In a memo that City Councilmember Dona Spring calls “shocking” and “the kind of letter that you’d expect from a UC attorney,” the assistant attorney for the City of Berkeley appears to have advised Mayor Tom Bates on strategies to amend Berkeley’s zoning ordinance to fit UC’s needs for the proposed downtown hotel and conference complex. According to Assistant City Attorney Zach Cowan, a “side benefit of including zoning amendments is that we can amend whatever is necessary to bulletproof any City approval.” 

The private memo from Cowan was sent to Mayor Bates on Nov. 14 of last year, but not released to the public or to the full city council. At least two councilmembers—Spring and Kriss Worthington—said they had never seen the memo. Although authorship of the memo has not been verified by either Bates or Cowan, it appears to be authentic. It was leaked to the Daily Planet Monday afternoon from a City Hall source. 

The memo begins with Cowan’s “legal opinion” that the “hotel part” of the UC project comes under Berkeley’s land use controls. That is contrary to UC’s assumption that as a state education institution, the university-owned project would be exempt from local zoning laws. The disagreement is crucial. If UC is found to be exempt from Berkeley’s zoning ordinances, the university would be able to build a hotel and conference center in the heart of Berkeley’s downtown at any height or density it wanted, without regard for Berkeley’s wishes. 

“I think it would be natural for the mayor to ask the city attorney’s office if this project has to go through the city’s planning and zoning process on the grounds that the hotel is for a commercial use, rather than an exempted educational use,” Spring said. “But I find it very troubling that Cowan agrees to, in a sense, run roughshod over the city’s zoning/EIR process by saying they’ll expedite it, and change it. Those are not assumptions that Mr. Cowan should be making. Those are assumptions that the whole council would have to decide upon. This is not a legal opinion. This is a ‘how we can do it’ memo. It’s a plan for how the city can grease the tracks and overcome any citizen concern or input. It calls into question who Mr. Cowan is working for. Is he working for the city council and the citizens of Berkeley or for UC? Sounds to me like he’s working for UC.” 

Spring said it was her opinion that the memo should have gone to every member of the city council “and particularly myself, whose district this is in. I’ve been one of the champions to get a hotel conference center and ecological demonstration project there, for years.” 

Worthington expressed “surprise” about the content of the document.  

City Hall was closed for the President’s Day holiday, and Bates, Cowan, Planning Commission Chairperson Zelda Bronstein, and Planning Commission UC Hotel Subcommittee Chairperson Rob Wrenn could not be contacted in connection with this article. 

The University of California has proposed building a 12-story hotel, conference center, and museum center on the downtown Shattuck Avenue block presently occupied by a Bank of America branch. The release of the Cowan memo comes on the eve of a Feb. 18, North Berkeley Senior Center 7 p.m. public discussion of the project by the Planning Commission and its recently selected 25-member UC Hotel Task Force. 

Bates, who initially requested that the Planning Commission set up the task force last November, reversed his position late last month, saying that while he supported the eventual implementation of the task force, it was “premature to initiate at this time.” Bates wants the Planning Commission task force to hold off any work until he has finished negotiations over the project with UC over “who will serve as lead agency and what the exact permitting process will look like.” Bates told the Daily Planet last week that the task force process is currently “out of control.” 

›

TUESDAY, FEB. 17 

Tuesday Morning Birdwalk at the Albany Bulb, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Meet at the end of Buch- 

anan St. in Albany. Call if you need binoculars. 525-2233. 

“Vernal Pools: What? When? Where?” with Carol Witham, consultant on botanical and biological ecosystems of vernal pools of California and Nevada, at 1 p.m. at the Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. Free. Sponsored by the Berkeley Garden Club. 524-4374. 

Celebration of Black History Month, singing, dancing, jazz and poetry slam at 7 p.m. at BHS Little Theater. Sponsored by the BHS PTSA and the Parent Resource Center. 

Friends of Strawberry Creek meets at 6:30 p.m. in the Central Public Library Meeting Room, 2090 Kittredge St. Carole Schemmerling will talk about daylighting Blackberry Creek at Thousand Oaks School Park.  

“The California Budget Crisis: What Caused it? What are the Alternatives?” with Lenny Goldberg, California Tax Reform Association, at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 27th and Harrison Sts. Potluck social hour at 6 p.m. Sponsored by the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club. 99-PEACE. www.democraticrenewal.us 

“25 Years of Kindred with Octavia Butler” at 4 p.m. in the Morrison Room, Doe Library. Sponsored by the Center for African Studies. 642-8338. http://ias.berkeley.edu/africa/ 

“Mountaineering 101” at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Judaism, What is it all About?” an interactive lecture series with Rabbi Judah Dardik, at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at Beth Jacob Congregation, 3778 Park Blvd., Oakland. 482-1147. www.bethjacoboakland.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 234-4783. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers We are a few slowpoke seniors who walk between a mile or two each Tuesday, meeting at 9:30 a.m. in the Little Farm parking lot. 215-7672.  

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18 

UC Hotel and Conference Center Subcommittee of the Planning Commission meets at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center. 

Tilden Explorers A nature adventure program to learn about our local amphibians, for ages 5 to 7 with an adult, from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. Fee is $6, $8 for non-residents. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Great Decisions 2004: “The Philippines” with Rene P. Ciria-Cruz, Editor, Pacific News Service and Filipina Magazine, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. The Great Decisions program will meet Wednesdays through March 31. Briefing booklets are available. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

Berkeley Stop the War Coalition meets every Wednesday at 7 p.m. in 255 Dwinelle, UC Campus. www.berkeleystopthewar.org  

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

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vig the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Amnesty International Berkeley Community Group meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1606 Bonita Ave., at Cedar St. Join fellow human rights activists to help promote social justice one individual at a time. 872-0768. 

THURSDAY, FEB. 19 

“Selling Out the First Amendment: The Collision of News, Entertainment and Politics” with John Carroll, Editor, The Los Angeles Times, in conversation with Michael Krasny, at 7:30 p.m. in Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Sponsored by The Graduate School of Journalism, The Goldman School of Public Policy and The Office of the Chancellor. Tickets are $5, available from 642-9988. 

Golden Gate Audubon Society, “Crossing the Frozen Roof of the World” Geographer Pam Flowers presents a slide show and talks about her 2,500-mile adventure across the North American arctic coast. At 7:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Free. 843-2222. www.goldengateaudubon.org 

“Tree Rings: Tales of the Past, Indicators of the Future” with Dr. Constance Millar of the U.S Forest Service, at 2:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of CA, 1000 Oak St., at 10th St., Oakland. Free. 238-2200.  

“Fabric of Hope” with Nike Davies, textile artist and painter from Nigeria, at noon in 220 Stephens Hall, Geballe Room, Townsend Center. Sponsored by the Center for African Studies. 642-8338. http://ias.berkeley.edu/africa/ 

Berkeley-Palma Soriano Sister City Association invites you to join our June Delegation on Culture, Spirituality and the Environment in Havana and Santiago de Cuba. Informational meeting at 7 p.m. at Berkeley City Hall, 2180 Milvia St., 6th Floor Conference Room. For more information, call Francisco at 981-6817. www.geocities. 

com/berkeley-palma/ 

LeConte Neighborhood Association meeeting at 7:30 at the LeConte School, 2241 Russell St. 843-2602. 

“Update on Vista College” with Jacqueline Shadko, VP of Instruction, from noon to 2 p.m. in the Edith Stone Room, Albany Public Library, 1247 Marin Ave. at Masonic. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters. 841-2837. 

“What are the Kabbalah and The Zohar?” with Rav Michael Laitman at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Hillel Jewish Student Center, 2736 Bancroft Way. 845-7793. 

Simplicity Forum on self-esteem issues when pursuing the simple life at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 549-3509. www.simpleliving.net 

Exercise After 50 Berkeley’s Active Choices program, which offers people over 50 free “coaching” toward an exercise program, will be the focus of the Berkeley Path Wanderers Assn. meeting, at 7 p.m. at Live Oak Park Recreation Center, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Justine Kaplan will outline how these programs can help fight chronic diseases, from diabetes to joint pain or heart failure. For information see www.internettime.com/bpwa or call 524-4715. 

“People’s Health Movement” with Steve Miller, MD, President, Doctors for Global Health, at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. 642-9460. http://ihouse.berkeley.edu 

FRIDAY, FEB. 20 

5th Annual Seed Swap Come be a part of the Bay Area Seed Interchange Library (BASIL) seed swap. This is a great way to meet other local gardeners and trade seed. There will be free seed giveaways to get you started, along with a short introductory talk on seed saving. Bring seed, envelopes and pens or just show up with a commitment to bring seed back to the Interchange Library. From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way. 548-2220, ext. 233.  

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with You-Tien Hsing, Prof. Dept. of Geography, UCB, “Transformation of Socialism in China” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $11.50 - $12.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War” and “Imagine America” will be shown at 7 p.m. at the Kucinich for President office, 3362 Adeline, near Alcatraz. 420-0772. 

Benefit Teach-In for the Grocery Workers at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St. Oakland. Donation of $5. 655-5764. javacs@yahoo.com 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Players at all levels are welcome. 652-5324. 

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. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

Overeaters Anonymous meets every Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Church at Solano and The Alameda. Parking is free and is handicapped accessible. For information call Katherine, 525-5231. 

SATURDAY, FEB. 21 

Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations meets at 9:15 a.m. in the Sproul Room, St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 587-3257. www.berkeleycna.com 

Kids Garden Club on recycled planters. Bring a container from home and we’ll turn it into a planter for our budding new garden. From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Cost is $3. Wheelchair accessible. 525-2233. tnarea@ebparks.org 

Tilden Park Hike with the Natural Sciences Guild Cost is $15, free for members. For more information call 799-6756.  

Junior Skywatchers Club on Winter Constellations. We’ll tell stories, stargaze, and make star maps of the night sky. From 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Wheelchair accessible. 525-2233, tnarea@ebparks.org 

Stream Restoration Workshop taught by Ann Riley, author of “Restoring Streams in Cities” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Urban Creeks Council, 1250 Addison St.  

Cerrito Creek Restoration Meet at 10 a.m. at the south edge of El Cerrito Plaza, near EC BART. We’ll re-plant salvaged native plants. f5creeks@aol.com 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Disaster First Aid for anyone who lives or works in Berkeley, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Fire Department Training Center, 997 Cedar St. Register on-line at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes or by calling 981-5506. 

“City Schools and the American Dream,” an evening with Dr. Pedro Noguera, Professor at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education and a former member of Berkeley’s School Board, at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Community Theater. Benefit for the Berkeley Public Education Foundation, sponsored by Cody’s Books. Tickets are $25, available from Cody’s Books, and include a copy of “City Schools and the American Dream.” 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Book Sale sponsored by The Friends of the Albany Library from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Avenue in Albany. All paperbacks and hardback books including library discards will be sold for 50 cents each. There is a great selection of magazines such as National Geographic and Bon Appetit which will be sold for 25 cents each or 5 for $1. 526-3720, ext. 5.  

“California Bounty” a gala for Children’s Community Center Preschool from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church at One Lawson Road in Kensington. Silent and live auction items include vacation packages, dinners, original artwork, clothing, toys and more from the best businesses in the Bay Area. Dinner and live music. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $12.50 or for $15 at the door. Proceeds benefit Berkeley’s Children’s Community Center Preschool— the oldest cooperative preschool in the West. For more information call 527-7654 or go to www.cccpreschool.org 

Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine College Open House from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. This free open-house event will give prospective students and members of the community a chance to learn about the Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine program. 2550 Shattuck Ave. To RSVP, please contact Taj Moore 666-8248, ext. 108. 

5K Walk/Run on the UC campus, sponsored by the Berkeley Free Clinic. If you would like to join the race, visit www.berkeleyfreeclinic.org 

Homebuyer Education Seminar from 10 a.m. to noon at the BAR auditorium, 1553 Martin Luther King Jr. Way at Cedar. Free, but reservations required. 528-3400, ext. 6. 

Yoga for Seniors at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., on Saturdays from 10 to 11 a.m. The class is taught by Rosie Linsky, who at age 72, has practiced yoga for over 40 years. Open to non-members of the club for $8 per class. For further information and to register, call Karen Ray at 848-7800. 

SUNDAY, FEB. 22 

All Things Wet and Wonderful We will use eyes, hand-lenses and the 14-power discovery scope to view creatures from the meadow pond, from 10 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Area. 525-2233. 

League of Women Voters of Berkeley: Recording Their Leaders Therese Pipe, Oral History Coordinator for the League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, and Emeryville, will focus on the achievements of several League pioneers through their oral histories. From 2 to 4 p.m. at the Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. Admission free. 848-0181. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc/ 

Berkeley City Club free tour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tours are sponsored by the Berkeley City Club and the Landmark Heritage Foundation. Donations welcome. The Berkeley City Club is located at 2315 Durant Ave. For group reservations or more information, call 848-7800 or 883-9710. 

“The Port Chicago Mutiny - Then and Now” with author Robert L. Allen and a film narrated by Danny Glover at 2 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Lorena Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt - A Love Story” and “Gerty, Gerty, Gerty Stein is Back, Back, Back” videos shown from 2 to 5 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Cost is $10-$25, no one turned away. Sponsored by the Pat Bond Committee and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. www.patbondaward.com 

Meditation Seminar with representatives of Sant Thakar Singh at 1:15 p.m. at the Berkeley Main Library, 2090 Kittredge. Free. 845-4870. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Lee Nichol on “Freedom for Knowledge” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, FEB. 23 

Tea at Four Enjoy some of the best teas from the other side of the Pacific Rim and learn their cultural and natural history. Then take a walk to see wintering birds and dormant ladybeetles, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Registration required. Cost is $5 for residents, $7 for non-residents. Wheelchair accessible. 525-2233. 

“Rituals of Possession and Postwar Reintegration in Mozambique” with Alcinda Honwana, at 4 p.m. in 160 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Center for African Studies. 642-8338. http://ias.berkeley.edu/africa 

“The Bishop Gerardi Murder Case” with reporter and novelist Francisco Goldman at 4 p.m. at the Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies. 642-2088. 

Humanistic Judaism 101 with Kol Hadash’s Rabbi Kai Eckstein, at 7:30 pm at the Berkeley-Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 233-6880.  

Fitness for 55+ A total body workout including aerobics, stretching and strengthing at 1:15 p.m. every Monday at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5170. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

ONGOING 

Family Activist Resource Center A small group of East Bay parents is meeting monthly to set up a drop-in center where parents and caregivers can come with their children and do their political work while their children are cared for in a creative, respectful and nurturing manner. For information on the next meeting, contact Erica at ericadavid@earthlink.net or call 841-3204. 

Berkeley Rhinos Rugby Team is inviting interested high school athletes to join. Practices are Tues. and Thurs. 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Gabe's Field. The season goes from February through May. Call Coach Keir Paasch for information, 847-1453. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon. Feb. 17, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St., Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

City Council meets Tues., Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. with a Special Meeting at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tues., Feb. 17, 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 Wed., Feb. 18, 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 Wed., Feb. 18, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Lisa Ploss, 981-5200. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/commissions/aging 

Commission on Labor meets Wed., Feb. 18, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Delfina M. Geiken, 644-6085. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/labor 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed., Feb. 18 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 Thurs. Feb. 19, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/designreview  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 19, 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 Thurs., Feb. 19, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/transportation

TUESDAY, FEB. 17 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Danielle Huber, Berkeley illustrator, solo show at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco Campus. Reception for the artist 6 to 8 p.m. at 111 Eighth St., San Francisco. 526-3861. 

THEATER 

“Baggage” A Palestinian traveler, stuck in a purgatorial airport, unpacks his memories of massacres and refugee camps, at 8 p.m. at Home Room, International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. Cost is $5. 642-9460. landerso@berkeley.edu 

FILM 

Alternative Visions: “Rememberance” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lynne Cox describes “Swimming to Antartica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Celebration of Black History Month, singing, dancing, jazz and poetry slam at 7 p.m. at BHS Little Theater. Sponsored by the BHS PTSA and the Parent Resource Center. 

Courtableu at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz, with a Cajun dance lesson with Diana Castillo at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dayna Stephens House Jam at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744.  

www.thejazzhouse.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a showcase of ensembles at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18 

FILM 

Film 50: “Blackmail” at 3 p.m. and Video: They Might be Giants: “Tony Oursler” at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Introducing the Works of Hanoch Levin” the Israeli playwright who revolutionized Israeli theater at 7:30 p.m. at Morrison Library. The evening is presented in collaboration with UC Berkeley's Jewish Studies Program, Center for Jewish Studies, GTU, Berkeley Hillel. 

Christopher Phillips asks “Six Questions of Socrates: A Modern Journey of Discovery Through World Philosophy” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Travel Book Night with Bruce Wipperman introducing his Moon Handbooks to Mexico and Puerto Vallarta at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-3635. 

Tim Ward will show slides and talk about his new book, “Arousing the Goddess: Sex and Love in the Buddhist Ruins of India,” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam 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 

Café Poetry and open mic, hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert with Philippe Leroux performing “M” at International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra presents “Celebrating the American Choral Tradition,” the third annual Berkeley Choral Festival, benefiting the Musicians’ Pension Fund, at 8 p.m., at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Ticket are $10-$45, available from 841-2800. www.berkeleysymphony.org 

The Anthony Paul and Brenda Boykin Band at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8:00 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jamie Laval, Celtic fiddling champion at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Attack, Blitzenhamer, and Dead Beat at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5.  

848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Nicole and the Sisters in Soul at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Jules Broussard, Bing Nathan and Ned Boynton at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Oba Oba Brazillian Jazz at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

THURSDAY, FEB. 19 

THEATER 

Central Works, “The Duel,” adapted from Chekhov’s novella, opens at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Runs Thurs. - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. through March 27. Tickets are $8-$20. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

FILM 

Victor Sjostrom: “Love’s Crucible” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Taro Hattori will present an overview of his recent work incorporating photography and multi-media installation at 9 p.m., Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

Joanne Harris reads from “Holy Fools” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. www.codysbooks.com 

Jacob Levenson explains “The Secret Epidemic: The Story of AIDS and Black America” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Edward Hasbrouck gives advice in “The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533. 

Mare Cromwell reads from “If I Gave You God’s Phone Number” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-3635. 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Steve Wasserman and Michael Larrain, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. 526-5985  

Frances Payne Adler introduces her new collection of poetry and prose, “The Making of a Matriot” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mutabaruka, reggae dub poet, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Steve Poltz at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $12. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Cheryl Wheeler at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian, 2727 College Ave. Cost is $18.50 in advance, $19.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Medicine Ball Band at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Savant Guard at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Keni El Lebrijano, flamenco guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

FRIDAY, FEB. 20 

CHILDREN 

Black History Month Stories at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

THEATER 

Actor’s Ensemble of Berkeley, “Helen of Troy (Revised),” written by Wolfgang Hilesheimer, translated and directed by David Fenerty at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck at Berryman. Fri. and Sat. evenings through Feb. 21. Admission is $10. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Aurora Theatre, “Man of Destiny” by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Barbara Oliver at 8 p.m. Through March 7. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Impact Theater, “Say You Love Satan” at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid. Runs through March 13. 464-4468. www.impacttheater.com 

Berkeley Black Repertory Group Theater, “Street Soldier The Play” a benefit for Omega Boys Club celebrating Black History month at 8 p.m. Fri.-Sun. at 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $20. 1-800-SOLDIER. 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Yellowman” by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Les Waters, at 2025 Addison St. Through March 7. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

FILM 

“Afropunk,” a documentary exploring racial identity within the puck scene, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Anthony Mann: “God’s Little Acre” at 7 p.m. and “Man of the West” at 9:10 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rick Wartzman introduces “The King of California” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Patricia Lynn Reilly celebrates her new book of poetry and prose, “Words Made Flesh,” at the Fellowship Café & Open Mic, 7:30 p.m. at Fellowship Hall, Cedar and Bonita Sts. A donation of $5-$10 is requested.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

La Monica, “Himmel und Erde” featuring music by 17th century German Baroque masters at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, at 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $9-15. 547-4442. 

7th Direction, Belleville at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Rafael Manriquez and Voz e Vento at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance, benefit concert at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. For tickets visit www.mahea.com 

Johnny Nocturne and Mz Dee at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8:00 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Double Standards, jazz duo, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

The Bonedrives, Chrome Johnson at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7.  

848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Junius Courtney Big Band, 18-piece jazz ensemble, 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 

Joshi Marshall at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Brown Baggin at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Leopard Life, New Earth Creeps, Hepsi, The Morbids at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Boxes of Water, Philip Greenlif, free, improv and new music, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation of $8-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Blue and Tan at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Harrington Band at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

SATURDAY, FEB. 21 

CHILDREN  

“Wild About Books” storytime at 10:30 a.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223. 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Gary Laplow at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Dance Jammies, a multi-generational dance event from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Motivity Center, 2525 8th St. Cost is $9. 832-3835. 

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. 

THEATER 

“Full Spectrum Improvisation,” by Lucky Dog Theater, featuring Joya Cory, at 8 p.m. at Eighth Street Studios, 2525 8th St. 415-564-4115.  

FILM 

Anthony Mann: “He Walked by Night” at 7 p.m. and “The Tin Star” at 8:40 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Victory,” Allied POW’s play soccer against a Nazi team in France, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, a reading room, library and community center in South Berkeley located at 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“City Schools and the American Dream,” an evening with Dr. Pedro Noguera, Professor at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education and a former member of Berkeley’s School Board, at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Community Theater. Benefit for the Berkeley Public Education Foundation, sponsored by Cody’s Books. Tickets are $25 and include a copy of “City Schools and the American Dream.” 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

California Writers’ Club, a Sci-Fi panel with Jennifer Hall and Ray Nelson, from 10 a.m. to noon, Barnes and Noble. www.berkeleywritersclub.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Kensington Symphony, with Eric Hansen, guest conductor, and Seth Montfort, piano at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 545 Ashbury Ave. El Cerrito. Suggested donation $8-$10. 524-4335. 

Parnassus Avenue “Handel’s Great London Adventure” with Dan Laurin, recorder, Tanya Tomkins, cello, David Tayler, theorbo and guitar, and Hanneke van Proosdij, harpsichord and recorder, at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$25. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

La Familia and Project Bridge at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Joji Hirota and the Taiko Drummers at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Cost is $20 at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

Zydeco Dance Party with the Zydeco Flames at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lesson with Dana DeSimone at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Love Ball Dance Benefit for Berkeley Liberation Radio 101.4FM, featuring Kene-J, Cosmic Mercy and Space Vacuum at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Sliding scale donation. 

All Ages Show with The Cusion Theory, Love Kills Love, Subincision, Jacuzzi at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com  

Darol Anger Fiddle Ensemble at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Soul Sauce performs Latin jazz at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Guarneri Jazz Quartet, with Calvin Keys and Kash Killion, classical and original jazz, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation of $8-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

La Familia and Project Bridge, Cuban son with funk y sabor, at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org  

Inka, snger-songwriter, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Foreign Legion, hip hop, at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. $7 with student i.d. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Damphibians, Channel 13, Sweatshop Band at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Ponticello at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Rhonda Benin and Soulful Strut at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Right On, Hammertime, Duckhunt, Jealous Again, At Risk at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, FEB. 22 

FILM 

Victor Sjostrom: “The Wind” at 4:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Jewish Patrons and the Paradox of Portraiture: Paintings by Ingres, Sargent, Picasso and Klimt” with Norman Kleeblatt from The Jewish Museum New York, at 2 p.m. at Judah L. Magnes Museum’s future site, 2121 Allston Way 2911 Russell St. 549-6950. www.magnes.org 

Poetry Flash with Carol Moldaw and Maya Khosla at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poets Gone Wild A Night of Poetry Celebrating Black History Month with local African American poets at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-3635. 

International Women’s Writing Guild readings and discussion at 3 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. www.codysbooks.com 

Janet Warner reads from her first novel, “Other Sorrows, Other Joys: The Marriage of Catherine Sophia Boucher and William Blake” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Live Oak Concert with Natalie Cox, pedal and Celtic harp, Dan Reiter, cello, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. Admission is $9-$10. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Yefim Bronfman, piano, at 3 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$56, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Choral Laboratory with Volti, at 3 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $8-$20. 415-771-3352. www.voltisf.org 

Free Jarvis Jay Masters Benefit with the Hot Buttered Rum String Band and The Bluegrass Intentions at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$20 sliding scale. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

ACME Observatory’s Contemporary Music Series with Paolo Angeli and Friends at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donations accepted. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

the bluehouse, women’s trio from Australia, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Frank Martin Trio at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.comt

From: Cowan, Zach 

Sent: Friday, November 14, 2003 3:39 PM 

To: Bates, Tom 

Subject: UC Hotel 

Importance: High 

Our legal opinio [sic] based on the facts we are currently aware of is that the hotel part of the project is not exempt from City land use controls. 

We recognize UC disagrees. 

We also recognize that the project is not approvable under our zoning as currently written (primarily height; perhaps other issues). 

Rather than starting by fighting about jurisdiction, we could agree to the following: 

1. UC applies for the hotel part of the project in the same manner a [sic] private developer. 

2. The City initiates the necessary zoning amendments and conducts the environmental review process for the zoning amendments and the project, in close consultation/cooperation with UC. (A side benefit of including zoning amendments is that we can amend whatever is necessary to bulletproof any City approval.) 

3. The City and UC jointly negotiate an expedited process for City proceedings—both rezoning and use permit. There is a limit to this, but we have proven that we are able to stick to an expedited schedule in a potenitally [sic] controversial project involving an EIR and a historical building, in the First Presbyterian settlement. (The Use Permit was not even appealed to Council!) 

4. If at the end of the day UC is dissatisfied because the project is denied or substantially reduced (we’d need to define this) it can assert its exemption, and we can fight it out then. 

That’s it in a nutshell. I’m sure I have not thought of some issues. And yes, this will take some degree of trust and willingness to negotiate in good faith to make it work. 

After more than 30 years of struggle for a home of their own, Vista College officials acknowledge their new campus set to rise in downtown Berkeley is a victim of bad timing. 

