Worthington said. “Even the slice of swordfish once in a while is not going to do harm to you, but eating it all the time, yeah, it’s going to build up in your system and it’s going to cause problems. If I was talking to anyone who was thinking about having children, I would point them away from all sorts of things we eat, not just fish that have mercury in them.” 

Not only women in their childbearing years, but children also are at risk from the accumulated pollutants found in almost all our modern foods. 

“I would never eat a farmed salmon,” said Natasha Benjamin, Fisheries Program Officer for the Institute for Fisheries Resources. “The levels of PCBs in farmed salmon are skyrocketing. Let alone the artificial colorants that damage your retinas, and the antibiotics. I eat [wild] salmon. Basically that’s the only fish I’ll eat regularly. I eat tuna maybe once every few months, a small piece, and a little bit of mahi mahi, the dolphin fish. Some people say ‘Don’t eat fish.’ I would never say that. Sardines are rich in Omega-3s, there’s a lot of health benefits there, [also] anchovies.” 

Despite the daily dose of doom and gloom research scientists serve up for our consumption, there are both bright spots and effective action plans each of us can take.  

“It actually does come down to every individual and the decisions you make and the people you talk to. When you go into a restaurant [or grocery store] ask questions and turn your head away when they don’t have the right answer,” said Worthington. “A restaurant hears that enough times and they feel like, ‘There’s that damn question again. We got to start bringing in the right fish. We can’t bring in farmed salmon anymore. We’re just going to use wild salmon from now on. Hook and line caught.’ That’s how it’s done. Learn more, use your voice, write your letters, use your dollars. It’s amazing to see what has happened over the last few years on this. At Monterey Fish we’ve been talking about this forever. Now we’re hearing about it from New York, we’re hearing about it from L.A. Slowly but surely these things do become a revolution and people make big changes.” 

“It’s all about moderation,” said Benjamin. “There’s a report that just came out that said women should not eat a lot of meat and dairy and fish, in general, if you’re of the childbearing age. They can eat hormone-free, antibiotic-free poultry. I eat organic milk and wild salmon. Once every four months I eat a little tuna. I eat organic vegetables, organic fruit. It’s an expensive hobby eating. I’m lucky I can eat those things. A lot of people don’t have those choices. There’s a lot of good stuff out there. We’ve got to keep the positiveness because otherwise people are not going to eat it at all and then there’s no economic incentive to protect the resource anymore.”

This is the last in a three-part series on Berkeley’s housing boom.  

The current housing boom in Berkeley shows no signs of letting up. There are at least 600 units more being planned by for-profit and non-profit developers that have not yet come before the Zoning Adjustment Board for approval.  

Panoramic Interests, Patrick Kennedy’s development company, has plans to build a 190-unit mixed-use project at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and University Avenue to replace the unsightly Kragen Auto Parts strip mall.  

If built as planned, this project would be the largest housing development in Berkeley, surpassing Redwood Gardens, the housing development for seniors on Derby Street above College, which has 169 units. 

The City has also done a feasibility study to analyze the possibility of building housing for teachers and other public employees on the western part of the Ashby BART parking lot. Unions representing school district, city and UC workers prompted the proposal to look into developing the site. 

In the Southside, the city has agreed to waive liens if the owner of the Berkeley Inn site at Telegraph Avenue and Haste Street obtains permits to build housing there and housing is planned for Durant Avenue near Telegraph. 

Berkeley’s for-profit and non-profit developers are not the only ones building more housing. The University of California is also adding more housing to ease the crunch that students have faced in recent years and to accommodate the expansion of the student body that is under way.  

The University has added 100 beds with newly constructed housing at College Avenue and Durant and is in the process of constructing an additional 931 beds and 191 student apartments on Channing Way as additions to the high-rise Units 1 and 2 dorms in the Southside.  

Nor is this the end of UC’s housing development plans. The New Century Plan identifies three more sites in the Southside for future housing development, including the Tang Center parking lot on Bancroft Avenue and the Anna Head surface parking lot on Channing near Telegraph. 

ABAG demands more housing 

With the building boom now under way, Berkeley will have little difficulty meeting Berkeley’s share of the “regional housing need” as determined by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). Berkeley was asked to produce 1,269 units of housing during the seven and a half years between July 1, 1999 and December 31, 2006.  

In response to the concerns of state housing officials related to the Housing Element of the city’s 2002 General Plan, city staff assembled housing data that showed that the number of units built or approved between July 1, 1999 and December 1, 2002 or in the pipeline as of the end of that period, totalled more than the required 1,269 units due by December 2006. 

ABAG’s “Regional Housing Needs Determination” calculates housing needed to accommodate projected growth. But in addition to that, there is a clear need for more affordable housing to address the needs of current residents who are paying much more than they can afford in rent to live here. The Bay Area has some of the highest housing costs in the country, which has created a crisis for people with lower incomes. 