A series of voter approved state and regional construction bonds are in place to build the estimated $65 million, six-story campus at 2050 Center St. by January 2006.  

But with state and community college coffers too bare to boost enrollment or personnel, Vista officials fear the school’s new home could be lacking in three essential elements: Students, staff and supplies. If money can’t be found to outfit the building—a growing possibility since a dispute with the city has temporarily cost the district the support of Mayor Tom Bates—Peralta would consider renting out parts of the facility for which Vista boosters have fought for decades. 

“The building is going to be overbuilt, our goal is to grow into it,” said Tom Smith, Associate Chancellor for Budget for the Peralta Community College District, which counts Vista as one of its four member schools. 

That strategy has some union officials concerned that Vista—historically the black sheep of the district—will be shortchanged on staffing and equipment needed to keep the building from quickly falling into disrepair. 

“We haven’t seen evidence there’s a plan for how they’re going to operate it,” said Michael Mills, president of the Peralta Federation of Teachers.  

Vista’s new home was supposed to allow for some growth. With a planned capacity for 8,000 full and part-time students, it allows Vista to nearly double its current 4,500-strong student body that now takes classes at several downtown office buildings rented by the district. 

But recent budget shortfalls have forced the state to cap enrollments at community colleges, meaning Vista could go years with empty classrooms. 

“We’re denying access to students as we speak,” Smith said, estimating the district rejected 3,000 qualified students last semester because the state refused money to subsidize their education. He anticipated enrollments to increase just 1.5 percent this year. 

Vista’s building woes took a sharp turn for the worse last week when Berkeley withheld construction permits to start excavation at the site, scheduled to begin last Monday. Mayor Bates said the city won’t issue the permits —costing Peralta $2,500 per day in contractor fees—until the two sides agree on parking mitigation costs for the new building, which Peralta puts at $3.6 million and the city says is closer to $6 million. 

Two months ago the city upped its price from $3.6 million for the estimated 208 spaces needed to serve the building after studies showed that demolishing and rebuilding an expanded Center Street garage would cost $18 million. Attorneys for Peralta are determining if Berkeley can deny Peralta the permits. 

Peralta’s finances are in no better shape than the state’s. Last year, in the face twin budget cuts totaling $3 million, Peralta opted to dip into its cash reserves and admit 2,200 more full-time students than the roughly 19,000 subsidized by the state. The district has since whittled that down to about 1,400, but Smith said those students would cost Peralta $5.4 million extra this year. 

Peralta’s financial straits has Vista officials concerned that once their new building opens they will lose the $1 million Peralta pays to rent Vista’s current facilities. Vista President John Garmon said he hasn’t broached the topic with Peralta officials, but he is worried that without at least some of the money, he would be forced to scale back on support staff for the new building. “Ideally we’d like six full-time custodians, but we’re hoping for about two or three,” he said. 

Vista’s new building could also face an equipment shortage. Vista’s bonds only pay for construction costs, and with the state providing just $2.1 million for essentials like desks, tables and lab equipment, Vista has started a fundraising drive to collect an additional $2.1 million to outfit the building. 

But the co-chair of the fundraising drive, Mayor Bates, has ceased all activities on behalf of the school until the parking mitigation suit is settled. 

Garmon said if Vista fails to raise enough money, it would have to use old equipment at their current sites, seek corporate sponsorship for science or multi-media programs or float a new bond. 

Vista officials are sensitive to any perceived slights against them by the district after years of seeing the bulk of district resources allocated to other schools. The new building is rooted in the “de-annexation” movement started in 1995. At the time, Vista advocates, including Bates, accused Peralta of underfunding the college and threatened to leave the district. A settlement signed in 1998 included pledges for the new building and the addition of two full-time teachers every year for ten years to compensate for past neglect. 

The district hasn’t settled on a plan to deal with empty space at the new building. Garmon expected to fill some of the gaps by borrowing staff from other Peralta colleges, while Smith anticipated renting spaces on the third or fourth floors to outside public agencies, like UC or the city. UC spokesperson Christine Shaff said it was “too early” for the university to consider renting space from Vista.

The California Unemployment Appeals Board ruled recently that Arturo Perez, a produce worker at Berkeley Bowl who was fired last September during an unsuccessful union organizing drive, is eligible for unemployment. Perez who has a charge pending with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accusing the Berkeley Bowl of firing him illegally, can now use the ruling by the appeals board to boost his claim.  

Perez, who worked in the produce section and was a vocal advocate for the union says he was fired for union organizing. He claims the store wrongly accused him of stealing garbanzo beans to justify the move. 

If Perez wins his claim with the NLRB, the Berkeley Bowl might have to offer him his job back along with back pay for the months he has been out of work. 

“They made me feel like a criminal,” said Perez. “Everyone knows they fired me for no reason.” 

Back in September when Perez was fired the Berkeley Bowl refused to comment. The store was closed Monday and attempts to contact a representative failed. 

Perez’s charge is only one of several Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Butcher’s Union local 120 filed against the Berkeley Bowl after the failed union organizing attempt. According to Mike Leong, Assistant Regional Director for the NLRB office in Oakland, all the charges are currently being reviewed and a decision could be issued within the next couple of weeks. 

Currently, the NLRB is gathering evidence from both sides. If they think there is enough evidence, the NLRB will file a complaint against the Berkeley Bowl, which will have the option to create a settlement or allow the case to proceed to a hearing. 

According to Tim Hamann, president of local 120, the Unemployment Appeals Board decision for Perez was “long overdue.” 

“In almost any one of these fights the company will fire someone,” Hamann said. 

Hamann said he was confident the NLRB would decide in Perez’s favor. 

“The [NLRB] is going to catch up to [the Berkeley Bowl],” said Hamann. “The Berkeley community is going to find out what kind of employer the Berkeley Bowl is. [Arturo] is one day going to walk back into work and he will have beaten the Berkeley Bowl at their own game.” 

When Perez originally purchased the four bags of garbanzo beans in question, they were earmarked for the store’s discount table which employees have first shot at the day before. Because the supervisor in charge of the mark-downs had gone home Perez asked a fellow employees to mark the beans down to ensure a fair appraisal—a practice employees say is fairly common. 

Perez, who had worked at the store for more than two years had marked produce down before and was told to go ahead and make his own markdown, which Perez did using standard procedures for calculating the discount. 

The following day was Perez’s day off and when he returned to the store he was questioned about the incident and then served with his last check, after management informed him that they were firing him for stealing the beans. For Perez, who said he had never stolen anything in his life, the incident was shocking, upsetting and embarrassing.  

The September incident also helped prompt a 15-minute walkout by store employees immediately after Perez was fired. The walkout succeeded in shutting the store down temporarily. Since then, Perez’s case has been singled out by Berkeley Bowl employees as exemplary of the tactics the store management used during the union organizing campaign. 

After he was fired Perez continued to help employees organize even though he was banned from the store. He took some time off and then with the help of the union was hired on as a part time meat cutter at an Andronico’s store in San Anselmo, a 40-minute commute. 

“It has nothing to do with my pride,” said Perez about the charge against the Berkeley Bowl. “The only thing I want are the right wages and benefits like everyone else in this country.” 

Perez, who said he is trained to do a number of things isn’t worried about surviving but says he is sick of still having to struggle to get by after 39 years in the U.S. He says he is also pursuing the charge because he wants to see a contract at the store for his fellow employees who are still there. 

“I’m not a rich man and I never will be, but what they did to me was bullshit,” he said. “The union won’t solve all the problems but it will help.” 

The long-delayed saga of the North Berkeley Sprint cellphone facility comes to a definite close at tonight’s (Tuesday, Feb. 17) regular 7 p.m. city council meeting—that is, unless the council rules against Sprint and the cellphone company sues the city. In addition, the city council will take on several long-range zoning and development issues tonight. 

Meanwhile, on Thursday night, Feb. 19, the public will get its chance to comment on the proposed 18-mile Berkeley-to-San Leandro rapid-bus line when the Transportation Commission holds a 7 p.m. public hearing on the issue at the North Berkeley Senior Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Hearst Avenue. AC Transit has proposed an ambitious plan to carve out bus-only lanes in the middle of several blocks along Telegraph and Shattuck avenues, including the UC and downtown Berkeley areas, to accommodate rapid buses and light-rail-like bus stops. 

And on Monday night, Feb. 23, the Parks and Recreation Commission will hear public comment on a revised city recreation fee schedule. The public hearing will be held at 7:15 p.m., also at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 

On the cellphone issue before the city council, Sprint first requested back in 2002 a city permit to build a three-rooftop-antennae and accompanying basement-equipment facility in a mixed-commercial use building at 1600 Shattuck Ave. on the corner of Cedar Street in order to eliminate what the company calls “dead spots” in its North Berkeley cellular coverage. The Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) approved the permit in early 2003, but it has been held up in the city council since that time by an appeal by neighbors concerned about the possible adverse health effects of radiation from the proposed antennae. Much of the year’s delay since then has come while the council awaited a report from an independent wireless communications expert. Following a public hearing last month on the issue, Sprint officials twice informed a representative of the city attorney’s office that the company would sue if the facility is not approved. 

If the city council fails to vote on the matter by tonight’s meeting, ZAB’s approval of the facility automatically goes into effect. 

The council gets its first crack tonight at beginning the implementation of the recommendations of the Mayor’s Task Force on Permitting and Development. Mayor Tom Bates set up the 14-member task force a year ago with the mandate to “investigate options for improving and rationalizing the permitting process” in the City of Berkeley. Bates called that process “cumbersome, unclear, lengthy and often unfair to all those involved.” After 18 meetings over an eight month period, the task force last December issued a list of recommended changes to the city’s planning process. Director of Planning and Development Dan Marks has issued a shorter list of the task force recommendations which Marks believes should be worked on this year, ranging from changes in public notification of development projects to more detailed alterations to the city’s design application and review procedures. 

The council will take its first step toward fine-tuning the city’s zoning for the University Avenue area to bring it into compliance with the University Avenue Strategic Plan. While the plan calls for updated setback and height requirements for building in the University Avenue area, developers are still able to apply for permits under the requirements of the existing zoning code. City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque and Planning Director Marks had initially been asked by the city council to prepare a city ordinance to implement a temporary, 45-day halt on all new University Avenue permits while the zoning code was being revised. But last week Albuquerque and Marks recommended holding off on such an “urgency moratorium” because, as stated in Marks’ written report, “while the city can adopt a 45-day moratorium, [under state law] extension of that moratorium beyond 45 days would require findings that are almost impossible to make.” Marks added that because there are no pending “incomplete” development applications, “there is no urgency in adopting a moratorium at this time.” 

Also in connection with the University Avenue area, the city council will look at possible revision of the methods by which city staff calculates density while granting new building permits. Such a recalculation can have a significant impact both on which permits are adopted and on the effects on neighborhoods in such areas as traffic and parking by new developments going up. 

At its 5 p.m. continuing budget-balancing working session, the council will concentrate on issues of new sources of raising revenue. On the agenda will be a report on the status of “escaped taxes and assessments,” an issue which generated considerable controversy last year when it was discovered that several large, new developments in the city had not been assessed their share of Berkeley taxes. The city council will also hear word on “options for increased revenues from exempt and nonprofit agencies and institutions.” This is an area that may also provoke controversy, as it involves seeking money from both the powerful (and generally tax-exempt) University of California as well as from the city’s many popular, small foundations and nonprofit service organizations.

In the first of several scheduled city council working sessions on ways to balance Berkeley’s beleaguered budget, City Manager Phil Kamlarz has recommended four immediate sources of new revenue that, if implemented, could bring in as much as $3.8 million a year to the city. Kamlarz made the proposals at last week’s city council meeting. The city manager has set an April 20 public hearing on the new fees. 

Between now and June, the city council must come up with a combination of tax increases and budget cuts to make up for a projected $10 million shortfall in the upcoming 2004-05 fiscal year budget. 

The largest proposed new fee would be the implementation of a $2 to $3 a year safety dispatch tax—the so-called “911 Fee”—on Berkeley land lines and, possibly, Berkeley-based cellphones as well. City manager staff members stressed that the fee would not be imposed on individual 911 calls. The safety dispatch fee is projected to bring in $3.7 million a year. 

Significantly less revenue would be generated from elimination of seismic fee waivers, elimination of community service as an option for parking citations, and adding a $2 fee for certain transactions (such as the paying of parking fines) over the Internet. 

Kamlarz has scheduled discussion for a later date of possible taxes requiring voter approval. That would include a tax on each vehicle above two in Berkeley households, a payroll tax on all employers in Berkeley, including (and maybe especially) UC, and a local sales tax increase. 

—J. Douglas Allen-Taylor?

A UC Berkeley journalism lecturer’s 32-year-old photograph of future Democratic U.S. Senator and presidential candidate John Kerry has wound up in a forgery that suckered the New York Times. 

Ken Light, head of the photojournalism program at UCB’s Graduate School of Journalism, has found himself in the eye of a media and Internet storm after a clever forger inserted an image of Jane Fonda alongside his image of Kerry and posted the composite on the Internet. 

For Light, the fake was doubly ironic. “I teach the photographic component of the law and ethics class, where I show the students numerous examples” of manipulated news pictures.  

Light was a 20-year-old photographer when he captured a sober-looking Kerry addressing a crowd of Vietnam War protesters in Mineola, New York, wearing the anguished Lincolnesque expression that’s become a virtual trademark. 

The second photo, taken a year later by Owen Franken, caught anti-war activist/actress Jane Fonda standing at the microphone in a Miami park addressing fellow protesters gathered to harangue the Republican Party presidential nominating convention. 

By themselves, the two photos are interesting primarily as documents from another era. 

Then—according to a host of Internet postings—came the Internet prankster who calls himself Registered, an unabashed GOP partisan who loves to apply his digital imaging skills to tweaking prominent Democrats (see his entry at www.freerepublic.com/~registered). 

Combining the two shots—both posted on Corbis.com, a site that allows photographers to market their photos—Registered came up with a very realistic rendering of Fonda sharing the platform with Kerry at her side, an image sure to push the hot buttons of the Right because of another notorious photo, this one real. 

In 1972, Fonda became the bete noir of the right when she allowed herself to be photographed, clad in a North Vietnamese army helmet, at the controls of an anti-aircraft gun as she urged soldiers to shoot down the “American imperialist war raiders” who were bombing Hanoi and environs. 

The fabricated association of Kerry, a genuine war hero who won the Silver Star, with Fonda quickly ping-ponged around the rightist blogosphere. 

Adding credibility to the fake was the accompanying caption and headline, attributing the shot to the Associated Press. 

The most illustrious media outlet to be taken in was the New York Times, which cited the image in a Sheryl Gay Stolberg story datelined Feb. 12. The Times acknowledged the image as a forgery on Feb. 14. 

“My first reaction” to the forgery “was shock,” Light said. “Then you become disturbed because this is a very serious matter. It’s a presidential election, after all, and to have your photograph turned into something like this is very disturbing.” 

Light first learned of the fake in a phone message from the New York Times that came in over the weekend while he was out of town, a call that proved very disturbing to a photojournalist who’s on the record as “absolutely opposed” to any digital alteration of news photos. 

“The media is the guardian of the visual image,” Light said. “Fortunately, the media have risen to the occasion” and debunked the forgery. “The New York Times reported that the photo was forged and they printed both versions. Links to both original photos have been also posted at the journalism school web site (http://journalism.berkeley.edu), he said.  

Even before the Times published the first story citing the photo without qualification, Snopes.com, a website devoted to exposing urban legends, had correctly labeled the creation a forgery, tracking down and posting the original photos used to create the composite. 

Another, legitimate, photo does exist showing Fonda and Kerry at an antiwar protest, this one in Valley Forge, PA, on Labor Day weekend in 1970. They picture shows them sitting in an audience, several rows apart—still enough to provoke NewsMax.com to proclaim, “Kerry Photo Shocker: Candidates Teamed up With ‘Hanoi’ Jane Fonda.” 

That photo drew prominent play on the site of www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnkerry.com, run by Kinston, N.C., businessman Ted Sampley, a man former prisoner of war and GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain described to the New York Times as “one of the most despicable people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter.” 

Another prominent site, NewsMax.com, touted the photo, as did countless partisan weblogs. 

Photographic forgeries have a long, notorious history, going back at least to 1857. The most notorious examples came from Stalin’s Russia, where Old Bolsheviks were clumsily excised from photos as they fell prey to purges. 

The forgeries Stalin’s minions concocted were, by today’s standards, relatively crude and obvious to the semi-skilled eye. But today, thanks to computer programs like Adobe’s Photoshop, images can be fabricated out of whole cloth, or by a cut-and-paste technology Stalin’s appartchiks would’ve loved. 

One of the first images altered by a major American publication appeared on the cover of the February, 1982 edition of National Geographic, where the pyramids of Giza, Egypt, were moved closer together to fit the confines of the page, triggering a major debate about the ethics of photo manipulation. 

But, Light said, New York’s Newsday—ironically, the first major paper to blow the whistle on the Kerry forgery—trumped National Geographic by creating a composite showing disgraced skater Tonya Harding standing beside Nancy Kerrigan, the skater she had assaulted to increase her chances at winning a gold medal. 

“But it’s especially disturbing when it comes to politics,” he said.  

While a photographic negative, at the very least, is a stable, durable item, a digital photo is stored as a series of ones and zeros on a computer disk or a camera’s memory card—rendering the digital image far more susceptible to the machinations of a skilled forger. 

Several camera manufacturers are experimenting with cameras that inject an electronic watermark into each photo as it is taken, a technique that would make a forgery much easier to detect and ensuring the camera’s ongoing role as a primary source of evidence for law enforcement and the courts. 

But photoforgeries are here to stay and easier than ever to produce. Registered himself often posts his creation on FreakingNews.com., a site that hosts contests for photo lampoons of Democratic and leftist people and issues. 

A quick tour of FreakingNews reveals dozens of Photoshop forgeries of Kerry, including one featuring him in rapt conference with mass murderer Charles Manson and another of the senator perched on the toilet, reading FreakingNews. 

And Ken Light’s already thinking how he’ll incorporate his own experience into his classes.

BAGHDAD, Iraq—Maysoon al-Damluji is a member of an elite club, but one that’s trying hard to become a lot less exclusive. As Iraq’s Deputy Minister of Culture, al-Damluji is one of a small handful of Iraqi women entrusted with real political power in the country today. 

‘Iraqi women have always been prominent in the professional world,’ said al-Damluji, who was appointed by the Governing Council. ‘But at the same time, most of them have shied away from political positions because of the violent nature of local politics.’ 

The fall of Saddam Hussein and the end of the Baath regime last year sparked hope among many that the new Iraq would feature female governmental representation at least close to their status as approaching 60 percent of Iraqi 25 million citizens. 

But the results so far have been disappointing, leaving some women’s activists complaining bitterly about a lack of commitment to women’s inclusion by the Coalition Provisional Authority, or CPA, which is run by chief American administrator Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III. The Governing Council, which was hand-picked by the Coalition Provisional Authority, is the interim government of Iraq until elections are held, tentatively this summer. After elections are held, the United States is slated to pull out of Iraq. 

‘We want a real place on the political map of Iraq,’ said Samira Moustafa, secretary general of the Baghdad-based Iraqi Women’s League, the country’s oldest women’s rights group. ‘Why shouldn’t we be pioneers in the region on this issue?’ 

Earlier this week, a group of 45 U.S. congressional members wrote a letter to President Bush warning that women’s rights in Iraq are in danger of regressing. 

‘There is a women’s rights crisis on the horizon in Iraq, and we must take action while we still have a say in the matter,’ said one of the signatories, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, in a press release. Maloney, a Democrat from New York, stated her concern that the Bush administration was ‘viewing this situation through rose-colored glasses.’ 

To date, only one Iraqi minister is a woman--Minister of Municipalities and Public Works Nisreen Mustafa Siddiq Barwari. Al-Damluji is one of a small handful of female deputy ministers. There are no women on the nine-member committee now drafting the Fundamental Law, which will serve as Iraq’s interim constitution until December 31, 2005, when a formal constitution will take its place. But most glaring is the presence of only three female members overall on the 25-member Governing Council. 

‘That was a big mistake,’ said Safia al-Souhail, an activist and leader, or ‘Sheikha,’ of the Central Iraqi Beni-Tamim tribe. ‘There should have been at least seven.’ 

Al-Souhail, al-Damluji and others have come out in favor of a formal quota system for female representation in government. But they claim that the idea has been met with indifference from male Iraqi politicians and outright opposition from the U.S. government. 

Al-Damluji says the British government had proposed a 25 percent mandatory female ratio in government, but that the U.S. did not support the idea. CPA officials have said in press reports that a female quota is not in their plans, but have reiterated their general commitment to women’s rights. 

Repeated efforts to contact the CPA for comment on the issue were unsuccessful, but U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao spoke out against the U.S. imposing quotas in a visit late last month to Iraq. 

‘You are trying to build a just Iraq, built on talent and ability of the people,’ Chao told reporters. ‘So people should be chosen based on their abilities and not quotas. I don’t underestimate the cultural considerations . . . It is an issue that you, as Iraqis, have to come to resolve and come to an understanding.’ 

Al-Souhail said other U.S. officials have told her quotas were ‘an internal Iraqi issue,’ and complained about a sudden U.S. soft-touch in the wake of a military invasion and overthrow of the existing government. 

‘They’re forcing a lot of changes on this society,’ she said. ‘Why not force this as well? They’re involved in every other aspect of society. Suddenly, women’s rights are the red line?’ 

As for the female members of the council, both Moustafa and al-Souhail levy harsh criticism on the trio. They say Salama al-Khufaji, a Shiite dentistry professor; Raja Habib Khuzai, a Shiite hospital administrator and Songul Chapouk, a Turkomen engineer and activist, are previously unknown female leaders and out of touch with women’s issues. 

‘They don’t represent us,’ Moustafa said. ‘We don’t know where they came from.’ 

Chapouk told me that she and her two female colleagues are often outnumbered on issues relating to women. ‘Sometimes, I feel like I’m alone,’ Chapouk said. ‘But our hands are not tied. We’re braver than this. I’m doing my best.’ 

All three female members received criticism from some activists for failing to prevent the recent Governing Council vote to annul the country’s relatively liberal personal status law and place issues like marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance under religious authority. The vote—like all council decisions—isn’t made law until signed by Bremer, which al-Damluji said he had promised not to do. 

Chapouk denounced the decision, and said she wasn’t there when it was voted on. 

‘I left the council for a meeting and when I came back, it was over,’ she said. ‘If I was there, I would not have let it pass.’ 

But critics point to the decision as proof of the ineffectiveness of the Governing Council’s female contingent. 

‘We need discussions and we need negotiations, but we also need powerful women,’ said al-Souhail, who was interviewed by the CPA, but passed over for a Governing Council spot. ‘We need someone willing to hit people in the head with a hammer.’ 

Al-Souhail said her own personal example, as one of the country’s only female tribal leaders, is proof that Iraqi women can hold positions of power and maintain the respect of her male colleagues. Her father Sheikh Taleb al-Souheil, who was assassinated by Iraqi intelligence agents in Beirut in 1994, had no sons and chose her from among seven daughters to succeed him as head of the Beni-Tamim. He took her along to tribal meetings and made her position as advisor and heir apparent clear to the other sheikhs. 

Not all women’s activists, however, believe that a formal quota is the answer. 

Moustafa of the women’s league calls them ‘a form of deception,’ said it risks having, ‘the government looking for women just to fill the quota.’ 

‘Why should we set a number? Why close the door,’ she said. ‘Hiring should be based on qualifications. Maybe 60 percent of the female candidates are better than the men.’ 

But al-Souhail described this idea as dangerously idealistic. Quotas, she said, are a necessary and temporary evil to help implant a ‘generation or two’ of qualified women throughout the government. She also favors a sliding scale that will ensure balanced female representation in any elected parliament. Similar systems have been instituted in South Africa and Rwanda; the latter recently reached the highest level of female participation of any government in the world when a 49-percent female parliament was elected. 

‘If a man gets 150,000 votes and a woman gets 30,000 votes in the same district, I’d chose the woman because that’s a more impressive accomplishment,’ she said. ‘It’s a stage until we can adjust, then little by little we can return to the normal situation.’ 

Meanwhile, al-Damluji proposes a compromise formula built around the CPA’s plan for a series of regional caucuses by committees which will elect a new transitional national assembly of still-undetermined size later this year. The 15 members of each committee will be chosen by the Governing Council and local officials. Al-Damluji wants priority given to choosing committee members with ‘a known history of equality.’ 

Ashraf Khalil is a Cairo-based writer whose work appears in the Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe and San Francisco Chronicle. He is a former editor in chief of Cairo Times newsmagazine. 

›

The Claremont Resort and Spa suspended three workers last week after they participated in a pro-union rally outside the resort on Tuesday.  

The workers, Andrew Petrazzouli and Julie Marie, both hair stylists, and Art Javier, the group reservations coordinator, were all suspended for leaving their shifts early, according to the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union (HERE) local 2850. 

On Monday, a meeting between Claire Darby, an organizer with local 2850, Art Javier and a Human Resources representative from the Claremont resulted in a reduction of Javier’s suspension to a warning. He will receive back pay for the three days he was suspended last week. Darby said the union will pursue similar reductions for Petrazzouli and Marie. 

Both Petrazzouli and Javier are strong union supporters and union representatives think the Claremont used them to scare other employees.  

KSL, the Claremont’s parent company, recently signed a contract to sell the hotel along with their other properties to CNL, an Orlando-based real estate investment trust. They are trying to secure a management contract with CNL and union representatives speculate the move was also meant to show CNL they can handle the dispute.  

Local 2850 also filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the Claremont Friday claiming that all three employees were following standard procedure and that their suspensions were in retaliation for participating in the rally.  

Javier, who for 10 years has clocked out 30 minutes early when he works through his lunch break, did the same Tuesday when he clocked out and went to the rally. 

Both Petrazzouli and Marie also clocked out early when they learned they didn’t have any more customers for the day. This is also customary practice for stylists, according to the union. 

When contacted the Claremont did not comment directly about the suspensions but did release a statement saying that “It would be inappropriate and disrespectful of [the workers’] privacy for us to discuss the disposition of any disciplinary action we may have taken with our associates.” 

On Monday, a delegation of 12 workers and several union organizers tried to deliver a message to Sean Maddock, the resort’s general manager, demanding a reinstatement of all the workers with back pay. After an unsuccessful attempt with Maddock, the delegation delivered their message to David Nelson, the operations manager, who received them but did not comment. 

“They realized the decision [to suspend the workers] was very clearly retaliation and the [NLRB] should see the same,” said Darby.  

Darby said representatives from the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, a group of community religious leaders, plans to send a delegation to the hotel to demand all the workers be reinstated with back pay. The union also plans to contact local elected officials including the Berkeley City Council, Mayor Tom Bates, Assemblywoman Loni Hancock and Representative Barbara Lee about participating in another delegation. ›

Whenever my husband Ralph is admitted into the hospital, those of us who take care of him go a little crazy. And Ralph’s current visit to Oakland Kaiser has almost done us in. Now in his forty-second day in Room 335 of the intensive care unit, we are growing cranky and impatient. 

Ralph wants to go home. Although he cannot speak or move any part of his body except for his head and neck, he has very clearly indicated that he wants out of ICU. Everyday when I arrive at his bedside he confronts me silently with the same question, “When can I go home?”  

“I don’t know,” I answer. “You have to get better. You can’t come home on a ventilator because we won’t be able to take care of you. You must be patient.” 

But none of us is patient, and with each day we grow crabbier. 

Three of us share in the responsibilities of looking after Ralph. One of those people lives in our home and the other resides down the street. The tasks involved in keeping Ralph alive are intimate, awkward, and not always pleasant. It takes a special person to help with Ralph’s care, someone who is empathetic and practical, strong mentally and physically. It helps to have a sense of humor. We have been lucky these past 10 years to have been surrounded by many compassionate, down to earth, streetwise caregivers. 

But no one is without fault and when Ralph goes into the hospital for a long stay, as he seems to do regularly these days, those of us left back home on Dover Street tend to fall apart. Although we are of different ethnicities, social and educational backgrounds we all exhibit signs of worry and stress. The individual who has been our focus of attention is gone. We are without direction, purpose, or a schedule. We become slovenly and lazy, but just beneath the surface we are anxious and depressed. 

We all worry about Ralph, how he is faring in the hospital and how we will deal with his infirmities if and when he comes home. We fret about money. This is something we stress over even when Ralph is at home, but when he is in intensive care the worries intensify.  

We may share emotions but we’ve all got our own coping mechanisms. I become angry and I take that anger out on many things: dishes, glassware, weeds in the garden, our dog and the Kaiser bureaucracy. When Ralph’s tracheotomy was postponed for a second time in a week, though we’d been told it was imperative that it be completed as soon as possible, I went ballistic. And I got some results: A gap in the schedule suddenly appeared and the operation was performed in a timely manner. When we found out there was a VCR available for Ralph’s use, I went crazy looking for it, and when no one could locate it, I purchased one and set it up in his room. That got us some attention: a resounding reprimand from the nursing staff and engineering department. Miraculously, the lost hospital-issued VCR was found and became available to us.  

The people who help me take care of Ralph vent their stresses in other ways. While I sometimes have a drink or two to let off steam, Ralph’s caregivers seek out a different, not-so-legal kind of high. I can purchase my drug of choice at a liquor store on almost any corner in my neighborhood. They can buy their high on the corner too, but it’s not without risk. And that is why while I am able to continue to pay my bills and go to and from Ralph’s hospital room freely, one of our employees is sick and destitute, and the other is in jail. “Why don’t you try anger and alcohol?” I ask. “One is free, the other is cheap and both are legal.”  

“You’ll never understand,” they say from their bed and jail cell. And yet, in some ways, I think I do.

Editor’s Note: Berkeley residents must feel lately like they are pawns in a giant game of Monopoly. Not only have buyers been feverishly bidding up prices on residential properties, it seems that anyone who has the wherewithal to purchase a city lot also wants to buy a building to put on the site. In the last couple of weeks, hotels in particular have been in play in Berkeley Monopoly. The ownership of the landmark Claremont Hotel, just over the Oakland border, will be transferred from Conglomerate A to Megacorp B. Downtown, the Shattuck Hotel will become a single room occupancy facility for international students. In the old days, international students used to stay at the UC hotel on University Avenue, but that’s become an SRO for people in need of help. With downtown’s last big hotel going, the University of California, which has been busy buying up most of the lots on the board in the last few years, now wants to buy itself a big new hotel. None of this action is necessarily bad, but it’s unsettling to many. The Planning Commission has created a task force to study the hotel scheme, which will hold a public forum tomorrow, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. In preparation for the forum, there was a site tour last week led by a UC planner. The Daily Planet asked attendees to describe what they saw, and these are some responses. 

• 

As the Sierra Club representative on the UCB Hotel/Conference Center proposal, last Saturday I was part of a group of about 50 folks who went on a walking tour of the site (between Oxford Street and Shattuck Avenue, Addison and Center streets) with UCB Planner Kevin Hufferd, Planning Commission members and other interested parties. We started at the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street about 10 a.m. At each stop of the tour I was struck by the tremendous potential for making this project an environmentally sound one that will not only meet the university’s needs for a hotel, conference and museum center but will also revitalize and enhance the downtown Berkeley environment. If designed well and as a public space, the project could attract world wide attention. 

The group listened as UCB Planner Kevin Hufferd talked about the project but had trouble hearing him due to the noise of buses traveling down Center. Because this intersection is one of the major transfer points in Berkeley, the design of the project will need to be coordinated closely with transit facilities. (It’s important to remember that buses of the future using new technologies like the fuel cell will be significantly cleaner and quieter than buses powered by currently available technologies.) Buses now run westbound only down Center Street, but automobile traffic is two-way. One alternative to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment is to restrict automobile traffic. In addition, a new Bus Rapid Transit stop is slated by AC Transit for Shattuck Avenue in front of the Bank of America building. Other transit coordination issues include the need for sheltered bus stops—now sorely lacking in the downtown—and bike racks. And a tunnel from the hotel/conference center to the Berkeley BART station should be explored. 

As the group moved past the Bank of America facility to the parking lot on Center Street, we stood in the sun and between passing buses enjoyed the nice spring-like weather. Because the sunlight came from the south (over the side of Center Street with all the shops and restaurants), the potential of using passive solar design to take advantage of the sun’s rays in the design of the building was clear. Furthermore, this southerly entrance to the project could be marked by a public plaza with trees, grass and other plantings, and pedestrian walkways. Furthermore, the creeks community has been working for more than 10 years to daylight Strawberry Creek which could be another natural focus for this entrance to the project. The creek currently runs in a culvert south of campus along Kittredge to its outfall on the Bay; it could be re-routed to run along Center Street. The proposed building itself offers great opportunities for using LID (low impact development) techniques such as a “green” roof (consisting of a thin layer of soil and ice plant) as well as innovative stormwater collection and discharge techniques. 

The bottom line for the Sierra Club is that the final design of the project not preclude the public environmental amenities outlined above that may take longer to realize. The Sierra Club looks forward to working with others to give meaningful and timely input to the city and university as this project develops.  

Helen Burke 

• 

Future Berkeley residents will look back on the Insane Building Boom of the Early 2000s and ask, “What were they thinking?”. 

UC (which staunchly refuses to give its staff cost-of-living raises) appears to have a limitless budget for real estate acquisition and construction, yet pays no taxes to support the town it consumes. 

During a tour of the proposed UC hotel and conference center site on Saturday, Feb. 7, I learned that UC has just purchased several charming, historic storefronts on University Avenue near Oxford Street, inhabited by small businesses which have been generating property, business and sales taxes for the City of Berkeley. UC’s intentions with respect to this site are unclear, but almost certainly involve demolition. We will lose history, charm and city revenue, and for what? So that university capital assets can continue to grow at a time of reduced enrollment and staff layoffs? 

A UC-owned hotel at Shattuck Avenue and Center Street would be yet another building off the property tax roles, while the city endures a budget crisis. If the university and other wealthy (but tax-free) entities do not begin to pay their fair share of fees for the city services they enjoy, this town cannot survive. 

Gale Garcia 

• 

A proposal to take a valuable chunk of real estate off the Berkeley property tax rolls so UC can buy it and build a 12-story hotel is being reviewed by a Planning Commission subcommittee. Despite lots of talk about bringing a museum and Pacific Film Archives downtown, the daylighting of Strawberry Creek, and the creation of a pedestrian mall, the only thing UC will commit to is a hotel that will forever change the face of downtown, and a parking facility to accommodate the hundreds of additional cars the hotel will attract. 

Relocating the UC museum downtown, we are told, will be part of a second phase, years after the hotel is completed. In other words, we are being asked to trust UC. The same UC that broke promises to sell People’s Park to the city for one dollar, the same UC that knowingly sold Berkeley a poisoned parcel of land at Harrison Street that they when knew was intended for sports recreation and housing. Let’s face it: UC can’t be trusted. 

To be fair, Kevin Hufferd, UC’s project manager, has been honest. Asked about daylighting of the creek, he says the “plan is not inconsistent with that goal,” promising neither daylighting, nor efforts to attain it. Asked about pedestrian open space he says “UC is thinking about this.” Asked about student housing, he says “it is not off the table.” Asked about preservation of existing mature trees, he says “no plans yet exist” to prevent removal. Asked if building designs would take advantage of passive solar, he makes no promises. And asked about the biggest selling point, the re-location of UC museum and the Pacific Film Archives, he says “UC is excited about the prospect,” but, we are cautioned, it will not happen until they raise the funds. When will this be? At a Feb. 10 breakfast Mayor Bates admitted this wouldn’t occur for at least two years, after the completion of the hotel. 

If we allow this development despite the very clear message that UC is promising nothing then we’ll get exactly what we are promised—nothing. 

And this time no one can say Berkeley is helpless to stop UC development. Building a hotel is so far outside the scope of UC’s “educational mission” that this project needs city approval. No question, the City of Berkeley has a lot of bargaining power. But the only way to be certain we get the goodies is if we insist on receiving them before the hotel goes up. One promising idea, suggested by the mayor, is to convert the interior of the existing UC print shop to a museum. If we move exhibits or Pacific Film Archives in before the hotel is built and enter legally binding agreements that UC continue to operate the facility in return for the UC hotel we could be assured that Berkeley gets something in return for taking the property off the tax rolls. Absent this type of quid pro-quo we can be certain the UC Hotel project will unfold in two phases. The first phase where we allow UC to build what they want, forever taking the land off Berkeley’s tax roles, the second phase, years later, when we realize we’ve been had.  

Elliot Cohen 

• 

The Feb. 7 tour, ably led by UC’s Kevin Hufferd and the Berkeley Planning Commission’s Rob Wrenn, opened my eyes to several features of this downtown crossroads. First was the UC Printing Plant building, an overlooked treasure at Oxford and Center streets. This building has an impressive Art Deco facade, but more important is the plaque pointing out that the original United Nations charter was printed there. That’s as big a chunk of history as our little city can claim—and we should not let this building be destroyed. 

The happy flip side is that the printing plant could form the basis of a wonderful museum structure, just as other converted industrial buildings have made very successful museums. London’s Tate Modern, a former power station, has won worldwide acclaim. My personal favorite is Los Angeles’ MOCA Temporary Contemporary. These adapted buildings never feel like “stuffy museums,” because they inherit virtues like vaulted ceilings and generous daylighting. 

Indeed, at the printing plant’s rear, Kevin pointed out a “sawtooth” roof that frames three high tiers of north-facing windows. These could provide gentle daylight to illuminate the artworks without damaging them. While the building needs at least cosmetic restoration, it could host a fine museum even in its current envelope.  

The second discovery was that a park or plaza might replace the Bank of America parking lot, on Center midway between Oxford Street and Shattuck Avenue. The lot is under-used, and UC may buy it (as part of the Bank of America property) and relocate the parking elsewhere. The lot would then become an ideal site for public open space—it’s south-facing and gets nice sunlight. 

A third discovery: Strawberry Creek has already been daylighted! I found it happily bubbling along above ground on the UC campus, when I walked just east of Oxford Street after the tour. I’m told the creek continues for at least a half-mile uphill, then flourishes (east of Gayley Road) in something called Strawberry Canyon. 

Why has this been kept secret from advocates of creek restoration? I suspect that the best place to enjoy the creek’s presence, to promote wider appreciation of it, and to promote better stewardship of it, is here on UC land. (Even with the university’s well-cultivated population, a discouraging amount of trash gets tossed in the creek.) 

While some Berkeley residents are enthusiastic about exposing a lower stretch of the creek along Center Street, and closing the block to traffic, I found several reasons to be skeptical of these proposals. We learned during the tour, for example, that AC Transit relies on Center Street as a place to park its buses. The city has always managed maintenance projects much better than large, expensive construction efforts—and unearthing the creek would be a whopper. Even if it didn’t bankrupt the city, it would cause years of disruption. 

If Center Street were permanently closed, this would block a major gateway to the campus, as well as make downtown traffic congestion worse. The city would lose its successful past investment in nurturing a viable restaurant row along Center Street. (Good luck keeping the restaurants open during excavation—or, without curbside automobile access, after the street’s closure). 

Most importantly, daylighting an extra block of Strawberry Creek might not be good for the creek itself. It would expose the creek to more litter from a larger and broader downtown population, and perhaps to toxic runoff from surrounding streets. 

So, my conclusions from this tour: Employ “green” building standards by preserving the printing plant structure, rather than losing it to history and consuming extra energy and materials to rebuild from scratch. Daylight the art, not the lower creek. And provide public open space on the Bank of America lot, not in the middle of the street. 

Michael Katz 

Telegraph Avenue neighbors and merchants are wise to oppose AC Transit’s proposals to take over much of Telegraph, Bancroft Way and Durant Avenue, as the Daily Planet reported on Jan. 30 (”Bus Lane Plans Provoke Telegraph Neighborhood”). 

“Bus Rapid Transit” (BRT) is great technology if wisely implemented. But AC Transit’s route proposal is absurdly redundant, offering Berkeley little real benefit but many drawbacks. 

Destinations like Berkeley would have benefited had AC Transit proposed a rapid-transit route that favored areas not served by BART (for example, Oakland’s MacArthur/I-580 corridor). Lots of car commuters would have switched to transit, removing cars from our streets. 

Instead, AC Transit proposes a bizarre route that runs just two to six blocks beside the existing BART tracks, all the way from Berkeley to San Leandro. 

Its “stations” would be almost as far apart as BART stations, yet the bus would still be much slower than BART: just 10 minutes faster than existing bus service, on an (unlikely) long trip from Berkeley to downtown Oakland or San Leandro. 

Obviously, most long-distance commuters would stick with BART or their own cars. Yet because AC Transit wants to squeeze those cars into just one lane in each direction on Telegraph, congestion in Berkeley would actually get worse—not better. 

AC Transit has ignored local officials’ pleas to at least extend its route to BART-deprived areas like Berkeley’s University Ave. and Oakland’s burgeoning Jack London Square. 

Furthermore, AC Transit’s proposal to restore two-way traffic on Bancroft and Durant would make the Southside even more hostile for bicyclists, while endangering pedestrians. Still worse is its proposed “pedestrian-transit mall” on Telegraph from Bancroft to Haste, an experiment that’s killed many other cities’ commercial districts. Here, it would extend “campus creep,” flood residential streets with traffic, and inconvenience almost everyone who lives, works, studies, bikes, or shops in the Southside. 

Those who share Southside residents’ and merchants’ dismay at these wasteful, misguided plans should consider doing several things. First, attend the Berkeley Transportation Commission’s hearing on AC Transit’s proposals this Thursday, Feb. 19. It starts at about 7:30 pm, at the North Berkeley Senior Center (on Hearst at MLK). 

Second, visit http://www.petitiononline.com/brtfix/petition.html to sign the online petition. 

Third, tell Berkeley’s Mayor and city councilmembers directly that you oppose AC Transit’s plans. Also send your comments, by March 19, to AC Transit’s Project Manager, Jim Cunradi at planning@actransit.org. 

Finally, on the March 2 ballot, consider voting against Regional Measure 2. AC Transit’s Telegraph Ave. plan depends on getting $65 million in capital, plus $3 million in annual operating subsidies, from this measure. 

Measure 2 is stuffed with plenty of other pork barrel, including $50 million to widen the Caldecott Tunnel, which would dump more cars onto Berkeley streets. It reserves an astounding 21 percent of its funds for five ferry routes—even though diesel ferries carry a small and declining ridership, at high cost and high environmental impact. (One ferry passenger uses about as much energy as a solo driver.) 

Everyone wants more transit. But funding opportunities are rare, and we need to reserve them for needed, sustainable transit that people will actually ride— not for individual agencies’ pet projects. Ask the South Bay’s imploding Valley Transit Authority, which now spends $8.42 per passenger trip to run largely empty streetcars, for a $1.50 fare. 

›

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a resident of Oakland, I feel a sharp pang of envy looking across the Bay when I see the mayor of San Francisco—hardly a progressive—taking the courageous step to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples. Tom Bates, Jerry Brown, and other leaders in the East Bay--please join Gavin in standing up for equal rights! Legalize gay marriage here as well. 

Raphael Mazor 

Oakland 

• 

THANKS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing on behalf of the tenants of Senior Housing at 1909 Cedar St., Berkeley to thank the Berkeley Fire Department and Berkeley Police Department for their wonderful assistance at a fire in our building the morning of Feb. 4. They performed with utmost efficiency and utmost niceness and we are very grateful to them. 

We in no way can agree with reducing funds to the Police and Fire Depts. A less prompt response could have meant a disaster. 

Virginia Ivancich 

• 

SPRINT ANTENNAE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It has come to my attention that Sprint is now threatening the City of Berkeley with a potentially costly federal lawsuit if their antenna permit is not approved (see reference below). This is very typical of a global industry that sees no limit to what means it will use to impose its will on our communities--focusing on the profit it can extract from us, without interest in the health and welfare of residents. 

Sprint has been given a fair hearing by the Council, has been given plenty of opportunity to show inadequate service near the proposed antennas, and Sprint has failed to do so. 

Instead of accepting the reasonable decision of Berkeley, Sprint is calling in the federal government, which normally would not, and should not be involved in local zoning matters. (Such a lawsuit is only possible because of a provision of the Telecommunications Act obtained by the lobbying of wireless companies with their influential campaign contributions--a process that omits the voices of ordinary people.) 

We need to stand up to such bullying rather than to reward their tactics of fear and intimidation. 

David Tornheim 

San Francisco 

• 

BUSINESS AS USUAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Library Gardens project is ideal for car-free housing. We’d get both the housing and the parking. Instead, the developer has just offered more parking, which will both reduce housing and increase downtown congestion. 

Isn’t it time to recognize Berkeley’s automobile addiction and try some real progressive thinking? Or is it still “business as usual”? 

Steve Geller 

• 

ROBOTIC CULTURE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The number one problem facing humanity today, from which all other problems eminate and are symptoms of, is that we live in a materialistic age. Everything today is judged according to it’s material worth. Even human beings are deemed worthless if they don’t earn money, live in homes, work “successful” jobs. Science tells us we are nothing more than collections of cells and molecules. Whenever disease inevitably strikes, we put the blame on bad luck or genetics (read the current news about Atkins). We accept no responsibilty. Is it no wonder that we have slipped so low that we resemble robots? 

But modern man, continues to not only trivialize our spiritual foundation, but has seperated it from our physical bodies. We go to church to get religion, we go to the doctor when we are ill. Neither the doctor nor the pastor see any connection; they’re happy to deal with either physical or spiritual sypmtoms. 

We don’t care to see how destructive and slugglish our robotic culture has become. It has spread to our children, to other countries and cultures and now threatens our entire future on this planet. If you doubt this, take a second look—all the indications are there: destruction of the family, epidemic disease, war, famine, poisoning of the food supply, etc. We are close to hitting rock bottom. When we do, perhaps we may be willing to talk about how and why we got ourselves there. 

In the meantime, let’s start accepting that whatever happens to us is a direct result of the choices we have made. Life is too wonderful to accept anything less. 

Michael Bauce 

• 

CIVIC ARTS RESPONSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding the article “Mural’s Sad Fate Spotlights Civic Art Program” by Jakob Schiller (Daily Planet, Feb. 3-6), a few corrections need to be made for the record.  

The column falsely and inaccurately associates the current City of Berkeley Public Art Program with the mural by Tricia Tripp, and refers to the inadvertent damage to the mural panels as “one of the city’s many fumbles involving public art.” In the same article mural works by local artist Osha Neumann commissioned by the Berkeley Unified School District are discussed, and it goes so far as to associate the tragic death of disabled activist Fred Lupke to “disrepair” of city public improvements in some way connected with the Civic Arts programs. Discerning and knowledgeable readers will know that none of these artworks and issues have anything to do with the Civic Arts Program. It is unfortunate and upsetting that these references and associations were made.  

To set the record straight, the Tripp mural was independently commissioned by a city councilmember without submitting to any of the program standards and reviews of the Civic Arts Commission or staff. After suffering from inappropriate site installations, several relocations and graffiti attacks, the plywood panels were removed to storage without plans for preservation or installation. Efforts are again being made to contact the artist in accordance with state and federal laws protecting the rights of visual artists, and to determine whether the remaining panels may be restorable. Previous efforts to contact the artist were not successful.  

As to the works by Osha Neumann commissioned by the school district, the City Public Art Program has no jurisdiction whatever concerning the treatment of his mural. And, clearly, it is beyond overstatement to connect the conditions and safety of our streets to the level of care and maintenance given to public art works.  

On the positive side, we are all beginning to see the product of the Public Art program, with the sculptures installed downtown, the Addison Street Window gallery and Poetry Panels, and visual art exhibits in our Civic Center Building. New works commissioned with Public Art funds are scheduled for installation in South and West Berkeley this year. A new Arts and Culture Plan for the city is nearing its final draft with extensive public input and comments, to guide and to further improve city policies and procedures for the arts. A public discussion and review of the draft document will be advertised and held in March or April 2004 before its submittal to the City Council for consideration.  

The arts are essential to each of us in many ways, and we are enriched by having art in public places. Jakob Schiller’s article at least has allowed an opportunity to bring attention to the civic arts in Berkeley.  

Many thanks, on behalf of the members of the Civic Arts Commission and our invaluable hardworking staff and volunteers.  

David J. Snippen, Chair, 

Civic Arts Commission 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

My husband and I recently moved to the El Cerrito Plaza/Albany area. I mention this because when we signed off on all of our zoning disclosures, 

we were NOT in a flight path of any airport. 

Over the past few months, however, my neighbors and I have noticed considerable commercial and cargo air traffic flying low overhead on a regular basis, day and night, rain or shine. Is it possible that Oakland and/or SFO have diverted their air traffic to fly over this community now? If so, how is that possible when one would think zoning would not allow for it? How do we as a community take charge to prevent this? 

Elizabeth Will 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m writing you regarding your kind words about Sen. Edwards (“Edwards? You’re Kidding,” Daily Planet editorial, Feb. 13-16). I grew up in North Carolina and had a similar background as he. While I do not know him, I will say that I have followed his rise since his defeat of Lauch Faircloth, a Jesse Helms protégé, and have asked opinions those who have associated with him. Those of you who aren’t from there can’t imagine the oppression that existed during the Helms years and even now, in NC, and for Sen. Edwards to defeat Faricloth, Democrats all over the state felt the welcomed end to a shameful era of bigoted politics that has still moorings there even now. He brought hope to those of us who had felt shamed by our former Senator, and obviously impressed those that may have been prone to vote Republican that year. 

Sen. Edwards, as far as I can see, as one and only one detriment, that being his lack of so-called experience. I say to that, if a wealth of experience brings us the likes of George Bush and the like, then bring on the novices. I’m working and voting for Sen. Edwards because I need a hero. 

Sen. Edwards is true blue and I hope you’ll consider him as you decide who to vote for in the March primary. 

Gail Ingram 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We all read with great interest J. Douglas Allen-Taylor’s article on ABAG financing in Berkeley (“Affordable Housing Program Funds High-Priced Apartments,” Daily Planet, Feb. 13-16). He left us all wondering about those political connections that helped bring much of that money here. Actually there is a very simple and less insidious reason why Berkeley gets more ABAG money than other cities in the area: The poverty rate in Berkeley is the second highest in the State of California! Most of the projects listed in the article were financed using the 1990 Census as a guideline. According to that census, Berkeley was second only to the Watts area of Los Angeles in rate of poverty. In 1950 the Census Bureau changed the rules and began counting students as residents of whatever town they were in when the census is taken. And you thought that those expensive apartments, condos and even more expensive homes meant that Berkeley was well-off! No, those voluntarily unemployed students, who are about to graduate and earn more than the average person, have no income and help create an artificial poverty rate that most of us never knew about and therefore, a demand for affordable housing that exceeds our neighbors. 

Jerry Sulliger 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Although I enjoyed your recent article on blogs, I could not help but notice that all the bloggers mentioned were human (“Berkeley Shines Brightly in the Blogosphere,” Daily Planet, Feb. 13-16). 

Is it a coincidence that the AUTHOR of the story was also a human? I somehow doubt it, given humans’ characteristic egocentricity.  

An example of a blog by a dog in Berkeley is my own: http://kendradog.blogspot.com. 

Kendra Dog 

P.S. Can I have a treat now? 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I would like to encourage all pastors, priests, ministers and religious leaders who feel strongly about making marriage accessible to all to make their voices heard. We cannot afford to have the religious right dominate the conversation about marriage. As a student of the ministry, and a married straight male, I invite you to stand with me in supporting our fellow men and women until they are ALL granted equal rights, regardless of sexual orientation. 

Ron MacKenzie 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Daniel Pipes appearance has stirred up a good storm, as it should. Pipes is leader of an effort to intimidate faculty from coast to coast and purge International Affairs and Middle Eastern departments and programs of people who do not toe the Bush neo-con imperialist line on teaching the divine right of American and Israeli hegemony in the world. Being that Pipes is a McCarthyite using overt intimidation of opinions that differ from his own, it is amazing that anyone is willing to tolerate him speaking on campus at all.  