To meet this need, it has been estimated that approximately 5,600 units of housing would be needed. According to the General Plan housing element, that’s how many “very low-income non-student households” there are in “privately owned, unsubsidized housing.” Virtually all of these are overpaying for rent and “would be eligible for some form of rental assistance if it were available.” 

And there are also many people working in Berkeley at low pay retail, clerical, service, and blue-collar jobs, but living elsewhere, who might like to live nearer to where they work if they could afford it. 

While the City is producing more than enough market-rate housing, it is falling short of meeting the need for affordable below-market units. The city’s General Plan has set an ambitious, but very difficult-to-achieve goal of “providing an additional 6,400 permanently affordable housing units for low- and very-low-income households through acquisition of existing housing and new construction.” 

And what the city is achieving with respect to producing affordable units is threatened by possible legal challenges to the inclusionary zoning ordinance.  

TransAction Companies, developers of the planned Library Gardens project, whose vice-president is Chamber of Commerce president John DeClerq, filed a challenge to the city’s inclusionary housing requirement in October 2001. But the company withdrew its appeal in February 2002.  

In response to a referral from City Council, the city’s Housing Advisory Commission proposed giving affordable housing proposals higher priority treatment over other development proposals before the Design Review Committee and the ZAB. But City Council has yet to adopt any policy for priority processing for low-income housing projects. 

How development has changed 

In the 1980s, a majority of the units being produced were affordable units. For-profit developers accounted for a relatively small share of the housing being produced. Contrast this with the last two years when only 25% of the units are below-market affordable units and only two projects are by non-profit affordable housing developers. For-profit developers today account for a large majority of the units being produced, and also account for a majority of the below market units produced in the two year period from May 2001 to May 2003. 

While the percentage of affordable units being produced has fallen, the absolute number of affordable units being produced now is greater than the number in any two-year period in the 1980s. 

The apartment projects being built now are, on average, denser than the housing that was produced in the 1980s. Compare Savo Island, the U/A coops or the scattered site low-income housing from the 1980s with the projects being approved today. Instead of two or three stories, buildings today are typically four or five stories. Of the 17 projects approved by ZAB, 10 will be five stories in height; six will be four stories; and one will be three stories, but will be 50 feet tall with loft units.  

Developers are also receiving concessions and bonus units under the state density bonus law and are taking advantage of the flexibility in development standards in certain zoning districts (notably C-SA, the city’s “South Area” zoning, in South Berkeley). 

Developers are getting extra stories, reduced setbacks, reduced open space, increased lot coverage and reduced parking. Of the 17 projects approved by ZAB, 13 received at least one concession that allowed them to exceed development standards.  

Four projects received an extra floor. Residential parking requirements have been reduced for several projects, in some cases with a provision that residents will not be eligible for residential parking permits in the adjacent residential neighborhoods. 

While projects are denser, units are, in some cases, on the small side, though there is considerable variation. Some have studio units with as little as 340 square feet (visualize 17 x 20 feet). Units over 1,000 square feet are relatively scarce.  

Housing in the neighborhoods 

Since the passage of the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance in 1973, almost all of the new apartments that have been built are located on commercial corridors. This is also true of a large majority of housing approved by ZAB in the last two years. 

The two cases where ZAB and City Council have balked at approving new housing have both involved projects in the middle of residential blocks that would have displaced existing housing.  

Sixteen of the 18 projects considered by ZAB since May 2001 are located either in the Downtown close to Shattuck Avenue and within easy walking distance of the BART station, or on a “transit corridor,” a street served by at least two bus lines. Almost all of these projects are on commercially zoned parcels. Sites include vacant lots, the former Fine Arts Theater, a former gas station on North Shattuck, the Hinks parking garage, and sites with one- or two-story commercial buildings. 

The other two are the proposed projects at 2500-2514 Benvenue Avenue and at 1155-63 Hearst Avenue. Both locations are in the middle of residentially-zoned blocks in established residential neighborhoods. 

Both projects would have replaced existing housing with taller, denser buildings. Both projects generated strong and well-organized opposition from immediate neighbors. ZAB rejected the project at 1155-63 Hearst by a vote of five to zero with three abstentions, and the council subsequently upheld ZAB by a 6-3 vote. 

The Benvenue project was narrowly approved by ZAB with the five vote minimum. The Benvenue Neighbors Association appealed. City Council heard the appeal and decided to approve a portion of the proposed project that involved retrofitting two existing buildings to create more, smaller units in place of the existing apartments.  

The council called on the developer to do an environmental review of the most controversial portion of the project that called for construction of a five-story building in place of two existing turn-of-the-century homes, one two-story, the other one-story. The building would have been taller than any existing housing on the block and would have included classroom and office space along with housing. 

Rob Wrenn has lived in Berkeley for the last 21 years and is member of Berkeley’s Planning Commission.