But there are always the old Zionist lobby people ready to give their all and turn reality on its head: victims into tyrants and tyrants to victims. We who oppose Israel’s occupation, its wall and its sanctioned murders are getting so tired of them calling us anti-semites that we will soon have to form an organization called anti-semites for a just peace and an end to the Israeli occupation. And speaking of semites. Who are the semites anyway? I’m a Jew and my grandparents, like many, came from Russia and Poland. I have many Palestinian friends who seem to have perhaps a more legitimate basis to call themselves semites than most Jews. Why isn’t Israel’s anti-Palestinianism a form of anti-semitism? I would urge the media to stop using the term anti-semitism period and substitute the terms anti-Zionist, anti-Israeli, or anti-Jewish depending upon which is more appropriate in any particular circumstance. Anti-Jewish ideas and behaviors are reprehensible and, like racism, need to be exposed and challenged. The other two are legitimate political viewpoints which challenge the forced expropriation Palestinian lands. This clarity is long overdue.  

Marc Sapir MD, MPH 

Executive Director 

Retro Poll 

Ã

A powerful alliance of police and city hall interests have joined to promote a canine patrol unit. But many are asking, have the alternatives been thoroughly explored?  

Consider, for instance, a bovine patrol: Cows are more decorative. Packs of dogs te nd to fight, and their leashes tend to tangle. Herds of cows, on the other hand, graze contentedly together for hours on end and are decorative to the natural landscape and the eye. Cows promote open space. A bovine patrol would promote open space, as cows need lots of room to graze, and are at their most productive when isolated from loud noises and distractions. Cows are more productive. Dogs tend to chase things around for the simple pleasure of it, while cows produce wholesome milk. 

Other interested citizens are suggesting studies on the feasibility of a feline police patrol: Cats are smarter. Dogs are slavishly willing to obey even the most idiotic instructions from their trainers. Cats don’t put up with foolishness. Cats are quiet. 

Dogs are noisy, and have no patience. Cats are far the superior hunters, and can spend long hours on stakeouts without yelping and howling. 

Berkeley, a leader in ideas, could consider promoting the first ursine patrol in the state: Bears are bigger. Bears tend to have a more commanding presence than either dogs or cats, and have great strength, an incalculable advantage against hardened street criminals. 

Bears are focused. Bears tend to focus on matters at hand, such as fishing, or hibernation. One rarely finds a bear willing to mindlessly fetch a stick or play with a ball of string. 

One local robber agrees. “When I see a cow, I find myself forgetting about robbery and simply sitting in the grass for a moment, contemplating life itself.” 

Others note, “Cats make me a little nervous, so I tend to pay attention to what they say.” 

“I never mess around when there’s a bear in the vicinity,” comments a local wino given to public disturbance. “You can’t outrun them and they  

climb trees.” 

Our community shouldn’t rush into the choice of which animals to include in our policing alternatives. Make sure our representatives have considered all the appropriate options for enhancing public safety when selecting species for inclusion in police patrols. Some species are more suita ble than others, and some are more likely to look good in their little uniforms. Keep in mind the necessity of not looking entirely foolish when tooting around in a police car full of furry animals, as it may have a counterproductive effect on the crimina l mind, and let’s work together to enhance the public’s safety. ›s

In August 2001 I’d just taken a buyout from the Contra Costa Times after 18 years reporting and editing, hoping to freelance about topics of personal interest—including historic preservation. 

There I was, sitting around my home “office,” figuring out how to use the computer, when I hear Kiefer’s Furniture in El Cerrito had been sold to a developer. 

Back in 1988 I’d done a piece for the paper about “a hidden theater” that Harry Kiefer used as furniture storage next door to his store. Since then I’d luxuriated in the knowledge that this forgotten treasure existed. 

I didn’t have the heart just to sit back and let it go. 

EL CERRITO—People who oppose preserving the Cerrito Theater say it’s a thing of no value, neither old nor historic. Its façade was destroyed years ago, the neon marquee scrapped, and its vaulted interior seems cavernous and cold, until you catch sight of the murals—dancing gods and goddesses, half-naked and slender, plus Jupiter piloting a goat-powered chariot. 

Similar scenes can be found etched in glass and in the mirror behind the candy counter. 

Naysayers notwithstanding, when they toll those Golden Bells saving the Art Deco theater should count as my chief contribution to mankind—even though I did little of the work that went into saving it. 

The real, nagging work of building partnerships, putting dollars together and banging heads was handled by three or four city officials and a handful of El Cerrito residents more politically astute, better connected and harder working than me. 

While I rooted from the sidelines and delivered an occasional speech, other Friends of the Cerrito Theater spent hundreds of hours drumming up support, lobbying politicians, creating a website, and squirming through meeting after meeting. 

At the open house at the theater, a party with klieg lights and bands that attracted 3,000 people and helped convince the city council that, yes, people do care about the theater, I delegated to myself the job of “schmoozing with public.” Other Friends of the Cerrito Theater ran the show and kept the popcorn popping. 

I wasn’t even the guy who came up with the vision. The idea of taking a shell of a theater, a barrel-vaulted warehouse that hadn’t shown a movie in 40 years, and returning it to life as a movie house again—no, that didn’t seem possible to me. 

After all, the UC Theater in Berkeley, a longtime Mecca for movie fans, had just shut. What nut would propose opening another old theater on the heels of that disaster? (The “nut,” it turned out, was the city’s community development director, Jill Keimach—who then made it work.) 

But I did do one thing. I got the whole thing going. And if I hadn’t kicked it off, the theater would have been gutted, its murals shredded, and its etched glass panels and Art Deco chandeliers auctioned on eBay or sold at the Deco by the Bay show before anyone else in town knew a thing about it. 

I began by revisiting the theater, chatting to Kiefer (a personable guy who thought my idea of preserving the theater silly), and speaking to Art Schroeder, president of the El Cerrito Historical Society, who agreed the theater should be saved and gave me the society’s blessings. 

A few days before 9/11, I was on the phone to the new owner, hoping to persuade him to incorporate the murals, lights and glass as an amenity into whatever project got built there. No go. You want them? he asked. Come and get them. 

Well, I thought, it might come to that. I even called the town’s other Art Deco landmark, El Cerrito High, to see if they could be installed there. (Since then, the school district has decided to tear the school down.) 

For several months it seemed a quixotic quest, just me at home, brainstorming ideas, calling the one city council member I was friends with (Janet Abelson provided good advice), talking to the chamber of commerce, the city’s economic development board, and hauling the city manager and community development staff into the theater. 

Maybe, just maybe, I thought, the city would pressure the new owner to save the murals. 

Then the West County Times did a story and interest perked. The first call I got was from Jerri Holan, a preservation architect on Solano Avenue who suggested the murals be installed at city pool, which was about to be rebuilt. (Today Jerri is part of the Lerner-Hollan partnership that is designing the restored theater.) 

Jett Thorson, a preservation painter from Alameda, volunteered and was soon cleaning 30 year’s worth of nicotine off the murals. 

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which identified saving neighborhood theaters as a priority for 2002, provided technical expertise and good cheer. 

In November 2001 the story took an unexpected turn when Jill Keimach decided this could be a keystone project for the city. She started looking for theater operators to revive the Cerrito. 

At one point she asked me if Kiefer still owned the neon marquee that once graced the theater. I laughed. Harry used to use the marquee to advertise furniture sales. The city had ordered it down back in the ‘70s because it didn’t fit the design guidelines for San Pablo Avenue. I asked Harry if he’d stored the sign in his backyard. He laughed. 

The city would need to put up half a million dollars to get the project rolling, Jill suggested. Could I bring a group of supporters to a city council meeting? 

I didn’t have a group of supporters. But I roped in friends and acquaintances and anyone who might be interested in beautiful old theaters. 

By December, the couple who own the Parkway Theater in Oakland were talking to the city about re-opening the Cerrito. But Jill’s enthusiasm wouldn’t be enough. El Cerrito is a fiscally conservative town, and city council support for restoring a long-lost theater was far from sure. 

Clearly we needed an organization. We got one when Lori Dair, the firebrand behind the group Sustainable El Cerrito, called. Sustainable El Cerrito had been involved in several environmental and planning issues in town. 

A couple of days later, mid-February 2002, Lori, Pam Challinor and I created Friends of the Cerrito Theater. 

Most of the friends were Lori’s, and she emerged as leader. Soon we had t-shirts, post cards and a website. In March dozens of people packed a council meeting to support the theater. Restoring the theater struck a nerve. Moviegoers and preservationists called—and so did people who were simply excited about bringing some form of an entertainment to an otherwise quiet town. 

We found people who’d met and fallen in love at the theater during their youth—or at least won dishes on Dish Night. 

In May 2002, we had the open house. The scene was dreamlike. For the first time we had bright floodlights hitting the murals—and for the first time I realized they were painted in silver leaf and glowed. 

Attendance far exceeded anything the fire department had warned us about—and helped convince the council that the theater could build community spirit. By the end of the month the council agreed to buy the theater for half a million dollars. 

Since then, the city negotiated a deal with the Parkway owners, and last month agreed to put up $3.5 million (mostly as a loan) to restore the theater. The vote was 4-1. Councilmembers said preserving the theater would protect a valuable historic resource, boost the city’s community spirit and pride, provide entertainment, and help business along San Pablo Avenue. 

The theater is near the revived El Cerrito Plaza, at the southern entrance to town. A neon Cerrito marquee will give the town a welcoming landmark. 

There will be two screens, the murals and other historic features will be preserved, and seating will be a mix of informal (couches, easy chairs) and theater seating. As at the Parkway, pizza and other food will be sold, along with beer and wine. The theater will also be available for a number of community events. 

We could be seeing movies at the Cerrito by the end of 2005. 

Friends of the Cerrito Theater, which eased out of the picture once the city began negotiating in earnest with Parkway, revived four months ago to raise funds to restore some of the historic features, including the murals and marquee. 

I’m playing a characteristically minor role, taking minutes and ensuring my name gets into the paper. Doing the real work are co-chairs Ann Lehman and Dianne Brenner and other members of a steering committee. We also have a list of volunteers who are waiting to help—and we are always looking for more volunteers. 

A few days after the city council approved the funding, we got a call from Friends of the Lorenzo Theater in San Lorenzo looking for advice. I told them everything we had done, building support, talking to city officials, getting expert advice. 

They’d done every bit of that too with no luck. 

The difference—the folks they spoke to with Alameda County don’t see the value of a historic building. The concept, I’ll admit, remains elusive to many people. 

When developers propose filling in a marsh or cutting a forest, everyone understands there are questions to answer, countervailing values to weigh, constituencies to appease, environmental impact reports to write. 

The historic preservation ethos, however, has not taken as firm a hold on the public mind. One of my goals as a writer is to change that. 

For the past three years I saw myself as the “historic preservation consciousness” of Friends, arguing that we weren’t fighting to save a theater business but a building with artistic merit, whose value will remain even if movie-going as we know it today goes the way of bear-baiting. 

No, the Cerrito is no Paramount-style palace. It’s a humble, neighborhood theater—but that makes it more important, since so few theaters of its ilk remain in as intact a condition. 

The theater is particularly important for El Cerrito, a city with a storied past of gambling, dance halls and sin, that has allowed most of its past to disappear. 

Recent developments, meanwhile, bring to town “neo-urban” pseudo streetscapes that do a poor job copying authentic buildings from the 1920s and ‘30s, and look like similar developments in every town from Buffalo to Burlingame. 

Shouldn’t El Cerrito keep something unique, something that will draw outsiders to visit, that residents will brag about? 

“A city without a past lacks soul,” I preached at one council meeting. “El Cerrito is not a faceless suburb. It shouldn’t look like one.” 

Dave Weinstein, a 22-year resident of El Cerrito, writes about architecture, preservation and the arts. He is a member of Friends of the Cerrito Theater, but the opinions expressed in this story are his own. For information about the theater visit ccc.cerritotheater.org. 

›

For the group who gathered at the South Berkeley Senior Center (SBSC) last Wednesday, Black History month did not mean reading about times past, it meant reliving them. 

With performances by Berkeley’s Mingus Amongus jazz band, the SBSC’s senior tap group, The Steppers, and 78-year-old DJ Rob, over 100 people gathered at the SBSC to participate in an event called “Back in the Day,” co-sponsored by Seniors for Progress and the Berkeley Civic Arts program.  

Like other events at the South Berkeley center, “Back in the Day” was designed to rekindle memories for participants (the majority of whom are African American) who live in a world that has moved on from the times they remember best. The event was similar to a program called imaginary cruises, where participants chose a region of the world they would like to visit and then create an event surrounding all the cultural traits of wherever they pick such as Cuba. This time, however, it was generational, not geographical. 

“The event really jogged people’s memories,” said April Watkins, a teacher at the SBSC, the event coordinator and owner of the Art of Living center on Shattuck Avenue. With old records hung on the wall and the names of old black clubs next to them, she said the event was a walk down memory lane.  

“Slim Jenkins, it’s a place you went to and if your mother caught you, you were dead,” explained Yvonne Smith, 74, from West Oakland. Smith, who comes to the SBSC regularly, remembers Slim Jenkins, a club out on Seventh street in West Oakland as the place to go for blacks when strong lines separated who could go to what clubs and who listened to what kind of music. 

“[The clubs] were the only places blacks had to go,” she said. “It was what black people had, and it wasn’t symphony music.” Instead it was the early jazz and blues greats who were blaring from the speakers or playing up on stage.  

As Mingus Amongus played, whose leader and bassist Miles Perkins is a Berkeley native, Smith remembered some of her favorite artists; Ray Charles, B.B. King, and Roy Eldridge, who according to Smith was a friend of her mom’s and used to stay at the house when he and his band came through. 

For The Steppers, the event was a chance for them to showcase their moves. Started back in 1995 in Oakland and then moved to Berkeley in 1996, The Steppers are directed by Maxine Browne, who has been teaching dance for 40 years.  

“It’s the rhythm that people like,” said Browne about the popularity of the class, which has 16 members.  

Dancing with incredible fluidity and rhythm, and dressed in classic Count Basie tuxedos with tails and a bow tie, top hats and a cane, the group (which is predominantly made up of women) quickly had the crowd cheering them on to shouts of, “You go girl.” 

Camille Parker, one of the dancers, said she had wanted to learn to tap dance since she was 16 so she jumped at the opportunity to learn. Plus, she said, the exercise is great.  

The class, which meets twice a week, is well-known around Berkeley but according to the dancers, the real claim to fame was when they danced with the famous tap dancer and actor Gregory Hines at the Paramount Theater in Oakland. 

Others including Velma Washington, a Berkeley resident, took the theme “Back in the Day,” very seriously. Washington, who is 74, didn’t come to just remember old times, she brought them along with her. She didn’t stop at her time, however, and instead went back several hundred years, wearing a bonnet and bright dress she dated back to the early 1800s. According to Washington the dress came from an aunt who recently passed away at 106 and who had inherited the dress from her mother. 

“This, is black history,” said Washington about the dress. “When I wear this I’m remembering [my family].” Washington also brought along a gourd as old as the dress, which had been dried and hollowed and used for drinking water.  

Another part of the event is a collection of old objects from the past contributed by SBCS members. Mary L. Trahan, soon to be 80, who is an avid collector, brought the majority of the items up in the display including several dolls from her extensive collection, including a doll of Louis Armstrong, as well as a ticket from when she rode the Pan American clipper, and a book of American Negro spirituals. Also up in the display are old copies of the Oakland Tribune featuring advertisements that entertained many a passerby with memories of what prices used to be. 

“I have always loved black history,” said Trahan, while guiding onlookers through the collection that is still up and open to anyone interested. “In my lifetime I have seen a lot of changes.” 

Watkins said pending funding, the SBCS hopes to put on several more similar events, but with different genre themes. Rock and roll, she said with a smile, could be the next.  

For anyone who wants to view the display, the South Berkeley Senior Center is located at 2939 Ellis St. near Ashby Avenue. 981-5170.  

›

Driver Rampages Through Campus 

A motorist played demolition derby on the UC campus Saturday evening, nearly mowing down a professor, UC Police said. The sergeant on duty Tuesday said that at 6:15 p.m. the motorist drove onto a crowded Kroeber Plaza just east of the intersection of College Avenue and Bancroft Way and “drove wildly” before being apprehended by police and taken to a local hospital for “an illness”.  

No one was struck by the car, the sergeant said, adding he heard second-hand that the driver came within two feet of striking a professor. Because of the Presidents Day holiday, police offered no other information about the incident. 

Police Arrest Possible Car Thief 

A man seen casing cars on the corner of Sixth and Page streets last weekend was arrested him for possession of drug paraphernalia and misappropriation of public property, Berkeley police said. 

Screamer Silenced 

Residents on the 1800 block of Francisco Street called police last weekend when a neighbor started screaming uncontrollably in his back yard. Police arrived and arrested the man for possession of methamphetamine.r

While looking for burrowing owls down at the Berkeley Marina a few weeks ago, I was surprised to run into a pair of black oystercatchers working the riprap along Cesar Chavez Park. Maybe I shouldn’t have been. I’ve always associated these birds with the wave-bashed rocks of the outer coast, but I’ve since read that in Washington State, at least, oystercatchers are beginning to colonize more sheltered shores. Maybe that’s happening in San Francisco Bay as well. 

Anyway, they were hard to miss: stocky duck-sized shorebirds with brownish-black plumage, chisel-tipped vermillion beaks, sturdy dull-pink legs, and baleful yellow eyes. I last saw them flying north together, calling to each other. I’m assuming a pair because oystercatchers, unlike some shorebirds—the promiscuous ruff and the polyandrous phalaropes, for instance—mate for life. And that can be a long haul; banded oystercatchers have lived for 16 years in the wild. At least life partnership is the norm, although divorces have been recorded. 

If you spend much time around oystercatchers, you’ll eventually see what ornithologists call the Piping Display. They seem to break into it at moments of high emotion: courting a mate, maintaining a pair bond, defending a boundary. Hunching over with bill downward, they give a series of pennywhistle notes while repeatedly bowing. Sometimes they rotate in tight circles, still piping. 

About that name: yes, I know it’s less than appropriate. As the 19th century ornithologist Elliott Coues said, “Oysters do not run fast.” Some have tried to salvage it by saying the birds “catch” oysters unaware, but I wouldn’t want to assume that much about an oyster’s level of awareness. 

Black oystercatchers, which inhabit the Pacific Coast from Alaska to Baja California, don’t seem to care much for oysters even when they’re available. They’d much rather eat mussels. (The bird’s Atlantic counterpart, the black-and-white American oystercatcher, has in fact been observed feeding in oyster beds.) Less favored items include limpets, whelks, sea urchins, marine worms, and crabs. 

We tend to reserve the concept of predator for creatures that chase their victims down in dramatic fashion, or lunge at them from ambush—not one whose prey is rooted to a rock. But the oystercatcher is as predatory as the wolf or the weasel, in its own way. And it has a technique for each kind of prey. Oystercatchers forage for mussels in the intertidal zone, watching for those whose shells are gaping the way they should be after being steamed with white wine, butter, and celery (if you follow the Belgian tradition). They insert those long bills into the gap and snip the adductor, the mussel’s muscle that closes the shell. Then they remove and gulp down the contents. 

Limpets are dislodged from the rocks where they’re attached with a quick jab of the beak at the point where the shell meets the rock, flipped over, wedged into a crevice, and eaten. The birds punch holes in sea urchin shells to get at the bits that are served in sushi bars. On occasion they probe for bivalves buried in sand or mud. 

The requisite skill doesn’t come naturally. Young oystercatchers have to learn their trade. Newly independent chicks make do with limpets and worms until they’ve mastered their mussel-opening technique, and it can take them over 3 years to learn how to deal with a sea urchin. 

It’s even more complicated for young Eurasian oystercatchers (there are 10 species scattered around the world’s coasts, 11 if the Canarian black oystercatcher is still with us). The Eurasian birds are specialists, either stabbers or hammerers. Stabbers use the jab-and-snip approach of the black oystercatcher; hammerers pry a bivalve loose from its moorings, then break one of its shells with a volley of short, sharp blows. The commitment to one craft or another, which fledglings pick up from their parents, will affect the shape of the bird’s beak: hammerers have blunt-tipped bills, stabbers pointed. 

There may also be a gender component to feeding strategy. Among black oystercatchers, at least, females are larger than males and have longer bills. Bill-length dimorphism in shorebirds often signals dietary differences; it’s not clear whether this holds true for the oystercatchers, though. There’s a dissertation topic for somebody. 

Back to the burrowing owls: looks like I was in error about the burrowing owl in the BART station. Although it was reported as such in North American Birds, the New York Times-cum-Sporting News of birding, I have it on good authority that the bird in question was actually a saw-whet owl. Thanks to Andrew Smith for correcting the record.ã

A Bay Area-based government program set up to promote the building of low-income housing has instead legally issued a substantial percentage of its low-cost bond financing to high-end apartment construction, according to documents on the agency’s website. It calls into question why an agency program whose self-declared purpose is “to deal with the increasing shortage of affordable housing” has ended up funneling so much potential low-cost financing into housing that is clearly not low-cost. 

The affordable housing financing program of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) announces on its website that it has “successfully completed 53 affordable housing project financings” throughout California. However, close to half of ABAG’s affordable housing project financings in Alameda County went to seven mixed-used Berkeley facilities built by Berkeley-based developer Panoramic Interests. Eighty percent of the units in each of the seven Panoramic housing projects are market-rate rentals, far out of the financial reach of low-income renters. 

In addition, ABAG’s signed agreement with Panoramic Interests to sponsor bond financing for the Gaia Building specifically exempts ABAG from having to monitor whether Panoramic actually rents the affordable apartments to low-income tenants.  

In its bond funding contracts, ABAG defines affordable housing as housing that charges a monthly rent not in excess of 10 percent of the median monthly income for the area in which the housing is developed. For Alameda County, that means a monthly rent of approximately $650 for a family of four. 

No other developments in Berkeley besides the Panoramic projects received ABAG-assisted funding, and the $72 million in bond financing made available to Panoramic during the eight years of the program far overshadowed the $4.5 million in bond financing that went to all of Oakland in the same period. One possible reason for the politically-savvy Panoramic’s dominance of the local bond issuance is that in order to qualify for ABAG-issued bonds, a development project must be sponsored by a member of ABAG’s Finance Authority For Nonprofit Corporations. Any California public agency is eligible for membership in the Finance Authority, subject to approval by ABAG’s executive board. At least some of Panoramic’s ABAG bond projects were sponsored by members of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. 

The tax-exempt government bonds are preferred by housing developers over non-government financing because of their lower interest rates. 

There is no evidence that Panoramic misled ABAG in applying for the loans, and Clarke Howatt, ABAG’s Director of Financial Services, insisted in a telephone interview that the financing project has been carried out in compliance with regulations of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which he says allows tax-exempt bond financing for housing developments so long as at least 20 percent of those developments are set aside for low-income residents. Berkeley “inclusionary” ordinance mandates that all housing developments put up in the city meet that 20 percent low-income set-aside. 

While ABAG-assisted affordable housing developments can be as low as 20 percent affordable, the ABAG bonds are often issued for the construction of the entire housing development, not just for the portion of that development which is affordable. In the case of the $15.4 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by ABAG for Panoramic’s Gaia Building in 2000 for example, the funding was intended for the construction of all 91 apartments in the facility. In practical terms, it meant that $12.3 million in the tax-exempt bonds that might have gone directly into the construction of affordable apartments in another project instead went to the 73 units in the Gaia Building that were not affordable. 

“I think you’re onto a good story,” said Berkeley Housing Director Steve Barton. “If you look at the ABAG program name, it says something along the lines of the ‘nonprofit housing development fund.’ And yet, virtually all of their funds go to for-profit developers. I have real questions about the appropriateness of how ABAG handles their program.” 

Barton said that he knew of one Berkeley nonprofit housing developer that “applied to ABAG and was turned down on the grounds that [ABAG] regarded the loan as riskier than lending to a for-profit developer.” 

Informed of the $72 million in Panoramic bond financing, Ian Winters, Executive Director of the Northern California Land Trust, said merely “wow.” The trust is a nonprofit Berkeley-based group that, among other things, builds low-income co-op and condominium projects of 10 units or less. The ABAG program “doesn’t seem targeted very well,” Winters said, “given that Berkeley’s Housing Trust Fund is about $4 million a year, and there’s five nonprofits who practically trip over ourselves trying to get that money.” Winters added that he’s not “that familiar with” the lending program. “I’d heard little bits about it, but it’s not something that we have applied for yet. I thought that the loans applied only to senior housing projects, which is something we don’t really do. If nothing else, it’s a really, really bad job of publicity.” 

Janice Weston, Housing Development Assistant with the nonprofit Community Development Corporation in North Oakland, said her organization was not aware of the ABAG bond program. “There are so many things going on that some of them just don’t come into your immediate purview, but that’s one that I’m not familiar with,” Weston said. “One of the problems with the nonprofits is that we often operate in a vacuum. So I don’t know about the ABAG program, but everybody else might know.” Weston said her organization currently has developed more than 50 low income housing units for sale and rental in Oakland. 

Todd Harvey, Housing Project Manager for the nonprofit Jubilee Restoration housing developers in Berkeley, said that he was aware of the ABAG bond program because Jubilee had worked with Panoramic on the ABAG bond-financed Acton Courtyard development. Harvey said he did not feel that ABAG should be responsible for getting out information on its loan programs to developers. “How we find out about any of this funding is research,” he said. “HUD didn’t come to us and ask us to apply for any of their programs. What we do is when we need money for certain programs, we would call up agencies and organizations and ask them what money is available. It’s up to the nonprofit developers to do the research themselves. And anybody who’s in the housing field knows all the sources of funding.” Harvey said that Jubilee intended to apply for ABAG bonds for its own future projects. 

Established in 1961, ABAG is the official planning agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay region. All nine counties and 99 of the 101 cities within the Bay Area are voluntary ABAG members, and one elected official from each governmental body serves as a delegate to ABAG’s General Assembly. The General Assembly representative for Berkeley is Councilmember Miriam Hawley. The representative for Alameda County is Supervisor Nate Miley, and the representative for the city of Oakland is Councilmember Jean Quan. 

ABAG is one of several public agencies that compete for a limited yearly state pool of this bond funding for housing projects. The pool is operated by the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC) of the state treasurer’s office. The money is divided into three separate pots: one for mixed income projects having 50 percent or less affordable housing units (such as the Panoramic projects), one for general projects having more than 50 percent affordable housing units, and one for rural projects. While the different types of projects never compete directly against each other, the financing for one pool of projects (such as those which require only 20 percent affordable housing) necessarily uses bond funds that could otherwise be allocated to fully affordable projects. 

According to Elissa Dennis, an affordable housing financing consultant with Community Economics, Inc. of Oakland, the mixed-income pool is important because the low-interest bond payments it provides give for-profit developers an incentive to build a percentage of affordable housing in projects that would otherwise be totally market rate. Dennis also said that the fact that no nonprofit Berkeley housing developers received ABAG bonds did not mean that those developers were being frozen out of the CDLAC market; she noted that they might have applied for and received CDLAC bonds using sponsorship from another government agency. 

Patrick Kennedy, the head of Panoramic, did not return a telephone call from the Daily Planet to answer questions in connection with this story.

FRIDAY, FEB. 13 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Therese McMillen, Deputy Director of Policy, MTC, “Solving Bay Area Transportation Issues” Lunch 

11:45 a.m. $11.50 - $12.50. Speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

Anarchist Crush Night at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, a reading room, library and commu- 

nity center in South Berkeley located at 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

“So How’d You Become an Activist?” with Kevin Danaher, Co-founder, Global Exchange and Anuradha Mittal, Director, Food First at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Donation $5. For more information call 528-5403. 

“Fostering or Frustrating Globalization” with Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico, at 4 p.m. in 101 Doe Library, Morrison Library, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

“Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War” and “Imagine America” will be shown at 7 p.m. at the Kucinich for President office, 3362 Adeline, near Alcatraz. 420-0772. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Players at all levels are welcome. 652-5324. 

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. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

Overeaters Anonymous meets every Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Church at Solano and The Alameda. Parking is free and is handicapped accessible. For information call Katherine, 525-5231. 

SATURDAY, FEB. 14 

Valentine’s Day Walk along the pathways and attractions of Daley’s Scenic Park and UC Berkeley’s rapidly expanding Northeast Quadrant. Led by Jim Sharp and Berkeley Landmarks website creator Daniella Thompson and other local heritage experts. Please meet at 10 a.m., rain or shine, 3 blocks north of the UC Campus, at the top of the steps connecting La Loma Ave. with Virginia St. Plan on some stairs, hills, and off-pavement surfaces. For questions, please call Jim at 841-7271.  

“A Walk in the Garden” Colorful blooms are already on display in this Garden of California Native Plants at Aquatic Park. Meet outside the Cabin at the park’s southern entrance at 10 a.m. Aquatic Park EGRET egret@lmi.net or 549-0818. 

Fruit Tree Pruning Basics A hands-on class held in a Berkeley garden. General discussion on when to prune and when not to, maximizing and improving the quality of fruit production, different techniques and management styles, and specifics for different trees, with time for general tree pruning questions. Bring your own sharp hand clippers and branches from trees from your yard if you can. $10 for Ecology Center members, $15 others, no one turned away for lack of funds. Call for location 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Free Worm Composting Workshop Get the scoop on worm composting from the experts at the Alameda County Composting Program. Worm composting can be an especially good choice for apartment dwellers and others lacking yard space. Find out how to compost kitchen scraps into free, nutritious fertilizer using red wiggler worms. The class is geared for beginners but those who already compost with worms and need advice are welcome too. From 10 a.m. to noon at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way. 548-2220, ext. 233, erc@ecologycenter.org  

The Beautiful Camellia Garth Jacober will talk about planting, care and pruning of these garden beauties. At 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Sunset Walk in Emeryville at 3 p.m. Turn off Hwy 80 at Powell St. exit, go west to Chevy’s off Frontage Rd. Rain cancels. For more information, call Vera at 234-8949. Sponsored by the Sierra Club Solo Sierrans. 

Residential Drainage Systems, a seminar for homeowners and builders, from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Truitt and White Conference Room, 1817 Second St. Free, but reservations are required. 649-2674. www.truittandwhite.com/seminars 

Pee Wee Basketball for boys and girls ages 6 to 8 years begins this Sat. and runs for 6 weeks from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 1255 Allston Way. Fee is $25 for residents, $35 for non-residents. Sponsored by Berkeley Youth Alternatives 845-9066. 

God’s Beloved: A Workshop for LGBT Persons and their families and friends from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 2401 Le Conte Ave. Pastor Michal Anne Pepper will help participants identify how shame interferes with their relationship with God and how the bible is misused to create that shame. To register call 848-3788. www.uccbdoc.org 

Yoga for Seniors at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., on Saturdays from 10 to 11 a.m. The class is taught by Rosie Linsky, who at age 72, has practiced yoga for over 40 years. Open to non-members of the club for $8 per class. For further information and to register, call Karen Ray at 848-7800. 

Kol Hadash Family Brown Bag Shabbat from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Though we are a little ahead of Purim, we will get to know Queen Ester who had the courage to rescue her fellow Jews in Persia. Please bring lunch for yourself and children, and finger dessert to share. Juice provided. 428-1492. kolhadash@aol.com 

SUNDAY, FEB. 15 

“Park Transformations to Come” Walk the location in Aquatic Park where Coastal Conservancy may fund safer trail connections and habitat plantings. Meet outside the Cabin at the park’s southern entrance at 2 p.m. Aquatic Park EGRET egret@lmi.net or 549-0818. 

Owl Pellet Mystery Party Learn what’s left over from an owl’s meal. We’ll discover the remains and you’ll go home with at least one more skeleton than you came with - guaranteed! From 10 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Cost is $4. 525-2233.  

Early Bloomers Leatherwood, currants, milkmaids and trillium are just waiting for you to admire on our trails. Take a hike to see them and learn their natural history. From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. 525-2233.  

“Imagining Queen Califa” a family event with interactive activities, storytelling and music, in collaboration with The Art of Living Black Cooperative, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Nepal and The Philippines: Why are People’s Movements and Their Leaders Under Attack?” at 3 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

Tibetan Buddhism, with Sylvia Gretchen on “Meditations for Relieving Pain” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Feldenkrais Resources Open House from noon to 5 p.m. at 830 Bancroft Way at Sixth St. 287-5748. 

Eckhart Tolle Talks on Video, free gatherings at 6:30 p.m. to hear the words of the author of “The Power of Now” at the Feldenkrais Ctr., 830 Bancroft Way. 547-2024. EdScheuerlein@aol.com  

MONDAY, FEB. 16 

Fitness for 55+ A total body workout including aerobics, stretching and strengthing at 1:15 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5170. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425.  

Health Care House Parties for Howard Dean & Measure A Alameda County for Dean is sponsoring informational gatherings at private homes to present Measure A, the health care initiative for Alameda county, and Howard Dean. Call 548-8414 or go to www.eb4dean/ 

houseparties for details on time and locations. 

TUESDAY, FEB. 17 

Tuesday Morning Birdwalk at the Albany Bulb, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Meet at the end of Buch- 

anan St. in Albany. Call if you need binoculars. 525-2233. 

“Vernal Pools: What? When? Where?” with Carol Witham, consultant on botanical and biological ecosystems of vernal pools of California and Nevada, at 1 p.m. at the Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. Free. Sponsored by the Berkeley Garden Club. 524-4374. 

Celebration of Black History Month, singing, dancing, jazz and poetry slam at 7 p.m. at BHS Little Theater. Sponsored by the BHS PTSA and the Parent Resource Center. 

Friends of Strawberry Creek meets at 6:30 p.m. in the Central Public Library Meeting Room, 2090 Kittredge St. Carole Schemmerling will talk about daylighting Blackberry Creek at Thousand Oaks School Park.  

“The California Budget Crisis: What Caused it? What are the Alternatives?” with Lenny Goldberg, California Tax Reform Association, at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 27th and Harrison Sts. Potluck social hour at 6 p.m. Sponsored by the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club. 99-PEACE. www.democraticrenewal.us 

“25 Years of Kindred with Octavia Butler” at 4 p.m. in the Morrison Room, Doe Library. Sponsored by the Center for African Studies. 642-8338. http://ias.berkeley.edu/africa/ 

“Mountaineering 101” at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Judaism, What is it all About?” an interactive lecture series with Rabbi Judah Dardik, at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at Beth Jacob Congregation, 3778 Park Blvd., Oakland. 482-1147. www.bethjacoboakland.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 234-4783. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers We are a few slowpoke seniors who walk between a mile or two each Tuesday, meeting at 9:30 a.m. in the Little Farm parking lot. 215-7672.  

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18 

UC Hotel and Conference Center Subcommittee of the Planning Commission meets at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center. 

Tilden Explorers A nature adventure program to learn about our local amphibians, for ages 5 to 7 with an adult, from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. Fee is $6, $8 for non-residents. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Great Decisions 2004: “The Philippines” with Rene P. Ciria-Cruz, Editor, Pacific News Service and Filipina Maganzine, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. The Great Decisions program will meet Wednesdays through March 31. Briefing booklets are available. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

Berkeley Stop the War Coalition meets every Wednesday at 7 p.m. in 255 Dwinelle, UC Campus. www.berkeleystopthewar.org  

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

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vig the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Amnesty International Berkeley Community Group meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1606 Bonita Ave., at Cedar St. Join fellow human rights activists to help promote social justice one individual at a time. 872-0768. 

THURSDAY, FEB. 19 

“Selling Out the First Amendment: The Collision of News, Entertainment and Politics” with John Carroll, Editor, The Los Angeles Times, in conversation with Michael Krasny, at 7:30 p.m. in Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Sponsored by The Graduate School of Journalism, The Goldman School of Public Policy and The Office of the Chancellor. Tickets are $5, available from 642-9988. 

Golden Gate Audubon Society, “Crossing the Frozen Roof of the World” Geographer Pam Flowers presents a slide show and talks about her 2,500-mile adventure across the North American arctic coast. At 7:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Free. 843-2222. www.goldengateaudubon.org 

“Tree Rings: Tales of the Past, Indicators of the Future” with Dr. Constance Millar of the U.S Forest Service, at 2:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of CA, 1000 Oak St., at 10th St., Oakland. Free. 238-2200.  

“Fabric of Hope” with Nike Davies, textile artist and painter from Nigeria, at noon in 220 Stephens Hall, Geballe Room, Townsend Center. Sponsored by the Center for African Studies. 642-8338. http://ias.berkeley.edu/africa/ 

Berkeley-Palma Soriano Sister City Association invites you to join our June Delegation on Culture, Spirituality and the Environment in Havana and Santiago de Cuba. Informational meeting at 7 p.m. at Berkeley City Hall, 2180 Milvia St., 6th Floor Conference Room. For more information, call Francisco at 981-6817. www.geocities. 

com/berkeley-palma/ 

LeConte Neighborhood Association meeeting at 7:30 at the LeConte School, 2241 Russell St. 843-2602. 

“Update on Vista College” with Jacqueline Shadko, VP of Instruction, from noon to 2 p.m. in the Edith Stone Room, Albany Public Library, 1247 Marin Ave. at Masonic. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters. 841-2837. 

“What are the Kabbalah and The Zohar?” with Rav Michael Laitman at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Hillel Jewish Student Center, 2736 Bancroft Way. 845-7793. 

Simplicity Forum on self-esteem issues when pursuing the simple life at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 549-3509. www.simpleliving.net 

Exercise After 50 Berkeley’s Active Choices program, which offers people over 50 free “coaching” toward an exercise program, will be the focus of the Berkeley Path Wanderers Assn. meeting, at 7 p.m. at Live Oak Park Recreation Center, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Justine Kaplan will outline how these programs can help fight chronic diseases, from diabetes to joint pain or heart failure. For information see www.internettime.com/bpwa or call 524-4715. 

“People’s Health Movement” with Steve Miller, MD, President, Doctors for Global Health, at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. 642-9460. http://ihouse.berkeley.edu 

ONGOING 

Family Activist Resource Center A small group of East Bay parents is meeting monthly to set up a drop-in center where parents and caregivers can come with their children and do their political work while their children are cared for in a creative, respectful and nurturing manner. For information on the next meeting, contact Erica at ericadavid@earthlink.net or call 841-3204. 

Valentine’s Gram by UC Choral Ensembles A quartet will travel anywhere within 1/2 mile of the UC campus, sing two songs in full harmony and deliver a long-stemmed red rose and a signed Valentine's Day card to your special recipient. You can schedule a 15-minute time slot for Friday, Feb. 13 between noon and 10 p.m. or Saturday, Feb. 14 between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Prices are $25 for students and $40 for the general public. Call 642-3880 to reserve your time. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon. Feb. 17, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St., Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

City Council meets Tues., Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. with a Special Meeting at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tues., Feb. 17, 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 Wed., Feb. 18, 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 Wed., Feb. 18, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Lisa Ploss, 981-5200. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/commissions/aging 

Commission on Labor meets Wed., Feb. 18, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Delfina M. Geiken, 644-6085. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/labor 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed., Feb. 18 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 Thurs. Feb. 19, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/designreview  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 19, 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 Thurs., Feb. 19, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/transportation?

CLOSE THE LOOPHOLES 

Dear Mayor Bates: 

City staff paycuts and mandatory time off (MTO) is a Bushy neo-con, neo-liberal concession and the wrong thing to do in an economic crisis. Are you going to be supporting big-box stores and labor abuse at Safeway and Albertson’s next? The neoliberals expect you to roll over as they gain more ground strategically in the US. Fortunately, history has shown that neo-liberal policies nearly always fail: remember Chile and Argentina? Well paid city staff help fuel a healthy local economy. Your recommended paycuts, and even the threat of paycuts by businesses that happily follow your bad example, will help to ruin our local economy. No paycuts or labor rule manipulations for city staff.  

There’s plenty of money in this community. Plenty of value that can be taxed to pay for necessary city services if both the federal and state governments are not providing the revenues needed for necessary city services. It’s a lie that there are more efficiencies to be made in this city. Most people in civil service social service jobs are working an equivalent of three jobs at once. This must end. The rich of Berkeley aren’t going anywhere. You and the Berkeley City Council have to tax the wealthy residents—both corporate and individual. Close all loopholes. You have to tax property transfers above a certain amount and come up with other direct ways of raising revenue. If balkers move to Texas or the wasteland of middle Amerika, plenty of high quality others will come to replace them. A stand needs to be taken somewhere about the right thing to do to maintain a civilized society that adequately provides an infrastructure for an evolving civilized city. This city leadership, as any city being victimized by poor-mouthing state and federal leadership, must take the reigns itself and adequately, pro-actively and compassionately provide for the well being and necessary public services for it’s remaining middle class and needy citizens. Unlike neo-liberal policies, these policies nearly always produce a higher quality of life for everyone. 

Mayor, please work hard to open up business planning to larger non-special interest public oversight. Firmly ban package stores, soulless department stores and big boxes. Employ the creativity of the residents of this city to enrich the local economy. I would think that we could effect a socioeconomic balance here in Berkeley. You’ve done better in the past. Do far better now for the people you are charged to help. We don’t need a turncoat neo-liberal like Jerry Brown in the City of Berkeley. We need Tom Bates, who over his long tenure brought much needed social improvements in over 200 pieces of legislation that significantly helped the poor and middle class to have a higher quality of life, even in the face of early neo-liberalism under Reagan as California governor. 

Frank Snapp 

Oakland 

• 

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST 

Dear Mayor Bates: 

Isn’t there some city rule or sanction prohibiting full-time Berkeley employees from sitting on city boards and commissions? A case in point, Brad Smith is a full time legislative aide for Linda Maio yet presides as the chairperson of the Waterfront Commission. This is a blatant conflict of interest, never more glaring than at January’s Waterfront Commission meeting when Brad introduced a motion to move $100,000 of Marina monies to downtown. The Berkeley marina must run in the black. They collect revenue from various restaurants, the hotel, the berths, the bait shop and the concessions. The money garnered in the Marina should stay in the Marina to repair the docks, paths, etc. Fortunately, the other commissioners voted his motion down. 

Susan Wengraf also serves on the Planning Commission as a full-time aide of Betty Olds. 

Could we please stop this illegal practice? It is a way for staff to rule the citizen comprised commissions. 

Jeanne Burdette 

FRIDAY, FEB. 13  

FILM 

Anthony Mann: “The Man from Laramie” at 7:30 p.m. and “Men in War” at 9:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa. 

berkeley.edu 

The 6th Annual Independent Film Festival (IndieFest), a world-wide blend of more than 100 independent films and videos, Feb. 13-15 at the Oakland Metro. Tickets are $9 for each screening; $7 for matinees. 415-820-3907. www.sfindie.com 

THEATER 

Actor’s Ensemble of Berkeley, “Helen of Troy (Revised),” written by Wolfgang Hiles- 

heimer, translated and directed by David Fenerty at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck. Fri. and Sat. through Feb. 21. Admission is $10. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Albany High School, “Grease” at 8 p.m. at Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd., Albany. Also on Sat. at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5-$10. 558-2575. 

Aurora Theatre, “Man of Destiny” by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Barbara Oliver at 8 p.m. Through March 7. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Yellowman” by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Les Waters, 2025 Addison St. Through March 7. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Impact Theater, “Say You Love Satan” at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid. Runs through March 13. 464-4468. www.impacttheater.com 

Independent Theater Projects, “Three One-Acts” performed and produced by Berkeley High students, at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $4-$8 at the door. gcrane0601@hotmail.com 

“Roberto Zucco” by Bernard-Marie Koltès, directed by Kristenn Templeman, presented by Impromptu Theater and the Dept. of French at 8 p.m. at Durham Studio Theater, UC Campus. Also Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $8-$15. ktemple@uclink.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Paco Underhill explains “The Call of the Mall: The Author of Why We Buy on the Geography of Shopping” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

A Night of Erotic Haiku hosted by Charles Ellik at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Donation of $5-$10. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Youth Speaks Poetry Slam, for ages 13-19, at 7 p.m. at Youth Radio Cafe, 1801 University Ave. 841-5123. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Venice Baroque Orchestra, Andrea Marcon, conductor, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$56, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Hip Hop & Art for Change at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Flamenco Spirit with Yaelisa and Caminos Flamencos at 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $45-$55 and includes dinner. 843-0662. www.cafedelapaz.net 

Eddie Marsh Trio, comtemporary jazz at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $10-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

“Bands Against Bush,” presented by Bay Area Arts Collective, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Psychokinetics, Sol Rebelz and Feenom Circle at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

My Bloody Valentine Bash at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Seventy at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Brian Melvin at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Tom Paxton, traditional and topical folk, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50 in advance, $21.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

La Verdad, salsa, at 7 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $15, $10 with student i.d. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Monkey Knife Fight at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Frisk, Whiskey Sunday, Try Failing, Static Thought, at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SATURDAY, FEB. 14 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Asheba at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568.  

“Wild About Books” storytime at 10:30 a.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223. 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Helen S. French, “Cultural Convergence: The Nile and the Mississippi” solo metalwork exhibition at ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Ave. Reception for the artist from 4 to 6 p.m. 843-2527. www.acccigallery.com 

THEATER 

Independent Theater Projects, “Three One-Acts” performed and produced by Berkeley High students, at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St., Between Spruce and Euclid. Tickets are $4-$8 at the door. gcrane0601@hotmail.com 

FILM 

Anthony Mann: “El Cid” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Venice Baroque Orchestra, Andrea Marcon, conductor, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$56, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Trinity Chamber Concerts presents The Novello Quartet in a concert of romantic music for Valentine’s Day at 8 p.m. at 2320 Dana St. at Durant. Donation $8-$12. 549-3864.  

Valentine’s Day Cabaret with singers Rudy Guerrero, Elizabeth McKoy, Gail Simpson, and Wood- 

row Thompson, and an ensemble from Shotgun Players, at 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $35 at the door. 925-798-1300.  

Kurt Ribak Trio at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The House Jacks, a cappella at 5 and 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50 in advance, $18.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Soukous and Afro-Muzika at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Valentine’s Day with Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

The Tears in Your Beers Twangfest, featuring Loretta Lynch, the Belltachers and Nelly Bly, at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Donation of $7-$10. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Aya de Leon’s Valentine’s Day, a literary and musical celebration of love’s varied manifestations at 7 and 9:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Flamenco Spirit with Yaelisa and Caminos Flamencos at 5 and 8 p.m. upstairs and 6 and 8:30 p.m. downstairs at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $55-$65 and includes dinner. For reservations call 843-0662. www.cafedelapaz.net 

Bat Makumba, Brazilian dance at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

SoVoSó at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

Eddie Gale, avant-garde jazz, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $8-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

The Solution, Mushroom at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Ned Boynton Combo at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Reality Crisis, Rotary Beginners, Lebenden Totem, Deadfall at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, FEB. 15 

CHILDREN 

Asheba at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4 for children, $6 for adults. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

EXIBITION OPENINGS 

Jewish Freemasons of the West, opens at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. and runs through July 8. 549-6950. www.magnes.org 

THEATER 

Kent Actors, “Hep Ask Vardi (There Was Always Love),” a Turkish family saga at 6 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center. Tickets are $35-$48, $15 for children, available at the door.  

FILM 

Victor Sjostrom: “He Who Gets Slapped” at 4 p.m. and “Fire on Board” at 5:40 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with John Isles and Joseph Lease at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Anthony Dubovsky introduces “Jerusalem: To Know by Living” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Live Oak Concert Frances Blaker, solo recorder, music from the 12th to 21st centuries, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. Admission is $9-$10. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano, with Sergio Ciomei, piano, at 3 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $50-$250, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Organ Recital with Davitt Moroney playing works of Louis Couperin at 4 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Donations gratefully received. 845-6830. 

The Don Robinson Trio plays the music of Glenn Spearman in celebration of his life and contribution to improvisational music from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room, Berkeley Central Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6139. 

Counterfit, Park, Over It, Plans for Revenge at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

“Liberating the Diva Within” the ancient art of belly dance at 8 p.m. at Oakland Box Theater, 1928 Telegraph Ave. Tickets are $10 at the door. 237-2152. www.asata.net 

Taylor Eigsti Trio at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

Noe Venable, contemporary folk, 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 

ACME Observatory’s Contemporary Composer Series with Fred Firth and KLiP Trio at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation of $8-$15 suggested. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Amol Iz Given (A Time It Was) featuring Charming Hostess, Kugelplex and Tim Barsky at 7 p.m. at 1923 Teahouse. Cost is $7-$15 at the door. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

MONDAY, FEB. 16 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Marilyn Stablein introduces “Sleeping in Caves: A Sixties Himalayan Memoir” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Luc Houtkamp and Friends, experimental improvisors from the Netherlands, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation of $8-$15 suggested. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

TUESDAY, FEB. 17 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Danielle Huber, Berkeley illustrator, solo show at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco Campus. Reception for the artist 6 to 8 p.m. at 111 Eighth St., San Francisco. 526-3861. 

THEATER 

“Baggage” A Palestinian traveler, stuck in a purgatorial airport, unpacks his memories of massacres and refugee camps, at 8 p.m. at Home Room, International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. Cost is $5. 642-9460. landerso@berkeley.edu 

FILM 

Alternative Visions: “Rememberance” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lynne Cox describes “Swimming to Antartica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Celebration of Black History Month, singing, dancing, jazz and poetry slam at 7 p.m. at BHS Little Theater. Sponsored by the BHS PTSA and the Parent Resource Center. 

Courtableu at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz, with a Cajun dance lesson with Diana Castillo at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dayna Stephens House Jam at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744.  

www.thejazzhouse.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a showcase of ensembles at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18 

FILM 

Film 50: “Blackmail” at 3 p.m. and Video: They Might be Giants: “Tony Oursler” at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Christopher Phillips asks “Six Questions of Socrates: A Modern Journey of Discovery Through World Philosophy” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Travel Book Night with Bruce Wipperman introducing his Moon Handbooks to Mexico and Puerto Vallarta at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-3635. 

Tim Ward will show slides and talk about his new book, “Arousing the Goddess: Sex and Love in the Buddhist Ruins of India,” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam 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 

Café Poetry and open mic, hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert with Philippe Leroux performing “M” at International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra presents “Celebrating the American Choral Tradition,” the third annual Berkeley Choral Festival, benefiting the Musicians’ Pension Fund, at 8 p.m., at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Ticket are $10-$45, available from 841-2800. www.berkeleysymphony.org 

The Anthony Paul and Brenda Boykin Band at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8:00 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jamie Laval, Celtic fiddling champion at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Attack, Blitzenhamer, and Dead Beat at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $5.  

848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Nicole and the Sisters in Soul at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Jules Broussard, Bing Nathan and Ned Boynton at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Oba Oba Brazillian Jazz at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

THURSDAY, FEB. 19 

THEATER 

Central Works, “The Duel,” adapted from Chekhov’s novella, opens at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Runs Thurs. - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. through March 27. Tickets are $8-$20. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

FILM 

Victor Sjostrom: “Love’s Crucible” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Taro Hattori will present an overview of his recent work incorporating photography and multi-media installation at 9 p.m., Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

Joanne Harris reads from “Holy Fools” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. www.codysbooks.com 

Jacob Levenson explains “The Secret Epidemic: The Story of AIDS and Black America” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Edward Hasbrouck gives advice in “The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533. 

Mare Cromwell reads from “If I Gave You God’s Phone Number” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-3635. 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Steve Wasserman and Michael Larrain, followed by an open mic, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. 526-5985  

Frances Payne Adler introduces her new collection of poetry and prose, “The Making of a Matriot” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mutabaruka, reggae dub poet, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Steve Poltz at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $12. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Cheryl Wheeler at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian, 2727 College Ave. Cost is $18.50 in advance, $19.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Medicine Ball Band at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Savant Guard at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Keni El Lebrijano, flamenco guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

?

The owners of the Claremont Resort and Spa announced on Thursday that they have an agreement to sell the fabled hotel to an Orlando-based real estate investment trust. 

The Claremont transaction is part of a $1.4 billion sales agreement for all the properties owned by its parent company, KSL Recreation Corporation. Included in the deal are resorts in Hawaii, California, Arizona and Florida. The buyer, CNL Hospitality Properties Inc., will assume nearly $800 million of debt owed by the Claremont’s parent company. 

Along with the property, CNL will also acquire a labor dispute that has ensnared the Claremont for nearly two years. The Oakland-based Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) union local 2850 have been running a general boycott of the hotel in an effort to force them to re-negotiate two existing contracts and sign a new contract for spa workers.  

Representatives from local 2850 said they are waiting to see who will officially manage the Claremont once the deal is closed. Before the sale, union representatives said they hoped KSL would not stay on as the property manager because of their poor treatment of workers.  

Claremont spokesperson Anne Appel said no immediate changes are expected at the hotel as the transaction is finalized. “It is business as usual at the Claremont Resort and Spa and we are looking forward to our relationship with CNL Hospitality Properties, Inc.,” she said. 

According to spokesperson Patricia Peeples, KSL expects to sign an interim management agreement with CNL when the deal closes. This would allow KSL to continue running operations at the Claremont and other properties. A similar agreement was signed in December when CNL bought the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego from KSL.  

The union is also involved in a labor dispute at the Hotel del Coronado and at several of the other properties CNL will acquire in the new deal. Concerning the Hotel del Coronado, Leslie Fitzgerald, an organizer with HERE local 2850 said CNL has not moved towards settling the dispute. 

According to KSL, the sales are needed to pay off its investors, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), which provided $536 million of KSL’s initial start-up funding back in 1993.  

Representatives from KKR could not be reached but according to researchers for local 2850, KKR is funded primarily by public pension funds, several of which are liquidating those accounts. 

CNL owns 130 hotels across the country. 

“[CNL] is a large corporation with a very small heart, just like KSL,” said Fitzgerald from local 2850. “If they don’t [negotiate at the Claremont] they will become a target just like KSL. It may be that they are willing to negotiate but that remains to be seen. We will do whatever it takes to win a fair contract for the Claremont.”  

›

Single-payer health care is an idea whose time has come. According to a Harvard Medical School study published Feb. 9 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of physicians favor single-payer national health insurance, far more than support managed care (10 percent) or fee-for-service care (26 percent). Despite this high level of support (including most members of such establishment organizations as the American Medical Association and the Massachusetts Medical Society), only a little over half (51.9 percent) of physicians were aware that their fellow doctors support single-payer national health insurance.  

The American public also is looking for fair, affordable, and reliable health care, finding the current shifting sands and rising prices frightening. Much of “managed care,” while classified as HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) does not provide health care at all (in contrast with a true health provider organization such as Kaiser that has its own hospitals, clinics, etc.). Instead, these managed care insurers control access to health care services through payment schemes that more and more function to withhold health care. These payment schemes deny coverage, transfer payments/costs to patients, and interfere with physician orders and treatment. True health maintenance organizations, such as Kaiser, have been squeezed in the economic vise of competition with so-called health maintenance insurance schemes that offer employers lower rates for poorer health coverage, while pushing costs onto patients.  

Although an initiative campaign to establish single-payer health care failed some years ago, and although Hillary Clinton’s complicated effort (which was not single-payer) in the early Bill Clinton presidency also failed, time marches on: Those who now are most profoundly concerned with health care, notably patients and doctors, have become increasingly appalled by the intrusion of insurance companies and their expensive bureaucracies. There is widespread recognition that these companies interfere with and often even deny health care delivery.  

California State Senator Sheila Kuehl has introduced legislation (SB 921) to establish single-payer health care insurance in California; both State Senator Don Perata and Assemblymember Loni Hancock are co-sponsors.  

Locally, Alameda County Measure A has been introduced to provide continuation of public health care services in Alameda County—this is essential and must be passed, to continue not only basic services for the poor but also essential emergency/trauma services for all. 

Single-payer health care is an issue whose time has come. Dr. Denny McCormick, a study author and researcher at Harvard Medical School commented: “The perception that physicians oppose national health insurance often serves to reinforce political barriers to health care reform. Our finding that a large majority of physicians actually support single-payer national health insurance could provide the impetus for national health insurance, particularly if physicians began to publicly advocate for their views.” The American public wants a health care system that is reliable, consistent, affordable, and available to all; single-payer meets those criteria.  

Let’s pass Alameda County Measure A on March 2, and let’s pass SB 921 in the California State Legislature. 

Judy Bertelsen, M.D., Ph.D. practices internal medicine and geriatrics at John George Psychiatric Pavillio in San Leandro.  

xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx. 

After 20 years in Berkeley schools, Kay Sims, special education teacher at Washington Elementary, has mastered the gentlest techniques for making children behave.  

“What does cooperation sound like?” she asks her class of eleven students neatly assembled on the classroom rug. “Cooperation sounds like quiet with one person talking,” she says slowly turning to a boy speaking out of turn. 

Sims’ classroom is sunny and inviting, its walls covered with posters and student projects.  

Her students—grades three through five—all perform at least two grades below their grade level. Instruction time can be trying for both students and teacher. During math class, a fifth grader insisted four times four equaled 18; his classmate, a fourth grader, asked the sum of five and 15, answered 25. 

Because special education students come from across the district to participate in the Washington program, the school has almost no shot at satisfying the No Child Left Behind law. Last year all 13 students opted out of standardized tests, causing participation levels to plummet below the 95 percent required by the federal law. Had the students taken the test, they risked dropping test scores below federally mandated proficiency levels. 

“We’re in a bind,” Kay said. If they take the test it pulls the school down. “If they don’t take it, it pulls the school down.” 

All of Kay’s students have gone through special education assessments: Though one is classified as mildly retarded, the rest have been diagnosed only with learning disabilities or behavior disorders. They have been placed in special education, not because of low I.Q.’s, but poor performance. 

Thumbing through the fifth grade standardized math test, Kay settled on a question that asks students to perform a series of multiplications and divisions. “There’s no way my kids could do this. This may be fine for some fifth graders, but most of my kids are still learning addition and subtraction.” 

Dave Griffith of the National Association of State Boards of Education said the special education requirements included in the 2002 law have caused good schools to be labeled failing. 

“We’re seeing this in a lot of different places,” he said. “You look at the law and it’s obvious they didn’t think this all the way through. There needs to be more wiggle room for schools who have these programs.” 

On the whole, Washington is a solid school. Since 2000 it has improved state test scores by 40 basis points from 689 to 729, though for two years its socio-economic subgroup failed to reach proficiency levels. Last year two Washington teachers won Prudential Teaching Awards for excellence, 

out of five awards given out in the district. 

In 2003 Washington students surpassed federal standards, with 31.9 percent achieving proficiency in English and 44.4 percent in math. But under No Child Left Behind, participation counts as well. If 95 percent of the entire student body or students from any statistically significant ethnic subgroup—African Americans, Latinos, etc—fail to take the test, the school fails. 

Under such stringent rules, it’s easy for a good school to flunk, but for Washington, failure is all but guaranteed. Since Washington has 130 African American students, according to district records, and all 13 students in the special education class last year were African American, the school could not have reached the 95 percent threshold.  

“We failed before our kids even took the test,” said Washington Principal Rita Kimball.  

Last year Washington didn’t fail solely based on its special day class. Participation rates for Latinos, English Learners and socio-disadvantaged students all barely missed the 95 percent threshold. 

But Washington Magnate School Coordinator Bruce Simon said getting an extra couple of those students to take the test wasn’t the issue: “Under African Americans we had 13 kids not take the test. That’s the special day class.” 

Janet Canning, a special education consultant with the California Department of Education, defended the federal guidelines, saying it was implemented to protect “at risk students” by pressuring schools to offer them highly qualified teachers and rigorous curriculum. 

In Berkeley, however, the practice has always been not to test students so far below grade level. 

“Our feeling is it’s immoral to give them the test just to meet a standard dictated by the federal government,” Simon said. 

But with the factors in place for a repeat of last year, Berkeley Special Education Coordinator Alan Joy said the district will now encourage parents of special education students to let their children take the tests, despite repeated concerns from parents that the tests are too stressful on the students. 

Federal rules allow special education students some leeway. Though they must take the test for their grade, they can get extra time or the opportunity to work through problems with an instructor. 

“The content hasn’t been taught to them,” Kay said. “I can break it down and adapt it to their level, but that’s not the test. It’s not a teaching tool.” 

?

We’re shocked, I mean shocked, 

at the boob on the tube, 

at the boob on the tube at the bowl. 

It’s the right boob I’m told, 

the boob on the tube, 

that was bared by the boor 

who danced with the bird 

with the boob that was bared. 

Not sorry was he 

for the boob that he bared, 

for it was not his, the boob that he  

bared, 

so sorry was she, yes sorry indeed, 

for her boob that he bared on the tube. 

But that wasn’t the only boob, 

not the only boob on the tube at the  

bowl. 

The far right boob on the tube, 

the tap dancing boob wasn’t bared. 

Oh we tried, yes we did, 

with our ad for to show 

how the far right boob sucks milk 

from our kids for his war, 

but the boobs at the top 

of the network, you see 

prefer boobs that suck milk 

to boobs that give milk. 

So now you are wondering 

what the moral might be 

of the boobs on the tube at the bowl. 

I’ll tell you of two, 

though you may find more, 

the point of the boob at the bowl— 

Number one: 

A boob on the tube is worth two on  

the Bush. 

Number two: 

Never give a sucker a second chance— 

re-defeat Bush in November.›

South Berkeley neighbors are starving for a pizza restaurant. But a Berkeley zoning ordinance is keeping ovens cold and espresso machines on ice at Spud’s, a trendy pizzeria planned for the corner of Alcatraz Avenue and Adeline Street. 

“I’m stymied,” said Andrew Beretvas, an Oakland restaurateur who has sunk $100,000 into a South Berkeley landmark only to get caught so deeply in Berkeley’s zoning morass that his landlord and chief financial backer is pulling out of the project. 

Beretvas hopes to turn a former guitar shop into a trendy restaurant, serving health-conscious pizza—highlighted by a potato recipe—salads, coffee and pastries. The 1910 building features cathedral ceilings, ornate columns and seating for 100. Hoping to appeal to a hip clientele, the shop would stay open until midnight, providing foot traffic in a blighted neighborhood often devoid of business activity after dark. 

His vision has captured the hearts of surrounding neighborhood groups, two of which have collected signatures on his behalf. 

“This is the type of business we’ve wanted here,” said Anne Healy, a retired UC Berkeley professor and member of the Lorin Neighborhood Association. “Finally we’d have something open late that would help get dealers away from our neighborhood, but the city just throws road blocks up all the time.” 

The chief obstacle, Beretvas says, is a zoning law triggering a city parking requirement when a business applies for a Change of Use Permit and its stringent application by the city attorney’s office. 

For Spud’s, this means the restaurant must provide 12 parking spaces at a building constructed about the time the Model T was introduced and in a neighborhood where even the most immediate neighbors say parking is not a problem. 

Beretvas says his quest to meet his parking requirement has been an exercise in futility. 

He had a deal with nearby Progressive Missionary Church—the only viable parking option within the 300-square-foot radius mandated by the city—but planners had to the pull the deal on the day it was to go before the ZAB because the city attorney’s office correctly noted it violated Berkeley law governing business dealings with nonprofits. 

That law was quickly changed, but the church then backed out when it learned Spud’s would serve beer and wine. 

Beretvas dropped the alcohol, but the parking deal fell apart a third time when the city attorney’s office ruled that, as in other cases throughout the city, the church would be required to sign a deed restriction guaranteeing to provide the 12 spaces, which the church contended would be an unacceptable restriction on its control of its parking supply. 

Planners came up with what they believed was a legal escape clause in the agreement, allowing the church to reclaim the parking spaces with only 30 days notice, but then Beretvas’ landlord and business partner Allan Cadgene, who had pledged $150,000 towards the project, pulled out. “I’m not putting money in to finance a restaurant if the church can kill it in 30 days and the city can rescind our use permit,” he said. 

This isn’t the first time rigid zoning ordinances have jeopardized South Berkeley business, said Alcatraz Merchants Association President and owner of People’s Bazaar, Sam Dykes. 

“The city is supposed to be friendly for business, but an empty storefront with young men hanging around outside isn’t the ideal situation,” he said. 

Berkeley Real Estate Agent John Gordon said restrictive zoning rules have left storefronts empty throughout the city because prospective merchants can’t provide parking. 

His negotiations to bring Peet’s coffee to the former Houston’s Shoes storefront on Shattuck Avenue have been hung up over the city rule requiring Peet’s to provide three deed-restricted parking spaces at a nearby garage. 

“No garage owner would agree to a deed restriction,” Gordon said.  

To skirt the parking requirement, Peet’s can ask the Zoning Adjustment Board for a waiver because downtown zoning rules gives the ZAB discretion over parking requirements for businesses in mixed use buildings. But under current zoning rules on Adeline, Beretvas must provide the parking, much to the frustration of Planning Director Dan Marks. 

“We don’t like making people jump through hoops to do business in this way,” Marks said, adding that the zoning code offered no flexibility to grant Beretvas a variance since he would have to show that his pizzeria was “a unique property, different from everyone else.” 

Marks is pushing for greater flexibility in zoning rules, advocated by the Mayor’s Task Force on Permitting and Development. The controversial body, with a strong pro-development bent, recommended making zoning rules more flexible, including offering parking waivers to business owners like Beretvas who can show an ample parking supply exists near their business. 

The city council will hear task force recommendation next week and prioritize them for the planning department to tackle over this year, Marks said. An amendment that could spare Beretvas his parking requirement could come within six months, he added. 

Beretvas, meanwhile, is hoping to get a business loan to keep his project viable. Tables, chairs and stools are already assembled in his cavernous space. He received a use permit by signing a three-month agreement with the owner of a soon-to-be developed empty lot and he said he could be open by April if he gets his long-term parking and financing problems settled. 

“This place is a slam dunk,” he said. “There isn’t a restaurant like this for a mile around. I’ve got to find a way to make this happen.” 

›

Faced with a lawsuit by Sprint Communications if the proposed new North Berkeley Sprint cellphone communications facility is not approved by the Berkeley City Council, the council blinked, took a step back, and gave itself another week to make its long-awaited decision on the controversial application. If the city council fails to take action next week, the Zoning Adjustment Board’s earlier approval of the project will automatically go into effect. 

Sprint wants to put a three-antennae booster facility on the roof of a commercial building on the Corner of Shattuck Avenue and Cedar Street in order to enhance its cellular service in the northern section of the city. A determined group of the proposed facility’s neighbors have been fighting the project, fearful that the antennae will cause harmful health effects. The city council has had the matter in its hands since April of last year, held a January 20th public hearing on the issue, and it appeared that they would be ready to vote on the matter at last Tuesday’s meeting. 

But on Feb. 5 the city council received a letter from Sprint’s Chicago-based lawyers pointedly noting that Sprint had proven its case for the facility, and City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque reported that her assistant met twice with Sprint representatives who indicated that they would sue the city if the application wasn’t granted. The council voted 5-2-1 (Hawley and Wozniak voting no, Shirek abstaining) to direct the city attorney’s office to bring back to the Feb. 17 city council meeting two alternative resolutions, one upholding and the other overturning ZAB’s approval decision. 

If the council seemed uncertain in the face of Sprint’s lawsuit threat, the council’s action later in the meeting concerning the LeConte traffic circle issue confused several observers. 

Last year, the city council approved five traffic-calming circles for the LeConte neighborhood, but that was before the city’s budget crisis hit. Councilmember Linda Maio introduced an item requesting that while keeping the city’s commitment to eventually build the five LeConte circles, there would be no action for two weeks while transportation department staff and the Transportation Commission investigated possible lower-cost traffic circle designs. But several councilmembers balked at the suggestion, particularly Maudelle Shirek, who represents part of the LeConte neighborhood. The city council then passed Councilmember Miriam Hawley’s motion to keep the city’s commitment to build the five LeConte circles, but to build them in the “most cost effective manner possible” and to have the city manager return in two weeks with a report on the availability of high-quality but lower-cost traffic circle designs (5-2, Shirek and Wozniak abstaining; Bates recusing himself). Unless traffic circles in LeConte are to be built within the next two weeks, it was unclear how the Hawley substitute motion differed from the original Maio motion. After the meeting, Maio expressed the hope that the city manager’s office could return in two weeks with a traffic circle design that could satisfy all sides. 

Councilmember Margaret Breland, who has been ill for several weeks, participated in the meeting by telephone.

By a 7-0-2 vote, the Berkeley Planning Commission accepted the proposed 25-member UC Hotel Complex Task Force Wednesday night, despite grumbling by some commission members that the entire commission should have picked the task force members from scratch or that the task force wasn’t even necessary at all. Planning Commissioner Jerome Wiggins, one of two commissioners to abstain on the acceptance vote, complained that the task force did not contain any residents of South Berkeley. Commissioners added an amendment leaving open the possibility of adding more members. 

The University of California has proposed building a 12-story hotel, conference center, and museum center on the downtown Shattuck Street block presently occupied by a Bank of America branch. 

Last Saturday morning, representatives of the University led Task Force members and other members of the public on a tour of the site, fielding questions about the project. 

The UC Hotel Complex Task Force now plans a public presentation of the proposed UC project at a February 18th meeting, to be held at 7 pm at the North Berkeley Senior Center. The public is invited to attend, ask questions, and make comments. 

—J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 

f

Attempted Bank Robbery 

Three men failed in their attempt to rob the Mechanics Bank at the corner of Hearst Avenue and Fourth Street Wednesday afternoon. Police spokesperson Kevin Schofield said the men fled the bank empty-handed and escaped in a brown station wagon but offered no further details about the incident. 

Swept Away 

Police were called to the 3100 block of Wheeler Street Monday morning to respond to a report that a man on a porch was hitting someone with a broom. Police detained the assailant and placed him on psychiatric detention. The victim suffered no injuries. 

Armed Robbery 

A man robbed a passerby at the corner of King Street and Alcatraz Avenue Monday morning. According to police, the robber brandished a knife and took the victim’s backpack before fleeing on a bicycle.›

Last year was not a year of garden variety corporate wrongdoing. No, the sheer variety, reach and intricacy of corporate schemes, scandal and crimes were spellbinding. Not an easy year to pick the 10 worst companies, for sure. 

But Multinational Monitor Magazine cannot be deterred by such complications. And so, here follows, in alphabetical order, our list of the 10 worst corporations of 2003. 

Bayer AG 

2003 may be remembered as the year of the headache at Bayer. In May, the company agreed to plead guilty to a criminal count and pay more than $250 million to resolve allegations that it denied Medicaid discounts to which it was entitled. The company was beleaguered with litigation related to its anti-cholesterol drug Baycol. Bayer pulled the drug—which has been linked to a sometimes fatal muscle disorder—from the market, but is facing thousands of suits from patients who allege they were harmed by the drug. In June, the New York Times reported on internal company memos which appear to show that the company continued to promote the drug even as its own analysis had revealed the dangers of the product. Bayer denies the allegations. 

Boeing  

In one of the grandest schemes of corporate welfare in recent memory, Boeing engineered a deal whereby the Pentagon would lease tanker planes—767s that refuel fighter planes in the air—from Boeing. The price tag of $27.6 billion was billions more than the cost of simply buying the planes. The deal may unravel, though, because the company in November fired for wrongdoing both the employee that negotiated the contract for Boeing (the company’s chief financial officer), and the employee that negotiated the contract for the government. How could Boeing fire a Pentagon employee? Simple. She was no longer a Pentagon employee. Boeing had hired her shortly after the company clinched the deal. 

Brighthouse 

A new-agey advertising/consulting/ 

strategic advice company, Brighthouse’s claim to infamy is its Neurostrategies Institute, which undertakes research to see how the brain responds to advertising campaigns. In a cutting-edge effort to extend and sharpen the commercial reach in ways never previously before possible, the institute is using MRIs to monitor activity in people’s brains triggered by advertisements. 

Clear Channel 

The radio behemoth Clear Channel specializes in consuming or squashing locally owned radio stations, imposing a homogenized music play list on once interesting stations, and offering cultural support for U.S. imperial adventures. It has also compiled a record of “repeated law-breaking,” according to our colleague Jim Donahue, violating the law—including prohibitions on deceptive advertising and on broadcasting conversations without obtaining permission of the second party to the conversation—on 36 separate occasions over the previous three years. 

Diebold 

A North Canton, Ohio-based company that is one of the largest U.S. voting machine manufacturers, and an aggressive peddler of its electronic voting machines, Diebold has managed to demonstrate that it fails any reasonable test of qualifications for involvement with the voting process. Its CEO has worked as a major fundraiser for President George Bush. Computer experts revealed serious flaws in its voting technology, and activists showed how careless it was with confidential information. And it threatened lawsuits against activists who published on the Internet documents from the company showing its failures. 

Halliburton 

Having acquired the company which drafted plans for privatization of U.S. military functions—plans drafted during the first Bush administration when Vice President and former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney was secretary of defense—Halliburton is now pulling in billions of dollars in revenues for defense contract work. Halliburton now provides logistical support, ranging from oil to food, in Iraq. Tens of millions of dollars, at least, appear to be overcharges. Some analysts say the charges for oil provision amount to “highway robbery.” 

HealthSouth 

Fifteen of its top executives have pled guilty in connection with a multi-billion dollar scheme to defraud investors, the public and the U.S. government about the company’s financial condition. The founder and CEO of the company that runs a network of outpatient surgery, diagnostic imagery and rehabilitative healthcare centers, Richard Scrushy, is fighting the charges. But thanks to the slick maneuvering of attorney Bob Bennett, it appears the company itself will get off scot free—no indictments, no pleas, no fines, no probation. 

Inamed 

The California-based company sought Food and Drug Administration approval for silicone breast implants, even though it was not able to present long-term safety data—the very thing that led the FDA to restrict sales of silicone implants a decade ago. In light of what remains unknown and what is known about the implants’ effects—including painful breast hardening which can lead to deformity, and very high rupture rates—the FDA in January 2004 denied Inamed’s application for marketing approval. 

Merrill Lynch 

This company keeps messing up. Fresh off of a $100 million fine levied because analysts were recommending stocks that they trashed in private e-mails, the company saw three former execs indicted for shady dealings with Enron. The company itself managed to escape with something less than a slap on the wrist—no prosecution in exchange for “oversight.” 

Safeway 

One of the largest U.S. grocery chains, Safeway is leading the charge to demand givebacks from striking and locked out grocery workers in Southern California. Along with Albertsons and Ralphs (Kroger’s), Safeway’s Vons and Pavilion stores are asking employees to start paying for a major chunk of their health insurance. Under the company’s proposals, workers and their families will lose $4,000 to $6,000 a year in health insurance benefits. 

This article first appeared in Multinational Monitor Magazine.?

Thirty UC Berkeley graduate students are back in the running for a Fulbright-Hayes fellowship thanks to the intervention of the board that oversees the foreign study program. 

Last month the Department of Education, which oversees the Fulbright-Hayes program, denied consideration to the 30 UC students after a missed Federal Express pickup caused applications to be sent one day after the deadline. 

Announcing the compromise Tuesday, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board President Steven Uhlfelder said that students’ applications would be reviewed separately by the State Department, since the Department of Education had already disqualified them. 

“We’re not disagreeing with the Department of Education,” Uhlfelder said. “We just wanted to make sure the students had a fair chance.” 

The deal allows deserving Berkeley students to cite the award among their accomplishments, while placing the burden of funding on UC. 

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl praised Tuesday’s compromise as a “workable outcome to help the students,” adding the university hoped to reach a deal with Federal Express to help pay for the fellowships that last year ranged from $19,593 to $63,947. 

Susan Aspey, spokesperson for the Department of Education, said her agency would not reconsider its decision and continued to blame Berkeley for the snafu. “We continue to feel very sorry for the students whose applications cannot be considered for the Fulbright-Hayes Doctoral Program because of Berkeley's negligence,” she said.

They call themselves bloggers—creators of weblogs, otherwise known as blogs—and they’re realizing the writer’s age-old dream of instantaneous publication to a worldwide audience. 

The blogosphere, as bloggers call their cybernetic world, now numbers somewhere in the neighborhood of eight million sites, according to a recent estimate cited by the fortuitously named Scott Hacker, webmaster for UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. 

Two years ago, the estimate was 500,000. 

So just what is a blog? And what the heck does a blogger do? 

Beyond a web address and a collection of items—written, graphic, and sometimes, musical—that the blogger wants to share, Hacker says the main criterion is chronological ordering: The newest item sits at the top of the page, followed by the next most recent, and so on to the bottom of the web page. “Blogs aren’t like newspapers, where the most important stories are placed first,” he says. 

“Part of their popularity comes from their spontaneity,” Hacker says. 

Internet users can find a sense of community in the blogosphere, as sites often provide click-on links to similar blogs—and users can blog-roll from site to site in pursuit of their interests.  

Blogs are starting to make the news. Matt Drudge’s website (www.drudgereport.com) played a major role in whipping up opposition to Bill Clinton’s presidency, and Hacker points to the role of bloggers in forcing the mainstream media to focus on Trent Lott’s otherwise unreported remarks in praise of Strom Thurmond’s racist presidential run—coverage that ultimately forced Lott to step down from his post as Senate majority leader. 

Bloggers also kept alive the controversy over George W. Bush’s peculiar National Guard service, where the issue bubbled for months until boiling over into the corporate press after documentarian Michael Moore called Bush a deserter. 

But serious political blogs, though the most reported on by the mainstream media, are in the minority. And while many confine their observations to a single theme—politics, music, law, and the media—many others are more random, covering anything and everything that crosses the blogger’s mind. 

Content ranges from the serious to the sardonic, and site design varies from the lavishly produced to the simplest of bare bones style. 

Hacker says nobody’s quite sure when the form first arose. “I’ve seen examples going back to ‘94 and ‘95 back when the [World Wide] Web was being born.” 

Though some purists shudder at the thought, Hacker includes the posters at Livejournal.com—the phenomenally popular site where users can post online diaries—among the ranks of bloggers. 

A quick surfing tour of the blogosphere reveals that Berkeley’s a hotbed of blogging, hosting two of the country’s most influential blogs—appropriately, both political from a left/liberal perspective—and teeming with scores of other sites. 

So just how many blogs does Berkeley have? Hacker doesn’t know, nor does anyone else, but blogs are a natural fit for a town with a reputation for activism and filled with citizens with something to say. 

The website Berkeley Blogs (www.berkeleyblogs.org), devoted to the city’s weblogs, features a far-from-exhaustive list of categorized links to 44 weblogs, but a quick search engine foray leads to dozens of others that aren’t listed. 

But a couple of days’ worth of web surfing shows that the answer has to be in the hundreds. 

Besides the blogs he helps classes run at the school, UC’s Hacker runs one the city’s most sophisticated personal blogs, The Bird House (http://birdhouse.org/blog), a site that’s everything you’d expect from the fellow who runs the Internet presence for one of the country’s most respected journalism schools. 

Drawing about 1,500 visitors a day, Birdhouse is a pleasure to view, full of crisp, clear photos and nice clean type. What makes the site especially memorable for the visiting cybersurfer is the series of 13 entries grouped together under the heading TAXONOMY. Click on “Media,” and the blog instantly recreates itself, extracting all the entries focused on the Internet, television, films, and the press. Click “Family” and you learn about a toddler named Miles. Click “Politics,” and you find entries a lot of Berkeleyans would endorse. 

“Even so,” Hacker says, “most people go to the [unsorted] home page,” where the ordering principle is the standard chronological blog format. 

Most Berkeley sites aren’t as sophisticated, but they still qualify as blogs. 

For sheer entertainment value, try In Passing (www.inpassing.org), an anonymously posted blog memorializing weird and savory nuggets of conversation overhead at such public places as the line at Andronico’s on Shattuck Avenue, the sidewalk in front of Pegasus Books, and at a nearby table at Peet’s coffee. The distinctly surreal touch of many of the conversational nuggets makes the site a popular spot across the blogosphere. 

But no blog in Berkeley gets more hits than The Daily Kos (www.dailykos.com), a political site so popular with its vast audience that they coughed up the cash to send site founder Markos Moulitsas Zúniga—the site name derives from the last three letters of his first name—traveling around the country to cover the Democratic primaries. 

The site has drawn attention from national print and broadcast media, thrusting the non-doctrinaire blogger into rarefied heights. Rating site Blogstreet ranks The Daily Kos as the country’s sixth most influential blog. 

The site’s closest Berkeley rival is Brad DeLong’s Semi-Daily Journal (www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type), the blog of a UC Berkeley economist, ranked in 14th place. 

In terms of overall visits, The Daily Kos is the clear winner, collecting nearly 110,000 hits a day, compared with DeLong’s 8600. But DeLong packs the heaviest credentials, having served as an economic adviser to Bill Clinton, holding a professorship at UCB and writing prolifically for academic journals and Big Name Press (New York Times included). 

DeLong himself earned an unintentional accolade earlier this month when one of his journalistic critiques—a staple of his blog—provoked the ultimate expletive from Washington Post economics reporter Jonathan Weisman. After DeLong zinged his coverage of the new Bush budget as posted on the paper’s website, Weisman grumbled “Fuck Brad DeLong” in an e-mail he copied to the Berkeley blogger. “The first piece put on the web is slapped together as quickly as possible, and the guy for some reason doesn’t like me.” 

Needless to say, the intemperate e-missive quickly flickered through the blogosphere, provoking countless comments. 

The overwhelming majority of weblogs are personal, Hacker says. Most are high tech diaries, recording the musings of people who feel compelled to share something of themselves with the world. Two Berkeley examples are The Golden Blog (http://thegoldenblog.typepad.com/the_golden_blog), offering reflections and photographs reflecting the public life of Kathy Sierra, an eight-year Berkeley resident who plays fiddle with her band, Golden Bough, and Berkeley Crossroads (http://crossroads.berkeleyblogs.com), looking at the city through the eyes of a gay man who’s just come out. 

Beast Blog (www.beastblog.com) is a collaborative effort drawing its name from Pig Latin, “East Bay” being the way “beast” is said in that arcane childhood lingo. Thanks to a handy list on the page’s right-hand column, surfers can call up items by neighborhood (six for Berkeley, nine for Oakland); likewise for 14 categories of food. Nine entries describe places visitors can find free wireless Internet service.  

In the civic organization category, baha news (www.berkeleyheritage.com/weblog/blogger.html)—the Journal of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association—offers a pleasantly designed and well-illustrated look at some of the city’s endangered landmarks and the preservation efforts of BAHA and others. 

Then there’s the city’s own newsblog (www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/news/newsscan.asp), a digest of news items about the city assembled from print and electronic media. 

Armed with the free high-speed Internet service that comes with enrollment, UC students comprise a major force in Berkeley’s blogging community. 

Res ipsa loquitor (http://resipsaloquitur.blogspot.com) is a collaborative blog providing a forum for conservative UC students and alums, while the Angry Clam (http://angryclam.blogspot.com) features the political pronouncements of an anti-Bush conservative 

CalStuff: News About Berkeley (http://calstuff.blogspot.com) is the work of Kevin Deenihan, the techie who created the Unofficial Paul Krugman Archive, a favorite site for fans of the New York Times columnist. CalStuff focuses mainly on campus-related events, with the occasional foray into the larger Berkeley scene. [Note to blogger: the Daily Planet is back in business, so you might want to correct your links listing].  

Rebecca C. Brown and Tommaso Sciortino cover the campus with a satirical touch in CalJunket (http://caljunket.blogspot.com) while tackling national politics from a decidedly left-liberal perspective. Their site, frequently updated, competes with far better-known sites for timeliness and frequency of postings. 

Another student blog, Beetle Beat: Liberals Are People Too (www.beetlebeat.blogspot.com), seems to consist mainly of Aurora Drake’s none-too-kindly musings on the Daily Cal.  

If Six Was Nine (www.ifsix.blogspot.com) is a six-person collaborative blog—five with UC e-mail addresses—that covers the music scene, featuring nice lists of links to local and regional music venues and publications and the websites of a long roster of performers. 

Other student sites aren’t as accessible to most American surfer, appear in (among other scripts Chinese, Japanese, and Cyrillic characters. 

Berkeley High School boasts its own collection of student bloggers, including Rachel Rudy’s literate, perceptive Gwar Like Whoa (http://vilekeg.blogspot.com), Ram Dass Khalsa’s Life Is What Brought You Here (http://ohthatsucks.diaryland.com), Andy Moskowitz’s infrequently updated Toasty Kingdom ([http://s88215129.onlinehome.us), and Mischa Spiegelmock’s lavishly illustrated happiland.2y.net (http://happiland.2y.net). 

Blogs are here to stay, and they’re increasingly important. In this year’s election, candidates at all levels are exploiting the form (Dennis Kucinich’s blog is a creation of Berkeley blogger Henry Poole).  

But for most bloggers, a long-timer surfer might conclude, the main function the medium serves is to offer an unprecedented chance to be heard, to reach across the electronic ether and touch another life, however remote.

“Berkeley Cougars Blue, Gold and White, we’re here to take it all the way!” were the words that helped cheer the Berkeley Cougars cheerleading squad (part of the Berkeley Cougars youth football league) right into a national cheerleading competition held this past weekend in Las Vegas.  

The team, with girls ages 10-14, rolled past more than 100 regional competitors to make it to the competition and then fought through seven other teams in Las Vegas to place during their first trip to the tournament. 

At nationals the team competed in dance competitions instead of cheer competitions, all of which were choreographed by the girls and their coach. According to team member Aneka Patterson, one dance in particular—a hip-hop battle where the girls dressed in baseball uniforms and broke into teams— was the highlight of the competition that she speculates helped propel them into fourth place.  

“It was our first year at the competition and none of the teams thought we were good, they were like where is Berkeley at?” said Patterson, 13. “But we went out there and represented Berkeley and placed fourth our first time.” 

For over 25 years the Berkeley Cougars cheerleading squad has cheered on the Berkeley Cougars football team, part of the Police Athletic League (PAL) but never before made it to a national competition.  

Run by parents and volunteers, the team is self-funded and can often be seen practicing their routine down at Berkeley’s Frances Albrier Park. Coached by Maurice Harrison, who is also a member of Berkeley’s well-known Flaming Five Drill Team, the Cougars squad was on a grueling seven-days-a-week, two-hours-a-day schedule leading up to the competition. 

“It was hard, it was real hard,” said Patterson, who attends Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. “But it paid off. Every time we got tired, our coach was like ‘You’ll be tired at the competition too if you don’t practice.’” 

For Patterson’s mom, Kameka Goodwin, making it to nationals was a proud achievement both for her and for her daughter. 

“It was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe that after all the work it finally happened,” she said. For Goodwin, a single mom like several other team parents, the cheer squad has given her daughter a chance to participate in a positive team event that she says has been helpful for Aneka. 

“It’s been an outlet for her, so she doesn’t just end up hanging around,” said Goodwin. “It’s a good social thing for her as well.” 

For Patterson, the competition was only part of what she hopes is an extended cheerleading career. Currently in 8th grade, Patterson will be attending Berkeley High School next year but will not be allowed to cheer on their team as a freshman. She plans to cheer for the Cougars again, however, move onto the Berkeley High squad and eventually become a cheerleader for the Oakland Raiders, her favorite team. Goodwin, her mom, while encouraging her to continue, says that in between Berkeley High and the Raiders will be a college degree where she said Patterson hopes to major in dance.  

The weekend’s successful performance was especially sweet because it came after defying an initial let-down that at one point left the team thinking they might not go.  

At a regional competition at Marine World in Vallejo only the younger part of the team—the “peewees”—qualified by placing first in one of their performances. The older group, the midgets, placed second and third, which kept them from a bid. 

But because the peewee team was two small to compete at nationals alone, and because the midgets were resolved to make it, both teams re-enrolled in a second regional competition together at Cal State Hayward. By placing high enough to score over 80 percent during all their competitions the combined team received a bid and packed their bags for Vegas. 

“The competition and the event built a lot of esteem [for the girls],” said Nachelle Gardner, the cheer squad director. 

Harrison, the team coach, said he was extremely pleased with the results and is in the process of recruiting girls for next year’s team.  

“Hopefully we’re going to go back and do even better next time,” said Harrison. 

›

Berkeley has blocked the start of construction on a permanent home for Vista College—more than 30 years in the making—due to a parking dispute with the Peralta Community College District.  

The city is withholding construction permits to Peralta—which counts Vista among its four member schools—for Vista’s new downtown campus at 2050 Center Street, said Mayor Tom Bates, until the district settles its parking mitigation fee with the city. 

The dispute concerns how much Peralta owes the city in parking mitigations for putting the six-story, 165,000-square-foot new campus right in the heart of downtown, where a 54-space parking lot once sat. 

Peralta has offered $3.6 million in mitigation fees, the amount originally requested by former City Manager Weldon Rucker. But two months ago, Bates said current City Manager Phil Kamlarz notified the district that a new survey put the tab closer to $6 million. 

While the two sides haggle, the city has blocked permits closing off parts of Center Street for construction, and Peralta’s general counsel is determining if the city can deny Peralta the permits. 

Without the permits, Peralta had to cancel excavation work for their building scheduled to begin last Monday, a Peralta source said, costing it $2,500 per day in contractor fees. Due to the permit delay and other hang ups, Peralta’s construction consultants have pushed back the scheduled opening of the building from fall, 2005 to January, 2006. 

“We’re kind of at an impasse right now,” said Vista President John Garmon. 

Bates, who has fought for decades to get Vista a home of its own and now finds himself holding up construction, blamed the district. “They’ve known about this all along,” he said. “We can’t help them until they resolve this issue.” 

As an institution of public education, Peralta claimed an exemption from city planning rules in designing their building, which under city guidelines would have required them to provide 208 parking spaces. 

To mitigate the increased parking need caused by Vista and the potential loss of two downtown lots, the city is considering paying an estimated $18 million to tear down and rebuild the 420-space Center Street garage at twice the capacity. 

Berkeley is also demanding it receive the parking money promptly, or at least get a guarantee that it will be paid. Garmon said the money is tied up in state construction bonds and that the state wouldn’t release the money until the building was ready for occupancy. 

That’s not good enough for Bates, who worries the construction money could dry up. “They’re saying they’re good for it but we want the money or some kind of assurance it’s going to happen.” Bates added the city would devote the entire payment to parking mitigations and not use it to plug the city’s estimated $9 million budget deficit. 

›

Berkeley has blocked the start of construction on a permanent home for Vista College—more than 30 years in the making—due to a parking dispute with the Peralta Community College District.  

The city is withholding construction permits to Peralta—which counts Vista among its four member schools—for Vista’s new downtown campus at 2050 Center Street, said Mayor Tom Bates, until the district settles its parking mitigation fee with the city. 

The dispute concerns how much Peralta owes the city in parking mitigations for putting the six-story, 165,000-square-foot new campus right in the heart of downtown, where a 54-space parking lot once sat. 

Peralta has offered $3.6 million in mitigation fees, the amount originally requested by former City Manager Weldon Rucker. But two months ago, Bates said current City Manager Phil Kamlarz notified the district that a new survey put the tab closer to $6 million. 

While the two sides haggle, the city has blocked permits closing off parts of Center Street for construction, and Peralta’s general counsel is determining if the city can deny Peralta the permits. 

Without the permits, Peralta had to cancel excavation work for their building scheduled to begin last Monday, a Peralta source said, costing it $2,500 per day in contractor fees. Due to the permit delay and other hang ups, Peralta’s construction consultants have pushed back the scheduled opening of the building from fall, 2005 to January, 2006. 

“We’re kind of at an impasse right now,” said Vista President John Garmon. 

Bates, who has fought for decades to get Vista a home of its own and now finds himself holding up construction, blamed the district. “They’ve known about this all along,” he said. “We can’t help them until they resolve this issue.” 

As an institution of public education, Peralta claimed an exemption from city planning rules in designing their building, which under city guidelines would have required them to provide 208 parking spaces. 

To mitigate the increased parking need caused by Vista and the potential loss of two downtown lots, the city is considering paying an estimated $18 million to tear down and rebuild the 420-space Center Street garage at twice the capacity. 

Berkeley is also demanding it receive the parking money promptly, or at least get a guarantee that it will be paid. Garmon said the money is tied up in state construction bonds and that the state wouldn’t release the money until the building was ready for occupancy. 

That’s not good enough for Bates, who worries the construction money could dry up. “They’re saying they’re good for it but we want the money or some kind of assurance it’s going to happen.” Bates added the city would devote the entire payment to parking mitigations and not use it to plug the city’s estimated $9 million budget deficit. 

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My parents moved to an all-white East Oakland neighborhood in 1941, during the war. My father was a shipyard worker at Mare Island, and later an Oakland firefighter. Afterwards, my parents built a grocery store, which they operated for more than 40 years. Still, my parents were (and this must be said with lowered voice, and a narrowed glance, and one hand cupping the mouth) niggers, and in 1941, many white folks were still not quite certain what niggers would amount to or whether they might bring down the neighborhood. And so, in 1941, several of the good white folks got together and tried to keep the real estate agent from selling a home to my parents. They failed. In fact, other black folks followed, many of them first-time homebuyers who also joined the Oakland Fire Department. Discouraged, the good white folks emptied our East Oakland neighborhood, moving to San Leandro and San Lorenzo, or across the foothills to the then-almost wilderness valley of eastern Contra Costa County. And that’s how our part of East Oakland came to be mostly black, with a later flavoring of Latino. 

Two of the white kids who lived across the street from us later became police officers, one of them a highway patrolman. They’re probably too old to be part of this Operation Impact going on in the so-called “hot spots” of Oakland’s low-income black and Latino communities. But I often wonder how many grandsons of white folks who fled Oakland to keep from living next door to black folks have now returned to patrol our streets. Or how many of these officers—living in places like Antioch and Concord and Walnut Creek—grew up listening to neighbors’ tales about how first the niggers and then the Mexicans combined to ruin Oakland. And how much that colors their attitude towards the people they meet as they patrol. 

On the same day last week that I was writing a column on how the Operation Impact patrols had disappeared from International Boulevard, Oakland police announced that the program was being merely scaled back, not stopped. For those of you who missed it, Operation Impact involves roving patrols of CHP and Alameda County Sheriffs Deputies cruising the main streets in the high-crime areas of East, North, and West Oakland, supplementing the usual force of Oakland police. The project was put into effect in the last months of 2003 after Oakland’s murder rate skyrocketed during the first part of the year. 

“Oakland police are doing a great job,” Mayor Jerry Brown said, “but with the help of the California Highway Patrol we’re going to get a lot more done.” As always, the question is: more done of what? 

In its story on the first four months of Operation Impact, the Oakland Tribune reported that “the CHP arrested almost 600 people for various crimes [during the patrols], issued 1,564 traffic citations, towed 908 vehicles and seized six guns and 12 stolen cars.” Since there’s no way to evaluate what the “various” means in “various crimes,” there’s no way to assign any meaningful inference to the 600 arrests. Were these people stopped in the commission of serious crimes, or were they people picked up for bench warrants because they’d missed a child support payment? Only the CHP knows. The 1,500 traffic citations is equally mystifying: Are we talking about ticketing dangerous speeders and redlight-runners, or are these mostly expired tags and bad tail lights? Given what we can reasonably surmise about attitudes towards dark Oaklanders by at least some CHP officers (see the first two paragraphs of this column), can we rule out that much of what CHP is crowing about as operational success is merely harassment? 

But, finally, for an operation that was specifically designed to put a dent in Oakland’s handgun-driven murders, the finding of only six seizable guns amidst all this police activity seems a waste of resources. 

That’s borne out when we look at Operation Impact’s reported impact on crime in our city. The Tribune says that during the four-month life of the program, minor crimes in Oakland were down 28 percent from a year before. Okay. Good enough, though nobody knows if Impact was the actual cause. Serious crimes (homicide, robbery, and assault), on the other hand, were down only six percent. Further, one has to be careful about comparing murders in Oakland at the end of 2003 with murders at the end of 2002, since the 2002 end-of-year murders involved an aberrational killing spree by a group called the Nut Case Gang who boasted that they shot people in some cases solely in order to increase the number of Oakland murder victims. And with Operation Impact in operation, there have been 17 murders so far in the first six weeks of 2004, more than double the number of the same period in 2003, a three-murder-a-week rate that would top 150 killings if continued for the whole year. Operation Impact, therefore, hasn’t had much impact on the one problem it was supposed to address. 

In November of 2002, Oakland voters liked the idea of putting 100 more police officers on our streets as a response to the rising murder rate, but rejected the accompanying funding measures that would have made the hiring of those 100 officers possible. Mayor Jerry Brown’s measures were so poorly put together, and the campaign for them was so poorly organized, that to this day nobody can be quite certain why they lost. 

I’m glad it did, though. Councilmember Larry Reid is fond of calling Oakland’s murders “insane,” which is his way of saying, I suppose, that he doesn’t understand why the murders are happening. That lack of even an attempt at understanding by most Oakland public officials has led to this idea of merely flooding Oakland’s streets with police officers. Whether those officers are OPD or CHP or Alameda County deputies, it hasn’t provided a solution. Perhaps the time has come for us to have a public discussion as to why, and what’s next to be done. 

RACIAL CRITERIA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Last week the Daily Planet reported on the Berkeley School Board’s decision to adopt a new student assignment plan (“Despite Lawsuit, School Board Adopts Racial Criteria,” Feb. 6-9). I was simply floored at the inability of the board majority to think outside the box and their willingness to toss our children’s money away. Currently the district is being sued by the Pacific Legal Foundation for its alleged illegal insistence on using race for school assignment. It is a lawsuit similar to one the PLF pursued in Southern California. In that case the PLF won. Most legal experts expect they will win the one against Berkeley as well. A pro bono lawyer is defending the BUSD. All other expenses come out of the district’s general fund. When the PLF wins, Berkeley may be held responsible for the PLF’s legal expenses. Where will this money come from? Class size, field trips, teacher’s salaries, library books? 

A diverse committee of BUSD staff and parents examined alternative approaches to achiving integration. They came to the board with a plan which uses socio economic factors in lieu of race. They believed if adopted the schools would be at least as integrated as the current system. If the board embraces the committee’s plan, the schools will no longer continue to flout the law. The case for using socio- economic factors for achieving integration is based on progressive ideals and achieves the goals of both equity and racial integration. The plan the board did adopt is a multi-step process which includes race. 

The school board is about to approach the citizens of Berkeley to ask us to renew the parcel tax known as BSEP, which provides 10 percent of the BUSD budget. How can they do that when they are frivolously embracing a discretionary lawsuit which may well cost the district untold sums of money? Boggles the mind. 

Please call the school board and let them know what you think.  

Janet Huseby 

• 

LEADERSHIP 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

July 1, 2004, will mark the mid-point of term of Ms. Fox-Ruby’s tenure on the Alameda County Board of Education. Let’s look at the record of Ms. Fox -Ruby since her election in March 2002. Based on her record she has failed to address the significant challenges at the county office of education. 

She has supported budgets that provide for increased public relations activities over resources to support classrooms in the court school system and community schools operated by the county office. The majority of the students served by these county operated programs are males of African-American and Latino descent. 

Over the last two years the test scores at the Alameda County office have declined more than any other county office in the Bay Area. As a former educator and teacher she has done nothing to ensure the right’s to these students to a quality education is addressed. 

She along with the Jordan-led majority have refused to implement the recommendations of the Alameda County Grand Jury with called for among other things, open and public debate on issues. 

During these tough fiscal times facing school districts including especially Oakland USD, which is one of two districts in her trustee area under the control of the state, she voted to give County Superintendent Jordan a 66 percent salary increase, which was the largest salary increase of any publicly elected official statewide. 

This coming after only six months in office and after Ms. Fox Ruby received substantial campaign contributions and political support from the 

benefactor of her vote for the salary increase County Superintendent Jordan. 

Despite public outrage and a board resolution by Trustee Cobb to reconsider the salary increase, the Jordan-led majority, for which Ms. Fox-Ruby is a member, refused to change it. 

This is the type of leadership you have on the county board of education, a representative that is “bought and paid for” by County Superintendent Jordan and not a representative of the voters of Trustee area one.  

Jerome Wiggins,  

former member  

Alameda County Board of Education 

• 

INTOLERANCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On Tuesday evening, those who went to hear Daniel Pipes speak on the UC Berkeley campus were treated to a specter which would have sent Mario Savio spinning in his grave and appalled all those who believe in the right of free speech. While I am at odds with some of what Dr. Pipes believes, like many others, I wanted to hear what he had to say. Unfortunately, that was difficult as Pipes was incessantly interrupted by catcalls from Students for Justice in Palestine, members of the Muslim Students Association, and swill spilling from various constituents of KPFA’s Berkeley-left “Amen Corner.” 

Ironically, by attempting to keep Pipes from speaking, the pro-Palestinian minion in the process virtually ratified Pipes’ contention that strident Islamicists signify a gross intolerance of those who differ with themselves. Unsurprisingly, the first person to be expelled was the leader of the SJP, Snehal Shingavi. Mr. Shingavi gained national notoriety by asking that only those who agreed with him ideologically attend his class on Palestinian literature. More recently, he was sanctioned by UCB for violating the student code of conduct. 

Mr. Shingavi and his ideological soul mates make a shambles out of everything Mario Savio, the FSM, and indeed the Constitution stand for. Hence, because they so overtly trample on the rights of others, may I suggest that Mr. Shingavi along with all those who attempted to disrupt last night’s talk, be expelled posthaste? Their actions are antithetical to everything an institution of higher learning should stand for.  

One last disturbing matter—thoughout the evening, there were innumerable cries that “Israelis are Nazis” (never mind that it is only major Palestinian groups who are calling for genocide). This subtext of anti-Semitism was punctuated by the final expulsion of the evening, that of Joseph Anderson. Because he is a minority man in hyper-sensitive Berkeley, Mr. Anderson’s frequent rants against Israel are often cut a great deal of slack. But he left virtually foaming at the mouth, screaming at the audience what a good percentage of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators clearly feel: “You’re all a bunch of filthy Jewish liars.”  

Alas, as shown at the Pipes’ lecture, bigotry certainly has neither ethnic nor color boundaries. 

Dan Spitzer 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was fortunate to hear Daniel Pipes speak at UC Berkeley Tuesday night. He was a brilliant speaker and a very tolerant and composed gentleman. He had to contend with a large audience of Moslem students and other Pro-Palestinian sympathizers.  

Their outrageous bad behavior, e.g. continuous interrupting his speech with raucous shouting and chanting “racist, racist” etc., was reminiscent of the German Facist Youth of the Hitler era. 

They had hopes of blocking him from speaking altogether like they did to Netanyahu a few years ago. But the campus police were wonderful in controlling them ultimately and removing most of them before the evening was over. 

Their bad behavior lent proof to Daniel Pipes warning of the radical Islamists’ design and threat to destroy Western culture and Judeo Christian philosophy. 

Aubrey Lee Broudy 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

What’s this negativity about 21st century marriages? 

These are modern times and our marriage laws must be broadened. The Massachusetts courts have ruled that tow men or two women have the right to legally marry. 

Great! Now is the time to develop modern 21st century marriage laws. 

To hell with Bush and the right wing religious extremists. 

Our new laws must allow three people to marry. Three is company, what a wonderful family foundation this will make. Our modern houses are big enough, our king-sized beds are big enough, let’s move forward. The kids would always have one parent at home. Every family needs two wage earners. If one parent dies there would never be a single widow. 

Think of this! Every kid would have three mommies, three daddies, two mommies and one daddy, or two daddies and one mommy. Hopefully, our family, Judy, Megan and I will enjoy a legal marriage. 

How wonderful California will be! 

Our 21st century marriage laws will solve California housing problems because we will need 1,750,000 fewer homes. One minor problem, our building codes must require three car garages. 

Sidney Steinberg 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

We now not only have “Hardballs” on TV but also “Creampuff!” 

In his interview of the president, Tim Russert was strangely silent when Bush just rambled on, repeating himself and finally declared that “being able to produce dangerous weapons is the same as possessing them.” 

At that point, Russert might have asked whether Bush was declaring his intention to wage preemptive war on the whole world, since nearly all countries are capable of producing poison gas, nerve gas and dangerous biological weapons.  

Max Alfert 

• 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

At the end of a recent ABC News with Peter Jennings a few days ago after the New Hampshire primary, Diane Sawyer had a segment in which she revealed that the microphone used by Howard Dean in his Iowa Scream Speech was an unusual, very rarely used type which hugely amplifies and somewhat distorts the human voice. This mike also cuts was back on the sound of an excited, noisy crowd. She recognized this mike as one used by her only a few times in her long career, when addressing noisy audiences. It was a different shape and size from a standard microphone. 

She thought that the over seven hundred replays of this incident, which shook the confidence of many voters, even those strongly committed to Dean, and caused people to see him as angry and out of control, was a result of the microphone’s effect. It may also explain why those who were actually at this event didn’t see what the fuss was about. Ms. Sawyer also noted that the amplified mike was held “way too close,” because Dean thought it was an ordinary mike, which may have added to the distortion and magnification. 

It would be sad if Dean loses ground because of a technical glitch not of his own doing. It surprises me that I have not seen any reports about this disturbing revelation. 

Nancy Langert 

Cecilia Bartoli’s first concert in Berkeley in 1991 was to a half-empty Hertz Hall. Since then she has rocketed to superstardom (commanding fees of $60,000 to $80,000) and is second only to Pavarotti as a successful classical recording artist. Her Vivaldi recording sold over 500,000 CDs—a phenomenal number for a classical disc of unfamiliar music. In the rock world that would be equivalent to a triple platinum album. Her Gluck Aria album was a comparable worldwide bestseller.  

Bartoli returns to Berkeley this month to perform three recitals on the West Coast, in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, La Jolla on Feb. 11 and here in Berkeley at the Zellerbach Auditorium on Feb. 15. After that she will go to Chicago, Ann Arbor, Washington D.C., Carnegie Hall, and Boston, appearing in concerts featuring the music of Salieri from her newest hit recording.  

That means eight concerts in the month of February alone, with lots of grueling winter travel between them. She has been singing approximately 30 concerts and two operas a year. Her appearances are sell-outs, and two biographies have already been written about her. 

What makes Cecilia run? Money? Hype? Devotion to music? Depending on which connoisseur you talk to, the answers will vary wildly. But it is far more likely that she is compelled to perform by her inner artistry. One has only to watch her sing to realize that some divine necessity is urging her on. The audience has the distinct sense of eavesdropping on a kind of private musical ecstasy. She exudes urgency and rapture. She enters the stage seemingly bursting with the joyous anticipation of making great music for both herself and her audience.  

Bartoli is responsible for bringing a Mediterranean flavor back to the Italian vocal music of the 18th century. Her lush, many-hued, vibrato-filled tones contrast sharply with the straight-toned and effete singing style of the English Baroque School that has recently come to dominate this repertoire. She showers forth confetti-streams of coloratura, blazes through octave leaps and produces from the barest vocal attack, a spellbinding messa di voce that ranges from deep quietude to intense forte. By this invigorated approach she has elevated The Italian Anthology of Song from a rote musical primer to scintillating music fare. Upon hearing her imaginative renditions of these basic songs, which generations of voice students have used as rudimentary exercises, one finds her re-fashioning of them a revelation. Not content to stay with familiar repertoire, she has searched out forgotten manuscripts and has revived interest in Gluck and Vivaldi, and, more recently, rescued the much-maligned Salieri from undeserved oblivion.  

She has even sung Mozart! For many decades most Italian school singers (including Callas) have shied away from Mozart because of the affected style of singing that had become de rigueur. That particular tone quality is disembodied and ethereal, accentuating the use of falsetto to suggest a sort of prepubescent innocence. Italian vocalists generally prefer a more sensuous and complete vocal sonority. Consequently, in Italy Mozart operas have become the domain of artists from northern Europe and America. But Bartoli’s more full-bodied approach has opened new realms of interpretive possibilities. She even dared to make her Met debut in the comic role of Despina in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte: a very non-diva choice for an Italian superstar.  

Bartoli’s career is built on an esoteric repertoire: 18th century music and a handful of operas of that period. The voice is not operatic: It is smallish, and easily swallowed in the larger venues (like the Met and San Francisco), especially when accompanied by a full orchestra. Hence her repertoire is essentially limited to Rossini and his predecessors.  

One of Bartoli’s most impressive skills is her immaculate articulation of fast passages, which she achieves by rapid-fire separate attacks on each note. This ancient Bel Canto technique can be heard, for example, perhaps to an exaggerated degree, in the recordings of singers like Lily Pons. This vocal method, though failing to provide great volume, gives the singer the ability to sing large clusters of notes at roller coaster speed. This Bartoli does with unabashed derring-do. 

The machine behind the phenomenon known as Cecilia Bartoli consist of her mother, who is her sole voice teacher; her backers, producers, and advertisers from Decca records; her master-mind manager Jack Mastroianni; her boyfriend and collaborating musicologist, Claudio Osele; and her high-powered New York publicist. Thanks to Robert Cole, director of Cal Performances, who took a chance on an unknown in 1991, Bartoli returns often to Berkeley. Those fortunate enough to have tickets to the sold-out performance on the Feb. 15 will hear a trail-blazing singer at the pinnacle of her fame.  

Olivia Stapp is an opera singer and stage director who has had a long international career. 

“If a life of wine, women and song becomes too much, give up the singing.”  

—Anonymous  

There’s something about clinking glasses filled with a red liquid that sets a sexy scene for Valentine’s Day. Gazing over a brimming goblet at a lover’s face primes us for romance. Assuming these aphrodisiac qualities create the craving, it’s no wonder red wine historically flies off the shelves during February.  

There are many passion-driving qualities wine possesses. Wine makes us giddy with youthful energy; causes us to say sappy things and mean them; magnifies a sensual moment; and makes everything taste better. It’s pretty amazing how a thoughtfully chosen bottle of wine can increase the pleasure of a simple Valentine’s meal tenfold, no matter what the cost.  

For some, pink champagne is the quintessential Valentine’s Day wine, romantic for its tiny stars floating to the top, soft color and rarity. To attain the famous rose color, a small amount of pinot noir wine is added at the blending stage after the first fermentation. Not much of this is around, so it’s pricier than most sparklers. But a nice bottle of red is equally sensual, with its warming, languorous effect.  

But why wine’s romantic reputation? There are plenty of theories, but one is that society crafted it so. Wine descriptors are rife with romantic adjectives like silky, smooth and velvety, and winemakers are treated as artists since they pour their heart and soul into each bottle. No other edible item reflects its producer’s personality as much as a bottle of wine. But I think it’s really that wine gives you that ultra-relaxed, open-to-anything buzz that’s different from most alcoholic beverages.  

So whether you’re creating a meal or treating that special someone to a night on the town, remember it’s not the price that counts, it’s the love in the bottle.  

Recommended Wines  

Justin 2000 Cal Italia ($14): Smooth-talking Italian grapes like Sangiovese define this yummy light blend from California’s Central Coast. The endless black cherry flavor will wiggle its way into your sweetie’s heart.  

1999 Sterling Three Palms Merlot ($45): Absolutely fabulous wine that will knock your honey’s socks off...and maybe something else. Sexy, intense fruit—a cornucopia of flavors with red berries, grapes and plums. Not for the faint of wallet.  

Cinnabar 2000 Mercury Rising ($18): A Bordeaux blend, this fruit-forward, ripe cherry, delicious juice will definitely make the mercury rise. The flavors grab your tongue and don’t let go. Truly a bargain.  

Liparita Cellars 2001 Sauvignon Blanc ($18): If your honey prefers whites, here’s a Napa Valley beauty that loves food. Loaded with uncharacteristic creaminess, this Sauvignon Blanc has perfectly balanced acids and a melon aroma that will romance anyone.  

Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rose Champagne ($38): A full-bodied, dry and intense French rose Champagne. You can’t run from the titillating dried cherry aroma and rich, smooth feeling on your tongue. This one might be suitable for belly-button shots.  

Bonny Doon Framboise, Infusion of Raspberry ($12): For something sweet and fun for your fun sweetie, try this whimsical wine from Bonny Doon. Rich, and chock-full of raspberry essence, this sensational wine is a steal.  

A new gourmet food court will soon occupy the empty space at 1509 Shattuck Avenue that has sat empty for almost two years after the Dale Sanford electronics store moved out. The project, which will house take-out spin-offs of some of Berkeley’s more well-known restaurants, is meant to bolster business and add another touch of flavor to an area well known for its food.  

“We’ve been looking at what the community needs,” said Soheyl Modarressi, the building manager, longtime city developer and North Berkeley resident. “Rather than just having another clothing store we wanted to bring in some more excitement.” 

Already signed up to move in are Kirala, south Berkeley’s well known sushi restaurant and Cesar, the popular tapas-bar started by ex-Chez Panisse manager Richard Mazerra, who has agreed to help Modarressi as a consultant for the project. On the waiting list are a number of other restaurants that are trying to meet the qualifications Modarressi and Mazerra have set out for the food. Other shops the pair are currently considering include a rotisserie and chocolate store. Several local wine producers have also been approached about possibly creating a small co-op space.  

“We’re not going to rent to just anyone,” said Modarressi. 

Accompanying the food stands will be a larger section also run by Cesar that will offer other products from Spain, which according to Mazerra is the new hot spot in Europe. Besides offering olive oil, spices and vinagers, the shop hopes to have a big selection of cured meats, especially jamons, or cured ham.  

“Spain is coming on big time,” said Mazerra. “People didn’t even know what tapas were until recently.” 

The take-out option is a spin that promoters hope will appeal to residents who have never had that option at their favorite restaurants. Customers accustomed to Kirala’s long lines will now be able to pop into the court, buy their sushi (which will be made fresh) and take it home. Those caught up in the growing tapas craze will be able to do the same. Modarressi and Mazerra are considering plans for a garden area in the back with a possible fountain and garden store. The area which used to be the delivery dock for the electronics store is envisioned as an urban park according to Mazzera. 

Modarressi, who has lived in North Berkeley since the ‘70s, says he has a vested interest in maintaining the spirit of the area known for its high quality food. With the Cheeseboard on one side and Chez Panisse on the other, and the original Peet’s coffee up the hill, the food court is meant to complement these restaurants by adding extra options to draw customers. 

Because the store will only be take-out with no sit-down options Modarressi did not have to apply for a restaurant permit, avoiding the hassle of acquiring parking which is close to impossible to find in the area. Instead a retail use permit, like the one originally granted for the building, was all he needed. 

Neighboring restaurants are happy to see plans for a new food spot. Lisa Bruzzone, a member of the Cheeseboard Co-op, said she had not heard any specifics about the court but was thrilled to have more food in the area.  

“We’re delighted to have more activity in the neighborhood to keep it more alive,” she said. 

Bruzzone, who has been with the Cheeseboard for years and has seen the transformations the North Shattuck area has gone through, hopes the new court will enliven an area that, while not in a decline, is not what it used to be.  

Back in the late 1970s, according to Bruzzone, North Shattuck was the premier spot for restaurants and specialty food products. In the meantime, while the restaurants have survived, several of the food stores have gone out of business, including Pig By the Tail and Chacuterie. 

According to Heather Hensley, director of the North Shattuck Business Association, the food court idea was chosen and encouraged over several other ideas as a way to do exactly what Buzzone would like to see.  

“Food will always be the strong point of the area,” said Hensley. “They [the North Shattuck restaurants and cafes] spearheaded the food revolution [in Berkeley] and we want to make sure they can continue to compete.” 

Modarressi, who has also led other development projects including the Oxford Center building west of the UC Berkeley campus, stresses his commitment to the North Shattuck community and says his motivation for the project sprang from the same desire—to revitalize the area. 

“We are very slow moving developers that committed to the long-term,” he said. “We’re not aggressive. We are going to keep [the project] very local and manage it in a way that will serve the community.” 

February weekends may be chilly, gloomy, and gray in the Bay Area. But even if you don’t have the time or the means to jet off to Hawaii for a respite, you can still find some tropical magic only a bridge away from Berkeley at the San Francisco Orchid Society’s 2004 Pacific Orchid Exposition, Feb. 19-22. 

The exposition has been held for 52 years and is one of the Bay Area’s biggest and most showy garden-themed events. It is held at the Festival Pavilion, an old military pier gracefully converted into event space at Fort Mason Center on the northeast corner of San Francisco’s Marina District. 

Orchids aren’t just corsage flowers. Some 750 orchid genera contain at least 25,000 species, and there are tens of thousands of cultivated hybrids. Hundreds of varieties—and an estimated 150,000 plants--will be on display and for sale at the exposition. 

Orchid plants can be as tiny as a fingernail or as big as a wine barrel. Some species bloom singly, others in cascades of hundreds of flowers. And although many orchids do require hot house conditions, many others can be quite content in a sheltered corner of an East Bay garden, even in the winter. 

Quite a few temperate or upland species and varieties bloom reliably and do just fine outdoors year-round in most parts of Berkeley. They include cymbidiums, many masdevallias and epidendrums (sometimes called “reed orchids”), some dendrobiums (especially those from Australia) and some odontoglossums.  

Orchid blossoms range from near true-blues through reds and oranges to white and brown; shapes and patterns are some of the most intricate found in nature. We’ve come home in past years with orchids with vivid pink candy stripes, polka dots, purple/green flowers, and chocolate or vanilla scents. 

My personal favorites include the masdevallias, small plants with striking up-side-down V-shaped flowers in colors from white to purple to butter yellow. They start popping into bloom around now, even after a cold winter outdoors. 

If you go to the show, allow time to wander through the commercial grower and orchid society exhibits. Spectacular blooming orchids, foliage plants, and non-living props (this year the theme is “The Art of Orchids”) form dazzling displays packed with hundreds of flowers or individual specimens of prizewinning size, rarity, or condition. Many hobbyists bring their best orchids from home to show off here. 

Beyond the displays you’ll find booths for more than 60 growers and sellers from as near as Richmond and Alameda and as far (in most years) as Southern California, Hawaii, Thailand and even Central America. A few orchid-related items are for sale (pots, growing media, tools) but mostly it’s plants, plants, plants. 

Most growers specialize, and some only sell direct to the public a few times a year at shows like this. Prices are often surprisingly low for the quality of plant offered. Some purists market only species orchids, the rarer and odder the better. Others promote colorful hybrids they’ve created themselves.  

There are wall displays of alluring tropical vandas, tables loaded down with prime cymbidiums (including space-saving miniature varieties), bevies of brilliant phalaenopsis (typically known as the moth orchid), and legions of ladyslipper orchids.  

The weekend show follows a 6:30–10:00 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, “Gala Benefit Preview,” costing $35 at the door ($30 in advance). The preview is worthwhile if you want first crack at the best orchids, or just want to enjoy something different on an evening out.  

Gala benefits include a modest prize drawing (you have to be present to win), free finger food (sometimes of indifferent quality and limited quantity), wine from some two dozen vineyards, a souvenir wineglass, and musical entertainment. 

Weekend general admission is $11, or $8 for seniors (65+) or disabled visitors. Children under 12 get in for free, except on opening night. Hours vary slightly; Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m..  

For information regarding shows, tickets, parking and directions, go to www.orchidsanfrancisco.org, or call (415) 665-2468. Parking can be difficult, but there’s a free shuttle from a remote lot, and you can also park at the Marina Green and walk in, enjoying the spectacular north waterfront setting. 

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It’s hard to leave this event without at least one orchid. If you’re going to buy, here are some basic tips: 

• Before going on an impulse buying spree, take a quick stroll around the sales area. Chances are that several growers will have similar selections of (and perhaps different prices for) the particular plants you’re interested in.  

• Don’t let a spectacular flower seduce you without finding out something about its needs and care. The sellers will usually tell you candidly if the plant you covet will be happy—and likely to re-bloom—in your home conditions (or your mother-in-law’s).  

• Take advantage of the expertise here among the sellers and other orchid aficionados wandering around. Chat, collect advice and handouts, and make sure you get a tag identifying the species or hybrid you’re purchasing. 

• Use the free “orchid hotel” check area (but don’t lose your claim tag!). You’ll have to park purchases there anyway if you want to go back for another look at the exhibits. 

• Feeling thrifty? Many vendors cut prices Sunday afternoon. That perfect $45 plant you coveted may now be gracing someone else’s windowsill, but a quite suitable sibling might still be had for $15 or $20.  

• Many of the orchid vendors are from the Bay Area and periodically have open houses or special sale events at their greenhouses and nurseries. Ask when they might be open and what they’ll feature for sale in coming months.  

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Today, Feb. 17, my parents have been married for 65 years. They are still living in their home by themselves, at 89 and 91. Our family is very lucky to have them still with us, still in good spirits and relatively good health.  

We appreciate all they’ve done for us, and for others, during their long life together. 

One of the nice things about growing up with two parents like mine was that they introduced their offspring to many different ways of enjoying life. 

From my father, I learned to love music. Most nights when my sister and I were little, after he came back from serving in the Navy in World War II, he sang us to sleep with the deep bass voice that had made him a valued member of his undergraduate glee club. The repertoire didn’t vary much, though it was democratically mixed: popular ditties from the ‘20s and ‘30s, college fight songs, spirituals, operetta standards, and always Brahms’ Lullaby as the finale. 

From my mother, I learned to love words. She knew about all the best children’s authors of the era: Milne, White, Travers. When I got older, she’d read aloud with me from favorite poets. I particularly enjoyed our dramatic reading of Robert Browning’s poetic thriller,“My Last Duchess.” A high point of the week for both of us was the day the mailman brought “The New Yorker.” My mother went right for the short stories, while I started off with cartoons but eventually moved on to the hard stuff. She also knew the best places to get used books, so we read lovely illustrated editions of all the 19th and early 20th century classics: Alcott, Hawthorne, Cooper, Scott, Dickens… 

My mother has always known the best places to get everything to enrich life. She follows, without doing it consciously, William Morris’s dictum “have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful,” but her ace in the hole is that she’s very good at finding what she believes to be beautiful at bargain rates. My childhood trips with her to “Father Dempsey’s” thrift emporium taught me that you can turn your living space into a personal art gallery on any budget. She still loves to go to a garage sale of a Sunday. 

My father liked outdoor excursions too when my sister and I were growing up, but nature walks rather than garage sales. He showed us the interesting things you can see on any outdoor path at a child’s level: the way acorns come apart, and what caterpillars are up to.  

My parents set a good example for their children; both my sister and I have been happily married for more than 40 years. We can testify to the many joys of a stable family life. My parents still take care of one another every day, and often, still, of their children, their grandchildren, and now their great-grandchildren.  

That’s what marriage is all about, in the end, people taking care of other people. Love helps, and of course passion (which is not the same as love) gets things off to a rousing start. But what marriage really means is that adults have voluntarily accepted the duty of looking after one another and of bringing up children if they have them. Many religions, including the Christian church, have traditionally viewed marital promises as being made by the spouses to one another, sometimes blessed by the approval of a priest or a congregation, but valid with or without the participation of the state.  

When people agree to take on additional responsibilities to one another by marrying, the community as a whole benefits. That’s why governments have historically conferred special privileges on those who are willing to get married, providing them with stable rules for property ownership, inheritance and tax benefits. Many countries such as France have two ceremonies, one in church and the other at city hall, to recognize the dual nature of marriage. 

Of course people sometimes take care of one another even without marriage. Families, whether or not they are state-sanctioned, take care of each other much of the time. Friends do look out for friends, whether or not they’ve promised to do so. But the distinctive thing about the marriage contract is that it’s both voluntary (unlike families) and intended to be binding (unlike friendships).  

Until recently, the most obvious benefit of conventional marriage to the rest of society was that two grown-ups signed up in advance to raise the kids of the next generation. Religious groups have been wary about trusting members of other religions to do this important job, so they’ve often put barriers in the way of “mixed marriages.” When my parents were married in 1939, they couldn’t be married in church, because my mother was a Catholic and my father was not, though a priest did agree to marry them in my grandparents’ home. 

By the time I got married 21 years later, Catholics had dropped the rule against church weddings, but there were still state-enforced prohibitions of racially “mixed marriages.” Not until 1967 did the U.S. Supreme Court outlaw “statutory schemes to prevent marriages between persons solely on the basis of racial classifications.” 

Times change. Children in the upcoming generation of American families like ours have ancestors from Africa and Asia as well as from Europe. Their parents have gotten married in multi-religious or non-religious ceremonies. And 30 more years out, our descendants will be amazed to learn that it was once considered to be in the public interest to prevent consenting adults from promising to take care of one another, just because of what they do or don’t do in their bedrooms. Statutory schemes to prevent marriages between persons solely on the basis of gender classifications will then seem as absurd as the unconstitutional laws against racially mixed marriages do now. 

With the widespread availability of birth control, children are no longer considered an inevitable result of marriage, even when partners are of different genders. People who won’t have children to take care of them in their old age need, even more, to make sure that someone has signed up for the job. It’s not safe, in the age of Bush and Schwarzenegger, with managed care, attacks on Medicare, falling stock values, and looted pension funds in the news, to rely on government to provide a safety net.  

But when children are part of the plan, it’s even clearer that any kind of marriage prohibition is foolish. Those who want to conceive children can do so with or without marriage, but it’s in the best interest of society to do everything possible to encourage those who want to become parents to find partners to help with the job. Religious groups, under our constitution, are allowed to have all kinds of silly rules about which marriages they bless, but we should expect more from the government. There is no good public policy reason for the state to dictate what the sexual relationship between parental partners needs to be.  

My parents are different kinds of people, and that made them more creative and interesting parents, but the fact that one is a man and the other is a woman was not the most important difference between them. Every child deserves parents like mine. Many children have been successfully raised by single parents, but children are who come into the world, as I did, with two fine though different people already signed up to educate them about life and its pleasures, are very fortunate. 

The new mayor of San Francisco has gotten a lot of praise for removing marriage barriers for same-sex couples, and he deserves it. There’s no reason, as one of the Daily Planet’s letter writers suggests today, for the mayors of Berkeley and Oakland not to do the same. 

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet.›

Here’s a really radical thought. How about voting for John Edwards in the presidential primary? 

Clouds of steam, as I write this, are rising above the Berkeley Hills, coming out of the ears of Dean supporters. From Baja Rockridge and Southside Berkeley, the shrieks of Kucinich’s people fill the air. Edwards, with that corn-pone accent and blow-dried hair? Even Kerry, with his patrician craggy face and somber mien, would be better than just another pretty face from the South. 

Naysayers might just take a look at Edwards’ official senatorial website. Here’s today’s release: 

“Senator John Edwards on Wednesday pressed President Bush to revoke a White House report that said sending American jobs overseas will somehow help the economy in the United States. 

‘What planet do they live on?’ Senator Edwards asked.” 

Good question. Previous releases were good stuff too: “SENATOR EDWARDS CALLS FOR HEARING ON FBI SURVEILLANCE”; “EDWARDS SLAMS PRIVATE-SCHOOL VOUCHER PLAN”—both from way back in November, when no one much was even listening to him. And these releases are on his Senate site, directed at the home folks back in North Carolina, not on his presidential site, presumably aimed at a national audience which might be more liberal. 

One good thing about Edwards is that he’s a very successful trial lawyer. That’s right, a trial lawyer. It’s fashionable in some circles these days to dis trial lawyers—aren’t they the guys who beat up on Dr. Kildare? If you happen to know anyone who’s been the victim of serious medical malpractice, as I do, that criticism rings a bit hollow. 

My old friend George Lakoff has been making a big stir in the academic/political crossover market with his suggestion that liberals would do a lot better if they learned to frame issues for popular consumption. For example, in a January interview on the Buzzflash website, George talks about the way the Bushies framed the debate on taxes by using the expression “tax relief.” He points out that the phrase evokes many things: “That taxation is an affliction that we have to get rid of, that it’s a heroic thing to do, that people who try to prevent this heroic thing are bad guys.” And bingo, liberals lose again.  

(For the purposes of today’s editorial, we will ignore those on the left who tried to re-frame “liberal” as a bad word, except to say shame on them.) 

Plaintiffs’ attorneys, especially very successful ones like John Edwards, must be masters of the framer’s art. Victims of corporate malfeasance can be made to look like liars and cheats by a skilled corporate defense attorney, and it’s the job of lawyers like Edwards to make sure that juries aren’t fooled. It’s no wonder he’s good at telling voters how Bush has been fooling Americans.  

And another reason Edwards is attractive: He’s never been anywhere near Yale. I know, there are now crackpots on the Internet who see a sinister conspiracy in the fact that John Kerry and George Bush both went to Yale. Right, but so did Howard Dean, and Bill and Hillary, not to mention KPFA’s own Larry Bensky, and make something of that if you can. But still. The semiotic significance of going to an elite college like Yale should not be discounted. People who go to such institutions spend a formative period of their lives in close contact with many fellow students who were born on third base and thought they hit a triple. It’s probably been good for John Edwards’ character that his undergraduate education was at North Carolina State (close to home, less expensive even than the University of North Carolina). Man of the people and all that—it still counts for something in an era where America is fast being divided into the haves and the have nots. 

“We live in a country where there are really two different Americas—one for all those families who have everything they need whenever they want it, and then one for everybody else,” Edwards has been saying in his stump speech. “It doesn't have to be that way. You and I can change that.” For those of us who still remember Michael Harrington’s earth-shaking 1962 book about poverty, The Other America, which was the genesis of Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, this sounds like the old time religion.  

And if “everybody else” listens to that message and votes for Edwards, he might just be able to win the presidency, because “everybody else” is much more than 50 percent of the electorate. 

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Berkeley Daily Planet.